The F1 thread

stickyfiddle

Can we have Danny Ric in red now please? 

I feel like a Sainz-Vettel switch isn’t perhaps more likely and I’d like to see Seb at a resurgent McLaren (i can see Seidl wanting him as I think they’d be a good fit) but I really want to see Ricciardo in a proper car again. 

It would also be good to have Ferrari stop falling over it’s own feet with strategy errors...

I’m not sure who is going to want the Renault seat, unless they have a miraculous late-2020 season.

What are RP/Aston Martin doing re current driver contracts? 

prowla

Ricciardo would maybe go there for the money, but he already left a team which was supporting one of the leading next generation of drivers, so he wouldn't enjoy it and would likely follow Vettel's path in trying to keep up with LeClerc.

Vettel could quit; I think he lost his edge and his ability to focus and/or didn't adapt to the new cars so well, so a top team wouldn't want him.

If it was a year down the road and Hamilton had won another championship he might've considered Ferrari, but LeClerc is their top man, so he wouldn't play 2nd fiddle.

Ferrari don't need an established driver or an older & wiser head, because LeClerc has it; my guess is they will go for another younger driver, who they can tell what to do; they could pretty much point at any of them and say "you!".

Cols

Either McLaren or retirement I think.  

Renault are vulnerable to an exit from F1; with the Concorde agreement expiring at the end of the year and no other teams to supply with engines, they could make a clean break.  Merc has been touted as a possible destination with Hamilton heading to Ferrari, but I don’t think they’ll want to be seen as taking on Ferrari’s leavings now.  Also, there is still the potential for them to leave (at least as a manufacturer team) at the end of the year.

Aston Martin will have Stroll locked in as one of their drivers.  Perez renews his contract on an annual basis as it basically depends on the financial contribution from his sponsors; I believe his backers have given him notice that they expect race wins (and the attendant publicity) in the next few years or they’re gone.  So that could be a possibility, but the depth of Pop Stroll’s pockets are not limitless and I can’t see him absorbing the double impact of the loss of Perez’s sponsorship money and having to pay a Vettel-grade salary.

A return to Red Bull would make the most sense, but Marko has signalled that he doesn’t want to have two top drivers in the team again.

darcym

prowla said:

Ricciardo would maybe go there for the money, but he already left a team which was supporting one of the leading next generation of drivers, so he wouldn't enjoy it and would likely follow Vettel's path in trying to keep up with LeClerc.

Vettel could quit; I think he lost his edge and his ability to focus and/or didn't adapt to the new cars so well, so a top team wouldn't want him.

If it was a year down the road and Hamilton had won another championship he might've considered Ferrari, but LeClerc is their top man, so he wouldn't play 2nd fiddle.

Ferrari don't need an established driver or an older & wiser head, because LeClerc has it; my guess is they will go for another younger driver, who they can tell what to do; they could pretty much point at any of them and say "you!".

If you've ever read Mark Webbers book, there is a sweet irony that Seb is now in the exact position, with the exact problems Mark hard at Red Bull with Seb, Mark made a really honest and good point (I'm paraphrasing a bit) about being used to racing $X number of years, struggling to adapt to the new cars (double diffuser - different braking/power use approach) he just said he didn't have the heart / effort to keep up with Seb and change his driving style and start again. 

He found it better to just bow out.

It's a great read. 

Cols

Mark Webber’s autobiography is a fantastic read.  ‘How to build a car’ by Adrian Newey is also a great look behind the scenes.

Cols

From Vettel’s statement:

“What's been happening in these past few months has led many of us to reflect on what are our real priorities in life. One needs to use one's imagination and to adopt a new approach to a situation that has changed. I myself will take the time I need to reflect on what really matters when it comes to my future.”

Sounds like he’s ready for retirement.

not_the_dj

Vettel for Extreme E (well they're hoping)

stickyfiddle

He made it clear that it's not about money too. Suspect he wants the organisational & strategy side of things to change and Ferrari doesn't want it. Whether that's Leclerc-related, or just more generally to stop them fucking up 50% of their strategy calls we probably won't ever know.

So the question is probably McLaren or retirement. I wouldn't blame him for retiring and enjoying a quiet life, as he seems to be more than happy to when not racing. I'm sure he never needs to work another day in his life.

rocktron

Cols said:

From Vettel’s statement:

“What's been happening in these past few months has led many of us to reflect on what are our real priorities in life. One needs to use one's imagination and to adopt a new approach to a situation that has changed. I myself will take the time I need to reflect on what really matters when it comes to my future.”

Sounds like he’s ready for retirement.

He has a wife and 3 kids, so maybe, as a family man, he is thinking about ending his racing career.

If he leaves Ferrari, he will have to go to a lower, or middle order team. I can't see that happening. Better to take a pay cut and stay at Ferrari.

stickyfiddle

What about Bottas to Ferrari? Super quick and calm, a really nice guy but placid. Then Russell goes up to Mercedes. Stranger things have happened.

I still really want to see Ricciardo get the seat though. Or Sainz could go to Italy and Ricciardo take his McLaren spot? 

boogieman

He looked to have lost a lot of his fighting edge last season, I wouldn’t be surprised if he just packed it in. He seems quite affable and humorous off track, I wonder if he’ll go into race commentating, a la Mark Webber. 

fretmeister

Martin Brundle's tweet:


"Seb definitely talking with at least one other team so this can’t be just about retirement. The release makes it clear it’s not about money. It obviously can’t be about this season’s performance. So must be about status and controls generated from the bruising incidents of 2019"

Boromedic

stickyfiddle said:

What about Bottas to Ferrari? Super quick and calm, a really nice guy but placid. Then Russell goes up to Mercedes. Stranger things have happened.

I still really want to see Ricciardo get the seat though. Or Sainz could go to Italy and Ricciardo take his McLaren spot? 

That actually sounds like a great idea, Le Clerc is a future champion I think so Bottas wouldn't push him like Vettel. Safe seat for them would be better. I'd love to see Lando or Russell in the Merc!

darcym

he's just agreed to actually leave Ferrari 

Fretwired

Boromedic said:

stickyfiddle said:

What about Bottas to Ferrari? Super quick and calm, a really nice guy but placid. Then Russell goes up to Mercedes. Stranger things have happened.

I still really want to see Ricciardo get the seat though. Or Sainz could go to Italy and Ricciardo take his McLaren spot? 

That actually sounds like a great idea, Le Clerc is a future champion I think so Bottas wouldn't push him like Vettel. Safe seat for them would be better. I'd love to see Lando or Russell in the Merc!

But would Bottas want to move from a team with the best car where he can fairly race Hamilton into one in which he would be the number two driver?

Ill-informed gossip says Saintz has signed for Ferrari. I think he'd be a good fit. Possible announcement in 48 hours.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/carlos-sainz-ferrari-4/

stickyfiddle

Yeah, I can see that Bottas might not instigate it but if Merc didn’t renew him it would be a good option. 

I do think Sainz is the most likely. Younger than Ricciardo, really quick (based on last year and his time against Max at TR) and presumably at most half the price of DannyRic. And he’d obviously say yes because it’s trading a team who haven’t had a podium in years for one who won multiple races last season 

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, I can see that Bottas might not instigate it but if Merc didn’t renew him it would be a good option. 

I do think Sainz is the most likely. Younger than Ricciardo, really quick (based on last year and his time against Max at TR) and presumably at most half the price of DannyRic. And he’d obviously say yes because it’s trading a team who haven’t had a podium in years for one who won multiple races last season 

Now Danny Ric at Merc with Hamilton would be entertaining .. :-)

stickyfiddle

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, I can see that Bottas might not instigate it but if Merc didn’t renew him it would be a good option. 

I do think Sainz is the most likely. Younger than Ricciardo, really quick (based on last year and his time against Max at TR) and presumably at most half the price of DannyRic. And he’d obviously say yes because it’s trading a team who haven’t had a podium in years for one who won multiple races last season 

Now Danny Ric at Merc with Hamilton would be entertaining .. :-)

I would love that, but surely they'll bring Russell from Williams if they need someone

fretmeister

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, I can see that Bottas might not instigate it but if Merc didn’t renew him it would be a good option. 

I do think Sainz is the most likely. Younger than Ricciardo, really quick (based on last year and his time against Max at TR) and presumably at most half the price of DannyRic. And he’d obviously say yes because it’s trading a team who haven’t had a podium in years for one who won multiple races last season 

Now Danny Ric at Merc with Hamilton would be entertaining .. :-)

Fretwired said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, I can see that Bottas might not instigate it but if Merc didn’t renew him it would be a good option. 

I do think Sainz is the most likely. Younger than Ricciardo, really quick (based on last year and his time against Max at TR) and presumably at most half the price of DannyRic. And he’d obviously say yes because it’s trading a team who haven’t had a podium in years for one who won multiple races last season 

Now Danny Ric at Merc with Hamilton would be entertaining .. :-)

I would love that too.

Such a great racer.

Fretwired

Vettel to Merc? F1 gossip says Woolf is talking to Vettel ... can't see it working but ..