The Official F1 2020 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
HTP99 said:
Deesee said:
& ive just got this funny feeling about Lewis and Seb at Merc next yr...
Vettel at Mercedes next year, for what possible reason; Bottas is doing fine?I think he will want to move on, loss of personal sponsor this year, we’ll be one of the lower (total) remunerated drivers on the grid.
Will need a pay day..
Deesee said:
HTP99 said:
Deesee said:
& ive just got this funny feeling about Lewis and Seb at Merc next yr...
Vettel at Mercedes next year, for what possible reason; Bottas is doing fine?I think he will want to move on, loss of personal sponsor this year, we’ll be one of the lower (total) remunerated drivers on the grid.
Will need a pay day..
I guess it is a toss up between not being quite there but having the kudos of driving for a top team, but not really earning a great deal with the slim possibility of becoming Word Champion and also possibly moving your stock up, or moving down the grid and getting better money but less kudos and zero chance of winning the Championship but a smaller team will more likely pay relatively handsomely to have an x time winner and x time Championship runner up in their car due to extra sponsorship opportunities.
He hasn't looked too happy recently.
I thought he was confirmed for next year though?
Can't see Vettel there though.
HTP99 said:
I guess it is a toss up between not being quite there but having the kudos of driving for a top team, but not really earning a great deal with the slim possibility of becoming Word Champion and also possibly moving your stock up, or moving down the grid and getting better money but less kudos and zero chance of winning the Championship but a smaller team will more likely pay relatively handsomely to have an x time winner and x time Championship runner up in their car due to extra sponsorship opportunities.
Also known as 'doing a Ricciardo'. The problem is Bottas is a good number 2 driver & no-one is going to pay big bucks for that. The only reason to take him on is you can't pick up a yong hotshot because they are all booked & you are tired of running Grosjean/Magnussen/Kyvat/Gasly/Stoll etc.Call me paranoid but in my view Mercedes have appeared far too comfortable with Ferrari’s recent hot streak. Any other team, faced with a reversal of form over a period of several race weekends, would be making reactionary comments in the media even if their competitor’s advantage was limited to qualifying pace. The demeanour of Wolff and Allison in Austin was not that of a duo whose current constructors championship win had brought with it the looming pressure of a growing threat from other teams and a diminishing prospect of success into 2020.
With such a strong opening part to the season and the confidence of a very well sorted car and an on form Hamilton, how early did they transition all but a skeleton crew onto the 2020 car? Are they sitting on significant upgrades and substantial power reserves ready to unleash and stun everybody once again in 2020? One can readily imagine Hamilton saying “Don’t worry guys, we got this…”
At the same time, has the technical directive knocked the competitiveness of Ferrari back to pre-summer break levels?
The cracks in Ferrari’s operation can still be seen regularly and the struggle for pace of the second Red Bull driver suggest that their car is not as wieldy as it has been in the past. The impression is that every other team is at maximum extension trying to stay with Mercedes, and Mercedes are completely in control and are equipped to stroll to another brace of championships…
With such a strong opening part to the season and the confidence of a very well sorted car and an on form Hamilton, how early did they transition all but a skeleton crew onto the 2020 car? Are they sitting on significant upgrades and substantial power reserves ready to unleash and stun everybody once again in 2020? One can readily imagine Hamilton saying “Don’t worry guys, we got this…”
At the same time, has the technical directive knocked the competitiveness of Ferrari back to pre-summer break levels?
The cracks in Ferrari’s operation can still be seen regularly and the struggle for pace of the second Red Bull driver suggest that their car is not as wieldy as it has been in the past. The impression is that every other team is at maximum extension trying to stay with Mercedes, and Mercedes are completely in control and are equipped to stroll to another brace of championships…
Albon with Red Bull for 2020 confirmed https://twitter.com/GPToday_net/status/11941928430...
ajprice said:
Albon with Red Bull for 2020 confirmed https://twitter.com/GPToday_net/status/11941928430...
I'm glad. He deserves it, he's done very well to get to grips with the car so quickly.ajprice said:
Albon with Red Bull for 2020 confirmed https://twitter.com/GPToday_net/status/11941928430...
He deserves it after what he's managed to do so far, debut year, chucked into the main team with a car he's still getting used to and most of the tracks since he got promoted are tracks ges6never driven before. Just hope they give him time to develop now. 
vaud said:
And where Hulk lands... 3rd driver for Ferrari as an insurance policy?
Might be just posturing but he has said no to a support driver role in principal: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.driver-...That said, now the last full time seats have gone he might be inclined to reconsider that stance! Or maybe he's genuinely happy to go off to another series.
Exige77 said:
Yup, good for him.
Much better temperament than his team mate.
Hope he can find that extra bit of speed he’s missing next year.
He could definitely do with getting the gap to Max down by a tenth or two in qually, but I think it will be much more interesting in some ways to see how consistent race pace does against Max's shall we say more erratic approach.Much better temperament than his team mate.
Hope he can find that extra bit of speed he’s missing next year.
Just imagine a season closeout where Albon has played the deferent no.2 all season long, but has a hatful more points, it would be fascinating from a psychological perspective.
vaud said:
And where Hulk lands... 3rd driver for Ferrari as an insurance policy?
I think moving from a race seat into a 3rd, development or simulator driver role at this time in Hulkenberg's career would be a one way street. At best there might eventually be an opportunity to be a seat filler for a season. With the upcoming reduction of in-season testing and the encouragement towards teams to put rookie drivers in for test sessions, there will be less opportunity for experienced but drive-less drivers like Hulkenberg to keep their eye in. I think it's a pity he's out but I'm sure he'll find a home in endurance racing or something, where he'll get the opportunity to taste some of the success which F1 didn't give him.
HustleRussell said:
vaud said:
And where Hulk lands... 3rd driver for Ferrari as an insurance policy?
I think moving from a race seat into a 3rd, development or simulator driver role at this time in Hulkenberg's career would be a one way street. At best there might eventually be an opportunity to be a seat filler for a season. With the upcoming reduction of in-season testing and the encouragement towards teams to put rookie drivers in for test sessions, there will be less opportunity for experienced but drive-less drivers like Hulkenberg to keep their eye in. I think it's a pity he's out but I'm sure he'll find a home in endurance racing or something, where he'll get the opportunity to taste some of the success which F1 didn't give him.
TheDeuce said:
Steamer said:
Is that everyone confirmed now? I've lost track a bit
No. One seat remains at Williams with latifi's backside half on it. They won't commit until the very last minute, probably in the new year.But other than that annoying situation, the silly season is done!
Thank you.
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