2021 F1 Driver ThreadFormula 1 

Samus
So HAM is signed up for another two years whilst BOT has said he'll be powered by a Mercedes engine next year.
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And the vagueness of Bottas' statement is being considered as confirmation by some rumor mills that he and Russell are swapping seats next year, so don't be surprised if that one keeps coming up as the year goes on. Granted it could happen, but I feel like a lot of people are setting themselves up for disappointment.
 
Formula 1 posted a graphic showing Red Bull & Aston Martin still had an unconfirmed spot open next season. And then showed Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, & Williams had both seats unconfirmed for next season.

What's the possibility Bottas ends up somewhere else besides a seat swap with Russell? I mean, it does seem given Red Bull will keep Checo & I wouldn't be surprised if Stroll obviously is retained by his pops.
 
McLaren
Formula 1 posted a graphic showing Red Bull & Aston Martin still had an unconfirmed spot open next season. And then showed Alpha Tauri, Alfa Romeo, & Williams had both seats unconfirmed for next season.

What's the possibility Bottas ends up somewhere else besides a seat swap with Russell? I mean, it does seem given Red Bull will keep Checo & I wouldn't be surprised if Stroll obviously is retained by his pops.
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Considering Bottas' statement that he'll be in a Mercedes-powered car, the only place I could really see him at besides Williams is probably at McLaren to replace Danny Ric. I really hope this doesn't happen though. Danny Ric is having a stinker of a season, but I do think he's a proven entity in the sport. While Bottas would bring a lot of experience and maybe a few tips and tricks from Mercedes, I have a hard time seeing McLaren taking such a big risk by shaking up their driver pairing right before the introduction of a new Formula, especially since Bottas is also having a fairly lackluster season, and has shown to always struggle when it comes to close-quarters racing.

That being said, a much more interesting possibility would be if Mercedes decides to keep Bottas for another year, but instead Russell goes to McLaren to replace Danny Ric. Again, I hope it doesn't happen, and it would be extremely unrealistic, but it'd be one hell of a story, and McLaren would objectively have one of, if not quite possibly the overall strongest driver pairing on the grid.
 
"I've thrown this season away when I wanted it to be part of a big publicity stunt where I'd win 8 championships then publicly and smugly retire, so I guess I'll quietly sign a real contract extension"
 
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Seen a rumor on another forum that McLaren are evaluating getting rid of Ricciardo for Bottas next year. Highly doubt they would give up on Dan that easy, especially with new regs coming in.
 
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MikeV27
Seen a rumor on another forum that McLaren are evaluating getting rid of Ricciardo for Bottas next year. Highly doubt they would give up on Dan that easy, especially with new regs coming in.
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I imagine those rumours are just playing off Bottas' comments that he'd have Mercedes power next season, but I also don't see it. I agree that they'll most likely give RIC a run in the 2022 car and decide next summer based on how he goes first half of the season.
 
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If he doesn’t improve then I think it’s 50/50. But it looks like he’s coming around, hopefully.

People talk alot of **** about Bottas but he would be very attractive to pretty much all of the midfield teams if they had a seat open.
 
McLaren
So McLaren signs Danny to a contract that ends at the finale of the 2023 season, only to drop him after 1 season? Not sure I buy into that.
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Agreed, not to mention the new spec car is out next year and the whole field will a question mark. Why go into a season with a brand new driver?
 
NotThePrez
From what I've read, the MCL35M just doesn't support his regular driving style in any way, and he's having a bit of a time overcoming that.
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Hes had too hard of a time overcoming every car he's driven. Maybe he just isnt an adaptable driver.

Every other driver that switched teams is up to speed. But not Ricciardo. Lando is making him look like ****
 
I think Bottas has proven to the world that he is not good in wheel to wheel situations. He can qualify well, but not race.

If McLaren picked him up I'd like to kick Zac in the nuts for being an idiot.

If Russell can't get a MB seat he should definitely go to McLaren. Him and Lando would do so well together.
 
I doubt Lando would have any interest in leaving McLaren. He’s settled in very well, the team is on the rise and the company road cars aren’t bad either.
 
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Lando is also under contract until '23, and having come up through McLaren's program I think he feels some loyalty to them.

It would have to be one hell of an offer from Mercedes.
 
kungtotte_
Lando is also under contract until '23, and having come up through McLaren's program I think he feels some loyalty to them.

It would have to be one hell of an offer from Mercedes.
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"Stop me if you've heard this one before.."

I remember similar being said about Lewis. Granted its a different situation but, not completely ridiculous.
 
I know I know, interesting thought no less.

It will be interesting to see how it all plays out, the rumours linking Bottas to Alfa are interesting, regardless of what Bottas has said previously, and a Kvyat/Hulkenberg move for Williams alongside Latifi/Ticktum/Aitken would make for an interesting experience+rookie linup should Russell go to Mercedes.

Something does just keep telling me that something is going to happen with Ricciardo, can't put my finger on it but there's more of a story there than meets the eye.
 
Apparently Crofty has mentioned on Virgin Radio that there's a possibility of George Russell being announced as a Mercedes Driver for 2022 at Silverstone next weekend. Nothing official from Mercedes yet obviously, but it seems like they were waiting to figure out what would happen with Lewis before making a decision on the 2nd seat.

It's talked about in the radio replay during the 8:30-9:00 time segment. Crofty appears at the 23-minute mark, and the bit about Bottas/Russell happens at about 23:40. If this is indeed the case, then Silverstone is definitely the perfect place for an announcement like that.
 
WTF1 have just hastily deleted a "Russell signs for Mercedes in 2022" article which screamed published-by-accident-before-embargo-ended. So I wouldn't be surprised if we get an announcement soon.
 
Jimlaad43
WTF1 have just hastily deleted a "Russell signs for Mercedes in 2022" article which screamed published-by-accident-before-embargo-ended. So I wouldn't be surprised if we get an announcement soon.
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Probably more likely that they just have an article ready to go if it happens, rather than they know it for a fact and are embargoed.
 
Russell has said specifically that they aren't going to announce him during Silverstone, which based on how these things typically works probably means they will definitely announce him 😂
 
Russell needs to move on from Williams - regardless of where he ends up. He's been wasting his career at Williams while his fellow young drivers (Gasly, Leclerc, Verstappen, Ocon, Lando...hell even Albon) have had better opportunities. I don't think waiting out for Toto/Mercedes is worth it. How long has he been with Williams? 4-5 years? That's a genuine lifetime in F1.

He's on the verge of becoming the next Ricciardo, and that's not a compliment.
 
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TheElbows
Russell needs to move on from Williams - regardless of where he ends up. He's been wasting his career at Williams while his fellow young drivers (Gasly, Leclerc, Verstappen, Ocon, Lando...hell even Albon) have had better opportunities. I don't think waiting out for Toto/Mercedes is worth it. How long has he been with Williams? 4-5 years? That's a genuine lifetime in F1.

He's on the verge of becoming the next Ricciardo, and that's not a compliment.
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This is only his third year.
 
Still bins it as soon the car is quick enough to fight for positions even if Austria was his best race at Williams yet. Still thinking it would be too soon for a top cockpit. Just look at Charles, (3rd Ferrari, 4th F1 year) still making rookie errors or look back Max in the first RB years. Took him 6 RB years (7 F1 years) for his performance now without huge faults.
 
toastet
Still bins it as soon the car is quick enough to fight for positions even if Austria was his best race at Williams yet. Still thinking it would be too soon for a top cockpit. Just look at Charles, (3rd Ferrari, 4th F1 year) still making rookie errors or look back Max in the first RB years. Took him 6 RB years (7 F1 years) for his performance now without huge faults.
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I guess it says a lot about Lando Norris' maturity that 4 of his 5 retirements so far have been mechanical.
 
-Fred-
I guess it says a lot about Lando Norris' maturity that 4 of his 5 retirements so far have been mechanical.
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Russell has retired 8 times since 2019.

3 of them were caused by other drivers crashing/overtaking and collecting Russell.

3 of them were caused by mechanical failures of some sort.

2 were caused by Russell's mistakes: spinning under safety car in 2020, and of course crashing into Bottas now in 2021 (which I still say Bottas is partly at fault for)
 

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