Senna did the same thing with Williams in the early 1990s and 2 years later was offered the ride he coveted, mostly due to Williams poor treatment of its drivers. $20-$30 million per driver does make a dent in the cost cap of $150 million or less that is being pushed to allow F1 to survive. Any of the top drivers would win the world championship in the Mercedes which has been the most dominant team and cars in F1 history. Toto knows this, thus his remarks yesterday to the press about focusing on resigning his existing drivers, but that Seb would have to be considered. It may all be moot with the devastation that COVID is taking on the major auto manufacturers, I can easily see Mercedes, Renault being forced to leave and Haas and Williams not coming back due to economic reasons.
newsflash: no one cares about bad attitude when clutching the wdc trophy, just like no one cares how ugly the car is as long as it’s a winner.
An interesting 'end around' of the cap would be a couple of extra LaFerrari replacement car very early model builds by Ferrari that each driver could flip for a tidy profit...
As far as I know, the retainers paid to the drivers, and the wages of the top 3 team executives would not be included in the proposed budget cap. For Red Bull Racing, for example, the money paid to Verstappen, Albon, Horner, Newey and Marko would not be included. That must be not far from $100 million. Same for the other teams, of course.
. He’d do a much better job than the last Canadian we had working for the Italians.... Plus no challenge to Eclair. Mmmmm, all those pay driver $trolloons......Is Hulk’s ‘27’ available ?
Senna never drove for free. Driver's salaries are excluded from cost caps. I do not want an employee who works for me for free. You get what you pay for, and you have liability. Anyone who does not believe they are worth paying is not someone I want working for me. Including a talented F1 driver.
Thank you for clarifying. I was wondering about this and thought it may be contributing to Vettels one year renewal only; and whether Merc could still afford Lewis given what development costs are. Thought that might be part of his impetus to retire and hang out with the Kardashians full time.
I think Sainz is a great grab. He drove very well at McLaren last year and pulled off some clutch passes when needed. He seems very focused on improving his race craft. I think he and LeClerc could pair well. Danny Ric didn't get along with having another #1 driver on the team. Why would that be any different at Ferrari? He's also made some very silly mistakes at Renault. I like him, but signing him seems like a recipe for the same fireworks they have right now.
Every one has a price Imagine Paps offering $500 mio to put his boy in the hot seat ? I think Ferrari would at least blink,eyebrows raised a tad
Vettels reputation will forever be scared from being whipped by 2 much younger and less experienced teammates
Leclerc is not the problem i guess Our ability to produce a competitive car is the only question mark
Seriously, I would prefer to see Hulkenberg or Perez at Ferrari than Sainz. Ferrari should either take a top driver such as Ricciardo or Hamilton, or one that will be a clear number two to Leclerc. Sainz was trashed by Kyviat on GP3 and trashed by Verstappen on Toro Rosso. If he joins Ferrari, he will do whatever it takes to defeat Leclerc. If that's what Ferrari wants, someone to push Leclerc, at least take Ricciardo.
I think Ferrari is clearly sold on Leclerc. I think he is alongside Verstappen as the next gen best drivers. Ricciardo may have been a better option for Ferrari, but seriously he is at that point in his career where he won't screw around playing anyone's back-up. He wants to be a team lead and WDC. I think Sainz is a good complimentary driver to Charles...he was competitive with Max at STR and did well with McLaren last year. He's just not that top step driver who will stoke tensions within the team though. On another note, I REALLY wish things had worked out for Seb. He arrived with such promise and departs in shambles, possibly retiring at 32 years old (should be his prime years). The red mist issues and erratic driving in close quarters was always there (even at RBR), but in the fastest car he had the ability to get out front and never look back. Now, he is completely mistake prone due to the pressure of underperforming. He even spun out in the eSports Grand Prix a couple of weeks ago. I hope he comes back to a lesser team with less pressure and goes out on the right terms.
Nice post. Fully agree. Ricci is now impatient potentially to make a mark in a top team such as Ferrari. Not bringing him is good for the team at Ferrari. Sainz is possibly like Bottas and would work well with the team and Charles............so we hope. I think Seb counted on Ferrari providing him a car that he liked first for him...........they did not. New press stating Ferrari knew he was not as fast as FA vs Kimi. So we have the results that show that and his lack of adaptability to a car that is less than perfect for his style. Much like Kimi and nothing again like FA. With Vettel vs FA the team took a large step back in capability. The car did get better - Seb did not. I have no sympathy as he seemed unable to admit his issues until very very late and made very very stupid new F1 driver errors as well. Seb was great in a perfect for him car, and mid pack potentially in terms of overall talent vs FA and others. Like most drivers, title winning cars are a must. He lacked the emotion control and adaptability to really drive a less than perfect car and drove himself into errors almost routinely. The rose or Red Bull colored sun glasses are off. He appears to be a bit less than a true 4 WDC would be in stature.