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

[RobGT81]

KMag and Ocon at Renault I would have thought?

[Jasandjules]

I'd like to see Button have a last year at Williams. It would be a bit poetic.

I expect to see Stoffel in the McLaren next season alongside (and maybe even beating) Alonso.

[cgt2]

Rosberg confirmed until 2019.. shame. Would have loved to see a real ace in the car. Two more years of miserable interviews.

[housen]

cgt2 said:

Rosberg confirmed until 2019.. shame. Would have loved to see a real ace in the car. Two more years of miserable interviews.

yeah its unbelievable for sure im happy and lets see what happens for sure its cool lets see what battle I can have with lewis


zzzzzzzzzzzz

[anonymous-user]

Leave him alone! He's the thinking woman's Massa.

[cgt2]

Looks like Sainz has no options unless Red Bull sell his contract to a bigger team.

Such a waste of a talented driver stuck in the midfield, I bet he could shake up a few of the big names in the right car.

[GCH]

cgt2 said:

Rosberg confirmed until 2019.. shame. Would have loved to see a real ace in the car. Two more years of miserable interviews.

What a waste of a seat.
Still, at least it gives him two more years of blaming everyone but himself for failing to win a championship.

[lee_fr200]

I just hope Lewis keeps winding him up

[Mastodon2]

What a disappoint, I'd hoped they'd get a real driver in the second Mercedes seat next year. I was hoping for Vettel, sadly not to be.

[Jasandjules]

Is it just me that thinks perhaps Lewis will have 5 WDCs soon then.............

I almost wonder if Merc will try to "assist" Nico to win this year just so he gets one, then leave Lewis to it next year.....

[cgt2]

Jasandjules said:

I almost wonder if Merc will try to "assist" Nico to win this year just so he gets one, then leave Lewis to it next year.....

Even if they would love that from a team perspective, the board in Stuttgart wants the marketing that comes with a championship which is after all why they invest the big bucks.

LH is hugely marketable globally (even more so this year in the US where he made the Time list of influential sportspeople). If Rosberg's face is plastered all over A Class billboards in say New York, San Diego, Mumbai or Jakarta they may sell one or two extra cars. If Lewis's mug is on them they will sell a shedload more..if Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't know Rosberg's name on the podium, it is pretty much guaranteed that your average Mercedes customer will have even less idea.

I can just see a tech entrepeneur in Silicon Valley saying to his mate ''Gee, I have no idea who that guy is but he looks a bit like Britney Spears''...

[HustleRussell]

Jasandjules said:

Is it just me that thinks perhaps Lewis will have 5 WDCs soon then.............

I almost wonder if Merc will try to "assist" Nico to win this year just so he gets one, then leave Lewis to it next year.....

Rosberg might win this one on reliability. He might even win one on merit by 2018. If he doesn't, perhaps he reckons Mercedes dominance will continue for years to come and he may simply be able to hang around until Hamilton loses interest and departs to Ferrari or goes to pursue his music career, and win while Mercedes new driver is installing himself.

[hairyben]

Jasandjules said:

Is it just me that thinks perhaps Lewis will have 5 WDCs soon then.............

I almost wonder if Merc will try to "assist" Nico to win this year just so he gets one, then leave Lewis to it next year.....

You mean like inexplilcably and against repeated policy (when its benefitted no 6) allowing him to undercut the lead driver on track?

While the fan of hamilton part of me is a bit pleased as - provided merc play fair - thats good for him and more british championships, I'd really like to see someone more deserving/interesting in the car. Sainz, Ricc, both seem to tick all boxes, even Kvyat gives no quarter and could be interesting. But no, we get 2 more years of spoilt rich entitled tw@t face.

[suffolk009]

Will Buxton and others tweeting that Haryanto will be out and Stoffel will be in for the rest of the season.

Great to watch Stoffel and Pascal go wheel to wheel in the same equipment (albeit near the back).

[lee_fr200]

My opinion of stoffel is quite low so let's see what he can do

I think pascal will finish ahead of him

[HustleRussell]

lee_fr200 said:

My opinion of stoffel is quite low so let's see what he can do

I think pascal will finish ahead of him

I don't know much about Stoffel but on the one occasion he's been in an F1 car (as a last minute stand-in for Alonso), he convincingly out-qualified Jenson Button and scored Mclaren's first point of the year. McLaren didn't score points again until round 4- the car didn't belong in the top 10.

[lee_fr200]

Just looked on manors Twitter it says 45 mins ago Rio and pascal were suiting ip

[Teppic]

HustleRussell said:

I don't know much about Stoffel but on the one occasion he's been in an F1 car (as a last minute stand-in for Alonso), he convincingly out-qualified Jenson Button and scored Mclaren's first point of the year. McLaren didn't score points again until round 4- the car didn't belong in the top 10.

Convincingly out-qualified Button?

Stoffel Vandoorne: 1:31.934
Jenson Button: 1:31.998

You're right. The difference was MASSIVE.

Sorry, but 'covnincingly' in my book would be a gap of half a second or more, not less than a tenth.

[lee_fr200]

And button passed him went upto 7th while stoffel slipped to 16th and spent 95% of the race there

[HustleRussell]

Alright, I read the times wrong. Amended below.

HustleRussell said:

I don't know much about Stoffel but on the one occasion he's been in an F1 car (as a last minute stand-in for Alonso), he convincingly out-qualified Jenson Button and scored Mclaren's first point of the year. McLaren didn't score points again until round 4- the car didn't belong in the top 10.