Formula 1 2020 - General Discussion Thread (See MOD warning on first post)

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Or he wins by a mile then they sack him on Monday.

Peak ferrari

muckwarrior wrote: »

Don't see why Red Bull would want Vettel back. They already have one of, if not the fastest driver on the grid. What they need is a solid number 2 that can finish within a place or 2 of him and not cause any arguments, and Albon is shaping up to fit that role pretty well.

They don't have ther car to win the constructors without two top tier drivers

BikeRacer wrote: »

It's always difficult to compare 2 drivers when they drive different machinery, but Alonso and Hamilton did have the same car, so it's easy to compare.
Hamilton beat him. In his rookie year, he beat a then 2 time world champion. Alonso wasn't the best driver in his team, let alone the grid.

They both finished on the same points with each having 4 victories to their name.
The only teammate who has ever out scored Alonso on points was button in 2015 and only by 5 points. Not bad for a driver who competed in 17 full seasons.
I’m happy to see him back in f1, excellent driver looking forward to hopefully seeing an improved Renault package in ‘22.

Nice

"Formula 1 is expected to announce the next batch of 2020 race dates in the coming days with Mugello set to be the first new event on the updated schedule."

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/150436/mugello-to-be-confirmed-in-next-f1-calendar-update

Mugello is a monster track, its almost old school in its layout. Seeing modern F1 cars in the double right turns at the far end of Mugello would be amazing... if even only the once.

Jordan 199 wrote: »

Paul Ricard circuit, made of tarmac and huge tube of aquafresh toothpaste.

Aye it looks hideous on the TV!

Portimao, Portugal set to be confirmed also. Nice to see some new tracks for this season anyway.

Rodney Bathgate wrote: »

Or he wins by a mile then they sack him on Monday.

He may need a miracle for Ferrari for that to happen.

Vettel openly saying if there was a drive offered by Red Bull, he'd take it.

https://twitter.com/F1/status/1281248284359655426

If anyone watched the Netflix F1 documentary series (and you should), there was one scene where they asked Horner who was his favourite driver that he worked with, and obviously he was diplomatic and said something vague about the current ones, but his young daughter immediately chimed in in the background and said Vettel which was clearly the real answer.

Hardly surprising either, without Seb in the car previously, Red Bull would be a team with zero titles to their name. The car Vettel won his titles in was never good enough to claim second in the championship with another driver in the car.

Unlike Merc, and the current Ferrari management, I get the impression Red Bull are a team that are not afraid to have two top drivers. They've never really had team orders and their whole brand is around selling excitement and heroic drivers, rather than showing off their reliable and fuel efficient cars like the manufacturers. So it would make sense.

It would be a shame for Albon who's doing a decent job, but he hasn't been particularly close to Verstappen in reality and he's still young and has time to improve. It would be a crime for a driver like Vettel to not be in a top team while Albon and a third rate driver like Bottas are taking up top seats.

Apparently Racing Point had approached Alonso to come drive for them, so if they're that serious about getting someone of that calibre (And either buying Perez out of contract or booting your own son out the door) I'd imagine Vettel has a seat there if he wants it.
I also can't shake the feeling Toto will want to personally see his £8m Aston Martin investment put to good use.

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Multi 21 aside

I agree Vettel not having a seat is a pity, but he has himself to blame with his performances last couple years for that as much as circumstances

Bottas is the best driver for the 2nd Mercedes seat, but probably not the 2nd best driver out there

Things weren't always smooth between Ricciardo and Max, and considering how things looked in 2019 I'm not sure Vettel and Max would end up any different than Vettel and Leclerc, Red Bull might well want to steer clear

Multi 21 kind of proves that they didn't have a team order philosophy given that it was them asking their top driver not to attack and overtake their second driver in order to preserve reliability. Mercedes or the current Ferrari management would have asked them to swap.

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Portimao should be good. If not the F2 race will be Mugello is an awful track for F1, even moreso with the current massive cars.

Portimao has lots of elevation changes, more than Red Bull Ring, should test the suspensions

PukkaStukka wrote: »

Interesting :- my information suggests these are on the same Astra satellite (19.2E) that currently carries RTL which is ceasing its FTA coverage at the end of this year. If so, Free To Air coverage continues, albeit in German.

https://www.f1technical.net/news/225941

Austria is showing it on Free to air for 2021, not sure if you can pick up these chans from Satellite?

https://www.racefans.net/2020/07/07/red-bull-owned-tv-channel-to-broadcast-f1-in-austria/#:~:text=Red%20Bull%2Downed%20television%20channel,free%2Dto%2Dair%20television.&text=Servus%20TV%20and%20ORF%20have,year%20deal%20beginning%20next%20year.