JB's decision to retire is looking better & better now...
2016-17 Silly Season. Drivers Market
Il_leone
World Champion
Road of Bones - What if Alonso decides to quit this season and would Button have to take his place as first reserve
What if he refuses ? Do Mclaren go for say Oliver Rowland or LAndo Norris or simply put Matsushita to please Honda?
What if he refuses ? Do Mclaren go for say Oliver Rowland or LAndo Norris or simply put Matsushita to please Honda?
To be fair, i dont think pleasing Honda would be high on the agenda. If Alonso does move on, it will be because the car is shite, that being the case im not sure JB would be up for trawling around the midfield for half a season. I think they would gor for a differeng option.
Rutherford
Podium Finisher
The team should pull out of this season and spare themselves the embarrassment. They used five engines in 4 days of testing, realistically they aren't going to finish a GP at that rate.
Behave.
Il_leone
World Champion
Honda might pull out but Mclaren won't because it would be serious disaster
The new owners said they will do things differently to the way Ron ran it as a dictatorship so these things take time
The Pits Then Matshushita would get a run which make the same driver pairing as back in 2015 when Vandoorne won Gp2 and Matsushita was his teammate
The new owners said they will do things differently to the way Ron ran it as a dictatorship so these things take time
The Pits Then Matshushita would get a run which make the same driver pairing as back in 2015 when Vandoorne won Gp2 and Matsushita was his teammate
Il_leone
World Champion
Well a slight change of things at Sauber with them giving Honda a heave ho to make way for Ferrari probably now means Le Clerc or Giovinazzi teaming up with Ericsson who's mates back the team
So it looks like Wehrlein is being shoved out despite looking like the better driver BUT he also seems to crash more heavily
With LeClerc dominating F2 there seems to be a more push for him to be promoted over Giovinazzi whose apparent crashes in China when driving for Sauber did not impress Marchionne
This seems to be backed by Haas saying they will field Magnussen and Grosjean again meaning that there Romain does not appear to have done enough to deserve a promotion for the Ferrari drive
Now that leaves open Perez / Sainz/ Raikkonen fighting it out to be Vettel's No 2 unless Seb suddenly decides Ferrari aint doing enough to convince him they can sustain the pace which creates a different ball game
Perez apparently has open talks with Force India according to VJ but why ? given the chances are that it will never be championship challenger
Ocon will probably stay at Force India which leaves one seat possibly and it seems it might be his Mercedes rival Wehrlein who might be one of the candidates
Unless Wehrlein is going to be drafted into Williams where Massa surely will retire this season as he can only regress.
Di Resta given a surprise go today because of Massa's illness is a long shot and does not have the same weight of backing from Mercedes as Wehrlein currently has
Renault - another interesting scenario given Palmer chances of staying beyond this season are very slim given he is up against Sainz/ Perez/ Kubica for the seat and even Alonso and Rowland who controversially won todays F2 race cannot be discounted
Kubica's about to test in a 2017 car after this weekend's race which would be a good test of his stamina and his ability to muscle the more demanding 2017 cars than the older cars he has driven so far
Sainz - he does not deny contact with Renault but Red Bull demand a ransom for his services which might just test him seeing team Enstone are definitely coming forward and will be challenging Red Bull possibly next season
Perez - he did not join Renault last year citing lack of leadership problems but will he want to go up against Hulkenberg again ?
So it looks like Wehrlein is being shoved out despite looking like the better driver BUT he also seems to crash more heavily
With LeClerc dominating F2 there seems to be a more push for him to be promoted over Giovinazzi whose apparent crashes in China when driving for Sauber did not impress Marchionne
This seems to be backed by Haas saying they will field Magnussen and Grosjean again meaning that there Romain does not appear to have done enough to deserve a promotion for the Ferrari drive
Now that leaves open Perez / Sainz/ Raikkonen fighting it out to be Vettel's No 2 unless Seb suddenly decides Ferrari aint doing enough to convince him they can sustain the pace which creates a different ball game
Perez apparently has open talks with Force India according to VJ but why ? given the chances are that it will never be championship challenger
Ocon will probably stay at Force India which leaves one seat possibly and it seems it might be his Mercedes rival Wehrlein who might be one of the candidates
Unless Wehrlein is going to be drafted into Williams where Massa surely will retire this season as he can only regress.
Di Resta given a surprise go today because of Massa's illness is a long shot and does not have the same weight of backing from Mercedes as Wehrlein currently has
Renault - another interesting scenario given Palmer chances of staying beyond this season are very slim given he is up against Sainz/ Perez/ Kubica for the seat and even Alonso and Rowland who controversially won todays F2 race cannot be discounted
Kubica's about to test in a 2017 car after this weekend's race which would be a good test of his stamina and his ability to muscle the more demanding 2017 cars than the older cars he has driven so far
Sainz - he does not deny contact with Renault but Red Bull demand a ransom for his services which might just test him seeing team Enstone are definitely coming forward and will be challenging Red Bull possibly next season
Perez - he did not join Renault last year citing lack of leadership problems but will he want to go up against Hulkenberg again ?
Rutherford
Podium Finisher
Why not? He beat Hulkenberg two times in a row at Force India and generally seemed to be the better racer at the time. I don't rate Hulkenberg as highly as Perez. Perez should have been the one to stay at McLaren after 2013, but someone in the chain of command didn't have the guts to tell Button that he has no future at the team. Perez also has a big mouth which definitely didn't leave him in a good light and angered some people.
Rutherford
Podium Finisher
Good that the day is coming to a close.
I'm in Italy.
Rutherford
Podium Finisher
Then it might be a bit early for such a statement. We'll see.
I'm pretty sure Perez is absolutely delighted that McLaren gave him the bullet in 2013. He's scored more podiums than them in that time, had a very strong two years against Niko Hulkenburg and annually finished in the championship top 10.
That's more than he'd have achieved pushing a McLaren to the orange bit in the armco.
That's more than he'd have achieved pushing a McLaren to the orange bit in the armco.
That and Ferrari already have their drivers sorted for the next 5 years at least.
Il_leone
World Champion
It does look like Perez is stuck with Force India and pretty much not going anywhere now...tsk tsk Renault did put on offer on the table which he rejected and he might come to regret it
Unless off course Vettel's stalling for only 1 year extension on his contract is testing Marchionne's patience who wants a 3 year commitment
Be interesting to see if things do get sorted by Monza...
Unless off course Vettel's stalling for only 1 year extension on his contract is testing Marchionne's patience who wants a 3 year commitment
Be interesting to see if things do get sorted by Monza...
Il_leone
World Champion
Looks like Ferrari are going to force Vettel's hand by announcing his teammate
Kimi Raikkonen: Ferrari driver agrees new contract until end of 2018 season
Well I don't think there will be any other driver changes in the top 3 teams now
Kimi Raikkonen: Ferrari driver agrees new contract until end of 2018 season
Well I don't think there will be any other driver changes in the top 3 teams now
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