New regulations new season....
Can redbull keep up the pace
Piastri isn't under contract with alpine, alpines failure to negotiate on time with him for a new one meant it lapsed
That would be the contract for next year I'd assume... He's still contracted to end of current season (if he's not, then the entire legal department at Alpine need to be fired)
Yeah this is my understanding. I understand that if they didn't find him a drive for next year by the end of July, then he's free to find one for himself. But the rest of the contract is still intact. So he's contracted until the end of the season.
Thinking about it, mclaren would need to buy Ricciardo out of his contract plus buy Piastri out of his contract in order to make a switch this season. It ain't going to happen.
On current form Gasly would be the best option for Alpine next year. Ricciardo would be behind a lot of other options based on his performances the last year and a half.
I don't believe Ricciardo has lost his form.
Whatever McLaren are doing, the car is odd to drive and doesn't suit Ricciardo. Added to that, Norris is probably marginally quicker in any machinery and there lies the big gap.
I would hope he would be very competitive with ocon in the alpine still.
I think McLaren and alpine are going to need to talk to get drivers sorted.
If ricciardo doesn't have an offer of a good seat, he will outright refuse to vacate his McLaren seat.
What would he be losing in sponsorship? The salary would be one part of his earnings only. Not sure how it works but I imagine with all those watch deals there'd be a fair bit of money involved.
Must be hassle for those who design the merch for the coming year!
I personally think Daniel is finished, if he sits out a year who is going to want him? Sure he has won a load of races but realistically speaking hasn't performed for his last two teams.
People said the same of Alonso after his years in McLaren
Not sure what people you're talking about - Alonso was clearly still one of the best drivers on the grid being held back by a terrible car at that time. I don't think there was any doubt in most people's minds around 2018 that if you put Alonso in a Merc he'd be winning WDCs easily.
Ricciardo is underperforming and finishing a long way behind his less experienced teammate quite consistently, there's just no reason for any other team to want him right now. Alpine would be doing McLaren a favour by taking him off their hands, I honestly don't think they will and think they'll plump for younger talent instead.
Thats harsh. He beat both team mates at Renault, very comfortably beating ocon who is giving Alonso a fair run yet Ricciardo is finished and Alonso is good as ever.
Does not add up.
Yeah there's another variable. It's either that he had lost his touch or he just can't drive this car. Hard to tell until we see how he goes in another car.
If he just can't drive this car, it will still be a concern to any other team as he's bloody expensive, but failed to adapt to the mclaren. And we know the mclaren is decent because of how well Norris gets on (he's 20 points ahead of either Alpine driver). So he's not a particularly attractive prospect for anyone at the moment. If he was cheap he'd be worth a gamble but given he's so expensive, I wonder who will want him.
I definitely think Ricciardo is the maker of his own barriers when it comes to a drive next season.
I agree Ricciardo should be looking for the best seat he can but I don't think he can command a huge salary.
I'm sure any new contract for him will be majorly performance based. He really cannot complain about that because he has it all to prove again.
Not sure if the car just isn't as good this year but Gaslys star ain't burning as bright this year, tsunoda is catching up on him to a degree. Plus isn't it fairly well documented him and Ocon don't get on? AT confirmed Gasly for next season.
More I think about the more im not sure Ricciardo will even have a seat this year, when you see the likes of KMag taken a year out and being fairly competitive in a low midfield car you could see Alpine looking around for better value drivers. If Ricciardos salary really is 15million a season I doubt he could even commend half of that now? Though Ricciardos second season at Renault was fairly impressive looking back on it, perhaps they'd hope he could recoup that form?
Horner comes across as a knob to any RB driver not named Max Verstappen.
Season 3 where he constantly sh*ts on Gasly as well while Albon is performing worse than him. Horrible man.
..
Horner wasn't very complementary towards Eddie Jordan on C4 a few years ago.
I thought Horner was fine on DTS. He told Ricciardo he’d be happy to keep him and if he wanted to be the number 1 driver at RB he could prove it on the track. Ricciardo didn’t fancy it and moved elsewhere for a packet of money. It’s obvious he favours Max but to be fair, you can see why.
I always find it hilarious when people hate Horner but like Wolff, when they’re practically identical in how they act.
Its almost fashionable to make fun of Eddie and I think he plays up to that image abit tbh but Eddie has done it all and walked away with a fortune. The sad thing about Jordan gp is that there is no real collection of Jordan cars. I believe most were sold off at different times and possibly butchered to some degree.
That would explain this https://www.trackdays.co.uk/experience/jordan-f1-driving-experience/5559/
Me too, if not worse for Toto, especially since the team started to be challenged.
Coming out saying the sport is getting boring because of the gaps between between the cars this year was an especially epic facepam moment for me, actually stung a bit🤣
So will Mick Schumacher still be at Haas next year? I see The Race have a piece on him.
I would like to see him still at Haas unless he got to go to Ferrari which ain't going to happen anytime soon or maybe Alpine or Mclaren both of which would be a sideways step but in the long term maybe an upgrade from Haas too as they have more resources than Haas.
Ah, I never got into the craic of loving or hating team principals. They're just front men. They have no principles, they just put forward the company line about whatever the topic is. I don't love or hate the marketing team for Colgate or Easyjet when they say their company is the best. They're advocates, not honest brokers It's just their job.
It's not Toto's fault that they were so far ahead for a number of years. It was then other teams job to catch up. Now it's Toto's job to catch up. There's no point getting thick with the front men.
Not sure Toto is just a front man. Does he not own 30% of Mercedes F1?
When he's talking to us, he's just a front man. It's not his job to tell us anything except whatever suits the team.
It's not his job to tell the truth. Just to advocate for his team.
Sorry , but your whole point makes no sense.
you said " They have no principles, they just put forward the company line about whatever the topic is"
But Toto, who I have no regard for either, is putting forward his own line because he is the major decision maker in the company. I accept that Horner's position is different
And how do those 2 behave differently based on the fact that one has a stake in the team and the other doesn't?
You may see him as just a mouth piece but he is far from it being a third share owner of the team.
He puts out this great tight team image and no blame culture etc but when the sh1t hit the fan last year, the mask slipped and we saw the real Toto..... A whinger who would stop at nothing to get his way.
Advocating for his team. He's just like a lawyer when he speaks to us. Party line, total war, fight on every front to get the results. There's no thought for what the truth is. They just advocate for their team.
I've no idea why anyone thinks anyone these guys are any different. They're all pret much the same. It's just their job. I've no idea why anyone thinks they know what these people are actually like. They're presenting their teams case and that's all they're supposed to do.
You can do that without coming across as a total prick as that can only be damaging to a team whose whole purpose is to push the Mercedes brand.
Who wants to be associated with a dickheads team.
Ross Brawn was never a dickhead yet built success after success.
Stefano domenicali likewise and has got to the top of the sport.
