A bit sleepy here, so let's stir the things up a bit...

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/archive/article/march-2025/12/verstappen-and-alonso-to-swap-teams-somethings-going-on-in-f1/

And I'm sure anybody here knows that "Motorsport Magazine" is not a tabloïd...

Enjoy.

Rgds

 

I would love to see this! Lance would commit hari-kari.

 

I think you mean hara-kiri.

And no, Lance would be just fine. As long as dad owns the team, he good.

 

The "Hornergate" has started a storm, the effects of which are yet to be appreciated in full...that move would be hard on Red Bull in the medium term; Fernando Alonso is still full of fighting spirit, but...

Rgds

 

M4X Follow the Newey?

 

Max to Aston makes sense.

Alonso to RBR though? I don't quite see it. Surely Alonso taking a senior position within Aston would be preferable, and he can keep his racing sharp in the Valkyrie endurance events?

 

All these rumours will come crashing down since Honda announced that the engine work is falling behind. Verstappen
is not going to move if he knows that the engine is subpar even if Newey is there.

 

But is that not a false flag to fool the opposition ?

 

Sandbagging from a Japanese company? That would be against their character. Normally comments like these are to
lower the expectations. It is supposed to be all new engines, so perhaps they are fazed by the challenge. After all, It is only
a year away from the debut of them with the new cars.

 

Isn't Max contracted through 2027? Or is it 2026?

A lot can happen between now and then so this amounts to nothing IMO.

 

What's a contract? (So?)

Many contracts in F1 aren't adhered to. They can be broken.

 

I don;t think any father would stick around to see his boy getting smacked week in week out.

 

2025 looks to be anticlimatic if the focus is already on 2026. If everyone is just treading water in 2025, that gives Lewis a chance for WDC #8...and he can retire as a driver.

 

Then why did he require a 2-year contract to switch teams ??

 

As I said...if he wins his 8th WDC in 2025, I don't think he'll stick around for 2026...he'll go out on the win. The 2 year contract is his back up plan.

 

It's a bif IF . I wouldn't bet on that !

 

Who is his competition? Mercedes might get lucky and Russell as fast enough, but only if Mercedes can give him the car to do it. But they've been on their back foot long enough to have gotten used to it, and will put their big push into 2026. Red Bull seems in turmoil...I don't see Max's stars are in allignment for 2025. McLaren is expected to be the strongest, but is Lando or Piastri really as good as either Ferrari driver. Ferrari has the money to spend getting Lewis his 8th WDC, and their car will be given full commitment to that end. All this, of course, IMHO.

 

Food for thought. Which would you rather watch?

How big are 2023 F1 Cars compared to 2004? | 3D Comparison
Is Ferrari 2004 FASTER than 2023 around Monza? | 3D Analysis

I don't see any racing improvement with the new hybrid cars...

 

There isn't any. The 2004 cars simply accelerate faster (same 1000 HP 200KG lighter).
The bigger cars, however, can carry more speed into corners before being slow out of the corners.

 

They didn't have DRS either(2004 cars) nor did they have DRS zones(anywhere from 2 to 3) at tracks.

 

Nice. I would guess the sf25 is at least .5 faster

 

I posted a thread when Alonso ran his R25 at Abu Dhabi in the day and then at night(with red banded Pirelli tires) in 2020 and he came within a couple of tenths of Hamiltons fastest lap in 2019 on the same track. And that's because Alonso didn't have DRS on his 2005 car.

I also have pics of the pit crew wanting to see and here the car.

Even Hamilton, during an interview while Alsono was driving the car in the background, said they should have never gotten rid of those cars.

 

I prefer and do watch the older cars more often thanks to YouTube, etc.

In addition to being hideous and sounding God awful the current cars hinder passing as well. So, they might be marginally faster but they look like ****, sound like **** and are too big to encourage passing/action. lol, great job FIA!!! They really managed to take a good thing and ruin it IMO.

If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!

 

When real racing, flat out accelerating and braking. Now lift and coast, save fuel, save engine! BS. Cars are to heavy, and to big!

 

And they did not need DRS !! either !