silly season - F1 2017 driver line up

lunarwolf

lunarwolf

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Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team
Lewis Hamilton
Valtteri Bottas - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-confirms-bottas-as-hamilton-s-teammate-865891/?s=1

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Red Bull Racing
Daniel Ricciardio
Max Verstappen

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Scuderia Ferrari
Sebastian Vettel
Kimi Raikkonen - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/7/ferrari-confirm-raikkonen-for-2017.html

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Sahara Force India F1 Team
Sergia Perez - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/126488
Esteban Ocon - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/force-india-signs-ocon-on-multi-year-deal-847808/?s=1

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McLaren Honda
Fernando Alonso
Stoffell Vandoorne - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...ck-vandoorne-partner-alonso-mclaren-2017.html

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Williams Martini Racing
Felipe Massa - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/massa-returns-to-f1-as-bottas-replacement-865853/?s=1
Lance Strol - https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...18-year-old-driver-2017-f1-season-formula-one

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Haas F1 Team
Romain Grosjean - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-confirms-magnussen-alongside-grosjean-for-2017-848803/?s=1
Kevin Magnussen - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haas-confirms-magnussen-alongside-grosjean-for-2017-848803/?s=1

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Scuderia Toro Rosso
Carlos Sainz - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/6/f1-carlos-sainz-2017-toro-rosso-deal.html
Daniil Kvyat - https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/headlines/2016/10/toro-rosso-retain-kvyat-for-2017.html

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Renault Sport Formula One Team
Nico Hulkenberg - http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/24...oins-renault-for-2017-after-leaving-force-ind
Jolyon Palmer - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/p...ome-as-renault-confirms-2017-deal-847915/?s=1

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Sauber F1 Team
Marcus Ericsson - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ericsson-stays-with-sauber-for-2017-f1-season-852403/?s=1
Pascal Wehrlein - http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/sauber-agrees-wehrlein-deal-for-f1-2017-862405/?s=1

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Manor Racing MRT - Not participating in 2017 season http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/manor-f1-team-to-close-after-no-buyer-found-868976/?s=1
unknown
unknown

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Current F1 drivers whose F1 future is highly uncertain
- Gutierrez

Current F1 drivers leaving
- Button


Green - Has contract
Yellow - TBC
Red - Unknown or at risk
 
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lunarwolf

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Guerrilla said:
Hulkenberg/Bottas would be a hell of a pairing for Renault I reckon.
Click to expand...

Bottas is a safe solid choice but I find him disappointing. when Williams was pretty competitive the last couple of years he hasn't capitalized. I think Massa has been able to keep within touching distance of Bottas

That said Perez has dominated Hulk this year. But Perez has shown significant improvement this year.

since they are both getting on in terms of F1 age. I would rather see a pairing like Hulk/Ocon or Bottas/Ocon, an experienced driver and an exciting new prospect. I tend to rate Hulk more than Bottas but that is purely subjective since they are in different cars and an objective comparison is difficult

Objectively all I can say is that both Hulk and Bottas have both underperformed this year. There may be many legit reasons for that, but they aren't getting any younger.

in fact I rate JEV over Bottas or Hulk. I think RBR were wrong to promote Kyvviat instead of JEV. JEV was on par with Ricciardo at Toro Rosso even though JEV had more failures. Ricciardio had the upper hand in quali, but JEV was better during races

also worth a mention, is that Kmag has held his head above water and Palmer has shown promise in the last couple of races. need to remember that the car was very poor this year and hasn't given either a chance to really prove anything. I think they both deserve a chance to keep their seat for next year. They are both young and will get better

Since there is no way to get Alonso, Sainz and/or Perez, I would favour youth and promise over experience, especially since Renault themselves have said that they don't expect to fight for a title before 3 to 5 years. the fact that young drivers cost less also allows Renault to have more money to spend on poaching technical staff from other teams, and Enstone is in dire need of new blood since they have lost a lot of talented tech guys in the last few years

I don't think this will happen but it's what I feel

my 2 cents
 
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lunarwolf

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Syla5 said:
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/force-india-signs-ocon-on-multi-year-deal-847808/

Ocon confirmed at FI, I wonder how Wehrlein feels about this considering he was Mercedes golden boy and Ocon appeared half way through 2017 and has landed a much better seat now in FI!
Click to expand...

thx - updated OP w/ Ocon and Palmer deals

Kmag better hope he signs a deal w/ Haas quickly. would be interesting to see how he competes w/ Grosjean. according to ESPN the deal is rumoured to have been signed just not officially announced http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/17123069/how-2017-f1-grid-shaping-up
 
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lunarwolf

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lunarwolf

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updated.

shocker and most unexpected thing to happen this season

Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo would probably be Merc's first choice, not sure contracts will allow that. lawyers are looking into fine print as we speak

Massa and Button are available but I doubt that

Ocon or Wehrlein are probably available for Merc, but seems a bit too early for rookies on the top team

the best for F1 would be Ricciardo or Max move to Merc and Sainz to replace him at RBR

personally I think a Max and LH team at Merc would be explosive in more ways than one. a fight to the death LOL

my bet is dark horse Perez, I bet Merc can have some sway with Force India

my 2cents
 
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lunarwolf

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FrankJH said:
Not sure why anyone would really choose Perez at that level,
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because he is a solid driver that will bring the car on the podium regularly. he is underrated and has really improved over the years, he's just had a fantastic year. he is a safe bet for Merc if they want the constructor's title next year. having Alonso, Vettel or Max could be counterproductive with a toxic guy like Lewis in the team
 
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lunarwolf

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FrankJH said:
also a bit of a risk, at best this season (or is it "last" already?) was a one off

My whole point was based around the fact he appears more of a steady eddie rather than a race winner , or an ultra-safe bet for Merc.

Perez could easily be de-moralized by being beaten week in week out by LH
Click to expand...

he wasn't demoralized by Hulk that beat him last year, instead he stepped up his game this year to beat him

I think you are very unfair to Perez, he has shown he can race wheel to wheel and is always making the best of the situation, this was true at Force India and Sauber, I believe he is the only one in recent years to get podiums for those teams. I think McLaren were very harsh with him, McLaren were on a downward spiral and he was an easy scapegoat, because it's not like Button schooled him there.

I am not pretending that Perez is the best driver out there. but he is able to fight with the big boys for points, he is consistent and it would be easier to have him as a no2 driver alongside Lewis rather than another big ego like Vettel, Alonso or Max. I don't think Paddy Lowe and Totto want more driver drama that they had this year, they just want to get on with it and win the constructor's
 
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