Motorsport Off Topic Thread

GravyMonster · 2024-04-26T16:05:49+0100

I'd like to see:

Stroll -> WEC
Bottas -> Aston
Sainz -> Audi
Vesti/Albon -> Mercedes

jonneymendoza · 2024-04-26T16:25:14+0100

MarcLister said:
If Newey goes to Ferrari then Max is screwed after this year. Will almost certainly go down as a 4x champion but can't see Ferrari booting out Leclerc for Max nor Lewis letting that happen. Wonder if Lewis has a clause in his contract allowing him to refuse a potential teammate or a No Max clause?

If Newey goes to Mercedes then Max follows him to Mercedes and, assuming Newey works his magic, keeps racking up the championships.

Big stuff. I can't see Red Bull staying at the top much like how Williams dropped in 1998 when Newey had left in 1996/1997. BBC article says Ferrari and Aston Martin after Newey but all teams will be in for him now they know he's leaving Red Bull. Would lol for a month if Vowles somehow tempts Newey back to Williams and makes him technical director or something like that.

Can Newey just resign? Sure he'll have a notice period but don't Red Bull have some kind of clause in his contract saying if he resigns he can't sign for another F1 team for x months? Or has to pay up the rest of his contract for a swift move? Will Red Bull be able to put Newey on 'gardening leave'?

Or he is going to retire

Mr Jack · 2024-04-26T17:11:28+0100

IPBA said:
Bottas qualifies well but falls back in the races. Nico has put the Haas in positions it should not be so I feel he will fair better at Audi. Maybe Bottas could go back to Merc and keep young Kimi's seat warm?

"Qualifies well but falls back in the races" seems a better descriptor of Hülk than Bottas! If Bottas doesn't leave altogether I'd think Alpine, Haas or Williams are the credible destinations.

Stu999 · 2024-04-26T17:20:55+0100

Stumble Bum said:
It's now official, Hulk to leave Haas. and extremely likely to join Sauber/Audi.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1783773266563523032

Will be interesting to see how he does if they can produce a decent car (probably a couple of seasons in unless they throw a ton of cash at it).

IPBA · 2024-04-26T21:25:27+0100

Mr Jack said:
"Qualifies well but falls back in the races" seems a better descriptor of Hülk than Bottas! If Bottas doesn't leave altogether I'd think Alpine, Haas or Williams are the credible destinations.

At least Nico has the excuse of the car. Remember Bottas at Merc he would ace Saturday and then drop like fly on Sunday. Heck there was a period he was labelled as the practice world champion. Ultimately not much between the two.