The Official F1 2019 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
exelero said:
Kvyat in Torro Rosso next year alongside Wehreiln,, they will confirm it in Russia 
Good, I like the idea that he gets another chance. He had/has raw pace. Better Kyvat then a sponsor backed driver or someone unequipped from their driver pool (not that they have many choices)Vaud said:
exelero said:
Kvyat in Torro Rosso next year alongside Wehreiln,, they will confirm it in Russia
Good, I like the idea that he gets another chance. He had/has raw pace. Better Kyvat then a sponsor backed driver or someone unequipped from their driver pool (not that they have many choices)
Don't know if its been mentioned in this thread before... (just checked at Dermot O'Logical has mentioned it above)
Mick Schumacher is starting to pull a lead in the European F3 title race, pretty sure hes has something to do with both Mercedes and Ferrari as well.
Possibly in as a 2nd driver at HAAS?
Mick Schumacher is starting to pull a lead in the European F3 title race, pretty sure hes has something to do with both Mercedes and Ferrari as well.
Possibly in as a 2nd driver at HAAS?
Dermot O'Logical said:
Schumacher Jr? He's recently started winning in Euro F3, and is a Ferrari Academy driver.
AJB88 said:
Mick Schumacher is starting to pull a lead in the European F3 title race, pretty sure hes has something to do with both Mercedes and Ferrari as well.
Mick Schumacher is neither a Ferrari Academy driver nor a Mercedes young driver.He has a Mercedes logo on his F3 car as it has a Mercedes engine.
One of his Prema team mates (Schwartzman) is a Ferrari Academy driver so the Ferrari logo appears on some team jackets etc.
I don't doubt that his progress is being watched by both teams but, for now, he isn't contracted to either of them.
I also don't think that Mick will rush to F1. His approach so far has been to spend one year learning in a new series then the second year competing as a front runner. He will probably look for a seat with a good F2 team for next year.
bobbo89 said:
Can someone explain the RPFI situation with Perez please and why everyone is saying the seat is pretty much his? I'm assuming it's either contractual or financial as I can think of many other drivers i'd have in that seat before him!
It's all because he was the one who forced the old FI into administration. The logic is that he wouldn't have have done such a thing without some guarantees on the other side, given that he was potentially risking not only his immediate FI seat and the reported $3M that FI owed him, but also his reputation as someone who could have taken down one of the most popular teams on the grid.Given how quickly the whole matter was resolved, with Stroll's impressive consortium of investors stepping in straight away, it is believed that this was all a planned manoeuvre, for which Perez was guaranteed ongoing employment under the new management.
thegreenhell said:
It's all because he was the one who forced the old FI into administration. The logic is that he wouldn't have have done such a thing without some guarantees on the other side, given that he was potentially risking not only his immediate FI seat and the reported $3M that FI owed him, but also his reputation as someone who could have taken down one of the most popular teams on the grid.
Given how quickly the whole matter was resolved, with Stroll's impressive consortium of investors stepping in straight away, it is believed that this was all a planned manoeuvre, for which Perez was guaranteed ongoing employment under the new management.
Makes sense, suppose there must be a lot of other things to iron out first before officially confirming the 2019 driver line-up too...Given how quickly the whole matter was resolved, with Stroll's impressive consortium of investors stepping in straight away, it is believed that this was all a planned manoeuvre, for which Perez was guaranteed ongoing employment under the new management.
The Stroll / Ocon / Perez situation still needs to play out. Stroll needs to negotiate his severance from Williams and Toto will be playing his hand to try to keep Ocon in a seat.
Hopefully Williams are holding Stroll to ransom for a large sum of money. IMO there is still a chance that Stroll will remain at Williams for the time being for this reason. Lawrence isn't stupid- he realises that moving his son immediately into RPFI displacing Ocon would be an unpopular move, particularly with Toto who happens to be team principal of the manufacturer who supplies a lot of parts to RPFI. That break of contract will also cost him a lot of money. Finally, Stroll and his consortium are invested in the success of the team- are they all certain that a Stroll / Perez or Stroll / Ocon line-up are in the teams best interest? Is Lance ready yet?
Perez brings a lot of money. He and his backers must be quite confident he has a seat but no contract is unbreakable and it has gotten quite political so I can't imagine he will sleep soundly at night until the team announces him. Could Stroll's money and Toto's political (parts supply) pressure conspire to trump Perez and his money?
Meanwhile, Racing Point Force India are likely to change their name, livery etc for 2019- so why the rush to announce drivers before the new name, livery, corporate language etc are aired?
I don't think RPFI will publically announce drivers until the Williams / Stroll situation is clear. If Stroll is out of Williams (not relegated to 3rd driver) he is obviously in at RPFI.
Williams are late to announce but they aren't exactly feasting on scraps. They have Sirotkin, Roland and Kubica on their books already, Markelov already been linked and George Russell floating about (assuming Kvyat and Wehrlein at Toro Rosso). With all this competition for a drive they are going to look to maximise the financial benefit to the team...
Hopefully Williams are holding Stroll to ransom for a large sum of money. IMO there is still a chance that Stroll will remain at Williams for the time being for this reason. Lawrence isn't stupid- he realises that moving his son immediately into RPFI displacing Ocon would be an unpopular move, particularly with Toto who happens to be team principal of the manufacturer who supplies a lot of parts to RPFI. That break of contract will also cost him a lot of money. Finally, Stroll and his consortium are invested in the success of the team- are they all certain that a Stroll / Perez or Stroll / Ocon line-up are in the teams best interest? Is Lance ready yet?
Perez brings a lot of money. He and his backers must be quite confident he has a seat but no contract is unbreakable and it has gotten quite political so I can't imagine he will sleep soundly at night until the team announces him. Could Stroll's money and Toto's political (parts supply) pressure conspire to trump Perez and his money?
Meanwhile, Racing Point Force India are likely to change their name, livery etc for 2019- so why the rush to announce drivers before the new name, livery, corporate language etc are aired?
I don't think RPFI will publically announce drivers until the Williams / Stroll situation is clear. If Stroll is out of Williams (not relegated to 3rd driver) he is obviously in at RPFI.
Williams are late to announce but they aren't exactly feasting on scraps. They have Sirotkin, Roland and Kubica on their books already, Markelov already been linked and George Russell floating about (assuming Kvyat and Wehrlein at Toro Rosso). With all this competition for a drive they are going to look to maximise the financial benefit to the team...
thegreenhell said:
Why hasn't Lance Stroll been announced as one of their drivers for 2019 yet?
I think the whole Lance going to FI has been seen as a given by the press due to his dad being part of the group buying the team, but don’t think it’s that simple personally. The team are likely the 4th fastest car on the grid now the updates have arrived, does it actually make sense from a team perspective to put Lance in the car or does it make more sense for him to go and do something like Indy Car where the pressure and rich kid reputation won’t be on him and FI keep 2 top drivers that make more sense investment wise when it comes to earning prize money next year and the year afterVaud said:
thegreenhell said:
True, they are investing, but it's creating silos. There are Mercedes drivers, Ferrari drivers, Red Bull drivers, and then the rest, and it's becoming increasingly difficult for any driver to move from one to another. With their factory teams and sub-teams, the big three have 2/3 of the grid sewn up, which makes it near-impossible for any driver not supported by those young-driver programmes to get in unless they have $20m+ of independent backing, and even then there's only one or two teams where they might be able to buy a seat.
I've said it before that F1 needs more independent teams, otherwise it's just going to become a complete manufacturer lockout.
I don't disagree. They are silos, but the drivers are also assets. I think Daniel Ricciardo (I forget, it may not have been) wanted to leave RB a few years ago and was told "fine, you owe us £10M to recover the cost of our investment in you" I've said it before that F1 needs more independent teams, otherwise it's just going to become a complete manufacturer lockout.
At the cost level, it is going to be manufacturer only, I agree.
DanielSan said:
thegreenhell said:
Why hasn't Lance Stroll been announced as one of their drivers for 2019 yet?
I think the whole Lance going to FI has been seen as a given by the press due to his dad being part of the group buying the team, but don’t think it’s that simple personally. The team are likely the 4th fastest car on the grid now the updates have arrived, does it actually make sense from a team perspective to put Lance in the car or does it make more sense for him to go and do something like Indy Car where the pressure and rich kid reputation won’t be on him and FI keep 2 top drivers that make more sense investment wise when it comes to earning prize money next year and the year aftertobinen said:
My mate in F1 suggests it's Wehrlein and Kvyat at STR next season, as someone has mentioned earlier
That sounds like the modern day equivalent of having Fisichella and Trulli in your cars, utterly unremarkable or interesting. Edited by tobinen on Wednesday 26th September 22:25
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