Racing 2018

[Dave]

Carlos Sainz to McLaren on a multi-year deal. Good choice, good young talent. Now the only 2 questionable seats appears to be at Force India. Stroll gets the #1 seat thanks to his dad and that leaves to quality drivers that are way better than Stroll, Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez. I could see Sergio moving to Willams and possibly Ocon to Torro Rosso. It would be a shame to lose either driver but money makes the world go round in Formula One.

Just a SkySports rumor but supposedly Kimi may get a 2 year extension on his stay with Ferrari which would see both Vettel and Kimi end their contracts at the same time. So much for Charles LeClerc going to Ferrari next year if these rumors hold true.

Not a fan of that Kimi rumor at all, ready for the #2 seats at both Ferrari and Mercedes to be more competitive with the lead car.

Would Mercedes want to "demote" Ocon to Williams to keep him in the Mercedes family?

[pk500]

Sainz is overrated, but he's a safe, steady, young pair of hands -- about the best McLaren can hope for right now.

I LOVE the Kimster. But I don't understand Ferrari putting LeClerc on the back burner for two more years. That kid's time is now.

[Rodster]

Sainz is overrated, but he's a safe, steady, young pair of hands -- about the best McLaren can hope for right now.

I LOVE the Kimster. But I don't understand Vettelputting LeClerc on the back burner for two more years. That kid's time is now.

There fixed it for you !

Seb needs to win and win this year. This is all about Seb wanting to keep the status quo and i'm probably an even bigger Kimi fan than you. I'm a fan of the driver, his talents, his interviews and how he mumbles like Boomhauer from King of the Hill. It doesn't get any better than waiting for Kimi to respond to a stupid question from the press.

Granted, Kimi has up his game this year and is way more consistent but this is just my 2 cents with no facts to back it up. It appears to me that Seb doesn't want to rock the boat, he wants Kimi as his #2 wingman and he wants the world titles. The problem with that reasoning is that Seb is not in the same caliber of drivers as Hamilton, Alonso and i'd go so far as to include Ricciardo because he destoryed Seb at Red Bull and made him look average. I'm not a Seb fan but I bleed red and if Seb can bring a world title while driving in a Ferrari, i'll take it.

Problem #2, he failed to deliver last year when he had a chance, he imploded emotionally while leading the championship. He didn't have the car Lewis had but it was pretty close. This year he's had the better car and he's behind in the championship, not good!

A young driver like LeClerc or even a Ricciardo would light a fire under his ass that Kimi won't because it's accepted within the team, Seb is #1 and Kimi is #2. Ricciardo would say F-that and he would try and beat Seb. Seb did not want a repeat of their first duel at Red Bull. LeClerc appears to be the real deal but man, putting a kid that young in a red car is right up there with playing in New York for the Yankees, Mets, Knicks, Rangers etc. It's kinda iffy if he might deal with the pressure driving for Ferrari at such an early age.

I would have preferred to see Ricciardo, Sainz or even Checo Perez to replace Kimi but as much as I love Kimi the driver he's gotten long in the tooth.

My guess is that Ferrari will reevaluate after 2020 when the new rules are introduced. If Max is available that would probably be their first choice.

[pk500]

All good points, Rod. But you underrate Seb. There were HUGE technical regulation changes to the cars in 2014, and full credit to Danny Ric -- he adapted more quickly than Vettel.

But put Vettel and Ricciardo in a Ferrari this season, and I think Vettel has the upper hand. Not by much, but Vettel prevails.

[Rodster]

All good points, Rod. But you underrate Seb. There were HUGE technical regulation changes to the cars in 2014, and full credit to Danny Ric -- he adapted more quickly than Vettel.

But put Vettel and Ricciardo in a Ferrari this season, and I think Vettel has the upper hand. Not by much, but Vettel prevails.

Too bad we’ll never find out but why I don’t rate Seb so highly, in Germany he was leading the championship and he gave the race away and since then Lewis has increased the lead. Now we could say it was down to wet tricky conditions but it was the same for everyone else.

[Dave]

The Wickens crash scared the hell out of me, so thankful to hear that he was awake and alert after the accident. There are some reports indicating he's expected to make a full recovery out there, but nothing official. Dodged a bullet with that one.

What do you guys think of Pierre Gasly? Hartley has been a pretty bad measuring stick, but Gasly's had a few runs that stand out, will be interesting to see how he compares to Verstappen.

Are there any drivers with a Superlicense in the Red Bull system ready to take Gasly's spot, or will they have to fish outside the Red Bull pond again?

[DChaps]

Yes, that Wickens crash was all too similar to Wheldon's and I feared the worst. Props to the Indycar safety team. Hoping he has a full recovery. RHR was also very lucky, that view from the cockpit cam of Wickens car coming over the top of him was frightful.

[Rodster]

What do you guys think of Pierre Gasly? Hartley has been a pretty bad measuring stick, but Gasly's had a few runs that stand out, will be interesting to see how he compares to Verstappen.

Are there any drivers with a Superlicense in the Red Bull system ready to take Gasly's spot, or will they have to fish outside the Red Bull pond again?

Actually with Gasly moving up to Red Bull, he may have given Hartley a lifeline. Outside of the P6 finish for Gasly he's been OK. I have no doubt that if there had not been infighting between Verstappen and Sainz, Ricciardo's seat would have gone to Carlos. He's a much better talent than either Gasly or Hartley.

As far as who's favored to take Gasly's seat, it could go to the talented Esteban Ocon, although Red Bull have tried to pry the talented Lando Norris from McLaren with McLaren saying NO. It appears to me that with the Red Bull seats up until the shock departure of Ricciardo, they have been quiet with their protege's but i'm sure they have a support feeder system still in place possibly in F2 or F3. Adam may have more insights into the Red Bull feeder system.

[pk500]

Hopefully the Wickens' accident accelerates the move toward a screen or canopy for Indy cars and also gets tracks off their collective asses to install more modern fencing, with the poles located BEHIND the mesh fencing.

I think Rod's assessment of Hartley is spot on. His job probably was saved by Gasly's promotion to the big team. Looks like Ganassi is zeroing in on Felix Rosenqvist, not Hartley, as Ed Jones' replacement after one season at Ganassi's IndyCar team.

Jones has regressed this year after moving to Ganassi from Dale Coyne, and patience never has been one of the Chipster's virtues. Jones was the team's third or fourth choice last year for the seat, so I'm not sure Chip had much loyalty to Jones. Too bad -- Ed is a really nice kid with some talent, but I think he was tossed into the crucible too soon.

[GB_Simo]

Hartley stands more chance of sticking around now than he did three weeks ago, down pretty much entirely to circumstance. After all, if you say Toro Rosso exists to blood drivers for the senior team, then it's already apparent that he won't end up there. If you say Gasly and Verstappen are set for years to come and STR just need the quickest drivers they can get right now, then he's not one of those either.

However...the Red Bull Junior Program only has 6 drivers in it. Of those, the only one anywhere near a Superlicence is Dan Ticktum, who'll qualify if he wins the European F3 championship (which he leads) or the Super Formula championship (which he doesn't). He's only 19, though, and might benefit from a season doing something else, particularly as his experience in the junior classes has been limited by a two-year ban, the second year of which was suspended.

What he did, in case you're wondering, was overtake half the field under an MSA Formula (now British F4) safety car in order to ram the race leader at speed. He had his reasons, all of them nuts.

If not him, then who? Honda have affiliated drivers in the junior classes, most notably Nirei Fukuzumi, but they won't meet the licence criteria. Neither will Sean Gelael, whose cheque book has been seen at a number of tests and FP1 sessions, so you'd have to look completely outside the talent pool (Wehrlein, Norris) or invite people back into it (Alex Albon, going very nicely in F2). You could perhaps even make a case for JEV or Buemi following the Hartley route back in to STR, though I'm not absolutely sure you'd want to.

[Rodster]

Red Bull and Helmut Marko have shown they have little patience for average drivers. I thought and will admit that Ricciardo was going to get manhandled by Vettel at Red Bull and he did just the opposite so Danny won the good graces of Marko and Horner. Verstappen lit the F1 world on fire in his first year and RB knew they had an up and coming superstar except his seat was taken by Daniil Kvyat. So Red Bull's hands were tied and as soon as Kvyat began his average performances the pressure started to mount and then he began to crack with on-track screwups, the most notable hitting Vettel twice and knocking him out of the race. And then it became Verstappen's turn.

So the point is, Gasly's P6 may have been nice at Torro Rosso and he received praises from Helmut Marko but now he's in the F1 Show with a top team and you can bet a P6 finish or better is going to be expected of him every race as well as matching Verstappen's qualy and race results. If he can't keep up with Mad Max, then expect Red Bull and especially Helmut Marko to start tightening the screws and looking for a replacement.

[Rodster]

See and this is why I love Formula 1 not because of the on track drama but what happens away from the track.

OK so recently Capt Morgan said he was approached by Red Bull a couple of times about Ricciardo's seat during 2018. Red Bull/Horner says it never approached Alonso this year but that Flavio Briatore and Liberty Media approached Red Bull and asked if they'd consider signing Alonso for 2019. Their stance was they promote from within.

So now Capt Morgan wants an apology from Christian Horner for saying in his F1 Podcast that he never approached Alonso and that he causes chaos wherever he goes. Get out the popcorn.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/244 ... tract-2007

[Rodster]

QUESTION?!!!! So what will Lawrence Stroll do when he finds out his son sucks as a Formula One driver?

Here you have both Force India cars on the 2nd row, credit to Checo as well as Ocon for a great Q3 in changing weather conditions. Esteban Ocon will lose his seat to Lance at Monza and will be without a ride if the driver lineup stays the same. Rumors are that Robert Kubica will get the Williams seat instead although no confirmation regarding next year. So Ocon's only hope is that he will replace Kubica or take the 2nd seat at McLaren if Vandoorne loses his seat which is beginning to look more likely. The other possibility which is an outside shot is that Hartley loses his seat at Torro Rosso and Ocon gets his ride. Esteban Ocon looks to be the real deal. If i'm not mistaken he's a Mercedes protege, not sure about that?

[pk500]

QUESTION?!!!! So what will Lawrence Stroll do when he finds out his son sucks as a Formula One driver?

Continue to pay vast sums of money in a vain attempt to do the impossible and prove his son has talent. The quintessential Little League father living vicariously through his kid.

[Rodster]

QUESTION?!!!! So what will Lawrence Stroll do when he finds out his son sucks as a Formula One driver?

Continue to pay vast sums of money in a vain attempt to do the impossible and prove his son has talent. The quintessential Little League father living vicariously through his kid.

Wait until he destroys 20-40 cars, lets see if his dad has a change of heart.

Today, Lewis to his credit made a statement that Liberty Media and Ross Brawn have been trying to pitch wrt a budget cap. He said it's a shame a talented driver like Esteban Ocon has no ride next year but drivers who show up with a bag full of money do. Hopefully Ross Brawn can convince the mfgs to reconsider or one day they could be looking at only 2 Ferrari's and 2 Mercs on the grid.

[GB_Simo]

Quick one on this while I wait for F1 2018 to finish updating...how can it be version 1.04 of a game that only came out yesterday? Ah, never mind.

I read in midweek that Ocon has either had or is about to have a seat fitting at McLaren. There's also been a leak of some footage from Channel 4's free practice coverage, taken in the pre-broadcast preparations, in which Karun Chandhok says Stroll to FI happens in Singapore, with Kubica in at Williams. Karun is a Williams employee, so not the worst source in the world, though it does look like the wheels are starting to turn a little faster than he thought they might.

Vandoorne will likely end up at Sauber next year, because Fred Vasseur ran him in the junior classes at ART with great success and because his manager is involved with the team. If Stroll jumps ship and Ocon ends up at McLaren, what price Marcus Ericsson bowing out early and Stoffel getting a run there?

That should broadly box off everything that might happen in the next week or two, but 2019 is different. Could Merc drop Ocon into a Williams? There's talk that they really don't want to, in which case, might they push to place George Russell there instead? Would McLaren look after Ocon for a year and blood Lando Norris with a few more FP1 runs or do they feel, unlike me, that he's ready now? If Kubica comes back and impresses, does he stay in the seat automatically or does he look to join Stroll at Force India if Perez goes to Haas? That's a rumour that seems to be lingering, though it strikes me that you wouldn't take such an active role in legal proceedings at your current team if you were about to bugger off somewhere else. That being so, Leclerc will end up at Haas instead, assuming he doesn't go to Ferrari, leaving another Sauber drive to be filled by Christ knows who, and I haven't been able to agree contractual terms with Toro Rosso so that's definitely still up for grabs.

As silly seasons go, this one's bloody daft.

[GB_Simo]

Edit: double post, except it wasn't. I quoted myself somehow. Never mind.

[pk500]

Wait until he destroys 20-40 cars, lets see if his dad has a change of heart.

Won't happen. His father spent $80 million in 2016 just so little Lancey could win the Formula 3 Euroseries title. Essentially bought the Prema Powerteam for Lance, hiring a bunch of ex-Ferrari mechanics and engineers from the Schumacher era to guarantee his son's title.

Larry just spent nine figures to ensure his kid has a home on the F1 grid for the next 10 years. Do you think he'll really be deterred by a pile of written-off chassis?

[pk500]

As silly seasons go, this one's bloody daft.

Daft, yes. Exciting, no, because all of the musical chairs are in the midfield and lower end of the grid other than the surprise Ricciardo move to Renault.

[Rodster]

Supreme win by Vettel and what a pass on Lewis Hamilton !

And it looks like the Halo as much as it's disliked (raises hand) may have saved LeClerc from injury when Alonso's car came over the top from the Hulkster's rear shunt.

[GB_Simo]

I'm not sure whether the halo saved Charles Leclerc's bacon or whether the front of that McLaren would have missed everything important by itself. It's quite nice, though - and I speak here as one who doesn't particularly like the halo - to see that tonight's debates are around whether it did save him, rather than whether it would have. That's my only offering around the Belgian Grand Prix, a race so riveting that I recall nothing else about it.

Away from F1, you might like to know that in a wildcard appearance, Alex Zanardi just finished 5th in a DTM race at Misano. Mixed weather and good fortune on strategy were at the heart of it, but bugger the circumstances: the man is something else.

[XXXIV]

Supreme win by Vettel and what a pass on Lewis Hamilton !

OMFG!

LOL!

From Rod?

[Rodster]

I'm not sure whether the halo saved Charles Leclerc's bacon or whether the front of that McLaren would have missed everything important by itself.

Hmm, looking at his car it looks like the Halo got pretty scuffed up with Alonso's car flying over the top of it. Charlie Whiting said after the race that the FIA will investigate whether the Halo played it's part in preventing serious injury but he noted that it looks like it could have gone awfully wrong for Leclerc without it.

[Dave]

Away from F1, you might like to know that in a wildcard appearance, Alex Zanardi just finished 5th in a DTM race at Misano. Mixed weather and good fortune on strategy were at the heart of it, but bugger the circumstances: the man is something else.

He truly is, seeing that result last night was the highlight of the racing weekend for me.

[Rodster]

Here's a Twitter 360 degree view of the Leclerc incident. I don't know but it looks like the Halo did it's job as it appears Alonso's tire bounced off the Halo and you can see Leclerc's head gets pushed down from the weight of Alonso's car.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/103401516 ... 58/video/1