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

[dodds_turbo]

Haas should dump both their drivers and hire Hulk and Perez. One would bring lot of money and Closer connection to home base and other is a solid driver.

Alfa Romeo should dump Kimi and hire one of the two, who should do decent job for that seat. Giovinazzi is a waste of time, but he is Ferrari sponsored driver.

Agreed, Grosjean and Magnussen haven't shown any great performances this. However could this also be partly down to the lack of horsepower Ferrari are providing?

Alfa was reasonably competitive midfield last year, now worse than Williams at some tracks. (Ferrari power related too?)

[dodds_turbo]

...What would happen if Vettel left, and replaced Perez in the middle of the year...?

Ferrari's listed reserve drivers (Antonio Giovinazzi, Antonio Fuoco, Davide Rigon, Pascal Wehrlein).

Given that super-licence holders seem to be rare in 2020 could we see a trial of Antonio Giovinazzi in a Ferrari for the rest of the year, and Kubica back in F1 driving for Alfa for the rest of 2020?
(sponsor Orlen would be happy)

Looks like others are asking similar questions:
https://www.planetf1.com/news/sebastian ... rari-exit/

[Hoffman900]

Ferrari did fire Alain Prost for less, so Vettel being fired could happen! Granted, it was a different time with different people.

[Big Tea]

...What would happen if Vettel left, and replaced Perez in the middle of the year...?

Ferrari's listed reserve drivers (Antonio Giovinazzi, Antonio Fuoco, Davide Rigon, Pascal Wehrlein).

Given that super-licence holders seem to be rare in 2020 could we see a trial of Antonio Giovinazzi in a Ferrari for the rest of the year, and Kubica back in F1 driving for Alfa for the rest of 2020?
(sponsor Orlen would be happy)

Looks like others are asking similar questions:
https://www.planetf1.com/news/sebastian ... rari-exit/

I think Ferrari are in the position now where every point is precious as it affects the table at year end, so they probably will not hesitate to swap our Seb if they feel someone could do a better job. Seb is not interested in points gathering, he is driving for podiums or not interested. Another driver may be happy to amass points. Hulk would be a good temporary option, or wave cash at Mclaren for an early transfer and use Hulk to replace him

[PlatinumZealot]

Knowing Ferrari they would go for Carlos immediately and Macca would take Dan and Renault would take Alonso.

[GPR-A]

Knowing Ferrari they would go for Carlos immediately and Macca would take Dan and Renault would take Alonso.

Why would McLaren help Ferrari's situation when they are locked up in a fight with Ferrari for that 3rd position? If Vettel staying at Ferrari means lower return of points to Ferrari, McLaren would be happy to keep that situation for Ferrari whereas Sainz would be bringing good haul of points for McLaren, which is what Ricciardo would also be doing. Letting go of Sainz will make no difference to McLaren, but will help Ferrari, which is not what McLaren would want to do. So, it would be status quo. If Ferrari throw Vettel out of the car, they can most certainly draft in Kimi to drive for them.

[Big Tea]

Knowing Ferrari they would go for Carlos immediately and Macca would take Dan and Renault would take Alonso.

Why would McLaren help Ferrari's situation when they are locked up in a fight with Ferrari for that 3rd position? If Vettel staying at Ferrari means lower return of points to Ferrari, McLaren would be happy to keep that situation for Ferrari whereas Sainz would be bringing good haul of points for McLaren, which is what Ricciardo would also be doing. Letting go of Sainz will make no difference to McLaren, but will help Ferrari, which is not what McLaren would want to do. So, it would be status quo. If Ferrari throw Vettel out of the car, they can most certainly draft in Kimi to drive for them.

Ferrari have enough spare cash to make up to Mclaren what may be lost in points, and pay it now not after the season, and allow the drivers to 'bed' ready for next year, plus 'a little something for their troubles'.
I rate Sains better than Hulk, but a 'compensation package' similar to the Kimi * move would make it attractive to Mclaren. (Don't see Renault letting Dan go though)

Edit * I mean similar cost to Ferrari

[raymondu999]

Carlos is a decently smart cookie, I don’t think he would accept jumping into the Ferrari midseason. It would only hurt him to go into a struggling car without the appropriate testing mileage. Hulksnberg denied the 2009 Ferrari Massa-sub offer for similar reasons

[bill shoe]

If Racing Point made a contract offer to Vettel, they must surely be rethinking now. Can any sane team actually want a thoroughly deflated and demoralized Vettel? He's not the same driver that won world championships.

Maybe Vettel can take a year off in 2020, then replace Ocon at Renault beginning in 2021. Vettel and Alonso together in the same team! The old and spoiled #1's forced to compete against each other for pissing rights! They would quickly turn into the Statler and Waldorf of Formula 1. Would be especially appropriate because Formula 1 and The Muppets used to be owned by the same company!

[Zynerji]

I called this a few dozen pages ago and was laughed at.

Vettel to RBR,
Kimi to Ferrari
Kubica to Alpha Romeo.

PS: With Hulk having a great run in a strange car, maybe a Hulk/Vettel switch with Vettel/Albon then being the RBR swap. I had high hopes for Alex, but he just doesn't get "it".

PPS: Can Vettel use a performance clause exit with full pay using the Ferrari engine cheat as a trigger? I mean, he doesn't need the secret ruling documents, just for the FIA to compare the dyno data from 2019 and 2020. If it's decreased, I think he has a performance exit that will hold up.

[JordanMugen]

Now even Ferrari are open to changing the chassis as they suspect his car is knackered.

That excuse has been heard before. Sounds more like smoke and mirrors: Vettel used four different chassis in the 2014 season and they made no difference to his performance at all.

Will a fourth different chassis be the charm for the four-time and defending World Champion? In a bid to set up Sebastian Vettel for a strong finish to what’s been a disappointing 2014 season, Red Bull Racing has confirmed that the German will be given a brand-new chassis for the Singapore Grand Prix later this month. “The chassis in Monza was actually an older one that was used in testing at Silverstone,” team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko told German publication Sport Bild. “[The change] was more for psychological reasons. Now he’s going to get a brand new one.”

Ricciardo has earned three victories in his first season with Red Bull, while Vettel has struggled to perform well in Formula One’s new era of hybrid V6-powered machines.

https://motorsports.nbcsports.com/2014/ ... singapore/

[raymondu999]

If Racing Point made a contract offer to Vettel, they must surely be rethinking now. Can any sane team actually want a thoroughly deflated and demoralized Vettel? He's not the same driver that won world championships.

A new challenge could motivate people in many different ways. Lewis I think said it best when he said Seb is not being given the platform to shine by a team that doesn’t seem to have his back. I do think if it were on the cards Vettel should take the rest of the year off, somehow, before going into 2020 with an Aston drive recharged and “detoxed” from the toxic atmosphere that is clearly lingering now at Ferrari

[raymondu999]

That excuse has been heard before. Sounds more like smoke and mirrors: Vettel used four different chassis in the 2014 season and they made no difference to his performance at all.

Oh very much so. But confidence is huge in this sport. A new chassis has, historically, provided a great placebo boost many times in F1 in past years

[Mamba]

Oh very much so. But confidence is huge in this sport. A new chassis has, historically, provided a great placebo boost many times in F1 in past years

It has often been a case of drivers feeling something off in a car even when the engineers see no issue in the data. Vettel wasn't the first to suffer from this and he won't be the last. Real or not, a chassis change will be a good placebo boost as you said and should rule that doubt out in his mind. On the chassis side at least.

[DChemTech]

I called this a few dozen pages ago and was laughed at.

Vettel to RBR,
Kimi to Ferrari
Kubica to Alpha Romeo.

PS: With Hulk having a great run in a strange car, maybe a Hulk/Vettel switch with Vettel/Albon then being the RBR swap. I had high hopes for Alex, but he just doesn't get "it".

PPS: Can Vettel use a performance clause exit with full pay using the Ferrari engine cheat as a trigger? I mean, he doesn't need the secret ruling documents, just for the FIA to compare the dyno data from 2019 and 2020. If it's decreased, I think he has a performance exit that will hold up.

I don't see RBR taking up Vettel. Clearly, he simply can't deal with a twitchy-arsed car very well; it has been bothering him since 2014 - and the RB16 seems more twitchy than any before. If RBR wasn't so inflexible regarding taking up drivers that do not come from their own academy, they'd have taken up Hulk already. He might not be the very fastest driver around, but he's reliable, can deal with twitchy cars, was not much slower than Ric, and probably is fine with settling in a second-driver role (more so than Vettel).