Things ... Welcome to the Future (2018 - 2019 Silly Season)

Hamilton wouldn't have won the Italian GP without Bottas. The articles on the race surprise me because it's all Hamilton, no mention of Bottas' performance.
 
F1Brits_90 Perez had an offer to join Renault but turned it down to stay with Force India because he still believed because of his Mexican connections he could land a Ferrari drive . Well 3 years we've been hearing this and 3 years Ferrari have not even bowed to any pressure from Carlos Slim and the fact that Kimi was getting slower to replace him

He should have been bold enough to go to Renault because they wanted him to be No1 so a carrot was dangled to him and he turned it down. He is in a no win position staying at Force India with Stroll next year to be honest
 
Jennie Gow posted on twitter during quali that Kyvat apparently has signed for Toro Rosso next season


Something else is interesting is apparently during the quali programme on C4 I watched that Arrivabene has gone around the paddock telling everyone "Lets stop Mercedes monopolising the driver market in the paddock"

So Kyvat at Toro Rosso - Ferrari test driver, Raikonen to Sauber - ex Ferrari and potentially Giovinazzi - Ferrari academy driver

:whistle:

its pathetic and a talenet like Ocon should be in F1. Just to conclude it C4 they interviewed Ottmar in the Force India garage who pretty much admitted Ocon was going and Stroll was coming in if not this year probably next year. Then the Perez situation if its not him at Force India then it might be Russell for the Mercedes situation

Haas may keep hold of Magnussen and Grosjean but there is still a small chance that it might be Ocon

It is interesting that Mercedes and Wehrlein have parted given he was considered the future of Merc but then no one wants him in F1 .. a lesson in to not burn bridges with people you work with but apparently he is not considering F1 when he was mentioned possibly as a candidate with Toro Rosso earlier this season and will Formula E instead

To me it seems Ocon is the one driver Toto believes in and will drive for Mercedes in the future. So I think they are going to have to give him a seat in 2020 to replace either Bottas on a 1 year contract or a retiring Hamilton (unless Ferrari prize him)

I was on the thinking Ocon should go to Renault and get himself a 2 year contract for 2020-2021 and sit out 2019 like Alonso did in 2002. I know this is at the expense of Hulkenberg but Renault have been trying to get him so why not consider it

Ocon to Williams - that is almost a step backwards but then again might be a chance for him to show some leadership qualities in being No 1
 
Il_leone in fairness to Perez, no one could have imagined that Ferrari would have kept Kimi for so long with the level of performance that he has shown in recent years (ie putting a few fast laps only when contract talks are looming and not much else, despite the fact that he clearly knows how to drive), he saw a chance and hoped for the best.

IMHO the current driver market is tainted by many factors, one of which is the fact that the two top teams have two drivers who don't really belong at that level, one because he no longer cares, the other because he never had what it takes
 
Publius Cornelius Scipio I agree but Vettel wanted that position so no one can challenge him at Ferrari and the management do not have the balls to make the decision when it is obvious Kimi's level is dropping

Apparently Arrivabene likes Kimi as well sooner or later someone at Ferrari will be made culpable for not delivering titles

As I said with Perez - he had an offer from Renault and turned it down citing lack of leadership but Hulkenberg and Ricciardo see the potential in joining them so really don't have sympathy for Perez

Who by the way is the other top team driver who you feel does not belong there?
 
Ferrari keeping Kimi for so long was a knock on effect of Bianchi's death. I think Perez lost his shot in a Ferrari what he left the academy for McLaren.
 
Publius Cornelius Scipio I agree but Vettel wanted that position so no one can challenge him at Ferrari and the management do not have the balls to make the decision when it is obvious Kimi's level is dropping

...

Who by the way is the other top team driver who you feel does not belong there?

regarding your first statement I frear that this is one of the reasons why Vettel seems so heartbroken, he probably knows that he is the main culprit if Ferrari doesn't really operate like a team.

regarding the other driver who I feel that doesn't belong in a top team it's bottas, unless the role of #2 driver means that he's out there only to slow down his team mate's opponents
 
Strangely, although I think that Vettel should be out by now he actually did very well this weekend. Unless he demanded that tyre strategy.
 
Still not good for Vettel at the moment and I don't see anyone in the Ferrari garage coming out and backing him to fight to the end. That is the sort of thing you want to hear that you're not giving up
 
Il_leone that's what I was thinking, I haven't seen anything on this matter in the news but I doubt that Sauber has got any money to pay their drivers, maybe it's a sweetener for Kimi, if he doesn't get in the way too much for the rest of this season here's a few tens of million, for his comfort and convenience
 
Okay so I read that Wehrlein might be in line for a Toro Rosso seat, then again I've heard so many names linked to them lately, I'm waiting for my name to come up next ;)
 
Toto Wolff would like you to think Wehrlein is in line for every seat. I'm pretty sure there has been a rumour about once a month for last 3 years about Pascal joining someone. When Vandoorne, Ocon, Giovanzzi, Russell and Albon are on the market why would you go for a dodgy DTM driver who has been cast off by your rivals?

In all seriousness Vandoorne is a very popular driver in Japan due to going over and competing there (much like Gasly) and is well liked by Honda. I'd be surprised if they didn't fill one of the seats with him. Hartley sounds done to me.
 
In all seriousness Vandoorne is a very popular driver in Japan due to going over and competing there (much like Gasly) and is well liked by Honda. I'd be surprised if they didn't fill one of the seats with him. Hartley sounds done to me.

you make a good point there, Vandoorne is possible. I think If albon has good end to F2 & wins at least 1 of 4 final races I could see it. but seems their is only 1 seat as jennie gow from 5 live f1 at Singapore gp, tweeted quite certainly that kyvat had re-signed for toro rosso. which I would be shocked because of everything. Hartley was lucky to get an F1 seat, only at toro rosso because they were set on getting rid of kyvat & anyone would do. he called marko at the right time & they were so desperate they said yes
 
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