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29th
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Adapted from GMM
Jenson Button thinks staying at McLaren would be the "right thing" for Lewis Hamilton.
"I'd like to see him stay," teammate Button, who is already under contract for 2013, said in Hungary.
"I'd love someone really slow as a teammate, but this place is like home to Lewis, he has been here since the start of his career."
McLaren chairman Dennis this week sounded unlikely to meet all of Hamilton's new contract demands, insisting "It's a question of whether we employ him, not the other way around".
1996 world champion Damon Hill had a word of caution for McLaren.
"His (Hamilton's) value is just going to keep going up and up if he carries on driving like that," the Sky pundit said after Hamilton netted a dominant pole and victory at the Hungaroring.
In the meantime, Button himself didn't do anything to stop the rumours that are sending him out of McLaren - to Ferrari. The 32-year-old Briton is firmly under contract to McLaren for 2013 however. But Autosprint quoted him as adding in Hungary: "Never say never".
All of which prompted Livio Oricchio, the Brazilian correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper who "arrived in Budapest thinking the chances of a renewal for Massa were good" to change his mind.
Rumours of the Brazilian leaving the Italian outfit are growing - almost as fast at the list of potential replacements is expanding, which reportedly includes Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Heikki Kovalainen and even Kamui Kobayashi
The latest development has Kimi Raikkonen shooting straight to the top of the list.
The rumour was given life by team boss Stefano Domenicali, when to Finnish broadcaster MTV3 he said Ferrari's number one Fernando Alonso and the team's departed 2007 world champion share "a lot of similarities".
A team 'insider' had earlier been quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper as saying Ferrari sees Finn, 32, as a better alternative than some of the others on the list to replace Massa.
"Fast, experienced, unpolitical and out of contract at the end of the year. Fernando would have no problem having Kimi as his teammate," he said
But there could be an obstacle, according to British columnist Mark Hughes.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.
The fabled marque's all-powerful Montezemolo and Raikkonen are said to have fallen out badly when the Finn was dropped at the end of 2009, pushing him into world rallying.
Montezemolo is reportedly "resistant to the idea" of Raikkonen coming back, where as the 2007 world champion is said to have "vowed never to work with Montezemolo again", Hughes said.
Jenson Button thinks staying at McLaren would be the "right thing" for Lewis Hamilton.
"I'd like to see him stay," teammate Button, who is already under contract for 2013, said in Hungary.
"I'd love someone really slow as a teammate, but this place is like home to Lewis, he has been here since the start of his career."
 |
| Jenson Button wants his teammate Lewis Hamilton to stay at McLaren (Photo: WRi2) |
McLaren chairman Dennis this week sounded unlikely to meet all of Hamilton's new contract demands, insisting "It's a question of whether we employ him, not the other way around".
1996 world champion Damon Hill had a word of caution for McLaren.
"His (Hamilton's) value is just going to keep going up and up if he carries on driving like that," the Sky pundit said after Hamilton netted a dominant pole and victory at the Hungaroring.
In the meantime, Button himself didn't do anything to stop the rumours that are sending him out of McLaren - to Ferrari. The 32-year-old Briton is firmly under contract to McLaren for 2013 however. But Autosprint quoted him as adding in Hungary: "Never say never".
 |
| Hamilton might be leaving McLaren, but teammate Button might do so too (Photo: WRi2) |
All of which prompted Livio Oricchio, the Brazilian correspondent for O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper who "arrived in Budapest thinking the chances of a renewal for Massa were good" to change his mind.
Rumours of the Brazilian leaving the Italian outfit are growing - almost as fast at the list of potential replacements is expanding, which reportedly includes Sergio Perez, Nico Hulkenberg, Paul di Resta, Heikki Kovalainen and even Kamui Kobayashi
The latest development has Kimi Raikkonen shooting straight to the top of the list.
The rumour was given life by team boss Stefano Domenicali, when to Finnish broadcaster MTV3 he said Ferrari's number one Fernando Alonso and the team's departed 2007 world champion share "a lot of similarities".
A team 'insider' had earlier been quoted by the Sunday Times newspaper as saying Ferrari sees Finn, 32, as a better alternative than some of the others on the list to replace Massa.
 |
| Is Kimi Raikkonen headed back to Ferrari? (Photo: Lotus F1 Team) |
"Fast, experienced, unpolitical and out of contract at the end of the year. Fernando would have no problem having Kimi as his teammate," he said
But there could be an obstacle, according to British columnist Mark Hughes.
Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo.
The fabled marque's all-powerful Montezemolo and Raikkonen are said to have fallen out badly when the Finn was dropped at the end of 2009, pushing him into world rallying.
Montezemolo is reportedly "resistant to the idea" of Raikkonen coming back, where as the 2007 world champion is said to have "vowed never to work with Montezemolo again", Hughes said.