2021 F1 Driver ThreadFormula 1

[Famine]

This one is slightly more credible than the usual silly season stuff: Steiner is slightly annoyed about Silverstone and is going to fire Grosjean. Ocon rumoured to be up for an imminent Haas drive, management-depending.

Watching F1: Drive to Survive, I was genuinely surprised when Haas renewed his contract for 2019. Steiner seemed to be constantly digging at Grosjean (who, by his own statements, seems to be fighting a mental health battle too), even remarking at that team dinner - which Grosjean wasn't at - that Magnussen was the only driver with points, so the only one invited. It was a joke, but seemed pretty harsh.

 

[Peter.]

I think Grosjean has been lucky to have a career that has lasted this long to begin with.

He was bold to take a chance on Haas, and that's probably the only reason hes still in the car(or any car) now. Magnussen isn't slower than him, (not that KMag is some world champion calibre driver) and I dont think he publicly shames or whines at his mechanics anywhere near as much.

Now he's hitting his teammate and crashing in the pit lane. It might be time to move on. Certainly Ocon or maybe even Wehrlein (wheres that guy now?) would do better.

 

[PeterJB]

Grosjean must have some serious sponsorship behind him for him to have lasted four years longer than Maldonado.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Wehrlein (wheres that guy now?) would do better.

Mahindra in Formula E

 

[TenEightyOne]

The BBC has scotched the rumours that Verstappen is a credible target for Mercedes - although I maintain that Woolff would need his head looking at if he hadn't considered the option.

Written on the eve of the Hungarian GP on the subject of Verstappen's performance clause in his Red Bull contract:

The clause, BBC Sport has been told, says Verstappen is free to move only if he is not in the top three of the championship after the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Given that Verstappen goes into the race in that position already and 21 points ahead of Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, the only way that could happen is if Vettel wins and Verstappen fails to finish. As the Ferraris are not competitive this weekend, that is an extremely unlikely scenario.

EDIT: Conspiracy theory... if Vettel looks racy then Toto tells Bottas to take Verstappen out and retires Hamilton.

 

[PzR Slim]

Gasly out Albon in!

Really looking for to seeing what Albon can do.

 

[SuperDiscoDaz]

Alex Albon swaps places with Pierre Gasly at Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

 

[FutureF1]

And Red Bull shows me that they have learned nothing from the mistakes of their past

 

[TenEightyOne]

Gasly out Albon in!

Really looking for to seeing what Albon can do.

The writing was on the wall, much like Gasly's car. It's a good call.

And Red Bull shows me that they have learned nothing from the mistakes of their past

I don't think they've ever promoted Albon to the "first team" before. The fact that they haven't promoted Kvyat despite his recent successes suggests that they have learnt something.

 

[FutureF1]

I don't think they've ever promoted Albon to the "first team" before. The fact that they haven't promoted Kvyat despite his recent successes suggests that they have learnt something.

Gonna have to disagree with you there. Albon is super talented, yes. But promoting a driver after one year has never worked for them unless they're building the team around that driver. Even Max was not on the level of Ricciardo when he got the call up one year into F1. Neither was Kvyat, neither was Gasly. There's a pattern there. Drivers in their second season in F1 will rarely ever run at the pace of a top driver. This is a sport that rewards experience above all else. I really hope for Albon's sake that he's the exception and is quick out the gate, but there's also a chance that this ruins a good drivers career like they did with Kvyat and Gasly

 

[Liquid]

I never saw it with Gasly in the first place; had no idea why he was promoted to the senior team. But that seems to be RBR's policy, not so much wait and see but promote and see.

 

[Famine]

Gasly out Albon in!

We're really happy... with our number one driver.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Its all about 2020 though. Red Bull have seen Kvyat and Gasly in the top team, now they want to see how Albon does so they can then pick between all three to be Verstappen's team mate next year.

 

[spyrrari]

we will know after a few races if he can be closer to Max...!!

If he can (please let it be so...)
If he cannot



Spy.

 

[Nico_Ble99]

Gasly out Albon in!

 

[Jimlaad43]

How many races before Albon is on the podium!

Also lets just remember that this time last year, Albon was scrabbling around for funding to stay in F2 and was signed to Nissan in Formula E. Now he's in a top seat for F1.

 

[Liquid]

Its all about 2020 though. Red Bull have seen Kvyat and Gasly in the top team, now they want to see how Albon does so they can then pick between all three to be Verstappen's team mate next year.

I wouldn't pick Gasly or Kvyat so no pressure on Albon...

 

[mustafur]

Albon is the least experienced Redbull Driver since Doornbos in 2006.

I honestly would be very surprised if this ends up well for him, he might be ready at some stage but Redbull are putting a tonne of pressure on a driver who just needs some experience.

 

[andrea]

Nicked Horner’s parking space.

 

[AshenGraey]

Hmmmm.... interesting choice RB...I really thought they would have given Kvyat another shot and then Albon if it doesn't work out with Kvyat again...either way, I can't wait to see what he does in the car now. I like that they change happen in the summer break, that should give him at least a couple of weeks to get acclimated with the team see....this should really be interesting.

As for Gasly, it was about damn time!

 

[KinLM]

As happy as I am for Albon, I am amazed by Red Bull’s inability to learn from their mistakes.

The only time moving a driver up so quickly has worked, is with Max.

With Kvyat, we saw another young driver (who was actually performing well) crack under the pressure of inexperience once or twice, and instead of supporting him, they demoted him before letting him go.

Gasly appears to be almost identical. Despite fantastic performances in a Toro Rosso, he was moved up to Red Bull while too inexperienced, and was unable to work well under the increased pressure.

Now, even with a now experienced, much more resilient Kvyat back in Toro Rosso, the same guy who proved he had the pace in the car in the past, they instead promote somebody who couldn’t even drive with red tail lights in preseason testing due to a lack of super license points.

I sincerely hope that Albon is a Verstappen and not a Gasly or Kvyat, but if he ends up folding the same way under pressure then it is nobody but Red Bull to blame. They seem to fire the proverbial trigger, and ask questions later.


EDIT: My BIGGEST issue with this, is Red Bull’s dishonesty. For Christ’s sake, if you’re going to tell a driver and the press that you aren’t looking to replace them for the rest of the year, then bloody hold to it! I can only imagine having to try and match the likes of Max Verstappen while not even being able to trust my team as far as job security. Incredibly poor. I’ve seen better management of young talent at fast food restaurants.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Albon is the least experienced Redbull Driver since Doornbos in 2006.

I honestly would be very surprised if this ends up well for him, he might be ready at some stage but Redbull are putting a tonne of pressure on a driver who just needs some experience.

Yes, but you didn't think Red Bull should take Verstappen, it worked out alright in the end

I guess Red Bull are privy to more performance data than we are. Kvyat's podium in Germany was freak and unexpected and required some luck as well as his own skill. Albon wasn't running too badly either until Gasly got up-close-and-personal with his diffuser.

 

[FoxMulder]

I saw the tweet and thought they got hacked. It's hard to read Redbull, but maybe they just want to try him out the rest of the season and pick whoever for 2020 or go get another driver.

It's way too early for Albon. Hope it works out for him though. Gasly was just horrible in a winning car.

 

[KinLM]

Yes, but you didn't think Red Bull should take Verstappen, it worked out alright in the end

I guess Red Bull are privy to more performance data than we are. Kvyat's podium in Germany was freak and unexpected and required some luck as well as his own skill. Albon wasn't running too badly either until Gasly got up-close-and-personal with his diffuser.

The problem is, I don’t think you can just look at the data from drivers in a Toro Rosso to decide this.

If that were the case, then Kvyat and Gasly would both be on par with Max.

I think it takes more than just potential to drive the Red Bull. It takes an ability to progress quickly, to be somewhat arrogant to criticism, and as a result have unbreakable confidence so as to not falter under the pressure of the heightened expectations.

Max throws a wrench in this. I think he just happened to be a random occurrence (considering he won his very first race in a Red Bull, I believe). Gasly and (at the time) Kvyat were not. I don’t think Albon is either. I hope I’m wrong.

 

[mustafur]

Yes, but you didn't think Red Bull should take Verstappen, it worked out alright in the end

I guess Red Bull are privy to more performance data than we are. Kvyat's podium in Germany was freak and unexpected and required some luck as well as his own skill. Albon wasn't running too badly either until Gasly got up-close-and-personal with his diffuser.

To be fair that was before he had even drove an F1 car, and he didn't even complete his first season of cars in general at that stage.

Albon on the other hand has had a much longer junior career and driven an F1 car and tbh hasn't shown anything that suggests he is at that level yet.

 

[Liquid]

The only common thread I've found is that Alex Albon is the son of a racing driver like Max Verstappen is; Nigel Albon raced in the BTCC and in Asian GTs.

I'm sure that has absolutely no bearing on how this will turn out but I'm actually a bit fed up of Red Bull's promotion chop and changes. There have been a lot of drivers cast aside and a fair few pushed up who arguably shouldn't have been. It was neat at first but now it's boring, especially with this being what, the third time they've axed a driver from the senior team?

 

[MaxAttack]

To be honest, I don't see as quite a risky a move as it seems on face value. Red Bull has nothing to gain keeping Gasly in the car. I agree in general terms that continuity is better, but it isn't as if Albon hasn't been impressive.

I hope Albon can settle in and get good results out of a good car. I see him as a pretty well rounded driver with a good attitude - it seems clear to me that Gasly had trouble communicating what he felt was wrong with the car, and tried to overdrive to compensate for issues rather than driving within the capabilities of what seemed to be imperfect setups for him - makes sense as it is very much Max's team.

When we heard they were going to keep Gasly all year, I thought it was a pretty good decision. Evidently the well of patience has run dry and Red Bull will bank on another little tested driver. Perhaps Honda liked the idea of an Asian driver in the top car? Will it work out? We will just have to see. Maybe third time is the charm?

 

[TenEightyOne]

Perhaps Honda liked the idea of an Asian driver in the top car? Will it work out? We will just have to see. Maybe third time is the charm?

The Singaporean GP is coming up, it's good publicity.

 

[TheElbows]

Interesting. I don't follow the junior open-wheel series, so I'd actually never heard of Albon before this year. I haven't seen him set the world on fire in the TR, but they've been "meh" this season.

Is this also the typical case where Gasly gets little input into the car and is essentially driving a clone of Max's car? We see a lot of secondary drivers new to teams struggle with it because they haven't earned the privilege to set up the car the way they want it. Mercedes for instance had a car built/set-up for Hamilton and Bottas struggled mightily with it in his first season because his driving style was different.

RBR could use help if Albon is quicker because Gasly is throwing away their manufacturer points. I don't think they're establishing a good reputation though. If you were a junior driver, I'd imagine you're now fully aware of how spastic their employment opportunities are in the bigger team.

 

[Jimlaad43]

Is this also the typical case where Gasly gets little input into the car and is essentially driving a clone of Max's car? We see a lot of secondary drivers new to teams struggle with it because they haven't earned the privilege to set up the car the way they want it. Mercedes for instance had a car built/set-up for Hamilton and Bottas struggled mightily with it in his first season because his driving style was different.

At the start of the season Gasly was using his own setup. At Silverstone he used Verstappen's setup and suddenly was on the pace, so I think it's the opposite of what you just said.