The Official F1 2025 silly season *contains speculation*

[vaud]

thegreenhell said:

More mutterings in the press and paddock today about the Perez situation. Some are saying it could be a straight swap with Daniel, some say he will be dropped altogether to give Lawson a shot in either car. It could become real if he doesn't perform in the next three races before the summer break. Many will say Ricciardo hasn't done enough to justify it, but only RBR will have the data on both drivers to know which one is really doing the better job in the car they have.

Meanwhile, Sainz to Mercedes has surfaced again, possibly with Mercedes' improved recent form putting more pressure on them to take a known winner over a young rookie.

Putting AKA into a Williams for 2 years would seem reasonable. Give Sainz a 2 year commit.

[DanielSan]

kambites said:

DanielSan said:

kambites said:

Do you really think he would? I think I'd expect Russell to beat Sainz, if not by a huge margin.

Sainz would be beaten in quali, when it comes to scoring on Sunday I'd be willing to put money in Sainz coming out on top. Very rarely does he cock up on race day, unlike Russell

Maybe true. It'll probably be easier for Russell to iron out the mistakes than Sainz to gain outright speed, though.

Don't forget also, if Sainz is leading a race Russell has to crash, it's the law.

[rallycross]

vaud said:

Putting AKA into a Williams for 2 years would seem reasonable. Give Sainz a 2 year commit.

Makes sense they’d be daft to put the kid into F1 in the main team when Sainz is available for next year.

[westtra]

Ocon to Hass possibly https://racingnews365.com/ocon-does-not-wait-for-s...

[honda_exige]

Toto confirmed yesterday that Alonso rejected Mercs offer to drive for them in 25. I assume it was a 1yr deal.

[DanielSan]

honda_exige said:

Toto confirmed yesterday that Alonso rejected Mercs offer to drive for them in 25. I assume it was a 1yr deal.

There's only one none monetary reason I can think of for that, and that's who Aston are trying to get to lead the design on their 26 car.

[asfault]

re Alonso Merc deal , Based on Mercs recent for Alonso might just regret that decesion as his one last good throw of the dice for winsd and a wdc shot.

Alpine should try and get Yuki if their car still has any weight issues theres a decent we weight saving boost right there.

[andburg]

asfault said:

re Alonso Merc deal , Based on Mercs recent for Alonso might just regret that decesion as his one last good throw of the dice for winsd and a wdc shot.

Alpine should try and get Yuki if their car still has any weight issues theres a decent we weight saving boost right there.

Old days yes, these days with a minimum weight for driver and seat its not that much of a concern

[Leithen]

Leclerc ought to be getting his manager (Nicholas Todt) on the phone to Wolff.

[andburg]

all this 1 year deal and drivers turning it down makes you wonder if Merc have a pre-contract or something with Max in place for 2026 already.
Sure he's a talent but with another year of this car formula next year and no guarantees for 2026, 2025 could be a better shot at winning the titles.

[MustangGT]

andburg said:

Old days yes, these days with a minimum weight for driver and seat its not that much of a concern

I thought the teams were struggling to get down to the weight?

[n3il123]

MustangGT said:

I thought the teams were struggling to get down to the weight?

There is a minimum weight for the driver (plus I think seat) so even if you have a flyweight driver you have to ballast up to meet that weight.

Teams are struggling to get the weight of the car down to the weight.

[Sandpit Steve]

n3il123 said:

MustangGT said:

I thought the teams were struggling to get down to the weight?

There is a minimum weight for the driver (plus I think seat) so even if you have a flyweight driver you have to ballast up to meet that weight.

Teams are struggling to get the weight of the car down to the weight.

Yes the driver (in overalls and helmet) and seat have to weigh a minimum of 80kg combined. Yuki has a heavy seat. This rule was bought in a few years ago, as the drivers complained they were having to get down to unhealthy weights.

IIRC Lewis said he went to the gym and put on several kilos over the winter when the change came in.

Getting the rest of the car down to its minimum weight is a more difficult exercise, hence we now see large areas of the cars unpainted.

[asfault]

n3il123 said:

MustangGT said:

I thought the teams were struggling to get down to the weight?

There is a minimum weight for the driver (plus I think seat) so even if you have a flyweight driver you have to ballast up to meet that weight.

Teams are struggling to get the weight of the car down to the weight.

I forgot about that,
However it stills gives you the option of where (within a given area) to put that ballast which would help a bit.

[thegreenhell]

I think any ballast to make up the minimum driver+seat weight has to be bolted in a specific place on the seat. It's designed to be as equal as possible.

[MartG]

[PRO5T]

Championship points from the previous triple header (including sprint race)

VER 61 1 race win 1 sprint win
HAM 55 1 race win
PIA 43
RUS 42 1 race win
NOR 40
SAI 38
HUL 16
LEC 12
PER 11
STR 6

[usn90]

I said before the rumours started redbull would put Dan in the second car and Lawson alongside yuki, still haven’t changed my mind.

Also I have to say, if I was in charge of Audi, alpine Williams etc, I’d be giving Sainz a deadline and sticking to it, there’s a reason he’s out of one top team, and the other two with available seats are reluctant to hire him, which I’d imagine they’d be able to do on the cheap too. He’s done well and is a very good driver, but lacks that extra spark which keeps him off the top shelf.

I can see why Mercedes haven’t jumped in, but I’d have thought he’d be exactly what redbull were after to be fair.

[thegreenhell]

There are rumours on social media about Toyota coming back to F1, possibly partnering with Haas.

[vaud]

thegreenhell said:

There are rumours on social media about Toyota coming back to F1, possibly partnering with Haas.

And on the chassis side of things, not the engine.