WHO TO REPLACE ROSBERG AT MERCEDES IN 2017?

Or to put in another way…

 

Williams would be dead in the water going into 2017 with a rookie in the other car. They wouldn't let him go and of all teams Toto wouldn't do that to them. Bummer for Bottas.

 

That's to his credit. I hope he gets rewarded for his loyalty to Ferrari, and doesn't have to wait too long for it.

 

Lol, maybe. But he truly loves Ferrari and never made a secret of it. Of course an offer to be in the best car is tough to ignore...but I'm willing to give truth to his statement.

 

But on the other hand: if it is true that all drivers except Raikkonen and Kvyat called Toto and Niki this would also include Vettel. Maybe it was a short call as Mercedes might not we willing to buy him out of his contract to make a mess having Lewis against Seb.

 

Didn't catch that...did he really say it so specific?

1) Disappointed in Kvyats ambition
2) I thought it was ''half the grid'', this is the entire grid minus 2...
3) Kimi much more loyal than Ferrari was to him

 

Well, one could argue that Ferrari has been pretty loyal this go around.....new regime too, so it's hard to compare the past to the present without noting it is not the same team/Company.

 

I think they will put Pascal in the car. I am sure Mercedes wants another German driver.

 

Rumor I heard st Daytona was that a Ferrari dealership owner has paid Merc $50m to put his son in the car. Doesn't make sense at all but that's what I heard.

 

Rumor I heard st Daytona was that a Ferrari dealership owner has paid Merc $50m to put his son in the car. Doesn't make sense at all but that's what I heard.

 

I could be mistaken, but I believe Kimi was officially quoted as saying that he didn't want to stay in F1 unless it was with Ferrari. Maybe a year or two ago?

 

Toto and Niki have stated 90% of the drivers on the grid have contacted Toto wanting the seat.

There is no possible way Vettel and Alonso do not have exit clauses in their contracts which specify certain levels of competitiveness, and that if they are not achieved they are not bound by their contracts. Vettel had one at Red Bull. Driver contracts are some 30+ pages long these days

 

Felipe Nasr is not a Rookie, and I would bet he would get the drive if Bottas left to Mercedes.

 

Nasr is an unknown quantity from a performance and development pov. He hasn't ever had any quality teammates to judge him against. For 2017 that may even be the lesser issue. With any major reg changes teams highly value continuity. There is a period of adaptation when a driver changes teams in terms of learning systems, methods of work, communication, same as when anyone changes jobs. There is also the issue of of team already being familiar with the driving style, how the car typically behaves to his inputs, what he wants from the car. And as the learning curve and development will be steepest in 2017 for everyone, none of them would ideally want even one new driver let alone two.

 

Now, that does make sense. Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, owner of Mont Tremblant and an Official Ferrari Dealership is pushing his son Lance?

Could be... Especially when you remember Toto's words of a few months ago!!!!!

https://www.google.de/amp/s/www.thestar.com/amp/autos/2016/06/10/lance-stroll-will-be-canadas-next-f1-star-toto-wolff-says.html

 

Fernando Alonso said the same in 2010...
Rgds

 

I think Alonso has said that about every single team he's been in except for Minardi though

 

Vettel's one boils down pretty simple (educated guess RE positions): If the car is not capable of top 3 WCC (which it is of course) he can exit, similarly for Ferrari to boot him out he'd probably have to make multiple costly mistakes that led to their loss of 2nd or 3rd in WCC.

Boils down the same for Alonso, just different positions, and I expect that those positions lie around 5th in the WCC for Mclaren...which they did not achieve!

 

Hulkenburg

Renault have already confirmed they will not let him go and toto does not want legal troubles.

Perez

Good candidate but FI won't let him go. He brings in too much sponsorship that for mercedes to buy him out they could get one of the big guys for the same price

Wherlein

Apparently does not work well with the teams and is arrogant. Toto already confirmed he is too inexperienced and would create fireworks. Unlikely to hold a candle to hamilton - merc don't want to run the risk of changing driver mid season like the kvyat situation.

Vettel
Toto has confirmed that the red bull guys and Vettel have iron clad
contracts. On the plus side he is german and obviously a good enough team mate for hamilton. Vettel ran away from Ricciardo and has veto powers in his Ferrari contract over his team mate. Highly unlikely he will want to go to toe with hamilton. Given vettels current form unlikely he will come out on top either. On the flip side the grippier 2017 cars suit his driving style.

Alonso

Best option from a performance perspective. Toto indicated in mid 2015 that if he could not renegotiate an extension with rosberg he would be the first choice. dieter zetsche has some bad history with alonso from 07 so may block the move. Alonso and hamilton both more mature so will work well together

All red bull drivers including sainz are in watertight contracts.

Bottas is most likely imo. Solid driver and managed by toto. Only question on whether Williams want 2 inexperienced drivers.

If Mercedes are still ascendant next season and Lewis's team mate is not a top driver then he will win every race most likely- may even surpass Schumachers records if it carries on a few seasons. For the sake of the sport alonso needs to get that other seat.

 

DECEMBER 5, 2016

Valentino Rossi says Wolff has my number



The rumours linking potential names with Nico Rosberg's newly vacant 2017 seat are getting wilder by the moment.

MotoGP rider Valentino Rossi, who strongly flirted with a switch to four wheels a decade ago, has thrown his name into the hat for the Mercedes drive.

It comes after Toto Wolff joked that Rossi and his motorcycle racing rival Jorge Lorenzo, who recently tested and Mercedes and said driving it was "easy", are in the frame.

"I don't know but it would be nice," Rossi, who rides in MotoGP for Yamaha, is quoted by the Italian broadcaster Sky.

"If he (Wolff) wants to call me, he has my number."

Italian Rossi, 37, said he would definitely say yes to the offer of a test.

"How could I say no?" he said.

"I was lucky enough to test the Ferrari, I am very good friends with many guys in Maranello and it (testing a Mercedes) would perhaps even be half a betrayal -- but how could you not try the Mercedes if asked?"

 

What Alonso actually said (From: Alonso: Ferrari will be my last F1 team - GPUpdate.net ):

Fernando Alonso has guaranteed that he will race for no team other than Ferrari between now and the end of his Formula 1 career. With the Maranello squad being the fourth with which the Spaniard will have competed, the former double World Champion will start his ninth season this year.

After making his debut with Minardi - now Toro Rosso, whose Faenza base is located only a stone's throw away from Maranello - in 2001, Alonso moved to Renault as test driver for 2002 before stepping up to its race team the follow year. With two titles collected in the middle of the decade, Alonso has since spent two more years with the Enstone team after a single McLaren season in 2007.

"I'm 100 percent sure," the Oviedo man said on Thursday, asked at the Wrooom event in Italy if Ferrari would be his last F1 team.

"For any driver, coming to Ferrari is the best thing you can do in your career; it is almost impossible to find the motivation to race for another team after racing for Ferrari because you'll never find that same environment or have the same feelings. I feel calm now because I've achieved one of my goals."

Since then, Alonso has made the exact same declaration about McLaren - So it will be interesting to see which team he goes to next!

 

owner of Mt. Tremblant...? i don't think he owns the ski resort.

 

McLaren confident Fernando Alonso won't leave for Mercedes
"We have a contract with Fernando and he is very happy," Zak Brown tells Sky Sports

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/10684264/mclaren-confident-fernando-alonso-wont-leave-for-mercedes

 

^^ haha i doubt he is "very happy" finishing in the bottom end of the points!

 

I would love to see Rossi in F1, but I'd hate to have to pull for Mercedes.