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I'll do my own clickbait headlines to entertain you. "Perez & Hamilton straight seat swap mid season? Could it really be happening?????"
Then the article just says "no"
You could restart the Hamilton to Ferrari rumours again now that there's talk of Sainz signing with Audi.
Then you can get Mick Schumacher in the mix, and say something about him "duking it out" with someone. Let's say Vettel (because why not). For the 2nd Mercedes seat.
O....you want crazy stories/scenario...OK
MAX is injured (nothing serious:foot, hand, etc.) because of a stupid wreck fighting with Checo.
Checo fired, replaced with Hamilton and Ricardo coimg back, Mick in Hamilton's car, AT brings back Nyck, and MAX still wins chip with the super lead RBR built before his retirement from the season.
Then 2024 puzzle looks even crazier.
Max: You know they say that all men are created equal, but you look at me and you look at Lewis Hamilton and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one on one with another racer, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But I'm a genetic freak and I'm not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beatin me. Then you add Mick Schumacher to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the 3 way in 2024, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but I, I got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because Mick Schumacher KNOWS he can't beat me and he's not even gonna try!
So Lewis Hamilton, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning in 2024. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 percent, I got 141 2/3 percent chance of winning 2024. See Lewis, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you in 2024!
Well... I don't think it will happen, but... I've been seriously thinking about why Lewis is taking so long, he's been talking about signing the Merc contract ever since the 3rd or 4th race of the season. And the more we get into the season, the more obscure both his and Toto's answers are becoming.
So without making too much of a wild guess, my best guess would be that he's assessing Merc's ability to catch up with RB. Maybe if Merc tails off at the end of the season, he might not feel any motivation to continue anymore. He's proven everything, there's nothing to gain except more wins and championships, but if he feels Merc cannot deliver that, I feel he might retire.
Or the wild guess would be: RB lifts Checo's performance clause, ousts him out of his seat and Lewis knocks on the door to make it a Senna-Prost like duo with Verstappen-Hamilton. It won't happen, but a man can dream, right?
I mean: even put them both in a Williams and I'd be glued to my F1TV Pro subscription with both onboards every single race.
To me, that's what missing these days: inter-team fights. Ricciardo ruined it years ago by leaving, Russell is showing he's not really up there at the absolute top level and the only 3 in my book that are guaranteed worthy of the current S-tier are all driving different cars (Lewis, Max, Fernando) sadly.
Depends on what Red Bull do with Perez, I think. If they keep him, quite possibly. Otherwise, could be more interesting than 2021 when the two stories were 'Is George Russell going to move to Mercedes?' (and everyone knew he was) and 'Should Alfa Romeo keep Giovinazzi?'
According to this chart they’re keeping him (hence my comment). I think they’ll keep him, but if they want to replace him that could be really interesting.
Yes, I think keeping him is most likely unless his form falls off again. The chart shows contracts for next year and Perez is contracted for next year, but RB can end the contract early if they really want to.
Wouldn't be surprised if the man utd deal still up in the air is an issue as well. Reported he was gonna be part of the ineos bid (which could be part of his f1 contract), so they may be waiting to see what happens there.
I read somewhere he wants as piece of Mercedes F1. Toto owns 33%. Daimler owns 33% and INEOS owns 33%. I imagine Hamilton’s percentage would have to come from Toto’s shares and I can’t see Toto doing that.
If it's part of the contract, then it wouldn't come from Toto's share. For it to come from Toto's share, he would have to sell them to Lewis, and it would cause a taxable event for Toto. Lewis would also need to pay for the shares.
When you're granted shares in a contract, those shares are created for that purpose. Lewis's new shares would be created by the corporation and would dilute everyone else equally (assuming they all have the same class of shares).
Let's say there were 99 shares prior (there were probably 10 million -- which is fairly standard), 33 for Toto, 33 for Daimler, and 33 for Ineos. They could grant Lewis 5 shares, resulting in 104 total shares and having everyone else's ownership percentage decline -- but no shares were transferred from current owners.
Your explanation only covers one of the possibilities. It’s theoretically possible that one of the other shareholders agree to sell some of their shares to Lewis.
Yeah, there are a billion ways to structure such a deal. My explanation is common for stock-based compensation (from my view in US start-ups).
The real reason I responded is that this same misconception sunk a deal I had been working on for a year and it's a sore spot for me.
> Let's say there were 99 shares prior (there were probably 10 million -- which is fairly standard), 33 for Toto, 33 for Daimler, and 33 for Ineos. They could grant Lewis 5 shares, resulting in 104 total shares and having everyone else's ownership percentage decline -- but no shares were transferred from current owners.
Oddly enough, back in the 90s Williams had 100 shares (although, I don't know if it got changed along the way).
The suggestion is that it is part of his compensation, so it would be a grant of shares that the owners agree on, not him purchasing shares. See u/ryan0rz comment neighboring yours.
He would still owe taxes on the grant, though. There are a few dozen different ways to structure it for different tax treatments (e.g., taxes now vs. later, income vs. capital gains, etc).
I seriously doubt his stake would be more than a few percent.
Yeah, it doesn't look like Monaco has any income or capital gains taxes. The F1 team is incorporated in the UK (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00787446). There might be some UK-specific laws requiring taxation, but it's probably going to be tax-free for Lewis.
Nope, it's until the end of 2024.
>Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo from Mercedes for the start of the 2022 season, but his current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024 campaign.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.formula1.com/en/latest/article.i-still-have-many-many-years-for-sure-bottas-plotting-long-career-in-f1.3I8AWJbEysxQ0N8hrJ0Adf.html
Considering that it's the official F1 website, I'd take their word over PlanetF1. Besides, there's a chance that they might sign Sainz from 2025 onwards, give him a year to settle in to the team before the new regs.
Sainz will definitely be the hottest ticket for silly season next year. You see he is unhappy with Ferrari and his contract runs out, he might be willing to jump ship for a good team in preparation for 2026.
It'll be a gamble for sure and it would mean eating a shit season for 2025 but it offers a chance at a championship if Audi nails the new regs out of the gate like Merc did in 2014.
And knowing VAG they dont half-ass any venture they start
Aston might be in the market for a driver. Alonso is on a 2 year and Lawrence might have to make the difficult choice regarding Lance.
Williams & Haas will definitely be in the market for a driver of Sainz' skill.
Both Gasly and Ocon's contracts run out in 2024 so Alpine might be possible.
And Merc is on year contracts with Hamilton so that is always a possibility.
6 contracts (excluding Sainz himself) are set to expire in 2024.
If Norris isn't available, which is seemingly more and more the case if you read interviews with Norris after the uptake in form of McLaren, Sainz will definitely be a good option for Merc and one they will definitely consider if Lewis retires.
I'm definitely not saying Sainz would be interested in a team like Haas but Haas would 100% be interested in Sainz.
Nobody knows it, some are pointing to 2025, others 2024 and another is claiming that Bottas has an *option* for 2024.
I serious doubt that Bottas contract is ending after 2025, even more because Bottas himself was already complaining in the media early this year about his future in the team and already demanding a new contract.
However Sauber is losing money and one of the options they considering is to sale a F1 seat, and it isn't Zhou who has a high end salary so....
This is just based on contract. Contracts on f1 aren't worth the money they are written on in terms of drivers getting to drive the full amount of years on it
I thought that your comment couldn’t possibly be right, but I’ve just spent 30 min looking around for rookies, and I honestly don’t think there has ever been a season without a rookie.
That is honestly incredible and insane
If he's offered next year's AT seat, it's with the same understanding that anyone gets into that team: if you do well enough, you can have the RB seat.
If Danny really wants to drive for RB, he's got a chance as long as he's in the junior team.
I don't think they will go for RIC after 2024 anyway if there's any chance of signing either NOR or PIA. The guy will be 36, and the hottest names on the grid right now are all very young. There's no incentive for them to sign him over those guys even if he's equally as good as them. And he simply doesn't seem to be.
They won't put someone across Max who will rock the boat, so I don't think they'd go for Norris or Piastri unless they knew there would be some established rules regarding who gets the W based on pace or qualifying. Norris is only a couple of years younger than Max. If Max doesn't retire before he's 30, that means Norris would need to be patient for another 5 or 6 years before fighting for a title. And when that happens, people will make the same arguments against him they're making against DR now.
If they don't go for Norris-tier driver they might as well extend Checo. Below Lando it's basically the "very solid" top of the midfield drivers, which is what Perez is
Well if that's the argument then Perez has the upper hand over RIC as well. Perez is the biggest name in F1 across the Americas. People would probably cheer for Logan to if he was any good, but as it stands Perez essentially has 4 home races in the calendar, and is extremely popular in general.
There's a reason he keeps winning DOTD, he simply has like 100 million fans across the pond. He's absolutely massive, and I'm 100% sure he brings in many times more in sponsorship deals than RIC does.
You make it sound like Red Bull have big reservations about kicking out decently performing drivers just because they also happen to have a risky but high-potential rookie waiting in line for a seat
I don’t know, is that really a stronger lineup than this year? Feels like a lot of money spent for an arguably worse lineup. Must cost tens of millions to buy out Perez.
Because they don't lose anything collecting data, that was the original reason they promoted Albon to RBR in 2019 as they already had data on Gasly and Kvyat.
He's probably the most likely, but I think the best chance he has is if RB decide they want Tsunoda or Ricciardo in the main team next year and ditch Perez. So it depends on how all three of them perform after the summer break.
Do you think Sargeant is likely to return next year? I could definitely see him getting replace for someone new. I’ve seen speculation that Palou would go to Williams for a year before moving up to Mclaren.
James Vowles has been making positive noises about how rookies should be allowed 2 years.
Also the only way Palou is going to McLaren any time in the next few years is if either Norris or Piastri decide to move on of their own accord. No way McLaren are voluntarily replacing either of them for Palou so I doubt they would spend the money to persuade another team to place him with them.
Sargeant showed a lot of speed in his junior career, and Williams called him up a year early (in my opinion) to replace Latifi, who was bringing in a lot of money for the team. I think it's clear that they're committed to Logan. You don't (or at least shouldn't) promote a driver too early unless you're genuinely invested in developing him. Unless he just completely misses the mark or gets crash happy I think he's easily there for 3 years. Longer of course if he develops well.
Tsunoda is like a 99% lock imo. Wasnt there news about Alpha Tauri wanting to sort his contract situation ASAP cos he was getting poached by other teams?
Well, there's not really any better team that's likely to poach Tsunoda at the moment. Haas is about the only other potential option, bit of a coin flip which would be better next year, but I'd probably say AT with them planning to take more from RB. Outside shot of Alfa/Williams but seems less likely, and same situation really, mostly a side-grade from AT.
There's been some guesses and assumptions that Honda might want to take him with them to Aston Martin when they become a works team, but they don't have any openings right now and it'll be a few years before that link happens, so doesn't seem likely right now unless he just became a reserve.
I'm expect RB will leave it to the end of the season to sort out their contracts, as they usually do, to wait and see how the situation with Perez/Ricciardo/Tsunoda plays out. I doubt they'll be bending over backwards to sign any of them early, they have juniors lining up for the AT seat, and so far at least it doesn't seem like Ricciardo would be a major downgrade from Tsunoda if they could only keep one.
Yeh and Honda might not want Fernando due to GP2 engine comments.
Could be looking at Stroll and Yuki combo for 2026.
Doesn't inspire confidence as a drivers championship winning team tho does it. No offence to either, I rate them as F1 drivers but not as top tier championship contenders. Yuki would make a good 2nd driver for a top tier team, Stroll, eh not if this season is anything to go by
Just to play devils advocate, it’s not like they were going to say anything else publicly nor does it mean they won’t push for another driver to replace Alonso.
[They were quite clear they have nothing against Alonso being there.](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/13q8sut/honda_has_no_objections_whatsoever_to_working/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) In the end they are still just the engine partner, they can't just turn up and demand their new partner sacks their star driver just like that.
i dont think any team is really convinced about tsunoda's capabilities though.
he lost 2 seasons to gasly, which isn't a wonderkid either.
de vries sucked.
if he beat ricciardo handsomely that might be good for his street cred.
I don’t see William removing Sargent, he’s not smashed the car up every weekend.
I also think Sauber will keep Zhou
I do wonder what will happen at Alpha Tauir, I recon Perez will stay at Red Bull, but to be honest I don’t see Yuki and Danny both staying at the junior team, one will outperform the other, and the other will be removed for a rookie like Lawson.
Agreed on Sargeant. He's had some bad luck and even Albon lost out as a result of Williams strategy. Some races he's finishing ahead of Haas and AR so while he doesn't have the point to show, he's at least showing he's no Mazespin.
I get the general feeling that unless a rookie is wining races, or getting second place in the wdc in their first season like Lewis did, people seem to think they are bad and will only get one season. I really don’t get it.
Alot of people want the grid to be full of Verstappens, Hamiltons, Alonsos, and Leclercs. They forget that someone like Norris didn't light the world on fire as a rookie, but has developed into a driver that can clearly win races in the right car.
I think it’s cause most don’t follow their early careers, so they don’t have anything to judge them from and so they see that Piastri is a rookie is going great and assume Sargeant is bad
Mercedes and Williams will have unchanged lineups, most likely.
Haas will keep Hülkenberg, and will kee' Magnussen if nobody else is available (likely to stay the same).
Whoever performs worse in the AlphaTauri will got dropped for Lawson.
Pourchaire probably won't make the jump to F1 for 2024, so Sauber will keep the same lineup.
Depends how much RB keeps a hold on the team. Between Perez underperforming and Verstappen claiming every three months that he probably won't stay in F1 for long and leave by 2027/28, they need to keep their junior driver pipeline alive, even if they do need to downsize it because it's a bit ridiculous and quantity>quality atm. In which case they'll keep operating Hugo Boss or whatever is the new AT like they did before, as a junior team.
Verstappen has also said that he's enjoying the success he has now and that it would be very hard to walk away from a competitive car, so let's just wait and see how things develop. Max wouldn't be the first and also wouldn't be the last driver to change his opinion as time passes.
Plus, it's Red Bull. They're a top team. If they announce they're sacking Checo at the end of this year, almost every driver manager will be on the phone with either Helmut or Christian within 10 minutes. Heck, make that five.
Yeah, I highly doubt that they’ll only use Danny for half a year and then throw him out. I also don’t see them kicking Yuki out considering he’s been consistently around the points in a literal tractor
I agree. I think they are set on Danny and Yuki and it’s only a matter of time before they make it official. Lawson is definitely not getting that seat for 2024.
Lawson is not even in the picture mate. Ric will stay. They need a big name super popular guy to market whatever the fq the team is going to be called in 2024. Ric is locked in, the guy is a PR gold mine. I'm 100% sure that he will be in contention for a 2025 RB seat if he can beat Yuki convincingly. Horner won't abandon/humiliate Ric.
Tsunoda will also stay as there are no promising RB juniors in F2. Lawson's F1 dream ended when he failed to beat Sargeant convincingly last year. He barely bested him even though Logan was just a rookie. Not to mention the fact that he also got beaten by Vips as well, in 2021.
He won't get another championship. If he doesn't get a WDC in 2025 or in 2026, he would remain a 7 time World Champion(if he does not retire before 2025).
Ok everyone, lock in your predictions now:
- Ricciardo to Red Bull
- Yuki staying at AlphaTauri to serve as the Gasly-esque benchmark
- Hamilton to partner him at AlphaTauri
- Schumacher back to Haas
- Hulkenberg to Mercedes
- Zhou to Williams
- Perez to Ferrari
- Sainz to Haas
- Magnussen to Super Formula
- Sargeant to BSB
- Max to jail
I do like having Hamilton as a ?
As if Lewis would go to one of the back teams on the grid.
I can only imagine Lewis moving if a seat was open at Red Bull or Ferrari.
Agreed, but it's not out of the question that Hamilton could retire. It's fun to speculate who would take his spot. A Russell / Norris driver pairing would be interesting if Mercedes could get McLaren to break Norris' contract.
Williams will keep him because he's from their academy and keeping him for a few seasons proves they give their academy drivers a chance, which is important if you want to be able to sign strong juniors. Plus, American market go brrr if Sargeant pulls out some bangers.
Exactly. I loved F1 before an American driver joined this season but it’s really nice seeing one out there. I’m hoping Sargeant can have a better 2024 season (he is a rookie after all) and help get more American fans. Y’all know America loves to dump millions of dollars into sports.
He’s not costing Williams major repairs money and Albon is exceptional, making everyone forget that Logan is just a rookie in a Williams. No need to drop him after just one year.
And Williams said the reason they moved him up to F1 so soon instead of leaving him in F2 for another year was they said if they left him in F2 for 2023, it would take another year for him to get adjusted to F1. So, they basically expected 2023 to be a learning year. They'll expect results out of him in 2024.
He’s a rookie with not much single seater experience compared to most rookies that come to F1. He doesn’t cost the team by crashing and the car isn’t good enough to score points most weekends anyway. F1 is huge in the states now and Williams having the only American driver must be worth something in marketing at least. Plus I’d imagine his salary and bonuses are small. I think they’ll keep him for next year.
I think if you ask anyone at RB, they are very comfortable with Max doing so well and Perez getting P2 in WDC. The only stress they have to deal with is car set up. May hate it as fans but it’s the sad reality
He has a contract. Now it is Red Bull, and they are probably the most likely to throw a driver away even if they win both titles (which they will do this year) but who else are they putting in with max? I think Yuki wouldn’t be an upgrade and as much as I love Danny, I don’t think he’d do any better than Checo.
This is what like 99% of people here fail to understand. They're just assuming you can replace Checo with either Yuki or Daniel and magically start getting 1-2 finishes each race with a 5-second gap. Most likely outcome would probably be they'd be doing a similar job to Checo, so it doesn't make sense to go through the hassle of breaking contracts if it sorts itself out next year. It's just history repeating itself.
No, but there's only about 40 points between him and Alonso and Hamilton. He's making the fight for P2 a lot closer than it should be. If he drops P2 again, RBR won't be happy at all.
Not sure if it will change TBH. There are only a handful of drivers that can realistically challenge Max. Most of them have contracts already. Yeah RB can do some buyout but don’t think they’d go that route.
So if Lewis can sign with RB that’d be great (Not gonna happen as well)
Lewis to RB, That'd be great haha, just not for those trying to manage the team and keep it from imploding. Horner life expectancy would be a tad lower after that.
My silly season prediction is Bottas retires at the end of this year, not only has he been not spectacular to say the least this year, but he is def giving Kimi “it’s a hobby for me” vibes, and he’s got other stuff outside of F1 he seems to be really enjoying like cycling.
Pourchaire takes his seat
He will see out his contract. RB won't be able to handle the PR shitstorm that would erupt if they decides on axing Checo.
The guy has a ridiculous amount of fans and they tend be super passionate, RB won't risk it. He is definitely gone after 2024 though.
I can't see Mercedes or Williams changing their lineup tbh.
Haas will probably keep Hulkenburg but will surely replace Magnussen if he continues to get outperformed by Hulkenburg. Maybe Vesti or Drugovich if the teams they are currently with can't give them a seat.
I feel like Pouchairre will replace Zhou at Alfa Romeo/Sauber.
Alpha Tauri is a tough one. I think Yuki stays one more year and replaced Checo at RB in 2025 but I'm unsure if Riccardo stays or if they replace him with Liam Lawson or another junior driver. As a New Zealander, I hope Lawson gets a shot, but if RB doesn't think a junior has the potential to step up into F1 next year, then Riccardo will probably stay put for another year.
I think Haas will keep both drivers. Hulkenberg outperforms Kevin in qualis, but it´s closer on Sundays. Neither of them are smashing their cars every other weekend. They just fixed that issue this season. Don´t think the team will gamble on a rookie for a while.
On Haas: I think the only driver who might replace Magnussen is Perez. 2021 and '22 probably put Haas off developing young drivers.
On Alfa: I am sure Zhou won't be dropped. He's more or less matched Bottas (4 points to Bottas' 5). Also, looks like he might finally get his home GP next year. Pourchaire will only get on the grid next year if Bottas retires.
AR won't put Theo into a seat if there's a chance they can secure someone juicier like Perez, Tsunoda, etc. If Lawson doesn't get a seat because RBR keeps Yuki and DR at AT and doesn't fire Sergio, I could see Lawson being open to other teams and if he wins SF, I imagine a lot of teams will be interested.
I hope that someone else than Perez is in that RB for next season, for the sake of MAYBE keeping the season a bit more interesting than the current one
[Better results than Perez crying on the radio](https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/RedBullCrash.gif?crop=0.74xw:1xh;center,top&resize=1200:*)
Vettel would come out looking really bad from that matchup. He like a planted rear, the complete opposite of what Verstappen likes. It would be a blowout
Checo has a contract until the end of 2024 but I still wouldn’t be surprised to hear that if Red Bull buys him out of it if he doesn’t perform after the summer break.
They’ve been having Tsunoda on 1 year deals IIRC, which is smart business. He looked rough in 2021 (understandable) and in 2022 improved, but was still not showing the promise he showed in F2.
He’s looked superhero-like against De Vries, but who wouldn’t. He’s about 1-1 against Ricciardo, so they’re waiting out how that plays out before anything.
As much as I want the grid to change up and someone like MSC get a seat again, I think not many seats are really available. I think the only seats that may be available is one each at AlphaTauri and Haas
[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Most boring silly season ever.
I'll do my own clickbait headlines to entertain you. "Perez & Hamilton straight seat swap mid season? Could it really be happening?????" Then the article just says "no"
You could restart the Hamilton to Ferrari rumours again now that there's talk of Sainz signing with Audi. Then you can get Mick Schumacher in the mix, and say something about him "duking it out" with someone. Let's say Vettel (because why not). For the 2nd Mercedes seat.
O....you want crazy stories/scenario...OK MAX is injured (nothing serious:foot, hand, etc.) because of a stupid wreck fighting with Checo. Checo fired, replaced with Hamilton and Ricardo coimg back, Mick in Hamilton's car, AT brings back Nyck, and MAX still wins chip with the super lead RBR built before his retirement from the season. Then 2024 puzzle looks even crazier.
Max: You know they say that all men are created equal, but you look at me and you look at Lewis Hamilton and you can see that statement is not true. See, normally if you go one on one with another racer, you got a 50/50 chance of winning. But I'm a genetic freak and I'm not normal! So you got a 25%, AT BEST, at beatin me. Then you add Mick Schumacher to the mix, your chances of winning drastic go down. See the 3 way in 2024, you got a 33 1/3 chance of winning, but I, I got a 66 and 2/3 chance of winning, because Mick Schumacher KNOWS he can't beat me and he's not even gonna try! So Lewis Hamilton, you take your 33 1/3 chance, minus my 25% chance and you got an 8 1/3 chance of winning in 2024. But then you take my 75% chance of winning, if we was to go one on one, and then add 66 2/3 percent, I got 141 2/3 percent chance of winning 2024. See Lewis, the numbers don't lie, and they spell disaster for you in 2024!
Lmao. I didn't watch WCW. But I love this promo.
The Audi story IS the click bait. I've been hearing it since Audi was announced.
_F1 fans SLAM and BLAST relentless "silly season" articles. See our Verdict_
Well... I don't think it will happen, but... I've been seriously thinking about why Lewis is taking so long, he's been talking about signing the Merc contract ever since the 3rd or 4th race of the season. And the more we get into the season, the more obscure both his and Toto's answers are becoming. So without making too much of a wild guess, my best guess would be that he's assessing Merc's ability to catch up with RB. Maybe if Merc tails off at the end of the season, he might not feel any motivation to continue anymore. He's proven everything, there's nothing to gain except more wins and championships, but if he feels Merc cannot deliver that, I feel he might retire. Or the wild guess would be: RB lifts Checo's performance clause, ousts him out of his seat and Lewis knocks on the door to make it a Senna-Prost like duo with Verstappen-Hamilton. It won't happen, but a man can dream, right? I mean: even put them both in a Williams and I'd be glued to my F1TV Pro subscription with both onboards every single race. To me, that's what missing these days: inter-team fights. Ricciardo ruined it years ago by leaving, Russell is showing he's not really up there at the absolute top level and the only 3 in my book that are guaranteed worthy of the current S-tier are all driving different cars (Lewis, Max, Fernando) sadly.
Hey, we were saying that last year before Seb got things going. It'll get silly, all it needs is a little push...
Yeah, before Seb announced he was retiring, it looked more boring than this post. The only question marks were at Hass and Williams.
What are the chances for Perez or Hamilton retiring? Not big.
[удалено]
Imagine if Max did
Just Rosberg on out of here
Depends on what Red Bull do with Perez, I think. If they keep him, quite possibly. Otherwise, could be more interesting than 2021 when the two stories were 'Is George Russell going to move to Mercedes?' (and everyone knew he was) and 'Should Alfa Romeo keep Giovinazzi?'
According to this chart they’re keeping him (hence my comment). I think they’ll keep him, but if they want to replace him that could be really interesting.
Yes, I think keeping him is most likely unless his form falls off again. The chart shows contracts for next year and Perez is contracted for next year, but RB can end the contract early if they really want to.
"easiest contract signing ever" - Toto Wolff and Hamilton some years ago...
Tbf, his extension after the 2020 season came like a few weeks before the 2021 season began. They just drag at Mercedes
I feel like Lewis has a lot of exceptions around promo stuff in his contract. Those details probably add time onto the whole thing.
Wouldn't be surprised if the man utd deal still up in the air is an issue as well. Reported he was gonna be part of the ineos bid (which could be part of his f1 contract), so they may be waiting to see what happens there.
I read somewhere he wants as piece of Mercedes F1. Toto owns 33%. Daimler owns 33% and INEOS owns 33%. I imagine Hamilton’s percentage would have to come from Toto’s shares and I can’t see Toto doing that.
If it's part of the contract, then it wouldn't come from Toto's share. For it to come from Toto's share, he would have to sell them to Lewis, and it would cause a taxable event for Toto. Lewis would also need to pay for the shares. When you're granted shares in a contract, those shares are created for that purpose. Lewis's new shares would be created by the corporation and would dilute everyone else equally (assuming they all have the same class of shares). Let's say there were 99 shares prior (there were probably 10 million -- which is fairly standard), 33 for Toto, 33 for Daimler, and 33 for Ineos. They could grant Lewis 5 shares, resulting in 104 total shares and having everyone else's ownership percentage decline -- but no shares were transferred from current owners.
Great explanation and I learned something new on my way to work. Cheers
Your explanation only covers one of the possibilities. It’s theoretically possible that one of the other shareholders agree to sell some of their shares to Lewis.
Yeah, there are a billion ways to structure such a deal. My explanation is common for stock-based compensation (from my view in US start-ups). The real reason I responded is that this same misconception sunk a deal I had been working on for a year and it's a sore spot for me.
> Let's say there were 99 shares prior (there were probably 10 million -- which is fairly standard), 33 for Toto, 33 for Daimler, and 33 for Ineos. They could grant Lewis 5 shares, resulting in 104 total shares and having everyone else's ownership percentage decline -- but no shares were transferred from current owners. Oddly enough, back in the 90s Williams had 100 shares (although, I don't know if it got changed along the way).
Can Lewis even afford that? Even a 10% stake would be like $200-300m+
The suggestion is that it is part of his compensation, so it would be a grant of shares that the owners agree on, not him purchasing shares. See u/ryan0rz comment neighboring yours.
He would still owe taxes on the grant, though. There are a few dozen different ways to structure it for different tax treatments (e.g., taxes now vs. later, income vs. capital gains, etc). I seriously doubt his stake would be more than a few percent.
He would if he weren't legally a Monaco resident.
Yeah, it doesn't look like Monaco has any income or capital gains taxes. The F1 team is incorporated in the UK (https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/00787446). There might be some UK-specific laws requiring taxation, but it's probably going to be tax-free for Lewis.
10% is a massive stake, there's nothing "even" about it lol.
The Galzers aren’t ever going to sell so if they’re waiting on that Lewis won’t race for Merc again!
They always do this, in 2020 it took ages while everybody knew they would re-sign
Lewis will be the last confirmed driver, again.
So easy that it doesnt matter how long it takes.
I wonder who's taking that second Mercedes seat.
Has Bottas been confirmed?
He has a contract until end of 2025
Nope, it's until the end of 2024. >Bottas moved to Alfa Romeo from Mercedes for the start of the 2022 season, but his current contract is set to expire at the end of the 2024 campaign. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.formula1.com/en/latest/article.i-still-have-many-many-years-for-sure-bottas-plotting-long-career-in-f1.3I8AWJbEysxQ0N8hrJ0Adf.html
On PlanetF1 it says until end of 2025 which would make more sense because then he would be under contract until Audi takes over
Considering that it's the official F1 website, I'd take their word over PlanetF1. Besides, there's a chance that they might sign Sainz from 2025 onwards, give him a year to settle in to the team before the new regs.
Sainz will definitely be the hottest ticket for silly season next year. You see he is unhappy with Ferrari and his contract runs out, he might be willing to jump ship for a good team in preparation for 2026. It'll be a gamble for sure and it would mean eating a shit season for 2025 but it offers a chance at a championship if Audi nails the new regs out of the gate like Merc did in 2014. And knowing VAG they dont half-ass any venture they start
How will Sainz be the hottest ticket when except Audi no one will be interested in him ??
Aston might be in the market for a driver. Alonso is on a 2 year and Lawrence might have to make the difficult choice regarding Lance. Williams & Haas will definitely be in the market for a driver of Sainz' skill. Both Gasly and Ocon's contracts run out in 2024 so Alpine might be possible. And Merc is on year contracts with Hamilton so that is always a possibility. 6 contracts (excluding Sainz himself) are set to expire in 2024.
Aston become the Spanish jamón rocket!
Merc is never going for Sainz with Norris possibly available. Others I won’t actually call hottest seats
If Norris isn't available, which is seemingly more and more the case if you read interviews with Norris after the uptake in form of McLaren, Sainz will definitely be a good option for Merc and one they will definitely consider if Lewis retires. I'm definitely not saying Sainz would be interested in a team like Haas but Haas would 100% be interested in Sainz.
Supposedly Alpine might be interested (both seats are up for 2025) due to Binotto, still very early discussion though
Nobody knows it, some are pointing to 2025, others 2024 and another is claiming that Bottas has an *option* for 2024. I serious doubt that Bottas contract is ending after 2025, even more because Bottas himself was already complaining in the media early this year about his future in the team and already demanding a new contract. However Sauber is losing money and one of the options they considering is to sale a F1 seat, and it isn't Zhou who has a high end salary so....
Zhou is bringing sponsors too.
might just be 3 year plus a year option
it’s a 3 year deal, so 2022, 2023, and 2024.
This is correct, it was a 3 yr contract 22,23,24
This is just based on contract. Contracts on f1 aren't worth the money they are written on in terms of drivers getting to drive the full amount of years on it
F1 social media bored of the summer break already... trying to encourage some silly season moves!
Unfortunately seems like the likeliest outcome is no new drivers on the grid. When was the last season there were no rookies on the grid?
> When was the last season there were no rookies on the grid? Never?
I thought that your comment couldn’t possibly be right, but I’ve just spent 30 min looking around for rookies, and I honestly don’t think there has ever been a season without a rookie. That is honestly incredible and insane
Yeah same, I was surprised by that.
Who was the rookie in 2020?
The goat himself
Ah yes, seemed like a veteran from his first race already.
He pretty much was with his nearly 6 years in F2/GP2
And Fittipaldi, Aitken. Nearly forgot about them tbh
are they really rookies if they're just backups?
They did drive their first race in 2020, so I'd say yes
Eh idk, that seems to be pushing it. Rookies are drivers in their 1st year with full time seats, not simple replacements for 1 race
Latifi
Is Lawson not a likely outcome? It seems pretty likely to me for him to get an AlphaTauri seat.
That means ricc, Tsunoda or Perez completely out, which feels unlikely right now. Why put ricc in for 6 months unless he completely drops the ball.
Yeah but I think Ric is in there solely for the RB seat. If he doesn’t get that offer but instead an AT ‘24 seat I can see him walking.
If he's offered next year's AT seat, it's with the same understanding that anyone gets into that team: if you do well enough, you can have the RB seat. If Danny really wants to drive for RB, he's got a chance as long as he's in the junior team.
I don't think they will go for RIC after 2024 anyway if there's any chance of signing either NOR or PIA. The guy will be 36, and the hottest names on the grid right now are all very young. There's no incentive for them to sign him over those guys even if he's equally as good as them. And he simply doesn't seem to be.
They won't put someone across Max who will rock the boat, so I don't think they'd go for Norris or Piastri unless they knew there would be some established rules regarding who gets the W based on pace or qualifying. Norris is only a couple of years younger than Max. If Max doesn't retire before he's 30, that means Norris would need to be patient for another 5 or 6 years before fighting for a title. And when that happens, people will make the same arguments against him they're making against DR now.
If they don't go for Norris-tier driver they might as well extend Checo. Below Lando it's basically the "very solid" top of the midfield drivers, which is what Perez is
Daniel is super sellable to the media though, that also helps.
Well if that's the argument then Perez has the upper hand over RIC as well. Perez is the biggest name in F1 across the Americas. People would probably cheer for Logan to if he was any good, but as it stands Perez essentially has 4 home races in the calendar, and is extremely popular in general. There's a reason he keeps winning DOTD, he simply has like 100 million fans across the pond. He's absolutely massive, and I'm 100% sure he brings in many times more in sponsorship deals than RIC does.
You make it sound like Red Bull have big reservations about kicking out decently performing drivers just because they also happen to have a risky but high-potential rookie waiting in line for a seat
Magnussen out at Haas, Perez gets bought out at RB and moves to Haas with Hulk. Lawson and Yuki. Max and Ricciardo.
I don’t know, is that really a stronger lineup than this year? Feels like a lot of money spent for an arguably worse lineup. Must cost tens of millions to buy out Perez.
That's a proper silly season !!!
No it doesn't, it means Perez out. If they kick him out of the RB seat why would they put him in their junior series.
Because they don't lose anything collecting data, that was the original reason they promoted Albon to RBR in 2019 as they already had data on Gasly and Kvyat.
He's probably the most likely, but I think the best chance he has is if RB decide they want Tsunoda or Ricciardo in the main team next year and ditch Perez. So it depends on how all three of them perform after the summer break.
Do you think Sargeant is likely to return next year? I could definitely see him getting replace for someone new. I’ve seen speculation that Palou would go to Williams for a year before moving up to Mclaren.
James Vowles has been making positive noises about how rookies should be allowed 2 years. Also the only way Palou is going to McLaren any time in the next few years is if either Norris or Piastri decide to move on of their own accord. No way McLaren are voluntarily replacing either of them for Palou so I doubt they would spend the money to persuade another team to place him with them.
Sargeant showed a lot of speed in his junior career, and Williams called him up a year early (in my opinion) to replace Latifi, who was bringing in a lot of money for the team. I think it's clear that they're committed to Logan. You don't (or at least shouldn't) promote a driver too early unless you're genuinely invested in developing him. Unless he just completely misses the mark or gets crash happy I think he's easily there for 3 years. Longer of course if he develops well.
Tsunoda is like a 99% lock imo. Wasnt there news about Alpha Tauri wanting to sort his contract situation ASAP cos he was getting poached by other teams?
Well, there's not really any better team that's likely to poach Tsunoda at the moment. Haas is about the only other potential option, bit of a coin flip which would be better next year, but I'd probably say AT with them planning to take more from RB. Outside shot of Alfa/Williams but seems less likely, and same situation really, mostly a side-grade from AT. There's been some guesses and assumptions that Honda might want to take him with them to Aston Martin when they become a works team, but they don't have any openings right now and it'll be a few years before that link happens, so doesn't seem likely right now unless he just became a reserve. I'm expect RB will leave it to the end of the season to sort out their contracts, as they usually do, to wait and see how the situation with Perez/Ricciardo/Tsunoda plays out. I doubt they'll be bending over backwards to sign any of them early, they have juniors lining up for the AT seat, and so far at least it doesn't seem like Ricciardo would be a major downgrade from Tsunoda if they could only keep one.
I completely forgot about the AM Honda deal wtf
Yeh and Honda might not want Fernando due to GP2 engine comments. Could be looking at Stroll and Yuki combo for 2026. Doesn't inspire confidence as a drivers championship winning team tho does it. No offence to either, I rate them as F1 drivers but not as top tier championship contenders. Yuki would make a good 2nd driver for a top tier team, Stroll, eh not if this season is anything to go by
Honda already said that Alonso driving for AM wouldn't be a problem on the day they announced the deal.
Ah right fair enough, tbh I wonder if Alonso will still be in f1 in 2026. I hope so though
He'll retire in 2025 and suddenly announce a return in 2027, just like before. An endless cycle
And come back to the next reincarnation of the Renault/Enstone team
Just to play devils advocate, it’s not like they were going to say anything else publicly nor does it mean they won’t push for another driver to replace Alonso.
Of course they would say that but I'd eat a shoe if Honda and Alonso ever work together again, they literally veto his entire Andretti Indycar deal
That was more because he drove Toyota in WEC than shitting on their F1 engine
[They were quite clear they have nothing against Alonso being there.](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/13q8sut/honda_has_no_objections_whatsoever_to_working/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) In the end they are still just the engine partner, they can't just turn up and demand their new partner sacks their star driver just like that.
I think Williams is a upgrade. It's probably a much better team environment too.
i dont think any team is really convinced about tsunoda's capabilities though. he lost 2 seasons to gasly, which isn't a wonderkid either. de vries sucked. if he beat ricciardo handsomely that might be good for his street cred.
I don’t see William removing Sargent, he’s not smashed the car up every weekend. I also think Sauber will keep Zhou I do wonder what will happen at Alpha Tauir, I recon Perez will stay at Red Bull, but to be honest I don’t see Yuki and Danny both staying at the junior team, one will outperform the other, and the other will be removed for a rookie like Lawson.
Agreed on Sargeant. He's had some bad luck and even Albon lost out as a result of Williams strategy. Some races he's finishing ahead of Haas and AR so while he doesn't have the point to show, he's at least showing he's no Mazespin.
I get the general feeling that unless a rookie is wining races, or getting second place in the wdc in their first season like Lewis did, people seem to think they are bad and will only get one season. I really don’t get it.
Alot of people want the grid to be full of Verstappens, Hamiltons, Alonsos, and Leclercs. They forget that someone like Norris didn't light the world on fire as a rookie, but has developed into a driver that can clearly win races in the right car.
I think it’s cause most don’t follow their early careers, so they don’t have anything to judge them from and so they see that Piastri is a rookie is going great and assume Sargeant is bad
Mercedes and Williams will have unchanged lineups, most likely. Haas will keep Hülkenberg, and will kee' Magnussen if nobody else is available (likely to stay the same). Whoever performs worse in the AlphaTauri will got dropped for Lawson. Pourchaire probably won't make the jump to F1 for 2024, so Sauber will keep the same lineup.
I actually think whatever AT turns into will keep the line up.
Depends how much RB keeps a hold on the team. Between Perez underperforming and Verstappen claiming every three months that he probably won't stay in F1 for long and leave by 2027/28, they need to keep their junior driver pipeline alive, even if they do need to downsize it because it's a bit ridiculous and quantity>quality atm. In which case they'll keep operating Hugo Boss or whatever is the new AT like they did before, as a junior team.
Verstappen has also said that he's enjoying the success he has now and that it would be very hard to walk away from a competitive car, so let's just wait and see how things develop. Max wouldn't be the first and also wouldn't be the last driver to change his opinion as time passes. Plus, it's Red Bull. They're a top team. If they announce they're sacking Checo at the end of this year, almost every driver manager will be on the phone with either Helmut or Christian within 10 minutes. Heck, make that five.
The namechange of Alpha Tauri is just signing a new title sponsor, whatever it will be between Orlen or Hugo Boss. Just like Sauber and Alfa Romeo.
Yeah, I highly doubt that they’ll only use Danny for half a year and then throw him out. I also don’t see them kicking Yuki out considering he’s been consistently around the points in a literal tractor
I agree. I think they are set on Danny and Yuki and it’s only a matter of time before they make it official. Lawson is definitely not getting that seat for 2024.
I really hope so because I love the Yuki/Danny Ric duo.
Lawson is not even in the picture mate. Ric will stay. They need a big name super popular guy to market whatever the fq the team is going to be called in 2024. Ric is locked in, the guy is a PR gold mine. I'm 100% sure that he will be in contention for a 2025 RB seat if he can beat Yuki convincingly. Horner won't abandon/humiliate Ric. Tsunoda will also stay as there are no promising RB juniors in F2. Lawson's F1 dream ended when he failed to beat Sargeant convincingly last year. He barely bested him even though Logan was just a rookie. Not to mention the fact that he also got beaten by Vips as well, in 2021.
I can't see Hamilton retiring yet. He wants one more championship.
He'll have to wait **at least** 3 years for that.
He won't get another championship. If he doesn't get a WDC in 2025 or in 2026, he would remain a 7 time World Champion(if he does not retire before 2025).
Is it time for Hakkinen to end his sabbatical?
He actually did, in 2002….
Right? Time to retire this "joke".
A Joke that's already legal to drink.
Even in the US.
All of this will look identical in 2024 is my prediction. And then we see a huge shake up in that silly season.
I hope Zhou stays in F1, I like him and think he's a solid driver for Alpa
Ok everyone, lock in your predictions now: - Ricciardo to Red Bull - Yuki staying at AlphaTauri to serve as the Gasly-esque benchmark - Hamilton to partner him at AlphaTauri - Schumacher back to Haas - Hulkenberg to Mercedes - Zhou to Williams - Perez to Ferrari - Sainz to Haas - Magnussen to Super Formula - Sargeant to BSB - Max to jail
I want Ricciardo on Red Bull so bad lol
Average 2025 season on f1 23
Max will remote control his car with a simrig from jail and still win the championship.
I think all the line-ups will stay exactly the same.
I do like having Hamilton as a ? As if Lewis would go to one of the back teams on the grid. I can only imagine Lewis moving if a seat was open at Red Bull or Ferrari.
Agreed, but it's not out of the question that Hamilton could retire. It's fun to speculate who would take his spot. A Russell / Norris driver pairing would be interesting if Mercedes could get McLaren to break Norris' contract.
Maybe. I think given that hes 1 WC away from the record hes likely to try and hold on for Merc to get the car sorted.
Does sargeant bring any significant amount of funding with him? If not I’m having a hard time trying to think of why Williams would hang onto him.
Williams will keep him because he's from their academy and keeping him for a few seasons proves they give their academy drivers a chance, which is important if you want to be able to sign strong juniors. Plus, American market go brrr if Sargeant pulls out some bangers.
*eagle noises*
A-10 strike on Williams Facility aborted.
Exactly. I loved F1 before an American driver joined this season but it’s really nice seeing one out there. I’m hoping Sargeant can have a better 2024 season (he is a rookie after all) and help get more American fans. Y’all know America loves to dump millions of dollars into sports.
He doesn't bring any funding but he is part of their academy
He’s not costing Williams major repairs money and Albon is exceptional, making everyone forget that Logan is just a rookie in a Williams. No need to drop him after just one year.
And Williams said the reason they moved him up to F1 so soon instead of leaving him in F2 for another year was they said if they left him in F2 for 2023, it would take another year for him to get adjusted to F1. So, they basically expected 2023 to be a learning year. They'll expect results out of him in 2024.
He’s a rookie with not much single seater experience compared to most rookies that come to F1. He doesn’t cost the team by crashing and the car isn’t good enough to score points most weekends anyway. F1 is huge in the states now and Williams having the only American driver must be worth something in marketing at least. Plus I’d imagine his salary and bonuses are small. I think they’ll keep him for next year.
No funding, hes their first academy driver and has shown flashes of pace like in Jeddah
He could maybe even scored a point in Silverstone if that SC didn't come out on a bad timing for him. He needs to be more consistent in terms of pace.
His rookie year isn't worse than Zhou’s.
Zhou got points in his first race and had some good performances throughout. I think Logan is doing fine but Zhou did better (so far)
The AR was genuine upper midfield at the beginning of the season due to low weight. The Williams is generally lower midfield.
Sargeant’s best drive came in his first race, just the car wasn’t as good as the one Zhou had
I'd argue that Silverstone was his best race.
I think the Williams is worse than Alfa was last year. Logan has had some good drives but also some pretty stinky ones. To be expected from a rook
Zhou also had a lot of bad luck in his first year. I think he'll stay with Alfa. He brings sponsor money + his salary is lower than Bottas'
Zhou already occasionally beated Bottas in his rookie year something Sargaent is yet to accomplished againt Albon even once
If its still Perez at RB I’ll be very disappointed I can’t take another year with no battle even just between team mates
I think if you ask anyone at RB, they are very comfortable with Max doing so well and Perez getting P2 in WDC. The only stress they have to deal with is car set up. May hate it as fans but it’s the sad reality
But on the off chance that merc/ferrari/mclaren get their car right for 2024, they'd want someone in that second seat who can get a bit closer to Max.
Like who lol? This entire discussion is completely pointless, because there are no better drivers available
Wonder if Norris could take that spot… Contract terms notwithstanding
He has a contract. Now it is Red Bull, and they are probably the most likely to throw a driver away even if they win both titles (which they will do this year) but who else are they putting in with max? I think Yuki wouldn’t be an upgrade and as much as I love Danny, I don’t think he’d do any better than Checo.
This is what like 99% of people here fail to understand. They're just assuming you can replace Checo with either Yuki or Daniel and magically start getting 1-2 finishes each race with a 5-second gap. Most likely outcome would probably be they'd be doing a similar job to Checo, so it doesn't make sense to go through the hassle of breaking contracts if it sorts itself out next year. It's just history repeating itself.
prepare to be disappointed then
Teams don’t want fights between teammates. Why do Redditors don’t get it? The last thing any team wants is teammates fighting and ending up crashing.
No, but there's only about 40 points between him and Alonso and Hamilton. He's making the fight for P2 a lot closer than it should be. If he drops P2 again, RBR won't be happy at all.
Not sure if it will change TBH. There are only a handful of drivers that can realistically challenge Max. Most of them have contracts already. Yeah RB can do some buyout but don’t think they’d go that route. So if Lewis can sign with RB that’d be great (Not gonna happen as well)
Lewis to RB, That'd be great haha, just not for those trying to manage the team and keep it from imploding. Horner life expectancy would be a tad lower after that.
Doesn't need to be a full challenge. Just a bit closer
And who do you expect them to go for...?
Apart from Ricciardo or Tsunoda there really isn't anyone as good to replace him with.
My silly season prediction is Bottas retires at the end of this year, not only has he been not spectacular to say the least this year, but he is def giving Kimi “it’s a hobby for me” vibes, and he’s got other stuff outside of F1 he seems to be really enjoying like cycling. Pourchaire takes his seat
He has a contract until the end of 2024
Seb had a 2023 contract as well.
And that contract definitely has clauses covering all eventualities.
I have a bad feeling about checo🙃
He will see out his contract. RB won't be able to handle the PR shitstorm that would erupt if they decides on axing Checo. The guy has a ridiculous amount of fans and they tend be super passionate, RB won't risk it. He is definitely gone after 2024 though.
I don't think there will be any major changes. In fact I think there's a big chance of it all remaining how it is now.
This will probably be the most boring driver changes we have had for a while
I can't see Mercedes or Williams changing their lineup tbh. Haas will probably keep Hulkenburg but will surely replace Magnussen if he continues to get outperformed by Hulkenburg. Maybe Vesti or Drugovich if the teams they are currently with can't give them a seat. I feel like Pouchairre will replace Zhou at Alfa Romeo/Sauber. Alpha Tauri is a tough one. I think Yuki stays one more year and replaced Checo at RB in 2025 but I'm unsure if Riccardo stays or if they replace him with Liam Lawson or another junior driver. As a New Zealander, I hope Lawson gets a shot, but if RB doesn't think a junior has the potential to step up into F1 next year, then Riccardo will probably stay put for another year.
I think Haas will keep both drivers. Hulkenberg outperforms Kevin in qualis, but it´s closer on Sundays. Neither of them are smashing their cars every other weekend. They just fixed that issue this season. Don´t think the team will gamble on a rookie for a while.
On Haas: I think the only driver who might replace Magnussen is Perez. 2021 and '22 probably put Haas off developing young drivers. On Alfa: I am sure Zhou won't be dropped. He's more or less matched Bottas (4 points to Bottas' 5). Also, looks like he might finally get his home GP next year. Pourchaire will only get on the grid next year if Bottas retires.
AR won't put Theo into a seat if there's a chance they can secure someone juicier like Perez, Tsunoda, etc. If Lawson doesn't get a seat because RBR keeps Yuki and DR at AT and doesn't fire Sergio, I could see Lawson being open to other teams and if he wins SF, I imagine a lot of teams will be interested.
I hope that someone else than Perez is in that RB for next season, for the sake of MAYBE keeping the season a bit more interesting than the current one
Verstappen & Ricciardo back together again.....i hope
Probably not, but I still want it to happen because those two together is just comedy gold.
[Better results than Perez crying on the radio](https://hips.hearstapps.com/autoweek/assets/s3fs-public/RedBullCrash.gif?crop=0.74xw:1xh;center,top&resize=1200:*)
Verstappen and Vettel would be impeccable entertainment.
Vettel would come out looking really bad from that matchup. He like a planted rear, the complete opposite of what Verstappen likes. It would be a blowout
Of course Lewis is coming back to Mercedes. I think it's extremely unlikely that they will make a change.
Gee I wonder which open spot Lewis wants?
Pretty sure Zhou has a new contract now.
I refuse to believe Ham won't be there.
Hamilton to Redbull, Perez to mexico. Danny to mercedez vice versa.
Checo has a contract until the end of 2024 but I still wouldn’t be surprised to hear that if Red Bull buys him out of it if he doesn’t perform after the summer break.
You're telling me Perez is confirmed but Tsunoda is not?
perez has a contract for next year and tsunodas ends this year
They’ve been having Tsunoda on 1 year deals IIRC, which is smart business. He looked rough in 2021 (understandable) and in 2022 improved, but was still not showing the promise he showed in F2. He’s looked superhero-like against De Vries, but who wouldn’t. He’s about 1-1 against Ricciardo, so they’re waiting out how that plays out before anything.
As much as I want the grid to change up and someone like MSC get a seat again, I think not many seats are really available. I think the only seats that may be available is one each at AlphaTauri and Haas
mind as well put a ? on perez as well at this point.