PlatinumZealot wrote: ↑14 Jul 2020, 00:24
Why would a great driver like Perez be dumped?
He is at home in the team. Very comfrotable. Brings strong sponsorship. He's one the fastest guys in the race. Why get rid of him?
Russel is Williams to Mercedes. There is no need for another gap team. Williams just need to get it right.
Bottas now. His only Hope at Mercedes is for Hamilton to retire and hope whoever replaces HAM is slower than Bottas himself. Otherwise... He'll be there just collecting the odd win and a paycheck till the owners get tired of him.
There's still the issue of Mclaren now taking on Mercedes engines.
What I personally believe is that when Sainz was announced, Ricciardo pounced on that seat with good reason.
I am confident that Daniel was aware of the situation, and that he immediately went for it to be 'ahead' of other competitors. I believe there have been hints at the neccesity of that move by some of Toto's remarks on how quickly decisions were made before this season got under away, and quite frankly, i actually believe there's some soreness there.
I think that had Daniel not pounced on that seat, then we would have seen Toto probably make work of getting Russell into a Mclaren seat alongside Norris. Despite the fact that Toto/Mercedes does not have much weight at all compared to the 'weight' they have with Williams for example, Sainz out would mean a driver is needed and Toto would find a way to persuade them to grab a hold of Russell i'd be inclined to think.
Another option would to see Perez back at Mclaren and making space for Russell.
Either way, Daniel saw a Mercedes powered window and went for it, and good for him.
I don't think that if for some freaky reason either Bottas or Hamilton would permanently retire at the end of the 2020 season that they'd wheel in Russell though. He needs time in a 'b tier' car before getting in a 'a tier' car, and he's been in a 'c tier' car at best. That would mean that it's more likely that - had Vettel not departed with Ferrari - Mercedes would have to go with snatching Verstappen. After all, Perez is good, but not good enough. Stroll doesn't even need to be mentioned.
Anyway, the Vettel departure and then sudden move from Sainz to Ferrari and then Daniel to Mclaren abrubtly changed things quite a bit. It also rocketeered Alonso back into F1 for 2021. It's an odd situation any way you put it.
What's left for Vettel?
Mercedes : both seats are still uncontracted, but they're both pretty much 'reserved'.
RedBull : Albon's seat is 'under investigation', so there's a 'clear' spot there.
Haas : Mentioned their interest, but not really believable to happen though.
Aston Martin / Racing point : Potential, but how and who's seat?
The truth is that, if we look at what's available, it's pretty headscratching in every area, for any driver that matter.
Let's start with Aston Martin (Racing Point).
Both seats are 'filled' so logically, if one seats gets replaced, who will have to go?
Whether it's Vettel or Russell that's going to go there, Perez or Stroll has to move.
Perez is the faster one, AND has financial investment there. So not the 'easiest' to get rid of, plus he's experienced.
Stroll is the slow oddball, but the problem is, daddy is the owner of the joint (so to speak). AND then we have the issue of Toto having aquired a stake there AND if i recall he calls Lawrence a 'friend' so pretty obvious that Lance is safe. BUT Perez HAS a contract, and Stroll has NOT (yet).
So that means: Russell or Vettel can end up @ Aston Martin.
But that would ALSO mean: WHERE will Perez then go? Williams? I can't imagine that, but they would do good with his money though. Back to Sauber (Alfa Romeo)? Back to 'Ferrari' ? Haas? That might be interesting though.
Let's just put it on a list now. (Blue is possible, black is open, red is contracted, green is likely to leave, pink move)
Mercedes: Hamilton/Bottas/
Vettel/Russell
Ferrari :
LeClerc/Sainz
RedBull :
Verstappen/
Albon/Vettel
Renault :
Alonso/Ocon
Mclaren :
Norris/Ricciardo
AlfaTauri : Gasly/Kvyat/Albon
AstonMartin:
Perez/Stroll/
Vettel/Russell
AlfaRomeo: Raikkonen/
Giovanazzi/
Kubica/Vettel/Schumacher
HAAS:
Grosjean/Magnussen/
Fittipaldi/Vettel
Williams: Latifi/
Russell/
Nissany