2024 Formula 1 Drivers threadFormula 1

[Touring Mars]

Latifi will leave Williams at the end of the season.

It's fine, I already found him a new job...

Pointless: Meet the New Hosts Replacing Richard Osman

Pointless is back for Series 28 with half a dozen new co-hosts joining Alexander Armstrong, including Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne and more.

www.denofgeek.com

 

[Mr Grumpy]

So long and thanks for all the safety cars!

And the World Championship..........

Love Max.

 

[Dennisch]

That's Lewis to Williams confirmed!

 

[AshenGraey]

Latifi will leave Williams at the end of the season.

Ah oh...about time!!.....No wait....it's actually 3 years too late! Better that than never I guess 🙄

 

[TheElbows]

Not that my opinion matters, but the way I see it; we won't know about Hamilton or Russell till next year. Mercedes will have "time" I'd imagine to either catch up with Ferrari/Red Bull or not. I think it'll be the telling year, whether Hamilton is able to even remotely compete for an 8th, or hang the suit up and go to HyperCar or something.

Russell has been solid this year, but again in a lack lustre car....so we can't tell if he's on the Leclerc/Verstappen level or not.

Say Hamilton leaves, and Mercedes like Russell's performance - then someone like Ocon makes sense. While we'd all love to see a Leclerc/Russell Mercedes line-up, the top teams are still straying widely from "two top dogs". Ocon has been pretty impressive in his seats in various teams, and I can see him being a solid Bottas-style replacement.

So to me, in a year or two Russell/Ocon seems like a reasonable line-up, but only if Mercedes figures out the car and Russell is able to show that he's capable of inheriting Hamilton's top seat when he departs.

I'm a bit shocked that Yuki is back for 2023. I am not shocked Latifi is out, I know, crazy.

 

[EngieDiesel]

Latifi will leave Williams at the end of the season.

So I guess that also confirms where Danny Ric will be next year, then?

(sadly I'm only half joking about that...)

 

[AshenGraey]

So I guess that also confirms where Danny Ric will be next year, then?

(sadly I'm only half joking about that...)

I'm a fan of the guy and as much as I'd like to see him stay on the grid next season. I really can't see him driving for Williams. He's probably too expensive too, unless his recent performance reduced his overall market value considerably.

 

[TumeK5]

Finally we got the confirmation we've all been expecting.

We thank you for the mandatory pay driver role that had to be played by someone, Goatifi.

 

[Veinz]

Someone on reddit made a nice chart

 

[MagpieRacer]

Someone on reddit made a nice chart

View attachment 1195028

Highlights it quite nicely. I feel IndyCar should at least match F2, Formula E and Super Formula should be above F3 and WEC and W series should at least match Formula Regional European to actually stand a chance of getting the end game it claims to want.

 

[Fezzik]

so you're probably better off not winning the title in F2 as along as you come in the top 3.
that way you are allowed to re-enter if you don't get a F1 drive.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Zhou has been solid this year, so deserves this extension IMO

 

[TumeK5]

Not surprised. Zhou has been more impressive than Latifi his whole F1 career.

 

[toastet]

Way better first season than Tsunodas and Schumachers second season or Latifis whole F1 career.

 

[NICKname]

They were hyping this date up for like a week, just to say that Zhou has decided to buy himself another year of driving for them...

 

[Veinz]

He’s doing better than I thought he would, he deserves another season. Pourchaire needs more time in F2 anyway.

 

[Fezzik]

Game of musical chairs coming to a conclusion



so Gasly to Alpine. Just leaves one seat at Williams and Mick at Haas to sort out.

 

[Liquid]

I don't think Zhou has been particularly impressive but he hasn't been catastrophically dreadful.

 

[GingerBredMan]

A couple of sites are reporting that Lewis re-signing with Merc is imminent, and that he could be in F1 for another 5 years:

'Another five years' - Wolff on Hamilton's F1 future - The Race

Toto Wolff says a Mercedes contract extension for Lewis Hamilton “is going to happen” for 2023 and believes he has at least five more years.

the-race.com

George & Lewis seem to be a pretty solid pairing, we'll see if that changes when their car can win races consistently again.

 

[McLaren]

5 years is quite a long time, esp. at his age. I’m guessing he’s definitely set on going after that 8th title and wants enough seasons to chase it comfortably.

 

[Jimlaad43]

The Valentino Rossi curse?

 

[GingerBredMan]

Yeah 5 years is surprising. Fighting for a championship is only gonna get harder each year at his age. I guess he’s waiting around to see what’s in store for the 2026 regs.

 

[Liquid]

I would be surprised if Hamilton lasts five years if he's not out front or even chasing wins. Maybe it's me but I don't see him as an Button or Vettel, willing to slide down the grid, or even a Piquet, content being third or fourth-best (teamwise) at most.

 

[Famine]

Gasly to Alpine

 

[Veinz]

They are the perfect match, I’m happy to see him get out of Red Bull.

 

[toastet]

Gasly + Alonso + Alpine would have been a perfect match 🏎️

 

[Spacegoat]

Officially official now.



Happy to see Gasly away from RB. This feels like a good fit for him.

 

[Wiegert]

Barely 10 minutes later:

 

[GingerBredMan]

Officially official now.



Happy to see Gasly away from RB. This feels like a good fit for him.

4 guys who don’t know what to do with their arms

 

[Fezzik]

2 spots down, 2 to go.

If Williams are waiting for Sargeant getting a super licence, that puts things on hold until after Abu Dhabi.

Choices running out for Daniel as well. Haas not that bad a car (on this year’s evidence at least) - better than leaving completely or lurking at Mercedes hoping Lewis quits.