Silly Season 2017/2018

[kptaylor]

Agree with the exception of Kvyat remaining at STR. I think he's done and it's time to make way for new Red Bull junior talent.

[NathanOlder]

I don't think Red Bull have any talent ready for F1 right now.

[marvin78]

Verstappen could be ready for F1 now. But he is not because he took the wrong way into it.

[Vasconia]

Agree with the exception of Kvyat remaining at STR. I think he's done and it's time to make way for new Red Bull junior talent.

If Sainz goes to Renault, I think TR will retain Kvyat because they would like to have at least one driver with some experience. If Sainz continues in TR Kvyat is out, for sure.

[Schuttelberg]

Agree with the exception of Kvyat remaining at STR. I think he's done and it's time to make way for new Red Bull junior talent.

If Sainz goes to Renault, I think TR will retain Kvyat because they would like to have at least one driver with some experience. If Sainz continues in TR Kvyat is out, for sure.

I have my doubts. The RBR talent pool looks quite barren to me. Both Mercedes and Ferrari seem to have more exciting talent in the junior categories.

[Schuttelberg]

To me, Alonso at Mercedes still makes sense. Reports of him poisoning team atmosphere are grossly exagerated. James Allison practically begged him to stay at Ferrari, and now he is at Mercedes.

Both Alonso and Hamilton have matured and I don't think s--t would blow up the way it did ten years ago.

I doubt it will happen, but man, wouldn't that make for a great championship?

What a load of rubbish.

When Alonso was at Ferrari, everything in the team became all about how the team could make him happy and give him a championship winning car. The exact same situation is prevalent at McLaren-Honda at the moment. While FA is a marvellous driver, probably one of the greatest ever, team spirit isn't his strong point. If you feel Alonso has matured, I really pity your judgement.

Who the hell is James Allison to retain drivers at Ferrari? He was a tech chief and it ended there. He couldn't offer contracts. Anyway, we have a great championship even now. Ferrari took a big step back in 2016 and it could have been very easy for someone like Vettel to throw his toys out of the pram. He didn't and always backed the team. I don't remember the team environment being so volatile even when Hamilton was being screwed by reliability in 2012 at McLaren.

Fact simply is that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are never offering a contract to Alonso again. There's simply a larger talent pool out there that's younger and easier to work with.

[Jolle]

To me, Alonso at Mercedes still makes sense. Reports of him poisoning team atmosphere are grossly exagerated. James Allison practically begged him to stay at Ferrari, and now he is at Mercedes.

Both Alonso and Hamilton have matured and I don't think s--t would blow up the way it did ten years ago.

I doubt it will happen, but man, wouldn't that make for a great championship?

What a load of rubbish.

When Alonso was at Ferrari, everything in the team became all about how the team could make him happy and give him a championship winning car. The exact same situation is prevalent at McLaren-Honda at the moment. While FA is a marvellous driver, probably one of the greatest ever, team spirit isn't his strong point. If you feel Alonso has matured, I really pity your judgement.

Who the hell is James Allison to retain drivers at Ferrari? He was a tech chief and it ended there. He couldn't offer contracts. Anyway, we have a great championship even now. Ferrari took a big step back in 2016 and it could have been very easy for someone like Vettel to throw his toys out of the pram. He didn't and always backed the team. I don't remember the team environment being so volatile even when Hamilton was being screwed by reliability in 2012 at McLaren.

Fact simply is that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are never offering a contract to Alonso again. There's simply a larger talent pool out there that's younger and easier to work with.

Plus, all the teams know, when you don’t have a dominant car like in 1988, 2014 etc you’ll loose the championship if you don’t have a clear number one and two, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams all felt the pain.
At Mercedes now, bottas is doing an almost perfect job.

[basti313]

To me, Alonso at Mercedes still makes sense. Reports of him poisoning team atmosphere are grossly exagerated. James Allison practically begged him to stay at Ferrari, and now he is at Mercedes.

Both Alonso and Hamilton have matured and I don't think s--t would blow up the way it did ten years ago.

I doubt it will happen, but man, wouldn't that make for a great championship?

What a load of rubbish.

When Alonso was at Ferrari, everything in the team became all about how the team could make him happy and give him a championship winning car. The exact same situation is prevalent at McLaren-Honda at the moment. While FA is a marvellous driver, probably one of the greatest ever, team spirit isn't his strong point. If you feel Alonso has matured, I really pity your judgement.

Who the hell is James Allison to retain drivers at Ferrari? He was a tech chief and it ended there. He couldn't offer contracts. Anyway, we have a great championship even now. Ferrari took a big step back in 2016 and it could have been very easy for someone like Vettel to throw his toys out of the pram. He didn't and always backed the team. I don't remember the team environment being so volatile even when Hamilton was being screwed by reliability in 2012 at McLaren.

Fact simply is that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are never offering a contract to Alonso again. There's simply a larger talent pool out there that's younger and easier to work with.

True. Plus the strange understeery setup: Once you build a car for Fernando he is outstanding against his teammate. The question is, how it hampers the team with a second driver alone or how it hurts the car itself.
McLaren has the setup to put him into the car he wants and still could give a decent car to But or Van.
On the other hand Merc had the luxury of putting Ros and Ham into the same car, same setup and it worked. The even struggled with the slightly different setup for Bot to get both cars in good shape. And we are talking about the current top team.

[Schuttelberg]

To me, Alonso at Mercedes still makes sense. Reports of him poisoning team atmosphere are grossly exagerated. James Allison practically begged him to stay at Ferrari, and now he is at Mercedes.

Both Alonso and Hamilton have matured and I don't think s--t would blow up the way it did ten years ago.

I doubt it will happen, but man, wouldn't that make for a great championship?

What a load of rubbish.

When Alonso was at Ferrari, everything in the team became all about how the team could make him happy and give him a championship winning car. The exact same situation is prevalent at McLaren-Honda at the moment. While FA is a marvellous driver, probably one of the greatest ever, team spirit isn't his strong point. If you feel Alonso has matured, I really pity your judgement.

Who the hell is James Allison to retain drivers at Ferrari? He was a tech chief and it ended there. He couldn't offer contracts. Anyway, we have a great championship even now. Ferrari took a big step back in 2016 and it could have been very easy for someone like Vettel to throw his toys out of the pram. He didn't and always backed the team. I don't remember the team environment being so volatile even when Hamilton was being screwed by reliability in 2012 at McLaren.

Fact simply is that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are never offering a contract to Alonso again. There's simply a larger talent pool out there that's younger and easier to work with.

Plus, all the teams know, when you don’t have a dominant car like in 1988, 2014 etc you’ll loose the championship if you don’t have a clear number one and two, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams all felt the pain.
At Mercedes now, bottas is doing an almost perfect job.

Good point.

Mercedes also has a young prodigy in Ocon who looks ready himself to take the Merc seat. May be, another year of midfield driving to gather more experience.

I'm one of those people that find it absolutely amusing when the media or a certain section of the fans try to make it look like one of the team's drivers decide who sits in the second car. A F1 driver is a 'super athlete' of sorts. All these drivers have humongous ego's and self belief of epic proportions without which they wouldn't be World Champions.

A Vettel/Hamilton isn't afraid of going up against anyone in the same car but people like Raikkonen and Bottas just keep the team harmony/spirit high and it's only sensible to not let another one of the best sit in the other car and poison the team from within.

[NathanOlder]

Not sure Vettel doesn't mind who his team mate is.

[Jolle]

Not sure Vettel doesn't mind who his team mate is.

I think what drivers think or want isn't even that important. As you build your team it makes far more sense to invest in one star driver (Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso) for around 40 mln a year and then put a good steady driver next to him instead of shooting yourself in the foot to have two star drivers.

Don't forget, in the past, Rosberg was hired to be a good steady backup, not the star driver (hence the difference in pay) and way before then, Senna was hired by McLaren as a young driver, not to challenge Prost from the first season (as was Hamilton next to Alonso). In all those cases it was good for the spectators but not for the teams.

Bottas and Kimi both are on one year contracts to be flexible for when the next big one comes available to take over from Vettel/Hamilton (probably Verstappen at this moment)

[Vasconia]

Not sure Vettel doesn't mind who his team mate is.

I think what drivers think or want isn't even that important. As you build your team it makes far more sense to invest in one star driver (Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso) for around 40 mln a year and then put a good steady driver next to him instead of shooting yourself in the foot to have two star drivers.

Don't forget, in the past, Rosberg was hired to be a good steady backup, not the star driver (hence the difference in pay) and way before then, Senna was hired by McLaren as a young driver, not to challenge Prost from the first season (as was Hamilton next to Alonso). In all those cases it was good for the spectators but not for the teams.

Bottas and Kimi both are on one year contracts to be flexible for when the next big one comes available to take over from Vettel/Hamilton (probably Verstappen at this moment)

I would hire Ricciardo, he has the "bad" habit of defeating all his teammates and its an easy going guy, He should fit perfectly well in Ferrari. Verstappen´s mouth(alongside his father) would cause too many problems. Max would be better in Mercedes or McLaren. Those teams seem to handle better drivers with strong egos like Max.

[Jolle]

Not sure Vettel doesn't mind who his team mate is.

I think what drivers think or want isn't even that important. As you build your team it makes far more sense to invest in one star driver (Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso) for around 40 mln a year and then put a good steady driver next to him instead of shooting yourself in the foot to have two star drivers.

Don't forget, in the past, Rosberg was hired to be a good steady backup, not the star driver (hence the difference in pay) and way before then, Senna was hired by McLaren as a young driver, not to challenge Prost from the first season (as was Hamilton next to Alonso). In all those cases it was good for the spectators but not for the teams.

Bottas and Kimi both are on one year contracts to be flexible for when the next big one comes available to take over from Vettel/Hamilton (probably Verstappen at this moment)

I would hire Ricciardo, he has the "bad" habit of defeating all his teammates and its an easy going guy, He should fit perfectly well in Ferrari. Verstappen´s mouth(alongside his father) would cause too many problems. Max would be better in Mercedes or McLaren. Those teams seem to handle better drivers with strong egos like Max.

Verstappen would be the guy to (in a few years time) take over from Hamilton or Vettel, not as their long term team mate. Then you’ll get Prost/Senna kind of blow ups

[Vasconia]

Verstappen would be the guy to (in a few years time) take over from Hamilton or Vettel, not as their long term team mate. Then you’ll get Prost/Senna kind of blow ups

Indeed, I was just pointing out that Ricciardo is much better if you want to have two fast drivers without suffering a clash between them.

[Jolle]

Verstappen would be the guy to (in a few years time) take over from Hamilton or Vettel, not as their long term team mate. Then you’ll get Prost/Senna kind of blow ups

Indeed, I was just pointing out that Ricciardo is much better if you want to have two fast drivers without suffering a clash between them.

Vettel, Hamilton (and Alonso, Verstappen) are going to clash with whoever challenges them in the same car. It's one of the trades why they are where they are and not Bottas, Kimi or Button. If you want a team with either of them in it, you better make sure you've got a follower instead of a challenger next to them (like in the past Barichello, Berger, Heiki, Herbert, etc etc). Ricciardo will make Vettel uncomfortable. You don't pay 40mln a year to make it uncomfortable.