F1 2023 thread

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120838926#Comment_120838926

You do know the reason why Alpha Tauri exist as an F1 team?

recyclebin

To take in drivers and spit them back out in a ruthless fashion? They don't offer much else lately.

Helmut Marko has Max doing the business and the other 3 are dispensible at the drop of a hat.

PsychoPete

I do love a gulf livery

https://twitter.com/WilliamsRacing/status/1678843020031008769?t=poD3KOCDZGTJ7PpcVN77Vw&s=19

thefa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120839838#Comment_120839838

It’s a decent colour combo but I don’t find the Gulf renditions (Monaco 22 & this) to be great liveries. Theres still plenty of black which takes away from them which could be said for a lot of cars.

Not gone on the orange styled like a battery health bar and the blue itself has a pattern but Williams are trying something different. Nice for a change though.

El_Duderino 09

On Ricciardo and De Vries, I usually advocate for giving youth a chance over keeping older drivers who are not very good anymore but are familiar. But this case is different. De Vries has had his chance and it hasn't worked. Ricciardo was good but went cold in it's last few years.

He's worth another shot and Red Bull have found a low stakes way to give him another go. If he's worse than De Vries, then he won't score points but that's exactly what De Vries has done so there's no real risk.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120840404#Comment_120840404

Exactly and if he is better than De Vries he will hopefully score points and maybe even beat Tsunado too and who knows maybe the car will Really suit him.

I am going to say he will be better than De Vries and maybe even Tsunado too.

MadYaker

He’ll have cleaner races than Devries anyway who has had a few crashes and penalties. But scoring points in that car will be a tall order, most weekends it’s a toss up between them and Alfa Romeo for the slowest car on track.

artanevilla

The ship has probably sailed for him, but at one point he was certainly a WC quality driver. He struggled at McClaren compared to Norris but at the same time he won a race for them, something Norris hasn't done.

He's definitely an upgrade on DeVries, he's in a slow car but he's got a race seat and he's a direct line into Perez's seat which is not looking safe at the moment. If they can chuck DeVries halfway through the season, they can certainly chuck Checo at the end of this one.

flazio

For now, even if it's below 10th, there are three drivers he needs to be finishing ahead of, Tsnouoda, Hulkenberg and Bottas.

McFly85

I keep thinking of De Vries as a young driver but he’s 28! Its a shame for him that the seat he got seems to be the worst AT in a while, very unlikely to see him outside of a reserve role again.

But the Ricciardo move makes sense for RB. A clear message to Sergio about his performance. I know Ricciardo saw no point last year in getting a non-competitive seat, so I presume he’s looking at this as an opportunity to put himself in the frame for next year beside Max.

LIGHTNING

Well Danny better show up and prove he still has it. If he doesn't he is finished in F1, pretty risky move this for him

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120842251#Comment_120842251

It's the moment of truth for him, but there isn't much risk to it. He's already 34 so if he continued out of the sport for a couple of seasons, he was finished anyway. Now he gets a chance to prove himself and earn a drive for next year. If he messes up, he's only back to square 1 and out of the sport. He has almost nothing to lose.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120842251#Comment_120842251

Hopefully he does.

mickdw

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120841244#Comment_120841244

He has to finish ahead of his team mate.

Anything else is weekend specific imo. The haas can be hit and miss from track to track.

PsychoPete

I can't wait for the hype when Ricciardo beats Checo in qualifying

oceanman

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120842834#Comment_120842834

i think you might have to.....

pjohnson

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120841883#Comment_120841883

DeVries was quite left field to begin with as a pick with his age and no RB academy history.

It seemed to be his Formula E Championship that got him the gig.

recyclops

Dani gets to race in Vegas that's all he ever wanted anyway.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843362#Comment_120843362

I would say it was him driving as a reserve for Aston Martin and Williams last year that got him the gig. I thought he should have went to Williams but he choose Alpha Tauri because I suppose he thought they would have a better car. How wrong was he. He might have still had a seat in F1 had he choose the Williams seat.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843439#Comment_120843439

While Logan isn't an out and out pay driver like Latifi was, he's still bringing in more bucks then DeVries would have been.

mickdw

In my opinion, if ricciardo does as he and his bosses would expect him to do, ie out qualify his team mate consistently and sneak the odd point out of a crap car, he will be in the red bull next year.

If you consider what redbull need in the 2nd car, I'm a little surprised he hasn't been put straight in.

They want someone to finish just behind max or win when max has a bad day.

Perez was somewhat doing that but has fallen off a cliff now.

Who else can they trust to do.thst job. Everyone they try don't seem to be up to it.

Ricciardo is the only team mate so far to be competitive with max and would surely do that job.

thefa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120844078#Comment_120844078

Think Red Bull are doing it the right way by trialing him in Alpha Tauir. They seem to be at little to no loss while Perez holds onto second, especially when Max could probably wrap up the championship on his own.

He’s a likeable guy but I honestly don’t think Ricciardo has earned a move straight back into Red Bull. Compared poorly to Norris last season. 17/18 Ricciardo you could easily argue was peak Ricciardo whereas 17/18 Verstappen was very raw and was the match of him at that stage.

Good to see him back on the grid with a chance to progress. Glad De Vries was given a go too. Decent cameo last year in a back marker but didn’t work out.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120844078#Comment_120844078

Ah, I agree with the first part that he should aim to beat his teammate and sneak a few points. But that wouldn't suggest pace that would put him close behind max, let alone able to beat max on occasion.

Unless he's on really good pace (hammering Tsunoda) I doubt he'd be close to max.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120843439#Comment_120843439

According to the race podcast the other day, there was never a chance of the Williams seat for de Vries. Seems that the only shot for him was AT, and by all accounts this was a Helmut Marko solo run based on 1 race. Poor decision making from him.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120844078#Comment_120844078

Red bull and perez seem to have some sponsorship links tied with Perez so maybe that's part of the consideration.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120845559#Comment_120845559

Yes. Perez brings loads of money from a Mexican billionaire named Carlos Slim. I've heard ad much as 20 or even 30 million dollars. But I don't pretend to know.

In any case, Perez brings considerable money to the contract discussion. It pays perez wages and then leave loads for the team.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120844078#Comment_120844078

Remember that at the time Ricciardo was competitive he was in his peak and Max was still a teenager learning the ropes. One of the reasons he left in 2018 was that Max was starting to establish dominance and he thought he could go be a team leader at Renault. Now he's 34, he's had some very rough seasons at McLaren when he was arguably one of the worst performers on the whole grid, while Max is now in his peak and driving at a level not seen in the sport since Schumacher.

I would be astonished if Ricciardo did any better than Perez over a season. Red Bull keep sacking drivers who go on to perform really well elsewhere while they try to find someone who can keep up with Max and it hasn't really achieved anything. They'd need to get their chequebooks out and go after Norris or Leclerc if they want someone who can genuinely get close.

De Vries really wasn't performing at all so there's no harm in dropping Daniel in and giving him an audition, but even if he knocks it out of the park and they promote him I just can't see it turning out any different to Sergio or Alex or Pierre.

Burkie1203

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120846678#Comment_120846678

Do red Bull want anyone to challenge max within the team though?

I'd be sure Red bull would be happy with Perez finishing top 5 consistently but not being anywhere Max in races. So a few blips recently get sorted out in 2nd half of season and that's a big call to make re Perez v Danny Ric

dmakc

If this was a tight season (e.g. 2021) Perez would be out by now. It's a foregone conclusion season so he'll stay

Frank Bullitt

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120847412#Comment_120847412

Probably not challenge, and to be fair only maybe Norris or Leclerc could in the same car right now.

RB probably do want a driver who is more consistent at least, Perez has not done well enough with the car he has. It is the class of the field, and he gets knocked out in Q1 for 5 races in a row.