2018/2019 Silly season

Well, there's no real mistery..they have to seats to sell, they will try to get the ebst combo betwen biggest wallet/talent....first part is the most important of course!

 

They look like losing the plot.

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/138549/vandoorne-doubters-judge-drivers-too-quickly - I think he makes a fair point here, yet he was never a threat to FA and by measure of team mate competition was not inspiring.

McLaren outcast Stoffel Vandoorne says doubters are too quick to pass judgment on Formula 1 drivers from one race to another.

Vandoorne will lose his McLaren seat in 2019 to rookie Lando Norris, on the heels of two seasons in which the Belgian has struggled to match the performances of his two-time world champion team-mate Fernando Alonso.


That troubled spell has been in sharp contrast to Vandoorne's glowing junior single-seater CV and his impressive F1 debut as stand-in for Alonso in the Bahrain Grand Prix two years ago.

Speaking during the Italian GP weekend, before the McLaren 2019 announcement was made, Vandoorne said: "I know my talent, what I've done in the previous series and I don't have any doubt on myself.

"I think it's maybe more people around that have any doubts, and you know how it goes sometimes.

"You have one bad weekend and suddenly you're the worst driver on the grid, and the next day you have a great race and you're the superstar."

Vandoorne's options to remain in F1 are hazy, although McLaren CEO Zak Brown has suggested he would be a perfect fit for Red Bull's junior team Toro Rosso.

 

https://www.planetf1.com/news/kvyat-return-set-to-be-confirmed-at-sochi/

 

https://www.planetf1.com/news/wehrlein-poised-for-return-with-toro-rosso/

 

Torpedo plus Werewolf...what a dream team.

 

It is...if what you want is money!

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/138866/todt-is-kvyat-manager-tipped-for-f1-return

Nicolas Todt's All Road Management Company is now steering the career of Daniil Kvyat, with the driver tipped to make a Formula 1 return with Toro Rosso in 2019.

Kvyat left the Red Bull camp after last year's United States GP, and has spent 2018 as a simulator and test driver for Ferrari.

With Pierre Gasly's promotion to Red Bull and Brendon Hartley's uncertain future, Red Bull has been left with a lack of options for its junior team.

Although Kvyat's return to Toro Rosso has yet to be confirmed, paddock sources have suggested that the deal has been done for some time, and that he has already wound down his Ferrari duties in anticipation of the move.

"I have managed Daniil's racing career for the last few months," Todt told Autosport. "I'm very keen to help a talent like him, who in my opinion has unfinished business in F1."

Red Bull believes Kvyat has gained from being outside of the programme, with Todt playing a role in "rehabilitating" him after the frustration he faced when he was moved from Red Bull to Toro Rosso ahead of his F1 exit.

"I would say he is more mature, but we are not in a hurry with Toro Rosso," Helmut Marko told Autosport recently. "We will solve our driver problems. We have a big list of names, and we'll see."

 

Vandoorne to IndyCar with Coyne . . . Maybe Ocon will go there?? A very early and quite speculative article

https://www.autosport.com/indycar/news/138879/coyne-approaches-vandoorne-over-2019-drive

 

Why can't Ocon find a F1 ride?

 

Try this re Ocon & F1: https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/19985

 

Croft to get sacked by SkySports. Webber "possible" candidate.

 

Liberty eyes adding Q4 to qualifying

SEPTEMBER 25, 2018


Liberty Media could be looking at adding another segment to the current 'knockout'-style qualifying format.

Auto Motor und Sport reports that under consideration is the addition of a 'Q4' segment in order to add excitement to the Saturday session that determines the grid order.

Each of the new Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4 segments would be shorter in duration, with fewer cars eliminated.

"We want qualifying to be less predictable, so that it is more likely that the strongest cars can end up in the 'wrong' positions," explained F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn.

"Perhaps by reducing the number of laps each driver can do in each segment, the teams will not be able to optimise everything as they are able to currently," he added.

"But we will act very cautiously, because the current format is popular and successful," Brawn said.

 

Giovinazzi to partner Kimi, great news!

 

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/138945/sauber-signs-giovinazzi-for-2019-f1-season

 

Is there a back story there? I did not think Croft was bad.

 

here's the article

David Croft to be sacked by Sky Sports, reports Joe Saward

https://thesportsrush.com/david-croft-to-be-sacked-by-sky-sports-reports-joe-saward/

 

I am more happy to see the Ikea wardrobe going out than Giovanazzi coming in! Ericsson was such a useless tool!

 

Agreed,too much at stake now in F1 to have any journeyman drivers keeping the seats warm.

So Stubble also gone,Hartley on his last legs now i think.who's next to get the chop? Grosjean?

Then we have Latifi doing FP1 for ''Force India'' this guys dad is even 'bigger' than Stroll!

 

Giovinazzi - hardly impressive when he was on track in a race replacing Wehrlein.

Maybe he is better now. This only shows Alfa is the 'Toro' for Ferrari and not much else.

 

What so good about him?

 

Ericsson has proven useless. Giovinazzi was promising pre-F1, the weekend he had to replace Wehrlein on extremely short notice (only had P3 to get used to the track) he qualified well and the race went well, too. Why shouldn't he get a chance?

 

Giovanazzi did 3 years in F3 and one in GP2.
He had some wins, but hasn't won a championship.
That's not very convincing compared to other graduates from F3 and GP2 from the past.
I don't think he will be that good in F1, but I guess he will be OK in a second rate team like Sauber.

 

He's at Sauber because he's Italian.