Vettel leaving Ferrari

[Mr Jack]

I thought that as well. However, isn't Russell's infamous for taking Albon out (albeit in Sim racing).

I doubt very much than F1 team would be making decisions based on any of the sim racing happening right now. They'd have to pull a Pagenaud for it to even register and even then I doubt it would sway a decision.

I doubt Hamilton would want a young hungry driver nipping at his heels, with the potential to jeopardise his championship hopes. I expect to see Bottas stay at Mercedes as long as Hamilton does.

Maybe, but Mercedes and Hamilton don't have precisely overlapping aims. Many people talk about Russell as being potentially a Verstappen/Hamilton level talent. The last thing Mercedes will want is to see their promising future star blunt his career trundling round with Williams. They'll want to get him into the top seat, let him learn from Hamilton, and take the lead when Hamilton begins to fade or decides he wants a final challenge elsewhere before leaving F1.

 

[Mr Jack]

I can see 2020/21 being similar to the aftermath of the 07/08 crash when manufacturer teams started pulling out; the profile and success has been great for Mercedes but are they really going to keep funding an F1 team if the car market tanks?
Unlike others though I couldn't see them pulling out totally; remaining as an engine manufacturer would keep them involved; presumably with McLaren as their main team (again) and perhaps whatever comes of the "Mercedes F1 Team" (Presumably it would be sold).

Also not ridiculous to suggest that Racing Point/ Aston Martin could become Mercedes Main Partner for an engine supply; Daimler are on the Board of the Aston Martin company.....

Add in the persistent rumours that Toto Wolff is to head to Aston Martin...

I dunno, it seems to me likely that the Mercedes F1 team will carry on; their heritage runs back to 1970 when they were Tyrell. If Mercedes leave the sport as manufacturer but stay in the engine side, I would have thought their number one team wouldn't be McLaren or Racing Point but whom-so-ever Mercedes F1 becomes. With or without the backing of mighty Mercedes, it seems like a team with a superlative culture and talent in depth, as well as a storied history. That seems a more solid bet than McLaren with their recent woes and stories of a toxic work culture or Racing Point with their messy recent history and owner mostly in it to back their son.

 

[Junglist]

wrong thread!

 

[chrismscotland]

Add in the persistent rumours that Toto Wolff is to head to Aston Martin...

I dunno, it seems to me likely that the Mercedes F1 team will carry on; their heritage runs back to 1970 when they were Tyrell. If Mercedes leave the sport as manufacturer but stay in the engine side, I would have thought their number one team wouldn't be McLaren or Racing Point but whom-so-ever Mercedes F1 becomes. With or without the backing of mighty Mercedes, it seems like a team with a superlative culture and talent in depth, as well as a storied history. That seems a more solid bet than McLaren with their recent woes and stories of a toxic work culture or Racing Point with their messy recent history and owner mostly in it to back their son.

I don't think your wrong; the team will ultimately continue likely if Mercedes decided to pull out; although given the economic situation I can see it being a much smaller organisation than the one that Mercedes currently finance - there's probably fewer potential buyers out there than there were even a couple of years ago - wasn't Lance Stroll sniffing around at one point before he took over the Force India?

 

[SS-89]

I'm not surprised sainz is getting the seat, he will be clear no2 to Leclerc who Ferrari obviously see as the main man (and rightly so given his talent) and will be significantly cheaper than Ric and is solid enough to bring home good points and even the odd win if the car is up to it. Given Ric's age and likely demands about parity and pay I never really saw that as a realistic option.

 

[Mr Jack]

I'm not surprised sainz is getting the seat, he will be clear no2 to Leclerc who Ferrari obviously see as the main man (and rightly so given his talent) and will be significantly cheaper than Ric and is solid enough to bring home good points and even the odd win if the car is up to it. Given Ric's age and likely demands about parity and pay I never really saw that as a realistic option.

If confirmed, it'll be Ferrari's least experienced line-up since the mid 80s. It will be interesting to see whether Leclerc and Sainz are able to drive the development side of things well enough to put Ferrari on top.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Norris and Ricciardo should be a laugh

 

[JBeck]

Also not ridiculous to suggest that Racing Point/ Aston Martin could become Mercedes Main Partner for an engine supply; Daimler are on the Board of the Aston Martin company.....

Interesting times ahead though!

Forgot about RP / AM, but yes you could be right, but I still think McLaren will get a huge boost too.

I actually really want to see Ricciardo in the McLaren now, the more I think about it the better it gets, he'll be a perfect partner for Norris too.

 

[JBeck]

I would have thought their number one team wouldn't be McLaren or Racing Point but whom-so-ever Mercedes F1 becomes. With or without the backing of mighty Mercedes, it seems like a team with a superlative culture and talent in depth, as well as a storied history.

That's an interesting thought, I wonder who would buy them/would they become, the new owner would literally buy into F1's greatest asset.

 

[chrismscotland]

That's an interesting thought, I wonder who would buy them/would they become, the new owner would literally buy into F1's greatest asset.

Its hard to see another Manufacturer taking over; even if it is the "best" team; another super-rich billionaire perhaps looking for a toy (ala Stroll), would probably be priced too high for another motorsport concern to take over; unless it was someone with deep pockets like Ron Dennis or Bernie Ecclestone...

 

[JBeck]

Its hard to see another Manufacturer taking over; even if it is the "best" team; another super-rich billionaire perhaps looking for a toy (ala Stroll), would probably be priced too high for another motorsport concern to take over; unless it was someone with deep pockets like Ron Dennis or Bernie Ecclestone...

Or Eddie Jordan, no no his pockets are not deep enough, thankfully!

Who was the Russian trying to take over RP before Stroll? You never know... But in all seriousness I don't think Merc will leave, they have invested too much and have history going back aeons.

Which brings me to, wasn't EJ telling the whole world that Hamilton had already done the deal to go to Ferrari a few weeks back?

 

[Steampunk]

I wonder if Ferrari have decided that getting in these super expensive world champions who fail to deliver is just too expensive, when everyone else is getting pay drivers or cheap promotions from within their driver development programs.

 

[MissChief]

I wonder if Ferrari have decided that getting in these super expensive world champions who fail to deliver is just too expensive, when everyone else is getting pay drivers or cheap promotions from within their driver development programs.

You can be sure Charles got a massive pay increase, from probably less than a million Euro to many times that. Probably not on the level of Vettel & Hamilton but certainly single digit millions per year.

 

[BuffetSlayer]

I think high paid drivers should only receive high pay if they deliver both on the track and in terms of development.

Indeed, dining out on past glory is a bit distasteful and in my view exorbitant salaries ultimately damages the sport.

 

[Steampunk]

You can be sure Charles got a massive pay increase, from probably less than a million Euro to many times that. Probably not on the level of Vettel & Hamilton but certainly single digit millions per year.

Yes, they asked Leclerc to make a long term commitment to the team, and I'm sure he was rewarded for that, and he got that because of his stellar performance against Vettel. I also suspect he's still being paid a lot less than Vettel was, though probably with performance bonuses for winning races. I doubt a good, but young driver gets to be paid as much as a four-times world champion can command.

However, like most sports, the shine can come off quickly when people start to ask "but what have you won lately?", as has happened to Vettel.

 

[Cavallino]

Carlos Sainz to Ferrari? Oh boy....

Get Jimmy into an F1 car, he will do a lot better I reckon.

 

[Mr Jack]

You can be sure Charles got a massive pay increase, from probably less than a million Euro to many times that. Probably not on the level of Vettel & Hamilton but certainly single digit millions per year.

Charles was apparently getting €3m last year, and I heard that was bumped to €12m this year - no idea whether that's true. Interestingly Sainz was already on €4m, and I'm guessing that will rise if he goes to Ferrari. Still that's all small beans in comparison to Vettel's reported €35m.

 

[Steampunk]

Charles was apparently getting €3m last year, and I heard that was bumped to €12m this year - no idea whether that's true. Interestingly Sainz was already on €4m, and I'm guessing that will rise if he goes to Ferrari. Still that's all small beans in comparison to Vettel's reported €35m.

The price/performance ratio of Vettel was much, much worse than Leclerc, so it's no wonder he got bumped in favour of the new boy with a bright future. Apparently Hamilton is on more money, but not only does Hamilton win championships, his global profile has made Mercedes a cool brand for young people, and earned Mercedes a lot of marketing value. Hamilton's public image outside of F1 is rather different from Vettel's secretive family man background with zero social media presence.

I think Vettel is all about the winning, and if he can't go to any team and do that, then he'll retire and spend his time with his young kids and his big pile of money. He's had his success, but I think everyone can see that over the last few years he's been less focussed on F1.

 

[englishpremier]

It's going to be good to see Sainz in a fast car capable of winning. The battles between him and Verstappen might get a bit heated. I fully expect Sainz to outscore him if the cars are similarly paced.

 

[mmj_uk]

Vettel doesn't enjoy racing, he enjoys winning. He won't go to a team where there's no expectation to win.

We'll see but there's a big difference between not enjoying racing and not enjoying not winning when you're expected to win. I think his main concern is that the longer he stays in a title winning car without winning the title the more his reputation goes down the toilet (as it has been doing ever since he left Red Bull). It increasingly looks like his previous titles were more a case of "right place at the right time".