Haas

I think that Magnussen got very unlucky by signing with Haas. Albon was always highly rated before F1, but teaming up with Verstappen is very very tough. Kvyat destroyed Sains in GP3 and is highly regard by Franz Tost, but seems like his days are over. The other drivers I totally agree with you.

 

They did that during early COVID panic, and George Russell was cleaning house.

 

Kevin Magnussen was very lucky to have been signed by Gene Haas after 2 previous bad experiences at McLaren and Renault
There is not much wrong with Magnussen, but he needs a better car; the F1 Haas has been very tentative during the last 2 years.

 

The drivers I mentioned are “qualified,“ but that doesn’t make them “deserving,” especially when drivers like Perez and Russell are supposedly at risk, and there appears to be a lot of young talent on their ways up.

 

This is the definition of a false equivalency. Williams’s presence in the sport is not keeping other teams out.

 

I beg to differ on that.
In football (soccer), the less performing teams in the 1st division are relegated to the 2nd division, to allow the promotion of new teams to replace them.
That doesn't happen in F1 where the 10 teams actually are protected, regardless of performances.
Even worst is the requirement for any new team to lodge a $200 million deposit to enter F1.
So, I would say that the worst F1 teams may be blocking the arrival of new teams.
The system in F1 is in fact akin to a "closed shop".

 

Which ‘2nd division’ teams are yearning to move up to ‘1st division’?

 

Well, we don't know that, but maybe, like in the past, some F2 teams or others are longing to move to F1, but are blocked by the arbitrary $200 million bar.
DAMS was considering entering F1 a few years ago, and there are a couple of interested parties waiting too.
The only alternative is to buy an existing team, if there is one in financial trouble, and make an offer it cannot refuse.
All we see is teams changing hands, but not much new blood. Haas is the last team created in F1.
Jordan>Midland>Spyker>Force India>Racing Point>Aston Martin
Tyrrell>BAR>Honda>Brawn>Mercedes
Toleman>Benetton>Renault>Genii Lotus>Renault
Stewart>Jaguar>Red Bull

 

If that is not what happens in F1, why are you using it as a comparison? I’m not trying to be argumentative, but all a team has to do is cough up 200 mil and beat Williams to be protected by F1. The bar is pretty low, and Haas had no problem doing it, whereas the bar is low for driver performance, but some talented ones have difficulty finding seats.

 

My argument is that if 5 or 6 drivers are considered not worthy of being in F1 by virtue of poor performance, the same could be said of 3 or 4 teams.
Drivers get replaced, but why not teams?
I don't consider $200m "pretty low", and I think this has been raised to block any new entrant.
BTW, Haas entered F1 BEFORE the $200 million deposit was put in place; at the time it was only $25m, I believe.

 

I don’t think there are anywhere near as many teams trying to get into F1 as there are talented young drivers. For some reason, the law of supply and demand applies to teams, but not to talented drivers unless you’re Mercedes, Ferrari, or Red Bull. I have to think it’s because subpar drivers bring sponsorship money.

Good point about Haas.

 

I think Haas needs to change more than just the drivers. The Team Principal has been running their show since the beginning...he needs to go as well. I would go after Perez, bring in better management, and get designers and engineers who can think for themselves and aren't on Ferrari's payroll. And maybe offer George Russell a seat.

 

Haas wasn't eligible to receive payments from the WCC points fund for their first season. This stipulation was waived for Tracing Point, more of that Strulovitch magic.

 

That's because Haas was a new team in F1, but Racing Point was an existing team: Force India.

 

Because football teams in division 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are playing the same sport (usually in the same country), the transition from one division to another is basically training for a few weeks and buying/selling some players.

An F2 team that wins the title in November isn't going to be ready to race in F1 the following year and an F1 team that just got relegated might just stop racing.

The only way any sort of division could happen is splitting the current grid into 2. Have the Top 5 teams race in F1 A and allow more teams in F1 B.

 

You make good points.
I regret that entry to F1 has been made almost impossible, unless you buy an existing team.
That's the way the system is arranged now.

 

An existing team with new ownership and a new name. Funny how Team Stroll always seems to get the breaks?

 

The cream rises to the top.

Go Aston Martin!

 

Even faster if you pour Mercedes cream into your 2 year old cold latte...

 

The same happened many times before if you care to remember.

Maybe you want me to refresh your memory ?

I can't see why people single out Stroll for what is common practise.

He seems to have ruffled a few feathers on this forum though ...

 

Or a teammate.

 

Only two are near his level: Max and Charles and I don't think either of them will be paired with Lewis.

 

Toto Wolff would be mad to recruit any of these two next to Hamilton, IMO.

 

True. But Hamilton might call it quits by 2022. In this weekend's interview he was talking about other projects (probably some non racing related nonsense). After having won everything and broken every record I could imagine he'd loose motivation. My guess is that he'll add an 8th and final title next year and then move on to something totally different.

 

Of course, we will have to look at life-after-Hamilton very soon.
I wonder what will be the teams ranking after 2022.