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

[LTU_btc]

Happy for Perez and his chance at Redbull.
Disappointed by Redbull and his change of philosophy, they have the best drivers' academy do they really need this "old" driver?

Maybe they want a benchmark finally to test Verstappen.

Perez really deserved spot in top team, I'm very happy that he stays in F1.
Red Bull really have best drivers academy, but something just don't work for them. They had many good drivers - Gasly, Kvyat, Albon who failed in Red Bull, Sainz didn't even got chance in Red Bull. Young drivers struggle to handle pressure and Red Bull don't have patience to wait until they will start to show good results.

[marioantonini]

Ok it's now Offical. Perez will go to Red Bull. https://www.express.co.uk/sport/f1-autosport/1374194/Sergio-Perez-confirmed-Max-Verstappen-Red-Bull-team-mate-Alex-Albon-axed-F1-news#:~:text=Sergio%20Perez%20has%20been%20confirmed,for%202021%20replacing%20Alex%20Albon.&text=Sergio%20Perez%20has%20been%20announced,driver%20after%20a%20disappointing%202020.

Just found this pearl about Hamilton during the last week Alonso driving his old 2006 Renault in Abu Dhabi.

Enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpulR1SJGgM

Saw that vid some days earlier. Great to see Hamilton's reaction on that sound. 

it was the only right decision, it would have been a scandal to see Perez out of Formula 1 after perhaps his best season.
Next year there will be fun, because Perez and Verstappen together can put pressure on Hamilton, it would be enough for Red Bull to be a little faster and we will see some good races.

[Cnut237]

Happy for Perez and his chance at Redbull.
Disappointed by Redbull and his change of philosophy, they have the best drivers' academy do they really need this "old" driver?

Maybe they want a benchmark finally to test Verstappen.

Perez really deserved spot in top team, I'm very happy that he stays in F1.
Red Bull really have best drivers academy, but something just don't work for them. They had many good drivers - Gasly, Kvyat, Albon who failed in Red Bull, Sainz didn't even got chance in Red Bull. Young drivers struggle to handle pressure and Red Bull don't have patience to wait until they will start to show good results.

Yes, Perez definitely deserved this chance. It will be really interesting to see how he matches up to Max. But more than this, if it starts to mean that both Red Bull drivers are challenging for podiums each race, then it puts a vast amount of pressure on Bottas to deliver. If races start finishing 1) Ham 2) Verstappen 3) Perez, then Mercedes have some real pressure on them to retain the constructors' title.

[swogerino]

Red Bull needs to improve their dynamics as we have seen in some tracks during this season that they don’t suffer from engine power because Honda has improved a lot and won 2 races this year.Also in some big straights the top
speed was led by Honda engine.It is going to be a really good season the 2021 as many good drivers have good cars.

[marioantonini]

Toto Wolff has finally renewed the contract with Mercedes for another 3 years and Ineos has moved from the role of sponsor to the role of shareholder, now Mercedes F1 has 3 shareholders with equal shares, 33.3%, i.e. Toto Wolf, Ineos and Daimler. I didn't know Wolf was so rich that he even had 1/3 of the Mercedes F1

[Koal-84]

Red Bull needs to improve their dynamics as we have seen in some tracks during this season that they don’t suffer from engine power because Honda has improved a lot and won 2 races this year.Also in some big straights the top
speed was led by Honda engine.It is going to be a really good season the 2021 as many good drivers have good cars.

RedBull is definitiv stronger with Perez next year, and also Albon aren't leave the team and his is test driver.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/perez-red-bull-verstappen-2021/4929131

Toto Wolff has finally renewed the contract with Mercedes for another 3 years and Ineos has moved from the role of sponsor to the role of shareholder, now Mercedes F1 has 3 shareholders with equal shares, 33.3%, i.e. Toto Wolf, Ineos and Daimler. I didn't know Wolf was so rich that he even had 1/3 of the Mercedes F1

Wolff also has a large share in the success in my opinion and it is good to tie him to Mercedes for another 3 years

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-committed-for-life-mercedes/4929985/

[tokeweed]

Happy for Perez and his chance at Redbull.
Disappointed by Redbull and his change of philosophy, they have the best drivers' academy do they really need this "old" driver?
Maybe they want a benchmark finally to test Verstappen.
Missing only the final spot of Hamilton even if he 99% with Mercedes after what he said this afertnoon.

Helmut Marko wanted a thrill and a little spur Verstappen competition with the stubborn Mexican, as well as to show his students that the native academy is not an iron guarantee of performance in the championship It seems that if not for Hamilton's financial ambitions, the signing of the contract would have been announced long ago. It seems that Hamilton will moderate his financial appetites a little for the sake of the 8th Formula 1 title, especially since Toto Wolff remains for another 3 years, and from the outside it seems that Lewis is comfortable working with this team leader.

It's not that..  It's more like RBR doesn't have the talent to give the second drive to.  Lol.  I mean who's gonna replace Albon that's gonna be consistent every race week?  It's more like they didn't have a choice.

Anyway..  is Alonso going back to Renault? 

[marioantonini]

Wolff also has a large share in the success in my opinion and it is good to tie him to Mercedes for another 3 years

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/wolff-committed-for-life-mercedes/4929985/

certainly a large part of Mercedes success is also of Toto Wolf (as Niky Lauda also helped a lot to manage the drivers, at the time of Nico Rosberg), but if he has 33% of the company, we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars, I thought was a simple manager.
Now, however, it is important for them to renew Hamilton's contract as well, but maybe 3 years of renewal are too many for me and they will only do 2

[Cnut237]

Red Bull needs to improve their dynamics as we have seen in some tracks during this season that they don’t suffer from engine power because Honda has improved a lot and won 2 races this year.Also in some big straights the top
speed was led by Honda engine.It is going to be a really good season the 2021 as many good drivers have good cars.

It's worth considering that Mercedes were so far ahead of the rest in the early part of the season, that they took the decision to stop development of the 2020 car entirely, and move focus to the 2021 car. But other teams, including Red Bull, continued to develop their 2020 car during the latter part of the season. This is why Red Bull closed up to Mercedes - they were getting better whilst the Merc was remaining the same.

I strongly suspect that once we start the 2021 season, Mercedes will suddenly have a development advantage again after all the work they've done so far on the 2021 car during 2020.

[Koal-84]

Red Bull needs to improve their dynamics as we have seen in some tracks during this season that they don’t suffer from engine power because Honda has improved a lot and won 2 races this year.Also in some big straights the top
speed was led by Honda engine.It is going to be a really good season the 2021 as many good drivers have good cars.

It's worth considering that Mercedes were so far ahead of the rest in the early part of the season, that they took the decision to stop development of the 2020 car entirely, and move focus to the 2021 car. But other teams, including Red Bull, continued to develop their 2020 car during the latter part of the season. This is why Red Bull closed up to Mercedes - they were getting better whilst the Merc was remaining the same.

I strongly suspect that once we start the 2021 season, Mercedes will suddenly have a development advantage again after all the work they've done so far on the 2021 car during 2020.

I also think over the course of the year they will be inviolable again, only on a few routes they will probably not be so superior. And at the year 2022 the cards are reshuffled but we will see 

[tokeweed]

Red Bull needs to improve their dynamics as we have seen in some tracks during this season that they don’t suffer from engine power because Honda has improved a lot and won 2 races this year.Also in some big straights the top
speed was led by Honda engine.It is going to be a really good season the 2021 as many good drivers have good cars.

It's worth considering that Mercedes were so far ahead of the rest in the early part of the season, that they took the decision to stop development of the 2020 car entirely, and move focus to the 2021 car. But other teams, including Red Bull, continued to develop their 2020 car during the latter part of the season. This is why Red Bull closed up to Mercedes - they were getting better whilst the Merc was remaining the same.

I strongly suspect that once we start the 2021 season, Mercedes will suddenly have a development advantage again after all the work they've done so far on the 2021 car during 2020.

Come to think of it..  Merc has been having engine development advantage since the switch to the V6 Turbos.  And due to politics, I don't think we'll be seeing F1 going back to the screaming V8's, V10's, V12's. 

[sana54210]

I believe Mercedes will never be caught unless some team decides to put insane amount of money into their cars. Also remember these are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects, to even have a F1 car is an insane idea, nobody should go into this thinking profits because you are going to bleed out cash like nothing else, hell it is going to hurt business more than it helps them. All the fame and power and recognition and advertisement you get will not be covered considering how much money you lose.

However, let's assume some crazy boss or CEO goes insane and decides to spend double what Mercedes spends, at that point any team can catch up to Mercedes, all they need is a whole new huge team that can work on the next car, and a team that works on even further while you keep on working on current car all different teams. That is literally the only thing that you can do, there is no other answer to Mercedes other than spend more than them.

[marioantonini]

I believe Mercedes will never be caught unless some team decides to put insane amount of money into their cars. Also remember these are hundreds of millions of dollars worth of projects, to even have a F1 car is an insane idea, nobody should go into this thinking profits because you are going to bleed out cash like nothing else, hell it is going to hurt business more than it helps them. All the fame and power and recognition and advertisement you get will not be covered considering how much money you lose.

However, let's assume some crazy boss or CEO goes insane and decides to spend double what Mercedes spends, at that point any team can catch up to Mercedes, all they need is a whole new huge team that can work on the next car, and a team that works on even further while you keep on working on current car all different teams. That is literally the only thing that you can do, there is no other answer to Mercedes other than spend more than them.

unfortunately with the current formula 1 rules, no one can spend a lot of money, by regulation, in 2021 it is possible to spend only 145 million dollars per season (excluding salaries).
Mercedes is way ahead with the engine and hybrid side, it has spent a lot on research in previous years. With the new 2021 rules, however, it could begin to lose competitiveness, we also remember the Ferrari of the Schumacher era, it seemed invincible, then it never won again

[Cnut237]

2022 the cards are reshuffled

Yes. 2021 looks quite predictable: Constructors' champions? Mercedes. Drivers' championship? 1) Hamilton, 2/3) Bottas/Verstappen, 4) Perez.

The biggest unknown for me is the impact Perez will have. If Red Bull can have both drivers challenging the Mercedes, then that reduces the Merc 2-1 advantage that means they can always run a split strategy to keep one car ahead of Red Bull. Perez performing well puts huge pressure on Bottas.

And 2022 is when it should get more exciting, with hopefully closer racing and no single team dominating so much. But still, you'd have to be brave to bet against Mercedes coming out on top again.

[Koal-84]

2022 the cards are reshuffled

Yes. 2021 looks quite predictable: Constructors' champions? Mercedes. Drivers' championship? 1) Hamilton, 2/3) Bottas/Verstappen, 4) Perez.

The biggest unknown for me is the impact Perez will have. If Red Bull can have both drivers challenging the Mercedes, then that reduces the Merc 2-1 advantage that means they can always run a split strategy to keep one car ahead of Red Bull. Perez performing well puts huge pressure on Bottas.

And 2022 is when it should get more exciting, with hopefully closer racing and no single team dominating so much. But still, you'd have to be brave to bet against Mercedes coming out on top again.

About place 4 at the championship don't forget the drivers from McLaren and Aston Martin, Ferrari have also Chance with a new and stronger engine. For 2022 also Mercedes are make probably a good development 

[swogerino]

2022 the cards are reshuffled

Yes. 2021 looks quite predictable: Constructors' champions? Mercedes. Drivers' championship? 1) Hamilton, 2/3) Bottas/Verstappen, 4) Perez.

The biggest unknown for me is the impact Perez will have. If Red Bull can have both drivers challenging the Mercedes, then that reduces the Merc 2-1 advantage that means they can always run a split strategy to keep one car ahead of Red Bull. Perez performing well puts huge pressure on Bottas.

And 2022 is when it should get more exciting, with hopefully closer racing and no single team dominating so much. But still, you'd have to be brave to bet against Mercedes coming out on top again.

McLaren has been improving slowly since 2017 and what they miss is a Mercedes engine which they will get next year and I think they will fight for the second spot in constructors Championship.RedBull will be the same more or
less like they have been during these last years.I predict huge improvement from McLaren with a Mercedes engine next year.

[ronaldo40]

I often hear passersby or get lost and Hamilton could not ride together in F1 in the same team that will never happen, it seems to me? both want to become world champions and that could lead to overtaking actions where they touch each other be danger for the other
if you look to talent then i think lewis and verstappen are b far the most talented drivers in the f1

[dre1982]

2022 the cards are reshuffled

Yes. 2021 looks quite predictable: Constructors' champions? Mercedes. Drivers' championship? 1) Hamilton, 2/3) Bottas/Verstappen, 4) Perez.

The biggest unknown for me is the impact Perez will have. If Red Bull can have both drivers challenging the Mercedes, then that reduces the Merc 2-1 advantage that means they can always run a split strategy to keep one car ahead of Red Bull. Perez performing well puts huge pressure on Bottas.

And 2022 is when it should get more exciting, with hopefully closer racing and no single team dominating so much. But still, you'd have to be brave to bet against Mercedes coming out on top again.

Verstappen was this year third with 5 times a DNF and Bottas was second with just 1 DNF. If Verstappen didnt had that much bad luck this season he could have been easily second.

[ILuckyGuyI]

I am really happy for Perez being selected as the second driver of Red Bull. Albon was not too bad but I should admit that he was not good enough for a Red Bull driver. He was always in the shadow of Verstappen whole season. So, Red Bull needed a driver who can fight for the top places with Verstappen. And I think Perez is really a good choice for that. He did really good job on Racing Point this season. 

[LTU_btc]

Verstappen was this year third with 5 times a DNF and Bottas was second with just 1 DNF. If Verstappen didnt had that much bad luck this season he could have been easily second.

Good point. Considering that Verstappen had so many DNF and Bottas overcome him just by few points shows that Bottas had really poor season.

I often hear passersby or get lost and Hamilton could not ride together in F1 in the same team that will never happen, it seems to me? both want to become world champions and that could lead to overtaking actions where they touch each other be danger for the other
if you look to talent then i think lewis and verstappen are b far the most talented drivers in the f1

Well, history already shown that having 2 TOP drivers in the team when both want to be No. 1 isn't best idea. It leads to tension between drivers which often ends with accidents on track. You should remember examples like Hamilton and Alonso, Vettel and Webber or Hamilton and Rosberg in the same team.
So, for leading teams it's safer to have wingmans like Bottas or Barrichelo back in Ferrari golden era.