F1 2022 thread - see post 1 for rules

I'd agree with that except the last part. As Ricciardo is performing now, f1 wouldn't be much poorer without him. It would be better to roll tte dice on a rookie than hold on to a driver who was once very good.

I don't get attached to drivers in that way. For some it's like an old shirt in the wardrobe which you know you'll never wear again but can't bring yourself to get rid of. The likes of Kimi in the last 3 or 4 years were just taking up space and people thought they'd miss them. But nobody really misses kimi now.

Same with Ricciardo. I hope he can refind form. But if he doesn't and loses his seat, that's fair enough because F1 should be for the best current drivers

Not the point made by the poster though that I disagreed with, ie. hasnt worked out for Russell. Piastri has a lower prize alright with Alpine or McClaren so will have to work his way up.

He’s been in the sport less time than those two though, particularly Verstappen. Verstappen is probably the best driver at the moment and has had to be patient and have a team built around him to get to the point where he’s won one and looks like he’ll be amongst the favorites for a few years to come.

There’s so much luck, timing, development that need to go right for even the very top drivers to mount serious title challenges. Given the competition, I don’t think it’s realistic for even some of the top talents to expect to be in contention in the very early years. There’s some exceptions like Hamilton but those are once every blue moon.

And again, even if he had gone to RB it doesn’t necessarily improve his chances at a championship with Max there. Not a hope he hops into last years car and outperforms Max. Probably wins a couple of races and RB win the constructors but what good is that if he’s going to be Verstappen’s shadow for the next few years. I don’t see the point in winning a few more races early on if it hinders his chance at a championship.

So having loyalty but expecting future benefits from it make it completely self serving?

Thanks for clarifying robot George 😂

This will age well if all of a sudden Williams makes some serious in roads moving up the grid. 😋

To quote Murray Walker: 'If is F1 spelled backwards'

Actually that is incorrect. 'if' is an I and on F.

F1 is an F and a 1 so Murrey Walker was wrong.

There is nothing similar about them at all except for the F.

Now if you said 1F. Nope that does not work either thats just a 1 and an F.

So ye that never made sense that sentence from Murrey Walker

Either way a sad end to his F1 career.

It's not over yet.

He could go back to Renault/Alpine be rejuvenated there and rediscover his mojo.

Your welcome lol.

hes a bloody good driver, and a funny fcuker, it would be a shame to lose him from the grid

...that orange fcuker!

Suppose for Ricciardo there's an element of chicken involved. He can stay and drive with McLaren next year. Nobody is likely to be happy with that. He can stay until McLaren pay him off, and then go somewhere else. Risk here is that McLaren delay to the point where there's no open seats left. Or he can give up next year's seat and negotiate a drive for next year, which will be substantially less money that he's currently guaranteed from McLaren...

Ricciardo wants to go to alpine. McLaren want him to go to alpine. Alpine want him to go to alpine.

The only issue is money. McLaren hope he will walk so save themselves a packet.

Ricciardo wants to be pushed to get a payoff.

McLaren know ricciardo cannot drag his heals as he may lose available seats so McLaren will give ricciardo all the time in the world to make 'his decision' even though the world knows he is out.

Ricciardo is bluffing that he really wants to stay to see out his contract in an attempt to get McLaren to give him payoff.

It's a game of chicken but ricciardo is blessed that all this went on as he really was finished in F1 if he did another year at McLaren.

Already chat on SM about Ferrari grid penalties in Spa

You might be right about his motivation. I often wondered about his move away from red bull after partnering Max for a year. Its possible he realised he's just not as good as Max and he decided to cash in.

Coulthard said he was offered Irvine's Ferrari seat to be Schumacher's no.2. But he refused because he believed he was best and would beat Schumacher. He acknowledged that he was very much mistaken in his typical humble style.

I wonder how a driver can partner an obviously faster driver and not be honest with themselves about the fact that they're not as fast. Maybe Ricciardo just realised the fact that he wasn't fastest in the team, let alone the grid. But he knew he could still make a great career and plenty of money in a few years and live comfortably for the rest of his life.

If I had to bet, I'd say he's lost his mojo and won't be back to his best. I hope he can find form again but I wouldn't bet on it happening.

I don't see much loyalty. Can you think of many examples of great loyalty in F1?