#10 by Rob Bouchard
Yeah, I didn't think he had enough points based on the series he was racing in this season. I guess next season or year after then.
He got his 20 points from finishing 2nd in both F4 championships. He won't get anything for his F2000 campaign so it depends what he races next year. If he's in F4 again then he needs to race in 2 championships and place well in them again to have a shot. More than likely his first chance will be 2019. If he is eligible for F1 though, he will almost certainly be snapped up just because of the name.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
I have read that these are the top six drivers being consider at the moment from within F1:
1. Wehrlein - Free driver and easily slotted into the role.
Most likely option at the moment. At such short notice, all the teams except Mercedes hold the cards and will hold Mercedes to ransom. Signing Wehrlein means they don't have to go down this route but it is a risk. He showed at the end of this season he has an attitude and hard to work with. Only one season in F1 means he is inexperienced but Verstappen has proved that isn't always a bad thing. If he does get the seat, it will make or break his career. Manor will also get affected as they will lose out on a discount on engines from Mercedes unless they have another youngster ready to be loaned to them.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
2. Alonso - Does he have an out clause? Hard to see Honda will let him go.
If he doesn't, Mercedes would have to buy out his contract and I can't see McLaren or Honda doing that easily. It would cost Mercedes a lot and you have potentially a more volatile line up than they did with Rosberg. Alonso was looking for a way into Mercedes when he left Ferrari though. As for McLaren, it leaves them high and dry at short notice. Could they tempt Jenson back for another season? Unlikely. So they would have to find a suitable replacement.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
3. Vettel - Again does he have an out clause? While Vettel might want to move for another F1 Championship; it would me he gave up of Ferrari already!?!
Again, Mercedes would have to pay a lot. Vettel is getting frustrated at Ferrari after the departure of James Allison. It caused conflict with him and Arrivabene and Kimi was better than him for the second half of the season. Like Alonso, he has the potential to cause problems in the team if things don't go his own way. As for Ferrari, who do they get to replace Vettel? They don't like taking youngsters so they would most likely be after the bigger names and find themselves in the same situation Mercedes are in now.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
4. Bottas - Under contract with Williams but rumored to be bought at the right price from Williams.
Bottas has links with Toto Wolff and Mercedes have more room to do a deal with Williams with them being an engine partner and not a front running team either. However it will leave Williams with an 18 year old in the car with no experience so they need to get someone in with experience. They may just promote Di Resta.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
5. Perez - Interesting rumor since his sponsors seem to control his contracts so can his current contract be broken with FI; that I am not so sure of!!
Would Mercedes take the risk on him? Last time he was at a big team he struggled a lot and got dropped. Mercedes don't need the sponsorship he brings so that isn't as much of an issue for Mercedes as it would be for Force India. We saw that Hulkenburg left the team despite having a contract and the saga with Perez's contract last season went on long enough to show that there are possibilities of the driver getting out of the contract. For Force India it means they would most likely lose a lot of sponsorship money and having 2 rookies in the car unless they bring Di Resta back to the team or even sign someone like Felipe Nasr. Hard to see Wehrlein going there after he was overlooked and the reaction afterwards.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
6. Ocon - Another FI driver but more likely to have his contract broken if needed but since Wehrlein is free I find this unlikely.
Not much to add to what you said really. If Mercedes are going to take a gamble on one of their young guys they may as well take the one that has more experience and doesn't have a drive.
#10 by Rob Bouchard
But would it be a stretch to see anyone of their other drivers from DTM maybe come across?
Paul Di Resta - Experienced in F1 and still only 30 years old could slot in nicely beside Hamilton short term.
Robert Wickens - No really experience with F1 per say but was once consider an up and coming driver. Has strong stats better then some of his rivals but simple got over looked. At age 27 again offers either a short or mid term answer for Mercedes to find a long term replacement.
Highly unlikely Di Resta will get the drive when he was overlooked for the Williams seat for a 18yo with no F1 experience. His best chance to get a race seat is if Bottas goes to Mercedes. Robert Wickens is very unlikely to get a drive either when he only managed to get a Free Practice session in a Marussia. He will be 28yo when Melbourne comes around so it looks like F1 has passed him by.
December 3, 2016 08:39 pm
