The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce that Pascal Wehrlein will complete the team’s driver line-up for the 2017 Formula One World Championship. He will race alongside Swede Marcus Ericsson who continues with the Swiss team.
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Manoah2u wrote:Ocon, Nasr, Kvyat, Sirotkin, Wehrlein all potential drivers for Renault still. Plenty to choose from, just not exactly what they most definately need.
Well, there's still Maldonado!
I would add Hulkenberg to this list and remove Ocon and Wehrlein. Both are Merc drivers and will stay Merc drivers as Wolff will try to keep them.
Additionally I do not think Kvyat will get a seat next year and I do not expect too much motion on the market. So if Hulk stays also the rest will stay except for the clear replacements (Massa, Button, Kvyat).
I thought Hulk was already confirmed at Force India, but i may be wrong there.
Also, i think Hulk won't switch so much anymore. I think his F1 days are starting to reach their end, and again,
from his side. I think he personally is going to concider favouring DTM, Endurance, or North American racing instead.
I can see him going to HAAS actually.
Kvyat i'm not so sure about as he might bring a certain amount of sponsorship interest to the table through his Russian origins, but that's pure guessing.
I dont think he's neccesarily got any blazing talent to live on, but to be honest, i do think he is more talented than palmer, magnussen, ericsson, etc. So that
might be something to concider for Renault.
And Ocon and Wehrlein may be Merc drivers, in the end, if somebody steals them away, they're gone. Money will be a decisive factor here, but then again,
a team might wonder; do we go for the cheaper guaranteed mediocre palmer-magnussen, or do we pay a couple extra and go for the proven competitive wehrlein
or ocon? Not that i see them as such, but i dont have the data the teams have.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
"Perez had been a target of the Renault team, but the French manufacturer wanted a firm three-year commitment – something the Mexican was not willing to accept as he targets a Ferrari seat for 2018."
As previously mentioned.
So Sergio turns down a long-term contract and practically guaranteed No.1 driver status with a works team because "Ferrari will definitely want me in 2018"...
I like Perez but that seems a little arrogant.
Meanwhile Grosjean is still sitting in the Haas having left future-Renault to try for Ferrari's 2017/2018 seat himself.
"Perez had been a target of the Renault team, but the French manufacturer wanted a firm three-year commitment – something the Mexican was not willing to accept as he targets a Ferrari seat for 2018."
As previously mentioned.
So Sergio turns down a long-term contract and practically guaranteed No.1 driver status with a works team because "Ferrari will definitely want me in 2018"...
I like Perez but that seems a little arrogant.
Meanwhile Grosjean is still sitting in the Haas having left future-Renault to try for Ferrari's 2017/2018 seat himself.
If I were Perez I'd go with Renault over staying at FI. Renault will be spending a lot more and (hopefully) this will translate to a more competitive car over the course of a few seasons. FI is really impressive that they've been able to achieve this much with such a small budget, but I think I'd still sign up with Renault if I were Perez.
Favorite Team: Scuderia Ferrari
Favorite Driver: Nico Hülkenberg
A little surprised with this IMO the best Perez can hope for is NO.2 status in ferrari. He'd be better off as number 1 in Renault, Maybe not next year but 2018/2019?
I really don't see the appeal of Ferrari, they just seem unable to put together a winning car. I'm looking at the Mclaren-Honda development and i'm thinking(hoping) that next year, perhaps towards the end, Alonso will be proved right and Mclaren will be beating Ferrari.
hemichromis wrote:I'm looking at the Mclaren-Honda development and i'm thinking(hoping) that next year, perhaps towards the end, Alonso will be proved right and Mclaren will be beating Ferrari.
That won't prove anything. He must win the championship, otherwise he will be just as empty-handed as Ferrari.
I think Perez is right to stay at Force India for the moment, but keep his options open for 2018. Renault might still want him by then, or even Ferrari if Kimi stops.
To be really honest, I think Perez is actually doing the best desicion.
I do think Renault is going to build a far more potent car in the 2-3 year time window, but i have doubts they will make another guaranteed WDC potential vehicle. They'll have to compete against Mercedes, Mclaren-Honda [who will likely be far more up there before they, renault, will], RedBull [ no matter what, red bull still has a highly better staff then renault has, including the team leaders and personnel, dont forget the total exodus at lotus just a year of 2, ago ], and Ferrari is not going to sit still either. Ferrari won't magically produce a championship car from nothing, but they still are right there in the front.
At best, Renault is able to find a way to pass Williams and Force India and mingle in behind Mercedes, RedBull, Ferrari and Mclaren. To me, that means that in for them hopefully 2 years time from now they'll be aiming at P4 in the constructors. I dont see how Sergio would benefit from going away from a still very well functioning Force India with the powerful Mercedes engine, to undoubtedly going to the back of the midfield with a huge question mark on how they are going to advance and whether he'll like and fit with the enstone team.
Force India is financially going in a much better situation next season AND they have a better scale model for their future cars, which can only mean that they'll atleast be at the same grid pos they're now in and hopefully even a little better. Sounds great choise to me.
He's shown some great capability, and the question is, where would that get him the best location? I would choose to go to Ferrari a million times over Renault knowing that Ferrari surely will grant him atleast a GP win or 2 in about 2 years time as of 2018, with perhaps - not likely but not impossible - a WDC capable machine, though i dont think Perez has his mind fully set to being a WDC. I think he knows all to well that with the likes of Hamilton, Vettel and Rosberg [in a good car] arond, he's not going to come out on top. He's good, very good perhaps, but i don't think he's able to beat Hamilton and i'd doubt he thinks he himself could. So i think he'd settle with something prestigeous, and what's more prestigeous than racing for Ferrari, winning in a Ferrari? ESPECIALLY for Mexicans, with all do respect.
Winning in a Ferrari vs winning in a Renault does give quite the different feeling, let's be honest.
And again, it all remains to be seen if Renault is going to be able to beat Ferrari, Mercedes, Mclaren and RedBull.
From all choises, Ferrari is more likely to actually achieve that.
At the beginning of this year they were in a MUCH better shape then they're in now, they completely destroyed it for themselves by absolute hideous and completely out-of-reality tactics,
and playing it far to safe when there could have been opportunities and doing weird things where they had zero chance.
Last year they won.
When was the last time Renault / Lotus was in that position?
I think Perez does have a shot at Ferrari. He's been part of their program before, he's been around maturing as a driver, he clearly has lots of speed, and though Ferrari has a wealth of money available, they wouldnt shy away from a gigantic paycheck from Carlos Slim and sponsors.
Ferrari would do great i think by pairing with Carlos Slim in Mexico and LatinAmerica, and Perez is a very capable guy. Also, it would be a very wise and tactical move too to deny the competition that money.
Imagine Perez going to Renault, and Carlos Slim putting several tens of millions in a sponsorship deal, perhaps a hundred or what over a few years span. That would help Renault , bringing their own money along, to have more resources and thus climb up the ladder more.
Deny Renault that opportunity by signing him to Ferrari, means renault is not going to get those 100 or so million over 2, perhaps 3 years span. Good luck finding somebody to bring that kind of money AND not destroy the entire car, AND also have talent. So signing Perez is only doing themselves a huge favour.
It would make the choice in going with Perez or Grosjean for example a really, really, reaaaaaaaly easy deal. Thanks for your interest Romain, we'll go with Sergio instead.
The BIG question however for 2018 is who ELSE will be available, and i'm thinking, there is a very good possibility that Hamilton will take on the reds in 2018.
I think that depends the most on 1) Whether he will win the title this year or not.
and 2) What will happen next year. will he have another run of unexplainable technical nonsense, will he have to deal with dirty britney again? 3) how will the merc be next year compared to Ferrari and RedBull, and what prospects are there for 2018? and not the least 3) what will vettel do?
I think 2018 Kimi is most certainly out. So that's a spot free. Question is, Will Vettel also leave? If so, then I think a Hamilton-Perez pairing is very well possible.
If anything, I wouldnt be surprised to see a Renault switch for Rosberg for 2018, pairing him to Ocon, and Rosberg demanding a Nr.1 driver status.
Meanwhile, i still see Vettel putting his helmet in the closet and walking off. Resulting in a Hamilton - Perez at Ferrari in 2018,
Wehrlein - Ricciardo at Mercedes, and a Verstappen - Gasly at RedBull with Vandoorne - Alonso at Mclaren.
Or perhaps we've been looking at a completely wrong direction.
Tensions in the Merc garage are high.
How about
Perez - Rosberg at Mercedes ?
Hamilton - Vettel at Ferrari ?
or
Perez - Wehrlein @ Mercedes,
Hamilton - Ricciardo @ Ferrari
Verstappen - Alonso @ RedBull
Rosberg - Ocon @ Renault
Vandoorne - Sainz @ Mclaren
you heard it here first.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
hemichromis wrote:I'm looking at the Mclaren-Honda development and i'm thinking(hoping) that next year, perhaps towards the end, Alonso will be proved right and Mclaren will be beating Ferrari.
That won't prove anything. He must win the championship, otherwise he will be just as empty-handed as Ferrari.
It would mean he'd be staying and Button comeback circus would be avoided (probably).
A. It's not good at all, made to measure at specific targets to help the others. "French corporate entity" "For all of France's unionist ways" Bell, Chester, Permane, Dyer, Palmer - all clearly French. It's not their job but lack of "structure".
B, Now they're so smart? They should have been writing those articles 10 months ago. I don't recall any F1 journalist getting worried when they stupidly lost RG and then Maldonado which meant they changed the only element that worked in this team. Leaving all the failing parts intact including worst drivers management in F1. The one that actively worked against their biggest assets (people that claimed that losing free practice affects only pride).
Instead of warnings about the car, technical staff problems and half a years lost they wouldn't be able to buy back at any cost media were full of copy/paste grandiose plans and 'Mercedes size budget', Meanwhile Sky expert claimed that Palmer and KM was 'one of the strongest line-ups in F1' and the latter was sold as "future world champion" by Vasseur (French to be fair).
hemichromis wrote:I'm looking at the Mclaren-Honda development and i'm thinking(hoping) that next year, perhaps towards the end, Alonso will be proved right and Mclaren will be beating Ferrari.
That won't prove anything. He must win the championship, otherwise he will be just as empty-handed as Ferrari.
I think Perez is right to stay at Force India for the moment, but keep his options open for 2018. Renault might still want him by then, or even Ferrari if Kimi stops.
Sadly I can´t read the article.
He is being smart but also risky, because his goal is Ferrari and we dont know if the door will remain open for him. Perhaps he has a contract signed for 2018 who knows, but if Ferrari chooses another driver he could loose all the good options.
Last edited by Vasconia on 05 Oct 2016, 10:13, edited 1 time in total.
NR44 Ferrari Vettel replacement, yes please. But please, bring the yellow Senna-tribute helmet back, please.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
?? aaaah sorry, i meant NUMBER. not Nico Rosberg obviously lol. oughh.....shivers.
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
and the latter was sold as "future world champion" by Vasseur (French to be fair).
