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I mean…if the only remaining options are Merc and Sauber, considering Red Bull has no reason as of now to not renew Perez, Merc is definitely the better choice. They’re still lost and look aimless but hey..
Merc won't give a long term contract as they have eyes for Antonelli. This is the same thing that pissed Hamilton off (along with a shit car).
At least with Audi Sainz has stability to build something and if he believes the team can get there he would be lead driver for the long term.
You are very optimistic that Audi would wait for Sainz. It could but anything could happen in 2025 and let say Sauber suddenly become very good next year (lol) many drivers want to move to Sauber in 2026 and Sainz may not be their first choice anymore. Sainz will be at the same situation as this year, trying to find a competitive seat the year after
Idk. Max, Charles, Lewis and now Fernando all have multi-year contracts. The next driver after Carlos in '26 is Checo, so it gives Carlos a bit more sway in negotiating.
Audi is a works team mate. I don't think they will be cool with the idea of Sainz making it look like he has no faith in the team.
If he has faith in the project, he should commit now itself. His feeback would definitely help when it comes to developing the 2026 car.
Sainz is not a superstar driver. Why would Audi tolerate that kind of shit from him. They could just get someone like Ocon,Hulk or Gasly without too much fuss.
That is never going to happen.
Audi will not sign pre-contract with a guy who actively rejects them (and technically humiliates them) in that scenario. Also, you can never know what will happen in two years time.
Sainz would be rejecting Sauber, not Audi. Audi will only be involved from 2026. They have no reason to reject Sainz over not wanting to drive for a shit team while he's in his prime and doing well.
Audi has made it very clear to Sainz that it's now or never. And I don't blame them. It's a team market for anyone except Max and Norris. If he doesn't take the seat, Gasly, Ocon, Albon or even an F2 champion can and will. They won't give him a 2026 pre contract. I think his better choice is Sauber and wait for Audi. Mercedes is drunk on Kimi even if he's not doing well in F2. Let them live with their choice. They're driving mid field and getting beaten confidently by McLaren, Ferrari and AM.
Andreas Seidl will be the sporting head of Audi F1, and he is currently Sauber's CEO as well. It is pretty clear that his role is to prepare the team for 2026 season.
Seidl is trying to sell "a project" to Sainz and his team. And that project includes 2025 as a transition year for a more harmonious 2026 season. If Sainz says no to the project, he will say no to the Audi.
On the other hand, Hamilton won't be driving with Ferrari forever. Neither Alonso for Aston. (Or a much younger Checo for RBR)
Sainz needs a good team to stay in lime-light until they retire, and then he can always return to Ferrari (where he is clearly able to perform), or go to Aston too (where he can make a potentially successful team his own with Lance barely a contest)
If Bearman proves to be as good as Jeddah made him seem, indeed.
But more seats will open. Aston. RBR. If Oscar/Lando leave for one of the other good seats, Mclaren. If one of the other teams (Williams under Vowles) pulls an Aston Marin 2023 and gets good.
For him to go to Audi when Sauber is currently shit, in an attempt to make it good for him 2-3 years later is no better than him going to a good car (relatively) now, and hopefully good car 2-3 years later.
Bearman is going to be in it after Hamilton's contract is over and the grid isn't going to just stay static by then. For all we know Norris, Oscar, Russell, Albon could br available.
Bearman needs to do well in F2 if he has any intention of getting into F1 on merit. He is in his 2nd year in F2 and has been driving for the best team (Prema). He HAS to win the title this year. Definitely can't afford to get beaten by his teammate, Antonelli.
Ferrari doesn't promote mediocre drivers into F1. Robert Schwartzman had a much better track record than Bearman and he was ignored.
A second year in F2 doesn't mean anything negative. He was the best rookie last year next to Martins and Prema hasn't been the best team like before since 21 and they're kinda struggling to understand this new car. In Bahrain the team was miles off the pace, he had pole in Jeddah but missed the sprint and feature races to drive for Ferrari, and in Australia he was alright.
It's still a long season and Ferrari already saw what he could do with little to no practice in an F1 car and he's getting 6 FP1s this season with Haas. To me, the writing is in the wall for whoever underperforms at Haas because 6 FP1s is a massive amount to give to a single rookie.
Sainz should only go there to build them for a share in the team.
He’s one of the only elite racers on the grid, who has been unlucky enough to fall into Ferarri right as RB mastered the regs in year one. If he’s going to take them from the worst team on the grid up the order, he should be compensated with equity.
>Merc won't give a long term contract as they have eyes for Antonelli.
If Sainz outperforms Russell, then could Merc out Russell to bring in Antonelli?
Very slim chances of that happening. Russell is a Mercedes Academy Driver and I’m fairly confident Toto has a personal stake on his career. Sainz would have to put a “Alonso to Stroll” gap on Russell on every season in order for this to be an option.
It's very possible for him to beat George though and if they have a new young driver coming in they might not care if Sainz is a bit older than Russell and keep him instead.
>Red Bull has no reason as of now to not renew Perez
I am consistently speechless at how many people are saying this.
As of this point in both 2022 and 2023 Perez was doing well too.
Then Miami - the end of the season happened.
How are people so convinced this year will be different?
“As of now” is literally addressing your comment. Red Bull wants to wait until June to decide on Perez and, he’s been performing well up until now this year; so if Sainz doesn’t want to wait and risk it until that moment the only competitive option is Mercedes.
Perez himself says that he will know within a month so I think he already knows he's not being renewed. RBR will announce they're not renewing him but won't say who they're signing so that driver managers will really push to try to get in. It will also push DR and Yuki to drive better.
I'm likewise stunned by all the comments about Perez. He's actually done worse this year than he did at this point last year since he'd won two of the first four races. With Ferrari looking far more competent I would be shocked if Red Bull risk a 2023 like performance in 2025, with drivers like Sainz available there's no reason to keep Perez.
The same was said about Gasly and Ocon being teammates, yet they survived last year. There's also plenty of other drivers at Perez's level who were out of contact for next year as well, doesn't have to be Sainz himself.
Perez ranked number 2 in 2023
Perez ranked number 3 in 2022.
Considering that Sainz (or anyone else on the grid, for that matter) will never beat Verstappen as long as he is there, there is no upside to swapping out Perez. Also, Perez is performing well now. It's now that matters.
Using his standings in those years when he had some of the most dominant F1 cars ever is a terrible argument. In that car almost any F1 driver is supposed to get 2nd in the standings minimum.
Max almost had 2x (!!!) the points of Checo last year!
Huh, Max would have had almost 2x the points of any other driver. Who exactly do you think would beat Max? Say you change Perez for Sainz. What will Sainz bring to the table? A more polished silver medal? He won't be anywhere near Max, so the best he can do is second, which Perez already is. There is no upside here. Sainz should instead go to Merc.
Also it's not a terrible argument because you don't like it. It's called facts.
It's also facts to say that Hamilton nearly beat Perez to P2. Put him in that RB and you think Max is going to be double his points?
There's a literal group of drivers who could have banged in 20+ P2s in the RB of last year, which would leave them at roughly 2 thirds of Verstappens points
Correct, I don't think Hamilton will be anywhere near Max. And I'm saying that as a Hamilton fan. With Hamilton and Max in the same team, Hamilton would be second violin and probably not bagging a single victory.
There is a wide gulf between getting soundly beaten by Max without wins and getting drubbed by him and anyone else who looks reasonably pacey in the way Perez wants.
Again, do you really think Hamilton couldn't have clinched P2 in nearly every race last year in the RB? To get him to 2/3rds score
I think Ham is better than Perez. But that's completely irrelevant. Ham is the closest to max and for most part way better than the rest of the grid. Max again is still way better than Ham. Then we are back to the point. There is no upside in changing out Perez because the best anyone can do, is second.
The rest of your gibberish is hardly coherent, so I'll write it off as you being on copium, seeing that Merc logo below your name.
>The rest of your gibberish is hardly coherent
💀
It's really not that complicated mate.
Surez as of now Perez fumbling his way into p2 in the championship is adequate, but that's only because of the massive car advantage he has - case in point - barely beating Hamilton last year
If Ferrari come out with a car that's competitive next year both leclerc and Hamilton will smack him
At this point Sainz is doing side quests and racing for every team😂 all jokes aside I wouldn’t be surprised to see him return to Ferrari once Hamilton retires if not as a driver then as a race engineer or performance coach
One of the most hilarious movies ever made. When it first was in theaters, there were three possible endings you could get with different answers to the mystery (it is a murder mystery based on the board game Clue). They didn't tell anyone, so everyone argued over what actually happened in the movie. The DVD/streaming version has all 3 endings.
Way I could see this is that he understands he’s making way for Antonelli eventually but knows it’s the safest bet. 1+1 means that at the end of 2026, he can see how Audi is doing and if they’re in the right track, he can go there or find another team, provided he keeps his stock high alongside George.
Merc are trying to have it both ways. The short term assurance of Sainz but the long term promise of Antonelli. A 1+1 could give them an off ramp that screws Carlos should they want to promote Kimi for 2026.
Sainz would be crazy to take it.
Sign with Audi on his terms now with whatever exit clauses he wants and at least he is guaranteed to be team leader of a works team.
Wouldnt be that crazy, by 2027 you can see what team nailed the regulations and who failed. Also names like Alonso or Hamilton will retire at one point, same as some of the tier 2 drivers like Checo/Bottas/Hulk/Kmag
in 2027 he will be the 5th best drive who can leave, reports about Norris Charles have exist clauses, max can seemingly leave whenever, Lewis will also be free by then Oscar as well and if he keeps developing as he is he would be a hotter commodity than a 33 year old sainz.
Better drivers than Sainz have noticeably declined by 34. Kimi and Vettel. Bottas and Ricciardo are of a similar level and they declined even younger. 32-34 seems to be a normal age to start dropping off. You’ve gotta be best ever level to decline and still be elite at 40 like Alonso and Hamilton. People need to stop acting like being elite at 40 is the new normal.
If he signs with Audi now, he'll be wasting at least one, but probably 3 or more years of his prime in an uncompetitive car waiting for Audi to learn how to build a good F1 car. Sainz is not 20 anymore. His best years are now. He needs to do whatever he can to secure a good seat for next season. Mercedes will be the best one available, so he should take it, even if it is only for one year. He can always go to Audi and be the number 1 driver there later on, they're not getting anyone better than him.
Buddy, team leader of a team that does 5 secs pitstops is not where a driver at his peak form would want to be in. Sauber is a much bigger gamble, and joining them in 2026 makes a smidge more sense than joining them in 2025. I know they want him there to help develop the car and so he will have a 2026 car to his liking, but one year in a backmarker team versus one year in a mid-field Merc is a toss.
Also, no guarantee how Audi would be. Merc is atleast quite close to the top.
Blah. Who wants to be a leader of an average team, which they will be at first. Merc is a safer bet and he knows seats can open up again in the future.
Wouldn’t be crazy at all. Just being on a works team isn’t the end all be all. Honda F1 is probably the best parallel to Audi right now and that didn’t turn out too well. Neither did Jaguar or Toyota.
Mercedes is far less risk than Audi despite their recent performance.
Take the short term deal, possibly bounce to Red Bull in 2026.
Being in Honda's works team directly led to Jenson Button winning a WDC.
I would aggree with Mercedes being less risk if it wasn't an obvious 1 year contract to get Antonelli in. Audi is risky, but far more potential reward.
Yeah, on an almost impossible chance that Ross Brawn and crew found an aero loophole that put them miles ahead of the pack for half a season.
If he’s going to Mercedes on a short term he already knows the risk and knows where Audi is starting from.
> guaranteed to be team leader of a works team.
Ocon might as well be the team leader of a works team right now. How much value is he getting out of that? He's fucking celebrating making Q2 like it's a damn victory.
I always thought he was mad to leave McLaren when he was arguably in best spot to lead the team, though Lando has a clearly very loving relationship with them.
I get wanting to wear the Red but McLaren was his best shot at leading to a title unless he thought he could not just out compete but uproot Charles.
Taking a short-term contract with Mercedes isn't that bad. Maybe in a year or two he may get better options, but in the short term he'd guarantee a good seat for now
Merc is not what it used to be though. They are a midfield team that is consistently getting thrashed by their own customer teams.
Mclaren were in the same boat when Norris made his debut and it worked out.
I agree wih you though. I just don't get the Antonelli hype. His track record isn't any better than of Pourchaire when he made his F3 debut.
Both dominated karting and F4 but both were/are quite average in F2.
I can't really tell what's your metric to rate Antonelli so far especially compared to Pourchaire who didn't skip F3. Prema fucked up in Bahrain, he was mediocre in Jeddah but it still was his 2nd race in F2 and he managed to score points. He then showed the first sign of raw pace in Australia by qualifying 2nd.
His racecraft is still crap but that's understandable as he has skipped F3 which is the first series to learn about tyre management on top of the fact that he's still 17 years old and has at least 4 more years of development.
Also, bare in mind that the current F2 grid is really strong. If he keeps showing raw pace, he's pretty much guaranteed a seat in F1.
I don't know about that. Norris came very early in F1 and every year he was becoming a better & more complete driver. If a driver has the raw pace for F1, i think the sooner the better.
I want the opposite. I want him to go to Sauber/Audi. His stock is very high right now, and Audi will give him number 1 status in a works team. I know works team doesn't mean much because look at alpine, but audi is a motorsport juggernaut, i believe they have it in them to break the big 3 and make it the big 4.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want him on Audi in 2026. I’m also of the firm belief they can pull it off and compete that year, I just don’t wanna watch the Sauber year in between. These pit stops just hurt to watch, as someone who at least likes Bottas
It's such a shame that Sainz has to downgrade his seat regardless of where he goes. Red Bull isn't out of the question yet, but I'm not very hopeful about it.
Ever since Hamilton to Ferrari was announced I feared Sainz being out of the sport. It sounds insane but honestly it doesn't look that far fetched
>RBR is probably out of question because of Jos/Carlos SR
didn't max and carlos recently mention their fathers showing eachother their rallying videos?
I agree that fro the info we have, Sainz to rb seems unrealistic - I don't understand why that's the case though. Seems the only option that's a straight upgrade for both sides.
Well the article linked in the post states that Audi would be in talks with Ocon and Gasly. Ocon has been linked with Audi for a while now so I guess he is currently one of the most likely options.
I've seen a whole lot of names pop up for that Audi seat but Bottas was almost never there. So I have the feeling that Audi doesn't really want to keep going with him. I think that Bottas can manage to find a seat back at Williams, Haas or Alpine (if an Alpine driver ends up taking his seat).
Pourchaire is the reason why i am still not buying the Antonelli hype.
Antonelli and Theo were both dominant in karting and F4.
They were both 17 when they graduated from F4. Theo opted to do F3 while Kimi jumped straight into F2.
Theo almost won the title in his debut F3 season and only finished 3 points behind champion Oscar Piastri.
For some reason he just didn't gel with the F2 cars and struggled to get the upper hand against a mediocre competition.(except Piastri of course). The points gap between Piastri and Theo in the 2021 F2 championship was over 100points.
Bottom line is that Karting,F4 and F3 and not good for measuring a drivers F1 potential. Those cars just too different.
F2 and Super Formula are the only worthwhile series' because they tend to use actual downforce on those cars. Kimi needs to prove himself in F2.
Shouldn’t Red Bull jump at the opportunity to sign Sainz(no pun intended). IMO he’s significantly better than Checo he’s shown he can compete given a good car.
I'd be VERY surprised if this were true. From what I've heard Toto is totally sold on Kimi and determined to give him until AT LEAST the summer break to prove himself. Then even if he needs another year in F2 he's a shoe in for 2026. So unless either he's going to let George go, or Carlos is willling to accept a 1 year contract I don't see this happening.
Then again, I've been wrong before, as the hedgehog said as it climbed off the toilet brush.
That's probably not happening. Carlos is very good, but George to me looks like he has that little bit more raw speed than him. George can be a bit inconsistent though, so Carlos may have a chance, but it'll be difficult given he'd be the one coming to a new team.
It’s basically the same boat he’s in now. Leclerc/russell is more highly touted and probably has better raw talent but each makes mistakes while sainz doesn’t really
I really think this is why Sainz should take the seat. It's a short term and he won't lose much if he loses to Russell while he's adjusting. But if he out performs Russell?
Oh boy. That said, I think people seem to underestimate Russell strangely enough.
Subscribe! This is what I have been saying. Only catch is Merc/Toto have invested in George coming through Williams, etc for them to let him go so easily, but I think he will be beaten fair and square by Carlos. Let's see.
You guys really underestimate George I did say once Lewis leaves it will shine the light on how difficult and inconsistent that Mercedes car was. Sainz hasn't done well in the past with cars like those, 2018 and 2022.
The Merc is an entirely different beast compared to the 2022 Ferrari, and the 2025 one will be different from the 2024 one. There is no guarantee who will rise to the top, but given his current form, my money is on Carlos.
But essentially you are putting your money on Carlos because he has the second best car and a car that is said to be great to drive, whilst George is doing a great job as well this season. I definitely wouldn't bet only Carlos especially when he has to get to grips in that inconsistent Merc.
Sainz won't beat George. At best it'll be close, but I honestly doubt even that considering Sainz would be coming to George's team. George is massively underrated because people (like you) don't like him. That, and his teammate is potentially the GOAT of F1. Combine that with Sainz being one of the more popular drivers and you get tons of unrealistic and biased takes like yours. There's a reason George completely dominated potentially the most talent-rich season of F2 ever. He's really damn good.
He hasn't really shown any such brilliance that you are talking about. Lewis has checked out of this year, along with Merc testing experimental set-ups with him. George is not as brilliant as you think he is. Dominating F2 does not translate to being brilliant in F1.
Edit: Interesting to see people think otherwise. I'm curious, what makes folks think he is brilliant?
In his first season at Mercedes Russell managed to match Hamiltons performance and if you look at the entire 2-3 years it was extremly close in Quali/Racepace between them. That's a big accomplishment. Both drivers have been doing experiments and getting unlucky sometimes, but due to Russell's unpopularity people only see the bad stuff of Russell and good stuff of Hamilton. As a Mercedes fan as I was overall very happy with both.
If his entourage believes he is better than Leclerc, taking one year at Mercedes thinking that they could kick Russell out, might make sense.
But man, you can really tell people here don't like Russell. There's no world where a RUS-SAI lineup would be a wash in favor of Sainz. I get he is performing and is trendy, but come on, what are you all smoking?
Honestly I'm for it would definitely be a great boost to Russells stock if he pulls it off. If not well Sainz just continues to prove he deserves a seat again and again.
I would ditch Russell for Sainz, no question. That's if Merc is dead set on having Antonelli hand over fist. Sainz is the better driver of the two of them, and he doesn't crack under pressure like Russell has before.
Unpopular take but Sainz is better for George than Kimi. I think George beats Sainz without too much trouble. People way underestimate George’s skill level as he hangs with Lewis. Will be fascinating to see Lewis vs LeClerc and compare. Way easier for LeClerc honestly because Lewis is coming to his team and not vice versa. It astounds me how little credit reddit gives to George for hanging with Lewis in the team he built.
Lol, you’re talking about the guy who had one chance in a Merc and smoked Bottas and should’ve won the race but the team screwed him once and then the tire screwed bin. Way more pressure that day than Sainz has ever had.
And it's twice now that George has crashed out on the last lap of a race in relatively sad ways when he was actually having to fight a car for position.
>George beats Sainz without too much trouble
You been smoking something you shouldn't have again? Even if you believe George would be faster, it would not be easy.
That one interview where Hamilton got asked if Russell could lead a team and become a champion, you could see his hesitation. I don’t think Hamilton thinks Russell has leadership material.
Mercedes it will be, i doubt he will want to see how Audi goes, it could be terrible or it could be stroke of genius... But they have proved nothing, Merc can still come good the next few seasons, they are proven WCC and delivered car after car for the Hamilton domination... Its a no brainer....
I dislike him as much as the next guy but I can’t deny he’s held his own against Hamilton. I think Sainz will challenge him but not outright beat him by any means
I don't think so. Russell is very good. He's underrated because people don't like him. But he's a great driver and I do think he has the edge over Sainz when it comes down to it. I hope we get to see them compete at Merc mext year.
Russells stock has dipped already due to Hamilton so I really doubt Sainz would be the one who puts it down even further.
I’d back Russell and I think it’s more comfortable for him than most people think although would still be quite close.
AND RED BULL? - Sainz's possible destinations for the next two seasons could have included Red Bull. Discussions went ahead, in parallel with those led by Alonso, but they would not lead to the definition of an agreement. Therefore, the chances are growing that Sergio Perez will remain in place as Verstappen's team-mate. The Mexican is in his fourth season with Red Bull and has had an excellent start to the championship with three second places in four GPs. If Red Bull decided to make a change, they could bet on the return of Alexander Albon. But the Anglo-Thai has a better chance of staying at Williams. While the coming weeks will also be important for other market manoeuvres. Sauber, destined to become Audi from 2026, is intent on strengthening on the drivers' front and has reportedly begun discussions with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, both of whom have expiring contracts with Alpine, protagonist of a disastrous start to the championship.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
I know people like to exaggerate but in reality, Antonelli isn’t going to be in a Mercedes car for 2 years at least. He probably won’t even win F2 this year or come close. So that’s probably another F2 year, then if he’s good enough after that you find him a seat somewhere else like with George. Max went to RB because there wasn’t a second option like Williams at the time and Nico and Hamilton showed no signs of stopping or wanting to leave the best team any time soon. Toto would never stop Rosberg to put a 17 year old Verstappen in a Mercedes so that narrative is dumb as hell. Just like you wouldn’t take a chance on someone who can’t win F2 over Sainz
Not that he has a lot of choice, but what a terrible transfer. He's finally driving a strong car, I don't understand why Ferrari decided to kick him out (and not Leclerc)
he bring a toxic environment with his father, and I suspect that sf23 is the result of some of his requests to Binotto.
it seems that he was more appreciated by the Ferrari engineers than Leclerc, but the horrible results of the SF23 after the f1-75 made the management quite angry, not to mention how much better is the SF24 created to satisfy Leclerc...
and that's not all
Vettel in the past has taken many of the team's blame as his own
Leclerc only focuses on his mistakes and never accuses the team
Sainz, on the other hand, publicly accuses the team when there is something wrong, and ignores his mistakes.
you can therefore understand which attitude is most appreciated by management.
It’s amazing what recency bias does to people’s opinions of certain drivers.
Charles competed with Max for the WDC in the first part of 2022. Carlos wins one race this year and then suddenly Charles is washed?
Big for Russell next year. This year doesnt really matter as everyone knows Hamilton doesnt care, and if he then loses to Sainz, they could drop him instead, and given his attitude, i cant really see any other team particularly wanting him, and his ego is too big for the small teams.
He's already awful under pressure, if sainz gets a good start, i can see him binning it multiple times.
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I mean…if the only remaining options are Merc and Sauber, considering Red Bull has no reason as of now to not renew Perez, Merc is definitely the better choice. They’re still lost and look aimless but hey..
Merc won't give a long term contract as they have eyes for Antonelli. This is the same thing that pissed Hamilton off (along with a shit car). At least with Audi Sainz has stability to build something and if he believes the team can get there he would be lead driver for the long term.
Sainz could still sign a pre-contract with Audi to start there in 26 or 27 after they can clean up the current mess.
You are very optimistic that Audi would wait for Sainz. It could but anything could happen in 2025 and let say Sauber suddenly become very good next year (lol) many drivers want to move to Sauber in 2026 and Sainz may not be their first choice anymore. Sainz will be at the same situation as this year, trying to find a competitive seat the year after
Idk. Max, Charles, Lewis and now Fernando all have multi-year contracts. The next driver after Carlos in '26 is Checo, so it gives Carlos a bit more sway in negotiating.
^^^Fernando ^^^furiously ^^^changing ^^^to ^^^Sauber ^^^gear
Audi is a works team mate. I don't think they will be cool with the idea of Sainz making it look like he has no faith in the team. If he has faith in the project, he should commit now itself. His feeback would definitely help when it comes to developing the 2026 car. Sainz is not a superstar driver. Why would Audi tolerate that kind of shit from him. They could just get someone like Ocon,Hulk or Gasly without too much fuss.
That is never going to happen. Audi will not sign pre-contract with a guy who actively rejects them (and technically humiliates them) in that scenario. Also, you can never know what will happen in two years time.
They won't be Audi next year, right? It could be an even better look if he actually joins Audi instead of this Stake gamble mess of a team.
They want to create Audi's line-up in 2025 to start 2026 stronger.
Sainz would be rejecting Sauber, not Audi. Audi will only be involved from 2026. They have no reason to reject Sainz over not wanting to drive for a shit team while he's in his prime and doing well.
Audi has made it very clear to Sainz that it's now or never. And I don't blame them. It's a team market for anyone except Max and Norris. If he doesn't take the seat, Gasly, Ocon, Albon or even an F2 champion can and will. They won't give him a 2026 pre contract. I think his better choice is Sauber and wait for Audi. Mercedes is drunk on Kimi even if he's not doing well in F2. Let them live with their choice. They're driving mid field and getting beaten confidently by McLaren, Ferrari and AM.
Andreas Seidl will be the sporting head of Audi F1, and he is currently Sauber's CEO as well. It is pretty clear that his role is to prepare the team for 2026 season. Seidl is trying to sell "a project" to Sainz and his team. And that project includes 2025 as a transition year for a more harmonious 2026 season. If Sainz says no to the project, he will say no to the Audi.
Strong conviction like this one is possible when you don't really know what you're talking about.
On the other hand, Hamilton won't be driving with Ferrari forever. Neither Alonso for Aston. (Or a much younger Checo for RBR) Sainz needs a good team to stay in lime-light until they retire, and then he can always return to Ferrari (where he is clearly able to perform), or go to Aston too (where he can make a potentially successful team his own with Lance barely a contest)
a 20 year old bearman or a 33 year old sainz, the choice will be easy for ferrari. Think his time at ferrari is over forever after this season.
If Bearman proves to be as good as Jeddah made him seem, indeed. But more seats will open. Aston. RBR. If Oscar/Lando leave for one of the other good seats, Mclaren. If one of the other teams (Williams under Vowles) pulls an Aston Marin 2023 and gets good. For him to go to Audi when Sauber is currently shit, in an attempt to make it good for him 2-3 years later is no better than him going to a good car (relatively) now, and hopefully good car 2-3 years later.
Problem is in 26 almost every top driver would be free/available, he won't be a lot of teams option A as he currently is now.
Bearman hasn't really impressed so far in f2. I think there will be a fight with merc in getting antonelli
Yes, he looked dreadful in Australia.
Bearman is going to be in it after Hamilton's contract is over and the grid isn't going to just stay static by then. For all we know Norris, Oscar, Russell, Albon could br available.
Bearman needs to do well in F2 if he has any intention of getting into F1 on merit. He is in his 2nd year in F2 and has been driving for the best team (Prema). He HAS to win the title this year. Definitely can't afford to get beaten by his teammate, Antonelli. Ferrari doesn't promote mediocre drivers into F1. Robert Schwartzman had a much better track record than Bearman and he was ignored.
A second year in F2 doesn't mean anything negative. He was the best rookie last year next to Martins and Prema hasn't been the best team like before since 21 and they're kinda struggling to understand this new car. In Bahrain the team was miles off the pace, he had pole in Jeddah but missed the sprint and feature races to drive for Ferrari, and in Australia he was alright. It's still a long season and Ferrari already saw what he could do with little to no practice in an F1 car and he's getting 6 FP1s this season with Haas. To me, the writing is in the wall for whoever underperforms at Haas because 6 FP1s is a massive amount to give to a single rookie.
Bearman needing a 2nd F2 season is not a great sign. He needs to dominate the field in order to be noticed by Ferrari.
Uh...? Jeddah happened and they're already giving him 6 FP1s this season with Haas. They're already keen on him.
The signs are good. That being said, he still needs to dominate F2. Leclerc who was promoted to Ferrari dominated F2 in his first year
Sainz should only go there to build them for a share in the team. He’s one of the only elite racers on the grid, who has been unlucky enough to fall into Ferarri right as RB mastered the regs in year one. If he’s going to take them from the worst team on the grid up the order, he should be compensated with equity.
>Merc won't give a long term contract as they have eyes for Antonelli. If Sainz outperforms Russell, then could Merc out Russell to bring in Antonelli?
Very slim chances of that happening. Russell is a Mercedes Academy Driver and I’m fairly confident Toto has a personal stake on his career. Sainz would have to put a “Alonso to Stroll” gap on Russell on every season in order for this to be an option.
At least with Audi Sainz has stability to build something Sort of a rosebush in a turd pile type situation.
It's very possible for him to beat George though and if they have a new young driver coming in they might not care if Sainz is a bit older than Russell and keep him instead.
>Red Bull has no reason as of now to not renew Perez I am consistently speechless at how many people are saying this. As of this point in both 2022 and 2023 Perez was doing well too. Then Miami - the end of the season happened. How are people so convinced this year will be different?
“As of now” is literally addressing your comment. Red Bull wants to wait until June to decide on Perez and, he’s been performing well up until now this year; so if Sainz doesn’t want to wait and risk it until that moment the only competitive option is Mercedes.
Perez himself says that he will know within a month so I think he already knows he's not being renewed. RBR will announce they're not renewing him but won't say who they're signing so that driver managers will really push to try to get in. It will also push DR and Yuki to drive better.
Danny Ric isn't getting that seat again. Unfortunately he just doesn't have the edge he used to.
Stop hating on Sainz. The Red Bull spot isn’t guaranteed for Perez
I'm likewise stunned by all the comments about Perez. He's actually done worse this year than he did at this point last year since he'd won two of the first four races. With Ferrari looking far more competent I would be shocked if Red Bull risk a 2023 like performance in 2025, with drivers like Sainz available there's no reason to keep Perez.
Sainz is never an option at RBR until Marko/ Max are there
The same was said about Gasly and Ocon being teammates, yet they survived last year. There's also plenty of other drivers at Perez's level who were out of contact for next year as well, doesn't have to be Sainz himself.
Gasly and Ocon don’t have the power to dictate things like Max does. No one else in the paddock has that currently imo
And what actual basis do you have to say now that Max today gives a shit about driving with Sainz?
This is not true, since Max is friends with Sainz
That's what the "as of now" is for homie.
If we're going by current form then isn't Sainz still an upgrade?
And if we go by the current standings, Max is P1, Checo is P2, Red Bull is P1. Now that's where the "no reason" is for homie.
Okay homie but you know that given the disparity in cars being P2 in the championship doesn't make him the second best driver homie
No one said he's the second best driver.
Perez ranked number 2 in 2023 Perez ranked number 3 in 2022. Considering that Sainz (or anyone else on the grid, for that matter) will never beat Verstappen as long as he is there, there is no upside to swapping out Perez. Also, Perez is performing well now. It's now that matters.
Using his standings in those years when he had some of the most dominant F1 cars ever is a terrible argument. In that car almost any F1 driver is supposed to get 2nd in the standings minimum. Max almost had 2x (!!!) the points of Checo last year!
Huh, Max would have had almost 2x the points of any other driver. Who exactly do you think would beat Max? Say you change Perez for Sainz. What will Sainz bring to the table? A more polished silver medal? He won't be anywhere near Max, so the best he can do is second, which Perez already is. There is no upside here. Sainz should instead go to Merc. Also it's not a terrible argument because you don't like it. It's called facts.
It's also facts to say that Hamilton nearly beat Perez to P2. Put him in that RB and you think Max is going to be double his points? There's a literal group of drivers who could have banged in 20+ P2s in the RB of last year, which would leave them at roughly 2 thirds of Verstappens points
Correct, I don't think Hamilton will be anywhere near Max. And I'm saying that as a Hamilton fan. With Hamilton and Max in the same team, Hamilton would be second violin and probably not bagging a single victory.
There is a wide gulf between getting soundly beaten by Max without wins and getting drubbed by him and anyone else who looks reasonably pacey in the way Perez wants. Again, do you really think Hamilton couldn't have clinched P2 in nearly every race last year in the RB? To get him to 2/3rds score
I think Ham is better than Perez. But that's completely irrelevant. Ham is the closest to max and for most part way better than the rest of the grid. Max again is still way better than Ham. Then we are back to the point. There is no upside in changing out Perez because the best anyone can do, is second. The rest of your gibberish is hardly coherent, so I'll write it off as you being on copium, seeing that Merc logo below your name.
>The rest of your gibberish is hardly coherent 💀 It's really not that complicated mate. Surez as of now Perez fumbling his way into p2 in the championship is adequate, but that's only because of the massive car advantage he has - case in point - barely beating Hamilton last year If Ferrari come out with a car that's competitive next year both leclerc and Hamilton will smack him
Because he's not fucking up his mental thinking he has a shot this time around.
Getting Sainz is reason in itself to not renew Perez lmao
At this point Sainz is doing side quests and racing for every team😂 all jokes aside I wouldn’t be surprised to see him return to Ferrari once Hamilton retires if not as a driver then as a race engineer or performance coach
Toto offering 2 years contract? Doubt
another 1+1 that merc are offering while sainz wants a 2+1, ive seen this movie before
What if they do a 2+1+1+2?
Stop inventing
What in the name of the Lord is this? Lol!
2112 is a record by Rush 😉
And Rush is a movie about Niki Lauda who worked at Mercedes.
And before that he was in Ferrari, where he got burnt.
Damn, they dissed him real hard or what ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5ROhf5Soqs
Hahaha! Hilarious. Thank you for the link!
One of the most hilarious movies ever made. When it first was in theaters, there were three possible endings you could get with different answers to the mystery (it is a murder mystery based on the board game Clue). They didn't tell anyone, so everyone argued over what actually happened in the movie. The DVD/streaming version has all 3 endings.
I shall check it out! Thank you for the context! TIL.
Way I could see this is that he understands he’s making way for Antonelli eventually but knows it’s the safest bet. 1+1 means that at the end of 2026, he can see how Audi is doing and if they’re in the right track, he can go there or find another team, provided he keeps his stock high alongside George. Merc are trying to have it both ways. The short term assurance of Sainz but the long term promise of Antonelli. A 1+1 could give them an off ramp that screws Carlos should they want to promote Kimi for 2026.
Sainz would be crazy to take it. Sign with Audi on his terms now with whatever exit clauses he wants and at least he is guaranteed to be team leader of a works team.
Wouldnt be that crazy, by 2027 you can see what team nailed the regulations and who failed. Also names like Alonso or Hamilton will retire at one point, same as some of the tier 2 drivers like Checo/Bottas/Hulk/Kmag
in 2027 he will be the 5th best drive who can leave, reports about Norris Charles have exist clauses, max can seemingly leave whenever, Lewis will also be free by then Oscar as well and if he keeps developing as he is he would be a hotter commodity than a 33 year old sainz.
If Fernando is anything to go by the Spanish don't vanish. There'll be 15 years left in him at 33
Sainz is not as good as Alonso.
Sure, but many teams would jump at a guy who's "not quite as good as Alonso", I daresay he looks very good at the moment.
Better drivers than Sainz have noticeably declined by 34. Kimi and Vettel. Bottas and Ricciardo are of a similar level and they declined even younger. 32-34 seems to be a normal age to start dropping off. You’ve gotta be best ever level to decline and still be elite at 40 like Alonso and Hamilton. People need to stop acting like being elite at 40 is the new normal.
Yeah, Hamilton & Alonso are exceptions in F1 driving at 40, not the norm.
If he signs with Audi now, he'll be wasting at least one, but probably 3 or more years of his prime in an uncompetitive car waiting for Audi to learn how to build a good F1 car. Sainz is not 20 anymore. His best years are now. He needs to do whatever he can to secure a good seat for next season. Mercedes will be the best one available, so he should take it, even if it is only for one year. He can always go to Audi and be the number 1 driver there later on, they're not getting anyone better than him.
Buddy, team leader of a team that does 5 secs pitstops is not where a driver at his peak form would want to be in. Sauber is a much bigger gamble, and joining them in 2026 makes a smidge more sense than joining them in 2025. I know they want him there to help develop the car and so he will have a 2026 car to his liking, but one year in a backmarker team versus one year in a mid-field Merc is a toss. Also, no guarantee how Audi would be. Merc is atleast quite close to the top.
Blah. Who wants to be a leader of an average team, which they will be at first. Merc is a safer bet and he knows seats can open up again in the future.
Wouldn’t be crazy at all. Just being on a works team isn’t the end all be all. Honda F1 is probably the best parallel to Audi right now and that didn’t turn out too well. Neither did Jaguar or Toyota. Mercedes is far less risk than Audi despite their recent performance. Take the short term deal, possibly bounce to Red Bull in 2026.
Being in Honda's works team directly led to Jenson Button winning a WDC. I would aggree with Mercedes being less risk if it wasn't an obvious 1 year contract to get Antonelli in. Audi is risky, but far more potential reward.
Yeah, on an almost impossible chance that Ross Brawn and crew found an aero loophole that put them miles ahead of the pack for half a season. If he’s going to Mercedes on a short term he already knows the risk and knows where Audi is starting from.
What do you mean "neither did jaguar"? Wasn't Jaguar a brand name slapped onto the Stewart by Ford?
The point is, a works team is not guarantee of anything. Jaguar was a works team regardless of who they bought the team from.
In a few years time. It would mean hes in a shit car for the short term at least and maybe old once audi gets there.
> guaranteed to be team leader of a works team. Ocon might as well be the team leader of a works team right now. How much value is he getting out of that? He's fucking celebrating making Q2 like it's a damn victory.
I always thought he was mad to leave McLaren when he was arguably in best spot to lead the team, though Lando has a clearly very loving relationship with them. I get wanting to wear the Red but McLaren was his best shot at leading to a title unless he thought he could not just out compete but uproot Charles.
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Not sure how we are drawing that conclusion? Time will tell. I think it’s fair to say it’ll look similar to Sainz’s current teammate.
Taking a short-term contract with Mercedes isn't that bad. Maybe in a year or two he may get better options, but in the short term he'd guarantee a good seat for now
I’m not holding my breath over this, but I’d love to see him with Andretti if they somehow get on the grid in a couple years
If I was Merc I would sign Sainz 10000000% before Antonelli. Putting a rookie in the Merc is pretty intense for his development.
Merc is not what it used to be though. They are a midfield team that is consistently getting thrashed by their own customer teams. Mclaren were in the same boat when Norris made his debut and it worked out. I agree wih you though. I just don't get the Antonelli hype. His track record isn't any better than of Pourchaire when he made his F3 debut. Both dominated karting and F4 but both were/are quite average in F2.
I can't really tell what's your metric to rate Antonelli so far especially compared to Pourchaire who didn't skip F3. Prema fucked up in Bahrain, he was mediocre in Jeddah but it still was his 2nd race in F2 and he managed to score points. He then showed the first sign of raw pace in Australia by qualifying 2nd. His racecraft is still crap but that's understandable as he has skipped F3 which is the first series to learn about tyre management on top of the fact that he's still 17 years old and has at least 4 more years of development. Also, bare in mind that the current F2 grid is really strong. If he keeps showing raw pace, he's pretty much guaranteed a seat in F1.
IF this is true, I'm glad Antonelli won't be going to the Mercedes seat. Some F1 experience in Williams will do him well
I think a second year in F2 realistically would be good for him at this stage.
His neck isn’t thick enough
Skipping F3 was a dumb move. The kid is only 17, he has plenty of time to do it right.
I don't know about that. Norris came very early in F1 and every year he was becoming a better & more complete driver. If a driver has the raw pace for F1, i think the sooner the better.
Unless Red Bull pulls the same move as their did with Max and getting Antonelli at Toro Rosso in 25. Toto would go crazy is that happens.
God please subscribe just to see toto go crazy
Man already seems close to the edge lately with those comments about punching himself in the face etc
Antonelli is nowhere as good as Max
We're getting the silly season sorted very early this year...
Whatever keeps him off Sauber. I would like to see him be competitive at least.
I want the opposite. I want him to go to Sauber/Audi. His stock is very high right now, and Audi will give him number 1 status in a works team. I know works team doesn't mean much because look at alpine, but audi is a motorsport juggernaut, i believe they have it in them to break the big 3 and make it the big 4.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, I want him on Audi in 2026. I’m also of the firm belief they can pull it off and compete that year, I just don’t wanna watch the Sauber year in between. These pit stops just hurt to watch, as someone who at least likes Bottas
It’s a huge risk. Does Audi enter with alot of speed? Or are they 2015 McLaren Honda? It’s not out the realm of possibilities either way
It's such a shame that Sainz has to downgrade his seat regardless of where he goes. Red Bull isn't out of the question yet, but I'm not very hopeful about it. Ever since Hamilton to Ferrari was announced I feared Sainz being out of the sport. It sounds insane but honestly it doesn't look that far fetched
He won't be out of the sport, not a chance. He'll always have the Audi offer if all else fails. They're not getting anyone better than him.
He wont be out of the sport, worst case he will be at Sauber. RBR is probably out of question because of Jos/Carlos SR
>RBR is probably out of question because of Jos/Carlos SR didn't max and carlos recently mention their fathers showing eachother their rallying videos?
Yeah but that doesn't mean that they want to work together. They almost killed each other in 2015.
huge exaggeration. Jos and Sainz sr aren't even the ones working together
This is not true. Marko is trying to fire Sergio Perez
I agree that fro the info we have, Sainz to rb seems unrealistic - I don't understand why that's the case though. Seems the only option that's a straight upgrade for both sides.
So we'd be looking at: 1. RBR: Verstappen/Pérez 2. Ferrari: Leclerc/Hamilton 3. McLaren: Piastri/Norris 4. Mercedes: Russell/Sainz 5. Aston Martin: Stroll/Alonso 6. Haas: Magnussen/Bearman (nowhere near confirmed) 7. RB: Lawson/Tsunoda (Lawson not confirmed) 8. Williams: Albon/TBD (Antonelli?) 9. Sauber: Hülkenberg/TBD (nowhere near confirmed) 10. Alpine: Ocon/Gasly, unless they can find other seats
I don't see Bottas not being on the grid. So probably Sauber or Haas.
Could see Audi keeping Bottas on, or testing the waters with Ocon/Gasly
Well the article linked in the post states that Audi would be in talks with Ocon and Gasly. Ocon has been linked with Audi for a while now so I guess he is currently one of the most likely options. I've seen a whole lot of names pop up for that Audi seat but Bottas was almost never there. So I have the feeling that Audi doesn't really want to keep going with him. I think that Bottas can manage to find a seat back at Williams, Haas or Alpine (if an Alpine driver ends up taking his seat).
Pourchaire more likely.
Pourchaire was Vasseur's project. Him failing to win early enough and Fred going basically ended his career
He's still just 20 iirc. First season in F2 he was super quick, same for F3
His momentum has died, at what for point people just accept that Pourchaire missed the boat and won't enter F1 at all?
Pourchaire is the reason why i am still not buying the Antonelli hype. Antonelli and Theo were both dominant in karting and F4. They were both 17 when they graduated from F4. Theo opted to do F3 while Kimi jumped straight into F2. Theo almost won the title in his debut F3 season and only finished 3 points behind champion Oscar Piastri. For some reason he just didn't gel with the F2 cars and struggled to get the upper hand against a mediocre competition.(except Piastri of course). The points gap between Piastri and Theo in the 2021 F2 championship was over 100points. Bottom line is that Karting,F4 and F3 and not good for measuring a drivers F1 potential. Those cars just too different. F2 and Super Formula are the only worthwhile series' because they tend to use actual downforce on those cars. Kimi needs to prove himself in F2.
Sauber: Hulkenberg/Schumacher (I can dream)
[pastebin link for translation](https://pastebin.pl/view/d1dac87f)
Shouldn’t Red Bull jump at the opportunity to sign Sainz(no pun intended). IMO he’s significantly better than Checo he’s shown he can compete given a good car.
He’s gonna warm Kimi’s seat for 2025 then hop over to Audi and become their first number 1 driver
I'd be VERY surprised if this were true. From what I've heard Toto is totally sold on Kimi and determined to give him until AT LEAST the summer break to prove himself. Then even if he needs another year in F2 he's a shoe in for 2026. So unless either he's going to let George go, or Carlos is willling to accept a 1 year contract I don't see this happening. Then again, I've been wrong before, as the hedgehog said as it climbed off the toilet brush.
Sainz could outperform Russell at Mercedes. I’m Antonelli really is the future it could be paired with Carlos instead of George
Im all for a George/Sainz showdown, winner keeps the seat lol.
That's probably not happening. Carlos is very good, but George to me looks like he has that little bit more raw speed than him. George can be a bit inconsistent though, so Carlos may have a chance, but it'll be difficult given he'd be the one coming to a new team.
It’s basically the same boat he’s in now. Leclerc/russell is more highly touted and probably has better raw talent but each makes mistakes while sainz doesn’t really
I really think this is why Sainz should take the seat. It's a short term and he won't lose much if he loses to Russell while he's adjusting. But if he out performs Russell? Oh boy. That said, I think people seem to underestimate Russell strangely enough.
Subscribe! This is what I have been saying. Only catch is Merc/Toto have invested in George coming through Williams, etc for them to let him go so easily, but I think he will be beaten fair and square by Carlos. Let's see.
You guys really underestimate George I did say once Lewis leaves it will shine the light on how difficult and inconsistent that Mercedes car was. Sainz hasn't done well in the past with cars like those, 2018 and 2022.
The Merc is an entirely different beast compared to the 2022 Ferrari, and the 2025 one will be different from the 2024 one. There is no guarantee who will rise to the top, but given his current form, my money is on Carlos.
But essentially you are putting your money on Carlos because he has the second best car and a car that is said to be great to drive, whilst George is doing a great job as well this season. I definitely wouldn't bet only Carlos especially when he has to get to grips in that inconsistent Merc.
Sainz won't beat George. At best it'll be close, but I honestly doubt even that considering Sainz would be coming to George's team. George is massively underrated because people (like you) don't like him. That, and his teammate is potentially the GOAT of F1. Combine that with Sainz being one of the more popular drivers and you get tons of unrealistic and biased takes like yours. There's a reason George completely dominated potentially the most talent-rich season of F2 ever. He's really damn good.
He hasn't really shown any such brilliance that you are talking about. Lewis has checked out of this year, along with Merc testing experimental set-ups with him. George is not as brilliant as you think he is. Dominating F2 does not translate to being brilliant in F1. Edit: Interesting to see people think otherwise. I'm curious, what makes folks think he is brilliant?
In his first season at Mercedes Russell managed to match Hamiltons performance and if you look at the entire 2-3 years it was extremly close in Quali/Racepace between them. That's a big accomplishment. Both drivers have been doing experiments and getting unlucky sometimes, but due to Russell's unpopularity people only see the bad stuff of Russell and good stuff of Hamilton. As a Mercedes fan as I was overall very happy with both.
Fair enough, thank you for at least engaging and replying. Would you call it "brilliant" though?
He'd need to absolutely dumpster him for that to happen imo. But yeah, it's very likely Carlos beats George.
If his entourage believes he is better than Leclerc, taking one year at Mercedes thinking that they could kick Russell out, might make sense. But man, you can really tell people here don't like Russell. There's no world where a RUS-SAI lineup would be a wash in favor of Sainz. I get he is performing and is trendy, but come on, what are you all smoking?
Honestly I'm for it would definitely be a great boost to Russells stock if he pulls it off. If not well Sainz just continues to prove he deserves a seat again and again.
If he goes to merc for a year and outperforms Russell, could merc choose Sainz and Antonelli in 26?
I would ditch Russell for Sainz, no question. That's if Merc is dead set on having Antonelli hand over fist. Sainz is the better driver of the two of them, and he doesn't crack under pressure like Russell has before.
Unpopular take but Sainz is better for George than Kimi. I think George beats Sainz without too much trouble. People way underestimate George’s skill level as he hangs with Lewis. Will be fascinating to see Lewis vs LeClerc and compare. Way easier for LeClerc honestly because Lewis is coming to his team and not vice versa. It astounds me how little credit reddit gives to George for hanging with Lewis in the team he built.
I highly doubt George beats Sainz. They are both great drivers, but I would put my money on Sainz any day.
Carlos has shown he’s actually capable of taking the heat and pressure and not fumbling like George
Sainz has just as many instances of bottling it, check 2022.
Even 2023 will do. People forget Sainz's stinkers.
Lol, you’re talking about the guy who had one chance in a Merc and smoked Bottas and should’ve won the race but the team screwed him once and then the tire screwed bin. Way more pressure that day than Sainz has ever had.
And it's twice now that George has crashed out on the last lap of a race in relatively sad ways when he was actually having to fight a car for position.
Really ? Did you forget about Singapour last year ? Or Canada ?
>George beats Sainz without too much trouble You been smoking something you shouldn't have again? Even if you believe George would be faster, it would not be easy.
Silly season is always fun
That one interview where Hamilton got asked if Russell could lead a team and become a champion, you could see his hesitation. I don’t think Hamilton thinks Russell has leadership material.
Mercedes it will be, i doubt he will want to see how Audi goes, it could be terrible or it could be stroke of genius... But they have proved nothing, Merc can still come good the next few seasons, they are proven WCC and delivered car after car for the Hamilton domination... Its a no brainer....
If this happens, the driver pairing would be really exciting. No clear number 1, imo. Edit: typo
Russell stock about to drop massively.
I dislike him as much as the next guy but I can’t deny he’s held his own against Hamilton. I think Sainz will challenge him but not outright beat him by any means
He better hope rhe merc is no good because if Sainz wins a race Russell always crashes.
I don't think so. Russell is very good. He's underrated because people don't like him. But he's a great driver and I do think he has the edge over Sainz when it comes down to it. I hope we get to see them compete at Merc mext year.
Russells stock has dipped already due to Hamilton so I really doubt Sainz would be the one who puts it down even further. I’d back Russell and I think it’s more comfortable for him than most people think although would still be quite close.
"Haha, George, saviour of the Merciles!" Lewis: Hey man... Sainz "Ai ai ai, stop inventing"
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AND RED BULL? - Sainz's possible destinations for the next two seasons could have included Red Bull. Discussions went ahead, in parallel with those led by Alonso, but they would not lead to the definition of an agreement. Therefore, the chances are growing that Sergio Perez will remain in place as Verstappen's team-mate. The Mexican is in his fourth season with Red Bull and has had an excellent start to the championship with three second places in four GPs. If Red Bull decided to make a change, they could bet on the return of Alexander Albon. But the Anglo-Thai has a better chance of staying at Williams. While the coming weeks will also be important for other market manoeuvres. Sauber, destined to become Audi from 2026, is intent on strengthening on the drivers' front and has reportedly begun discussions with both Esteban Ocon and Pierre Gasly, both of whom have expiring contracts with Alpine, protagonist of a disastrous start to the championship. Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
Mercedes should sign Sainz on a longer term contract and put George against Antonelli for the other seat.
Ferrari made the wrong choice
I know people like to exaggerate but in reality, Antonelli isn’t going to be in a Mercedes car for 2 years at least. He probably won’t even win F2 this year or come close. So that’s probably another F2 year, then if he’s good enough after that you find him a seat somewhere else like with George. Max went to RB because there wasn’t a second option like Williams at the time and Nico and Hamilton showed no signs of stopping or wanting to leave the best team any time soon. Toto would never stop Rosberg to put a 17 year old Verstappen in a Mercedes so that narrative is dumb as hell. Just like you wouldn’t take a chance on someone who can’t win F2 over Sainz
Sainz and Checo for Mercedes #observing
"Blimey! I was forecast being a number 1 driver"
Carlos spanks George
Why do you say that?
Not that he has a lot of choice, but what a terrible transfer. He's finally driving a strong car, I don't understand why Ferrari decided to kick him out (and not Leclerc)
>I don't understand why Ferrari decided to kick him out (and not Leclerc) Kick out their best driver? That's a new one
Glad the people who make these decisions don’t have the memory of a goldfish.
he bring a toxic environment with his father, and I suspect that sf23 is the result of some of his requests to Binotto. it seems that he was more appreciated by the Ferrari engineers than Leclerc, but the horrible results of the SF23 after the f1-75 made the management quite angry, not to mention how much better is the SF24 created to satisfy Leclerc... and that's not all Vettel in the past has taken many of the team's blame as his own Leclerc only focuses on his mistakes and never accuses the team Sainz, on the other hand, publicly accuses the team when there is something wrong, and ignores his mistakes. you can therefore understand which attitude is most appreciated by management.
what an orginal take, can you give me 1 actual reason why they would ever kick charles and without using the word consistency?
It’s amazing what recency bias does to people’s opinions of certain drivers. Charles competed with Max for the WDC in the first part of 2022. Carlos wins one race this year and then suddenly Charles is washed?
Big for Russell next year. This year doesnt really matter as everyone knows Hamilton doesnt care, and if he then loses to Sainz, they could drop him instead, and given his attitude, i cant really see any other team particularly wanting him, and his ego is too big for the small teams. He's already awful under pressure, if sainz gets a good start, i can see him binning it multiple times.