2019 Driver Speculation

[Penfold]

Now you're just being silly.

[Chrill]

Pietro Fittipaldi was scheduled to run a test for Haas later this year. Then he crashed oopsiedoopsie at Spa. Maybe he's still on the cards for 2019? Ferrari would love to associate itself with the Fittipaldi name.

http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/23460229/pietro-fittipaldi-had-talks-haas-leg-break-crash

[Chrill]

ASSUMPTION TIME 2.0. This time, more conservative but still kicking out some of the old guys.

Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
44. Lewis Hamilton
77. Valtteri Bottas

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel
7. Kimi Raikkonen

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
3. Daniel Ricciardo
33. Max Verstappen

McLaren F1 Team:
11. Sergio Perez
91. Lando Norris

Sahara Force India F1 Team:
12. George Russell
31. Esteban Ocon

Renault Sport Formula One Team:
27. Nico Hulkenberg
55. Carlos Sainz

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team:
9. Marcus Ericsson
16. Charles Leclerc

Williams Martini Racing:
18. Lance Stroll
35. Sergey Sirotkin

Haas F1 Team:
20. Kevin Magnussen
36. Antonio Giovinazzi

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
10. Pierre Gasly
94. Pascal Wehrlein

Right, so here's where we are:
Alonso leaves F1, Vandoorne is dropped by McLaren. With the top 3 teams all retaining their lineups, McLaren brings back Sergio Perez. Yes, it went bad last time but he is more mature now. He partners Lando Norris. Norris, who used 19 on his car in F2 and 31 in F3, cannot do so in 2019 since those numbers are still reserved for Felipe Massa and Esteban Ocon respectively. If Norris waits one year, he can pick 19 in 2020.

Force India brings in the next Mercedes recruit George Russell. His car in F2 is 8, and in GP3 he used 3. None of those are available, so he grabs number 12 for no other reason than it being available.

Renault makes their deal with Sainz permanent and keeps Hulkenberg onboard.

Alfa Romeo Sauber fails to promote Leclerc since Ferrari once more kept Raikkonen on a new one-year deal. Ericsson stays for another season because, well, there are no more Ferrari juniors to bring into F1 right now.

Williams still need their money, and so they keep their lineup too.

Haas is fed up with Grosjean's inability to drive F1 cars, and drops him for Ferrari money in the shape of Giovinazzi.

Toro Rosso has had it with Hartley, and Wehrlein loses his Mercedes backing. Toro Rosso bring the German onboard to secure a steady supply of points finishes.

[Matt]

There were a lot of possible places to post this, but: https://racer.com/2018/05/31/mclaren-to-meet-with-potential-indycar-partner-teams-at-detroit/

[Chrill]

Hamilton sees no options for Ricciardo in 2019 and believes he will end up remaining at Red Bull:
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/hamilton-ricciardo-lacks-top-options-for-2019-1043640/

With Hamilton still not agreeing terms with Mercedes, I genuinely am starting to wonder if the Brit will stay onboard. How about a Vettel-Hamilton switcheroo?

Is Alonso going fulltime IndyCar in 2019?
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/05/31/disenchanted-alonso-paving-way-for-indycar-switch/

Is Raikkonen going back to rallying in the future? (not 2019 though)
https://www.grandprix247.com/2018/05/29/raikkonen-im-interested-in-rallying-when-my-f1-career-ends/

Aaaand could Kubica be the one Toro Rosso needs?
https://www.wheels24.co.za/FormulaOne/kubica-could-replace-hartley-at-toro-rosso-20180531

Aaaand if Sainz does not remain at Renault, could his replacement be Stoffel?
https://www.wheels24.co.za/FormulaOne/renault-eyes-vandoorne-for-future-seat-20180531

[Chrill]

All of the above now added, lookie look:


Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport:
3. Daniel Ricciardo (link)
31. Esteban Ocon (link)
44. Lewis Hamilton (link)
77. Valtteri Bottas (link)

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel (link)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (link)
7. Kimi Raikkonen (link)
14. Fernando Alonso (link)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
33. Max Verstappen (link)
3. Daniel Ricciardo (link)
55. Carlos Sainz (link)

Sahara Force India F1 Team:
?.
?.

Williams Martini Racing:
?. Robert Kubica (link)
?.

Renault Sport Formula One Team:
2. Stoffel Vandoorne (link)
55. Carlos Sainz (link)

Red Bull Toro Rosso Honda:
94. Pascal Wehrlein (link)
?. Felix Rosenqvist (link) ^(Dutch)
?. Robert Kubica (link)

Haas F1 Team:
20. Kevin Magnussen (link)
?. Pietro Fittipaldi (link)

McLaren F1 Team:
77. Valtteri Bottas (link)
?. Lando Norris (link)
?. Nyck de Vries (link)

Alfa Romeo Sauber F1 Team:
?.
?.

[Penfold]

That's a lot of speculation to absorb.

One question: What does Renault see in Toffee Van Door?

[Chrill]

Toro Rosso is actively trying to replace Hartley, McLaren confirms.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/44385107

Lando Norris was approached, McLaren turned down the request.

[Penfold]

Got to be great for Hartley's confidence going into Canada.  So, who's up next in Toro Rosso's list... Wehrlein or Rosenqvist?

[Chrill]

Got to be great for Hartley's confidence going into Canada.  So, who's up next in Toro Rosso's list... Wehrlein or Rosenqvist?

Rumours imply that Wehrlein is the first on that list, and Rosenqvist is also old for an F1 rookie (2 years younger than Hartley, 3 years older than Wehrlein). With Hartley not shining despite having the experience, is another "old" rookie really the way forward? In Wehrlein, Red Bull would get a decent driver. The question is if Mercedes would be willing to let him go, or if Red Bull is merely interested in borrowing him for a year to bring in solid albeit mediocre points finishes.

If they bring in Wehrlein just to score points, they might as well go for a more experienced driver. Massa seems reluctant to let F1 go, right? And how about our Polish friend Kubica?

[Chrill]

https://drivetribe.com/p/marc-marquez-tests-toro-rosso-f1-O2WV55RVSdCBIyXh_yR7dQ?iid=MApZI8arThOOS_F8hogOQA

Definitely not enough to put him on the list for Toro Rosso replacements for Hartley, but Marc Marquez enjoyed four wheel driving. He's only 25, the Spanish MotoGP rider. Despite that, he's got 4 World Championships to his name and, with his MotoGP track record, the potential to be a new Maldonado. Or a new John Surtees.

[Penfold]

Either one an exciting prospect.

Toro Rosso tends to go for younger guys - or in the case of Hartley an F1 rookie - so I'd be surprised (but pleasantly so) to see Kubica approached, and slightly less pleasantly so for Massa. 

[Matt]

I agree with this article: https://racer.com/2018/06/06/medland-heres-red-bulls-real-driver-problem/

There?s no reason to replace Hartley, especially with a young driver. Red Bull has nowhere for them to go. If they want to hire Kubica just to see if he still has it, I get that. They have nothing to lose there, he probably only would have a few years left anyway. But instability is not going to help. It just seems like Marko is mad that he gave Hartley a second chance and has not been immediately rewarded for it.

[Penfold]

Toro Rosso driver firings don't always seem to be based on reason.  That said, I hope they stick with J.R. for the season - surely a full year is the minimum one should allow a rookie to prove themselves?

[Chrill]

Is Alonso leaving F1 without retiring?
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/why-alonso-must-race-in-indycar-in-2019-1045886/

This writer seems to think so. Go do Indy for 1-2 years, win that championship, then return to F1 when the new spec is launched in 2021. Alonso will be 40, but bear in mind Schumacher was the fastest man in qualifying around Monaco at the tender age of 43. If Schumi could at 43, why wouldn't Alonso be able to at 40?