Scuderia Shuffle: Sebastian Vettel rumored to drive for Ferrari
What a tangled web we weave. Scuderia Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Vettel is one of the only drivers in Formula One who doesn't have a manager, and the rookie has no plans to change that despite an increasingly complicated entanglement of contracts between several teams now being reported in the motorsport media.
Vettel was a test driver for BMW Sauber the past two seasons before moving in to replace Scott Speed at the Red Bull b-squad last year, coming in an impressive fourth place at the Chinese Grand Prix. Reports suggest that Vettel is still contracted to both BMW and Red Bull, but that's not the end of it. Rumors are now circulating that he could be called up to Ferrari –Toro Rosso's engines supplier – next season. Although most reports are indicating Vettel could replace Felipe Massa, the more likely scenario could see Vettel move to Maranello as a third driver, sharing testing duties with Ferrari's two race drivers and acting as a back-up. Such an arrangement would be similar to the one that brought
[Sources: GrandPrix.com and F1-Live, Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
L.Wood 11:51AM (3/21/2008)
I am paying attention, and I am still confused. With many within the F1 community looking for ways to spice up the races, maybe instituting a musical drivers scenario would suffice. It would involve drivers drawing lots each race weekend to see who gets to drive what car. We could have Kimi and Lewis duking it out in Super Aguri and Team India cars while Adrian Sutil and David Coultard do battle in Ferrari and McLaren cars.
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srDRIVEN 12:08PM (3/21/2008)
don't look now L.Wood, here comes Sato in the BMW Sauber!
ericnorsworthy 12:31PM (3/21/2008)
Heh, that would spice it up. Until Kimi or Lewis got stuck in one of the lower budget cars.. I see the controversy now.
tuna 12:17PM (3/21/2008)
I have a feeling that this is nothing more than fiction. Unthinkable for a talented kid like Vettel to not have a business manager.
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Colonel Guaranty 1:04PM (3/21/2008)
Agreed. On a related note, I can never understand why people seem to view Massa as a third rate driver. I wouldn't put him in the elite tier of drivers, but he's definitely deserving of his ride. He was also the key to last year's win in Brazil by Kimi.
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gary 1:24PM (3/21/2008)
Did anyone ask Massa's opinion?
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Richard 1:16PM (3/21/2008)
Massa's contract runs through 2010 - the Scuderia extended it last year.
Raikonnen's runs through 2009.
I could see Vettel coming in as the test driver developing to be a team member in 2010 or 2011. Luca Badoer and Marc Gene may not be around for ever either, though they are clearly well integrated into the team.
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hashiryu 2:24PM (3/21/2008)
BMW still has an option on Vettel, I don't think he'll be going to Ferrari unless BMW don't want him or Ferrari are willing to pay big $$ to Red Bull
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pmiddle5 8:17PM (3/21/2008)
Massa and Raikkonen are both completely secure but Ferrari would love to score a potential super star and groom him a bit more. Get him ready to take over Raikkonen's spot when he retires as Raikkonen has hinted. Maybe not take Raikkonen's spot but hopefully Massa will have matured enough to be the number 1 driver he has showed promise of but has continually failed on.
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