F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

flazio

I wonder if Covid was a factor? Anyway hope he's on the mend for Singapore, basically his home race.

I touched on this in the race thread but I wonder if Williams could consider seeing out the rest of the season with Albon and De Vries? Basically shelving Latifi straight away. Catching Aston Martin might be a tall order but De Vries and Albon would be their best shot surely?

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119608421#Comment_119608421

They'd have to do without Lattifi's money and that money is probably already spent. The legal wrangling wouldn't be worth it either. His sponsors would want their pound of flesh and it would take ages to sort out which would likely create cash flow problems in the meantime.

There's no advantage to it anyway. They're on 6 points which is 19 points behind AM. They're not going to outscore AM by 19 points between now and the end of the season. So they'd almost certainly finish 10th even of they dump Latifi now and forego his sponsorship money.

PsychoPete

https://twitter.com/AstonMartinF1/status/1569310522155192320?t=A39e623K2-T1lOT0IuN5kw&s=19

Not sure if Aston is the best move for Drugovich

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119608489#Comment_119608489

MAybe not but Aston Martin are obviously looking long term and for that thrg need a driver development programme just like Red Bull and Ferrari have.

So it's a start.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119608875#Comment_119608875

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me. If they want to make Lance a champion. Then they need a driver who is less good than him. So they need a car that's so dominant it can compensate for Stroll being crap, and his teammate needs to be even more crap. So why do they need a driver programme for that? They could just buy a driver to partner Lance. That kindnof driver won't be in big demand.

Lance might not be their long term plan after all.

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119608875#Comment_119608875

Drugovich doesn't really need much development, he's been in F2 for 3 years. He's won the championship this year and currently 77 points going into the last race weekend. He's going to be waiting at least two years to get a seat at Aston Martin. He probably would have been better off going with Alpha Tauri, Williams or Haas where he'd have a better chance of getting a seat

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119609205#Comment_119609205

Yes does not sound like his best move alright.

Be interesting to see what happens and where he does end up.

skipper_G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119609205#Comment_119609205

Alpha Tauri as in the Red Bull junior team, that's for Red Bull junior drivers. Safe to assume that Red Bull don't want him or he would have signed with them surely.

Williams and Haas need the kind of money he doesn't have, so it's a no brainer for Drugovich. He gets a paid gig for a couple of years as test and reserve driver and a chance for a seat after that. If he doesn't make it to F1 he should still be able to forge some kind of a professional career out of the arrangement. Smart move by him I reckon

PsychoPete

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119609669#Comment_119609669

He has plenty of financial backing from family money. He's going to be hanging around Aston Martin till Alonso decides to leave which will probably be two years time. He's ready for an F1 seat, I think there was better options of him out there

skipper_G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119609785#Comment_119609785

I think you're seriously overestimating how much money he has behind him. The family run an auto parts company that operates in the Brasilian market. Best estimates I've found suggest annual revenue (not profit) of 25 to 35 million dollars. They have backed him to get as far as F2, but there's no way they can afford the many millions required to buy an F1 seat. He is not coming with Latifi/Mazepin levels of funding.

McFly85

You have to wonder what Latifi is getting out of this. Sure, he gets to drive in F1, but he’s comfortably the worst driver on the grid. Hes not going to be anything more than the slowest driver in the slowest team. Why bother continuing?

Killinator

Probably the fact that he can drive an F1 car, something only a percentage of a percentage of a percentage of the world population will ever get to do.

He'll never win anything but he can always say he drove in the pinnacle of motorsports, something even a lot of great racing drivers will never do.

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119609006#Comment_119609006

I don’t think Lance was ever the long term plan. They’ve had Vettel and now will have Alonso, both would be “No.1” drivers, when Vettel left, if Lance was the “future” then singing Alonso goes directly against that.

He is only there because he father owns Aston, that’s all.

Munstersrebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610543#Comment_119610543

Lance is the #1 driver in so far he gets preferential treatment on new equipment. and yes in any other team young Stroll would be out of the car. But when your daddy's syndicate owns the team.... normal rules dont apply

artanevilla

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610206#Comment_119610206

If I had that cash I'd be an F1 driver too. Or fighter jet pilot.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610546#Comment_119610546

Lance is the #1 driver in so far he gets preferential treatment on new equipment.

We will see how that goes down when Alonso is there. He might not be to happy about that if Lance got a new wing or floor before him.

Imagine the hissy fit Alonso will throw. It will make the Spygate Scandal at Mclaren seem like it was just a drop in the water lol.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610206#Comment_119610206

If I had the money to be the slowest driver on the F1 grid I'd do it.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610546#Comment_119610546

I don't think Lance gets enough credit tbh. Sure, he's never going to trouble the likes of Verstappen or Leclerc. But he's average, I'd put him on par with the likes of Ocon. Nowhere near a Latifi or a Mazepin for example. He probably wouldn't have made it this far without the support he's had, but he has grown with experience and he's not a bad driver at all. He's had one of the absolute best drivers of the last couple of decades as his teammate this year and hasn't been totally left for dust the way many would be. He had the guy who's currently 3rd in the championship before that and fared decently then too. Back at Williams he came in as a rookie to replace Bottas and wasn't a step down despite having less experience, and when he had an actual poor driver like Sirotkin as a teammate he comfortably outperformed him.

I don't think there's a queue of drivers available to Aston Martin who'd do a better job than Stroll.

Dont be at yourself

He's also very handy in the wet, where drivers' skills often come to the fore.

Munstersrebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119613354#Comment_119613354

I Cant speak for last year as i stopped watching. Tired of the LH procession. But this year the AM has been a disaster. and still Seb outscored LAnce significantly. Seb 20 Lance 5. Yeah that counts as having been trounced

Munstersrebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119613192#Comment_119613192

oh yeah. Thats gonna be some drama. Lance screaming NOT GOOD ENOUGH!!! and Nando throwing oil on the fire... I am Ze number 1. Add to it Larry Stroll... guaranteed fireworks. Netflix better be recording it!

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119613354#Comment_119613354

His teammate is a shadow of the excellent driver he used to be. Vettel's been on a downward slope for years. He's average at best nowadays and he's still trouncing Stroll, outscored him 4:1 this year. In context, it's about the same beating DR is getting from Norris.

Stroll is a poor driver. He's a veteran driver at this stage and he's improved to become a poor driver.

rameire

Jack Daniels is to become an official sponsor of McClaren in 2023. Wondering if it will being any change in colour of the car.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119614977#Comment_119614977

They've already shown where it's going. On the side of the nose.

It's not a title sponsorship.

https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/1569672359006568448?t=SKRiTL1EpxOYoU55_oACOg&s=19

thefa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119613354#Comment_119613354

I think putting him on par with Ocon is generous. During the Force India/Racing Point days, Ocon gave Perez a better fight (literally!) both seasons at an earlier stage of his career than Stroll did the following two seasons. Peak Stroll was in the pink Mercedes where he picked up a couple of podiums but was still inconsistent and only finished mid-table in the drivers standings.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119610546#Comment_119610546

Awe you stopped just at the wrong time. Last year was an even better season than this year as both Mercedes and Red Bull were very competitive and fighting each other. This year it could have be Leclerc and Ferrari V Max and Red Bull but no of course Ferrari made a balls of it and throw it away in typical Ferrari style. This season is over now. Max and Red Bull have it all wrapped up.

Munstersrebel

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119614828#Comment_119614828

kinda hard to proof yourself in a bad car... Going to Ferrairi was a mistake... they never could get it together and like now with Leclerc they put so much pressure on the drivers that they end up making mistakes

skipper_G

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119613354#Comment_119613354

You can't be serious surely? Stroll is 6 seasons into his grand prix career, 116 starts, yes he's got a few podiums but he is wildly inconsistent. And consistency is what wins championships. Lance has never finished in the top 10 in the championship. Yes there were a couple of rubbish cars in there, but the Racing Point was decent. By contrast Perez finished 4th that year. Lance Stroll is not a decent F1 driver, I can only assume you are suggesting this in some deluded attempt to make Vettel appear better now than he really is.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119615621#Comment_119615621

The Ferrari was the second best car on the grid for most of his time at the team. How do you figure it was a bad car? How does anyone prove themselves unless they're in the best car?

Plenty of drivers prove themselves in poor cars. First task is to beat your teammate. He beat an aging Kimi who had long since checked out and failed to beat a rookie Leclerc. Don't you think Leclerc proved himself in the same 'bad car'? I certainly think he did.

I think it's hard to prove yourself when you're not driving well. And Vettel hasn't been driving well for a long time now.

But this is just a ruse to prop up Stroll and then Stroll is used by others to prop up Vettel. Truth is, they're both poor drivers now. One used to be excellent for a while, but theire both poor now. Vettel has checked out in the last few races.

steinbock123

If Aston Martin went bust tomorrow and closed down, who would take Stroll if he had no money?