Perez: Punted by Max Versmashem at turn 3, finished the first lap last by 20 seconds. Proceded to drive like an absolute madman and ended up 5th by his second pit stop. Finished 7th as his last set of tyres wore out against Gasly and Sainz who pitted much later, mainly thanks to not making their first stops on lap 1. For me he was driver of the day in Prtimao, partly because of the drive but also for the complete demolition of Stroll at everything.
Maybe I was a bit unfair on Perez, he did get back up to 5th at one point, but that was tyre dependent - once worn through he finished further down. Max ruined Sergio’s drive at the start, and unfortunately we will never know where he would have ended should they not have collided. A demolition of Stroll is not really a bragging point though is it
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned but it's a 2 day format this weekend. 1 practice session on the Saturday morning and then qualifying after midday. Sunday, race! https://www.formula1.com/en/racing/2020/EmiliaRomagna.html Due in part to the 2,431km drive from Portimao to Imola for the trucks. Should make for an interesting grid.
A bit unexpected, Kimi and Antonio to be retained at Alfa for another year. https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...in-unchanged-2021.19pDOGCQr6fEivcPLGv4MZ.html
EDIT: Fixed. So - how it presently stands. Do we think, then, that it will be two juniors at Haas? It'd be a shame to lose Checo, and I really hope that Hulkenberg gets a drive!
No chance Hamilton would refuse to pick up his guaranteed 2021 title and Stroll Snr won't fire his own son. With Gio somehow keeping his seat that will mean mini Schumi to Haas and considering the problems at Haas I doubt Ferrari would risk giving them two rookies at once, so I reckon Perez + Schumi Jnr at Haas and Hulk replaces Albon. Not the foggiest who gets the 2nd "Not RB" seat.
It looks pretty nailed on the Sprogmacher is in one Haas seat, i think everything depends on whether Mazepin buys the other. Kinda makes you wish for a couple more teams.
Don't AlphaTauri exclusively promote drivers from within their own academy? Do they have any ready to step up?
Yeah, that's why I asked if they had anyone left - I can't see them honouring the agreement to give Tsunoda a drive now.
They haven't really had anyone for a while... Hartley and to an extent Albon were Plan Z drivers bc their academy had nothing.
Give the budget cap a couple of years and the pay drivers will start getting forced out. The financial strain of this year has given the ones with Super License points a way in, but as financial stability comes towards the smaller teams they will surely start looking to drivers who can win them races. On that note, Tsunoda's been looking good in F2, a bit ropey to begin with but he's 3rd overall in his first year. I reckon RB will take him on regardless of Honda, Kvyatt's had his chance and if Tsunoda's good enough Honda's money won't matter. Predictions: Definitely Mick to Haas, along with a tidy wodge of money Ferrari can't spend on themselves anymore. Hulk/Perez to RB/Haas respectively, Hulk's ability to drop from space and drive fast swings it for RB, who want a driver able to adapt quickly, plus Max and Jos like him.
So, you don't think Haas dumping the clowns has anything to do with rumours about Mazepin either buying the team and installing his son, or just throwing enough money at them that they can't refuse?
I think mazepin will go to Hass, they'll want the money. Hulk and Perez could end up in in red bull and alpha tauri of they're lucky, someone misses out if not. Probably hulk.
If I was Haas I'd take the money from Mexico and experienced driver over the money from Russia and noob driver any day of the week. Plus it is probably better for Mick in the other Haas to have someone in the team who has at least some clue...
I think they stuck with RoGro and KMag for so long because they weren't sure about their future in F1. Gene Haas made no bones about winding up Haas F1 if the sport didn't move towards a more level playing field since he could never raise the kind of money needed to hit the front otherwise. Those two are fine, not great, but not Latifi or Sirotkin either. Now that Haas are commited to another 5 years and the budget cap/rules changes are coming they're looking to move forward. I expect Ferrari to spread some of their massive overspend into Haas and Sauber Romeo too. Ferrari's budget this year could fund Ferrari, Sauber and Haas next year at the full cap and have $30million left over(!). They'll spend some of that money to get cross development, like Red Bull absolutely never do. Mazepin buyout, not so much, nobody should trust a sneaky f##kin' Russian offering money. Maybe Mazepin gets a test drive, he'll turn up somewhere sooner or later.
Its debateable. If they are better it isnt by much. I do think partially you are right about short term commitment but I think he stuck with Grosjean and Magnussen for two bigger reasons A) The car was utter shite with fundamental problems. Switching drivers wouldnt solve that infact having drivers that understood the prpblems would help them solve the issues or at least provide consistamcy while they worked out the problems.On top of that a pay driver or rookie arent what you need while trying to get on top of things B) He was being fair with both. At Lotus Grosjean was on par with Raikkonen. Magnussen showed potential in his season with McLaren and first season with Haas. Both are good drivers and should be performing much better. While they struggled with the car both where still given the opportunity to recover from not just bad races but bad seasons, to learn from mistakes and basically the reverse of Red Bull where one bad race and the next rookie takes over. Looking for an upgrade undermines this and very likely there wasnt better drivers out there that where also cheap. Both current drivers suited the teams purpose or in theory they should have Unfortunately neither driver has improved but got worse IMO. Grosjean got on like a child and rather than help solve point A he endlessly complained and bitched probably making it worse. In the end they had enough. With another 5 years planned, time to change things. Both have had their chance. On another note, I saw an article with Paul Stoddart saying he was willing and able to reenter F1 again however it would be if another team was leaving rather than building from scraych and would be using the Haas model of outsourcing where possible. If true it gives a little confidence that other private entries might be willing to pick up the pieces if RB, Renault, Merc decide to pull the plug and that the new rules might actially allow for that rotation.
