F1 2024 News/Misc.

I think Red Bull and Mercedes are crazy for not going after Sainz. Maybe there was another available talent that was just as good but I don't think so.
In Mercedes’s case I can at least see the vision with Antonelli. Red Bull seem like a bit of a rudderless ship right now though. The fact that another driver well beyond his prime (Ricciardo) is one of the candidates to replace Perez tells me they have no real direction, nor have they even gotten Lawson any real time in the Toro Rosso.
 
In Mercedes’s case I can at least see the vision with Antonelli. Red Bull seem like a bit of a rudderless ship right now though. The fact that another driver well beyond his prime (Ricciardo) is one of the candidates to replace Perez tells me they have no real direction, nor have they even gotten Lawson any real time in the Toro Rosso.

I thought RB might be making a move for Sainz, but I guess that bridge is fully torched. Just playing armchair team boss, but if I'm Christian Horner, I'm calling Oscar Piastri and buying him out of McLaren. He just feels special to me and his salary is pretty low ($6mm a year.)
 
It's clear that Perez isn't getting the most out of the Red Bull but what's also clear is that Liam would absolutely get thrown to the wolves and probably have a season like Gasly in the first half of 2019 and then get sacked.
Ricciardo, though improving as of late, is washed as well and miles behind Yuki.

If they want to replace Checo with someone from the Red Bull camp who actually would achieve better results it has to be Yuki.

I'd love to see Red Bull run Max and Yuki in 2025 with Liam and Hadjar competing for Toro Rosso.
Hadjar is on a tear in F2 right now.
 
that early Sainz to Williams post turned out to be true.


2 years+option.
Will be the best lineup Williams have had in quite a while, and Carlos will be a good benchmark for Albon.

Seems like there’s a good early optimism about the 2026 Merc PU and a lot of skepticism about Audi’s, who also just brought on Mattia Binotto in replacement of Andreas Seidl last week.
 
Wouldn't say Ricciardo is washed like that, honestly. He and Yuki are a pretty interesting battle. Either one gets it really right and the other wrong or it's one-sided.
 
In other news, Red Bull has inexplicably decided to keep Checo despite the “emergency” meeting they had.
 
They'll find a way to f*ck that up, too.
McLaren are only 42 points back with ten races to go, with some Sprints thrown in as well. Checo only has 24 points in the last seven race weekends and Max hasn’t won in the last four. I think they’ll get there with ease - it would take a pretty massive turn in either direction between Red Bull and McLaren for it not to change hands at some point, imo.

You could throw either Tsunoda or Ricciardo in there and at the very least it wouldn’t be worse than what Perez is doing, so I guess they’ve just kinda sold the WCC? The more time passes the more I’m amused by the idea of Max pulling a shocker and going to Mercedes, because a lot of Red Bull’s decision-making these days reeks of either carelessness or arrogance.
 
Wouldn't say Ricciardo is washed like that, honestly. He and Yuki are a pretty interesting battle. Either one gets it really right and the other wrong or it's one-sided.
I'll say this, Danny has probably a longer future in F1 ahead of him than Checo has.
In all honesty I'm glad Red Bull decided not to ruin Liam's career before it really started, Danny wouldn't have been much of an improvement and they probably didn't want to pay the money to get someone out of their current contract.
 
McLaren are only 42 points back with ten races to go, with some Sprints thrown in as well. Checo only has 24 points in the last seven race weekends and Max hasn’t won in the last four. I think they’ll get there with ease - it would take a pretty massive turn in either direction between Red Bull and McLaren for it not to change hands at some point, imo.

You could throw either Tsunoda or Ricciardo in there and at the very least it wouldn’t be worse than what Perez is doing, so I guess they’ve just kinda sold the WCC? The more time passes the more I’m amused by the idea of Max pulling a shocker and going to Mercedes, because a lot of Red Bull’s decision-making these days reeks of either carelessness or arrogance.
McLaren should be the favorites for the WCC now and I'd love to see them win it. It would be the first time since I started watching the sport as an 8 y/o that someone other than Mercedes or Red Bull win.
Heck, Lando would have a good shot at the WDC if things had gone his way between the Red Bull Ring and Budapest but I don't see Max losing a 78 point gap.
Max going to Mercedes would be a step upward at this point. If it happens, the Red Bull team could collapse like a house of cards, at least as far as performance is concerned.
 
I'll say this, Danny has probably a longer future in F1 ahead of him than Checo has.
In all honesty I'm glad Red Bull decided not to ruin Liam's career before it really started, Danny wouldn't have been much of an improvement and they probably didn't want to pay the money to get someone out of their current contract.
I think what was once Checo's main strength in tire conservation, many have caught up. Not only that, but with firmer compounds compared to the likes of the hypersoft era. It's still important to be able to tire save, but I just don't think the tires fall away as substantial as it used to be.

Checo would maintain a consistent, but rapid enough pace. Then once others tires would fall off, he would then pounce on the opportunity.
 
I might make it to the Thursday practice sessions in Las Vegas :cool:

I was already going to be in town for a pretty big asphalt event at the Bullring at LVMS the prior weekend. I was going to spend a couple extra nights in Vegas because it's the slow season so rooms are stupid cheap. Then I found a midget race Wednesday night in California 5 hours away so thought I'd tie that in as something fun. Well that Thursday night is F1 practice. Room is "free" from casino play and I'll probably buy a ticket on Stubhub week-of for cheap hopefully. Tickets are $150 on the secondary market right now. I'd be a buyer below $100 which I'm sure they'll drop to come race week.
 

He ain't lying.

Max is highly skilled at one class and he's pretty much the best at it right now. But in terms of versatility and adaptability, Larson is the man.

Hard to compare though as Max doesn't do much outside Open Wheel.
 
This is a bit of a clickbait headline but otherwise a halfway serious article.

Several other German sports and tabloid media are trying to write a Vettel and/or Schumacher comeback into existence.
I don't see any chance either will happen.
 
I'll throw SVG and Scotty Mac into the pot, too.

I'd take those two over Larson, IMHO. Max will get to a point where he will get into GT cars or prototypes. Comparing drivers in different disciplines is especially difficult. Verstappen and Larson are amazing talents, but this comparison. I'd say send them both to RoC.

Just the V8 Supercar guys are so well rounded already, it's not even a joke.
 
FP1 Zandvoort didn't show us much, but it was still interesting. McLaren and Merc both seem pretty dialed in. Prety scrappy session from just about everyone.
 
Pretty scrappy wet FP3. Sargent comprehensively destroys his Williams we are and currently under a red flag.

Hulkenberg wipes out a front wing, and several others drive through the gravel.
 
Back to green with 1:30 to go. Gasly fastest, Magnussen, Botas. It was essentially a bizarre one lap shootout, and everyone was in traffic. I certainly don't see qualifying going the same way.
 
Williams is going to repair Sargent's car for Q3. As bad as that thing was banged up, I didn't think thy would even try.
 
Colapinto P9 in FP3. Quite a nice debut. Williams has got to be happy with their weekend so far.

Gotta wonder what's going on with Red Bull. Max can pop in a quick lap, but he can't seem to do it with any consistency. He could still get pole, but can he hang ono it for two hours tomorrow?
 
No possible bigger footsteps to step in for a rookie. Hopefully the expectations won't be too high.
Best car a rookie has been in probably since Hamilton in 2007. It’ll be nothing if not fascinating to watch. I think he’ll be great if given a couple of years of grace, but folks gotta chill on the borderline PR given to this guy. The piece about how he was crashed his car better than anyone in the history of motorsport yesterday is just over the top.
 
I couldn’t believe what I was reading. It’s usually referred to as over-driving the car.
I think Toto was just making excuses, but they have so much invested in the guy they have to stand behind him.

Having said that, it was a pretty grand debut and Kimi will be fine. He's just looking for the limit and now he's found it.
 
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