Motorsport Off Topic Thread

Mclaren or Williams?
Much of a muchness really. Would depend on contract length. All being equal I'd chose Mclaren.
Why Williams want him in not sure.
 
Haryato replaced with Oron at Marussia F1, as expected from recent gossip.

Clickbait "How F1 could join the Olympics" article title at Autosport!
 
UTmaniac said:
Haryato replaced with Oron at Marussia F1, as expected from recent gossip.

Clickbait "How F1 could join the Olympics" article title at Autosport!
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Can't say I'm disappointed, I don't think Haryanto has done too badly I wasn't expecting much from him but he's been alright.

Ocon is a good future prospect though, will be interesting to see how he stacks up against Werhlein.
 
Haryanto acquitted himself very well against the highly rated Wehrlein. I'd say he was even ahead around Russia/Spain time. It's a shame for him to be out so soon.
 
Given the Olympics basically advertised themselves as barely above amateur status a few years back and are only now starting to stretch that limitation, it will be a long, long time before the likes of F1's hundreds of millions (and I'd not be surprised if it soon became billions) dollar industry start to appear on the Olympic radar, even in a Nations Cup A1GP style competition.

Genuine single-class racing at the top end would be awesome, but the likelihood of a team releasing their drivers to compete against others in a single-tier championship with no insurance (because who would pay for it?) is below zero.

The closest we've got is the Race of Champions, and that's a glorified fun run with half world the not bothering (or scared), with talent not counting for an awful lot and entertainment at the forefront, and that's likely what we'd have if top-tier racing ever made it to the Olympics. Unless there's a massive genuine push with reputations at stake (never going to happen with any commercial rights holder or the FIA) it wouldn't be taken seriously. That's not what the Olympics are about.

Frankly the old Top Gear board has about as much credibility as the RoC, and that was held throughout the year, weather regardless, in a car which probably had it's tyres tested and that was about it.

Other than that, there's the charity kart race in Brazil near the end each year which most drivers take part in, though some miserable ********* have always refused to take part in it in fear of a good beating, even for a good cause.

We've come a long way from the 60s and 70s when drivers used to compete, seriously, in multiple series, sometimes even on the same weekend. If the Olympics didn't happen then or at any time before, it's certainly not going to happen now. Bernie and the FIA even put the blinkers on Hulkenberg (and probably others, including Alonso) racing at Le Mans again, arranging to have it coinciding with a GP for this and next year.

Anyway, if it didn't happen in Great Britain and it didn't happen in Brazil, two temples of motorsport, it's not going to happen now we're going to Asia and probably Africa for at least the next decade.

I've got more chance of competing in F1 at the age of 36 than F1 drivers have of competing in the Olympics (aside from potential oddities such as the likes of a supremely talented equivalent of a Button from a normally secluded nation in the triathlon).

The closest motorsport is getting to the Olympics is the derny or the radio-controlled cars fetching the javelins.
 
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this_is_gav said:
I've got more chance of competing in F1 at the age of 36 than F1 drivers have of competing in the Olympics (aside from potential oddities such as the likes of a supremely talented equivalent of a Button from a normally secluded nation in the triathlon).
ins.
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And Zanardi! (legend)
 
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DiCe! said:
I love and loathe mid year shut down.

I have so little to do and it is great to not be rushing around.....but I have noting to do!
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2 days since they all came back. I would like to retract my previous statement about being bored. It was better when it was quiet!
 
Duke said:
F1 Racing mag arrives yesterday and has suggestions of Perez and Button at Williams next year.
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Haha, the rematch.

Never going to happen. I've not even seen any rumours of Perez leaving Force India let alone him replacing Bottas.

F1 Racing went down hill at least a decade back. I'd be surprised if they're any better now, but it doesn't sound like it... watch this as they're both confirmed this weekend...
 
this_is_gav said:
Haha, the rematch.

Never going to happen. I've not even seen any rumours of Perez leaving Force India let alone him replacing Bottas.

F1 Racing went down hill at least a decade back. I'd be surprised if they're any better now, but it doesn't sound like it... watch this as they're both confirmed this weekend...
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Perez has been dropping some big hints that he's looking at other teams.
 
timmeh said:
Perez has been dropping some big hints that he's looking at other teams.
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But there's no open spaces, assuming Button does move to Williams as has been widely rumoured. Williams aren't going to drop Bottas, and Bottas has no places open to him at a bigger team (unless someone wants to take a chance on Renault being a better long-term prospect, which I guess is likely).

If Williams want future stability then it would make sense to grab Perez rather than Button. Button was the stronger and more consistent driver when they were together at McLaren, but that was Perez's worst season in my opinion, he's been really strong at Force India over the past year and obviously he should have more years in him than Button does.

Hulkenberg's really paying the price for his relatively weak past couple of seasons. He seems to have gone slightly backwards (mistakes as much as pace) just as Perez has improved.
 
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Bottas would be crazy to leave Williams right now. There's no where better available. Williams would also be crazy to let him go. Perez, while getting some good results lately, seems a little mercurial. Williams would be good for Button to bookend his career though.
 
While I like Button and Perez I think it is a waste having them as teammates, both of them seem to work best when on a different strategy to the norm, either through tyre management or strategy... Though not quite in the exact same way.

Both of them make great alternatives to a more 'traditional' racer as a second driver.
 
There was a good show on 5 Live last night talking about Schumacher, the build up to his debut, the weekend itself and a little talk of his immediate departure for Benetton.

We all know the story of course but it was interesting hearing it from members of the team, getting the inside track as it were and what the media perception at the time was.

If anyone wants something to listen to on the train/in the background you can download the podcast from here: Schumacher: Seven Days That Changed F1
 
Its a good thing he goes, opens up another seat, and allows the circus to shuffle a bit more for 2017 :D

Its a shame, hes a nice guy, but this time comes to every driver, and he has been mixing it at the top for a long time, and leaving now with his record is nothing to be ashamed of.
 
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