Silly Season 2018/2019

[djos]

Verstappen would be mad to leave RedBull when they are building the team around him. Ferrari might have a better PU than RedBull, but that's about it imo.

[Pyrone89]

Verstappen would be mad to leave RedBull when they are building the team around him. Ferrari might have a better PU than RedBull, but that's about it imo.

Anyone not driving a Merc is still without a chance for a WDC for now and probably the coming years. Hamilton has 7 victories alone this year with the W10, that is 1 more than VER has in 5 years with RBR. So I still think he should go to Mercedes even if he does not always beat HAM like he did with RIC or GAS. He will still get way more wins that way and a shot for a WDC.

[zac510]

Verstappen would be mad to leave RedBull when they are building the team around him. Ferrari might have a better PU than RedBull, but that's about it imo.

Indeed, this silly season thread is even sillier than the real silly season most of the time!

At least a journalist has to make a story seem somewhat plausible out of respect for their readership. An internet poster can just post up any old driver line up wet dream they have without consequence.

[ScottB]

Can't see Lewis going anywhere, he's happy in the team and he's winning. I guess Ferrari could drive a dumper truck full of money up to his door, but other than ticking an emotional box of 'being a Ferrari driver' what else can they offer? If Lewis wants to beat Schumi's records, he stays put.

Matthew Carter (ex Lotus / Renault boss) was most insistent on Missed Apex last week that Ocon is a stick on for the second Merc seat. He's incredibly highly rated within the team. As is George Russell, who will presumably take Lewis' seat once he decides to retire.

Ferrari... Well. What does Vettel do, or, perhaps increasingly, what do they do with him? Does he still love what he does? Is his head still in the game? We could easily enter the summer break with him trailing the guy the team insisted was basically his number 2 back before the season started. Whether he wants to stay or not, is he worth the presumably very large salary if he's getting beaten by Charles and making mistakes all the time? If the team become confident that Charles is their best bet, why not find a cheaper guy to back him up? If they still aren't sure about Charles... I'm sure there's a Spaniard lurking in the shadows who'd jump in for a year or two until they are.

Red Bull, Max stays where he is. He can look at Seb's example as to why moving to Ferrari isn't necessarily a great idea. Unless Merc offers him a seat, he's in the best bet. As for a team mate, Red Bull's talent pool is near dry, if they want to stick with it, if Gasly continues his Silverstone form, he just might keep his seat, otherwise, Albon?

Renault, Dany Ric will be staying put, but the team seems unsure about Hulk. They'd love Ocon, but maybe they end up with Bottas.

Mclaren won't change.

Haas... Grosjean is done. Could see Perez taking that seat. Maybe KMag stays, or maybe they find a rookie.

Alfa, may as well stay the same unless Kimi has had enough. Schumi Jnr hasn't shown enough to get the step up yet.

Racing Point, Stroll, obviously, and, Latifi maybe? Russell if Merc decide Williams are a waste of his talents I guess.

As said Red Bull's talent pool is pretty much done, so, could be unchanged, or Gasly swaps with Albon. O'Ward, if he shows anything in Super Formula and manages to get a super licence, but I'm not sure either of those things will happen.

Williams will be lucky to keep Russell and partner him with whoever offers them the most money.

[roon]

Vettel and Alonso killed their careers there. Does anyone care to go there anymore? They can pay well. Anything else?

[NL_Fer]

Vettel and Alonso killed their careers there. Does anyone care to go there anymore? They can pay well. Anything else?

Ricciardo

[Zarathustra]

A reason for Hamilton to go to Ferrari is that it would really give him an ‘immortal’ kind of status if he would come to be WDC there as well..?

[FrukostScones]

A reason for Hamilton to go to Ferrari is that it would really give him an ‘immortal’ kind of status if he would come to be WDC there as well..?

HAM to Ferrari

dedicating the WDC to Senna.

to his idol, that was denied the opportunity.

Brazilian flag from the car.

finishing the chapters for both of them.

that would be cool.

[zeph]

I think Hamilton’s legendary status is already secured. No need to drive for Ferrari.

[djos]

I think Hamilton’s legendary status is already secured. No need to drive for Ferrari.

Agreed, he'd just damage his reputation - he's best to retire a Mercedes hero.

[roon]

If Hamilton and his agents/advisors get wind of future sea changes at the Scuderia, he would go. Similar to the Mercedes move. And Ferrari would be keeping him in mind as well through such winnowing. But I see that as years away. The regulations changes for 2021 however will play a role in the decision-making.

Will Mercedes survive those changes unscathed? Who stands to benefit most from them? The teams and the sport are in a pickle with these engines. There is so much capital sunk into these complex power units that no one wants to change them, despite them having ensured a six-year caste system. Further Merc victory? That is the cheap option, it seems.

[NathanOlder]

If Ocon gets in at Merc, then Ferrari must sign Bottas to partner Leclerc and let Seb go back to RedBull.

[marvin78]

They really MUST? Why?

[izzy]

They really MUST? Why?

Because Seb is a 4x wdc who makes mistakes. He has too much seniority for his ability. 2017 and 2018 he threw away about 80 points each year. He's very fast and intelligent but his judgment is often terrible, but because of his age and status he's holding back LeClerc. Charles is better, already, but the team can't make Seb No2 driver. Lots of the Ferrari strategy screwups are about this.

And now after all the mistakes his original idea of doing a Schumi leading the team have gone out of the window. He tried to fix the organisation but it was too broken and instead Arrivabene didn't like it. It was the only team where the TP called his driver by his surname! Now Seb has lost status, Mattia has come in and he's in charge and Charles is the faster driver and not making more mistakes even being only 21.

Seb needed the Red Bull environment as well as that nailed down back end, being loved to bits by a team that really works, and he doesn't get it at Ferrari.

Valtteri on the other hand is the perfect wingman. He never touches his teammate but he's fast and solid. he can do the No2 role to perfection and that is super rare and gold dust in F1. He's naturally respectful and agreeable and just, well, perfect. Merc would be insane to dump him imo but if they did any team with a Charles/Max alpha ought to snap him up in a second

[marvin78]

That does not explain why it must be Bottas. You can find plenty of those drivers.

But all the other things in your post are assumptions, so I don't think they really must do anything. I think that they have much more data than you have, so I think they do what they MUST do but that may be a completely other way. Bulding an equal car to Mercedes would be one thing (over a whole season, not just a few races, like in 17/18) they could do but that is noch easy because Mercedes does a really good job.