TBK-Light.com

The wild rumor is indeed Bottas + De Vries for Alfa. Even wilder rumor is Mercedes Engines for them. And to top that wild rumor, even Alfa being dropped and back to Sauber-Mercedes.

So lets assume thar rumor is true, would Mercedes add yet another team to their roster or would they ditch one of the current ones? And with Albon moving to Williams, they might be the likely candidate. And I can see RB sending engines their way for free or a buddy-price.

Yet another Merc team would give Toto too much voting power so RB would love to counter that.

This definitely did seem like the case, but more recently Lewis seems to be dropping hints when asked that he wouldn't be too thrilled with George and would definitely prefer Bottas. No doubt seeing George regularly haul the Williams to where it shouldn't be is making him a bit concerned.

I don't think he is going to suddenly quit over it, but I do agree that this is a Toto decision to remind Lewis that GOAT != God and that he is replaceable.

Next year Alonso will be the only active driver left who raced at the old Hockenheim.

Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel will be the last 3 active drivers that had to deal with grooved tyres.

Alonso didn't race in 2002, so that'll be the most recent season that no driver remains on the grid.

_________________
Follow me on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/135625678@N06/

even more important, Alonso is the last active driver to have driven, won races and championships on a V10 F1 car

_________________
Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

I think Russell might beat Lewis in QLF, but I still think that over a race distance Lewis is still far superior.
The second season together however might be fireworks.

This could be like Prost and Lauda in the mid 80s

George/Prost comes in and learns from him, in his first season he just loses the title to him, then in their 2nd season together, Lewis/Lauda announces his retirement, it's clear George has learnt from him and become the better driver and wins the title

Assuming Merc ace the next regulations of course. The irony for George if Merc fuck up and he's back down the field....

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

He did finished ahead of Lewis, last weekend..

Why do I have the feeling that with Hamilton's comments that George needs to respect the team harmony and environment that it will in fact be Hamilton that is the one that will try and disrupt it? Just a feeling.

I'm already rubbing my hands just waiting for the moment I'll say Mercedes handle team strategy worse than Ferrari

_________________
Motorsports trend for 2024: climate change ruining races everywhere

Why so much suspense-building, everyone should just be like Kimi and fucking speak when they have something to say and say it. What a bunch of divas

if the past is anything to go by then lewis won't. mind games maybe, but lewis puts effort into being cutthroat and fair at the same time

In fairness, Kimi was also quite discreet when it came to contracts and things like that.

Lol I had this thought too, this whole "I know where I'm going but can't say" feels like facebook-tier attention seeking bullshit

Agreed, especially after Toto let slip today that there's going to be a vacant seat at Williams. Everyone and their dog knows what the announcements are going to be now, just get it over and done with already.

Asked about Russell joining him at Mercedes next year, Hamilton said it was important the next generation of F1 drivers get a chance with top teams.

"I think it would be quite good, I honestly think it would be good," he said. "George is an incredibly talented driver, clearly. I would say probably the only highlight from last week was his qualifying lap, it was amazing. I think he's humble, I think he's got a great approach. At the moment naturally I have to be super supportive of the team-mate I have right now, so that's why I'm always supportive of Valtteri because we have a job to do right now. Neither of us can win the team championship alone, we have to do it collectively."

"But I think it would be... He [Russell] is the future, he's one of the members of the future of the sport. I think he's already shown incredible driving so far and I'm sure he's going to continue to grow. So where better to do it than in a great team like this or what team wherever he goes to?"


https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/32132757/lewis-hamilton-george-russell-represents-f1-future

I wonder how much of a gap there was between the penultimate and final sentences in Lewis statement there!

Lewis: "So where better to do it than a great team like this"

*pause*

*Mercedes team PR person kicks Lewis under the table*

"........orrrrrrr whatever team he goes to!"

_________________
RIP Birmingham Wheels: here's some of the crash videos I recorded when it was there:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIaKIE ... 5t9d5PvoHA

Twitter:

http://www.twitter.com/paulhadsley

Bottas to Alfa confirmed

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/valtt ... am-in-2022

Definitely the career choice Bottas needs. He's been humiliated so many times at Mercedes that you can tell how fed-up he's been for the past couple of years. No more "Valterri [sic], this is James" memes from now on.

I was almost afraid he would switch to rallying, which would have meant Finland suddenly has no F1 drivers first time since 1988. With a multi-year deal, that's not the case. And, you know, maybe Valtteri can find inner peace at Alfa and learns to enjoy Formula 1 again, so who knows how many seasons he's still got left.

And probably he will bring a more lasting motivation than the half a season we saw from Kimi in 2019. I think he's got unfinished business with F1 still.

Wow, what a surprise, did not see that one coming.

The thing is, Alfa is one of the slowest teams so people act like it's a good move but it's really not, on a good day he will finish 9th or something, on most days it will be out of the top 10. His career is over, it is just going to last a couple of years more.