F1 2018 SEASON: NEWS - RUMOURS

Much as I would like to see Kubica back in a F1 car I think Ocon would be better to develop as he has current PU experience.

 

Great potential. Hope this is just the beginning of a huge f1 career for him and, with Ocon, a resurgence for Williams.

 

I strongly doubt Merc is willing to pay for two drivers. The other seat is probably between Sirotkin and Kubica (again)

 

Side note. With Albon heavily linked with Toro Rosso we may have all of the top 3 F2 drivers racing next year.

It's not so much that F1 has a big problem supporting young drivers. More so that Mercedes have badly mismanaged Ocon specifically.

 

A poisoned chalice for Russell.

Desperate to get into F1, but if Williams produce another dud how will it show for him?

We never really got to understand how good Vandoorne really was as the McLarens he had for two seasons were poor. Alonso could use his experience to drive around some of the issues which may have made Vandoorne look poorer than he really is. Hard to say.

Norris and Russell are certainly in for potentially tough rides. Hope neither of their careers get broken because of the teams they are driving for. (who would have thought you could say that about McLaren and Williams?)

 

They also have Oliver Roland who made some great overtaking manoeuvres in f2 last year.

 

Seems like Merc have too many drivers and Red Bull don't have enough!!!

 

The way McLaren are going we could have Russell vs Norris pt2. The battle for 17th.

 

Maybe Russell could be the next LeClerc and earn a Merc seat in 2020? Certainly has the potential

 

Swap deal with Bottas? Hamilton at the moment looks very content in the team so I can't see him quitting any time soon.

 

As long as it's a battle, bring it on.

 

Supposedly Ocon has turned down a Williams seat, because they were insisting on a multi-year contract, but he wants to be available to replace Bottas in 2020.

Personally, if true I think that's a ridiculous decision. When was the last time a midfield driver took a year out of F1, then came back in a leading car? No matter how talented and young they are.

If Mercedes seriously want to replace Bottas for 2020, they'd buy Ocon out of any contract if they needed to. But Bottas might not need replacing, and if Russell impresses then he'll look just as likely as appealing as Ocon. Mad decision to sit out rather than have a two year deal.

 

Sirotkin allegedly has a multi-year deal, but maybe that's an option on the team's side. Rumours within F1 seem to suggest he's underwhelmed, and Kubica has more cash. I'd love to see it.

 

Ocon is fast and reliable. It's madness that he's looking like missing out on a seat. Are red bull holding out on him ditching Mercedes?

 

1 seat at TR, 1 at Williams and two open at FI (one of which I am sure is Strolls).

 

I think it's 95% certain that FI will have a Stroll-Perez lineup next season. Perez helped save the team by putting the team into administration (odd as that sounds), he's not going to have done that without a guarantee for a seat. All the noises from Perez, Ocon, FI and Mercedes seem to suggest Perez is staying put.

I think TR will put Albon in their spare seat, and it looks like Kubica vs Sirotkin at Williams. Markelov was mentioned for both seats, but his father has just been arrested on bribery charges and I think that means his funding has dried up.

 

To correct myself, I hadn't noticed Albon had announced that he's driving in Formula E next season. I get the feeling F-E contracts are fairly flexible, with the driver lineups changing pretty regularly, but I'd be surprised if he'd signed up for it if he thought he had a strong chance at an F1 seat.

 

Fun fact:

This is the first F1 season where every driver who started the first race of the season, has then taken part in every quali session and race for the entire season.

In every previous season, somebody has either been subbed in, DNS'd, or the team have folded.

 

A bit of track oiling is what we need more of.

 

Red Bulls ain't catching any more