Formula 1

[LeftHack]

3 minutes ago, IMA2MINER said:

Yeap. That's what I am getting at, too many variables. This is why I said I don't put much stock in the first handful of races. Of course, they matter, but have to realistically curb any excitement that early. 

Agree about Leclerc. All the talk of Sainz going to Audi, I think realistically Ferrari would be insane to pass over Carlos to make room for Lewis. He is far more impressive in that team, as well as consistent. Every post-race Leclerc is bitching and moaning about something and casting blame. Even on bad days, Carlos's head is in the game, owns up to mistakes and is positive about moving forward. 

 

I'm surprised Ferrari did the switch. Lewis hasn't won since he passed 300 GP's and nobody has won passes 300 yet. If the last 2 years are any indication, Ferrari might have paid $300M+ ($50M salary and $250M contribution to his charity) for what might amount to one winless season. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Managed to catch the highlights this morning and can't say I was too surprised. 

I will still be really excited for the season regardless of how dominant Red Bull has been. 

I think a core issue is we had so many new viewers come in during the 2021 season which was likely the most intense and close battle for a long time. It had drama, fantastic races, so many different situations and controversy galore. No season is going to compare to that and this is more normal I would say. A team gets it right - Mercedes for 7 plus years, Williams for a long stretch, Ferrari for a long time and Red Bull for a period and now again. This is more how Formula 1 is in terms of normal I think and we just have to embrace the mid field and enjoy what the product. 

Or in my case enjoy Alpine being way at the back haha 

[ParFore74x]

The race definitely was not a surprise but I was able to enjoy Sainz being the first Ferrari so that’s a huge plus for me. 

[LeftHack]

2 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

The race definitely was not a surprise but I was able to enjoy Sainz being the first Ferrari so that’s a huge plus for me. 

Carlos is motivated after what Ferrari did. I'm still blown away by the idea of swapping him for Lewis. Lewis 6 years ago, maybe. But not Lewis today.

[ParFore74x]

38 minutes ago, LeftHack said:

Carlos is motivated after what Ferrari did. I'm still blown away by the idea of swapping him for Lewis. Lewis 6 years ago, maybe. But not Lewis today.

Totally agree. Lewis is a great driver at the end of his career. He’ll probably still be able to get podiums and even an occasional win but I feel that his championship run has come to an end. I hope that Sainz has an outstanding season in 2024 to show Ferrari that their decisions were premature. 

[LeftHack]

2 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

Totally agree. Lewis is a great driver at the end of his career. He’ll probably still be able to get podiums and even an occasional win but I feel that his championship run has come to an end. I hope that Sainz has an outstanding season in 2024 to show Ferrari that their decisions were premature. 

Lewis is living proof nobody wins after 300 GP's. I will be shocked if he ever pulls off another win because he would be the first. 

[ParFore74x]

11 minutes ago, LeftHack said:

Lewis is living proof nobody wins after 300 GP's. I will be shocked if he ever pulls off another win because he would be the first. 

I am not a Lewis fan but, I still think that he may have a couple more wins in him. I wonder if Mercedes heavily favors Russell this season to make it that much harder for Lewis to get one though. 

[LeftHack]

11 minutes ago, ParFore74x said:

I am not a Lewis fan but, I still think that he may have a couple more wins in him. I wonder if Mercedes heavily favors Russell this season to make it that much harder for Lewis to get one though. 

The only reason Lewis beat George last season was his DNF's. I think George will straight out drive him this year, then Charles will out drive him next and he will retire a rich bastard. He can still drive, but I think he's well past his prime. An 8th title is out of the question and he has nothing else left to prove. But $50M to drive a race car would be tough to walk away from. 

[ParFore74x]

Just now, LeftHack said:

The only reason Lewis beat George last season was his DNF's. I think George will straight out drive him this year, then Charles will out drive him next and he will retire a rich bastard. He can still drive, but I think he's well past his prime. An 8th title is out of the question and he has nothing else left to prove. But $50M to drive a race car would be tough to walk away from. 

Great points. I think I read $300 million next year with endorsements as well? Definitely couldn’t walk away from that. 

[LeftHack]

2 minutes ago, ParFore74x said:

Great points. I think I read $300 million next year with endorsements as well? Definitely couldn’t walk away from that. 

 

Yeah, $50M salary, $250M contribution to his charity. That is a huge payday. Charles was aware of the deal before he signed his. His contract is supposed to be to '29 with a performance opt out and he is still the #1 driver. Even if he loses to Carlos this year. 

[ParFore74x]

19 minutes ago, LeftHack said:

 

Yeah, $50M salary, $250M contribution to his charity. That is a huge payday. Charles was aware of the deal before he signed his. His contract is supposed to be to '29 with a performance opt out and he is still the #1 driver. Even if he loses to Carlos this year. 

Let’s be honest, although very unlikely, a Sainz championship would be ideal for 2024. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

2 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

Let’s be honest, although very unlikely, a Sainz championship would be ideal for 2024. 

That would be funny - where do you think Sainz goes next year?

[ParFore74x]

11 minutes ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

That would be funny - where do you think Sainz goes next year?

I have to think that he stays in a top team so Red Bull and Mercedes both make sense. Aston Martin could also show some interest if the other two don’t grab him. 

[LeftHack]

2 minutes ago, ParFore74x said:

I have to think that he stays in a top team so Red Bull and Mercedes both make sense. Aston Martin could also show some interest if the other two don’t grab him. 

His dad just won Dakar for Audi and it sounds like Audi might want him for their takeover. It might come down to a bidding war.

 

I would say he's definitely going somewhere, I would love to see what he could do in the RB21. 

[ParFore74x]

3 minutes ago, LeftHack said:

His dad just won Dakar for Audi and it sounds like Audi might want him for their takeover. It might come down to a bidding war.

 

I would say he's definitely going somewhere, I would love to see what he could do in the RB21. 

I keep forgetting about the Audi takeover in 2026, that’s a strong possibility as well and could be a solid chance at being a number 1 driver.

I would also love to see what he could do if he got back into a Red Bull. He’s become a solid driver so it could be just a 1-2 punch at every race. 

[IMA2MINER]

20 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

I would also love to see what he could do if he got back into a Red Bull. He’s become a solid driver so it could be just a 1-2 punch at every race. 

Sainz has come a long way since Renault. He deserves a championship-caliber car and team. I would have no qualms about a move to Merc or RB for him. With the whole RB/Honrer fiasco ongoing (which I'm not totally sold on, as Jos is) and many drivers contracts ending this year, it could be one hell of a silly season coming up. 

20 hours ago, ParFore74x said:

I keep forgetting about the Audi takeover in 2026, that’s a strong possibility as well and could be a solid chance at being a number 1 driver.

 

That's also what I was thinking as well. He would end up with Audi in the end

Edited March 4 by IMA2MINER

[LeftHack]

After reading this, it's not out of the realm of possibilities. And I bet he still wins in a Merc.  

 

Gerhard Berger, a close friend of Marko, who said that: “As of now: Horner stays, Helmut Marko and Adrian Newey quit and Max goes to Mercedes.”

[LeakyValve]

Oh boy. I wasn't sure I'd find it. But I'm glad I did. 

 

Horner gets canned

Max to Merc

Sainz to Aston

Danny Ric to Lead Red bull team

Perez stays

Yuki complains

Vettel comes back

Alsonso retires 

[LeftHack]

5 minutes ago, LeakyValve said:

Oh boy. I wasn't sure I'd find it. But I'm glad I did. 

 

Horner gets canned

Max to Merc

Sainz to Aston

Danny Ric to Lead Red bull team

Perez stays

Yuki complains

Vettel comes back

Alsonso retires 

 

I don't see Seb coming back, but I would agree with the rest of it. Good call. 

[LeakyValve]

16 minutes ago, LeftHack said:

 

I don't see Seb coming back, but I would agree with the rest of it. Good call. 

I'd love so see srb come in with Audi. Even for a year

[IMA2MINER]

20 hours ago, LeakyValve said:

Oh boy. I wasn't sure I'd find it. But I'm glad I did. 

 

Horner gets canned

Max to Merc

Sainz to Aston

Danny Ric to Lead Red bull team

Perez stays

Yuki complains

Vettel comes back

Alsonso retires 

Not sure on Seb coming back. He appears to be as happy as he was after his 2nd WDC.

Max to Merc is gaining a lot of traction it seems. Wonder if Jos's whole master plan is to use this Horner fiasco as an easy path to get Max into Merc. As wasnt one of the exit clauses in Max's contract based on Marko leaving? Or something along those lines. 
If he does go to Merc, I sure hope he takes Newey with him. Nothing against Allison, but Newey is a cut above. 

Edited March 5 by IMA2MINER

[LeakyValve]

22 minutes ago, IMA2MINER said:

Not sure on Seb coming back. He appears to be as happy as he was after his 2nd WDC.

Max to Merc is gaining a lot of traction it seems. Wonder if Jos's whole master plan is to use this Horner fiasco as an easy path to get Max into Merc. As wasnt one of the exit clauses in Max's contract based on Marko leaving? Or something along those lines. 
If he does go to Merc, I sure hope he takes Newey with him. Nothing against Allison, but Newey is a cut above. 

Yeah that's what I was seeing too. That Marko out meant max could go out. That would be wild. Newey to Merc. Allison leaves with newish to Ferrari. Silly season is the whole season this year. And all this stuff about the FIA Prez is wild. 

[IMA2MINER]

5 minutes ago, LeakyValve said:

Silly season is the whole season this year.

Ha, it's really shaping up that way and weirdly, I'm more excited to see how things are shaping for next year than I am for the current season and the drivers. 

[mikeanthony]

An 18yr old driving a Ferrari during FP3 in Saudi Arabia is wild.

[ParFore74x]

8 hours ago, mikeanthony said:

An 18yr old driving a Ferrari during FP3 in Saudi Arabia is wild.

Very unexpected but I’m now hoping that he has a decent race tomorrow. Would be cool to see him finish in the points. 

[LeakyValve]

Happy for Oli for the race. Great drive. Those Mercs gotta figure something out. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

Watched but in the background. At least a little more happened this race and there were some less expected performances. 

It certainly looks to be a awfully predictable season though.

[KC Golf]

On 3/8/2024 at 3:58 PM, ParFore74x said:

Very unexpected but I’m now hoping that he has a decent race tomorrow. Would be cool to see him finish in the points. 

Solidly finishing in the points on his first drive is really a tremendous accomplishment. Really happy to see. Shows that there are a lot of talented juniors coming up the ranks. 

[GolfSpy_APH]

1 minute ago, KC Golf said:

Solidly finishing in the points on his first drive is really a tremendous accomplishment. Really happy to see. Shows that there are a lot of talented juniors coming up the ranks. 

Now we just need an 11th and 12th team and for a few drivers to exit and we are set!

[ParFore74x]

3 minutes ago, KC Golf said:

Solidly finishing in the points on his first drive is really a tremendous accomplishment. Really happy to see. Shows that there are a lot of talented juniors coming up the ranks. 

Absolutely agree, he had a solid drive. Drivers that don’t have contracts for 2025 might want to watch over their shoulder for Ollie.