2024 F1 General Discussion Thread

That may be true in some cases, but there are a lot more possibilities, both physical and mental. It's normal for professionals in all sports to have good and bad periods. Some manage to regain their form, some don't.

Re. Ricciardo, it's possible that he has a fundamental issue with adapting to new cars. Took him a while to get used to the Renault, he never really got to grips with the McLaren, and he might have a flaw with ground effect too.

Or it could be just that he's ending his career and it doesn't mean as much subconsciously as when he was in his early 20s.

Ye I think that too. Maybe you just can't brake as late and as hard in these ground effect cars or at least Daniel can't anyway. Maybe Danieks driving style just does not work with these ground effect F1 cars like it did on the more aerodynamic wing type F1 effect cars.

Alex Albon has signed a long term deal with Williams. I'm a little surprised here, I thought he'd have been looking for a bump up to a higher placed team.

https://x.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1790668568826155053

Not sure there is a higher place team to go to. He got badly burned at Red Bull trying to pick up Max's scraps so not much he can achieve there. I reckon the deal with Sainz to Mercedes Benz is all but signed. Alonso is staying at Aston Martin, Stroll would have to be permanently incapacitated before that seat came available, McLaren have their drivers secured. Cash ATM or whatever they're called, Alpine Sauber and Haas are roughly at the same level now but Williams probably still has the most potential to climb.

Williams have come to a bump in the road, it'd be very short sighted to think they will never overcome that. Look at McLaren.

Yeah, hope the shine wears off Sainz in a few years and they need a change. Not a great option but the other options weren't great either. It's a medum-long shot at a Mercedes drive, which isn't a bad bet.

Sargent and Zhou are, in my mind anyway, gone at end of season. Bottas and Magnusson must be clinging on too depending on other moves.

Bottas is a great qualifier. Its the strongest part of his game. He was always closer to Hamilton in quali than in the actual race. He matched within a tenth, and even beat Hamilton at a surprising rate in quali and that kept the hope alive if I remember correctly.

I'm not commenting on whether or not he should keep his seat, just the fact that he's always been a better qualifier than a racer.

Some excellent news. Irish up and coming Alex Dunne has been signed into the McLaren driver development programme.

That's probably what I'd tell myself if I was in his position. He might even be right. I wouldn't begrudge Williams or Albon success. He seems like a decent guy.

Ron Dennis was on BBC Hardtalk recently. Video is on the BBC news channel or iPlayer in the UK.

Audio is available worldwide on podcast.

Max not happy with the car in FP1 or FP2, plus a trip into the gravel in the latter. Could be an interesting race unless they manage to sort the car. Is Newey there this weekend I wonder?

Freudian slip??

If Perez doesn't sort out his form he could be in trouble getting a renewal on his contract. Sainz would have to be a better option for the team, especially if Max was to leave. Sainz should be capable of leading the team, Perez not so much.