2020 Driver Speculation

[Chrill]

Yup. Hey guys.

So, this is where a drivers table will go. Later.

Later is now. All the drivers currently with a team will be linked to them for the time being.

As always:
Bold = Confirmed
Italics = Connected/Rumoured

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport:
44. Lewis Hamilton (link)
77. Valtteri Bottas (link)

Scuderia Ferrari:
5. Sebastian Vettel (link)
16. Charles Leclerc (link)

Aston Martin Red Bull Racing:
23. Alexander Albon (link)
33. Max Verstappen (link)

McLaren F1 Team:
4. Lando Norris (link)
55. Carlos Sainz (link)

Renault F1 Team:
3. Daniel Ricciardo (link)
31. Esteban Ocon (link)

SportPesa Racing Point F1 Team:
11. Sergio Perez (link)
18. Lance Stroll (link)

Scuderia Alpha Tauri Honda:
10. Pierre Gasly (link)
26. Daniil Kvyat (link)

Alfa Romeo Racing:
7. Kimi Räikkönen (link)
99. Antonio Giovinazzi (link)

Haas F1 Team:
8. Romain Grosjean (link)
20. Kevin Magnussen (link)

ROKiT Williams Racing:
63. George Russell (link)
?. Nicolas Latifi (link)

[Chrill]

Ahead of 2020 Bottas will lose his main personal sponsor "Wihuri", a team which has followed him since Williams. Not good news, I suppose:

Google Translate from Finnish:
Valtteri Bottas, the driver of Mercedes-Benz, has lost his main Finnish sponsor.
According to ILTA-MESSAGES, the Wihuri Group will not continue as a supporter of Mercedes-Benz or Valtteri Bottas any more this year.

Antti Aarnio-Wihuri, the main owner of Wihuri and Chairman of the Board, confirms the company's withdrawal from the F1 series.

- That's right. We don't go on. With regard to the benefit of it, we decided it was too expensive, Aarnio-Wihuri told IS.

The role of Aarnio-Wihuri and his company was remarkable in the fact that Bottas was racing from Merced at the beginning of 2017 when Nico Rosberg decided to suddenly stop his F1 career.
Read more: Direct talk from Valtteri Bottas dropping from the main supporter - disappointed with the results: also rejected the Finnish formula promise
SPONSORING AMOUNTS are not public, but it is certain that Wihuri has first paid the first F1 store in Bottas to Williams and then to millions of euros for Mercedes.

For over a hundred years, Wihur, a family company that has grown into an international group, has four distinct industries: packaging industry, grocery wholesaling, technical wholesaling and business aviation.

Source: https://www.is.fi/formula1/art-2000005960195.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ml80goWddmvPshhdiiLuiHhpIjcMHVvYy6h5F3y_KyFnC7f6Y_Pm6CCI

[Penfold]

Barring some incredible upward spike in performance this year, I really struggle to see Merc. retaining Valerie's services for 2020.  Time to get someone else on board and bed them in before Hammy retires.

[Chrill]

Well to be fair, is Ocon really the one for the future? He's been evenly paced with Perez for two seasons. Perez, famously kicked out of McLaren. I think Mercedes need to look for George Russell and hope he has a cracking season at Williams in 2019, or consider stealing someone like Verstappen once Hamilton retires. Imagine a Verstappen-Ocon pairing. Oh boy.

[Penfold]

I think Ocon has shown enough for a shot at the big times; stick him alongside Hammy for 2020 and see how he fares, I mean what better way to see if he's up to the task?  Question is, for how long will Lewis keep rolling... might the revamped cars of 2021 tempt him to stay on for a few extra years?

[Chrill]

Question is, for how long will Lewis keep rolling... might the revamped cars of 2021 tempt him to stay on for a few extra years?

The 2017 cars could not persuade Button to stick around. Once Hamilton decides to go, he'll have projects lined up that he'll want to focus on full time. Be that music, film, fashion, or whatever. I surely see Hamilton having a second career after F1 that is also very much in the limelight.

[Matt]

I also back Ocon. Plus, as you guys have mentioned, Hamilton might not be around that much longer. Russell is just starting his first season and Mercedes probably will have more than one slot to fill relatively soon. Give Ocon a chance. If he?s nowhere close, then fine, you still have Russell and maybe even another seat.

[Penfold]

And it's Mercedes, so no trouble attracting a decent driver in 2021 if need be.  For starters, Ricciardo will be available by then.

The 2017 cars could not persuade Button to stick around. Once Hamilton decides to go, he'll have projects lined up that he'll want to focus on full time. Be that music, film, fashion, or whatever. I surely see Hamilton having a second career after F1 that is also very much in the limelight.

Who knows, perhaps if Button had been somewhere that gave him a shot at a second title (or even some podiums!) he would've found the motivation to continue, but after those last two seasons with McLaren, scoring just 37 points across 40 races, it's easy enough to understand why he called it quits.

[Chrill]

Are you saying that McLaren in 2016 was not operating at the same level Mercedes did in 2018?

[Penfold]

Easy for the untrained eye to miss it, but there was a subtle performance gap between the 2016 McLaren & Merc's 2018 motor....

[Chrill]

I meant to post a speculated "this is what a grid could look like", but really all I did was replace Bottas with Ocon then struggle to put Bottas anywhere courtesy of no funding. Kubica may leave too, replaced by a young rich kid. 2020 grid may look very much like 2019.

Bottas to McLaren perhaps? Sainz to Haas? Grosjean out of F1?

[Penfold]

Sainz agreed a multi-year contract with McLaren so fairly likely he'll still be there in 2020; perhaps Bottas to Haas is an option?  Now, which one would get the boot... KMag or Big Jean?  Both can provide entertainment in their own (unintentional) way, but I'd just favour the French guy over the Dane.

[Chrill]

And, if Giovinazzi does not perform, perhaps Mick Schumacher to Sauber for 2020.

[Penfold]

Shall keep an eye on him in F2 this year and see how he fares against the likes of Camara, Latifi, that Marzipan chap, de Vries, and also Jean Alesi's son.

[Chrill]

Schumacher was fastest yesterday in F2 pre-season testing. And also, he's likely to run the Alfa Romeo in Bahrain's mid-season tests. Good for him.