[Hatari]

Originally Posted by motorworks

Firstly, I think Schumacher is well beyond the trio of Hamilton, Alonso and Seb. He won in an era where there wasnt as much single handed domination that both Hamilton and even Seb to some extent have had. Also, its widely acknowledged that Hamilton, Alonso and Seb are the best of this last decade irrespective of the championships each of them won. I think Hamilton has had an easier environment to contend with since the time he joined Mercedes. While Alonso and Seb have had to struggle with incompetent Ferraris and also the huge pressure of driving around in the red car without a championship for more than 5 years.

Seb has had a bad run in a many races over the last 2 years, but doesnt take away what he achieved, whether the 4 championships with Red Bull or the many wins and podiums he secured for Ferrari. With Alonso, his propaganda was clear, he made it clear that the Ferrari was a dog to drive and he was putting it beyond its reach, so everyone went with it, saying its the driver and stuff. But with Seb, he hasnt been critical of the team or the car, he has sort of absorbed the pressure on himself and thats probably the reason for his high profile mistakes.

Shumi's 2000-2004 years were as dominant as Lewis's Mercedes years, not to mention with No 1 status written into his and the No 2 driver's contracts.

Vettel has widely never been considered among F1's greatest, inspite of his 4 WDCs. It is because he needs a car to be setup and behaving a certain way to be quick. The last year at Red Bull where Ricciardo was quicker than him over an ENTIRE season is testament to that.

Lewis and Fernando are quick regardless of the car's characteristics, they can adjust their driving styles to suit the car, Fernando is the Master at this. His demolition of Massa/Kimi is a good example. I would put him better than even Michael's level on race pace and adaptability. On pure speed and qualifying Lewis would have a slight edge over the Spaniard.

Do read Andrea Stella's (who worked with MS at Ferrari and was Fernando's race engineer for many years, eventually following him to McLaren) earlier interviews where he compares MS & FA. Also here's a link to Pedro De La Rosa's podcast where he outlines the comparisons between the current drivers. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcas...=1000468748034

[BoneCollector]

Fernando Alonso to return to F1 in 2021 with Renault.

Link

[motorworks]

So thats the end of the road for Vettel. Journalists are just trying to make new stories everyday by linking Vettel to Racing point, but I think he is done for now. My bet is he will call it a sabbatical, just wait and watch for 2022 to unfold, may be try his hand at some other racing series and if he gets his rhythm back, he may try to knock the door once again in 2023, by when he would be just 36, a lot younger than Alonso, Kimi or even Lewis at that time. Or he may just call it a day, and enjoy life outside F1. He hasnt had a short career by any standards, nearly 12-13 years of F1, so not bad at all. People may say stuff, but when you have won 4 championships and so many races, and also made loads of money, you can be content.

[shibujp]

Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg at Haas! What say about this pairing? Steiner has already made know his willingness to consider Vettel.

Drive on,
Shibu

[Red Liner]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg at Haas! What say about this pairing? Steiner has already made know his willingness to consider Vettel.

Drive on,
Shibu

Their car is worse than Williams at the moment. Tough ask.

[avdhesh15]

Originally Posted by shibujp

Vettel and Nico Hulkenberg at Haas! What say about this pairing? Steiner has already made know his willingness to consider Vettel.

I really hope Vettel goes on a sabbatical rather than racing for a sub standard team and spoiling his legacy. Haas will be a disaster and maybe even worse than what Alonso has been doing last few years.

[myavu]

My gut feeling is that Vettel will land at Red Bull. Alexander is nowhere in the level of Max. If RB ever wants to win a CWC they need their drivers to be on podium regularly. Yes Vettel will not be No.1 but he will be just there. Vettel is very close to Dietrich Mateschitz. So anything can happen.

[da_lowrider]

So, most likely Vettel will move to Racing Point / Aston Martin. If this happens, it will be interesting to see who gets the axe. Also, it also moves Vettel into the Mercedes set-up, to an extent, making him available in case Hamilton decides to call time next year. Interesting times.

[Red Liner]

Bigger news petering in!

https://scuderiafans.com/antonello-c...eam-principal/

Antonello Coletta could replace Mattia Binotto as Ferrari Team Principal
The next race may represent a point of no return for Ferrari

[KPR]

Originally Posted by myavu

My gut feeling is that Vettel will land at Red Bull. Alexander is nowhere in the level of Max. If RB ever wants to win a CWC they need their drivers to be on podium regularly. Yes Vettel will not be No.1 but he will be just there. Vettel is very close to Dietrich Mateschitz. So anything can happen.

Poor Alex why should they sack him ! His debut podium was shattered by HAM in Brazil. Once again in Austria this year he was hit by HAM. He is coming better. I want him to be in RB instead of Vettel.

[myavu]

Originally Posted by KPR

Poor Alex why should they sack him ! His debut podium was shattered by HAM in Brazil. Once again in Austria this year he was hit by HAM.

Nonetheless the later was more of a racing incident. What matters is not a win arising from tire differences (worn hard vs new soft). That says a win is a win. But for a team's constructors championship both drivers should drive consistently on top. There should not be a gap say no more than 15 seconds between both. Else the rival team will pit for a fresh rubber and attack the lead team mate. We watched that exactly in last years Hungarian Grand Prix. Here Alex and Max are driving same cars. But on a race day there is a huge difference between them.

Back to topic. Vettel is finally landing at RP. But whom he will be replacing will be a tough choice. Dad's pampered son or Sergio who brings millions of $s from Mexican sponsors.

[rahulcmoulee]

Originally Posted by KPR

Poor Alex why should they sack him ! His debut podium was shattered by HAM in Brazil. Once again in Austria this year he was hit by HAM. He is coming better. I want him to be in RB instead of Vettel.

Albon has never been in those podium places because of pure pace. It has always been because of a safety car closing the field together and having fresher tyres. Pace wise he was nearly a second a lap slower than Max in the last race while Max had wing damage. He really needs to up his game if he wishes to keep his seat for the next season.

[motorworks]

Originally Posted by rahulcmoulee

Albon has never been in those podium places because of pure pace. It has always been because of a safety car closing the field together and having fresher tyres. Pace wise he was nearly a second a lap slower than Max in the last race while Max had wing damage. He really needs to up his game if he wishes to keep his seat for the next season.

Although RBR seem to state to the outside world that they are backing Albon, im not sure for how long. He doesnt seem to have the raw pace like Max, thats a given and not many people are actually going to match Max, but he has to be in the mix, like if Max is 2nd or 3rd, he has to be a lot closer to him so that the team can defend Max from Bottas or the others. The expectation is also that if Max is going to be in the top3, then Albon should be by default just one place behind Max and in touching distance.

And this probably proves how good Ricciardo was, whatever you say of him, he was always in touching distance of Max. I feel Ferrari have made a mistake by letting go off the opportunity to sign Ricciardo.

Anyway, RBR has a decision to make. They have already tried Gasly and Kvyat, they woudlnt want to opt for older drivers like Perez or Hulkenberg, and the others who are good, like Leclerc, Ricciardo are all not available. Although it sounds ridiculous now, I think they should give Seb a two year deal. He wouldnt beat Max outright, but he will stay close and he will feel a lot less under pressure at the RBR environment. But this is not going to happen and most likely RBR would give Albon a one year contract until 2022 to see how things change.

[akash_v12]

Valtteri Bottas will continue driving for Mercedes-AMG F1 in 2021 having just signed a contract with them.

More Information Here

[shibujp]

Originally Posted by akash_v12

Valtteri Bottas will continue driving for Mercedes-AMG F1 in 2021 having just signed a contract with them.

And Hamilton has this to say:

“Consistency is always a good thing for a team, and Valtteri has had such a positive influence on the team over these five years,” said Hamilton. “He’s trustworthy and does an incredible job on the track, and is a great teammate to all the people within the team.

Translation : It's tough to find such a perfect sucker for this job!

Drive on,
Shibu