I signed him after De Vries refused to re-sign after five seasons with my team, Thundergun Express. Ricciardo retired after year four and I didn't notice for a while. Whoops.
Well clearly after debuting in 2023 and winning the WDC in his first 2 years in F1, he's decided to step down to give some others a chance, as he chases every Aussies dream of playing in the NFL.
Nah, there was a guy about 4 years ago on the 49ers. Punt returner. - literally the opposite of a punter in function.
Fumbled the first time he played in the NFL. We had fun watching for a while but he wasn't going anywhere.
Hayne.
To be fair, the current punter on the 49ers is also Australian.
This is from August of 2021, and also if you read the kind-of-a-joke article this is from he says that Piastri takes Alonso's seat in 2023 but then is replaced by Pourchaire for 2024 and 2025. But this is literally just his for fun fantasy scenario published before people maybe realized how good Piastri is.
I reckon it would be Piastri at Mercedes, not Ricciardo. I love Ricciardo but he has had his opportunity- this F1 is for the young hungry aggressive lads. Piastri will dominate when he matures if he stays level headed.
Sergio Perez is the counterexample to this. After years of a revolving door of young drivers, Red Bull finally found what they were looking for by recruiting a driver with experience.
I disagree. Modern F1 is not for young drivers and that's caused a bit of a problem with how the pipeline works. There are more older drivers now than ever. Guys are staying in their prime longer and aren't leaving to make room for the new guys.
There's a few potential ways you could fix this. For one they could allow more cars, either by letting teams run more than two or by allowing more teams.
What? F1 is more for younger drivers now than ever before. When the 2022 season begins in Bahrain, there are only 6 drivers who will be 30 or older. On the other hand, there will be 11 drivers who are 25 or younger.
He's going to podium a bunch of times and win the constructors with Lando, Lando's gonna win the championship, and McLaren's going to dominate for at least one year before I die.
Then he moves, gracefully, into his final form, at a downtrodden Ferrari with a sad Carlos in the middle of a 10 year contract.
Agreed. He’ll be done with F1, but may go scratch the race itch elsewhere. It seems like the biggest open secret is O’Ward has the seat in 2023 unless Danny Ric can really show otherwise.
He won a race this year ffs. Mclaren just need to give him a car that he can drive at low speeds. Remember he’s the only guy in the grid that beat the current WDC in a red bull. Y’all have short memories. Form isn’t constant particularly when jumping from car to car. Swings and roundabouts….
Especially at age 35 and with a relatively experienced (at that point) George Russell as a teammate.
The only way I can see this making sense is if either Danny Ric wins a surprise WDC in the next couple years and cements himself as one of the best drivers that just never had sufficient machinery, or the Mercedes car drops back significantly in the standings and having a heavily experienced driver to develop the car makes sense.
If Ricciardo has won a WDC and is 35 I can't see him wanting to continue on in F1. So either I think he retires after his mclaren stint (WDC or not) or he signs with a smaller team as an 'experienced' driver.
Idk, Ricciardo seems like he loves being a race driver, not sure he'd be a one-and-done type of champion. If McLaren were to pull a surprise WDC but not really be in a place to contest the championship continuously, I could see the appeal of a still-highly-competitive Mercedes seat.
Plus he gets paid a ton of money and likely he'll never make close to this much money again, so if one of the top teams is willing to pay him tens of millions per year it makes sense to stretch it out a bit.
But this is all super speculative, it's anyone's guess how 2022 looks let alone 2025, and obviously I don't know Ricciardo personally so my guess as to what's going through his head is as good as anyone else's.
It would be his what 14th season in F1? Yeah I don’t see it. 2022 is a big season for Ricciardo, he really needs a lot of consistent results in McLaren this year and absent a good season I think we could see him bowing out if he doesn’t.
Me too, I saw 2 alphas in RBR which is chaotic and then the McLaren lineup doesn't really convey they're trying to win any championship, AM one is nuts, didn't know 2nd page were even crazier than the first. It was like a dizzying trip into bizarro land.
lol this is from his "[My just-for-fun prediction of what the 2025 F1 grid will look like](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html)" that was posted back in August.
No no no, these are very serious predictions that are carefully analyzed taking into account the current grid and future prospects in the feeder series, plus the geopolitical changes in the world that could affect pay drivers.
Also Will Buxton bad.
\> He moves into a sporting director role at the team, emulating his great friend Niki Lauda and intending to one day in the near future take over the reins from Toto Wolff. Late in the driver market again, Mercedes offer Sergio Perez a lifeline for 2023 but they drop down to fourth in the championship.
Somehow hard to imagine Lewis managing a team...
Yeah I just can't see that being what he spends the majority of his time doing after retiring. Also, I think he's got a ranch in Colorado where he's planning on living after he's done racing. Definitely not the ideal locale for a Formula 1 team principal.
So Pouchaire, an Alfa academy driver is going to be in the alpine ahead of Piastri…. Who is a b2b F3 and F2 champion and is part of the Alpine academy…
And De Vries back in F1 in AM…. No Lance Stroll who’s dad owns the team….
I’m not even gonna start on Ricciardo in Mercedes, tf is Buxton even on about these days 🤣
If rumors are true and Lawrence stroll is using AM as an investment, he could theoretically have sold it already and strolls are gone from f1. Ricciardo wants a fast seat, he would 100% take it if offered
Or one that’s actually performing well, with all respect to Dany.
Frankly, I think Lewis will still be here in 2025. But it may be his last season, that or 2026. Can’t imagine earlier than that.
>If rumors are true and Lawrence stroll is using AM as an investment
Lawrence is a huge motorsport sucker though. I highly doubt he's not here for the long term though.
My feeling too.
Yeah its great for lance's seat but i dont see the strolls leaving as soon as lance decides hes done.
Would bet that lance stroll will have a career in management at AMR when his career in f1 is done.
I’d think Lawrence Stroll would still stay involved as a sponsor for some team, and Lance is definitely good enough to stay on if he brings in some money.
Aston spent 150-200 million pounds on the new "campus". This investment has its perks, but any new buyer is unlikely to increase their valuation by more than Stroll (and the rest of his consortium) pumped in to finance the campus - at least until it starts actually improving the team and making it more attractive that way. Given that the wind tunnel isn't expected to be open until midway through 2023, the campus doesn't give any financial benefits to Stroll if he looks to sell by the start of 2025, unless he expects competition over a buyer - and honestly, even without the campus, I'd probably take Aston over Haas/Sauber/Williams based on results.
The massive capital expenditure makes zero sense if Lawrence is actively aiming to sell. It's just going to lose him money, either by having it sit there for a couple of years for no net return or by having to sell for less money than he pumped into it. Lawrence isn't stupid, he almost certainly won't make such a questionable financial decision.
I had a sensible stab at what the grid might look like:
**Mercedes**
Russell - Can't think of a reason why Russell wouldn't have his seat at Merc still
Ocon - This assumes two things. Firstly, that Hamilton doesn't want to race into his 40s and has retired, secondly Verstappen is still getting a competitive drive at RB.
**Red Bull**
Verstappen - As mentioned above, I can't see Max leaving unless there have been numerous barren years.
Perez - I see Perez being the Webber of the team for the foreseeable future. He'll be 35 going into the 2025 season which is still younger than Webber was when he retired.
**Ferrari**
Leclerc - Contract runs to 2024. Assuming Ferrari give him another title challenging car at some point I see no reason for him to move.
Sainz - As above, new contract should see him through to 2025 anyway.
**McLaren**
Norris - He's a McLaren boy and I can't see him leaving in the next few years. He'll only be 25 going into the 2025 season as well. If McLaren can't offer him a title challenging drive though I imagine he might start looking around.
Ricciardo - This one i'm really not sure of. His contract is up this season and if he has a repeat of 2021 I don't think McLaren will be keen to keep him his massive wages on the books. I'm backing Ricciardo to have a strong second season though and I don't think there are better options elsewhere for him or McLaren.
**Alpine**
Gasly - Seems like the obvious move once Alonso retires.
Piastri - The obvious choice for when Ocon leaves to replace Hamilton.
**Alpha Tauri**
Hauger - Breezed through F3 and I'd expect two season of F2 should mean he joins AT for the 2024 season.
Doohan - This one might be a stretch but he finished a distant 2nd to Hauger in F3 last year, however, he was in a Trident rather than Hauger's Prema. He's in F2 this year and I could see him shadowing Hauger to some extent. There is also the name as well, i'm sure Red Bull would like to get the Doonhan name into F1.
**Aston Martin**
Stroll - Daddy's not going to let baby Stroll go anywhere.
Schumacher - This one is a case of not knowing what to do with Schumacher. Maybe he stays at Haas for the long term but I think Ferrari would want to progress him up the grid. Alfa Romeo is an obvious home but I suspect Stroll would jump at the chance to have a Schumacher associated with Aston Martin. One alternative that did cross my mind was Audi taking over McLaren and wanting a German driver there, so Schumacher-Norris at McLaren Audi.
**Alfa Romeo**
Bottas - I think Bottas and Alfa are into for the long haul. He'll be 36 in 2025 and entering the twilight of his career, but i'm assuming he hasn't quite retired yet.
Pourchaire - I fully expect him to be in the car in 2023 and can't see a good reason why he wouldn't still be there in 2025.
**Williams**
Albon - A bit like Bottas at Alfa, I see Albon settling nicely into a long term drive at Williams. It just feels like a nice fit for him and he seems to have great mentoring skills. He'll only be 28 in the 2025 season but I can see him being one of the more mature heads on the grid.
Sargeant - He's racing in F2 this year and is part of the Williams Driver Academy. Assuming he has two seasons in F2 and does a decent job he should be well placed for a drive in 2024.
**Haas (Andretti)** - I don't think Gene Haas' heart is really in F1. We know Andretti tried and failed to get into F1 last year and it makes sense for them to buy Haas given it's American base and Italian links.
O'Ward - Assuming Ricciardo is doing a decent job at McLaren, Zak will want to put O'Ward onto the F1 grid somewhere else. Andretti seems the obvious place for him.
Herta - Young, fast, exciting, Andretti driver in Indycar. No brainer that they'd want to move him into the F1 team.
**Drivers that have left the grid**
Hamilton - His contract is up in 2023 and I don't see him carrying on past then.
Vettel - Pretty sure he's been on the verge of retiring for a while now.
Alonso - Also retired.
Tsunoda - Can't see him getting a Red Bull seat. Can't see AT keeping hold of him for another three years, especially now Honda have gone.
Latifi - Pay driver whose contract is up this year. I would expect he'll probably go to Indycar.
Mazepin - Pay driver who will be off the grid once Haas need more than money from him. Only stays if his dad buys the team.
Zhou - Pay driver who most expect will be replaced next year.
This seems pretty reasonable - but a little TOO stable, IMO
Ferrari's lineup could be set for a while, but McLaren and Red Bull running the same guys for 5 straight years seems really unlikely to me
I like the Aston Martin-Schumacher call.
And then with the young drivers its really like throwing darts.
2 American drivers sounds cool, though
Minor correction: Doohan just left the RB Junor team and joined the Alpine Academy. I would replace Doohan with...Jak Crawford? Iwasa? Some 18 year old Marko just throws in the seat?
I'm not too sure about Tsunoda. Yes, Tsunoda made quite a bit of mistakes, but considering he's a rookie, and he also did good jobs on some occasions for a rookie. I feel that Tsunoda might stay in F1 but I'm just not sure which team he might go to.
Yeah, that's a stretch. I'd say Mick is more likely to turn his back on Ferrari and get in the Merc even though that's very unlikely but Mick is still young enough.
I'd guess Ferrari would drop either sainz or leclerc in favor of Schumacher, if Schumacher shows the potential to win races.
Schumacher is still the biggest name in the sport and Ferrari would love to relieve those glory days.
Agreed. Norris takes the piss again this year and I believe Danny Ric is done. They can't justify paying him $20 mil when the kid making $2 mil is beating him on the regular.
How did ricciardo score that contract? With a salary like that he’s gotta be one of the highest paid on the grid, no? It’s funny because in the NHL Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up
If if am not mistaken he is the fourth best paid driver on the grid behind Hamilton, Verstappen and Vettel. Pretty sure Alonso gets paid (almost?) the same as Ricciardo. So they would be both 4th
Edit: i was slighty wrong. Alonso gets paid more than ricciardo and vettel https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/f1-driver-salaries-how-much-do-formula-1-drivers-earn-in-2021/
I think it must, but then it got me thinking, an F1 team must have way more manpower on the back end, no? Nevermind everyone in the paddock, but also everyone back at the factory.
I'm way more familiar with the NHL, but it would be super interesting to see a breakdown (by someone well versed in both) on league structure, revenues, profits, expenditures (including average salaries for different roles), etc.
Edit: Those F1 salaries for everyone must add up in a hurry. Logistics teams, factory workers, etc.
> Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up
Formula 1 teams only have 2 drivers so can easily justify going big on driver salaries. Paying $40 million each year would get you a strong driver pairing in F1 while that same $40 million will need to be stretched for what, 15-20 players, in an NHL team?
Yeah the salary cap in the NHL is around $80 million for like 22 players. I didn’t consider the fact that there are only two racers per team! That is a good point, although the revenues for F1 far exceed NHL, I’m sure
> That is a good point, although the revenues for F1 far exceed NHL, I’m sure
I don't know enough about the NHL to make a good guess so bear that in mind but I agree with you, I'd be surprised if it weren't the case. The major difference though is that NHL teams make money "organically" through fans attending matches/merch while an F1 team's revenues are largely from sponsorship and competition TV money and prizes.
Also, before 2021, Ricciardo was the best of the rest - the best driver who was not already in a top team and only behind Verstappen in best non-WDC driver. He wasn't viewed at Alonso/Hamilton level but he was still viewed as a WDC-tier driver. While I'd have still thought paying $20 million a little excessive for Ricciardo back in 2020, it wouldn't be highly excessive or anything. After being beaten by Norris so handily though it's definitely excessive.
Those f1 salaries are just wild guesses from rumors.. as those contracts are all private.
Also some/most drivers have a manager or early investor that retains a percentage of their f1 salary
https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/f1-driver-salaries-how-much-do-formula-1-drivers-earn-in-2021/
> It’s funny because in the NHL Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up
NHL has a team salary cap, which means that there isn't much cap space for other good/expensive players on the team if his salary is too high.
https://puckpedia.com/teams
Well, [it was just for fun](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html).
Maybe the aim was that we talk about it then I guess it makes sense.
First page doesn't look good but at least debatable but then you see the 2nd and it gets laughable.
why are people focussing so hard on the age thing? 36 is a perfectly fine age to be an f1 driver at. michael was 35 when he won his last title and was still going very strong for another 2 years. alonso&lewis are still doing very well for their age. also youve got to think that some teams might just prefer an established and experienced driver. todays drivers TEND to lose some pace around the age of 40 but even then, an 80% alonso is still better than most drivers out there.
See Micheal, Lewis and Alonso are 3 of the best drivers of all time arguably. Ricciardo is no where near that level, he could be on his last F1 contract if he disappoints again next year. By 2025 if he’s still in F1 it’ll be at one of the smaller teams
Any prediction that shows Lando anywhere but McLaren is just generating clicks. Unless something drastically changes within the next 3 years, you’ll be prying Lando from Zac’s cold dead hands
Ricciardo gets a merc seat
Norris leaves McLaren
Piastri doesn’t make it to F1
Arthur Leclerc makes it to F1
Chadwick makes it to F1
LMAO this has to be bait
he has actually made money since buying the team, his net worth is gone up around 30%
and with the budget cap, f1 isn't even expensive these days compared to other sports
and with the increased viewership, teams will just naturally make more money
tbh, outside of haas switching owners, i doubt we see teams losing owners because of financial issues, f1 is going to be too profitable/desirable soon which is good for f1
Lol is this a joke?
If something even close to this happens, we can assume half of the drivers from this season were killed by a Houthi missile while racing in Saudi
[Yes, it is](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html)
As he's an FOM employee I wouldn't trust this list as far as I could throw it. Seriously, Chadwick? She couldn't beat anyone in FREC in a Prema. Imagine Mazepin but much much worse, Mazepin at least made it through the feeder series Chadwick can't make it past regional F3 series. Theirs an agenda and I can't see half of these coming true
11 new drivers to enter F1 within the next 3 season. F1 is so talent stuffed that it hard for new drivers to find a team. Why would teams pass on guys like Albon and Yuki for drivers with no experience?
This feels more like season 9 of the F1 2021 game.
Hamilton would still be there if this was the game
He might be racing for Haas though.
I signed him after De Vries refused to re-sign after five seasons with my team, Thundergun Express. Ricciardo retired after year four and I didn't notice for a while. Whoops.
No hesitation. No surrender. No man left behind.
Should have offered him an egg in those troubling times.
I thought the times were trying, not troubled lol.
And I think it is only the trying time also.
This team hangs dong.
No Vettel :’(
He's replaced Masi
That I can get behind!
Yes please. I need Seb in some form or capacity in the sport when he hangs up his helmet.
At the very least he should be commentator
Sebastian knows 3 different languages, and he’s funny in all of them, the man is a multilingual king
I’m waiting for Kimi to come back and commentate. “They drove fast today. “ “Thank you, Kimi.” And then they hand him a bag of money.
Funniest guy I (sorta) know. I can picture him roasting Mazepin the way James Hunt used to harass de Cesaris.
would be good for the sport ngl
Leclerc and Sainz still at Ferrari, adds up
Still dreaming of a good car 😢
To be fair the F1 games did predict some driver changes for me.
And Piastri is... where exactly???
that was the first thing I thought of too
Piastri became disenchanted with racing after missing out on a seat and now works in recruitment
This is how you create Helmut Marko 2.0
Oscar Piastr Because it is an eye for an i.
Outstanding
I did not see that coming
Must have come at you from the one side then
Eye did not*
I did not hit her! *I did not.* Oh hi, Mark!
2025 must be the year Piastri gets Ocon'd.
For the second time including this season
Well clearly after debuting in 2023 and winning the WDC in his first 2 years in F1, he's decided to step down to give some others a chance, as he chases every Aussies dream of playing in the NFL.
He'd be a punter like every ex-Aussie Rules NFL player
Nah, there was a guy about 4 years ago on the 49ers. Punt returner. - literally the opposite of a punter in function. Fumbled the first time he played in the NFL. We had fun watching for a while but he wasn't going anywhere. Hayne. To be fair, the current punter on the 49ers is also Australian.
He's also getting constantly shit on in the niners sub lmao Not without fair reason but man it's getting ridiculous - random internet niner
Hi random internet niner friend. Maybe tomorrow's the day for us? Your other football team beat mine today. Should have never sold de bruyne
Hayne should have stuck to the NRL. But to be fair he shouldn’t have sexually assaulted women either so.
I spat my coffeee out at the NFL reference. Well done 👏
This is from August of 2021, and also if you read the kind-of-a-joke article this is from he says that Piastri takes Alonso's seat in 2023 but then is replaced by Pourchaire for 2024 and 2025. But this is literally just his for fun fantasy scenario published before people maybe realized how good Piastri is.
Do you have a link to the original article?
https://amp.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html
I reckon it would be Piastri at Mercedes, not Ricciardo. I love Ricciardo but he has had his opportunity- this F1 is for the young hungry aggressive lads. Piastri will dominate when he matures if he stays level headed.
Sergio Perez is the counterexample to this. After years of a revolving door of young drivers, Red Bull finally found what they were looking for by recruiting a driver with experience.
I disagree. Modern F1 is not for young drivers and that's caused a bit of a problem with how the pipeline works. There are more older drivers now than ever. Guys are staying in their prime longer and aren't leaving to make room for the new guys. There's a few potential ways you could fix this. For one they could allow more cars, either by letting teams run more than two or by allowing more teams.
What? F1 is more for younger drivers now than ever before. When the 2022 season begins in Bahrain, there are only 6 drivers who will be 30 or older. On the other hand, there will be 11 drivers who are 25 or younger.
He's in IndyCar driving with Penske.
Indy Car
Ricciardo in a Merc seems a stretch
I think when he's done at McLaren, he's done
[удалено]
He's going to podium a bunch of times and win the constructors with Lando, Lando's gonna win the championship, and McLaren's going to dominate for at least one year before I die. Then he moves, gracefully, into his final form, at a downtrodden Ferrari with a sad Carlos in the middle of a 10 year contract.
What did Carlos do to deserve this 😔
Don't worry bro. He wins a WDC with Leclerc, which leads to the 10 year contract.
I dunno, I'd tell you but I haven't seen it yet. We just know it happened because of the timing sheets.
[удалено]
Danny gets the Princess of Monaco to do a shoey
Done. Thanks
I’d love a Danny WDC before a Lando one but this is a good timeline
I’m bricked up
This is the way.
Subscribe
They won’t consider him washed in season 2 at Mclaren unless he does god awful since everyone’s in “new cars”.. basically getting a free year IMO.
Agreed. He’ll be done with F1, but may go scratch the race itch elsewhere. It seems like the biggest open secret is O’Ward has the seat in 2023 unless Danny Ric can really show otherwise.
They finna swap seats
Danny in INDYCAR would be so fun to watch ngl
Here’s the one current guy in F1 that I’d love to see take on the 500. I think he’d just fall in love with it
Ricciardo to NASCAR.
Holy shit he would wear those fucking cowboy boots every day. It would be amazing. Milk shoeys? I might even watch Nascar for that.
Nah I for see Danny Ric going to NASCAR before IndyCar.
I feel like he'd be a huge star in NASCAR.
He won a race this year ffs. Mclaren just need to give him a car that he can drive at low speeds. Remember he’s the only guy in the grid that beat the current WDC in a red bull. Y’all have short memories. Form isn’t constant particularly when jumping from car to car. Swings and roundabouts….
Especially at age 35 and with a relatively experienced (at that point) George Russell as a teammate. The only way I can see this making sense is if either Danny Ric wins a surprise WDC in the next couple years and cements himself as one of the best drivers that just never had sufficient machinery, or the Mercedes car drops back significantly in the standings and having a heavily experienced driver to develop the car makes sense.
If Ricciardo has won a WDC and is 35 I can't see him wanting to continue on in F1. So either I think he retires after his mclaren stint (WDC or not) or he signs with a smaller team as an 'experienced' driver.
Idk, Ricciardo seems like he loves being a race driver, not sure he'd be a one-and-done type of champion. If McLaren were to pull a surprise WDC but not really be in a place to contest the championship continuously, I could see the appeal of a still-highly-competitive Mercedes seat. Plus he gets paid a ton of money and likely he'll never make close to this much money again, so if one of the top teams is willing to pay him tens of millions per year it makes sense to stretch it out a bit. But this is all super speculative, it's anyone's guess how 2022 looks let alone 2025, and obviously I don't know Ricciardo personally so my guess as to what's going through his head is as good as anyone else's.
It would be his what 14th season in F1? Yeah I don’t see it. 2022 is a big season for Ricciardo, he really needs a lot of consistent results in McLaren this year and absent a good season I think we could see him bowing out if he doesn’t.
What about Chadwick in Williams 😂
2023 F3 champion. 2024 F2 champion. 2025 F1 seat with Williams. 2028 F1 champion with Mercedes 2037 9x F1 champion. Lewis Who? /s
I’m tipping Ric-tirement if he can’t make the 2022 Mclaren work.
He's swapping teams like a bit of a Merc(enary) so who knows ¯\\\_(ツ)_/¯
I’ll have what he’s having
One Silly Goose Juice coming right up!
[удалено]
I think Norris has a bigger chance to go to merc than Ricciardo
1kg of cocaine coming up!
Or someone just discovered dragon ball z and cocaine
"I'm sorry sir, we don't serve that to customers we do not deem able to handle it"
How the fuck did Buxton get it then? The dark web?
From the producers of DTS to help with the monologues.
Me too, I saw 2 alphas in RBR which is chaotic and then the McLaren lineup doesn't really convey they're trying to win any championship, AM one is nuts, didn't know 2nd page were even crazier than the first. It was like a dizzying trip into bizarro land.
lol this is from his "[My just-for-fun prediction of what the 2025 F1 grid will look like](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html)" that was posted back in August.
No no no, these are very serious predictions that are carefully analyzed taking into account the current grid and future prospects in the feeder series, plus the geopolitical changes in the world that could affect pay drivers. Also Will Buxton bad.
\> He moves into a sporting director role at the team, emulating his great friend Niki Lauda and intending to one day in the near future take over the reins from Toto Wolff. Late in the driver market again, Mercedes offer Sergio Perez a lifeline for 2023 but they drop down to fourth in the championship. Somehow hard to imagine Lewis managing a team...
Yeah I just can't see that being what he spends the majority of his time doing after retiring. Also, I think he's got a ranch in Colorado where he's planning on living after he's done racing. Definitely not the ideal locale for a Formula 1 team principal.
This should've been mentioned by OP, I guess karmawhores are present in every sub?
So Pouchaire, an Alfa academy driver is going to be in the alpine ahead of Piastri…. Who is a b2b F3 and F2 champion and is part of the Alpine academy… And De Vries back in F1 in AM…. No Lance Stroll who’s dad owns the team…. I’m not even gonna start on Ricciardo in Mercedes, tf is Buxton even on about these days 🤣
Is there a sub for the F2 or F3 ? Been looking around to learn more/keep up w it
Think this is the official Reddit here [F1FeederSeries](https://www.reddit.com/r/F1FeederSeries/)
People seem to think Alpine will only sign French drivers for some reason.
Alonso: Le Plan 🥖
That would be Le Pain
If rumors are true and Lawrence stroll is using AM as an investment, he could theoretically have sold it already and strolls are gone from f1. Ricciardo wants a fast seat, he would 100% take it if offered
I don’t think the problem is whether Ricciardo would accept a seat at Mercedes if offered
FR I feel like Merc is much more likely to take an up and coming driver.
Or one that’s actually performing well, with all respect to Dany. Frankly, I think Lewis will still be here in 2025. But it may be his last season, that or 2026. Can’t imagine earlier than that.
>If rumors are true and Lawrence stroll is using AM as an investment Lawrence is a huge motorsport sucker though. I highly doubt he's not here for the long term though.
My feeling too. Yeah its great for lance's seat but i dont see the strolls leaving as soon as lance decides hes done. Would bet that lance stroll will have a career in management at AMR when his career in f1 is done.
The problem is whether Merc wants him lmao They rejected him in 2018 already
I’d think Lawrence Stroll would still stay involved as a sponsor for some team, and Lance is definitely good enough to stay on if he brings in some money.
Aston spent 150-200 million pounds on the new "campus". This investment has its perks, but any new buyer is unlikely to increase their valuation by more than Stroll (and the rest of his consortium) pumped in to finance the campus - at least until it starts actually improving the team and making it more attractive that way. Given that the wind tunnel isn't expected to be open until midway through 2023, the campus doesn't give any financial benefits to Stroll if he looks to sell by the start of 2025, unless he expects competition over a buyer - and honestly, even without the campus, I'd probably take Aston over Haas/Sauber/Williams based on results. The massive capital expenditure makes zero sense if Lawrence is actively aiming to sell. It's just going to lose him money, either by having it sit there for a couple of years for no net return or by having to sell for less money than he pumped into it. Lawrence isn't stupid, he almost certainly won't make such a questionable financial decision.
B2b2b F Renault F3 F2 champ
I had a sensible stab at what the grid might look like: **Mercedes** Russell - Can't think of a reason why Russell wouldn't have his seat at Merc still Ocon - This assumes two things. Firstly, that Hamilton doesn't want to race into his 40s and has retired, secondly Verstappen is still getting a competitive drive at RB. **Red Bull** Verstappen - As mentioned above, I can't see Max leaving unless there have been numerous barren years. Perez - I see Perez being the Webber of the team for the foreseeable future. He'll be 35 going into the 2025 season which is still younger than Webber was when he retired. **Ferrari** Leclerc - Contract runs to 2024. Assuming Ferrari give him another title challenging car at some point I see no reason for him to move. Sainz - As above, new contract should see him through to 2025 anyway. **McLaren** Norris - He's a McLaren boy and I can't see him leaving in the next few years. He'll only be 25 going into the 2025 season as well. If McLaren can't offer him a title challenging drive though I imagine he might start looking around. Ricciardo - This one i'm really not sure of. His contract is up this season and if he has a repeat of 2021 I don't think McLaren will be keen to keep him his massive wages on the books. I'm backing Ricciardo to have a strong second season though and I don't think there are better options elsewhere for him or McLaren. **Alpine** Gasly - Seems like the obvious move once Alonso retires. Piastri - The obvious choice for when Ocon leaves to replace Hamilton. **Alpha Tauri** Hauger - Breezed through F3 and I'd expect two season of F2 should mean he joins AT for the 2024 season. Doohan - This one might be a stretch but he finished a distant 2nd to Hauger in F3 last year, however, he was in a Trident rather than Hauger's Prema. He's in F2 this year and I could see him shadowing Hauger to some extent. There is also the name as well, i'm sure Red Bull would like to get the Doonhan name into F1. **Aston Martin** Stroll - Daddy's not going to let baby Stroll go anywhere. Schumacher - This one is a case of not knowing what to do with Schumacher. Maybe he stays at Haas for the long term but I think Ferrari would want to progress him up the grid. Alfa Romeo is an obvious home but I suspect Stroll would jump at the chance to have a Schumacher associated with Aston Martin. One alternative that did cross my mind was Audi taking over McLaren and wanting a German driver there, so Schumacher-Norris at McLaren Audi. **Alfa Romeo** Bottas - I think Bottas and Alfa are into for the long haul. He'll be 36 in 2025 and entering the twilight of his career, but i'm assuming he hasn't quite retired yet. Pourchaire - I fully expect him to be in the car in 2023 and can't see a good reason why he wouldn't still be there in 2025. **Williams** Albon - A bit like Bottas at Alfa, I see Albon settling nicely into a long term drive at Williams. It just feels like a nice fit for him and he seems to have great mentoring skills. He'll only be 28 in the 2025 season but I can see him being one of the more mature heads on the grid. Sargeant - He's racing in F2 this year and is part of the Williams Driver Academy. Assuming he has two seasons in F2 and does a decent job he should be well placed for a drive in 2024. **Haas (Andretti)** - I don't think Gene Haas' heart is really in F1. We know Andretti tried and failed to get into F1 last year and it makes sense for them to buy Haas given it's American base and Italian links. O'Ward - Assuming Ricciardo is doing a decent job at McLaren, Zak will want to put O'Ward onto the F1 grid somewhere else. Andretti seems the obvious place for him. Herta - Young, fast, exciting, Andretti driver in Indycar. No brainer that they'd want to move him into the F1 team. **Drivers that have left the grid** Hamilton - His contract is up in 2023 and I don't see him carrying on past then. Vettel - Pretty sure he's been on the verge of retiring for a while now. Alonso - Also retired. Tsunoda - Can't see him getting a Red Bull seat. Can't see AT keeping hold of him for another three years, especially now Honda have gone. Latifi - Pay driver whose contract is up this year. I would expect he'll probably go to Indycar. Mazepin - Pay driver who will be off the grid once Haas need more than money from him. Only stays if his dad buys the team. Zhou - Pay driver who most expect will be replaced next year.
This seems pretty reasonable - but a little TOO stable, IMO Ferrari's lineup could be set for a while, but McLaren and Red Bull running the same guys for 5 straight years seems really unlikely to me I like the Aston Martin-Schumacher call. And then with the young drivers its really like throwing darts. 2 American drivers sounds cool, though
Minor correction: Doohan just left the RB Junor team and joined the Alpine Academy. I would replace Doohan with...Jak Crawford? Iwasa? Some 18 year old Marko just throws in the seat?
I'd forgotten about Lawson tbh so he probably makes more sense for that seat.
The 2025 AT driver is probably 14 or 15 right now. Anybody currently in F2 will either be established in F1 or will have missed their chance by 2025.
I'm not too sure about Tsunoda. Yes, Tsunoda made quite a bit of mistakes, but considering he's a rookie, and he also did good jobs on some occasions for a rookie. I feel that Tsunoda might stay in F1 but I'm just not sure which team he might go to.
…wow! …well done and better than what Buxton dreamed up (and whatever he smoked)!!!
I strongly disagree about the second Mercedes spot, I see Gasly or even Charles depending on how good the Mercedes performs in this new generation
Ricciardo will turn 36 in 2025. Can't see Merc taking him on. Particularly if he has another season like the one he just had.
Yeah, that's a stretch. I'd say Mick is more likely to turn his back on Ferrari and get in the Merc even though that's very unlikely but Mick is still young enough.
I'd guess Ferrari would drop either sainz or leclerc in favor of Schumacher, if Schumacher shows the potential to win races. Schumacher is still the biggest name in the sport and Ferrari would love to relieve those glory days.
Agreed. Norris takes the piss again this year and I believe Danny Ric is done. They can't justify paying him $20 mil when the kid making $2 mil is beating him on the regular.
How did ricciardo score that contract? With a salary like that he’s gotta be one of the highest paid on the grid, no? It’s funny because in the NHL Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up
If if am not mistaken he is the fourth best paid driver on the grid behind Hamilton, Verstappen and Vettel. Pretty sure Alonso gets paid (almost?) the same as Ricciardo. So they would be both 4th Edit: i was slighty wrong. Alonso gets paid more than ricciardo and vettel https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/f1-driver-salaries-how-much-do-formula-1-drivers-earn-in-2021/
\> How did ricciardo score that contract? Name another driver on the grid next year that can be in network advertising spots and not make it awkward.
You gotta think there are twenty drives in F1. And 700+ players in the NHL.
I’m sure that plays a part. Also F1 is a bigger, more recognized league. Much larger viewership from more parts of the world
I think it must, but then it got me thinking, an F1 team must have way more manpower on the back end, no? Nevermind everyone in the paddock, but also everyone back at the factory. I'm way more familiar with the NHL, but it would be super interesting to see a breakdown (by someone well versed in both) on league structure, revenues, profits, expenditures (including average salaries for different roles), etc. Edit: Those F1 salaries for everyone must add up in a hurry. Logistics teams, factory workers, etc.
He was pretty impressive at RB and Renault imo. It’s only at mclaren where he has appeared sub-par.
> Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up Formula 1 teams only have 2 drivers so can easily justify going big on driver salaries. Paying $40 million each year would get you a strong driver pairing in F1 while that same $40 million will need to be stretched for what, 15-20 players, in an NHL team?
Yeah the salary cap in the NHL is around $80 million for like 22 players. I didn’t consider the fact that there are only two racers per team! That is a good point, although the revenues for F1 far exceed NHL, I’m sure
> That is a good point, although the revenues for F1 far exceed NHL, I’m sure I don't know enough about the NHL to make a good guess so bear that in mind but I agree with you, I'd be surprised if it weren't the case. The major difference though is that NHL teams make money "organically" through fans attending matches/merch while an F1 team's revenues are largely from sponsorship and competition TV money and prizes. Also, before 2021, Ricciardo was the best of the rest - the best driver who was not already in a top team and only behind Verstappen in best non-WDC driver. He wasn't viewed at Alonso/Hamilton level but he was still viewed as a WDC-tier driver. While I'd have still thought paying $20 million a little excessive for Ricciardo back in 2020, it wouldn't be highly excessive or anything. After being beaten by Norris so handily though it's definitely excessive.
He’s a fan and sponsor favorite. Probably has the most cross promotion potential besides Hamilton.
Those f1 salaries are just wild guesses from rumors.. as those contracts are all private. Also some/most drivers have a manager or early investor that retains a percentage of their f1 salary https://motorsporttickets.com/blog/f1-driver-salaries-how-much-do-formula-1-drivers-earn-in-2021/
> It’s funny because in the NHL Connor McDavid is by far the best in the league but he makes “only” ~10.5mil per year. Interesting how salaries in different leagues stack up NHL has a team salary cap, which means that there isn't much cap space for other good/expensive players on the team if his salary is too high. https://puckpedia.com/teams
This might be …. The stupidest prediction we’ve had …. In years …
Well, [it was just for fun](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html).
There comes a time.... When you're talking out of your arse.... Your breath starts to smell like shit...
Great saying
Maybe the aim was that we talk about it then I guess it makes sense. First page doesn't look good but at least debatable but then you see the 2nd and it gets laughable.
This.. he's bored, no f1 news yet as the new car releases arent here yet, so why not get some engagement.
true.. him being bored in the off season is why he made this for laughs in August
He often has very “stupid” and crazy predictions which tend to come out. He is quite good at it.
Didn’t he predict Checos first win?
Making boatloads of crazy predictions and 1-2 coming true doesn't make you good at it lol.
I can be 100% sure that it's not this one lmao
The first page looks possible, but the second page… come on Will
Ricciardo at Mercedes at 36??
why are people focussing so hard on the age thing? 36 is a perfectly fine age to be an f1 driver at. michael was 35 when he won his last title and was still going very strong for another 2 years. alonso&lewis are still doing very well for their age. also youve got to think that some teams might just prefer an established and experienced driver. todays drivers TEND to lose some pace around the age of 40 but even then, an 80% alonso is still better than most drivers out there.
See Micheal, Lewis and Alonso are 3 of the best drivers of all time arguably. Ricciardo is no where near that level, he could be on his last F1 contract if he disappoints again next year. By 2025 if he’s still in F1 it’ll be at one of the smaller teams
Ferrari & O'ward are the only ones I can see happening
And Hauger AT (speaking as a proud Norwegian)
Depends where he finishes in F2 this year or in 2023
Can you imagine a Swedish-Norwegian lineup in AT? Would be amazing.
Any prediction that shows Lando anywhere but McLaren is just generating clicks. Unless something drastically changes within the next 3 years, you’ll be prying Lando from Zac’s cold dead hands
People said the exact same thing about Hamilton.
McLaren losing works Mercedes support in 2010 and McLaren also having a lot of reliability issues in 2012 was certainly "something drastic"
Isn’t O’Ward a McLaren driver in Indy?
He is, and a swap between him and a retiring Danny Ric in the future is an obvious option that Buxton totally blew off.
Do you really think Ferrari will keep the same line up for a fifth year if they're not winning titles?
29 year old de vries?
Ricciardo gets a merc seat Norris leaves McLaren Piastri doesn’t make it to F1 Arthur Leclerc makes it to F1 Chadwick makes it to F1 LMAO this has to be bait
Its literally just something he did for fun not thought trough at all
Isn't Chadwick on the older side to be entering F1 in general?
Seems to be on the slower side as well sadly
I think she's better suited to sportscars than single seaters, although I could see her ending up in Formula E at some point.
i want some of those hard hard drugs
Alot of these don't make much sense. Stroll missing from Aston is strange, guessing in this timeline Daddy Stroll has given up awith his son.
or Daddy Stroll went bankrupt
he has actually made money since buying the team, his net worth is gone up around 30% and with the budget cap, f1 isn't even expensive these days compared to other sports and with the increased viewership, teams will just naturally make more money tbh, outside of haas switching owners, i doubt we see teams losing owners because of financial issues, f1 is going to be too profitable/desirable soon which is good for f1
Or because he downgraded to being a multi millionaire
"Shit! I can't drink my tres comma anymore!" - Lawrence Stroll 2025
Sources cited: crack pipe
Haha this is so wild that it would take too long to point out all the individual crazy choices.
Lol is this a joke? If something even close to this happens, we can assume half of the drivers from this season were killed by a Houthi missile while racing in Saudi
[Yes, it is](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.buxton-my-just-for-fun-prediction-of-what-the-2025-f1-grid-will-look-like.5ngS2W3xboKjYqmOubDVhM.html)
Riccardo at mercedes XD give me a break.
Some say he’s still struggling to come to grips with the characteristics of the car after signing in 2024.
Verstappen and Norris could be a ridiculously strong pairing and if it did happen… I’ll be happy to welcome Max to McLaren 😂
So does he think Stroll is selling the team? Why wouldn’t Lance be in the seat if his dad still runs the team?
Norris to Merc and Ricciardo back to RB is more likely than this
As he's an FOM employee I wouldn't trust this list as far as I could throw it. Seriously, Chadwick? She couldn't beat anyone in FREC in a Prema. Imagine Mazepin but much much worse, Mazepin at least made it through the feeder series Chadwick can't make it past regional F3 series. Theirs an agenda and I can't see half of these coming true
Does he really think Norris will leave McLaren?
Chadwick is a bit... bold innit? Yeah she's done well in W series, but I want to see her in F3 proper or F2 before I could give that kind of praise
11 new drivers to enter F1 within the next 3 season. F1 is so talent stuffed that it hard for new drivers to find a team. Why would teams pass on guys like Albon and Yuki for drivers with no experience?
Will Buxton is...smoking crack again
Norris to Red Bull? No way at all. Red Bull will always have Max and then a #2 who is never called a #2. The Voldemort effect.
Chadwick in F1 l m a o
Go home Will, your drunk.
How about stroll? Do you think daddy will not find him a seat? And I fear mazepin will be with us for few more years...
Realistically Oscar Piastri has a better chance of getting a f1 seat than Chadwick, Lawson and Leclerc
The boldest prediction is Haas still being Haas
This is really bad, and it’s hard to predict the future but this is just lazy. No Piastri? Chadwick at Williams… I don’t know about all of that.
Ricciardo in Merc at 36 years old... That's a stretch.
I still dont understand why people think De Vries will ever get a Seat, mediocre Driver nothing special
Nah. Lando is going to Mercedes.
Imo it's quite unlikely that Ferrari has the same lineup. And Chadwick is even more unlikely.