The F1 driver merry-go-round is officially started

[d000hg]

Saying Massa isn't as good as Alonso isn't a big criticism though, he's a bit special. Similar to men's tennis having lots of very good players but 2 or 3 at the very top in a separate league, in F1 currently we seem to have Alonso, Vettel, Kimi & Hamilton above the rest. You can still be very good without being one of them... Massa, Button, Rosberg.

The only open spot in a big team would be Lotus - they were very keen to keep Kimi so perhaps will consider Massa a decent replacement, especially if they do the sensible thing and dumb Grosjean.

I'd love to see Di Resta in a bigger team, but the thing is next year it's entirely possible we'll see someone do a Brawn, so moving anywhere except to one of the top 3/4 is very risky. You might find that like Hulkenberg, you'd have been better where you were!

[VectraMan]

Saying Massa isn't as good as Alonso isn't a big criticism though, he's a bit special.

Agree completely. People say Massa's been under performing, but he's only been under permforming compared to probably the best driver in F1, and he's often been quite close to Alonso (outqualified him last weekend, and finished only a couple of seconds behind in the race). I'm not at all convinced that Raikonnen will do any better.

Seems Ferrari have finally confirmed Raikonnen. I still find it hard to believe.

[Old Hack]

Agree completely. People say Massa's been under performing, but he's only been under permforming compared to probably the best driver in F1, and he's often been quite close to Alonso (outqualified him last weekend, and finished only a couple of seconds behind in the race). I'm not at all convinced that Raikonnen will do any better.

Seems Ferrari have finally confirmed Raikonnen. I still find it hard to believe.

Not really. Massa has lost most of his speed. He was fairly quick, but inconsistent. Remember, Hamilton didn't have the quickest car in 2008, Ferrari did, and in that respect, Massa underperformed, as did Raikkonen as it happens (2008). The thing is, with Massa, is that he's underperformed, as a whole, since his accident. That means Ferrari have had poor showings in the WCC and I think it's for this, more than anything, that he's finally been shown the door.

I think Raikkonen will prove more than a handful for Alonso, and I can imagine Alonso getting the hearse about it PDQ if Raikkonen can show the speed he really does have in the locker. I can also imagine the amount of money he's been offered is ridiculously high too. Win/win for KR. Not too sure how this will sit with Alonso.

Interesting days at Maranello.