Silly Season 2022

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#166

Post by MonteCristo »

Bottom post of the previous page:

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 2 years ago For those who have suggested that George will very much be a #2 to Lewis and he will not be allowed to challenge.....

George Russell says Mercedes made it “very clear” that he will be on “level terms” with Lewis Hamilton when they become Formula 1 team-mates in 2022.

“That was made very clear to me,” Russell said.

“I think Mercedes are always respectful in that regard, to give both drivers the best opportunity. (OK George, did you run that one ast Mr Bottas whose place you are taking? I wonder if he agrees. Ask him about Russia 2018 for one. :mrgreen: :wink:

I wonder if that (alleged equal) will be the case if and when George does what Lewis did (to Alonso) :dunno: :suspicious: :aggro:

I must admit I would love it if George was more than a match for Lewis and pushed him that hard. :fingers: :smiley:
I always figured he'd take a year to find his feet at Merc. But I forgot about the new cars in 2022. If they don't suit Lewis as well then George could find himself with the upper hand quite quickly.

Of course, the opposite could also happen and George gets nuked worse than Bottas!
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#167

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

I guess there was never any real doubt but this official confirmation will no doubt lease some of our membership...

Aston Martin confirms Vettel (and Stroll) for 2022

The team explained several times that the delays were simply down to the need to negotiate certain clauses in the contract. Anyway, it is done, signed and sealed.

Usual blah blah of love and excitement that comes with such announcements.
Vettel said he was excited about the opportunity to compete with the all-new F1 rules that are coming in for the start of next season.

“I am really looking forward to racing the new generation of F1 cars,” he said. “Their look is very different and the new technical regulations should give us cars that can race much more closely than recently.

“More exciting racing will be great for the drivers as well as for the fans. The changes are so big that every team will be starting from a new beginning, so it will be a great opportunity for us at Aston Martin. I believe in the strength of our new growing team, so I am already looking forward to 2022.”

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#168

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

So that is now all bar the second seats at Alfa Romeo, with Gio's seat yet to be confirmed, and Haas.... Mazepin has supposedly been confirmed already (his original contract was apparently for two years) but Schumacher is yet to be confirmed.

Mick is one allegedly in the frame for the Alfa seat, along with Gio, the well (financially) backed Zhou and also Illot and Shwartzman, although, as with Mick and Gio, their Ferrari academy is said to not carry much influence nowadays under the new Alfa deal. Mick of course comes with sponsorship, although nothing like the alleged 30 Million Euros that comes with Zhou.

Oh De Vries is another in the picture at Alfa, although I believe his Mercedes ties might interfere with Alfa. I think his future might be more along the lines of reserve status in a Merc powered team.

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#169

Post by Star »

I am very pleased to hear that Aston Martin have confrimed their drivers for next year. I wasn't that worried to be honest but it's nice to have official confirmation of it :)
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#170

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Zhou firming as favourite for Alfa 2nd seat.

Guanyu Zhou has emerged as the favourite for Alfa Romeo's second seat next year, but team boss Fred Vasseur insists no decision has been taken. It has been suggested that a deal is all but agreed, and now just needs to be signed off.

Vasseur insists that Alfa Romeo remains open minded about what it does for next year and wants a wait a while longer to see how his F2 campaign develops.... Zhou is currently 2nd.

As well as Zhou being on his radar, Vasseur also wants to check on the progress of Sauber academy driver Theo Pourchaire. However he has only just moved into F2 and is just a few weeks past his 17th birthday and 'needs more time due to the current F1 testing restrictiona. (His only F1 drive has been in an old F1 car. On his side is the fact he is a Sauber Academy driver, but that wont match Zhou's credentials of being Chinese (with the kudos associated with being the first Chinaman to race in F1) has won races in F2, but more to the point comes with a large truckload of yen (said to be 30 million Euros worth) from a number of eager Chinese sponsors. He has also done a couple of Friday sessions for Alpine. It seems they are several teams watching him.

Expect a decision after the round of Sochi F2 races in a couple of weeks time..

Money talks, and with current polish oil sponsor Orlen said to be departing F1, or leaving Alfa anyway, Zhou's millions will come in handy. Alpine might kick in a few Euros too being as he is their Academy driver and seen as part of their team future longer term.

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#171

Post by Antonov »

The pairing of Schumacher - Mazepin has resigned at Haas.
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#172

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

Antonov wrote: 2 years ago The pairing of Schumacher - Mazepin has resigned at Haas.
Yes, they have both been confirmed for 2022. Mazepin I believe signed on a 2 year contract anyway. last year.... Steiner has long been saying they would be unchanged, but I guess being in Russia it was a good time to officially say its done.

Far more interesting is who will get the remaining Alfa seat..... still Zhou is the favourite to get that gig, with Gio losing out. He could likely move into perhaps the Ferrari Hypercar. :dunno: With all other seats confirmed, there is no hurry for Alfa to decide, and no doubt they will be watching Zhou closely at Sochi in F2 this weekend. Of course if Gio continues to improve, and back his qualy form with race results he is still a chance. Zhou of course comes with 30 million Euros of Chine backing which Alfa would like. (I read that Orlen are out at year end, from Alfa anyway.

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#173

Post by Star »

One seat left and lots of drivers left walking round it and hoping that when the music stops, they will be the one sitting down.
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#174

Post by ReneLotus »

Antonov wrote: 2 years ago The pairing of Schumacher - Mazepin has resigned at Haas.
For a moment I thought you meant that Mazepin and Schumacher had decided to leave Haas...
#pedantic# I think it should say re-signed :tongue:
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#175

Post by Ruslan »

This is worth looking at:

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/95304/an ... ula-1.html

The four teams where there is not a clear winner in the team duels is:

1. Aston Martin: Vettel vs Stroll; although I contend that Vettel not being able to dominate Stroll is pretty sad commentary on Vettel. Perez dominated Stroll.

2. Alpine: Alonso vs Ocon. Keep in mind Ocon was dominated last season by Ricciardo, who is now being dominated by Norris.

3. Ferrari: Leclerc vs Sainz: There are rumors of unhappiness in the Leclerc camp.

4. Giovinazzi vs Raikkonen:
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#176

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

It seems Gio is not in Alfas good books after refusing team orders at Turkey

Rule #1 when you are trying to hang on to your job : Dont go out of your way to piss your boss off....

Gio was 'unwilling' to let his faster team-mate Kimi past in pursuit of a fast fading, no-stopping Esteban Ocon.
Alfa Romeo head of track engineering Xevi Pujolar appeared less than satisfied with the outcome as Alfa would miss the points – costly in its hopes of reeling in Williams for eighth in the constructors’ championship – with Gio and Kimi finishing 11th and 12th, just behind Ocon.
“We asked to swap positions but then at this point Antonio decided that he wanted to stay ahead,” Pujolar said.

“Maybe that situation is a couple of laps that we potentially could have been faster as a team. Then it was just one more lap to catch Ocon.

“For sure for the team it was not ideal.

“I did not understand very well why we could not swap at this point because also then when you have got both cars at the end we can change it back depending on the situation.

“It’s important to achieve the points, looking at how Kimi’s pace was strong at the time.”

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#177

Post by MonteCristo »

Sargeant setting IndyCar aside to chase F1 dream with Williams

Logan Sargeant says he is switching his focus back to a future in Formula 1 after being offered a role with the Williams Driver Academy, having been close to an IndyCar seat for 2022.

The American had been set to test for AJ Foyt Racing at Barber Motorsports Park on Monday after seeing few opportunities in Formula 2, but over the past week talks became serious with Williams that has seen him join the team’s academy. With Sargeant now set to step up to F2 alongside the role, his Foyt test has been canceled and he says he needs to put his full focus into trying to reach F1.
https://racer.com/2021/10/22/sargeant-s ... -williams/

Can't blame him for chasing F1. But if he makes it into F1 in a full time I'll eat my hat.
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#178

Post by Everso Biggyballies »

A little glimmer of hope that we have for the next 'generation' of Aussies in F1 on its way.....

Piastri confirmed as 2022 Alpine F1 reserve driver

Oscar Piastri has moved another step closer to becoming Australia’s next Formula 1 'star', today named as Alpine’s official reserve driver from 2022. He has done well in the feeders, winning the F3 title last year and is currently leading this years F2 title chase with 2 rounds to go.

There was talk of him going straight into an F1 race seat, but that was before Fernando renewed his Alpine deal, and then Ocon signed u for I think 3 years. The reality is I dont think he was/is quite ready to jump straight to an F1 race seat.

As an aside, Piastri's confirmation as the official reserve makes me think Gio is on the way out of Alfa, and will be replaced by the well funded Chinaman Zhou. Zhou is also in the Alpine Academy, and is higher up the pecking order than Piastri. Zhou is I think in his 3rd year of F2, and is already an Alpine F1 test driver. He also has Friday F1 sessions on his resume. The fact he is not the official Alpine reserve indicates (well it screams it tbh) to me he already has a full time gig sorted.

Gio has somewhat faded of late other than a couple of Q3's.... his recent actual race performances have been rather ordinary IMHO

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#179

Post by MonteCristo »

Assuming Piastri wins F2 (still a big if), I wonder what he'll do with himself next year - because you can't go back to F2 (stupidly) if you're the champion.

Sure, he'll be a reserve. Drive one or two Fridays. Sit in a simulator.

But that's not a good position for a young driver to be in. You need real seat time.
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#180

Post by Star »

Everso Biggyballies wrote: 2 years ago It seems Gio is not in Alfas good books after refusing team orders at Turkey

Rule #1 when you are trying to hang on to your job : Dont go out of your way to piss your boss off....

Gio was 'unwilling' to let his faster team-mate Kimi past in pursuit of a fast fading, no-stopping Esteban Ocon.
Alfa Romeo head of track engineering Xevi Pujolar appeared less than satisfied with the outcome as Alfa would miss the points – costly in its hopes of reeling in Williams for eighth in the constructors’ championship – with Gio and Kimi finishing 11th and 12th, just behind Ocon.
Maybe Gio knew something that we didn't then.

Alfa have announced Guanyu Zhou will be replacing Giovinazzi for 2022. The young Chinese driver, the first in F1 history apparently, comes with a tonne of sponsorship for one thing and track mileage for another.

Full story here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/59298238
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#181

Post by Cheeveer »

aaaand it's confirmed Guanyou Zhou will race for Alfa Romeo in 2022. Kid could be good, will be interesting. 50/50 whether he'll progress further than Gio, who looks to be another poor sod to seek refuge in Formula E...
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