The Official 2016-2017 F1 Offseason Thread

[RidgeBack]

that was pretty good, BU.

Got a cockerel called Helmut and dogs called Bernie and Flavio.

[BoldUlysses]

Maurizio surprised me a bit; I always imagined him as a "Kimi type" who loathes interviews, etc.



In other news, Merc is being a tease and not announcing their Rosberg replacement until after the new year. Does this mean they've decided and want to wait until then, or that they're going to put off the actual decision?

[RidgeBack]

BU, Williams has contacted Massa (with regards to coming back to Williams). So perhaps they need him back next year after Bottas leaves for Merc.

Signs point to Bottas to Merc. Merc must have given one great deal on their PUs for Williams next year if that is the case. I wonder how Lance Stroll's contract impacted these decisions.

[Blanchimont]

BU, Williams has contacted Massa (with regards to coming back to Williams). So perhaps they need him back next year after Bottas leaves for Merc.

Signs point to Bottas to Merc. Merc must have given one great deal on their PUs for Williams next year if that is the case. I wonder how Lance Stroll's contract impacted these decisions.

Martini requires an experienced driver to be at Williams - hence team Willy pushing back on signing another young gun, as that sends the wrong message when your drivers are not of the legal age in some cases or not appealing to the target audience.

I might be wrong, but I thought even Strolls contract stipulates that he have an experienced team mate, no? So, he can get groomed and broken in nicely during his debut year (one can dictate such terms when they are pouring in so much money into any team!)

I dont see Massa coming back- but then he is a nice guy and might say yes and come back to Williams to help them out for a year, we will see how this develops. I also dont understand why Merc mentions that the announcement will come in 2017 - why wait when time is of essence with anyone coming into a NEW cockpit/procedures/team/controls etc!

[BoldUlysses]

I like Massa, but he's clearly lost whatever fire he had. I hope he stays retired, especially after the emotional Interlagos send off.

I also dont understand why Merc mentions that the announcement will come in 2017 - why wait when time is of essence with anyone coming into a NEW cockpit/procedures/team/controls etc!

Either they actually haven't made a decision yet, or they really aren't into putting forth the effort after 3 utterly dominant seasons.

[RidgeBack]

Martini requires an experienced driver to be at Williams - hence team Willy pushing back on signing another young gun, as that sends the wrong message when your drivers are not of the legal age in some cases or not appealing to the target audience.

I might be wrong, but I thought even Strolls contract stipulates that he have an experienced team mate, no? So, he can get groomed and broken in nicely during his debut year (one can dictate such terms when they are pouring in so much money into any team!)

I dont see Massa coming back- but then he is a nice guy and might say yes and come back to Williams to help them out for a year, we will see how this develops. I also dont understand why Merc mentions that the announcement will come in 2017 - why wait when time is of essence with anyone coming into a NEW cockpit/procedures/team/controls etc!

Yeah, currently it's just speculation and consequences of silly season.

Merc's tub/chassis design would need to be altered a bit if they get a taller driver into the seat because the car was designed around Lewis and Nico.

But, testing in Feb is where they'll get a lot (most) of their data. After that the simulators will be a lot more accurate. So a driver really only needs to start working in Jan. The driver however will need to start work on their fitness sooner than that. Especially considering how much more G forces the cars will be capable of.

[Jmabarone]

Yeah, currently it's just speculation and consequences of silly season.

Merc's tub/chassis design would need to be altered a bit if they get a taller driver into the seat because the car was designed around Lewis and Nico.

But, testing in Feb is where they'll get a lot (most) of their data. After that the simulators will be a lot more accurate. So a driver really only needs to start working in Jan. The driver however will need to start work on their fitness sooner than that. Especially considering how much more G forces the cars will be capable of.

I recall that Vettel couldn't do anything at Ferrari until January 1 after he left Red Bull.

Reminds me of another case where a manufacturer had a contract with a well known driver to prevent him from driving anything but their product through the Daytona 24. IIRC, the contract technically ended on the Saturday of the race, so he could have driven later, but it wasn't worth the fight.

[auaq]

Just a random pic of the current 2016 cars testing on 2017 tyres.

[m3fuz]

Just a random pic of the current 2016 cars testing on 2017 tyres.

I like it! I can't imagine the suspension work required to handle that much more grip and load. Heh...I said grip and load...

[BoldUlysses]

How do the tires sizes compare to those in F1's (first) turbo era?

[BoldUlysses]

Nice little illustration of the contrast in attitude b/t the two:





Nico's is the same as Hamilton's. Unlike literally every other driver who's done the Grill the Grid, they really seem like they can't be bothered and take themselves WAY too seriously. It's the little things that illuminate character, IMO.

[bawareca]

I just randomly found a few old videos and wow, what has happened for 10 years(with the world and F1 particularly). Some real racing, no DRS, no tire conservation, no BS. Just flat out.
It is pity to say that, but like in many other aspects of our life, the progress for the sake of the progress doesnt necessarily bring positive changes. If 2017 season rolls back a bit of the "progress", it may be good.

[RidgeBack]

Bottas to Merc
Massa returns to Williams

It's going to be great to see how Bottas compares to Hamilton if this is true.

[badmonkey]

Hamilton disrespected by Merc, what a dbag. Toto should be looking for two new drivers.


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[RidgeBack]

Hamilton disrespected by Merc, what a dbag. Toto should be looking for two new drivers.


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Source please?

[badmonkey]

Source please?

ESPN F1, James Allen


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[RidgeBack]

ESPN F1, James Allen


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Thanks!

- - - Updated - - -

Just read Allen's article.

The funniest thing in that entire article is this:

Millions of Hamilton fans were already of the view that there was some giant conspiracy for the Mercedes bosses to ensure a German won the championship

Allen's just insulted millions of Hamilton fans

But, yeah, Lewis is getting press and that's good for him and his fans. After Barcelona he actually told Toto that he "quit". I don't see this little "spat" between them coming to anything now. Especially as there's no other team into which he can move and still have such a great shot at another WDC. RBR is probably the other team with a shot but they will never hire Lewis, ever.

[BoldUlysses]

Bottas to Merc
Massa returns to Williams

It's going to be great to see how Bottas compares to Hamilton if this is true.

Sigh.

[auaq]

Sigh.

Number 2 driver, eh?

[RidgeBack]

Sigh.

The last 2 seasons have been really underwhelming because none of their upgrades actually worked. I'm hoping they can get a decent CFD/design lead too. I think that boils down to failures in 2 team parts: 1 their CFD and 2 their simulator. Their work just isn't turning out to be real world applicable. The upgrades aren't the driver's responsibilities. I also think that their design team have been failing with regards to driver feedback too as a consequence of the aforementioned not working as they expect.

It really is difficult to judge the 2 drivers because the chassis is just so difficult for either of them to get any sort of repeatable/consistent performance from it.

Next year we'll see how Massa performs alongside Stroll. Stroll is going to have put a load of miles on the older Williams chassis before testing next year. My thoughts are that Massa will beat him quite handily. I think this will prove 2 things:

1 - that Massa isn't as slow as the chassis makes him (and Bottas) out to be
2 - that Stroll really did purchase his Williams seat.

But we'll see.

I've been reading that a lot of people have little faith in Bottas. I think he's going to give Lewis a run for his money once he can get settled. IMO, he's shown that when the car is right he can be quick.

I also think that Williams have been playing a very conservative game the past 2 seasons (primarily because of finances and that they have stock holders to report to). They want/need their drivers to get to the finish and score points. This had kept both Bottas and Massa on short leashes during the races - so to speak. They've been ordered not to be too risky. This had led conservative strategies and risk avoidance by the team and the drivers.

[BoldUlysses]

^I appreciate the insight. Williams has gambled on strategy occasionally in the past couple of seasons (Bottas one-stopping in Malaysia comes to mind) with good results, but you're right; so often the hardware just hasn't been there for the drivers.

I've tried to work this out before, and I think I feel more loyalty to Williams than I do to Bottas. Their reemergence as a top-tier team would be a counterpoint to storied teams like Lotus, Brabham and Tyrrell that just hung on far longer than they should have and then folded in ignominy. I just want the narrative to be different for once, I guess.

That said, I do think a move to Merc is probably Bottas best shot to actually call himself a race winner at some point in his career, so I'm happy for him about that. Will be very interesting to see what he does vs. Hamilton. I have a feeling too that it will be more of a rivalry than folks generally think it will.

[m3fuz]

Bottas to Merc
Massa returns to Williams

It's going to be great to see how Bottas compares to Hamilton if this is true.

Is that official?

[RidgeBack]

Is that official?

Nope. It's a guess because of these statements:

Toto has said they will not be talking to anyone until the new year. (means that they've already signed a driver, IMO)
Massa has said that Williams have offered him $6 MM to drive next year. (As mentioned above Martini requires an older adult driver to meet their sponsorship requirements, as well as Stroll having something in his contract to say he requires an experienced driver as a team mate (for a number of reasons, gleaning car setups, and if he gets beaten he can say well, that guy is much more experienced than I am). Massa will return, if needed, because Williams is a team that generates loyalty. Massa (and his family) feel they are part of the Williams family.

So, educated guesses based on genuine statements made.

[m3fuz]

Fair enough - I thought I missed an official release or something.

[Blanchimont]

Bottas to Merc
Massa returns to Williams

It's going to be great to see how Bottas compares to Hamilton if this is true.

Mark Webber already declared this on his twitter (unofficially though)

Williams, Leave FM to relax, had a great career. Go 4 LMP1 star. Hartley, Buemi, Di Grassi hungry, technical and fast.