2018/2019 Silly season

Yes. Nice one. Although Daniel Ricciardo has said time and again that his decision will be taken on one consideration only: the competitiveness of the car.
So, betting on McLaren might be even more audacious than betting on Honda...

Rgds

 

It's a hell of a gamble, which ever way.
At McLaren-Renault, the chassis is far from being top notch.
At Red Bull-Honda, the engine is still unknown quantity.

But at McLaren, Ricciardo would be Number One, probably, and it would be up to him to motivate the team to work for him to develop a winning car. We know about the engine; it can win (from time to time).

At Red Bull, Max is the preferred choice, and in spite of a very good chassis (the best), adopting the Honda unit is a bit of a step backwards, for the moment.

But what happened to the Ferrari and Mercedes opportunities the journos speculated on?

 

How much were McLaren paying Alonso? Ricciardo should be offended.

 

I heard in the region of $30M, when Honda was still on board.

 

I understand, from what I read in "Motorsport Magazine" under the pen of Mark Hughes, that Ferrari and Ricciardo have signed an option that expires on June 30th, and it seems (seems...) that the option is at Ferrari's free initiative: they are supposed to be paying him some money during the period of time between the signing and the option's expiration, this for him not to sign anywhere else. If Ferrari doesn't "close the option" by offering him a firm contract before June 30th, then he will be "his own free man" after that date.
Rgds

 

They are suggesting Ricciardo has a Renault offer too and McLaren are looking at Sainz if he says no

 

I believe that Red Bull has an option on Sainz and can recall him if needed.

 

I predict:
Leclerc will replace Raikkonen at Ferrari (I don't think they will keep Raikkonen and I think they will decide Ricciardo might destabilize the team whereas Leclerc is looking good at Sauber and could be the man to lead the team in the future).

Bottas is doing just enough to stay at Mercedes alongside Hamilton

Ricciardo will stay at Red Bull as will Newey. I can't see Newey deciding that Renault would be a good change for him although if he did then I could see Ricciardo going there too.

I expect Alonso will stop F1 as I don't think he really has faith in McLaren doing very much better next year than this and I can't see any other options for him although, and I haven't see it suggested anywhere, I wouldn't be totally shocked if he ended up at Renault for a last fling. Having said that, I don't think he wants to stop and that he would continue if he thought he could get himself a good enough car. I suppose that would leave McLaren with Vandoorne and Norris which doesn't seem like a very McLaren-ish combination whereas Ricciardo / Norris (established star plus rookie) much more clearly fits with where McLaren see themselves - but I don't see Ricciardo going there and who else is available (and willing)?

Jonathan

 

I could see Alonso taking one last shot, Renault might be the only possibility. He will need to take a significant pay cut and perhaps would race on a bonus system for points scored. It worked for Nelson Piquet, Sr. in his last season.

 

20mil per season is a nice package when you have no titles. I think I could get a place in Monaco for that and still eat out on occasion

 

Ricciardo says moving to a team like McLaren or Renault and building it around him Hamilton/Mercedes-style has "some appeal" for his F1 future.

 

Carlos Goshn, Renault's CEO, seems to have ruled that out a few days ago. He said that Renault's aim is to come back to the top in 2020 on a "controled budget", which means no silly expenses to hire a big star driver.
Rgds

 

Or in other words, "I've got all those other options so Red Bull need to pay more to keep me".

Maybe. Or maybe it means "Alonso would be an option if we can agree on not too silly a fee for him".

 

Goshn himself has one of the highest salaries in France, perhaps even the highest. Said to be in the region of 15 million Euros, not taking into account what he gets from Nissan. The State still has a 15% stake in the company, and the State representative at the board is said to choke each year when the remuneration is voted. So his remark about a "controled budget" should be taken with a pinch of salt..
Perhaps he should give some to Fernando?
Rgds

 

In some teams, the drivers retainers are not part of the operating budget account, but are from another account.
What drivers get is often influenced by the sponsors. The negotiations are between the 3 parties team-sponsors-drivers.
In other teams, the sponsors have a say in who gets recruited to drive.
Sometime the main sponsor can decide one driver, as part of its contract with the team.
The drivers' market is very complex.

 

According to motorsport, Leclerc is the favorite for the second Ferrari seat next year.

 

Ferrari are report to not want Ricci due to cost when considering Vettel's salary

 

Maybe that the reason they put forward.

But I can see another: Vettel and Ricciardo used to be team mates at Red Bull, etc...

 

As understudy to Number One Vettel; that makes sense.

 

Sergio is financially driven. This reason has merit given the corporate structure Ferrari live under now.

 

He dominated Vettel. Hulk is not nearly as good either. Ricci would do well against Hulk. Hulk is no Ricci at all.

 

Will Ferrari move LeClerc early and let him drive a Ferrari this year???

 

Autosport has the story this morning, which means it is serious. The decision is not yet taken, but would be the prefered option. Leclerc would be hired starting in 2019, not before. Ricciardo with Vettel would be too much of salary expenses.
Rgds