Or shows how terrible the Ferrari Junior Drivers are.

I get why Bottas would leave for a multi-year contract, extra cash and security. I get why drivers want to be #1 on their team as these are some of the most competitive guys on the planet.

But Bottas has how many podiums this year? Going to Alfa Romeo, he will be lucky to score points on any given weekend. And a podium? Only if all the stars align perfectly.

We saw this with Riccardo. He was not happy at Red Bull, he left, and what has he done since?

I wonder how much these guys are are able to look in the mirror and admit to them themselves; OK, I am leaving Mercedes / Red Bull, I know I will no longer be competitive, I will not win a championship, but that's OK cause I'll make an extra $10M. Or do they truly believe they are so skilled as a driver that they can jump to a different (lower tier) team and overcome their former team?

May be more of a case of not having a choice.
DR left RBR by choice, with GR in the wings & likely to get the seat at MB, you gotta take what you can, or leave the sport.

New regs next year & opportunity for Williams or Alfa to get it right. IIRC, Alfa was stuck with their front wing design & no ability to redesign the whole car to change it. New regs & design, they get to rectify it for next year.

The race may have been pretty much by the numbers at the front, the practice session stoppages and offs had me on the edge of my seat throughout waiting for something bad. To cross series, Zandvoort reminds me a little of my favorite IndyCar site, Barber Motorsports Park. No time to rest, constant elevation changes and just looks fast. And the banking! I think the drivers loved this GP, the crowd certainly did and for the first time in a long while the F1 Circus was on song.

Definitely some drama, I can't remember Lew carping more during a race. I almost felt sorry for him after quali and the race, hearing some not undeserved boos and bending over backwards to garner some good will from the fans. He was never more human than today.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:
I wonder how much these guys are are able to look in the mirror and admit to them themselves; OK, I am leaving Mercedes / Red Bull, I know I will no longer be competitive, I will not win a championship, but that's OK cause I'll make an extra $10M. Or do they truly believe they are so skilled as a driver that they can jump to a different (lower tier) team and overcome their former team?

You’re assuming Bottas was going to win a championship at Mercedes. As he’s proven over the last several years, he can’t take the fight to Lewis even when his team didn’t pull “orders.” He also has not had any job security for the last 2-3 years. Mercedes only extends him for one year at a time.

Riccardo is a different story as he’d probably would have stayed at Red Bull if he got paid like Max, but he made the mistake of believing Cyril Abiteboul when he should have signed with McLaren. Riccardo could be at Ferrari right now if he didn’t sign with Renault.

But eventually, you do get tired of the bullshit.

As for the race, it wasn’t action packed, but like Portimao, it was fun to watch. I think next year’s race will be the one to watch as cars will be able to run closer to each other.

Bottas is likely leaving because he's being replaced, not his choice.
Ricciardo left Red Bull for two reasons. He was was going to be a defacto #2 to Max and he was getting something like $6 million a year and was given a 2 year contract with a factory team at $20 million per year to leave. He's supposed to be getting something like $17 this year.
Next year, not only are the cars going to be to all new rules but there is a cost cap that all teams can't exceed. Theoretically Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull won't be able to out-spend the smaller teams. I suspect they'll still find some loop holes but it will still be a more level playing field.

It's official, VB to Alfa, multi year deal.
Assuming a GR to Mercedes announcement soon.

https://www.formula1.com/en/la...h2jV1ceMcHs3e4S.html

Next year will be fun watching Lewis squirm. I wonder if he’ll resort to some of the tactics Alonso did during him at McLaren.

Mercedes had to do something.

Red Bull is so much stronger now, car wise, the only thing keeping Mercedes in the manufacturers points race is that Perez just isn't producing either. I'd like to know what they seem to hold against Gasly, do they know something not obvious to us outsiders or did he really piss in his Cheerios and if so, why keep him? Maybe they didn't want him ending up at MB?

As I understand it, the big prize and year end money is in the manufacturers championship, not the drivers points that most fans focus on.

I never rated Perez all that highly and I'm surprised Red Bull has committed to him instead of trying again. It's one thing to qualify back of the mid-pack and fight up to 6 or 8th, sometimes better vs always being towards the front of the top 10 in qualifying and consistently on the podium like even Bottas has been.

I'm not sure Lewis can't rise to the occasion but he has to be a bit more nervous than he has been the last few years. Now he has a real challenge from both inside and outside his team.

Red Bull has already been burned once by Gasly, and Perez has won a race. Christian Horner has been quoted saying the Red Bull is a harder car to drive than the AlphaTauri, and Perez only got a 1 year extension. I think next year will be the make or break for Gasly. If Perez can be a solid #2 right behind Max, Gasly will probably get released. If Perez doesn’t do something astounding, Gasly will probably get his seat back.

quote:

Originally posted by 220-9er:
I'm not sure Lewis can't rise to the occasion but he has to be a bit more nervous than he has been the last few years. Now he has a real challenge from both inside and outside his team.

Now Lewis is in the position he put Alonso in back the their McClaren days

The teams that have been good the last decade or so aren't necessarily going to be good next year with so many rule changes coming up. The odd are in their favor, but nothing is guaranteed. In truth, I'd love to see one of the back markers nail a design and become super dominant. Can you all imagine the screaming by Toto and Horner?

It was great to see F1 back at Zandvoort. Looks like a beautiful place and after the race, one of the commentators said, “If you’re thinking of attending one Formula 1 race next year, this…”

As to Bottas, a radio transmission at the end of the race kinda told the story. They pit Bottas, put soft tires on his car, then tell him not to go for fastest lap. Bottas responds, “Then what the hell did you pit me for?”, in spite of backing off the 3rd and 4th quarters of the track, he still held the fastest lap until they brought Hamilton in, expressly to get that point back. I just think it’s pretty obvious that Bottas isn’t really happy with M-B and is looking for a better situation. Might not produce podiums, but be better for him mentally.

Good to see Max on the top step. At least Pérez was fast enough to get substantial points for himself and the team.

I enjoyed this race, and it was good to see the folks back in the grandstands. Next year will be very interesting I think. Next race is one of my favorites.

So the worst kept secret announced today. Russell will be the other guy at MB and Lewis reputation will go a bit down or way up, depending on the result.

Yuki also announced at Torowhatever. That one probably bothers me the most. Although not unexpected due to his Honda connection that brought him there in the first place, he has been the biggest under-performer of the season, maybe even behind Mazapin, who was expected to be a train wreck. Also, the car is clearly very capable and it would be better for the sport to have a second capable young driver there as the have always had in the past. That's the team that was designed to weed out the one's with promise that can't deliver in the big leagues and the team is performing well so it must be frustrating for them too.

Now we wait to see how the Alfa Romeo line up comes together and if there are any changes at Haas.

Haas could be the surprise next year if they've really been putting some effort into the 2022 car and the cost cap works. It wasn't long ago since they were a solid mid-fielder, and sometimes nipping at the back of the front guys at times. The car and a change of two in drivers will be needed to make that happen. Mick could be OK, hard to tell this year. The other guy needs to go before he takes out someone that matters. Everyone seems to be afraid to really tell it like it really is about him, maybe for good reason.

Tsunoda deserves another year. He has weekends where he on or off, and is worth exploring if he can find balance. Mazespin is just a wealthy prick who is a prick.

Speaking of Haas, they announced last year they were intentionally not developing the 2021 car to spend the whole year working on the 2022 car. It’s a gamble that worked for Honda/Brawn, but can either Haas driver make use of it?

I think that it might be very interesting if you put Mick S. into a top tier car and let him blend with it. "May Spin" is just a spoiled rich kid with connections. Haas brought in some new folks to the team, and one was from auto manufacturing. Time will tell.


Hopefully Ferrari can develop a better engine and a chassis to go with it.

Albon is back for '22 with Williams

https://www.formula1.com/en/la...k7ngYX3yIpyciXC.html

Guessing that just leaves Bottas' teammate at Alfa to be filled.
Assuming Haas keeps their 2 drivers.

quote:

Originally posted by P250UA5:
Guessing that just leaves Bottas' teammate at Alfa to be filled.
Assuming Haas keeps their 2 drivers.

It wouldn't surprise me to see Mick go to Alfa with Bottas.

The relationship with him and Mazepin seems to be going downhill fast and I think Haas needs the Rubles right now so he's going nowhere.

Putting Mick with Bottas checks off some boxes. Ferrari driver, smokes out Schumacher's abilities real quick against a known quantity, and brings an additional pay driver to Haas to help with the finances.