The Official 2018 F1 Silly Season *Contains Speculation*

[Vaud]

Seeing that the silly season speculation has (quite rightly) started in a number of threads, I thought I'd start one thread to cover them all.

Grouped by existing team

44. Lewis Hamilton (2018)
77. Valtteri Bottas (2017) (rumoured to be 1+1)

3. Daniel Ricciardo (2018)
33. Max Verstappen (2018 or 2019)

5. Sebastian Vettel (2017)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (2017)

11. Sergio Perez (2017)
31. Esteban Ocon (2018) (rumoured to be 2+1)

19. Felipe Massa (?)
18. Lance Stroll ((2017???) (rumoured to be 1+1)

14. Fernando Alonso (2017)
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (2017???) (rumoured to be 1+1)

26. Daniil Kvyat (?)
55. Carlos Sainz Jnr (2019?)

8. Romain Grosjean (2017?)
20. Kevin Magnussen (2018?)

27. Nico Hulkenberg (2018)
30. Jolyon Palmer (2017)

9. Marcus Ericsson (2017?)
94. Pascal Wehrlein (2017?)


My sources are a quick scan of news sites + reddit.

I don't recall a year with quite so many drivers in the mix.

The key movers:

• Alonso
• Vettel

Then

• Perez
• Bottas

?

[Vaud]

Good points Crafty_

Off topic - why the added "_"?

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

I think that Sauber will not want Wehrlein for 2018. And that Ferrari will extend Kimi for another year. Chances are high Alonso will stay with McLaren Mercedes and see out his contract there. Renault might be an option for the future for him but clearly the works team has a lot of catching up to do.

Alonso staying looks more likely than say, 3 months ago. Let's see if this revised engine holds up.

I suspect Sauber will take whoever brings funding... do Honda have a young drivers system? Would they be tempted to bring an Indy driver over from one of the Honda powered teams (at least for a "showcase" race or two)?

[Vaud]

Crafty_ said:

The return of Sato ?

Renault have said they are interested in Sainz.

Scott Dixon?

[Vaud]

I'm just going to through this thought into the mix.

Alonso to Ferrari.
Seb to sabbatical / retirement.
Kimi for continuation for one year.

No evidence, just a guess.

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

Where does this Alfa engine speculation come from?

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10921435/mc...

[Vaud]

thegreenhell said:

Contracts don't really mean a lot if the driver doesn't want to be there. It's just a case of how much it costs to buy them out.

True, though they can enforce a sabbatical. i.e. not force him to drive for TR, but can enforce him not driving for anyone else...

[Vaud]

TUS 2 CON said:

I wondered if we might see this next year:

Ferrari: Vettel & Verstappen

Red Bull: Riccardo & Alonso

Mercedes: Hamilton & Bottas

Why?

RB have said they are happy (and have always stuck to) a young drivers program. Let's face it they don't lack talent.

Why would they release Verstappen? Maybe release Carlos at a push in return for current spec Ferrari engines for TR?

[Vaud]

HTP99 said:

No
No
Yes

Or Hamilton + Ocon. I like the latter. That said, I think Bottas has done enough to prove himself worthy of the 2nd seat, at least for another year.

[Vaud]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Alonso will be in a Mercedes or Ferrari in 2018.

I would state it will be Ferrari and he will replace KImi.

Ferrari have stated (yesterday) that they don't want him.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130645...

Edited by Vaud on Monday 10th July 13:30

[Vaud]

suffolk009 said:

Vaud said:

Ferrari have stated (yesterday) that they don't want him.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130645...

Edited by Vaud on Monday 10th July 13:30

If Max is unavailable they'll want him. Saying they don't want him is just part of the negotiation.

I honestly can't see why they would want him. They have a proven driver that can lead a WDC charge. You need an Ocon/Perez/Sainz to back him up and take the wins when the lead falters... at least you do while ever you have a lead/no2 strategy.

[Vaud]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Remember this is F1.

All a bunch of liar's and cheats if they can get away with it.

Until contracts are 100% secure anything can happen.

True, but I still can't see why they would want him unless Vettel left.

[Vaud]

ELUSIVEJIM said:

Vaud said:

True, but I still can't see why they would want him unless Vettel left.

No I have to agree with you.

Would love to see it though as having two top drivers in a team is very rare now

Maybe, it would make for a good show, but I don't think it would do Ferrari any good...

Managing high performing, selfish people is extremely hard.

[Vaud]

Norfolkit said:

Not sure that will help Ferrari anymore, the Max and Bernie show is over, hopefully the days of teams going to the wall while Ferrari put out a dog of a car and still get the lion's share of the money are over.

Is the current car (or engine) a dog?

[Vaud]

LDN said:

McLaren with a Ferrari engine?

Surely that's verging on blasphemy!

Hence Alfa?

If Ferrari control supply of say, 4 teams, it gives them strong bagaining power into 2020, if those teams also then lobby based on what Ferrari want (not a stripped down engine)

Arguably Ferrari have the most to lose in a simplified engine battle?

[Vaud]

LDN said:

Yes it might be badged Alfa - but everyone would know it's a Ferrari engine and I think that would be nail in the coffin; at least as far as I'm concerned - for McLaren.

Why, out of interest? They had the Peugeot days, remember...

[Vaud]

Bright Halo said:

There has been a lot of communication and meetings between McLaren and Cosworth recently. I wonder what that is all about?

Gamesmanship?

[Vaud]

I have a hunch that Porsche will be in sooner rather than later, with a rebadged engine for a few years until the next cycle.

Force India or Torro Rosso as the acquisition. Sauber would be nice but dearth of skills in Switzerland.

[Vaud]

kambites said:

Vaud said:

I have a hunch that Porsche will be in sooner rather than later, with a rebadged engine for a few years until the next cycle.

I don't think even VAG have much idea when/if they'll join F1.

Well they have just quite LMP1 to join Formula E

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130956...

It was suggested to me that they will join, it is the "when" that is in question and more linked to the certainty of the future engine spec.

[Vaud]

rubystone said:

Do you mean between now and 2020?

Yes. But not with a Porsche built engine at first.