re: 2024 Formula 1 season Thread

Perez is still hugely popular among Hispanics in America and below, but at what point will his fans get tired of the disappointment and embarrassing results? They need an new young hero, one who can benefit from the same type of financial support that Perez has enjoyed.

So I googled around to see if anything is percolating beneath the F1 chatter. What I found is Ernesto Rivera, a rising F4 driver. Already talking with Marko. I read elsewhere that Rivera has declined (for now) an offer of support from Carlos Slim. That begs the question, what does Carlos Slim ask for in return for his support? Seems like no-brainer to accept his support.

Loading Twitter/X Embed...
If tweet fails to load, click here.

In related news, people keep asking Horner why Yuki is never in the conversation. Horner can't be dismissive of Yuki considering that he is beating the guy Horner hand-picked to challenge Perez. He also won't say outright that Yuki is in serious consideration for the seat, and he makes sure to give Danny credit for Yuki's continued development. That's certainly fair since Yuki has given credit to all of his teammates for helping his development. But that's not really an argument for putting Danny in the RB seat over someone who is outperforming him. But with Red Bull's continued coddling of Perez, they have made it clear that who gets the second Red Bull seat is not based purely on performance. I don't buy the speculation that they don't want to rock the boat with a driver who could challenge Max. Max himself has said he doesn't care who his teammate is. It's baffling why Sainz isn't signed for the second seat for 2025. I know people are speculating on this from multiple angles, but my best guess is that he wanted a longer contract than Red Bull were offering.

racingnews365.com/horner-makes-tsunoda-admission-as-perez-axe-rumours-swirl

quote:

---

Last 6 races;

---

quote:

---

9- Perez 15 points

10-Stroll 14 points

---

Ouch

In a Red Bull car. That is embarrassing.

quote:

---

Carlos Sainz Jr. and Max Verstappen were team mates at Toro Rosso in 2015. Apparantly their dads do not get along and is a reason Carlos never got an offer from RedBull.

---

This part is not true.

quote:

---

Red Bull are talking to Ferrari's Carlos Sainz about a drive for 2025 but Audi have offered him far more, the energy drink brand's motorsport consultant Helmut Marko said on Thursday. Marko told Austria's Kleine Zeitung newspaper that Sainz was of interest."We're talking to him, he's having his strongest season in Formula One," said the Austrian. "But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat."

---

reuters.com/sports/formula1/marko-says-red-bull-talking-sainz-cant-match-audi-offer-2024-04-18/

quote:

---

“You know that they [Red Bull] have an offer out to Carlos Sainz,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1. “I saw daddy Sainz speaking to Christian Horner yesterday because Horner has apparently been a bit stingy on the offer. “So they’re trying to get a couple more million out of him!”

---

independent.co.uk/f1/f1-nico-rosberg-carlos-sainz-christian-horner-ferrari-b2533205.html


Red Bull would be happy to have Sainz in the seat, but they aren't that impressed with him that they are willing to pay top dollar. They want to hire a #2 driver who knows his place.

I'm now thinking that Danny never had to beat Yuki outright, the problem is that Danny's qualifying inconsistency, mostly earlier in the year, made him no better than Perez. If Danny lagged Yuki in points all year but showed much more qualifying consistency than he has, he would be the front-runner to replace Perez. Horner's biggest nightmare would be to promote Danny and then see him botch qualifying too many times like Perez. Red Bull would love to keep Danny in the VCARB seat to give him more time to show the consistency he needs, but also don't want to give up Lawson.

Perez spiraling, Danny having a bad start to the year, Yuki being unwanted by Red Bull (although VCARB are genuinely happy with him), Sainz wanting star treatment, and pressure from Lawson is putting Red Bull in a hilariously awkward position. The summer break is definitely going to have some intrigue!

quote:

---

"We're talking to him, he's having his strongest season in Formula One," said the Austrian. "But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat."

---

Audi has to overpay as they will likely look like 2021 Haas next year, just driving around in the rear while all development goes to the 2026 car.

They paid Hulk more than Haas would/could to get him. Komatsu really tried to keep him.

quote:

---

Haas/Toyota partnership?

I hope not. My fandom will end with the quickness.

---

I'm no fan of Toyota, but I'm not a hater either. F1 would no doubt welcome one of the world's largest car companies back and it would be a definite boost for F1. Is your problem with Toyota NASCAR-related? A partnership with Toyota would presumably be better for Haas than their customer relationship with Ferrari is. Although it's possible that Komatsu will prove in the second half of this season that there was a lot of lost potential in their relationship with Ferrari because of Guenther. If Hulk continues to score big, a lot of fans will want to see this relationship continue. Don't rock the boat.


Sidenote: I don't really care one way or another if Toyota wants to come back to F1, but I would rather that the Japanese manufacturers put their efforts into expanding the internationally well-regarded Super Formula--adding more events, including international events like a couple of dates in the US (Laguna Seca, Road America), and making sure the field is well-stocked with ex-F2 drivers who have no where else to go. Liam Lawson said Super Formula is faster than F2 (therefore, faster than IndyCar as well) and is actually a good transitional car on the way to F1. That speed could be a good selling point bringing some races to the US. I checked the F2 calendar, and they don't come to the US, so Super Formula would be a fantastic support race at COTA.

quote:

---

That’s wild, I thought he never got one. Hard to believe any driver in the grid would not immediately sign if offered by Red Bull

---

Not any driver. It's clear now that Red Bull has lost just about all of its technological edge over other teams. It took two years, but other teams have figured out the current regs.

There's not much reason to believe, especially with Newey out, that Red Bull would catch lightening in a bottle again in 2026 like the did for these regs. Merc, Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull are all going to be a coin toss going into 2026. Audi could make a play then too after going through growing pains next year.

quote:

---

Is Red Bull just using Checo for different set ups to test out?

---

He was moving up through the field on hards before they put him on inters when the track was still not wet enough. He was complaining on the radio and they left him out several laps.

I've learned 90% of F1 Twitter smoke is just that.

They’re worried Merc also taking Alpine could cause reliability issues.

quote:

---

It's clear now that Red Bull has lost just about all of its technological edge over other teams

---

Checo/Monaco 2023. He wrecked and this required his RB race car to be craned and everyone and their brother snapped pics of the belly and the rest is history. Not only is he a bad driver but he cost them their dominance.

Teams would still have improved but not as fast. This one event cost RB way more than people realize.