Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

[PlatinumZealot]

Lando is decent. Few faults to him. I think he would challenge Max seeing that he does well against Sainz. Sainz and Max were close as rookies.

[Racer X]

So Redbull is also testing Yuki the Japanese driver. They said they are looking at Hulk and Perez. Also they might get to keep the Honda IP so perhaps we see RedBull with its own engine.

RedBull are pretty busy.

[DChemTech]

So Redbull is also testing Yuki the Japanese driver. They said they are looking at Hulk and Perez. Also they might get to keep the Honda IP so perhaps we see RedBull with its own engine.

RedBull are pretty busy.

Yep, guess they're downing quite a few cans of that crap to keep them energetic these days!

[PlatinumZealot]

RBR - VER, PER
AT - GAS, TSU

Or

RBR - VER, GAS
AT - ALB, TSU?

[NathanOlder]

The only way to be fair in my opinion is to put Albon and Gasly together at Alpha Tauri for 2 years. Winner gets a promotion in 2023. Give Perez or Hulk a 3yr deal at RedBull to cover the gap. Ditch Kvyat. Keep Tsunoda in F2 next season. If he wins, place him in Super Formula in Japan for a year until Gasly Albon settle their battle.

[Racer X]

RBR - VER, PER
AT - GAS, TSU

Or

RBR - VER, GAS
AT - ALB, TSU?

I just can't see Gasly moving up at all.

I can understand them not taking Perez/Hulk at all but Gasly moving up wouldn't make sense.

Minus well keep Albon or take a huge shot with TSU but if they don't take Sergio/Hulk then they will probably keep Albon drop Kyviat and add the Japanese kid.

[Big Tea]

RBR - VER, PER
AT - GAS, TSU

Or

RBR - VER, GAS
AT - ALB, TSU?

I just can't see Gasly moving up at all.

I can understand them not taking Perez/Hulk at all but Gasly moving up wouldn't make sense.

Minus well keep Albon or take a huge shot with TSU but if they don't take Sergio/Hulk then they will probably keep Albon drop Kyviat and add the Japanese kid.

I take the opposite view of Gasly.
He was thrown in the deep end and it was a culture shock to him and knocked his stuffing out.

You can bet many nights since, he has gone through things in his head thinking 'I should have done this, not that'
He would be as well prepared for it now as he was ill prepared last time.
I also think the heads will cut him a little more slack this time as they probably realise they were as much to blame as Gasly was last time.

I would put him back in the car in the way they tell you to get back on a horse after you let it dump you. You both know better next time.

[raymondu999]

The only way to be fair in my opinion is to put Albon and Gasly together at Alpha Tauri for 2 years. Winner gets a promotion in 2023. Give Perez or Hulk a 3yr deal at RedBull to cover the gap. Ditch Kvyat. Keep Tsunoda in F2 next season. If he wins, place him in Super Formula in Japan for a year until Gasly Albon settle their battle.

What happens in 2022 when it’s the last year of the Per/Hulk deal and Alb/Gas has a winner

[NathanOlder]

The only way to be fair in my opinion is to put Albon and Gasly together at Alpha Tauri for 2 years. Winner gets a promotion in 2023. Give Perez or Hulk a 3yr deal at RedBull to cover the gap. Ditch Kvyat. Keep Tsunoda in F2 next season. If he wins, place him in Super Formula in Japan for a year until Gasly Albon settle their battle.

What happens in 2022 when it’s the last year of the Per/Hulk deal and Alb/Gas has a winner

2022 Alb and Gas are still at Alpha Tauri. They have 2 years together. Just realised I put 3yrs for Perez Hulk, when I meant 2 years

[Manoah2u]

Let's see now.

Mercedes
Hamilton & Bottas

RedBull
Verstappen & Hulkenberg

Ferrari
Leclerc & Sainz Jr.

Mclaren
Ricciardo & Norris

Aston Martin
Vettel & Stroll

Renault
Alonso & Ocon

Alpha Tauri
Gasly & Albon

Alfa Romeo
Schumacher & Raikkonen

Haas
Perez & Shwartzman

Williams
Russell & Latifi

[NathanOlder]

Looks good to me other than Shwartzman. Mazepin and Ilott are surely in front of him.

[Wouter]

Let's see now.

Mercedes
Hamilton & Bottas

RedBull
Verstappen & Hulkenberg

Ferrari
Leclerc & Sainz Jr.

Mclaren
Ricciardo & Norris

Aston Martin
Vettel & Stroll

Renault
Alonso & Ocon

Alpha Tauri
Gasly & Albon

Alfa Romeo
Schumacher & Raikkonen

Haas
Perez & Shwartzman

Williams
Russell & Latifi

Allmost correct.

Mercedes
Hamilton & Bottas

RedBull
Verstappen & Hulkenberg

Ferrari
Leclerc & Sainz Jr.

Mclaren
Ricciardo & Norris

Aston Martin
Vettel & Stroll

Renault
Alonso & Ocon

* Alpha Tauri
Gasly & Tsunoda

Alfa Romeo
Schumacher & Raikkonen

* Haas
(Perez/) Kvyat/Shwartzman & Mazepin

Williams
Russell & Latifi

[DChemTech]

I'll join Manoah in AlphaTauri opting for Albon/Gasly; with Honda gone, the prospects of Tsunoda have gone down - if he would win F2 maybe, but that doesn't seem to be happening. For Haas, I'll go for Perez & Mazepin.

[Manoah2u]

Indeed, i have little faith in Tsunoda entering F1 in 2021, because of Honda stepping back - otherwise it would have been a clear done and dusted deal. I don't really know his capacity, but it's not like he's marketable enough to be promoted anyway. It's getting pretty clear now that it's unlikely Albon will be kept for the 2021 season, and Gasly is not going anywhere, and Kvyat is not going to stay either. It's logical Albon will be put back to the sister team, AT. That leaves a spot open alongside max for an outsider.

I would argue that's between Hulkenberg and Perez. Though I believe Perez would be the better pick, and i wouldn't at all be surprised him ending up there anyway,
I think Perez has more business potential @ Haas and will 'look better' there. After all, if he gets 'destroyed' by Max the way Albon is, then his career will be over soon,
as Marko can be relentless. The only reason i don't see Perez end up @ Haas is if Mazepin will go there. There is no way Perez will go into an environment where there will
be a guaranteed repeat of Stroll & Co. So if Mazepin goes there, Perez will probably go to RBR, and Hulk will end up @ Haas is my belief.

I do stand by the point that there are political reasons that there 'must' be a russian in F1, so with Kvyat out, we need one in the field, which goes down then between Mazepin and Shwartzman.
Since Shwartzman is a ferrari academy driver, it's reasonable to see him end up at Ferrari-powered Haas. I think negotiations between Haas and Mazepin are more explorative in nature and a way to 'negotiate' a (better) deal from other candidates. For example : Perez can bring Slim money and probably he'll be able to negotiate BWT towards Haas. This will be a great deal for Haas. However, with Haas discussing a deal with Mazepin, they might even get more money from BWT/Perez, let's say, they're able to play ball harder. Perez will have an allergy to the idea of Mazepin there, so then introducing Shwartzman instead would be a win-win too.

Hence my feelings it'll end up this way.

I expect Williams to end up with Mazepin and Latifi for 2022 though, and Russell being promoted elsewhere for 2022.

[Wynters]

I think Perez has more business potential @ Haas and will 'look better' there. After all, if he gets 'destroyed' by Max the way Albon is, then his career will be over soon, as Marko can be relentless.

If Perez can't perform better than a rookie who missed one of his two pre-seasons, had the other interrupted with COVID and has been in two different team in little more than a year, then his career should be over.

To be honest, I think it would be good for Verstappen to have Perez there as Checo is a relatively well known quantity for Verstappen to be measured against. A lot has changed since the first half of 2018. I think Verstappen has become a much better driver than he was back then. But the only yardsticks we have for modern Verstappen are Gasly (one season in TR before being promoted) and Albon (a handful of races in TR before being promoted). I think Perez would have comfortably beaten both of them if he'd been in Verstappen's position. Verstappen regularly beating Perez in Quali and the race (and by how much) would usefully establish a better yard-stick for Verstappen's current abilities.

I think Perez is also a good fit from a Championship battle position. As someone who is skilled at running very long, it means he will likely be in Mercedes' pitstop window and will either force them to run longer or force them to have to battle past him. Either of these would work well for Verstappen.

I'd like RBR to pick up a better driver than Perez but he's a good choice from amongst those likely to be actually available.