The 2017 Season

[Chrill]

I watched the highlights for Canada. The Vettel on Ocon overtake was great indeed.

[Penfold]

Palmer tweaks driving style to be more like the Hulk's: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/130652/palmer-hulkenberg-style-led-to-breakthrough

[Chrill]

Palmer finished 11th. Hardly a breakthrough...

[Penfold]

... take it as a mark of just how terrible he's been up to this point.

[Penfold]

Five-place grid penalty for Bottas at Silverstone - same gearbox issue that befell Hammy in Austria.

[Chrill]

Which means the podium will be VET, HAM, RIC, this week. Hamilton qualifies on pole but Vettel passes him ontrac. Raikkonen qualifies 3rd, Verstappen 4th, Ricciardo 5th. Verstappen suffers a DNF, and Ricciardo passes Raikkonen. Bottas, qualifying 2nd and starting 7th, fights up to P4 behind the top 3 guys. Raikkonen finishes 5th.

Do we even need to watch the race Sunday?

[Penfold]

Not really, I'll just grab some beer and read your summary a few dozen times....

Edit: Five-place drop for Dan Ricci as well.

[Chrill]

Right, I'll revise my podium then. Bottas might actually get back up there in P3. Or Kimi. So there's a fight for that then. Watch Sunday.

[Chrill]

Sainz to replace Palmer in Hungary. Yeah. Sainz to Renault midseason. We'll see if this is true. Gasly brought up to Toro Rosso for Hungary then.

[Matt]

Seems to foreclose Kubica returning. And Horner just said in that article I posted this week (last week?) that it would make no sense to send Sainz to Renault because they're not better than STR.

[Penfold]

Palmer getting the old heave-ho mid-season not exactly a shocker, but Sainz replacing him... wow, did not see that coming.

[Chrill]

Well none of this is confirmed. German media reporting it. They usually have a good eye on Mercedes but I've never associated them with Renault or Red Bull leaks.

And in regards to Red Bull "sending" Sainz to Toro Rosso: The rumour claims that Renault is simply buying Sainz from Red Bull for some 8 million Euros.

[Penfold]

Oh yes, it's just a media story right now, but the Sainz angle is a surprise to me.

[Chrill]

http://www.planetf1.com/news/renault-deny-sainz-rumours/
Renault issues a firm denial that Sainz will race for them in Hungary. Or, Arbiteboul does.

[Penfold]

Five-place grid penalty for Hulk courtesy of gearbox change.  So... will he still be further up the grid than Palmer?