Formula 1 2020 - General Discussion Thread (See MOD warning on first post)

pjohnson

T-Maxx wrote: »

Click on name
Select "add to ignore list
Select "yes"

Done

It doesnt stop the thread being dragged to shíte with the soapboxing. And this is the only thread for the 2020 season so when its dragged to the gutter by that one poster it affects the whole thread on everyone else.

pjohnson

Ocon signed a two year deal in late 2019 (the day he left Merc) so yeah he will be Alonso's teammate next year.

Man with broke phone

Thread has become painful to read at times. Please stop it.

Roger the cabin boy

cadaliac wrote: »

This is a point missed by some I think.

The difference between top tier drivers and second tier drivers is very marginal. I think if everyone had the exact same car there would be very little in it. There isn't much in it at the moment apart from the Merc dominance. All the F1 drivers are exceptionally talented with the exception of a few who only last a year or so.

What separates good from great drivers is the will to win. To take the risk.
To effectively bully someone off the track as he thinks it is his track.
The utter determination to win. At all costs.
Hamilton has it in spades. Schumacher had it in spades, as did all the great drivers including Vettle and Alonso.
Max has this utter determination to be the very best at all costs and will stop at pretty much nothing to get there.

This is exactly what you and I all want to see. Well, I certainly do.
Running someone off the track is a bit severs but lets look at some of the drivers mentioned above. Each and all are guilty no more that the Great MS himself. Remember him parking the Ferrarri on the corner in Monte Carlo to stop the qualifying and thus rendering him pole?
Remember Vettle and Danny Rick taking themselves out, Alonso and Hamilton having good old dust ups also?

To me, Hamilton's consistency has to be applauded. He generally doesn't make mistakes and has what it takes to get into the best car. I don't think he's the best driver of all time but the stats are saying something different. He has that will to win, the pure driving skill when in the lead and manages the races effectively - understanding quick changes that need to be made and questions the pit wall every time.
Let's face it, if he didn't do that he wouldn't have that will to win, or take every single point. His motivation for the fastest lap is apparently "getting every single point available"
That's winner talk. All the F1 guys complain about the cars, tyres, fuel what time of the day it is etc. That's just normal in my eyes. That's looking for an edge over your competitor.

Unfortunately, I don't think Merc will put a tier 1 driver in with him as they have found out in the past is isn't as profitable a one would think. A solid 1 2 for Merc and they are happy.
For the record, I think Leclerc and Max are tier 1 drivers also.
Edit: I am not a Hamilton fan at all, really don't like him or hearing him speak. I can't put my finger on it, but as I said, he has merit as a driver.

Hamilton is one of the best "Racers" the sport has ever had.

Jordan 199

pjohnson wrote: »

It doesnt stop the thread being dragged to shíte with the soapboxing. And this is the only thread for the 2020 season so when its dragged to the gutter by that one poster it affects the whole thread on everyone else.

They should take their feud to private messaging.

Frank Bullitt

https://twitter.com/FreemanLowell01/status/1323570030957809664

Lord have mercy!

ELM327

Amazing to think there are still tracks (including monaco) that, were it not for the rules, you could still do that today.
Easy to get a set of hards (or even mediums) from start to finish, somewhere like Sochi for instance.

pjohnson

Jordan 199 wrote: »

They should take their feud to private messaging.

Be careful. You'll be accused of making gay-jokes.

vectra

pjohnson wrote: »

Be careful. You'll be accused of making gay-jokes.

:pac::pac::pac:

vectra

ELM327 wrote: »

Lewis has not signed yet.


Haas is rumored to be Mick Schumacher and Mazepin afaik.
2nd redbull is the only wildcard but likely to be checo or hulkenberg.


Is ocon confirmed for renault? If not I'd replace him with the odd one out from checo/hulk, ie whoever doesnt sign for RB

I am sure I read somewhere that Gunther said there would be two new names in their team next season.
Not certain if those were his words, but something along those lines.

I think give Cheko a chance in the Renault next year, a new surrounding could be a new lease of life for him.
Hulk had his turn.

ELM327

vectra wrote: »

I am sure I read somewhere that Gunther said there would be two new names in their team next season.
Not certain if those were his words, but something along those lines.

I think give Cheko a chance in the Renault next year, a new surrounding could be a new lease of life for him.
Hulk had his turn.

Sky Sports F1 were strongly suggesting last weekend that Mick and Mazepin were both done deals awaiting announcement.

GarIT

ELM327 wrote: »

Sky Sports F1 were strongly suggesting last weekend that Mick and Mazepin were both done deals awaiting announcement.

Sky Italia did just report a few days before that Schumacher and Schwartzmann were done deals, so lost a bit of credibility for me on that one but it seems like everyone is agreeing on it now that its Schumacher and Mazepin.

Top Dog

vectra wrote: »

I think give Cheko a chance in the Renault next year, a new surrounding could be a new lease of life for him.
Hulk had his turn.

Ocon is already locked in to partner Along next year, so unless they do a RedBull and replace him mid-season then Perez won't be there in 2021

pjohnson

GarIT wrote: »

Sky Italia did just report a few days before that Schumacher and Schwartzmann were done deals, so lost a bit of credibility for me on that one but it seems like everyone is agreeing on it now that its Schumacher and Mazepin.

Schwartzman seems to be missing out due to his SMP backing.

the_pen_turner

where will albon go,

Charlie-Bravo

Albon would be suited to formula E. It works be difficult for him to move stateside to Indycar.

pjohnson

the_pen_turner wrote: »

where will albon go,

Test at McLaren? Maybe RB will just keep him as a reserve driver but I'd imagine they'd prefer Kvyat for the duel reserve role.

If dropped by RB he wont get a race seat anyway.

Inquitus

pjohnson wrote: »

Test at McLaren? Maybe RB will just keep him as a reserve driver but I'd imagine they'd prefer Kvyat for the duel reserve role.

If dropped by RB he wont get a race seat anyway.

Agreed, there are very few seats realistically still available, if he loses out with Red Bull he could be out of F1 for good!

Ikozma

What are the chances of mclaren challenging Mercedes nxt year with the merc engine and Danny ric/lando? I could see them battling hard with rb at the very least, also with the progress renault have made this year will Alonso pose a threat

artanevilla

Ikozma wrote: »

What are the chances of mclaren challenging Mercedes nxt year with the merc engine and Danny ric/lando? I could see them battling hard with rb at the very least, also with the progress renault have made this year will Alonso pose a threat

They don't have to share mapping though I don't think, so Merc will probably still have a more powerful engine?

vectra

Ikozma wrote: »

What are the chances of mclaren challenging Mercedes nxt year with the merc engine and Danny ric/lando? I could see them battling hard with rb at the very least, also with the progress renault have made this year will Alonso pose a threat

Could possibly include Aston next year with Vettel if it works out.

Jordan 199

murphyebass wrote: »

Is Ocon really up to it?

I don't think he's doing a bad job at all to be honest. He has had bad luck when it comes to reliability issues compared to Ricciardo. Ricciardo retired from one race compared to four for Ocon.

muckwarrior

Jordan 199 wrote: »

I don't think he's doing a bad job at all to be honest. He has had bad luck when it comes to reliability issues compared to Ricciardo. Ricciardo retired from one race compared to four for Ocon.

Yeah, I think it would be harsh to drop Ocon at this stage. But for reliability he should be closer to Ricciardo, and I don't think anyone expected him to actually beat Ricciardo. That said, if Alonso is still Alonso, he'll probably end up dominating Ocon, and that could be the end of his career.

Harika

Ikozma wrote: »

What are the chances of mclaren challenging Mercedes nxt year with the merc engine and Danny ric/lando? I could see them battling hard with rb at the very least, also with the progress renault have made this year will Alonso pose a threat

Low as they are still rebuilding. You have to give the new management team around Zak brown and Torsten Seidel all credit, they turned the ship around. Their engine might get the best but aerodynamic won't be. Mercedes is here outperforming red bull, don't forget that.
Midfield will be far closer, or we will see the Aston Martin, Renault and McLaren team distancing themselves a bit from Alpha Tauri and leaving Alfa, Haas, Williams further behind. Mercedes will be top dog, red bull behind and Ferrari is anyone's guess

afatbollix

One thing about Albon is that Red Bull is owned by a Thai family, The Yoovidhya family who I'd say is very happy that they have a Thai driver in a seat.

(I know he's British but he races with a Thai license and has a Thai flag on his car)

The Asian market is huge 4 times bigger than Europe. It makes marketing sense to have an Asian in the car.

I personally think they will keep him for next year.

SMC92Ian

muckwarrior wrote: »

if Alonso is still Alonso, he'll probably end up dominating Ocon, and that could be the end of his career.

Wouldn't be the first career Alonso has ruined, probably will politic his way around Alpine next year.

AMKC

afatbollix wrote: »

One thing about Albon is that Red Bull is owned by a Thai family, The Yoovidhya family who I'd say is very happy that they have a Thai driver in a seat.

(I know he's British but he races with a Thai license and has a Thai flag on his car)

The Asian market is huge 4 times bigger than Europe. It makes marketing sense to have an Asian in the car.

I personally think they will keep him for next year.

Red Bulls problem is simple. They should just put Alex Albon in the Alpha Tuari and move Danill Kvyat to Red Bull.
I think Alex would do much better in the Alpha and Danill would have no problem now driving the Red Bull and do it better than Alex.

Harika

AMKC wrote: »

Red Bulls problem is simple. They should just put Alex Albon in the Alpha Tuari and move Danill Kvyat to Red Bull.
I think Alex would do much better in the Alpha and Danill would have no problem now driving the Red Bull and do it better than Alex.

Kyvat was fired already, makes them look like donkeys.
Still assume they want tsunoda for some kind of deal with Honda/Acura so gasly, tsunoda, Albon is one too many

AMKC

Harika wrote: »

Kyvat was fired already, makes them look like donkeys.
Still assume they want tsunoda for some kind of deal with Honda/Acura so gasly, tsunoda, Albon is one too many

True but he has improved since then.

Yes true if they pick Tsunoda them Alex is probably gone but I would put Tsunoda in the Alpha Tauri for a while and move Danill up to Red Bull still like I said before.

LollipopJimmy

I don't see how it would make them look like donkeys, he has improved over the last two seasons, no harm to give him a cracking of the whip.

The only thing is why were Albon and Gasly so much better in the Alphatauri than in the RB?