F1 Silliness

It's all abuzz in Formula 1 today, with the futures of Kimi Raikkonen, Michael Schumacher, Valentino Rossi and others being discussed. Apparently, we can expect an announcement on Kimi's future at this weekend's San Marino Grand Prix at Imola. If Kimi makes the move to Ferrari, does that mean Juan-Pablo Montoya's seat at McLaren is now safe (since the Woking team has already signed Alonso)? Rumour has it that JPM is not happy there, and is considering a switch to mid-pack runners Red Bull. And what of Michael? After talking about retiring at the end of this year, his rumour-mongering manager Willi Weber is talking of two-year extensions. Crash.net floats the idea of Schumacher the elder heading back to Renault, where he spent much of his early F1 career. That would leave a seat open at Ferrari for MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi or current 2nd driver Felipe Massa. It would also have Giancarlo Fisichella and Renault's whiz-kid Heikki Kovalainen fighting for the coveted second seat.

When all is said and done, it would be nice to see Schumacher bow out gracefully at the end of '06, Rossi come to F1 to prove he is the greatest racer the world has ever seen, Kovalainen step into a full-time ride and Montoya continue to show how someone could make Nigel Mansell seem to be "not complain-ey at all".

As for the race itself.... who cares? The silly-season talk is often more exciting than the on-track action.