I recently discovered the series "F1 drive to survive"
on netflix and binge-watched the first season so far.
It gives an interesting insight into the drivers, teams,
and politics one would not normally be exposed to
just following F1.

My impressions so far,
based on what I saw in the series.
To be taken with a grain of salt:


Riciardo is a really nice guy but only a mid-pack driver.
he longed to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond but
turned out to still a small fish at renault.
Should have stayed at red bull.
He left because he felt Max was being treated as
the better driver. He was and is.

Alonso may not be the most popular driver out the grid,
but he is respected and feared.

Grosjean is a bad driver and a major a-hole.
He deserves to be punted into the wall at every turn, just as pay-back.

I lost respect for checo for the way
he totally screwed over his teammate (Ocon),
no wonder Max doesn't respect him.

Stroll is a spoiled kid, just as suspected.

Saintz is a better driver and person than I previously
gave him credit for.
Same with Leclerc.
I will root for them.

Kimi is an instinctively great driver.
I can't help but wonder what he could have
achieved it he was as obsessed with winning
as much as max or hamilton.

I did not realize how much of an influence Niki Lauda was
on the Mercedes team, or how much of their success
was attributed to him.

That russian driver who didn't last long was a menace.
Good riddance.

Wolff is a cold, calculating SOB and that is why he is the best.
I don't like him, but please don't tell him I said that ;)

Horner is closer to being a real person,
and that may be his weakness against wolff.
But horner is still one smart cookie.

The team principal of haas had no idea
how to manage people.
constant yelling, criticizing, threatening,
and belittling does NOT bring out
the best in his people. Just the opposite.

I would not trust that Cyril guy in charge of renault
as far as I could throw him,
did not care for him at all.
Or his sinical snarky looks when he rolls his eyes.

I still like Claire Williams but now have a feeling
that she was in way over her head.

On to season two.

red, DTS is a reality show. You have to factor in manufactured drama.

Gunther Steiner says he is excited for the 2023 season because the Ferrari engine is rumored to be " the bomb " . Hopefully not a ticking one 😋.

https://www.si.com/fannation/racing/f1briefings/news/f1-news-haass-guenther-steiner-is-excited-for-bomb-2023-ferrari-engine-jd22

“All in US$ (Source Sport Auto magazine)

- Max Verstappen $60M ( $40M salary + $20M bonus)
- Lewis Hamilton $55 M salary
- Fernando Alonso $30M salary
- Sergio Perez $26M ($10M salary + $16M bonus)
- Charles Leclerc $23M '$15M salary + $11M bonus)
- Sebastian Vettel $17M ($17M salary + $2M bonus)
- Daniel Ricciardo $17M ($15M salary + $2M bonus)
- Carlos Sainz $15M ($8M salary + $7M bonus)
- Lando Norris $12M ($5M salary + $7M bonus)
- George Russell $10M ($3M salary + $7M bonus)

First constatation is that income don't reflect the results for some.
Second is that there are huge gaps between some team mates, not justified by results either.”

Christian Horner is married to a Spice Girl, not my favorite one but still a Spice Girl. Therefore I like him.

Steiner at Haas.... IIRC for that season of DTS, they had Esteban Guiitierez who was an absolute a-hole. I seem to recall a few team meetings that were partially recorded on video where he showed his true colors. So, for at least that, I will give Steiner a break.

Jost Capito and FX left Williams - apparently Capito (the team manager) was planning on retiring before the job opportunity, he did a decent job bringing williams back up a bit, not sure about FX (brilliant engineer in rallying). No word on replacements yet.

Thanks for posting, I read it here first :eek:

Find the Williams situation very sad :(

Read an online article yesterday saying Gerhardt Berger ( former F1 driver ) is being considered to head up Ferrari . Also read that Vasseur has purchased a home near Maranello . I guess we will know soon enough .

some one started a Team Boss silly season
like the constant driver future guess silly season threads

moving much more then usual forsure

Official
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/63954869

Yup, Vasseur is at Ferrari, we will see.. Last time a french guy took over (Todt) it went rather well. He's a funny guy but has a solid reputation as being a strong manager.

That makes you wonder if FX Demaison may join alfa also? Because FX was main engineer during the Ogier WRC dominance with the Polo WRC, and....Alfa is becoming Audi (VW), and it's really bizarre timing for Capito and FX both to leave after a solid recovery year at Williams so they likely were not pushed out. The connection exists and is pretty strong!

Seidl is leaving McLaren to join Alfa Romeo soon to be Audi as COO

That's 40% of Team principles moving teams

Well, to the next team principal at the Scuderia, I am willing to volunteer my services as race strategist. I won't be any worse than whoever has been calling the shots for the red cars the past few seasons.

And poor old Gunther Steiner isn't one of them.

Gunther isn't polished enough for McLaren or Williams... He's PERFECT for HAAS ;-)

Latest rumour is Ford is coming back, linking up with Red Bull

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/ford-linked-return-red-bull-2026/10411381/

I don't understand that one. Honda "left" but they re-registered for 2026 and clearly they are back already, they have one of the best engines, why would Redbull complicate life tying up with Ford ? and embarass Honda in the process too... Seems crazy to think a new manufacturer in 2026 will have the best engine year 1.

A coworker was listening to a podcast recently. Ricciardo was interviewed. He said he was actually OK with some time off, and that he would take the opportunity to do things, like take a coast-to-coast road trip across America.

So that got us talking: Daniel would be a blast, but which other F1 drivers (and team principals) would be good road trip companions? (My friend is Mexican, so she immediately vetoed selfish teammate Max.). But we agreed Gunther would be good. Maybe Otmar? Seb? Alonso? Lando? Yuki?

I believe over the last couple of seasons with the "pandemic" the Aussie athletes may have had the most difficult time. First off, it is a heck of a long flight for them to get home. Secondly, I believe their restrictions were harder and it was harder to get back into the country than it was for others.

I had heard of another athlete that hadn't been home for a very long stretch of time because of this.

Not hard to imagine this also impacted Danny Ric in the same way.

Road trip? Jensen Button or Kimi. Team boss? Horner or Adrian Newey