Formula 1 Discussion - Page 19

On August 13 2019 11:52 Ben... wrote:
As a fan of Albon, I'm both excited but also pretty concerned. He's clearly quite talented just like a lot of these younger guys (Norris, Russell, Verstappen, Leclerc, etc.) but I just don't want the Red Bull meat grinder to get him like it has with so many others. With that team it either goes really well like it has with Verstappen, Vettel, and Ricciardo, or it goes horribly.

Albon has had some pretty good performances given he'd never even driven an F1 car before testing and got 6th place in a race that also happened to be the first time he ever drove an F1 car in the rain. Pretty crazy. This Red Bull promotion is even crazier considering his previous career trajectory. He was supposed to be in Formula E, and last year almost didn't have a F2 seat, which would have killed his career, but was given a seat by the DAMS team principal despite Albon having limited backing.

But yeah, something had to be done about Gasly. He's literally costing Red Bull millions in prize money right now since they are third in the standings when they have the car to be second easily with two consistent drivers. Ferrari isn't quite in the mix with Red Bull and Mercedes but Verstappen can't outscore both Vettel and Leclerc by himself.

Curious to see what will happen with Bottas. He was Bottas 2.0 for a bit but has now regressed back to Bottas 1.0. He's costing Mercedes quite a few points and is collecting a smaller proportion of points versus Hamilton. There was a comparison article between Bottas and Rosberg, and Rosberg used to get between 45-50% of the team's points compared to Hamilton whereas Bottas gets only around 40%, and last year was even worse. He does seem to get along with Hamilton and not cause trouble though so I imagine that will be a factor in their decision. Bottas tends to have strong starts to seasons and weaker second halves so it could get worse for him.

I want to see Ocon racing again next year. He's too good to be on the sidelines. Either give him Bottas' seat or let him sign with a different team. Put him in Grosjean's Haas seat then let him and Magnussen piss everyone off. That'd be fun.

On August 14 2019 03:08 KobraKay wrote:


This is a completely honest question that I have yet to see anyone reply to me. Why is Ocon "too good to be on the sidelines"?

From the question you may get that I completely oppose that notion xD but I would really like to understand why have I seen this written a couple of times accross internet F1 forums.

As a side note, Ocon will probably not get a Mercedes seat (unless it is a very very short term). Russel should be the next in line to be nurtured as no2 gaining exp and follow as no1 when Hamilton retires (or moves to Ferrari - half kidding).

On August 14 2019 23:12 Excludos wrote:

It's more like Chelsea vs ManU. If you're at one and is already paid higher than the other team is willing to pay, there is little to no reason to switch. Especially if the team you're on is winning consistently over the other. The Ferrari "history", "reputation" and "soul" has much more sway with the casual fan that it has on the drivers themselves. They don't care much besides getting a championship winning car.



He's already at $57 mill at Mercedes. Vettel, for comparison, is paid $45 mill this year.

I agree Vettel is probably going to retire either this year or next year at the latest. He just doesn't have it in him any more. But there is no indication that Hamilton is willing to make the downgrade switch.