2021 Silly Season Thread

[John]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Understandably pissed off.

So that's Checo and Hulkenberg without a drive for 2021, meanwhile Stroll will get another year in his daddy's car, Vettel who by all accounts look completely fed up with F1 will take the other seat, Alonso will return way past his prime, and Latifi will probably stick around for another year too.

Eh. I hope either Checo and Hulkenberg finds their way into the Red Bull seat, but that would mean RBR giving up on their own talent program. And while on that topic, I hope Gasly manages to break free as well.

[John]

[Cheeveer]

Good for Vettel, maybe also the sport. He rebounded in 2015, could he do that again in 2021? He's still young-ish, remember, a few years younger than Hamilton.

One deciding factor, I would think, about Perez, was that he travelled to Mexico and got COVID. In the eyes of the powers in charge, that was unacceptable. He put a lot of the team's and F1's reputation at stake with that.

[Everso Biggyballies]

[John]

[Everso Biggyballies]

Re Perez future McLaren have thrown him a line.....

But it isnt in F1. Perez has shown interest in Indycar in the past, and has driven for McLaren in F1, and through his Mexican background andd money he might be interested in Zak Brown's idea.

McLaren could offer Sergio Perez a lifeline should the Mexican be interested in racing in IndyCar next season.

The 30-year-old is currently without a drive for 2021 courtesy of Racing Point’s signing of Sebastian Vettel.

Four-time world champion Vettel will join Lance Stroll at the squad which will be rebranded Aston Martin from next year.

Perez claims he was told nothing about the appointment of Vettel, a point refuted by the team, and has been left with an uncertain future as a result.

In 2019 he signed a new three-year deal with the squad, a contract which has since been torn up to make way for the current Ferrari pilot.

With precious few competitive drives available in Formula 1, McLaren boss Zak Brown has suggested his team could offer Perez a lifeline.

“He’ll probably end up in Formula 1, (that) is my guess, at either Haas or Alfa Romeo,” said Brown.

“But if he had an interest in IndyCar, I think he’s a great racecar driver, and we’d definitely be interested in talking to him.”

McLaren is involved with IndyCar trough a tie up with Arrow Schmidt Peterson Motorsport.

The Arrow McLaren Racing SP operation fields two Chevrolet powered cars, and also supported Fernando Alonso’s entry in the Indianapolis 500.

According to Brown, the addition of Perez would necessitate an expansion of that project to three full-time entries.

“We would need the funding for three cars, and at this point we only have the funding for two cars,” explained Brown.

“So we wouldn’t be in a position to sign him today but it would be something that, in-between the backing that he’s historically had, and the commercial activity that we’ve got going on, and the excitement someone like Sergio would create, we would certainly look to see if we could put it together.”

https://www.speedcafe.com/2020/09/12/mc ... -lifeline/

Im sure some of our Indycar fans here will be making "Make it happen noises". Question is what is more appealing..... an F1 drive with Alfa / Haas or an Indycar ride with McLaren, or should I say McLASP?(McLaren Arrows Schmidt Peterson)

[Antonov]

surely Honda will want Yuki Tsunoda in one of those Alpha Tauri's?

[PTRACER]

surely Honda will want Yuki Tsunoda in one of those Alpha Tauri's?

Agree. He looks impressive every weekend even if the results don't always show it.

[DoubleFart]

surely Honda will want Yuki Tsunoda in one of those Alpha Tauri's?

Agree. He looks impressive every weekend even if the results don't always show it.

Me: Lance Stroll is average
Others: Nuh uh, he's 4th in the standings

It seems we're wrong PT, and it's not about being good it's about getting results.

Gone are the days where it was easier to make a fast driver more consistent than make a consistent driver faster, or a fast car more reliable than a reliable car faster. Funny how jimclark harks for those days, yet has a thoroughly modern take on results.

[Michael Ferner]

To be frank, the most irritating thing about you lot, the young (?) followers of current F1 (if a dinosaur like me is allowed to chip in) is the constant bitching about how this or that driver doesn't belong, is past his best, never had it in the first place, should retire soon or make place for xxx, the threads about "the ten lousiest pay drivers" or somesuch, the worst world champion or the most undeserving winner. What is it? Yes, back then "we", too, were all world champions in our dreams who never made it happen in real life, or failed amateurs of the sport at best - it's the traditional pool F1 fans are made of, but I don't recall having such discussions, at least not frequently (much less constantly), back in "my days". What is it that makes you look and sound like a gang of frustrated ne'er-do-wells, like drunken bums throwing potato chips at the TV for not displaying the results you want to see - which used to be the caricature of lower class football fans - and now, motor sports?? What on earth has happened to the "common" motor sport fan???

[DoubleFart]

You just lacked the platform.

[Ruslan]

Oh...I don't know about that... I have always had opinions, and was probably more forceful and caustic about them when I was younger. But just to clarify:

Does not belong in F1:
Latifi
Stroll

Probably time for them to move on:
Grosjean
Magnussen
Kvyat
Raikonnen
Giovannazzi
Vettel

Doesn't belong with a top team
Bottas
Sainz?
Albon
Vettel

[DoubleFart]

I'd agree with those except Raikkonen and Sainz. I think Kimi is a valuable yardstick and provides good direction for the team, and Sainz lacks a little in Quali sometimes but is a very good racer. He's better than any other #2 out there right now.

[Ruslan]

I'd agree with those except Raikkonen and Sainz. I think Kimi is a valuable yardstick and provides good direction for the team, and Sainz lacks a little in Quali sometimes but is a very good racer. He's better than any other #2 out there right now.

I am on the fence with Sainz which is why I put a question mark next to him. We shall see how he compares to LeClerc (who is kind of still untested).

Kimi is a known quantity.

[Michael Ferner]

You just lacked the platform.

True, we only had "letters to the editor" and trackside discussions. Yet we were mostly pulling for certain drivers instead of putting them down, and yes, occasionally we were bemoaning the fact that this driver made while that one didn't, but criticism was largely reserved for bad on-track antics, like dangerous driving. That is no longer an issue, of course, but could it be that it is the stalemate at the top that makes for an unspecified yearning for something radically new, so out with the old?

[DoubleFart]

You just lacked the platform.

True, we only had "letters to the editor" and trackside discussions. Yet we were mostly pulling for certain drivers instead of putting them down, and yes, occasionally we were bemoaning the fact that this driver made while that one didn't, but criticism was largely reserved for bad on-track antics, like dangerous driving. That is no longer an issue, of course, but could it be that it is the stalemate at the top that makes for an unspecified yearning for something radically new, so out with the old?

I really do think it's a combination of the platform and of the divisive nature of society these days. You have to be pro or against every issue, you have to use your platform or get cancelled.

Re the platform element, you only need to look at social media during F2 to know that everybody online seems to hate Dan Ticktum for his actions what, 6 years ago? There is a consistent pile on and his comments are taken out of context to demonise him.

Why? Because we all saw what happened in a junior event. It's on youtube, it's shared, it's visible.

Schumacher took our Hakkinen at Macau, and Senna crashed with Brundle in junior series, but they weren't broadcast and shared to this extend, so these drivers weren't as quickly demonised and cast as the pantomime villain. Was Schumacher demonised for Hill and JV incidents? Absolutely, but only in the press. It wasn't all over Twitter, Facebook, Youtube etc.