Formula 1 - 2017 Season

All driver contracts were sorted months ago, I can see Vettel and Alonso quickly trying to get out of them, but good luck with that is all I'll say. Besides, who is going to take the risk that Mercedes are actually going to be the class of the field next year?

Granted, the last rule change they nailed it right from the start (engine and chassis) and have just improved ever since keeping everyone a fair distance behind, chances of them doing it again are 50/50.

We can rule out Ferrari as they seem clueless, but Red Bull and McLaren could both be the right up there next year if their engine partners up their game as has been suggested.

I'd like to know who you think would even consider this next season.

I'm pretty confident it'll be Wherlin next year, and if Mercedes are still a cut above, several of the top drivers will be available for 2018.
 
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Wow. That was...unexpected.

I don't think Vettel will try to leave. I could see Alonso trying it. If he does, McLaren WCC/WDC 2017 I guess :p
 
Wow, I am blown away by the news of Rosberg's retirement. I did not see that coming, but after thinking about it I can totally understand it. He has now won the WDC, he is a new father and he wants to be there for his child and his wife.

It's a classy move, but it causes upheaval in the driver market.

My guess? A driver managed by Toto Wolff. I think maybe Bottas, because I don't think Williams will say no to some great wads of cash from Mercedes.
 
Personally, if they aren't getting rid of Hamilton (which of course they won't be) Mercedes will insist on a young driver from their driver program. Wherlin is the chosen one at the moment so it's probably going to be him.

No point spending a lot of money for someone to finish behind Hamilton when someone could do it for a pittance and be grateful.

Having two reasonable drivers has been nothing but a giant headache for wolff and Mercedes.
 
DJ12 said:
Personally, if they aren't getting rid of Hamilton (which of course they won't be) Mercedes will insist on a young driver from their driver program. Wherlin is the chosen one at the moment so it's probably going to be him.

No point spending a lot of money for someone to finish behind Hamilton when someone could do it for a pittance and be grateful.

Having two reasonable drivers has been nothing but a giant headache for wolff and Mercedes.
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Or maybe they'll hire someone from the "bubbling under" teams, and someone ends up beating Hamilton - it has happened before, too
 
I don't know if any of you followed the Chess world championship in NYC these last few weeks. It was a match between Magnus Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin. Magnus is the highest rated chess player ever and Karjakin was rated 9th before the match started. Everyone believed Carlsen would crush Karjakin. What happened was that Karjakin managed to draw the first 7 (out of 12) games with magnificent defensive play. Carlsen, a hugely strong attacking, inventive and intuitive player who likes to change up established chess theory in end games, couldn't beat Karjakin's incredible defensive abilities.

Then, in game 8, Karjakin won. They had both made blunders during the early games, and Carlsen had been closest to winning in game 3 which highlighted Karjakin's miracle defensive abilities. The loss shocked Carlsen who was playing as white in game 8, the colour which is statistically more probable to win.

Game 9 was also a draw, score was Carlsen 4 - Karjakin 5. In game 10, Carlsen managed to win and the match was back to equal score 5 - 5.

The regular long-form games ended 6 - 6 after game 12. Then they started playing rapid chess and Karjakin just couldn't adjust his game and lost 3-1.

The reason I'm telling this story is that I think Magnus Carlsen and Lewis Hamilton are quite alike. They have both gone their own way in their respective disciplines, and although the championships are quite different, the amount of hours actually spent battling could be seen as comparable (2 hours per race, 21 races = 42 hours) - compare that to just game 3 where Carlsen and Karjakin played for 7 hours.

Hamilton managed to claw back Rosberg's early championship lead, and then lost the lead again. Carlsen lost the lead in the match and then had to claw it back. The difference is that Carlsen admitted after the match that he lost his head and he tried to force a win in game 9 after he lost. He has also admitted to not having had any help with mind management, something Hamilton has had in his career.

I think they would benefit from meeting with each other, Carlsen and Hamilton. Carlsen, the Mozart of chess as he has been called, and Hamilton probably the fastest out-right racer in the world.

I don't know, this turned pretty rambly, sorry. I hope it is readable :D
 
Goes to show the difference between the good... and the true [utterly ruthless] greats, from everything Rosberg has been saying it sounds like he fell across that winning line a physically and mentally drained wreck... I've finally reached my goal, I'm getting the hell out of here!

Meanwhile the triple world champ thinks nothing of backing his team mate into the mediocre competition hoping to clinch a forth. Rosberg retires and Lewis is like...Oh that is sad, don't care who replaces him... PS. give me a more reliable car next time.
 
Didn't see rosbergs retirement coming but not surprised either. Chances of him winning another WDC were slim and he was smart enough to call it quits while he was at the top. Best of luck to him.

As for who is going to replace him;

Wherlein doesn't have much of a chance imo. Force India passed him over Ocon and with the rule changes next year does Mercedes really want to risk the constructors championship? And it's not like wherlein has shown amazing pace either.

Ferrari probably didn't perform bad enough for vettel to get out of his contract so then the question because is Mercedes willing to pay off his contact. Having a German champ is probably good pr but at what cost?

Also would vettel want to pair up with Lewis?

Alonso can probably get out of his McLaren contract and at this point he'd probably go drive for free if it would give him half a chance of winning another WDC but Hamilton and Alonso will undoubtedly mean all out war. Would Mercedes be willing deal with that?

Verstappen would be smart to stay at red bull for a variety of reasons. That and I doubt rbr would let him go no matter what Mercedes might be willing to pay them.

Maybe Sainz or Perez have half a chance. All other drivers are probably stop gap solutions. Maybe Button can postpone his retirement one year :LOL:.
 
Bottas could be one option, too. No-one knows how he'd do in a competitive car, but he's at least reliable for bringing team the available points, and wouldn't be causing extra drama - sure, he has contract, but Wolff is part of his management team, Williams is using Mercedes engines and could surely use the extra money
 
Bottas is one option, but it's unlikely Williams would agree to giving him up.

The driver market opens up in 2018, lots of drivers contracts are up (Alonso, Ricciardo, Vettel and Hamilton, probably more too)

We shall see, but I have a feeling it's going to be a driver they already have under contract, maybe in another formula. I could've finished second to Hamilton for the last few years in that car. I cannot see them breaking the bank to get a decent driver when it becomes a lot easier the year after.
 
DJ12 said:
We shall see, but I have a feeling it's going to be a driver they already have under contract, maybe in another formula. I could've finished second to Hamilton for the last few years in that car. I cannot see them breaking the bank to get a decent driver when it becomes a lot easier the year after.
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I can't see 'em picking up anyone from lower classes when Wehrlein is without contract, he's their junior after all
 
Pascal probably isn't ready. Force India didn't seem to think he's ready.

Can Mercedes win a constructor's with 1,5 driver? Probably, but they can't afford reliability problems like they had in 2016.
 
I wondered what it meant to "not be ready," turns out this is a euphemism for being difficult and hard to work with.

I read a story that Pascal Wehrlein decided he knew better when his car broke down and refused to turn off his engine against clear instruction, thinking a marshall would give him a push start and even when he knew no one was coming he still refused.
 
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