Silly Season 2020/2021 (starting with silliness in 2019)

[El Scorchio]

Danny Ric HAD a top seat but choose not jump ship because it got to tough, and he didn't want to play second fiddle....
you really think he will accept to be 2nd driver at Ferrari, because Leclerc will be #1 driver no matter what... i don't think so
Danny Ric chose the money above his change of being in a competitve car and beat his teammate 1v1

Ferrari won't be giving Charles any protected status for the time being will they? He's only 22 and still making mistakes. What they need is a mature driver next to him who doesn't make lots of mistakes, and unfortunately Seb isn't that driver. RIC would be great for them. For his part Danny has obviously been a bit too hopeful about Renault, cos with infamous Baku when Red Bull part blamed him, he knew he'd never have equal status with Max whatever.

So for 2021 when he's free, in fact most of them are free, i think Danny to Ferrari is as likely as anything. Of course Mercedes have a seat free then too, but Valtteri is too perfect to lose. In fact Ferrari might grab him if they're not careful.

Yes, exactly- Ricciardo (I think) felt his position was untenable at RBR because it became clear the team would always favour and support Max over him. I definitely don't think he was running away from a fight there, because in a fair fight and with equal support, I think he would back himself to give Max a run for his money. (I'm NOT saying
he's as good as, or better than Max before someone jumps down my throat- just that Ricciardo would be confident in his own ability to mix it with the other top drivers in equal machinery)

Ferrari have shown this year they are willing to go with the hot hand, whichever driver it is. Ricciardo will race hard, but you will not get a Brazil 2019 with Ricciardo in the team. He will also fancy himself against Leclerc just as he did against Vettel and Verstappen and I'm sure he would against Hamilton. He doesn't run from a fair fight.

[Capharol]

Danny Ric HAD a top seat but choose not jump ship because it got to tough, and he didn't want to play second fiddle....
you really think he will accept to be 2nd driver at Ferrari, because Leclerc will be #1 driver no matter what... i don't think so
Danny Ric chose the money above his change of being in a competitve car and beat his teammate 1v1

Ferrari won't be giving Charles any protected status for the time being will they? He's only 22 and still making mistakes. What they need is a mature driver next to him who doesn't make lots of mistakes, and unfortunately Seb isn't that driver. RIC would be great for them. For his part Danny has obviously been a bit too hopeful about Renault, cos with infamous Baku when Red Bull part blamed him, he knew he'd never have equal status with Max whatever.

So for 2021 when he's free, in fact most of them are free, i think Danny to Ferrari is as likely as anything. Of course Mercedes have a seat free then too, but Valtteri is too perfect to lose. In fact Ferrari might grab him if they're not careful.

i can tell you for 95% sure Leclerc is staying at Ferrari and will be #1 (due to the, i call it, Todt-Connection), and Danny Ric won't join Ferrari as a 2nd driver
Mercedes will try to keep Hamilton for sure, unless he knows something we don't.
RB will try to keep Verstappen, and if Honda announces to stay beyond 2021, and 2020 he can fight for WDC, he will stay at RB (probably multiple years)

who will be 2nd drivers?
at Merc i think it will be Russel as from 2021
at RB if Albon shows he can improve and stay close to Verstappen he will be in the 2nd RB seat
at Ferrari? well as you sai if they can get Bottas, they will, but i think if Gio improves further like he did in this las half year (after the summerbreak) he could be a good contender for that 2nd seat aswell because i don't see Gio as championship material, but a good driver that can help a top team getting points and keep the back of his teammate free

from mid till end 2020 you can quote me on that

[El Scorchio]

Danny Ric HAD a top seat but choose not jump ship because it got to tough, and he didn't want to play second fiddle....
you really think he will accept to be 2nd driver at Ferrari, because Leclerc will be #1 driver no matter what... i don't think so
Danny Ric chose the money above his change of being in a competitve car and beat his teammate 1v1

Ferrari won't be giving Charles any protected status for the time being will they? He's only 22 and still making mistakes. What they need is a mature driver next to him who doesn't make lots of mistakes, and unfortunately Seb isn't that driver. RIC would be great for them. For his part Danny has obviously been a bit too hopeful about Renault, cos with infamous Baku when Red Bull part blamed him, he knew he'd never have equal status with Max whatever.

So for 2021 when he's free, in fact most of them are free, i think Danny to Ferrari is as likely as anything. Of course Mercedes have a seat free then too, but Valtteri is too perfect to lose. In fact Ferrari might grab him if they're not careful.

i can tell you for 95% sure Leclerc is staying at Ferrari and will be #1 (due to the, i call it, Todt-Connection), and Danny Ric won't join Ferrari as a 2nd driver
Mercedes will try to keep Hamilton for sure, unless he knows something we don't.
RB will try to keep Verstappen, and if Honda announces to stay beyond 2021, and 2020 he can fight for WDC, he will stay at RB (probably multiple years)

who will be 2nd drivers?
at Merc i think it will be Russel as from 2021
at RB if Albon shows he can improve and stay close to Verstappen he will be in the 2nd RB seat
at Ferrari? well as you sai if they can get Bottas, they will, but i think if Gio improves further like he did in this las half year (after the summerbreak) he could be a good contender for that 2nd seat aswell because i don't see Gio as championship material, but a good driver that can help a top team getting points and keep the back of his teammate free

from mid till end 2020 you can quote me on that

You're right. He won't accept a number 2 status anywhere, and nor should he have to as he's better than that. So it would depend on the terms offered be Ferrari or Merc- if their plans for him don't match his own, then it won't happen. However, in theory, he'd be a great driver for either of those teams to have.

But I do worry he's been caught in no man's land with his move to Renault even if it was a move he had to make. He's locked out of the top teams until someone moves on, (but Ferrari and RBR have a top driver locked in for a long time) but there are also younger and cheaper options out there to fill the other seats.

[Capharol]

Ferrari won't be giving Charles any protected status for the time being will they? He's only 22 and still making mistakes. What they need is a mature driver next to him who doesn't make lots of mistakes, and unfortunately Seb isn't that driver. RIC would be great for them. For his part Danny has obviously been a bit too hopeful about Renault, cos with infamous Baku when Red Bull part blamed him, he knew he'd never have equal status with Max whatever.

So for 2021 when he's free, in fact most of them are free, i think Danny to Ferrari is as likely as anything. Of course Mercedes have a seat free then too, but Valtteri is too perfect to lose. In fact Ferrari might grab him if they're not careful.

i can tell you for 95% sure Leclerc is staying at Ferrari and will be #1 (due to the, i call it, Todt-Connection), and Danny Ric won't join Ferrari as a 2nd driver
Mercedes will try to keep Hamilton for sure, unless he knows something we don't.
RB will try to keep Verstappen, and if Honda announces to stay beyond 2021, and 2020 he can fight for WDC, he will stay at RB (probably multiple years)

who will be 2nd drivers?
at Merc i think it will be Russel as from 2021
at RB if Albon shows he can improve and stay close to Verstappen he will be in the 2nd RB seat
at Ferrari? well as you sai if they can get Bottas, they will, but i think if Gio improves further like he did in this las half year (after the summerbreak) he could be a good contender for that 2nd seat aswell because i don't see Gio as championship material, but a good driver that can help a top team getting points and keep the back of his teammate free

from mid till end 2020 you can quote me on that

You're right. He won't accept a number 2 status anywhere, and nor should he have to as he's better than that. So it would depend on the terms offered be Ferrari or Merc- if their plans for him don't match his own, then it won't happen. However, in theory, he'd be a great driver for either of those teams to have.

But I do worry he's been caught in no man's land with his move to Renault even if it was a move he had to make. He's locked out of the top teams until someone moves on, (but Ferrari and RBR have a top driver locked in for a long time) but there are also younger and cheaper options out there to fill the other seats.

of course Danny Ric belongs to the top 6 drivers on the current grid (i would rate him 4th atm)
the other problem Danny has now is his high paygrade not many other teams would pay him what Renault pays him now...
on the rest i agree with you aswell

[Phil]

Number 1, number 2, number 3... It all doesn't matter. Leclerc showed and proved nicely how a A.) newcomer to the team, B.) relatively inexperienced, C.) on a much lower salary than his team-mate and D.) publicly declared that 50/50 would be decided in favor of his more expensive teammate can turn the tide around by simply performing better and being the benchmark.

It's that easy.

If Riccardo, Bottas, or whoever wants a top class seat, they simply have to be the better driver to be the "number 1".

It's not stipulated contractually who a number 1 is or not - you become that by simply being the best driver in the team.

[NathanOlder]

One thing I think we can all agree on is, there isn't enough top drives, for the amount of top drivers we have.

Mclaren and Renault need to be in the mix asap. Danny, Carlos and soon Lando all deserve to be in a podium regular team. Albon could develop well enough to warrant a RB seat and Ocon will surprise next year with his pace.

Hamilton Bottas
Vettel Leclerc
Verstappen Albon
Sainz Norris
Ricciardo Ocon

Imagine the 10 of them in contention for a podium at each race.

[Capharol]

Number 1, number 2, number 3... It all doesn't matter. Leclerc showed and proved nicely how a A.) newcomer to the team, B.) relatively inexperienced, C.) on a much lower salary than his team-mate and D.) publicly declared that 50/50 would be decided in favor of his more expensive teammate can turn the tide around by simply performing better and being the benchmark.

It's that easy.

If Riccardo, Bottas, or whoever wants a top class seat, they simply have to be the better driver to be the "number 1".

It's not stipulated contractually who a number 1 is or not - you become that by simply being the best driver in the team.

i agree with you but....... the class that a Hamilton, Leclerc and Verstappen showing, is an high indicator of what is needed to become #1 driver.

IMHO it needs a clear team heriachy within a team to be a succesfull winning team and have change of a WDC which means a #1 driver and a #2 driver to be a good "wingman"
this can only be broken if your complete car is dominant like Mercedes have/had
2 alphas in a team doesn't work
Senna/Prost - they won the championship despite the quarrel because their car was superior, would have nbeen another team closer it would have changed the whole situation, but, i can't recall from the back of my mind, there were situations where 2 Alphas lost the WDC due to the stress they had with each other ... (at Williams?)
Hamilton/Rosberg - same here as with Senna/Prost
Leclerc/Vettel
and I even think it would have really explode if Ric had stayed with RB

[Maritimer]

By '21 LeClerc will have three seasons in F1 under his belt so by then Ferrari would surely be willing to give him #1 status.

[izzy]

By '21 LeClerc will have three seasons in F1 under his belt so by then Ferrari would surely be willing to give him #1 status.

i don't see why they should? He won't have anywhere else to go, he'll have to take what they offer him and why would they limit themselves unnecessarily? it's not like Schumi when there was nobody else on his level so he could force it into his contract

i mean Charles might end up as No1 organically, but he'll have to do it with being faster and better, same as Lewis and Max. Then RIC can go there with the usual F1 driver conviction about being faster once he's in the right car

[Capharol]

By '21 LeClerc will have three seasons in F1 under his belt so by then Ferrari would surely be willing to give him #1 status.

i don't see why they should?

because Charles is a Todt product, and at Ferrari they have very close connenctions with the Todt family ..... don't forget the influence they have ....

let me put i differently, "Ferrari" wants to do it like they did it with Schumacher, dominating an era ....

[izzy]

because Charles is a Todt product, and at Ferrari they have very close connenctions with the Todt family ..... don't forget the influence they have ....

let me put i differently, "Ferrari" wants to do it like they did it with Schumacher, dominating an era ....

yes but, they want to attract a top 2nd tier driver like Danny or Valtteri, and those guys won't sign a No2 contract. Is the Todt connection so special? Jean was with Peugeot to start with, got a job with Ferrari, then left when Michael left. Nicolas is just a son-of. Meanwhile Ferrari is Ferrari, they go on forever, and the only thing on their minds is championships

[Capharol]

because Charles is a Todt product, and at Ferrari they have very close connenctions with the Todt family ..... don't forget the influence they have ....

let me put i differently, "Ferrari" wants to do it like they did it with Schumacher, dominating an era ....

yes but, they want to attract a top 2nd tier driver like Danny or Valtteri, and those guys won't sign a No2 contract. Is the Todt connection so special? Jean was with Peugeot to start with, got a job with Ferrari, then left when Michael left. Nicolas is just a son-of. Meanwhile Ferrari is Ferrari, they go on forever, and the only thing on their minds is championships

the ties between Todt and Ferrari are so tight... why you think some ppl saying FIA is to close connected to Ferrari?
exactly because of Jean Todt, and Nicolas is the son of ..... but there are pics Leclerc having a coming together with the family Todt (Jean and his wife, Nicolas & Leclerc and his (Ex-) girlfriend) .... still not connecting ?

you think Leclerc would be at Ferrari already this year if Marchionne was still there, Marchionne wanted to keep Kimi for 1 more year, so Leclerc could get a bit more experience in the Alfa (my opinion)
yes Ferrari is Ferrari, but sine the main players of Ferrari aren't there anymore it isn't the real Ferrari anymore (my opinion)

[zeph]

You got it backward. Marchionne was planning to put Leclerc in the Ferrari this season, it was Arrivabene and Vettel who wanted to keep Raikkonen.

[izzy]

the ties between Todt and Ferrari are so tight... why you think some ppl saying FIA is to close connected to Ferrari?
exactly because of Jean Todt, and Nicolas is the son of ..... but there are pics Leclerc having a coming together with the family Todt (Jean and his wife, Nicolas & Leclerc and his (Ex-) girlfriend) .... still not connecting ?

you think Leclerc would be at Ferrari already this year if Marchionne was still there, Marchionne wanted to keep Kimi for 1 more year, so Leclerc could get a bit more experience in the Alfa (my opinion)
yes Ferrari is Ferrari, but sine the main players of Ferrari aren't there anymore it isn't the real Ferrari anymore (my opinion)

well the ties between Montezemolo and Ferrari were supposed to be tight, until the results weren't coming and they chucked him out. He was an employee. Of Enzo, sure, but not an actual Ferrari like Piero

FIA and Ferrari have been connected for a long time, since Bernie and Max Mosley or before, because money

Leclercs and Todts might be close, but that's a different thing isn't it. FIA, Liberty, the team, everybody, needs Ferrari to win again, and if they start trying to sign a No2 as a No2 that only makes it less likely. who would they get? and if Charles is that good they don't need it anyway

[Capharol]

You got it backward. Marchionne was planning to put Leclerc in the Ferrari this season, it was Arrivabene and Vettel who wanted to keep Raikkonen.

i stand correct on that point, you're right