F1 Silly season--for engines

"dieseldub" (dieseldub) 07/12/2017 at 11:27 • Filed to: None

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Sauber to not have Honda engines? Maybe stick with Ferrari? No, maybe they’ll get Mercedes engines and McLaren will have Ferrari engines? Nobody will have Hondas?

Dang, if I were Sauber, the Honda money would have been too tempting. But, like McLaren, sponsorship dollars continue to evaporate when you’re horribly uncompetitive, though most small teams, a $100 million/year contribution from your engine supplier is way more than what most small teams have to spend in a season... McLaren, on the other hand, was used to spending closer to $300 million/season for a couple decades now. Maybe I can understand how being uncompetitive and losing sponsor dollars along with their slice of the F1 pie being greatly diminished due to poor results is an issue with McLaren, considering what they’re used to. But $100 million for a team like Sauber that hasn’t done well since BMW split with them almost 10 years ago is nothing to sneeze at.

As is often times the case, the goings on behind the scenes in F1 is just about as interesting as the on track happenings.

Though, for my part, hearing Sauber-Mercedes again would be cool. Mercedes is the reason Sauber got into F1 in the 90s, but were quickly abandoned for McLaren. The Sauber-Mercedes partnership was forged in the late ‘80s with a successful Le Mans effort. At the same time, if Peter Sauber were still running the show, one would have to wonder if bad blood from that unceremonious split would prevent it from happening.

This is going to be an interesting silly season, not only for engine partners but also for drivers. I doubt Kimi is going to stay at his seat at Ferrari. Who’s going to fill in there? Perez? Grosjean? Alonso split with McLaren due to being too uncompetitive? Will Mercedes keep Bottas? Some big names in the shake up this season.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > dieseldub 07/12/2017 at 11:53

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Mercedes would be stupid to let Bottas go.

Alonso is definitely leaving McLaren. Heck, the way the rumors are flying, I could see him leaving F1 altogether. He seemed to really like IndyCar. The only thing that could possibly change that is if McLaren finally dropped that Honda generator they’re trying to race with. Get the man a real engine and he could make things happen.

I can see either way for Kimi. On one hand, he is their most current World Champion. If Vettel doesn’t win it this year, I can see Ferrari hanging on to Kimi to say “See, we still have a World Champion!!!” (World Champion for Ferrari, to clarify). But on the other hand, Kimi just isn’t able to quite be competitive at front in that #2 spot. I feel like he’s kind of getting shafted over there, with Ferrari pouring all of their resources into Vettel. If Kimi leaves, it will be his own choice, not theirs. I would love to see him get the #1 seat with HAAS and drop Grosjean to #2. That would be a killer combo for them. I could even see them getting a podium out of it.

BeaterGT > dieseldub 07/12/2017 at 11:57

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McLaren is used to losing a 100 million of dollars in a season ;) Really though, Sauber needs to get a current spec of any engine if they want to be consistently fighting for points. And if Alonso doesn’t find another seat, I really find it hard to see him driving another year with a Honda-powered car.

dieseldub > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 07/12/2017 at 12:26

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I agree, letting Bottas go would be a bit silly... unless Mercedes thinks they can get someone better. Maybe another Hamilton-Alonso pairing like McLaren did in 2007?

But, Alonso also commands $40m/season. Bottas is less than $10m/s at the moment... Something tells me Alonso is willing to take a pay cut to gain competitiveness, though. He’s absolutely a competitor at heart.

Ferrari has already unceremoniously sacked Kimi before to make way for Alonso. And they kept Massa because he had being doing better more recently compared to Kimi at that point. Ferrari cares about results, not so much nostalgia of keeping an old World Champion on as a driver if the results aren’t there. The results haven’t been there for Kimi, I have my doubts Ferrari is keen on keeping him another season.

Kimi’s not young. He’s gotten surprisingly ornery with age, too. I doubt he’ll be in F1 much longer. He also doesn’t seem to grasp what’s going on around him or with the car, nor does he care to really do better to keep up with it all. I’ve been a Kimi fan in the past, but I think he’s genuinely past his prime at this point and doesn’t seem to be enjoying being in F1 anymore.

In my mind, it would make sense for Mercedes to keep the peace and retain Bottas, maybe Ferrari decides a Vettel-Alonso pairing would be awesome once Kimi is out. Who would Mclaren hire to fill the Alonso void, and with what engines? What highly competitive, race-winning capable driver is going to want to go to an underperforming team? Then again, McLaren still has the dollars to pay a driver whatever they want... at least for now they do. They’re already taking a big hit with sponsor dollars and F1 prize money, also losing the $100m/yr Honda money to help make that gap back up may make it difficult to afford a top driver. McLaren’s in a real sticky spot.

punkgoose17 > dieseldub 07/12/2017 at 14:02

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I am thinking Sauber scoring points is more important to them then being a Honda engine team for the Honda money.

Kimi may get 1 more year only if Ferrari cannot find a replacement they are happy with.

Do you think Perez or Ocon might be a good driver for Ferrari to snag from mid pack or is it the car that is beating the rest of the rest?

And, Bottas is definitely staying at Merecedes.

Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy > dieseldub 07/12/2017 at 14:26

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I would assume if Alonso really made the rumors come true, he’d take a huge paycut to go to IndyCar. I have no clue on their salaries there though. Again, just my assumption.

And I agree, Kimi really doesn’t seem like he gives a shit about F1 anymore. He just seems bored with it. Moreso than the the usual Finnish “just doing my job” face shows. Honestly, I think he has just as big of a chance of leaving F1 and going to drive in another series as Alonso does.

And going on your theory of Kimi leaving Ferrari and Alonso taking his spot, I could see someone like say Verstappen heading over to McLaren (pending they get some competitive cars) so that he can have his chance to shine. He obviously has a lot of potential. He’s just a little over-eager sometimes it seems.

I honestly don’t think McLaren has any other option than to drop Honda. Sure, that money is nice. But looking at the bigger picture, if they don’t get competitive soon and keep losing sponsorships and prize money, they’re screwed. I obviously have no experience running a race team whatsoever, but I feel like the money they’d lose from dropping Honda would be made up for very quickly with sponsors and winnings using an actually competitive engine.

dieseldub > Camshaft Chris: Skyline/McLaren/Porsche Fanboy 07/12/2017 at 18:14

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Verstappen is hugely talented, no doubt. Red Bull are very keen to keep him, but can they afford to if they can’t be competitive at the top?

I am certain any top team would pay decent money to have him. The only downside, as you pointed out, he’s still young and mistake-prone. But, many of the greats started the same way. Very fast, but also took more risks than the average experienced driver would, and results show it.

Most teams will also know that with time and experience, mistakes will be tempered some while the speed remains. Great future prospect for sure.

Shake ups for next year are going to be very interesting.