Formula One 2015 (and beyond)

So.. How's next year shaping up?

Mercedes

#6 - Nico Rosberg
#44 - Lewis Hamilton

Likely candidates should Hamilton jump ship: Alonso, Vettel, Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean

Red Bull
Renault

#3 - Daniel Ricciardo
#5 - Sebastian Vettel

Likely candidates should Vettel jump ship: Alonso, Hamilton, Hulkenberg, Vergne?

Ferrari

#14 - Fernando Alonso
# 7 - Kimi Raikkonen

Likely candidates should Alonso jump ship: Vettel? Hulkenberg, Grosjean? Bianchi?
Note* - Perhaps more should be done to develop Bianchi and Marciello for the future.

Williams
Mercedes

#77 - Valtteri Bottas
#19 - Felipe Massa

Possible candidates should Bottas be poached: Nasr? Di Resta? Palmer? Wollf??
Note* My outside tip is for Sir Frank to make a move for Button - proven winner, extensive experience, would probably enjoy another chance to have a competitive Williams before he retires.

McLaren
Honda

Button? Magussen? Vandorne? Hulkenberg?

*Note, team are openly chasing deals with Alonso and Vettel, Grosjean has been ruled out, apparently

Force India
Mercedes

#27 - Nico Hulkenberg
#11 - Sergio Perez

* Note, Hulkenberg has multi year deal, team are happy with current line up

Toro Rosso
Renault

#26 - Danill Kvyat
#?? - Max Verstappen

* Note, expect a role or possible promotion for Sainz should Verstappen prove unready

Lotus
Mercedes?

#8 - Romain Grosjean
#13 - Pastor Maldonaldo

Marussia
Ferrari

#17 Jules Bianchi
#4 - Max Chilton

* Note, Ferrari are likely to want to keep Bianchi in F1, Chilton's pocket money will probably be renewed. Rossi wants a go but will probably need more backing.

Sauber
Ferrari

Sutil hasn't exactly been stellar this year.. have the feeling that it's mainly Telemex dollars that;s keeping Gutierrez employed.

Are the team still grooming Sirotkin and Silvestro?

Caterham
Renault

Red Bull may choose to buy a seat for Carlos Sainz, other than that, highest bidder wins really.

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Hass not ready until 2016
Other new team not yet confirmed.

I know Nasr's been looking at a Sauber seat - any news on that one?

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Well, that is news to me.

But it makes sense that he's at least talking to some teams.

It's a shame that as yet Eddie Jordan hasn't come out with his now traditional absurd yet spot on prediction.

Touch optimistic putting Marussia and Caterham on that list.

If Marussia are still about don't be surprised to see Marciello in one of those seats.

Expect one Sauber set to go to VDG. The second seat will go to whoever can stump up the most cash from either Sutil, Gutierrez or Sirotkin. As good as Simona is I don't think she'll get the seat. Nasr too has mentioned talks with Sauber. He's not short of a few bob.

Aside from that it all seems pretty much spot on.

Alonso holds the keys to the entire driver market, if he does jump ship to Macca expect everything to change.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Ferrari2007 schrieb:
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>
> Alonso holds the keys to the entire driver market,
> if he does jump ship to Macca expect everything to
> change.


It is true that alonso holds the key to the driver market. Still, I find all the speculations, created by the press that Alonso may go to Macca, absolutely insane. Currently there is simply not a single reason for that. Ron is back, the team is not even a podium challenger, ron wants the best drivers so #1 status is rather unlikely for fernando, he will be paid definately less than in Ferrari, and he will ultimately suffer the disgrace of leaving ferrari for what is arguably its greatest adversary-McLaren.

I've been keeping an eye on GP2 this year for the most likely F1 2015 drivers, and Nasr is a slam-dunk candidate at the moment with his good performances this year, current test drive and financial support. If vacant drives are short he'll probably be up against Jo Palmer for a seat, given their GP2 performance this year. Vandoorne and Marciello are outside possibilities too.
Definitely, if those guys don't get a seat but Chilton keeps his, regardless of finances, there'll be something wrong.

Out of the established drivers, it'll be interesting to see what Fernando does. I expect him to stay at Ferrari till the end of his current contract, but part of me wants to see him go back to Macca - seeing Ron take him back would be awesome.

I expect both Mercedes drivers to stay in their current drives too, although there's still plenty of time for that situation to spontaneously combust.

Very interesting silly season in prospect.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2014 04:14AM by EC83.

Bit too much to expect the following to happen?

ALO --> Macca
BUT --> Willy
BOT --> Merc
HAM --> Red Bull
VET --> Ferrari

He's certainly playing hardball with Ferrari. He's rumoured (or more likely it's expected) to have a clause in his contract where he can leave if Ferrari don't meet certain performance/points targets, which if true, he will certainly be considering.

Ferrari often announce their drivers at Monza, but there's been no indication that such an announcement is imminent. Kimi might have just done enough to keep one seat with his excellent performance at Spa (if he wants it) but if he's got any way out of his contract at all I can see Alonso holding off until the last moment to see if the Mercedes infighting results in one of their seats becoming available, or to see how development on the next Ferrari engine goes.

I just can't see him going to McLaren. It's a poor car getting worse, so unless Honda pull out an engine with the sort of advantage Mercedes had this year (they won't - as other manufacturers would have learned more this year than Honda has watching), then I can't see why he'd want to go back to work with Ron (though Prost went back to look for a drive in 1994 after Ron all-but froze him out in favour of Senna).

I won't rule out Williams at rank outsiders. If they were to land Alonso the deal would pay for itself with either Martini flooding the offices with cheques or other sponsors queuing around the block. He'd be bound to have an strong clause in the contract if they don't repeat this year's performance.

His only other option is Red Bull, who wouldn't baulk at having him for a few years. The Renault will be much stronger next year and even with Newey taking a backseat role they still have a large design talent pool (hey look, I can come up with marketing bullshit too!) so will be up at the front for the foreseeable future.



I'd be very surprised if Magnussen isn't retained next year. He's done enough to keep the seat, so unless Vandoorne is stunning everyone behind the scenes I fully expect Magnussen to remain. I can't see both he and Vandorne in at McLaren though - it's still an attractive seat, if not for a top driver then certainly one with more experience. Button looks like he's starting to panic now, so either McLaren have a very real hope of attracting Alonso or perhaps Rosberg, or they're just not convinced Button is capable of doing the job anymore and are waiting to see what happens in the market.

Gav, you've got the McLaren situation spot on there, no way will they run both Vandoorne and K-Mag. It'll be either or, most likely with JB, unless they can snatch Alonso.

You mention Fernando to Williams as well, but I think that is a long shot. Martini aren't paying that much in the grand scheme of things to Williams, so can't see them splashing the cash for Fred. They swooped on a team down on its luck and nabbed a great deal with Williams, one that would require a whole lot more cash if it were to be proposed now.

Someone said why would Alonso leave Ferrari, isn't it pretty obvious? In five years he is still no closer to that third world title that we all though was inevitable back in 06. The team has actually regressed since he joined back in 2010, and once again came up with a duff car. At least with McLaren there's the promise of Honda, however slight that may be.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions

Quote
Ferrari2007
You mention Fernando to Williams as well, but I think that is a long shot. Martini aren't paying that much in the grand scheme of things to Williams, so can't see them splashing the cash for Fred. They swooped on a team down on its luck and nabbed a great deal with Williams, one that would require a whole lot more cash if it were to be proposed now.

Well I did say they were rank outsiders.

I do still maintain that if Alonso was interested there would be a whole load of sponsors willing to adorn the car. OK, it would spoil a gorgeous car, but it would make for tasty viewing.

I can't see it either - going from one behemoth to another then going to a pesky little corner garage, but would he have a better shot at wins in a Williams or a Ferrari next year? If that's all it came down to, he might see it as enough to take the risk... or it might turn out to be an Alesi in reverse.

gav Wrote:
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> Ferrari often announce their drivers at Monza, but
> there's been no indication that such an
> announcement is imminent.

Joe Saward has hinted at something - see his last line here: Joe Saward's blog


> I can't see why he'd want to go
> back to work with Ron (though Prost went back to
> look for a drive in 1994 after Ron all-but froze
> him out in favour of Senna).

Really? Hadn't heard that story - very interesting if true!!

Alonso really is the first domino in the chain this silly season isn't he. It all depends on his next move (if there's to be one), but I certainly wouldn't be surprised to see him take his talents elsewhere, although his choices seem to be take a punt on McLaren-Honda being a stonking package, Hamilton cracking it and leaving Merc or sticking it out at Ferrari.

I expect Kimi to get the boot - I don't see the point of keeping Jules plodding away down the back for another year - he's done a pretty solid apprenticeship and it's not like Kimi's been setting the world on fire.

Quote
gareth
Really? Hadn't heard that story - very interesting if true!!

It's well known Honda and Ron favoured Senna and that Prost was given inferior engines later in the season - I've read a few reports of Prost being visibly slower in a straight line. And let's face it, it was hardly unknown for Honda to give a team inferior equipment in the 80s.

After announcing he was leaving McLaren, Prost claimed he had half a dozen mechanics compared to the 20 or so working around Senna's car. That one ring any bells?

Ron does seem to like his starlets and seems happy to do so at the expense of a more established driver.

Yes, I knew Prost had been dudded and almost effectively 'moved on', but didn't know he was prepared to go back!

Brundle tested at Estoril and got the seat over Alliot and Prost - only then did Prost announce his retirement. He still had a contract with Williams which probably complicated matters too much (the clause excluding Senna didn't extend to 1994, so Prost chose to leave rather than partner him).

I sometimes wonder if Alonso would have taken one of Ricciardo's wins had he been driving a Williams.

But I do think Alonso to Williams at this stage of his career where he's still widely perceived as the best driver in F1 as a bet too far. He is the first domino in the silly season chain reaction but I think he'd have his sights firmly set on Red Bull or Merc should Vettel or Hamilton decide they'd rather work with a weaker team mate again.

There's enough worthy talent in the mid grid of a winning car.. Bottas, Hulkenberg, Grosjean etc although Boullier rather firmly ruled Grosjean out from going to McLaren. I certainly see Button getting a new one year deal should they fail or have to wait a year to get Alonso or Vettel, but it wouldn't surprise me if they managed to poach Bottas from Williams because inspite of his claims of bring respectful Ron does tend to get his own way.

Williams have an option on Bottas who seems keen to stay, but if a big opportunity did come his way he'd be daft not to take it, which is why I think a move to take Button could be a savvy move. Sir Frank has always rated Button, and in some ways after 'contract gate' Button kind of owes him one. But apart from that I don't see where Button could go except retirement.

Ferrari really need to concentrate in developing a driver for the future, they can't reley on being able to poach a ready made superstar when the car itself is not upto it, and there's some rumours that the new Hass team could end up being a satalitte team for them... So if Marcello gets outbid by Chilton at Marussia ... He could end up there instead.

gav Wrote:
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> After announcing he was leaving McLaren, Prost
> claimed he had half a dozen mechanics compared to
> the 20 or so working around Senna's car. That one
> ring any bells?

He initially announced his intention to McLaren to retire at the end of 1989, that was at the French GP. Very quickly Ferrari and Williams got wind of this and offered him 1990 drives, and it was only after that he changed his mind. But anyway, yeah... Apparently it was even 40+ mechanics around Senna's car. The fact Prost then had a reliable race while Senna had the failure was amusing Karma.

If only there had been social media back then.

Never knew the bit about Brundle getting the drive over Prost though. Alliot being in the picture makes sense, with him eventually being the reserve driver and all.

As a useless bit of info which tries to transition from that era back to the intended discussion, the combined ages of the two Toro Rosso drivers in Melbourne will be younger than Nigel Mansell when he won the 1992 title.

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Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2014 04:01PM by EC83.

I'd like to see Button and Magnussen kept -something which seems more likely now (and, by the way, does anyone else think that Ron being back isn't helping McLaren?)

Verstappen looks great, but I'd like to see JEV stay in F1, as he has done a good enough job IMO.

Wouldn't lose any sleep if the following drivers dropped away:
Massa
Maldonaldo
Chilton
Guttierez

And how long before Hulkenburg gets something good?



RedSam
Winner: Not the Nickv Comment of the Year 2009
Due to the voting system in Germany, Governments are always made up of coalitions of different parties. At the last election, an almost unprecidented result saw the CDU/CSU (rough equivilant of the Conservatives) go into Government with the SPD (rough equivilant of Labour)

Rumour has it that McLaren will keep their drivers for the next season. At least quotes from McLaren leadership points in this direction, but it is yet TBC in an official announcement.

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It's only after we've lost everything, that we are free to do anything.

Williams definitely will, as it's been officially announced.

Alonso is making noises that he's committed to Ferrari.

Which leaves McLaren chasing Vettel... who despite a frustrating season in which he's basically been shown up.. is probably most likely to stick with what he knows and stay put.

Therefore.. There are really no big names left for McLaren to poach, unless they want to take a punt on Grosjean, who Boullier already ruled out.

With that in mind, it makes sense for McLaren to retain the same line-up. It gives Maggussen the chance to mature and develop, whilst Button's experience, reliability and old working relationship with Honda are all plus points.

McLaren line-up all but confirmed with Alonso looking to be staying at Ferrari.

Seb has been mentioned for the McLaren seat but my understanding is that he has already snubbed an offer.

Great for Williams to tie up Bottas and Massa for 2015. Saw one story floating around earlier this week suggesting that Nasr had the cash to pinch Felipe's drive, which evidently turned out to be bollocks.

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Races: 163 - Wins: 23 - Pole Positions: 24 - Fastest Laps: 22
Season 9: Constructors' Champions