Better late than never, big guy.

I wonder where Ralf got the idea from?  Rumours that the idea came from letters delivered to his home address are thought to be wide of the mark, as is the idea that said letters were advertising the soon to be vacant [...]]]>

Better late than never, big guy.

I wonder where Ralf got the idea from?  Rumours that the idea came from letters delivered to his home address are thought to be wide of the mark, as is the idea that said letters were advertising the soon to be vacant position of ‘friend of petrolheadblog.com’.

Sometimes these things make too much sense.  Fisi spent much of 2009 showing well for Force India, before forging late-season links with Ferrari that saw him given a testing and development [...]]]> If it seems like only yesterday that Giancarlo Fisichella was being reported as favourite for the vacant Sauber drive, that’s because it really, genuinely was.

Sometimes these things make too much sense.  Fisi spent much of 2009 showing well for Force India, before forging late-season links with Ferrari that saw him given a testing and development role with the Scuderia.  He still has a desire to race, Sauber have Ferrari engines for 2010, Giancarlo used to drive for Sauber…the pieces came together like a pre-school jigsaw.

Somewhere between yesterday’s news reports and this morning’s driver announcement, Peter Sauber’s dog must have opened the box and ate the piece with Giancarlo’s face on it, for I’m sure that the Roman’s name isn’t spelt ‘Pedro de la Rosa’. The Swiss team have opted to sign the 38-year-old from Barcelona, whose last full season of Formula One came with Jaguar in 2002.

Pedro’s appointment might seem a strange one on the face of it.  8 seasons on from his last full-time drive, de la Rosa has been a fixture at McLaren since being cast aside by Jaguar.  Contracted as test driver throughout, the Spaniard nevertheless had a couple of opportunities to race for the Woking outfit.  His cameo in Bahrain 5 years ago, after Juan Pablo Montoya hurt himself falling off a tennis racket, was brilliantly entertaining and ended with Pedro claiming fastest lap.  His half-season in 2006 when the Colombian quit for NASCAR in mid-season was less startling, Hungarian podium finish notwithstanding.  His reputation is that of a solid, reliable pair of hands, lacking in ultimate pace but a very capable development driver.  That, of course – well, that and a few Euros in sponsorship money – is why Sauber have signed him.

A month or so ago, Sauber confirmed Kamui Kobayashi as the first of their 2010 race drivers.  Kobayashi’s pair of races for Toyota suggest that the Japanese driver has plenty of raw pace but the kind of rough edges that would occupy a sandpaper factory for a week.  His racecraft is questionable, his defensive driving on the dangerous side of robust, and he has very little prior experience of setting up a Grand Prix car, though he can hardly be blamed for that.  He will show well given a decent car, but can’t be relied on to bring the car home every time, or to lead a development programme through the course of a season.

For that, the team need an experienced old hand, and they don’t come much more experienced than de la Rosa.  His technical knowledge, allied to his knowledge of McLaren’s successful working practices (in-depth knowledge, as you’d expect from a trusted member of the team – until today, PdlR was scheduled to give McLaren’s 2010 car its first run next month), will be invaluable.  His temperament inside the car tends to be even, as does his performance, an excellent baseline for judging the performance of new parts.  A well-respected and approachable man, Pedro is also the ideal mentor for a young, wild hotshoe like his 2010 teammate.

With the right tutelage, Kamui Kobayashi will be the long-term solution, the man charged with making Sauber’s future bright.  Surprise choice or not, Pedro de la Rosa is the right man to provide it.

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The filling of Sauber’s vacant seat must have brought great joy to the folks at Renault.  Nick Heidfeld is out of a drive.  Christian Klien wants one.  So does Anthony Davidson, along with his F3 and Super Aguri sparring partner Takuma Sato.  If an up-and-coming driver is what they want, and last year’s experience of Romain Grosjean ought be enough to show that it isn’t, Ho-Pin Tung and the delightfully-named Bertrand Baguette are available.  If an old hand desperate for one last go fits the Renault profile, Jacques Villeneuve is their man.

The seats at Campos and USF1 will go to drivers bringing sponsorship, and it’s difficult to imagine any of the above-named fancying a drive with either team anyway.  With every other competitive seat filled, Renault is their last sensible choice, and that’s a cracking bargaining position for the French squad.

It’s official.

One of next year’s nailed-on driver moves has been confirmed, Robert Kubica committing to Renault for 2010 and quite possibly no longer than that, being one of the men keeping a keen eye on Felipe Massa’s performance on the off chance that the Brazilian’s comeback [...]]]> Listen up, soldiers!  A few things to fill you in on.

One of next year’s nailed-on driver moves has been confirmed, Robert Kubica committing to Renault for 2010 and quite possibly no longer than that, being one of the men keeping a keen eye on Felipe Massa’s performance on the off chance that the Brazilian’s comeback falls flat next year.  Speaking of comebacks, here’s a little picture of Felipe making his, in a Ferrari F2007 at their Fiorano test track.  Felipe’s conduct both on and off the racetrack in the last 12 months won over a lot of doubters, this blogger included, and it’s wonderful to see him back behind the wheel.

Also making a return to competitive action after some time away, according to rumour, is Renault’s traditional yellow and black livery, seen here on Alain Prost’s 1983 car.  A variety of sites are reporting it, just like the tabloid sensationalists at Planet F1, but as yet none of them appear to be citing any kind of source.  It’d make sense, though; Renault’s current orange, yellow and white colourscheme is a) related to their ING sponsorship, which has now been brought to an end, b) not in any way connected to Renault’s corporate branding and c) chuffing awful.

Kimi Raikkonen’s McLaren move, which looked certain last time we spoke, seems to have stalled for now, the rumour being that the Iceman wants $25m for next season and McLaren don’t want to give him it.  After a lacklustre first half of the year, Kimi has raised his game brilliantly since becoming de facto team leader after Massa’s Hungarian accident, and it’ll be a crying shame if he doesn’t land a competitive drive for 2010.  That could yet happen – the Woking team appear to be his only realistic option at present, with Brawn looking full and no seat at Williams, where the Brazilian media are certain that Rubens Barrichello will begin his 18th full season of F1 next year.

Rubinho himself admits he’s had talks with them, but that nothing is finalised and staying with Brawn remains an option.  Everyone else, however, remains certain that Nico Rosberg is going to Brawn for next year.  Rubens might be too busy eyeing the skies of his hometown Sao Paulo to care, with the forecast for this weekend’s Interlagos race changing by the day but almost always including the threat of heavy, heavy rain.  Jenson Button, needing just 5 points to be sure of the world title, must be thrilled at the prospect of a wild, unpredictable weekend.

At some point we’ll have to cover some more politics, with the FIA presidential elections taking place on October 23rd.  For now, it’s enough to say that the Max Mosley-endorsed ex-Ferrari race chief Jean Todt (and that’s not sounding any less repugnant as time goes on, is it?) is busily slinging mud in the direction of his rival, rallying legend turned politician Ari Vatanen.  It’s the kind of mud that makes you think the Todt team aren’t absolutely sure they’ve secured the votes they need to win the presidency, and the Vatanen campaign has secured high-profile support from South Africa and Jordan.  Note though that Max, and by extension Jean, has a spell cast on a great many banana republics that have the same voting rights as everyone else regardless of whether they hold any race meetings at all in their country, and so a Todt win seems the most likely outcome all the same.  We’ll see.

Wonder what Max will be doing in his retirement?  Wonder no more – the autobiography is coming…