The Official F1 2020 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
Red Bull Racing could do a lot worse than bring back Jean-Éric Vergne to partner Max Emilian Verstappen.
Probably no need to employ him on a strict second driver basis if Max is as good as they say and I think Max is strong enough mentally to cope with that.
I actually think that as a dynamic the two could work well together.
Depends how much Jean-Éric Vergne wants to return to Formula 1 racing, or how much more he has enjoyed his time competing and winning in other series like Formula E, European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans.
Probably no need to employ him on a strict second driver basis if Max is as good as they say and I think Max is strong enough mentally to cope with that.
I actually think that as a dynamic the two could work well together.
Depends how much Jean-Éric Vergne wants to return to Formula 1 racing, or how much more he has enjoyed his time competing and winning in other series like Formula E, European Le Mans Series and FIA World Endurance Championship and at Le Mans.
Be nice to see Red Bull give Kvyat another shot in the top seat demoting Gasly back down to TR to see how he compares against Albon. He's keeping himself out of trouble and so seems to have matured and got past the torpedo thing. He's also pulled off some brilliant overtakes this year showing some real class! Albon has also shown a lot of promise but I think staying at TR is probably best for him right now.
HighwayStar said:
Not just Mercedes... No top team would let it happen. We all saw what happened in the Merc and RedBull teams with teams mates scrapping for the WDC... things got feisty. Great for us. Bad for the team. I don’t see any front running team signing Lewis and Max or top line drivers of the moment. What we need is more drivers in cars capable of winning. On merit, not by luck or inheriting the win.
Totally agree.
Bullitt Five-Oh said:
stuff
Last year we had a nice, constructive thread that didn't descend into abuse/namecalling/Hamilton is broken/Vettel is broken, etc. dgmx5 said:
stuff
Constructive speculation with random bits of intel/rumours, etc
Please stop it or I'll ask for the mods to intervene.
Vaud said:
Bullitt Five-Oh said:
stuff
Last year we had a nice, constructive thread that didn't descend into abuse/namecalling/Hamilton is broken/Vettel is broken, etc. dgmx5 said:
stuff
Constructive speculation with random bits of intel/rumours, etc
Please stop it or I'll ask for the mods to intervene.
ELUSIVEJIM said:
But where would he go? Redbull may not have a great car this year by their standards but they still appear to have a better chassis than anyone except Mercedes (who almost certainly wont take him as long as Hamilton is there) and it seems far more likely that Honda will catch up Ferrari's power plant than Ferrari will catch up with Redbull's chassis. Ferrari just doesn't feel like a step forwards to me.
Edited by kambites on Friday 28th June 14:24
kambites said:
But where would he go? Redbull may not have a great car this year by their standards but they still appear to have a better chassis than anyone except Mercedes (who almost certainly wont take him as long as Hamilton is there) and it seems far more likely that Honda will catch up Ferrari's power plant than Ferrari will catch up with Redbull's chassis.
Ferrari just doesn't feel like a step forwards to me.
Ferrari has been the second-best team behind Mercedes and you could argue they were slightly better at times during 2018. Ferrari will always throw money at a car and a driver which would be a very big plus.Ferrari just doesn't feel like a step forwards to me.
Edited by kambites on Friday 28th June 14:24
But how good is the Red Bull? Or is it Verstappen?
If Vettel is not retiring maybe it will be a swap with money going Red Bull's way.
kambites said:
But where would he go? Redbull may not have a great car this year by their standards but they still appear to have a better chassis than anyone except Mercedes (who almost certainly wont take him as long as Hamilton is there) and it seems far more likely that Honda will catch up Ferrari's power plant than Ferrari will catch up with Redbull's chassis.
Ferrari just doesn't feel like a step forwards to me.
I thought Dieter said that Mercedes would never associate themselves with Max after the Ocon shoving.Ferrari just doesn't feel like a step forwards to me.
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Ferrari has been the second-best team behind Mercedes and you could argue they were slightly better at times during 2018. Ferrari will always throw money at a car and a driver which would be a very big plus.
If we're really going to see budget caps for 2021, the fact that Redbull are currently performing roughly on a par withe Ferrari with a smaller budget could be said to be a reason to stick at Redbull. I think one could argue that Ferrari have been out-performing Redbull over the last 5 years or so solely because they have had an engine advantage; that Redbull have pretty consistently produced the better chassis. With it looking like there will be minimal changes to the engine formula for 2021 onwards, the gap in engine performance is only going to close still further...
Edited by kambites on Friday 28th June 16:16
Graveworm said:
I thought Dieter said that Mercedes would never associate themselves with Max after the Ocon shoving.
That’s an interesting comment. I feel that Max has been markedly more restrained both on track and off this season, most put it down to a step up in maturity but I just have a feeling he is trying to disassociate himself as best as possible with his petulant reputation in order to secure a drive with a team who can afford to have much stricter requirements of their drivers. Something tells me if he is not in a Merc next year, he will be in 2021 despite the aforementioned cold shoulder.tight fart said:
I would have Norris and Albon on my shopping list.
Sorry, it's getting difficult to keep track: for which team?I think both of them have been something of a breath of fresh air - clearly very capable drivers. but also very eloquent, outgoing characters who seem to be relishing the position they are in.
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