Mercedes second seat?

[JABWOA]

The good thing (I think) is that its clear to Bottas what he needs to do, no lingering doubt about future drives. As noted above, it is entirely up to him to show what he can do.

Merc still has plenty of scope for next year with Hamilton (iirc) and Vettel and Alonso up for new contracts. I imagine LH would wait to see massive improvement from the Prancing Horse or dive from Merc before jumping ship, he wants championships not bed post notches.

[GTRMagic]

What happens if the 2017 Mercedes chassis isn't as good/dominant as it has been in previous years?

Its not an impossible thought...

Mercedes dominating the 2017 WDC & WCC isn't actually a walk up start..

[F1Guy]

Toto Wolff on the phone about signing Bottas HERE.

[bjohnsonsmith]

This one year contract is going to be interesting on two levels.

Firstly, it could provide Lewis with the perfect wing man. Bottas has to accalimatise himself with the team and then there's the actual racing. He's got to deliver but will Mercedes want him to actively challenge Lewis? I always felt Toto Wolff was never comfortable with Lewis and Nico racing each other.

Secondly, this is a fantastic opportunity for Bottas. Again, he's got to deliver but as this is for one year, why not go all out and show how good he is.

I'm looking forward to see how this pans out.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by GTRMagic

What happens if the 2017 Mercedes chassis isn't as good/dominant as it has been in previous years?

Its not an impossible thought...

Mercedes dominating the 2017 WDC & WCC isn't actually a walk up start..

I was thinking the same.

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by F1Pete

I wonder if anything he can do will be "good enough".

i think Bottas' biggest advantage is that he will costs so so much less then any of the top name drivers who may be available for 2018.

if he can do enough in the car to secure a consistent stream of 1-2 finishes for Merc or, if the car is not top the field, makes sure he finishes right behind LH then he will have proved his worth (at a bargain price) and the team will retain him for a second year.

[S griffin]

I think the one season deal is right, as I've said before this season we'll see how good he really is. If he has a stellar season, he would have proved the doubters wrong and Merc will be happy to keep him. So we'll see

[spider]

Question / opinion - is it fair to say that Williams now have the weakest driver pairing on the grid?!

Also - Bottas was almost dropped by Williams (if Button had said yes to joining alongside Lance) - and has now ended up in the dominant team.

[JABWOA]

Not the weakest pairing, but close. However, the team enviroment will be so much better than the others (Sauber in particular) and with the additional investment Williams hopefully can do wonders with it. They should be able to give FI a run for their money.

Massa isn't a slouch and did drive quite well last year. Stroll will be interesting but possibly is the most well trained rookie in a long while.

Torro Rosso and Renault need to be the big improvers this year after underwhelming last year. And hopefully Haas can maintain momentum further into the year.

[Adam43]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i think Bottas' biggest advantage is that he will costs so so much less then any of the top name drivers who may be available for 2018.

His manager didn't do a very good job then

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by spider

Question / opinion - is it fair to say that Williams now have the weakest driver pairing on the grid?!

I don't know if I would say weakest, but rather place a large question mark in that category because we just don't know what Stroll is like in an F1 car. Otherwise Manor (bigger unknown), Force India, Sauber and maybe even Haas all do not have particularly strong lineups IMHO.

Originally Posted by spider

Also - Bottas was almost dropped by Williams (if Button had said yes to joining alongside Lance) - and has now ended up in the dominant team.

Is this less a vote of no-confidence of Bottas than it is a strong vote of confidence of Button by Williams? Plus... Clearly understanding that Button is at the end of his career and his best days are behind him, but if Stroll was looking for an experienced mentor/measuring stick as a teammate, are you going to say that Bottas would have worked better in that capacity than Button? Note the reported condition in Stroll's contract was an experienced teammate. For all I know Bottas is faster today than Button. But nobody on the grid today has as much experience (F1 starts) as Button.

Richard

[Skam85]

Originally Posted by F1Pete

I guess the one year deal leaves options open for 2018 once other big name drivers are on the open market.

This puts all the pressure into Bottas and the ball is totally in his court. Basically it is up him to make the decision for Mercedes whether or not they keep him or let him go. He is in a car where he will be expected to win races vs hoping to win.

Mercedes has left the door open, but it is up to Bottas to close it. This leads to a hypothetical question...if Bottas performs well and gets a few wins and keeps Hammy on his toes, would Merc still sign Vettel or Alonso if they showed interest? What kind of season would Bottas have to have to thwart being shown a friendly exit ( other than winning the drivers championship)?

With those driver options out there (along with Ocon and Werhlein if they have stellar seasons) pretty much can make Bottas feel "temporary". It sounds like it can be a daunting task regardless how well he does. I wonder if anything he can do will be "good enough".

The counter to this would be should Bottas do a good job and Merc still sign Vettel or Alonso to replace him, then he becomes a very good option for the Ferrari/McLaren vacant seat.

[F1Guy]

Originally Posted by spider

Also - Bottas was almost dropped by Williams (if Button had said yes to joining alongside Lance) - and has now ended up in the dominant team.

Not sure that is true. In fact, Claire Williams has previously said that Williams F1 had a firm contract for 2017 and an option for 2018 with Valtteri. Williams wasn't going to "drop" Bottas. But Bottas wanted to drop Williams. First was in 2015 when Ferrari wanted him for 2016. Williams blocked that move. Then again last year when Renault wanted him for this year, Williams and Bottas' management blocked that move. Williams were very keen to keep Bottas in the team for at least two more years.

And Button was never going to join Williams. Plus, Jenson has a contract with McLaren and also with Honda.

[F1Guy]

I cannot see Vettel or Alonso driving for Mercedes in the near future. Just can't see it happening. Not while Hamilton is still driving for them anyway.
If Hamilton stays at Mercedes for 2-3 more years, then both Vettel and Alonso will not be driving for Mercedes.

[bjohnsonsmith]

Originally Posted by F1Guy

I cannot see Vettel or Alonso driving for Mercedes in the near future. Just can't see it happening. Not while Hamilton is still driving for them anyway.
If Hamilton stays at Mercedes for 2-3 more years, then both Vettel and Alonso will not be driving for Mercedes.

Who is to say Mercedes will continue to be the top team for the next 2-3 years?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by Adam43

His manager didn't do a very good job then

when your managers are business partners with your new boss!

in other Merc news...they have recruited George Russell to their Junior Program with a guarantee that he will never graduate to a full time race seat!

[BSchneiderFan]

I wouldn't have thought Mercedes needed more juniors, unless a Russell is DTM-bound.

[bella]

that role was actually offered to other drivers, so it was a specific vacancy they were looking for someone to fill. afaik the racing budget is subsidised but not 100%.

[Akrapovic]

Russell is about to start GP3 this year, at the age of 18? I predict he'll be the 2020 DTM Champion. By that time Gary Paffet and di Resta will be in old tartan PJs, and talk about the good old days when they almost maybe kinda got to see a top F1 seat.

[Neppatsrev Xam]

so why not Wherlein?, maybe this is why............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fhz_2gSpT_Y

[Akrapovic]

Watched it live. Such a bizarre accident. Just drove into the central barrier for no apparent reason. Interview afterwards was very awkward too.

[F1Pete]

Massa' s still got it!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ASCII Man]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

Watched it live. Such a bizarre accident. Just drove into the central barrier for no apparent reason. Interview afterwards was very awkward too.

It looked to me he just ran wide, clipped the first block of foam that pushed the front wheels out of alignment, and veered the car itself to the right.
Not really as bizarre as it may seem at first.

[Akrapovic]

He didn't run wide - the car is straightened up by that point. If you run wide at that corner you clip a concrete block, which is what Massa did (got a time penalty for it which knocked him out). Kanaan also ran wide there (due to the steering wheel snapping) and hit the barrier before the gantry.

The gap in the barriers there is to allow the vehicles to cross the track after lap 1. It almost looks like Wehrlein forgot if it was lap 1 or 2, didn't know if he should cross over the track, didn't commit to either and just ploughed through the barrier. His car was completely straightened out for 2-3 seconds before he hit the barrier. It reminds me of the time Grosjean drove into the back of Webber at Suzuka - the whole world seen the accident was going to happen, and no attempt what-so-ever was made to avoid it - he just ploughed into the back of him. Absolutely zero situational awareness. Same issue here - no idea what he was doing, so did nothing and crashed. Hardly a good advert for his race craft.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by Akrapovic

He didn't run wide - the car is straightened up by that point. If you run wide at that corner you clip a concrete block, which is what Massa did (got a time penalty for it which knocked him out). Kanaan also ran wide there (due to the steering wheel snapping) and hit the barrier before the gantry.

The gap in the barriers there is to allow the vehicles to cross the track after lap 1. It almost looks like Wehrlein forgot if it was lap 1 or 2, didn't know if he should cross over the track, didn't commit to either and just ploughed through the barrier. His car was completely straightened out for 2-3 seconds before he hit the barrier. It reminds me of the time Grosjean drove into the back of Webber at Suzuka - the whole world seen the accident was going to happen, and no attempt what-so-ever was made to avoid it - he just ploughed into the back of him. Absolutely zero situational awareness. Same issue here - no idea what he was doing, so did nothing and crashed. Hardly a good advert for his race craft.

I thought the same. It seemed he didn't know where to go.