Much have been said about the 2013 season and the Ferrari team. Right now I think any formula one driver, fan and even detractor of the sport knows that despite all the nice things Ferrari have said about how they care and trust Felipe Masa and how confident they are that he will be up to form once again, Felipe Masa will have to look for another seat for next year’s championship. Of course neither the team and obviously the driver haven’t said anything about this until negotiations are at least 80% done. Now this brings us to the big question who is that driver that will take his place? is it a current formula 1 driver? is he a gp2 driver? is he a nascar driver? nahh just kidding.
The question is yet to be answered, but taking some clear facts into consideration I will try to guess who will it be between three of the youngest yet experienced and talented drivers out there without contract for next year.
Hamilton: Hasn’t arrived to an agreement with his current employer Mclaren but I don’t think he is thinking about leaving the team in the years to come. Mclaren has been his employer since he was 12 years old and was the team who gave him this big opportunity to drive in formula one. Despite having some toughs years after winning the 2008 championship together, they now seems to be the team to beat. Therefore my friends I don’t think Hamilton will step out of a Mclaren to go to the struggling Ferrari team. However If time proves me wrong, as I said in this post, Ferrari will have to make special contracts for both drivers to make it very clear and avoid having the issues these two had in the past.
Sebastian Vettel:enjoyed 2 wonderful years, after becoming the youngest 2 time World Champion in two consecutive years, he too could be another option. Redbull Racing (former Jaguar Team) prepared themselves to be this successful team for several years, therefore all hasn’t been left to the luck, they currently have the best engineer in the class in the person of Adrian Newey and counting with this kind of assets in your team is invaluable, if not ask Fernando Alonso. This is why I think Seb will just take it easy and renew his contract with Red Bull, after all, he still young and he can in a couple of year move to another team if he wanted to.
Sergio Perez: <=====This is who I think will be the Ferrari driver for next year championship. With that being said… here is why I think he seems to be the best option. Let’s be clear Sergio Perez is already a Ferrari Driver via the Ferrari’s young driver academy, that, is one reason. They have tested him in a couple of times now and said to be very pleased with the results- “He is very mature for his age, displaying an understanding that goes beyond the time he has spent driving single-seaters”-. Beyond all that, he backed up all the theory in a wonderful 2nd place obtained in the Gran Prix of Malasya this year. In races like that is where viewers and teams get the change to spot this type of drivers with cool head with potential to deliver in precious times. Engineers love this quality because this allows them to plan a race strategy knowing that the driver will play their roll as expected.
Today 04.30.2012
there have been rumors linking Mark Webber with a contract to drive for Ferrarinext year. I still believe that Sergio Perez will be the one to occupy that spot for next year due to his big talent and the fact that his is very young. However If this Mark Webber deal end up being true I don’t think he will be contracted for more than 1 year or 2 at least. That way Ferrari will still have the spot for the young Sergio Perez in the future. We will keep following up on this story, that will start to heat up through the season.