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Sakae

Silly Season

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31 July 2017,  7:53

Ferrari is expected to announce appointment of drivers for next year during an event at Monza. I think there will be no change, and Kimi will obtain his contract extension for 2018. It is almost certain that it will be his last one. He has done himself a lot of good by covering Sebastian's problem stricken Ferrari from any potential attack by MB, while not taking advantage of that situation. Arrivabene appeared pleased.

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5 August 2017,  11:06

Giovinazzi or Leclerc in Sauber next year?

Linked article advances suggestion that someone from current driver's line up might be leaving. It is a very plausible scenario IMO. Wehrlein has not impressed me at all while Ericsson too might be living on borrowed (denotes sponsor paying) time. In fact I would go even step further and add, Frédéric Vasseur as a pragmatic man, at some point he might almost certainly consider replacing both current drivers; if not this year, then next year. At the outset he has already stated that such was one of his conditions for accepting the job as a new TP. Drivers will have a job as long as they perform, and nothing less. 

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7 August 2017,  14:21

Quote

Finland's Ilta Sanomat newspaper now cites sources saying Ferrari and Vettel may in fact not be in agreement over the duration of a new deal, with the German pushing for a mere one-year contract in order to leave his options open for 2019.

Why would Seb want a short contract, unless he would be concerned about team's stagnation and backsliding? Perhaps my outlook is obstructed by conviction that Ferrari is his last stop, which is why I have difficulty to see him driving for Mercedes or any other team. Yes, he bought and is an owner of a top of the line AMG which parked at his home garage, but he also has a small Fiat, small Mini BMW, also BMW 3 SUV and many other vehicles, while his father drives Ferrari, hence origins of cars he drives aren't reliable indicator where his allegiance belongs. I can see him either being driven out of Maranello, or retiring in Rosberg style before he would change teams for sake of a change. 

Finns got it probably wrong. Summer breaks make us all dizzy.

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2 hours ago, Sakae said:

7 August 2017,  14:21

Why would Seb want a short contract, unless he would be concerned about team's stagnation and backsliding? Perhaps my outlook is obstructed by conviction that Ferrari is his last stop, which is why I have difficulty to see him driving for Mercedes or any other team. Yes, he bought and is an owner of a top of the line AMG which parked at his home garage, but he also has a small Fiat, small Mini BMW, also BMW 3 SUV and many other vehicles, while his father drives Ferrari, hence origins of cars he drives aren't reliable indicator where his allegiance belongs. I can see him either being driven out of Maranello, or retiring in Rosberg style before he would change teams for sake of a change. 

Finns got it probably wrong. Summer breaks make us all dizzy.

Bingo!

I feel there's an urge to see what will happen next year. Merc is always competitive, always has been. Seb would've won his championships if he would've driven the Merc too

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2 minutes ago, BradSpeedMan said:

Bingo!

I feel there's an urge to see what will happen next year. Merc is always competitive, always has been. Seb would've won his championships if he would've driven the Merc too

7 August 2017,  17:10

That's possible, however such position in relationship to his contractual matters would suggest his mental conflict he must be experiencing. Hip hip hurray at the races, however hidden doubts which are only now surfacing for all to see. I am not ready as yet to accept this explanation, altho Occam razor rule suggests I should accept it. My take rather is that he wants to use summer break to talk to his better half in quiet setting, and decide on near future of another three years away from family and growing children without father being around. He is a family man after all, and when Rosberg set an example, it might be tempting to do the same. I think at Monza event we will know for fact what he wants to do.  

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1 hour ago, Sakae said:

7 August 2017,  17:10

That's possible, however such position in relationship to his contractual matters would suggest his mental conflict he must be experiencing. Hip hip hurray at the races, however hidden doubts which are only now surfacing for all to see. I am not ready as yet to accept this explanation, altho Occam razor rule suggests I should accept it. My take rather is that he wants to use summer break to talk to his better half in quiet setting, and decide on near future of another three years away from family and growing children without father being around. He is a family man after all, and when Rosberg set an example, it might be tempting to do the same. I think at Monza event we will know for fact what he wants to do.  

I won't be suprise if family matters is what concerns him. He however, has the opportunity to cement his place as the sport's greatest, he could surpass Schumie

Maybe he's not that ambitous after all

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4 hours ago, BradSpeedMan said:

Bingo!

I feel there's an urge to see what will happen next year. Merc is always competitive, always has been. Seb would've won his championships if he would've driven the Merc too

Not if Hamilton, Alonso, Ricciardo, Verstappen or Rosberg were his teammates. 

Do you have a shrine of Vettel in your home? Or should I say, your Mum's basement?

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On 8/7/2017 at 6:44 PM, BradSpeedMan said:

Maybe he's (Vettel) not that ambitious after all

22 August 2017,  17:11

People who worked with Seb said about him, that he is one of the most competitive individuals today in F1 racing, BTW, just a record for posterity, internet is choking today on speculations behind the Scuderia's decision, but Kimi has a drive for next year.

23 August 2017,  11:13 (CEST)

Interestingly enough, it was revealed, that Kimi had his contract wrapped up on or before Hungarian GP, while Seb is quiet. Wolff declared that MB had not talked to him about a drive. This might be truth, or simple double-talk. It is difficult today to say who is on the level.

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26 August 2017,  13:36 (CEST)

Quote

The parties agreed to a record deal which will see the German bank €150-million, excluding bonuses for victories and championships which could lob another €100-million onto his earnings over the next three years

FERRARI AND VETTEL AGREE THREE YEAR EXTENSION

Fabelhaft! 

Contractual content is of course unconfirmed as of this time.

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29 August 2017   7:51 (CEST)

So, where are we now? It looks like we are almost done for this season in Tier 1 cluster. Bottas almost certainly will be confirmed for another year, that's not a brainer.

I think Massa will come out of retirement, and stay for another year. What is not clear why Wehrlein thinks he is gone from Sauber (to a better place). I doubt that anyone would hire him right now in F1. Palmer is 50-50, and he will be probably reconfirmed.

McLaren - I assume - no change for next year on driver's or motor side.

Force India is in civil war, and we could be in for a surprise if those two will stay together. What Perez did in last race was rather scary.

Race__Force_India_drivers_come_to_blows_again.html

 

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On 28/08/2017 at 10:30 AM, BradSpeedMan said:

great great stuff

Why?

LeClerc will eventually be called up and end Vettel's career. Is that what you want? 

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2 September 2017   7:28 (CEST)

LECLERC GETS FIVE FP1 SESSIONS WITH SAUBER

Happy to hear news like that. Moreover, noise about Wehrlein moving elsewhere (FI?) might be then more than just plain street talk. Problem however is, that FI boys have no home to settle. Massa and Palmer are on the bubble, Stroll wants to move to FI, etc. It is getting slightly messy right now. That makes then Sauber, FI, Williams, and Renault as group of teams poised to make changes in their driver line up. Perez's career is in dive at the moment.

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1 hour ago, Sakae said:

Perez's career is in dive at the moment.

that's funny because apparently the spat between Perez and Force India is due to the fact that Force India want to execrise an opion on him for 2018 and keep him while apparently he is ready to move to Renault where he is badly wanted to replace Palmer. If that is a career in dive I'd love to be in a similar position ;)

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19 minutes ago, Publius Cornelius Scipio said:

that's funny because apparently the spat between Perez and Force India is due to the fact that Force India want to execrise an opion on him for 2018 and keep him while apparently he is ready to move to Renault where he is badly wanted to replace Palmer. If that is a career in dive I'd love to be in a similar position ;)

2 September 2017   8:54 (CEST) - Probably poor choice of words on my part. "Dive" perhaps should have been "stalled".  It is not secret that he wanted Kimi's seat, and now he has just mid-field teams to his disposal. That's what I meant. Regarding Palmer, his departure is not entirely slam-dunk deal yet, and he might save his seat if he continues drive well. Moreover, Ocon is eyeing to make the same move. The truth is, that I have no idea what Renault wants to do on long run. They still have some time to grow into a front line team, and Frenchman Ocon might be just what a doctor has prescribed. Perez in contrast, as Alonso, is not that much work in progress, but a driver who needs a winning car. Cyril Abiteboul said the other day, they are not expecting too many, if any wins next year; a reason why they think Alonso would be disappointed with them. I think Perez is in the same boat.

BTW, glad you are back, I thought you were gone for good, because we didn't hear anything from you on past a few races.  

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37 minutes ago, Sakae said:

2 September 2017   8:54 (CEST) - Probably poor choice of words on my part. "Dive" perhaps should have been "stalled".  It is not secret that he wanted Kimi's seat, and now he has just mid-field teams to his disposal. That's what I meant. Regarding Palmer, his departure is not entirely slam-dunk deal yet, and he might save his seat if he continues drive well. Moreover, Ocon is eyeing to make the same move. The truth is, that I have no idea what Renault wants to do on long run. They still have some time to grow into a front line team, and Frenchman Ocon might be just what a doctor has prescribed. Perez in contrast, as Alonso, is not that much work in progress, but a driver who needs a winning car. Cyril Abiteboul said the other day, they are not expecting too many, if any wins next year; a reason why they think Alonso would be disappointed with them. I think Perez is in the same boat.

BTW, glad you are back, I thought you were gone for good, because we didn't hear anything from you on past a few races.  

IMHO Ocon won't go to Renault as he's a Mercedes driver (and doing very well, so one day he might get a call from Brackley), Perez had any reason to hope for Kimi's seat but now any hope is lost both for 2018 and beyond (in 2019 they might replace Kimi with Leclerc) so he'll very likely move, with his sponsors, to Renault after paying a hefty fine to Force India.

IMHO next year Ocon and Wehrlein will be at Force India, Hulk and Perez at Renault, Leclerc will be at Sauber with Eriksoon, Giovinazzi and Palmer will both be history, the big qustion mark remain at McLaren: what is Nando going to do? and if he goes who's going to be willing to try his luck with McLaren - Honda (I assume that McLaren will have to soldier on with Honda)? 

The problem IMHO is that there are only 2 teams who can win races and they have 2 drivers (Bottas and Kimi) who either do not deserve to be in a top team or are way past their best. If you add that nowadays a driver can race for over 15 years no problem and we end up in a situation where young drivers don't get the chance that they deserve or good established drivers cannot find a decent drive (to the detriment of the show)

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2 September 2017   9:48 (CEST) - Wehrlein, Bottas, Ocon - too many candidates for the MB team, and too a few seats. Hamilton already declared that he will stay with Merc (job wasn't even offered yet), and from some sources we get that none of the names mentioned will receive a call, if Verstappen send in his CV. Your prediction on driver's movement sounds like a plausible scenario. Regarding McLaren, despite all rhetoric, I see no change in the offing, unless Honda initiates unthinkable (for some folks), and sends Alonso packing. I am not sure how McLaren would react, but it all subject to stress breaking point.

After incident in Spa-Francorchamps, Honda is reportedly EXTREMELY offended and angry right now. Forget how we got to this junction, whether we should understand the situation in its proper context, etc. My friends in Japan telling me that I should not be surprise if Tokyo "will do something". I have no clue what it could be, but sounds like they had enough. 

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3 minutes ago, Sakae said:

After incident in Spa-Francorchamps, Honda is reportedly EXTREMELY offended and angry right now. Forget how we got to this junction, whether we should understand the situation in its proper context, etc. My friends in Japan telling me that I should not be surprise if Tokyo "will do something". I have no clue what it could be, but sounds like they had enough. 

Is Honda extremely offended by the fact that all other cars were much much faster? :wacko:

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2 minutes ago, Publius Cornelius Scipio said:

Is Honda extremely offended by the fact that all other cars were much much faster? :wacko:

2 September 2017   10:24 (CEST) - Common Publius, you are a learned person, and surely you know just because we can do something, it does not follow, we should be doing it. Civil behavior goes long way, and if you look over the shoulder, we have this beach chair incident, plenty unnecessary rhetoric, and now this. Without passing judgement on anyone, challenges presented by complexities of new projects needs to be supplemented by understanding of intellectual commitment Japanese devote to way of life and work, and intricacies of cultural differences. It was Alonso after all who had his mouth full of Samurai class and code of honor, yet now he projects himself as someone who has understood absolutely nothing about that subject, and all in the past was just bland, empty noise.

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2 hours ago, Sakae said:

2 September 2017   10:24 (CEST) - Common Publius, you are a learned person, and surely you know just because we can do something, it does not follow, we should be doing it. Civil behavior goes long way, and if you look over the shoulder, we have this beach chair incident, plenty unnecessary rhetoric, and now this. Without passing judgement on anyone, challenges presented by complexities of new projects needs to be supplemented by understanding of intellectual commitment Japanese devote to way of life and work, and intricacies of cultural differences. It was Alonso after all who had his mouth full of Samurai class and code of honor, yet now he projects himself as someone who has understood absolutely nothing about that subject, and all in the past was just bland, empty noise.

thanks for calling me a learned person, I do understand that there are cultural differences and that these should be taken into account, the problem however remains, as no one can deny that last Sunday Alonso and Vandoorne were using a GP2 engine in terms of outright speed and everyone was making mincemeat of them on the Kemmel straight.

The sad reality is that Honda has failed, and failed spectacularly bad for that matter, and it's them who should apologise to McLaren, to their drivers, to their fans and to F1 as a whole because what happened in not good for any of the above.

this is not about Samurai culture, it is only about designing and building an F1 PU, if Honda cannot do it they should apologise for the harm that they have done to their partners and gracefully walk away. And if the problem is Alonso they should ask him out. trouble is that everyone involved in this tragic project have been much more critical of Honda than Alonso has been, Alonso is the perfect scapegoat, the bad guy to blame rather than looking at the failures of Honda.

I know very little about Samurai culture but my understanding was that after failure came harakiri, I'm not suggesting in any shape or form that someone takes his own life for a botched F1 PU, far from it, but gracefully apologise and walk away yes, both Honda and Hasegawa should apoligise, pay the bill and go home, and after they have done this they will be in a better position when talking about honour, respect, etc

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2 September 2017   13:28 (CEST)  It is not lost on me, that the only aspect where Honda failed, is a time-line. They are developing much slower, than expected, but until they throw hands in despair, yelling "we give up," draw curtain, until then I do not consider them as (total) failure. We can discuss impact of tokens and permitted scope of corrective measures, lack of testing when rubber meets road, etc. I wonder if it would takes as much time and as long when teams could test and experiment whenever necessary. Take for example just how long (or how many bad races) it took them merely to realize that they had problem with dyno calibration.

Track is a laboratory which requires continuous engagement with the design office, but that's luxury we do not have. Rubber meets the road in races, investigation and implementation of corrective measures is slow, no wonder then optics are bad. Point is, slow rate of development for Honda has may causes, and many of those have their roots in restrictive regulatory environment which goes beyond simple "know-how".

I am not giving up on them yet.

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9 September 2017  20:11 (CEST)

What's wrong with this picture?

Sainz in shock move to Renault for Malaysia!

Gaps between races are too long and people need to write something? I don't see any point in trying to make sense of this one:

Quote

Engine 'not the biggest factor' in deciding Alonso's future

"The team’s engine decision won’t be the most important thing," Alonso told Crash.net this week

Here, silly me, for past three years I thought PU was the foremost issue on the front burner.

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10 September 2017   7:56 (CEST)

Quote

Carlos Sainz has signed a deal to join Renault, Motorsport.com has learned, in a move that will trigger a series of dominos to secure McLaren the French car manufacturer’s engine for 2018.

Unexpected. Shocking. Who said that F1 is boring? TBH, I thought Palmer was on his way to secure his place. Obviously Honda's move has triggered an avalanche.

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