With Rosberg Retiring

"Matt Nichelson" (whoismatt)
12/02/2016 at 09:04 • Filed to: None

I think we all know who we want to see replace him.

#bringbackcrashtor

DISCUSSION (28)

Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:08

Kinja'd!!!

Meanwhile on toto’s phone

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:09

Holy shit, not what I was expecting to see. Could this be why Pascal Wehrlein was passed over for that Force India seat?

Matt Nichelson > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
12/02/2016 at 09:12

Haha! Brilliant

Matt Nichelson > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/02/2016 at 09:14

Everything is a possibility at this point!

Tripper > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
12/02/2016 at 09:16

This is amazing

macshome > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/02/2016 at 09:16

Hmmm... Toto said he was just as surprised as anyone by this. Nico has a fresh contract until 2018, so I assume he’s paying his way out.

Pascal got passed over because he just hasn’t been all that great in F1, but I would assume he also has a contract that makes him first in line for the seat.

ncasolowork3 > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:22

Here’s my list and logic

Alonso (I believe he has an opt out)
Button (obviously)
Sainz (I’m not sure how strong the contracts are with Toro Rosso and he matched Verstappen for 24 races)
Wherlein

Here’s the deal. Mercedes has no idea how fast their car will be next year. We all expect the cars to be 5 seconds a lap faster next year and MUCH harder to drive. If Mercedes wants to compete for the world championship again in 2017 they need to secure the best driver possible.

Here’s a list of drivers people keep asking for that are beyond a long shot at this point
Bottas
Verstappen
Ricciardo

Don’t forget Red Bull had the best chassis on the grid in 2016. They’re generally known for building good cars and their engine is finally catching up to Mercedes. Even if Verstappen or Ricciardo were available I wouldn’t leave Red Bull for Mercedes. Especially not to partner with Hamilton considering the two of them are getting along. It just isn’t going to happen.

Williams is committed to Lance Stroll next year. They need Bottas to develop the car. I don’t think free engines will get Bottas out of his contract. Plus Bottas isn’t exactly a relaxed/laid back type of a driver. I don’t think he would get along with Lewis at all.

For everyone who thinks Alonso vs. Hamilton would be like it was at McLaren I direct you to Brazil 2015 and 2016. Alonso has matured even if Lewis has not.

Still my money is on Sainz being the best young talent that they can get their hands on.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > Supreme Chancellor and Glorious Leader SaveTheIntegras
12/02/2016 at 09:23

LOL

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:27

This is some really excellent insight. Vertsappen was my “I didn’t really think it through jump to guess,” but your points about him make a lot of sense. Red Bull could easily have the fastest car next year, and you know they’re going to dump tons of R&D money during the off-season after Mercedes dominated this year.

Matt Nichelson > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:30

I think the big question, though, is who wants to play second fiddle to Hamilton. I’m sure he is probably thinking this is his team now and they better not bring anybody in who will try to challenge him. At least that’s my opinion.

So do you bring in somebody in who will just be a yes man? Or do you bring in a contender at the risk of causing even more turnoil?

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > macshome
12/02/2016 at 09:33

I’m inclined to agree, but apart from that wet performance in Brazil, I haven’t seen Ocon crush him and Merc has alot of money invested in his career at the moment. They also might be interested in another German to show that they’re a German team even though they’re totally not. Personally, I wouldn’t be advancing him past the midfield, but I guess we’ll see. This would be the first driver call with Toto in charge. What are Merc’s other options? Does Seb have an exit clause? ‘Nando probably does. JB has a contract to not race. Jorge Lorenzo, lol? Perez could be a nice safe set of hands, Merc would have all of his data, and FI would probably let him go if Toto wants to give them another engine discount, but I haven’t seen anything to suggest that Toto’s opinion of Pascal has changed in the last year.

JEM > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:39

I think Perez would be a helluva choice, and FI already uses Mercedes engines so it would make sense to cut some deal between the two.

I honestly think Perez could give Hamilton a run for his money. He’s a hard charging driver and would def be good enough to score enough points for the team to win the constructor’s championship again.

ncasolowork3 > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:39

It took two to tango. IMO Nico caused as much or more of the strife in the team. Don’t forget Nico is the one who intentionally caused a collision in Spa 2 years ago.

Alonso is a different person now. I think he would get on with Lewis just fine just like Jenson Button did. Lewis was no #1 at McLaren after they signed Button and they worked well together.

Sainz butted heads with Verstappen. I think he would possibly also butt heads with Lewis. It would be an interesting choice.

ncasolowork3 > Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow
12/02/2016 at 09:41

LOL I just saw someone suggest Vettel in another thread. Cmon people do you not know what’s coming in 2017?

Matt Nichelson > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:42

Oh I completely agree. They both could have handled themselves better.

I agree on Alonzo. I think he would be a good fit there compared to others.

LongbowMkII > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 09:43

ALEXANDER ROSSI

that is all

LongbowMkII > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:44

Rossi

ncasolowork3 > LongbowMkII
12/02/2016 at 09:46

bhaahahahahahahahahaha

smobgirl > LongbowMkII
12/02/2016 at 09:46

I wish.

macshome > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/02/2016 at 09:47

Hopefully this is where we find out that Schumi has actually been training 24/7 in a secret bunker somewhere.

He could burst forth to “One Last Time” from Hamilton and everything.

I sorta think it will be Pascal because of time and contracts, but he would really, really need to step it up.

Sometimes drivers that dominate in other series just never put it together in F1. Alex Zanardi is a perfect example of this. He seemed to rule IndyCars at a whim, but both his adventures into F1 were disasters.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:49

Good call on Sainz. I forgot to mention him in my list, but I don’t know if he has an out. He has one year at SRT still, I imagine the RBR contracts are pretty bulletproof, and I doubt RB would let one of their three star drivers make winning the championship next year easier for Merc. I’m guessing Nando’s blowing Toto’s phone up right now, JB’s contract is tighter than Alo’s, which means that he won’t get that “sabbatical” he “wanted” after all. Or they give Pascal the seat because Toto’s just been riding on Brawn’s dream-team setup for the last few years, hasn’t had to make a driver call, and still thinks that he’s something special. The conspiray theorist in me thinks that the Toto saw this coming and that’s why Pascal doesn’t have a contract for next year yet.

Chris_K_F drives an FR-Slow > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:51

Yeah, I in no way see it being Vettel. Maranello would lose their shit. haha

My money is probably on Wherlein or Button.

JEM > LongbowMkII
12/02/2016 at 09:52

That would be amazing. Completely unlikely, but amazing if it happened.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > ncasolowork3
12/02/2016 at 09:53

The Spa collision was obviously Nico’s fault, but it wasn’t intentional. I don’t care how good of a driver you are. You can’t get your wing in the right spot of a sidewall of another car at speed to blow their tire and not lose your own wing. That’s a situation where nine times out of ten it’s not going to go your way. Austria and Spain this year on the other hand... Still don’t think he meant to crash, but those were obviously dick moves meant to push the challenger off the track.

LongbowMkII > JEM
12/02/2016 at 09:58

A clear #2 and a talented driver. Would be cheap stopgap until a more distinguished driver opens up (if need be)

JEM > LongbowMkII
12/02/2016 at 10:01

Yeah it definitely makes a whole lot of sense. And I’m sure Rossi would love to have the chance to drive for Mercedes, even if he’s the clear #2. Plus having an Indy 500/American driver would be a big marketing thing for Mercedes in the US.

Still, I’d love to see Perez get the seat. I think he could challenge Hamilton.

ncasolowork3 > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/02/2016 at 10:50

You must have missed the fallout after the fact where he said he knew there would be contact and chose to let it happen. It was intentional. The results of it were not.

wiffleballtony > Matt Nichelson
12/02/2016 at 20:41

Agreed. And give everyone mario kart weapons.