The Official F1 2020 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
https://beyondtheflag.com/2019/08/01/formula-1-wil...
Well it's not Russell for 2020 to Mercedes - and yes contracts can change - but Williams asserting their position?
Well it's not Russell for 2020 to Mercedes - and yes contracts can change - but Williams asserting their position?
thegreenhell said:
If Ocon was that good he wouldn't be a spectator now. They knew by the summer break last year that the Renault deal was not going ahead for him, and yet they still renewed Bottas for this year. They're only holding on to him as an insurance policy against getting burned by being left suddenly driverless, like they were when Rosberg retired.
IIRC they had already renewed Bottas as they had a handshake agreement to place Ocon into Renault.I think there is another risk coming that could impact 2020, more likely 2021.
Auto in Europe is potentially going to have a bid downturn. Renault is a mile from it's stated goals laid out in their plan (was supposed to be 4th, then 3rd, then challenging for title in 2020 IIRC) - instead they will likely be beaten by their customer team.
I don't think they would withdraw as an engine supplier (preserves the French jobs, investment, etc) but would they lose much face to sell the works team?
Auto in Europe is potentially going to have a bid downturn. Renault is a mile from it's stated goals laid out in their plan (was supposed to be 4th, then 3rd, then challenging for title in 2020 IIRC) - instead they will likely be beaten by their customer team.
I don't think they would withdraw as an engine supplier (preserves the French jobs, investment, etc) but would they lose much face to sell the works team?
ajprice said:
Red Bull were technically a Renault engine customer team beating them. Last year McLaren had an issue with the car they couldn't fix, this year it's sorted and they're getting better. Renault have gone back a bit though for whatever reason, I don't know if there's anything in the car they can't fix like at McLaren last year.
Indeed. I just wonder how long the board will tolerate non-performance (and give it was a Carlos Ghosn sponsored project)... easier to back out, blame the economy and Ghosn.super7 said:
He won his last race....... and most of his problems this year is around being taken out by others!
He won his last race from pole at a track that is hard to overtake on. 
Don't get me wrong, he's definitely got speed. He has some protection from pressure being in F2. With his name, F1 would be a total shark tank for him... want any move to be at the right time.
sandman77 said:
Are you new to F1. There is absolutely zero chance that Hamilton and Alonso will ever be teammates again after the disasterous time they had together at mclaren. They absolutely hated each other.
There is 0% chance Mercedes will risk another Lewis-Nico situation. They have stated so publicly and I chatted to one of the Mercedes director who was equally adamant in private.It was too destructive, consumed too much management bandwidth to manage, and frankly they don't need Alonso, they don't lack someone who can mount a championship campaign.
They do need a long term stable partner for Hamilton and some options for the future.
LaurasOtherHalf said:
Presumably the HR dept isn’t governed by the summer shut down rules?
https://f1i.com/magazine/67380-explaining-f1-summe...A few years old as an article, but defines the scope of shutdown which is less complete than I had remembered.
kiseca said:
ELUSIVEJIM said:
Too good no one wants him.
He would give any main driver in a top team a very hard time and this is why the main teams want to protect their main driver.
...
That makes no sense to me. Why would any Formula 1 team want to protect their current driver by keeping a faster driver out of their car?He would give any main driver in a top team a very hard time and this is why the main teams want to protect their main driver.
...
Advantages of signing the better driver:
1) They will get better results
2) The better driver doesn't join another team and become their competition
Disadvantages of signing the better driver:
???
- Hiring an Alonso (by example) might get your short term points but require epic amounts of management bandwidth to keep things "on track" within the team.
- Who is the future? Are you planning for 2019? Or a 5 year campaign? Alonso might be good for the latter part of the season but not if it pulls the team apart.
TheDeuce said:
I've been thinking.. It's not just the rate of new incoming talent, it's the age and length of career too. The drivers are getting younger, no reason to think they should lose their speed any younger though, so in theory, the average driver will be in the sport for longer.
It wasn't so long ago a lad like Max would have been rookie age, but he's already been around a few years. Lewis has been in the sport 12 years and shows no sign of being 'past it'. Not even close.
Quite frankly we could use a few dud years of F2 as the paddock is full. If the average career length is just 10 years then the paddock requires only 2 new drivers a year. We already have 2-3 waiting in the wings for next year so no one else need apply for the next 2 years. In that time the development programmes will probably have signed up another 6 new drivers.. Doesn't add up!
That is a challenge for the sport - a career could last 20 years, or even more (given Kimi is 39... no reason for Max to not be racing after 20 years).. not enough new constructor entrants, the sport is ultra safe... where is attrition going to come from?It wasn't so long ago a lad like Max would have been rookie age, but he's already been around a few years. Lewis has been in the sport 12 years and shows no sign of being 'past it'. Not even close.
Quite frankly we could use a few dud years of F2 as the paddock is full. If the average career length is just 10 years then the paddock requires only 2 new drivers a year. We already have 2-3 waiting in the wings for next year so no one else need apply for the next 2 years. In that time the development programmes will probably have signed up another 6 new drivers.. Doesn't add up!
janesmith1950 said:
Why is everyone utterly obsessed with the concept of two good drivers being impossible to manage.
Because Mercedes have repeatedly stated that they don't want it. It was too destructive to the team. I met with one of the Mercedes race team directors 1:1 and he was very very clear that they did not want to return to anything like Nico<>Lewis again. The management bandwidth it took was extremely destructive and divided the team.ELUSIVEJIM said:
Norfolkit said:
He's also a complete gobs
te, look at his "GP2 engine" comments, yes the engine may has been crap that year but Honda were pouring money into Mclaren, you don't rubbish your main "sponsor" live on air. He's toxic, I can't see any top team throwing away their bargepoles until he off the radar.
I very much doubt any of the top drivers in F1 would be happy stuck in that McLaren which was so far off the pace.te, look at his "GP2 engine" comments, yes the engine may has been crap that year but Honda were pouring money into Mclaren, you don't rubbish your main "sponsor" live on air. He's toxic, I can't see any top team throwing away their bargepoles until he off the radar.What he said at the time was the truth and the truth can hurt.
Gassing Station | Formula 1 | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff