Silly Season 2017/2018

[PlatinumZealot]

Some of the posts are just flagrant ugh..

You realise this is not exactly the most serious topic on the board, right? One should expect it to be a little silly at times. I mean, I came here once, started to get annoyed by some of the more preposterous posts, then realised what topic it was and all was right with the world again.

You missed the meaning of the post by a country mile.

[Redragon]

Back to the topic. The Spanish newspaper Marca insists that Renault has offered a contract to Alonso. I don´t expect to see him back in this team but who knows...

Alonso and Sainz has the same manager, probably the picture where their manager is meeting at Renault they are discussing Sainz future as he nearly signed last year with them

[Manoah2u]

Flavio?

[ChrisDanger]

You missed the meaning of the post by a country mile.

Okay, fair enough. But someone took enough offense to downvote you, so I wasn't the only one.

[Redragon]

Flavio?

No Flavio, Luis García-Abad that it is the guy on the right of the picture of the article, he is the main manager of Alonso as Sainz

http://www.marca.com/motor/formula1/gp- ... b4602.html

[EvilPhil II]

So here is what is going on...

Kimi sadly to retire.
Sainz is going to replace Palmer at Renault Sport.
Bottas is going to replace Massa at Williams.
Alonso to replace Bottas at Mercedes.

[ZakB]

Alonso will only move to Mercedes, Ferrari or stick with McLaren (if they switch to Mercedes). I expect that he will move to Mercedes, because Alonso said that the engine isn't a factor in his decision. You can scrap Renault from the list.

[Phil]

I'd be highly surprised if Mercedes sign Alonso. I wouldnt see why.

[Vasconia]

Back to the topic. The Spanish newspaper Marca insists that Renault has offered a contract to Alonso. I don´t expect to see him back in this team but who knows...

Alonso and Sainz has the same manager, probably the picture where their manager is meeting at Renault they are discussing Sainz future as he nearly signed last year with them

Yesterday I also saw that there is(according Marca) a verbal agreement between Ferrari and Ricciardo. This would oppen the doors of RB for Sainz. Anyway , the relation between him and Verstappen was not good so we will see.

[Manoah2u]

I'd be highly surprised if Mercedes sign Alonso. I wouldnt see why.

Because he has been consistantly beating his teammates in the same material,
has been placing mediocre material far ahead of his teammate (hence the 'drives faster than the car is capable of sentiment'), is one of the most experienced drivers out there, is a double world champion,
is insanely fast which his indy stint simply showed, and becomes available.

Mercedes has learned well how to manage two drivers now, and is starting to see that a clear nr2 (Bottas) is not a step up from last year with Rosberg.

Also, Lewis is NOT gonna continue in F1 forever, one might argue that if he doesn't snatch the title this year, you can be damn sure he's gonna either retire or go elsewhere for another title.

So who are they going to take? Verstappen might be an option but the question remains if he's contractually free, which i believe, he is not.

So why not hire Alonso to replace Bottas, and when Verstappen is free from RedBull, they COULD sign Verstappen to replace Hamilton if he leaves to go to the Reds, which i still see happening in the short future.

There isn't enough matured talent out there that Mercedes needs. They have it in Hamilton, they need more options.

And IF at some point Renault becomes a threat - better NOT see a Renault with Alonso in it, better see a Renault with Hulkenberg or Sainz, Alonso simply IS better than either of them, better to have Alonso in your own team.

[iotar__]

Back to the topic. The Spanish newspaper Marca insists that Renault has offered a contract to Alonso. I don´t expect to see him back in this team but who knows...

Alonso and Sainz has the same manager, probably the picture where their manager is meeting at Renault they are discussing Sainz future as he nearly signed last year with them

Yesterday I also saw that there is(according Marca) a verbal agreement between Ferrari and Ricciardo. This would oppen the doors of RB for Sainz. Anyway , the relation between him and Verstappen was not good so we will see.

Yes, most important is the relationship with a team-mate. What's happening on track and talent - doesn't matter.

Sainz had another moment of great race craft in Baku , avoiding Kvyat is not an excuse for this spin. That would be the third major failure this season + two very light grid penalties = five out of eight races. At least he didn't take out anyone this time.

He's making a strong case for rumoured McLaren seat, he'd be a great fir for their decision making .

[Manoah2u]

Ricciardo said he's 99.9% sure he'll be at RedBull next year. nothing of a Ferrari verbal agreement. Especially with Vettel there, who got crushed by DannyRic first year in.

[Vasconia]

Alonso and Sainz has the same manager, probably the picture where their manager is meeting at Renault they are discussing Sainz future as he nearly signed last year with them

Yesterday I also saw that there is(according Marca) a verbal agreement between Ferrari and Ricciardo. This would oppen the doors of RB for Sainz. Anyway , the relation between him and Verstappen was not good so we will see.

Yes, most important is the relationship with a team-mate. What's happening on track and talent - doesn't matter.

Sainz had another moment of great race craft in Baku , avoiding Kvyat is not an excuse for this spin. That would be the third major failure this season + two very light grid penalties = five out of eight races. At least he didn't take out anyone this time.

He's making a strong case for rumoured McLaren seat, he'd be a great fir for their decision making .

Should I remind you 2007? yes, the relationship with your team-mate affects what happpens on the track and therefore the results.

Sainz did a good race. I watched the footage and I undersand the spin, the tyres were cold and the agressive move made the rest. He recovered well from this problem.

[Phil]

I'd be highly surprised if Mercedes sign Alonso. I wouldnt see why.

Because he has been consistantly beating his teammates in the same material,
has been placing mediocre material far ahead of his teammate (hence the 'drives faster than the car is capable of sentiment'), is one of the most experienced drivers out there, is a double world champion,
is insanely fast which his indy stint simply showed, and becomes available.

Mercedes has learned well how to manage two drivers now, and is starting to see that a clear nr2 (Bottas) is not a step up from last year with Rosberg.

Also, Lewis is NOT gonna continue in F1 forever, one might argue that if he doesn't snatch the title this year, you can be damn sure he's gonna either retire or go elsewhere for another title.

So who are they going to take? Verstappen might be an option but the question remains if he's contractually free, which i believe, he is not.

So why not hire Alonso to replace Bottas, and when Verstappen is free from RedBull, they COULD sign Verstappen to replace Hamilton if he leaves to go to the Reds, which i still see happening in the short future.

There isn't enough matured talent out there that Mercedes needs. They have it in Hamilton, they need more options.

And IF at some point Renault becomes a threat - better NOT see a Renault with Alonso in it, better see a Renault with Hulkenberg or Sainz, Alonso simply IS better than either of them, better to have Alonso in your own team.

IMO, Alonso has been flattered by his team-mates. There was Piquet Jr, Massa, there was Kimi, there was Button and now there is Stoffel. Don't get me wrong, I do believe Alonso is among the most gifted F1 drivers, but his record against team-mates is only as good and telling as the team-mates he has raced against.

As I have said; it makes zero sense to sign Alonso. You may would want to sign him if you didn't have a driver of that caliber yet (Hamilton already ticks that box and he is contracted to end of 2018 for now) and you'd run the risk of going against Alonso in a team that is capable of winning against you. He doesn't have that. He is at McLaren who is unlikely to be a top 3 contender any time soon. He is also unlikely to go back to Ferrari. So Alonso, as gifted as he may be, is not a danger to Mercedes own ambition and aspirations.

Adding to that, I think Alonso has damaged himself quite dearly with the way he has conducted himself. For a team like Mercedes, image is everything. They are in the sport to promote the brand Mercedes. They do that by winning but also by marketing. I feel the public slamming Alonso has been doing of his own team (even if it is wanted by McLaren) to be not something Mercedes would want or run the risk of. Then there is also the risk of how things went back in 2007 at McLaren. Blackmailing of the team is a big no-go. (And no, I don't want to open that can of worms if it was justified or not). The thing that irks me most about a driver like Alonso is that everytime he is in the headlines, it's always about him. Either it's "him" who has secured the points, the team that owes him etc. With a driver like Alonso, one can sense that he will always be bigger than the team. It's what his persona (and his performances) irradiates. And I think this was one of the reasons why his relationship with Ferrari ultimately broke down. Compare this to drivers like Vettel or even Hamilton who (mostly) are all about selling the "team effort". These are all things that don't go well on ones CV, IMO.

There is a factor that may play in Alonso's favor though. Apparently, Petronas contract with Mercedes is coming to an end and with Malaysia not hosting a F1 race anymore, it may seem Petronas will be out of F1 soon. All together, I've heard that this sponsorship is worth around $60M. Then you have Santander with Ferrari who's contract apparently is coming to an end by the end of this year and has not been renewed yet. It would make sense if Mercedes is pursuing Santander as a replacement for Petronas and that may be tied to a contract with Alonso. Perhaps. This is the only reason why I could see Alonso ending up at Mercedes.

Having said that - and I just mentioned it in the McLaren topic: Alonso's Sky interview was way to positive at a too early stage (IMO) for it to be related to a Mercedes seat. If he did secure a Mercedes seat, I think Bottas would be gutted and I haven't seen any signs of that. The last that has developed on that front is that Mercedes has said it will take its time to evaluate and decide what they will do with their second seat. They are not in a hurry to decide now. Alonso is not going anywhere, except perhaps out of F1.

If anything, I could see him back at Renault. Not the best team at the moment, but certainly a team that is on the rise and he has done well there. Or I could see that perhaps McLaren has found a way out of the contract with Honda and the team looks to improve next year. But I'll say it again: Alonso is way too positive (and happy) at a too early stage for it IMO to be linked with a Mercedes race seat. I think something else is going on there (unless it has something to do with Santander, by which we might see an indication on Bottas in one week).

As for driver market. Quite frankly, I don't like Max Verstappen much, but I think the kid is the next star of new generation of F1 drivers. What he is showing so far, even against Ricciardo, is nothing short of amazing. He has the arrogance and the aggressiveness I think teams seem to love and I think once RedBull are in no position to hold on to him longer, you will see teams bending over trying to sign him. Perhaps not next year, but in a year or two (assuming that's how long he'll be secured by RedBull), he will be the perfect fit for even teams like Ferrari and Mercedes.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

I'd be highly surprised if Mercedes sign Alonso. I wouldnt see why.

Text...

Though Toto might be interested in hiring Alonso as there is no question about the talent of the man, but a few other folks in the team would be against that decision for sure. Particularly Niki and though not very significant, Aldo Costa too would be unhappy to see Alonso.

Does anyone know what is the sponsorship money that Alonso brings? I know it is significant. Mercedes do not want to compromise their purse to hire Alonso. Bottas is not just a cheaper driver, but also brings good sponsorship money (as mentioned by Toto himself). Though they don't hire a driver for money, but hiring someone like Alonso would cost them in excess of 30 mn dollars. Unless, Alonso is ready to compromise on money in his quest to win a championship OR his sponsorship offsets his salary.

Commercial issues aside, Alonso has built a controversial reputation for himself and I am sure no matter what the contractual obligations are and how confident Toto is to manage him and Lewis together, he would be headache to manage when things go sour. How much would he be willing to work for team and not for himself? And neither men are going to play a second fiddle, even it is a matter of team losing a race (like that of Monaco 2016).

If there is one driver in the F1 circuit (driving or not) who deserves a championship winning car, it is Alonso. I would love to see him in a good car, battle it out and win it. He is just way too good to not win another championship. I don't think he is going to join Renault as the road is way too long for them to fight for championship.

If I am Toto, I would have gone ahead and signed him! Just to have fun for just year at least. Who cares about all other things, when you can have such a juicy pair in a leading car. One thing is for sure, after one year together, either of them would leave the team.