Who will replace Nico

Who will replace Nico

Poll: Who will replace Nico

Total Members Polled: 510

Alonso: 11%
Button: 9%
Bottas: 15%
Ocon: 1%
Perez: 1%
Sainz : 5%
Mad Max: 8%
Wehrlein: 40%
Vettel: 5%
Somebody else: 6%
Author
Discussion

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
So my thought...

Bottas going to Mercedes
- Wolff is part of his management team
- he's pretty well established in F1
- less likely to bin it like a youngster

Williams
- dropped from 3rd in 2015 to 5th in 2016
- cash is in short supply
- Merc give them Wehrlein and discounted engines


The only thing that leaves doubt in my mind is that it would leave Williams with two relatively inexperienced drivers.



anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
chrisr111r said:
I voted Wehrlein, as it makes the most logical sense to me - merc trying to do what RB have done with their young drivers, and I don't see them giving up either driver.
Alonso would be a strong possibility, but I suspect the previous history would kybosh that one. Would love it for JB, but he seems to be committed to retirement. I reckon Williams would want to keep Bottas for stability with Massa gone, and Ferrari look to have their seats sewn up but chucking Kimi in there could be good for a laugh!
But Wehrlein and many other young drivers are not Verstappen. Verstappen is a rare breed of racing driver which only appear in very small numbers.

Do not get me wrong Wehrlein is a talented driver but for Force India to choose Ocon over him must be a worry.

Williams would like to keep Botta but if Mercedes paid Williams a fantastic price I am sure they would not say no.

Plenty drivers on the grid would love a Williams seat.

37chevy

3,280 posts

155 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
Vocal Minority said:
Getting offended on Lewis' behalf then wink

(I'm only teasing you Mr Winner smile )
:-P

37chevy

3,280 posts

155 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
ELUSIVEJIM said:
But Wehrlein and many other young drivers are not Verstappen. Verstappen is a rare breed of racing driver which only appear in very small numbers.

Do not get me wrong Wehrlein is a talented driver but for Force India to choose Ocon over him must be a worry.

Williams would like to keep Botta but if Mercedes paid Williams a fantastic price I am sure they would not say no.

Plenty drivers on the grid would love a Williams seat.
for once we agreeand this sums the situation up nicely...

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
It’d be great don’t get me wrong- my issue is with the suggestion that anybody but Alonso in the seat will be ‘st for the sport’. FFS they only have to replace Rosberg, obvious WDC talent aside he is a benign personality vacuum most of the time, anybody could be as interesting as Rosberg from a spectator’s perspective. Bottas could be as good or better than Rosberg given time. So could Wehrlein- we don’t know.
Bottas is very talented. He in the right car would be a strong contender for a WDC. Lewis having been at Mercedes and also the pressure he plays with teammates "very like Alonso" whether he could fight these pressures is another matter. Many good drivers when they appear in a top team just can't handle that extra pressure. Perez is an example which unfortunately has put bigger teams off him. Shame as he is a much better driver now.



anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
37chevy said:
for once we agreeand this sums the situation up nicely...
Cheers mate. biggrin

Will post something daft in the next few hours to make up for it wink

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
ELUSIVEJIM said:
HustleRussell said:
It’d be great don’t get me wrong- my issue is with the suggestion that anybody but Alonso in the seat will be ‘st for the sport’. FFS they only have to replace Rosberg, obvious WDC talent aside he is a benign personality vacuum most of the time, anybody could be as interesting as Rosberg from a spectator’s perspective. Bottas could be as good or better than Rosberg given time. So could Wehrlein- we don’t know.
Bottas is very talented. He in the right car would be a strong contender for a WDC. Lewis having been at Mercedes and also the pressure he plays with teammates "very like Alonso" whether he could fight these pressures is another matter. Many good drivers when they appear in a top team just can't handle that extra pressure. Perez is an example which unfortunately has put bigger teams off him. Shame as he is a much better driver now.
I've no doubt Bottas is very talented, but we must not underestimate the difficulty of putting up as good an opposition to Hamilton as Rosberg managed to- especially when he first joins the team.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
Podie said:
So my thought...

Bottas going to Mercedes
- Wolff is part of his management team
- he's pretty well established in F1
- less likely to bin it like a youngster

Williams
- dropped from 3rd in 2015 to 5th in 2016
- cash is in short supply
- Merc give them Wehrlein and discounted engines


The only thing that leaves doubt in my mind is that it would leave Williams with two relatively inexperienced drivers.
Sounds reasonable.

VolvoT5

4,155 posts

173 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
I don't really understand this fascination some people seem to have with the idea of Mercedes resuscitating Button's career. Button mentally checked out of F1 a couple of months back and has made it very clear he is looking forward to doing other things away from F1. On top of that he is approaching 37 and as good as he is (with a perfect car on his good days) he is still not a match for the very best and they would almost certainly have to buy him out from McLaren. Signing him would be a stop gap solution... which is is not a logical move; if they want a seat warmer for a year they have Pascal and he comes with the added bonus that if he turns out to be good they can keep him moving forward.

Hell if they want an ageing safe pair of hands even Massa would make more sense as at least he isn't under contract.

I would like to see Vettel or Verstappen but it is pure fantasy land stuff.


anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
I've no doubt Bottas is very talented, but we must not underestimate the difficulty of putting up as good an opposition to Hamilton as Rosberg managed to- especially when he first joins the team.
Think Rosberg being in the team before Hamilton arrived helped his confidence especially after beating Michael.

Yes we know Michael was not the same driver but it must have made Rosberg pretty confident about taken on Lewis.

As we know this did not happen but to enter Mercedes now and take on Lewis who knows the car inside and out would take a very experienced driver.

If we want the Mercedes team drivers to fight each other in 2017 it would be clear only Alonso could match Lewis straight away.

Bottas would be a very good fit but I would imagine he would be on par with Rosberg especially in the first year.

But for Mercedes and the constructors Championship Bottas would be a great signing for points each race.

Podie

46,630 posts

274 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
Mercedes: Fernando Alonso could partner Lewis Hamilton - Toto Wolff

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/38219533

HustleRussell

24,602 posts

159 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
The main reason I am certain that it won't be Alonso is McLaren top man incumbent Zak Brown has been pretty quiet so far apart from insisting on more than one occasion that Alonso is happy where he is and will be staying. Alonso is part of his vision and Alonso was part of the deal. Brown is either certain that Alonso will stay or willing to do anything to ensure than he does. He has stuck his neck out and it could be a very early public embarrassment for him.

Vocal Minority

8,582 posts

151 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
Journalism fluff and nothing more

Benson would ask 'would Mercedes consider alonso'

Toto says 'non descript piece of fluff answer not being rude to the man but not saying 'no!' On the basis it would make him look a)ungracious and b). A chump

RichB

51,433 posts

283 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
housen said:
bbc reporting Alonso on cards...
Nope, the BBC have made a piece all about Alonso from a one liner that Toto Wolff made about "having to consider him". Well I'm sure they would. laugh

aeropilot

34,299 posts

226 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
Brown is either certain that Alonso will stay or willing to do anything to ensure than he does.
Unless McHonda's performance has been bad enough for Fred to be able to trigger any performance release clause in his contract, I'm guessing if McLaren refuse to let him go at any price, then Fred won't driving for Merc next year. He'll be in the McLaren or having to take a year out on gardening leave seeing his contract out if he throws his toys out the pram saying he wants to drive for Merc and not McLaren.

anonymous-user

53 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
aeropilot said:
Unless McHonda's performance has been bad enough for Fred to be able to trigger any performance release clause in his contract, I'm guessing if McLaren refuse to let him go at any price, then Fred won't driving for Merc next year. He'll be in the McLaren or having to take a year out on gardening leave seeing his contract out if he throws his toys out the pram saying he wants to drive for Merc and not McLaren.
I am sure Ron put in place no performance related release clause when Alonso signed with them. It was mentioned in a press release.

Perhaps I am wrong but Alonso's desire to win another Championship would be greater than staying faithful with McLaren.

McLaren have shown Ron no loyalty for his service to McLaren so perhaps with Ron gone Alonso contract could be broken.

I am sure the contact is being read back to front by a team of liars sorry lawyers biggrin

olliethehut

135 posts

172 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
No way Alonso will be heading to Mercedes - He's admited that he's off to LM next year (or even this year if his contract allows) and Mclaren wouldnt have let him have an exit clause in his contract to jump ship to a higher placed team. Bottas looks like the perfect fit, Mercedes can continue to offer Williams an engine supply next year (something which isnt guaranteed), they can pay off Bottas's salary for 2017, and then Williams can bring in Nasr for even more funding.
Lets not forget that Williams have gone backwards again, and Bottas is a decent driver who they can get a decent cheque for.

suffolk009

5,344 posts

164 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
Well I'm 100% sure that Werhlein is the sensible option. Which is why it most certainly wouldn't be him.

Not to suggest that Merc can't make a good decision - just that I have a 100% record of backing the wrong horse this year. Bremain, Clinton, Hamilton. wrong wrong wrong.

housen

2,366 posts

191 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
olliethehut said:
No way Alonso will be heading to Mercedes - He's admited that he's off to LM next year (or even this year if his contract allows) and Mclaren wouldnt have let him have an exit clause in his contract to jump ship to a higher placed team. Bottas looks like the perfect fit, Mercedes can continue to offer Williams an engine supply next year (something which isnt guaranteed), they can pay off Bottas's salary for 2017, and then Williams can bring in Nasr for even more funding.
Lets not forget that Williams have gone backwards again, and Bottas is a decent driver who they can get a decent cheque for.
admitted lm yes

before nico bailed yes

Vaud

50,289 posts

154 months

Tuesday 6th December 2016
quotequote all
ELUSIVEJIM said:
aeropilot said:
Unless McHonda's performance has been bad enough for Fred to be able to trigger any performance release clause in his contract, I'm guessing if McLaren refuse to let him go at any price, then Fred won't driving for Merc next year. He'll be in the McLaren or having to take a year out on gardening leave seeing his contract out if he throws his toys out the pram saying he wants to drive for Merc and not McLaren.
I am sure Ron put in place no performance related release clause when Alonso signed with them. It was mentioned in a press release.

Perhaps I am wrong but Alonso's desire to win another Championship would be greater than staying faithful with McLaren.

McLaren have shown Ron no loyalty for his service to McLaren so perhaps with Ron gone Alonso contract could be broken.

I am sure the contact is being read back to front by a team of liars sorry lawyers biggrin
The Contracts Recognition Board is the entity that decides.

If McLaren receive enough money, then they can say "this contract is no longer valid" and Fernando can go and
do whatever.

The CRB is recognised in place of the courts in this case.

i.e. anything is possible, though it is unlikely it will be easy to "break" the contract without McLaren agreement.