2014 Formula 1 Season Thread

How exactly do you judge Kimi's motivation, he's not been performing all that great but that's not a sign that he lacks motivation, it just says he's unhappy with the car or the tyres or whatever and that's what he and Ferrari keep insisting.
Kimi said it after the most recent race, he wants to win races he's here to fight for a championship. If he's unmotivated then why would he say he's confident that Ferrari will fix the car, why would he bother to look at next years car if Ferrari are going to get rid of him, why is he saying that next year the team will do much better. This is after all Kimi Raikkonen he's hardly going to dance a gig and talk about how excited he is when things are down.
 
I judge his motivation by not really being willing to push as hard as Alonso has been. I mean, he is sitting at the edge of even being in the points most races if he even gets there at all. I know he is pretty stoic and doesn't really get excited or passionate outwardly, but at the end of the day there is nothing there that points towards a majorly motivated driver to me. He can say he wants to win races, but compared to his teammate there doesn't seem to be much effort on his part to make it happen.
 
Four Five Eight said:
Apparently Alonso is after ?35 million per year to stick it out with Ferrari until 2019, It'll be interesting to see if McLaren or someone wants to open their wallets to lure him away from Maranello. He has yet to win them a championship but he's probably worth the money.
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Red_Bull said:
Well if McLaren didn't want to stump up the cost of Hamilton's asking price in 2012 then it's hard to see them matching that unless Honda come to the party. He might not ask that much of McLaren, it could simply be a negotiating tactic, or he's saying "if I gotta spend the rest of my career in an average car fighting for minor podium places and the odd win I might as well get paid for it?.
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TheJudge13 has been speculating Alonso may be demanding that much so that Ferrari cut him loose to go somewhere else - like McLaren.


bone said:
or, they could get bottas and hulkenberg for a 10th of the price, and spend the money on development?
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Cellos88GT said:
that would be the wise thing to do, but Ferrari hasn't been very wise as of late. So I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see them pony up the money for a future of mediocrity.
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One advantage of keeping Alonso is his familiarity with the chassis and power unit would be of benefit to see if the changes being made to both are having a real effect.

Then again, if they decide to make massive changes to both, having new drivers with no ?old habits? to break could be of benefit - witness Ricciardo doing much better than Vettel because he had not adapted his driving style to the old car.


bone said:
is driver wages included in the resource agreement?
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I?m pretty confident it is not.
 
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I don't get why people keep linking Alonso to a return to McLaren. He had one shit of a time there. McLaren are nowhere near the top and haven't been ever since 2008. Going there is a complete and utter gamble with the whole Honda engines next year. Gambling is usually done by younger pilots.
 
ahpadt said:
Ferrari arn't really in a much better position...
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Really? Give me a break. McLaren set several in-team records last year for bad performance, and they seem they want to beat them this year.
 
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mpicco said:
I don't get why people keep linking Alonso to a return to McLaren. He had one shit of a time there. McLaren are nowhere near the top and haven't been ever since 2008. Going there is a complete and utter gamble with the whole Honda engines next year. Gambling is usually done by younger pilots.
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mpicco said:
Really? Give me a break. McLaren set several in-team records last year for bad performance, and they seem they want to beat them this year.
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If he had a shit time there the then he only has himself to blame.

McLaren and Ferrari are in the same boat of mediocrity at the moment. McLaren have been shit but you cant argue Ferrari are significantly better. Both have been blown out of the water by Mercedes and are still being shown up by not only Red Bull but Williams now. I dont see Ferrari improving with the package they have and the people they have. The best thing about Ferrari is Alonso. McLaren are undergoing significant restructure and therefore to me are a bit of an unknown. They might be nowhere, but they also might get up and challenge at the front again, if not in 2015 then 2016, something Ferrari most probably wont do on current balance.
 
Red_Bull said:
McLaren and Ferrari are in the same boat of mediocrity at the moment.
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Exactly my point.
I'm not saying Ferrari is far superior. I'm saying it's not the time for Alonso's career to do a side jump to McLaren. Ferrari would be a lot better if they could change their engine around a bit, obviously Mercedes got it right as far as energy unit this year and that's the only real upgrade for Alonso right now. Swapping a team where he's shown to be comfortable at, is already established at, for a wild gamble seems a little risky for someone at his age.
 
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I still think there is no reason Ferrari couldn't finish 2nd in the constructors championship, everyone has already written off Kimi Raikkonen due to his performance earlier this year but I think he's going to finish off the year much better then he did the start of the year, he may even manage a podium, that coupled with Alonso could get them to catch Red Bull, the only thing which would stop them is Ricciardo who finishes very well when the strategy is on his side, there is also Seb, who shouldn't be forgotten.
 
I could possibly see third, but second is probably not going to happen unless they come to Spa with pretty much a new car or Williams and RBR have a lot of second half retirements.

Anyone know when Nico's and Seb's current contracts run to? I could see Fernando in a Merc or an RBR LONG before I would ever see him driving for McLaren. Hell, I would give a mint to see him alongside Hammo in a Merc, this season would be a hell of a lot more insteresting. :)

I don't give a damn what happens, I just want to see Alonso pushing the envelope more.. That battle between him and Seb at Silverstone was what F1 is all about (sans the whining from both parties of course)

Oh, and Red_Bull, before you condemn Alonso for his shit time at McLaren.. go back and watch the season, it was pretty damn ugly how Ron Dennis treated him.
 
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It sounds like everyone has their contracts running until the end of the 2015 season, Sebastian Vettel is at Red Bull until end of 2015 season and I think Hamilton and Rosberg have both signed "Multi-year" contracts, whatever that means.
 
Apparently Max Verstappen (Jos's son) is a sure thing for Toro Rosso next year. Should make him the youngest F1 driver ever at 17 years of age...
Meanwhile it doesn't look like Stoffel Vandoorne will get a chance soon. I rate him higher than Verstappen but probably lacks the ? needed to really breakthrough
 
he isn't a sure thing...

he just got signed by the RB junior program, for all we know they put him in GP2 next year
and he'll have to battle Lynn, Gasly and Sainz for the TR seat
 
17 for F1 is just ridiculous. We're talking about kids who haven't even finished developing here, for crying out loud.
 
mpicco said:
17 for F1 is just ridiculous. We're talking about kids who haven't even finished developing here, for crying out loud.
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And yet it's always the chinese/russian 15-year old gymnasts who are the best. The younger they start, the stronger they are in the future.
 
Pininfarina_ said:
And yet it's always the chinese/russian 15-year old gymnasts who are the best. The younger they start, the stronger they are in the future.
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That's not how it works... Getting children to perform at that level doesn't make them stronger for the future, they sometimes even develop issues because of it. Gymnasts for example don't enter puberty till they get off competition, sometimes into their 20s, because of the kind of diet and exercise routines they subject themselves to (female ones, male gymnasts rely a lot more on muscle power and a 15 year old just doesn't have it).

I don't think it'd be crazy to set a minimum age required to drive in F1...
 
bone said:
hfor all we know they put him in GP2 next year
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Or more probably FR 3.5. The guy is a sensation and is made out of pure talent. People who want to put him in an F1 car ASAP know what they're doing.
 
^not denying that, but he got signed by red bull junior team, and all local newspapers "got confirmation" he would replace vergne at TR
not a single reliable F1 source made any mention of that, so i call BS...

belgian reports have no idea what's going on in F1, they think they do, but they don't
 
ALXBWSCREW said:
Or more probably FR 3.5. The guy is a sensation and is made out of pure talent. People who want to put him in an F1 car ASAP know what they're doing.
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I don't remember where I heard this (think it was an interview in a documentary about Schumacher), but from what I remember, his dad was being hyped the same way.When Jos and Schumi where up and coming in the lower series, the pundits said Verstappen was the one to watch, the one who was better and would light the world up. History tells a little different...
 
anesvick said:
Anyone know when Nico's and Seb's current contracts run to?
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Seb extended his contract last year through the end of 2015 and Rosberg signed a "multi-year" extension to his contract last month (no specific terms were announced, but rumors are they're trying to get Lewis to sign a three-year extension so three years sound reasonable for Nico's).
 
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