Silly Season 2016/2017

[FrukostScones]

Wow! 1 day without Internet and when I come back, a lot of people talking about Nasr going to Renault next year.

Which source said that? Where these rumors are coming from?

EJ and others. Tommorow we should know more. Ozon app. Signed for FI. So Renault chose...

[Sevach]

That's an interesting idea for Renault, they get Nasr (hope he goes back to his solid point collector level of 2015) and if he performs well they may keep him, if he proves not up to the task they can try again for Sainz/Bottas.

[efuloni]

Going full silly (or not): one hour ago Nasr posted in his Instagram account a photo and tagged the brand Felio Siby. Who do they sponsor? Sahara Force India.

[Vasconia]

That's an interesting idea for Renault, they get Nasr (hope he goes back to his solid point collector level of 2015) and if he performs well they may keep him, if he proves not up to the task they can try again for Sainz/Bottas.

Chances for Sainz and Bottas will be drasticaly reduced if Nars joins Renault. Mainly because I doubt that he will sign for only a season. He should have a terrible performance to be out of the team in 2018.

The best for those drives is if Renault keeps one of the current drivers for 2017. The team could extend his contract only one season and then decide what they can do.

[WaikeCU]

IMO, I don't think Nasr has proved us well enough of his racing qualities.

Fact is:
- Nasr does bring a lot of money
- Sainz and Bottas are as fast or faster than Hulkenberg

Thing is:
- If Renault wants Hulkenberg to be their no. 1 driver, then Nasr will bring $ and play 2nd fiddle
- If Renault wants equal playing field where both drivers push each other to the max, then they'll rather want Sainz or Bottas

I think Renault will go for 1-2 driver status within the team with Hulkenberg being their no. 1 driver.

[PlatinumZealot]

NASR getting Renault seat rumors very intensifying................



Lets hope it's SAi maybe or anyone else.

I want Sainz for Ferrari.. I think he fits the bill.

[ME4ME]

Fact is:
- Nasr does bring a lot of money
- Sainz and Bottas are as fast or faster than Hulkenberg.

Not a fact, thats your opinion. I don't necessarily agree with your statement.

[edu2703]

I always respect the decision of the teams, although it's not what I wanted. I believe the teams always choose drivers who are better for them.

Not always the teams hire the most talented driver available. There is a number of other factors that can determine the choice. Sometimes a team may find that a certain driver is talented and we don't, because we have few data to analyze the drivers (See your results in Wikipedia, watch races...). The teams have a lot of data to analyze a driver, including a history of all that the driver already done in all his career, not only in F1 but also in other categories.

An example of this is what is happening now: Force India admitted Esteban Ocon on 2017 shortlist, but excluded Pascal Werhlein. Why? Because Werhlein and Ocon tested in a Force India car this year, then they have the data. They analyzed that Ocon was more consistent than Werhlein and more faster too.

Someone who watches F1 races regularly come to another conclusion: Werhlein is much better than the Ocon because normally Ocon is 5 tenths slower than Werhlein in qualifying and 3 tenths slower per lap in races.

How you can see, the analysis of available data is very important and avoid any kind of 'injustice' as overrate or underrate a driver based only in the results of his recent races.

[ChrisDanger]

Just to add to the above, something we can't know is how drivers compare in giving feedback about the car to aid setup development over a weekend or technical development over a season. This aspect is crucial for extracting maximum performance and may be a deciding factor in driver selection given similar performance in other areas.

[Vasconia]

IMO, I don't think Nasr has proved us well enough of his racing qualities.

Fact is:
- Nasr does bring a lot of money
- Sainz and Bottas are as fast or faster than Hulkenberg

Thing is:
- If Renault wants Hulkenberg to be their no. 1 driver, then Nasr will bring $ and play 2nd fiddle
- If Renault wants equal playing field where both drivers push each other to the max, then they'll rather want Sainz or Bottas

I think Renault will go for 1-2 driver status within the team with Hulkenberg being their no. 1 driver.

A Hulkenberg-Sainz line-up would have instantly made me a Renault fan. Sadly RB didnt let Saiz to leave TR.

[Morteza]

IMO, I don't think Nasr has proved us well enough of his racing qualities.

Fact is:
- Nasr does bring a lot of money
- Sainz and Bottas are as fast or faster than Hulkenberg

Thing is:
- If Renault wants Hulkenberg to be their no. 1 driver, then Nasr will bring $ and play 2nd fiddle
- If Renault wants equal playing field where both drivers push each other to the max, then they'll rather want Sainz or Bottas

I think Renault will go for 1-2 driver status within the team with Hulkenberg being their no. 1 driver.

A Hulkenberg-Sainz line-up would have instantly made me a Renault fan. Sadly RB didnt let Saiz to leave TR.

Yeah. That's a pity. I really wanted to see Sainz out of STR. I think he really wanted that too.

[Vasconia]

Yeah. That's a pity. I really wanted to see Sainz out of STR. I think he really wanted that too.

He said he was happy in TR but as it usually happens his fater spoke more clearly on an interview, confirming that he wanted to go to Renault but RB didnt allow him to do it.

[Manoah2u]

Offcourse, in the immediate future there is no room for Sainz @ RedBull. Fair or unfair, that's just the way it is. For 2017, Redbull is playing the safe card because of the rule changes and a bit of stability. Kvyat and Sainz will maintain that known factor of stability so 2017 is clearly set, one of the reasons why they didnt want to let him go to Renault, and obviously the same reason as why to keep Kvyat on board - not just because of sponsors and Bernie (in the case of the Russian).

What's more to think about is the 2018 season. RB claims they can always 'station' Gasly somewhere else, but to be honest i don't see those words as anything else but words for 2017.

2018 will be more interesting for what happens at Toro Rosso. I'm perfectly sure Gasly will be placed into one of the two cars. Question is, who will clear that spot - might it even be both?
I don't see Sainz being given another Toro Rosso seat for the 4th year in a row, and i don't think he himself will be looking forward for another year at the former Minardi outfit.
Kvyat same, i think we can be sure he won't drive for TR in 2018 - he himself won't enjoy that either.

The problem however is RedBull mothership. I think we can be rather confident Max will stay there for atleast untill 2019. As for Ricciardo, he's a good and strong and competitive driver to keep his seat at RedBull and RB has one of the best perhaps the best cards on the table for 2017, probably 2018 aswell, so if politics won't intervene, i don't see him going anywhere else - why would he? That means RedBull is shut tight.
And even if Dannyric would leave for some reason, then there's still a bit of an issue for the 2nd seat: who will take it?

Sainz can think he'll 'deserve' that seat and is first in line, but he might be thoroughly mistaken. If we were to look into who 'deserves' the seat based upon experience, then Kvyat is the first choice to come back - given that he has repacked and is driving like he should ( and can ), especially if he beats Sainz fair and square.
Another 'problem' is that it is said more than once that Sainz and Verstappen did not work as a combination and brought diversity into the team, and a rather explosive and uncontrollable situation. So much that it is stated that TR would have lost Verstappen to another team if they did not act, and Kvyat took the hurt for that.
So the problem for Carlos here is that he has the potential of RB feeling 'loyal' to Kvyat to give him another chance [ and rectify what was done ]. And the fact that Ves-Sai caused mayhem.

Does RB mothership believe they can contain that or is their 'star' driver Max their aiming point and based upon the past they take no chances and have no interest in even the possibility of having such a situation. They know the RIC-VES combo works perfectly. They probably also are able to figure out whether a VES-KVY combo would work in 'peace'.
Moreso, i THINK, that Kvyat would be easier to 'manage' into 'toning it down' to be MarcWebber nr.2 in the form of driver nr.2 Or even if they were free to race, i think Kvyat would tone it down much more manageable than Sainz would.

If Kvyat also proves to be just as fast or perhaps faster than Sainz, then Sainz can kiss that RB seat goodbye anyway.

Both Sainz and Kvyat are potential candidates for Renault, so that doesn't really make things easier. I don't see Sainz going to Mercedes, Mclaren or Ferrari in the near future, though Mclaren might be one of the more possible outcomes. I can also see him going to Force India to replace Perez.

The question remains though:

Toro Rosso isn't half as bad as they are. Renault has more potential, but that doesnt mean they will be anywhere better the next 2 seasons.

[WaikeCU]

Yeah. That's a pity. I really wanted to see Sainz out of STR. I think he really wanted that too.

He said he was happy in TR but as it usually happens his fater spoke more clearly on an interview, confirming that he wanted to go to Renault but RB didnt allow him to do it.

Key move will be during next season. The driver to watch is Kimi. When he'll retire, the driver lineup will shift and a lot of drivers will be linked with that open seat at Ferrari.

Following drivers could be linked with Ferrari because of the past and present IMO:

Perez
Just a 1 year contract extension with FI. So in 2018 is still an option.

Ricciardo
Has been linked with Ferrari, but that was prior to Red Bull coming back strong. If the team shifts its attention to Max, then he'll end up becoming Mark Webber #2.

Sainz
If no seats are available at Red Bull, which is the logical next step after driving for STR, he'll be looking for a seat elsewhere.

Hamilton
It depends how it all works out eventually at the end of this season and next season. If he loses out this season on a WDC and if Merc is getting overtaken by the competition in 2017. One thing to watch is if the Merc garage crew will be switched up for next season as well. If not, questions will be raised and Lewis might be looking elsewhere for 2018. Everyone dreams of driving for Ferrari once in their career and I think Lewis does that too.

[iotar__]

Billionaire daddy bought some rich kid an F1 seat and they pretend he's better than Massa (+dozen of other drivers)? I wonder what GP2 twitter warriors attacking Jorda will say about this. Probably: 'I wish my father was that wealthy' .

Another step towards pure racing, exciting F1. Wasting Manor seat is one thing but 5th best car is a joke.