So Mercedes aren’t happy about Albon racing for Williams as a Mercedes customer team if he retains his links with Red Bull, that’s what all the kerfuffle was about last weekend with Horner making barbed comments about Wolff calling Alex and telling him he wouldn’t be welcome at Williams and not to go there. I suspect there’s a bit of Wolff wanting De Vries in that seat too but apparently Albon is Williams preferred option. Toto has some Williams shares, around 5% so far from controlling and I doubt that Williams deal with Mercedes for the PU includes a veto on the driver. You can see Toto’s point though, would RB be happy to let George Russell or Nyck De Vries into the Toro Rosso seat while they remain Mercedes affiliated? Of course he wouldn’t.
Whos getting BOTTAS' seat next year ?
- Thread starter ShiWarrior
- Start date
Soldato
Sorry, I look forward to seeing who Mercedes promote to that second seat from their young driver program that has F1 experience and maybe even experience of the Merc team. Whomever that might be
Soldato
I think if we're going to go that route the distinction should be where the drivers' salary comes from.
If the driver is taking their salary out of their sponsorship that that is a pure pay driver. If the driver is receiving a contracted salary from the team, then that probably isn't a pay driver.
Otherwise you'd have to call Alonso a pay driver at both McLaren and Ferrari. The former was over $25m a season and the later in the region of $50m
Deleted member 651465
D
Deleted member 651465
Rosberg?Sorry, I look forward to seeing who Mercedes promote to that second seat from their young driver program that has F1 experience and maybe even experience of the Merc team. Whomever that might be
Soldato
Rosberg?
Maybe, we’re losing a WDC on the grid with Kimi so it’d be good to keep the numbers up.
And now Russell/Russell/Rustle is confirmed.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (mercedesamgf1.com)
Official source and facts for the disbelievers like magicboy.
P.S. I see the mods have done some trickery, if you try to put Russell in with one L, it auto corrects to 2 L's.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (mercedesamgf1.com)
Official source and facts for the disbelievers like magicboy.
P.S. I see the mods have done some trickery, if you try to put Russell in with one L, it auto corrects to 2 L's.
Associate
Actually Horner has in the past (2018) said this when Ocon was seemingly out of seat and was a Merc contracted driver that if Ocon did not have that affiliation he could have been considered for a drive in the Toro Rosso team. The difference being Toro Rosso is an RB sister team whereas the Williams isn't.
Source: https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toro-rosso-ocon-horner-mercedes/3172433/
Good news. I think he'll push Hamilton hard and hopefully take over to become world champion with them in the future.And now Russell/Russell/Rustle is confirmed.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (mercedesamgf1.com)
Official source and facts for the disbelievers like magicboy.
P.S. I see the mods have done some trickery, if you try to put Russell in with one L, it auto corrects to 2 L's.
Associate
It's the obvious smart move from Mercedes. Hamilton will probably be around for no more than 2 more years and his last season could well be with Ferrari as a prestige drive for him and the Ferrari team having a 7/8 work times champion.
Soldato
Yay! \(^o^)/
Soldato
Can see brits dominating the 1 and 2 podiums next year.
If the car is good, and given Mercedes track record you’d have to expect it will be, he will give Loois a run for his money next season too.
Has Max changed nationality?
Red Bull, at least recently, haven’t been able to match Mercedes over a whole season until this one. Which they’ve put a massive amount of money into developing the car and Mercedes haven’t. If Red Bull we’re behind it’s doubtful Mercedes would have brought any upgrades at all whereas RB see this as a final chance to beat them in the last season of the current regs. With the cost caps you’d have to think that RB have diverted funds from development of next years car into this one, potentially limiting their chances for next year. I have no doubt Max and RB will be there or thereabouts, but other teams will likely make progress too.
Caporegime
This doesn't seem to me to the slam dunk certainty that people are acting like it is. Mercedes domination is already remarkable in F1 history, to continue it through a major rule change would be a stunning achievement. It's surely more like that we'll see someone like Ferrari, McLaren, or Alpine be top dog next season.
Oh absolutely it will mix the field up, but I’d still expect RB and Mercedes to be close to the fastest cars.
Deleted member 651465
D
Deleted member 651465
I'd love to see George beat Max. I'd love it.
/kevin keegan
/kevin keegan
Soldato
Fixed.