F1 - 2024

[MiniDave]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Carlos sign with Mercedes now that Alonso has re-signed with Aston - it's really the only top-ish team  he can go to right away, but I also wouldn't be surprised to find it's a short term contract, with their Kimi Antonelli waiting in the wings and Wolff wanting to get him behind the wheel of an F1 car ASAP.

Carlos in a 2 year contract, Kimi goes to Williams and replaces Carlos at Mercedes in 26 as he goes to Audi?

I don't think anyone wants to go to Alpine, so those two guys are pretty much stuck if they want to stay on the grid. I had Yuki going to replace Baby Stroller, but I'm just not sure Daddy Bigbux would let that happen, no matter how poorly he does. Made sense to put Yuki in a more high profile Honda team, and I believe Aston (at least in Alonso's hands) will continue to improve - it may wind up dragging Stroll Jr. up the order too, who knows?

I think Perez will get another 1 year contract at Red Bull as long as he drives as well as he has been this year.....so I doubt either Yuki or DannyRickyBobby will be going there next year. So where does that leave both of those guys? Right where they are, except if Danny doesn't really get going, Liam will be replacing him for sure. Danny could be "retired" again.....and this time it will be permanent.

[Brit_in_TX]

I wouldn't be surprised to see Carlos sign with Mercedes now that Alonso has re-signed with Aston - it's really the only top-ish team  he can go to right away, but I also wouldn't be surprised to find it's a short term contract, with their Kimi Antonelli waiting in the wings and Wolff wanting to get him behind the wheel of an F1 car ASAP.

Carlos in a 2 year contract, Kimi goes to Williams and replaces Carlos at Mercedes in 26 as he goes to Audi?

I don't think anyone wants to go to Alpine, so those two guys are pretty much stuck if they want to stay on the grid. I had Yuki going to replace Baby Stroller, but I'm just not sure Daddy Bigbux would let that happen, no matter how poorly he does. Made sense to put Yuki in a more high profile Honda team, and I believe Aston (at least in Alonso's hands) will continue to improve - it may wind up dragging Stroll Jr. up the order too, who knows?

I think Perez will get another 1 year contract at Red Bull as long as he drives as well as he has been this year.....so I doubt either Yuki or DannyRickyBobby will be going there next year. So where does that leave both of those guys? Right where they are, except if Danny doesn't really get going, Liam will be replacing him for sure. Danny could be "retired" again.....and this time it will be permanent.

Agree with everything you said.  There are still 12 seats available, so a lot of dancing until the music stops.

[MiniDave]

So, did Max wrap up the 2024 Championships in China - 5th race of the year?

He finished 16 sec ahead of the field, he's only 15 pts ahead of his teammate but Red Bull is 45 pts ahead of Ferrari in P2....but at the rate their going can Ferrari catch them?

I don't think so unless something dramatic happens.....and I can't imagine what that would be other than the two
Red Bulls taking each other out.

Alonso had a record day, even tho his strategy wasn't the best. Once again his teammate lets the squad down, finishing last and wrecking two other cars and putting one of them (Ricciardo - of course) out of the race.

The Ferraris did what they could but they still finished well back of the front 3 in 4th and 5th. I don't know if this track just wasn't suited to them or what.......

Hamilton was pretty down about his car during most of the race but still managed to finish in the points.

Next up - Miami.

I have no idea who will feature there, other than Max of course.

[Brit_in_TX]

Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull! And some how he has negotiated that he join another team next year.

[MiniDave]

I read that he still needs to negotiate some terms to avoid gardening leave.....speculation is that Ferrari is #1 in line to get his services, but I think ANY team would love to have him onboard.

If he actually gets to go to work in 2025, I wonder if that's quick enough to have an effect for 2026? Actually, I'd like to see him at one of the lesser teams like Williams (he's linked with them too) or even McLaren or Aston to get them over the finish line a few times - but my best place to see him is at Audi!

Maybe it's just damage limitation and spin, but Red Bull quickly trotted out Verstappen to say that they have a LOT of good people in their team and that their success is not just down to one person......uh-huh.

[94touring]

Speaking of F1. I managed to end up in Miami this weekend and was invited out to some special F1 event with a group of people.  Anyway, I met a guy who represents Nascar drivers here doing something for f1 and we got talking cars, so long story short I have access to Nascar races now hanging with the drivers and garages. 

[MiniDave]

You're one of the jet setters now!    

The NASCAR race is here this weekend - I could have gone as some of the car clubs had a special deal for $40 seats (compare that to F1!!!) but I think it's going to be rained out. Nothing more miserable to me than paying to sit on metal benches in the pouring rain while nothing happens on track.

So, are you going to hit up some of the races now? Are you going to see the F1 race while you're there? Can he get you in?

[94touring]

I couldn't stay for the races but looked at several cars. He probably could have gotten me in though.  I need to look at the Nascar schedule and actually take advantage of his offer.

[MiniDave]

Well, that was an interesting Sprint race - yes Max won again, and Charles was pretty close at the end, only about 3 seconds back but as usual the real fun was happening further back - where Sainz could not get around DannyRickyBobby no matter how hard he tried and Kmag was refining his technique of keeping others behind while the Hulk built up a gap and stayed in the points. Lap after lap he would force the Hamster off line or even off the track - accumulating penalties along the way. Folks said it was "dirty racing", but......it sure was fun to watch. Hamilton to his credit said it was fun racing that hard.
Also - as usual - Stroll was out at the first corner of the first lap. I realize it's his daddy's team, but they aren't going to win any championships with only one driver scoring - who isn't Verstappen.

Big race is this afternoon - it's kinda frustrating to have to wait to watch the race, when they're in Europe it's already recorded when I get up in the am.

[MiniDave]

Well, Red Bull did not get their sums right this time! Although Max might have been able to hold them off, but the safety car changed all that and Lando was in the exact right place at the right time to take advantage of it, then simply drove away from the pack to win his first one for Big Mac!

It was interesting to see that Max could not gain on him at all - in fact by the end of the race he was 7 seconds behind Lando - and neither of the Ferraris seemed able to get there either - they both closed up within 2 seconds of Max but that was it.

Back in the pack they were going at it hammer and tongs, and Sainz and Piastri had a coming together which broke Piastri's wing - the net result was he finished in 13th instead of 3rd or 4th and Sainz got a 5 sec penalty that dropped him from 4th to 5th, moving Perez up a notch.

So, the win definitely brought McLaren and Lando up in the points - it's no longer a runaway but there is significant separation between the top teams. Long way to go in this season still tho.....

One other small detail - Red Bull have already replaced Newey - giving a long term contract to Pierre Wache' till 2028 - so he'll be the one to design the new cars for when the regs change in 2026. Newey now has a clear field to choose from, the big money is still on him going to Ferrari, but it's not a sure thing just yet.

[Brit_in_TX]

Speaking of F1. I managed to end up in Miami this weekend and was invited out to some special F1 event with a group of people.  Anyway, I met a guy who represents Nascar drivers here doing something for f1 and we got talking cars, so long story short I have access to Nascar races now hanging with the drivers and garages. 

Well if you can share the joy, I would love that for the NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas.

[Brit_in_TX]

I was so happy for Lando, even if I did get a spoiler as they were showing the race in the bar at the furniture store. He has missed out a number of times and really deserved for the luck to come with him. I remember the race in Russia where he could have won but it rained!

[94touring]

Speaking of F1. I managed to end up in Miami this weekend and was invited out to some special F1 event with a group of people.  Anyway, I met a guy who represents Nascar drivers here doing something for f1 and we got talking cars, so long story short I have access to Nascar races now hanging with the drivers and garages. 

Well if you can share the joy, I would love that for the NASCAR race at Circuit of the Americas.

Ha!  Yeah I need to look up the schedule. I've been dealing with a ton of stuff at home, being pulled 20 different directions. Part of the reason for me going to Miami was to undwind!  I need to go back to my day job for downtime lol. 

[BruceK]

Well, this is F1 and it's 2024, so I'll post this here.

Here's a live stream of beautiful old historic F1 cars racing on the current Monaco circuit.  Includes, of course Coopers.

[Brit_in_TX]

I have always wanted to see F1 race a Monaco, but with the chaos and cost that is a modern F1 race, this would be the event to go and see!

[MiniDave]

I had a friend who went to the historics, and the thing I remember is the complete lack of crowds compared to the modern F1 race - they could go anywhere, sit anywhere they wanted, everything was more moderately priced and so on.

So this weekend is Imola, and it's supposed to be the weekend where both Ferrari and McLaren show what they've got and take it to the Red Bulls.......could be a fun race - or they (and us) could all be dreaming and last race was a complete fluke and Max will hi off into the distance again.

The one thing that's been interesting is watching the silly season ramp up so early.....with the Hamster committing to Ferrari this early, putting Sainz out of his seat, he's started a real set of dominos falling. Nobody knows where Sainz will land but the big money is saying NOT Audi, which surprises me only a little bit - he's hot right now and doesn't want to waste 2 or 3 years for Audi to become a contender - if they even do.

I think what he really wants is for Max to go to Mercedes, and then he can take Max's seat at Red Bull.

And of course, the real sweepstakes is for Adrian Newey!

The other big question mark revolves around rookies - who will get the nod to go to the big show - Kimi, Ollie, or some of the guys who graduated from F2 with race wins in their pockets and got sat down when there wasn't an opening for them?

A couple of people who are almost guaranteed NOT to be in a seat next year - Kmag and the Sargeant. But Bottas and Guanyu are also real question marks.

[Brit_in_TX]

With Albon signing a longer term deal with Williams (which is a surprise to me) he is locked in there for a few years.  I think he was already committed to 2025 with them, but this could be a play by Williams to "lock" him in with a view that a bigger team will come knocking and buy him out, Williams have done it before.

I really cannot see Mercedes putting a complete rookie in their second car, even with the extensive testing program they are doing.  There was rumor during the Miami weekend that Williams had requested an exception from the FIA for him to race with them (he is only 17 and needs to be 18 for a super license) and replace Sargeant.  This could be the test to see how he performs in an F1 race setting, I do not think he has done any testing in an F1 car in the free practices.

I cannot see Max going anywhere right now. 

Sainz is not going to go and be Max's teammate.  He wants to be in a team where he is the number 1 or equal driver, at Red Bull he would number 2. Audi have offered him big money, like equal to Max and Hamilton, to drive for them.  But as Dave says, is he going to have success there, or is he going to have to wait years for a chance at podiums. What I read is that Merc only want to offer him a short term contract (1 year) whilst they place Kimi Antontelli at Williams, but he does not want that he wants a longer term deal. However, where else does he go?

Audi/Sauber have already signed Hulkenberg, which is great for him to secure a seat so early in the season.

Looks like Ollie Bearman will be placed at Haas for 2025. 

Other drivers and where they could potentially land:
Tsounda - He is a Honda driver, could land at Aston Martin as they will be a Honda team.
Gasly - Could be a surprise, but I think he will end up staying at Alpine.
Ocon - Could end up at Mercedes as he was a Merc Junior, but only if Sainz does not sign with them.
Bottas - Maybe at Williams, but as a proven race winner he could also stay with Sauber/Audi if Sainz does not go there.
Perez - could do enough to secure another year with Red Bull, especially if Riccardo does not up his game.
Lawson - must be cert for RB.
Riccardo - will remain with Red Bull, but probably at RB rather than the main team.

Sainz is key to alot of these moves.

[MiniDave]

Well, all sorts of interesting things happening in F1, not the least of which is the wheels seem to be falling off the Red Bull effort. Newey has signed with Ferrari - who look pretty strong so far this weekend, at least LeClerc does as he's topped both practice sessions so far and Max says they're "just nowhere"

McLaren, even Mercedes seem likely to feature in this race....Sainz will have to up his game tho as he's not quite on the same page as LeClerc. One thing's for sure, a tenth can take you from 1st place to 5th these days, and a thousandth of a second can take you out of qually!

Tsunoda has been having a good year and seems to have really upped his game this season, I would like to see him with Fred at Aston, but unless daddy Bigbux changes his mind or somehow Honda can persuade him, Lance will have the #2 seat.

HAAS have improved enough that the Hulk is showing other drivers that they are no longer the last place team and could be a good place to start or even enhance your career. It sure worked for him! He's consistently made it into the top 10, race after race both in qually and in finishing order. The potential seems to be there again at HAAS.

It way early in the season to be talking driver's seats, so Ima let that rest for now.