re: 2025 Formula 1 Season Thread

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Sushi is a pay driver.

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Huh, I was thinking recently that F1 didn’t have any pay drivers anymore. Forgot about him besides Stroll.

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They need to bring back Ric to RB

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I wanted Danny Ric to replace Perez at the summer break last year, and I think a lot of people expected it. They really should have done it if we all believe that the Red Bull suits Danny's driving style.

Do most of you find you are a fan of a driver or of a team? If you were a Mercedes fan while Lewis was there, are you still a merc fan or are you now a Ferrari fan? Or do you pull for the drivers you like no matter where they are?

Let's not forget how stroll keeps his seat.

I think the Lawson move is smart, he's a really talented driver who has won at 4 different series, but this situation could be detrimental to his mental development. No reason to have him just cooking in that seat.

I was a Vettel fan from his days with BMW, Toro Rosso, Red Bull and he pulled me to Ferrari, have kind of still been a fan of Ferrari in the meantime with Leclerc and Sainz because they’ve given Red Bull a fight. Has me pulling for Hamilton now too even though I’ve never really liked him over the years.
I pull for the teams that come up and compete with the dominating times.

Max’s first was nice but 4 in a row is too much.
Nico’s was a nice break between all of Lewis’s

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Teams are always looking for sponsorship money. If that money comes with decent driver, even better!

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I'd be willing to wager that every Asian driver, ever, in F1 was a pay driver. Honda has always been ready to pay.

*Albon races under a Thai license, but he's essentially British.

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I'd be willing to wager that every Asian driver, ever, in F1 was a pay driver. Honda has always been ready to pay.

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I don't doubt this as well, but I'm not sure what your point is. My response to this is:

1. There are very very few Tier 1 drivers that you know are built to win championships and rise very quickly, and yes, Japan has not produced one yet.

2. The rest of the grid is made up of drivers who made their way up through various circumstances, but the one common thread is that it takes millions of dollars for any driver to reach F1. They all needed massive backing to make it.

3. And perhaps worth noting are the "name" drivers like Damon Hill, Michael Andretti, Jacques, Piquet Jr., numerous Fittipaldis, Sainz, Max, Mick, even Doohan. While Max was undeniable, you can't convince me that the rest of these guys weren't helped on their F1 path by having a famous racing name.

My point is, outside of the very few Tier 1 drivers, for most drivers their stay in F1 is based on something other than being one of the best drivers in the world.

Of all of the Japanese drivers that have driven in F1, most never really deserved a seat, but there are a few worth mentioning. Although Sato turned out to be a crash-fest, he had a very legit F3 championship and won Macau. Unfortunately, Honda pushed him into F1 too soon and I think that hurt his career. Eddie Jordan recently bitterly recounted how Honda forced him to fire Heinz-Harald Frentzen to make room for Sato, and you could tell he never got over it.

Since then, I believe Japan has produced two legit F1 drivers, Toyota-backed Kobayashi, and Honda-backed Tsunoda. Kobayashi was a little rough at first, but he became a fan favorite. Then Toyota pulled out and he was on his own but got signed to Sauber. In their 2nd year as teammates, Perez outscored Kobayashi 66-60, so they were close, but the next year Carlos Slim-backed Perez was signed to McLaren and Kobayashi was out of F1 completely. You can't tell me that six points is the difference between getting signed to a top team and getting kicked out of F1.

Tsunoda is an interesting case because for sure he would have been kicked out of F1 after his first year if it weren't for Honda being Red Bull's engine supplier. But since then, he has evolved into a very legit F1 driver. It's clear that some people can't get over their first impressions of Yuki, and will jump on any mistake he makes, but he had a strong 2024 and has had a fantastic start to 2025, only derailed by terrible team strategy in both main races.

Then there is the Yuki vs Liam question. Yuki earned a chance at Red Bull by beating de Vries, Danny Ric, and Liam over two seasons. But Red Bull decided to promote Liam after just 11 F1 races, even though Yuki beat him (6-0 in GP qualifying and 8-4 points in 2024). Neutral observers were all baffled by this decision. So what's the point of pointing out Yuki's Honda sponsorship? That he didn't really earn a chance at the Red Bull team by his own performance? Did Liam? Who else can Red Bull put in the second seat? I don't know why Red Bull doesn't want to put Yuki in the second seat (without getting paid), but it's not because of performance.

tl;dr Yuki is a legit F1 driver, regardless of having big Honda support.

Photographer Kym Illman has a few tidbits about the Red Bull driver swap drama...

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Williams is P4 ahead of Ferrari. Let's let that sink in.

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Now lets not get ahead of ourselves… Ferrari will come in 3/4 in constructors in the end and Williams likely 6/7