Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
In one of the slowest cars on the grid. Still even in one of the slower cars that notoriously lacked downforce, he handily outqualified Hamilton at Spa in the wet in 2021, whilst Hamilton had one of the fastest cars on the grid at the time.Bill wrote: ↑05 Aug 2024, 09:30it took him three seasons thats why its easy to forgetDunlay wrote: ↑05 Aug 2024, 06:13Wrong facts. George scored points in Williams.Bill wrote: ↑04 Aug 2024, 22:04
Russell is a good driver in a good car but lets not forget he didn't score a single point in a williams before joining mercedes.compare to lewis he still have problems with tire saving .spa was the exception.kimi is six in f2 if he is the next big thing he need to go for champion
Or just a straight Max / Russell swap.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
They are cut throat competitors at the top. Toto would spend a fortune to bring Max and keep George along, while finding a midfield team for Antonelli. He wouldn't let go George to Red Bull, unless there are contractual clauses that allows George to leave. There is no way Toto would want to contribute to strengthen Red Bull. A weak Red Bull is an opportunity for Mercedes to shine. I would personally love to see George at Red Bull if Max is in Mercedes, but after a year of seeing them together in one team. We would know George's level against Max.Paa wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 12:05Or just a straight Max / Russell swap.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
If (big if) Max would leave, then RedBull would also be exposed without any top driver, so it would make sense for most parties involved.
Don't forget that Max is also contracted to RedBull until 2028. So they'll have to enter to some kind of negotiations if they would like him before that. Releasing Russell could be one to sweeten the deal.Dunlay wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 13:22They are cut throat competitors at the top. Toto would spend a fortune to bring Max and keep George along, while finding a midfield team for Antonelli. He wouldn't let go George to Red Bull, unless there are contractual clauses that allows George to leave. There is no way Toto would want to contribute to strengthen Red Bull. A weak Red Bull is an opportunity for Mercedes to shine. I would personally love to see George at Red Bull if Max is in Mercedes, but after a year of seeing them together in one team. We would know George's level against Max.Paa wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 12:05Or just a straight Max / Russell swap.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
If (big if) Max would leave, then RedBull would also be exposed without any top driver, so it would make sense for most parties involved.
In that case, if Red Bull couldn't get Russell, they would go with the Ricciardo & Perez pairing. Good luck, Horner.Dunlay wrote:They are cut throat competitors at the top. Toto would spend a fortune to bring Max and keep George along, while finding a midfield team for Antonelli. He wouldn't let go George to Red Bull, unless there are contractual clauses that allows George to leave. There is no way Toto would want to contribute to strengthen Red Bull. A weak Red Bull is an opportunity for Mercedes to shine. I would personally love to see George at Red Bull if Max is in Mercedes, but after a year of seeing them together in one team. We would know George's level against Max.Paa wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 12:05Or just a straight Max / Russell swap.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
If (big if) Max would leave, then RedBull would also be exposed without any top driver, so it would make sense for most parties involved.
"contracted " could turn out to be a very flexible word if what we hear is true.Paa wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 14:36Don't forget that Max is also contracted to RedBull until 2028. So they'll have to enter to some kind of negotiations if they would like him before that. Releasing Russell could be one to sweeten the deal.Dunlay wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 13:22They are cut throat competitors at the top. Toto would spend a fortune to bring Max and keep George along, while finding a midfield team for Antonelli. He wouldn't let go George to Red Bull, unless there are contractual clauses that allows George to leave. There is no way Toto would want to contribute to strengthen Red Bull. A weak Red Bull is an opportunity for Mercedes to shine. I would personally love to see George at Red Bull if Max is in Mercedes, but after a year of seeing them together in one team. We would know George's level against Max.
Seems like that Marko clause is closed for Max. There are some performance related clauses, but we don't know exactly what, so it might not be that easy for Max to just leave.
They missed out on Carlos. It would seem hypocritical to give anyone esle but antonelli more than a one year contract because that was effectively what they were giving Lewis beyond 2024 (one more year). So yeah stuck in a hard place. So yeah.. They offered Carlos one year and he was not about that life. Bottas is the other next best.. But Bottas doesn't want to go back to being the step child. Let's see what he does now that no seats are free.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
Max appears to not like corporate settings. I think he's staying put at RedBull where he can scream and throw tantrums over the radio and play sim games streams and curse like a sailor. The last RedBull number 1 who liked throwing tantrums took a few years to calm down didn't he? And he effectively weakend the teams he went to with that attitude.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 14:58If Max wins the championship, the performance clause cannot be fulfilled. He even leads by a large margin at the moment. I think Max cannot leave just like that. Other clauses are with Helmut.
Bottas would be crazy if he would not take Merc's one-year deal at this point. It may be that Sauber smells blood and offers a one-year deal to Bottas to keep options open for '26.PlatinumZealot wrote:They missed out on Carlos. It would seem hypocritical to give anyone esle but antonelli more than a one year contract because that was effectively what they were giving Lewis beyond 2024 (one more year). So yeah stuck in a hard place. So yeah.. They offered Carlos one year and he was not about that life. Bottas is the other next best.. But Bottas doesn't want to go back to being the step child. Let's see what he does now that no seats are free.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 07:57Verstappen to Merc in 2025? I highly doubt it. That would mean that they would keep Antonelli in F2 and then what, sacking Russell from Merc 2026 to make room for Antonelli?
Max wants the best car, so I think his intentions are to be in the best car, whether he can scream there or not.PlatinumZealot wrote:Max appears to not like corporate settings. I think he's staying put at RedBull where he can scream and throw tantrums over the radio and play sim games streams and curse like a sailor. The last RedBull number 1 who liked throwing tantrums took a few years to calm down didn't he? And he effectively weakend the teams he went to with that attitude.Jurgen von Diaz wrote: ↑06 Aug 2024, 14:58If Max wins the championship, the performance clause cannot be fulfilled. He even leads by a large margin at the moment. I think Max cannot leave just like that. Other clauses are with Helmut.
https://racingnews365.com/mercedes-reve ... -contender"Given that the recent developments have been successful at bringing the performance we hoped, and next year's car is likely to be a close cousin of this year's car, we're now more confident that we can carry this momentum into next year, more so than we have been in the previous years," - Shovlin told select media