Silly Season 2016/2017

[zeph]

This is interesting:

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/statu ... 8148064256


It says S. Wolf

I bet that's tongue in cheek. No way she's gonna get it.

[A-Bap]

Grosjean could also be available

I'd love to see that happen. He's a very underrated driver, and I think people would be surprised at how close the margin would be between he and Hamilton...make for some great drama.

[The_table]

This is interesting:

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/statu ... 8148064256


It says S. Wolf

I bet that's tongue in cheek. No way she's gonna get it.

Test driver, development driver as she was for williams?
(I taught she was retired...)

Maybe we should crowdfund Alonso's buyout?

[zeph]

She's also very pregnant...


For real, I'd love to see Alonso pairing up with Hamilton. Hamilton outqualifying him, and Alonso still ahead by T1 because of his dynamite starts. They would bring out the best (and possibly the worst) in each other, and it would be great for us.

But I don't think any team would want to manage that headache.

[ScottB]

This is interesting:

https://twitter.com/MercedesAMGF1/statu ... 8148064256


It says S. Wolf

I bet that's tongue in cheek. No way she's gonna get it.

Firmly in cheek, given that she's pregnant!

Give it 18 / 19 years and you can line up Baby Wolff for the seat...

[NathanOlder]

A baby Wolff is called a Pup.

[nevill3]

I still think Paul Di Resta is in with a shout, why has no one else thought of him

[Gaz.]

I still think Paul Di Resta is in with a shout, why has no one else thought of him

Because he's a miserable so and so who was quite critical of his team last time out. He succeeded but they lost, that attitude grates after a few months.

[dobbster71]

In my opinion, this talk of Alonso is aimed at unsettling McLaren.
Mercedes will want as many of their closest rivals as possible to lose focus at this critical time of the year, as they themselves are now perceived to be doing. Talking about other teams drivers is a way of doing this.

It's interesting that both Red Bull & Ferrari have, in different ways, shut the door on any speculation linking their drivers to Merc. You can be sure that both of these teams are working as hard as possible right now to gain any advantage possible over Mercedes.

If the Mercedes management team are smart they'll have already decided on an available driver, for 2017 only (Werhlein, Massa, whoever?) & are just stringing the media along whilst unsettling their competitors in the process.

Remember back to 1999 when Schuhmacher broke his leg half way through the season? Ferrari brought in Mika Salo (who had been without a full-time drive that season). Salo proved to be an excellent wing-man to Irvine & his points helped Ferrari secure the WCC that year.

[Manoah2u]

Grosjean could also be available

I'd love to see that happen. He's a very underrated driver, and I think people would be surprised at how close the margin would be between he and Hamilton...make for some great drama.

lol, do people really have such low estimate for Hamilton's skills? I mean really, Grosjean close to Hamilton?

[Manoah2u]

She's also very pregnant...
.

lol, Toto just ruined his own wife's career

funny enough, 'Toto' means a certain .....erm..... 'female part' in Latino Spanish,
so when Alonso is racing next year for Merc, and he is calling 'Toto' from the radio.....he's probably upset

[ringo]

Alonso doesn't want to partner Hamilton again. I think his reputation is at stake to face a Hamilton in prime.
He was only interested in going to mercedes if he was to go up against Nico. I don't think at any point did he expect Hamilton to be the last one standing in the team.
I'm past the Alonso rumours, he definitely wants to race against Hamilton in different cars where he has full control over a whole team, than to be sharing resources and strategy with Lewis. Alonso seems to much prefer things that way.

Bottas/Pascal to Mercedes.
Pascal/Guitierez to Williams
Nasr stays at Sauber
Manor gets whoever can pay for the seat.

[Manoah2u]

I'll just leave this one hanging here

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/173 ... ndo-alonso

20th of August, 2016

Alonso: Relationship with Lewis would be 'very different' if we were teammates now

Fernando Alonso believes he and Lewis Hamilton would now enjoy a harmonious relationship if they were to reunite as teammates in Formula One.

The pair endured a tumultuous season together at McLaren in 2007, resulting in Alonso's swift exit from the team at the end of the year after falling out with team boss Ron Dennis. Both Alonso and Hamilton missed out on the 2007 title by a single point to Kimi Raikkonen, but despite their frosty relationship at the time they have since spoken of their respect for one another.

Nine years later, Alonso, who has since returned to McLaren, believes he and Hamilton would work well together.

"I think it would be different," he told ESPN. "I'm more mature, he's more mature. The teams now are, in a way, more prepared for all the situations.

"If I was teammate of Lewis one day I think it would be very different, because we have learned and we are very different people. We no longer have that ... let's say that stress of winning on the side because I think we respect each other a lot.

"Everyone respects us a lot and we would drive as fast as we can but with another level of respect."

Alonso believes the public would enjoy watching him fight Hamilton in the same car, but only if they were driving for a competitive team.

"I think everyone would love it, but only if the team is competitive, because it is the same case as Jenson [Button] and me [at McLaren]. We have a strong team now and we could fight for many important things, but when the car is not competitive your weekends are a little bit anonymous. You come here, you do your race and you go and no one will notice if you did a fantastic qualifying lap, if you did a mistake in qualifying and you are out of Q1.

"We had some mistakes this year, we had some traffic in Baku -- where we were more or less competitive -- and we were 14th and 15th in qualifying because of the traffic. Who noticed that? No one, because all the things in the weekend are a little bit anonymous when you are not fighting for the world championship. I think yes, Formula One, or the fans, or everyone will love to see the big names, or the champions, fighting for the wins but this is probably not possible because in the DNA of the sport only one team can win."

Although the prospect of a Hamilton/Alonso pairing remains enticing, it also appears to be entirely hypothetical as Mercedes has contracts with both Hamilton and Nico Rosberg until the end of 2018. Alonso could, however, find himself paired with another McLaren protégée next year as GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne looks set to replace Jenson Button in 2017.

The pairing of Alonso and a McLaren-backed rookie has obvious similarities to the Alonso/Hamilton line-up, but the Spaniard insists there is one big difference.

"In 2007 it was very unique because Lewis was very protected by McLaren from a very young age, he was part of the programme, and he was very fast. We had a very competitive car so we were certainly fighting for the world championship when no one was expecting ... and he was British. So, Stoffel is not British. That's enough of the difference, I think [to avoid a repeat]."

[Montyinct]

I also think that people expect a lot from Hamilton, regarding how close or far off is a certain driver to Hamilton's level, I think the reality is a different thing. Is is often the fine margins that ceperates good drivers from great ones

[Grosjean]

Grosjean apparently has a 'Top Team' clause in his contract which allows him to essentially move for free if someone like Mercedes came knocking.