Silly Season speculation

[steveaki13]

Mercedes: Hamilton & Rosberg
Ferrari: Vettel & Raikkonen
Red Bull: Ricciardo & Kyvat
Williams: Massa & Bottas
Force India: Hulkenberg & Perez
Lotus: Maldonado & _____________
Toro Rosso: Sainz & Verstappen
Sauber: Nasr & Ericcson
Mclaren: Alonso & Button
Manor: Rossi & ______________
Haas: Grosjean & Gutierrez

These are my thoughts? Not sure about the vacancies

[rjbetty]

Yep pretty much agree with that. Now it looks like Button may stay after all which is good for McLaren. And surely Honda must be at least a bit better next year, so some improvement in results should come, especially with Lotus/Renault taking Renault engines back and looking like taking a dip in form.

Also, if customer teams are going to start getting year old engines, due to the poorly written rules by the FIA, it will help a works team like McLaren-Honda somewhat.

Jean-Eric Vergne is looking like the favourite to get the Renault seat, which I'm pleased to see. Now that Renault appear set to take over Lotus (they have signed a letter of intent of some sort, but the deal is still not actually confirmed yet), other pieces can now fall into place, such as Manor now getting the Mercedes supply from Lotus.

This is expected to be a year old engine deal though, but surely that would have to be cheaper which is what Manor need right now. If Mercedes engines are confirmed it is expected Pascal Wehrlein will fill the other Manor seat.

And that's the grid done! Neither Magnussen or Vandoorne are anywhere to be seen which is a real shame.


Predicted Constructors' Championship in this scenario:

1.Mercedes
2.Ferrari
3.Red Bull - Ferrari
4.Williams - Mercedes
5.Toro Rosso - Ferrari
6.Force India - Mercedes
7.McLaren - Honda
8.Sauber - Ferrari
9.Renault
10.Haas - Ferrari
11.Manor - Mercedes


EDIT: And now we are hearing that extreme sour grape partakers Red Bull will sulk it's not fair, pick up their toys and leave. Good riddance! I was in the shop yesterday and saw some cans of Red Bull on offer, but I refused and got Lucozade instead, since I don't want to give money to a brand with such a bad attitude

However that's 2 teams and 4 super drivers without seats, so as usual the 3rd car scenario is being bandied about, with seemingly not much likelihood of it happening.


P.S. I do think Bernie will twist Ferrari's or someone's arm in the end and Red Bull will get their way.

[jens]

If Red Bull and Toro Rosso get 1-year-old Ferrari engines, I wonder, how much of an improvement over Renault it really is. I guess these PU's would be more reliable nonetheless, but if Merc/Ferrari again find nearly 50 hp over winter, I guess there is not much to do with an outdated engine.

And a really-really-really big disappointment that Vandoorne can't get a seat. I mean what the hell.

[AndyL]

Button confirmed:
http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/team...tton-for-2016/

[rjbetty]

If Red Bull and Toro Rosso get 1-year-old Ferrari engines, I wonder, how much of an improvement over Renault it really is. I guess these PU's would be more reliable nonetheless, but if Merc/Ferrari again find nearly 50 hp over winter, I guess there is not much to do with an outdated engine.

And a really-really-really big disappointment that Vandoorne can't get a seat. I mean what the hell.

Yup agree with all of this. There is a part of me that feels Red Bull doesn't deserve the latest spec Ferrari's. That's because of the way RBR treated Ferrari back in 2006 when they supplied engines. They pretty much broke their contract (well wheedled round it someway) cos they really wanted Renault (wow funny how things change), dumping that supply on Toro Rosso instead. I seem to remember a few heated words back then. But also their attitude to engine suppliers in general. I seem to remember them never giving Cosworth any credit in 2005 despite what I suspect was a very potent and reliable engine, I'd say a big factor in enabling them to have the relatively successful year they had.

But then, works Ferraris would also be good for Ricciardo and Kvyat's sake and of course it would set up a tantalising prospect of even a 3 way title battle between 6 (psst, 5!!) drivers, such as in that Grand Prix 2 simulation I ran before 2014 started (I'm so fond of that season still).

But the biggest reason I would want works Engines is for Toro Rosso! I would love to see what that chassis would do next year with a top engine and 2 drivers who will be faster and more experienced than this year!

The 2015 Ferrari unit is said to be worth about a second per lap over the 2014 version, which was pretty equivalent to Renault's 2014, so I guess it would be some improvement for Red Bull.


Yup something's wrong with F1 alright, with both those drivers out of a seat.

[Mia 01]

Not that bad to get 2015 spec Ferrari Engines i guess. They are more or less on par with the Mercedes one now, perhaps 20 hp down. On the other hand is the Renualt Engines rumoured to be 80 - 100 hp down on Mercedes. I don´t Think that the manufactures will find 50 hp more till next year.

[zako85]

If Grosjean is really better than Maldonado, then why didn't Lotus hire Romain for another year?

[rjbetty]

If Grosjean is really better than Maldonado, then why didn't Lotus hire Romain for another year?

I think it was Romain who wanted to leave. I guess he realised he would have been driving with Renault engines again next year and did a runner.

He's also doing a Hulkenberg and trying to advertise himself to Ferrari, but it's a risky strategy at best and didn't work out for Hulk. Also I think Ferrari have their sights set on other drivers such as Verstappen who is 11 years younger...

[Robinho]

If Grosjean is really better than Maldonado, then why didn't Lotus hire Romain for another year?

Lotus can't hire anyone, they have no money, they've kept Maldonado because he comes with money. If Renault had finished the buyout Romain would have stayed, but he couldn't wait for that to happen for certain so made the choice to move to a team who could afford to pay him and might lead to a Ferrari seat in the future

Sent from my 0PJA10 using Tapatalk

[Nitrodaze]

Not that bad to get 2015 spec Ferrari Engines i guess. They are more or less on par with the Mercedes one now, perhaps 20 hp down. On the other hand is the Renualt Engines rumoured to be 80 - 100 hp down on Mercedes. I don´t Think that the manufactures will find 50 hp more till next year.

To be honest, l think Mercedes have been turning their engine horsepower down at most races and only turning it up when they really need to. The dead give away was at Monza when Hamilton was instructed to pull a 30 sec gap to Vettel for fear that they would be time penalized for low tyre pressure. With under 10 laps to the end, Hamilton simply flew off into the distance, leaving Vettel completely dejected at the pace of the Merc at the end of the race. The truth is that the Ferrari engine is not on par with the merc at full power. Malaysia, Hungary and Suzuka are misleading as they were tyre related problems for the Mercedes setup. But l fully expect Ferrari to be much closer in 2016.

2016 Constructors' Championship may look like this:

1.Mercedes
2.Ferrari
3.Red Bull - Ferrari
4.Williams - Mercedes
5.McLaren - Honda
6.Renault
7.Toro Rosso - Ferrari
8.Force India - Mercedes
9.Sauber - Ferrari
10.Manor - Mercedes
11.Haas - Ferrari

The Honda showed at Suzuka that it is fast enough to be comfortably in the midfields but runs out of puff before the end of the straight. If they can sort out the issues with their energy recovery and power boost issues and maybe find a few more HP for the start of the 2016 season, then l expect Alonso and Button to comfortably be in the top ten consistently. Finishing no less than 5th in 2016 should be the target for Mclaren in 2016 and is achievable.

I think Renault have a very good understanding of the issue with their engine, hence l expect them to come up with a fix for 2016. Hence a HP increase is very likely in the Renault next season. The Lotus chassis is clearly great this year and it really harnessed the Mercedes power very effectively. That chassis coupled to a revised Renault engine may surprise a few in 2016. Finishing 6th would depend largely on who they pick to replace Grosjean. With Verne or Magnussen in the 2nd Renault seat and Maldonado having a cleaner better year, l would think they may pull it off.

I agree a Ferrari shod Redbull may leapfrog the Williams to 3rd, judging by the gap between Ferrari and Williams this season. The Williams chassis is inferior compared to the Redbull chassis, hence it is unlikely to harness the Mercedes power as efficiently as the Redbull chassis would harness the power of the Ferrari. I actually think the Redbull chassis is better than the Ferrari chassis. Hence if Redbull were to get a similar spec engine to the Ferrari team, they may well finish 2nd in 2016. I have a feeling Ferrari would not allow that.

The Force India chassis has proved to be up and down at various tracks so far. they may get it right next season. But going by this season, l would expect them to finish behind the Torro Rosso which has a clearly better chassis. The Torro Rosso chassis was better than the Redbull chassis for most of the early part of this season and remains almost as good as the sister car's chassis. I doubt the Force India would surpass the Torro Rosso next season, assuming of course that Torro Rosso have better reliability than they had this season.

Lack of investment in the Sauber means they are likely to remain at 9th next season, unless they are able to find a sponsor with deep pocket before the end of this season. They would still be fast enough not to worry about Haas and Manor behind.

There are great hopes for Haas to turn up and do very well with their Ferrari technical partnership and engine. It would certainly be great for the FIA and Bernie. They certainly seem to have more funds than Manor. Unfortunately lack in relative experience of the car and operating within F1. Hence l would expect 2016 to be a year where they find their feet and consolidate for 2017. Hence l expect them to finish the year at the rear which is no shame for a maiden year under the most restrictive F1 regulations in years.