Formula One - Off Season Discussion Thread!

[BlackFyre]

Hey everyone! Another year done... another championship for the unstoppable Hamilton.

Biggest changes: Alonso leaving and Leclerc going to Ferrari.

I would love to see Leclerc come onto his own in that team. The kid is fast and already is far more mature than Verstappen.

Speaking of Verstappen, wow this kid just became a lot faster in the last few races. He needs to mature more but next season, if Redbull is contending, he should be a joy to watch.

Now..... Botas.... has there ever been a WORSE 2nd driver on a team? Granted, he should have won a race, but dammit man, he should have been fighting for more given the car he has.

How the hell did this mid-fielder land the mercedes drive and more astonishingly keep it.

Looking forward to what the changes may be next year. Your thoughts?

 

[Mush]

Hartley deserved better :(

 

[kbmyac]

Mercedes need a 2nd driver who wouldn't upset the apple cart and play a supporting role to Hamilton. Bottas fit that role to a T. I'm surprised they are still keeping him rather than promoting one of their future talent drivers, or maybe someone like Ocon

 

[Deleted member 11426]

I'm hyped for Leclerc at Ferrari. Dude drove the hell out of the Sauber and I'm dreading yet another Hamilton domination over Vettel.

Bottas got resigned in July with a one year deal with a one year option. Dont see him staying on for 2020 with Ocon getting fucked off the grid.

 

[Deleted member 16452]

I expect great things from Leclerc at Ferrari.

I also expect Vettel to crumble under pressure again if Ferrari is close or even better than Merc once again.

 

[Silvergun-Blue]

Unless Bottas seriously steps up his game next year Ocon will be sitting in that Mercedes in 2020, Hamilton single handedly carried the team to that 5th constructors title.
It will be interesting to see who the new front wing rules favor next year.

 

[BackwardsSuggestions]

Leclerc looks so good in red

 

[Deleted member 16516]

Happy to see Robert Kubica back in F1 in 2019. Not entirely sure how he'll fare against George Russell, but I expect him to prove many of his critics wrong.

 

[Moss]

Unless Bottas seriously steps up his game next year Ocon will be sitting in that Mercedes in 2020.

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If Bottas continues with his woeful performances I can see Ocon take his seat mid-season.

 

[AlphaMale]

I'm really hoping the Honda engines will be as good as they say/think/hope they'll be. I also hope Renaults improve next season, so Ricciardo can be competitive.
Bottas does not drive to the car's potential. So many races we've seen where Hamilton is either weaving through the pack (after starting from the back), or he's leading the race by a good margin, yet Bottas is stuck with the mid-fielders. I mean, damn, when Schumacher was dominating, both Barichello and Masa were able to keep up. I fully expect Bottas to be replaced by Ocon before the Spanish GP next season.

 

[Randdalf]

I'm optimistic of the midfield getting even tighter next season. I can't see McLaren not significantly improving next season, especially with how early they stopped working on this year's car. Williams will surely solve their correlation issues as well. I'm some sense this is because I want Lando and Kubica to do well.

 

[Brot]

Ferrari fucked it up once again, as expected.

Never believe the pre-season hype for Ferrari. They'll always find a way to throw it all away.

I hope LeClerc lights a huge fire under Vettel's ass and gets him to leave before 2020.

 

[DavidDesu]

I expect great things from Leclerc at Ferrari.

I also expect Vettel to crumble under pressure again if Ferrari is close or even better than Merc once again.

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Yeah Vettel has disappointed me recently and I'm bitter thinking what Alonso could have done with that genuinely competitive car.. I like Vettel overall but I just don't have any passion for the guy (Ferrari fan) and Hamilton just seems on another level with years more potential left and no sign of him losing it in sight. Vettel needs to hit the reset button or something. It's like half the time he doesn't care and the other half he's getting impetuous and doing something silly.

Leclerc at Ferrari will be something interesting to see.

 

[bmdubya]

Already looking forward to next year! I really enjoyed this season. I've only been watching F1 for three seasons, and I'd say this was the most exciting to watch, even if Mercedes ended up running away with it. The midfield battle was fun to watch this year, and it was awesome seeing Sauber finish outside of last place. I was a big fan of Leclerc this year, and I'm excited to see what he can do next year at Ferrari. I expect to see him on the podium quite a few times.

You also have McLaren finishing 6th this year, which should hopefully help for next year. And Haas finishing fifth was massive. Midfield should be a lot of fun next year. If Honda can deliver a good engine to Red Bull, we may have good battles all around the track. I'm glad I've got F1 2018 to keep me occupied during the winter.

 

[Shaneus]

Biggest changes: Alonso leaving and Leclerc going to Ferrari.

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Ricciardo going to Renault isn't a big change?

 

[jey_16]

I think Vettel can turn it around, Ferrari just have to give him the right environment and stop messing up strategy wise trying to appease the no2 driver in the team unlike Mercedes who prioritised Hamilton

Will be interesting to see how LeClerc does but I'm expecting more Mercedes domination

 

[Psychotext]

I'm a big Vettel fan, but I'd still love to see LeClerc do well.

He's been immense this year and I hope the pressure doesn't get to him.

 

[Shaneus]

Australians, there's finally a viable option for streaming F1 (as of next season, obvs), Kayo Sports. Pretty sure it's just Foxtel putting up a streaming service for all the sports they show, including all F1 sessions for $25AU/month.

I might consider it, given it also has:
MotoGP (All)
SBK (All)
Supercars (All)
NASCAR (Selected)
FIM Speedway (Selected)
FIA World Rallycross (Selected)
Formula E (Selected)

Plus a bunch of other sports I might be interested in watching at some point in time.

Shame I'm on iOS 10 and staying on there for my jailbreak, otherwise I'd seriously consider it. As it is, might stick with my DNS spoofing F1 solution for the time being.

They do have a "No Spoiler" feature which is pretty nifty, though.

 

[Brinksman]

Hamilton seems to be earning his £40 million retainer, while Vettel and Bottas both bottle their way into increasingly unfavourable political scenarios. Ricciardo's opted for a one-way ticket to the midfield in some bizarre form of competitive seppuku I'm not sure even he really taught through.

Only the younger drivers are exciting me now as challengers. Unless the Mercedes itself shits the bed, I don't expect anyone in Lewis's age bracket to suddenly come up with anything revolutionary at this stage, most of them having effectively been vanquished in one sense or another.

Ferrari's promotion of Leclerc remains such an uncharacteristically forward-thinking and ballsy looking move that I still struggle to believe that team went through with it. To see him steal the championship in Jules' honour would make a far superior fairytale to this silly bootleg Schumacher thing Vettel has repeatedly failed to pull off.

 

[Wax Free Vanilla]

Can't wait for the start of the Max Honda domination era

 

[BlackFyre]

Ricciardo going to Renault isn't a big change?

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I still don't understand this move. Reminds me of Alonso leaving McLaren for Renault.

 

[Deleted member 11426]

I still don't understand this move. Reminds me of Alonso leaving McLaren for Renault.

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Ricciardo is running away from Verstappen. Renault has been developing well, but the gap to the top three teams is huge. They're hoping to maybe get there in a few years.

 

[DrM]

There are reports of numerous staff leavings at Williams, even Kubica confirmed it in interviews.

meanwhile Claire said that their budget will be on the same level in 2019

 

[LusDekkar]

Australians, there's finally a viable option for streaming F1 (as of next season, obvs), Kayo Sports. Pretty sure it's just Foxtel putting up a streaming service for all the sports they show, including all F1 sessions for $25AU/month.

I might consider it, given it also has:
MotoGP (All)
SBK (All)
Supercars (All)
NASCAR (Selected)
FIM Speedway (Selected)
FIA World Rallycross (Selected)
Formula E (Selected)

Plus a bunch of other sports I might be interested in watching at some point in time.

Shame I'm on iOS 10 and staying on there for my jailbreak, otherwise I'd seriously consider it. As it is, might stick with my DNS spoofing F1 solution for the time being.

They do have a "No Spoiler" feature which is pretty nifty, though.

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I cancelled foxtel on Monday, going to sign up for kayo in the new year.
Annoyingly I cancelled my subscription to foxtel before watching the Abu Dhabi race. I recorded it but it wouldn't let me watch it. Oops. I thought it'd still let me watch it even though the subscription wasn't active anymore.

 

[Shaneus]

Ricciardo is running away from Verstappen. Renault has been developing well, but the gap to the top three teams is huge. They're hoping to maybe get there in a few years.

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He's running away from "equal" driver treatment a la Webber. Can hardly blame him after how he was treated during/after Baku.

 

[KillstealWolf]

Probably won't get to watch live next year since Sky is getting all the coverage now, (Channel 4 only gets highlights I believe for most races, with a few exceptions like the British Grand Prix.) Next year I'm hoping the gap between the front runners and the mid-fielders shrink.

You had Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, a lap gap then the midfielders in some of the races this time around, that shouldn't happen. Whenever one of the front teams did start from the back of the grid, they seemed to make it back to the top 6 easily without any major problems.

 

[FeD]

Ricciardo is running away from Verstappen. Renault has been developing well, but the gap to the top three teams is huge. They're hoping to maybe get there in a few years.

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It doesn't feel to me like he's running away. I think he genuinely feels Renault will get on top of it with the regulation changes coming in '21. And I don't blame him, Renault has always had a dominant spell every time they participated. It's still a works team that's investing more and more every year.

 

[Deleted member 8408]

I'm most interested in seeing how Lando Norris gets on. Shame he will have to earn his stripes at such an uncompetitive team though.

 

[Trice]

All that matters to me this season.

 

[empty feat]

Gonna be hard to care with Alonso gone and Ricciardo probably not competitive w Renault, plus the move to premium broadcasting.

Hopefully Max and Leclerc can push Lewis hard next season though.

 

[krang]

If Bottas continues with his woeful performances I can see Ocon take his seat mid-season.

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It depends how well Hamilton is doing. If he's keeping the team at the top of the WCC then rocking the boat mid season seems like a dumb move.

 

[massivekettle]

I think Vettel can turn it around, Ferrari just have to give him the right environment and stop messing up strategy wise trying to appease the no2 driver in the team unlike Mercedes who prioritised Hamilton

Will be interesting to see how LeClerc does but I'm expecting more Mercedes domination

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Wait, what? They have absolutely provided him with a great environment, save a few strategy blunders (which, to be honest, happen to every team/driver). Kimi has never asked "to be appeased", so I am not sure where this is coming from. Most importantly, Vettel has been given a car with which to win the WDC in both 2017 and 2018, especially the latter, and he's failed on both occasions.

 

[BlackFyre]

I'm most interested in seeing how Lando Norris gets on. Shame he will have to earn his stripes at such an uncompetitive team though.

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Doesn't matter. The cream of the crop always rises up.

With the exception of Hamilton Alonso, Verstappen and Vettel all started on mid to backfield teams.

If Leclerc sucked this season and did not display consistent spacecraft would he have gotten his Ferrari ride? Nope!

Same reason that all the money in the world can't buy Lance Stroll a top ride.

If Norris is the real deal he will outclass his teammate and put his machinery in points paying position here and there like Alonso did.

 

[FeD]

Doesn't matter. The cream of the crop always rises up.

With the exception of Hamilton Alonso, Verstappen and Vettel all started on mid to backfield teams.

If Leclerc sucked this season and did not display consistent spacecraft would he have gotten his Ferrari ride? Nope!

Same reason that all the money in the world can't buy Lance Stroll a top ride.

If Norris is the real deal he will outclass his teammate and put his machinery in points paying position here and there like Alonso did.

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Well Alonso started at Minardi, Verstappen and Vettel at Toro Rosso and in Vettel's case you could make an argument that he started at BMW Sauber. Only Hamilton immediately came into a top team.

edit: Ah fuck I misread the sentence, my bad.

 

[Wax Free Vanilla]

Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m36.450s
Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1m36.812s +0.362

Lance Stroll Force India 1m37.415s
Sergio Perez Force India 1m37.976s +0.561

Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1m37.916s
Max Verstappen Red Bull 1m37.947s +0.031

Lando Norris McLaren 1m38.187s
Carlos Sainz McLaren 1m38.547s +0.360

George Russell Williams 1m38.802s
Robert Kubica Williams 1m39.269s +0.467

Kimi Raikkonen Sauber 1m39.878s
Antonio Giovinazzi Sauber 1m40.435s +0.557


Would be nice if this gappage carried over to the new season, we'd get an all out war at Red Bull and Sir Lancelot slaying Perez.

 

[chuckddd]

I'm here for the silly season! What's that? It's over? See you in Barcelona!

 

[Patitoloco]

Let's go Sainz!

 

[andshrew]

Is Lando Norris the first Twitch streamer to make it to F1.

 

[jey_16]

Wait, what? They have absolutely provided him with a great environment, save a few strategy blunders (which, to be honest, happen to every team/driver). Kimi has never asked "to be appeased", so I am not sure where this is coming from. Most importantly, Vettel has been given a car with which to win the WDC in both 2017 and 2018, especially the latter, and he's failed on both occasions.

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Apart from the strategy blunders of which there were too many, in Germany where they wouldn't tell Kimi to let Vettel past despite Vettel being on much fresher tyres. By the time Vettel did get past his tyres were done and he had to push hard to rebuild his lead which ultimately leads to him going off

In Italy, why have Vettel give Kimi the tow in the last runs in qualifying, it just doesn't make sense when Vettel was in the championship hunt and Kimi wasn't.

Not saying Vettel wasn't to blame for his mistakes but Ferrari just made it harder for him

 

[AlsoZ]

Gonna miss these two together

 

[Shaneus]

Is it just me, or is it a bit rich that all the teams had their new drivers testing for them this week, except RBR who wouldn't let Ricciardo go to Renault?

Gonna miss these two together

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FTFY

 

[Deleted member 11426]

Redbull didn't release Vettel for testing with Ferrari in 2014 either, but he went to their garage anyways.

 

[unicornKnight]

Now..... Botas.... has there ever been a WORSE 2nd driver on a team? Granted, he should have won a race, but dammit man, he should have been fighting for more given the car he has.

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Lol come on that's hyperbolic as fuck. There have been worse 1st drivers on teams, what's your point here. Bottas is a decent driver hust no title material and he happens to be driving against one of the best drivers in modern F1.

 

[dubc]

RE: RIC

Something contractual?

His PU would have blown anyway. /maybe joking

 

[Shaneus]

Redbull didn't release Vettel for testing with Ferrari in 2014 either, but he went to their garage anyways.

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Hah, Danny should've just done the same and paid whatever fine from the $30m (or whatever) he's getting from Renault.

 

[Dan]

When drivers test for other teams at the end of the season it's usually because of good-will.

I suspect there's very little goodwill between Renault and Red Bull even before Danny Ric's announcement for 2019 was held.

Not surprised that Red Bull are being difficult.

 

[BlackFyre]

Lol come on that's hyperbolic as fuck. There have been worse 1st drivers on teams, what's your point here. Bottas is a decent driver hust no title material and he happens to be driving against one of the best drivers in modern F1.

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Tell me....

Last time the WDC and WCC went to the same team where:
1. 2nd driver failed to win a race
2. Consistently finished out of podium places when car 1 won the race.
3. Had only TWO DNF all season, meaning he had a reliable car.
4. Finished 5th in drivers standing while winning the WCC.

He's had some bad luck and had a win stolen from him. But I can't recall a more mediocre performance from a driver whose team won the WCC and consistently had a car capable of winning virtually every race.

He finished behind Verstappen for 5th. He should be kicking himself.

What sucks is virtually anyone from the midfield would have done a better job.

 

[chuckddd]

 

[Shaneus]

When drivers test for other teams at the end of the season it's usually because of good-will.

I suspect there's very little goodwill between Renault and Red Bull even before Danny Ric's announcement for 2019 was held.

Not surprised that Red Bull are being difficult.

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So they're as petulant as Verstappen is capable of being. Gotcha.

 

[massivekettle]

Apart from the strategy blunders of which there were too many, in Germany where they wouldn't tell Kimi to let Vettel past despite Vettel being on much fresher tyres. By the time Vettel did get past his tyres were done and he had to push hard to rebuild his lead which ultimately leads to him going off

In Italy, why have Vettel give Kimi the tow in the last runs in qualifying, it just doesn't make sense when Vettel was in the championship hunt and Kimi wasn't.

Not saying Vettel wasn't to blame for his mistakes but Ferrari just made it harder for him

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It's a bit of a reach to say that his tyres lead to him going off. Kimi and Bottas had older tyres on and didn't go off. Vettel just made a driving mistake at the worst possible part of the track (no asphalt run off), plain and simple.

I agree Vettel should have benefited from the tow instead on the last qualifying lap, but then again, I think the impact from the tow in Italy is minimal, to the extent you are not sacrificing one of the drivers.