Official 2016 Driver's Silly Season Thread; who'll be where?

[sanf]

cgt2 said:

Great post. Renault definitely has a huge budget and there is strong rumour circulating after Canada that James Allison is about to rejoin as he wants to relocate to the UK.

How about Rosberg to Renault? If they are going big budget, and his contract is still not sorted with Merc, Rosberg as team leader - Mag alongside.

I love the Hamilton/Button at Merc suggestion Another year for other drivers to develop and Jenson to push Hamilton. Love it.

[suffolk009]

I do like the idea of Allison and Raikkonen back at Enstone. Story below on Renault's apparent offer.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/124734

[ajprice]

This will probably change the next time I think about it...

Mercedes - Hamilton, Rosberg
Ferrari - Vettel, Perez
Red Bull - Ricciardo, Verstappen
Williams - Bottas, Button
McLaren - Alonso, Vandoorne
Toro Rosso - Sainz, Kvyat
Force India - Hulkenberg, Wehrlein
Haas - Grosjean, Gutierrez
Renault - Sirotkin, Ocon
Sauber - Ericsson, Maldonado
Manor - Magnussen, Haryanto

[cgt2]

I really don't know if Rosberg will be at Mercedes. If they do re-sign him it will be on their terms not his and I think for far less money than he wants.

I just get the feeling that having been there for 7 years and not set the world alight they will be looking very carefully at this in terms of investment vs return. Why is Gerhard Berger involved? Are they asking for much more money than Merc is willing to pay? We have seen in the past this can be a dangerous tactic when the other party (MB) holds all the chips they (Rosberg and Berger) don't really have a strong position to negotiate. Berger also has extremely close ties to Red Bull so a slightly strange choice to negotiate with their major rival.

There is clearly fresh talent coming through and Hamilton has all the global marketing appeal the brand needs. Is Rosberg's nationality such a factor when he grew up in Monaco and in reality is as German as a Burrito?

He could still win the championship but my gut says he won't as his massive advantage (now gone) was primarily down to others misfortune. The last two races have illustrated he cannot deliver a strong result when things go wrong which has always been a characteristic of champions.

I would really love to see Sainz in a top line car and assuming Ricciardo stays at Red Bull another year in Toro Rosso would be a waste of his talent. I'd like to see Merc do something clever and put in an aggressive young charger next to Hamilton.

[hairyben]

thegreenhell said:

Right, continuing my theme of Button to Mercedes...

Dont see it myself; unless the success of mercedes has tempered them I believe its still the case that merc has a hard time justifying the expense of F1 to its powerfull unions and having a high profile german on board probably helps to placate them. The saurkrauts keeps lewis honest but hes in no position to make demands but who else is the right nationality? Bring in wehlein sooner to learn from hamilton?


Or..... humour me a moment - havent hamilton and vettel been looking quite matey recently?

[thegreenhell]

hairyben said:

Dont see it myself; unless the success of mercedes has tempered them I believe its still the case that merc has a hard time justifying the expense of F1 to its powerfull unions and having a high profile german on board probably helps to placate them. The saurkrauts keeps lewis honest but hes in no position to make demands but who else is the right nationality? Bring in wehlein sooner to learn from hamilton?

I'm not sure where this idea of Mercedes being so partisan came from, but I've never seen a credible source for it. I'm sure they just want the best drivers available, regardless of nationality, to best show off their German engineering excellence. Just like in 1955 with Fangio and Moss.

hairyben said:

Or..... humour me a moment - havent hamilton and vettel been looking quite matey recently?

More likely to see Hamilton at Ferrari than Vettel at Mercedes, I think. I'm sure Hamilton has said in the past that he'd like to drive for the Italians before he retires. When's his contract up anyway? Maybe if he wins one or two more titles with Mercedes then he could defect at the end of term to see out his career in red?

[DuncB7]

Would Williams have any contractual obligations to use Paul Di Resta should a full-time seat become available?

Sirotkin into a Renault was a good shout above.

[Fire99]

Personally the only ideas I have is Ricciardo possibly to Mercedes if the Redbull isn't offering competitiveness...
Rosberg I wouldn't be surprised if he moves down a team or two from the top.. He's fast but I think he struggles to make the most of opportunities.

I'd wager Button will either squeeze a midfield team or call it a day... Lots of experience but he's a bit lost in McLaren land.. Maybe he'll stay there as I can't imagine many top drivers competing for the current McLaren car..

[Smollet]

cgt2 said:

suffolk009 said:

I'm pretty sure that Wherlein is the Mercedes protégé and next driver in waiting. Completely agree about Rosberg though.

Yes I know he is, but I'm not convinced by his relative showing against Haryanto, though it is hard to judge in a Manor, perhaps we have not seen his ability yet?

No matter how poor a car is a good driver will always show through over his teammate and what I've seen of Wherlein not ripping Haryanto apart doesn't make me think he is some new wunderkind in the likes of Hamilton/Vettel etc.

[cgt2]

Smollet said:

No matter how poor a car is a good driver will always show through over his teammate and what I've seen of Wherlein not ripping Haryanto apart doesn't make me think he is some new wunderkind in the likes of Hamilton/Vettel etc.

Indeed.

But as mentioned by someone maybe Haryanto is better than we think?? I doubt it though as all I see him doing is jumping into the proverbial bushes every time a faster car comes up behind him! He's quicker at getting out of the way than he is in actual racing

[Crafty_]

So, thats one seat gone: http://sport.sky.it/sport/formula1/2016/06/14/mond...

Ricciardo signs for RBR, 2 years, 20m euros a year.

[VolvoT5]

Ferrari is where most of the speculation is going to centre around but I don't see them making chances unless Raikkonen is absolutely horrendous in the next 4/5 races, ultimately the other available options are nothing more than middle grade drivers either. Also rumours I saw last weekend suggested that Vettel is looking to extend his contract beyond 2017 giving himself team #1 status and a contractual say over his team mate from 2018+, therefore my guess is they keep Raikkonen for 2017 and then bring in a #2 of Vettel's choice in 2018. There is practically zero chance of Ricciardo or Rosberg going to Ferrari IMO. I don't rate Bottas or Grosjean at all, but Perez would be a realistic choice if they do decide to do change things up.

I think Button may lose out at McLaren (although given their recent form it might be McLaren's loss not his). Massa perhaps retiring and Jenson going to Williams is a realistic possibility with Vandoorne replacing him at McLaren.

I think Palmer will be out of a seat and it will be case of Renault deciding whether to go with a younger driver long term (Kvyat perhaps?) or an experienced driver to help develop the car/team....like Massa or even Raikkonen should he get the boot from Ferrari.

My guess:
Red Bull: Ricciardo / Verstappen
Ferrari: Vettel / Raikkonen*
Merc: Hamilton / Rosberg
Toro Rosso: Sainz / Gasly
Renault: Magnussen / ?
Williams: Bottas / Button
McLaren: Alonso / Vandoorne
Force India: Perez* / Hulkenberg
Haas: Grosjean / ?
Sauber / Manor - whoever brings the most cash.

- * I think as an outside change up Perez to Ferrari with Raikkonen going to Renault isn't completely impossible though.

Edited by VolvoT5 on Tuesday 14th June 19:17

[olliethehut]

How about Button and Alonso both leaving McLaren? New regs, new driver pairing? Almost a fresh start from Rons perspective.
Alonso to WEC where he can push the car properly, or just LM24 for a year sharing with JPM ;-) before going after the indy 500...
Button to retire / race triathlons / super GT and just generally be a playboy.

[AndrewEH1]

olliethehut said:

How about Button and Alonso both leaving McLaren? New regs, new driver pairing? Almost a fresh start from Rons perspective.
Alonso to WEC where he can push the car properly, or just LM24 for a year sharing with JPM ;-) before going after the indy 500...
Button to retire / race triathlons / super GT and just generally be a playboy.

I still dream of a Webber, Button and Alonso WEC car, even just for one year at LM24. Would be frightening fast!

[hairyben]

Are the bigger rims confirmed for next year now?

I've a feeling the implications of this - most teams will surely be looking to redesign the whole suspension setup bringing in new concepts and technologies - could shake the order somewhat in whose cars are at the pointy end.

[cgt2]

I haven't seen any credible confirmation of the Ricciardo deal yet (if Sky Italy is like Sky UK they have no clue!)

[VolvoT5]

Just seen some more gossip on twitter today suggesting Renault would have offered Raikkonen a 2 year contract but he said no, it is Ferrari or nothing....

[deadslow]

cgt2 said:

I really don't know if Rosberg will be at Mercedes.

I think they will stick with NR because he is relatively passive and a good foil to LH's more forceful style. If you stick another aggressive hard charger in the other Merc seat you could have big problems.

[cgt2]

deadslow said:

I think they will stick with NR because he is relatively passive and a good foil to LH's more forceful style. If you stick another aggressive hard charger in the other Merc seat you could have big problems.

You could very well be spot on. I do wonder how he will feel though if he is beaten yet again after his massive early lead. Usually in such cases, experience tells us that drivers always blame the team and never look at themselves.

He would be bucking the trend if he did so but equally if he is in the best car he might just roll with it and continue cashing the big cheques.

[deadslow]

cgt2 said:

deadslow said:

I think they will stick with NR because he is relatively passive and a good foil to LH's more forceful style. If you stick another aggressive hard charger in the other Merc seat you could have big problems.

You could very well be spot on. I do wonder how he will feel though if he is beaten yet again after his massive early lead. Usually in such cases, experience tells us that drivers always blame the team and never look at themselves.

He would be bucking the trend if he did so but equally if he is in the best car he might just roll with it and continue cashing the big cheques.

He might never win the WDC but he can still pick up plenty of race wins at Merc, which is more than anyone else is doing right now. Actually if he took a 1 year deal, it may be no bad thing as the pecking order might well (hopefully)change next year.