The Motorsport Thread (Part 2)

[Wonderful Butternut]

This, coupled with Alpine not knowing about Alonso joining AM until they saw the press announcement is hilarious. They're just bumbling around in a daze without a clue of what's happening around them.

Probably already signed for McClaren then.

Bye bye Ricciardo.

[Wonderful Butternut]

So...

McLaren currently have Norris & Riccy under contract.

It's certain that they approached Alex Palou and thought they agreed a deal. But that's become a legal shitshow cos Chip Ginassi say they have him under contract. His lawyers are saying the Macca deal was for an F1 drive too, not for the Arrow McLaren Indycar programme.

It's understood they've approached Piastri, hence the current mess.

They also have testing arrangements with Colton Herta & Patricio O'Ward, not to mention Nyck de Vries as their current official reserve.

I imagine they'll end up with either Norris and Ricciardo (with Piastri to replace Riccy in 2024) or Norris and Piastri, with Riccy paid off or loaned to Alpine for the rest of his contract. But with all those drivers, a lot of whom are well rated, what was their actual planned endgame?

[MrMealDeal]

Given Alonso's past record, it's now absolutely nailed on that Alpine will have a podium-capable car next year while Aston Martin's bold decision to... I don't know... run a tractor engine won't work out. The guy would have many more WCs and wins if he'd been a better strategist.

[aunt mildred]

The rumour mill now suggests Piastri is going to Alpha replacing Tsunoda with an eye on Perez seat in 2024. Makes sense to me as Webber is his manager.

[Bently Sheds]

The rumour mill now suggests Piastri is going to Alpha replacing Tsunoda with an eye on Perez seat in 2024. Makes sense to me as Webber is his manager.

With Webber's experience of Red Bull and their treatment of Number Two drivers ("Multi-21, Seb") I'd be surprised if Piastri went there, unless Verstappen was off somewhere else.

McLaren need to dump the underperforming and expensive Ricciardo and get Piastri alongside Norris.

[aunt mildred]

It's all speculation but Piastri's statement suggests to me he's already signed for another team else he's shooting himself in the foot.

If I was a young upcoming driver (I wish), I'd certainly sign to AT above McLaren just for the chance to get in a Red Bull regardless of being a patsy for a while. It does mean having to put up with Horner though.

Actually thinking about it I'd probably be loyal to Alpine and prove myself there but there's no loyalty nowadays.

[Bently Sheds]

Yeah it's currently a mystery why he's turning down the guaranteed Alpine drive in favour of one at an as-yet-unknown team which would possibly involve contract wrangling & court cases.

That said, there are plenty of stories online about how shit Alpine is behind the scenes & Alonso's bombshell move to Aston Martin was a massive 'fuck you' to the Alpine bosses.

Alonso is best mates with Webber, Webber is Piastri's manager - I reckon Fernando maybe tipped them the nod that it's not the best place to be...

[Huxleys Babkins]

The problem Piastri had is that it wasn't a guaranteed Alpine drive. A guaranteed contract, yes, but not a drive at the team.

With no indication that Alonso was going anywhere to free that seat up and sensing a Russell-style limbo on loan at Williams, he took matters into his own hands. Unbeknown to anyone, of course, Alonso's buggered off to Aston and Piastri now cannot take that seat as he's already signed with someone else.

The Piastri to McLaren rumours were swirling a few weeks ago, so I doubt the Alonso-Webber stitch-up theories hold much water.

I suspect the timeline is more;

• Weeks ago - McLaren get fed up with Ricciardo and sign a pre-contract with Piastri that activates if/when his Alpine option expires.
• 28/07 - Vettel announces unexpected retirement and Alonso gets in touch with Aston and they do a deal over the course of the GP weekend.
• 31/07 - Piastri's Alpine option expires and McLaren pre-contract activates.
• 01/08 - Alonso and Aston complete deal and announce it. Alpine try to secure Piastri and find they've been beaten to the punch.

[Bently Sheds]

Excellent sum up, Huxley.

It's pretty funny watching the Drive To Survive intake of F1 (and mostly Ricciardo) fans lose their shit on social media over this.

Fuck knows what they'd have made of the Mansell/Prost/Senna/Williams,  Schumacher/Jordan/Benetton or Button/Williams/BAR/Williams contract wranglings of yesteryear.

[Ambient Sheep]

Yeah, that all sounds very plausible, Huxley.  Might turn out to be a bad move for Piastri, though.  I'd rather be driving an Alpine against Ocon than a slower McLaren against Norris, and certainly better than being in an Alpha Tauri if that rumour is to be believed.

As for why Alonso went to Aston Martin, the assumption is that it's because next year's car will be the first to be designed by ex-Red Bull chief aerodynamicist Dan Fallows...

[Huxleys Babkins]

If I were in Piastri's shoes, I'd want to be somewhere I was wanted. McLaren clearly want him which is why they are willing to pay off Ricciardo and put him in the car on a (presumably) long-term deal, compared to Alpine who only wanted him if Alonso either left or went off the boil.

McLaren is a good place to be, I think. Yes, they've slumped a bit this year, but their recovery from being at the back in Bahrain to fighting for 4th by the summer break is a good sign they at least understood what their issues were and could react quickly. It's a world away from where they were in 2018 where they were just blindly throwing bits at the "best car on the grid".

[Ambient Sheep]

Yes, you may have a point.

I wonder if Alpine regret signing Ocon for such a long time; he's hardly set the world alight as expected...

[Ambient Sheep]

Ah, seems it was confirmed nine hours ago that McLaren is the target, I just missed it, that's all.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mclaren-set-to-end-ricciardos-2023-f1-deal-to-make-way-for-piastri/10349018/
 

[shoulders]

Shame Ricciardo has gone off the boil, I didn't think it was a coincidence that when McLaren had the opportunity for a big result it was him, not Norris, that seized it.

[Ambient Sheep]

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/team/daniel-ricciardo/daniel-ricciardo-leave-mclaren-racing-end-2022/

(via https://twitter.com/McLarenF1/status/1562440848771469312)

[aunt mildred]

Hardly a surprise, I wonder how much he got for leaving early as he was after big bucks (can't blame him really). There's also seats at AT, Alpine and Haas going begging next year supposedly. Schumacher may get one but I can't see Ricciardo getting one.

[Ambient Sheep]

Rumour has it that Schumacher might be going to Alpine...

[Bently Sheds]

LOLs to be had if Ricciardo ends up back in a Toro Rosso seat.

[Mr_Simnock]

I don't think he will get a seat anywhere, he isn't good enough anymore sadly, formula e or something like that for him

[aunt mildred]

About sixteen cars sent to the back of the grid then, yes I'm exaggerating but still it's about six. What is point? And who decides what order back of grid means? And what is point of qualifying now? Hamilton ftw I reckon, unless he's back of the grid too before the race.

Should be a good race I'm hoping.

[Wonderful Butternut]

About sixteen cars sent to the back of the grid then, yes I'm exaggerating but still it's about six. What is point? And who decides what order back of grid means? And what is point of qualifying now? Hamilton ftw I reckon, unless he's back of the grid too before the race.

Should be a good race I'm hoping.

Bottas will be at the head of it (currently 14th) cos his penalty is 15 places, not "back of the grid". The other 6 will be determined by where they are relative to each other in qualy.

[Bently Sheds]

Ricciardo started way ahead of Norris at Spa yet still managed to finish behind him. That's not a good look for someone needing a race seat next season...

[Mr_Simnock]

That last race was a bit dull after lap 20, what the fuck was Hamilton playing at to ensure he didn't take part in it much, absolute stupid move

[Ambient Sheep]

Piastri confirmed at McLaren for the next two years.

[aunt mildred]

That last race was a bit dull after lap 20, what the fuck was Hamilton playing at to ensure he didn't take part in it much, absolute stupid move

Yeah, may as well give Verstappen the title now. It was ridiculous how fast that car was at Spa, 14th to 1st in 12 laps. It really wasn't an epic drive as the C4 commentary suggested, everybody let him straight through and then it was a Sunday drive to the end.

This season started well but it's stale now, Leclerc is certainly no Hamilton who can compete with Verstappen in a car with similar pace. Leclerc is fast enough imo but both he and the team make too many mistakes and the Ferrari wasn't quick enough in this race.

[Blumf]

Bit of a clown show all round.

[aunt mildred]

It looked like there was something fishy about Tsunoda trying to get a VSC, if AT hadn't told him all the wheels were screwed on and to carry on driving I would have thought it was deliberate. No seatbelt?!? I still think Verstappen would have won even without the free pit stop though.

Mercedes managed to do a Ferrari on Hamilton who was nailed on for 2nd.

edit.
Having just read https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/34524325/yuki-tsunoda-reprimanded-driving-loose-seatbelts. I accept that explanation.

[Pete23]

Not surprised at Hamilton's frustration at the end, must have brought back all his Abu Dhabi nightmares. If it was me I wouldn't have said anything that was broadcastable for about 20 minutes!

[Blumf]

Tsunoda looked like inexperienced panic to me. His team probably should have been sharper on the telemetry too.

So many cock-ups everywhere. Just stupid little stuff that shouldn't be happening.

As for Hamilton, past few races, it's increasingly showing how fucked off he is with everything this year. Did like how he pointedly only thanked the mechanics for this race though.

[Bently Sheds]

It's a measure of how much Alpha Tauri trust his feedback that they ignored Tsunoda's protestations in the first place.

Also, Mark Webber on Channel 4's highlights made me laugh when he was taking the piss out of Ferrari's radio message about Red Bull's pitbstops; "sounds like Ferrari are trying to give strategy a go"