September 15, 20177 yr Author - Torro Rosso is terminating it's Renault contract in favour of a Honda supply deal. - In order to terminate said deal, Torro Rosso are releasing Sainz to Renault F1 - McLaren are terminating their Honda deal- - McLaren are taking out a supply deal with Renault*- All confirmed
September 15, 20177 yr Yup! All confirmed with a 1 year release for Sainz and 3 years for both engine deals
September 15, 20177 yr I think Palmer's safe till the end of the season, he seems to be in the running for Williams' second seat next year (as well as Kubica and di Resta). Failing that he could possibly move to Sauber (I don't think they've confirmed either Wehrlein or Ericsson for next year yet - I wouldn't be surprised if Ericsson was culled, though I'd imagine he brings in a fair wedge). I really do hope he can get a deal for next year, as I do like the chap and want to see more from him! Edited September 15, 20177 yr by Juranamo
September 16, 20177 yr Author Hopefully tomorrow will be a cracking race. Expect a safety car for sure in Singapore as there has been at one every year since 2008.
September 17, 20177 yr Author Apparently it is the first time ever that both Ferraris have gone out on the first lap in F1 history.
September 18, 20177 yr Well that start was literally the dream Lewis had the night before! Have to say, can't really pin the blame on anyone really. Vettel moved over at the start but that is the natural thing to do for the pole-sitter, he just had a crap start & obviously wasn't expecting Kimi to have a blinder! The real losers out of all of this are Ferrari, not just for the result but for having the audacity to fully blame Verstappen over Twitter - quite rightly they were torn to shreds, just typical Ferrari behaviour really. Kind of a shame in a way as that made the result pretty much certain from the start but a Lewis & Danny top 2, can't complain at that myself :D Still some decent battles in midfield, Magnussen getting very punchy was a highlight. Fantastic for Sainz in 4th!
September 18, 20177 yr Most exciting race for a long time... for the first 100 metres. After that it was typically dull
September 18, 20177 yr Most exciting race for a long time... for the first 100 metres. After that it was typically dull I agree ...only if we're counting Top 3 action. Further down the lineup there were some really interesting showcases of skill that some drivers have struggled to show previously. Some Magnussaction was a pleasure to see, yes he's not quite at the same level as Grosjean yet, but what he did during this race before his car started suffering from issues was quite brilliant to watch. I also loved watching Jo take Bottas, if he wasn't plagued with such poor reliability, I reckon he'd score a bunch more points (not to the same degree as Hulky, but he is much more experienced in F1). On the subject of Palmer, I do hope he can squeeze his way into Williams next year. If I were them, I'd consider it a bit premature to take on Kubica and I think Palmer's recent experience in F1 racing (not just testing) should edge him over di Resta. If Ericsson doesn't retain his Sauber drive next season (I hear Ferrari as part of the engine deal, one of Giovinazzi and Leclerc will have a seat there, but they are trying to push for both), I can't see Williams taking him on unless they really need the cash injection.
September 18, 20177 yr I agree there was some decent stuff from further back and it's always nice to see that but let's be honest. We NEED to see the front runners actually racing each other occasionally. F1 may be the pinnacle of motor-racing technologically speaking, and it does have most of the worlds best drivers but in terms of circuit variety and racing excitement it's way behind Indycar at the moment
September 18, 20177 yr I agree there was some decent stuff from further back and it's always nice to see that but let's be honest. We NEED to see the front runners actually racing each other occasionally. F1 may be the pinnacle of motor-racing technologically speaking, and it does have most of the worlds best drivers but in terms of circuit variety and racing excitement it's way behind Indycar at the moment Circuit variety in F1 is a big issue I feel. Back in the 90s there was a good range of tracks before Tilkeification took over! Edited September 18, 20177 yr by Juranamo
September 18, 20177 yr Author What Tilke did to Hockenheim was unforgivable. That long straight. We want to see at least the Top4 teams battling for the win e.g. 2003.
September 19, 20177 yr Author As expected, Sergio Perez has confirmed that he'll stay at Force India for next year.
September 19, 20177 yr So lineup for next year so far... Mercedes Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas Ferrari Sebastian Vettel Kimi Räikkönen Red Bull Daniel Ricciardo Max Verstappen Force India Sergio Pérez Esteban Ocon Williams Lance Stroll Felipe Massa / Paul di Resta / Marcus Ericsson / Robert Kubica / Jolyon Palmer Toro Rosso Daniil Kvyat / Pierre Gasly Renault Nico Hülkenberg Carlos Sainz Haas Romain Grosjean Kevin Magnussen McLaren Fernando Alonso Stoffel Vandoorne Sauber Marcus Ericsson / Antonio Giovinazzi / Charles Leclerc
September 23, 20177 yr I'm hopeful that Palmer will be dispatched early to collect his long overdue P45. Rumour was Renault didn't want him for 2016 but his contract was watertight so they stuck with him. Then the car was such a dog no one wanted the seat and he had improved in the second half of the season. However this year he's been deadweight. If he hadn't scored points on a weekend when 3 of the top 6 and Hulk (so 4 of the top 7 cars) didn't finish he'd deserved to have been fired over the radio at the checkered flag. 13 cars finished. Until hulk had a reliability issue he was on the podium. A podium paced car came 6th so let's not pretend he's suddenly even worth of a sauber drive.
September 23, 20177 yr Author Reports that is between Massa, Di Rests and Kubica for the Williams seat. If I were Toro Rosso, I would drop Kvyat at the end of the season.
September 24, 20177 yr Di Resta did a solid job at Hungary. I never felt that he deserved to lose a drive so it would be good to see him back
September 26, 20177 yr Kvyat dropped for Malaysia and Japan in favour of a trial run for Gasly. Kvyat will return for Austin as it clashes with the last round of Super GP or whatever it is Gasly drives in currently. They are trailing him for 2018
September 26, 20177 yr Author Can't see Kvyat staying next year. Not surprised really to hear that he is being replaced. He's never shown any of his 'potential' since he got dropped last year.
September 26, 20177 yr If Toro Rosso have any sense, they'll bin Kvyat for next season. Although really will it matter who they have in the car given they've opted for Honda engines?
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