2024 F1 General Discussion Thread

I'd actually forgotten about Mclaren, could be a case of adding it in before the season starts? I could be wrong but I don't remember any sponsor on the Merc cars. Reports stay Monster is worth 60 billion which would be a massive loss for Mclaren if it did fall through

Reuters have following list of replacements

The following looks at the possible options for Mercedes and the questions raised.

CARLOS SAINZ, 29

The Spaniard whose place has been taken by Hamilton would be a straight swap. He has, however, been considered a top target for Audi, who are taking over Sauber and entering as a works team in 2026. He would be the likely number one there, and Audi have strong connections with his father who won last month's Dakar Rally with them. Would either he or Mercedes want to do a deal for one year or would he be open to a longer one?

ALEX ALBON, 27

The ex-Red Bull driver has been a big hit with Mercedes-powered Williams, scoring all but one of their points last season and hauling them up to seventh overall. Williams are run by James Vowles, who was previously a close confidant of Mercedes principal Toto Wolff as that team's head of motorsport strategy. A deal for Albon, an old friend and rival of George Russell who also graduated from Williams, would surely be straightforward.

ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI, 17

The 17-year-old Italian is yet to debut in Formula Two but considered a big talent for the future and already under contract to Mercedes. If not ready for the former champions, he might be offered to Williams to get experience.

MICK SCHUMACHER, 24

Michael Schumacher's son is the official reserve. His seasons with Haas were difficult and he is now on the roster of endurance drivers with Renault-owned Alpine. Michael raced for the team, his place taken by Hamilton in 2013, but Mick looks a long shot compared to other options.

ESTEBAN OCON, 27

A Mercedes-backed junior driver and reserve and preparing for his eighth season in F1 and fifth with Renault/Alpine. The team rated him very highly but he may have slipped down the list of options by now.

VALTTERI BOTTAS, 34

Hamilton's team mate before Russell replaced the Finn, who will be out of contract at Sauber at the end of the year and whose place could go to Sainz. He knows all the people at Mercedes but a return would surely be unlikely.

FERNANDO ALONSO, 42

The evergreen double world champion is out of contract at Aston Martin at the end of the year but showing no sign of wanting to stop and still looking highly competitive.

SEBASTIAN VETTEL, 36

Could Germany's four-times world champion be persuaded to come out of retirement and make a comeback, just as Schumacher did in 2010? Vettel, at 36, is younger than Hamilton. He didn't entirely rule out a return when he left Aston Martin in 2022.

If Antonelli dominates F2 might be the logical choice. Russell has the experience what rules out Bottas, Alonso. Vettel might be a surprise pick. Ocon as a race winner. Mercedes has a year to choose, so don't expect an announcement anytime soon. Sainz is Audibound. Mick never convinced in F2 or at Haas. Albon outside runner to park Antonelli there.

For anyone interested in the details of the 2014 rule change and order shift, this video is really fantastic. In a nutshell, with RB being a Renault customer, it was doomed compared to works teams.

Its pretty much why they have RBPT set up.

"just can’t see Alonso going there, AM will have Honda for 2026, so if he stays that is effectively a works team, same as RB with RBPT/Ford, Ferrari and Merc and Alpine"

I could. I think Alonso at Mercedes woukd not be is worst decision and even if the car was crap I could still see Alonso getting a few wins in it. One thing is for sure it will be not as bad as it was with the size 0 sidepods.

As for Aston Martin and Honda there is no guarantee that it will work out and be a good car. It could be Honda Mclaren all over again except with Aston now.

I also think once Red Bull start using there new Ford RBPT that till will be on the back foot for a while and not out front then it will either be Mclaren or Ferrari or Mercedes or even Alpine if they get there **** together. One thing is for sure there are interesting times ahead in F1.

Silverstone is gonna be like Monza 2.0 with a sea of red.

Already seen it referred to as the Tea-fosi!

I suspect Suzuka moving is also to avoid clashing with the rainy season in Japan? It was a total washout 2 years ago and even getting the cars back to the pits was not without danger with the visibility being so low.

April is quite pleasant there and it’s cherry blossom season so it’s a nice time to have it there.

Meh...

Meh car from a meh team.

Sky have really gone to the dogs.

A friend who is somewhat into F1 said he doesn't see the excitement about this move. His point was Ferrari have been pretty hit and miss the past 2 years, and even worse at times before that, his other point was Hamilton will be 40 when he is at the team.

I kinda see his point.

Ah yeah but what do you expect? It's a showbiz industry. It's natural they cover it in tabloid style. The sober analysis is behind paywalls. The free coverage has to pay with clicks so it needs to be sensational. I don't like it but I can't blame them. It's just the business model.

He was the technical director, but they were all under the leadership of Todt and Luca at that time. They had formed a close circle for decision making for the F1 team, there is a video on it somewhere.

If Ferrari need some “anglo discipline”, it would be in a role like Brawn’s, where they oversee the operations. However, that version of Ferrari had a real mix, French team principle, South African designer, English TD, German driver.

Hamilton is there to drive the car, not run the team. He will have influence but not like Brawn etc.

Yes drivers make mistakes, if you compare his seasons before 2022 (where Russell beat him, by the way), the mistakes and underperforming has risen. It’s not a dig, it’s natural for a driver to go off the boil.

Yeah. The fewer Italians in control the better. Anglo, French, African, German, whatever. Just get the Italians out and get decent management in.

It's natural for drivers to go off as they age, but there isn't great evidence of it with Hamilton yet. He lost to Russell in Russell's first year at mercedes and hammered Russell in Russell's second year? What does that tell you? Hamilton got faster in 2023? Russell got slower? In truth it tells you nothing conclusive. But it's very difficult to conclude Hamilton's gone off the boil.

And they said Andretti wouldn't bring any value to F1! What even is the point of Haas

Russell drove the same car and got a win, if I recall. You could equally say Russell had the worse luck this year then with reliability etc, make the most of what you have got etc.

Probably couldn’t say that about Vettel or Kimi, but Hamilton will be 40 by the time he gets there. He hasn’t lost it fully, but his mistakes in the past year point towards a natural decline, much like Schumacher.

I think there is too much for Hamilton to do for another championship, he has too many other drivers to beat now. I think Piastri, Norris, LeClerc, Russel and Alonso are all on his current level.

I think he has given up on the idea of an eighth WDC. He knows nobody is beating Max / RB until 2026 at least and by then he's 41 or 42. I don't know if he's getting slower or not but he certainly isn't getting any quicker like most of the drivers you listed. It looks like a Ferrari drive is a bucket list thing for him so he's ticking that box instead. I reckon he'll spend 2 years there, get a few podiums, maybe even a win, and then retire.

2 bad races a season. I think we ignore mistakes when a driver is winningand focus n them when the driverbisnt winning. Max made mistakes this season. Doesn't matter because it had no impact on the outcome.

It's not an insult to him. Kimi had gone to seed by this age and Vettel went off the boil from the age of 30 or 31 in 2018. I dont see great evidence that Hamilton is gone off the boil. The odds say he ought to be slowing down by 40, but the results don't agree.

A good statement, very gracious.

He has really blown the 2025 drivers market wide open with this. I'd imagine Sargeant will be gone also, if any of the drivers in the bottom to midfield fancy a promotion to a bigger team this is the season to drive the wheels off whatever car they're in.

Good to see Suzuka is on the calendar until 2029. One of my favourite races of the season.

If anything the results absolutely do agree. He went from winning a race in every season to winning none in the last 2, along with the clashes that I have mentioned.