Under Pressure: F1 2022

[DoubleFart]

I've been giving 2022 a bit of thought, particularly in terms of the future and impact that a bad season could have on Drivers, Teams and Principals.

Firstly, Ricciardo. He didn't have a great 2021, even though he took a win. Lando was consistently quicker than him, and a continuation of that form would be a real concern for Ricciardo. Mclaren have O'Ward and Herta on race/development contracts respectively, and Norris is on a long term contract. Ricciardo needs to deliver.

Renault, Ocon and Alonso. Will Alonso get another contract, or is this has last roll of the dice? What will happen to Renault if they fail to deliver again? We all know how quickly Renault come and go in F1, and how quickly their decision makers at the car company change. Some are pro-motorsport, some see it as a waste of money.

Ferrari - Binotto. Goes without saying really doesn't it - Ferrari are still Ferrari.

Thoughts?

[Vassago]

Yuki Tsunoda - he really needs a great season because Liam Lawson is ready to step in 2023 if neccessary.

[erwin greven]

Yuki Tsunoda - he really needs a great season because Liam Lawson is ready to step in 2023 if necessary.

agreed.

[Picci]

Yeh Tsunoda is probably the driver who’s the most at risk right now. However I attribute his failures more towards the RBR environment rather than an inherent problem with him as a driver. In other words he’d do well in most other teams with a more relaxed environment like Alfa or Haas.

One could argue that Ricciardo has some answers to provide; however I’d still rate him very highly even if he has the same levels of misfortune that he did last year. I believe Lando is an exceptionally good driver and character so this year we could yet confirm a Lewis/Bottas situation where an incredibly good driver outshines another “just very good” driver.

The quality is really high right now. The bar is set to the highest I’ve ever seen in my opinion. With all due respect to say that the worst driver on the field was Mazepin when he was half decent in F2 is nothing like we had 20 years ago,

[MonteCristo]

What of Schumacher?

He was rather crashy last year.

But that was all understandable: a rookie with some new tracks, and trying to get a crap car to do something. But with a proven teammate this year, he'll be under pressure.

[PTRACER]

What of Schumacher?

He was rather crashy last year.

But that was all understandable: a rookie with some new tracks, and trying to get a crap car to do something. But with a proven teammate this year, he'll be under pressure.

Schumacher embarrassed Mazepin last year, but that wasn't hard. This year Schumacher is being embarrassed by KMag who has 3 points finishes out of 4 races (including a 5th place) compared to MSC's zero.

Similar thing seems to be happening with Williams. Albon is out of retirement and walking all over Latifi.

[Everso Biggyballies]

What of Schumacher?

He was rather crashy last year.

But that was all understandable: a rookie with some new tracks, and trying to get a crap car to do something. But with a proven teammate this year, he'll be under pressure.

Schumacher embarrassed Mazepin last year, but that wasn't hard. This year Schumacher is being embarrassed by KMag who has 3 points finishes out of 4 races (including a 5th place) compared to MSC's zero.

K Mag also has the best ever Haas qualifying position, a 4th in qualifying at Imola on Friday.

[DownForce]

More than a few are under pressure (to perform well not in order) - from now to the end of season ;
Mick Schumacher
Latifi
Ricciardo
Alonso
Tsunoda
Hamilton

[julif]

Schumacher and Latifi.

[Star]

I think Hamilton is under pressure given how well Russell is performing in the same car as him. Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi as already said. Alonso does seem to be struggling more this year but he's been unlucky with car issues, his DNF in Imola for example wasn't down to him, he had a damaged car from a lap 1 incident.

Sainz is having a tough time right now too, but I'm not sure he's under pressure, yet.

Tsunoda has more points than Gasly right now doesn't he? I think so anyway, so I don't see him being in trouble.

After 4 races, Stroll (who raced all 4) has 1 point, Vettel (who raced only 2) has 4 points. We all know Stroll won't be under pressure though.

Oh and thanks to this thread, all I can hear is the opening riff to the Queen song of the same name now!!

[Everso Biggyballies]

I think Hamilton is under pressure given how well Russell is performing in the same car as him.

Hehehe I just posted a little something in the Lewis thread that might be relevant to this.

[MonteCristo]

To be fair to Lewis, he's so far had a small degree of bad luck (THE NERVE OF LADY LUCK!) that George hasn't had yet.

The sample size is just too small to really stick the knife in.

But clearly they're at worst evenly matched in terms of speed. Which doesn't exactly look good when you're supposedly the GOAT.

[Star]

To be fair to Lewis, he's so far had a small degree of bad luck (THE NERVE OF LADY LUCK!) that George hasn't had yet.

The sample size is just too small to really stick the knife in.

But clearly they're at worst evenly matched in terms of speed. Which doesn't exactly look good when you're supposedly the GOAT.

I'm not just sticking the knife in on Hamilton, I was just observing that he has to be feeling some pressure watching his new team mate coming into the team and doing so much better than he seems to be. It doesn't look good on him does it? I take your point about luck, but it's not all down to that. The trouble is, once you feel under pressure, the more you try in a desperate way, sometimes the worse it gets. That is why Vettel had so many issues at Ferrari I believe, the pressure got him big time and he made loads of stupid mistakes as a result of that.

Despite what some of them would have us think, they are only human after all

[PTRACER]

I think Hamilton is under pressure given how well Russell is performing in the same car as him. Mick Schumacher, Nicholas Latifi as already said. Alonso does seem to be struggling more this year but he's been unlucky with car issues, his DNF in Imola for example wasn't down to him, he had a damaged car from a lap 1 incident.

Hamilton's not about to be fired, but I almost pity him for how far off George's pace he is. He seems to be more like a Jody Scheckter than a Gilles Villeneuve at the moment - totally unable to drag a good performance out of a poor car.

[DownForce]

Hamilton will retire if he loses to George at the end of the season.