F1 - General discussion and 2017

Massa has agreed a new deal with Williams

Felipe Massa has accepted an offer to remain in Formula 1 next year with Williams, paving the way for Valtteri Bottas to replace world champion Nico Rosberg at Mercedes.

Although final contracts have not yet been completed, Autosport's sister title Motorsport.com has learned that if Bottas does move to Mercedes, Massa is prepared to go back on his decision to retire at the end of the 2016 season.
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http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127542
 
Yorkie said:
Not surprising, So Massa is not retired as we all thought.
Don't know about Bottas for Merc though
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The Massa deal is so far a verbal agreement pending Bottas going to Merc being agreed and finalised, the sweetener is supposedly free or almost free engines for Williams next year and a big discount for 2018 as well. Merc have also agreed to allow Paddy Lowe to go to Williams from the start of next season and James Allison will be going to Merc when his gardening leave is up.

According to someone involved with an f1 team, so no links yet, just what he's heard.
 
Dave123 said:
The Massa deal is so far a verbal agreement pending Bottas going to Merc being agreed and finalised, the sweetener is supposedly free or almost free engines for Williams next year and a big discount for 2018 as well. Merc have also agreed to allow Paddy Lowe to go to Williams from the start of next season and James Allison will be going to Merc when his gardening leave is up.

According to someone involved with an f1 team, so no links yet, just what he's heard.
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Thanks for that. See Ferrari was eyeing Paddy Lowe.
But I would have really liked to see, again, Ricardo in the Silver Arrow, that would have been good. Having a Webber 2.0 in a team with Hamilton...
 
Just thinking, imagine if Senna never died and him and Schumi became teammates at Ferrari....
 
So It Seems Bottas will be taking Rosberg's seat at merc

London - It is now almost certain that Mercedes will head into 2017 with Valtteri Bottas as Lewis Hamilton's new team mate.

Authoritative reports say Felipe Massa has agreed to scrap his retirement plans in order to replace the departing Finn Bottas at Williams.

Pascal out of the race

It' s a blow to Pascal Wehrlein, the junior Mercedes driver who had earlier looked the favourite.

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost told the Tiroler Tageszeitung newspaper: "They (Mercedes) were in a very difficult situation. They have dominated but suddenly lost the world champion, and it happened too late for them to replace him with a top driver because of all the contracts."

So when asked if he would have given the seat to 22-year-old Wehrlein, Tost answered: "Pascal is a great backup driver, but we are talking about the champion team. Pascal may be able to fight for victory, but it's too early for him. I've always said that it takes three years for a driver to get comfortable in Formula 1.

"Of course, Hamilton-Wehrlein was the easiest option for them, but they are fighting for the constructors' championship and a lot of money is at stake. And it's also not clear if that driver composition would have a bad influence on the stability of the team."

Repeat of 2007...

Indeed, Germany's Auto Bild claims that triple world champion Hamilton actually campaigned against Wehrlein joining. His argument is that the situation of pairing an established champion with a rookie can famously go bad - just as being Fernando Alonso's team mate at McLaren in 2007 did.

Indeed, it seems boss Toto Wolff was convinced of that possibility, telling the Kolner Express newspaper: "Lewis and Pascal would be an explosive combination. What I want to avoid is the Alonso-Hamilton scenario."
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Irritated with this Massa comeback, i mean really. This should not be allowed.

Rather push someone through the ranks to try develop instead of rehiring dead wood.

mxmmmm !
 
Polish said:
Irritated with this Massa comeback, i mean really. This should not be allowed.

Rather push someone through the ranks to try develop instead of rehiring dead wood.

mxmmmm !
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I'm all for it. Massa knows both the team and the car inside out. A rookie and an experienced driver+leader is a good pairing imo
 
Polish said:
Irritated with this Massa comeback, i mean really. This should not be allowed.

Rather push someone through the ranks to try develop instead of rehiring dead wood.

mxmmmm !
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Agreed 100% Pierre Gasly GP2 champion sitting without a seat would have been a great option in my opinion .
Maybe because he is tied to Red Bull/ Torro Rosso he was not an option for Merc or Willaims ?
 
To me he's a waste of a seat, a has been who has passed his sell by date.

There should be an ejection process that sheds the grid of drivers like that.
 
Zyraz said:
Agreed 100% Pierre Gasly GP2 champion sitting without a seat would have been a great option in my opinion .
Maybe because he is tied to Red Bull/ Torro Rosso he was not an option for Merc or Willaims ?
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The fact he hasn't even raced in an F1 car would be an even bigger block...
 
Massa coming back is booooooooooring....we want hot new blood! Be nice to see wolfs wife race or a any lady for that matter. Pity she missed a close chance a year or two back.
 
Dave123 said:
A rookie straight into a WC winning top car? Not even Schumacher did that...
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No, Bottas still to Merc but Gasly to Williams maybe?

Although it would have been nice to see a rookie against Hamilton just to see how much is car vs talent vs experience
 
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