Ghasly is beyond terrible - which is a sad thing to say as last season he showed promise. At this point, he is so bad, his delta to Max is worse than Stroll's delta to Perez - and that's saying something. RB have to act, there is absolutely no point keeping him. Only problem - who to replace him with? TR have two pretty average contenders at this point, so that's not a good source of a superior candidate. Remember, Gasly shone last year in TR... so the benchmarks can be deceptive. Albon is too new, and before coming into F1 he was considered the worst of this years F1 Rookies based on his GP2 history. Kvyat was demoted from RB for performing to a similar standard as Ghasly when he had his turn in the seat, so he's not exactly a major leap forward, or even a minor one. So, given the lack of available talent, what can they do? Hulk is an option for sure and I think he's under rated. Give him a performing car, and he could get the job done, but he's being outshone by Ricci, so that's a step backwards. Ocon is Totos boy and also a relative rookie who makes poor judgement calls in races (witness last years bumper cars with Perez for evidence), so he's not a strong contender. Which can only mean one thing... Bring back Alonso!!!! Honda would love that!!! (I kid, I kid...).
Well, there is the story of Ferdinand the Bull, so Fernando at Red Bull kind of has a ring to it. Sent from my Nexus 6 using FerrariChat.com mobile app
Yes I too feel Albon needs more experience, but Gasly at the same time has to go...Kvyat has the experience but isn't (sadly) setting the world on fire, either. Renault will make RBR pay heavy for Hulk. All that said...Norris drives like a seasoned driver and has the same amount of experience as Albon. Unless Hulk has a performance clause that's triggered by summer break, maybe they'll have to go Albon?
True. But comparing Gasly last year to Albon this year, that feels like a sideways step rather than a step ahead. Given that choice, I can see them sticking with Gasly. The reality is that RB are going to finish 3rd regardless of what they decide to do with Gasly, so may as well save the fees of a mid season driver change and search for a better driver for 2020.
Yep that's it really. No hope of catching 2nd and unlikely to lose 3rd. I just checked and Hulkenberg's contract expires by the end of the year. Don't be surprised to see a swap announced soon for 2020. Hulk and Max get on well and are frequently seen chatting together.
Ocon is another Alonso in the making; an arrogant character with poor communication skills who spoils the atmosphere wherever he goes. He didn't leave happy memories among the staff at Force India, and they were quite glad to see the back of him. Toto Wolff doesn't know what to do with him, it seems.
true. But it's unlikely they'll have a world beater next year so they really do need a driver they can rely on. I've no idea what the performance clause is in Ricciardo's contract, but I'm pretty sure where they are now triggers the clause! Could he come back?
Ricciardo would have to accept a massive drop in salary he he was to rejoin Red Bull. Only Adrian Newey gets that kind of money !! Also, I cannot see Ricciardo going back to be team mate with Verstappen ever again.
Ricciardo just wants a fast car. I do think it's more likely he'll end up at Ferrari, however. Ric and Max appear to be on good terms still so it *could* happen.
Maybe, but Horner and Marko have thrown their weight behind Verstappen to be the flag-bearer of Red Bull. I think it was one of the reasons Ricciardo left.
I don't think Verstappen got preferential treatment yet, not until the point where Ricciardo announced he was leaving, anyways. true, but Ricciardo comes from a very well off family so I'd think a competitive car ranks higher for him rather than a fat salary at this moment. For sure he won't go broke anytime soon, he's on 2 years 30m now, and was raking in around 10m per season at Red Bull. So he'll have 100 or so million in the bank before long.
I think later than that...for sure an unenjoyable situation for both, but after his win in Monaco he never beat Max again.
I wouldn' bet on that. A title would be elusive at best, but cashing on his reputation is a good choice. "A bird in the hand, is better tha 2 in the bush", as the proverb goes.
Any chance of Buemi coming back ,after all he is the reserve driver since many years. George Russell might be tempted away from Williams ,although he is of course one of Toto's boys like Ocon, but not many seats available for now if Bottas stays on again.
Russell same problem as Albon...lack of experience. Would imagine they'd prefer their own boys in the top seat then. Buemi lack of experience with the pirelli's will put a big doubt on it IMO. Same goes for Vergne.
I realize that Bottas is out of contract at the end of the season. If dropped by Mercedes where would he go, Renault or Haas? There wouldn't be many choices for him.
If (big IF) they want to replace him, Mercedes may try to fit Bottas in one of their client teams perhaps ? Point Racing or back to Williams ... I think he is the ideal Partner for Hamilton though.
This is supposedly untrue. https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/as5ixu/daniel_ricciardos_financial_background/