The Official F1 2026 silly season *contains speculation*

[Muzzer79]

hondajack85 said:

If you are winning titles without Max,save yourself a billion quid. He could be the new Alonso for the next 20 years,forever in the wrong team.

Yeah, problem is they're not winning titles.

Stroll wants as guaranteed success as he can get - works engine, new factory, Newey, Cowell.

Driver-wise, the same philosophy means getting Max.

[Rotary Potato]

Muzzer79 said:

Yeah, problem is they're not winning titles.

Stroll wants as guaranteed success as he can get - works engine, new factory, Newey, Cowell.

Driver-wise, the same philosophy means getting Max.

There's one fly in that ointment ... your take on Stroll Snr's outlook is at odds with Stroll Jnr being one of their drivers.

Lance usually manages one mercurial drive every 3-4 years in between a sea of mediocrity, so him stringing together a season's worth of the good stuff is unlikely to happen.

I honestly don't know how that one will play out ... will Snr keep Lance in the team even if it harms their title shot? Or will he get shot of him (possibly by Lance deciding that he now prefers tennis) when the serious title shot approaches? I couldn't call it ... Snr seems like the ultimate hard nosed 'winner' businessman, but he's also thrown countless millions at Lance's career over the years and kept him in a team when it makes no logical sense (from the team's perspective) ... so he appears to have a real head vs heart tussle going on.

[hondajack85]

Mclaren are currently world champions again,without max.
Maybe if Ferrari,Mercedes and Mclaren are constantly beating an obviously better car at Aston in 2026 they may come calling at the max door in a pathetic flood of tears and debase themselves lol.

[Biggles Flies Undone]

Muzzer79 said:

hondajack85 said:

If you are winning titles without Max,save yourself a billion quid. He could be the new Alonso for the next 20 years,forever in the wrong team.

Yeah, problem is they're not winning titles.

Stroll wants as guaranteed success as he can get - works engine, new factory, Newey, Cowell.

Driver-wise, the same philosophy means getting Max.

Agreed. F1 teams don't dominate without a complete package. Engine, car, driver, design team, strategy, mechanics, sponsors and everyone else.

Verstappen is the best driver in F1 right now. Any team would want him. In a great car, no-one can get near him, but even when his car is slightly off the pace or tricky to manage, he is able to make the most of it.

[thegreenhell]

Stroll has seen the combination of Honda, Newey and Max win the last four WDC. He has two of those ingredients lined up for 2026. Just one more to get.

[Muzzer79]

hondajack85 said:

Mclaren are currently world champions again,without max.

'Again' makes it sound like a regular occurrence - McLaren's last title was in 1998

They only won last year because Perez massively dropped the ball. Whether that's his fault or not is debatable.

But Red Bull's inability to get a second driver who can get enough points to secure the WCC is self-inflicted.

[ThingsBehindTheSun]

thegreenhell said:

Stroll has seen the combination of Honda, Newey and Max win the last four WDC. He has two of those ingredients lined up for 2026. Just one more to get.

Trouble is, getting either the Drivers or Constructors championship is going to involve a very awkward conversation with his son about how he doesn't have a seat anymore......

[vaud]

I suspect Mr Stroll can be ruthless when needed, especially if it adds hundreds of millions to the team valuation.

[thegreenhell]

ThingsBehindTheSun said:

thegreenhell said:

Stroll has seen the combination of Honda, Newey and Max win the last four WDC. He has two of those ingredients lined up for 2026. Just one more to get.

Trouble is, getting either the Drivers or Constructors championship is going to involve a very awkward conversation with his son about how he doesn't have a seat anymore......

Not necessarily. Nobody is likely to jump for 2026. Far more likely to see who is making the most of first year of the new regs and then jump in 2027.

Imagine a scenario where Newey and Honda ace the new regs and Alonso finally wins his third title to bookend his career, then retires at the end of the season. Max replaces him in '27 after enduring a dismal year in the new RBR-Ford.

[hondajack85]

When people say Stroll,they really mean the gullible people at Aramco. Convince them to hand over 1 billion $$$ to someone that may throw a fit after losing races and get a ban.
You only have to pay him nominal $1 more than next driver if you have the best car. Senna even offered to drive for less money.
Lots of time to see how it all plays out in the next couple of years before circling parasites can get a cut of a big fee lol.

[Muzzer79]

hondajack85 said:

When people say Stroll,they really mean the gullible people at Aramco. Convince them to hand over 1 billion $$$ to someone that may throw a fit after losing races and get a ban.
You only have to pay him nominal $1 more than next driver if you have the best car. Senna even offered to drive for less money.
Lots of time to see how it all plays out in the next couple of years before circling parasites can get a cut of a big fee lol.

F1 is a game of looking into the future.

One may have the best car now, but one may not next season.

Last year, Red Bull could have enticed anyone on the basis of the best car. 2024, not so much. Who knows what will happen in 2025.

So it's not as easy as saying "we have the best car, here's $1 more than the other guy to race it" (although that was an infamous Frank Williams/Patrick Head tactic)

Besides, Verstappen now has 4 titles so; like him or loathe him, he has little more to prove. His motivation might be turning a weaker car into the best car.

Hamilton didn't move to the best car in 2013
Schumacher certainly didn't move to the best car in 1996

[vaud]

Muzzer79 said:

Besides, Verstappen now has 4 titles so; like him or loathe him, he has little more to prove. His motivation might be turning a weaker car into the best car.

Plus he is often quoted as not being interested in records. Just to drive.

[MustangGT]

Muzzer79 said:

hondajack85 said:

Mclaren are currently world champions again,without max.

'Again' makes it sound like a regular occurrence - McLaren's last title was in 1998

They only won last year because Perez massively dropped the ball. Whether that's his fault or not is debatable.

But Red Bull's inability to get a second driver who can get enough points to secure the WCC is self-inflicted.

I would perhaps look at it slightly different in that they cannot develop a car that is fast for any driver other than Max. We have seen that the development of the car takes drivability towards Max and away from the second driver in most seasons.

Max must have a very unique set of preferences on terms of car set up.

Also 'rule clarifications' made a difference through the last season as well.

[Muzzer79]

MustangGT said:

Max must have a very unique set of preferences on terms of car set up.

This has been fairly conclusively debunked by, amongst others, Alex Albon - who was his teammate.

I think the reality is that Max can drive around negative car characteristics that his team-mates so far haven't been able to but even he couldn't live with the Red Bull in the second two-thirds of 2024.

There's an argument that Red Bull haven't put a decent enough driver in alongside Max. Like I say - debatable. I think they should have signed Sainz.

[hondajack85]

All these middle east kingdoms are full of wealthy princes with fragile egos that engage in competition to outdo each other.
Of course one of them will pay someone stupid money eventually for no reason but to look best this week.
Western influences have been exploiting this vanity for years to sell them gold hubcaps for the bugatti they just brought etc.
No suprise someone somewhere is ramping up this sort of thing for another big payday.

[MustangGT]

Muzzer79 said:

MustangGT said:

Max must have a very unique set of preferences on terms of car set up.

This has been fairly conclusively debunked by, amongst others, Alex Albon - who was his teammate.

I think the reality is that Max can drive around negative car characteristics that his team-mates so far haven't been able to but even he couldn't live with the Red Bull in the second two-thirds of 2024.

There's an argument that Red Bull haven't put a decent enough driver in alongside Max. Like I say - debatable. I think they should have signed Sainz.

Fair enough, it still means RB have developed a car that is undrivable by anybody except Max.

[732NM]

Muzzer79 said:

F1 is a game of looking into the future.

One may have the best car now, but one may not next season.

Last year, Red Bull could have enticed anyone on the basis of the best car. 2024, not so much. Who knows what will happen in 2025.

So it's not as easy as saying "we have the best car, here's $1 more than the other guy to race it" (although that was an infamous Frank Williams/Patrick Head tactic)

Besides, Verstappen now has 4 titles so; like him or loathe him, he has little more to prove. His motivation might be turning a weaker car into the best car.

Hamilton didn't move to the best car in 2013
Schumacher certainly didn't move to the best car in 1996

Last year was 2024.

You stuck in a time warp?

[shirt]

Rotary Potato said:

There's one fly in that ointment ... your take on Stroll Snr's outlook is at odds with Stroll Jnr being one of their drivers.

Lance usually manages one mercurial drive every 3-4 years in between a sea of mediocrity, so him stringing together a season's worth of the good stuff is unlikely to happen.

I honestly don't know how that one will play out ... will Snr keep Lance in the team even if it harms their title shot? Or will he get shot of him (possibly by Lance deciding that he now prefers tennis) when the serious title shot approaches? I couldn't call it ... Snr seems like the ultimate hard nosed 'winner' businessman, but he's also thrown countless millions at Lance's career over the years and kept him in a team when it makes no logical sense (from the team's perspective) ... so he appears to have a real head vs heart tussle going on.

I think it’s a genius move

in the ultimate play for parental approval, lance goes through a grueling training montage and puts in a shift even 2016 rosberg couldn’t match.

after a season long battle, max only needs to finish ahead of lance but in typical fashion wants to win at all costs.

It’s a proper battle of a race with plenty of dirty tactics and wheel bashing galore. Both men trade daring passes until the final corner max punts it up the inside and keeps the steering straight. It’s Senna 89 all over again as max smugly knows he’ll win on points.

But there’s debris everywhere and lance isn’t beaten yet. He gets out to push the car over the line, taking the title by a point and collapsing in exhaustion.

On the top step of the podium, soaked with champagne and slurring his words from his efforts, he gives an impassioned speech to the crowd before turning to the camera and saying

Yo Adrian, I did it

Edited by shirt on Friday 7th February 22:40

[Still Mulling]

Excellent work!

[vaud]

I guess there is one way out for Stroll - to fund his seat in another team (or just out to WEC) and promise Max to be his coach?