The Official F1 2023 silly season *contains speculation*

[Deesee]

HustleRussell said:

To look at it another way, Hulkenberg is at least as good as Kmag whereas Schumacher isn't (as yet).

I'm still not sure why you boot an improving Schumacher for Hulkenberg, whose peak we've already seen IMO.

Mick has not developed..enough.. Hulk and Kmag are points machines.

If Mick yielded Kmags points they could be looking at 6th in WCC and pound for pound the best team on the grid.

You could put either in Checos seat tomorrow.

[KaraK]

HustleRussell said:

To look at it another way, Hulkenberg is at least as good as Kmag whereas Schumacher isn't (as yet).

I'm still not sure why you boot an improving Schumacher for Hulkenberg, whose peak we've already seen IMO.

To me Hulk is less.. erratic than K-Mag. Sure on his day Magnussen's peak is probably higher than Hulkenberg's, but with that comes the scruffy days, where he throws a good qualy result away with a needless collision. They would likely make a decent combo for Haas actually, if an unambitious one, ideally you'd want a safe pair of hands like Hulk in one car and a relative rookie like Mick in the other. I actually think that would give you a better (i.e. more consistent) benchmark to see how your rookie was doing race-to-race. But Kevin was absolutely the right call to make when they were ditching Mazepin and he's on a 2-year deal so that's that.

I know he's dropped hints about being open to the idea but frankly if I were Gunther I'd be going a step further and banging on Danny Ric's door and telling him the hard truth that going for a reserve role anywhere is going to be the final nail in the coffin of his career. Ric would make sense for Haas - he's a proven winner who's probably available at a steep discount. While he's failed miserably to adapt himself to the particular quirks of the McLarens should the Haas be more to his taste you'd have a quick driver on your hands - get him on a 1 year deal and it limits the risk significantly.

Likewise for Ric - lack of budget for updates killed Haas' momentum this year but that should be resolved for next year with the new sponsorship so there's no reason they can't at least be fighting for points for most of the season and that can be all it takes to get yourself back in the shop window of the bigger team. Who knows? A couple of decent years at Haas re-establishing his credibility on track and he might be able to put himself inline for Alonso's seat at AM once he retires, we know Stroll Snr likes having a big name in the car and isn't shy about opening his wallet to get it.

[HustleRussell]

I wondered if perhaps 1&1 or another sponsor were conditional on a German driver, hence interest in Hulkenberg. However, from what I've found 1&1 seems to be specifically associated with Mick and goes with him and the big money sponsor for Haas for next year are USA based.

[Leithen]

I suspect MS will be reserve for Merc. Which in the grand scheme of things isn’t such a bad move. There’s no guarantee that a larger budget at HAAS will do anything to change the career dead end it has always been.

[Muzzer79]

Deesee said:

HustleRussell said:

To look at it another way, Hulkenberg is at least as good as Kmag whereas Schumacher isn't (as yet).

I'm still not sure why you boot an improving Schumacher for Hulkenberg, whose peak we've already seen IMO.

Mick has not developed..enough.. Hulk and Kmag are points machines.

If Mick yielded Kmags points they could be looking at 6th in WCC and pound for pound the best team on the grid.

You could put either in Checos seat tomorrow.

At the risk of criticising Hulkenberg for the umpteenth time......"points machine"??

He was comprehensively outscored by both Perez at Force India and Ricciardo at Renault.

I'll grant that he did have a habit of finishing in the points in the midfield teams he drove for......usually 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th.

He's had his day. 3 years out of the saddle, there's surely no way a team manager would bring him back.

As for putting him in a Red Bull.......you could, but I honestly think he'd find a way to make that finish 4th at each race rather than get on the podium.

[Deesee]

Muzzer79 said:

Deesee said:

HustleRussell said:

To look at it another way, Hulkenberg is at least as good as Kmag whereas Schumacher isn't (as yet).

I'm still not sure why you boot an improving Schumacher for Hulkenberg, whose peak we've already seen IMO.

Mick has not developed..enough.. Hulk and Kmag are points machines.

If Mick yielded Kmags points they could be looking at 6th in WCC and pound for pound the best team on the grid.

You could put either in Checos seat tomorrow.

At the risk of criticising Hulkenberg for the umpteenth time......"points machine"??

He was comprehensively outscored by both Perez at Force India and Ricciardo at Renault.

I'll grant that he did have a habit of finishing in the points in the midfield teams he drove for......usually 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th.

He's had his day. 3 years out of the saddle, there's surely no way a team manager would bring him back.

As for putting him in a Red Bull.......you could, but I honestly think he'd find a way to make that finish 4th at each race rather than get on the podium.

Meh..

Very consistent driver, in never the top midfield team, regularly a scoring 6/7/8th places.

Perez had a knack for the odd podium, Dani Ric was the 30 million man future WDC and multiple race winner, Hulk out raced and outscored Carlos.

I think it was 2 sessions in the Aston, put it 3rd on the grid in Silverstone Quali.

He’s had a decent amount of race winning team mates he’s held his own against them all, bad luck perhaps, bad decisions (going to Renault when they were on there arse, look at Dani Ricc too) certainly.

Quick, consistent and good developer of a car.

Good fit for HASS imo.

[InformationSuperHighway]

the-norseman said:

seen rumours of Merc reserve maybe being offered to Ricciardo or Schumacher.

I'd be really disapointed if that happened to ether of them.

DR should be racing in a series somewhere. My preference would be IndyCar as i get to a few races each year.

MSC should be in F1 for at least 1 more season, he is on the up.. As another posted mentioned, the other options (KMag / Hulk) are has-beens and cannot go higher than they are now.

[Fundoreen]

I still thing that giovannazi could be a Haas driver, even though he crashed the car approx 5 seconds after getting in it.
I think Ferrari find his testing feedback useful so running an actual car may be of further help if Haas and Ferrari work closer together.
Sauber Romeo are too far along the path to Audi to be a partner for ferrari.

[MustangGT]

Deesee said:

Meh..

Very consistent driver, in never the top midfield team, regularly a scoring 6/7/8th places.

Perez had a knack for the odd podium, Dani Ric was the 30 million man future WDC and multiple race winner, Hulk out raced and outscored Carlos.

Lets put it in perspective:

1) 184 starts
2) 0 podiums
3) 521 points = average 2.83 per race
4) 1 pole
5) 2 fastest laps

He does a lot better in other formulae, not a good fit for F1.

[thegreenhell]

MustangGT said:

Deesee said:

Meh..

Very consistent driver, in never the top midfield team, regularly a scoring 6/7/8th places.

Perez had a knack for the odd podium, Dani Ric was the 30 million man future WDC and multiple race winner, Hulk out raced and outscored Carlos.

Lets put it in perspective:

1) 184 starts
2) 0 podiums
3) 521 points = average 2.83 per race
4) 1 pole
5) 2 fastest laps

He does a lot better in other formulae, not a good fit for F1.

And for some more perspective, in those same 184 starts his teammates scored a total of 476 points (2.59 per start). In six of his nine full seasons he's been teamed up with drivers of the calibre of Barrichello, Perez, Sainz and Ricciardo, all of them race winners and consistent points scorers, so a good benchmark. Of those drivers, only Perez scored any podiums in the same car.

[Sandpit Steve]

HustleRussell said:

I wondered if perhaps 1&1 or another sponsor were conditional on a German driver, hence interest in Hulkenberg. However, from what I've found 1&1 seems to be specifically associated with Mick and goes with him and the big money sponsor for Haas for next year are USA based.

That was mentioned specifically in one of the Netflix episodes last year, where Steiner met with 1&1 and the potential sponsor emphasised how important it was to them to have a German driver in the car.

One never knows the details of actual sponsor contracts, but that’s definitely the sort of thing that comes up - even before we get to the pay-drivers, who only get the job because they bring sponsorship.

Reserve driver for an F1 team must be pretty awful (but at least well-paid). Imagine being a lifelong racer not racing for the season, but having to be available at the track or close by, just in case someone ends up sick or injured.

[the-norseman]

InformationSuperHighway said:

MSC should be in F1 for at least 1 more season, he is on the up.. As another posted mentioned, the other options (KMag / Hulk) are has-beens and cannot go higher than they are now.

I want him to stay, but wanted him to stay at another team, HAAS really aren't great at all. He has made a few mistakes/crashes this year but they have also let him down with dodgy pits, dodgy strategies and ultimately not developed the car over the season hence why they are both near the back now.

A test role at Mercedes for example could get him a seat potentially next year at the likes of AM or Williams rather that than just nothing.

Suppose just because hes reportedly leaving the FDA doesn't mean he couldn't stay on as Ferrari test driver either.

[Gtom]

I have no idea if there is any truth in this, it seems the ideal place to put it in here because it will definitely be a 2023 issue if there is any truth in it.

[JonChalk]

Gtom said:

I have no idea if there is any truth in this, it seems the ideal place to put it in here because it will definitely be a 2023 issue if there is any truth in it.

That has all the hallmarks of a self-perpetuating Twitter myth - can't see any of the reputable feeds carrying anything on it, so wait to be convinced.

[mattyn1]

JonChalk said:

That has all the hallmarks of a self-perpetuating Twitter myth - can't see any of the reputable feeds carrying anything on it, so wait to be convinced.

probably true then

[carl_w]

Piastri confirmed as free to leave Alpine after the Abu Dhabi GP, so will be able to do the subsequent test for McLaren.

[DanielSan]

JonChalk said:

Gtom said:

I have no idea if there is any truth in this, it seems the ideal place to put it in here because it will definitely be a 2023 issue if there is any truth in it.

That has all the hallmarks of a self-perpetuating Twitter myth - can't see any of the reputable feeds carrying anything on it, so wait to be convinced.

It was originally posted by a Ferrari spoof page a couple of weeks ago. For some reason other pages desperate for clicks have starting posting it as news

[Fat Thor]

HustleRussell said:

To look at it another way, Hulkenberg is at least as good as Kmag whereas Schumacher isn't (as yet).

I'm still not sure why you boot an improving Schumacher for Hulkenberg, whose peak we've already seen IMO.

They both put it on pole at Brazil strangely

Anyway I personally think they should have carried on with mick.

[carl_w]

Fred Vasseur to replace Mattia Binotto as Ferrari TP (source: Sky Italia and Gazzetta dello Sport)

[Killer2005]

carl_w said:

Fred Vasseur to replace Mattia Binotto as Ferrari TP (source: Sky Italia and Gazzetta dello Sport)

Was just going to post the same

https://www.gazzetta.it/Formula-1/15-11-2022/ferra...