[Driver] 2018 F1 silly season.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by S griffin

Well Sauber have let it known that Vandoorne is not on their shortlist

Have they really?

Fred Vasseur is a big fan of his, so?

If the Alfa support is reduced it increases Ericsson's chances of keeping his seat.

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by chunterer

If the Alfa support is reduced it increases Ericsson's chances of keeping his seat.

The owners persistence on keeping Ericsson as a driver, is one of the reasons Alfa Romeo is scaling back it's involvement. At one stage it was looking like Sauber was to be the Alfa Romeo 'works' team. But that all but faded because Ericsson is favoured by the owners of Sauber.

[chunterer]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

The owners persistence on keeping Ericsson as a driver, is one of the reasons Alfa Romeo is scaling back it's involvement. At one stage it was looking like Sauber was to be the Alfa Romeo 'works' team. But that all but faded because Ericsson is favoured by the owners of Sauber.

That's not how I understand it, isn't it more to do with Fiat/Ferrari politics and strategy? Under Sergio the plan was to take full control as 'Alfa' but even before his passing that plan was scaled back.

Shame as Sauber have just started to get back to competitiveness and I wonder if they will be able to sustain the progress when they go back to being a full privateer.

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by chunterer

That's not how I understand it

As I said, it is "one of the reasons". As in, it's not the only reason.

Originally Posted by chunterer

Under Sergio the plan was to take full control as 'Alfa' but even before his passing that plan was scaled back.

Yes, that is also another reason. There are a few reasons why the Alfa works team will not happen as was expected for 2019. One of them is the owners of Sauber insisting Ericsson remain as a driver.

[F1Guy]

STR = Second Take Rejects??

Kvyat confirmed by Horner as in the mix for a STR seat. Again.

[BSchneiderFan]

So, can we be clear here - are Alfa scaling back their involvement in Sauber as of 2019, or simply not increasing it as some people (I wasn’t among them) seem to have expected? Because there’s a difference between the two things. It seems to me that Alfa currently have quite a sweet deal: VERY prominent branding and the opportunity to use one seat to blood new drivers without the sort of financial commitment which would come of running a works team.

[E.B]

The deal with Sauber drivers is that Ferrari get to nominate one driver for the team, and then Sauber get to add their choice. Right know, Sauber are waiting to hear from Ferrari whether Leclerc is headed to Marinello in place of Raikkonen, or even to Haas should Kimi be retained at Ferrari, in which case Giovinazzi is suggested to be the Ferrari nominee at Sauber. Once Sauber receive word re the Ferrari nominated driver they will choose their own driver, be it Ericsson or whoever.
Mid October is when the (Ferrari) decision must be made by.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13...enleclerc-call

[BSchneiderFan]

Doesn’t answer my question...

[S griffin]

Hope Leclerc gets it. I can see why Sauber are waiting, don't want to replace their star driver if he's not going somewhere better

[F1Guy]

Well... looks like the expected late season seat shuffle may have had a bit water thrown at the fire.

Force India are looking to keep the current drivers in place until the end of season in a bid to try and challenge for fifth in the WDC. A change of drivers may upset that plan. Apparently Stroll Snr has agreed to keeping Ocon and Perez in place.

Another story I've heard is that Williams are not interested in Ocon because he is too tall for their car. But.. Ocon is only 2cm taller than Sirotkin?? Or are Williams saying Ocon is too tall for Stroll's car?

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

Well... looks like the expected late season seat shuffle may have had a bit water thrown at the fire.

Force India are looking to keep the current drivers in place until the end of season in a bid to try and challenge for fifth in the WDC. A change of drivers may upset that plan. Apparently Stroll Snr has agreed to keeping Ocon and Perez in place.

Another story I've heard is that Williams are not interested in Ocon because he is too tall for their car. But.. Ocon is only 2cm taller than Sirotkin?? Or are Williams saying Ocon is too tall for Stroll's car?

Any sources for these rumours - or are we just going to see almost every possible outcome posted in the vain hope that one of them will be right and can 'prove' the importance of what is posted?

[jimclark]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

Any sources for these rumours - or are we just going to see almost every possible outcome posted in the vain hope that one of them will be right and can 'prove' the importance of what is posted?

[Akrapovic]

That's the Eddie Jordan school of Journalism. If you say enough things then you'll get one right and declare yourself a prophet.

[BSchneiderFan]

To his credit, he correctly predicted Schumacher’s second retirement (or was it his comeback? I forget).

[peebee2]

To be fair he also predicted a new McLaren driver would have a super licence and two legs. He knows his onions for sure.

[djinvicta]

I reckon Stroll and his Fathers money are contracted to Williams for 2018 so he cannot pull Lance away to Force India until the new year. I do agree it is a better option to keep the two FI drivers there for the remaining 7 races.

[jimclark]

On the flip side of that coin, would it not be better to let Stroll go and let who ever's to be in the seat next year and the team get acclimated to one another the rest of this season? 'Just a thought.

[BSchneiderFan]

Presumably the ideal scenario for Williams would be to shed astroll but keep papa’s money for the rest of the season.

[jimclark]

Please tell me that's a typo.....

[E.B]

Presumably they are seeking out as many points for the WCC that they can, and with their current lineup are doing a pretty good job of that task. From zero points pre Spa they have now jumped to 7th ahead of Toro Rosso Sauber and Williams, with 32 points from 2 races.
Stroll would not be helping as much as either Ocon or Perez.

WCC POINTS

6th. McLaren Renault 52
7th. Force India Mercedes 32
8th. Toro Rosso Honda 30
9th. Sauber Ferrari 19
10th.Williams Mercedes 7

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by E.B

Presumably they are seeking out as many points for the WCC that they can, and with their current lineup are doing a pretty good job of that task. From zero points pre Spa they have now jumped to 7th ahead of Toro Rosso Sauber and Williams, with 32 points from 2 races.
Stroll would not be helping as much as either Ocon or Perez.

Correct E.B. That is what is behind the apparent reason behind keeping the current FI drivers until seasons end. Stroll being a business man, surely can see the benefits of not upsetting the status quo as it means more money for the team at the end of the day. Lance will most likely be there in 2019, but for 2018, it makes little sense to swap drivers now.


But then again, this is F1 and anything can, and does happen.

[F1Guy]

Have to say... the Mercedes junior program has not worked out too well for their drivers. First Wehrlien didn't manage to find a seat for 2018, and now Ocon may find himself out of a F1 drive for next year. Would be an absolute travesty to think that a driver like Ocon cannot find a seat.

And then there's F2 points leader George Russell, another Mercedes junior. Where can he fit in for 2019 now that his nearest rival, and current 2nd placed in the championship Norris has been announced as a F1 driver for 2019? If Russell wins the championship, will it be case of the F2 champion having no F1 seat, but the runner up does??

Crazy times for the Mercedes junior drivers.

[Skam85]

Lucky love conquers all at Mercedes.

[chunterer]

I suspect than Norris senior has only a bit less influence on his son's activities than Stroll Senior does over Lance.....

I wouldn't dare suggest they have the full ears of the respective team bosses whom their son's are employed by.

There is far far more to this than Zak Brown simply signing the 'next Hamilton'

[bella]

i don't think norris snr has any influence beyond supporting his son's ambitions. i could see him investing in mclaren from a business perspective, but not from a stroll team ownership one. whereas stroll has bought into teams, norris' family has had a "whatever it takes" attitude. you could argue one picks and chooses the correct people to run his son, and trusts them accordingly, whereas one controls them by taking control of the team.