Silly season 2021-2022-2023

[214270]

All is not lost even if things don’t pick up for RIC, the actual real litmus test is next year.

He’ll reassert himself when the new cars are intro’d. Whilst it doesn’t make any sense to me there’s obviously something he’s struggling to master in the 35M.

That is a very good point. I wonder if we will see some drivers fail to adapt well to the new cars, or some unexpected high performers.

Yes, I think so. RIC will be invaluable & so will many other vets.

[zeph]

https://the-race.com/formula-1/the-case ... -for-2022/

[PlatinumZealot]

All is not lost even if things don’t pick up for RIC, the actual real litmus test is next year.

He’ll reassert himself when the new cars are intro’d. Whilst it doesn’t make any sense to me there’s obviously something he’s struggling to master in the 35M.

He should swallow his pride and study Lando's onboard videos and telemetry as much as he can. Contracts already signed. Wonder if his compensation is based on scoring more points than Lando?

[Jolle]

All is not lost even if things don’t pick up for RIC, the actual real litmus test is next year.

He’ll reassert himself when the new cars are intro’d. Whilst it doesn’t make any sense to me there’s obviously something he’s struggling to master in the 35M.

He should swallow his pride and study Lando's onboard videos and telemetry as much as he can. Contracts already signed. Wonder if his compensation is based on scoring more points than Lando?

What makes you think that they (RIC, his performance engineer, this head engineer and brake guy) aren’t doing that already?

[adrianjordan]

All is not lost even if things don’t pick up for RIC, the actual real litmus test is next year.

He’ll reassert himself when the new cars are intro’d. Whilst it doesn’t make any sense to me there’s obviously something he’s struggling to master in the 35M.

He should swallow his pride and study Lando's onboard videos and telemetry as much as he can. Contracts already signed. Wonder if his compensation is based on scoring more points than Lando?

What makes you think that they (RIC, his performance engineer, this head engineer and brake guy) aren’t doing that already?

Agreed. There is no chance that he is NOT already doing that. He'd be stupid not to and Daniel has never struck me as stupid.

[adrianjordan]

All this talk about drivers, we're missing the most intriguing question going into 2022....

How superstitious are Mercedes and will they skip the name W13 for next year's car???

[aMessageToCharlie]

All this talk about drivers, we're missing the most intriguing question going into 2022....

How superstitious are Mercedes and will they skip the name W13 for next year's car???

It got Red Bull 13 DNFs that year... #UnluckyFor Some was their slogan and see how that worked out maybe there is something to it.

[DChemTech]

All this talk about drivers, we're missing the most intriguing question going into 2022....

How superstitious are Mercedes and will they skip the name W13 for next year's car???

It got Red Bull 13 DNFs that year... #UnluckyFor Some was their slogan and see how that worked out maybe there is something to it.

Yes, although some proper competition from RB that year would have been nice, this was a rather entertaining alternative

[PlatinumZealot]

All this talk about drivers, we're missing the most intriguing question going into 2022....

How superstitious are Mercedes and will they skip the name W13 for next year's car???

W1N3. Will be the name if there is power in it.

Then again winning... Three.. Or winning one in three might be below Merc's usual standards! Lol

[Just_a_fan]

All this talk about drivers, we're missing the most intriguing question going into 2022....

How superstitious are Mercedes and will they skip the name W13 for next year's car???

I can see the German board saying "no, that is silly!", and the British engineers all sitting there thinking "oh, bugger, it's a bad omen!"

[JordanMugen]

All is not lost even if things don’t pick up for RIC, the actual real litmus test is next year.

He’ll reassert himself when the new cars are intro’d. Whilst it doesn’t make any sense to me there’s obviously something he’s struggling to master in the 35M.

He should swallow his pride and study Lando's onboard videos and telemetry as much as he can. Contracts already signed. Wonder if his compensation is based on scoring more points than Lando?

He is. The driving style of McLaren is just counter intuitive.

Remember Mansell at McLaren 1995?

I need a car I can brake late into a corner and attack the apex. The McLaren does not allow me to do that.

Sounds familiar!

Well his inability to drive that car well was the litmus test for his talent. He isn't tier 1 for that reason alone. He is now a tier 2 driver. His hand is definitely weakened in any future negotiations. A driver of his caliber shouldn't be struggling after so long. Perez has a harder job to do and is getting respectable results.

Fair enough. This is a good point! (Apart from Perez getting comparatively better results, which he isn't. Red Bull are likely to be quite keen on Russell IMO.)

[PlatinumZealot]

Floyd Mayweather posted of video of him training today. In the background you can see a large poster on the wall and it said, "A true champion adapts to anything"

Interesting statement. I tend to agree.

[Gerhardsa]

Floyd Mayweather posted of video of him training today. In the background you can see a large poster on the wall and it said, "A true champion adapts to anything"

Interesting statement. I tend to agree.

Very true, but, as will all adaption, it takes time. How long depends on the individual I guess

[zibby43]

Quite a bit of smoke out there today that Russell will be taking over the Merc seat next to Hamilton.

One example (please always take these nuggets with a grain of salt at this stage):

"Russia’s Match TV Commentator Alexey Popov said a source has told him that Bottas is losing his seat. 'They told me that Russell moving to Mercedes for at least two years, and not in Hamilton’s place, is already practically done.'"

via @WilliamsSupport on Twitter

And this is not for THIS year, but from 2022 onward.

[Pyrone89]

Quite a bit of smoke out there today that Russell will be taking over the Merc seat next to Hamilton.

One example (please always take these nuggets with a grain of salt at this stage):

"Russia’s Match TV Commentator Alexey Popov said a source has told him that Bottas is losing his seat. 'They told me that Russell moving to Mercedes for at least two years, and not in Hamilton’s place, is already practically done.'"

via @WilliamsSupport on Twitter

And this is not for THIS year, but from 2022 onward.

Old rumor. Was already reported on in Monaco. Also a slam dunk. Mercedes would be crazy to not use Russell now that he is experienced enough. Bottas is a C-level driver, Russell at least B-level and maybe even better