F1 2020 (spoilers abound)

Perez has been in F1 for ten years and none of the top teams have been that interested in him in that time, probably because they don’t need the cash he brings and he cant get a top team on talent alone

He had a year at McLaren when they were still at the top. Arguably went there too soon in his career though.

all drivers should have a ten year limit

So thery’re out of a job they dedicated their entire lives to before they’re 30?

Ridiculous

Perez has been in F1 for ten years and none of the top teams have been that interested in him in that time

He spent one year at McLaren alongside Button. That was the year that McLaren started going downhill. Button was 9th in the championship (73 points), Perez was 11th (49 points). Button’s best finish was 4th, Perez’s was 5th. I think he’s like Hulkenberg and Magnussen – he’s a decent driver, but not quite at the level of the very best. Question is, is Vettel actually any better? He sure hasn’t been driving like a World Champion the last couple of years.

Mr Stroll doesn’t seem entirely daft. If they can pitch to Vettel as a team that he’ll fit into and/or will reorganise to suit then it could help Vettel get going again. a change is as good as a break after all….

So thery’re out of a job they dedicated their entire lives to before they’re 30?

Ridiculous

You selected quoted the punchline without the setup. If they are arse, why shouldn’t they be made to leave instead of cluttering up the back of the grid.

There have been some real stinkers over the years; artificially kept on the grid due to sponsorship. It devalues the brand of F1

F1 has always had pay drivers (gentlemen drivers back in the day).

If Vettel going to Racing Force Aston Point means Perez going to Haas, keeping them in F1, and saving hundreds of jobs then that’s good news.

And Stroll certainly isn’t the worst pay driver there’s been!

So thery’re out of a job they dedicated their entire lives to before they’re 30?

Ridiculous

They haven’t dedicated their entire lives to being an F1 driver, it is the pinnacle of a racing drivers career, there are plenty of other formula’s and championships/challenges out there they can go in to and try to conquer after spending 10 years in F1 along with plenty of behind the scenes jobs within the F1 teams or the media

Imagine if you were told you couldn’t have a job because the other person going for it who was crapper at it than you but because they bought money to the job or had family connections meant you would never get a chance

F1 needs a drivers salary cap, no pay to drive drivers and a driver time limit but as F1 is money driven these things really are never going to happen!

F1 needs a drivers salary cap, no pay to drive drivers and a driver time limit but as F1 is money driven these things really are never going to happen!

…make them all drive the same cars while were at it! 🙂

You can argue Lando is a pay driver and also that Perez is a pay driver and many others. Few drivers achieve the levels of Lewis where they get paid a massive wage by a team. Most of their wage comes from sponsors.

In simplistic terms Perez’s sponsors bring millions to a team for his seat and Perez is paid by his sponsors. The team may pay him a little, but the majority of his salary comes from sponsors.

F1 needs a drivers salary cap, no pay to drive drivers and a driver time limit

What I would like to see is all teams being allowed to choose one driver and the other seat being made available for the highest ranked driver who wants it. For example, Merc would obviously sign Hamilton for one seat. As Bottas came second last season, he would get to choose whichever team he wanted, which would be Merc. Red Bull and Ferrari have Verstappen and Leclerc signed, so Vettel could choose to drive a Ferrari or a Red Bull if he wanted, then Sainz would be allowed to choose.

Obviously, the teams would never accept this, but something like that would give talented drivers a chance of working their way up to more competitive cars.

Did Robert go out this morning? Didn’t hear anything about Alfa on the BBC.

Did Robert go out this morning? Didn’t hear anything about Alfa on the BBC.

Yes.

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1047/hungary/practice-1.html

hols2

https://www.formula1.com/en/results.html/2020/races/1047/hungary/practice-1.html

Ah yeah, thanks. Both of the Saubers were slow AF. Assume/hope RK was doing high fuel runs or something to be that far back from George Russell.

Personally I can’t Vettel going to Racing Point, they are too closely linked with Mercedes, I think he’s trying to force Red Bull’s hand as they are the only team with a car that could challenge Mercedes.

Red Bull are saying that they are happy with Albon, but there is only so long that they will accept his level of performance, Red Bull if they are to be a championship contending team need two quick drivers.

Red Bull rejected Vettel. His only chance is Racing Point.

Albon’s performance on Sunday was fine, he was carrying a car issue. He did extremely well to hold onto 4th given that the Racing Point was actually lapping 4/10ths quicker than either of the Mercedes. He’s only had 1 full season in F1 and that was with two different teams. Albon and Norris are the future. Feisty drivers with proper personality.

And Stroll certainly isn’t the worst pay driver there’s been!

Does it count as a pay driver if you get your Dad to buy the team? 😂

to go against the trend here and stick up for Perez, he is exactly the kind of driver a decent mid-field team should be looking for.
They want the fastest they can get. They can’t afford a Hamilton or a Verstappen and they won’t join a team who can’t give them a chance at a title anyway. If the driver actually brings money rather than costing it then even better. So what do they want?
They need someone who can consistantly bring the car home at the back end of the top ten and get points more often than not. Perez can do this, Grosjean can’t.
They need someone who can capitalise on the mad races where the big teams are out of contention and hold it together to take a surprise podium. Perez can do this. Hulkenberg couldn’t. Grosjean used to be able to.
Sainz is another who would fit this bill but he’s got his shot at the big time now. Norris? Hopefully a star in the making, time will tell, see also: Russel. I can see Gasley taking on the Perez mantel of decent midfield driver when he does eventually retire, I would love to see him take a win before he goes though, maybe Tracing Point can get a surprise victory this year, they only need four cars to be out of contention rather than the usual six…

TBH, some of the anti-Vettel vitriol on here is pretty crass and uncalled for. He’s had his moments of petulance, but who on the grid hasn’t? Crikey, I remember Mansell’s inevitable fortnightly whinge about some slight or other during his championship year, by comparison Vettel comes across pretty well.
“Seb – what’s your favorite James Bond car?”

Am on the fence with Perez. On one hand you’ve Jo Ramirez’s very public lambasting of him when they were both at McLaren, on the other he’s good enough to go toe to toe with a vaunted Ocon when they were at Force India.

He makes Stroll look pedestrian too.

TBH, some of the anti-Vettel vitriol on here is pretty crass and uncalled for. He’s had his moments of petulance, but who on the grid hasn’t?

I haven’t noticed any vitriol. I don’t think the petulance is the problem with Vettel (Verstappen is much worse, IMO), the problem is that he seems to have forgotten how to race. He threw away two championship challenges with unforced mistakes.If Alonso had been in the Ferrari, there’s a good chance he would have won a championship or two, or at least have pushed Hamilton right to the end. Vettel just seemed to mentally collapse mid-year and Hamilton romped away.

Here’s the latest one for you, there’s generally a few comments per race too

For being a whinging, arrogant, selfish, entitled substitute of a former world championship driver.

Ok, fair enough, problem is that the important part of the sentence is this: “substitute of a former world championship driver.” Verstappen is another excellent example, it’s very hard to like him as a person due to his petulance, but I don’t think anyone denies that he is an amazingly skilled driver. Problem for Vettel is that he seems to have forgotten how to drive so there doesn’t seem to be any point to keeping him around.

I actually quite like Vettel’s british humour. You cant become a Champion without a sense of arrogance etc. But isnt this just symptomatic of our approach to sportpersons to kick them when they are down. Its not just Vettel that hasnt brought his A game to the party this year.

Perez is very special in nursing his tyres and getting the car to the finish line. I think he is vastly underated in that sense.

This subject is a regular on the F1 threads.
I’m not a fan of Vettel. I wasn’t when he was winning either. He was the champion at getting a pole, blasting off out of DRS range and then sitting there. He certainly didn’t do much wheel to wheel and when he came under pressure he frequently fluffed it. Then when Danny R turned up and out drove him followed by LeClerc doing the same at Ferrari I can’t see him doing much again. I’m certain he’d rather be teamed with Stroll than Perez but there was no way he’d be allowed in a Red Bull because he’d demand to be #1 with team orders to keep Verstappen under control. No way that would work.
Lewis seems to have come the other way with most of the anti comments seeming to be about his interests durning his time away from the track.

I can’t Vettel going to Racing Point, they are too closely linked with Mercedes

Yeah, what would a German manufacturer want with the only German driver on the grid; and vice versa?

the red bull looks terrible, a right handful and more spins.

Well, based on that one practice session, I would say that Perez is a bit quicker than Stroll and that replacing Perez with Vettel would be a mistake.

On the basis of that one session, you would put Norris in the Ferrari and not Sainz. And you may say Stroll is better than Verstappen.

But it’s just one session, so it would be a mistake to do that

Interesting times from that session (though I didn’t watch/listen/read along to it so I don’t know the context): Mercedes and Alfa both have their drivers putting in similar times to each other; Renault and Haas’s pairings are split by two tenths, but all the other teams have quite a sizeable delta between their cars. Russell and Norris both smashing it again; let’s see what they can do later on…

On the basis of that one session, you would put Norris in the Ferrari

Norris has been looking very impressive this year. Ferrari may be wondering if they poached the wrong driver.

I’m not a fan of Vettel. I wasn’t when he was winning either. He was the champion at getting a pole, blasting off out of DRS range and then sitting there. He certainly didn’t do much wheel to wheel and when he came under pressure he frequently fluffed it. Then when Danny R turned up and out drove him followed by LeClerc doing the same at Ferrari I can’t see him doing much again.

Its this for me.  I didn’t mind him at all but for me it all went down hill with “Multi 21” and every antic that followed that, bashing Hamiltons car f’rinstance, with which it tagged him as a petulant sore loser in my book.

Norris is a handy talent. Third in the championship!

And the McLaren looks like a good car this year, so both he and Sainz should be able to mop up some good points while the big names struggle.

I assume we just ignore things like Hamilton trying to hobble Alonsos Hungary qualifying back in the fuel burn days (only for Alonso to not put up with it at all and sit in the pit box just long enough to make sure it all kicked off) when both were at McLaren. Or Vettel going around the outside of Alonso on Curva Grande at Monza. There was another corker I stumbled across recently, but you’d think on this forum that he’s always just gone straight into the barrier any time he’s near another car. A quick look on YouTube shows plenty of wheel to wheel racing with Vettel, I feel this place is just blinkered towards him for some odd reason

mercs are playing with them! nearly a second faster than the fezzer on harder tyres !

blimey, mercs wining every race of the season ?

Mercs 1-2-3-4, let the protests begin!

I’m guessing that everyone will be switching resources to developing the 2022 cars starting Monday.

Mercs 1-2-3-4, let the protests begin!

Dear Ferrari, we’d like to complain about you cheating in your engine fuel flow settings, being caught and then supplying us with an engine that’s considerably down on power.

That sort of protest?

Salary cut for Adrian Newey next year?

https://the-race.com/formula-1/gary-anderson-explains-red-bulls-aero-instability-puzzle/

We are accustomed to a sun-baked and humid Hungaroring, this weekend we are expected to see temperatures in the low twenties at best possibly with a wet race too. The Racing Points have found their natural pace here, it’s a surprise to see Red Bull with such a twitchy car, both Verstappen and Albon are struggling to make it work. Thank you hols2 (again!) for the link to The Race for Gary Anderson’s take – most informative.

The midfield now seems to be anyone not in either this year’s or last year’s Merc. Red Bull and Ferrari are under achieving, Ferrari have a good chassis but are down on power unexpectedly which has resulted in the design optimization between downforce and drag being unable to be compensated for by brute power. The Red Bull seems to be a bitey wee bastard, down on both power and driveability compared with Mercedes.

The fight for second and third in the Constructor’s Championship is going to be entertaining, for sure.

I’m guessing that everyone will be switching resources to developing the 2022 cars starting Monday.

The teams all agreed to pause development of the 2022 cars over lockdown and concentrate on the current cars that they have to carry over to 2021. They will all be throwing whatever they have at the current chassis as if they don’t the competition will and they’ll go backwards. No team will stop developing this current chassis until May/June 2021 or that they hit it’s development limit. The midfield competition is far too fierce for anyone to sit back and as the usual 1.5 seconds is found over a season of development even Mercedes will have to develop. They have a luxury of a performance cushion so their goal will be to get this year done, work on the carry-over chassis for the winter and if they still have a good margin for 2021 over the rest they can switch to the 2022 car gradually and early. Being the leaders with a big advantage hands them so much extra advantage for the next few years it’s unreal.