The Official F1 2019 silly season *contains speculation*

[bobbo89]

It may be a complete coincidence but Williams Twitter feed has been completely void of any mention of Stroll for about two weeks with every driver tweet only mentioning Sirotkin......

[rdjohn]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

Not sure on the rules but if I was after maximum exposure for my team and driver (which surely LSsnr is) I’d rock up at the track and announce the swap then.

According to Joe Saward, VJ’s hands have yet to leave the tiller at FI. Stroll is not the owner, just a potential investor.

[Vaud]

Plus there is the small matter of Ocon who will have a contract.

[HustleRussell]

It'd be madness for Lawrence Stroll to cause that kind of upheaval for the two teams in which he is invested. Lance may well want his pony and want it now but image the inconvenience for both teams. Poor F.I. have to adjust to having only one decent driver and poor Esteban has to adjust to driving a crap car which he probably doesn't fit in properly.

[Vaud]

HustleRussell said:

It'd be madness for Lawrence Stroll to cause that kind of upheaval for the two teams in which he is invested. Lance may well want his pony and want it now but image the inconvenience for both teams. Poor F.I. have to adjust to having only one decent driver and poor Esteban has to adjust to driving a crap car which he probably doesn't fit in properly.

Did he invest at all in Williams, or was it just through funding attached to Lance? (I forget)

[HustleRussell]

Vaud said:

HustleRussell said:

It'd be madness for Lawrence Stroll to cause that kind of upheaval for the two teams in which he is invested. Lance may well want his pony and want it now but image the inconvenience for both teams. Poor F.I. have to adjust to having only one decent driver and poor Esteban has to adjust to driving a crap car which he probably doesn't fit in properly.

Did he invest at all in Williams, or was it just through funding attached to Lance? (I forget)

I don't know, but we know that he was paying a lot of money for lance to be there and being the canny man that he is you'd bet that Lawrence ensured that the money was used constructively within the team to make a material difference to their performance.

[Deesee]

Vaud said:

HustleRussell said:

It'd be madness for Lawrence Stroll to cause that kind of upheaval for the two teams in which he is invested. Lance may well want his pony and want it now but image the inconvenience for both teams. Poor F.I. have to adjust to having only one decent driver and poor Esteban has to adjust to driving a crap car which he probably doesn't fit in properly.

Did he invest at all in Williams, or was it just through funding attached to Lance? (I forget)

He raised the funds through sponsorship, canada life, bombardier and a few others.

[fcuk1_6]

McLaren running Norris in place of Alonso on Friday practice, does anyone else think this is them trying to see how he compares to Vandoorne fearing that if they don't give Norris a race seat for 2019 they'll loose him to Torro Rosso?

[HustleRussell]

fk1_6 said:

McLaren running Norris in place of Alonso on Friday practice, does anyone else think this is them trying to see how he compares to Vandoorne fearing that if they don't give Norris a race seat for 2019 they'll loose him to Torro Rosso?

I don't think Norris can simply 'go to Toro Rosso', he's under contract to McLaren as third driver- so if Norris is to drive for TR, he would need McLaren's blessing.

[Vaud]

Deesee said:

He raised the funds through sponsorship, canada life, bombardier and a few others.

I meant did he swap investment $ for shares, or did he just provide sponsorship and a very large bank transfer?

[Deesee]

Vaud said:

I meant did he swap investment $ for shares, or did he just provide sponsorship and a very large bank transfer?

My understanding its just 3rd party sponsorship into williams, no cash provided, if he pulled lance the sponsors might not be too happy.

[thegreenhell]

Vaud said:

Deesee said:

He raised the funds through sponsorship, canada life, bombardier and a few others.

I meant did he swap investment $ for shares, or did he just provide sponsorship and a very large bank transfer?

I've read elsewhere that he just bought advertising space on the car at a fixed cost, which he then sold on to his various mostly-Canadian sponsors. He may not have very much of his own $ in the team at all.

[Vaud]

Deesee said:

My understanding its just 3rd party sponsorship into williams, no cash provided, if he pulled lance the sponsors might not be too happy.

I guess they would be if he can put them on a rebranded Force India and get more TV exposure by virtue of being closer to the front?

[suffolk009]

Vaud said:

I guess they would be if he can put them on a rebranded Force India and get more TV exposure by virtue of being closer to the front?

Wasn't it the old joke that Parmalat had the best value sponsorship in F1, because the car was lapped so many times it kept appearing on the screen?

[Deesee]

Vaud said:

Deesee said:

My understanding its just 3rd party sponsorship into williams, no cash provided, if he pulled lance the sponsors might not be too happy.

I guess they would be if he can put them on a rebranded Force India and get more TV exposure by virtue of being closer to the front?

He could, but what about the FI sponsors, and the williams team, that could be some serious litigation, anyway at present the team is still in administration, he/they have lent some money to keep them going, this administration could take several years to correct.

Tv coverage is wonderful, but the reality is 2 hours a race x 20 odd races per year, but access to the motor homes for business entertainment, F1 drivers/cars used in your adverts/press/social media, thats got to be the sexy bit right?

[anonymous-user]

Quote: "When Helmut called I was in my underwear," Gasly told Red Bull Racing

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/45260324

[hairyben]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

What happens if Gasly beats Verstappen.

fireworks. Bring popcorn.

I feel Daniel has been playing the mature/long game, knowing he's not currently in a championship hunt, and managing max. His successor will be less accommodating.

[patmahe]

I see Vergne says he is talking to a team, presumably Torro Rosso? Would love to see him back, thought he was shafted first time around. He's proven his ability in FE and LMP2 and I believe he's driving better than ever.

[suffolk009]

Much is made of Red Bull's young driver programme. But instead of carefully ordered planning of the teams' needs and orderly career progression for the drivers, I'm starting to think that Helmut makes decisions by listening to the butterfly's pulling levers inside his head.

[bobbo89]

patmahe said:

I see Vergne says he is talking to a team, presumably Torro Rosso? Would love to see him back, thought he was shafted first time around. He's proven his ability in FE and LMP2 and I believe he's driving better than ever.

Kind of throws away the whole point of Torro Rosso being Red Bull's junior team, especially if they retain Hartley too! Do Red Bull not have anyone in the lower Formulae ready to step up?