Place yer bets, place yer bets!

"themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles" (themanwithsauce) 08/15/2018 at 13:43 • Filed to: None

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Riccardo to Renault kicks off the silly season for F1. Who do you have going where? As it stands, I’m thinking the following lineups for 2019 ** UPDATED 8/15 FOR ALONSO ANNOUNCEMENT AND FALLOUT **

Big 3:
Merc - already done
Ferrari - Vettel and Leclerc
Red Bull - Max and Gasly (barring a meteor killing gasly or verstappen )

Midpack:
Renault - Already done
Haas - Kmag and Perez (unlikely?) or Grosjean (safe bet but we’ll see)
Force India - Stroll and Ocon

Backmarkers:
Mclaren - Vandoorne and Sainz
Toro Rosso - Hartley and a japanese driver TBD
Sauber - Kimi (unlikely) or Giovinazzi (likely?) or Grosjean (...stranger things have happened) and Ericsson
Williams - Sirotkin and Russell

But that’s just me. What do you lot have?

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 09:46

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Kimi and Alonso to Indycar with Kimi landing a Haagen-Daz sponsorship

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/03/2018 at 09:47

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Why would he not stick with Magnum? I don’t even think he’d need them to send money, he just really likes their product.

MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 09:48

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I’d like to see Gasly at Red Bull and can Haas just get rid of Grosjean already?

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s 08/03/2018 at 09:50

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I don’t know who they’d get to replace him outside of Perez though and I’d say the two are roughly even in terms of skill. But Perez brings that sweet, sweet, North American connection. I also don’t see Ferrari letting Haas potentially steal a rookie from them. 

interstate366, now In The Industry > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 09:52

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Gasly to Red Bull, Sainz to McLaren, Norris to Toro Rosso as part of the James Key thing.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > interstate366, now In The Industry 08/03/2018 at 09:53

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Wooooooooaaaahhhhhhh. Staff trades being included in driver trade deals. Didn’t consider that.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire 08/03/2018 at 09:56

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Magnum sponsorship! I think Kimi will stay at Ferrari one more year with Vettel, then Leclerc later, not sure he is ready for Ferrari pressure. 

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 09:56

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K imi stays where he is one more year.

SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 10:05

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20 bucks on the one with the biggest battery...

interstate366, now In The Industry > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 10:15

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Yeah, Key’s still under contract with STR after this year   so they’re not going to just let him go.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 08/03/2018 at 10:17

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Doubt it. I think Ferrari wants to keep their hands on both giovinazzi and LeClerc. A lot easier to do it if they pull Kimi out of the main stage. LeClerc might not be ready but putting Kimi in at sauber can help keep him driving and ready to swap with LeClerc if needed. But if you sign Kimi to the main seat, I can't see him agreeing to swap. He'd swap up from where he signed, not down 

Arch Duke Maxyenko, Shit Talk Extraordinaire > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 10:22

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Too close to K-Mags

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 10:35

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Kimi won’t go anywhere he can’t win, he would probably just go. And I just don’t see Honda being great so Danny maybe made the right call. Max may be down on power and breaking down.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > interstate366, now In The Industry 08/03/2018 at 11:30

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But in the flip side, Norris is McLaren's hope. Who do they have for driver talent in the coming years? Has their car been that bad that vandoorne is secretly amazing?

interstate366, now In The Industry > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 12:19

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I think that’s where the Sainz rumors are coming from. He’s still very young himself, and has been pretty solid so far  this season.

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > interstate366, now In The Industry 08/03/2018 at 12:57

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I keep thinking about this and I keep going back to “But this would be just a good short to mid term plan that hurts them in the long run and isn’t even stellar right away. Who would ever do such a thi-” and then I remember we’re talking about McLaren and it all makes sense -_-...

I guess they better hope they produce an amazing 2021 car. Cause the way I see it - Key won’t sudd enly save their 2019 car. It’s going to be mediocre, most likely. 2020 might be better. I bet money they want a good 2021 car. But in the meantime, they still need points. They still need to make headlines. And they still need sponsors. Having a flashy rookie can help you make headlines and generate buzz - look at Sauber this year. I keep forgetting they’re only 9th. Leclerc’s efforts and general constant simmer of media buzz means you hear about Sauber in a good light all the time. Maybe you’re not in the winner’s circle, but that’s not a bad car to have your #Brand on. So yeah, Sauber is 9th this year, but they’re pooling up resources and riding the train as hard as they can.

Sainz and Vandoorne are both good, average or above average drivers on the grid. But I don’t see either of them being something like a team leader or having the charisma or personality to draw attention. That is a GREAT thing for a team like renault or mercedes or someone else who wants nice, safe media headlines. But Mclaren NEEDS press right now. And hopefully better than “This car sucks”.

Sorry to rattle off like that, but it frustrates me how low Mclaren can sink and still feel like they’re somehow not on a sinking ship. 

interstate366, now In The Industry > themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles 08/03/2018 at 13:13

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Yeah. It seems like RB wants to hold onto Gasly more than it does Sainz. He’s younger and has a somewhat more impressive resume in the feeder series (GP2 title in 2016, might have won the Super Formula title last year had one race not been cancelled). I think he’s been somewhat obscured by Leclerc this year but he’s impressed me so far, just had some bad luck . And Toro Rosso did approach McLaren earlier in the season about Norris potentially replacing Hartley, but were rebuffed.

I tend to agree with you about McLaren. If Alonso leaves they don’t have that bulldog personality guy that a lot of the other teams have. I used to be a fan of theirs but after they blamed Honda for all their problems I switched  to RB/TR.