At a team event at the Museo Storico Alfa Romeo, where the Italian car manufacturer celebrated their return to Formula One, the Sauber F1 team have announced their driver line-up for 2018. From behind a repainted Sauber in Alfa Romeo colours, Marcus Ericsson and Charles Leclerc were present to confirm their racing seats in 2018.
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Helmut Marko's attitude towards Kvyat absolutely stinks. If his results didn't matter, why do a back and forth with him, and then discard like a used condom.
I hate that sob.
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Marko is basically a young driver pimp.
But i see a future for Kvyat.. he can get that williams seat. He can be reformed into a good driver. He has the speed and that's something you cannot teach. He can be taught to improve his weaknesses.
I rather much see him get a chance in the Williams car in a new environment outside of the redbull farm. If its even for him to drive a few races and share the season with a Kubica.
So in all reality,
outside of Hartley and Gasly,
who could realistically be given a racing seat @ Toro Rosso?
taking in account superlicense points, achievements, and is not an ousted f1 driver or has no open-wheeler experience?
meaning, outside of guys like maldonado, kobayashi, etc etc.
40 points are needed to enter f1 so there's a variety of drivers, including drivers that'll finish the Formula2 series in the top 3, which gives an instant 40 points, like fe. Artem Markelov.
I feel like there's a possibility that 1 driver will not be from the RB regime. I am thinking Marko will let Hartley and Gasly race eachother to see who will get the race seat next year. I feel Gasly isn't at all that special, but Hartley isn't much better imho.
so which non-rb camper could make the cut, outside of guys like Palmer and Ericsson, Massa, Kubica and DiResta?
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
I think Toro Rosso should go for Robin Frijns, but apprently he doesn't have superlicense points, which of course tell the superlicense points system a disaster.
Surely wehrlein is done. Looks like he is losing the Merc backing, and he hasn't smashed Ericsson so its not looking good for him.
As for Marko, always hated him. He talks the bullshit on a Niki lauda level, its just Niki has been there and done it to back up his mouth. Marko has obviously never really liked Kvyat and its only because Seb jumped ship that they had to promote Kvyat
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Lewis v2.0
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I had a thought about this. Have you ever thought Kvyat at Mclaren?
Why? Let me explain:
Kvyat drove for STR-Renault for a numerous years. With 2018 approaching, STR and Mclaren have swapped engine deals. STR gets Honda and Mclaren will be powered by Renault. It will be interesting to see how the battle will unfold with the swap in engine deals. Can STR prove Mclaren wrong that the Honda is a good engine? Can Mclaren perform with Renault as a power unit? Kvyat may not be the driver that is good under pressure, but he has raw pace and to me he is not the same as others, because he is a reader. I think he's actually a rather smart cookie tbh. From an analytical point of view I think Mclaren could well use Kvyat's feedback on the drivability of the car and the Renault PU. It might help.
Kvyat as a test / development or reserve driver for Mclaren?
Pascal has gone backwards. He started at Manor getting them points and racing consistently infront of his team mate and with the saubers. This made him look great for such a bad car.
The moment ocon joined and was on a similar level it's been very hard for Pascal.
Ocon picked by force India basically told everyone that he is at least not as good as ocon.
Goes to another team that are a back marker but perhaps with even less chance to shine than at Manor. Adding to the issue is a very average drive in Marcus being competitive with Pascal.
Why would red bull give him a chance in torro rosso when force India turned him down. Why would Williams when they could stay with Massa, Paul is a proven points scorer kubica is a race winner or kvatt who almost the same age but with far more race experience than Pascal.
Pascal I would expect to go with Mercedes into formula e
I think Toro Rosso should go for Robin Frijns, but apprently he doesn't have superlicense points, which of course tell the superlicense points system a disaster.
How exactly do you get points for it?
If the points system has been in place for a while, it's not the fault of the system. If people want to drive in F1, those are the things they have to do.
Williams need speed and experience, and a bit of prestige right now. Kvyat is the man for the job.
It sounds like a joke, but let's think about it objectively..
Kvyat is as fast as Max or Dan when he is at his best. He is young, trainable, can tap the Russian Market for the team, and i think the willams environment would put him at ease to perform at his best.
Its a no brainer for williams to give Kvyat the seat and pay peanuts to retain him. In fact he can bring in money too and put them in a good position when coupled with stroll money.
Paddy Lowe and Frank are objective guys, so i expect them to reassess their prospects now that Kvyat is available. I think this triggered the news that they will delay their decision till after the season is over.
As for Frijns, please don't bother. That ship has sailed far away and i don't think it ever was believable.
What i do find funny though is how last year there was all this excessive talk about how bad it's gonna be that 'F1 will not have a Brazilian driver in 2017',
then Massa signed again, and now we're there again, no Brazilian driver next year surely, but nobody bats an eye!
"Explain the ending to F1 in football terms"
"Hamilton was beating Verstappen 7-0, then the ref decided F%$& rules, next goal wins
while also sending off 4 Hamilton players to make it more interesting"
“In the good old days” Bernie now made sure there would be a Brazilian on the grid next year, don’t know if Liberty already has that power on the grid.
I assume there are four Brazilians that could (point wise) be on the grid next year;
- Massa
- Di Grassi
- Castroneves
- Nasr
Massa might retire, I guess Di Grassi, although he drove F1 in 2010 is not “up to speed” in the slow E cars and quite old with his 33-ish. Castroneves is really to old (42) and that leaves Nasr. Only been away one year, old Williams protege. 25 is a nice age...