The Official F1 2019 silly season *contains speculation*

[Vaud]

ghost83 said:

I genuinely don’t think Perez deserves the drive! Is Lawrence stroll going to stand and watch him barge his son off the track like he did ocon??

If I was rpfi I’d be signing up stroll and ocon and negotiate a better deal with Mercedes for having ocon

Depends on Perez's contract (and sponsor money...)?

[Vaud]

ghost83 said:

I thought Perez was out of contract and if they shut the old team down and start up the new team that basically ends any agreements anyway, and if Lawrence stroll has basically unlimited funds is Perez’s money going to bother him? He might get a cracking deal from toto regarding engines and ocon

Contracts can and do survive administration, depending on the jurisdiction.

[Vaud]

Kraken said:

They have a lot of choices. Off the top of my head I can think of at least six and there are probably at least double that I haven't thought of.

Who is:

Available
Has superlicence
Matches the RB brand (not Alonso)
Is low risk

[Vaud]

andburg said:

In the history of GP2 30 drivers had made it to F1, only 3 have won races, the other 2 are Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

Nico
Lewis
Pastor

and
Heikki Kovalainen

[Vaud]

Kraken said:

The last two points are irrelevant as that is their choice. There are loads of drivers who match the first two.

Of course they are relevant to the list... There are a whole bunch of drivers that have enough points, but are pointless to consider due to age and reputation.

[Vaud]

It's been suggest before, but a sprint race after qualy on Saturday makes potential sense for viewers and ticket holders. One car per team, 30-50% race distance. One lap qualifying format or random grid.

Sure they will have to take a 3rd full car to the circuit but this could be mitigated by an additional payment from Liberty for those that commit. Or tax the front running teams a small amount to support the rear teams for this activity (hard to police)

OK, you would only have 10 cars, but it might make for some fun viewing.

[Vaud]

Excellent. I thought he deserved a second chance.

[Vaud]

DanielSan said:

HustleRussell said:

Toto has categorically stated that he won’t release Ocon.

Toto seems more determined to be a barrier to Ocon's career at the moment than do anything to help him get a seat.

Really? It only seems to be 2019 that is the real issue. Then replace Bottas for Ocon, and then Hamilton for Ocon. He thinks he is the real deal for Mercedes.

Given the depth of experience in the Mercedes management team, and the brain power and data they have, personally I differ to them. They are trying to mitigate a hiccup in plans...

[Vaud]

DanielSan said:

Brain power doesn't always equal common sense though. The big thing in any race series is momentum and seat time. A year in a simulator offers neither of those things and makes your Bottas/Hamilton replacement race rusty and not match fit in a year when they need him to step up and perform from day one. If that performance then doesn't happen confidence dips and getting to the level he needs to get to gets harder....

A year in any car on the grid, even the Williams, and racing in F1 is a better option than a year out.

I don't disagree but I am being pragmatic. Worst case, maybe they can pay Bottas to opt out of some races..

[Vaud]

Mark-C said:

Vaud said:

I don't disagree but I am being pragmatic. Worst case, maybe they can pay Bottas to opt out of some races..

Makes sense - they paid him to opt out of racing this weekend albeit some way into the race ...

I was amused that Coulthard noted he had been asked to move over a few times - and ensured he got the win bonus.

[Vaud]

HustleRussell said:

I dislike all this negative 'sad state of the sport' type bks. Kvyat is not the most exciting choice but he's an F1 calibre driver who will temporarily plug the hole in Red Bull's driver programme. They can dress it up as per and we get some entertainment in 2019 while the idiot Ticktum rightly serves his time.

Quite. The great thing about the grid at the moment is no "pay drivers" - each driver is F1 calibre, even Stroll. Ok, some have better backing than others.

I am surprised that RB put Kyvat back in, but it does at least show that they are racers and not accountants - it would be easy to take $10M of Russian money to fill the seat, cough, Williams, cough.

[Vaud]

Clockwork Cupcake said:

The fact that Williams are forced to make economic decisions like that rather highlights the sad state of affairs of the costs, and revenue imbalance, of F1.

There's plenty of money sloshing around in F1, but the revenue structure for teams (especially the special bonus for being Ferrari that Ferrari get) really needs to be addressed if we're not to lose historic independents like Williams.

If nothing else, Williams and McLaren should get the same bonus as Ferrari do.

Oh I don't disagree.

[Vaud]

Kraken said:

Williams and McLaren do get special payments as well albeit not the same size as Ferrari. Personally I don't have an issue with Ferrari getting more money. Every poll done shows them to be the most supported team so why shouldn't they get a bigger slice of the pie when more people come to see them than any other team? Not to mention that they've stuck with it while others come and go.

Interestingly if you add up all the money and divide it equally it doesn't actually make a massive difference. The top lose a bit, the bottom gain a bit but the majority stay pretty much as they are. The problem with F1, IMO, isn't so much the distribution of the money but the amount that is being spent in the first place. Over a thousand people to build and run two cars is utter madness when you see what is done in other series.

This is true, though to be fair to your middle points, Williams and McLaren have been loyal to F1 since their inception. It is a function of time that they have not been there as long as Ferrari.

Much as I love them, I think Ferrari should be docked bonus money every time they threaten to walk
It is, after all, a form of loyalty bonus.

[Vaud]

thegreenhell said:

I don't get all the hype over Ocon. He's a solid midfielder, but he hasn't really done anything exceptional to mark him out as a future champion. Mercedes insisting on hanging on to him seems to be hurting his career rather than helping it at the moment, unless he has a guaranteed race seat in the Mercedes for 2020, which I highly doubt.

Turning that back around - given the team principals have a lot more data - why do you think Merc want to keep hold of him, given the options and funds that they have?

Don't forget that Bottas is on annual contracts.

[Vaud]

Not sure Tatiana Calderón has enough super licence points?

[Vaud]

thegreenhell said:

Supersam83 said:

So now that Mick Schumacher has won the Euro F3 championship does that give him enough Super Licence points for F1 in 2019?

Yes, he gets 40 points for that, which is the minimum number required. However, I thought he'd already said he was aiming for F2 next year, rather then trying to jump straight into F1 too soon.

Yes, but I think they are being careful with him. F2, then maybe a Sauber or similar? He has plenty of time.

[Vaud]

AJB88 said:

As much as I want to see him in F1 I think hes correct to aim for F2

I agree - and I'd rather he entered F1 with some more experience.

[Vaud]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t see Mick Schumacher as the second coming, or at least I hope he isn’t.

Why, out of interest?

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HustleRussell said:

I don’t get why people get so excited about ex-driver’s offspring- is the popular belief that being able to drive is somehow genetic?

It’s just sentimentality right?

Max V is an interesting case study - both parents clearly "wired for racing" - I wonder if it is more about reaction times and something about a lack of self preservation that provides that final 1% - that may be genetic?

[Vaud]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Why I don’t see it or why I hope he isn’t? I honestly think that so many struggle with F1 that previous form goes out the window-a good career in the junior catagories is simply no guarantee of success in F1.

I hope he isn’t because an era of Schumacher-esque domination wouldn’t be what I looked for in the sport!

I don't really mind. I just want to see great drivers race. I don't follow any one driver any more and find it much more rewarding, even in an era of Merc dominance there is plenty of mid field racing.