F1 F1 2024 thread

[Cromulant]

maybe, maybe not. neither you nor i know that. benz provided him with the best power unit.

and, c'mon, some credit for a genuine message. not everything in life is self-serving. at least for many of us.

They did for sure, and absolutely he gets some credit for the message.

First time he's said something positive in 3 years

 

[Pure_Ownage]

First time out Liam brained him.

A combination of bad luck and a couple of silly errors in the last couple of races stopped that momentum.

I'm not a huge wrap for Lawson, but only an incredibly biased Aussie would suggest he's not a better option than Dan. He's as good as Dan is now, let alone moving forward.

The errors are because Lawson does not have consistency or the quality.

Most people would be a better option than Dan due to age and a range of factors. My point was Lawson has done nothing to suggest he's equal to or better than yuki as an option which he is not.

 

[Cromulant]

The errors are because Lawson does not have consistency or the quality.

Most people would be a better option than Dan due to age and a range of factors. My point was Lawson has done nothing to suggest he's equal to or better than yuki as an option which he is not.

Pure speed wise he's not, but Yuki won't handle being teammate to Max

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Pure speed wise he's not, but Yuki won't handle being teammate to Max

I think that's a big assumption until he gets the opportunity. People mature and his results merit it unless they get a better candidate like sainz.

Besides the real problem is jos not Max or yuki anyway.

 

[DamoESP]

 

[happy_eagle]

Toto knows that without Lewis, his career in F1 would've been a much shorter one.

I'm not a huge fan of Hamilton, but the guy deserves all the plaudits he gets from here until he calls time on his career.

Is interesting to think back to 2012 and wonder if Hamilton didn't switch from McLaren to Mercedes (a risky move at the time) who Mercedes would have targeted as the Schumacher replacement.

Assuming they wanted a big name, they would have likely chased Vettel, Alonso or Button.

Vettel in 2012 had just won two world titles back to back, and was on his way to his third. I doubt he would have left Red Bull at that time (but in hindsight, he probably should have sacrificed 2013 for what would have come in 2014-2020).

Alonso was into his third season at Ferrari and after narrowly missing the title in 2010, he would go on to narrowly miss it in 2012. I'm not sure he would have moved from Ferrari then either given how close he was to a title.

Button seems like one they could have targeted, but in theory they could have had him in 2010 when they expanded from Brawn GP, and opted for Rosberg instead. So not sure if Button would have been on their radar.

The alternative of course is that they paired Nico Rosberg with a young driver, and who knows we might be sitting here talking about Nico Rosberg, the 6 or 7 time world champion.

Another option could have been to sway Mark Webber to come across for a couple of years, given how public the issues were with him and Red Bull at the time.

 

[hotchilli]

toto gets a lot of bad press. all class this.

Wolff leaves Hamilton emotional Mercedes goodbye voice message

Toto Wolff has said some poignant words to Lewis Hamilton following the seven-time F1 champion's farewell from Mercedes

racingnews365.com

He did Dax Shepard’s podcast which was a very good chat.

 

[Jatz]

Is interesting to think back to 2012 and wonder if Hamilton didn't switch from McLaren to Mercedes (a risky move at the time) who Mercedes would have targeted as the Schumacher replacement.

Assuming they wanted a big name, they would have likely chased Vettel, Alonso or Button.

Vettel in 2012 had just won two world titles back to back, and was on his way to his third. I doubt he would have left Red Bull at that time (but in hindsight, he probably should have sacrificed 2013 for what would have come in 2014-2020).

Alonso was into his third season at Ferrari and after narrowly missing the title in 2010, he would go on to narrowly miss it in 2012. I'm not sure he would have moved from Ferrari then either given how close he was to a title.

Button seems like one they could have targeted, but in theory they could have had him in 2010 when they expanded from Brawn GP, and opted for Rosberg instead. So not sure if Button would have been on their radar.

The alternative of course is that they paired Nico Rosberg with a young driver, and who knows we might be sitting here talking about Nico Rosberg, the 6 or 7 time world champion.

Another option could have been to sway Mark Webber to come across for a couple of years, given how public the issues were with him and Red Bull at the time.

Not sure Nico had the desire for that. The one and done thing always intrigued me. I don't blame him but I do wonder if he realised it's a dangerous sport and he'd reached it's pinnacle.

Could've seen him as a 2 or 3 time world champion but wouldn't have thought there'd be more than that.

 

[skam85]

Pretty sure Mercedes were very keen on Hulkenberg so if they missed out on all the names they would have nabbed him for 2013 and onwards, All-Nico, All-German super team. Back then he was a promising youngster, had just come off leading the majority of the final race of the 2012 season too.

 

[happy_eagle]

Pretty sure Mercedes were very keen on Hulkenberg so if they missed out on all the names they would have nabbed him for 2013 and onwards, All-Nico, All-German super team. Back then he was a promising youngster, had just come off leading the majority of the final race of the 2012 season too.

Yep

Once people realised how strong the car was in 2014, you would have had Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel all clamoring over that seat, and I guess they probably would have gone for Vettel.

Also interesting to think about what Lewis would have done. He probably would have stayed at McLaren for a few more years, and then maybe done the seat swap with Alonso (Alonso to McLaren, Hamilton to Ferrari)

 

[Not Important]

not a huge fan of the big mouthed yank, but he's a top notch money man.

Legendary F1 team almost collapsed in 2020

As McLaren celebrated its first constructors’ championship in 26 years, CEO Zak Brown revealed the team came close to folding

speedcafe.com

 

[Festerz]

Those bonuses for Lando and Oscar though. Happy Xmas for anyone on their Kris Kringle list.

 

[gaskin]

I'm pretty sure Lando signed a new contract sometime in the last 12 months making him significantly more than $12m a year.

 

[Cromulant]

not a huge fan of the big mouthed yank, but he's a top notch money man.

Legendary F1 team almost collapsed in 2020

As McLaren celebrated its first constructors’ championship in 26 years, CEO Zak Brown revealed the team came close to folding

speedcafe.com

I met him at the ADL 500 a few years ago and he struck me as incredibly personable but enormously arrogant.

That hasn't changed.

 

[Duck Farmer]

Those bonuses for Lando and Oscar though. Happy Xmas for anyone on their Kris Kringle list.

View attachment 2187024

How the **** did Perez earn a $7.5M bonus?

 

[Bradesmaen]

How the **** did Perez earn a $7.5M bonus?

4 podiums probably helped.

 

[Cromulant]

4 podiums probably helped.

I assume finishing 8th in the championship gives you something, even if it's a huge underperformance

 

[Duck Farmer]

4 podiums probably helped.

Similar bonus to Sainz and Russell who won multiple GPs and who had 100-150 more points in the driver's championship does not compute.

 

[Duck Farmer]

Also I'm sure Webber will be renegotiating Oscar's base salary as we speak.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Those bonuses for Lando and Oscar though. Happy Xmas for anyone on their Kris Kringle list.

View attachment 2187024

Perez on a bonus. Bwahahahahahaha

 

[Bradesmaen]

Similar bonus to Sainz and Russell who won multiple GPs and who had 100-150 more points in the driver's championship does not compute.

How so? It's up to the individual driver/managers to set contracts with teams. Perez obviously got a good deal in comparison to Whino and Smooth Operator.

 

[Cromulant]

Danny Ric apparently has "no interest" in coming back to F1

 

[happy_eagle]

Danny Ric apparently has "no interest" in coming back to F1

I get this.
He obviously isn't going to ever get a look in at a top 10, and has enough retirement money you would expect, so what would be the point in chasing a Cadillac seat which is very likely to be a back marker.

 

[imadodgyumpire]

Pretty sure Mercedes were very keen on Hulkenberg so if they missed out on all the names they would have nabbed him for 2013 and onwards, All-Nico, All-German super team. Back then he was a promising youngster, had just come off leading the majority of the final race of the 2012 season too.

In the recent discussion about a suitable no2 to Verstappen at RB, you made the suggestion of Hulkenberg and happy eagle, who mentioned Bottas.

From my view reading the thread, the thing about a suitable no2 is that you have to be fast enough to win the WC in your own right. Fast enough so that the team can then manipulate qualifying/pit strategies, and maybe how they construct the car. It doesn't matter what RB do, they can't haul Perez' arse to the podium. Bottas was often has the worse of the pit strategies, which is forgotten about.

So when I read your "moneyball" suggestion of Hulk at RB, it tells me in a roundabout way you think he could be a WC. This is incredible considering how long his career is and having the indignifying record of most races without a win and podium.

 

[gaskin]

In the recent discussion about a suitable no2 to Verstappen at RB, you made the suggestion of Hulkenberg and happy eagle, who mentioned Bottas.

From my view reading the thread, the thing about a suitable no2 is that you have to be fast enough to win the WC in your own right. Fast enough so that the team can then manipulate qualifying/pit strategies, and maybe how they construct the car. It doesn't matter what RB do, they can't haul Perez' arse to the podium. Bottas was often has the worse of the pit strategies, which is forgotten about.

So when I read your "moneyball" suggestion of Hulk at RB, it tells me in a roundabout way you think he could be a WC. This is incredible considering how long his career is and having the indignifying record of most races without a win and podium.

You don't have to be fast enough to be a WC in your own right. You just have to be able to be up the near the front and in a position to be able to help with strategy. The perfect number 2 was Bottas at Mercedes. He was never going to win a title but was more often than not up the front and on occasion able to take advantage and win when Lewis didn't.