F1 2021: New season discussion and chat

[Rosaudio]

...thinly veiled reference to contract signing...

View attachment 997178

Russell confirmed?

 

[JohnStarr]

Russell confirmed?

Would be an interesting turn of events.

 

[thestaggy]

Nothing to do with the season, but I just came across this and found it interesting.

''The Kiss of Death''. F1 driver Alfonso de Portago shares a kiss with actress Linda Christian during the 1957 Mille Miglia. Moments later de Portago would be killed in a crash that would also kill his co-driver Edmund Nelson along with 9 spectators.

de Portago sounded like an interesting guy; a playboy and noted for a fearless and reckless driving style that resulted in many crashed and damaged cars. Rumour has it he once approached Enzo Ferrari for a drive and Enzo's only response was to show him a picture of one of his destroyed cars.

"I won't die in an accident. I'll die of old age or be executed in some gross miscarriage of justice". [co-driver] Nelson countered this assertion, saying de Portago would not live to be 30. According to Nelson, "every time Portago comes in from a race the front of his car is wrinkled where he has been nudging people out of the way at 130 mph (210 km/h)".

As if some sort of premonition, Linda Christian recalled the kiss and looking at co-driver Edmund Nelson.

''I had a strange sensation with that kiss. It was cold, and it caused me to look for the first time at Nelson seated behind him. He seemed to be like a mummy, gray, ashen, as if mesmerised. He had the eyes of someone who had suffered an enormous shock.''

Nelson was right. Familiar with de Portago's driving style, he never made his 30th birthday, dying at the age of 28.

 

[caroper]

Button returns to Williams

Jenson Button returns to the team which brought him to F1 as 2009 world champion joins Williams as "Senior Advisor".

www.pitpass.com

21 years after first signing with the team as a little-known 20-year-old, Williams Racing is welcoming back 2009 Formula One World Champion, Jenson Button to Grove, this time in the capacity of Senior Advisor in a multi-year agreement.

My comment:
Interesting, as there is still no news from Sir Lewis this makes one wonder if Jenson is on a retainer to take over Russel's seat, if needed, at the last minuet................

 

[cr@zydude]

Button returns to Williams

Jenson Button returns to the team which brought him to F1 as 2009 world champion joins Williams as "Senior Advisor".

www.pitpass.com

21 years after first signing with the team as a little-known 20-year-old, Williams Racing is welcoming back 2009 Formula One World Champion, Jenson Button to Grove, this time in the capacity of Senior Advisor in a multi-year agreement.

My comment:
Interesting, as there is still no news from Sir Lewis this makes one wonder if Jenson is on a retainer to take over Russel's seat, if needed, at the last minuet................

Jenson doesn't have a valid super licence to my knowledge. His last race was Monaco 2017 standing in for Alonso at Mclaren.

 

[caroper]

Jenson doesn't have a valid super licence to my knowledge. His last race was Monaco 2017 standing in for Alonso at Mclaren.

The FIA’s International Sporting Code allows for a superlicense only to drivers who have raced in F1 at least once in the last three seasons. If not, then he has to complete 300 kms of testing within six months of the licence application.

Jenson Button's Last F1 race was Monaco 2017 but has since focused on Super GT, and his tried his hand in Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship, so he is not rusty and with Testing in Bahrain prior to the first race there is an good opportunity for him to get the 300Km he needs.

 

[cr@zydude]

The FIA’s International Sporting Code allows for a superlicense only to drivers who have raced in F1 at least once in the last three seasons. If not, then he has to complete 300 kms of testing within six months of the licence application.

Jenson Button's Last F1 race was Monaco 2017 but has since focused on Super GT, and his tried his hand in Le Mans and FIA World Endurance Championship, so he is not rusty and with Testing in Bahrain prior to the first race there is an good opportunity for him to get the 300Km he needs.

He could get the licence with the 300km of testing, true.

 

[Speedster]

Whaddup with the rumours that Hamilton is walking away?

 

[UrBaN963]

Rumours are rumours until something official appears.

 

[Düber]

Whaddup with the rumours that Hamilton is walking away?

Rumours are rumours until something official appears.

True but where there is smoke...
Something does feel a bit off with the whole situation. Or maybe its just a good PR stunt? IDK.

Lewis Hamilton quitting F1 could end up costing Mercedes massively to find replacement

Lewis Hamilton may hold the advantage when it comes to negotiating a new contract with Mercedes.

www.express.co.uk

 

[JohnStarr]

True but where there is smoke...
Something does feel a bit off with the whole situation. Or maybe its just a good PR stunt? IDK.

Lewis Hamilton quitting F1 could end up costing Mercedes massively to find replacement

Lewis Hamilton may hold the advantage when it comes to negotiating a new contract with Mercedes.

www.express.co.uk

I think that's a load of crap really. Russell will sprint down the pit lane to Merc for 1/8 of what Hamilton wants. He proved he could race that car last year.

 

[Düber]

I think that's a load of crap really. Russell will sprint down the pit lane to Merc for 1/8 of what Hamilton wants. He proved he could race that car last year.

He certainly did and would be very keen, I'm sure, to do it again, hence my thought of this just being a news making exercise.

 

[Speedster]

He certainly did and would be very keen, I'm sure, to do it again, hence my thought of this just being a news making exercise.

Lol. The article says huge cost to replace Hamilton. I guarantee you that they can buy any driver out of his contract and cover their salary for 1/4 of what Hamilton's old salary was. If he's asking for more then that number becomes even smaller. And ito buying out a contract Russell will be one of the cheaper drivers to acquire.

 

[Düber]

Lol. The article says huge cost to replace Hamilton. I guarantee you that they can buy any driver out of his contract and cover their salary for 1/4 of what Hamilton's old salary was. If he's asking for more then that number becomes even smaller. And ito buying out a contract Russell will be one of the cheaper drivers to acquire.

That's why I posted it, it's either been very slow news days or something else is afoot.

It was difficult enough reading it without laughing, can you imagine how hard it must have been to write.

 

[caroper]

Whaddup with the rumours that Hamilton is walking away?

Well if he hasn't got a car he would have to walk, or call an Uber

 

[caroper]

True but where there is smoke...

... someone is burning their copy of the Express.

 

[Icemanbrfc]

Whaddup with the rumours that Hamilton is walking away?

Nice. Happy days. Lol

 

[TPants]

Bring in the Hulk for a year until Russell is free to join.

 

[thestaggy]

I said it many pages back but apparently an Italian news source was not trustworthy for some.

It doesn't take this long for a successful partnership to extend their relationship if there are no sticking points.

 

[thestaggy]

True but where there is smoke...
Something does feel a bit off with the whole situation. Or maybe its just a good PR stunt? IDK.

Lewis Hamilton quitting F1 could end up costing Mercedes massively to find replacement

Lewis Hamilton may hold the advantage when it comes to negotiating a new contract with Mercedes.

www.express.co.uk

Russell remains tied down to his contract for one more season at Williams, a deal which sees him earn a reported £890,000-a-year.

Mercedes would essentially have to buy Russell out of his contract with Williams, which would likely come at a huge cost for the Silver Arrows to compensate their sister team.

Huge cost? Hamilton earned an estimated $76 million last year and reportedly wants more this time around with a cut of Mercedes' prize money. Russell earns around $1.2 million.

Send Williams $1.2 million, give them a discount on the power units and you are still spending waaaaay less than what Hamilton is demanding. They could even give Williams Stoffel Vandoorne to replace Russell (Vandoorne is their listed reserve driver) at their own cost and they are still spending significantly less than what Hamilton wants. Another hypothetical; Williams contacts Hulkenberg. Hulkenberg would probably cost $4 - $6 million for the season (going rate for a solid midfield driver) and then Williams sends Mercedes the cheque. Still spending less.

Mercedes will be fine securing an alternative.