Motorsports (NASCAR, F1, etc) Discussion Thread • Page 67

Fernando wanted a two year contract and apparently Alpine only offered one. It’s a good get for Aston I think!

 

Is it? Alonso, who is famously so good at improving the team around him.

I reckon we're in for some top tier radio...

 

Weird if Alpine only offered him a 1 year, as surely Alpine knows how good Alonso has been with the car this year, and surely if Alpine believes the team will improve, they'd be incentivized to keep Alonso on the team for multiple more years.

 

I think they're desperate to get Piastri into the sport. They might have got away with putting him in a Williams for a year, but maybe didn't want Alonso blocking the seat for two more years. Also, I imagine he's rather expensive to have around. He's already 41, so it's a gamble as to how many good years he's got left in him.

 

Yeah I’d be shocked if they don’t get Piastri in a seat now next year. There’s been a few spicy moments between Ocon and Alonso this year so I wonder what the vibe is behind the scenes at Alpine.

 

My exact reaction

 

Yeah, Alpine was never going to go more than one year with Piastri ready.

Alonso has been good with Alpine, I hope with the investments AM is putting in that car will be decent next year and he runs well.

 

Given Alonso's track record of switching teams, Alpine will be regularly on the podium in 2023 and Aston will be in the toilet.

 

My guess is Piastri to Alpine, Sargent to Williams. Ricciardo’s options now are pretty slim.

 

Is McLaren really going to buy out his contract?

 

Great race highlights

 

McLaren about to be in a legal battle in F1 and in Indycar lmao

 

I knew that was coming haha, this is the silliest silly season I can remember

 

Wtf, lol

 

I love this lol. Alpine are a mess behind the scenes.

 

McLaren’s budget is going all to lawyers to deal with contracts

 

Rumours that Mick has been dropped by Haas for next season giving us this as confirmed:

Red Bull: Verstappen, Perez
Ferrari: Leclerc, Sainz
Mercedes: Hamilton, Russell
McLaren: Norris, ?
Alpine: Ocon, ?
Alfa Romeo: Bottas, ?
Alpha Tauri: Gasly, ?
Haas: Magnussen, ?
Aston Martin: Alonso, Stroll
Williams: ?, ?

The most sense is surely Piastri to McLaren, Gasly to Alpine due to his clause, Albon to AT, Zhou goes to Haas, Williams get Sargent and De Vries, and Alfa get Pouchaire.

 

I think Alfa might keep Zhou for another year. He's done okay in a car which has been nothing but bad luck. Similarly, I think Williams will want to hold onto Albon if they can.

If Piastri is going to Mclaren (as rumoured), then where is Ric going? Going back to Alpine doesn't look great for either party. I wonder if Alpine will spend big to get Gasly out of his AT contract. I also don't see De Vries happening. My understanding is that RB are actually a bit short of ready young drivers right now, so I'm not sure what they'll do if they sack Yuki or lose Gasly.

My version of silly season is thus (only mentioning changed line-ups):
Mclaren: Norris, Piastri
Alpine: Ocon, Gasly
Alpha: Tsunoda, Unknown
Aston: Alonso, Stroll
Williams: Albon, Sargent

Ricciardo leaves the sport.

 

If I was Ricciardo I'd just head to IndyCar (or grab a seat at AlpaTauri if possible)

 

It’s a shame Mick never really kicked on.

 

He’s looked decent recently, I sort of feel like it might be a bit premature to make that decision. The only reason I can think of is that they have someone lined up who brings cash that Schumacher can’t.

 

He may still have that clause that allows him to leave for free to a team higher up than them. Would make it a no brainer for me.

 

I'd be a bit surprised if Haas are binning Mick off already. He's a known slow starter with new series/regs, so they can't have been too surprised he struggled to start. He's looked much better recently and realistically, who is going to Haas who would be a guaranteed upgrade or money spinner?

Gasly having a clause which lets him leave easily to a higher positioned team seems slightly mad, particularly after he's really shown his worth the last couple of seasons. I guess AT were doing a lot better until this season, so maybe they weren't so worried about him being poached. That being said, I don't know what good Gasly is for AT/RB now, aside of being a benchmark for their newbies.

 

Maybe Alpine doesn't care, but I'm pretty sure Ocon and Gasly don't get along