2021 Silly Season

[Il_leone]

Binotto's response to the rumours about Hamilton is to stay Vettel is a our first choice at the moment . Last year Binotto said they would favour Vettel in 50/50 situations and look how that ended up. This season there will be no team orders . Its going to be hard not to expect fireworks between the two Ferrari drivers .

In F1 anything can happen so until the music stops and all the drivers line up are confirmed I still think Hamilton will use Ferrari as a negotiation tool

 

[Il_leone]

I will say Ferrari are making a big mistake if they keep Vettel at this point ... they have made it clear that LeClerc is their future so Vettel aint going to accept that.

The Italian media have started to turn on Vettel.. LeClerc has proven he is already more than a No 2 driver. Get ready for a Villeneuve/ Pironi implosion coming up especially if the car is the best in the field

I would say Ferrari are known to do stupid things and anything to try and get their man even pay over the odds for them or make them redundant on stupid pay off amount so they don't drive for anyone so don't be surprised

 

[Il_leone]

the silly season seems to start petering out before getting exciting

 

[F1Brits_90]

The Italian media have started to turn on Vettel.. LeClerc has proven he is already more than a No 2 driver. Get ready for a Villeneuve/ Pironi implosion coming up especially if the car is the best in the field

looking forward to it because as a we complain. we all love abit of controversy

 

[Ruslan]

Well, Vettel taking out Leclerc at the end of laar season leads us into the most interestig story for this season.

So far the interesting stories (to what I think will otherwise be a boring season) are:

1. Vettel vs Leclerc.
2. Red Bull versus Ferrari (as I suspect Mercedes will remain a leg up).
3. Ferrari vs itself (which was kind the story last season).
4. Who is the top driver at Mclaren?
5. Who is the top driver a Renault (as these are two really good drivers and both favorites of mine)?
6. How does the new Force India/Racing Point/Aston Martin Team develop?
7. Who gets the second seat at Ferrari for 2021?

 

[F1Brits_90]

5 F1 Drivers We May Not See On the Grid in 2021 - EssentiallySports

With only 4 drivers confirmed for 2021, F1 may witness a wacky silly season in 2020. Here are 5 drivers who could leave F1 in 2021.

www.essentiallysports.com

very interesting topic & these were the 5 drivers they think may be finished, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen. bar Riccardo i think they might be right & i can see these

 

[Publius Cornelius Scipio]

So far the interesting stories (to what I think will otherwise be a boring season) are:

1. Vettel vs Leclerc.
2. Red Bull versus Ferrari (as I suspect Mercedes will remain a leg up).
3. Ferrari vs itself (which was kind the story last season).
4. Who is the top driver at Mclaren?
5. Who is the top driver a Renault (as these are two really good drivers and both favorites of mine)?
6. How does the new Force India/Racing Point/Aston Martin Team develop?
7. Who gets the second seat at Ferrari for 2021?

let me try my luck:
1. If the car suits him and he performs well in the first few races then I'd say Vettel, otherwise it's going to be Leclerc's year. Provided that he can withstand the pressure of being Ferrari's #1 driver
2 Red Bull
3 I know that it's early days but the media are already saying that Ferrari's 2020 didn't perform as expected...
4 IMHO Sainz
5 I'd say Ricciardo by a (very) small margin
6 Aston Martin is broke, Stroll snr seems to be there only to help is son's career, all in all I'm not holding my breath (despite the fact that I think that it's a great group of very talented people who deserve more than they have achieved in the past)
7 Sainz?

 

[F1Brits_90]

Ruslan Publius Cornelius Scipio if you fancy make some predictions we always have above thread

Pre-Season - 2020 Predictions for season ahead

as a 1 off because im keeping this seat warm for Greenlantern101 so we all know the thing. predictions for F1 if you want can be general motorsport or the world then we all get to be smug or pretend they dont exist when for example some one predicted alonso to win a race in 2018

cliptheapex.com

 

[Ruslan]

Ruslan Publius Cornelius Scipio if you fancy make some predictions we always have above thread

Pre-Season - 2020 Predictions for season ahead

as a 1 off because im keeping this seat warm for Greenlantern101 so we all know the thing. predictions for F1 if you want can be general motorsport or the world then we all get to be smug or pretend they dont exist when for example some one predicted alonso to win a race in 2018

cliptheapex.com

Sorry, I’m not real good at marching in formation.

 

[Ruslan]

let me try my luck:
1. If the car suits him and he performs well in the first few races then I'd say Vettel, otherwise it's going to be Leclerc's year. Provided that he can withstand the pressure of being Ferrari's #1 driver
2 Red Bull
3 I know that it's early days but the media are already saying that Ferrari's 2020 didn't perform as expected...
4 IMHO Sainz
5 I'd say Ricciardo by a (very) small margin
6 Aston Martin is broke, Stroll snr seems to be there only to help is son's career, all in all I'm not holding my breath (despite the fact that I think that it's a great group of very talented people who deserve more than they have achieved in the past)
7 Sainz?

Publius Cornelius Scipio let me give you a proper response......instead of just hitting the like button. I suspect the like button discourages conversation.

1. Vettel - agreed. This will be resolved by the half-way point of the season. Either Vettel is back on song or he is not.
2. My bias is also in favor of Red Bull.....but I am hesitant to rule Ferrari out. I was real negative about Binotti’s management last season, but it was only his first season as manager. He may do better.
3. Noted. Again I hate to rule Ferrari out but that is also what I am reading.
4. I not as sold on Saint as a lot of people are on this forum. As I have annoyingly pointed out before, Hulkenberg out performed Sainz when they were teammates (and Perez outperformed Hulkenberg)....so I am not convinced that Sainz is really a top-level drivwr. On the the other hand, Lando Norris is plucky as hell.
5. I am not sure who will have the edge Ricciardo or Ocon. This could be very interesting (and probably with some drama).
6. A year and a half ago the team was bankrupt. With the new management and influx of money and possible engineering support, I fully expect them to be the sister best team this year. The question Is whether they have the potential to do better than that in the subsequent years. The top five teams are all pretty serious.
7. Sainz to Ferrari? Really? I have no idea who would take the other seat if Vettel leaves, but he was not on my list. Do you know something?

 

[F1Brits_90]

Sorry, I’m not real good at marching in formation.

no worries. just in case you hadnt seen it

although i hate doing this thing on the internet. because there never any context or tone. & i worry that instead of being helpful it comes across angry.

 

[Ruslan]

no worries. just in case you hadnt seen it

although i hate doing this thing on the internet. because there never any context or tone. & i worry that instead of being helpful it comes across angry.

Well, it is kind of a mix of discussion about 2020 and where people are going in 2021....so sort of relevant.

 

[Il_leone]

5 F1 Drivers We May Not See On the Grid in 2021 - EssentiallySports

With only 4 drivers confirmed for 2021, F1 may witness a wacky silly season in 2020. Here are 5 drivers who could leave F1 in 2021.

www.essentiallysports.com

very interesting topic & these were the 5 drivers they think may be finished, Romain Grosjean, Daniil Kvyat, Daniel Ricciardo, Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Raikkonen. bar Riccardo i think they might be right & i can see these

I agree with everyone except Ricciardo unless he finds himself frozen out of the Ferrari seat by Vettel then would he consider taking a risk with Aston Martin.

 

[Ruslan]

Yea,

I agree with everyone except Ricciardo unless he finds himself frozen out of the Ferrari seat by Vettel then would he consider taking a risk with Aston Martin.

I suspect Ricciardo has a permanent ride with Renault for as long as he likes. The problem is that he may not be able to move up to Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull.

 

[Il_leone]

I am still waiting for the resurrection of Renault - they always get it right in the end and it would be good for F1 if they did and perhaps with Pat Fry they just might

 

[Ruslan]

I am still waiting for the resurrection of Renault - they always get it right in the end and it would be good for F1 if they did and perhaps with Pat Fry they just might

You would think that as one of the three factory teams, they would be more of a factor. They seem permanently embedded as the fifth best team. Of course the kicker is the budget. They have been operating with probably less than half the budget of a Mercedes or Ferrari. Not sure why, but a few months ago their director stated that they would have to increase their budget to get to the 2021 budget cap.

Now I can understand why some individual would be happy with just making up the numbers in F1....but I cannot understand why a major car company would. But this appears to be their role.

 

[Grizzly]

That team was on its knees at the point Renault took ownership Ruslan. Without wishing to make excuses for Renault, particularly due to the fact that they contributed to its demise in more ways than one, it had lacked investment for a number of years. What we saw on the track in the early 2010's was akin to the last couple of years of Force India - relative amazing performance hiding a machine on the brink of collapse!

 

[Ruslan]

That team was on its knees at the point Renault took ownership Ruslan. Without wishing to make excuses for Renault, particularly due to the fact that they contributed to its demise in more ways than one, it had lacked investment for a number of years. What we saw on the track in the early 2010's was akin to the last couple of years of Force India - relative amazing performance hiding a machine on the brink of collapse!

They reclaimed the team in late 2015 (which they previously had run from 2002-2010). I expect a little more from them after the third or fourth year.

 

[Il_leone]

They reclaimed the team in late 2015 (which they previously had run from 2002-2010). I expect a little more from them after the third or fourth year.

I don't think Renault's problem are helped by what is happening with Carlos Ghosn - their CEO and the potential fall out in the alliance relationship with Renault and Nissan. You would think Renault are serious about being in F1

 

[Ruslan]

I don't think Renault's problem are helped by what is happening with Carlos Ghosn - their CEO and the potential fall out in the alliance relationship with Renault and Nissan. You would think Renault are serious about being in F1

You know they had team managers, team engineers and a couple of hundred other people involved. I don’t think Ghosn’s rather dramatic legal issues had that much of an impact unless it kept him from writing checks for the team.