Silly Season 2016/2017

[Vasconia]

Magnunssen at Renault
Occon to Force India.
Wehrlein to Williams.

It sounds ok to me. And this could keep the doors of Renault opened for Sainz in 2018.

But what will happen with Bottas?

What is so special about Bottas?

Nothing in particul but I thought he had secured a seat.

[Vasconia]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat ... at-840683/

Some speculation about the FI seat, Kvyat, Ocon and Palmer well regarded, Wehrlein not so much.

But what will happen with Bottas?

Bottas will either drive for Williams or Renault next year.

I would be happy if Kvyat secures a seat. He is a very good driver and he deserves another chance to show his talent.

[Facts Only]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat ... at-840683/

Some speculation about the FI seat, Kvyat, Ocon and Palmer well regarded, Wehrlein not so much.

I said dont discount the possibility of Palmer to FIF1. He may have no personality and only modest funding but they took DiResta for 3 years and he makes Palmer look like Hugh Hefner

[skoop]

Why is Ocon rated higher than Wehrlein by FI?
To be honest I haven't been paying to much attention to them, so I can't really judge them.

[sauberfan]

German Motorsport-total claims that Renault is quite close to signing Bottas for 2017!

http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news ... 02115.html

That would mean the following:

Williams:
Stroll
Nasr? Wehrlein?

FI:
Perez
Kvyat? Ocon?

Renault:
Hülkenberg
Bottas

[basti313]

Why is Ocon rated higher than Wehrlein by FI?
To be honest I haven't been paying to much attention to them, so I can't really judge them.

Wehrlein did not really outperform Ocon in Q and has only a small edge in the race. quite good for stepping in in the middle of the season. I see a situation like Ric-Ves.

[hemichromis]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat ... at-840683/

Some speculation about the FI seat, Kvyat, Ocon and Palmer well regarded, Wehrlein not so much.

But what will happen with Bottas?

Bottas will either drive for Williams or Renault next year.

I would be happy if Kvyat secures a seat. He is a very good driver and he deserves another chance to show his talent.

Would be great for him, Does anyone believe it likely that he might get promoted to Red bull again?

[FrukostScones]

German Motorsport-total claims that Renault is quite close to signing Bottas for 2017!

http://www.motorsport-total.com/f1/news ... 02115.html

That would mean the following:

Williams:
Stroll
Nasr? Wehrlein?

FI:
Perez
Kvyat? Ocon?

Renault:
Hülkenberg
Bottas

Stroll/Nasr would be a disgusting Line-Up (worse than Maldonado/B.Senna (MAL proved to be a star driver later (last Willimas Victory evr?)

crazy Mika Salo runor is that Stroll people don't want have Lil Jr beaten. So BOT is uunder scruteneering. hahaha

RIP Williams. (if true)

[Manoah2u]

Yeah , it's really aggrovating to see Williams 'return' this lousy path. Puts Massa's leaving into a different light to be honest. The Stroll deal surely has been 'decided' much longer ago.

2014 Williams looked on the return. Decent performance, and a decent pairing; Massa and Bottas, after having lousy Maldonado in there, and backfielding despite big paychecks.
Seems like there is some deep underlying problem at Williams. Probably the non-presence of Patrick Head to be honest. I do wonder how much positive influence Toto Wolff had on
williams, just by being 'connected' there atleast through Susie Wolff.
I can only see Williams go down the drain again.

[ChrisDanger]

Bottas: "I've very much enjoyed being in the team... I wouldn't mind doing more, but let's see what's going to happen."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqenqDtxAHQ&t=590

Sounds like he's moving.

[Fulcrum]

As I mentioned somewhere else, if there is decent money on the table from Renault, Bottas should take it.

Hulkenberg and Bottas are in fairly similar career situations; not rookies, not part of the old generation, not regarded as A-list drivers. It very well may be the case that only one of the two could get a big name drive in the future (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull,...); a direct comparison may precipitate that decision faster.

A comparison with Hulkenberg would also provide more upside potential than staying with Williams. Bottas would struggle to look 'good' against a rookie 18 year old, even if he were completely dominant. If it were anything less than that, his options to move would diminish rapidly.

[iotar__]

Yeah , it's really aggrovating to see Williams 'return' this lousy path. Puts Massa's leaving into a different light to be honest. The Stroll deal surely has been 'decided' much longer ago.

2014 Williams looked on the return. Decent performance, and a decent pairing; Massa and Bottas, after having lousy Maldonado in there, and backfielding despite big paychecks.
Seems like there is some deep underlying problem at Williams. Probably the non-presence of Patrick Head to be honest. I do wonder how much positive influence Toto Wolff had on
williams, just by being 'connected' there atleast through Susie Wolff.
I can only see Williams go down the drain again.

Didn't check DNF etc. except fot Brazil (memory) but this is your 'lousy' Maldo against rookie Bottas - finishing in front:
- Maldo: GB, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Japan, India, Abu Dhabi, Brazil (that was Ham crash so shoud go to Bott), Bahrain, Spain
- Bottas: USA, Korea, Spa, Canada, Monaco, China, Malays, Aus
Second part of the season is particularly interesting and there were several GPs (memory) where Maldo drove circles around Bottas in the races (pace, finishing pos., gaps). You (or the rest) can check 2012 yourself for more lousiness .

I don't understand dragging Patrick Head into it at all. Reasons: they had bad cars with him, age (pointless), recent successes without him, Symonds.

- Bottas '17: I think that he's trying to get the most out of Williams deal using Renault. If I'm wrong for Williams to lose him would be Lotus/Renault level of incompetence.
- From driver's point of view (excluding length of contract, get out clauses etc.) Renault because of money will be sooner or later quicker than FI, Williams. The question is how soon. Considering 3 top teams + perhaps McLaren we're talking about 8-10 places at best in '18 rather than '17 plus some risks.

[Sevach]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat ... at-840683/

Some speculation about the FI seat, Kvyat, Ocon and Palmer well regarded, Wehrlein not so much.

I said dont discount the possibility of Palmer to FIF1. He may have no personality and only modest funding but they took DiResta for 3 years and he makes Palmer look like Hugh Hefner

He doesn't seem to rate his chances of staying at Renault however.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/palme ... it-840918/


As for Stroll shouldn't we give a chance to the F3 champ before declaring crap?
Yes he has a rich dad, but many of the drivers in F1 have rich families, connections and/or backing from a huge company from a young age.

[ChrisDanger]

As for Stroll shouldn't we give a chance to the F3 champ before declaring crap?
Yes he has a rich dad, but many of the drivers in F1 have rich families, connections and/or backing from a huge company from a young age.

I'm reading Damon Hill's autobiography. In the late 80s he was trying to get into F1 and Eddie Jordan told him he needed to bring in money if he wanted a ride. It's beginning to look like everyone in the entire history of F1 is a "pay driver".

[efuloni]

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/kvyat ... at-840683/

Some speculation about the FI seat, Kvyat, Ocon and Palmer well regarded, Wehrlein not so much.

I said dont discount the possibility of Palmer to FIF1. He may have no personality and only modest funding but they took DiResta for 3 years and he makes Palmer look like Hugh Hefner

He doesn't seem to rate his chances of staying at Renault however.

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/palme ... it-840918/


As for Stroll shouldn't we give a chance to the F3 champ before declaring crap?
Yes he has a rich dad, but many of the drivers in F1 have rich families, connections and/or backing from a huge company from a young age.

That's not all. His title in f3 means very little, considering he drives for Prema, by far the best team. In F3, Prema had all the champion drivers since 2012 and won all team titles since 2013. Here is the list:

2012: Juncadella
2013: Marciello
2014: Ocon
2015: Felix Rosenqvist
2016: Stroll

Why does Stroll title means more than others? It simply does not. Williams is behaving as a small team. The boy wouldn't be the best choice ever for Manor. Stroll may be good, but he simply didn't show enough to be in f1.