The Official F1 2025 silly season *contains speculation*
Discussion
vaud said:
ralphrj said:
Vaud - is it time for you to kick off the festive season with The Official F1 2026 silly season thread?
Don't forget to add Cadillac!
I will soon - need to collate my thoughts!Don't forget to add Cadillac!
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
Sainz is taking Santander sponsorship with him to Williams https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/12/09/carlos-s...
That's got to be a big boost to their budget.
That's got to be a big boost to their budget.
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
cjm said:
Is Sainz going to make Albon look very average next season?
He is, but Sainz is way too good to be driving for Williams, so they would never be able to get another driver as good as Sainz to be his team mate.Of course the project may not deliver even a leading midfield car let alone a front runner. McLaren were in the wilderness for years and look where they are now.
Coming from Mercedes, Vowles knows how a top team operates and the level required for success.
There are no guarantees but I wouldn’t presume that things will only stay the same at Williams.
Sainz could’ve taken big Audi money but opted for Williams. It’ll be an interesting watch over the next 2-3yrs.
Just to add to the above it’s a real coup for Team Carlos to bring Santander over from Ferrari thats huge for Williams and no doubt Carlos will be making a nice commission from this. Let’s hope they build him a great car was surprised to see him P1 and P2 in todays testing only Charles quicker than a Williams we’ve not seen that before.
rallycross said:
Just to add to the above it’s a real coup for Team Carlos to bring Santander over from Ferrari thats huge for Williams and no doubt Carlos will be making a nice commission from this. Let’s hope they build him a great car was surprised to see him P1 and P2 in todays testing only Charles quicker than a Williams we’ve not seen that before.
Great info… I was aware testing was taking place but hadn’t thought to look. The Santander news was fantastic when I broke… plenty of budget to turn Williams into a well funded outfit. Williams were my team from back in the days of Reutemann, Jones and Rosberg… it would great to see them back up there.
wiliferus said:
Sandpit Steve said:
Twitter rumours that Liam Lawson is going to replace Sergio Perez for ‘25, with the annoucement to be later this week.
Do we think the test last week with Yuki was just to humour him and Honda, or was the seat actually up for grabs? Perhaps I'll be proven wrong and he'll get the seat now
, but I can't see the logic in that possibility. They need a Max replacement for the future, not a second rate driver that won't even be in the Red Bull family beyond next season.TheDeuce said:
Whatever the true value of last week's test, I don't personally think Yuki was ever really a possibility.
Perhaps I'll be proven wrong and he'll get the seat now, but I can't see the logic in that possibility. They need a Max replacement for the future, not a second rate driver that won't even be in the Red Bull family beyond next season.
Yes I’d put Yuki down as a journeyman rather than a potential champion, but there’s sometimes a place for that role in a top team, ask Sergio, Valtteri, Reubens etc. Perhaps I'll be proven wrong and he'll get the seat now
, but I can't see the logic in that possibility. They need a Max replacement for the future, not a second rate driver that won't even be in the Red Bull family beyond next season.The more pressing point is that Yuki isn’t going to survive past next season, as he’s a primarily a Honda driver and it suits everyone to have a Japanese in the sport. The test was IMO a nice gesture but little more than that.
Liam is the obvious choice, and there’s now a number of actual media outlets picking up the rumour.
Canal + in France are saying that Perez is definitely out and Lawson’s almost certainly the replacement.
https://x.com/canalplusf1/status/18689282308767584...
Lawson, if it is indeed him, is the Perez replacement, not a future Max replacement. They don't want a future Max alongside current Max. You can't expect someone to play number 2 and then suddenly be number 1 when Max leaves, because they will fall short in at least one of those roles.
They don't currently have a future Max on their books. If Max leaves or retires in a year or two then they'll be looking around to sign a new star driver from outwith.
They don't currently have a future Max on their books. If Max leaves or retires in a year or two then they'll be looking around to sign a new star driver from outwith.
wiliferus said:
Sandpit Steve said:
Twitter rumours that Liam Lawson is going to replace Sergio Perez for ‘25, with the annoucement to be later this week.
Do we think the test last week with Yuki was just to humour him and Honda, or was the seat actually up for grabs? Neither is destined for especially great things IMO so my approach would be to leave Lawson at RB to cook a bit longer, benchmark him alongside Hadjar to see how the Junior programme is really doing and put Yuki in on a 1 year contract. He'll be an upgrade on Perez and you might be able wrangle a bit of extra cash out of Honda and sell some extra cans of energy drink in Japan to boot. I don't think Lawson would be particularly aggrieved at paying his dues in VCARB next year whereas Yuki will be so that way you maximise your driver pool utilisation across both teams.
But no, they'll promote Lawson who will have to do his first full season in a that famously nurturing environment that is the second Red Bull seat and his resultingly erratic performance will see a season long will they-won't they over whether he'll get dropped, which will drive his performance down even more. Yuki will get the hump over being passed over again and won't be at his best either. The resulting talk of when or if Lawson will get the boot for Hadjar will only piss him off more.
thegreenhell said:
Lawson, if it is indeed him, is the Perez replacement, not a future Max replacement. They don't want a future Max alongside current Max. You can't expect someone to play number 2 and then suddenly be number 1 when Max leaves, because they will fall short in at least one of those roles.
They don't currently have a future Max on their books. If Max leaves or retires in a year or two then they'll be looking around to sign a new star driver from outwith.
That's not the Red Bull way, at least not in their 20 year history thus far.They don't currently have a future Max on their books. If Max leaves or retires in a year or two then they'll be looking around to sign a new star driver from outwith.
Red Bull has always developed and promoted talent from within. The only drivers to score podiums for Red Bull Racing in their history that weren't 'home-grown' are David Coulthard, Mark Webber and Sergio Perez, none of whom were signed as 'star' drivers.
Either
(a) Red Bull think Max won't leave, in which case Lawson is indeed a Perez replacement.
(b) Red Bull think Max might leave and don't want to be left in the cold driver-wise like they were when Vettel went to Ferrari. Lawson, in that case, is a potential Max replacement.
(c) Red Bull don't have many options because it's all a bit of a mess management-wise at the moment. They don't really know what level Lawson is at the moment but they know they can't continue with Perez and Liam is their best option, at least for the short term.
Personally, I think it's (c)
KaraK said:
I seem to recall someone from the team saying before the test that they were doing it as a favour to Honda, that doesn't in of itself, rule him out of contention. But I still don't think he'll be picked, Yuki's level right now is higher than Lawson's but that's with four years under his belt versus less than season for Lawson. Add in that Lawson is a Red Bull programme driver versus Yuki being a Honda one and I can see why they would go Lawson, even if it's not the call I'd make personally.
Neither is destined for especially great things IMO so my approach would be to leave Lawson at RB to cook a bit longer, benchmark him alongside Hadjar to see how the Junior programme is really doing and put Yuki in on a 1 year contract. He'll be an upgrade on Perez and you might be able wrangle a bit of extra cash out of Honda and sell some extra cans of energy drink in Japan to boot. I don't think Lawson would be particularly aggrieved at paying his dues in VCARB next year whereas Yuki will be so that way you maximise your driver pool utilisation across both teams.
But no, they'll promote Lawson who will have to do his first full season in a that famously nurturing environment that is the second Red Bull seat and his resultingly erratic performance will see a season long will they-won't they over whether he'll get dropped, which will drive his performance down even more. Yuki will get the hump over being passed over again and won't be at his best either. The resulting talk of when or if Lawson will get the boot for Hadjar will only piss him off more.
I'm broadly in agreement with that. For me, Lawson is too raw and I can see some fireworks next year. Yuki is more consistent and had had a good year in 24 so it's a shame to see him overlooked.Neither is destined for especially great things IMO so my approach would be to leave Lawson at RB to cook a bit longer, benchmark him alongside Hadjar to see how the Junior programme is really doing and put Yuki in on a 1 year contract. He'll be an upgrade on Perez and you might be able wrangle a bit of extra cash out of Honda and sell some extra cans of energy drink in Japan to boot. I don't think Lawson would be particularly aggrieved at paying his dues in VCARB next year whereas Yuki will be so that way you maximise your driver pool utilisation across both teams.
But no, they'll promote Lawson who will have to do his first full season in a that famously nurturing environment that is the second Red Bull seat and his resultingly erratic performance will see a season long will they-won't they over whether he'll get dropped, which will drive his performance down even more. Yuki will get the hump over being passed over again and won't be at his best either. The resulting talk of when or if Lawson will get the boot for Hadjar will only piss him off more.
As to who gets the RB seat alongside Yuki, I'd personally go for Franco. Hadjar hasn't really stood out to me the way that Bortoleto has and I worry he could be a bit of a hothead and cause issues. Either way, FY25, which looked very exciting at the start of the year is shaping up to be even more fun.
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