Soldato
Elon is trying to get a circuit built on Mars!
Motorsport Off Topic Thread
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Soldato
Johannesburg is CET +1/GMT +2.Isn’t South Africa only a couple of hours time difference to us and Europe? Would make things easy for the TV peeps at least. I’d welcome an African GP, whatever country it ends up in. Anything to stop the endless march of sports washing in barren desert kleptocracies looking to replace oil money with something else. Mind you, that could be said for some African regimes but you know what I mean
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Zandvoort has had a 1 year extension and is not continuing beyond 2026, Spa, Imola and Mexico are up for renewal at the end of 2025 so could potentially get a 1 year extension or be fully renewed.
Depends on who they have in their driver pipeline. If he doesn't impress then probably dropped mid-season for Yuki or some other sponsored seat.
Maybe they'll throw in a rookie - I heard that Alonso guy at AM has been doing great things.
Soldato
Definitely Gasly/Kvyat’ed if he isn’t fast enough to be Max’s wingman on a Sunday.
Soldato
Finally.
Is it just me that doesn't rate Tsunoda at all? I'm surprised he has so much support given his absolute mediocrity.
Is it just me that doesn't rate Tsunoda at all? I'm surprised he has so much support given his absolute mediocrity.
Hasn't he outperformed his teammates over the last couple of seasons? I don't think he's particularly great though.
I don't particularly rate him but what's the point of a junior team if he's never going to be given a chance. And there's never been a Japanese GP winner apparently? Surely there's some buck to be made on that front even if he does a Perez and eventually disappears into mediocrity.
Soldato
This I completely agree with - and it shows the complete lack of direction that the RB junior program has had in the last 5-7 years. There's two reasons Tsunoda still has a seat. One is because of Honda's money backing him, and the other is the lack of any other viable alternative, until now.
IMO he's lucky he's had a career long enough to be passed over by RB. He should have been out after the first season, two at a push.
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Soldato
As a RB fan I am very happy with the Lawson pick. He is a great driver and a fab pairing with Max. I dont rate Tsunoda at all, hes had ample opportunities in F1 already and Liam despite grinding for RB hard over the years has barely had a sliver.
Its nice that he is finally rewarded tbh.
Its nice that he is finally rewarded tbh.
The suspicion is he will end up at Aston Martin as reserve for 2026 when they transition to Honda power, perhaps even race driver if Alonso ever decided he's too old for this ****.
Caporegime
I'll believe it when I see it confirmed by Red Bull. How many times have we been assured that "sources" know he's going before?
I think he's decent, and he's also improved a lot in the last couple of seasons. He absolutely struggled in his first season after being somewhat prematurely promoted and, honestly, I think he was lucky to be retained - one suspects the hand of Honda there. His second season was better, but Gasly still comfortably outclassed him, since then however he destroyed De Vries, outclassed Dani Ric and has comfortably beaten Lawson both times they've been up against each other. The ragged foolishness that marked his first couple of seasons is largely gone, and he's an impressive qualifier.
I think putting Liam into the Red Bull is a mistake. Give him a proper year in the Toro to find his feet properly and let Yuki try his luck against Max - either he surprises or Red Bull dump him at the end of the year. Lawson seems to have Helmet's backing but I'm not sure Horner really likes or rates him much (surely he'd have brought into F1 sooner otherwise?) which I suspect will rapidly sour his time at Red Bull.
I think he's decent, and he's also improved a lot in the last couple of seasons. He absolutely struggled in his first season after being somewhat prematurely promoted and, honestly, I think he was lucky to be retained - one suspects the hand of Honda there. His second season was better, but Gasly still comfortably outclassed him, since then however he destroyed De Vries, outclassed Dani Ric and has comfortably beaten Lawson both times they've been up against each other. The ragged foolishness that marked his first couple of seasons is largely gone, and he's an impressive qualifier.
I think putting Liam into the Red Bull is a mistake. Give him a proper year in the Toro to find his feet properly and let Yuki try his luck against Max - either he surprises or Red Bull dump him at the end of the year. Lawson seems to have Helmet's backing but I'm not sure Horner really likes or rates him much (surely he'd have brought into F1 sooner otherwise?) which I suspect will rapidly sour his time at Red Bull.
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Soldato
Until official it's only rumours, but Lawson has yet to impress enough in F1 and needs more experience and I don't know if Yuki would have the head for it as far as I'm concerned. Still big laughs if the replacement, if correct, is no better than Perez.
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