2024 Mercedes-AMG | Petronas F1 Team

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So it seems like Ola is behind pursuing Max while I hazard a guess that Toto wants George and Kimi pairing.

I think Ola & Toto are on the same page.

As good as Antonelli is, there are a number of caveats:

• it's a gamble as to whether or not he'll be a generational level F1 driver in the future

• it's a gamble to put him straight into a mercedes

• and it's undeniable that antonelli won't be a polished and ready to compete driver. Considering he's already skipped F3, it'd probably be at least 3 seasons until he'd be up to speed and mature in my view

and all while in the meantime you have a 1-time race winner as your team leader..

So IF verstappen's signature is possible it's still a no-brainer to get him even if it means making Antonelli go through the typical route of developing at another team like Williams. You stand to gain a lot

With the way things are developing in terms of RB falling bakc into the pack, RB building engines, Newey leaving, there won't even be that large of an incentive to stay there. Mercedes is a more enticing prospect with new engine regs

[AMG.Tzan]

Antonelli though still hasn’t proven anything in F2! I know it must be Prema still not finding the balance of the new car but I think he needs more time before stepping up…

Surely Mercedes have seen the data in all those private test sessions but at the moment I don’t think he would be any better than Russell! As for Verstappen to Mercedes it would be an epic move…something like Schumacher to Ferrari! He won’t have it easy in 2025 but I think he’ll be ahead again in 2026…and 1 year with a new will help him get up to speed quickly in 2026!

I don’t see Max leaving Red Bull though! There has to be a bigger Red Bull downfall for him to leave…

[Venturiation]

So it seems like Ola is behind pursuing Max while I hazard a guess that Toto wants George and Kimi pairing.

I think Ola & Toto are on the same page.

Yes they want max and Antonelli for 2026

[CHT]

Antonelli though still hasn’t proven anything in F2! I know it must be Prema still not finding the balance of the new car but I think he needs more time before stepping up…

Surely Mercedes have seen the data in all those private test sessions but at the moment I don’t think he would be any better than Russell! As for Verstappen to Mercedes it would be an epic move…something like Schumacher to Ferrari! He won’t have it easy in 2025 but I think he’ll be ahead again in 2026…and 1 year with a new will help him get up to speed quickly in 2026!

I don’t see Max leaving Red Bull though! There has to be a bigger Red Bull downfall for him to leave…

The challenges in 2024 is actually good for Max. This will give him the opportunity to show how great a driver he is even when he doesnt have the quickest car.

Max wont make a decision on his future until 2026 earliest. By then Mclaren Merc, Ferrari etc will all have a vacant seat for him for 2027, if he decided to leave RB.

[214270]

Antonelli though still hasn’t proven anything in F2! I know it must be Prema still not finding the balance of the new car but I think he needs more time before stepping up…

Surely Mercedes have seen the data in all those private test sessions but at the moment I don’t think he would be any better than Russell! As for Verstappen to Mercedes it would be an epic move…something like Schumacher to Ferrari! He won’t have it easy in 2025 but I think he’ll be ahead again in 2026…and 1 year with a new will help him get up to speed quickly in 2026!

I don’t see Max leaving Red Bull though! There has to be a bigger Red Bull downfall for him to leave…

“Max wont make a decision on his future until 2026 earliest. By then Mclaren Merc, Ferrari etc will all have a vacant seat for him for 2027, if he decided to leave RB”.

If the Rb project is a dud he could very well be coming off a poor season by ‘27. It won’t stop him finding a seat, but I believe the Verstappen group are trying hard to craft a legacy that’ll paint VER as the best-to-ever-do-it by end. They can’t afford a let down from the heights they’re currently enjoying. Which is why they’ll manoeuvre before ‘26 if they’re unsure about the Rb project/convinced in the Merc one - no time for wait & see, they’ll be bold.

[Dunlay]

Antonelli though still hasn’t proven anything in F2! I know it must be Prema still not finding the balance of the new car but I think he needs more time before stepping up…

Surely Mercedes have seen the data in all those private test sessions but at the moment I don’t think he would be any better than Russell! As for Verstappen to Mercedes it would be an epic move…something like Schumacher to Ferrari! He won’t have it easy in 2025 but I think he’ll be ahead again in 2026…and 1 year with a new will help him get up to speed quickly in 2026!

I don’t see Max leaving Red Bull though! There has to be a bigger Red Bull downfall for him to leave…

“Max wont make a decision on his future until 2026 earliest. By then Mclaren Merc, Ferrari etc will all have a vacant seat for him for 2027, if he decided to leave RB”.

If the Rb project is a dud he could very well be coming off a poor season by ‘27. It won’t stop him finding a seat, but I believe the Verstappen group are trying hard to craft a legacy that’ll paint VER as the best-to-ever-do-it by end. They can’t afford a let down from the heights they’re currently enjoying. Which is why they’ll manoeuvre before ‘26 if they’re unsure about the Rb project/convinced in the Merc one - no time for wait & see, they’ll be bold.

How do you reckon Max camp would be unsure about RB project? Nobody knows what's in store with 26 engines or the chassis. Considering it's ex-Honda and ex-Mercedes guys building engine for RBPT, how different would it be from Mercedes or Honda building their engines. Taking risk by moving out before 26, would be stupid. In 26 atleast they would know the performance landscape and Max can choose where he wants to go. He leaves Red Bull by end of 2025 and joins Mercedes, but Red Bull comes up with a stunner, there is no going back! There is a huge risk involved in making a hasty decision.

[Hoffman900]

The rules prescribing the IC part of the PU’s is pretty tight, so the actual IC PU side of it will likely be a wash between the teams, it’s all going to come down to the electronics side of the PU’s where the differences are.

[TeamKoolGreen]

Antonelli though still hasn’t proven anything in F2! I know it must be Prema still not finding the balance of the new car but I think he needs more time before stepping up…

Surely Mercedes have seen the data in all those private test sessions but at the moment I don’t think he would be any better than Russell!

…

You think they assumed Antonelli would be faster than today's Russell ? A 2024 F1 pole sitter ?

The level of disregard of George Russell is laughable.

[TeamKoolGreen]

I would love to know how many times George has clashed with barriers and fences in 6 years of his F1 career.

Russell crashes consist of Imola behind the SC in the Williams, Canada in the Merc, Australia with Alonso, Silverstone with Zhou, Max in Vegas, Sainz in Austin first lap, Lewis in Qatar, Bottas in Imola, and the poor Singapore last lap crash into the barrier. That’s off the top of my head

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

[ToffeeTyres]

Russell crashes consist of Imola behind the SC in the Williams, Canada in the Merc, Australia with Alonso, Silverstone with Zhou, Max in Vegas, Sainz in Austin first lap, Lewis in Qatar, Bottas in Imola, and the poor Singapore last lap crash into the barrier. That’s off the top of my head

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

Different style of racing then though. It was refuelling and better tyres you can push on driving flat out all the time and if having to overtake greater risk and reward no DRS you had to make the moves and most of the time Lewis was an awesome daring overtaker some don’t work out then we had the Hamilton massa crashes 2011? There were a lot lol it was like the cars were drawn together with magnets

[Dunlay]

Russell crashes consist of Imola behind the SC in the Williams, Canada in the Merc, Australia with Alonso, Silverstone with Zhou, Max in Vegas, Sainz in Austin first lap, Lewis in Qatar, Bottas in Imola, and the poor Singapore last lap crash into the barrier. That’s off the top of my head

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

To his credit, he went onto become a legend.

What is disappointing is the efforts to run down George as some ordinary talent. Except for a genuine couple of mistakes, his races have been squeaky clean. He doesn't push drivers off the track while battling like the other proven drivers do or mindlessly crashe into others (the only racing incident was Imola 21). This blind disregard for a strong talent makes it for awkward dicussions. I don't like to hate or disregard other drivers, because those drivers a problem for my favorite driver.

[Dunlay]

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

Different style of racing then though. It was refuelling and better tyres you can push on driving flat out all the time and if having to overtake greater risk and reward no DRS you had to make the moves and most of the time Lewis was an awesome daring overtaker some don’t work out then we had the Hamilton massa crashes 2011? There were a lot lol it was like the cars were drawn together with magnets

Button and Alonso agrees as they were also crashing like crazy.

[Shrieker]

rb are creating fake drama (just like in imola); they could've easily finished 10+ seconds ahead.

Well, there are no first ones, McLaren was a little faster today, Mercedes a little slower, the Red Bull car is actually not that effective anymore, it seems to me that McLaren and Merc and Ferrari are on the same level, it’s just that Verstappen makes this car at the level of other top teams, let’s say this Red Bull Stroll will turn out to be Perez

After passing rus, ver put just over a second into him in 5 corners. That tells me all I need to know.

[TeamKoolGreen]

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

To his credit, he went onto become a legend.

What is disappointing is the efforts to run down George as some ordinary talent. Except for a genuine couple of mistakes, his races have been squeaky clean. He doesn't push drivers off the track while battling like the other proven drivers do or mindlessly crashe into others (the only racing incident was Imola 21). This blind disregard for a strong talent makes it for awkward dicussions. I don't like to hate or disregard other drivers, because those drivers a problem for my favorite driver.

Yeah. I wasn't even a fan of George early on until i seen how much ppl were trying to pass him off as an average driver for some reason. He was the original Antonelli and he proved it. Yet here we are pretending that he is average.

[Just_a_fan]

Do you want me to count Lewis' or Max's first 6 years?

Lewis in Qatar is correct. He himself admitted after the race it was his fault.

It has been counted. Lewis had 33 crashes in his first 5 years.

To his credit, he went onto become a legend.

What is disappointing is the efforts to run down George as some ordinary talent. Except for a genuine couple of mistakes, his races have been squeaky clean. He doesn't push drivers off the track while battling like the other proven drivers do or mindlessly crashe into others (the only racing incident was Imola 21). This blind disregard for a strong talent makes it for awkward dicussions. I don't like to hate or disregard other drivers, because those drivers a problem for my favorite driver.

Running down George is a way for some people to attack Lewis. If George is "average" (as these people contend) then Lewis must be rubbish because he's got fewer points. Simple hater logic, basically.