Biggest Bombshells (or best silly seasons)

For the next instalment of our historical retrospective, I would like to look at the biggest shock signings or happenings that have happened in F1 (or other motorsport!); things which happened and were announced out of the blue, the more so, the more bonus points given :)

In my time in F1, these stand out:

Williams signing Jenson Button for 2000
Ditto for Raikkonen with Sauber in 2001, until Max Mosley saw to it that was cancelled(!) before being reinstated!
Frentzen being sacked by Jordan midway thru 2001, Alesi replacing him.

Fernando Alonso announcing he would join McLaren for 2007, just after winning the 2005 title for Renault. Montoya's similar signing after a hissy-fit at Williams in 2003 also counts.
Adrian Newey signs for Red Bull late 2005 - didn't see it coming.

Montoya walking out of F1 after Indy 2006, then brought forward to be immediate.

Michael Schumacher returning to F1 with the new Mercedes works team. Didn't think he'd actually do it when the rumours were going round tbh.
Jenson Button signing for McLaren for 2010 - even after visiting their factory, I didn't think he'd actually do it and his issues with Brawn would be sorted.


For the last 3 years in a row, we have had some utterly stupendous silly-season bombshells. In 2012, we had Hamilton to Mercedes, then Perez to McLaren.
In 2013 we had the summer shockers of Raikkonen rejoining Ferrari, then Webber retiring, eventually to be replaced by Dan Ricciardo, then Sergio Perez sacked at McLaren, to be replaced by Kevin Magnussen. All big news.
Then in 2014 we perhaps had the biggest one's of all. Who could have forseen a year earlier that Vettel would leave Red Bull? Even though Ferrari rumours had been circulating for years, I never took them very seriously. Then Alonso leaving Ferrari to go back to McLaren was the move that made it clear nothing can ever be impossible on the driver market.


So will we have any huge revelations this time, having been spoiled for at 3 seasons in a row? Maybe a Mercedes driver quitting? Daniel Ricciardo suddenly falling out with Red Bull and leaving? Maybe both McLaren drivers deciding to retire leaving 2 McLaren seats empty?

There are smaller and bigger surprises. Hamilton, Vettel, etc leaving teams may have been somewhat out of the blue at the time, but in retrospect they make sense, because drivers want environment changes.

Retrospectively I think the biggest shock for me was the Schumacher comeback in 2010. It didn't make sense then and to be honest I didn't believe in the rumours until he was officially confirmed for Mercedes somewhere in December 2009. I thought - "wow, they really DID that?" Schumacher had been out for 3 years, recently injured (motorbikes), getting on in terms of age and I didn't expect him to perform well. Seemed like Mercedes simply trying to get some media and marketing buzz going on, rather than looking for results. Which probably was the case too.

In-season sackings are somewhat mysterious too. Drivers must have BADLY fallen out with the team i.e Frentzen in 2001, Trulli with Renault in 2004. Also somewhat fickle characters like Alonso or Montoya can fall into situations, which come out of nowhere.

I would say that Williams in the 90's were the master of the silly season bombshell, starting in 1990 when Mansell was set for retirement until a late season change of heart. Then in 1992, Mansell poised to win the championship and Williams make him a piss-take offer, Prost is waiting in the wings, Mansell does a deal with Newman Haas for 1993 in Indycar. Then 1993, Prost on the verge of winning his 4th title, the team, under pressure from Renault, sign Senna. Then 1994, Mansell rejoins Williams for the end of the season, wins hsi final race for the team in Adelaide but the team decide to retain Coulthard for '95 leaving McLaren to reluctantly accept Mansell at the behest of Marlboro, a partnership that lasted precisely 2 grand prixs! Then 1995, Coulthard is ousted from the team in favour of Villeneuve, Coulthard goes to McLaren, a stint that would last a staggering 10 seasons! Then 1996, Hill on the verge of the championship is ousted from the team in favour of Frentzen. The 1998, Villeneuve is leaving to join the fledgling BAR Team so they made the audacious decision to recruit Alex Zanardi from Champ Car, at the same time dumping Frentzen in favour of country man Ralf Schumacher and finally in 1999, dumping Zanardi and recruiting a young F3 racer called Jenson Button! Quite a decade for just one team!!

Williams from the 90s is a good call. But I think the drivers merry-go-round reflected their general philosophy about drivers on those days. From what I remember, Frank and Patrick never considered drivers particularly important in the grand scheme of things, they were more fascinated of the cars.

And as in the 90s Williams had the skills and tools to develop the best cars in the field, they could play their attitude to the max. "We win due to cars, they are the stars - drivers just sit in our cars and they can be anybody decent." If drivers started demanding too much (salary, or in terms of conditions), they were simply sent away with a message that "no probs we will find somebody else, who will win in our cars."

People often like to fantasize that Senna would have sat in Williams all throughout 1994-97 and won all titles, but a cynic in me says he would have fallen out with the team after 1995, and left. Because Senna's star name would have been bigger than Williams, he would have demanded a lot, and this would not have gone down well.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jens

Williams from the 90s is a good call.

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Three years previous to that was a big bombshell for Williams.

They went from being 1987 Constructors' Champions with Piquet taking out the Drivers' Championship as well, to being dumped like a plate of cold sick by Honda and having to scrounge for engines; finally settling with Judd for 1988.

The Judd was rubbish and a year later with Renault, they were 2nd in the Constructors' Championship again.

Damon Hill being dumped by Williams after carrying the team post-Senna and winning the title in 1996, and he being replaced by Frentzen who was at best a journeyman driver at best, then replacing him in 99 with Zanardi who was not even at that level.

To be fair to Zanardi, when he came back to F1 to drive for Williams in 1999 he had been CART Champion in 1997 and 1998. Admittedly he struggled to adapt back to F1 which wasn't helped by Williams' decision to allocate the inexperienced Greg Wheeler as his race engineer and by an unreliable car.