[Rumours] 2016 Driver Silly Season & Beyond

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

would a top team have allowed him to do Le Mans though?

Probably not. Especially a manufacture such as Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault.

While he may not be king of the world, I would trade places with him in a second!

Richard

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

While he may not be king of the world, I would trade places with him in a second!

haha. no doubt!

[m355y]

Originally Posted by Richard Casto

I am a bit disappointed, but I have to assume it was just his best option. I am not quite ready to put him in the Heidfeld category just yet, but its not looking good. Regardless... you can't take that Le Mans win away from him!

Richard

Hulkenberg is probably more in the Fisichella category for me - some moments of brilliance in a mid-grid car. We love that. Every generation there's always one driver who you look at regularly scoring points in a relatively uncompetitive car and say "wonder what he'd be able to do in a top team" and to be honest, the answer is usually that they wouldn't do that reputation any good if they did get into, say, the second Ferrari seat or something. There's something pretty heroic about hauling a Sauber or Force India towards the sharp end, in terms of the reputation it gives you among the purists it's probably second only to actually winning titles, isn't it?

In Fisi's case, when he finally graduated to the Renault seat alongside Alonso, we all found out he wasn't as good as we'd spent the last few years thinking he was. With FI Nico can also do Le Mans/WEC races and one day he might, with a bit of luck, sneak a win on one of those rain-affected races and his status as unfulfilled great will be rubber stamped.

[Mike Harte]

McLaren are indicating today that they intend on keeping Alonso and Button together for next year, whilst also saying that they will place Vandoorne and Magnesson in other cars, meaning that all 4 will have race seats for the 2016 season.

So, where will the two youngsters be? Manor, Haas, Toro Rosso or possibly Lotus/Renault?

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

McLaren are indicating today that they intend on keeping Alonso and Button together for next year, whilst also saying that they will place Vandoorne and Magnesson in other cars, meaning that all 4 will have race seats for the 2016 season.

So, where will the two youngsters be? Manor, Haas, Toro Rosso or possibly Lotus/Renault?

I asked a similar question on prior page (who is Honda or Honda/McLaren B team that might host their younger drivers). It seemed many felt Manor was most likely, with FI as a dark horse. But FI has signed Hulkenberg, so I think that might make FI an unlikely Honda B team candidate "IF" they (Honda and McLaren) are looking to place their extra McLaren drivers elsewhere.

Here is an article to the point about them wanting to keep Button and Alonso..

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/120626

As much as I say previously that they would be smart to look for less expensive drivers... I am personally happy it looks good for Button next year as I am a fan.

Richard

[p-matt]

Grosjean to Haas rumours gaining a lot of traction now. Interesting

[VIVA GT]

Back to the McLaren A/B team possibilities. What about splitting their two existing experienced drivers between the two teams so each could act as a mentor for the young upcoming superstars? (Not very likely I'm sure, but it's an idea).

[m355y]

I do wonder what the chances are of Red Bull dropping a surprise and promoting Max Verstappen straight to the team to partner Ricciardo next season. I know he's already been confirmed as staying at STR, but with Kvyat yet to be confirmed and their reputation for being a bit ruthless with drivers who maybe aren't quite hitting the heights, is it a possibility? I think it would be harsh on Kvyat not to keep him next season though.

latest rumours seem to be Perez to Lotus/Renault, Maldonado to Force India, Grosjean to Haas....if Manor become a Mercedes team then maybe Wehrlein?

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by m355y

I do wonder what the chances are of Red Bull dropping a surprise and promoting Max Verstappen straight to the team to partner Ricciardo next season. I know he's already been confirmed as staying at STR, but with Kvyat yet to be confirmed and their reputation for being a bit ruthless with drivers who maybe aren't quite hitting the heights, is it a possibility? I think it would be harsh on Kvyat not to keep him next season though.

Is this the same Daniil Kvyat who is ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the standings and who has RBRs best finish of the season (2nd)?

If so, no.

Plus, RBR kept Webber for long enough for this truly to be put to bed.

[m355y]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Is this the same Daniil Kvyat who is ahead of Daniel Ricciardo in the standings and who has RBRs best finish of the season (2nd)?

If so, no.

Plus, RBR kept Webber for long enough for this truly to be put to bed.

Red Bull will be desperate not to lose Max to a rival though, with Mercedes already linked. They'll want to promote him as soon as they can. Kvyat's second place was fortuitous and despite consistent points, he's trailed Ricciardo on ultimate pace. I don't think it's as stupid as it sounds. Max is hot property.

[chillibowl]

Max is a hot property. if RB take the Ferrari engine deal, i would think Ferrari will want Max's contract as a sweetener.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by m355y

Red Bull will be desperate not to lose Max to a rival though, with Mercedes already linked. They'll want to promote him as soon as they can. Kvyat's second place was fortuitous and despite consistent points, he's trailed Ricciardo on ultimate pace. I don't think it's as stupid as it sounds. Max is hot property.

Erm, Kvyat had a poor start to the season, with luck and with a lack of relative pace, but from Monaco onwards he's been faster than Ricciardo on several occasions, with a good qualifying record and race pace to match. He's also only 21 I believe, that's 4 years older than Verstappen, but still plenty of time to improve and he could quite feasibly remain at the sharp end of Grand Prix racing for another 12 years or so. And lets face it, who on the grid isn't at least 4 years older than Verastappen!!!

Yes, Verstappen is the wonderkid of Formula 1, but Kvyat is still a mega talent. He's certainly been more of a match for Ricciardo than a certain 4 time WDC was.

[Hawkwood]

According to Autosport McLaren won't stand in Magnussen's way if he gets an offer from somewhere else.

That seems a decent sign to me that he's dropped behind Vandoorne in the pecking order.

[m355y]

Originally Posted by Biscuits In A Red Bull

Erm, Kvyat had a poor start to the season, with luck and with a lack of relative pace, but from Monaco onwards he's been faster than Ricciardo on several occasions, with a good qualifying record and race pace to match. He's also only 21 I believe, that's 4 years older than Verstappen, but still plenty of time to improve and he could quite feasibly remain at the sharp end of Grand Prix racing for another 12 years or so. And lets face it, who on the grid isn't at least 4 years older than Verastappen!!!

Yes, Verstappen is the wonderkid of Formula 1, but Kvyat is still a mega talent. He's certainly been more of a match for Ricciardo than a certain 4 time WDC was.

I don't think I rate Kvyat as high as you do, to be honest.

[gert]

Originally Posted by m355y

I don't think I rate Kvyat as high as you do, to be honest.

But I can't see Red Bull drop him either...

[gert]

Originally Posted by Hawkwood

According to Autosport McLaren won't stand in Magnussen's way if he gets an offer from somewhere else.

That seems a decent sign to me that he's dropped behind Vandoorne in the pecking order.

Unless they want Vandoorne to do a Magnussen next year?

In that case:
* keep Button in McLaren #2
* make sure Magnussen races somewhere else next year
* park Vandoorne for a year
* evaluate your option again at the end of 2016: if either one of Button or Magnussen impressed, sign him for 2017 and place Vandoorne somewhere else - otherwise promote Vandoorne.

Next time this year, add De Vries to the pile of drivers, unless he had a disappointing year in whatever-formula-he-will-race-in-in-2016

[gert]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Back to the McLaren A/B team possibilities. What about splitting their two existing experienced drivers between the two teams so each could act as a mentor for the young upcoming superstars? (Not very likely I'm sure, but it's an idea).

I'm not convinced they only want to outsource Magnussen and/or Vandoorne to a Honda-engined team.

[Akrapovic]

Mags can get added to the pile of undeveloped McLaren/Mercedes development drivers then. Surprised they didn't just put him in DTM and pretend he doesn't exist.

[m355y]

Magnussen and Vergne at Haas would be a brilliant driver lineup with loads of potential. Just hope the car's more competitive than Caterham/Marussia level. So hard for a new team but this lot seem to be doing quite a lot right.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by m355y

I don't think I rate Kvyat as high as you do, to be honest.

I'm pretty sure that most of my post was entirely fact based, but at the end of the day it doesn't matter what either of us think of Kvyat, it's up to RBR.

Magnussen saying he'd love to race for Haas to me is basically him saying "I'll race for anyone." DTM, Indycar, sports cars, Formula E, they'd all be options open to him, and I honestly think that Vandoorne may well have overtaken him on the McLaren junior line-up priority ranking (if they have one).

[p-matt]

If Vandoorne has leapfrogged Magnussen on McLaren's pecking order, fair do's. He wasn't all that last year, and showed a lack of being able to learn from his mistakes. Vandoorne has demonstrated in the last two years how he's absolutely the real deal

[m355y]

Agree Vandoorne is probably better than Magnussen, but ten years ago a rookie season like Magnussen's would have guaranteed him a long F1 career and you can see what Mark Webber was harping on about when you think Magnussen, Vergne, Di Resta, even the likes of Buemi have all been left without a drive in recent years while Maldonado, Ericsson and co take up the seats. Not to mention people like Palmer not getting the chance at all.

Vandoorne is what, 24-ish? He's not a Verstappen-type young kid, he's a polished, experience driver and if he doesn't get a race drive next year something's really wrong imo.

[Hawkwood]

Assuming Rossi shows well with Manor for the next 5 races, does anyone think that'll have any baring on a possible Haas deal?

Or is it Manor or nothing for him next year regardless?

[cds_uk]

I honestly can't see how he will do any better than Merhi, isn't he quite a bit bigger than Stevens aswell, a thankless task against a very average team mate, he can't come out of this looking good.

[chillibowl]

just read this. sad for merhi but i think this is great news for Rossi and for the fans as we get to see something new for 5 of the last 7 races.

if he shows well that could give him enough 'experience' to get back in the frame at Haas.