Silly Season 2018/2019

[Manoah2u]

Why would Redbull take Gasly over Saintz? It is the more experienced driver, if they don’t believe he is a next world champion, they should/would release him.

it's SAINZ.

we don''t say VersJtjappen either.

Gasly is not as impressive as Sainz. That aside though, Gasly would find no problem being a 'nr2' driver @ RedBull, and 'bow' to Verstappen. Hell, i'm pretty sure that contract would be handed to him.

As for Sainz, i don't think that he would go for that. First of all, Sainz imo would give Max a good run for his money, i think he needs some time, let's say half a season, to get really up to speed, but he'd be on Ricciardo's level surely, so that means they'd be close competitors. Would A) RedBull want that and B) would Max like that? Max-Carlos has been a rough combo @ Toro Rosso. I'm not saying that would repeat @ RedBull, but i wouldn't short it out either.

In any case, i wouldn't be surprised if Sainz would have to settle for Nr2 status.

@ Renault, Sainz has nr.1 stat. Also, RedBull is going Honda next year. It is a pretty big risk to be honest, it might be good, it also might bring them down to p7, p8. All along Renault is the 'Renault works' team (duh), and even though they haven't had a really solid race last weekend, neither did mercedes, and in any case, it was Renault power giving Max the win, and it is Renault power that beat Toro Rosso, both for Renault themselves as McLaren.

In other words, It remains to be seen whether Sainz would even WANT to go with RedBull in 2019.

Now if you'd want to see something really interesting, Alonso to RedBull 2019. That would be fantastic.
Alonso vs Max in same material. Alonso back with Honda, who paid his salary before. Alonso HOPEFULLY, in a WDC competitive/win capable car again. AND, i'm pretty sure RedBull would hand out Alonso a Indy race, and quite frankly, any race. They're everywhere.

Honda-powered RedBull Indy 500 race, and then win it.

It would be a dream come true, really.
Alonso BACK in the game,
versus Lewis Hamilton @ Mercedes,
versus Max Verstappen @ RedBull,
versus Sebastian Vettel @ Ferrari,
versus Kimi Raikkonen @ Ferrari.

it would be 5 greats imho.

There's a big market there too. The combo of Indy500, RedBull, but also Aston Martin itself AND races, WEC, Honda in win mode, Alonso himself, and i'm sure RB has no problem opening the wallet, nor would Alonso have problems taking a salary cut. He'd make a nice deal with Kimoa anyway, and RedBull's bonus system is motivation enough to go for it all-out.

Would be a nice end to his career in F1.

Mercedes is in decline.
Ferrari goes upwards but been there, done that.
Mclaren is NOT going to give him even a win. it'll be 5 years before MCL gets close, at best.
Renault would take too long aswell and would be nothing but a repeat of his Ferrari and Mclaren time.

RedBull is the place to be. Would love to see that happen. Let the dream come true.

Alonso > RedBull
Ricciardo > Ferrari
Raikkonen > Mclaren
LeClerc > Haas
Stroll > Renault
Kubica > Williams
Matsushita > Toro Rosso
Norris > Mclaren
VanDoorne > Sauber

Sainz stays @ Renault
Hamilton stays @ Mercedes
Bottas stays @ Mercedes
Vettel stays @ Ferrari (WDC 2018)
Ocon stays @ Force India
Perez stays @ Force India
Magnussen stays @ Haas
Sirotkin stays @ Williams
Gasly stays @ Toro Rosso

Ericsson > ditched
Hulkenberg > Retires F1
Grosjean > Retires F1

[PinkFloydPulse]

... Let the dream ...

That's all it is... Alonso is out of F1 after 2018.

[PlatinumZealot]

I cant see him staying either. It's like watching a dieing animal.

[Manoah2u]

[PinkFloydPulse]

I cant see him staying either. It's like watching a dieing animal.

yeah, in interviews he's talking how he wants to fight, etc. but I think he is aware that won't be possible with McLaren.
I would be sad if he left, F1 would not be the same for me, but on the other hand, if he was to go to Indy and cause mayhem there and win, I would be very happy for him and would definitelly start watching the Indy series together with F1...

[epo]

Why would Redbull take Gasly over Saintz? It is the more experienced driver, if they don’t believe he is a next world champion, they should/would release him.

it's SAINZ.

we don''t say VersJtjappen either.

Gasly is not as impressive as Sainz. That aside though, Gasly would find no problem being a 'nr2' driver @ RedBull, and 'bow' to Verstappen. Hell, i'm pretty sure that contract would be handed to him.

As for Sainz, i don't think that he would go for that. First of all, Sainz imo would give Max a good run for his money, i think he needs some time, let's say half a season, to get really up to speed, but he'd be on Ricciardo's level surely, so that means they'd be close competitors. Would A) RedBull want that and B) would Max like that? Max-Carlos has been a rough combo @ Toro Rosso. I'm not saying that would repeat @ RedBull, but i wouldn't short it out either.

In any case, i wouldn't be surprised if Sainz would have to settle for Nr2 status.

@ Renault, Sainz has nr.1 stat. Also, RedBull is going Honda next year. It is a pretty big risk to be honest, it might be good, it also might bring them down to p7, p8. All along Renault is the 'Renault works' team (duh), and even though they haven't had a really solid race last weekend, neither did mercedes, and in any case, it was Renault power giving Max the win, and it is Renault power that beat Toro Rosso, both for Renault themselves as McLaren.

In other words, It remains to be seen whether Sainz would even WANT to go with RedBull in 2019.

Now if you'd want to see something really interesting, Alonso to RedBull 2019. That would be fantastic.
Alonso vs Max in same material. Alonso back with Honda, who paid his salary before. Alonso HOPEFULLY, in a WDC competitive/win capable car again. AND, i'm pretty sure RedBull would hand out Alonso a Indy race, and quite frankly, any race. They're everywhere.

Honda-powered RedBull Indy 500 race, and then win it.

It would be a dream come true, really.
Alonso BACK in the game,
versus Lewis Hamilton @ Mercedes,
versus Max Verstappen @ RedBull,
versus Sebastian Vettel @ Ferrari,
versus Kimi Raikkonen @ Ferrari.

it would be 5 greats imho.

There's a big market there too. The combo of Indy500, RedBull, but also Aston Martin itself AND races, WEC, Honda in win mode, Alonso himself, and i'm sure RB has no problem opening the wallet, nor would Alonso have problems taking a salary cut. He'd make a nice deal with Kimoa anyway, and RedBull's bonus system is motivation enough to go for it all-out.

Would be a nice end to his career in F1.

Mercedes is in decline.
Ferrari goes upwards but been there, done that.
Mclaren is NOT going to give him even a win. it'll be 5 years before MCL gets close, at best.
Renault would take too long aswell and would be nothing but a repeat of his Ferrari and Mclaren time.

RedBull is the place to be. Would love to see that happen. Let the dream come true.

Alonso > RedBull
Ricciardo > Ferrari
Raikkonen > Mclaren
LeClerc > Haas
Stroll > Renault
Kubica > Williams
Matsushita > Toro Rosso
Norris > Mclaren
VanDoorne > Sauber

Sainz stays @ Renault
Hamilton stays @ Mercedes
Bottas stays @ Mercedes
Vettel stays @ Ferrari (WDC 2018)
Ocon stays @ Force India
Perez stays @ Force India
Magnussen stays @ Haas
Sirotkin stays @ Williams
Gasly stays @ Toro Rosso

Ericsson > ditched
Hulkenberg > Retires F1
Grosjean > Retires F1

Sainz JR and SR messed up pretty bad with Helmut Marko with releasing fake news about Max, so your never going to see them at RB again. I doubt highly that he is as good as Daniel, also in marketing terms Max and RIC are just awesome for RB in marketing terms, I can't say that of Sainz.

Same goes for Alonso, I highly doubt RB wants the political games Alonso plays in the RB team and also the games he plays with his teammate. Shame, he deserves a good car but it will never be a RB. Let it be a Mercedes!

[djos]

I cant see him staying either. It's like watching a dieing animal.

yeah, in interviews he's talking how he wants to fight, etc. but I think he is aware that won't be possible with McLaren.
I would be sad if he left, F1 would not be the same for me, but on the other hand, if he was to go to Indy and cause mayhem there and win, I would be very happy for him and would definitelly start watching the Indy series together with F1...

I've got to admit, I too would miss seeing him in F1 - if he did move to Indy, I'd definitely start watching it again.

[techman]

i dont think redbull wants alonso, neither ferrari or mercedes. too much politics with alonso. redbull max and gasly or riccardo would be fine.

[PlatinumZealot]

I can see Ferrari hiring him again... Once Marchionne retires next year.. but not with Sebastian in the team.

[GPR-A duplicate2]

Good that the posters here aren't team principals or owners, otherwise, the uninformed egos would crash the business down.

Last year, we saw how small mistakes can costs championships, when the battle is close and hard. If Vettel can't win this year, then once again a missed opportunity for Ferrari with a capable car. Would Ferrari be happy? Alonso fought for championships in Ferrari, when it was clearly the third best car and he did that by faultless drives. Only Hamilton has been performing at that level where even on his own bad days, he comes home collecting valuable points. When was the last time Alonso screwed his own race?

If Lewis decides to retire this year and Alonso wants to continue, what is Toto's option? Alonso or Ricciardo?

As a team principal, you want to hire the best driver available in the market who can extract every last tenth and can perform faultless, day in day out and help win championships. In the larger interest of business, egos always take back seat. We saw that already with Ron Dennis when he hired Alonso back. So never say never.

[epo]

Good that the posters here aren't team principals or owners, otherwise, the uninformed egos would crash the business down.

Last year, we saw how small mistakes can costs championships, when the battle is close and hard. If Vettel can't win this year, then once again a missed opportunity for Ferrari with a capable car. Would Ferrari be happy? Alonso fought for championships in Ferrari, when it was clearly the third best car and he did that by faultless drives. Only Hamilton has been performing at that level where even on his own bad days, he comes home collecting valuable points. When was the last time Alonso screwed his own race?

If Lewis decides to retire this year and Alonso wants to continue, what is Toto's option? Alonso or Ricciardo?

As a team principal, you want to hire the best driver available in the market who can extract every last tenth and can perform faultless, day in day out and help win championships. In the larger interest of business, egos always take back seat. We saw that already with Ron Dennis when he hired Alonso back. So never say never.

I agree, though in all honesty the Mercedes has been the best car last four years, Hamilton is great but the car is too. Also his team screwed up the VSC pitstop and ofc he retired, but after his pit he screwed up his tired and was only fighting his team so you could say he screwed that one up wasn't for the retirement.
And yes Vettel needs to score this year if not perhaps Alonso but also Ricciardo could be given a shot though the last has almost signed a new contract at least they say. But yeah Alonso today brings a lot of blah blah politics, not sure if Toto or Lauda wants that but yeah you never know.

[GrayGreat]

Good that the posters here aren't team principals or owners, otherwise, the uninformed egos would crash the business down.

Last year, we saw how small mistakes can costs championships, when the battle is close and hard. If Vettel can't win this year, then once again a missed opportunity for Ferrari with a capable car. Would Ferrari be happy? Alonso fought for championships in Ferrari, when it was clearly the third best car and he did that by faultless drives. Only Hamilton has been performing at that level where even on his own bad days, he comes home collecting valuable points. When was the last time Alonso screwed his own race?

If Lewis decides to retire this year and Alonso wants to continue, what is Toto's option? Alonso or Ricciardo?

As a team principal, you want to hire the best driver available in the market who can extract every last tenth and can perform faultless, day in day out and help win championships. In the larger interest of business, egos always take back seat. We saw that already with Ron Dennis when he hired Alonso back. So never say never.

I can't agree more with this. Alonso has been starting in the midfield / back of the grid for 4 years now and he has the least number of collisions / errors than any other driver on the grid.

[Manoah2u]

aaand now reports are that Alonso and Sainz will be paired @ Mclaren for 2019, and Daniel Ticktum will replace Hartley @ Toro Rosso,
and Ocon will go to Renault.......

yeah, that's not gonna happen. Mercedes is definately not going to let the driver they invested in head to Renault. I also am gigantically doubtfull about 2 Spanierds @ Mclaren.

[Big Tea]

aaand now reports are that Alonso and Sainz will be paired @ Mclaren for 2019, and Daniel Ticktum will replace Hartley @ Toro Rosso,
and Ocon will go to Renault.......

yeah, that's not gonna happen. Mercedes is definately not going to let the driver they invested in head to Renault. I also am gigantically doubtfull about 2 Spanierds @ Mclaren.

Would Ticktum have enough points? even if he won the series?

[adrianjordan]

aaand now reports are that Alonso and Sainz will be paired @ Mclaren for 2019, and Daniel Ticktum will replace Hartley @ Toro Rosso,
and Ocon will go to Renault.......

yeah, that's not gonna happen. Mercedes is definately not going to let the driver they invested in head to Renault. I also am gigantically doubtfull about 2 Spanierds @ Mclaren.

I agree regarding the Mclaren pairing. I would think it's almost certain that Vandoorne or Lando will be in one of the cars...