Might as well start this now as the rumor mills start firing up:
Lewis to Ferrari? I think he'll do it! I actually HOPE he does it just to mix things up a bit. No one is going to catch Red Bull like they are right now.
https://www.planetf1.com/news/ferrari-lewis-hamilton-mega-2024-offer-report/
hopefully he goes there next year, it might open up a seat at Mercedes for Dan
Quote from: madbugger on May 24, 2023, 07:42:20 PMhopefully he goes there next year, it might open up a seat at Mercedes for Dan
I don't think Merc would go for it. Surely it would be a straight swap for whomever is forced out at the Scuderia.
...or Lando?
Word is that Dan and Tsunoda will remain at AlphaTauri - and if anyone will get the boot it'll be Tsunoda.
As much as I'd love to see Dan stay in that seat, Lawson has been fantastic and has a place on that grid!
Danny and Yuki confirmed at AlphaTauri for 2024! With Marko laying down the law for increased use of RBR parts and collaboration for next year, this could be a much improved team.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-tsunoda-and-ricciardo-to-race-for-alphatauri-in-2024.4IaMzYxZMeOSG6qw1FOXJn.html
Haas tosses Steiner.
https://racer.com/2024/01/10/steiner-out-at-haas-as-komatsu-takes-over-as-team-principal/
By Chris Medland | January 10, 2024 12:00 PM ET
Guenther Steiner has been replaced as Haas team principal, with Ayao Komatsu taking over the position.
Steiner has been in charge of Haas since the team's inception in 2014, overseeing team principal duties for team owner Gene Haas. The team opted to delay its debut season until 2016 but enjoyed a sensational opening few rounds, picking up 22 of its 29 points in the first four races before finishing eighth in the constructors' championship.
After a best finish of fifth overall in 2018, the popular team boss guided Haas through the COVID-19 pandemic and after a scoreless 2021 the team was again eighth in 2022. However, after slipping to the bottom of the constructors' championship last season, team owner Haas has decided to replace Steiner with trackside engineering director Komatsu.
"I'd like to start by extending my thanks to Guenther Steiner for all his hard work over the past decade and I wish him well for the future," Haas said. "Moving forward as an organization it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances. In appointing Ayao Komatsu as team principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.
"We have had some successes, but we need to be consistent in delivering results that help us reach our wider goals as an organization. We need to be efficient with the resources we have but improving our design and engineering capability is key to our success as a team. I'm looking forward to working with Ayao and fundamentally ensuring that we maximize our potential — this truly reflects my desire to compete properly in Formula 1."
Komatsu has also been with Haas since the team first joined the grid, and will be supported in his new role by a European-based chief operations officer that the team says will manage all non-competition matters and departments.
"I'm naturally very excited to have the opportunity to be team principal at MoneyGram Haas F1 Team," Komatsu said.. "Having been with the team since its track debut back in 2016 I'm obviously passionately invested in its success in Formula 1. I'm looking forward to leading our program and the various competitive operations internally to ensure we can build a structure that produces improved on-track performances.
"We are a performance-based business. We obviously haven't been competitive enough recently, which has been a source of frustration for us all. We have amazing support from Gene and our various partners, and we want to mirror their enthusiasm with an improved on-track product. We have a great team of people across Kannapolis, Banbury and Maranello and together I know we can achieve the kind of results we're capable of."
There are quite a few more changes at HAAS and their Nascar offshoot.
Gene Haas must have eventually decided that it is not a good idea to keep losing.
They have had superb mechanicals and engine from Ferrari and a Dallara Chassis.
For some reason it just did not come together under old management.
Guenther Steiner has been farting higher than his arse for years and commenting on the faults of more successful teams and management, i.e. All other Teams.
This will be Lewis' last year in the Merc.
The prancing horse beckons.
Hamilton to Ferrari now confirmed.
https://speedcafe.com/confirmed-hamilton-leaves-mercedes/
Mercedes has confirmed the seven-time champion will depart the team at the end of the season and join Ferrari next season.
Speculation of the move was rife yesterday after reports emerged out of Italy that a deal was close.
That has now played out, with Mercedes and Ferrari confirming the news.
The latter came via a one-line statement announcing Hamilton on a multi-year contract.
"Scuderia Ferrari is pleased to announce that Lewis Hamilton will be joining the team in 2025, on a multi-year contract."
It followed shortly after Mercedes broke news of Hamilton's departure from the squad.
"I have had an amazing 11 years with this team and I'm so proud of what we have achieved together," said Hamilton.
"Mercedes has been part of my life since I was 13 years old. It's a place where I have grown up, so making the decision to leave was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make.
"But the time is right for me to take this step and I'm excited to be taking on a new challenge.
"I will be forever grateful for the incredible support of my Mercedes family, especially Toto for his friendship and leadership and I want to finish on a high together.
"I am 100 percent committed to delivering the best performance I can this season and making my last year with the Silver Arrows, one to remember."
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff added: "In terms of a team-driver pairing, our relationship with Lewis has become the most successful the sport has seen, and that's something we can look back on with pride; Lewis will always be an important part of Mercedes motorsport history.
"However, we knew our partnership would come to a natural end at some point, and that day has now come.
"We accept Lewis's decision to seek a fresh challenge, and our opportunities for the future are exciting to contemplate. But for now, we still have one season to go, and we are focused on going racing to deliver a strong 2024."
His decision to depart Mercedes has come courtesy of a break clause in the deal he inked with the operation last year.
That would have otherwise kept him in Brackley until the end of 2025.
His defection from the team with which he's taken 82 of his 103 grands prix wins comes as the squad is battling to regain its position at the head of the F1 field.
Mercedes dominated F1 from 2014 until 2020, with Hamilton only narrowly missing out on the 2021 world title (Mercedes won the constructors' crown).
Under regulations introduced for 2022, the team has slipped behind Red Bull Racing and spent much of the time battling with Ferrari as best of the rest.
Mercedes secured second in the constructurs' championship at the end of 2023, though faced stiff competition from Ferrari and a resurgent McLaren.
Hamilton has routinely spoken about his desire to win, with his Mercedes exit suggesting he has more faith in what Maranello can deliver.
It's a bold call from the veteran, given the Scuderia last won a world title in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen.
Hamilton's arrival spells the end of the road for Sainz in Maranello and marks him as arguably the hottest property on the driver market.
Given the 29-year-old's links to Red Bull Racing in his junior days, he would be a strong candidate to replace Sergio Perez.
However, he's also been linked with a move to Audi once it arrives in F1 in 2026 – a move a year early to settle in is not beyond the realms of possibility, either.
Hamilton's move also drives up the value of Alex Albon, who impressed at Williams last season and has also been linked with a move to Red Bull Racing but would be a strong candidate to replace his countryman at Mercedes.
On another front, Suzuka has been confirmed through 2029: https://racer.com/2024/02/02/japanese-grand-prix-staying-at-suzuka-through-2029/
The Madrid street race is to commence in 2026 putting Circuit de Catalunya in jeopardy: https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/39367664/f1-adds-madrid-street-race-calendar-2026
Quote from: madbugger on February 02, 2024, 08:33:53 AMHamilton to Ferrari now confirmed.
https://speedcafe.com/confirmed-hamilton-leaves-mercedes/
...
Good news for Mercedes who finally got rid of an aging, non-performing driver without the flack of actually sacking him.
There are not a lot of suitable performing drivers available for 2025, but they do have Mick Schumaker who is highly regarded by the team.
Quote from: stevo qld on February 03, 2024, 02:03:36 AMQuote from: madbugger on February 02, 2024, 08:33:53 AMHamilton to Ferrari now confirmed.
https://speedcafe.com/confirmed-hamilton-leaves-mercedes/
...
Good news for Mercedes who finally got rid of an aging, non-performing driver without the flack of actually sacking him.
There are not a lot of suitable performing drivers available for 2025, but they do have Mick Schumaker who is highly regarded by the team.
If the criteria is performance, they got rid of the wrong guy!
It would seem F1 don't offer anymore than Supercars regarding team issues:
https://speedcafe.com/f1-management-issues-statement-on-horner-allegations/
It appears Red Bull have gone radical and adopted the now discarded Mercedes "zero sidepod" design.
This is going to be fascinating.Is it just a bad concept or did Mercedes come up with the right solution but didn't know how to make it work?
Testing starts Wednesday.
A few have adopted something similar to Mercedes, the high and skinny sidepod, opposed to the low and wide.
I still think RB will run away, but as usual the battle for 2nd looks strong!
Does anyone really expect that the cars, as presented, will really be the same as the actual race cars, particularly aero?
Quote from: stevo qld on February 21, 2024, 01:46:23 PMDoes anyone really expect that the cars, as presented, will really be the same as the actual race cars, particularly aero?
Yes.With no other chance to test the potential loss is greater than whatever might be gained by subterfuge.
Day 1 of testing and Max is playing with them.
Most interesting thing was that Horner and Newey were the only people in any team not wearing team uniform.