Motosport General discussion tread --- Formula1, MotoGP, WTCC, ETCC, DTM.....

[coinlocket$]

Kimi Antonelli is rumored to be the next Mercedes driver in 2025

He is now 17 but a progedy.

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[FanEagle]

Kimi Antonelli is a big big doubt, because he is so young. Not that it doesn't pan out, Max was so young when he started as well. By the time Hamilton leaves, Kimi will be 18 years old and he would be having one season at f2 with one of the best ever teams under his belt, could even end up winning the title considering Prema always gets a good car out every year, so that would definitely make sense.

However, when you are getting a young driver like that, you are risking the possibility that they may not pan out. Whereas, we have so many great talents at f2 that is getting overlooked, I feel like they should be getting some attention as well, I know that there are only limited seats at f1, but f2 should be looked at more with how some of the drivers are not good at all for f1.

[LTU_btc]

I would say Horner looks EXACTLY like the type of boss you wouldn't want to have that does mobbing. I mean he looks quite intense and quite arrogant and he thinks he knows it all because he holds the power. So, if some smaller level employee did something he didn't like, he probably "abused" as in like yelled and threw stuff and so forth.

This is still a quite terrible thing and yet it is so normalized in society that we do not see that as a problem, we just warn him and move on and he tries to control himself a bit more, loses himself a bit again time to time but tries to be better. It is of course not as terrible as abuse in other sense, that would be disgusting, but I really doubt that would be the case, it is just bullying because he is a real bully, we can see that.

I'm very sceptical about this kind of stuff, things like #meToo and similar. Nowadays it's easy to ruin someone's reputation, and even if you're innocent, it still leaves mark in your reputation.
If it wasn't sexual harassment, it would be interesting to know what exactly was that "controlling beheaviour". Not defending Horner and not saying that boss can do whatever he wants and whatever he likes to his employes. But in general, some people nowadays are soft like snowflakes and you can't tell anything to them.
It looked that everything goes almost perfect for Red Bull, it would be shame if team will collapse in this way.

[JariKriting]

Big days ahead.

Mercedes, Ferrari and RBR will be presented in the next 4 days.

More black cars?

Mercedes is the weakest team about the speed of the car and about the progress of the development of the car. yes, if you only get the top 3 constructors at the end of the season it's easy. but if the drivers' world champion or the constructors' world champion is very unlikely to happen for Mercedes with a slow car.

[Koal-84]

The MotoGP tests in Sepang have also come to an end, no surprise the Ducatis are ahead of the Aprilias, Bagnaia has set an absolute new lap record with 1:56.682, and was about 8 tenths faster than the last pole position of 2023.

https://www.motogp.com/de/gp-results/2024/my2/motogp/fp3/classification

A big surprise for me was Yamaha's top speed, apparently they found something with the engine after all.

[Distraction]

Aaand Mercedes have also introduced their 2024 car! 

Truthfully I wasn't expecting the colors to be like its old version. I mean I really loved the full black design so this was a bit of a disappointment for me.    But it doesn't still look bad of course. The car still looks gorgeous.

Red Bull are going to introduce their car tomorrow. I guess there wouldn't be a huge change in their usual design but let's see.

[swogerino]

Aaand Mercedes have also introduced their 2024 car! 

Truthfully I wasn't expecting the colors to be like its old version. I mean I really loved the full black design so this was a bit of a disappointment for me.    But it doesn't still look bad of course. The car still looks gorgeous.

Red Bull are going to introduce their car tomorrow. I guess there wouldn't be a huge change in their usual design but let's see.

To me it looks great the Mercedes,most probably they got back to their old design because they want to give that feeling of thos glorious days to Hamilton which will be in his final season at Mercedes.The liveries of all cars so far look beautiful yet I look more forward to the testing days before the race start in the end of February as they can give us an overview about car performances.

[tokeweed]

Lol don't think so.  They had one of the best CTO's in F1 in Binotto but what they lacked was good leadership and a good strategist.  Horner could bring it and if Newey tags along with him and with Hamilton now with the team..?  Omg, they def will win titles and I'm here for it.  It's been a while since that first Verstappen win.  I want to see some excitement back in F1 again. 

And is it just me or is it really in the realms of possbility that Vettel will be Red Bull's next team principal?  There were some signs he was going to be while he was driving for them.  He was always known to be in the garage with the engineers or with Horner trying to learn more about the ins and outs of the team.

RBR is stong cause of Newey, he is the Messi of the F1.

True...  But that doesn't take away anything from Horner as one of the best team principals the sport has ever seen or Verstappen is one of the best drivers we've ever seen drive an F1 car.  Remember that it didn't just take Newey to win podiums and championships...  It took the whole team to do it.  I doubt Newey would get the same accolades if the driver and the team principal weren't so good.  :/

F1 is a team sport more than it's let on because all we see most of the time are the drivers and all the cameras are mostly pointed at the race.

[Davian144]

The MotoGP tests in Sepang have also come to an end, no surprise the Ducatis are ahead of the Aprilias, Bagnaia has set an absolute new lap record with 1:56.682, and was about 8 tenths faster than the last pole position of 2023.

The Ducati Gp24 for this season seems to be much better than last year's motorbike so I don't feel surprised if Bagnaia was able to set a time record like that at the Sepang test some time ago. However, everyone needs to see how things develop in Qatar because the inaugural MotoGP Series for this season is getting closer.

A big surprise for me was Yamaha's top speed, apparently they found something with the engine after all.

I was also surprised by the top speed recorded by the Yamaha factory at the Sepang test some time ago, but basically Yamaha still has to improve more for this season and cannot be happy with the top speed score. The reason is that Ducati will definitely make its motorbike speed much better in Qatar later, so Yamaha and other manufacturers still have to work hard before the season starts.

[Koal-84]

Kimi Antonelli is rumored to be the next Mercedes driver in 2025

He is now 17 but a progedy.

It would be a big risk for Mercedes to give a 17-year-old a place in the works team. What do you think about the possibility of the 17 year old being parked at Williams in the first season, but don't really know which Williams driver could play a role at Mercedes in the meantime?

[Distraction]

To me it looks great the Mercedes,most probably they got back to their old design because they want to give that feeling of thos glorious days to Hamilton which will be in his final season at Mercedes.The liveries of all cars so far look beautiful yet I look more forward to the testing days before the race start in the end of February as they can give us an overview about car performances.

Yeah they must have wanted to bring back the old days to minds. But when it comes to reality I'm not much expectant from Mercedes.    I mean a championship race. Because probably Red Bull domination will continue to be seen during 2024 and 2025 season both. Mercedes' direct opponents are Ferrari and McLaren for now.

As I have mentioned McLaren do you think they will be able to be more competitive this season? I would really like them joining the race for the 2nd position in constructor standings. 

[swogerino]

To me it looks great the Mercedes,most probably they got back to their old design because they want to give that feeling of thos glorious days to Hamilton which will be in his final season at Mercedes.The liveries of all cars so far look beautiful yet I look more forward to the testing days before the race start in the end of February as they can give us an overview about car performances.

Yeah they must have wanted to bring back the old days to minds. But when it comes to reality I'm not much expectant from Mercedes.    I mean a championship race. Because probably Red Bull domination will continue to be seen during 2024 and 2025 season both. Mercedes' direct opponents are Ferrari and McLaren for now.

As I have mentioned McLaren do you think they will be able to be more competitive this season? I would really like them joining the race for the 2nd position in constructor standings. 

I think if they at McLaren capitalize well from their data of the end of last season and improved them further they can even have a chance to fight for winning races and why not give us a good fight with Redbull so the races can be more beautiful to watch.

I also think the same for Mercedes as they did not show anything at all during the last season so I doubt they have found all this improvement to the car starting from there,it simply does not make sense.

[tokeweed]

Kimi Antonelli is rumored to be the next Mercedes driver in 2025

He is now 17 but a progedy.

It would be a big risk for Mercedes to give a 17-year-old a place in the works team. What do you think about the possibility of the 17 year old being parked at Williams in the first season, but don't really know which Williams driver could play a role at Mercedes in the meantime?

Yup def a risk.  But if he's really a prodigy and they're willing to put up with the recklessness of youth then I couldn't see why not.  Red Bull did it with Verstappen and he got himself in somewhat a lot of dicey spots during his younger years as a driver.  But then look at him now, he turned into one of the best drivers F1 has ever seen.

But the pure fan in me wants to see either Alonso or the return of Vettel to take the second drive in Mercedes.

[Koal-84]

The Ducati Gp24 for this season seems to be much better than last year's motorbike so I don't feel surprised if Bagnaia was able to set a time record like that at the Sepang test some time ago. However, everyone needs to see how things develop in Qatar because the inaugural MotoGP Series for this season is getting closer.

It really looks like Ducati have not tried to revolutionise the bike this time, as they have sometimes done in previous years, but have improved a very good bike in detail, so it will be a very difficult season for the non-Ducati riders to keep up with the Ducati drivers.

I was also surprised by the top speed recorded by the Yamaha factory at the Sepang test some time ago, but basically Yamaha still has to improve more for this season and cannot be happy with the top speed score. The reason is that Ducati will definitely make its motorbike speed much better in Qatar later, so Yamaha and other manufacturers still have to work hard before the season starts.

It might not be enough for Yamaha to fight with Ducati at the front. But it's possible that they have more chances than last year against KTM or Aprilia.

[Distraction]

By the way Red Bull's car in 2024 is going to be as above. You can see the differences between the new season and last season too. There aren't many differences though.  

The sidepod design has some differences for example. Other than that the colors are the same. There is only some change with the placement of sponsors and that's all.

It looks like the biggest change among top teams was made by Mercedes as their colors are different now. But when it comes to performance probably this will be another year with Red Bull's easy championship.  

[Koal-84]

Yup def a risk.  But if he's really a prodigy and they're willing to put up with the recklessness of youth then I couldn't see why not.  Red Bull did it with Verstappen and he got himself in somewhat a lot of dicey spots during his younger years as a driver.  But then look at him now, he turned into one of the best drivers F1 has ever seen.

But the pure fan in me wants to see either Alonso or the return of Vettel to take the second drive in Mercedes.

But Verstappen was also in the Junior RedBull Team Toro Rosso for two years before RedBull in 2015 and 2016, so I think it's much easier for a young driver to find his way into Formula 1 because the pressure from the team and the expectations are lower.

Personally, I would like Noris at Mercedes, but McLaren will have a lot against that.

[tokeweed]

^  Oh right...  Didn't think about that one.  So yeah Red Bull has a way of easing young drivers in before giving them a drive in the senior team.  Less pressure and more development for the driver.  Kinda like what they're doing to Ricciardo.  He's doing the process all over again but as an older driver.  :/

And isn't already Norris tied down with a long term contract with McLaren that ends on 2027 or something?  I think the guys here itt has a ball laughing about it a couple of years ago for making such a somewhat dumb decision.

[joniboini]

And isn't already Norris tied down with a long term contract with McLaren that ends on 2027 or something?  I think the guys here itt has a ball laughing about it a couple of years ago for making such a somewhat dumb decision.

The latest news that I can find seems to suggest he's tied until the end of 2026 at least, so who knows how long exactly the contract is? Not surprised if he extends his contract if his seasons are enjoyable[1]. His decision faces some criticism, or at least questions from analysts though. Some wonder why he's in a rush to renew his contract instead of waiting for a year or so to make sure he gets the best offer, but most of them are only speculation[2]. I'd say he's probably a little bit more than happy with his situation so making a new one is not a big deal. Who knows.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/68108689
[2] https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-mclaren-contract-red-bull-mercedes-options

[püsür]

The scuderia ferrari 24 looks good. In fact, it is definitely one of the best 2 vehicles at the moment. The weight problem has been seriously solved and the vehicle paint has not been avoided. If another dominance in the size of the 2023 season does not come, which is already very difficult to happen again, 4-5 races can be won with this car. I hope for leclerc to be second in the championship. maybe even the teams championship can be won. Perez cannot maintain his stability in a hotter competition in competition with pilots such as hamilton, leclerc, sainz, russell, norris. So maybe a team other than red bull can win the teams championship. Ferrari seems the most likely in this case.

[swogerino]

And isn't already Norris tied down with a long term contract with McLaren that ends on 2027 or something?  I think the guys here itt has a ball laughing about it a couple of years ago for making such a somewhat dumb decision.

The latest news that I can find seems to suggest he's tied until the end of 2026 at least, so who knows how long exactly the contract is? Not surprised if he extends his contract if his seasons are enjoyable[1]. His decision faces some criticism, or at least questions from analysts though. Some wonder why he's in a rush to renew his contract instead of waiting for a year or so to make sure he gets the best offer, but most of them are only speculation[2]. I'd say he's probably a little bit more than happy with his situation so making a new one is not a big deal. Who knows.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/68108689
[2] https://www.planetf1.com/news/lando-norris-mclaren-contract-red-bull-mercedes-options

He is happy with how things progressed at the end of the last season for McLaren and I am sure now that he is looking forward to what further improvements McLaren has made to their car.If I were him I would also not care for other offers at the moment and would dream about a real possible first win which I am sure is his greatest first dream looking to fulfill with McLaren.I am sure if such thing happens the renewal will come in no time.