Silly Season 2018/2019

[ScottB]

Mclaren - Sainz / Perez
Racing Whatever - Ocon / Stroll
STR - Norris / Albon
Williams - Russell / Sirotkin

That pretty much solves everyones problems. Mclaren get cash and send Norris to STR to get Key early. Ocon gets a good seat, the Strolls get favour from Merc, and hey, in the unlikely event Lance can mix it with Esteban, he looks very good, Williams bring in Russell, also to please Merc, and motivate the team more than having 2 pay drivers would.

Haas likely drop Grosjean for Leclerc, since Ferrari appear to have abandoned replacing Kimi. Sauber will take Giovinazzi, and have a bit of a power struggle over whether to keep Ericsson or bring in Vandoorne.

[Big Tea]

Mclaren - Sainz / Perez
Racing Whatever - Ocon / Stroll
STR - Norris / Albon
Williams - Russell / Sirotkin

That pretty much solves everyones problems. Mclaren get cash and send Norris to STR to get Key early. Ocon gets a good seat, the Strolls get favour from Merc, and hey, in the unlikely event Lance can mix it with Esteban, he looks very good, Williams bring in Russell, also to please Merc, and motivate the team more than having 2 pay drivers would.

Haas likely drop Grosjean for Leclerc, since Ferrari appear to have abandoned replacing Kimi. Sauber will take Giovinazzi, and have a bit of a power struggle over whether to keep Ericsson or bring in Vandoorne.

Sauber have said Vandoorne is not on their list.
(https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13835 ... -2019-seat)

"Stoffel Vandoorne has been ruled out of contention for a 2019 Sauber Formula 1 seat, with Marcus Ericsson likely to be secure if he continues to perform well... But Vasseur has denied that Vandoorne is an option for his team.

"He's not in the discussions," Vasseur told Autosport.

[ScottB]

Mclaren - Sainz / Perez
Racing Whatever - Ocon / Stroll
STR - Norris / Albon
Williams - Russell / Sirotkin

That pretty much solves everyones problems. Mclaren get cash and send Norris to STR to get Key early. Ocon gets a good seat, the Strolls get favour from Merc, and hey, in the unlikely event Lance can mix it with Esteban, he looks very good, Williams bring in Russell, also to please Merc, and motivate the team more than having 2 pay drivers would.

Haas likely drop Grosjean for Leclerc, since Ferrari appear to have abandoned replacing Kimi. Sauber will take Giovinazzi, and have a bit of a power struggle over whether to keep Ericsson or bring in Vandoorne.

Sauber have said Vandoorne is not on their list.

Looks like that power struggle is done then!

[cooken]

Perez going back to McLaren seems pretty unlikely.

[NathanOlder]

As did Alonso......

[alexx_88]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

[ScottB]

Perez going back to McLaren seems pretty unlikely.

If he doesn't fancy being Lance's wingman...

I imagine Mercedes will be looking to grease whatever wheels it takes to keep Ocon in a seat, too.

[Ground Effect]

Perez going back to McLaren seems pretty unlikely.

If he doesn't fancy being Lance's wingman...

I imagine Mercedes will be looking to grease whatever wheels it takes to keep Ocon in a seat, too.

Not only is Checo a very good driver, he brings money (believed to be in the region of $15M) and he literally saved the team with his court actions, he was advised to do so by the team's management. It's not impossible for Checo to leave for Mclaren, but if he did, it would be by choice. I don't think he can be forced out, he is also has a contract for 2019, just waiting for an announcement.

[Big Mangalhit]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg. You can always have a lucky DNF or two from you adversary or some mistakes he makes and you are always there to capitalize. In a McLaren on the other hand is just virtually impossible. It's more likely to have and engine blow in the other mercedes than to have a mclaren finishing in a podium, let alone win the WDC. That and the fact that they use Renault engines so even if that engine next year becomes the best of them all they would still be well being RB and renault team itself.

But you are right Mclaren is not williams. Williams beat Ferrari in 2014 and beat RB in 2015. This is the first year that McLaren is set out to beat Williams in this engine regulation (whilst having much much better drivers).

[ScottB]

Perez going back to McLaren seems pretty unlikely.

If he doesn't fancy being Lance's wingman...

I imagine Mercedes will be looking to grease whatever wheels it takes to keep Ocon in a seat, too.

Not only is Checo a very good driver, he brings money (believed to be in the region of $15M) and he literally saved the team with his court actions, he was advised to do so by the team's management. It's not impossible for Checo to leave for Mclaren, but if he did, it would be by choice. I don't think he can be forced out, he is also has a contract for 2019, just waiting for an announcement.

I didn't mean it wouldn't be by choice, he likely has one. Though as the reports are that he signed a deal before the administration, it's now a new company. He certainly has the right to say he doesn't want that contract to switch over to the new entity. Under UK corporate law, this happened when Rangers FC liquidated and switched to a new company entity, a number of players used the 'TUPE' legislation to free themselves from their deals and go elsewhere. Not sure if there's an equivalent option from the team's side.

Perez brings money, but they'll be buying in everything they can get away with from Mercedes next year. If Mercedes want Ocon in that seat, I imagine they'll use whatever pressure they can bring to bear to achieve that.

[Fulcrum]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.

Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.

Over the course of their 4 year partnership:

Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.

Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.

Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.

There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.

[ivanlesk]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.

Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.

Over the course of their 4 year partnership:

Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.

Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.

Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.

There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.

On the other hand, Rosberg was in Merc from start while they were far from dominating and was well familiar with team.

Botas came to whole different environment.

[NathanOlder]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

You're theory means Hartley has more chance at a title than Kimi?

[ivanlesk]

I'm just going to put this out there, but Perez or Sainz in a McLaren have a bigger chance of getting a wdc than bottas has in the mercedes. He's not close enough to Lewis to actually fight him for a wdc, so even if mercedes have the best car on the grid, he still won't be able to beat his teammate.

On the other hand, if you're just a good driver and, by some freak accident, McLaren end up having the best car, you've hit gold. They're not Williams yet, as they still have a good engineering team behind it, excellent budget and excellent facilities. With all the other tip seats taken, it's not a bad choice if you're looking to the future and you're not a top F1 driver.

You're theory means Hartley has more chance at a title than Kimi?

I presume not. Hartley is number 2 driver. And if he stays in F1 don't believe that will change.

[Fulcrum]

Couldn't disagree more. If you are on a top top car like merc has been the last years, you can always win a WDC. Just look as Rosberg.

Rosberg was way, way more competitive with Hamilton than Bottas has displayed thus far, so its rather disingenuous to reduce Rosberg's Championship to simply 'the car'.

Over the course of their 4 year partnership:

Rosberg scored 1190 points to Hamilton's 1334 - 89.2% of Hamilton's total.
Rosberg managed 50 podiums to Hamilton's 55 - 90.9% of Hamilton's.
Rosberg had 22 wins to Hamilton's 32 - 68.75% of Hamilton's.

Bottas so far:
449 points relative to Hamilton's 594 - 75.6% of Hamilton's total.
18 podiums to Hamilton's 23 - 78.3% of Hamilton's.
3 wins to Hamilton's 14 - 21.4% of Hamilton's.

Rosberg was simply much closer to Hamilton throughout - including 2013 when Mercedes did not have a dominant car.

There is some truth to the statement that Rosberg was fortunate to win a Championship - Hamilton's Malaysia engine blow-up was ultimately all that separated them. I.e. 1 DNF. Bottas would need 3 to 5 DNFs from Hamilton to have any chance of gaining parity with him.

On the other hand, Rosberg was in Merc from start while they were far from dominating and was well familiar with team.

Botas came to whole different environment.

Sure. And he's only got worse as time has gone on.