Sorting out Merc's exit, McLaren returns to works status, immediately after Alonso moves to Redbull who, after whining about Renault PU uncompetitiveness, shorty after are left with a Honda customer deal since Sauber took the works deal, Redbull makes good on threats to leave, Alonso jumps to Sauber, Honda buys out Redbull and becomes WCC.
Could happen.
"It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes."
-DNC
e30 325i, the mighty 4 door granma mobile....Gone
e39 528i, 4 door sports tank
Quoting Joe Sawards notebook:
The word continues to be that a divorce in coming with Honda and it is really a question of when, rather than if. The replacement engines would come from Mercedes and some would like to see this happen after the summer break, rather than at the end of the year. Honda is not happy about the idea, but to be fair to McLaren it has been pretty patient and Honda has not delivered the goods. The team has yet to score a point and is last in the Constructors’ Championship. It is an unthinkable situation for McLaren.
and this as well:
The driver market for next year was also a big talking point in Montreal with Ferrari being the key over what happens with Kimi Raikkonen. If there is a change at Ferrari then the rest of the market will move. The current thinking is that Ferrari would go for Max Verstappen if he was able to get out of his Red Bull contract, which might be possible given performance clauses. The Red Bull team had denied this, but no-one believes the denials.
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Did anyone see that section where the two journalists (cant recall if they are Dutch or not) interviewed Vettel - and asked about Max joining Ferrari -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcNJiYilwAA
Last edited by Blanchimont; 06-16-2017 at 11:29 AM.
Man. Huge Kimi fan but...
How'd I'd love to see Hamilton have to deal with Verstappen in a Ferrari.
That'll be a change of business for Ferrari if they choose a driver who's not a former WDC or at least have a large number of GP wins behind them.
Williams to be the works Honda team in 2018??!
http://www.planetf1.com/news/william...switch-report/
Oooooh! I like the sound of McLaren-Porsche:
http://www.planetf1.com/news/porsche...option-report/
Now confirmed.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/13...da-for-renault
BMWs are fun in the snow too...
I'm actually most excited for Sainz in the whole thing. A chance to prove himself as part of a factory team on the upswing rather than being stuck on the B-team for the rest of his career. Great driver, likable guy.
Current: '94 MX-6 V6/5 '72 240Z '10 Mazda5
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Sayonara Honda-san.
Sweet, McLaren will definitely be fighting for that 8th manufacturer spot.
"It's not the people who vote that count, it's the people who count the votes."
-DNC
So happy for Sainz. This has been in the wind for the past week. Honestly I never thought that Honda would out of their deal before the end of the year but they've got a good mechanism now for furthering development without leaving F1. McLaren will get Renault PUs - and thus will not be a works teams anymore - but TR will get Honda engines thus enabling (should things turn out well) for RedBull and TR to become works teams. Renault gets rid of Palmer (but not having to use Kubica) because Sainz is a freakin great driver and to be honest I'd rather give a new up and coming (non pay driver) some seat time. Now - Gasly is rumored to be going to Sainz's seat. I'll enjoy seeing how Gasly works alongside .....
....
....
Alonso..... mmmmm..... I think Alonso is going to take a year off F1 because he doesn't want to be part of a non-works team - one that won't give him a championship....
so it'll have to be Stoffel.
Edit: if Alonso does stick with McLaren - it means he's desperate. If he can walk then he can come back - but if he sticks it another year without results I think he's a goner. No one will want to touch him - because he's bad mojo.
Last edited by RidgeBack; 09-13-2017 at 03:15 AM.
Mclaren have been nowhere since the driving god left them.
I just don't see how Renault can be that much better for McLaren. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think it's going to be enough of an improvement to put Alonso in a position to fight for the championship. Like you said, he's desperate if he stays. I'm impartial on the Sainz switch. I'm sure he's glad to have gotten out of TR.
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'02 M5 - Carbon Black/Silverstone
'15 M235i xDrive - Mineral Grey/Black
Where would he go? The Renault powerplant at least has the potential to be competitive, as shown last year and in a few runs with Red Bull this season. At this point there's no open slots for Alonso in F1. There's really nothing available in Indycar with Zach Veach and Brendan Hartley getting signed. LMP1 in the WEC is dead. What else would he go run if not for the McLaren seat?
'06 Tundra - Toy Hauler -- '89 325is, 24v Track Rat --'76 2002, Summer wannabe DD/restomod thing -- '03 Z4, GI Joe Roadster playset -- '01 R1100S, Beemer -- '07 Mini Cooper S -- '10 328xi
I don't know. That's the thing, he doesn't really have any options that will put him in a position to fight for the WDC. I just think Renault engines are only going to be a marginal improvement over Honda. They don't really have the best track record for reliability, and power wise I don't think they're quite as strong as Ferrari, let alone Merc. It does have the potential, like you said, so I guess we'll see. I guess if Massa retires (again) he could go to Williams but I'm not sure that's any better.
'14 Evora S - Chrome Orange/Ebony
'02 M5 - Carbon Black/Silverstone
'15 M235i xDrive - Mineral Grey/Black
I think Renault have massively improved in terms of reliability but surely lacks power. However, knowing Mclaren's chassis don't think they would fall behind like in their current state. They could be picking up a lot points and would be somehwere in the top 5-ish places in overall points.
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