2019 silly season thread

[Everso Biggyballies]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Yeah, further up the page. Now, I wonder who his team mate will be.

[John]

Not sure if this has been reported, but apparently Prost and Senna will be teammates for 1988.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Not sure if this has been reported, but apparently Prost and Senna will be teammates for 1988.

Nah, wont happen...... not unless McLaren can pinch the Honda engine deal from Williams. He likes the Honda engine he has in his Lotus and McLaren dont have one. Of course if Ron Dennis can talk himself into Honda engines for Macca I guess anything is possible.

[kals]

Not sure if this has been reported, but apparently Prost and Senna will be teammates for 1988.

Nah, wont happen...... not unless McLaren can pinch the Honda engine deal from Williams. He likes the Honda engine he has in his Lotus and McLaren dont have one. Of course if Ron Dennis can talk himself into Honda engines for Macca I guess anything is possible.

What will happen to Nakajima then as he's supposedly a pre-requisite of a team taking a Honda engine supply?

[Everso Biggyballies]

Nakajima or Senna.... hmmmm
Of course, Nakajima could go to Lotus (Honda) :shrug:

[John]

Code: Select all

1:30.972	Kals
1:31.333	xcraigx
1:31.600	Picci
1:31.666	Ian-S
1:31.717	MonteCristo
1:31.725	ErwinGreven
1:31.888	Megallos
1:31.900	John
1:40.666	TomDA

Tom have apparently mistaken this race for the Atlantis GP.

[erwin greven]

Code: Select all

1:30.972	Kals
1:31.333	xcraigx
1:31.600	Picci
1:31.666	Ian-S
1:31.717	MonteCristo
1:31.725	ErwinGreven
1:31.888	Megallos
1:31.900	John
1:40.666	TomDA

Tom have apparently mistaken this race for the Atlantis GP.

I think you have apparently mistaken this topic for a different one.

[John]

Code: Select all

1:30.972	Kals
1:31.333	xcraigx
1:31.600	Picci
1:31.666	Ian-S
1:31.717	MonteCristo
1:31.725	ErwinGreven
1:31.888	Megallos
1:31.900	John
1:40.666	TomDA

Tom have apparently mistaken this race for the Atlantis GP.

I think you have apparently mistaken this topic for a different one.

Apparently I have.

Well this is awkward.

Penis.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Claire Williams believes Robert Kubica could be a "fantastic" teammate for rookie George Russell in 2019.

"We have a short shortlist for the second seat, which we are evaluating," said Williams. "We started that evaluation process a good few weeks ago now.

"We always said we wanted to make this decision based on pure data, and to get the best talent from within that pool of drivers that we have.

"So we're working through that at the moment. Robert is absolutely on that list as are a handful of other drivers who all have talent as well.

"Robert has done a great job for the team this year and he would be a fantastic teammate to George.

"But we're not ready to make that final decision yet. We've still got conversations to have internally and with the drivers in question."

Asked if it would take as long as the driver choice for 2018 - when Sergey Sirotkin eventually get the nod - she said: "Yeah, probably.

"We have to make the right decision based on lots of different factors and there are other considerations that we have to take into account as well.

"It's very early as well from a sponsorship perspective, we don't know where we're going to be yet exactly from a partnership perspective and any new partners that are going to come on board and obviously if they do then it frees us up to make other decisions potentially.

"So we've got to go through that process, so we don't want to rush into a decision."

It does seem, reading between the lines, that Sirotkin is drifting out of the picture. Clearly Ocon is their favourite, but with Mercedes not keen to put money William's way to accommodate him his selection would be based on Williams securing sponsorship that Ocon himself does not have. Kubica has apparently got a new $10 million sponsor to add to his pot.

Kubica did say on Sky today he can't wait until December for a decision on the second Williams seat. Kubica stressed that he wants to race in another category if the Williams opportunity doesn't work out for him as planned and obviously time is needed to look at those. By December there will be fewer other opportunities around.

[Everso Biggyballies]

A typical interview with Kimi which asked if he was pissed to have been dropped by Ferrari for next year.

Asked if he thinks Austin proves Ferrari should keep him, Raikkonen insisted: "I think people don't understand that I'm actually very happy where I'm going.

"I had my time with Ferrari, I won the championship with them. I won many races with them and for me, as a driver, I want different challenges, I want different things and I'm actually very happy to go there," he added.

Raikkonen has signed with Swiss-based Sauber for two years, meaning he will be 41 by the time the contract is up.

"It (Sauber) is roughly 40 minutes from my home," he said. "For sure my family will be happy, I'm happy to be with my family. I think it's probably the best thing. I wasn't really disappointed with the decision at any point."

That plast paragraph is the key to me.... he has an average person commute to go to the office when needed, meaning he can relax a bit with the family, drive to work instead of having to go to an airport.

I also recall him saying, when some suggested Ferrari had moved him to Sauber in a big corporate deal, that they did not even know until after the event. Even Manager Robertson was presented with the fact after Kimi had decided. On the Saturday at Monza he was told by Ferrari, he went straight to Sauber for a chat, and the deal was signed by early the following week.

I must confess I am very happy for him to have won a final race at Ferrari, especially winning one without the benefit of Mercedes or other attrition (other than Dany). Something others (Max) was unable to do. (That is not a dig at Max, he drove a great race yesterday, and deserved his second for the same reason.)

[Everso Biggyballies]

In other news interesting to see that Stoffel has a Mercedes gig for next year as well at his Formula E duties. He will be their simulator driver. A similar gig at Ferrari for Kvyat did him no harm.

What does seem strange to me is that Vandoorne got the gig over the much more Mercedes aligned Ocon. Perhaps that is something to do with Ocon and Williams closer to a deal? (Speculation on my part)

Stoffel Vandoorne will keep one foot in the world of formula one next year.

The Belgian has lost his seat at McLaren and will instead race for Mercedes' works Formula E team from 2019.

But he will also stay in touch with F1.

"We like Stoffel a lot," Gwen Lagrue, who is the head of Mercedes' driver development programme and George Russell's manager, told RTBF.

"We need his expertise and his talent for simulator work, and we'll see in the future if this opens up other opportunities.

https://gpguide.com/news.aspx?articleid ... IgZHJpdmVy

[Everso Biggyballies]

It seems Albon has the second Toro Rosso seat. It is said that Albon has secured backing from Dieter M's Thai partner.... they dont wish to announce anything until after Abu Dhabi.

That puts an end to Hartleys F1 career, and of course he is not happy with reliability excuses, / I have a contract for 2019 etc. He also said they just have to tell me if they need me or not. (I think reading between the lines and team comments they have basically said CYA. Oh, and he said I just had by best ever F1 result at Austin (sadly courtesy of two other DSQs rather than a real result.)

Alexander Albon looks to have definitely secured the second Toro Rosso seat for 2019.

Daniil Kvyat is already signed up, and team boss Franz Tost admits that Brendon Hartley has not done enough this year to guarantee the other place.

"He has 4 points, Pierre (Gasly) has 28. That means he has to improve his performance if he wants to stay in the team," he said.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said Albon, a Briton with Thai heritage, has secured the backing of Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz's Thai partners.

Red Bull has already negotiated the end to the 22-year-old's Nissan contract in Formula E.

However, the energy drink company doesn't want to announce the deal until after the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

"You will hear from us in Abu Dhabi," confirmed Dr Helmut Marko.

For New Zealander Hartley, it will be an uncomfortable wait.

"I have a contract for 2019. They just have to tell me if they want me or not," he said.

"I did my best ever formula one race in Austin. I think if you just look at results, it doesn't show what I've done for the team. I could have many more points."

https://gpguide.com/News.aspx?articleId ... UgRGhhYmk=

[Everso Biggyballies]

It seems Danny Ric has had enough of 2018, and has said it is not worth turning up for the last two races.
He has also just been told by Horner that he cannot drive for Renault at the post Abu Dhabi test... many other teams with drivers leaving for other teams are being allowed to test for their 2019 teams. Horner has flatly refused, stating Danny had a contract until the end of the year, he wont be able to test for Renault (even though the races will be over by then)

Whether Danny's wish to not race in the last two races is a kneejerk to his woeful run of bad luck and his refusal to test by Horner I dont know. I remember when Kimi was leaving Lotus to go to Ferrari he organised back surgery he needed when Lotus told him they could not pay him the more than 10 million euros they owed him.

'No point' finishing 2018 season - Ricciardo
2018-10-29
(GMM) Daniel Ricciardo sounded ready to quit Red Bull immediately, after yet another disappointing day in the 2018 car.

"I'm a very positive guy," the Australian said after another technical problem in Mexico, having started the race from pole but ultimately watching teammate Max Verstappen win.

"But I can only be that positive for so long. My love for this car is diminishing very quickly."

Ricciardo is leaving Red Bull for Renault after the 2018 finale in Abu Dhabi, but he sounds willing to quit the team immediately.

"It's not frustration anymore. It feels hopeless," he said.

"Honestly, I don't see the point of coming on Sunday. I don't see the point of doing the next two races.

"I'm not superstitious or any of that bullsh*t, but the car's cursed. Just things are happening on Sundays that I've got no more explanation for.

"This car ... I'll let Gasly drive it. I'm done with it," Ricciardo concluded.

Not happy Jan

[Antonov]

as for Ricciardo, I think he will become a grumpy driver.

[kals]

Well technically speaking Carlos Sainz is still a Red Bull contracted driver for the final two races, so perhaps between Red Bull and Renault they can orchestrate a swap whereby Riccardo goes to Renault, Gasly goes to Red Bull and Sainz goes back to STR.

It won't happen though.

[Vassago]

Horner is a douche. Always was and always will be. And it's not like he's running the RBR show. If Marko or Dietrich wanted to get rid of him, he's getting kicked out in like 5 secs.