[Rumours] 2016 Driver Silly Season & Beyond

[knighty]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

in fairness, im pretty sure Jense was the first person who realized that Williams were on the slide when he first had to buy his way out of driving for them way back when!

Claire Williams' thoughts on the situation:

"We will own our driver line-up decision, and I am not sat here waiting for [McLaren chairman] Ron Dennis to make his decision or for Jenson to make his decision," Williams told PA Sport. "It it is not about what other people are doing. I am not going to be waiting around because that is just not the right mentality for a team like ours to have.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/...utton-decision

to their credit Williams still act like a top team and one needs that mentality if they want to return to that level (plus 300mil a year) so i cant fault her for having that point of view but if they really want JB then they are going to have to wait and rightly so...they are not a manu level financed team.

I think those are big words for a team who have a customer engine and will only ever be Mercedes B-team and not allowed to win, just like sauber were to ferrari and torso rosso are to redbull.....there is possibly an argument that Williams were looking quite strong so Mercedes have turned their customer engines down.

Williams will soon realise this and switch to honda power I'm quite sure.

Regarding Jensons development reputation. The work he did at brawn and his early days at mclaren were more than respectable. Not to mention he is a world champion. And he outscored Hamilton for 2 years In the same car. 16 years experience in F1.

[chunterer]

Magnussen is much better than average!! He's on a hiding to nothing in that car, only his experience is giving him any leeway. Palmer hasn't done too bad recently but he is not Kevin's standard.

I agree re Button not being a car developer. I'll bet the key set up pointers at Brawn were Rubens' work not his.

And I wish people would stop banging on about those seasons v Hamilton! Lewis was below par back then and is now a more complete driver.

Button on his day is a real force but his best days are behind him. He and Checo got on quite well at Mclaren, certainly no worse than he and Alonso so do currently.

I'm not sure why Perez would fancy Williams over Force Jalfrezi though! Renault maybe as they will be on the up.

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by chunterer

I agree re Button not being a car developer. I'll bet the key set up pointers at Brawn were Rubens' work not his.

IIRC the car topped its first day having missed the first 8 days of testing so I suspect the engineers settings were pretty spot on anyway

[Mixer]

Originally Posted by peebee2

IIRC the car topped its first day having missed the first 8 days of testing so I suspect the engineers settings were pretty spot on anyway

Yeah the bloody illegal diffuser had nothing to do with it

[peebee2]

Originally Posted by Mixer

Yeah the bloody illegal diffuser had nothing to do with it

Totally correct. Legal or not. Nothing to do with day one balance.

[BSchneiderFan]

Claire Williams has been quoted as saying that Jenson is "very attractive" for her team; are the stars aligning for JB to go back to Grove to end his career where it began?

[BSchneiderFan]

Renault are said to want a "charismatic" team leader to drive the project forward. An indication that at least one of Palmer and Magnussen is on his way out?

[cds_uk]

With Renault looking for a "charismatic lead driver" for next year what chances do you think for Grosjean to head back there?

[BSchneiderFan]

Hadn't thought of Grosjean; the rumours so far have been Pérez, Massa and Bottas. But who knows?

[p-matt]

Here's how I read it:

McLaren: is Alonso and Button vs Vandoorne. And it'll be Vandoorne. He's the future of McLaren and they can't afford to sideline him for another year. He's a Ron man too, and Jenson isn't.

Williams: Massa will be gone, and I'm sure the team would very much like Bottas to stay for consistency. Jenson has a good chance of joining and Perez is very much in the mix. I wouldn't at all be surprised if Laurence Stroll pays for Lance to take a race seat. So much so, I'll plump for a leftfield Button and Stroll lineup.

Renault: These seats should be the keys to the driver market. It's a works team, Renault have pumped loads of money into the team to make them great again. And there's no reason to think they won't succeed; the Enstone/Renault combo went from nothing to world champions in 5 years in the early 00s. As such, Palmer is a goner, and I've heard they aren't entirely convinced on Magnussen. They seem to want to make Ocon their hot young star, but they need someone solid with good experience alongside. Perez and Bottas have been mentioned as options offering just that. But let's not forget about Vasseur's past in ART. He's worked with both Hulkenberg and Grosjean very successfully. The team know Grosjean and have always wanted the Hulk, so I'd be surprised if they weren't on their wishlist. That said, I reckon it'll be a Bottas and Ocon lineup. Bottas must know Williams aren't going to give him a championship, and the longer he stays there the less his efforts will be recognised.

Force India: It will be Hulkenberg and Perez if they don't end up elsewhere. If they leave, surely Mercedes will work Wehrlein into Force India.

Toro Rosso: Sainz and Kvyat versus Gasly. With the way they've destroyed Kvyat and Gasly finally coming good in GP2, Red Bull will do what they always do and go for new talent rather than experience. Gasly it is then.

Haas: Grosjean and Gutierrez will most likely stay. If not, Rossi has quite strong marketability after his Indy 500 win, and Magnussen was an option for them preseason, and could be again.

Sauber: Ericsson's backers have essentially bought the team, so he's nailed on. I can't help but think they won't want Nasr after various clashes between the two. Palmer and Sirotkin have cash - maybe they could end up at Sauber? Or Leclerc for discounted Ferrari engines?

Manor: If Wehrlein doesn't get promoted he'll stay at Manor for another year. Rossi still has a good relationship with the team and could return if he decides to commit to F1 rather than Indycar. It could be an option for drivers like Nasr, Sirotkin, Palmer, or anyone else with some money.

[BSchneiderFan]

Not sure Renault will promote Ocon so long as he retains his Mercedes links.

[Hawkwood]

The latest Autosport has Gutierrez as a possibility for Williams?!

[DDDrive]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Not sure Renault will promote Ocon so long as he retains his Mercedes links.

Renault will only promote Ocon so long as he retains his Mercedes links - the Germans pay all his bills!

[knighty]

It would not surprise me to see Kvyat dropped and replaced with Sergey Sirotkin.....or to see him get promoted at Renault to a race drive, perhaps for a few races this season.......he seems half decent, already a renault F1 test driver, it appears the Russian market is too important to ignore from both the fans perspective and selling cars, brand exposure etc.....I dare say Putin would also like a russian driver in F1!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Sirotkin_(racing_driver)

.

[BSchneiderFan]

Well, Franz Tost says he wants Kvyat to stay, but I guess it's down to Mateschitz, with Marko whispering in his ear.

[Razzzor]

While Sirotkin and Gasly are 1-2 in the GP2 points, they've only really got there in the last couple of rounds, such is the nature of GP2's points structure where a single feature race win can vault you from 10th to 1st in points. Before that they were both performing poorly and neither one looked good enough for F1. Or have the F1 teams already forgotten that and are just looking at current points as they stand now? Vandoorne would have destroyed Sirotkin in the ART if he was still in it this year.

I'd promote Giovinazzi over Gasly. He's fresh and prone to mistakes, but when he's been fast he's in another league, particularly with tyre management. Is Giovinazzi a RB driver? Gasly can't manage his tyres and took far too long to get a win.

[bella]

i agree with you about giovinazzi, he's a proper racer. respect to gasly for getting his act together recently but this is his third year in a big single seater, and sirotkin's had even longer. not sure vandoorne would have destroyed sirotkin all the time, the kid does have a decent amount of pace but it doesn't seem very consistent.

and about the gp2 points system, it only worked out that way because the championship leader and others happened to have a complete stinker that same race and it was relatively early on in the season.

[BSchneiderFan]

Can't understand the rumours that Williams are looking at Nasr, unless they fancy (what I presume is) his Banco do Brasil cash. Pérez I can understand; yes he brings money but he's quick and smooth and could win races in the right environment. But I've seen nothing special from Nasr. I still think Williams would be best off with a Button/Bottas pairing.

[cds_uk]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Can't understand the rumours that Williams are looking at Nasr, unless they fancy (what I presume is) his Banco do Brasil cash.

Have to say i agree with you there, i don't think he has done much to make them change their mind since they let him go.

[Mekola]

Originally Posted by BSchneiderFan

Can't understand the rumours that Williams are looking at Nasr, unless they fancy (what I presume is) his Banco do Brasil cash.

Not only that; also to justify Petrobras keep sponsoring them...

[peebee2]

1. Petrobras
2. Banco do Brasil
3. FOM needing a driver from Brazil in a decent team

[BSchneiderFan]

Well, we'll see. Pat Symonds is now saying Williams is ready for a star driver, into which category I don't think anyone would claim Nasr falls, but he also says he'd be very happy to keep Massa and Bottas. Personally, while he seems a genuinely nice guy, I think Massa has reached his limit in terms of results and Williams could do with a shake-up.

[VIVA GT]

As an ex-World Champion, would Pat consider Jenson Button as a Star?
This could be a build up to the announcement...

[BSchneiderFan]

Williams have been sending out very mixed messages, I think. Pat Symonds says on the one hand they're ready for a star driver, but on the other hand he'd be very happy to stick with the current line-up. Claire Williams says Button would be very attractive. I certainly think he'd count as a star driver, despite his age, and I really hope he finds his way back to Grove. Could be a great last few years in F1 for him, especially if Williams gets the 2017 regulations right. Maybe more race wins...?

[chunterer]

Trouble is, Williams have gone backwards performance wise from the point when Symonds last said that tbe team WASN'T ready for a star driver.

Wonder what exactly has changed that view?

Frustration?
Financial?
Loss of faith in current pedallers?
Panic?

All of the above?!