I'm really interested to see how qualifying will go between the two. I think Hamilton will have a hard time against Russell. His fastest qualifying laps are impeccable in that Williams and have been for a very long time.
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Maybe, Hamiton would retire after he wins his eighth worlds championship. This is proving to be his hardest challenge yet. Mainly because the younger drivers are all coming of age now. Russell in a Mercedes seems quite a sure thing only if Mercedes do not make a move for Verstappen.
odd, he says he has a theory but doesn't say if he actually had any knowledge? Who does Ralph align with? Is more friends with Mercedes or with Verstappen dad? Seem like there is an agenda here to stir the pot, but not sure from what direction.Quote:
Schumacher has a theory on Hamilton signing a new deal for his current team though and believes they really wanted Verstappen.
"For me, [Hamilton's] contract extension fundamentally means that Max [Verstappen] rejected Mercedes," Schumacher said in an interview with 'Sport Bild'.
"I believe that Mercedes had placed all their hopes on signing Verstappen, with the aim of completely securing his future.
"That idea wasn't possible, and in my opinion, Lewis [Hamilton] was the only alternative."
Everyone assumes the Bottas seat is going to Russell with no real competition from anywhere. This may be incorrect. 2019 F2 champion Nick De Vries is catching Toto Woolfs attention. The diminutive dutchman is impressing in Formula-E and Toto was there to watch him at work in London.
As Ocon did for the career of Wehrlien, and Russell did for Ocon, Nick De Vries looks set to do the same to Russell if he does not get announced as the replacement for Bottas this season. The real attraction of De Vries is the similarity of his driving style to that of Verstappen. Crazy braveness in duels for position and bloody fast. He has the aggressive edge that we see in Verstappen and l think that would fascinate Toto.
Does Russell have anything to worry about? I think very likely. Nick De Vries is definitely a threat to his chance of landing the Mercedes drive that is becoming vacant.
FWIW, a quick investigation showed that:
a. Ralph and Jos V. are good friends, as well with the Schumacher family.
b. Max referred to Michael S. as uncle
therefore, it can be concluded Ralph was just stirring the pot against Mercedes. Letting it be known that Mercedes actually preferred Max for the future than Hamilton.
Pierre Gasly asked if outside teams have shown interested
Quote:
“Yes, interest. I’m trying my best, showing my potential, giving my best with AlphaTauri and I think what we are doing at the moment is very good.
“We’ll see going forward what are the most attractive options we have. Ultimately it goes down to Red Bull and discussing with them what we do together going forward.”
“I don’t know what is the will of Helmut and whether they want to take me back, whether they want me to stay in AlphaTauri, whether they are willing to release me to another team.”