EPTFormula 1 Discussion - Page 44
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Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
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Amui
Canada10567 Posts
Bottas no longer has Mercedes in his IG profile, and Russell doesn't have Williams any more. Perez's bro posted a pic of a trophy next to a freezer of RB. https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/k8rty3/sergio_perez_brother_just_uploaded_this_to_ig/ Merc would have to buyout Bottas, and buyout Russell to make it happen. Would easily cost them an 8 digit sum of money to make it happen. It's one hell of an expensive way to do a driver swap(don't think it'll happen tbh), but could we see Bottas back to Williams, and Russell in the Merc next year? As for Perez, RB said all their drivers needed to be able to win races? Well Perez just got one. Fast? Perez was the second fastest driver on track, in a car that's fighting for 3rd best. Albon's had a season and a half to get better in the RB, and quite frankly, he's stagnated, just not being able to get any closer at all. Even on a track with just 3 big braking zones to nail, and 4 real corners, he's miles off Verstappen. | ||
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Laurens
Belgium4553 Posts
Like you said it would cost them a crazy amount of money. Also Bottas is still finishing 2nd in WDC, there doesn't seem to be a point in swapping him with Russell. "Russell needs experience with the car" no longer applies after this weekend. Bottas does everything Merc wants him to do, Russell should be Hamilton's replacement when Lewis retires, not Bottas'. | ||
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fLyiNgDroNe
Belgium4038 Posts
On December 08 2020 18:15 Laurens wrote: Bottas does everything Merc wants him to do, Russell should be Hamilton's replacement when Lewis retires, not Bottas'. Thats a super valid point, I could totally believe this is their approach. Its just that the "casual viewer" would see this as a real dick move from Merc to not even try making the sport more interesting. They couldn't care less though probably. If no changes happen in the top teams, the next year is going to suck, just like this one did. Oh well, we get 39yo Alonso in Renault and 41yo Kimi in AlfaRomeo. | ||
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Belisarius
Australia6233 Posts
Hamilton in that car is a guaranteed 300+ points. All they need from their second driver to lock up the WCC on repeat is: 1) a podium more often than not, and 2) to stay the hell out of Lewis's way. Sure, someone like Max or Ricciardo would push Lewis harder, but what's the point? For every extra 1-2 they earn there's probably an 8/DNF where they touch and torpedo something fighting for the front, and they'd cost more too. Valtteri is the F1 equivalent of a Volvo driver and that's exactly what they need him to be. As long as the car keeps carrying him, my money is on Bottas providing Russell the same service as he has Hamilton. | ||
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Amui
Canada10567 Posts
On December 08 2020 20:29 fLyiNgDroNe wrote: Thats a super valid point, I could totally believe this is their approach. Its just that the "casual viewer" would see this as a real dick move from Merc to not even try making the sport more interesting. They couldn't care less though probably. If no changes happen in the top teams, the next year is going to suck, just like this one did. Oh well, we get 39yo Alonso in Renault and 41yo Kimi in AlfaRomeo. I don't mind Alonso in Renault as much. He left on his own terms, to go race everything else under the sun and drive competitive machinery. Even at 39, he's hungry and one of the best drivers across motorsport. Kimi on the other hand, has been steadily declining. Whether it's age or motivation, he's not the super fast driver of the 2000's any more. I was sad to see him renew his seat because I think it should've gone to somebody younger and faster, but he is probably worth more to Alfa sponsorship-wise than most pay drivers. Side note on the Russell thing, totally unsubstantiated rumor on reddit (second hand from RTL) that RB is considering poaching GR for the second seat. Would put Merc in a bit of a bind if true. They can't really afford to lose George because he's their future, but he also doesn't really want a third year in a Williams that couldn't get a point in his hands. If true though, that would be a totally valid reason for Merc to buyout Bottas and stick Russell into the Merc despite the huge price tag attached to it. | ||
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fLyiNgDroNe
Belgium4038 Posts
On December 09 2020 17:16 Amui wrote: I don't mind Alonso in Renault as much. He left on his own terms, to go race everything else under the sun and drive competitive machinery. Even at 39, he's hungry and one of the best drivers across motorsport. Kimi on the other hand, has been steadily declining. Whether it's age or motivation, he's not the super fast driver of the 2000's any more. I was sad to see him renew his seat because I think it should've gone to somebody younger and faster, but he is probably worth more to Alfa sponsorship-wise than most pay drivers. Side note on the Russell thing, totally unsubstantiated rumor on reddit (second hand from RTL) that RB is considering poaching GR for the second seat. Would put Merc in a bit of a bind if true. They can't really afford to lose George because he's their future, but he also doesn't really want a third year in a Williams that couldn't get a point in his hands. If true though, that would be a totally valid reason for Merc to buyout Bottas and stick Russell into the Merc despite the huge price tag attached to it. Yes my bad, I wasn't all that clear. I'm not against either of them really and I do have huge respect for Alonso, however in a sport with 20 seats for the whole world, I would definitely prefer to see some younger/new talent to get a shot rather than bringing back an ex-champion. But obviously, I see marketing and publicity value in such a move from Renault. If rumors are true and RB is playing in the direction of GR, thats pretty cool. Thats what we probably need now to shake things up - regardless if RB get him or Merc starts countering. | ||
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Excludos
Norway8231 Posts
On December 09 2020 17:16 Amui wrote: I don't mind Alonso in Renault as much. He left on his own terms, to go race everything else under the sun and drive competitive machinery. Even at 39, he's hungry and one of the best drivers across motorsport. Kimi on the other hand, has been steadily declining. Whether it's age or motivation, he's not the super fast driver of the 2000's any more. I was sad to see him renew his seat because I think it should've gone to somebody younger and faster, but he is probably worth more to Alfa sponsorship-wise than most pay drivers. Side note on the Russell thing, totally unsubstantiated rumor on reddit (second hand from RTL) that RB is considering poaching GR for the second seat. Would put Merc in a bit of a bind if true. They can't really afford to lose George because he's their future, but he also doesn't really want a third year in a Williams that couldn't get a point in his hands. If true though, that would be a totally valid reason for Merc to buyout Bottas and stick Russell into the Merc despite the huge price tag attached to it. Toto Wolf is Russell's manager, so we can pretty confidently claim that this is not happening. | ||
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LennX
4564 Posts
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Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
Haas has already had to come out and apologize twice in the last 4 days for things he has done and they only announced him a week ago. Fire him and put Callum Ilott in that car. | ||
GTR
51520 Posts
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fLyiNgDroNe
Belgium4038 Posts
EDIT: and a bonus | ||
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Excludos
Norway8231 Posts
This is probably as close as we'll ever get to an admission of guilt | ||
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Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
I kind of expected this so if it happens I'm not shocked. I'm curious as to how a Verstappen/Perez line-up will go. Marko said that if Red Bull hired Perez or Hulkenberg, he didn't expect either of them to get within three tenths of Verstappen in qualifying nor beat him in the race. I can't say I'm excited for this. I've never been huge on Perez. He's been hyped up by media in a similar way to Bottas was before he went to Mercedes, and we've all seen how that's gone. I can't help but think of 2017 and 2018 where Perez was up against a rookie who was frequently matching and in some cases outperforming him. This year Perez had, at times, the second best car and outside of a few performances, he never really blew me away. He's beaten Lance Stroll, but that's not a huge achievement. The fact that Hulkenberg came in and immediately matched Perez's performances brought into perspective how good that Racing Point car was. In the race Hulkenberg filled in for Stroll he started matching Perez's times at the end as well and that gives me a lot of pause. This could be career suicide for Perez. He could have went out on top having just got a shock win, but he might end up getting humiliated by Verstappen instead. I don't think he'll do much better than Albon and knowing that Perez has had an ego in the past, it could get ugly. | ||
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Lmui
Canada6221 Posts
Albon is dropped for Perez. Sucks for Albon, he's a decent B+ driver, but not particularly close to the myriad of A+ or A tier drivers on the grid. Perez isn't exceptional, but he's definitely fast enough and consistent enough to be A/A+ in my books. He's probably going to be within 2 tenths of Verstappen, and 1-2 tenths in race trim, which is closer than Albon ever was. | ||
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Excludos
Norway8231 Posts
On December 19 2020 02:11 Lmui wrote: Well, there we go. Albon is dropped for Perez. Sucks for Albon, he's a decent B+ driver, but not particularly close to the myriad of A+ or A tier drivers on the grid. Perez isn't exceptional, but he's definitely fast enough and consistent enough to be A/A+ in my books. He's probably going to be within 2 tenths of Verstappen, and 1-2 tenths in race trim, which is closer than Albon ever was. I dunno. RBR ruins drivers. I expect him to start out the season well, do a couple of mistakes, and then slowly become worse and worse over the season, eventually to be replaced with Nikita Mazepin for 2022, and the cycle continues. | ||
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mderg
Germany1740 Posts
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Ben...
Canada3485 Posts
On December 19 2020 02:16 Excludos wrote: I dunno. RBR ruins drivers. I expect him to start out the season well, do a couple of mistakes, and then slowly become worse and worse over the season, eventually to be replaced with Nikita Mazepin for 2022, and the cycle continues. Yeah, I saw people elsewhere saying "yes Perez is exciting right now, but let's see how things go once he gets the full Webber treatment where he gets bizarre pit strategies and ends up being used as a test subject on the wrong tire compound like all of the second drivers at Red Bull have had to deal with". That type of thing happened to Albon several times this year and I won't be surprised when it happens to Perez too. The shine of being in a Red Bull is probably gonna wear off pretty quickly for Perez. Ricciardo bailed out of Red Bull when he could for a reason. | ||
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Belisarius
Australia6233 Posts
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Amui
Canada10567 Posts
In more potentially spicy news, Mazepin seems more and more likely to be dropped due to breach of contract (improper conduct) over the sexual harassment stuff. Unsurprisingly, various sponsors have been talking to Haas, and it's likely even affecting the CNC machine side of the business. | ||
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