It would surely be an interesting season with all these rookies racing and a close competition among the top teams is also expected so a lot to look for in the 2025 season.
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It would surely be an interesting season with all these rookies racing and a close competition among the top teams is also expected so a lot to look for in the 2025 season.
Would he though? Ferrari would likely have bought him out of his deal to sign Lewis. They did it before with Kimi so they could sign Alonso.TeamKoolGreen wrote: ↑22 Jan 2025, 18:45It is unfortunate to see what happened to Sainz. But Sainz , his family and his advisors have only themselves to blame. Sainz was demanding the same money as Leclerc when negotiations started. And they were at a deadlock. If he just signed whichever deal Ferrari was offering at that time . He'd be a Ferrari driver today.
Did the Sainz family really need the money ? Highly doubtful.
Going for Williams as opposed to Alpine might also turn out to be the move
They wouldn't have had motivation if they had a contracted driver. As I remember Raikkönen was underperforming when he was bought out.WardenOfTheNorth wrote: ↑23 Jan 2025, 21:17Would he though? Ferrari would likely have bought him out of his deal to sign Lewis. They did it before with Kimi so they could sign Alonso.TeamKoolGreen wrote: ↑22 Jan 2025, 18:45It is unfortunate to see what happened to Sainz. But Sainz , his family and his advisors have only themselves to blame. Sainz was demanding the same money as Leclerc when negotiations started. And they were at a deadlock. If he just signed whichever deal Ferrari was offering at that time . He'd be a Ferrari driver today.
Did the Sainz family really need the money ? Highly doubtful.
Going for Williams as opposed to Alpine might also turn out to be the move
Verstappen and Alonso to swap teams? Something’s going on in F1…
Horner spent a couple of hours in the Aston motorhome during the Abu Dhabi season finale. Why would he have been doing that? Negotiating about allowing Newey to begin at Aston earlier than the agreed March 1 date? We’re already mid-January and he’s not yet started, so perhaps it wasn’t that. Maybe it was about the ex-Honda personnel based at Red Bull being released to go back to Honda for the Aston project? But what if it was about hammering out the terms of letting Max go two years early – and taking in exchange Alonso?
If Horner is resigned to losing Verstappen regardless, he could at least minimise his losses with a financial package plus the services of Alonso. And who knows, maybe the ’26 Red Bull will be a rocket ship. That’s not such a ridiculous prospect regardless of all the aforementioned reasons why it might not be. One year, at least, of Alonso will give the team time to assess its other options within or outside the Red Bull stable of drivers while still having a megastar in at least one of its cars.
Something seems to be going on between Aston Martin and Red Bull and there are sources suggesting that Verstappen is part of that something. Given that Lance Stroll is not about to move from his father’s team at just the time Newey and the heavy guns have arrived – and that Alonso’s contract is therefore a potential barrier to Max joining – so a financial settlement from Aston to both Alonso and Red Bull would be needed if this were all to slot into place. But Alonso would surely want more than just financial compensation for such an arrangement. Why would he surrender the chance of driving the Newey Aston? Well, a Red Bull drive might be a start, might it not?
Williams are a shambles of a team and nobody should have any sympathy for Sainz. He played hardball with no backup in place and lost out badly.TeamKoolGreen wrote: ↑22 Jan 2025, 18:45It is unfortunate to see what happened to Sainz. But Sainz , his family and his advisors have only themselves to blame. Sainz was demanding the same money as Leclerc when negotiations started. And they were at a deadlock. If he just signed whichever deal Ferrari was offering at that time . He'd be a Ferrari driver today.
Did the Sainz family really need the money ? Highly doubtful.
Going for Williams as opposed to Alpine might also turn out to be the move
