Schumacher declares interest in McLaren drive

Ralf issues McLaren declaration

Ralf Schumacher has thrown his hat into the ring to fill the McLaren Formula One drive vacated by Fernando Alonso.
"It's no secret that the seat at McLaren-Mercedes is by far the most coveted there is," the 32-year-old German told Bild am Sonntag newspaper.

"Every driver out there in the market would love to sit in their super car."

The younger brother of F1 great Michael Schumacher won six grands prix at Williams before moving to Toyota in 2005 where he failed to shine.

He has been replaced for next season by compatriot Timo Glock.

McLaren have yet to decide who will partner Britian's Lewis Hamilton in 2008, but are thought to favour a younger driver.

Nico Rosberg (Williams), Heikki Kovaleinen (Renault) and Adrian Sutil (Spyker) have all been linked with the seat.

But Williams have told McLaren that Rosberg is going nowhere, Kovaleinen could be retained by Renault, and Sutil is admired by Spkyer's new owner, the Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya.

[news.bbc.co.uk]

You didn't think I meant Michael did ya?

i did actually you cheeky bastard

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Hehe same here but I'd read the story before so I could kinda guess ya meant Ralf...just had to check though . It gets confusing at times. Schumacer could mean either Michael or Ralf but when you say Michael you could either mean Sam or Schumacher (as I've been caught out many times)...my head hurts lol.

About the article though, we have a discussion going on in the 2008 season thread about this...but my general thoughts are that when Ralf has a good car, he tends to perform well. I can't exactly see McLaren having a bad car next year so in my eyes he would be a good driver to have. People tend to judge him on his recent Toyota drives which, imo, dont mean much as he's not had any motivation for at least a year now. In his Williams years he looked quite promising. Also, it would please Mercedes having a German driver...after all, they couldn't have Nico, so they might as well have ralf.

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ill eat my pubic hair's if Ralf goes to Mclaren

It has been a while since we had such a long wait for top cockpits to sort out for the
next season. Usually it was done before current season final GP, and only the likes of
Spyker, STR, Super Aguri were left to be decided this late.

This year we have Alonso issue and IMO that is what everyone is waiting for.
If Alonso goes to Renault, Kovalainen will go to Mclaren
If Alonso goes to Red Bull , Webber will be going to Mclaren, or even Renault
with Kovalainen moving to Mclaren.
If Alonso takes sabbatical, Kovalainen will stay at Renault, Webber will stay at
Red Bull, and Mclaren could opt for RS, PDLR or someone else.

Reason why Renault has not confirmed it's driver lineup could lead to conclusion
that they are waiting for the outcome of the spygate nr2 and if they got 100m USD fine
they won't be able to afford Alonso, because their financial situation is considerably
weaker than Mclaren's. There were talks that signing Alonso will lure new sponsors to
Renault but apparently it is not happening. Other reason is Carlos Ghosn who want stability
inside the team so he wants Alonso to sign a three year deal which is too long for Alonso who
has aspirations to drive Ferrari from 2009 on.

The bottom line is that Alonso holds the keys for all remaining top cockpits and until his drive
is sorted out we won't know who will be Mclaren number 2 driver.

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NeilPearson Wrote:
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> ill eat my pubic hair's if Ralf goes to Mclaren

Just got off the phone to Ron. I've offered to pay his salary on their behalf.

if McLaren hasn't offered the contract for Ralf so far they wont' do it anymore.McLaren has few options...Kovalainen,Bruno Spengler,Gary Paffet and well that's it really....most likely it will be Heikki but we will know it soon.

gav Wrote:
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> NeilPearson Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ill eat my pubic hair's if Ralf goes to Mclaren
>
> Just got off the phone to Ron. I've offered to pay
> his salary on their behalf.


rofl im sure you could afford it to

im hoping webber goes to mclaren, much more deserving then ralf, although ralf was pretty fast in 2001 compared to montoya, and did get 6 wins for williams. mclaren could go for him as a cheap option, with experience number 2 status to hamilton. i think webber could give hamilton a run for his money, he is very professional and very fast, but i think hes time has maybe passed and hes too old, moving to williams was probably his worst career move. id be sad for webber if he went to mclaren and just endup up being a nobody like fisichella is at renault while teammates are winning championships.

Still holding out for Fisichella to go to McLaren I think I've got more chance of being hit by a meteorite, but I'm still keeping fingers crossed.

As for Ralf pitching for the McLaren drive, if ever proof were needed that he believes himself to be far better than he actually is, this is it.

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I'm not sure on this one - Ralf has shown some speed in the past, and Macca could do with someone with his experience alongside Lewis given his inexperience - Heikki and Nico are both better drivers than Ralf IMHO - but I'd imagine neither could add anything near as much technical know-how as Ralf. However, i'd say Fissy is probably the best bet out of the currently available drivers - he's faster than Ralf, and also has the experience to help drive developement forward and assist in set-up work. Suprised that PdlR hasn't had more mention in the press - he's been more than competent when he's raced for Macca in the last couple of years, and has tons of experience - especially in recent Macca's

gary42 Wrote:
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> Suprised that PdlR hasn't had more mention in the
> press - he's been more than competent when he's
> raced for Macca in the last couple of years, and has
> tons of experience - especially in recent Macca's

Competent perhaps, but I just don't think he's been fast enough. I just can't see him getting 2nd places behind Hamilton, whereas I can see Ralf (providing the car is to his liking) or Heikki. He was an excellent racer, but this recent trend of going for a testing job in a top team just doesn't work for me. None of the drivers who've done it have come back as good as they went in. I'd go as far as saying they've all lost 1/3 of a second over an average lap.

ralf to mclaren would be very interesting if it happens at all.i still think pedro dela rosa will be racing for mclaren alongside hamilton.

alonso is in real trouble with renaults future uncertain with the spying issue.redbull and toyota could afford him but will alonso be willing to join these teams for a single year and spend most of the time in the midfield?

a sabbatical for alonso looks unlikely.the spanish motorsport authority and bernie eccelstone would definitely want him in f1 to keep the spanish audiences happy.



Raja Hassan Bin Naeem.

Guys, Heikki is already going to Mclaren...no space left for Ralf there.

A few weeks ago Mclaren turned him down straight away!

Next rumour please...

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Joe_Satriani Wrote:
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> Guys, Heikki is already going to Mclaren...no
> space left for Ralf there.

Both are very fast, but Mclaren seriously needs an experienced driver. IMO Heikki wouldn't be a good choice, not yet. I'd place Ralf in the seat since he's a much better addition in the technical aspect, which would greatly benefit Lewis.

experience is overated Heikki is a good tester ...alot of thanks to him is that Renault won both titles in 2006.

vesuvius Wrote:
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> experience is overated

No, it's not.

vesuvius Wrote:
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> Heikki is a good tester

Yes but a tester job isn´t equal than a driver job. He lost the 2005 GP2 Championship...

Other example, Luca Badoer is a great tester in Ferrari, but when he never scored points during his F1 carrer

RonnyF1 Wrote:
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> Joe_Satriani Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Guys, Heikki is already going to Mclaren...no
> > space left for Ralf there.
>
> Both are very fast, but Mclaren seriously needs an
> experienced driver. IMO Heikki wouldn't be a good
> choice, not yet. I'd place Ralf in the seat since
> he's a much better addition in the technical
> aspect, which would greatly benefit Lewis.

I'm not indicating what McLaren should do. I'm just saying what will happen.