Silly Season 2018/2019

[marmer]

I wonder whose son Force India will hire on merit and who will be his cherry picked team-mate?

F1 - sandbox for billionaire's talentless offspring and marketing eggshells, including "programs". Absurd driver situation should be the major talking point for Brawns, Careys etc. Is it? No, who needs talent on track when you can create one in media.

Now Marko "denies veto rumours" - told you, the farce continues.

If force India become a b team for mercedes they might keep ocon as he brings discount on engines.

[Phil]

well, either way, with Stroll with one hand in the pot, it will be difficult for either Ocon or Perez to retain his drive. Perez has sponsorship backing him, Ocon the Mercedes link. I somehow think if it was up to Stroll, it would be Perez who will stay at FI (assuming Stroll gets the seat there) and then Ocon would have to be put in Williams.

[WaikeCU]

My sources told me that Verstappen put veto on Sainz, but he has only one veto to put and now team decided to bring Alonso to teach him a lesson and to evaluate how good Verstappen is.

Quite telling for a driver that hasn't won a championship yet to put a veto on who is going to be his teammate. I only remember former champions who have done such things.

[FrukostScones]

My sources told me that Verstappen put veto on Sainz, but he has only one veto to put and now team decided to bring Alonso to teach him a lesson and to evaluate how good Verstappen is.

LOLz, surely that Honda PU will fail then in RB cladding.

[jjn9128]

How I see the 2019 grid working out

Mercedes - Hamilton / Bottas
Ferrari - Vettel / Raikkonen*
RBR - Verstappen / Gasly**
Renault - Riccicardo / Hulkenberg
Haas - Magnussen / Perez***
McLaren - Alonso / Sainz
Toro Rosso - Hartley / Vandoorne/Norris****
Sauber - LeClerc / Eriksson
Williams - Sirotkin / Russell*****
Force Stroll - Stroll / Ocon******

* I'd like to see LeClerc given a chance, but something just feels like Raikkonen's going to be given another year. If Raikkonen does hang up his helmet then LeClerc here with Giovinazzi at Sauber.

** I think the Sainz/Verstappen issues all stemmed from them competing for Kvyat's seat at the top team, even so I think Red Bull will want to avoid issues with the 2 of them together again. Sainz won't go backwards to Toro Rosso so McLaren it most likely. Outside bet might be Haas, but I think they'd prefer Perez.

*** If Force India become a Merc junior team or running the Haas model I can see Perez here with Ocon staying at FI/Stroll/whatever, else I see Grosjean remaining for another year. Mercedes won't want Ocon in a non-Merc powered team.

**** This depends on Alonso, I can see Vandoorne or Norris here as there are currently no Red Bull juniors with enough license points to take over. I doubt Buemi would come back as he's the only former TR driver with ties to Red Bull and enough points from his Formula E and LMP. If Alonso quits to chase Indycar then Norris is more likely with Vandoorne staying at McLaren.

***** George Russell might be a good bet for this second seat. But again depends on deals with Mercedes, if Williams get a Haas style tie up maybe Ocon ends up here and Perez stays at Force F1.

****** Depends on the various connotations mentioned above.

[santos]

I just don't belive very much on the drivers for Toro Rosso. I belive that Vandoorne and Hartley will have troubles to find a seat for next season.

[Sieper]

My sources told me that Verstappen put veto on Sainz, but he has only one veto to put and now team decided to bring Alonso to teach him a lesson and to evaluate how good Verstappen is.

Quite telling for a driver that hasn't won a championship yet to put a veto on who is going to be his teammate. I only remember former champions who have done such things.

Or is it even more telling that you accept this to be the truth whilst this is apparently coming into the limelight via la marca.

[jjn9128]

I just don't belive very much on the drivers for Toro Rosso. I belive that Vandoorne and Hartley will have troubles to find a seat for next season.

I dunno both have been unlucky on reliability. Vandoorne was right behind Alonso with his new chassis until the gearbox failed in Hungary. I recall his debut in Bahrain where he out qualified Button... I wonder if his issue is some stipulation in Alonso's contract where he doesn't get the latest tech...

[TwanV]

How I see the 2019 grid working out

Mercedes - Hamilton / Bottas
Ferrari - Vettel / Raikkonen*
RBR - Verstappen / Gasly**
Renault - Riccicardo / Hulkenberg
Haas - Magnussen / Perez***
McLaren - Alonso / Sainz
Toro Rosso - Hartley / Vandoorne/Norris****
Sauber - LeClerc / Eriksson
Williams - Sirotkin / Russell*****
Force Stroll - Stroll / Ocon******

* I'd like to see LeClerc given a chance, but something just feels like Raikkonen's going to be given another year. If Raikkonen does hang up his helmet then LeClerc here with Giovinazzi at Sauber.

** I think the Sainz/Verstappen issues all stemmed from them competing for Kvyat's seat at the top team, even so I think Red Bull will want to avoid issues with the 2 of them together again. Sainz won't go backwards to Toro Rosso so McLaren it most likely. Outside bet might be Haas, but I think they'd prefer Perez.

*** If Force India become a Merc junior team or running the Haas model I can see Perez here with Ocon staying at FI/Stroll/whatever, else I see Grosjean remaining for another year. Mercedes won't want Ocon in a non-Merc powered team.

**** This depends on Alonso, I can see Vandoorne or Norris here as there are currently no Red Bull juniors with enough license points to take over. I doubt Buemi would come back as he's the only former TR driver with ties to Red Bull and enough points from his Formula E and LMP. If Alonso quits to chase Indycar then Norris is more likely with Vandoorne staying at McLaren.

***** George Russell might be a good bet for this second seat. But again depends on deals with Mercedes, if Williams get a Haas style tie up maybe Ocon ends up here and Perez stays at Force F1.

****** Depends on the various connotations mentioned above.

thumbs up! alot of changes but I couldn't have done a better prediction myself Let's hope it'll become a reality. Very interested to see what Russel would be able to do with the Williams.

[TAG]

50% off site wide at Williams... everything must go driver and sponsor. Yeah, they're going to be in trouble next year without a major infusion of cash. The field is ripe for a manufacturer to come into the sport A la Mercedes in 2010 and build toward 2021.

[marmer]

50% off site wide at Williams... everything must go driver and sponsor. Yeah, they're going to be in trouble next year without a major infusion of cash. The field is ripe for a manufacturer to come into the sport A la Mercedes in 2010 and build toward 2021.

BMW would be nice

[netoperek]

Some say that Lance would like to see Robert Kubica as his partner. He has seemingly developed some respect for Robert and values his advice. There might be a slight problem though - recent tests reportedly shown that Kubica was about 0.7s faster. I don't think Lawrence would like to see his boy outclassed in his own playground.

[hollus]

A suggestion to make discussion more fluent:

If you bring info to the thread, it would be nice to explicitly cite the source or, even better, post a link to the source. This way it is a lot easier to know what is pure opinion, what is rumor, what is a likely story and what is solid info. Not everyone reads the same sites.

Hollus.

[apexcontrol]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/feat ... iardo.html

well this seems how it is and how think it is


PODCAST REDBULL HORNER . very interesting stuff

[Wouter]

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/feat ... iardo.html
well this seems how it is and how think it is
PODCAST REDBULL HORNER . very interesting stuff

I can everybody recomment this long interview. I think it is very interesting. Thanks for posting, @apexcontrol.