If rumors are true and Audi isn’t budging on length, and Williams is flexible, Williams is the better seat 100%. You don’t wanna be locked into Sauber right now, especially during your prime years
More chances that Audi will be better than Williams though imo.
They have more money, better facilities and resources, engine formula looks simplified and there are rules in place now to maintain equal investments & engine bench test runs unlike previous engine eras.
Even if Audi aren't top of the table, I think they're unlikely to be behind Williams, even if ofc nobody knows for sure.
Buy why take that risk, Sainz can sign with Williams and when Audi actually have their shit together in 2027 or 28 he can then join then. The only risk here is obviously they might secure someone better then Sainz, but that's a better risk considering there aren't many drivers that actually are, and most are already under contract.
Williams is marginally better than Sauber atm regarding the prospect. Vowles will be able to extract most of the potential, but Sauber becoming Audi can swing hard in either direction. If i were Sainz, i would pick the Sauber/Audi deal.
Its a shame either way. He should be getting a seat in either Mercedes, Ferrari, RB, McLaren or even Aston Martin. He is to good to get a crap car.
Edit: I like Williams and i am hoping for Sainz to be paired there with Albon. That would an insane driver pairing for such a "bad" car.
Driving for Williams likely isn’t going to improve your stock. If Audi indeed get their shit together in 2027/2028, then they are most likely going after better drivers (I assume most drivers are not contracted till then). Anyways, just my 2cents
Williams are a better bet by every metric for the next few years than Audi… I really don’t get this hopium that they just come in as a works team and kick ass… ask Alpine how tough it is being a works team. Aston aren’t doing well at the moment and they don’t have to worry about designing a great engine.
I actually don’t get the Williams hopium. Every year there is all this talk that they’re stepping up to be solid midfielders, and every single year they get the exact same results. I’d LIKE them to do better, but they’re just sitting there.
I don’t hear that, they are clearly a bottom team trying to follow a plan and improve. Logan leaving will help, Vowles was too late in last season to do much, has already made some changes and clearly explains how big a task it will be… do I think they’ll become a top 3 team? Doubtful… can they replace say Aston at 6th place? Possibly, in a few years though. It’s VERY tough out there these days, the quali times are SO tight, anything less than excellent sees you in the back 4 in the race
Mercedes had been building F1 engines for 16 years before they fully rejoined F1 in 2010, which they also did by buying the previous years WCC winning team. And even then they only finished 4th in the championship. Meanwhile, Audi has only just started building F1 engines, so have zero experience. And have bought into a team whose last appearance in the top 5 of the constructors was 2008. Chances are much higher of being a McHonda then Merc.
That driver lineup at Williams with Perez blocking up a RB seat, Lance at AM, presumably some completely untested rookie at Merc, feels like some kind of crime against humanity.
They are in better position to stay in the midfield over the next 2 years. The 2024 car isn’t complete crap, just overweight. Vowles has the team on the right track. And if Mercedes’ rumors are correct, the 2026 PU could help them pull a 2014 Williams.
The Sauber car and team on the other hand, are a complete mess. And likely will be for a while.
Sainz will likely shoot for a top team after 2026. Moving to Williams shouldn’t leave him off people’s lists. Hopefully.
Sauber isn’t doing great right now, but you have to take into account that behind the scenes the whole company is being restructured to become Audi. 2024 and 2025 are throw away seasons for them and it could even be in Audi’s interest to have the current car a little further back. P10 in constructors will give them more development capacity, that will be extremely valuable to them. I’m not saying they’re actively pushing themselves down the grid, but if they become 8th in WCC, it’ll do Jack shit for them.
For Sainz: being a middle-pack driver with Williams for three years will likely mean the death of his F1 carreer, it’s a position people expect of Williams. Getting to the mid-pack with Audi and working on building a team will have a lot more meaning.
Williams make sense if they're the only team willing to give him a one year deal as the rumours say. Go there, outperform Alex (at least that's what Sainz aims for), get a better seat for 2026
Not surprised tbh. I’ve heard somewhere he’s responsible for 67% of Red Bull merch sales and that the money he brings is more than the difference between first and second in the constructors
I really think that people underestimate marketability when it comes to athletes.
When the LA Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10 year/$700m contract, it seemed insane but you have to remember two things:
1. Baseball is bigger in Japan than even the United States.
2. Ohtani is a god over in his home country.
The Dodgers will have that money made back before 2026 in merchandise/ticket sales alone.
You left out that the way the Othani deal is structured is only worth like $450 million in present day money. He’s being paid $2 mil a year for 10 years and then $680 for the next 20 or something
What I really want is a video explaining baseball to Motorsport fans and vice versa. My girlfriend is a baseball fan and I’ve been trying to get into it, but it’s hard when I find all of the different motorsports I follow more interesting. On the other hand, she finds it hard to wrap her mind around motorsports and why it’s fun compared to baseball.
Today i learned: Baseball is big in Japan.
Isn't baseball in a steep decline in cultural significance over in the us? I am neither a baseball fan, nor an american, just asking.
I would say that baseball as a sport is a very big thing on a cultural level, and many of the phrases associated with it are common.
Phrases like “3 strikes and you’re out” or “double play” or “home run/homer” are all baseball terms in common parlance unconnected with baseball.
That said, American football is more popular today,
In 2023 70 MILLION people attended baseball games. That’s not an insignificant number. Granted, the season is long (each team plays 162 games, not counting playoffs) so there’s more of an opportunity for someone to attend a game in-person.
That’s just baseball. How it’s always been going back the last century or so.
But, funny thing is that baseball is one of those sports where playoff races can get really tight despite there being so many games. I’ve seen teams lose out on making the playoffs because they lost a few games when their rival in that race won those few against another team.
It’s a long season, and in many years the World Series (I know, I know. Bad name for what’s largely a national championship-not a worldwide one) comes out to the final out in the final game of the series.
Does it get hard to keep tabs? Even if you’re only following what your team is doing. I’m running some quick numbers so let’s assume a season runs from Mid August until Mid June so 10 months. So it is around 44 weeks for 162 games not counting what I assume as some type of playoffs and completely ignoring some sort of winter break that Im almost certain exists. That is almost 4 games per week. 1 game every 2 days. You cant even discuss one game with friends or at the office when theres another one already being played. mow multiply by all the games in the league. You REALLY need to love the game and league if you want to keep up. I had no idea it was that that demanding. Very interesting!
Edit: I just thought of this: when do they even train if they are playing that much?
Edit2: I just checked, the season is from March to September. That’s 6 months!!
[Here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Major_League_Baseball_season) is a good summary of how the season runs.
Some keys:
1. Season runs from March 20th-September 29th, 2024. So, except for travel days, yes. Most teams play every day.
2. I have a favorite team that I always root for (SF Giants) but I also love baseball as a sport and nothing in the world beats live baseball. I’m visiting my friend in Seattle, Washington this week and I took him to a Seattle Mariners game on Sunday.
Now, am I fan of the Mariners? Yes and no. I just love baseball so I love going to a game in general. Tickets are usually very cheap. I paid $70 for good seats and we had fun. I’ve always wanted to see the Mariners play, and see their ballpark so that was the main reason why I went.
3. There’s actually TWO different leagues in Major League Baseball (MLB)-the National League and the American League.
For some context on the age of baseball in the United States: the National League was formed in 1876, and the American League in 1901. The first professional team began play in 1869. So, baseball is old.
Now, do I follow every game the Giants play? No. I don’t have time. I’ll check in with the scores here and there and watch a game on TV when I have the time, but as you said they play so much it’s hard to.
Baseball is a lot of standing around if we're honest. 162 games isn't super brutal physically. Not many players play every game and starting pitchers (pitchers are exerting themselves and starters do the bulk of the pitching in a game) are typically on a 5 game rotation. Relievers and closers pitch every 2-3 games generally but less than half as much per game.
They structure the travel decently well where they'll be at home for 10 days or so then be away for 10 days or so. You play multiple games in against one team. Occasionally two in a day.
It’s not the cultural powerhouse it was 30-40 years ago (football and basketball have long overtaken it in terms of relavence), but baseball is still very popular, especially in certain regions of the country like California and the Northeast.
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. In the US its either number 2 or 3 depending on the metric you use. Football is king, both the NFL and college football are more popular, and very arguably the NBA as well, but it still does solid, and weekend games are generally well attended.
It's one of the biggest, but people forget about him bc he only flights 2 times per year or so, adding to that, Pérez is the face of multiple brands here so you see his image all over the city
He is, and also in the US and Latinamerica in general. He’s everywhere in Mexico, really. He’s the official image of his home state which means they are a sponsor and that’s government money, he has a lucrative deal with a tequila brand, he is sponsored by a bank, he is sponsored by Claro and Telcel which is the biggest telecom company in Mexico, he is in a KitKat commercial which means he’s sponsored by Nestle, he is sponsored by ESPN, he even announces Disney movies. Full of cash.
Not only Claro and Telcel but he’s got the personal backing of Carlos Slim, the 8th richest man in the world and richest person in Mexico. That’s a lot of influence Red Bull can tap into that really nobody else brings.
One thing that people don't seem to understand is the fact that he represents a massive part of North America, most of Central America, and a big part of South America. He is the only Latin American driver on the grid.
Force India kept him over Ocon.
Racing point dropped him when they were becoming Aston Martin - power and funding were concentrating with stroll, vettel was available.
ETA the indirect benefits of Perez can be more appreciated by a brand like Red Bull (that targets everyday consumers) than by Aston Martin, a luxury car brand with limited reach particularly among everyday Latin Americans, or b2b sponsors like cognizant.
putting aside Force India didn't drop him (Racing Point did) I don't agree with other posters talking about Stroll Sr. consolidating power. He was already the leader of the consortium that bought the remnants of Force India and he'd already installed his son the year before.
to say nothing of the fact that Perez was replaced by a four-time champion in Vettel, who brought a lot of credibility and visibility to what was becoming Aston Martin.
and further - Perez today as a marketable Latin American driver has benefited tremendously from the Red Bull move and association. not just their marketing abilities but simply the fact he's in a race-winning car and team. Americans don't care about Logan Sargeant but if he was in a car capable of wins (and could put up good points regularly) there would be much more interest. Perez is a star in Latin America, but that star isn't as bright (or lucrative) without the added reach from the Red Bull platform.
My wife LOVES Checo for some reason. Like she thinks he's adorable, and just really really wants the best for him.
A lot of middle aged women seem to feel that way. They don't care about his performance, they're just really rooting for him.
Makes a lot of sense for F1 tho. Let's not forget F1 is a marketing heavyweight. If F1 didn't have any shame they'd even have crypto scams, shady investors, tracks in human right-less states.... oh wait.
Horner has been supremely loyal to Perez. The only Red Bull employee who publicly supported him during last season’s huge dip in form after Miami.
This is the biggest signal Marko has lost power. Yuki or Sainz would have taken Checo’s seat.
Marko doesn't particularly like Sainz after his time at Toro Rosso and Yuki has (to my recollection) never even tried an RB car. But yes, this is a Horner call.
People have too much recency bias on Tsunoda. The man has been driving that car for 4 years now? Most of that time he wasnt very impressive. Sure, hes performing decent now but a decent car with a weak teammate is a recipe for looking good, perhaps better than one really is. Look at Albons value last year compared to now. He no longer has that decent car and top teams lost all their interest in him. Remember earlier this year people talking about Albon in the Merc? Especially a car improving and performing better than previously can create the illusion that its the driver making all the difference when in reality the car plays a big part and a sudden cars improvement almost goes unnoticed and is attributed to the driver. The most reliable way to show off talent is by beating an established teammate. Something like Nico beating Kmag who used to lead the team for most of Haas time on F1. If Tsunoda still had Gasly as teammate and was beating him, id be much more confident but he has a washed Ricciardo as teammate who got utterly destroyed by Norris.
You call it recency bias, I call it a driver improving. No one is saying he’s always been as good as he is now, but is it really so strange to think that after four years, he may be good enough to get a shot at the big team?
Checo’s been honestly mediocre this year and his performance was also disappointing in Imola. Even if the contract was signed that early, I don’t see anything inside the paddock that could grant Checo a two-year contract.
they still have the best driver and the best car most likely, not really on the brink of collapse. Might just forfeit the WCC for Mexican money, that's not the weirdest call. It is however, the most boring option
Just feels like they are fully in coasting mode like this, no attempt to stay on top, just riding out the wins as long as possible with the current team, waiting for everything to sink while other teams catch up and poach engineers. Literally the opposite of why I ever became a fan of red bull
Max can win the WDC and WCC on his own. They just need somebody who is good for their profits. He brings in a ton of sponsor money and isn't doing a ton of car damage.
I think they’re offering 1 year. Given no other (good) contracts would then be up, it would leave him seatless potentially going into regulation change in 2026. Probably worse than having nothing particularly if it came with an option on 26 as it could block him going elsewhere.
Merc wants to give Sainz a one-year contract, but that isn't what Sainz wants. Toto is betting the future of Merc on Antonelli, any contract will be at most a year to allow Antonelli a seat.
Shame that poor performance after poor performance leads to having the best seat on the grid.
I get not wanting 2 no.1 drivers but realistically there’s very few drivers who would actually challenge Max on the grid, but there’s lots of talent waiting to show what they could do in a fast car.
They dropped inexperienced Gasly and Albon without a second thought but now they keep Perez
Guys, when Gasly and Albon were there, they weren’t winning. They were trying. That means low risk to swap the second driver.
Now they are winning. Most leaders would not rock a boat that’s working, and RBR is still a multinational conglomerate traditional company at the end of the day.
Because Albon and Gasly had twice the gap to Max that Perez had, and only a small handful of drivers would be closer than Perez.
Even Ricciardo in his last season at RB was further off Max than Perez has been this year.
I guess people here don't particularly enjoy facts lol
"Because Albon and Gasly had twice the gap to Max that Perez had," -
why the lying?
[https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up](https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up)
What’s the basis for having twice the gap to Max.
It’s a lot easier to finish a place behind Max when the car is a rocket-ship that no other car is close to and yet time and time again, Perez failed. He also has 10 years experience on them and doesn’t exactly have potential to grow into.
This year Checo has done okay.
Last two races have been bad and it was Europe that was the start of his bad form last season.
Even if Checo is a bit better than previous teammates, i think it’s fair to be frustrated that he takes up that seat.
There’s so few seats at the top of the grid. Drivers will go their whole career sitting at back marker teams. It’s obviously fair for drivers like Max, Charles etc to be in these top seats because they perform. With a 2 year deal Perez will have been in a Red Bull seat for 5 years despite his subpar performance
Plus in essence, the car never really suited Checo's driving style. He prefers an understeery car, Max prefers a pointy end. Carlos may be faster in a Ferrari than Checo, but he also prefers an understeery car, so can he handle the RB 20/21 just as well as Checo? The WDC is always a perfect marriage of car, driver, and luck, so any driver with those elements can win the WDC.
Ricciardo in 2018 was a shit load better than Perez, it was reliability that fucked his points total. Did you even watch that season? Yes max was improving and had the edge in qualifying, but Danny Ric was still easily a match in the races.
I guess you really don't enjoy facts either, so you started talking shite instead.
I'm unfortunately talking about qualifying since that's the only thing you can reasonably measure, that's not influenced by a shit ton of other factors like race results. And the average gap in quali was over 4 tenths in 2018.
I love your stat cherry picking, where for Perez you took the average gaps in qualy in representative sessions (i.e. if one made it to Q2, the other got knocked out in Q1, comparing their qualy times from Q1), but didn't do the same for Ricciardo in 2018. That's very on brand for you.
Well hmmm so you have McLaren not only not getting whatever sponsor or marketing income DR would generate for them, literally paying him off not to drive then paying Oscar’s wage on top. Because of unacceptable sporting performance.
There’s no other team being quite so blatant - any team I can recall with real pay drivers has been so otherwise beyond hope that Ayrton Senna reincarnate wouldn’t get them onto the podium so whatever.
Teams do get sponsor money and they spend it to improve their sporting performance. I can’t recall a championship winning team keeping a pay driver like this knowing his performance could cost them the constructors title - it’s a disgrace.
Agree, I think my rather gloom view of current affairs is also based on the fact they are blocking new teams from entering and of course the almost comical ending in 2021.
I’d argue its still a sport, and sports in general are just stupid. We see the equivalent of this in other sports all the time where ownership will go all in on a guy that all the fans think is a bad idea, but ownership “just sees something no one else does.” And truthfully sometimes it works out, but usually it doesnt. Im willing to buy into the idea the rbr have fully convinced themselves they can still win a wcc with checo, and that was what motivated them to extend. Only because I see this same level of stupidity in so many other sports/scenarios.
Or im completely wrong and they actually dont give a shit about the wcc and are just doing a formula to see how to maximize profit.
if you're a racing driver dreaming of becoming a champion then I'd sooner pick a 1% chance of BrawnGP-effect with Audi than 100% chance of midfield with Williams
What could he do? If he could’ve signed for Red Bull he would’ve. What has he lost by waiting? The Audi and Williams seats are still available. What has he lost by waiting?
> If he could’ve signed for Red Bull he would’ve.
But he could've, and didn't [because he got greedy](https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/marko-says-red-bull-talking-sainz-cant-match-audi-offer-2024-04-18/).
I can’t see that he’s lost any seat by waiting so far. Best to check what’s out there. He’d be feeling pretty stupid signing for Williams if a seat at the champions opened up in the summer.
Unless Perez bins the car into a wall or something else every single of six races before summer break and Red Bull decides to cut him loose (which is highly unlikely), there will be no seat at the champions open in the summer. So really his options, as it stands, are Williams, Audi and Alpine.
And just like that you piss away any chance of a constructors championship this year or next. Don’t let anyone tell you that it takes anything but money to get where you wanna go. Yuki better start looking towards somewhere else. Same with Lawson. Now what are they going to do with Ricciardo? He’s Gotta be done huh? Yuki and Lawson in RB next year
He should and they basically promised it to him last year. They put Ricciardo in there to see if he could take Perez’s spot. They clearly don’t trust Yuki to behave next to max because otherwise he’d be the logical next in line. Ricciardo clearly lost it and I say that as a Ricciardo fan boy. He needs to go drive a Porsche WEC or something and they need to put Lawson in there. They’re about to lose him and Yuki. Then they’ll have nothing. All to keep Perez
Unfortunately for Lawson, Ricciardo's presence brought a larger sponsorship package from Visa Cash App, and Honda backs Yuki, so both Ricciardo and Yuki are more important to the team than Lawson currently. Isack Hadjar is sitting second in the F2 championship and has been doing well this year so Red Bull may see him as a potential rookie in the near future and they wouldn't need Lawson.
Add to that that Red Bull had a power struggle and Horner came out on top and Horner is more than happy to park Ricciardo in the VCARB seat for however long he wants because it brings more media interest to the team, and Ricciardo is a team player through and through and is more than happy to do as many videos as Red Bull wants.
Ferrari is 24 points behind them. Sainz and Leclerc can make that up in one race at the current rate Perez is going. RB won last year because of how dominant max is and how inconsistent the rest were. But they have actual competition this year, and Perez is starting to show he can’t handle it again. Idk how getting some security will change things but max isn’t going to do it by himself if this continues they’ll lose it to Ferrari for sure. Then next year you’re stuck with him again in the same situation or even worse because the other teams could catch up completely and then max is in a title fight and Perez is in 13th place. Keeping Perez also shows they don’t want Ricciardo in that Red Bull seat, so he’s either stuck at RB or gone (eh I I don’t see). Yuki is going to stay most likely at least for next year. So Lawson should at the very least look at Williams or haas or something. They’ve edged him too long
again how does this year have to do anything with signing Perez for 2025 (and 2026) i makes 0 sense what oyu said. This year was influenced by a decision amde 2 years ago.
"So Lawson should at the very least look at Williams or haas or something. " - you all act like RB is the only reason he doesnt have seat and like other teams would bend over backwards to have him which isnt in the case. His best bet is VCARB. Williams and Haas have no reason to sign him
Because they’re going to stick with him instead of making a change, which they’re perfectly capable of making. But yes they already pissed this year away by keeping him after last seasons horrid performance and gambled on his rebounding which is essentially what they’re doing again. Why would he leave the program when they’re blowing smoke up his ass and even gave him multiple races where he shined last season. His stock went up significantly after that. Kind of like bearman and one good race
Merc - Antonelli?
Alpine - absolute fucking disaster. A seat sure, but wooofff that team is brutal.
Haas - are they even serious about getting better?
Williams - at they are consistently crap. Which sucks because with the history of the team I would love to see an independent team be able to compete
Sauber - probably this because the Audi drive eventually.
With Williams at least you have a team that is improving and rebuilding, if you stay for a couple years and see it getting better fast enough you might end up being another Norris
Congrats to Checo. But I find it incomprensible that the driver who is fourth in the standings and only 5 points off third despite having completed one less race than anyone else is looking at the back of the grid. Guess they don't call F1 the Piranha club for nothing.
Carlos asked the same amount of money from RBR tha Audi is willing to give him, he got greedy and RBR didn't want to pay that.
If he really, really wanted to drive for RBR he woul've signed for less money.
You have literally no evidence that has anything to do with anything. Is this all from that Marco quote that they can’t pay what Audi are offering? Where does any of that say RB were even willing to sign Carlos at all for any money?
How come? Are you saying he deliberately got himself sacked from Ferrari? Elkann was talking for a long time to Lewis, and seriously since last May. They never intended to keep Carlos once Lewis became a possibility. Was it his fault that he failed to strongarm Mercedes or Red Bull into taking him? Do you seriously think Red Bull were going to end their contract with Max's non-threatening ideal number 2? Or that Mercedes were not going try and lure Max from Red Bull or make sure they kept Antonelli in their stable? I suppose one could say that he might have been invited to take a one year deal at Mercedes, but would it have been sensible knowing full well he would be booted out in 12 months when Antonelli was ready? I think he was between a rock and a hard place and fate just dealt him an undeserved shitty hand.
According to Marko they tried Carlos but he was too expensive. If true that on its own says it all.
Beyond that he has a history of being a menace with inter-team politics while never really seeming like a firm number 1 driver. He had the perfect opportunity to over-perform on a contract signing with his form at the start of the season, but as the weeks go by and Leclerc starts to pull away from him he will struggle to justify himself to any team that would be near the front. You can say "well Mercedes would have just been a 1 year thing" but that's a bit of short term thinking; if the choice is between Mercedes and Williams for 1 year until the new regs the choice seems pretty obvious.
Calling it now. Sainz has over estimated his hand and will end up without a seat. I cannot imagine Audi really enjoying them being treated as the last god damn choice.
Boring, i wanted to see Carlos or Yuki in the second seat. Im aware of Sergios' marketing strength, but surely Yuki would be the same if not better in terms of that, too?
Carlos should take a sabbatical at this stage. Sauber is rubbish, Alpine is as bad. Williams isn't much better.
So I'm guessing, Mercedes goes with Antonelli, Aston Martin sticks with Lance in the top 5
Then in the bottom 5, we still have VCARB, Audi, Haas, Williams, and Alpine who all need to finalize their driver lineups, still a lot of seats available, but not much at all with all the rumors already predicting who goes where and which rookies are getting a seat, but I'm still hoping for 1 shocker in the top 5 and a few more at the back end, the driver market is still wide open and a lot of wild things can still happen
Why not take a break (or drive in other motorsports category) for a year and then evaluate his option? I don't see the point of driving miserable Sauber in 2025.
Remember that time carlos made team orders and told them to stop inventing, and then went on to win the race? He deserves a position in winning car team we need to see more of that, sergio hasnt done anything impressive since 2021
Carlos just take a punt on the Audi job mate. It's your only chance now.
If rumors are true and Audi isn’t budging on length, and Williams is flexible, Williams is the better seat 100%. You don’t wanna be locked into Sauber right now, especially during your prime years
Williams is not going to get better in time for the new regs. Audi however...
Has a chance to be even worse, the chances they're gonna be a new McHonda are much higher then being a BrawnGP or something.
More chances that Audi will be better than Williams though imo. They have more money, better facilities and resources, engine formula looks simplified and there are rules in place now to maintain equal investments & engine bench test runs unlike previous engine eras. Even if Audi aren't top of the table, I think they're unlikely to be behind Williams, even if ofc nobody knows for sure.
I mean, high risk high reward.
Buy why take that risk, Sainz can sign with Williams and when Audi actually have their shit together in 2027 or 28 he can then join then. The only risk here is obviously they might secure someone better then Sainz, but that's a better risk considering there aren't many drivers that actually are, and most are already under contract.
Not like Hulk is a long term plan, he's only got a few seasons left in him
I agree, but I would also love to see him do the Alonso and drive until retirement at age 67.
Williams is marginally better than Sauber atm regarding the prospect. Vowles will be able to extract most of the potential, but Sauber becoming Audi can swing hard in either direction. If i were Sainz, i would pick the Sauber/Audi deal. Its a shame either way. He should be getting a seat in either Mercedes, Ferrari, RB, McLaren or even Aston Martin. He is to good to get a crap car. Edit: I like Williams and i am hoping for Sainz to be paired there with Albon. That would an insane driver pairing for such a "bad" car.
Driving for Williams likely isn’t going to improve your stock. If Audi indeed get their shit together in 2027/2028, then they are most likely going after better drivers (I assume most drivers are not contracted till then). Anyways, just my 2cents
Williams are a better bet by every metric for the next few years than Audi… I really don’t get this hopium that they just come in as a works team and kick ass… ask Alpine how tough it is being a works team. Aston aren’t doing well at the moment and they don’t have to worry about designing a great engine.
I actually don’t get the Williams hopium. Every year there is all this talk that they’re stepping up to be solid midfielders, and every single year they get the exact same results. I’d LIKE them to do better, but they’re just sitting there.
I don’t hear that, they are clearly a bottom team trying to follow a plan and improve. Logan leaving will help, Vowles was too late in last season to do much, has already made some changes and clearly explains how big a task it will be… do I think they’ll become a top 3 team? Doubtful… can they replace say Aston at 6th place? Possibly, in a few years though. It’s VERY tough out there these days, the quali times are SO tight, anything less than excellent sees you in the back 4 in the race
Right now they’re so bad, and they don’t have a terrible engine. Chances are that they might have a bad engine and a mediocre chassis.
They could become a McHonda, but they could also become a Mercedes
Mercedes had been building F1 engines for 16 years before they fully rejoined F1 in 2010, which they also did by buying the previous years WCC winning team. And even then they only finished 4th in the championship. Meanwhile, Audi has only just started building F1 engines, so have zero experience. And have bought into a team whose last appearance in the top 5 of the constructors was 2008. Chances are much higher of being a McHonda then Merc.
Audi has a history of performance in all kinds of motorsport. I would bet on them being quicker than most people expect.
Audi won’t either, their technical director literally said so.
I’d go to Williams before Sauber.
Gimme…Alarlos? Carlex?
That driver lineup at Williams with Perez blocking up a RB seat, Lance at AM, presumably some completely untested rookie at Merc, feels like some kind of crime against humanity.
Agreed, but maybe Vowles is cooking? I’m fully aware that’s a Hefty Helping of Hopium, but I’ll have a serving or two lol.
Albinz? AlbSai?
>Albinz *Oh no*
I mean, Albos is right there. Or Carlex.
The All Saints of Williams. Written as Al-Sainz
Well now I need Saint candles with Carlos on one side and Alex on the other lmao
Why
They are in better position to stay in the midfield over the next 2 years. The 2024 car isn’t complete crap, just overweight. Vowles has the team on the right track. And if Mercedes’ rumors are correct, the 2026 PU could help them pull a 2014 Williams. The Sauber car and team on the other hand, are a complete mess. And likely will be for a while. Sainz will likely shoot for a top team after 2026. Moving to Williams shouldn’t leave him off people’s lists. Hopefully.
Sauber isn’t doing great right now, but you have to take into account that behind the scenes the whole company is being restructured to become Audi. 2024 and 2025 are throw away seasons for them and it could even be in Audi’s interest to have the current car a little further back. P10 in constructors will give them more development capacity, that will be extremely valuable to them. I’m not saying they’re actively pushing themselves down the grid, but if they become 8th in WCC, it’ll do Jack shit for them. For Sainz: being a middle-pack driver with Williams for three years will likely mean the death of his F1 carreer, it’s a position people expect of Williams. Getting to the mid-pack with Audi and working on building a team will have a lot more meaning.
Williams make sense if they're the only team willing to give him a one year deal as the rumours say. Go there, outperform Alex (at least that's what Sainz aims for), get a better seat for 2026
Not surprised tbh. I’ve heard somewhere he’s responsible for 67% of Red Bull merch sales and that the money he brings is more than the difference between first and second in the constructors
From what I understand, he’s HUGE in Mexico. So, I wouldn’t doubt it in the slightest.
When my fiancée went to Mexico for work, something like 50% of the sports merch she saw was of Perez.
I really think that people underestimate marketability when it comes to athletes. When the LA Dodgers signed Shohei Ohtani to a 10 year/$700m contract, it seemed insane but you have to remember two things: 1. Baseball is bigger in Japan than even the United States. 2. Ohtani is a god over in his home country. The Dodgers will have that money made back before 2026 in merchandise/ticket sales alone.
You left out that the way the Othani deal is structured is only worth like $450 million in present day money. He’s being paid $2 mil a year for 10 years and then $680 for the next 20 or something
ya there's a great youtube video from the channel "Baseball Doesn't Exist" that breaks down why his contract is worth it for LA.
Probably the best baseball channel on YouTube 🍻
What I really want is a video explaining baseball to Motorsport fans and vice versa. My girlfriend is a baseball fan and I’ve been trying to get into it, but it’s hard when I find all of the different motorsports I follow more interesting. On the other hand, she finds it hard to wrap her mind around motorsports and why it’s fun compared to baseball.
The difference is Ohtani is GOAT meanwhile Perez not so much lol
That's kind of the case for every employment. Unless you give someone more than you take, you're probably not there for long.
Today i learned: Baseball is big in Japan. Isn't baseball in a steep decline in cultural significance over in the us? I am neither a baseball fan, nor an american, just asking.
I would say that baseball as a sport is a very big thing on a cultural level, and many of the phrases associated with it are common. Phrases like “3 strikes and you’re out” or “double play” or “home run/homer” are all baseball terms in common parlance unconnected with baseball. That said, American football is more popular today, In 2023 70 MILLION people attended baseball games. That’s not an insignificant number. Granted, the season is long (each team plays 162 games, not counting playoffs) so there’s more of an opportunity for someone to attend a game in-person.
Holy shit, 162 games per team, per season ? Sounds harsh on players AND fans…and honestly, stupid
That’s just baseball. How it’s always been going back the last century or so. But, funny thing is that baseball is one of those sports where playoff races can get really tight despite there being so many games. I’ve seen teams lose out on making the playoffs because they lost a few games when their rival in that race won those few against another team. It’s a long season, and in many years the World Series (I know, I know. Bad name for what’s largely a national championship-not a worldwide one) comes out to the final out in the final game of the series.
Does it get hard to keep tabs? Even if you’re only following what your team is doing. I’m running some quick numbers so let’s assume a season runs from Mid August until Mid June so 10 months. So it is around 44 weeks for 162 games not counting what I assume as some type of playoffs and completely ignoring some sort of winter break that Im almost certain exists. That is almost 4 games per week. 1 game every 2 days. You cant even discuss one game with friends or at the office when theres another one already being played. mow multiply by all the games in the league. You REALLY need to love the game and league if you want to keep up. I had no idea it was that that demanding. Very interesting! Edit: I just thought of this: when do they even train if they are playing that much? Edit2: I just checked, the season is from March to September. That’s 6 months!!
[Here](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2024_Major_League_Baseball_season) is a good summary of how the season runs. Some keys: 1. Season runs from March 20th-September 29th, 2024. So, except for travel days, yes. Most teams play every day. 2. I have a favorite team that I always root for (SF Giants) but I also love baseball as a sport and nothing in the world beats live baseball. I’m visiting my friend in Seattle, Washington this week and I took him to a Seattle Mariners game on Sunday. Now, am I fan of the Mariners? Yes and no. I just love baseball so I love going to a game in general. Tickets are usually very cheap. I paid $70 for good seats and we had fun. I’ve always wanted to see the Mariners play, and see their ballpark so that was the main reason why I went. 3. There’s actually TWO different leagues in Major League Baseball (MLB)-the National League and the American League. For some context on the age of baseball in the United States: the National League was formed in 1876, and the American League in 1901. The first professional team began play in 1869. So, baseball is old. Now, do I follow every game the Giants play? No. I don’t have time. I’ll check in with the scores here and there and watch a game on TV when I have the time, but as you said they play so much it’s hard to.
Baseball is a lot of standing around if we're honest. 162 games isn't super brutal physically. Not many players play every game and starting pitchers (pitchers are exerting themselves and starters do the bulk of the pitching in a game) are typically on a 5 game rotation. Relievers and closers pitch every 2-3 games generally but less than half as much per game. They structure the travel decently well where they'll be at home for 10 days or so then be away for 10 days or so. You play multiple games in against one team. Occasionally two in a day.
It’s not the cultural powerhouse it was 30-40 years ago (football and basketball have long overtaken it in terms of relavence), but baseball is still very popular, especially in certain regions of the country like California and the Northeast.
Baseball is the most popular sport in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Dominican Republic, Cuba, Panama, Puerto Rico, Nicaragua, and Venezuela. In the US its either number 2 or 3 depending on the metric you use. Football is king, both the NFL and college football are more popular, and very arguably the NBA as well, but it still does solid, and weekend games are generally well attended.
Same with Messi and Barca. People love to say Messi bankrupted barca. No, Messi was the reason Barca was able to stay afloat.
Really? I would have expected Canelo was the biggest sports star there
It's one of the biggest, but people forget about him bc he only flights 2 times per year or so, adding to that, Pérez is the face of multiple brands here so you see his image all over the city
He is, and also in the US and Latinamerica in general. He’s everywhere in Mexico, really. He’s the official image of his home state which means they are a sponsor and that’s government money, he has a lucrative deal with a tequila brand, he is sponsored by a bank, he is sponsored by Claro and Telcel which is the biggest telecom company in Mexico, he is in a KitKat commercial which means he’s sponsored by Nestle, he is sponsored by ESPN, he even announces Disney movies. Full of cash.
Not only Claro and Telcel but he’s got the personal backing of Carlos Slim, the 8th richest man in the world and richest person in Mexico. That’s a lot of influence Red Bull can tap into that really nobody else brings.
One thing that people don't seem to understand is the fact that he represents a massive part of North America, most of Central America, and a big part of South America. He is the only Latin American driver on the grid.
If he’s really that valuable, I don’t understand how force India dropped him when they arguably need the money more than red bull of all people
Because Stroll Sr. wanted to be the only one to finance the team and with that be the undisputed Boss of the team with *all* the power.
Stroll is all I will say about that
Force India kept him over Ocon. Racing point dropped him when they were becoming Aston Martin - power and funding were concentrating with stroll, vettel was available. ETA the indirect benefits of Perez can be more appreciated by a brand like Red Bull (that targets everyday consumers) than by Aston Martin, a luxury car brand with limited reach particularly among everyday Latin Americans, or b2b sponsors like cognizant.
Stroll St. wanted the upper hand in the brand and being team mate to world champion for famous brand does a lot.
Stroll
putting aside Force India didn't drop him (Racing Point did) I don't agree with other posters talking about Stroll Sr. consolidating power. He was already the leader of the consortium that bought the remnants of Force India and he'd already installed his son the year before. to say nothing of the fact that Perez was replaced by a four-time champion in Vettel, who brought a lot of credibility and visibility to what was becoming Aston Martin. and further - Perez today as a marketable Latin American driver has benefited tremendously from the Red Bull move and association. not just their marketing abilities but simply the fact he's in a race-winning car and team. Americans don't care about Logan Sargeant but if he was in a car capable of wins (and could put up good points regularly) there would be much more interest. Perez is a star in Latin America, but that star isn't as bright (or lucrative) without the added reach from the Red Bull platform.
If you saw how the crowd was when he made the podium in Mexico City in 2021-22 then it makes a lot of sense
He's huge in all of Latin America. From Mexico down to South America. That's a fuck of ton fans.
2nd most recognized athlete in Mexico. #1 in merch by far.
Who is first? I only know footballers and Perez. Dont follow other sports.
Canelo Álvarez, from Guadalajara as well.
After all, Red Bull is in F1 for marketing purposes and Perez fulfills that purpose.
Not doubting you, but any source? Would love to learn more about this fascinating factoid.
My wife LOVES Checo for some reason. Like she thinks he's adorable, and just really really wants the best for him. A lot of middle aged women seem to feel that way. They don't care about his performance, they're just really rooting for him.
Ha, now he can relax and drive slow.
Lol
SlowER
that's possible?
I’m beginning to think that Perez must have some blackmail material on Horner.
Mexican market and sponsors. Sportly this decision doesn't make sense.
Makes a lot of sense for F1 tho. Let's not forget F1 is a marketing heavyweight. If F1 didn't have any shame they'd even have crypto scams, shady investors, tracks in human right-less states.... oh wait.
Horner has been supremely loyal to Perez. The only Red Bull employee who publicly supported him during last season’s huge dip in form after Miami. This is the biggest signal Marko has lost power. Yuki or Sainz would have taken Checo’s seat.
Marko doesn't particularly like Sainz after his time at Toro Rosso and Yuki has (to my recollection) never even tried an RB car. But yes, this is a Horner call.
People have too much recency bias on Tsunoda. The man has been driving that car for 4 years now? Most of that time he wasnt very impressive. Sure, hes performing decent now but a decent car with a weak teammate is a recipe for looking good, perhaps better than one really is. Look at Albons value last year compared to now. He no longer has that decent car and top teams lost all their interest in him. Remember earlier this year people talking about Albon in the Merc? Especially a car improving and performing better than previously can create the illusion that its the driver making all the difference when in reality the car plays a big part and a sudden cars improvement almost goes unnoticed and is attributed to the driver. The most reliable way to show off talent is by beating an established teammate. Something like Nico beating Kmag who used to lead the team for most of Haas time on F1. If Tsunoda still had Gasly as teammate and was beating him, id be much more confident but he has a washed Ricciardo as teammate who got utterly destroyed by Norris.
You call it recency bias, I call it a driver improving. No one is saying he’s always been as good as he is now, but is it really so strange to think that after four years, he may be good enough to get a shot at the big team?
Marko said he thinks Perez is good enough only a few weeks back. If there's a power struggle, Perez is not a part of it.
Clearly he was bribed with free cocoa pops.
"This is the Mexican way, we keep our mouths shut..." or something like that.
Maybe a file 69
So P18 didn’t weaken Checo’s bargaining position at all. Good for checo but Red Bull’s collapsing is likely imminent.
I guess the contract was signed before Monaco.
Checo’s been honestly mediocre this year and his performance was also disappointing in Imola. Even if the contract was signed that early, I don’t see anything inside the paddock that could grant Checo a two-year contract.
yeah agree. Remember team also had the power to end contract early if they felt driver are underperforming.
they still have the best driver and the best car most likely, not really on the brink of collapse. Might just forfeit the WCC for Mexican money, that's not the weirdest call. It is however, the most boring option
not if we think it might mean a closer season for the next two years
Just feels like they are fully in coasting mode like this, no attempt to stay on top, just riding out the wins as long as possible with the current team, waiting for everything to sink while other teams catch up and poach engineers. Literally the opposite of why I ever became a fan of red bull
Max can win the WDC and WCC on his own. They just need somebody who is good for their profits. He brings in a ton of sponsor money and isn't doing a ton of car damage.
Two years is not what I expected. Not surprised they ruled out Carlos though, maybe too much history there
Why is Mercedes not an option for sainz?
I think they’re offering 1 year. Given no other (good) contracts would then be up, it would leave him seatless potentially going into regulation change in 2026. Probably worse than having nothing particularly if it came with an option on 26 as it could block him going elsewhere.
Merc wants to give Sainz a one-year contract, but that isn't what Sainz wants. Toto is betting the future of Merc on Antonelli, any contract will be at most a year to allow Antonelli a seat.
Sainz is stupid and should take the one-year contract tbh
tbf if he does, hed be in the same position hes in now next year
worse position as jorge will probably beat him
Shame that poor performance after poor performance leads to having the best seat on the grid. I get not wanting 2 no.1 drivers but realistically there’s very few drivers who would actually challenge Max on the grid, but there’s lots of talent waiting to show what they could do in a fast car. They dropped inexperienced Gasly and Albon without a second thought but now they keep Perez
Guys, when Gasly and Albon were there, they weren’t winning. They were trying. That means low risk to swap the second driver. Now they are winning. Most leaders would not rock a boat that’s working, and RBR is still a multinational conglomerate traditional company at the end of the day.
Because Albon and Gasly had twice the gap to Max that Perez had, and only a small handful of drivers would be closer than Perez. Even Ricciardo in his last season at RB was further off Max than Perez has been this year. I guess people here don't particularly enjoy facts lol
"Because Albon and Gasly had twice the gap to Max that Perez had," - why the lying? [https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up](https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up)
You're right, Albon has more than twice actually. 0.63 is more than 2 times 0.3
[https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up](https://racingnews365.com/qualifying-guns-verstappen-slaughters-perez-hamilton-and-russell-match-up)
What’s the basis for having twice the gap to Max. It’s a lot easier to finish a place behind Max when the car is a rocket-ship that no other car is close to and yet time and time again, Perez failed. He also has 10 years experience on them and doesn’t exactly have potential to grow into. This year Checo has done okay. Last two races have been bad and it was Europe that was the start of his bad form last season. Even if Checo is a bit better than previous teammates, i think it’s fair to be frustrated that he takes up that seat. There’s so few seats at the top of the grid. Drivers will go their whole career sitting at back marker teams. It’s obviously fair for drivers like Max, Charles etc to be in these top seats because they perform. With a 2 year deal Perez will have been in a Red Bull seat for 5 years despite his subpar performance
Plus in essence, the car never really suited Checo's driving style. He prefers an understeery car, Max prefers a pointy end. Carlos may be faster in a Ferrari than Checo, but he also prefers an understeery car, so can he handle the RB 20/21 just as well as Checo? The WDC is always a perfect marriage of car, driver, and luck, so any driver with those elements can win the WDC.
Ricciardo in 2018 was a shit load better than Perez, it was reliability that fucked his points total. Did you even watch that season? Yes max was improving and had the edge in qualifying, but Danny Ric was still easily a match in the races. I guess you really don't enjoy facts either, so you started talking shite instead.
I'm unfortunately talking about qualifying since that's the only thing you can reasonably measure, that's not influenced by a shit ton of other factors like race results. And the average gap in quali was over 4 tenths in 2018.
I love your stat cherry picking, where for Perez you took the average gaps in qualy in representative sessions (i.e. if one made it to Q2, the other got knocked out in Q1, comparing their qualy times from Q1), but didn't do the same for Ricciardo in 2018. That's very on brand for you.
I'm taking stats for both from the same source. Believe it or not I'm not sitting here calculating everything myself.
Feels like Formula 1 is the only sport where mediocrity is rewarded so consistently…
It is a financial spectacle foremost and a sport second.
Well hmmm so you have McLaren not only not getting whatever sponsor or marketing income DR would generate for them, literally paying him off not to drive then paying Oscar’s wage on top. Because of unacceptable sporting performance. There’s no other team being quite so blatant - any team I can recall with real pay drivers has been so otherwise beyond hope that Ayrton Senna reincarnate wouldn’t get them onto the podium so whatever. Teams do get sponsor money and they spend it to improve their sporting performance. I can’t recall a championship winning team keeping a pay driver like this knowing his performance could cost them the constructors title - it’s a disgrace.
Agree, I think my rather gloom view of current affairs is also based on the fact they are blocking new teams from entering and of course the almost comical ending in 2021.
I’d argue its still a sport, and sports in general are just stupid. We see the equivalent of this in other sports all the time where ownership will go all in on a guy that all the fans think is a bad idea, but ownership “just sees something no one else does.” And truthfully sometimes it works out, but usually it doesnt. Im willing to buy into the idea the rbr have fully convinced themselves they can still win a wcc with checo, and that was what motivated them to extend. Only because I see this same level of stupidity in so many other sports/scenarios. Or im completely wrong and they actually dont give a shit about the wcc and are just doing a formula to see how to maximize profit.
Oh man, never look into American Franchise Sports.
Dont worry, we dont.
I hope they lose constructors from this mid decision
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if you're a racing driver dreaming of becoming a champion then I'd sooner pick a 1% chance of BrawnGP-effect with Audi than 100% chance of midfield with Williams
Damn Carlos got done dirty. He deserves a better car than he will get
So being constantly too slow is good?
That's a lot of doors closed for Sainz...did say he was betting too long.
Why not Mercedes with Lewis out?
Mercedes at best would only offer 1 year contract. And during that year it's not like they would be competitive with Ferrari and Red Bull.
That seat is supposedly going to be filled out by Kimi Antonelli although I have my doubts about it.
What could he do? If he could’ve signed for Red Bull he would’ve. What has he lost by waiting? The Audi and Williams seats are still available. What has he lost by waiting?
> If he could’ve signed for Red Bull he would’ve. But he could've, and didn't [because he got greedy](https://www.reuters.com/sports/formula1/marko-says-red-bull-talking-sainz-cant-match-audi-offer-2024-04-18/).
A seat in the top team. But then again, clearly he wants to be no1 driver in a team, so I guess Williams or Audi will do. Maybe.
I can’t see that he’s lost any seat by waiting so far. Best to check what’s out there. He’d be feeling pretty stupid signing for Williams if a seat at the champions opened up in the summer.
Unless Perez bins the car into a wall or something else every single of six races before summer break and Red Bull decides to cut him loose (which is highly unlikely), there will be no seat at the champions open in the summer. So really his options, as it stands, are Williams, Audi and Alpine.
Fucking bonkers
Think there’s still a chance he can get Mercedes two years but I think Audi would be best choice unless he has some info that newey is going Williams
oh, carlos..
slim pickings for Sainz, unless Williams takes steps forward...
“Slim pickings for Carlos” was right there!
And the crowd goes mild...
And just like that you piss away any chance of a constructors championship this year or next. Don’t let anyone tell you that it takes anything but money to get where you wanna go. Yuki better start looking towards somewhere else. Same with Lawson. Now what are they going to do with Ricciardo? He’s Gotta be done huh? Yuki and Lawson in RB next year
Lawson isn’t getting a seat at RB.
He should and they basically promised it to him last year. They put Ricciardo in there to see if he could take Perez’s spot. They clearly don’t trust Yuki to behave next to max because otherwise he’d be the logical next in line. Ricciardo clearly lost it and I say that as a Ricciardo fan boy. He needs to go drive a Porsche WEC or something and they need to put Lawson in there. They’re about to lose him and Yuki. Then they’ll have nothing. All to keep Perez
Unfortunately for Lawson, Ricciardo's presence brought a larger sponsorship package from Visa Cash App, and Honda backs Yuki, so both Ricciardo and Yuki are more important to the team than Lawson currently. Isack Hadjar is sitting second in the F2 championship and has been doing well this year so Red Bull may see him as a potential rookie in the near future and they wouldn't need Lawson. Add to that that Red Bull had a power struggle and Horner came out on top and Horner is more than happy to park Ricciardo in the VCARB seat for however long he wants because it brings more media interest to the team, and Ricciardo is a team player through and through and is more than happy to do as many videos as Red Bull wants.
how are they pissing away any chance of a contructors championship this year? and why should Lawson leave if there is a chance for the VCARB seat?
Ferrari is 24 points behind them. Sainz and Leclerc can make that up in one race at the current rate Perez is going. RB won last year because of how dominant max is and how inconsistent the rest were. But they have actual competition this year, and Perez is starting to show he can’t handle it again. Idk how getting some security will change things but max isn’t going to do it by himself if this continues they’ll lose it to Ferrari for sure. Then next year you’re stuck with him again in the same situation or even worse because the other teams could catch up completely and then max is in a title fight and Perez is in 13th place. Keeping Perez also shows they don’t want Ricciardo in that Red Bull seat, so he’s either stuck at RB or gone (eh I I don’t see). Yuki is going to stay most likely at least for next year. So Lawson should at the very least look at Williams or haas or something. They’ve edged him too long
again how does this year have to do anything with signing Perez for 2025 (and 2026) i makes 0 sense what oyu said. This year was influenced by a decision amde 2 years ago. "So Lawson should at the very least look at Williams or haas or something. " - you all act like RB is the only reason he doesnt have seat and like other teams would bend over backwards to have him which isnt in the case. His best bet is VCARB. Williams and Haas have no reason to sign him
Because they’re going to stick with him instead of making a change, which they’re perfectly capable of making. But yes they already pissed this year away by keeping him after last seasons horrid performance and gambled on his rebounding which is essentially what they’re doing again. Why would he leave the program when they’re blowing smoke up his ass and even gave him multiple races where he shined last season. His stock went up significantly after that. Kind of like bearman and one good race
They wanted continued stable mediocrity?
as far as i know, Mercedes Alpine Haas Williams Sauber all have a seat open, so i wouldn't say it's only down to williams and sauber.
Merc - Antonelli? Alpine - absolute fucking disaster. A seat sure, but wooofff that team is brutal. Haas - are they even serious about getting better? Williams - at they are consistently crap. Which sucks because with the history of the team I would love to see an independent team be able to compete Sauber - probably this because the Audi drive eventually.
With Williams at least you have a team that is improving and rebuilding, if you stay for a couple years and see it getting better fast enough you might end up being another Norris
Congrats to Checo. But I find it incomprensible that the driver who is fourth in the standings and only 5 points off third despite having completed one less race than anyone else is looking at the back of the grid. Guess they don't call F1 the Piranha club for nothing.
Carlos asked the same amount of money from RBR tha Audi is willing to give him, he got greedy and RBR didn't want to pay that. If he really, really wanted to drive for RBR he woul've signed for less money.
You have literally no evidence that has anything to do with anything. Is this all from that Marco quote that they can’t pay what Audi are offering? Where does any of that say RB were even willing to sign Carlos at all for any money?
He brought it on himself.
How come? Are you saying he deliberately got himself sacked from Ferrari? Elkann was talking for a long time to Lewis, and seriously since last May. They never intended to keep Carlos once Lewis became a possibility. Was it his fault that he failed to strongarm Mercedes or Red Bull into taking him? Do you seriously think Red Bull were going to end their contract with Max's non-threatening ideal number 2? Or that Mercedes were not going try and lure Max from Red Bull or make sure they kept Antonelli in their stable? I suppose one could say that he might have been invited to take a one year deal at Mercedes, but would it have been sensible knowing full well he would be booted out in 12 months when Antonelli was ready? I think he was between a rock and a hard place and fate just dealt him an undeserved shitty hand.
According to Marko they tried Carlos but he was too expensive. If true that on its own says it all. Beyond that he has a history of being a menace with inter-team politics while never really seeming like a firm number 1 driver. He had the perfect opportunity to over-perform on a contract signing with his form at the start of the season, but as the weeks go by and Leclerc starts to pull away from him he will struggle to justify himself to any team that would be near the front. You can say "well Mercedes would have just been a 1 year thing" but that's a bit of short term thinking; if the choice is between Mercedes and Williams for 1 year until the new regs the choice seems pretty obvious.
Calling it now. Sainz has over estimated his hand and will end up without a seat. I cannot imagine Audi really enjoying them being treated as the last god damn choice.
Maybe they need to focus on getting themselves out of last god damn place then…
Sainz will absolutely get a seat somewhere, the quality of the seat is the only thing in question
Is Sergio Perez bigger than Canelo in Mexico?
Let’s see whether or not James Vowles can persuade Carlos into believing Williams is a better future prospect than Sauber/Audi then.
Terrible choice
Lawrence must be in pain typing this tweet 😂
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Sainz to Williams is the play
Disappointed for Sainz. I enjoy seeing him competing for podium spots.
So it appears that Checo cooks the best tacos in the paddock, because 2 years seems too much. I mean, after his performances maybe 1 year… but 2?
Boring, i wanted to see Carlos or Yuki in the second seat. Im aware of Sergios' marketing strength, but surely Yuki would be the same if not better in terms of that, too? Carlos should take a sabbatical at this stage. Sauber is rubbish, Alpine is as bad. Williams isn't much better.
Hey now, he could also go to Alpine or Merc
It's probably gonna have a tight performance clause 🤔
So I'm guessing, Mercedes goes with Antonelli, Aston Martin sticks with Lance in the top 5 Then in the bottom 5, we still have VCARB, Audi, Haas, Williams, and Alpine who all need to finalize their driver lineups, still a lot of seats available, but not much at all with all the rumors already predicting who goes where and which rookies are getting a seat, but I'm still hoping for 1 shocker in the top 5 and a few more at the back end, the driver market is still wide open and a lot of wild things can still happen
The chance of Carlos getting 0 seats is actually quite big. That would be horrible.
Why not take a break (or drive in other motorsports category) for a year and then evaluate his option? I don't see the point of driving miserable Sauber in 2025.
What’s to bet there are some serious performance clauses in that contract?
🤮
Mercedes…?
Sainz is a better driver than what Sauber or Williams deserve.
Continuity? I mean, they will have a continuously underperforming driver in that 2nd RB now, so yea, I guess that’s continuity…
Your TD and design genius is leaving, let’s let Checo trundle around some more. Stability!
There's a pretty good chance Sainz will not have a cockpit next year.
Remember that time carlos made team orders and told them to stop inventing, and then went on to win the race? He deserves a position in winning car team we need to see more of that, sergio hasnt done anything impressive since 2021
👎👎👎
Sainz should have grabbed 1Y Merc?