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

[tokeweed]

According to last rumors and speculation we have the following situation.

Adring Newey is se to join Aston Martin for a contract of 100m €.
In 2026 Verstappen will may join the team.

Remember that in 2026 we will have a new revolution of cars so it will be a "fresh" start for everyone, once again.

Yeah Newey being offered 100m GBP by Aston is already known and we also know that Newey could talk a year off and go on a sabbatical.  There are also talks swirling around that Newey was interested in Ferrari for less money but the problem is Ferrari won't give him 100% control of the technical side of the team.  :-/  Newey to Ferrari would've been sweet.

As for the fresh start on 2026, I think Ferrari will be ahead of the pack in terms of engine power.  No good reason why, except that Lewis Hamilton has a knack for transferring to the best F1 team after major rule changes. 

[Distraction]

^  Verstappen's contract has a clause that he has an option to leave Red Bull if the team can't give him a car that could win podiums.  And we have Toto Wolff looking like he's going after Verstappen...  I guess a possible destination for Verstappen would be a Mercedes?  That would depend if they could offer him a better car.

As for Horner, that's just what I think.  But Ferrari did give him an offer a couple of years back after they gave Binotto the sack.  Pretty sure they're interested in Horner.

And I don't think Newey is taking any job after this season.  I think he'll take a year off.

Toto Wolff wants Verstappen so bad. He is ready to express his admiration to Verstappen at every opportunity.    It wouldn't be bad to see him driving for Mercedes. Russell and Verstappen in the same team. Sounds interesting. Their engine for 2026 season is said to be competitive. But we don't know much about how strong the car would be in general.

I have heard Vasseur blocked the way for Newey to join Ferrari. If it is true then I would rather see Horner as the new boss. Last, I feel like Newey will sign for a team rather than taking a year off. But we will see. 

[coinlocket$]

Turned out that in the Sainz contract he will have a release clause.
The clause will enable him to move to a bigger team.
The team principal tried to cool down the situation but it went viral very quickly.

So for the next year we will have Sainz and Albon on the am for sure, with a Williams making a big project for 2026.

But will Sainz be on the team on 2026? I doubt.

[swogerino]

Turned out that in the Sainz contract he will have a release clause.
The clause will enable him to move to a bigger team.
The team principal tried to cool down the situation but it went viral very quickly.

So for the next year we will have Sainz and Albon on the am for sure, with a Williams making a big project for 2026.

But will Sainz be on the team on 2026? I doubt.

He is supposed to join Audi in 2026 as there are a lot of voice circulating about his career to have such a move.He is a great driver and surely he has beat several times Leclerc in the head 2 head battles that they have had so far but Ferrari insists on Leclerc from many years now.For 2025 I also think he will not move anywhere as I doubt a bigger team will have a seat available for him for the 2025 unless some more drama happens than it already happened in 2024 at Redbull.

One thing is sure,this is a really boring weekend and we have another one like that before finally going back to 25 August when racing will be back,can't wait for that time as weekends without F1 are extremely boring.

[FanEagle]

According to last rumors and speculation we have the following situation.

Adring Newey is se to join Aston Martin for a contract of 100m €.
In 2026 Verstappen will may join the team.

Remember that in 2026 we will have a new revolution of cars so it will be a "fresh" start for everyone, once again.

Yeah Newey being offered 100m GBP by Aston is already known and we also know that Newey could talk a year off and go on a sabbatical.  There are also talks swirling around that Newey was interested in Ferrari for less money but the problem is Ferrari won't give him 100% control of the technical side of the team.  :-/  Newey to Ferrari would've been sweet.

As for the fresh start on 2026, I think Ferrari will be ahead of the pack in terms of engine power.  No good reason why, except that Lewis Hamilton has a knack for transferring to the best F1 team after major rule changes. 

While I do agree that Newey is by far the best at what he does, Ferrari is not a team that you take the full control no matter who you are, they would rather lose than give the keys to one person, that's just not how their business operates. They are famously a "race company that sells cars", they are not a car company that also races like Mercedes, Mercedes could stop f1 today and would still sell a ton of cars, probably do not sell that much just because of F1 anyway, or red bull could still keep on selling their drinks.

But Ferrari isn't like that, they are not selling cars as a business, their business is racing, they are a racing team, they only sell cars in order to afford racing and that's the biggest difference. That's why you could never have 100% control there.

Newey would be fine with Aston Martin, and Alonso will probably retire by 2026 so Max would be a good choice, and Stroll is doing fine as the owner, except keeping his son lol, but I am sure Lance will not be an issue to Max, they will keep on winning with Max if Newey builds another good car and I am sure he is already looking into new regulations and trying to figure out how to build a good car for that year.

[coinlocket$]

By the way this is the situation for the Constructors standings world championship

1   Red Bull   404.00
2   Ferrari   361.00
3   McLaren   340.00
4   Mercedes   284.00

If we look at the past 10 races I can assume that we will have a situation with

Redbull and McLaren fightging for the 1st position and Mercedes overtaking Ferrari in the 3rd spot.

[tokeweed]

^  Verstappen's contract has a clause that he has an option to leave Red Bull if the team can't give him a car that could win podiums.  And we have Toto Wolff looking like he's going after Verstappen...  I guess a possible destination for Verstappen would be a Mercedes?  That would depend if they could offer him a better car.

As for Horner, that's just what I think.  But Ferrari did give him an offer a couple of years back after they gave Binotto the sack.  Pretty sure they're interested in Horner.

And I don't think Newey is taking any job after this season.  I think he'll take a year off.

Toto Wolff wants Verstappen so bad. He is ready to express his admiration to Verstappen at every opportunity.    It wouldn't be bad to see him driving for Mercedes. Russell and Verstappen in the same team. Sounds interesting. Their engine for 2026 season is said to be competitive. But we don't know much about how strong the car would be in general.

I have heard Vasseur blocked the way for Newey to join Ferrari. If it is true then I would rather see Horner as the new boss. Last, I feel like Newey will sign for a team rather than taking a year off. But we will see. 

Ah if that thing about Vasseur is true then the key to make Adrian Newey join Ferrari is Christian Horner.  At first I was thinking that it could happen next season.  But no, with Newey most likely going into a sabbatical for one year, it could all happen on 2026.  Horner leaves Red Bull for Ferrari and Newey comes out of his sabbatical and joins Horner.  By 2028 they win the world driver's championship with Hamilton, breaking Schumacher's record.  Sorry Leclerc but it looks like it isn't your time until Hamilton retires. 

[alegotardo]

^  Verstappen's contract has a clause that he has an option to leave Red Bull if the team can't give him a car that could win podiums.  And we have Toto Wolff looking like he's going after Verstappen...  I guess a possible destination for Verstappen would be a Mercedes?  That would depend if they could offer him a better car.

As for Horner, that's just what I think.  But Ferrari did give him an offer a couple of years back after they gave Binotto the sack.  Pretty sure they're interested in Horner.

And I don't think Newey is taking any job after this season.  I think he'll take a year off.

Lewis Hamilton's departure from Ferrari left Mercedes looking for a replacement for the 2025 Formula 1 season, and on several occasions they have expressed their desire to have Max Verstappen in their team, but the choice does not depend on them, but on the pilot.

Toto Wolff has never hidden the fact that his first wish would be to get the three-time champion if he left Red Bull, and to convince him of this he knows that the only way is to build a winning car... that has been Mercedes' main objective since then.

I, honestly, believe that the relationship between Max and Red Bull is already quite frayed and there should not be a contract renewal, quite the opposite... a breach in the contract is all he must be looking for to leave Red Bull the as soon as possible.

[tokeweed]

^  I don't think so, if anything it's Horner who's looking like he's having a break up with Red Bull due to the inappropriate behavior shenanigans that he allegedly did.  There are people behind the team who want him out and I think Helmut Marko is one of them.  And I'm not really sure but I think the Verstappens have the support of Marko.

Anyway, Horner should just bail and go to Ferrari and convince Newey to join him on 2026.  This will make me an unlikely fan of Ferrari and Hamilton only because I want to see something spectacular done in F1...  It's been a while.

[Republikcoin.com]

Race1 WSBK Portugal was very amazing because in this race Toprak who started from the first grid had to compete with several of his rivals such as Alex Lowes who had immediately led the race at the beginning and also Petrucci who also had time to fight Toprak and had time to lead the race even though in the end he could not maintain the first position until touching the finish line because Toprak was still strong enough until the end of the race. Likewise with Alex Lowes who was also inconsistent until the end of the race and made him not in the podium position. However, this time the good performance was in Alvaro Bautista who had slipped outside the top ten but was able to win the second podium after overtaking every opponent in front of him.

[Distraction]

Ah if that thing about Vasseur is true then the key to make Adrian Newey join Ferrari is Christian Horner.  At first I was thinking that it could happen next season.  But no, with Newey most likely going into a sabbatical for one year, it could all happen on 2026.  Horner leaves Red Bull for Ferrari and Newey comes out of his sabbatical and joins Horner.  By 2028 they win the world driver's championship with Hamilton, breaking Schumacher's record.  Sorry Leclerc but it looks like it isn't your time until Hamilton retires. 

Hamilton to become 8 times world champion? It would be great to see him holding the title record only by himself.    He is 39 years old now. I don't feel like he has long years ahead of him to continue driving in F1.

But first, Ferrari needs to give him a car which can win a title - for real. This is a thing they have been lacking for years. Sometimes they started the season strong but failed hard anyway later. Consistency has been the main problem. But I still have a feeling they will handle this. Hamilton has always been good about which team to prefer for winning titles. I think he knows something about Ferrari's future but doesn't want to share it yet. 

[Sg4j1n3ll0]

Many fans of Valentino Rossi did not like Ducati's choice to take Marc Marquez who in my opinion is a great rider because in my opinion they are afraid that he will win the championship and surpass Valentino Rossi haha ​​this is really ridiculous on their part I respect Valentino being Italian but It really makes me laugh to despise Marquez is crazy..

[retreat]

Hamilton to become 8 times world champion? It would be great to see him holding the title record only by himself.    He is 39 years old now. I don't feel like he has long years ahead of him to continue driving in F1.

But first, Ferrari needs to give him a car which can win a title - for real. This is a thing they have been lacking for years. Sometimes they started the season strong but failed hard anyway later. Consistency has been the main problem. But I still have a feeling they will handle this. Hamilton has always been good about which team to prefer for winning titles. I think he knows something about Ferrari's future but doesn't want to share it yet. 

Hamilton still has a chance to get the 8th (or 9th) title, he is still competitive and powerful on the circuit. The challenge is only the car, whether it is good enough or not depends on how Ferrari can provide a car that can accommodate Hamilton's racing style. And more strategy also needs to be considered by Ferrari because they often mess up the race because of a very bad strategy, it makes them lose the chance to win the race several times, and hopefully it will not happen again and make Hamilton even worse there.

[Republikcoin.com]

Race 2 WSBK Portugal also went very fiercely and quite tough because after Toprak competed with Alex Lowes who had a little contact and removed the left winglet from the BMW motorbike ridden by Toprak while competing in front. He began to lose his balance a little and approaching five laps remaining in the race, Toprak was also attacked by Bautista although something very unfortunate happened to Bautista because he fell while fighting with Toprak. It didn't stop there in a few laps before the end of the race Toprak was also attacked again by Bautista's teammate, Bulega, although Bulega himself did not succeed in achieving first place because Toprak was still strong with one winglet condition.

[swogerino]

Another week without F1 ahead looks as boring as this same one we just left behind.Luckily for all of us hardcore F1 fans this will be the last one then we are going to have 10 races in 3.5 months time meaning they will be packed with great F1 action.The F1 season has become even interesting in these last races where Redbull even with Max is having huge difficulties to win races.That makes the Championship open as there are enough races to even think some other drivers to have a real chance to dream for winning the F1 title,something impossible to be thought of after 5 first races of the season.

[tokeweed]

Ah if that thing about Vasseur is true then the key to make Adrian Newey join Ferrari is Christian Horner.  At first I was thinking that it could happen next season.  But no, with Newey most likely going into a sabbatical for one year, it could all happen on 2026.  Horner leaves Red Bull for Ferrari and Newey comes out of his sabbatical and joins Horner.  By 2028 they win the world driver's championship with Hamilton, breaking Schumacher's record.  Sorry Leclerc but it looks like it isn't your time until Hamilton retires. 

Hamilton to become 8 times world champion? It would be great to see him holding the title record only by himself.    He is 39 years old now. I don't feel like he has long years ahead of him to continue driving in F1.

But first, Ferrari needs to give him a car which can win a title - for real. This is a thing they have been lacking for years. Sometimes they started the season strong but failed hard anyway later. Consistency has been the main problem. But I still have a feeling they will handle this. Hamilton has always been good about which team to prefer for winning titles. I think he knows something about Ferrari's future but doesn't want to share it yet. 

But Hamilton is one of those exceptional athletes who still has around 5 years left in him.  And by that I don't mean 5 years left in F1 like most older drivers.  I mean 5 years left of having a good chance to win another championship if given a decent car that wins podiums.

And how nice would it be to see his record breaking title run be done with a team like Ferrari.  It would bring back all interest in F1 imho.

[Republikcoin.com]

Many fans of Valentino Rossi did not like Ducati's choice to take Marc Marquez who in my opinion is a great rider because in my opinion they are afraid that he will win the championship and surpass Valentino Rossi haha ​​this is really ridiculous on their part I respect Valentino being Italian but It really makes me laugh to despise Marquez is crazy..

Some people from Valentino Rossi's side only think that Ducati has betrayed several parties including Valentino Rossi's side because they also have a satellite team and riders that can be taken by Ducati for the new season later. However, I only see one rider who was betrayed by Ducati, namely Jorge Martin who is currently on the Prima Pramac Racing team where last season he was runner-up and also currently he is competing at the top of the standings. So he should be worthy of being chosen by Ducati because his own dedication has also been longer in the Ducati satellite team than Marquez who just joined this season through the Gresini Racing team.

[SirLancelot]

Ferrari doesn't have what it takes to make a car that will win Hamilton the title, they have way too many problems. I feel like Hamilton is just doing it because who wouldn't want to drive a Ferrari, but that's about it.

I think it's clear that we are going to see Max win this season yet again, and then next season unless Red Bull gets horrible, we are going to see Max probably still be first, he isn't doing all that awesome and if this gap gets any closer, we may see Max losing next season but I feel like he is good enough to get it, McLaren clearly has better car now, but Max will do fine. I think 2026 is the year Max could be losing, depending on how cars are made for that year, everything will be shuffled, like we could see Williams winner, who knows, it's all brand new situation.

[coinlocket$]

Situation fro driver next season with the contract expiration date.

Max Verstappen	Red Bull	2028
Sergio Perez	Red Bull	2026
Lewis Hamilton	Ferrari	multi-year
Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	multi-year
George Russell	Mercedes	2025
Lando Norris	McLaren	"Long-term"
Oscar Piastri	McLaren	2026	Contract End
Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	"2025 and beyond"
Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	multi-year
Alex Albon	Williams	2025
Carlos Sainz	Williams	"Beyond 2026"
Nico Hulkenberg	Sauber	multi-year
Pierre Gasly	Alpine	"Long-term"
Esteban Ocon	Haas	multi-year
Oliver Bearman	Haas	multi-year
Yuki Tsunoda	Visa Cash App RB	2025

Data from https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1046665/1/2025-f1-driver-line-who-confirmed-and-rumoured-2025-grid

[tokeweed]

^  Judging from Alex Albon's with an inferior car at Williams, he's gonna be a good acquisition for the bigger teams.  I hope a bigger team poaches him and give him a decent car that's consistently mid but with some chances of getting into podiums when the opportunity presents itself. 

Do any of the new teams coming in need a good driver?  Alex Albon is prolly one of the top choices imho.