George Russell's teammate for 2025?

[540TORQUES]

Deesee said:

Afraid not if we are taking value and sponsors.

See Williams, McLaren from days past… midfield is not great place to be, after all if Red Bull were midfield, CH would be out on his ear.

(Power units slightly different, but AC moved on).

With all due respect if I’m Hugo Boss/tommy/RL. If pay the big bucks I want LH as the photoshop model, the chaps behind Ferrari have a bargain there with him.

Crickey why do you think LS has had an interest in F1 even before his son was born..

The days of racers are sadly gone, we have marketers… (brrrr).

Red Bull were midfield for 7 years, Honda had walked until the madness of 2021 changed their mind.

Mercedes F1 is not a skink era Williams team.

[Hustle_]

540TORQUES said:

Mercedes F1 is not a skink era Williams team.

Wow, how did I miss the skink era?

[PRO5T]

Deesee is right in some ways but not in others-we very much still have racers but the spread is complicated.

More people are coming out with Saintz to mercedes now, let's see what comes out in the wash either at the Chinese GP or in the quiet week after it (I'm pretty sure it'll be announced).

As for Toto, big question marks are ahead. Does he do what he's always said he'd do and employ someone better than him at the job if he felt that someone was available? He's a shareholder 1st and a TP 2nd. Or does he ride it out and try to rebuild his stock?

If I know Toto (and I don't really) I think he'd resign as TP and employ who he thought would get them back to the top. But that ain't happening for a few years yet. Maybe it's time for a change, things aren't exactly going uphill.

[540TORQUES]

Hustle_ said:

Wow, how did I miss the skink era?

I have no idea, it was long enough.

[PhilAsia]

540TORQUES said:

Hustle_ said:

Wow, how did I miss the skink era?

I have no idea, it was long enough.

What is a skink era? Reptile with not enough legs?

[honda_exige]

540TORQUES said:

Deesee said:

Afraid not if we are taking value and sponsors.

See Williams, McLaren from days past… midfield is not great place to be, after all if Red Bull were midfield, CH would be out on his ear.

(Power units slightly different, but AC moved on).

With all due respect if I’m Hugo Boss/tommy/RL. If pay the big bucks I want LH as the photoshop model, the chaps behind Ferrari have a bargain there with him.

Crickey why do you think LS has had an interest in F1 even before his son was born..

The days of racers are sadly gone, we have marketers… (brrrr).

Red Bull were midfield for 7 years, Honda had walked until the madness of 2021 changed their mind.

Mercedes F1 is not a skink era Williams team.

Midfield for 7 years? FFS

2020 2nd
2019 3rd
2018 3rd
2017 3rd
2016 2nd
2015 4th
2014 2nd

Ave. 2.7

Merc Ave 22/23/24(assume 4th): 3.

If Mercedes finish 4th this year you must consider them as lower midfield then? Jeeze, Merc Corporate won't happy.

[Gazzab]

honda_exige said:

Midfield for 7 years? FFS

2020 2nd
2019 3rd
2018 3rd
2017 3rd
2016 2nd
2015 4th
2014 2nd

Ave. 2.7

Merc Ave 22/23/24(assume 4th): 3.

If Mercedes finish 4th this year you must consider them as lower midfield then? Jeeze, Merc Corporate won't happy.

21/22/23 = average 2nd I think.

[Deesee]

Hustle_ said:

Deesee goes brrrr

less aggressive than grrr

[Deesee]

540TORQUES said:

Deesee said:

Afraid not if we are taking value and sponsors.

See Williams, McLaren from days past… midfield is not great place to be, after all if Red Bull were midfield, CH would be out on his ear.

(Power units slightly different, but AC moved on).

With all due respect if I’m Hugo Boss/tommy/RL. If pay the big bucks I want LH as the photoshop model, the chaps behind Ferrari have a bargain there with him.

Crickey why do you think LS has had an interest in F1 even before his son was born..

The days of racers are sadly gone, we have marketers… (brrrr).

Red Bull were midfield for 7 years, Honda had walked until the madness of 2021 changed their mind.

Mercedes F1 is not a skink era Williams team.

Look at McLaren Honda era, Button and Fred as drivers. They needed two young drivers, Renault PU (ouch) and a proven marketer to move them forwards.

[honda_exige]

Gazzab said:

honda_exige said:

Midfield for 7 years? FFS

2020 2nd
2019 3rd
2018 3rd
2017 3rd
2016 2nd
2015 4th
2014 2nd

Ave. 2.7

Merc Ave 22/23/24(assume 4th): 3.

If Mercedes finish 4th this year you must consider them as lower midfield then? Jeeze, Merc Corporate won't happy.

21/22/23 = average 2nd I think.

They won constructors 21, so we are comparing lean seasons. Ie like 2014-2020 for RB.

[Gazzab]

24 is too early to count. So that’s a 2nd and 3rd, an avg of 2.5

[honda_exige]

Gazzab said:

24 is too early to count. So that’s a 2nd and 3rd, an avg of 2.5

That's why I said assume. 3rd would need a McLaren like turnaround.

In any case - the point was JSF saying RB were midfield for 7 years is laughable, and if they were Merc currently being 4th in the standings must mean they are lower midfield in his eyes?

[732NM]

honda_exige said:

That's why I said assume. 3rd would need a McLaren like turnaround.

Mercedes need nothing like the turnaround McLaren had to be competitive for podiums. They are not dead last and declaring before the season even started their car is no good. It wont take much to have them competing with McLaren and Ferrari, Red Bull, well no ones getting close to that thing unless something very odd happens.

[PhilAsia]

732NM said:

honda_exige said:

That's why I said assume. 3rd would need a McLaren like turnaround.

>snip<...Red Bull, well no ones getting close to that thing unless something very odd happens.

A "behind-closed-doors-sanctioned-overspend-with-fluffy-repercussions" is the odd standard way of getting there, but that has now been banned.

[PRO5T]

Couple of places reporting that the Mercedes board has approved a driver contract for Verstappen that exceeds that of Hamilton.

[Forester1965]

PRO5T said:

Couple of places reporting that the Mercedes board has approved a driver contract for Verstappen that exceeds that of Hamilton.

If it's got that far it's a done deal. Believe it when I see it.

[PRO5T]

Forester1965 said:

PRO5T said:

Couple of places reporting that the Mercedes board has approved a driver contract for Verstappen that exceeds that of Hamilton.

If it's got that far it's a done deal. Believe it when I see it.

I can see the logic, in a very short time Toto has seen his team fall down the pecking order, from being the blue riband team to third or fourth fastest with the very real prospect of having two decent but definitely second tier drivers.

Good as they may be, George and Caros (perish the thought even worse Anonelli) do not bring in the $ like a genuine superstar does.

The technical dept can't figure out what they're doing wrong and can't even admit to mistakes and the most successful driver of all time who wanted to stay with the company for life has walked.

Verstappen isn't going to fix any of that but as a statement of intent it speaks volumes.

[g4ry13]

PRO5T said:

Couple of places reporting that the Mercedes board has approved a driver contract for Verstappen that exceeds that of Hamilton.

Can't help but feel this is a case of "not a chance in hell".

But i've been wrong before

[Leithen]

It’ll have to be PIF numbers to make it happen.

Similar situation with Newey. IIRC he’s always wanted a share of a team. If Lawrence Stroll really wants him…

[thegreenhell]

I can't see him going anywhere next year as he'd just be gifting a WDC to whoever takes his RBR seat, which no racer would do for any amount of money. 2026 is more believable if he doesn't have total faith in RBPT to create a competitive engine, but that would still leave Mercedes with a tricky one year only problem.

I still think it's highly unlikely, but strange things can and do happen in F1. Nobody saw Hamilton to Ferrari coming before it was announced.