2016 Silly Season Thread

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 02 Sep 2015, 08:54

Other than putting his overalls on in Australia only to have to take them back off again shortly after am I right in thinking Kevin Mags has done pretty much buggerall racing all season?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 02 Sep 2015, 09:45

CoopsII wrote:Other than putting his overalls on in Australia only to have to take them back off again shortly after am I right in thinking Kevin Mags has done pretty much buggerall racing all season?

Does the McLaren simulator counts?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 02 Sep 2015, 09:48

DanielPT wrote:
CoopsII wrote:Other than putting his overalls on in Australia only to have to take them back off again shortly after am I right in thinking Kevin Mags has done pretty much buggerall racing all season?

Does the McLaren simulator counts?

If it does then Carmen Jorda is a actual proper Lotus driver so.....

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 02 Sep 2015, 15:15

CoopsII wrote:Other than putting his overalls on in Australia only to have to take them back off again shortly after am I right in thinking Kevin Mags has done pretty much buggerall racing all season?

Indeed. He has been somewhat openly vocal about McLaren vetoing a potential part-time Indy gig that was in the frame for this year to keep him sharp, and stated (paraphrasing from memory) "I am not doing this again".

He (quite rightly) expects to be in a race seat again next season, and will turn his back on McLaren without hesitation for a rival if they take their time deciding again, I would imagine. Even in his polished public figure, there have been occasional indications of frustration at his situation. I imagine he must be infuriated privately at how this year has played out.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 02 Sep 2015, 17:00

Backmarker wrote:If the super license rules weren't in place, Jordan King would be at Manor next season. With the rules, I wonder how long his father will back Manor if it doesn't look like his son will earn enough points to ever drive in F1.

Justin King isn't backing Manor, he just came on board as an interim chairman (interim being the operative word - he stated right at the start he was just in it to help out alongside buyer Stephen Fitzpatrick, who is the real money man in it all). I doubt Jordan King not getting promoted will have much of an effect.

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 02 Sep 2015, 17:25

The rumors flying around over here are that Haas has already signed Vergne as his #1. Supposedly Rossi and Gutierrez are the others, with Esteban getting the race seat in exchange for Ferrari building the car, and Rossi getting a bunch of FP1 outings.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 02 Sep 2015, 17:29

Wallio wrote:The rumors flying around over here are that Haas has already signed Vergne as his #1. Supposedly Rossi and Gutierrez are the others, with Esteban getting the race seat in exchange for Ferrari building the car, and Rossi getting a bunch of FP1 outings.

That definitely sounds like a plausible line-up, but I thought Dallara were supposed to be building the car?

Wallio · Post by **Wallio** » 02 Sep 2015, 17:43

They are (wink wink).

No, from what I understand, Dallara are building the tub, Ferrari are building the wings, sidepods, suspension, diffuser, floor, etc, and Haas is making the stickers.

AdrianSutil · Post by **AdrianSutil** » 03 Sep 2015, 02:50

A Vergne-Gutierrez line-up isn't that bad for a new team. Both have a couple of years experience and both are current test-drivers for top teams.

Izzyeviel · Post by **Izzyeviel** » 03 Sep 2015, 09:32

Eric Boullier has basically said Mclaren are thinking more about 2017 will be better for them than next season.

Jense won't want to hang around for another season of rubbish. Surely Mclaren will palm him off and get Mag in on the cheap?

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 03 Sep 2015, 11:54

Izzyeviel wrote:Jense won't want to hang around for another season of rubbish. Surely Mclaren will palm him off and get Mag in on the cheap?

"Cheap" only in the sense of salary. The respective costs and value of a driver to a team is quite complicated. Button commands a high salary but also has high marketing value, which in turn means they can demand higher fees from sponsors. I'm not sure Santander will be willing to stump up quite as much cash as previously for Alonso-Magnussen/Vandoorne as Alonso-Button, seeing as both are very high profile sportsmen in their respective nations, two countries which are key markets for Santander. Button's image is used extensively in Santander's marketing campaigns in the UK - it's extremely unlikely the average man on the street with little or no interest in Formula 1 would recognise or support Kevin Magnussen or Stoffel Vandoorne.

I agree that Button is at the end of the road for his McLaren career, unless the board is desperate to see him stay (not impossible, they overruled Ron Dennis' choice of Magnussen at the end of last year). Both current and potential sponsors seem to have little interest in backing Magnussen (evident from Dennis' desperate pleas for some financial backing from Magnussen's homeland).

The choice between Magnussen and Vandoorne may well come down to nothing more than economic factors, given both have demonstrated their qualifications for the seat.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 03 Sep 2015, 15:00

Like Force India, Williams are also maintaining the status quo next season.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 03 Sep 2015, 20:36

It's turning out not to be a very silly Silly Season, is it?

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 03 Sep 2015, 20:59

dr-baker wrote:It's turning out not to be a very silly Silly Season, is it?

Agreed. But by Murphy's Law that can lead to an awesome 2016, I hope. Saying that, look how 2004 turned out.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 03 Sep 2015, 21:10

good_Ralf wrote:
dr-baker wrote:It's turning out not to be a very silly Silly Season, is it?

Agreed. But by Murphy's Law that can lead to an awesome 2016, I hope. Saying that, look how 2004 turned out.

A whole year of HWNSNBM?

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 04 Sep 2015, 14:00

I wonder if Piquetinho is on that Haas shortlist? Being the Formula E champion, that should qualify him for a superlicence...

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 04 Sep 2015, 14:04

Waris wrote:I wonder if Piquetinho is on that Haas shortlist? Being the Formula E champion, that should qualify him for a superlicence...

He seems committed to defending his title next year, and Australia and Bahrain both clash with FE, but then who knows?

Post by **Miguel98** » 05 Sep 2015, 08:06

http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9978863/2016-f1-season-could-conclude-in-december

So, we can have Malaysia at the end of the season, and the season ending in December. Discuss.

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 05 Sep 2015, 12:46

Miguel98 wrote:http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9978863/2016-f1-season-could-conclude-in-december

So, we can have Malaysia at the end of the season, and the season ending in December. Discuss.

Sepang is one of the better modern tracks, so probably an improvement on Abu Dhabi. December is a little late for the season to end, but speaking purely as a fan the off-season is awful. The weather in Sepang is likely to be better in December too, less chance of a wash-out.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 05 Sep 2015, 13:18

Miguel98 wrote:http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/9978863/2016-f1-season-could-conclude-in-december

So, we can have Malaysia at the end of the season, and the season ending in December. Discuss.

I'm sure the organisers of both the Malaysian and Singapore Grands Prix would be happy with such a move given that they were initially closer together on the schedule than they would have liked. However, I'm not sure the teams would like such a move, unless Australia's date shift to April is permanent, in which case it's ultimately rather insignificant.

Waris · Post by **Waris** » 05 Sep 2015, 22:20

I facepalmed hard when I read about the reason they want to move Malaysia. These track owners are soooooo selfish. They think that if they are "too close together" on the calendar, it will cost them income because people choose to only go to one of them instead of both? Implying people who can afford to go to both aren't already doing that anyway?
In terms of logistics, it's WAY WAY better to have them next to each others, since the cars and all equipment etc. can stay on the Malay peninsula instead of having to fly around in a circle to come back.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 05 Sep 2015, 23:45

Waris wrote:I facepalmed hard when I read about the reason they want to move Malaysia. These track owners are soooooo selfish. They think that if they are "too close together" on the calendar, it will cost them income because people choose to only go to one of them instead of both? Implying people who can afford to go to both aren't already doing that anyway?
In terms of logistics, it's WAY WAY better to have them next to each others, since the cars and all equipment etc. can stay on the Malay peninsula instead of having to fly around in a circle to come back.

Considering Bernie squeezes them for every penny, it's actually a very sensible decision. The circuit owners don't give a damn about logistics, that's an argument for the teams and drivers. It's about finding a balance between the two.

Whiteshore · Post by **Whiteshore** » 06 Sep 2015, 00:56

Maybe Haas-Ferrari can lure a relatively young IndyCar driver or even pay Bourdais to return to F1 to appeal to an American audience.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 06 Sep 2015, 01:00

Whiteshore wrote:Maybe Haas-Ferrari can lure a relatively young IndyCar driver or even pay Bourdais to return to F1 to appeal to an American audience.

If they wanted to do that through their driver signings (which I'm sure they'd like to do, it's just that there are better options out there), they could far more easily hire Alex Rossi.

Not that I'd mind seeing BORDAS back in F1

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 06 Sep 2015, 08:46

Simtek wrote:
Whiteshore wrote:Maybe Haas-Ferrari can lure a relatively young IndyCar driver or even pay Bourdais to return to F1 to appeal to an American audience.

If they wanted to do that through their driver signings (which I'm sure they'd like to do, it's just that there are better options out there), they could far more easily hire Alex Rossi.

Not that I'd mind seeing BORDAS back in F1

There's still the question of superlicences, and the fact that the most eligible young American in IndyCar, Josef Newgarden, would frankly be better off staying there.

Post by **mario** » 06 Sep 2015, 09:08

Salamander wrote:
Simtek wrote:
Whiteshore wrote:Maybe Haas-Ferrari can lure a relatively young IndyCar driver or even pay Bourdais to return to F1 to appeal to an American audience.

If they wanted to do that through their driver signings (which I'm sure they'd like to do, it's just that there are better options out there), they could far more easily hire Alex Rossi.

Not that I'd mind seeing BORDAS back in F1

There's still the question of superlicences, and the fact that the most eligible young American in IndyCar, Josef Newgarden, would frankly be better off staying there.

At the moment, there are only a handful of IndyCar drivers who would definitely be able to secure a superlicence under the new system, and most of those are established drivers within the IndyCar series (such as Will Power, Scott Dixon and Hélio Castroneves) that are unlikely to want to try an untested venture in F1 at a late stage in their career. There may be one or two drivers in the Indy Lights series that might want to take the gamble, but I do not believe that there are any who would definitely be able to secure a superlicence.

As Simtek says, at the moment Rossi would appear to be the best bet if Haas wanted to hire an American driver - provided Rossi is able to hold onto 2nd in the GP2 series this year, he would automatically qualify for a superlicence, and he would have the advantage of having raced at a number of the circuits which would be used during the F1 season.

However, we know that Haas has expressed a preference for an experienced line up to help ease their transition into the sport, which would not be in Rossi's favour. If I were to put a prediction on Haas's line up at this point in time, my gut feeling is that Haas will pick up Vergne and Gutierrez from Ferrari (a line up that has been speculated about in the past) with Rossi as a test driver.

In that scenario, Gutierrez would potentially open up sponsorship opportunities from Mexico (Telmex in particular) and Vergne would satisfy his requirement for an experienced driver, whilst hiring both drivers would help reinforce the links he has cultivated with Ferrari. Rossi, meanwhile, could be given testing opportunities in free practise sessions as a way of evaluating his performance and garnering attention in the US, whilst still competing in other series to continue his development.

novitopoli · Post by **novitopoli** » 06 Sep 2015, 09:50

mario wrote:There may be one or two drivers in the Indy Lights series that might want to take the gamble, but I do not believe that there are any who would definitely be able to secure a superlicence.

Well, who wouldn't want to see the most talented driver ever back in Formula 1?

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 06 Sep 2015, 10:18

During Quali, the SKy guys said that Pastor is likely not to drive for Renault if they do get the team and then they badmouth him saying that someone would need his money and Renault will want a skillful driver.

But anyway if Maldonado and Renault don't work out what happens to both?

Whiteshore · Post by **Whiteshore** » 06 Sep 2015, 11:25

Aguaman wrote:During Quali, the SKy guys said that Pastor is likely not to drive for Renault if they do get the team and then they badmouth him saying that someone would need his money and Renault will want a skillful driver.

But anyway if Maldonado and Renault don't work out what happens to both?

Maybe the Crashtor goes to Haas or to IndyCar?

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 06 Sep 2015, 11:26

Aguaman wrote:During Quali, the SKy guys said that Pastor is likely not to drive for Renault if they do get the team and then they badmouth him saying that someone would need his money and Renault will want a skillful driver.

But anyway if Maldonado and Renault don't work out what happens to both?

Renault - picks up one of the losers of the McLaren musical chairs game. Either they try to bring in Button for his experience, or Magnussen for his potential.

Maldonado - Muscles his way into Sauber, the Swiss team dazzled by his sponsorship coffers over three times the size of Marcus Ericsson's. While I'm sure Manor would sell an arm and a leg to have him and his oil money on board, I somewhat doubt either Maldonado himself or his PDVSA backers would be interested in racing for the perennial backmarkers.

The situation is tricky. None of us here are aware of the full implications of the Maldonado decision going either way. The noises coming from the motoring media suggest Renault are ready to bankroll the team to the levels of their previous heyday, and so they'll be interested in quality drivers over well backed drivers. PDVSA is not really a partner of the team at all, it's a more one dimensional agreement of stickers on the car in exchange for cash. Bringing Total back as a prominent team partner makes much sense, but would theoretically clash somewhat with PDVSA. Renault management will just have to decide whether the economic impact of firing Maldonado a year early is worthwhile. I'm not one to jump on the "Maldonado sux hue" bandwagon, but I'd certainly take either Button or Magnussen over Maldonado, if money were not a big concern.

Aguaman · Post by **Aguaman** » 06 Sep 2015, 12:17

I can see Maldonado at Sauber but there aren't many seats left. This could be his last season in F1 for a while. Unless Button gets dumped, Renault takes K-Mag and Maldonado partners Alonso at Macca. lol

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 06 Sep 2015, 20:49

Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 06 Sep 2015, 20:57

Red Bull wouldn't split with Renault to run a worse engine. They must feel they have something pretty concrete with Mercedes or Ferrari.

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 06 Sep 2015, 23:23

Backmarker wrote:Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Does this mean we won't get to see a Renault-Mercedes next year?

Dan B · Post by **Dan B** » 07 Sep 2015, 01:56

Backmarker wrote:Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Wasn't Red Bull making noises about creating their own in house engine?

I mean, granted they are a drinks company but they can make the engine out of recycled cans and use the drink as a lubricant.

Post by **mario** » 07 Sep 2015, 06:20

Dan B wrote:
Backmarker wrote:Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Wasn't Red Bull making noises about creating their own in house engine?

I mean, granted they are a drinks company but they can make the engine out of recycled cans and use the drink as a lubricant.

There was talk a while ago that Red Bull had explored the option of commissioning AVL to design an engine - AVL are a specialist Austrian mechanical engineering company, and that company has a strong reputation for engine design. They also have experience with a current F1 powertrain - they were hired by Ferrari over the winter in order to test and develop their engine.

Still, I think it is more likely that Red Bull will rely on trying to pressurise Mercedes and Ferrari into supplying them with engines - I imagine that Bernie will be lobbying furiously behind the scenes as well in the hope that it makes Red Bull competitive again and creates more of a fight for the title in 2016.

dr-baker · Post by **dr-baker** » 07 Sep 2015, 10:44

Dan B wrote:
Backmarker wrote:Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Wasn't Red Bull making noises about creating their own in house engine?

I mean, granted they are a drinks company but they can make the engine out of recycled cans and use the drink as a lubricant.

Would love to see Al Melling produce this engine. Maybe we could then see a Red Bull Wildcat?

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 07 Sep 2015, 10:48

dr-baker wrote:
Dan B wrote:
Backmarker wrote:Looks like Red Bull are going to split with Renault. Red Bull Mercedes? Red Bull Ferrari? Red Bull Honda? Red Bull Cosworth?

Wasn't Red Bull making noises about creating their own in house engine?

I mean, granted they are a drinks company but they can make the engine out of recycled cans and use the drink as a lubricant.

Would love to see Al Melling produce this engine. Maybe we could then see a Red Bull Wildcat?

Has Craig Cod been seen hanging around the Red Bull garage recently?

dinizintheoven · Post by **dinizintheoven** » 07 Sep 2015, 12:53

And while we're here, let's throw Neotech, HKS and Isuzu into the ring. Who knows, they might have had a top-secret project in the works these last 20 years that'll blast the Mercs into next week...

Or, better still...

ERNESTO VITA RETURNS AND WILL CONQUER THE WORLD.

Faustus · Post by **Faustus** » 07 Sep 2015, 13:12

mario wrote:There was talk a while ago that Red Bull had explored the option of commissioning AVL to design an engine - AVL are a specialist Austrian mechanical engineering company, and that company has a strong reputation for engine design. They also have experience with a current F1 powertrain - they were hired by Ferrari over the winter in order to test and develop their engine.

Red Bull were looking at it, as a feasibility exercise. They were also approaching some engine people about possible job opportunities with the team. A friend of mine works for a specialist recruitment agency and they were handling it. I heard that it got pretty close to getting the go-ahead and apparently there was a car manufacturer willing to brand the thing. No idea who it was. The cost of it all and the delay on the return on the investment scared them off in the end. Or maybe not...