F1 2021 – spoilers here

Villeneuve at it again. Stroll to Merc in a swap with Bottas! 😀

https://www.planetf1.com/news/jv-lance-stroll-mercedes-idea/

b230ftw
Free Member

MV driving the damaged car was no biggie, it’s not as if he did much on the track afterwards.

Probably an absolute doddle and he just wasn’t trying

Hamilton doesn’t make the decision and doesn’t have a veto over his teammate.

I’d be very surprised indeed if he doesn’t have a direct say (which personally I think he does) or that the team won’t listen “very carefully” to any suggestions he makes.

Hamilton won’t care less who partners him

I think he’d care very much if Russell (like Verstappen has a habit of doing) putting his car in a position where you’re either forced into a crash or forced to avoid, and ceding the place…

Hamilton…. doesn’t have a veto over his teammate

You can’t possibly know that…just cos that’s what they say in public. I’d be amazed if Hamilton doesn’t have a huge influence on who is next teammate will be (formally or otherwise)

Stroll to Merc in a swap with Bottas!

I’ve heard the Stroll to Mercedes rumour before TBF, it pops up reasonably frequently. Stroll snr and Wolff are friends apparently, and after all, it’s not like Stroll is unfamiliar with the car!

I’d be amazed if Hamilton doesn’t have a huge influence on who is next teammate will be

Oh, they’ll certainly listen to his opinion, and he seems to be very happy having Bottas as teammate, but the team will make a decision based on what they think is best for the team. Hamilton cannot veto another driver if the team decide that’s who they want, especially when you see how impressive Russell has been this year and how unimpressive Bottas has.

Perez goes well on hard tyres on long stints while others pit around him.

Hope Gasly gets a chance somewhere else. He’s in a good environment a the moment whereas RB seems a bit poisonous unless you’re MV.

Hamilton cannot veto another driver if the team decide that’s who they want

again, how do you know? for all we know he could have an explicit veto written into his contract

Hope Gasly gets a chance somewhere else. He’s in a good environment a the moment whereas RB seems a bit poisonous unless you’re MV

yeah he shouldn’t go back there even if he’s offered it. he’s making noises suggesting he would but I guess that’s to make himself more saleable elsewhere

for all we know he could have an explicit veto written into his contract

He doesn’t.

Maybe you could have answered the important part in the question, the part that you failed to quote.

again, how do you know?

I think thols2 is actually Toto.

Or Lewis.

Because Hamilton is not part of the management team, he’s an employee. A very important employee, but he’s not hired to be part of the management team. They will listen to his opinions, especially on matters relating to the car, but the managers make the ultimate decisions. That’s how Mercedes is organized, as a business, run by business people. So, they probably wouldn’t hire a driver that Hamilton had a good reason to object to (somebody who engaged in racist trolling online, for example), but that’s kinda moot anyway because Merc wouldn’t consider anyone who didn’t behave professionally on track and off track. George Russell has not behaved in any way that Hamilton would have a genuine reason to object. Being a good driver is not a reason that Hamilton could raise as an objection – the Merc management are not going to have an employee tell them they cannot hire somebody because they are too good. Does anyone seriously believe that Merc will let Hamilton refuse to drive alongside someone because he’s afraid of being beaten?

Let’s have a think who Hamilton’s team mates have been!…

• Alonso
• Kovalainen
• Button
• Rosberg
• Bottas

…three World Champions, one OK driver in Kovalainen, and very good driver in Bottas.

I’d say Lewis doesn’t care who sits on the opposite side of the garage.

I’d say Lewis doesn’t care who sits on the opposite side of the garage.

Exactly.

Quote from Toto at the Styrian GP a few weeks ago…

Speaking in today’s FIA press conference, Wolff said any discussions regarding who will drive alongside Hamilton at the team will be held openly but primarily with whichever driver would fill that role. “Lewis is part of the team and has always been in the inner circle of decision making because simply we value his opinion,” Wolff said. “And in the same way, when we’re talking about drivers, there’s nothing we’re not sharing with him. It’s transparent.

That, for me at least indicates that if Lewis had strong opinions about a driver, it would carry more than a little weight

 Does anyone seriously believe that Merc will let Hamilton refuse to drive alongside someone because he’s afraid of being beaten?

I don’t think it’s that, we see what happens when drivers who have little to no responsibility currently suddenly have the pressure of having to routinely put a car on the first couple of rows. (see Albon and Gasly) I think in Russels’ case if I was Hamilton I’d be worried about him driving recklessly.

I’d say Lewis doesn’t care who sits on the opposite side of the garage.

As long as he comes out on top…Of that list he had a fraught/difficult relationship with Alonso, Button and Rosberg.. Button even says in his autobiography that Hamilton was clearly annoyed/peeved by his arrival at Malaren and was clearly worried that Button would shift the focus of the team away from him. Hamilton a Rosberg don’t speak after 18 years of friendship after their time together at Mercedes.

I’d imagine Hamilton can do without the distraction of a team mate that he has to think about

if Lewis had strong opinions about a driver, it would carry more than a little weight

That’s not the same thing as having a veto. It’s pretty hard to see any reason to object to Russell. Hamilton likes having Bottas as a teammate, but Russell looks to be outstandingly fast and that’s what matters to Merc. Sure they’ll talk to Hamilton, but they will hire the best driver they can find. If they decide that Russell is the best available, they’ll ignore Hamilton.

Hamilton a Rosberg don’t speak after 18 years of friendship after their time together at Mercedes.

That feud was pretty childish, but Rosberg was a bit of a dick. I don’t think I’d really want to hang out with either of them, to be honest, they don’t sound like fun dudes.

If they decide that Russell is the best available, they’ll ignore Hamilton

If you’re right and Russell is in the Mercedes, it’ll be exciting times ahead! I get the point you’re making that teams don’t care as long as a driver is fast…I think they will care if Russell starts with the sorts of driving he earned a rep for in the lower formulas alongside Hamilton and it starts to eat into the budget

either Verstappen is a genius who can wring amazing performances out of a recalcitrant car, or he has a car designed around him and his specific feedback requirements

Well, if you’re the former then you get given the latter, so it’s most probably both.

On the Mercedes second seat, I don’t doubt that Hamilton gets to have his input, but fundamentally the team know that he’s now in his 15th year in F1 and has a long and growing list of side projects. He’s not going to be hanging around like Kimi just hoovering up money because the young driver programmes aren’t delivering; personally I think they’ll need to start getting Russell properly bedded in before long.

And Bottas’s total reversal of his petulant driving earlier in the year could imply one of two things: it could mean he’s angling for a new wingman contract, or it could mean he knows he’s moving on next year and will look better being the consummate team player than deluding himself that he’s ever going to win a title with Mercedes.

Second seat for Red Bull has to be Perez, I think. They know Gasly will want to compete with Max but won’t be able to, and they wouldn’t let him anyway—they were protective enough of Vettel, they’re doubly so of Verstappen—whereas Perez is happy enough in the second driver role, he just needs to get on top of the car more consistently.

And—especially in light of Honda’s withdrawal—I’d wonder whether Tsunoda is barely clinging on to his Alpha Tauri seat, the way he’s handling everything. Judging by the radio, running him in a team must be like pumping Nigel Mansell full of amphetamines and giving him a megaphone, but without the ballsy drives that make it worthwhile.

And—especially in light of Honda’s withdrawal—I’d wonder whether Tsunoda is barely clinging on to his Alpha Tauri seat,

My guess is that Red Bull want to keep Honda as a potential technical partner or sponsor. I think a lot of people within Honda wanted to continue but were overruled by the board (who have decided to focus on decarbonization). The engine program along with some Japanese technical staff has been transferred to Red Bull, but I’m sure Honda retain IP ownership. There are a lot of F1 fans in Japan and they are really proud of Honda’s achievements, so pumping $50 million into the Red Bull teams to keep the Honda name on the cars is probably not a big deal for the Honda marketing budget. I’m pretty sure Tsunoda is there because there are people within Honda who want to stay involved and are willing to pay for it.

Dan Ticktum dropped mid-season from Williams junior programme here.

Dude seems pretty determined to make himself unhireable.

Seidl thinks Horner’s a dick too

And I definitely will not go in the direction Christian is going, mentioning in every second sentence the cost cap and how much you get hurt by it by every accident on the track

Ticktum is one of those people who cannot seem to be able to help himself and rarely misses an opportunity to sabotage his own career.

So far we’ve seen the F4 race where he overtook ten cars under the safety car to t-bone a rival and nerf them off the track, accusations toward Mick Schumacher of cheating, getting hammered with his equally graceless then g/f and being abusive on social media, an ill considered remark that he might intentionally crash into a rival and allegations that he physically assaulted an engineer.

He must’ve consistently pissed someone off at Williams to be ejected mid-year like this.

Dan Ticktum dropped mid-season from Williams

“wow, what a surprise, didn’t see that coming” Said no-one ever. Wasn’t he kicked of the Red Bull programme for…er…being a dick?

nickc

“wow, what a surprise, didn’t see that coming” Said no-one ever. Wasn’t he kicked of the Red Bull programme for…er…being a dick?

Yeah, also known as Devon Butler if you’ve played F1 2019.

His crash in 2015 should have been a lifetime ban imo. Proper 🔔🔚

Dan Ticktum, the guy who makes Tommy Byrne look like a marketing man’s golden boy…

I may have missed it here, but questions are being raised about Spa’s again safety after another massive crash last weekend in the GT race. Absolutely amazing no one was hurt.

Absolutely amazing no one was hurt killed.

https://www.motorsport.com/gtwce-endurance/news/aitken-sustained-fractures-spa-24-hours-crash/6640244/

Jeez, that’s a really bad one…

I wonder if that spot would be better off with the barriers that are designed to “catch” the car, techpro I think they’re called, as the problem there was that the car that crashed initially bounced back onto the track off of the tyre wall.

The only other options I can think of are moving the bank back and reprofiling the crest so it isn’t blind which are huge jobs, or tightening eau rouge so that the cars are slower through Raidillon, which would make me sad.

as the problem there was that the car that crashed initially bounced back onto the track off of the tyre wall.

That and either yellows not being shown immediately or the following cars not heeding them (sufficiently) The car which was hit had already come to a halt, the following cars must have seen something amiss up ahead but kept their foot in, I know it’s blind but there was a.lot of tyre smoke and then (presumably?) yellows

[Edit] watched it again and there really wasn’t much time before the second impact with the other car but that second car clearly hadn’t lifted, never mind braked, and he must have seen the initial impact

Same place as the crash which killed Hubert 2 years ago, and very similar in that a car rebounded into the track before being collected by another. They have to change something here – despite it being one of the classic sections of track it has simply too dangerous as it stands.

Needs big run offs on both sides do cars that go off the track stay off the track. A big job with the trees and grandstands etc. but how else can they keep the layout there.

thegreatape

Needs big run offs on both sides do cars that go off the track stay off the track. A big job with the trees and grandstands etc. but how else can they keep the layout there.

They’re putting gravel in on one side to meet bike regs I think, not sure if anything can really be done on the other given the building is there. The real issue as I see it is that the top part is entirely blind.

PS Anyone remember kimi going flat throguh the smoke there? People said it was brave at the time. I always thought it was pure madness.

Yup, I always thought it was a dumb move – but then the striking thing about most racing drivers/riders is their complete lack of imagination. You or I look at situations like that and imagine all the ways things could go wrong, those scenarios never even enter their heads.

It’s also why I’m a huge fan of Le Mans style slow zones rather than double waved yellows – it gives the drivers a proscribed delta that they must be over in a given area, and if they’re under it they get a drive-through.

PS Anyone remember kimi going flat throguh the smoke there? People said it was brave at the time. I always thought it was pure madness.

Was actually the first thing I thought of when I was the video from last weekend.

I know a lot of people think Nascar is pretty neanderthal, but I think I’d be too terrified to drive one of those things at those speeds, let alone race in a pack of a couple of dozen of them.

love this. Interesting to see how much the drivers know about their sport