F1 2019 season

Wicked_Badger said:
Largely agree, but I don’t see them risking sticking Ocon in the seat either. He can be fiesty/crashy with his teammate.

Got a feeling that Gasly will be dropped & the Hulk ends up in the 2nd Red Bull which will leave the Renault seat for Ocon.
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I don't think Ocon would be near Hamilton's level to be as much of a hindrance to be honest. I think Merc will play boring and keep Bottas for one more year.

If Red Bull drop Gasly I think they will go internal again, it's Max's team now so the second seat is a support role which Gasly is perfect for, he's just under performed massively.
 
Wicked_Badger said:
Largely agree, but I don’t see them risking sticking Ocon in the seat either. He can be fiesty/crashy with his teammate.

Got a feeling that Gasly will be dropped & the Hulk ends up in the 2nd Red Bull which will leave the Renault seat for Ocon.
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I'm torn. On the one hand I would love for Hulkenberg to get a better car and show what he can do but the closer he gets to the podium, the more things go wrong. I'd be surprised if Kyvat didn't get it though.
 
Wicked_Badger said:
Largely agree, but I don’t see them risking sticking Ocon in the seat either. He can be fiesty/crashy with his teammate.

Got a feeling that Gasly will be dropped & the Hulk ends up in the 2nd Red Bull which will leave the Renault seat for Ocon.
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I'd be surprised if he would try any shit with Lewis. Theres only one winner there and it's not Ocon!
 
Wicked_Badger said:
They technically could. But won’t. It cost a fortune & upset Hamilton.

I think Verstappen had a buy out clause based on Red Bull performance in his contract but they’ve met that over the last couple of races, so it’d be even more to grab him now.
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I've heard Crofty and Brundler said it after race. There's rumour flying around that a clausul in Max's contract can get him out of RB easily if he deliver into 2nd in WDC. Maybe wrong but its believable considering RB Honda was unknown quantity going into this season.
 
Hephaestus said:
I'm torn. On the one hand I would love for Hulkenberg to get a better car and show what he can do but the closer he gets to the podium, the more things go wrong. I'd be surprised if Kyvat didn't get it though.
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That would be a lovely turn around of fortune for the lad. Just became a dad too. Good on him.
 
Nico Rosberg claims that Verstappen's can't leave Red Bull until 2021 at the earliest. Max's contract apparently states that if he's in the top 3 at the summer break of 2019 (which he is) then he has to stay for another year.
 
I don't see Max as being a 'spoilt brat'. He's just a superb driver who knows what he can do. He does push the limit with his overtaking though but that's not always a bad thing.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Wouldn't he welcome the challenge? I'd love the chance to put that snotty little brat in his place. The massive Verstappen lovetrain in The Netherlands annoys me. But I guess it's because I'm a contrarian fecker. Everyone I know is suddenly into F1 since he's in it.
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Orange tinted glasses are quite annoying at times I agree, but it's definitely not worse than how the British people on here react to Lewis for example - if anything it's actually slightly better. Compared to Lewis, Max isn't really the spoiled or cocky one either, though I quite like it when Lewis gets a bit cocky and it's also fully justified based on his career.

I know some guys over here who are so obsessed with Verstappen that I can understand why the hype can get on your nerves though, my word there's some weird fanboys out there :lol:

Guess you should've jumped on the hype train yourself after Cruijff visited him just before he died and Verstappen somehow ended up winning Barcelona soon after, you would've really enjoyed following his development from there. Big part of the problem with the hype is also that Verstappen's simply the real deal, he really is insanely good for his age and in terms of talent as a driver he's more unique than Frenkie as a footballer for instance.
 
KirkDuyt said:
Can't Merc buy Verstappen from Red Bull next year so Lewis and him can duke it out in the same car? Or is that not how it works?
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Would be too expensive. They just need a driver good enough to guarantee them the constructors championship - and Bottas is good enough to do that. Verstappen & Hamilton would probably crash each other off the grid enough for someone else to sneak a title.
 
Grinner said:
I don't see Max as being a 'spoilt brat'. He's just a superb driver who knows what he can do. He does push the limit with his overtaking though but that's not always a bad thing.
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He's matured a hell of a lot in a short space of time. He's as precocious as they come both as a driver and the ability to handle the extreme pressure.

More risk adverse but not overly cautious, he has become one reliable, fast, motherfecker.

He's also become less of a dick. I like him.
 
I think to be a champion you have to be a bit of a dick. Arrogance less so if you can back it up. The days of Jackie Stewart and the gentleman driver are long gone.
 
So The Times are reporting F1 in talks with Saudi Arabia to host race. I really hope this isn't true. Liberty not of to the best starts, tv deals in Europe taking it of recent terrestrial tv and another money track to add to China, Russia, Bahrain, Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi
 
Grinner said:
I don't see Max as being a 'spoilt brat'. He's just a superb driver who knows what he can do. He does push the limit with his overtaking though but that's not always a bad thing.
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Yeah, I maybe should’ve qualified that with ‘he’s matured hugely over the tail end of last season & beginning of this’.

I also don’t particularly like his dad either, which has probably skewed my view slightly. And I wasn’t particularly impressed with his moving under braking in his first couple of seasons. It was hugely dangerous.

He’s an immense driver, with huge experience at such a young age. It’d be a massive surprise if he doesn’t win at least one championship, and based on this season, would be deserved.

I do like my F1 drivers to be a bit cocky too.
 
Grinner said:
I think to be a champion you have to be a bit of a dick. Arrogance less so if you can back it up. The days of Jackie Stewart and the gentleman driver are long gone.
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My friend. Sir Jackie Stewart was hardly a gentleman driver.
He was certainly a driving genius but was every bit as aggressive as was necessary to win races and world championships.
He was very hard but also fair and of course highly safety concious. He used his fame and position to take on the racing establishment in order to improve the terrible lack of safety; both of the cars and the circuits.
 
So we are the summer 4 week break, in what has been I think a decent season so far , Lewis looks to be homing in on WC number 6.
Max is looking more and more like a WC with every race.
This is the Fantasy League standings.
Cartman has been top since race 1 , but his lead has been reduced the past few races.
Good luck in the send half of the season.

1st eric cartman Cartman 937 X
2nd screech44 Redfish-Alfa 907 X
3rd evan7788 altodevil86 891 X
4th pauldyson1uk Billy Jack Racing 850 X
5th venkman Toyoda 843 X
6th spwd MANSELLS MOUSTACHE, 826 X
7th impulse Team 3 820 X
8th vangagal Team Skytrain 802 X
9th jd094 Mirror, Signal, Maldonado 801 X
10th balljy RedShift 793 X
11th paulscholes18 Scholesy 789 X
12th hephaestus Horizon F1 752 X
13th flavio Randomhero Racing 750 X
14th igord TeamShamilton 748 X
15th senorgregster Hamilton Academical 736 X
16th dargonk Dargon's crew 721 X
17th coleworld Coleworrrld 694 X
18th dudu Dudu Droids 681 X
19th christy87 Langers on a mission 601 X
20th seb_87 Red_Sky_87 476 X

Next race is Spa Belgium 1st September, lights out at 14:10 (UK TIME)
 
Red Bull have dropped Pierre Gasly and appointed Alex Albon as Max Verstappen's new team-mate.

The change will take place with immediate effect, starting at next month's Belgian GP.
Was always on the cards to be honest.
 
Tough decision for them too regarding Albon and Kvyat. With Kvyat he deserves it more but I think it's the best decision to not destabilise him while he's in this form. With Albon it can go either way and it's riskier for him as a driver rather than Red Bull. He'll either step up or it will be too soon for him like it was for Kvyat. They did need to make a change though. Gasly was pants.
 
Bottas stays with Mercedes next year. Not sure he's earned it but they'll walk the championship again next year regardless of who is in that seat so no point rocking the boat from their point of view I suppose.

Shame for everyone else though as if the other cars can't up their game we need a Rosberg/Hamilton type battle to keep things interesting at the top
 
Wicked_Badger said:
Largely agree, but I don’t see them risking sticking Ocon in the seat either. He can be fiesty/crashy with his teammate.

Got a feeling that Gasly will be dropped & the Hulk ends up in the 2nd Red Bull which will leave the Renault seat for Ocon.
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Nearly got it right - apart from the Hulk thing! Although he might still end up there if Albon flops.
 
Bottas staying with Mercedes is the most boring outcome there. I can't say it's surprising, but it would have been nice to see a shake up at that team. Expect thr same old next year again with Bottas maybe getting an early win and people will try to hype it up as him being able to take the battle to Hamilton this. Jusy like the last few years it'll amount to nothing.

Also on Ocon to Renault, what's that about? Replacing Hulkenberg? Is Ocon really any better? I know he's young and considered to have potential, but I don't we him being bake to achieve better results with that team than Hulkenberg. I don't consider Ocon to be a super kid like Verstappen or Le Clerc for example. I'd rate Norris above him too. So this one has me confused. I've never heard of any tension between the 2 current Renault drivers so I doubt its that. I assume Ocon will be a cheaper option and that's the only benefit I can see really.
 
stu_1992 said:
Bottas staying with Mercedes is the most boring outcome there. I can't say it's surprising, but it would have been nice to see a shake up at that team. Expect thr same old next year again with Bottas maybe getting an early win and people will try to hype it up as him being able to take the battle to Hamilton this. Jusy like the last few years it'll amount to nothing.

Also on Ocon to Renault, what's that about? Replacing Hulkenberg? Is Ocon really any better? I know he's young and considered to have potential, but I don't we him being bake to achieve better results with that team than Hulkenberg. I don't consider Ocon to be a super kid like Verstappen or Le Clerc for example. I'd rate Norris above him too. So this one has me confused. I've never heard of any tension between the 2 current Renault drivers so I doubt its that. I assume Ocon will be a cheaper option and that's the only benefit I can see really.
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I think The Hulk is a bit pissed off that Ricciardo swooped in earning £20m a year. Differing reports have his salary between £500k - £4m. Obviously not peanuts, but a bit of a slap in the face for someone that’s performed pretty well over the 3 years he’s been there.

There’ll be other dynamics at play too - he’ll very much be driver no.2 at the team now, and perhaps they’re stealing a development lead from Ricciardo rather than him, maybe screwing up the good development he’s done previously.

It makes sense financially too. Even if you think Ocon isn’t a world beater, he’s still quick, and will be on buttons in comparison. He’ll get a good haul of points, so long as the car is good enough to score them & he’s French too, which’ll please current/potential French sponsors & the Renault board, no doubt.
 
Young French driver in a French team alongside a "superstar", comes with Mercedes knowledge and will be cheaper than the Hulk, it all makes sense for Renault.

Nico is clearly a good solid driver but he's been about for along time now and really hasn't kicked on, Haas should kick Grosjean for him.

Bottas at Mercedes for another year is dissapointing but totally expected, they don't need to rock the boat. I liked in the press release Bottas basically wrote off his 2019 chances despite being 2nd in the standings, not that he can catch but interesting to throw the towel in at the halfway mark.
 
Currently sat on the inside of Blanchimont, not been to a race in many years and it's mad how different the cars sound these days. The Formula 2 cars sound miles better which is weird.

Also feck me Spa is hilly; it really doesn't come across on TV just how steep Eau Rouge is and I never appreciated how steep (downhill) the approach is to it from La Source.

Aside from that absolutely everywhere seems to be a massive walk up a big hill, I'm gonna need new legs after this weekend.
 
Never really understood the hype around Hulk. He reminds me a bit of Henderson. Good but nothing more.
 
Rado_N said:
Currently sat on the inside of Blanchimont, not been to a race in many years and it's mad how different the cars sound these days. The Formula 2 cars sound miles better which is weird.

Also feck me Spa is hilly; it really doesn't come across on TV just how steep Eau Rouge is and I never appreciated how steep (downhill) the approach is to it from La Source.

Aside from that absolutely everywhere seems to be a massive walk up a big hill, I'm gonna need new legs after this weekend.
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Full of Dutchies too, was crazy busy when went last year.
 
Rado_N said:
Currently sat on the inside of Blanchimont, not been to a race in many years and it's mad how different the cars sound these days. The Formula 2 cars sound miles better which is weird.

Also feck me Spa is hilly; it really doesn't come across on TV just how steep Eau Rouge is and I never appreciated how steep (downhill) the approach is to it from La Source.

Aside from that absolutely everywhere seems to be a massive walk up a big hill, I'm gonna need new legs after this weekend.
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How many metres a climb is it? 50m?
 
Rado_N said:
Currently sat on the inside of Blanchimont, not been to a race in many years and it's mad how different the cars sound these days. The Formula 2 cars sound miles better which is weird.

Also feck me Spa is hilly; it really doesn't come across on TV just how steep Eau Rouge is and I never appreciated how steep (downhill) the approach is to it from La Source.

Aside from that absolutely everywhere seems to be a massive walk up a big hill, I'm gonna need new legs after this weekend.
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Very jealous. Spa is on the bucket list. Maybe next year.

Agree on the engine sound. When we went to Monza in ‘17 we saw a bit of F2 first and bought earplugs to defend against the downshift noise/assault at the entrance to Parabolica. Genuinely didn’t need to use them anywhere with the F1 cars. Great weekend though!
 
sglowrider said:
How many metres a climb is it? 50m?
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I believe it's 40m.

The 'nerd fact of the day' is that Eau Rouge is actually the small left hander going down into the right hander/hill. Most people talk about the whole left-right-up the hill section as Eau Rouge (myself included) but the steep corner up the hill is actually called Raidillon.
 
Zlaatan said:
I believe it's 40m.

The 'nerd fact of the day' is that Eau Rouge is actually the small left hander going down into the right hander/hill. Most people talk about the whole left-right-up the hill section as Eau Rouge (myself included) but the steep corner up the hill is actually called Raidillon.
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