[Hutnicks]

It sure is. What beggars the mind is netflix just airing the series now when they could have captured the action starved off season market by releasing the series as each episode was completed.

This is going to be a cut throat year for oh so may reasons. Drivers trying to desperately prove themselves. Teams in pure desperation mode as well. Add to that the ongoing shenanigans between the teams, Lobotomy Media and the FIA you have a three or four tiered fight happening at every single race. There is nothing so interesting as a sport that has devolved into pure and utter Chaos and that is what it being served this year.

BTW has anyone else noticed that Ross Brawn seems to be getting all the press, while Mr Moustache Carey is acting like some kind of flunky?

 

[oqvist]

I would also replace kimi for leclerc. Though may take a year for it to pay off. Just watched indycar. They must bring refueling back at the very least

 

[Hutnicks]

I would also replace kimi for leclerc. Though may take a year for it to pay off. Just watched indycar. They must bring refueling back at the very least

I would love to see refueling back on the stage. Particularly with the fuel load limit and the Pirelli tyre fiasco. It would bring to a head the Tyre/Vehicle weight problem. I would also like to see the mandatory pitstop bs gone for good. If you can fuel your car,save your tyres and engine to the end of the race, more power to you.

 

[oqvist]

Not sure f1 should be about endurance

 

[435279]

Not sure f1 should be about endurance

Agreed, some of the most boring races are when cars stop just once to swap tyres. Imagine if they could do the whole race without stopping, I bet they all would and drive in tyre saving mode the whole race to get it done.

 

[wink]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/daniel-ricciardo-salary-renault-formula-one/10891864

 

[oqvist]

Imagine if they used all that money to make a faster car instead. Or is there really no limit on spending?

 

[Phronesis]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-12/daniel-ricciardo-salary-renault-formula-one/10891864

Yep, and a bit disingenuous for Danny to give a bunch of reasons for moving from Red Bull to Renault OTHER than the money. Seems to me that money was the primary reason. Danny is good, but so are nearly all of the other guys, so I don't think Danny is worth that much.

 

[jimmers]

Yep, and a bit disingenuous for Danny to give a bunch of reasons for moving from Red Bull to Renault OTHER than the money. Seems to me that money was the primary reason. Danny is good, but so are nearly all of the other guys, so I don't think Danny is worth that much.

They did say the same kind of thing about Hamilton when he left McLaren for Mercedes - that he was only doing it for the money, why would he leave a top team for an unproven one? He said he believed Mercedes was the best bet for the future - and most people were like - 'fess up Hammy it's only for the money.

I'm not saying it will work out as well for Dan, but ...

Remember when Webber passed up Renault to drive for Williams, and Alonso went and won back to back WDCs ?

 

[oqvist]

Everybody knew merc was the way to go though when hammy went there

 

[Herueyes]

Everybody knew merc was the way to go though when hammy went there

Mannn... They said Ham was a fool... worst decision ever... But he proved them wrong!!

 

[oqvist]

Who said so? Mclaren fans?

 

[Phronesis]

Seems to me that Renault has a ways to go before they can seriously challenge Red Bull, and much farther to go to compete for the top spot. So I don't really buy the argument that Danny moved to Renault because he thinks they have a good chance of developing a top-3 car. I think Cyril just wanted to stick it to Christian, and spent a lot of other people's money to do it.

 

[Herueyes]

Who said so? Mclaren fans?

Merc was still burning out their rear tires and just about all the commentators said it was a bad decision from Hamilton.

Alonso tried and ended up with a “GP2 Engine” and suffering memory loss...

 

[Hutnicks]

Merc was still burning out their rear tires and just about all the commentators said it was a bad decision from Hamilton.

Alonso tried and ended up with a “GP2 Engine” and suffering memory loss...

Had to laugh at the Alonso comment there. Perhaps he has always suffered from early stage alzheimers or CJD or some other brain impairment.

As far as Ric goes. He knows no way DeadBull would let him win the WDC, he knows Mark Webber and is well aware of what happens when "The Wrong Driver" wins a race for them.
He is also 30 years old and that is nearing the end of your useful career span in F1 (Unless you are Kimi who will still be there at 65) so he has to maximize his earning potential. Hence his initial ask from DeadBull which Horner says they met. I suspect their were a lot of ifs and bonuses in that piece of paper to get to the number Ric wanted. Then you have the Question Mark of the Honda engine and Neweys unbreakable habit of effing with the car at the last moment during the first quarter of the season.The first is an unknown, the second Ric has experienced and complained about for years.

Along comes Renault, with a 3 year plan outline and a desperate need for a star WDC worthy EXPERIENCED driver. Well, no top team is going to have a driver who wants to jump ship and they had already ruled out another gamble on emerging talent. So who is out there that is top class and available. It comes down to two drivers. Teflonso and Ric. Out of those two that one is a no brainer. Mr Toxic can go hang himself in WEC and Indycar as far as Cyril cares so you are now down to one. Horner says it's a done deal and the ink is just drying so you call up Ric management and ask. You get a very different answer from them and hmmmm, "What if we throw a boatload of money at him to sweeten the deal" So you appeal to his vanity and perceived self worth and offer him about 5 meg less than Vettel who he beat to death at DeadBull and next thing you know Dan is all Curious Yellow. Quick trip to the factory to see the ongoing progress and the 3 year plan laid out and next thing you know Christian gets a phone call that causes him and Marko to have a stroke as they figured they were running the game and now they have to start scratching around in the used driver heap to fill the roster and Max no longer has the proven points scorer as a team mate. Which causes another stroke because if Gasly cannot keep it in the points Renault have done several things RIGHT all at once. They have re motivated a driver everyone on earth knows is a points hound and fully capable of WDC performance given the right car. Coupled with the ever present Hulk, that starts looking like a very very good experienced developing team effort. While you have done that you have now laid big damage on the spot you are really shooting for which is the 3rd spot DeadBull has been clogging up for the past few years. They will not hold onto that unless both drivers are in the top half of the points and that is a big IF right now with Gasly kicked upstairs out of desperation and the Honda/Newey combo. So The points picture starts to look better and better at the Regie IF the engine has made the progress they believe it has. Points are money in F1. So Ric's salary looks like not such a sore thumb sticking out in the drivers wages roster all of a sudden. Ric is grinning again because even if there is no WDC he will be financially set for life now and a whole lot of financial pressure at turning 30 in a sport where the next gen drivers are all showing up with a pacifier still in their mouths is removed.