Renault has to be disappointed especially since they think they have the hot shoes of the driver pool. McLaren is just smoking them. I think that Norris and Sainz are good drivers, but clearly the car is in every way better then what Renault came up with. I am looking forward to the silly season and driver changes. Red Bull Gasly is gone, HAAS one or two drivers may be gone, and will Vettel and Hamilton swap seats. Where will Ocon go. Will O'ward score a TR seat.
I think if a racer has been off the lead lap for 10 laps in a row they should have to retire and get out of the way of the leaders.
In reply to jharry3 :
That'd be interesting, based on the link below, and assuming ~80 sec back would be a lap down, everyone but the top 4 would be a lap down by lap 50.
The last 20 laps would be only the top 4 cars. https://www.racefans.net/2019/08/04/2019-hungarian-grand-prix-interactive-data-lap-charts-times-and-tyres/
Most lapped cars did a great job of moving out of the way from what I could tell.
Very much satisfied with this season.
Lots of racing. No commercials during the coverage.
Hamilton winning, Honda winning, McLaren doing well, lots of spunky new drivers.
Looking forward to my favorite track Spa.
In reply to trigun7469 :
I am curious if anyone will be swapped around.
Really either Bottas' or Vettel's seats have the biggest impact. Everyone else seems stable, maybe if Hulk gets dropped Gasly could have Renault calling to save him from RB. Otherwise not sure yet where any of the mid to lower teams would look for better drivers than they have.
In reply to Advan046 :
IMHO, the only seats at risk for the rest of the season are Haas ones- if they continue to undermined the team's efforts to figure out what is wrong. Everyone you bring up will be looking for new contracts at the end of the season.
trigun7469 said:Renault has to be disappointed especially since they think they have the hot shoes of the driver pool. McLaren is just smoking them. I think that Norris and Sainz are good drivers, but clearly the car is in every way better then what Renault came up with. I am looking forward to the silly season and driver changes. Red Bull Gasly is gone, HAAS one or two drivers may be gone, and will Vettel and Hamilton swap seats. Where will Ocon go. Will O'ward score a TR seat.
Huh? Why would Mercedes want Vettel, a shell of his former shelf? And why would Hamilton leave HIS team?
Advan046 said:Very much satisfied with this season.
Lots of racing. No commercials during the coverage.
Hamilton winning, Honda winning, McLaren doing well, lots of spunky new drivers.
Looking forward to my favorite track Spa.
The SPA race is always one of my favorites. I really want to catch a race there - I had the chance to wonder around there for a track day. It was amazing and really breathtaking in person.
84FSP said:Advan046 said:Very much satisfied with this season.
Lots of racing. No commercials during the coverage.
Hamilton winning, Honda winning, McLaren doing well, lots of spunky new drivers.
Looking forward to my favorite track Spa.
The SPA race is always one of my favorites. I really want to catch a race there - I had the chance to wonder around there for a track day. It was amazing and really breathtaking in person.
Very much worth going to. Some here may remember that we went to the Spa F1 race back in 2008 (has it really been 11 years??? Holy cow). The sound of F1 engines screaming as we walked through the forest to find an entrance is something we will never forget. Great track, too- as you already know Eau Rouge is MUCH steeper and higher than it appears on TV.
The commentators said something about Grojean that seems to always be said about him.
That he is excellent at helping the team move the car in the right direction. He has been honest with everyone about what he feels is wrong with the car and what they should do. He is part of the reason they are now running the start of the season spec vs updated spec the last few races. Grojean is willing to do move the team rather than just insult the team like Magnessen.
Grojean may not be the best at all outspeed but Haas as a team may not be able to support an Alonso or Hamilton.
Sounds like Grojean would make a good third driver.
There has been talk of Nicolas Latifi being brought up from F2. If that is the case, I think it would be to replace Kubica at Williams. From the big teams, Ferrari will stay the same, Mercedes may give Bottas the boot for Ocon and from there we look at HAAS, with one or both drivers being moved. They keep hitting each other and that isn't good for anyone.
The Driver Swap season is going, but it is kind of silent right now. Still need to see what shakes out.
I've heard rumors of Vettle back to Red Bull. He is still on good terms with all the people there. Apparently Ferrari doesn't like it, but he will often visit RB during race weekends and even eat meals down there. IF that happens then there's a great seat open. Danny Ric isn't having a great time at Renault and he was rumored to go to Ferrari before. I can see that happening.
If (when) Gasley is dumped by RB I don't see him getting another ride. He's been embarrassingly schooled by Max. Hell, Max has a legitimate shot at 2nd in the WDC yet Gasley is in danger of losing 6th to Sainz in the resurgent McLaren (yeah). There is no doubt that Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull are head and shoulders clear of the rest of the pack, yet Gasley has scored less than half the points of LeClerc who's suffered from some bad luck and some bad calls, he's got 1/3 the points of his team mate.
I think Vettel will retire from F1. He seems to be less intensely interested in the sport now that he isn't winning all the time. He has kept his private life very very private and I think he learned from M. Schumacher and others that it may be better to go enjoy life with family while you can. He doesn't enjoy not winning. This is contrary to Kimi who just enjoys driving the cars period, he would be just as happy at Williams if they allowed him to stay near home. Hamilton is similar to Vettel in that I think he will just retire if he has to fall back into a less competitive team.
If Vettel does retire then things open up for many other drivers.
As I see it, MB and Ferrari have Hamilton and LeClerc locked in. MB has Bottas or Ocon in the other seat while the the last one standing may not really have another option open. Bottas might be smart to go back to Williams as they should definitely be focusing resources on the 2020 car earlier than others. McLaren are the only locked in drives right now which is great for Sainz and Norris. I thought Sainz might finally get some respect but all the hoopla it going to his teammate.
Mike924 said:There has been talk of Nicolas Latifi being brought up from F2. If that is the case, I think it would be to replace Kubica at Williams. From the big teams, Ferrari will stay the same, Mercedes may give Bottas the boot for Ocon and from there we look at HAAS, with one or both drivers being moved. They keep hitting each other and that isn't good for anyone.
The Driver Swap season is going, but it is kind of silent right now. Still need to see what shakes out.
Kubica never deserved a seat, period. It was a total marketing ploy by Williams for the "feel goods" they thought it would bring them.
I loved Kubica back in the day, but he isn't close to the same drive he was back with BMW.
Alex Albon to Red Bull for the rest of 2019!!
In reply to Advan046 :
I sometimes wonder if Kimi is like the Slash of the F1 world: if he's not working or doing something, he gets bored and falls into a pattern of self-destruction.
Javelin said:Alex Albon to Red Bull for the rest of 2019!!
Now we get to see if the car is so radical that only Max can drive it or not. But this was going to happen- Red Bull has passed Ferrari in terms of nominal performance (Ferrari may do better at Spa and Monza), and they need a full team to win more races. Had they had a car to mess with Mercedes' two stop plan for Hungary, well, who knows what would have happened. All they needed was someone just 15 or so seconds off Lewis....
Javelin said:Alex Albon to Red Bull for the rest of 2019!!
Does that mean Gasley goes to toro rosso?
So should Kubica go next? He's never really been close to Russel, and now that they are making some serious progress....
And yes, Gasley to Toro Rosso.
I sure hope Albon does well. I think he has a future, but moving him up too soon might be trouble.
I thought they might move Kvyat back up.
wvumtnbkr said:Javelin said:Alex Albon to Red Bull for the rest of 2019!!
Does that mean Gasley goes to toro rosso?
Yes, which means Toro Rosso is now made up of two ex-Red Bull drivers.
Streetwiseguy said:I sure hope Albon does well. I think he has a future, but moving him up too soon might be trouble.
I thought they might move Kvyat back up.
I'm honestly surprised Kyvat didn't get the mood to replace Gasley considering his podium two races ago and superior overall points haul, plus having already been an RB driver.
Javelin said:Streetwiseguy said:I sure hope Albon does well. I think he has a future, but moving him up too soon might be trouble.
I thought they might move Kvyat back up.
I'm honestly surprised Kyvat didn't get the mood to replace Gasley considering his podium two races ago and superior overall points haul, plus having already been an RB driver.
I would not be surprised that since he had his chance, they would not give him a second one. Kyviat is doing really well this season, but one could easily think that Red Bull was kind of dry in the new talent area when Ricciardo left and Hartley didn't pan out- so they had to give him another chance.
Lest we forget, unless you are winning, the rumors of driving for Red Bull as a 4 car team isn't all that great.
Kvyat has shown, in Red Bulls eyes at least, that he can't hack the pressure of the top team. He's unusual, although not unique, in that he's had a second chance and is back in at Torro Rosso, I think they see him as being suited there and not (nor ever will be) ready for the big team. Your, mine and everyone else's opinion may be different, but that's how the cookie crumbles in the high-pressure game of F1, especially when Helmut Marko is pulling the strings. Same thing with the now displaced Gasley. HE did really well last year in Torro Rosso, but has been a total dud at the big team.
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