Silly Season 2017/2018

[ringo]

mclaren is better than williams now. Alonso will stay... unless mercedes make a knee jerk and dump bottas for alonso.

[NL_Fer]

Force India will kick both troublemakers and have frustrated Alonso and Verstappen as new drivers.

[Jolle]

Force India will kick both troublemakers and have frustrated Alonso and Verstappen as new drivers.

Hahaha

There are three types of teams.
Big budget/works teams: Mercedes, Ferrari, RedBull, McLaren and Renault.
Midfield/Junior teams: Williams, Toro Rosso, Force India and Haas
And then we have Sauber at the end.

As a driver you want to be in the big budget teams. For drivers who have been in the top teams, anything less is more of being in F1 then having big ambitions, or in the case of Perez or Kvyat, trying to get back into a works team.

For Alonso, there aren't many options. It looks it will be McLaren, Renault or nothing.

For Verstappen, his future looks bright. Mercedes in particular have their eyes on him and all the one year contracts are probably just for him, to have a seat when he comes available. He just has to wait until his contract expires and then he can choose between all kind of seats.

[basti313]

Force India will kick both troublemakers and have frustrated Alonso and Verstappen as new drivers.

Well, they will kick one of their two troublemakers. Both are worth the same, Ocon is backed by Merc money, Perez has Slim in the background but high salary.
Williams has a nice history of paydriving, so my bet is on Perez to Williams and Wehrlein to FI.

In the current state no "big" name will join Renault, Williams, FI or McLaren or switch between them. There is simply nothing to win with these teams. In the case of McLaren they could at least go there for the money...but this seat is blocked by Alo.

[FrukostScones]

Force India will kick both troublemakers and have frustrated Alonso and Verstappen as new drivers.

that would be kick ass.

[FrukostScones]

also, I think now that ALO would be best in a Renault 2018 and onwards.
Works team, back to the roots and at least some speed (see HUL).

[GM7]

Let's imagine an original but possible scenario :

-Alonso joins Renault alongside Hulkenberg after some talk with Mercedes to buy Ocon.
-The rivalry between Ocon and Perez is too big, the lineup needs to be change, Perez leaves the team for Williams and Wehrlein is joining Force One.
-Kvyat is fired and Gasly is replacing him.
-Sauber keeps Ericsson and takes Leclerc.
-A seat is available at Mclaren, thanks to his ex manager Eric Boullier, Grosjean takes the seat alongside Vandoorne.
-Giovinazzi is chosen to replace Grosjean at Haas.

So we have :

Mercedes : Hamilton / Bottas
Ferrari : Vettel / Raikkonen
Red Bull : Ricciardo / Verstappen
Renault : Alonso / Hulkenberg
Mclaren : Grosjean / Vandoorne
Force One : Ocon / Wehrlein
Williams : Perez / Stroll
Haas : Magnussen / Giovinazzi
Toro Rosso : Sainz / Gasly
Sauber : Ericsson / Leclerc

[NL_Fer]

Not bad at all. Alonso likes Hulkeberg, altough he cannot pronounce his name right. A killer combo

[Manoah2u]

If Alonso ends up @ Renault, it'll be Alonso-Kubica

[djos]

If Alonso ends up @ Renault, it'll be Alonso-Kubica

Doubt it, Kubica is past his used-by-date, it would be Hulk & Fred imo.

[ringo]

Perez to williams is a win win.

I have a hunch Bottas wont be at mercedes. He is kinda looking too ordinary for their liking..
A young gun just might get that seat. I think Wolf wants someone to challenge Hamilton and wont mind Alonso coming over last minute.
The only person that wont like that deal is Alonso. Because he is going to be more frustrated if Hamilton is simply the faster driver. He hasn't experienced that feeling of being the slower driver in 10 years.

[Chuckjr]

Wut.

Fred has never been the slower driver. Equal speed arguably, but never slower.

[NL_Fer]

They were comparable in 2008, why wouldn't they be challenging eachother now?

But be real, Toto is not looking for headaches like Hamilton/Rosberg

[GPR-A duplicate2]

The only person that wont like that deal is Alonso. Because he is going to be more frustrated if Hamilton is simply the faster driver. He hasn't experienced that feeling of being the slower driver in 10 years.

I don't think Hamilton can beat Alonso outright. Looking at how far up he is placing that McLaren in qualifying, he must have become a far better qualifier than he was in his younger days. It's a matter of jumping in a car that can give him an opportunity to contest for poles.

Besides, Alonso will pounce on days when Hamilton is not having a great day (we have seen this phenomenon in the last few years). There are circuits that Hamilton doesn't like and Alonso has never had any particular dislike to any of the circuits that he has driven. It is definitely going to be an even contest.

[WaikeCU]

The only person that wont like that deal is Alonso. Because he is going to be more frustrated if Hamilton is simply the faster driver. He hasn't experienced that feeling of being the slower driver in 10 years.

I don't think Hamilton can beat Alonso outright. Looking at how far up he is placing that McLaren in qualifying, he must have become a far better qualifier than he was in his younger days. It's a matter of jumping in a car that can give him an opportunity to contest for poles.

Besides, Alonso will pounce on days when Hamilton is not having a great day (we have seen this phenomenon in the last few years). There are circuits that Hamilton doesn't like and Alonso has never had any particular dislike to any of the circuits that he has driven. It is definitely going to be an even contest.

Hamilton is the tougher racer, but Alonso is the smarter racer. Sometimes it's the tougher way the best way to win a race, but sometimes the smarter way can win you a race. It all depends from time to time.