OT: Meanwhile, Vettel leaving Ferrari end of 2020

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by Dave B

Even with Mercedes not having “as great” of a car as Ferrari, Hamilton sure is a hell of a driver who continues to dominate. I like humans for whatever short falls he has; he is a heck of a driver and once who could some day be compared to Schumacher.

Not sure the Merc isn't better than the Ferrari on most tracks over last several years. Hamilton has matured into a very consistent driver who takes what he can get and makes less and less mistakes a la Vettel. Now can somebody give us a better sounding powerplant?

[soulspinner]

Originally Posted by fried bake

Good for Sainz, but what the hell has happened to Danny Ric’s career? He needs to be in that Ferrari if he wants a chance at a championship. Red Bull to Renault to McLaren? One step back and another sideways is not the path forward.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A thousand times yes.

[zap]

Originally Posted by zap

Alonso is not looking to race F1 next year......preferring to wait until the new cars in '22.

Well now......https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...ally-announced

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by zap

Well now......https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...ally-announced

$$$

[Bruce K]

Riccardo now has no seat - and neither does Albon

I hear the carousel cranking up for the next round of musical chairs

BK

[AZR3]

With Alonso confirmed it'd be funny if this started a "bumper car" type event...
Renault bump Ricciardo out early so Alonso gets some seat time before his first full season...which leads McLaren to bump Sainz so Ricciardo can drive for them in 2020...which in turn has Ferrari bump Vettel and Sainz take his 2021 seat early.

Not going to happen but with the way 2020 is going you never know

[William]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Riccardo now has no seat - and neither does Albon

I hear the carousel cranking up for the next round of musical chairs

BK

That sucks, I liked Albon.

Riccardo leaving RedBull made no sense to me other than he just didn't like (or couldn't take) the rivalry with Verstappen. Going to Renault seemed like a voluntary step down for no reason.






W.

[AZR3]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Riccardo now has no seat - and neither does Albon

I hear the carousel cranking up for the next round of musical chairs

BK

Where is Albon going? And Danny Ric is headed to Mclaren with Merc power for 2021

[Bruce K]

Albon seems to be the odd man out (I forgot Riccardo had a ride).

Maybe Redbull makes a seat on the “Junior” team but then someone else is out of a ride.

Also, Haas is only doing next year because the 2021 rules have been pushed back. They are supposedly heading to IndyCar when the rule change takes effect.

BK

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Riccardo now has no seat - and neither does Albon

I hear the carousel cranking up for the next round of musical chairs

BK

???

Who is taking that seat? I think Albon has a lot of promise.

[AZR3]

I haven’t heard anyone is replacing Albon, unless Red Bull has another driver in their driver program (which I don’t see any of them as viable) to replace Albon they’re not promoting Gasley or Kvyat again.

As for HAAS I could see them leaving, it’s a lot of money for not a lot of exposure and their partnership with Ferrari is costing them big this year, Ferrrai’s PU is way down on power and not likely to regain what was lost for a long time. So short of switching to Honda or Renault in 2022 I don’t feel they’ll stick around past 2021. That means Mag and Grosjean would be out of a drive and not sure anyone would pick up either so they’d be out.

[hubbellm]

McLaren looked good in week 1

[buckfifty]

Originally Posted by Bruce K

Albon seems to be the odd man out (I forgot Riccardo had a ride).

Maybe Redbull makes a seat on the “Junior” team but then someone else is out of a ride.

Also, Haas is only doing next year because the 2021 rules have been pushed back. They are supposedly heading to IndyCar when the rule change takes effect.

BK

I doubt Albon will be ousted out of RBR any time soon. With the little time he's had in the RBR seat, he's shown a lot of promise just some bad luck. Vettel has shown he wants to be the ace so going back to RBR and heeding to Verstappen isn't the way to go. Renault seemed like the most likely landing spot, pairing him with Ocon. Can't hate the Fernando/Ocon pairing though
Haas... I think it's time to cut their losses and sell their gird spot

[tuxbailey]

Originally Posted by buckfifty

I doubt Albon will be ousted out of RBR any time soon. With the little time he's had in the RBR seat, he's shown a lot of promise just some bad luck. Vettel has shown he wants to be the ace so going back to RBR and heeding to Verstappen isn't the way to go. Renault seemed like the most likely landing spot, pairing him with Ocon. Can't hate the Fernando/Ocon pairing though
Haas... I think it's time to cut their losses and sell their gird spot

Hass or Williams, who goes first?

[ddtn]

McLaren looking real good with Lando and Ricciardo next year. I know it's only the first race of a weird season but you can tell when a team is in good form. Zack Brown poaching Andreas Seidl was a winning move – like Dietrich Mateschitz stealing Newey from McLaren back in the day. Gil de Ferren has also been working on the Indy project under the radar, supposedly Alonso is going for it with McLaren this year. I can see Alonso staying with McLaren in Indy, and must say that Zack Brown has been very impressive at this game.

Albon should and will get another season if he doesn't mess it up. He seems very competent. RBR not in a bad place.

Mercedes – my prediction is Lewis will retire at the end of 2021 and Merc will pull out. All the chatter didn't come from nowhere.

I think Vettel and Haas are both goners. Vettel really only liked the V8 cars, he's been a grade below ever since the switch to V6. If I were a 4-time champ I'd walk away for a bit, and seek a comeback in a year or two. Unless somebody ends up buying Haas and keeping the Ferrari link, offering Vettel a seat...