2016-17 Silly Season. Drivers Market

[Il_leone]

I thought this thread is going to shut and we can talk about 17-18 silly season

I wonder how many drivers will look at their current contracts and check the release clause condition

Vettel
Apparently did not bother trying to overtake Rosberg on Sunday and said Hamilton was doing dirty tricks and given his rough time at Ferrari ,it seems timing is everything Seb

A German World champion replacing another outgoing A German World champion will go down very well with the board

Alonso -
1) the best combination on the grid with Hamilton
2) the most destructive combination to manage for the team and given how they messed up on Sunday this would be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire

3) Very short term seeing both could approach next season as their last in F1 if they win the title

GIven the recent change at Mclaren - he would no doubt consider it if they came calling


Button
Has a contract with Mclaren already so I'd assume if the above happened he would have to be drafted into Mclaren Honda out
of retirement

Previously rejected by Mercedes back in 2010 remember

Massa
" Why did I retire so soon !"

Bottas

Does Toto like to earn a nice commission for himself on the side like dirty Flavio did with his drivers?

What a lifeline this would be for him


Red Bull drivers
All of them would be too costly to seeing given their contracts although Carlos Sainz Jnr would not say no if offered and come out of Verstappen's shadow

Ocon/ Wherlein

It would be a typical Mercedes policy where they have driver combinations of experience and youth and developing their young drivers seeing how successful Red Bull's is then there is no doubt for Merc to do this and bring forward their future F1 plans

Di Resta

"I'd better get the dust of my racing suit and helmet" A few year back maybe when Norbert Haug was running the team

The Desperate Latinos ( Desperado ???)

Nasr - I can bring some Brazilian sponsorship but wait we may not have a race in Brazil

Gutierrez - I've tested on 2017 Pirelli tyres so want to know the secrets

F1Brits_90

As enticing your suggestion that WIlliams may get free Merc bits really its a step backwards for the team if they sign Wherlein who Stroll could give a serious beating and dent his ego

RasputinLives Pascal is relying on Mercedes to sort his future especially one of the senior bosses has come out and said he is their future

But seeing how Pascal seems to not listen I guess he's going to find out his place when he goes up against a proper teammate

I said it before Wherlein may get protection from some people at Merc if he was given a serious beating by Hamilton so would they risk him

So Ocon would be my choice seeing that he is very well liked and rated by every team he's driven for

I would think Wherlein would be insulted again as he could finally find out from Force India why they rejected him if they have to pick him in the end

 

[Il_leone]

I just had a look at the driver's odds for the F1 driver's title next season

Hamilton 11/8 Favourite
Verstappen 3-1
Ricciardo 4-1
Wherlein 5-1
Vettel 10-1

Now why would Wherlein be 5-1 if he was going to be driving a Manor or Sauber then ?

 

[Il_leone]

I should add Hamilton is at his best when his teammates are fiercely competitive and tough to push him further which is something worth considering

Apparently on James Allen own website 40% of voters think Alonso would drive for Mercedes next season

 

[marksawatsky]

Wouldn't it make Mercedes job a lot easier if they did sign a young gun but with a second fiddle clause that made Lewis number 1? They could still have the 1-2 finishes they want but without all the drama

 

[Wombcat]

I just had a look at the driver's odds for the F1 driver's title next season

Hamilton 11/8 Favourite
Verstappen 3-1
Ricciardo 4-1
Wherlein 5-1
Vettel 10-1

Now why would Wherlein be 5-1 if he was going to be driving a Manor or Sauber then ?

Most likely because a lot of people think Wehrlein has a good chance for a Mercedes seat, which gives hims an outside chance of a WDC. Which means lots of people will bet on him, which makes his odds go down.

 

[Il_leone]

Wombcat Exactly but he is not proven at top level

 

[Road of Bones]

I hear Heikki is dusting off his helmet...

 

[Il_leone]

marksawatsky That is not guaranteed given Red Bull probably have the strongest driver line up and are coming back gradually

So if Mercedes want to win the constructors they need to pick the strongest driver pairing ..the fact that Toto Wolff has had to sit down and think about this makes it more interesting unlike Red Bull/ Marko who immediately promoted Kyvat when Vettel left

You would think this is a straight forward decision but with so much at stake for Mercedes the dynamics have shifted...I wonder how many promotions they will need to shelve with Rosberg as world champion

 

[Il_leone]

Wanted: Lewis Hamilton's team-mate

Please add your name to the list of potential candidates looking for a drive at Mercedes

Note Bottas/ Wehrlein and Vettel considered leading candidates

It seems what is holding Wehrlein back is his arrogance and self centredness and against Hamilton that is something Toto is not willing to risk

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I hear Heikki is dusting off his helmet...

What he does he in the privacy of his own home is no concern of mine.

 

[Il_leone]

Fernando Alonso drives into pole position to fill Nico Rosberg's seat at Mercedes

In true The Sun fashion they seem to think Alonso is the man and if that is the case Mclaren have to recall Button out of retirement given they have a signed contract with him

BUT should Button stay retired then what ?

The last time Mclaren said they had a watertight contract with Alonso - he simply walked away for nothing. So could it happen again?

 

[Bill Boddy]

....The last time Mclaren said they had a watertight contract with Alonso - he simply walked away for nothing....

They separated by mutual consent. I doubt that Mercedes have the guts to put Alonso and Hamilton together though.

 

[vintly]

I doubt that Mercedes have the guts to put Alonso and Hamilton together though.

Agreed, and I hope they don't. We've seen that pairing already, and immediately after Hamilton's electric start in Melbourne 2007, the pairing wen't downhill. I'd rather not see it again thanks Mercedes if you're listening.

 

[Il_leone]

Bill Boddy Toto issued a warning to Rosberg and Hamilton that if they ever fell out he would comsider Alonso to replace them

It seems both Toto and Niki want race winners not also rans but again the board may intervene demanding a German driver or done to please the board so you either look at Vettel or Wehrlein

 

[Il_leone]

From an F1 perspective there is a worry that if Mercedes are as dominant then Hamilton will walk away with the title which is going to be least satisfying for fans seeing one team dominate with one man

The question is do Mercedes want to win the constructors championship as well as the drivers title ? With Wehrlein they will struggle against Red Bull, with Alonso they will probably will as long as the car does not turn out to be a pig like the one he has been driving at Mclaren

 

[Il_leone]

Sky Bet have installed Pascal Wehrlein and Valtteri Bottas as joint favourites to replace Nico Rosberg at Mercedes followed by Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso (Full odds)

Meanwhile, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport: "We have our juniors. But there are other more experienced options. We will look at their contracts and then take a decision"

Now Bottas as joint favourite for the seat come to think of it would be a good choice for Mercedes not because of his association to Toto but he has an ice cool temperament like typical Finns which would probably help with the intensity of Hamilton

Oddly enough in these situations if he was only younger Kimi Raikkonen would have been probably the perfect teammate for Hamilton

 

[RasputinLives]

Didn't Bottas and Hamilton fall out a few years ago after a collision where Bottas was unlapping himself?

 

[Il_leone]

I am trying to remember which race it was .. the only time I've heard Bottas get really mad was when Raikkonen punted him off in Sochi last year

 

[RasputinLives]

I seem to think it was Brazil one year but my memory ain't what it used to be.

If Bottas goes Merc than I'd assume Wherlein or possibly Nasr would pick up the Williams seat.

God knows who will get the Manor seats at the moment. Wherlein will squeeze in somewhere else now whatever happens, Ocon has already gone, Nasr, Haryanto and Gutteriez no longer have backing, Jordan King's dad is no longer majority shareholder and Rossi can't be bothered with F1 anymore. They could take the Ferrari dollar and run Leclerc but other than that I see no competitive options that come with cash.

 

[Bill Boddy]

From an F1 perspective there is a worry that if Red Bull are dominant then Verstappen will walk away with the title which is going to be least satisfying for fans seeing Red Bull dominate with one man....

FB would be happy (although not as happy as he would be if it were Vettel).