Poll: United States Grand Prix 2021, Austin - Race 17

[SKILL]

Does anyone know if they get that $200m back, like if they stay in the sport for X years or something? Or is it just gone...

With the budget cap it seems more feasible than back on 2010, as in for a team to both join and actually compete to some extent.

More competitive teams would be great though imo.

 

[Mr Jack]

Does anyone know if they get that $200m back, like if they stay in the sport for X years or something? Or is it just gone...

It goes to the other teams. They'd then get their share if another team joined, but they don't get the $200m back.

Mind you they seem super open to just waving it for incoming teams, so I'm not sure anyone will ever pay it.

 

[SKILL]

It goes to the other teams. They'd then get their share if another team joined, but they don't get the $200m back.

Mind you they seem super open to just waving it for incoming teams, so I'm not sure anyone will ever pay it.

Ah right, feels like a better solution would be getting it back in tranches, like $50m at the end of the second year and then $50m for the next three seasons, so to get it all back you need to compete for 5 years but still leaves that barrier to 'prove' a team has enough backing.

Yeah, I'd seen mentions of them waiving it, mostly around rumoured VAG entries which would make sense. But I wonder if say Andretti approached them (assuming the deal has fallen through) whether they'd waive it for a smaller/lesser known entry?

 

[Mr Jack]

Ah right, feels like a better solution would be getting it back in tranches, like $50m at the end of the second year and then $50m for the next three seasons, so to get it all back you need to compete for 5 years but still leaves that barrier to 'prove' a team has enough backing.

I thought the idea was to ensure that existing teams aren't getting stiffed on their investment in the sport. More teams means lower prize money.

 

[GR63]

Had Pre-qualifying when I started watching. That whittled the field down to 30, then qualifying got rid of another 4. Was an interesting weekend routine.

I think that 26 is a good number for the grid, as long as they're not Mazepin level talents at the rear of the grid.

I'm gonna get roasted for this but Marzipan is actually (or was) a reasonably fast driver BUT his problem is his "***K you" attitude to Blue Flags or team mates or anyone really... He regularly used to run drivers off the road in a dangerous manner in Junior Formulae.

6 more drivers (3 teams) would be great.

Can I suggest Hulk, Piastri, Zhou, De Vries, Schwartzman, Torpedo Kvyat (he wasnt slow!)

 

[Mr Jack]

I'm gonna get roasted for this but Marzipan is actually (or was) a reasonably fast driver BUT his problem is his "***K you" attitude to Blue Flags or team mates or anyone really... He regularly used to run drivers off the road in a dangerous manner in Junior Formulae.

Mazepin wasn't a complete potato: he did win races. But that's an incredibly low bar for an F1 driver, his record is absolutely abysmal compared to other drivers on the grid. He's on sub-Albon levels of success at the junior level.

Can I suggest Hulk, Piastri, Zhou, De Vries, Schwartzman, Torpedo Kvyat (he wasnt slow!)

Meh, Hülk had his time, and did nothing with it. No reason to bring him back. Kvyat was good when he was good and bad when he was bad; not a candidate for return for me. Of course, if we did have more spaces we'd have a different set of existing drivers on the grid, perhaps Wehrlein or KMag would have stuck around, for example, so there wouldn't be so much space for rookies in reality.

 

[GR63]

Like JEV and many drivers who "failed", Hulk is one of those where things just didnt fall into place.. a certain amount of luck ... I mean, U have to feel for Felipe from 2008 or even Eddie Irvine from 1999

Kvyat being good and bad is like a lot of current drivers.. Seb & Sir Lancelot?

 

[SKILL]

Like JEV and many drivers who "failed", Hulk is one of those where things just didnt fall into place.. a certain amount of luck ... I mean, U have to feel for Felipe from 2008 or even Eddie Irvine from 1999

Kvyat being good and bad is like a lot of current drivers.. Seb & Sir Lancelot?

Whilst true, and arguably the same for a large portion of F1 drivers, fundamentally Hulk and many others never really showed 'enough' to warrant a drive with a top team, hence he didn't get one and hence he never really achieved much. Not a bad driver but not many signs of him being a great one that everyone missed...

Lance is just bad.

 

[GR63]

But apparently Merc were gonna take Hulk if Lewis didnt come over... Nico Hulkenberg.. multiple World Champion? Naah, Rosberg would have beaten him I think but Hulk would have won races

 

[Mr Jack]

Like JEV and many drivers who "failed", Hulk is one of those where things just didnt fall into place.. a certain amount of luck

Hülk was a driver who was around for 9 full seasons, and 179 race starts, long enough for luck to play out, and we know he's sat in podium capable cars in that time because the driver in the other car has done it. Is he bad? By no means. But neither is he anything special, and he's spent long enough on the grid, give another a chance. JEV was a driver, on the other hand, that I thought deserved another chance: although I suppose it meant he got to go and be a champion in FE.

Kvyat being good and bad is like a lot of current drivers.. Seb & Sir Lancelot?

Sure.

 

[GR63]

I'm surprised we arent seeing much speculation yet on which tracks might suit Merc or Bull best of the remaining ones? Whilst I think Max is in pole position for Championship, its hard to rule Lewis out

 

[this_is_gav]

It's hard to know really. Red Bull themselves said before the COTA weekend that that track ought to suit them more than some others.

We'll see. I think Mercedes still have the fastest car at most tracks (as they have since Silverstone), but Verstappen just needs to win 2 races after which he can almost certainly settle for second place if needed.

Several scenarios are possible where they could be tied on points. The most likely one would be Verstappen winning 2 races and Hamilton winning 3 (including 28 points at the Interlagos sprint weekend) plus 4 fastest laps, with the 5th fastest lap going to another driver. Other scenarios are perfectly possible too of course. Such a tie would almost certainly favour Verstappen as he 2 more wins than Hamilton currently.

If Hamilton wins 4 races he's almost certainly the champion, even if Verstappen gets fastest lap in all and 28 points at Interlagos. If Verstappen wins 2 races he is likely the champion.

The big unknowns are if Hamilton needs a new engine and whether Bottas and Perez can step up and affect the other team - a single race with eg both Mercedes ahead of Verstappen would likely sway it in their favour. Or if we get a wet weekend, which is only likely at Interlagos (Mexico City gets barely any rain in November and nor does the Middle East).

There's still a long way to go though. A lot depends on whether Hamilton needs a new engine. If he does, Verstappen is likely to win and would then just need 1 more win with the rest second places (assuming Hamilton doesn't get fastest lap in every race). If either driver suffers any unreliability or crash damage they are almost certain to lose the title. Thankfully I think Perez isn't that type of driver (anymore) and Bottas is unlikely to try any funny games since he's out of Mercedes anyway.

 

[BeeP]

Quite good even though not a huge amount happened, a tense ending.