Well, why sign now then?
I doubt Daniel will ever leave the red bull team again. Carlos will go to Audi.
Soon to be Audi have the perfect crash adverse driver already in the team and a cheap teammate. They have no incentive to spend money on drivers until 2026
Audi need a decent driver to help develop the chassis, their current drivers are too mid - they have been going backwards with Bottas as the senior driver.
I’d be shocked if Daniel doesn’t have a verbal agreement that he gets the second RBR seat if Checo flames out again or at the end of 24.
Still a year left to find a new driver.organic wrote:Bottas' Instagram story places him at Brackley today
Maybe Bottas returns to Merc as a steadying force for this rocking ship. And Carlos goes to Audi earlier than anticipated? Joining for 2025 will allow Sainz to have input on the chassis for 2026 and beyond and become settled in the team
Several of these I disagree with. Stake would be a one year thing before Audi enters. AMR could certainly be an option, the whole "market size" is not nearly as relevant as you think, quality of driver is much more importnt. I wouldn't rule out RBR completely. Wiliams is on the rise. Alpine, Merc (though this wasn't an option in the hypothetical).UlleGulle wrote: ↑01 Feb 2024, 23:42Red Bull - Nope - to much history
Mercedes - Nope - would not trade their thought lineup
McLaren - Nope - Has their talent locked up.
Aston Stroll - not likely - Spain is to small of a market to support two drivers in the same team.
Alpine - perhaps - He's a better driver than they are a team. But that's a step back.
Williams - surely - But would he walk for a seat in a Williams?
Minardi - nope - it's about raising talent for RB.
Stakes - surely - But would he walk for a seat at the far end of the grid?
Haas - surely - But Sainz is not mad.
Russell barely saw the light last season compared to Lewis...SuperCNJ wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 03:12I'm keen to see how Lewis adapts to the Ferrari given that it's been designed around Charles who we know likes a car with a strong front end whereas Lewis is the polar opposite and prefers a strong rear end. How will he convince the team to change the car to his needs rather than Charles's? I personally think Lewis will find it challenging at Ferrari for this reason as Charles is arguably a stronger driver than George, yet George has been comparable to Lewis in a team that has Lewis's fingerprints all over it and a car Lewis is more familiar with (albeit a pretty poor one). But it's definitely a gutsy move by Lewis, if anything, it shows the confidence he still has in his ability even when compared to some of the very best of the younger generation of drivers.
That I don’t know, just stating why once signed it would need to be announced
Excluding races where one of the drivers had crash damage or their pace was significantly slowed by being stuck in traffic (eg starting 20th etc) Russell's race and quali pace comes out essentially level with Hamilton. Lewis, like Russell, was very inconsistent with the W14. Sometimes one was quicker than the other by substantial and difficult to explain marginsSpoutnik wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 09:27Russell barely saw the light last season compared to Lewis...SuperCNJ wrote: ↑02 Feb 2024, 03:12I'm keen to see how Lewis adapts to the Ferrari given that it's been designed around Charles who we know likes a car with a strong front end whereas Lewis is the polar opposite and prefers a strong rear end. How will he convince the team to change the car to his needs rather than Charles's? I personally think Lewis will find it challenging at Ferrari for this reason as Charles is arguably a stronger driver than George, yet George has been comparable to Lewis in a team that has Lewis's fingerprints all over it and a car Lewis is more familiar with (albeit a pretty poor one). But it's definitely a gutsy move by Lewis, if anything, it shows the confidence he still has in his ability even when compared to some of the very best of the younger generation of drivers.