SCHUMACHER will (not) drive Massa's car at Valencia!!!

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Hun200kmh

Hun200kmh

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So, wild speculations are around, even Schumacher was named but his manager ruled out that chance.

Will Ferrari field a second car if Massa does not recover in time? If so, who will drive it?

Luca Badoer wasn't picked when Schumacher was out for a few races, so I guess he won't be either this time.

Marc Gene has a chance, he is spanish and the next GP is at Valencia. He won Le Mans, so he isn't out of practise (and a win there shows consistency, but maybe not the speed needed for F1)

Bourdais seems to be cursed so I doubt they'll call him but he is probably the best F1 driver available at the moment.

Will Piquet be sacked? If so, he will also be available.

Sato? He tested for STR in pre-season so maybe he has a chance.

Bruno Senna? di Grassi? Grosjean? Hulkenberg?

The fact is, any driver would dream of a chance like this, to drive for Ferrari, even of only for a couple of GPs.

What do you think?

EDIT: The question has been answered. It's Schumacher!
 
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Most likely drivers are Bourdais or Gene. Badoer is too old and only has a testing contract (or so I believe) and Schumacher's manager has already said he won't step in for Massa.

I think they'll take up Bourdais in the end, he has very recent experience of the current cars and Ferrari engines. I mean, if they took up Salo last time.....

Hulkenburg is likely under contract with Williams, as are Di Grassi and Grosjean with Renault.
Senna is interesting but unlikely. Sato is likely too.

Ferrari could well use this as a chance to start testing a 2010 car, using Gene to effectively test new parts at each weekend.
 
I know this is most unlikely to happen, but I would LOVE seeing Alonso kick Briatore in the proverbial nuts and sign for Ferrari for the rest of the season, given how this seems to be the most appropriate (if remotely possible) situation for this to happen: If the rumours are true and he's already got a deal with Ferrari, and if Massa turns out to be unable to race for the rest of the season, Renault's sanction could be the perfect excuse for Alonso to do the jump right now.

But yes, that's most unlikely to happen. My next choice would be Gene. The guy's won Le Mans, he deserves enjoying a race or two!
 
Alonso could well try and get in for 1 race if Renault are banned so he can race in front of his home fans. There'd be uproar otherwise!

Besides, if Ferrari are considering signing him for next year it would be a good chance for them to try him out with no commitment to keep him for the rest of the season.
 
None of those people will even score points anyway, so what's the point?
 
chrisbroughton
Alonso could well try and get in for 1 race if Renault are banned so he can race in front of his home fans. There'd be uproar otherwise!
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That's a very good point!

Surely he'd be under contract with Renault though. Couldn't see him being welcomed back after, and if he stayed with Ferrari, and I wonder if there'd be an uproar over "getting rid of Massa at a time like this".
 
PJ-FFL
None of those people will even score points anyway, so what's the point?
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There's a pretty crappy unintended pun in there.

But I'd really like to see Alonso to make the jump to Ferrari now, if we find out that Massa is out for the rest of the season, which it does look so.

The conditions seem all well for Alonso to switch, seeing as how Renault are banned from Valencia GP, and I'm fairly certain the appeal will bounce.

Can you imagine the Alonsomania effect, if Alonso turns up in his home GP in a Ferrari.
 
What would happen to Massa next season though if Alonso stepped in? I'd hate to see Massa side-lined next year because of Alonso coming in, though I suppose it depends on his condition if he even races again.

I have doubts whether Alonso's contract allows him to race for anyone else during this season and I doubt whether Alonso wants to race for Ferrari. Imagine what the atmosphere there will be like at the moment?

I expect Marc Gené in the Ferrari at Valencia, despite Bourdais perhaps being a better choice.
 
Isn't Alonso under contract? I was under the impression that he couldn't just up and leave Renault if he wanted to, and I can't see Briatore letting him go, esp. when he's about to fire his other driver!

Also, Alonso is hardly going to quit just to be a stop-gap driver. If he moves to Ferrari, it will almost certainly be as a permanent replacement, hence bringing him in to replace Massa in the short term would mean that either Massa or Kimi would be out at the start of next season. For that reason alone, I reckon Ferrari will take someone on a temporary basis until the end of the season (or until Massa is fit to return, whichever comes first)...

Unfortunately, Massa's injury puts Ferrari in a bit of a bind - there's a good chance that his number was up anyway (either to be replaced by Alonso or Vettel in the next year or two), but how bad will it look if they replace him while he's still in the hospital?!

edit: Tree'd :dopey:
 
i would really really LOVE to see michael get back in the wheel of a ferrari but not going to happen :(
 
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PJ-FFL
None of those people will even score points anyway, so what's the point?
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That was a pretty immature.



On topic: Marc Gene most likely will get the seat. Luca Badoer has a chance but, Ferrari might put Mika Salo in the seat instead.:ouch: Any other driver that is not with Ferrari has pretty much no chance.

But, it would still be cool to see Sato in a Ferrari seat. :dopey:
 
PJ-FFL
None of those people will even score points anyway, so what's the point?
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But they're bound to score points. Whoever gets to drive the other Ferrari will have KERS, and it's briiillliiiiant!

:rolleyes:
 
The BBC news has reported that Massa has eye damage which may end his career.
 
I read that his brain injury may give him freakish powers to read women's minds and the gift of telekinesis.

And he might return to racing wearing an eye patch, speaking like a French pirate (courtesy of Foreign Accent Syndrome).


"May" and "might" are wonderful words.
 
Famine
I read that his brain injury may give him freakish powers to read women's minds and the gift of telekinesis.

And he might return to racing wearing an eye patch, speaking like a French pirate (courtesy of Foreign Accent Syndrome).


"May" and "might" are wonderful words.
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This was a perfect follow-up to the posts I just read in the "Do You Believe in God?" thread. :D
 
I'm a member of the camp that'd like to see MS hop back in to close out the season. I was never a huge fan of his while he was racing, and I know his manager has already denied it as a possibility... but I'd enjoy it.


More seriously...

I'm pretty sure it won't be Badoer. He's had the opportunity before to get back into a Ferrari race seat and turned it down. He's too comfortable testing.
Gene feels like a greater possibility, but I still feel like Ferrari's interests would be better served looking elsewhere.

As a Canadian I feel it is my duty to suggest...
Jacques Villeneuve?
He's rumoured to be returning to F1 next year, after all. And it'd be great to see him in a Ferrari (but a shame it would not be numbered 27).

The rumour that Renault would be in breach of their contract with Alonso if their appeal to race in Valencia is denied, thereby allowing Alonso to jump ship and put on a red jumpsuit is really interesting. But there's a lot of 'ifs' involved there...

What about Liuzzi?
I know FI doesnt have the same link to Ferrari that it once did now that their engine and drivetrain come from the McLaren Mercedes partnership, but he is an Italian with fairly recent race experience and has driven a 2009 spec car, albeit briefly in the preseason.
I've never liked the guy though, very possibly because he fails miserably at putting his hat on straight 9/10 times.
 
I believe 1999 when Schumacher was replaced by Salo after he broke his legs in a heavy crash at Silverstone. But there may be a more recent incident I'm forgetting.
 
No, '99 was the last time Ferrari had to call up a substitute driver for one of it's cars...Though it has been saud that the 9/11 Terrorist attacks almost made Michael Schumacher quit racing and that Luca Badoer was on call during that season's last three(?) races...

As for possible replacements for Felipe Massa, i'd have to go with Marc Gene. He's Ferrari's official Test/Reserve driver, he's won the Lemans 24hrs AND, with Fernando Alonso's team being suspended for the next race (And with the next race taking place in Valencia, Spain!), the fact that Gene's Spanish wouldn't hurt his chances...
 
That's great news! Speedy recovery, Massa!
 
What about Cameron McConville, He seemed to do alright in the Honda last year. Joke!

I would probably say Marc Gene. Doo Doo would hit the fan if it was Alonso, although saying that Alonso has alegedly said that this year was the worst year for F1, and I don't think he would mind rocking the boat a bit, to help stir the pot.
 
Open Addict
What about Cameron McConville, He seemed to do alright in the Honda last year. Joke!
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Haha, Cam's an awesome bloke, I reckon a couple more practice stints in an F1 car and he'd be a serious contendor, don't tell Webber I said that. :sly:
 
PJ-FFL
That's fantastic news, his season isn't ruined at all.
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Not fantastic news yet. It's still too early to say either way.

Peter Bazso, the hospital's medical director, explained that it was in fact too early to tell if there was any damage because Massa was still unable to open the eye: "We can give no positive neither negative answer to this, because at this stage the vision cannot be examined."
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Why do folk just pick out phrases they want without reading the full article?
 
Autosport
Manager rules out Schumacher return

By Jonathan Noble and Michele Lostia Tuesday, July 28th 2009, 12:50 GMT

Michael Schumacher's manager Willi Weber has moved quickly to deny speculation that the German driver could make a shock return to Formula 1.

With Ferrari set to begin its hunt for a temporary replacement for the injured Felipe Massa, Schumacher's name has been mentioned because of his long-standing links to the Italian team.

The rumours intensified after his spokeswoman said that he would 'consider' any offer to drive the car if the team approached him.

However, following meetings between Schumacher and Weber at the seven-time world champion's Geneva home on Monday, talk of the German making a racing comeback has been dismissed.

Weber told The Daily Mail: "Whoever sits in the car at the next race in Valencia, it will not be Michael Schumacher. I am not 100 per cent sure; I am 200 per cent sure.

"The pressure on him would be huge. He would be expected to win, but he has not driven this car. When Michael was racing he would get as close to perfection as possible. In this case, it would not be perfection; it would be a gamble - and that's not Michael's style."

The news about Schumacher comes on the back of encouraging progress with Massa's recovery at the AEK Hospital in Budapest.

The Brazilian's personal doctor Dino Altman said on Tuesday that he was hopeful Massa's eye had not suffered any damage in the crash - as had been initially feared.

"Felipe has opened his left eye and he can see," Altmann told ANSA. "There's no apparent damage. The eye is morphologically healthy."

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali visited Massa in hospital on Tuesday and was upbeat about how the driver was.

"He has recognised me and told me he can't remember anything," he said. "Felipe is making encouraging progress so we look forward to his return soon. The future? We'll try to understand how he reacts, then we'll take our decisions."
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/77396

I would suggest that Massa has more chance of driving in Valencia than Schumacher. I'd still put my money on Gene though.
 

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