2021 F1 Driver ThreadFormula 1

[TheElbows]

Well sadly then that gives him a bit less of an excuse. If RBR gave him more or less full reign over his "comfort level" then he has less to hide behind.

 

[Veinz]

Not surprised that Gasly is out, I was expecting them to bring back Kvyat though.

Happy for Albon, best of luck to him. He’s going to need it going up against the best f1 driver atm.

 

[Jimlaad43]

He’s going to need it going up against the best f1 driver atm.

I thought Bottas was up against him

 

[mustafur]

I thought Bottas was up against him

Ladies please..

The best feature of F1, you never really know who is the fastest driver till they have the same machinery.

 

[Veinz]

Oops, meant best driver out of the top 3 teams.

 

[Dennisch]

At the start of the season Gasly was using his own setup. At Silverstone he used Verstappen's setup and suddenly was on the pace, so I think it's the opposite of what you just said.

I think I heard someone say in an interview that Gasly has trouble explaining what his car is doing and what sort of changes he wants/needs. And that is something you can't have as a F1 driver.

 

[Spitfire77]

Sweet I was hoping to see what Albon could do if he was promoted. Hopefully him and Verstappen race well together.

 

[NotThePrez]

A little late to the party, but good to see that Red Bull is once again thriving in saying one thing to the media, their teams and drivers, and completely backing out of that agreement when it's most convenient for them. I know they're a Juggernaut and all, but how can anyone moving up the ranks trust what they say at this point?

As far as the drivers, it was a matter of time, as Gasly just could not measure up. I think Albon has definitely proven that he knows how to wheel an F1 car, but I think it's much too early. No doubt Red Bull is gunning for a potential title run next year, as well as trying to get a good foundation for 2021, but Albon is literally only halfway through his rookie F1 season. Not even Max was promoted that quickly, and RBR pretty much revolves around the young Dutchman! While I'm glad for Alex, I still would've picked Kvyat wayyyy ahead of him. Kvyat probably isn't championship material, but he's still a very solid driver, a fierce competitor, has experience in the senior team, and is in, imo, his best form since entering the sport.

If this "experiment" fails, I'll probably laugh at Red Bull, but feel bad for Albon, because the dude is solid, and based on his Instagram, is absolutely over the moon with joy right now. But at the same time, maybe Red Bull'll learn something from Mercedes about how maintaining personnel helps with their results. Or, it'll go great, which is honestly what I'm hoping for, and my saltiness will be for nothing.

 

[Peter.]

Yikes.

Nevermind Gastly, as we knew this was going to happen by the end of the season given his performance, but this is just ill advised in a lot of other ways.

So, for one, you could say that objectively Kyviat is the guy most deserving of that seat. He was hardly deserving of demotion to begin with, but was more or less the sacrificial lamb for Verstappen. He got demoted for less.

Then, as has already been mentioned, Albon is so inexperienced that this pressure is beyond reasonable. Considering he won't get the mileage in the car Gastly would have had from preseason, and driving the thing for months now, who's to say he will even be better than Gastly for now?

Which then leads to the next issue. Do they even care about the constructors tussle with Ferrari? An Albon internship is more important to them than beating Ferrari to 2nd in the constructors? Kyviat gives you the best shot. Maybe Marko and co. are saving face and aren't quite ready for the embarrassment of crawling back to Kyviat.

 

[TenEightyOne]

So, for one, you could say that objectively Kyviat is the guy most deserving of that seat.

Kvyat hasn't stood out over Albon with the exception of the podium in a mad, rainy crash-strewn race at Germany.

Interestingly STR now have two drivers who've been demoted from the top team while the top team have two drivers who've never won a single-seater championship.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Not nice, but there's not much to lose for Red Bull. Even if there is a stigma around the way Red Bull manages the drivers, it won't really affect them since there's only 20 seats available. Now they get to test 2 drivers in one season. Gasly got only half a season, but he didn't show the speed required to be in a top team.

 

[Liquid]

So, for one, you could say that objectively Kyviat is the guy most deserving of that seat.

Well...

He was hardly deserving of demotion promotion to begin with

LMFTFY

 

[TenEightyOne]

Little movement from the silly season since the big Red Bull news... so here's a "you saw it here first" of the 2040 F1 World Driver Champion.

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Little movement from the silly season since the big Red Bull news... so here's a "you saw it here first" of the 2040 F1 World Driver Champion.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Ocon to replace Bottas in 2020!!!!

 

[Greycap]

I think everyone, including those blind as a bat, should have seen it coming for a long time now. Bottas is good but not on the Hamilton/Ricciardo/Räikkönen/Verstappen/Vettel (alphabetical order just to be neutral) level and his marketing value is zero. And somehow, for all these years, he's been thinking that he and Hamilton have equal chances inside the team to succeed which is little short of delusional.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Ocon to replace Bottas in 2020!!!!

It's going to be a very quiet lunch at Valtteri's house, although it probably always is.

EDIT: Got a source? Can't find it on t'interwebs.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Yea it was a joke Twitter and it fooled so many people . Will Buxton and ChainBear retweeted it

 

[TheElbows]

I feel bad for Bottas if he saw a bunch of retweeted "news sites" saying so. I think Ocon will end up in the seat anyway, but we'll see.

 

[Jimlaad43]

This is why I hate it when people post big news without a source. Give a source and then everyone else can have a look and confirm it. It especially helps when you use a reputable source too. Some random twitter account with the news not appearing on sites like motorsport.com doesn't fill anyone with confidence...

 

[ROAD_DOGG33J]

Supposedly Alonso turned down Red Bull's offer to step in for Gasly. It's understandable as there would not be much, if anything, for him to gain.

https://f1i.com/news/351390-alonso-turned-down-red-bull-offer-report.html

 

[Pezzarinho17]

"Spanish newspaper Mundo Deportivo says that the team offered Alonso the chance to replace Pierre Gasly for the second half of the season."

Stopped reading after this. Gotta love the Spanish press for trying though...

 

[TenEightyOne]

Latest hot rumour: Hulkenberg to leave Renault and replace Grosjean at Haas. Ocon will move into the vacant seat at Renault. This also goes some way to answering The Bottas Question. Woolffff has made it clear that he thinks a seat in a car with championship potential could "burn" a young driver if they made the move too early... which suggests he might not rate Ocon as highly as Verstappen, for example.

The compelling evidence for this rumour? Ocon has changed the Occupation section on his Instagram account from "test driver" to "F1 driver". Like all good rumours (as I often say) it has enough credibility to make it a good one. Only time will tell, of course.

 

[Jimlaad43]

When? Now or at the end of the season?

 

[Veinz]

I’d be more surprised if Ocon doesn’t end up at Renault, they will probably have to pay big money to buy him out though.

This would make Hulk a victim of circumstance, which is too bad because he is very worthy of driving for a works team. Mercedes are conservative with their driver choices, they want drivers with lots of experience. They will most likely stick with Bottas, unless he wants to go to the WRC or something.

 

[TenEightyOne]

When? Now or at the end of the season?

The places where I've seen it mentioned are light on much of the detail

Given that Bottas's non-move (if that's the case) won't happen then I suppose the remainder could happen at pretty much any time.

 

[TheElbows]

To me, Mercedes are probably thinking about how to play catch-up if they intend to stay in the sport beyond another five years. They have Hamilton who is great, but he will eventually retire. If we're looking 5-10 years down the line we have Verstappen and Leclerc, and potentialy from Russel/Norris, etc. I wonder how important it is to groom a young driver for the upcoming championship clashes in the future?

Bottas is kind of a non-factor. He's a solid dependable second driver. I don't think he'll ever rival Hamilton or Verstappen, etc. So does Mercedes stick with it, or throw a Mercedes-backed driver into that seat and try to catch up with Red Bull and Ferrari? Who is the most hot-shoe Mercedes driver right now? Or do Mercedes simply plan on buying out Verstappen or another younger driver when the time comes?

 

[DesertPenguin]

I just gotta say that Lando Norris is the most real person I've seen on the Formula 1 grid in awhile. He streams regularly on Twitch for crying out loud! It's so bizarre seeing a world class athlete of his caliber just hanging out in a simple apartment/home and enjoying himself with what he likes. There's something very different about this new generation of drivers and I Love it.

 

[TheElbows]

Drivers are only getting younger. I don't know Norris' background, but we're talking about a sport where almost everyone (even the back runners) are from extremely wealthy backgrounds or circumstances. Remember the running jokes about Rosberg being German even though he spent his whole life Monaco or some such? Not many "normal" upbringings in these fields.

 

[TenEightyOne]

When? Now or at the end of the season?

A couple of French motorsport mags are reporting Ocon to Renault for 2020 in place of le Hulk. Hulk to Haas?