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Certainly a bit of drama still left in the drivers markets.
Major new rule changes mean it's anyone's guess who will lead the next period of change but with all the spending limits it's more likely we'll see one dominant team each time.
The next domino has fallen in the F1 driver market with Alonso signing a contract extension with Aston Martin through until the end of 2026 at least, and a role within AM management once his driving career ends.
Interesting stuff, good move for Alonso I think with the arrival of Honda on the horizon. If they hit the jackpot with the new PU regs in 2026, does Fred get a fairytale finish to his time in F1 with the long sought after third Drivers Championship?
Quite interesting interview between Dr Marko and Austrian newspaper, Kleine Zeitung. The Red Bull motorsport advisor doing what he does best and speaking his mind. A couple of his answers plainly described situations that are perhaps not common knowledge with the F1 audience thus far, even if suspected to be the case by some.
Kleine Zeitung: Can you rule out an in-season driver swap like what happened last year for 2024?
Marko: "Of course, with Liam Lawson as reserve driver, we have a strong driver in the team who is contractually entitled to drive for another team if he does not get a cockpit with us in 2025. In this regard, it would of course be exciting for us if we could see him in Formula 1 this year to get an even clearer picture. But this is a complex topic and we have to see what happens next."
Kleine Zeitung: Does the name Carlos Sainz also play a role in future planning?
Marko: "We're talking to him, he's having his strongest season in Formula 1. But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat. But we still know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he drove with Max. But it really hurt him back then when we at Red Bull relied on Verstappen and not on him."
thermonuclear:
Quite interesting interview between Dr Marko and Austrian newspaper, Kleine Zeitung. The Red Bull motorsport advisor doing what he does best and speaking his mind. A couple of his answers plainly described situations that are perhaps not common knowledge with the F1 audience thus far, even if suspected to be the case by some.
Kleine Zeitung: Can you rule out an in-season driver swap like what happened last year for 2024?
Marko: "Of course, with Liam Lawson as reserve driver, we have a strong driver in the team who is contractually entitled to drive for another team if he does not get a cockpit with us in 2025. In this regard, it would of course be exciting for us if we could see him in Formula 1 this year to get an even clearer picture. But this is a complex topic and we have to see what happens next."
Kleine Zeitung: Does the name Carlos Sainz also play a role in future planning?
Marko: "We're talking to him, he's having his strongest season in Formula 1. But he has a very lucrative offer from Audi that we can't match or beat. But we still know him from the Toro Rosso days, even back then he drove with Max. But it really hurt him back then when we at Red Bull relied on Verstappen and not on him."
Maybe Im over optimistic but it seems close to a slam dunk for Liam. Liam is better than Yuki, who is better than Danny, and no Carlos to spoil the show. Danny is doing everything possible to lose the drive for second half of 2024.
tdgeek:
Maybe Im over optimistic but it seems close to a slam dunk for Liam. Liam is better than Yuki, who is better than Danny, and no Carlos to spoil the show. Danny is doing everything possible to lose the drive for second half of 2024.
I tend to agree that it's looking fairly promising for Lawson. I do wonder if the acknowledgement from Marko that the Kiwi has a break clause in his contract to pursue other drives if RB don't give him a seat for '25 is just Marko laying the spadework for an inevitable release of Ricciardo. The need to not trigger Lawson's clause will be offered up by Red Bull as an additional excuse to replace the Australian.
I think it's pretty well understood that Marko is Team Lawson and Horner is Team Ricciardo at this point. I'm sure Marko is happy to stir that pot some more with his comment as well. This weekend is going to be another big one for Daniel, and probably not helped by the fact it's Sprint format. If he doesn't get on it straight away, the potential of being outclassed by Tsunoda in two quali's and two races in the space of a couple of days will only pile on the pressure even more.
I still think Sainz should be chasing that Red Bull seat, even if Marko is saying they can't match the Audi money. If he has to take a pay cut to get in that car he absolutely should, it's still the class of the field. From Red Bull's perspective, Carlos has to look the more reliable prospect than Checo even now, despite the Mexican's recent run of good form. They can't have forgotten that when the latter gets in a slump, it's pretty bad.
tdgeek: Danny is doing everything possible to lose the drive for second half of 2024.
At least he should be thanked for giving Yuki the opportunity to restart on soft tyres.
My views (except when I am looking out their windows) are not those of my employer.
Jvipers2: The seat in RB isn't one for an experienced driver who wants a shot at the championship, when it's obvious the team is only keen on Max having his way...
hairy1: Don't forget Riccardo has a new chassis this weekend so all his woes will be over...
He went okay in FP this arvo, 8/10ths up. I wonder if Tsunoda was sandbagging though.....
Legendary sprint race qualifying session
Hope we get some rain for the races now. That was great fun to watch!
Bung:
tdgeek: Danny is doing everything possible to lose the drive for second half of 2024.
At least he should be thanked for giving Yuki the opportunity to restart on soft tyres.
Yes, but look at the stats each weekend so far, poor
About to watch recorded Sprint Race and Quali, go Lando and go McLaren
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