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quote TVI

Yeah its emerged in the last few days that Brawn can't afford to resign Button until/if Mercedes come on board. Hamilton is making noises about wanting Button as his team mate too. I'd love it if it did happen TBH.

quote Styot

I'd be pretty disappointed in Button if he left brawn for more money TBH. Would be putting money over success in my opinion.

quote Perfect Hit

hope Button's move happens, make next season very entertaining.

quote TVI

quote Styot

I'd be pretty disappointed in Button if he left brawn for more money TBH. Would be putting money over success in my opinion.

If he went to McLaren he'd have a much better chance for success

quote Styot

That remains to be seen. I guess Brawn could bomb next year but there isn't really any way of knowing if McLaren will of over taken them next year, plus he will be number 2 to Hamilton.

The reason Brawn were good this year is because they were using all Honda's development from when they gave up on 2008. You could see by the in-season development (or lack thereof) that they probably don't have the budget or personnel to compete with Ferrari, McLaren or Red Bull. I would be very, very surprised if Brawn were title contenders again next season. If Mercedes come on board they would have the funds to be a top team going into the future, but that probably wouldn't include 2010.

The size and scale of the operations McLaren and Ferrari have mean that they will almost certainly be at, or very near, the front of the grid next season with the minimal rule changes. You only have to look at the development of McLaren in particular as this season went on: in Silverstone they had possibly the worst car on the grid, now they go into every GP as possible winners. I'd say McLaren have now overtaken Brawn this season.

Button probably would be unofficially number two to Hamilton (McLaren always say they don't favour either driver), but in all honesty I think he'd probably want to be in a car that gave him a chance to defend his title than labour away for a season in the hope that it might come good again in 2011 if Mercedes came on board. The consensus is that Button could be the man to beat with the new refuelling regulations because his smooth driving style is very kind to his tyres.

Jenson has made some appalling career choices over the course of his time in F1 (leaving Benetton/Renault just before they became championship winners, very nearly joining Williams just as BMW dumped them. I think we can probably rest assured that whatever Jenson does, the opposite would have been the best option .

Persionaly I think Alonso will be ahead of Massa.

quote Styot

Persionaly I think Alonso will be ahead of Massa.

I think they will be evenly matched.

Felipe Massa is very underrated as a driver and has already seen off one more illustrious team mate in Kimi Raikkonen, but I think Alonso will just have too much for him. Raikkonen wasn't a guy who needed a team to be built around him, but Alonso likes being the main man. I don't think it will take long for Alonso to assert his authority over Massa.

Kobayashi will get the Toyota drive next season I reckon. I thought he did very well in Brazil and was definitely thoroughly entertaining (if a little dangerous). He looks a better option than Nakajima at least, and we all know how much Toyota want to have a Japanese driver associated with them in some way. I reckon it could be Raikkonen and Kobayashi at Toyota next year - Toyota are probably being coy about saying they can't afford Kimi's wages: they know he probably won't get more than they're offering on the open market and they are just biding their time.

Here's how I think the teams will line up in Australia next year:

Brawn:
Rosberg
?

Red Bull (confirmed):
Vettel
Webber

McLaren:
Hamilton
Button

Ferrari (confirmed):
Alonso
Massa

Williams:
Barrichello
Hulkenberg

Toyota:
Raikkonen
Kobayashi

Force India (confirmed):
Sutil
Liuzzi

Renault:
Kubica
Kovaleinen

Toro Rosso (confirmed):
Buemi
Algasuari

Who knows about the new teams, but I would have thought Trulli, Glock and Heidfeld would definitely get drives.

With more teams, they'll be looking for drivers. Any news on new drivers coming in? I hope Schumi makes a return somehow, or DC

DC won't, he's probably too comfortable as a pundit on the BBC. I doubt he'd find a drive anyway after his performances in 08.

Rosberg has announced he's leaving Williams, no surprises there then.

Also, I've just seen something about the salaries the drivers earn in F1 (link). Here is the list of the top earners:

1. Kimi Raikkonen $45m
2. Lewis Hamilton $18m
3. Fernando Alonso $15m
4. Nico Rosberg $8.5m
5. Felipe Massa $8m
6. Jarno Trulli $6.5m
7. Sebastian Vettel $6m
8. Mark Webber $5.5m
9. Jenson Button $5m
10. Robert Kubica $4.5m
11. Heikki Kovalainen $3.5m
12. Nick Heidfeld $2.8m
13. Timo Glock $2m
14. Giancarlo Fisichella $1.5m
15. Sébastien Buemi $1.5m
16. Rubens Barrichello $1m
17. Jaime Alguersuari $0.5m
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi $Nil
19. Adrian Sutil $Nil
20. Romain Grosjean $Nil
21. Kazuki Nakajima $Nil


No wonder nobody will employ Kimi on a salary like that, that's mental. He gets paid more than most of the other drivers put together. Can't believe Rosberg is the 4th highest paid driver as well - he's good, but I wouldn't have thought Williams could afford to pay those wages.

$45m, Thats insane.

27 million more than 2nd top earner

How on earth Kimi managed to wangle a deal like that for himself is beyond me. When he joined Ferrari he hadn't even been a world champion. If Ferrari had gone out and got Alonso to replace Schumacher then you could understand it, but to pay wages like that... It just beggars belief in all honesty.

so 4 drivers dont get paid? how they eat?

It's probably just under $1m.

This is correct because JB earns £3m..
Google says:

quote

5 million U.S. dollars = 3.03748253 million British pounds

Therefore, Kimi earns:

quote

27.3373428 million British pounds

That is A LOT. For someone of his stature. Wow.

quote Dazzla

so 4 drivers dont get paid? how they eat?

They have their own sponsorship deals which would give them money. Good to see there's nobody paying their way in now like there used to be in the 90s with guys like Pedro Diniz (who in all fairness was an above average driver).

haha i remember diniz, being on fire and it sounded funny when people said it cos it sounded like "dinners on fire"...

and who would want to sponsor nakajimmy.. he never scored points lol...

also i dont see kimi in toyota, toyota said they aint willing to pay kimis high wages that he demands and jenson will stay in brawn even tho i want him to go mclaren to make SUPER ULTIMATE AWESOME TEAM with lewis but i think rest of yo list is pretty accurate