Formula One 2018

[Lineker]

 

[Katsuya]

Damn. I feel for Stoff, but at the same time I'm glad to see Lando getting a chance.

Kvyat is "moving closer" to the Toro Rosso seat again too.
EDIT: Helmut Marko also said that they tried to get Giovanazzi for Toro Rosso, but he's apparently already signed up somewhere, which probably means he's off to Sauber.

Edited September 3, 2018 by Katsuya

[Lineker]

Giovanazzi always had first option on one of the Sauber seats, no?

 

McLaren are bringing Pat Fry back!

[Katsuya]

I think Giovanazzi's an odd case in that he was never officially a Ferrari young driver like Leclerc and Bianchi; he just kind of fell in to the role after his GP2 season (and probably only had that shot because of what happened to Jules, unfortunately). So Ferrari don't have as much loyalty to him as some of the people in their camp, but I guess they'd rather lose Kvyat than him.

Apparently Haas will likely retain Grosjean now after his last few strong weekends.

[JasonM]

2013 - Perez is the future!
2014 - Perez sucks, K-Mag is the future!
2015 - K-Mag sucks, Nando is back at McLaren baby!
2017 - JB has had enough of our shitbox car and he's retiring, Stoffel is our future!
2019 - Nando is retiring, Stoffel sucks, Sainz and Norris are our future!
2020 - ???

Stoffel has been done dirty by McLaren, but he's not the first talented driver to get the axe because McLaren are too far up their own ass. The car is a complete shitbox, and it's obvious that Stoffel is not getting the upgrades Nando is getting this year, and you just can't compare to Fernando Alonso who is still a top 3-5 driver on the grid, whilst Stoffel is a 2nd year rookie driving an utter shitbox of a car.

Take Lando's test drives these past two races, first one he looked spectacular in the McLaren of Nando, then last weekend he lagged behind everyone in Stoffel's McLaren... Two different tracks, but there's still something inherently wrong with Stoffel's car and Stoffel himself has been too timid and too team-friendly to really do anything about it.

Doesn't mean Lando doesn't deserve a drive, because he does. Stoffel is just a victim of McLaren being utterly dire and just not being a good team despite acting like they are and putting ridiculous demands and expectations on their drivers.

I think if Stoffel finds a new drive, he'll be just like K-Mag and Perez in proving that he's a better driver than the McLaren car would've ever allowed him to be. And it'd be criminal if he were to drop out of F1 at this stage.

[Katsuya]

K-Mag is probably the closest example to Vandoorne, given that Perez was already very well regarded at least from the Sauber days. And honestly, Magnussen's only really come good this year - it says a lot that even Palmer was kind of matching him in the Renault at one stage, so McLaren might even have been justified in dropping him at that point.

[hugobomb]

Hopefully someone will warn Sainz/Lando that they are the official scapegoats when McLaren somehow don't win several races despite their engineers insisting in pre season that THIS year they've cracked it and only an act of god can stop them from mixing it up with Mercedes and Ferrari.

 

Honda must feel so damn happy seeing McLaren continue to suck with Renault engines. Though next season they'll have to deal with Christian Horner throwing his toys out the pram every other race.

[Katsuya]

...okay now they're just trolling us.

[Katsuya]

To fan the flames of the future; Mick Schumacher has won twice at the Nurburgring in F3 this weekend, and has moved up to 2nd in the championship. Huge turnaround over the last few months, he’s starting to show some real potential.

EDIT: he went ahead and won the third race too, and is now only 3 points behind Ticktum in the standings. He’s also going to qualify for a super license if he stays in 2nd place in the standings come the end to the season...

Edited September 9, 2018 by Katsuya

[Chris2K]

Reports are circulating that Kimi is buying a stake in Sauber, staying at Ferrari for 2019, then swapping with Leclerc and driving for Sauber for a bit.

Because of course.

[JasonM]

8 hours ago, Katsuya said:

To fan the flames of the future; Mick Schumacher has won twice at the Nurburgring in F3 this weekend, and has moved up to 2nd in the championship. Huge turnaround over the last few months, he’s starting to show some real potential.

EDIT: he went ahead and won the third race too, and is now only 3 points behind Ticktum in the standings. He’s also going to qualify for a super license if he stays in 2nd place in the standings come the end to the season...

He could be a huge dark horse for a Toro Rosso seat, but honestly i'd personally rather see him take a step up to GP2 and get his time in cars on that level. There will be a few good spots open there, and despite other drivers in the past few years having made an earlier jump, I'd still like to see a kid like Mick not getting pushed into F1 too soon and wilting even harder.

His first year struggles in F3 were good for him, both on a learning level but mostly on getting eyes off of him and lowering people's expectations. But you can be sure that after this weekend he's back on the map and people are going to be expecting the world from him again.

And besides, I also feel that the ladder should be more of a ladder and the GP2 level needs to become one of serious competition for it to have any use. If F3 success is a barometer for a F1 seat, then GP2 really has little to add to motorsport other than just another superfluous racing competition. And beyond Ticktum, the Estonians, and Mick the F3 level isn't particularly deep as far as talent is concerned.

If Mick somehow finds his way into Red Bull in the next amount of years, and we'd get Schumacher/Verstappen 2.0, I'll be holding my Dutch heart.

[Katsuya]

I'd be surprised to see him at Toro Rosso too, and really don't think he should go there. Also, I dunno which of Merc/Ferrari will have him signed up already in theory, but I imagine there's something that will send him to one of them in the next couple of years anyway.

If he steps up to GP2 and handles himself well there, then I could see him in the Sauber for 2020 or 2021 at the latest.

[Adam]

13 hours ago, Chris2K said:

Reports are circulating that Kimi is buying a stake in Sauber, staying at Ferrari for 2019, then swapping with Leclerc and driving for Sauber for a bit.

Because of course.

Did Kimi start at Sauber when they were Sauber Petronas? Easy to forget he didn't kick off at McLaren.

(I didn't click the link, it's probably mentioned in there but oh well)

[JasonM]

4 minutes ago, Adam es Tranquilo said:

Did Kimi start at Sauber when they were Sauber Petronas? Easy to forget he didn't kick off at McLaren.

(I didn't click the link, it's probably mentioned in there but oh well)

Yep, started for Sauber in 2001 before following up Mika at McLaren in 2002

[Lineker]

Quote

Kimi Raikkonen will step down from Ferrari at the end of this season, the Formula 1 team has confirmed, paving the way for Charles Leclerc's promotion.

Long-time Ferrari protege Leclerc had been tipped to replace Raikkonen earlier this season after a stunning start to his rookie season at Sauber that impressed then Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne.

Marchionne's death in July threatened Leclerc's move and boosted Raikkonen's prospects of extending his second spell at Ferrari by another year because Marchionne's replacement as CEO, Louis Camilleri, is a supporter of the Finn.

The situation then advanced over the Italian Grand Prix weekend when it emerged Ferrari wanted to honour Marchionne's original plan to replace Raikkonen with Leclerc next season.

Ferrari has now confirmed Raikkonen "will step down from his current role", but has not announced Leclerc as his replacement.

It is not known whether Raikkonen will end his F1 career for good at the end of the current season or continue elsewhere.

The 2007 world champion has started 284 grands prix, winning 20 of them since making his debut with Sauber in '01.

Raikkonen left F1 two years after winning the world title with Ferrari to spend two years competing in the World Rally Championship, before returning to F1 with Lotus in 2012.

He rejoined Ferrari two years later but has failed to add to his nine victories with the team in his second spell - he qualified on pole for the recent Italian GP but was denied the win by Lewis Hamilton.

"During these years, Kimi's contribution to the team, both as a driver and on account of his human qualities, has been fundamental," said Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene.

"He played a decisive role in the team's growth and was, at the same time, always a great team player.

"As a world champion for Scuderia Ferrari, he will always be part of the team's history and family.

"We thank Kimi for all of this and wish him and his family a prosperous future."

Raikkonen will leave Ferrari as one of its most successful drivers, racking up 144 starts - only Michael Schumacher (179) has more - and nine wins with the famous team.

He remains Ferrari's most recent world champion, although current team-mate Sebastian Vettel is fighting Hamilton for the 2018 title.

Confirmation of Leclerc's promotion is expected shortly.

Leclerc, 20, won back-to-back titles in GP3 and Formula 2 to earn his F1 graduation with Sauber this season.

He has scored a best result of sixth, in Azerbaijan, and bagged 13 points to lie 15th in the championship, outperforming his much more experienced team-mate Marcus Ericsson.

As part of the rumours linking Leclerc with Ferrari earlier this season, it was suggested that Raikkonen could head back to Sauber in a straight swap of drivers.

[Katsuya]

Kimi's going to Sauber for 2 years!

EDIT: If the rumours of Kimi / Ferrari buying part of Sauber are true as well, I wonder if this might be the end of Ericsson?

Edited September 11, 2018 by Katsuya

[Lineker]

10 minutes ago, Katsuya said:

Kimi's going to Sauber for 2 years!

EDIT: If the rumours of Kimi / Ferrari buying part of Sauber are true as well, I wonder if this might be the end of Ericsson?

One would have thought so - I presumed that Giovinazzi had the other seat well sewn up.

[JasonM]

11 minutes ago, Katsuya said:

If the rumours of Kimi / Ferrari buying part of Sauber are true as well, I wonder if this might be the end of Ericsson?

Fuck I hope so, that'd be the only positive thing about Kimi taking a step back rather than stepping out.

Don't get me wrong, I love Kimi, and all success to him to go back to the team that brought him into F1, but I don't really see what this adds. But hopefully Kimi brings more than just a desire to keep racing cars for longer and does his best to use his experience to elevate the team into the ever-crowding best-of-the-rest race.

Ericsson, it's ridiculous that he's a five year veteran of F1 at this point with only 9 point scoring finishes in 90 starts. People have a row at Stroll being all Daddy's money, but Ericsson truly is the worst driver on the grid and consistently so. Ericsson got his best results four years ago in his first race for Sauber, an 8th place, and well, i'd rather see his place filled up by someone with a possible future, like Giovinazzi, or someone else entirely.

As far as Leclerc going to Ferrari goes, I'm not sure to be honest. He's got really good results this year in a car that shouldn't be getting those, and he's had a dominant juniors career leading up to F1 too. But he's only 20, and he'll be by far the youngest ever Ferrari driver. And Ferrari is notoriously focused on a clear #1/#2 system where drivers have been punished harshly in the past for not abiding by that system. And as long Seb is in that car, LeClerc won't become a #1 driver any time soon.

It might mean nothing, but at the same time this can crush a driver because they're stuck just painting by numbers. And I would've rather seen him drive in a less restrictive setting for longer. But hey, it's a different era of F1 racing and even Ferrari has bought into the youth movement now, perhaps in 10 years LeClerc is a multi time WDC in his own right.

[Lineker]

Quote

Charles Leclerc's promotion to the works Ferrari Formula 1 team has finally been sealed as it confirmed him as Kimi Raikkonen's 2019 replacement.

Leclerc is a Ferrari Driver Academy graduate and will become the first product of the programme to drive for the team in F1.

The 20-year-old will also be the second-youngest driver in history to race for Ferrari, older only than Ricardo Rodriguez.

Leclerc won back-to-back titles in GP3 and Formula 2 to earn his F1 graduation with Sauber this season, and a stunning start to his grand prix racing career convinced Ferrari's top brass he was ready for an immediate promotion.

He has scored a best result of sixth, in Azerbaijan, and bagged 13 points to lie 15th in the championship, outperforming his much more experienced team-mate Marcus Ericsson.

His results and a dip in form for Raikkonen convinced the late Sergio Marchionne, Ferrari's former chairman, to green-light Leclerc replacing the Finn next season.

That was complicated when Marchionne passed away in July and was replaced by Louis Camilleri, a supporter of Raikkonen, but Ferrari's new hierarchy decided to honour Marchionne's original plan.

Raikkonen's exit from Ferrari was confirmed on Tuesday morning and swiftly followed by the news he will return to Sauber next season.

Ferrari's confirmation that Leclerc will partner Sebastian Vettel in 2019 followed shortly after to complete the set.

[Lineker]