2022 - Silly Season

[Firstgear]

Yup, with both teams claiming him, I was wondering who would win out. Congrats McLaren. I don't think there's been this much excitement/anticipation/expectation of a driver who has yet to race in F1 since Lewis entered. If Piastri turns out to be the real deal, I think Mac will have the best driver lineup on the grid in a couple of years.

[lmmjvss]

Too bad McLaren is not a manufacturer team. Piastri will PROBABLY be a "8th to 15th guy", behind RBR, Merc, Ferrari and Alpine... PROBABLY.

[F1nKS]

Yup, with both teams claiming him, I was wondering who would win out. Congrats McLaren. I don't think there's been this much excitement/anticipation/expectation of a driver who has yet to race in F1 since Lewis entered. If Piastri turns out to be the real deal, I think Mac will have the best driver lineup on the grid in a couple of years.

Costly to Alpine.

1. They lost their #1 Junior Driver
2. They lost the challenge.
3. They are ordered to pay damages

a. Pay Mclaren £229,965
b. Pay Piastri £120,086
c. Pay arbitrators' fees ranging from £34,000 to £74,400.

[F1nKS]

Silly season is upon us with rumors swirling

Red Bull
#1 Verstappen - 2028
#2 Perez - 2024

Ferrari
#1 Leclerc - 2024
#2 Sainz - 2024

Mercedes
#1 Hamilton - 2023
#2 Russell - 2023

Mclaren
#1 Norris - 2025
#2 Piastri - ???

Alpine
#1
#2 Ocon - 2024

Alfa Romeo
#1 Bottas - 2024
#2

AlphaTauri
#1 Gasly - 2023
#2

Aston Martin
#1 Alonso - 2024 (Option 2025)
#2

Haas
#1 Magnussen - 2023
#2

Williams
#1 Albon - 2024 (w/Option)
#2

Things should start filling in soon I would think.

Rumors of Gasley to Alpine
Herta to Alpha Tauri
Riciardo to Hass (if Gunther gets his wish)

[F1nKS]

RB says Herta to Alpha Tauri, Gasley to Alpine - if Herta is given a super license.

[airshifter]

Marko and Horner have now stated that they want Herta, and if he is given a super license then Gasley will be released. There are indications that the license decision will be known by Monza. I hope Danny Ric finds a seat, but it looks like talks with Alpine might be falling apart. I think he would compliment KMag well at Haas, as he should be good enough to help them develop the car.



I'm starting to think that something stinks in the F1 leadership, and in particular Stefano Dominicali. Andretti wanted to get into F1 and had resistance in the form of excuses about keeping quality teams within the sport. But I think it's safe to say if the points spread is so wide at the bottom we don't have really tight teams. Williams currently has 4 points this season. But now with rumors of a possible buyout of AT by Andretti, it seems maybe the leadership is trying to shape the field IMO. I can't see where Andretti was being excluded on any real basis, as they have a lot of experience. Haas made it work and I'm sure Andretti could pull it off as well. And to add insult to injury, they wanted to being Herta into the mix.

If it does go down this way, I hope Andretti gives F1 the middle finger, unless they can buy AT for a song. And as it stands, I don't see why there is any resistance to them entering the sport. Having another US based team could only be a good thing with F1 gaining in popularity in the US so much lately.



On another note, we are already into the new regs silly season for the 2026 season. I'm not sure if anyone else has dug into it much, so the short version is essentially the same engines but with no MGU-H, but three times the electrical energy. Sustainable fuels only, and flow will be limited by energy of fuel vs mass. They can no longer spin the turbo off of electrical energy, and expect to reintroduce some turbo lag. There are already questions about the ability to harvest enough power to keep the current pace. No word on active aero yet, but I think they will need it to keep them quick.

[lmmjvss]

It looks Dietrich Mateschitz's health is getting worse. If he dies, most of the shares and controls are going to the Thai guys, who have "the other half" of the company.
People are already linking the Porsche deal losing tracktion and a possible sell of Alpha Tauri with this =/

[Firstgear]

I'm just thinking about the timing of the whole Piastri contract. The Contract Recognition Board stated that the contract that was valid for Piastri was signed on July 4. That's well before Vettel's retirement announcement, or Alonso's announcement to move to AM.

So it appears to me that Piastri signed with McLaren to avoid being in a Williams for a year or two until Alonso was gone. Would he have wanted to go to McLaren if he knew he'd have Alonso's seat for 2023? By the time Alpine made the announcement (where Piastri denied he'd be driving for them) it was already too late for him to agree to stay with alpine because of what he had signed with McLaren.

I wonder if he's kicking himself now, or happy to be with McLaren instead of Alpine. Strictly on monetary terms, I'd guess McLaren made it worth his while to jump over, but other than that, I'm not too sure.

[F1nKS]

We might see silly season heat up a little this next week. Couple things have happened over this last week that at least give clarification of who won't be changing teams next year.

1. Red bull has quite trying to get Herta the super license points he needed to get to F1 (I think he has 30 out of the 40 he needed).

2. Which means Alpine will be going a different direction than Gasly since Red Bull said they would only release him if they had a suitable replacement driver (Herta).

[Zico]

2. Which means Alpine will be going a different direction than Gasly since Red Bull said they would only release him if they had a suitable replacement driver (Herta).

There are reports de Vreise met with Marko and is close to agreeing on a deal for the AT seat.

Strange situation for Merc in losing their Formula E winning protege but I guess they will have to let him go.