2014/15 Silly Season

[Gaz.]

There's no way in hell imo that Hamilton will leave Mercedes, he'd have to be insane to leave when he has the best car and power unit on the grid!

I think it's a lot of wishful thinking by superfans of other drivers.

We are assuming Vettel is going to Ferrari and Mattiachi does not have a poker face at all, but is it not just as likely that he has gone to Mclaren?

Someone somewhere last night said there is a rumour that Alonso has signed directly with Honda - there is some merit in this a) Alonso has said he has not signed with any teams, b) Eric B has said they have not signed any drivers including their current ones for next year. If this has some plausibility, could Button have also done the same?

[FoxHound]

Kvyat being Russian is worth $$$ to Red Bull in that particular part of the world.

[Bomber_Pilot]

Has anyone seen the tweet from Honda, showing two cars from 1967 and 1968, one with number 5 on it and the other one with 14?

[SunsAnvil]

You mean this? https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD/sta ... 0844358657
It means Honda are subtley anouncing the arival of Alonso but, if Mclaren are tight lipped, it may mean that Alonso is contracted to Honda rather than Mclaren which would be interesting!

[Jano11]

What is happening Vergne then, a very good racer, only slightly slower in quali than Riccardio but 5kg heavier which could in theory be accounted for the qauli distance.

I don't think he should have been snubbed, promote him to the RBR alongside Riccardio and after a year cull the worst performer.

I think he deserves a chance.
Sad.

If he was up to scratch don't you think he'd have been given a go?

Nope, i think he could have dominated this season and Red Bull would have had other plans.
Just think about it, they would not even take Alonso, they closed that door extremely quick.

Red Bull has an issue with egos, too many and too large. They decided last year to throw JEV under the bus and that will never be reviewed.

[Jano11]

Kvyat being Russian is worth $$$ to Red Bull in that particular part of the world.

Especially if they can't sell it there.

[Bomber_Pilot]

You mean this? https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD/sta ... 0844358657
It means Honda are subtley anouncing the arival of Alonso but, if Mclaren are tight lipped, it may mean that Alonso is contracted to Honda rather than Mclaren which would be interesting!

Not only the arrival of Alonso... Vettel will have a #5 on his car next year...

[Sombrero]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPQkYxxftfU[/youtube]

[JimClarkFan]

What is happening Vergne then, a very good racer, only slightly slower in quali than Riccardio but 5kg heavier which could in theory be accounted for the qauli distance.

I don't think he should have been snubbed, promote him to the RBR alongside Riccardio and after a year cull the worst performer.

I think he deserves a chance.
Sad.

If he was up to scratch don't you think he'd have been given a go?

And 5 kg's does not equal 1/2 a second slower.

was he half a second slower than Ric in quali?

[basti313]

What is happening Vergne then, a very good racer, only slightly slower in quali than Riccardio but 5kg heavier which could in theory be accounted for the qauli distance.

I don't think he should have been snubbed, promote him to the RBR alongside Riccardio and after a year cull the worst performer.

I think he deserves a chance.
Sad.

If he was up to scratch don't you think he'd have been given a go?

Nope, i think he could have dominated this season and Red Bull would have had other plans.
Just think about it, they would not even take Alonso, they closed that door extremely quick.

I do not think that you can read anything into the closed door for Alonso. This door was never open. This has nothing to do with Vettel, this is just company politics. Redbull is pursuing only their own youth athletes in every sport and they do not want to hire an expensive driver...even Vettel was too expensive for them with his performance this year.

[DarkJRO]

You mean this? https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD/sta ... 0844358657
It means Honda are subtley anouncing the arival of Alonso but, if Mclaren are tight lipped, it may mean that Alonso is contracted to Honda rather than Mclaren which would be interesting!

So let's spin this up:
- 14 could stand for Alonso
- 5 could stand for Vettel (It's the number the has chosen for himself)
- Drivers tied to Honda? Sound intressting. Could this mean Honda gets new Head-Sponsor of McLaren? Could be the backroud for the "exclusively-in-the-first-year" deal.

Much speculation here.

[PlatinumZealot]

I always thought Vettel would be a good Mclaren driver. We will finally see him face off against Alonso in the same machine.

[JimClarkFan]

Vettel is 100% going to Ferrari - I'm 99% sure of that

In all seriousness, Vettel and Ferrari have a long term option, it's obvious that is where he is headed. An article I read recently strongly suggestd that Alonso has a contract with Honda, not Mclaren but that he would almost certainly end up in Mclaren in any event.

[notsofast]

So, if Alonso has a contract with Honda, and if Honda pays McLaren to let Alonso drive for their team, then that makes Alonso a pay driver, right?

[djos]

was he half a second slower than Ric in quali?

On average, yes.