The Official F1 2025 silly season *contains speculation*

[TheDeuce]

SpudLink said:

Sixpackpert said:

Killer2005 said:

Wheel covers have been scrapped it seems

F1 abandons rain wheel cover idea after latest test https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-abandons-rai...

Surely this was never going to work. So if they eliminate the water from the wheels, what about all the water that is sucked up by the car and thrown out the back?

Was never going to work IMHO.

Reading the article, seems they thought that the defuser would be the main issue, but wanted to see how much difference it would make to reduce spray from the tyres. They've done the test, and now they know the difference is marginal, so will not proceed.

They knew what they were doing, and were right to do the test.

Indeed. The fact something is obviously not without flaws doesn't mean it's not worth trying. If it had worked even slightly better than reasonably predicted it could have been judged to be worth it for the sake of making many sessions that are currently delayed runnable.

I however am overall glad it hasn't worked because I just don't like the idea of rain flaps/guard/covers on 'open wheel' racing cars. I'm happy to not see things go too far down that route. Also, they looked really fugly

[Still Mulling]

Autosport reporting Williams are at an advanced stage of talks with Sainz.

Which would rule Antonelli out of a Williams in 2025. Surely not into a Merc?

And who else would go to Audi? Bottas to stay there?

One less pressure on Perez.

[TheDeuce]

Still Mulling said:

Autosport reporting Williams are at an advanced stage of talks with Sainz.

Which would rule Antonelli out of a Williams in 2025. Surely not into a Merc?

And who else would go to Audi? Bottas to stay there?

One less pressure on Perez.

Sainz who's kept leclerc honest (very) at Ferrari... ?

If true I can only imagine he's effectively a Merc signing being parked at Williams for the time being

[thegreenhell]

Williams have big ambitions, and James Vowles is a man on a mission to deliver them. The revised cost cap in the next Concorde agreement should allow them to invest in the infrastructure they need, and there are whispers that the 2026 Merc PU is looking very promising.

They won't match his salary offer from Audi, which is rumoured to be a very big number, but it will likely be a more competitive car in the short to medium term at least. It will probably also offer him more flexibility to move on once the post-'26 competitive order shakes out and potentially more seats become available elsewhere, if he isn't happy with where he is at the time.

Ocon is rumoured to be Audi's second choice after Sainz, with Bottas out of favour. Valtteri could end up at Haas alongside Bearman, or even at Alpine if Ocon leaves.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Still Mulling said:

Autosport reporting Williams are at an advanced stage of talks with Sainz.

If you were Sainz surely you would only go to Williams if they had signed Adrian Newey?

[vaud]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

If you were Sainz surely you would only go to Williams if they had signed Adrian Newey?

No chance Newey is going back to Williams in my view. Possibly not Ferrari after what the Italian courts did after Senna died.

[thegreenhell]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

If you were Sainz surely you would only go to Williams if they had signed Adrian Newey?

The problem he's got is that there aren't a lot of better options out there.

Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin don't have any free seats.
Mercedes and Red Bull have potential seats but both seem to have other plans for them and aren't showing much interest in him.

That leaves Williams, Sauber (Audi), Haas and Alpine. Of those, Williams is probably looking the best short term bet.

Audi really want him, but have reportedly given him a deadline of this weekend to make a decision, but Sauber are currently a shambles and probably not that attractive for next year at least, and a big gamble for '26 with the new Audi PU making its first appearance.

Alpine and Haas will both have an opening next year, because if he doesn't go to Audi then Ocon probably will, but why would you want to go to either of those when there are other options?

[Forester1965]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

If you were Sainz surely you would only go to Williams if they had signed Adrian Newey?

That would be Sainz grossly overestimating his own importance.

[FourWheelDrift]

vaud said:

No chance Newey is going back to Williams in my view. Possibly not Ferrari after what the Italian courts did after Senna died.

Do a Barnard and work from the UK.

[732NM]

I would hope out of the two, Sainz would choose Audi, that has a much stronger long term potential than WIlliams, which is just a venture capital company who could sell up tomorrow.

Vowels may get there in the end, but it's been a shambles this year.

[tele_lover]

Mark-C said:

tele_lover said:

Hustle_ said:

Merc are going to go for Antonelli. Sainz, sadly, has a choice between Audi or sabbatical IMO.

Williams' Sargeant replacement will be somewhat interesting... Sauber refugees? Gasly? Lawson? Young driver of some kind?

Edited by Hustle_ on Wednesday 15th May 11:02

Riccardo will probably be replaced by Lawson.

Aren't we expecting Williams to be Albon and Bottas?

Perhaps I'm not thinking but I can't see how those four drivers are related?

[tele_lover]

thegreenhell said:

Williams have big ambitions, and James Vowles is a man on a mission to deliver them. The revised cost cap in the next Concorde agreement should allow them to invest in the infrastructure they need, and there are whispers that the 2026 Merc PU is looking very promising.

I would be very surprised if anyone who is in the know, would reveal this outside of the office?

[skwdenyer]

Rotary Potato said:

It's becoming clear that there is no silver bullet for Merc (or even a bronze bullet ... or frankly, even a gun!) in this set of rules. RB have set the benchmark ... Ferrari and McLaren are in the close-but-no-cigar camp, where a good off season could see them make a fight of things on a more regular basis ... but Merc are left picking up the scraps and are not really any further forwards than they were in 2022.

I suspect their zero pod pivot cost them understanding; they’ve not obviously been much better, but no doubt wasted precious time. It is indicative of a team not really knowing where performance is being lost or can be gained; or just panicking. The W13 wasn’t a terrible car, finishing 3rd in the Constructors’ Championship. The W14 was better, yielding 2nd in the WCC. Those are decent results.

It was only at the time, set against a background of so much dominance, that the W13 seemed poor. They’re not no further forward; they seem to have gone backwards at present. Given the key people seem to be largely carried over from “the dominant era” there’s clearly something important that Mercedes are missing in their understanding of the new aero regime.

In the current cost-cap structure, relative performance is very hard to change absent a major “ah-ha” moment or the uncovering (and fixing) of a significant flaw somewhere in the aero development pipeline. It seems to me the handicapping system (aero time) just isn’t stringent enough, or skewed enough, to provide the necessary space in which to catch up.

[vaud]

tele_lover said:

thegreenhell said:

Williams have big ambitions, and James Vowles is a man on a mission to deliver them. The revised cost cap in the next Concorde agreement should allow them to invest in the infrastructure they need, and there are whispers that the 2026 Merc PU is looking very promising.

I would be very surprised if anyone who is in the know, would reveal this outside of the office?

And no-one would have comparative data.

[Blib]

The Race are reporting that RB have decided to re-sign Perez.

[Forester1965]

No surprise. He's st enough not to trouble Verstappen and knows it so keeps his gob shut.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

Forester1965 said:

No surprise. He's st enough not to trouble Verstappen and knows it so keeps his gob shut.

Not surprised either. One less option for Sainz now, Sauber or Mercedes?

[HTP99]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

Forester1965 said:

No surprise. He's st enough not to trouble Verstappen and knows it so keeps his gob shut.

Not surprised either. One less option for Sainz now, Sauber or Mercedes?

Williams.

[Sandpit Steve]

Yes it’s the Daily Mail, but apparently Jos and Toto have been talking.

George says it would be great to have Max as a team mate, because what else is he going to say?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/artic...

Edited by Sandpit Steve on Friday 31st May 07:20

[Leithen]

Sandpit Steve said:

Yes it’s the Daily Mail, but apparently Jos and Toto have been talking.

George says it would be great to have Max as a team mate, because what else is he going to say?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/formulaone/artic...

Edited by Sandpit Steve on Friday 31st May 07:20

Please Mr Wolff, if you are giving Antonelli a seat, and Verstappen a seat, and I have a seat, that adds up to three?