Rubens replacement ?

[Steven Roy]

Steven, I'm sure you remember how A D used to p*ss on Jenson Button in Karts and in FF and F3.

Actually I don't.  I remember Sato thrashing Ant in F3 and winning the championship by a mile when they were team mates though.  In today's commentary Ant mentioned that Sato had the best record ever in F3.  He neglected to mention that he was his team mate and had the same team and equipment.

[SennaMan]

why change ya team when nothings broken?

BRAWN would be stupid to remove Ruebens - he is driving better than ever, especially in Qualifying and Jenson admits to copying RB's set ups!

[johnbull]

And Rubens could well have won today's race had Ross favoured him with the strategy.

But today's race really showed what a brilliant strategist Ross is. He changed Rubens strategy so as to keep his two drivers apart during the long middle stint, only to get them back together for the final few laps to take first and second.

Sheer brilliance.

[Monty]

Just for the record Rubens remained on the original (and theorectically quicker) 3-stop strategy, Brawn changed Button to a 2-stop strategy to avoid getting held up by Rosberg.
What lost the race for Rubens was the very slow times he managed on his last set of soft tyres. If you look at his lap times he was running almost two tenths slower per lap than earlier stints.
I do not know what Rubens contractual position is, but I'm sure Brawn will be looking for a younger driver when (and only when) Rubens contract expires. He is the oldest man on the grid and probably too old to continue in F1 much longer.
Although I really rate Davidson, I doubt he will even be in the list of possibles. Assuming Brawn continue with their current success they will want a young but proven and current F1 driver rather than risk someone without recent F1 experience.

[Willy]

With the Ferrari sabre rattling about a 2010 pullout, I can hear Kimi dialing Ross's number for a seat.

[Jericoke]

Just for the record Rubens remained on the original (and theorectically quicker) 3-stop strategy, Brawn changed Button to a 2-stop strategy to avoid getting held up by Rosberg.
What lost the race for Rubens was the very slow times he managed on his last set of soft tyres. If you look at his lap times he was running almost two tenths slower per lap than earlier stints.
I do not know what Rubens contractual position is, but I'm sure Brawn will be looking for a younger driver when (and only when) Rubens contract expires. He is the oldest man on the grid and probably too old to continue in F1 much longer.
Although I really rate Davidson, I doubt he will even be in the list of possibles. Assuming Brawn continue with their current success they will want a young but proven and current F1 driver rather than risk someone without recent F1 experience.

Athletes are playing longer in all sports.  I don't see why Rubens couldn't keep his current pace into his 40s.  It's not unheard of for F1 racers to win championships at that age!

[johnbull]

Athletes are playing longer in all sports.  I don't see why Rubens couldn't keep his current pace into his 40s.  It's not unheard of for F1 racers to win championships at that age!

Fangio won his first of many championships aged 40, but to be fair, times are changing - there were no 19 and 20 year olds in F1 in those days. It's just that the average age keeps coming down. Clark won his forst championship aged 24 or 25, Hamilton won at 22. It keeps coming down.

[Monty]

Look.....I wish I was as young as Rubens! However, I still do a bit of racing and I know how knacke tired I get even in the lower classes of racing. The g-forces the F1 drivers have to withstand are immense. It is probably more accurate to compare them to boxers than athletes. I can't remember if it got transmitted but I saw an interview with Nigel Mansell when he admitted that even when he was still an Indy driver he was probably not fit enough to be an F1 driver.
If Rubens is fit enough and mentally alert enough to go on and win races then good luck to him, I just doubt that he will be able to continue very much longer.

[Alianora La Canta]

As long as Rubens carries on as he is, Brawn would be sensible to keep him. Maybe he won't be champion (but I can't rule that out for 2010 whatever happens in psuedopolitics-land) but he is a solid racer who can be there when Jenson isn't. Brawn needs someone like Rubens as well as someone like Jenson.