F1 2019 - Teams and Drivers - Who goes where?!

Psycho Ned said:
Think this season has shown that #bestchassisonthegridallhondasfault was a load of **** and that team isn’t gonna be competitive for a long long time.
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McLaren themselves admitted that it was complete BS with the aim of keeping staff morale up during the dismal Honda years. Now its backfired as the switch to Renault engines gave them false hope.

I can see Alonso winning an Indy championship in a canter.
 
Spunkey said:
McLaren themselves admitted that it was complete BS with the aim of keeping staff morale up during the dismal Honda years. Now its backfired as the switch to Renault engines gave them false hope.

I can see Alonso winning an Indy championship in a canter.
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Is there poor showing with both engines due to their "doing a Red Bull" and forcing their engine suppliers to squeeze Pus into too small a volume to appease the Aero Gods?
 
They're not Mickey Mouse drivers in Indycar by any means but lets be honest he rocked up on an oval for the very first time in a car he'd never driven in a race before and was competitive all the way through if he properly had a season to learn the series he'd be right up there.

He'd boss the road courses if nothing else.
 
If we get Kimi leaving we should have even more new blood in the sport and a proper shuffle throughout the grid. Leclerc to the red Ferrari, Giovinazzi to the white Ferrari. Norris in the McLaren, but might be too risky and they take the safer Ocon/Perez option depending who gets pushed from FI. Stroll to FI. Gasly in the matt Red Bull. Carlos in the shiny Red Bull. Kubica in a Williams?
 
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Spunkey said:
Does all this mean that Vandoorne will get another year?
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Possibly. As things stands it looks like it will be either Vandoorne or Norris if McLaren feel he is ready.

If neither are considered viable then Ocon seems to be without a drive currently (shows how little driver ability has got to do with anything!) and there were rumours linking him with McLaren earlier this week. I'd bet on Vandoorne or Norris though, depending on how well Vandoorne performs in the next few races.
 
Mclaren need a driver that can pull the car up to a race finishing position higher than it deserves and I cannot see Sainz doing this at all. Kimi and Sainz appeals to me more than sainz and vandoorne or norris but personally I don't think sainz is good enough, sure he has shown some talent but a big name he isn't and he has very mediocre races sometimes.
Lets see as the drivers seats have not been confirmed yet by mclaren
 
I think the OP is up to date now.

Such a brilliant week for speculation! I guess we will get some more official announcements/updates just before or during the Spa weekend?

Any ideas where Wehrlein might fit into any of this, if at all? He was sort of hinted at a "F1 role" in 2019..

Reserve somewhere Mercedes friendly?
 
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Wehrlein won't see a top F1 team IMO. Remember the radio messages telling him to stop the car about 20 times and he didn't? A small thing, but it had a huge effect on his standing in F1.

There's way too many other quality young drivers nailed on for future seats or in development roles. Wehrlein has missed the chance now I believe.
 
a lot of opportunities out there. Very hard to tell who's going to go where but imagine once one name is announced then the others will fall into place.

Theres also the factor of mid season swaps due to Force India but with Belgium GP only next week would have thought something would have been announced if this was going to be the case? Was hoping for Stroll to Force India to free up a seat for Kubica was would be great to see him get at least a few races to see if he can be competitive. Would be a great story for F1 aswell.

Hoping as others have alluded that Kimi doesnt get a drive next year, nothing against the guy but would be good to see some young drivers getting a chance as I am sure that they can match Kimis current pace.
 
I honestly can’t see why harm their is in letting Leclerc spend another season with what appears to be a rapidly improving (Ferrari supported) team.
They seem happy enough with the job Kimi is doing, I’d argue he’s probably looked better at times this season that he did last year.

As for Stroll, get him away to Force India, he’s only going to sulk around for the rest of the season if he stays.
Give Robert Kubica his chance to prove or disprove that he still has the skill and speed that he once had - its not as if he could do any worse than the current two have done so far and would you really want to put Russell in there? Might as well leave him to focus on the F2 title race.
 
The problem Ferrari have it that Kimi is exactly who they need right now; someone who can consistently finish on the podium taking good points away from their competitors and leaving their #1 driver to run off in to the distance when possible.

- If Leclerc joins and starts equalling/beating Vettel, then the toys will fly out of the pram as Vettel has done in the past. Then you have a destabilised team and at least one unhappy driver.
- If Leclerc joins but is slower or less consistent than Kimi was then you've lost any chance of the constuctors championship, which is what the teams really care about.
- If Leclerc joins but is the exact same pace as Kimi then you've gained nothing, except a lighter paycheck. Although money isn't exactly any concern to Ferrari.

There's only one minor up-side to any of those outcomes, as such I think Kimi will get another year extension.
 
I think that's a really negative way to look at it. If I was Ferrari then of course I'd want Vettel to be happy, but I'd also want him to be pushed into better performance by a better team mate, and to feel that he needs to have that extra edge to outperform him. Kimi doesn't offer that. If Leclerc shows up and is faster, then I think Ferrari would accept that just fine - certainly from the beginning of next season. Beat Vettel in the first three races and then see who the focus switches to.

If Leclerc is slower, Ferrari haven't really lost anything. They're not going to slip back and lose second place to Red Bull. If he's the same as Kimi then great - cheaper and a better ambassador, and younger.
 
Kimi is a solid bet for what ferrari want. Not great for fans of the spectacle of f1, but sensible for the team.

Most interested in how DR does against the hulk next year
 
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