F1 2019 SEASON: NEWS - RUMOURS

Also, Leclerc to Ferrari back on apparently.

Has Kimi paid the price for losing the race to Hamilton yesterday?

 

I'm calling BS on the real reason .

It's probably more like


Vettel is getting a bit big for his boots , who the F**K does he think he is telling us who his partner Should be be .

 

I like Kimi but he is a known and now limited quantity. Will be sad to see him go and I hope he goes out (if the rumour is true) in Glory. I would love to see LeClerc against Vettel. Vettel has a lot to prove to now silence his doubters and it will take more than one race to do so.

 

Yep .. Lets see how Vettel gets on with a real competitor . Not saying Kimi was / is ( he's not gone yet ) not fantastic , but he will not pose the challenge I expect LeClerk to do .

 

Bold from McLaren to go Sainz and Norris. Not a huge amount of experience to develop that car.

I hope you are right in saying that Alonsos salary will be going on car development.

They really need James Key in MTC as soon as they can to get the base of the car sorted so he can build his work on a solid foundation.

God only knows what’s going on with next years design. Any word on who is running things? Is Prodromou steering the ship now Tim Goss has gone?

 

Problem with it is F1 is a quite cutthroat. Get thrown in at the deep end before you're ready and the impression will stick. Norris flew up the ladder, but has only won one F2 race this year. Would be a shame to see his potential wasted.

I suspect though this has happened because he was driving in F1 regardless, McLaren's hand being forced by the threat of him signing for Toro Rosso.

At least unlike Stoffel, his comparison won't be to Fernando Alonso.

Can the money go on the car? Wasn't the story last year that the board were plugging the gap left by Honda whilst waiting for all that new sponsorship Renault success would bring? The money may well be gone.

 

Lando is 2nd but isn't in one of the traditional top teams in F2. He has put in some great performances and has a lot of talent.

I also have the feeling Perez and Ocon both have contracts elsewhere. Or they would have been the safer move for mclaren.

I hope Russell gets a seat too!

 

I feel a bit sorry for Stoff. In an ideal world I'd like to see him replace LeClerc if he goes to Ferrari. I can't help but feel he's had a bad run of form in which a rubbish McLaren (in which Alonso has worked miracles) has made him look worse than he actually is. I would have liked to have seen him up against Sainz but presumably McLaren had to give Lando a drive in order to keep him under contract.

 

I think the fact that he has rarely been anywhere close to Alonso made McLaren's mind up. I'm not really sure that there have been many glimmers of promises at all from him over the last two seasons. Alonso has lost interest clearly, yet Stoff is still not that close to him, let alone looking like he could outqualify or outrace him at any point.

 

Yes you could be right there ASC. I don't have any straight up stats or anything to support my opinion, it's just the general feeling I have. That and the fact that I don't see how any rookie or younger driver could match up to Alonso. I do also wonder if Alonso received any preferential treatment from McLaren in order to keep him there for longer, but when you consider that he's been out-qualified ever round so far by Alonso it seems the right choice to let Stoff go. I just wonder how someone with such a glittering junior career looks that bad without some other circumstances.

 

I made my mind up after watching that mclaren documentary. Stoff didn't seem a bag of energy or eager to impress. I think he just fell into the engine blame game to get an easy ride.

 

Stoffel (and perhaps even Ocon) won't be the first drivers who potentially have the talent for F1 to miss out, I doubt they'll be the last. Kobayashi, Vergne, Buemi, Wehrlein, Kubica and Giovinazzi could all be on the grid this season and not look out of place. The talent exists to fill a 26 car grid, without resorting to pay drivers. What's lacking is the teams.

It won't happen before 2021 now, but once the Concorde agreement is signed, F1 needs to do all it can to bring in fresh teams. Ideally, a trio of new teams makes up the 2021 cohort, so we get HRT/Marissa/Caterham style fights between them, even if they're behind the rest significantly.

If I was to guess, I'd say the 2021 engine regs will be so similar to what we currently have, that nobody else will enter the sport as a supplier, and prices won't decrease. Hopefully a rumoured cost cap will attract privateers, because I don't see a new works outfit any time soon.

 

Been thinking lately that with their huge Hybrid success on road cars, why Toyota haven’t fancied a crack at this new F1 era?

 

That would be great. They could have 1up'd Honda too.

 

Did not go well for Toyota last time. I think it cost them a billion dollars to get about as much as Haas gets these days

 

Yeah just been reading about their budgets when they were last in F1- eyewatering!

had they have waited another ten years they’d probably be up there with Merc!

 

Maurizio asking if Red Bull want Vettel back?

 

Or Begging them to keep their toys in the pram until at least 2021


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