2025 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[selvam_e2002]

I prefer Plan B. or suprise return of Vettel or Perez

[diffuser]

Plan A: Stroll returns
Plan B: Drugovich
Plan C: Bottas (If Drugovich is at Le Mans)

There is no plan C., Drugovich can get out of Le Mans.

[FNTC]

Plan A is Stroll, B is Drugovich, C is VanDoorne, D is Bottas.
I think Stroll likely drives, if not, Drugovich, unless he has some clause in his Cadillac LeMans contract that makes them keep him.

[Nikosar]

2023 Canadian GP was an incredible podium: Verstappen - Alonso - Hamilton and Newey on podium as well

[Nikosar]

Russel emerged as contender for a seat in 2026 they say as Mercedes is pushing for Versteppan. What do you think about this possibility?

[-wkst-]

Russel emerged as contender for a seat in 2026 they say as Mercedes is pushing for Versteppan. What do you think about this possibility?

That the line up for 2026 is far from sure. Such rumours, like the one that VER could join the team, always have a background.

I fear that ALO has clauses mid season that the team can exchange him and like KimiRai said, it seems that Cowell is interested in a different line up.

[Waz]

Genuinely curious about the Mercedes hype. All the big hitters have left. They still can't build a winning car in these regs. The engine is not the best or even most reliable. They don't have a 2 year head stsrt and unlimited money to burn.

I honestly see next year as Aston Martin vs McLaren. These are the teams with everyone and everything in place already with the big names who made serious contributions to their previous teams being so successful.

[TyreSlip]

Genuinely curious about the Mercedes hype. All the big hitters have left. They still can't build a winning car in these regs. The engine is not the best or even most reliable. They don't have a 2 year head stsrt and unlimited money to burn.

I honestly see next year as Aston Martin vs McLaren. These are the teams with everyone and everything in place already with the big names who made serious contributions to their previous teams being so successful.

Mercedes had a year's head start on Honda and Red Bull and a several year's head start on Audi. When they had a head start last time, the car did not matter at all.

I still have flashbacks (nightmares) of the 2014 Bahrain Grand Prix. After a late safety car period, Hamilton and Rosberg turned up their engines and no team was within 2 seconds a lap of them. For the rest of the season, the team intentionally nerfed its peak power so that the FIA wouldn't intervene. It enjoyed a monopoly from 2014-2016.

Do I think next year's regulations will be as much of an engine formula as it was at the beginnning of 2014? Probably not, but we are kidding ourselves if we don't think engines won't matter much at the beginning of these regulations.

[peewon]

Russel emerged as contender for a seat in 2026 they say as Mercedes is pushing for Versteppan. What do you think about this possibility?

That the line up for 2026 is far from sure. Such rumours, like the one that VER could join the team, always have a background.

I fear that ALO has clauses mid season that the team can exchange him and like KimiRai said, it seems that Cowell is interested in a different line up.

Has Cowell said anything regarding Alonso? If so I might have missed it.

I dont think they'll do anything mid season but Alonso has made a couple of statements this year which showed dissention from the ranks. Like him saying team didnt tell him which car was getting the upgrades. That could just be frustration due to abysmal performance at the time or when some talks behind the scenes about the future not going well. But since the updates he has seemed calmer again.

I expect them to keep Alonso for '26 since AM wont be competing next year at least. And after that Verstappen will look at his options and see which team is likely to get him wins. Mercedes is likely to be the best PU but Russell is there and thats a weird dynamic right now.

[peewon]

Genuinely curious about the Mercedes hype. All the big hitters have left. They still can't build a winning car in these regs. The engine is not the best or even most reliable. They don't have a 2 year head stsrt and unlimited money to burn.

I honestly see next year as Aston Martin vs McLaren. These are the teams with everyone and everything in place already with the big names who made serious contributions to their previous teams being so successful.

Sometimes it doesnt matter who you have in house. What matters is the technology. In 2014, the split turbo was the key to unlocking performance and that was technology that they already had in house with Daimler trucks division.

The 2026 regs are novel enough that possibility of a substantial performance differentiator is high. Teams like Alpine and Williams have put their money where their mouth is and backed Mercedes PU to be the paddock leader. Alpine ditched its works status and reportedly a promising 2026 PU which was hitting its targets to be a Merc customer which is unheard of.

Mercedes has also been extremely resistant to any change in PU regulations. Mclaren could be up there with Merc but Id surprised if its anyone except those two and Ferrari.

[diffuser]

Russel emerged as contender for a seat in 2026 they say as Mercedes is pushing for Versteppan. What do you think about this possibility?

I think Merc is better off with Russell. Not sure why you make that change. At best, there is 1% difference between the two and Russell isn't a diva.

[diffuser]

Russel emerged as contender for a seat in 2026 they say as Mercedes is pushing for Versteppan. What do you think about this possibility?

That the line up for 2026 is far from sure. Such rumours, like the one that VER could join the team, always have a background.

I fear that ALO has clauses mid season that the team can exchange him and like KimiRai said, it seems that Cowell is interested in a different line up.

Has Cowell said anything regarding Alonso? If so I might have missed it.

I dont think they'll do anything mid season but Alonso has made a couple of statements this year which showed dissention from the ranks. Like him saying team didnt tell him which car was getting the upgrades. That could just be frustration due to abysmal performance at the time or when some talks behind the scenes about the future not going well. But since the updates he has seemed calmer again.

I expect them to keep Alonso for '26 since AM wont be competing next year at least. And after that Verstappen will look at his options and see which team is likely to get him wins. Mercedes is likely to be the best PU but Russell is there and thats a weird dynamic right now.

If you look at Lance getting the upgrades first, and the reaction of Lance of late.....Looks stressed out...It could have been a Cowell ultimatum for Lance, lets see if you can do it or else......He failed miserably and was hugely out shown by Alonso. If anything it cimented Alonso's place.

Look at Hamilton, he's still not matching what Sainz was doing. Another exchange of 4 quarters for a Dollar.

[Otromundo]

I'm sorry to disagree with the majority. For me, given the current car, I think the best teammate is Lance. If the car improves significantly (ALO is starting to shine near the podium +/-) and Lance can't stay in the top 10 (3-5 cars behind ALO), then that would change things.

The car hasn't been going well since the start of last season. The team has been unable to improve its performance. Lance is the son of the team owner. ALO is the first driver, but if the car improves, he has to be able to do so too. And it would be strange if he didn't. Everything is perfect for season 26 with a genuine AN car.

There's an old Spanish saying whose English equivalent is: "Better the devil you know than the devil you don't." I think popular wisdom is usually right.

[Big Tea]

Leaving out the difficulty of team affiliations and training programs, I think Aston's best option would be either of the Williams drivers. Steady, not too political and willing to work for the team.