Silly season 2016

[ScottB]

You have to wonder with Ron, maybe it's like with Bernie, clinging to old tactics even after they've stopped working.

Quite what he gains from throwing Alonso into the media fire, who knows. I can't see who gains from it.

[iotar__]

Major twist in F1 drivers market . Mercedes thinking about changing "drivers". "Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg warned they could be dropped" http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... be-dropped

Five seconds after Rosberg is beating Hamilton comprehensibly they need driver changes and "atmosphere" is suddenly bad. When was this perfect atmosphere? Perhaps before German GP when LH was announcing that Rosberg is not really German, or maybe when two races in a row he was pushing his team mate off track? Then it wasn't a problem at all, it was all good fun and competitive drivers were very useful. Marketing driven circus strikes again.

So which driver would replace Rosberg, I mean "one of the drivers" because he's too good and Hamilton can't beat him and it affects Merc cars sales, sorry my fault I mean because of the atmosphere? May I suggest Raikkonen who after another complete failure of a race brought up the fact that atmosphere at Ferrari was much better without Alonso's politics. Imagine the nerve to say that.

[The_table]

There is no way that they will drop Hamilton so he's basically allowed to be horrible to Rosberg and there is nothing that merc will do, but if Nico starts to push things they will probably drop him without hesitation....shame.

But if they do try to act nice to eachother this could make for some really funny passive agressive press conferences.

[Manoah2u]

who's to say it'll be rosberg who'll get sacked?

though Lew has a contract till 2018, that means squad when he gets sacked.
Rosberg might have a contract till end '16 and quite frankly, i'm not thinking he's going to stay in F1 anymore if next year he doesn't battle for the championship again [in his opinion fair and square and win it].

But, since singapore the car has changed in favor of Rosberg significantly, and though it's true things might turn to hamiltons set up again in AUS 2016, there is offcourse the possibility that this setup change is not only a result of the tire pressure 'gate' , but if Mercedes has decided to go a different direction as of 2016, preparing to go all out in 2017, and they simply 'know' they can't build (or wont) build a car to Ham's preferences then what are they going to do?

How about a crazy one here:

Alonso @ Mercedes mid-season 2016 when things go haywire between Nico and Lew, and shocker! Lew gets the boot
Lewis > Ferrari [ they'll kick out Kimi like they did before and with Prost ]
Alonso > Mercedes [ thank you come again! ]
Vandoorne > Mclaren

how about that stuff

[F1NAC]

Major twist in F1 drivers market . Mercedes thinking about changing "drivers". "Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg warned they could be dropped" http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... be-dropped

Five seconds after Rosberg is beating Hamilton comprehensibly they need driver changes and "atmosphere" is suddenly bad. When was this perfect atmosphere? Perhaps before German GP when LH was announcing that Rosberg is not really German, or maybe when two races in a row he was pushing his team mate off track? Then it wasn't a problem at all, it was all good fun and competitive drivers were very useful. Marketing driven circus strikes again.

So which driver would replace Rosberg, I mean "one of the drivers" because he's too good and Hamilton can't beat him and it affects Merc cars sales, sorry my fault I mean because of the atmosphere? May I suggest Raikkonen who after another complete failure of a race brought up the fact that atmosphere at Ferrari was much better without Alonso's politics. Imagine the nerve to say that.

so basically they warned Rosberg to keep calm otherwise after his contract ends at the end of next season he's gone?

PS. I didn't want to open new topic but today WMSC approved 2016 calendar which will feature 21 race. Biggest changes in calendars are: Sochi is moved for May, Hockenheim is after Hungaroring, Malaysia is moved for October. I wonder if they will allow teams to use 5th power unit without penalty. I remeber that there was talking about adding one more PU if calendar consist of more than 20 races

Code: Select all

20 March Melbourne
3 April Bahrain
17 April Shanghai
1 May Sochi
15 May Barcelona
29 May Monte Carlo
12 June Montreal
19 June Baku
3 July Red Bull Ring
10 July Silverstone
24 July Hungaroring
31 July Hockenheim
28 August Spa-Francorchamps
4 September Monza
18 September Singapore
2 October Sepang
9 October Suzuka
23 October Austin
30 October Mexico City
13 November Interlagos
27 November Abu Dhabi

[henra]

...when things go haywire between Nico and Lew, and shocker! Lew gets the boot

Not going to happen. Think Business (and F1 nowadays is pure Business, - nothing else- as sad as it is):
They hired Lewis not only for being quick (which he undoubtedly is) but also for placing Merc better in certain markets. Lewis being Non-German and not a White Upper Class child brings a huuuuge Marketing/Image Bonus for Merc in many regions across the world. Nico can easily be replaced by a similar Marketing Story and it's a complete Non-Story in the first place. Lewis is contrast is an excellent Marketing Story especially for Mercedes. This game is a Billion Dollar game for a Company like Mercedes. They don't do this for fun or because they love Motorsports. They are driven by Shareholders.

[ScottB]

Major twist in F1 drivers market . Mercedes thinking about changing "drivers". "Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg warned they could be dropped" http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... be-dropped

Five seconds after Rosberg is beating Hamilton comprehensibly they need driver changes and "atmosphere" is suddenly bad. When was this perfect atmosphere? Perhaps before German GP when LH was announcing that Rosberg is not really German, or maybe when two races in a row he was pushing his team mate off track? Then it wasn't a problem at all, it was all good fun and competitive drivers were very useful. Marketing driven circus strikes again.

So which driver would replace Rosberg, I mean "one of the drivers" because he's too good and Hamilton can't beat him and it affects Merc cars sales, sorry my fault I mean because of the atmosphere? May I suggest Raikkonen who after another complete failure of a race brought up the fact that atmosphere at Ferrari was much better without Alonso's politics. Imagine the nerve to say that.

'Can't beat' is a bit, well, nonsensical isn't it? I mean come on, we should, or should hope to be, above such a response.

This statement works on a number of levels, but I'd say it boils down to:

• Keeping them both in line. We haven't seen any Monaco / Spa '14 type shenanigans this year because Nico only started beating Lewis after the title was in the bag. If he his able to challenge from the get go next year, this is simply a reminder to them both.

• Hint to the driver market (read Max Verstappen presumably) that a Merc seat may open up in 2017.


I wouldn't be surprised to see Nico get replaced, his contract expires first, both of them are entering the latter stages of their careers, I could see Merc moving for a 'future team leader' like Max, get him in alongside Lewis for a year or two before he then retires / leaves.

[Manoah2u]

...when things go haywire between Nico and Lew, and shocker! Lew gets the boot

Not going to happen. Think Business (and F1 nowadays is pure Business, - nothing else- as sad as it is):
They hired Lewis not only for being quick (which he undoubtedly is) but also for placing Merc better in certain markets. Lewis being Non-German and not a White Upper Class child brings a huuuuge Marketing/Image Bonus for Merc in many regions across the world. Nico can easily be replaced by a similar Marketing Story and it's a complete Non-Story in the first place. Lewis is contrast is an excellent Marketing Story especially for Mercedes. This game is a Billion Dollar game for a Company like Mercedes. They don't do this for fun or because they love Motorsports. They are driven by Shareholders.

Agreed BUT!

they already sort of achieved their success and brand image through Hamilton.
they might expand that by going with Alonso. just an idea.

either way......

what if......

Rosberg gets the boot

and ALONSO goes there

Hamilton & Alonso - AGAIN!

[Nathanael F1]

Major twist in F1 drivers market . Mercedes thinking about changing "drivers". "Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg warned they could be dropped" http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/ ... be-dropped

Five seconds after Rosberg is beating Hamilton comprehensibly they need driver changes and "atmosphere" is suddenly bad. When was this perfect atmosphere? Perhaps before German GP when LH was announcing that Rosberg is not really German, or maybe when two races in a row he was pushing his team mate off track? Then it wasn't a problem at all, it was all good fun and competitive drivers were very useful. Marketing driven circus strikes again.

So which driver would replace Rosberg, I mean "one of the drivers" because he's too good and Hamilton can't beat him and it affects Merc cars sales, sorry my fault I mean because of the atmosphere? May I suggest Raikkonen who after another complete failure of a race brought up the fact that atmosphere at Ferrari was much better without Alonso's politics. Imagine the nerve to say that.

so basically they warned Rosberg to keep calm otherwise after his contract ends at the end of next season he's gone?

PS. I didn't want to open new topic but today WMSC approved 2016 calendar which will feature 21 race. Biggest changes in calendars are: Sochi is moved for May, Hockenheim is after Hungaroring, Malaysia is moved for October. I wonder if they will allow teams to use 5th power unit without penalty. I remeber that there was talking about adding one more PU if calendar consist of more than 20 races

Code: Select all

20 March Melbourne
3 April Bahrain
17 April Shanghai
1 May Sochi
15 May Barcelona
29 May Monte Carlo
12 June Montreal
19 June Baku
3 July Red Bull Ring
10 July Silverstone
24 July Hungaroring
31 July Hockenheim
28 August Spa-Francorchamps
4 September Monza
18 September Singapore
2 October Sepang
9 October Suzuka
23 October Austin
30 October Mexico City
13 November Interlagos
27 November Abu Dhabi

So does that mean Hulkenberg will not be able to complete in Le Mans 2016? On F1.com there is mention of rescheduling the Baku race...?

[ME4ME]

So does that mean Hulkenberg will not be able to complete in Le Mans 2016? On F1.com there is mention of rescheduling the Baku race...?

He won't be able to anyway. Both Audi and Porsche have scaled back from running 3 cars to running only 2 cars at Le Mans next year.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122046

Also Porsche has confirmed they will run their usual 6 drivers, which leaves Tandy, Bamber and Hulkenberg without a drive.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122049

This also means Alonso taking a sabbatical year looks even less likely.

[Cold Fussion]

If there's one constant in F1 in the last 10 years it's that Hamilton will have a bad relationship with his team mate. For team bosses that hire drivers like Hamilton and Alonso they need to be aware that they will get endless stream of drama and to not be constantly surprised by it (like Toto Wolf constantly seems to be).

[The_table]

If there's one constant in F1 in the last 10 years it's that Hamilton will have a bad relationship with his team mate. For team bosses that hire drivers like Hamilton and Alonso they need to be aware that they will get endless stream of drama and to not be constantly surprised by it (like Toto Wolf constantly seems to be).

Did he have a bad relationship with Jenson?

These are the best drivers in the world and merc are already double world champions, they have nothing to worry about besides the competitiveness of their rivals.

Putting a new "slower" driver in a second car could cost them the WCC and would DEFINITELY make the season even more boring...

[GPR-A duplicate2]

If there's one constant in F1 in the last 10 years it's that Hamilton will have a bad relationship with his team mate. For team bosses that hire drivers like Hamilton and Alonso they need to be aware that they will get endless stream of drama and to not be constantly surprised by it (like Toto Wolf constantly seems to be).

When was the last time you saw two really fast team mates, going wheel to wheel gunning for race victories, were partying together after races? At least I don't. Lewis did not had problem with Heikki or Jenson. Unless a driver is in Michael or Vettel's position where the team mates are genuinely second rate.

[Vasconia]

I cant see this happening because Rosberg is more like Button. Not like him exactly but he is calmer and he thinks more carefully what he says than Lewis. If justice exists Lewis should be the fired guy(if someone should be fired), because he does Little to keep a good atmoshere inside the team. But he is the nº1 of the team and he will finish his contract.

[ScottB]

I cant see this happening because Rosberg is more like Button. Not like him exactly but he is calmer and he thinks more carefully what he says than Lewis. If justice exists Lewis should be the fired guy(if someone should be fired), because he does Little to keep a good atmoshere inside the team. But he is the nº1 of the team and he will finish his contract.

Based on what exactly? Outwardly at least, Lewis seems to have a good relationship with the team I would say, out with Nico.

But then if you've got two guys fighting for the title tooth and nail, it's inevitable things will get frosty. Lewis had perfectly friendly relations with Heikki, Button and, indeed, Nico, until they became each other's only real threat. That's perfectly natural for both of them.