sammyg2 thinks he is a lot more clever than he really is.

Does anyone think that plan B for Mercedes is a " what if " signed contract between them and Williams for Russell ? Of course they want to sign Hamilton and will continue to negotiate but the start of the season isn't far off and Williams would have to react if Russell is plucked from the team .

F1 contracts I have to think are fairly complex that's why I asking about the plan B contract . Or maybe that is all already covered in the contract that is in place for Russell to be " on loan " to Williams . What do you guys think ?

IF THE DRIVER IS ON AN INDEPENDENT TEAM
with decent funding and a chance of success

or a team dependent like williams on M B for their power unit
and without funding to have options to buy an other power unit
so when M B said jump williams only answer is how high do you want the jump
or when do you want our current driver to report

note how bottas was quickly moved from williams to M B when rosberg quit

I have struggled for the entirety of Hamilton's career to either like or respect him. I was getting close on both accounts about a year ago. Last season reset both to "zero".

I would dearly, dearly love to see Mercedes sign Russell. I would love to see Russell subsequently win a world drivers' championship, running away. I would love to see Hamilton languish in a second or third tier car, trading mid pack (or worse) qualifying spots with a lackluster team mate.

I think such a turn of events would say loudly and clearly, beyond doubt, that it has been the car, not the driver. I firmly believe there have been four or five, maybe as many as half a dozen other divers in the field who, given that car, would have flat driven away from Hammy. I would love to see the situation develop, in the last season of essentially "this" car, to showcase just that.

Maybe. His politics and his skill are two different things.

Could maybe say the same thing about Schumi, or Mario in 78. Its part of the skillset to be in the right place with folks that are simpatico.

Agreed. And we could add Senna, and maybe a couple more to your short list as well.

We have seen eras of one make domination in the past. I think, arguably, this was the most dominant of all. And yes, Hammy chose wisely at a time when it really did not look like a wise move. He saw something in the team that he knew he wanted to be a part of. So, yes, a masterful move. Seb could have made that move, Fernando could have, Kimi could have, even Felipe... the last eight years would have been very, very different...

Yep, his decision to jump to Mercedes when they were just an also ran team was an epic choice. Either he was clairvoyant or very lucky. No one can doubt he is a top driver, but he had the best car. He never crashed it on race day. He did not have bonehead Vettle like moves. He just had the best car by a huge margin.

And I think we're now at a Brady/Belicheck moment where we might know. But F1 is so different. Its why I think MB holds the cards here, b/c anywhere that LH could conceivably go would be unknown, unless it was Aston Martin. Of course, he could take a year off, and Zak could run him at Indy...:p

Cars are a lot closer at Indy. I could be wrong but me thinks he’d be an also ran there. They all have skill but all require good fortune, stars aligned to win.

And that's why the Indy 500 has never meant anything to me. That, plus it's an oval.

I don't care how much it's revered by many/most drivers... it's a bunch of drivers out there cheating death. So dangerous.

As an example of what I mean, I have incredible respect for Mike Conway for writing off ovals years ago. He's smart to see what they are and take a stand.

Reaching back several decades, I'm sure some of this springs from how much I thought of Jackie Stewart for fighting tirelessly for safety measures in F1 and all forms of racing.

Sure, racing is inherently dangerous, and everyone who drives knows and accepts a certain amount of risk, but for me, Indy is another level of dangerous and it doesn't appeal to me as a race fan.

Offer me tickets and an all-expenses paid trip to go to the race and view it from a skybox.

I'll say, "No thanks.'

The Haas team has both cars ready to go but the engines can't be installed because Ferrari engineers are under Covid travel restriction . The engines may not get installed until Bahrain . I hope this isn't a glimpse of how the year will go for them .

I also don't care for the oval or round and round in circles as I call it (ditto for NASCAR sucks). Add to that the fact that the teams have spotters telling the drivers where to go on track. That makes no sense to me.

I've been to Indy for the 2005 F1 tire debacle. Cool place but for a oval race I'd have to pass.

It is a safety issue.
On a short track with 15 second lap time you can be going into one side of a turn and have the wreck be at a stop on the other side. You wouldn't know it until it is too late to join it. You can't go from a 150 to zero in the scant time from it'd come into view on a 180 degree large radius turn.

Similar applies to the super speeds ways, but speeds might be in the 220MPH-240MPH range. Imagine a 917 taking corners at it's exit speed on the mainstraight of Le Mans. Then imagine an oil slick, or crash. That 917 is smacking straight into whatever hazard is around that theoretical high speed corner.

I'm only just starting to watch the Netflix series Formula 1 - Drive to Survive 2018,

Why didn't anyone tell me F1 could be so exciting :D

Whether it be a circuit like Spa or an oval in the end aren’t they’re all going round and round? Racing. I do not tune in to see accidents but rather the competition. Lots of extreme sports out there and this is one of them. 😁

Lots of discussion of a jest post...


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Just read where Ham has been given an ultimatum by Mercedes. Make up your mind
before Mar 2 or we'll get someone else. Perhaps someone from the Pelican Porsche
crowd. They seem quite talented, and the car's easy to drive so might make that happen. AND they can all do their own maintenance, so that's a plus too. AND we heard they all wear shirts and ties (no tee shirts) so that's cool too.

^^^^ haaa great post!

I would make Kimi Räikkönen look like a spring chicken so I don't think I can be an F1 racer. Actually I figured out long ago I have lots of fun on a track, but I am not competitive with a real race driver. Not even close.

At the F1 level I would be a joke, like every other person on this thread. But Russell can do Hamilton's job for a lot less money. Like every other person in any job, they can be replaced. No one is irreplaceable. They may have the time in the spotlight, but there is always some young gun ready to take over and show how it is done.

It is amazing how exciting any and all aspects of life can be be with a slow motion filter and a snappy soundtrack. You just need to work closer with your producer.

I'd love to but last time I drove a kart I threw up between sessions.

The last time I got motion sickness was in '93 in the back of a Bradley fighting vehicle in Mogadishu. It was about 110° and one of my earplugs had fallen out.

Plus, I'm no longer 10ft tall and bullet proof

Sounds to me like you're just the guy they're looking for. How hard can it be? Looks like the car drives itself anyway.

I assume you’re kidding, but either way it is pretty amazing what some good video editing does for F1 track footage. Many of my coworkers have become F1 fans from the series.

Ham's new car
 

Looks like Aston Martin is in talks with Nico Hulkenberg to sign on as a test/reserve driver .

Half joking, nearly 400 races of living it has sort of dulled the entertainment value for me ;) The Netflix series is very entertaining

Only up to episode 7 of the first series but think the filming has done a very good job of capturing the drama without padding it out with made up story lines

Really pleased to hear your co-workers are enjoying it :cool:

Put another one on your Netflix watch list: Michael Fassbender Road to LeMans, good series

According to reports, looks like Ham has signed with Mercedes.

Just a one year deal too!

So new boss Domenicali is moving forward with the saturday sprint race idea...
3 races were selected as part of the experiement, if approved... Canada, Monza and Brazil. FP2 would be replaced with a quali for that short race... and the race would take place on saturday. Probably with some points attributed. The results of that race would decide the order of the grid for the big event. To be voted on Thursday actually, with details such as engine/tire allocation to be discussed if approved. I'm all for it... Strategically it could open up options for some to go for broke on that short race where they otherwise would not get points...Big teams / drivers leading the championship maybe to be more prudent but still need a good result to be in the front of the grid ? Dunno, if you don't try you will never know. Mostly I like the idea of 2 chances to score, all that work and time spent on a F1 w/e can be easily ruined at a first corner... 2 chances.

NASCAR thinking comes to F1. :rolleyes:

Reading online about the Haas issues with Ferrari engineers not being available to install their engines due to Covid travel restriction . But not reading anything about Alfa Romeo . Wouldn't Alfa have the same issue ? Are there no travel restrictions going from Italy to Switzerland ? Is Alfa " allowed " to install the engines with their in house engineers/mechanics ? Just curious .

ALFA IS OWNED BY FIAT AS IS FERRARI

they are divisions of the same corp

haas is not owned by them and is an independent customer

haas f-1 base is in Kannapolis, North Carolina, United States (Main) Banbury, England, UK (European)

but hass and ferrari are working on a solution https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154327/ferrari-to-set-up-haas-hub-f1-facility-at-maranello

and https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154993/how-f1-teams-work-with-covid19-restrictions

BTW https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154995/f1-teams-approve-engine-freeze-plan-for-2022

Yeah I get it that Alfa and Ferrari are owned by Fiat . But is the Alfa F1 facility in Italy ? If it is then I can see how they can have their engines already in place and possibly running . But if they are not based in Italy then my question stands: why are they not complaining about no engines but Haas is ? Is Alfa's car not ready for the engines ? It was stated last week by Steiner their cars were ready for engines , so the Haas cars are ready to go but Alfa's aren't ?

The Haas cars are being assembled in the UK I honestly don't know where the Alfa cars are made . But the home company is based out of Switzerland to my knowledge . In the overall F1 picture this may not even matter , what matters is will ALL teams be up and running by the beginning of the season ? Hopefully the answer is yes :D

sauber is swiss they are still swiss based after alfa bought them

but they are under FIAT ownership so use Ferrari parts tec and people

bigger question is when and where will the season start as they are skipping the down under race

Hey guys do us all a favor , let's keep this discussion about the upcoming F1 season . If you want to bicker/argue/ name call please take it elsewhere . Thank you

Alonso is currently undergoing medical treatment for a fractured jaw sustained in a cycling accident.

Sorry I couldn't embed the story from the BBC
Best
Les

Hope he is ok!!