2021 F1 Driver ThreadFormula 1 

Cue the tin foil hats. Pietro Fittipaldi has updated his Twitter bio to say "Haas F1 Driver". Mazepin has also wiped cleaned his Twitter and is not being followed by Haas.

Just saw this on the F1 subreddit. Trying not to get my hopes up, but it would honestly be a great moment for the sport imo if an impromptu driver swap has taken place.
 
Just saw this on the F1 subreddit. Trying not to get my hopes up, but it would honestly be a great moment for the sport imo if an impromptu driver swap has taken place.

Ilott would be most people's first choice but I'll happily take Fittipaldi. Would be fitting to have a team of offspring of former champions.
 
Never thought about adding into the conversations regarding Mazepin (I did some Googling myself about his past incidents and I firmly stand on the side that he should stay away from F1, and there are already too many people everywhere talking about his latest issue), but I think I'll have a go now.

If I may just direct y'all to 7:26 of this video...



It's the follow-up posts of the girl he groped. And yeah, I've seen those posts last week. If she and Mazepin are supposedly "good friends" or "on good terms", and "it was all in good fun", her follow-up posts just don't add up to that. It begs the question "are they really friends or not" because clearly she's starting to regret hanging out with Mazepin.

Either way, I think it was just inappropriate. He should have just kept the video to himself. The girl was half-naked with her genitals exposed, and the girl was flipping the bird right in front of the camera. I don't understand why some people are just okay with that. And I don't get why some people say "he's helping her with her dress, it's a mess just look at it", I don't know about you but Mazepin's hand movements don't exactly look like helping a woman with her dress. I'm quite sure any half-decent dude would stop filming at the sight of exposed breasts and avoid posting what they just recorded on social media.
 
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Cue the tin foil hats. Pietro Fittipaldi has updated his Twitter bio to say "Haas F1 Driver". Mazepin has also wiped cleaned his Twitter and is not being followed by Haas.

Haas have also deleted all announcement posts and posts relating to Mazepin.
 
Haas have also deleted all announcement posts and posts relating to Mazepin.

Seems legit, can't see any there other than this one. There was a bit of a blind yesterday with stories about unfollowings where there had been none to start with. This seems a bit more credible.

Also this on Twitter, but I've no idea who the guy is or if he's a good source. Like we need one for rumours.

 
Fittipaldi replaces Mazepin? Or bad gossip?

Just rumours. Theres a lot of pressure and eyes on Haas right now that any small change or anything is exploding across social media. At this stage its gone on too long for me to think they'll actually drop him. Dealing with it internally, Steiner deflecting talk of it. I also don't know how likely it is that Fittipaldi will replace him if he does get dropped. Deletraz is also a Haas reserve and Ilott will be in the mind as well.
 
In would think illot would be the #1 replacement based on his F2 performance and being a Ferrari protege

Money will still talk though. Fittipaldi in particular will carry much more backing for F1 than either Deletraz or Ilott. Ilott brings the least, he isn't racing in F2 this season because of a lack of backing and sponsorship to fund the campaign.
 
Money will still talk though. Fittipaldi in particular will carry much more backing for F1 than either Deletraz or Ilott. Ilott brings the least, he isn't racing in F2 this season because of a lack of backing and sponsorship to fund the campaign.

I hate that money dictates the driver market. Its such a shame
 
Money will still talk though. Fittipaldi in particular will carry much more backing for F1 than either Deletraz or Ilott. Ilott brings the least, he isn't racing in F2 this season because of a lack of backing and sponsorship to fund the campaign.

One would hope he would gain some more sponsorship now. He has one of the best karting records ever, but has never won a single seater title. A year ago he was fairly anonymous, but now everyone knows who he is.
 
I hate that money dictates the driver market. Its such a shame
It's such a shame that people who barely follow motorsports events still complaining about the importance of money in these sports. Try to go for a track day and calculate the expenses on fuel and tyres. Then multiply it at 100 and this will be an entry point for the motorsports.
 
It's such a shame that people who barely follow motorsports events still complaining about the importance of money in these sports. Try to go for a track day and calculate the expenses on fuel and tyres. Then multiply it at 100 and this will be an entry point for the motorsports.

You sound like an ignorant idiot when you try to finger point on the internet. You have no idea how much or how little i follow motorsport. :rolleyes:
 
I hate that money dictates the driver market. Its such a shame
I agree and disagree at the same time. As others have alluded to already, money is virtually in the DNA of F1, and it always will be.

But... it makes good business sense for teams to hire the best drivers they can afford. Yes, sadly that leaves the door open to pay drivers, but pay drivers still have to be at the top level to get into F1, so that's not necessarily a bad thing either. What I suppose most F1 fans want to see, however, is that talent should always be prioritized over the mighty dollar - but that too requires a judgement call on behalf of teams.

I find the idea of pay drivers edging out better drivers distasteful, but ironically pay drivers also help teams to support other drivers too... it's a bit of a Catch-22. I reckon F1 will always be a mish-mash of deserving and less-deserving cases, but in the end talent will always win through, and the top money ends up going to the top drivers. In other words, money also (rightly) dictates the 'talent' market too, and that's a good thing.
 
I agree and disagree at the same time. As others have alluded to already, money is virtually in the DNA of F1, and it always will be.

But... it makes good business sense for teams to hire the best drivers they can afford. Yes, sadly that leaves the door open to pay drivers, but pay drivers still have to be at the top level to get into F1, so that's not necessarily a bad thing either. What I suppose most F1 fans want to see, however, is that talent should always be prioritized over the mighty dollar - but that too requires a judgement call on behalf of teams.

I find the idea of pay drivers edging out better drivers distasteful, but ironically pay drivers also help teams to support other drivers too... it's a bit of a Catch-22. I reckon F1 will always be a mish-mash of deserving and less-deserving cases, but in the end talent will always win through, and the top money ends up going to the top drivers. In other words, money also (rightly) dictates the 'talent' market too, and that's a good thing.

Talent will also invariably attract sponsorship and boost a driver through the system. And go hand in hand with what you've said as well.

I also love the irony of fans who criticise so called pay drivers but have been desperate to see Perez retain a seat. Money drives everything. Where it will hurt some drivers is when there is a clear lack of it, like in Ilotts case.
 
I agree and disagree at the same time. As others have alluded to already, money is virtually in the DNA of F1, and it always will be.

But... it makes good business sense for teams to hire the best drivers they can afford. Yes, sadly that leaves the door open to pay drivers, but pay drivers still have to be at the top level to get into F1, so that's not necessarily a bad thing either. What I suppose most F1 fans want to see, however, is that talent should always be prioritized over the mighty dollar - but that too requires a judgement call on behalf of teams.

I find the idea of pay drivers edging out better drivers distasteful, but ironically pay drivers also help teams to support other drivers too... it's a bit of a Catch-22. I reckon F1 will always be a mish-mash of deserving and less-deserving cases, but in the end talent will always win through, and the top money ends up going to the top drivers. In other words, money also (rightly) dictates the 'talent' market too, and that's a good thing.

Its a fine balance for sure

I hope the budget cap will help alleviate this in the future so that genuine talent that doesnt have big corporate sponsors, or worse "daddy is a billionaire" can come up through the ranks based on merit.

I hope that if Haas do decide to keep him on then he makes himself look like an ass and is dropped like a bad habit after one season.

Obviously it takes money to run a race team, but F1 should have been able to drop the goddam politics years ago and laid out the rules.

I dont think the teams should have any say in the rule making. Its sad that the FIA are always trying to please everyone at the table.

Here are the rules, either sign or gtfo. A budget cap and prize money is not something that the teams should ever have had any sort of say in.

Politics ruin sports. Rule makers with no balls also ruin sports imo.
 
Its a fine balance for sure

I hope the budget cap will help alleviate this in the future so that genuine talent that doesnt have big corporate sponsors, or worse "daddy is a billionaire" can come up through the ranks based on merit.

I hope that if Haas do decide to keep him on then he makes himself look like an ass and is dropped like a bad habit after one season.

Obviously it takes money to run a race team, but F1 should have been able to drop the goddam politics years ago and laid out the rules.

I dont think the teams should have any say in the rule making. Its sad that the FIA are always trying to please everyone at the table.

Here are the rules, either sign or gtfo. A budget cap and prize money is not something that the teams should ever have had any sort of say in.

Politics ruin sports. Rule makers with no balls also ruin sports imo.

The budget cap won't do much. The cap from next season doesn't include salaries and the salary cap doesn't include sponsorship. Theres so many ways it can be exploited.

Team A has $135 million budget.
Salary cap is $30 million
Pay driver wants in.
Driver 1 gets paid $30 million
Driver 2 salary is $0 but sponsors put 20% of the budget up front and pay the driver via a 3rd party company unassociated with the F1 team to the tune of $5 million.
Team doesn't have to sacrifice budget to pay 2 drivers. Pay driver sponsors fund 20% of the operating budget and pay the driver through their company.

It'll be less important but still important. Plus the caps won't affect how the drivers get TO F1 which again, favours the bigger money.

Meanwhile. At Haas, Mazepin has now deleted all talk of Haas including his bio. I know its all pointless rumour and chatter BUT, in light of this announcement: https://wtf1.com/post/ferrari-are-creating-a-base-for-the-haas-f1-team-at-maranello/
Latest talk is that not only are some of Haas' sponsors unhappy at being associated with Mazepin, rumour mill suggest that's Ferrari aren't overly happy either and are also pushing for change, especially as the teams are working closer together. Its suggested that it's between Fittipaldi and Hulkenberg. Hulk for the car development, experience and out of the box speed, Fittipaldi for his inside knowledge of Haas and development driving he has done and the inevitable funding that will come with him from Brazil/America.

It seems clear to some that Ferrari are willing to help Haas in this situation, so don't completely rule out Ilott either who has just been signed as a Ferrari reserve and development driver.
 
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You sound like an ignorant idiot when you try to finger point on the internet. You have no idea how much or how little i follow motorsport. :rolleyes:
Well, take annual maintenance of your lovely Audi B7 and multiply it for 100. It's the starting point.
 
Never understood the hate for pay / daddy's money drivers myself. Imo to me when I see people complain it just comes across as jealousy. At the end of the day money can't buy a super licence. There has to be some underlying talent to get to F1. I think the hate Stroll gets is over the top too. Sure he isn't in one of the top 10 drivers on the grid but i'd say his pole at Turkey proves to everyone he has talent.

Yes its a shame that someone who might be slightly better than someone with money won't get a seat but I don't think the sport suffers for having pay drivers over for arguments sake the best 20 naturally gifted drivers currently competing.
 
Well, take annual maintenance of your lovely Audi B7 and multiply it for 100. It's the starting point.

Thats not so bad then. I only spend $100 a year on maintenance. Two oil changes.

So $10,000 a year. Every successful business owner in the world can start an F1 team then! We should have 40 cars on the grid no problem!
 
Never understood the hate for pay / daddy's money drivers myself. Imo to me when I see people complain it just comes across as jealousy. At the end of the day money can't buy a super licence. There has to be some underlying talent to get to F1. I think the hate Stroll gets is over the top too. Sure he isn't in one of the top 10 drivers on the grid but i'd say his pole at Turkey proves to everyone he has talent.

Yes its a shame that someone who might be slightly better than someone with money won't get a seat but I don't think the sport suffers for having pay drivers over for arguments sake the best 20 naturally gifted drivers currently competing.

Its definitely not jealous. Would i like to be an F1 driver? Sure i would. But im not jealous because so billionaires prick son is bought into a seat. I just feel like the other drivers in F2 this season who are obviously more talented are getting shafted.

Its tough enough to make it into F1 as it is, and when you're more than qualified based on skill, only to be moved aside because daddy billionaire buys his 2nd rate prick son a seat, thats just a shame. And i feel bad for the drivers who might miss their one shot at making it into the sport.

So no, not jealous. I just have compassion for people getting ****ed over.
 
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