It's hard to believe it's possible to open such a thread with only 1/4 of the 2012 F1 season complete.. But there is significant news. Talk of Schumacher retiring and di Resta being on the radar of Mercedes. What are your thoughts? Should Schumi retire? Could di Resta match Rosberg if they were to team up in 2013? Could Hamilton be a bigger blip on Mercedes radar if McLaren do not get his fortunes turned around in 2012?

Di Resta on Mercedes' radar to replace Schumacher (from espnf1.com)

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Mercedes CEO Nick Fry has admitted that Paul di Resta would "undoubtedly" be one of the drivers that the team would consider to replace Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher has had a poor season so far, scoring just two points despite the Mercedes W03 having proven itself to be a race-winning car in the hands of Nico Rosberg. With Schumacher's contract up at the end of this season, Fry admitted that di Resta would be near the top of the list to replace him if the seven-time world champion decided not to sign a new deal.

"Of course Paul's on our radar," Fry confirmed to Sky Sports. "He's done a fantastic job; he's a nice guy, he's a great team player and he'd be one of the drivers undoubtedly that if Michael were to decide he didn't want to continue we would certainly look at. We haven't reached that time yet in our thinking but we all have a lot of admiration for Paul."

With Schumacher only having finished two races this season and yet to cross the line higher than tenth, Fry admitted an upturn in fortunes was likely to be needed in order for him to continue racing.

"Michael's going to want to win. I'm sure if we get to the end of this year and it continues as it has done in the last few races he'll probably be asking himself [if he wants to continue] but there is plenty of time to go and we're not making any decisions yet."

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Brundle, on SKY TV during quail, said Mercedes may offer Hamilton 150million over 5 years.. Is there anymore to this? Did anyone else hear it?

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All I want is to see Kimi back at McLaren, but I don't think it'll happen

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I thought the exact same at the beginning of the season, Rich. Especially with their display at Australia. But my opinion of McLaren has eroded since the beginning of the season.

It has been a silly season. Very silly. If I look at it on the whole right now: I scratch my head wondering how McLaren is not leading the championship. Hamilton has lost so many points this year to strategical decisions and put stop blunders that it's hard for me to want Kimi there next year. They have been phenomenal at developing the car throughout an F1 season. But it is not the same level of professionalism in that team since Ron Dennis took a back seat..

A terrible google translation of a Kulta article... it involves everyone!

Subject F1 , 24.05.2012 15:08, heikki.kulta

At this point, usually via the F1 driver market singahtelevat rumors here and there. When the relative strengths of the teams have thrown somersaults (about a donkey as a bridge between Red Bull's superiority downward turn), seem to choose to contract with kuskitkin vitkuttelevan solutions.
In general, folded in a battle that Felipe Massa and Michael Schumacher could drive through the last. Just to pass the time I kept asking your neighbor here in Monte Carlo harbor the press rooms, either they believe are likely to more likely hyvästelevän now the Monaco track.
Brazilian long-line F1 writer Livio Oricchio shakes his sad expression spectacles behind his head.
- Massa driving for Ferrari at the end of and after the cars to stall somewhere in the world. There's attitude, he does not kick much. The mass is even more difficult than the case of Rubens Barrichello in due course.
- Mass in Brazil has become persona non grata. Read my blog fans are submitted by Ferrari's wish to get rid of the mass. They find that the mass is a disgrace to Brazil. I guess we are going to be the same trend as the roads in Finland a couple of years ago, that the interest in F1 as a whole has begun to decline rapidly, Oricchio said.
- Only now, on Wednesday, Massa admitted for the first time for me, that is suffering from mental problems due to Fernando Alonso. He has always gone to beat his team mate, but has continued for half a second coat. It would have been needed Eddie Irvine approach to things, that accepts to be slower, and then doing their own work in the best how.
As such, a Brazilian journalist's brother believes strongly in Schumacher's F1 career on its last pull.
- But I have to apologize to Kimi Räikkönen's fans in Brazil and elsewhere, when I used to believe his career is over, and, moreover, he predicted, at least half a year settling time upon his return to these tracks. Kimi has shown that all my doubts were completely wrong, and what driver he is!
Oricchion ahertava next to the TS's assistant Luis Vasconcelos nods that it shared the fate of the pulp.
- Mass know already to be outdoors. Schumacher's case again would require a team to inform him that he needed. He is not from the other source. I think Ross Brawn has made their own conclusions. Nico Rosberg has "murdered" Schumacher, says Vasconcelos.
- I do not think either of these lords is involved, but if you have to say, whichever is more reliably outdoors, then the mass, says a British journalist Bob McKenzie.
McKenzie pressihuoneessa is known as a man, who prefer to ride Schumacher quizzes her interviews into a corner by, would not it be time to notify the cessation already.
- I asked about last Wednesday, but his cloak behind it, a car that could win and that's why he does not think of anything else. The fact is that he is doing, and where Rosberg car can not win, then it is Nicolas.
Michael Schmidt, a German to translate the thumbs down to the case of pulp.
- Let's continue with Michael. He does not have anything else in life. Similar to those of other masters. Just ask Kimi Räikkönen, what else could he do than to race. Mercedes does anyone square enough to say, Michael, thank you and goodbye.
Italian Marco Evangelisti settles the only common front against.
- Even if the mass does not continue at Ferrari, I think he found a place for some smaller teams. Schumacher's case I do not see an option that he would drive further next year.
- Stock output depends on the fact that the Ferrari team to find the right guy, Fernando Alonso. I do not think there anything Mark Webber and Jenson Button would be coming. A young driver they have the sights and the period from the beginning is rumored to Sergio Perez, visit. If Sauber is to price them in the clouds, Perez could very well take the place of mass, Evangelisti said.
Are there readers of this column, or to support the fight against Massa and Schumacher for future development?

What an article about Webber. I'm trying to wrap my head around how little sense it makes! ha" title="haha" />

The author says there are two things a driver wants to do: 1 win Monaco 2 drive for Ferrari .. Are either as important as winning a championship?! " title="doh" />

And his conclusion to the article is having Vettel as a team mate is a hard task.. I don't think it would be nearly as hard as going up against Fernando in Maranello. He is engulfed in the Ferrari team and well situated. I'm sure the car is developed to his liking and input. Webber is well suited to Red Bull. And is very much in the hunt for a WDC. I can't make sense of the " title="ferrari" /> move. But crazier things have happened!

Webber may win the WDC this year and retire on top. Who knows? " title="dunno" />

more speculation about hami on bbc....

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Speculation starts early over Hamilton's future

Andrew Benson | 14:57 UK time, Monday, 28 May 2012

Lewis Hamilton's future was the subject of fevered discussion at the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend as the driver market 'silly season' began in earnest.

Hamilton is out of contract with McLaren at the end of this season and, at 27, his career is at a crossroads, with arguably the most important decision of his life looming.

Hamilton is heading into his prime as a grand prix driver. With good reason, he regards himself as the fastest in the world and it pains him that he has won only one world title so far.

That came in 2008 and it has not escaped Hamilton's attention that since then, at least until the start of this year, McLaren had not provided him with a car that was truly competitive enough.

This season started promisingly, with McLaren locking out the front row at the first two races and Hamilton on pole in both. But since then their form has dipped, particularly in the last three races.

Hamilton is still very much in the title race, but he left no-one under any illusions about his feelings after his fifth place in Monaco on Sunday.

It used to be the case that discussions about drivers' futures did not start until July and August. No longer. Teams and drivers will say publicly that it is far too early to discuss it. What they mean is that it is too early to talk about it to the media; behind the scenes a lot is going on.

Hamilton's future is tied up with that of Red Bull's Mark Webber and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher and also, to some extent, Webber's team-mate Sebastian Vettel.
It is widely believed that all four top teams are interested in Hamilton - at least to the point of holding talks with his management.

McLaren definitely want to keep him and have made that clear to both Hamilton himself and his management team - but no substantive negotiations have taken place and no financial offers made yet, despite reports to the contrary. Mercedes are known to have him seriously on their radar as a potential replacement for Schumacher. The picture at Ferrari and Red Bull is slightly less clear.

There was a rumour going around in Monaco that Ferrari were keen on signing Hamilton for next season in place of Felipe Massa, whose time at the team is expected to end this season.

That seems unlikely for one obvious reason - Fernando Alonso is contracted to Ferrari until the end of 2016. There is huge mutual respect between the two - each regards the other as their biggest rival - but that's very different from wanting to be team-mates again.

When they were at McLaren in Hamilton's debut year in 2007, it did not go well, to put it mildly, and Alonso ended up leaving at the end of the season - just one year into what had been a three-year contract.

Alonso's problem was far more with McLaren boss Ron Dennis than it was with Hamilton. Nevertheless, it is unlikely he would want Hamilton to be his team-mate again - and Ferrari is very much his team these days.

Equally, Hamilton would have to think carefully about moving to a team where he does not speak the language - even if the debriefs are conducted in English and there is an English ex-McLaren technical director - and where a man as clever, cunning and political as Alonso has been ensconced for three years.

Nevertheless, Hamilton would be highly attractive to Ferrari's main sponsors, the cigarette company Philip Morris and Spanish bank Santander, who could drop McLaren if they had an English driver at Ferrari. Together, they could basically afford to pay him whatever he wanted.

The problem with this is that a normally impeccable source close to Ferrari says the team only want a one-year driver in 2013, as they have a pre-contract with Vettel for 2014.

This pre-contract, the source says, is two-way - ie, either party can exercise it - and is performance-related. Ferrari need to be at least third in the constructors' championship at a specific stage of next season to bring it into effect.

However, a senior Red Bull insider says this is "nonsense", that they have Vettel under contract to the end of 2014.

The favourite for the expected vacancy at Ferrari is Webber, who is coming towards the end of his career and may well be interested in a year or two at Ferrari to finish it off.
Red Bull team boss Christian Horner asked rhetorically in Monaco: "Why would he want to leave?" But there are several potential reasons.

It would vastly increase Webber's post-F1 earnings potential and he would relish the chance to test himself against Alonso, a friend whom Webber regards as the best driver in the world.

Webber would not expect to beat him - in fact, he would almost certainly have to go to Ferrari on the understanding that Alonso was number one - but he would enjoy ruffling the Spaniard's feathers from time to time, as he almost certainly would.

If Webber were to leave Red Bull, that would leave a vacancy Hamilton could potentially fill.

Horner has always sounded lukewarm about taking on Hamilton, pointing out that it would raise the tension in the team as he and Vettel went toe to toe.

But ultimately it's not his decision - it's that of Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, and the marketing value of pitting Hamilton against Vettel would be enormous.

And if Webber did leave, who else would Red Bull get? Even if Vettel is under a firm contract to the end of 2014, that's still only two years away - at which point they would still need a guaranteed top-line driver if he left.

Theoretically, Red Bull are committed to progressing their junior drivers, but Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne do not look ready for that sort of promotion yet.

Then there is Mercedes, whose decision is complicated by Schumacher.

Team boss Ross Brawn said in Monaco that he would like the seven-time champion to stay on as long as he is competitive, but there have been internal questions about whether - and how long - he will remain so.

Schumacher's commercial value to Mercedes is huge. But they have to ask themselves whether they are potentially harming their competitive position with their driver line-up - few in F1 would argue they would not improve it by recruiting Hamilton, Alonso or Vettel, who is also of long-term interest to the team.

Hamilton's decision is not just about driving, either. Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes would all almost certainly be able to pay him more than McLaren can afford to offer. And McLaren's portfolio of sponsors makes it almost impossible for Hamilton's team at Simon Fuller's XIX Management to raise money from private deals.

Ultimately, though, Hamilton will surely base his decision on competitiveness.

The best way to guarantee that in the last 20 years has been to drive wherever Adrian Newey is designer, which is Red Bull. Or does Hamilton bank on Mercedes continuing to raise their competitiveness (and, for that matter, staying in F1, which is far from a foregone conclusion at the moment)? Or take a risk on joining Alonso at Ferrari, should a seat be available?

Or does he stick with what he knows and trust the team with which he has been associated since he was 11-years-old to finally get it right, but potentially reduce his earnings potential?

Hamilton has some tough decisions to make in the next few weeks.

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Martin brundle weighs in on Hamilton's options for 2013..

Brundle: Hamilton has four choices
Thursday 31st May 2012

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Martin Brundle believes Lewis Hamilton has four options available for next season but his main choice is between home comforts and "fresh oxygen".

Out of contract at the end of this season, Hamilton could opt for his McLaren career to draw to an end despite the Woking team putting a £60m offer on the table.

The new deal reportedly runs for three years but could be extended and could also include space on his overalls for him to sell thereby increasing his yearly wages.

However, McLaren are not Hamilton's only option.

With three top teams, Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes, all having a space open for next year's Championship the Brit, who entered F1 back in 2007 under Ron Dennis' guidance, could yet switch outfits.

"It's contract negotiation time but the question is where could he go?" Brundle said in an interview with Sky Sports News.

"Mercedes-Benz are starting to go very well and he has a strong relationship with them... Ferrari (are another option), but would Alonso have him there?

"Red Bull, but would Vettel have Hamilton there - or will Vettel indeed be there given there's talk of him moving to Ferrari?"

But while Hamilton may have four options, Brundle reckons it boils down to two choices; home comforts or a new adventure.

"He's comfortable at McLaren but will he fancy a bit of fresh oxygen by going somewhere else? I imagine he's weighing that all up at the moment."

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I personally think Hamilton will stay at McLaren or go to Mercedes. I can't see a switch to " title="ferrari" /> or pairing up with Vettel at " title="rb" /> .

The " title="ferrari" /> option I think is pretty obvious. We would be hearing a lot more than "YOU NEED TO LEAVE A SPACE!!" from Alonso over the team radio if Hamilton went sailing by in a red car.. And " title="rb" /> . Well, I personally think Seb and Webber will be pairing up again in 2013. The Webber move to Ferrari doesn't make much sense to me. So I'm not sure Hamilton will even have the Red Bull option available. But I think the option of going to Mercedes is looking more likely as McLaren continually give Hamilton reasons.

McLaren's start to the season was very promising. They looked untouchable in Australia. And have looking everything but since. It's a stark comparison to the team whose in-season development was arguably the most competitive over the past half-decade. In fact, I think McLaren have done the worse job of developing their car out of the top 5 constructors (Rb, Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Lotus). In addition, McLaren have not looked as disciplined in the pit lanes as they have in recent years. Bahrain being the major case in point.

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Jun.1 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton may already have decided to quit McLaren, according to a reliable source.

That is the claim of the French TF1 television commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, writing in his Auto Plus column.

It emerged recently that McLaren has offered the 2008 world champion - whose current contract runs out this year - over $30 million a season to stay at the British team for five more years.

But Moncet said "one of my best sources" is reporting that Briton Hamilton has effectively already decided to leave McLaren at the end of 2012 "and even earlier if the situation does not improve".

British newspapers reported after Monaco that Hamilton was angry at the end of last weekend, the 27-year-old insisting "the team definitely have some work to do" to cut out errors and return to the pace.

Moncet said there has been "serious contact between McLaren and Paul di Resta", the rising Force India driver who ironically is managed by Hamilton's father Anthony.

Referring to the speculation surrounding Hamilton at present, former driver, driver manager and respected British commentator Martin Brundle noted: "He's comfortable at McLaren.

"But will he fancy a bit of fresh oxygen by going somewhere else?" he wondered to Sky Sports. "I imagine he's weighing that all up at the moment."

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http://www.motorsport.com

ok Rage!! " title="hug" />