The Official F1 2020 silly season *contains speculation*

[Mr Pointy]

slipstream 1985 said:

groomi said:

No idea how the the politics would play out, but Ocon to Red Bull?

Mercedes don't seem to have a seat for him and Red Bull don't appear to have anybody ready for the 2nd seat in their line-up.

Politics are the problem there. ocon is well on the books of mercedes and they will be wary of letting him go incase Lewis does a Rosberg at the end of a given season. It's no skin off mercedes nose leaving Ocon the rot (effectively) and Ocon is probably happy at a maybe shot.

The biggest likely move in my opinion would be if Vettel quits then the opening seat at ferrari would likely be Perez imo.

It makes zero sense to put Ocon into Red Bull instead of Gasly. He doesn't know the set up or how the team works whereas Kyvat has experienced all of this at RB & is ready to go & get points on the board. Ocon would be learning his way round for most of the rest of the season.

[HustleRussell]

Mr Pointy said:

slipstream 1985 said:

groomi said:

No idea how the the politics would play out, but Ocon to Red Bull?

Mercedes don't seem to have a seat for him and Red Bull don't appear to have anybody ready for the 2nd seat in their line-up.

Politics are the problem there. ocon is well on the books of mercedes and they will be wary of letting him go incase Lewis does a Rosberg at the end of a given season. It's no skin off mercedes nose leaving Ocon the rot (effectively) and Ocon is probably happy at a maybe shot.

The biggest likely move in my opinion would be if Vettel quits then the opening seat at ferrari would likely be Perez imo.

It makes zero sense to put Ocon into Red Bull instead of Gasly. He doesn't know the set up or how the team works whereas Kyvat has experienced all of this at RB & is ready to go & get points on the board. Ocon would be learning his way round for most of the rest of the season.

I can't see Honda nor Renault welcoming a spy into the camp now. Both engine builders have made strides recently and you just know that any intel is going to be thoroughly digested and incorporated by Mercedes

[JonChalk]

groomi said:

No idea how the the politics would play out, but Ocon to Red Bull?

Mercedes don't seem to have a seat for him and Red Bull don't appear to have anybody ready for the 2nd seat in their line-up.

If Merc don't change drivers, then aren't Williams the only place a Merc-supported driver can go?

Stroll's not getting the sack, Perez is out-performing the car, Russell is the future for Wiliams for British support (assuming Williams don't spiral further - they picked up a bit in France).

Kubica's the most at risk Mercedes-engined driver - whether Ocon would want the eta is different question.

[Teddy Lop]

HustleRussell said:

I can't see Honda nor Renault welcoming a spy into the camp now. Both engine builders have made strides recently and you just know that any intel is going to be thoroughly digested and incorporated by Mercedes

can a driver really take that much technically useful away? I mean tid bits and impressions on how systems act can be thought about and worked on but its small fish really when often its out date the day after last Tuesday.

I don't think max would take kindly to mr Ocon in his garage but red bull are waving goodbye to any chance of fighting ferrari for 2nd in the WCC if they don't get a reliable pair of hands in the other car. Shame really for gasley, he'll be "given time to develop" and that's a death bell.

[andburg]

i just dont see merc changing unless Bottas drops off.

Bottas keeps Lewis honest enough and causes no friction. Ocon/Wehrlein would cover their forthcoming FE outfit rather nicely.

Ferrari are unlikely to get rid of Vettel unless they can get a Lewis/Daniel Ricciardo to replace him, they took a brave step with LeClerc but that because they had a multiple WDC in the hot seat.

RBR have max tied in and probably his first born. Gasly will be gone, Albon has done enough to keep his seat at Toro Rosso but not really earnt the top drive yet and Kvyat, well for me hes found his level. Who fills the seond seat at RBR? i dont know.

Renault have been a bit dismissive of the Hulk, but hes not exactly being shown up by Ricciardo, Ricciardo is going nowhere. Hulk could be a solid RBR 2nd driver. Renault do have junior drivers but noone really ready. They may look at Ocon if they can get him out of Merc entirely on the french basis.

Mclaren - Tied up, no changes

Racing point - I'd dont expect any changes

HAAS - i think they messed up keeping both drivers last year, this year has not gone well so far and they need fresh blood. They insis oin running their own drivers and i dont see them as hugely appealing.

Williams - Russel for sure, second seat on ebay later in the season when the listing fees are ditched.

Sauber - Unless the car improves I can actually see Kimi leaving


Of course this is all completely wrong!

[anonymous-user]

https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/23376

Alonso will not test the 2019 McLaren again this year.

Is the relationship coming to an end?

I still think Alonso is working behind the scenes to get a top drive in F1 for 2020.

[thegreenhell]

I still think he's most likely to appear back in a Ferrari if Vettel decides to move on.

[Nickp82]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/23376

Alonso will not test the 2019 McLaren again this year.

Is the relationship coming to an end?

I still think Alonso is working behind the scenes to get a top drive in F1 for 2020.

I think you’re right on both points, recent quotes suggest Zak Brown has realised Alonso is not the almighty lord of racing he thought he was and infact having two drivers who are quick, work well together and use their intelligence to develop as a team is the way forward.

I can’t see Alonso coming back now to any team no matter how hard he tries.

[JonChalk]

Nickp82 said:

ELUSIVEJIM said:

https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/23376

Alonso will not test the 2019 McLaren again this year.

Is the relationship coming to an end?

I still think Alonso is working behind the scenes to get a top drive in F1 for 2020.

I think you’re right on both points, recent quotes suggest Zak Brown has realised Alonso is not the almighty lord of racing he thought he was and infact having two drivers who are quick, work well together and use their intelligence to develop as a team is the way forward.

I can’t see any team wanting Alonso no matter how hard he begs.

FTFY

[TheDeuce]

ajprice said:

Yep. It's a top 5 this year, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Max. Gasly is fighting to be ahead of the midfield teams (he's 50 behind CLC, 11 ahead of Sainz).

If Riccardo was still there, I do think Red Bull would be up with Ferrari in the constructors (They're 61 behind Ferrari with Gasly in the car)

I prefer to imagine Ricciardo at Ferrari if vettel were to go. I think in a top car without reliability issues, that guy would be crazy quick.

[Supersam83]

If Kimi is still allowed to drive in F1 and show how good he is despite his age and slightly diminished sharpness then Alonso should be welcomed back into F1 2020 as I feel he is still at the level of Hamilton and Vettel and on his day maybe slightly better.

Would be challenging for podiums at least if he was in Gasly's seat.

[HTP99]

Supersam83 said:

If Kimi is still allowed to drive in F1 and show how good he is despite his age and slightly diminished sharpness then Alonso should be welcomed back into F1 2020 as I feel he is still at the level of Hamilton and Vettel and on his day maybe slightly better.

Would be challenging for podiums at least if he was in Gasly's seat.

The difference is Alonso brings baggage and is hard work, Kimi doesn't and isn't.

With the emerging young talent, Alonso is surplus I'm afraid.

[ajprice]

TheDeuce said:

ajprice said:

Yep. It's a top 5 this year, Mercedes, Ferrari, and Max. Gasly is fighting to be ahead of the midfield teams (he's 50 behind CLC, 11 ahead of Sainz).

If Riccardo was still there, I do think Red Bull would be up with Ferrari in the constructors (They're 61 behind Ferrari with Gasly in the car)

I prefer to imagine Ricciardo at Ferrari if vettel were to go. I think in a top car without reliability issues, that guy would be crazy quick.

I meant that if DR hadn't walked from Red Bull and they had DR and Max in the cars, they would be up with Ferrari, not 61 behind.

[groomi]

andburg said:

HAAS - i think they messed up keeping both drivers last year, this year has not gone well so far and they need fresh blood. They insis oin running their own drivers and i dont see them as hugely appealing.

For me, Magnusson has impressed over the last couple of seasons. He has destroyed Grosjean, who now seems a broken man and should be dropped at the end of the season - he simply isn't delivering at all.

The worrying thing for Haas seems to be attitude/morale/harmony, whatever you want to call it. There was Magnusson's telling off while whinging in Canada (an unusual situation from both sides), Grosjean in the doldrums with no public signs of encouragement from the team to lift him, a team who two seasons running have messed up pitstops in their best race of the year, the ongoing saga of their sponsor etc.

[Supersam83]

HTP99 said:

The difference is Alonso brings baggage and is hard work, Kimi doesn't and isn't.

With the emerging young talent, Alonso is surplus I'm afraid.

Baggage or not if I was Haas F1, Racing Point F1 or Alfa Romeo F1, I would give Alonso a seat on a 1 year pay per points deal.

Win-Win situation for everyone.

Liberty would love the appeal and interest back to F1.

The team would get a championship winning driver to get them in the points and flog merchandise.

Fans would get to see great F1 driver up there battling the midfield and potentially spicing up races.

Alonso would have a shop window for a transfer to a top 3 team for the next year.

[dgmx5]

Supersam83 said:

Baggage or not if I was Haas F1, Racing Point F1 or Alfa Romeo F1, I would give Alonso a seat on a 1 year pay per points deal.

Agree that F1 without Alonso is not as exciting, and that a deal to bring him back it would be the biggest talking point since MS returned (although that turned out to be a damp squib other than trying to run Rubens off the Track in Hungary).

This is on the basis of not the F1-devotee but the casual fan who at least has heard of Alonso. That has its downsides like the incessant reference to the Alonso-car at LM, akin to the fawning that goes on about MS Jr in F2.

So, which of those three would do it?

Haas - Ferrari may veto it. If he does well he either pushes himself forward for a seat at Ferrari which I am not sure they want or he takes himself off to Mercedes or Honda and they may well not want that (even with, or maybe because of, the forthcoming regs changes).

RPF1 - Stroll Sr will veto it. Seeing Lance destroyed will not be worth it to him, even if Alonso could raise the team up and bring in cash through the cache of such a marquee signing.

Alfa Romeo - personally can't see Alonso wanting to go there.

Since Benetton he has positioned himself out of race winning, or even championship winning, F1 seats (save the near miss with Ferrari) and I think that is the case now.

He will spend the rest of his career focusing on other goals such as Dakar, Indy 500, maybe even Pikes Peak or NASCAR because his name will always get him into a big team for a short period and he loves to win.

Drivers for whom it is their time to move on include Grosjean, Gasly, Giovinazzi and Raikkonen.

As for the second Red Bull seat, does JEV have enough in the tank still?

Edited by dgmx5 on Thursday 27th June 11:35

[ajprice]

JEV is currently leading the Formula E championship with the last race weekend in a couple of weeks. The first race of the next FE season in November is the week between the Brazil and Abu Dhabi F1 races.

[anonymous-user]

Supersam83 said:

Baggage or not if I was Haas F1, Racing Point F1 or Alfa Romeo F1, I would give Alonso a seat on a 1 year pay per points deal.

Win-Win situation for everyone.

Liberty would love the appeal and interest back to F1.

The team would get a championship winning driver to get them in the points and flog merchandise.

Fans would get to see great F1 driver up there battling the midfield and potentially spicing up races.

Alonso would have a shop window for a transfer to a top 3 team for the next year.

Alonso knows the clock is ticking. He needs a Mercedes or Ferrari in 2020. No way will it be Mercedes so he will be looking to return to Ferrari.

But even this is a massive maybe but Vettel is in a very shaky position just now. Yes, Alonso left Ferrari in bad blood but at least he was outperforming the car. Something Vettel just can't do.

Or stick Alonso in the 2nd Red Bull alongside Verstappen. That would be F1 Gold.

[thegreenhell]

The latest rumour from the paddock reported by Joe Saward is that Hulkenberg will replace Gasly at RBR next year, with Ocon going to Renault.

[Bullitt Five-Oh]

ajprice said:

JEV.

Jason Eduardo Vanpampoereira?