2020 Driver Speculation

[Penfold]

If Merc continues as a team I'd expect Hammy & Botty to stay put; I also don't see why the Red Bull line-up would alter, nor any reason for Leclerc to jump ship, leaving just a question mark over Vettel's future.

[Chrill]

If Merc continues as a team I'd expect Hammy & Botty to stay put; I also don't see why the Red Bull line-up would alter, nor any reason for Leclerc to jump ship, leaving just a question mark over Vettel's future.

If indeed Mercedes remain for 2021, I see Hamilton paired with Russell. I also don't see Vettel and Leclerc continuing alongside each other for 3 consecutive seasons. Albon-Verstappen may work depending on how Albon develops, but if the Red Bull does not continue to close the gap then Verstappen will be knocking on an Italian or a German door come 2021.

[Penfold]

'It is I' not going anywhere in a hurry, he's just signed a five-year deal with Ferrari: https://www.racefans.net/2019/12/23/leclerc-signs-five-year-ferrari-contract/

Well, that's 5% of your driver speculation threads dealt with for the time being....

[Chrill]

for the time being....

At least up until the 2025 season, at which point Leclerc may very well be going somewhere else!

[Chrill]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/alfa-romeo-kubica-orlen-reserve/4617950/

Alfa Romeo Racing ORLEN, here Kubica comes. As a reserve driver.

[Penfold]

An experienced driver and a new sponsor, not a bad deal for the Alfauber boys.

[Penfold]

Now we have Max extending his stay with Red Bull until the end of '23: https://www.racefans.net/2020/01/07/verstappen-signs-new-deal-with-red-bull/

[Chrill]

Mercedes on the back foot with all these long term commitments. Yet another indication they have not yet secured the go-ahead for remaining in 2021?

[Penfold]

Quite possibly.  Who knows when the Merc. Board will make that decision, though you'd assume it will be within the next couple of months.

[Chrill]

Preliminary development will have started already for 2021, so the longer they wait the more it will cost to withdraw. The more developed their car gets, the more money they will have spent on developing it, and retiring then could put us in a new Brawn GP seat for 2021. Wolff GP? The Wolf name has a decent history, they won their first race just like Brawn I think.

[Penfold]

Someone will have to pay top dollar to buy Merc's F1 outfit, especially if there's a partially-developed 2021 challenger being knocked up in the shed out back.  I remember some Chinese group being talked of as a potential buyer, but how about Saudi Arabia as a left field option?  It sounds increasingly like they'll join the F1 party in the next year or two, so perhaps they could use some more of that Aramco cash to add a 'Saudi' F1 team to a Saudi F1 race - seems a suitably wasteful use of their oil wealth.

[Chrill]

We've had a Saudi team in the past too, or was that just a Williams sponsor? Hmm.

[Chrill]

Perhaps the final post in this topic. Latifi will race with car number 6, last used by Nico Rosberg when he won his title.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/latifi-reveals-number-2020-rosberg/4664310/

WDC to Canada confirmed?

[Penfold]

I think you're suffering from a bad case of premature proclamation....

I will say that we're more likely to see Latifi win a WDC than Williams add to its tally of Championships.

[Penfold]

Just to chuck another post in this topic... Roy Nissany will be Williams' test driver this year, enjoying three practice sessions along the way: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula-one/51120155