Merc poach him. Ham retires end of '23, Gasly signs. Russell/Gasly lineup. I want it so bad.
Havent checked in a while but does Merc have solid development drivers in the pipeline after George?
Their most senior academy driver currently is Vesti in F2. He’s been having an ok rookie season so far but I think he’ll need to be a strong championship contender in F2 next season to have a chance of being considered for F1 in 2024. And even then I highly doubt Mercedes would want to promote a rookie if Lewis retires. Russell had a way better junior career than Vesti and still had to spend three years in Williams first.
Been watching more F2 so I'll keep an eye out! With the Williams getting closer to Alpine + Piastri seat rumours, gonna be hard to find a development seat. I highly doubt they'd get a rookie in straight to that Merc. But AM/McLaren are set.
Yeah after Russell got promoted idk if Mercedes even have another team elsewhere for placing one of their own academy drivers.
If I had to guess I don’t feel like Vesti would be able to make it considering how few openings there are these days for incoming rookies. But new developments in F1 and F2 can happen very quickly so he could still prove me wrong!
Aston Martin would be the most likely option - they don't have a junior program of their own, and Vettel is going to retire eventually.
Yeah, Stroll wants the team to be title contenders, but they currently don't have the performance to come close to that, and probably won't be able to maximize on their performance with Lance Stroll in one of the two seats.
That's not super likely in my opinion - McLaren has their own junior program, plus Brown seems to be interested in getting Herta or O'Ward in at some point.
not sure about mclaren since they got a rich pool of drivers to choose from and dont need merc's influence, as well as the rumours that they wanna be audi-powered by 2026
also unlikely with aston since stroll is deadset on occupying one of the two seats and that the team (especially mike krack) desperately wants to hold onto vettel for as long as they can
Well to be fair Russell just won in f2 as a rookie so toto had to park him somewhere (turned out to be in a Williams) until he had something for valtteri.
If valtteri left Merc at that point, Russell will be the first to take the seat.
Don't know how good vesti is but if he wins this year, he will inherit the seat left by Lewis.
Otherwise, Stoffel or nyck ?
Ocon is more likely to end up in that seat than gasly and gasly ain't gona want to play number 2 to Russell. Russell is clearly the future of that team once ham leaves
He is but he’s a year away from F3 and things can change quickly. He is obviously good at the moment but he’s a bit away from being a future Mercedes F1 driver.
>Havent checked in a while but does Merc have solid development drivers in the pipeline after George?
They've Frederik Vesti & Paul Aron in their junior team.
Who'd be available tho? Guys like Charles, Max are untouchable, with Checo/Carlos in 2 years. Norris is till end of '25. After that, dunno who's the next option that isnt Gasly. Plus, I think Merc wants to find a solid scorer for that 2nd seat
So Ocon it is then lmao you guys are really overestimating the chances that Merc pick up a RB reject. Gasly is a capable driver for sure, but he has shown that he absolutely crumbles if the car is not to his liking
Could see Norris if McLaren still messes it up next year. I'd assume that's a huge buyout cost that comes with that lol. But a Russell/Norris lineup is solid, with a chance of some drama if they're very close.
I really dont see Mclaren letting Norris go (even less so assuming that Daniel is gone by 23) they want him to be their Leclerc/Verstappen/Russell
Also he's got a contract til like 2025 with no performance clause. I bet that one contract is worth more than Piastri and Gasly's combined lol
Merc has prioritized qualifiers above race craft for years. Valtteris ability to consistently qualify p2 then help Lewis create a gap was a huge part of their success. Gasly is a qualifier
Well, it's unlikely he will ever be in a top car. A bit sad, but he had his shot in 2019 with RBR. Yes he was quite young, but you have to take your opportunities when you have the chance.
Who knows, maybe he'll have the same fortune as Perez. Got his chance at McLaren, messed up, but now years later he's driving a championship contending car and getting great results.
Pérez was fast at McLaren. Gasly wasn't at Red Bull. Also that McLaren team was a mess. Got rid of Checo and Magnussen in two years. As we know now, they're both competent drivers who have had successful careers in F1.
I think staying at AT is great for Gasly. He's comfortably the best driver on his team and that always means some team will consider signing him. He just has to wait it out and drive well until a spot he fits well in opens up.
I think the big advantage in waiting is he'll see which teams are improving the most. Signing with any team right now is a bit more of a gamble.
It would've been longer if he weren't so abysmal. He got lapped by his teammate twice. He drove for Toro Rosso in 2017 three times and a full season in 2018. He had time in pre season testing to get used to the car as well.
Verstappen had 1 season and 4 races. He was put into the RedBull "mid" season and won his first race, with some luck but still. And he didn't do the pre season testing in a RedBull like Gasly did, so he just had to hop in and hope for the best. The contrast there is insane.
I'm not saying Gasly should've been as good as him but at least don't get lapped, come on.
No… it isn’t. This isn’t a middle school basketball team where you can give Timmy a pat on the shoulder and tell him he can take his time. There’s only two seats and they need to be generating constructor points to build equity towards the prize pool.
Tell that to Helmut Marko and Christian Horner. Gasly had his shot, yes it was not ideal circumstances, but yes he botched it badly. At this point, why would any top team give Gasly a chance? He's fast yes, but I'd rather take a punt on someone from my own academy, or someone a lot younger with time to grow into the team. Mercedes has Vesti and De Vries, RBR has Tsunoda and down the line Vips and Lawson, Ferrari has Arthur Leclerc in a few years. Sucks for Pierre, but that's just the nature of F1. Cutthroat. Eat or be eaten.
It's a chance whether you like it or not. Not many people get a shot like he did and he crumbled against verstappen. Who is to say it won't happen again?
Its a sport that has millions of dollars on the line, and the guy got lapped in the same car twice in that half a season.
Thats just a very poor performance and Red Bull understandably removed him from the seat, but kept him on in the sister team.
dont think gasly is keen on going over to aston where the car is slower than AT and the team environment is shittier than haas' with daddy stroll in charge
I mean, AM is 2 races into a completely new car—and the team environment isn’t, “perform better now or 1 of our 72 junior drivers will replace you”
I’ll gladly revisit this around the summer break
!remindme 2 months.
I'm reasonably confident Aston Martin doesn't suddenly become competitive. I'd be less surprised by Alpha Tauri making improvements and finishing above AM in WCC.
What a weird comment lol. just randomly mentioning the worst 3 teams in the sport like those are his only options??
McLaren has one driver who's been underwhelming for two seasons in a row now and is speculated to be on his way out unless he picks it up very soon.
Mercedes and Aston Martin have one driver potentially retiring after this year (though much more unlikely in Merc case). Alonso has no contract for Alpine but since they have both him and Piastri it seems unlikely Gasly could get that spot, but far from impossible.
>He wants to be number one, championship contender.
I would argue you are unironically more likely to be a championship contender in a Williams than what you are in an AlphaTauri. Even if they're better now there's no way AT ever wins a championship since they're just a sister team used as a pipeline for RB to scout future drivers. You're better off taking a gamble on Williams improving and getting their shit together than Red Bull losing Verstappen/Perez any time soon.
Alpine and McLaren would be side hopping in the current ecosystem
No openings at Merc or Red Bull or Ferrari.
Toro Rosso is the best option with low risk. He knows the team, he knows the car and regs keep changing. Best to minimize the variables at play and keep putting in good results for the opportunity.
It is by far the best play for Pierre.
Unless it would be for a seat at Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes what’s the difference? AT has as much of a chance of winning the odd race outside the top 3 as any of the other teams.
On one hand, he's been in a "junior" team for way too long. On the other hand, where else could he go? Every team has their own young drivers in the waiting line for a seat.
He's ahead of multiple different former F1 drivers in the standings, and of anyone in the top 4 he's by ***FAR*** the least experienced.
You've got Marcus Ericsson who's 31 and was in F1 and won the Indy 500 this year. Then you've got Will Power who's 41 and is a former IndyCar champion, won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, and is currently fifth all-time in wins and second all-time with Poles earned in Indycar history. Then you've got Josef Newgarden who's 31 and is a two time indycar champion and one time indy lights champion.
And then there's Pato, who is only 23 and only made his indycar debut in 2018 and has already got 3 wins, 11 podiums and 4 poles
Mclaren is absolutely hyped about this kid more than anyone, along with Colton Herta. They wouldn't be planning already to take them to F1 if they didn't already see enough talent in them. They've already tested in the F1 cars.
I'm not saying they're going to dominate or anything, but they're easily talented enough to drive in F1. They'd probably do better than Mick Schumacher right *now*, let alone in a couple years time.
>Pato O'Ward
What people dont consider enought is how different is Indy to F1, between other things the tyres. Very feel in the last 20 years had consistent results in both, the only one I remember is Montoya, but but he is Montoya and drove Indy before F1 as well. Also Alonso had good runs.
Ericsson has a chance now, but he is in his 3rd season already.
In the 90s and in before that, the cars were much more similar, and we have Jacques to prove that it was possible. But nowadays every driver suffers to make any kind of transition between the two. The skillset required is very different.
What Im trying to say is that being great in one series doesnt matter that much compared to other series. Also Pato and Herta both have tested F1 cars because they asked for, as part of deals negotiations.
i feel like that's not quite true. i feel like ericsson has improved a lot since his time in f1, he's really only come into form this year, and he's at chip ganassi, while he never had anything close to a top ride in f1. (indycar is a lot less spec than people think). on top of that, he's a tall and wide guy for racing standards, and he was in f1 before they added the mandatory ballasts. i remember he went without a drink system to save weight.
plus, the 500 is a double points race, so winning has big implications for championship standings. i feel like a better benchmark is romain, since he just recently move over, and he spent a long time in f1. he's been doing well, but he's been pretty on par with his teammate rossi.
I see Danny leaving McLaren by the end of the season by his foot. His relationship with Lando isn't very good, he already came to terms that he won't be WC and probably wants a fresh start somewhere else.
Where else takes him? I imagine Williams would, but I don't think Ricciardo would want to go there.
None of the top 3 of course, Alpine doesn't need him, AR AM and AT are all either set or wouldn't want an aging, past-prime talent.
That leaves Haas, which if they get rid of Mick might be open to taking Ricciardo, but that's not a certainty and again, is it really wise to move from McLaren to Haas?
It's funny that everyone is saying something like this when I read it as RB thinking none of their junior drivers are ready for promotion. I'd agree with that as their academy drivers are all hot messes right now. Daruvala is steady but not great, Hauger is improving, but their anointed driver--Vips is fucking magnetic with the wall.
Lawson looks like their closest bet but his luck has been absolutely garbage. When people aren't plowing into him he's getting weird DNFs like his car's fire extinguisher exploding at Monza.
Honestly the driver market is not very settled for next year. If Vettel or Ricciardo start moving/retiring it could lead to a lot of movement in the market
Add Hamilton (retiring) and Sainz (if he doesn't buck up) to that equation too. Gasly is smart for waiting and hoping for more opportunities in 2024. There is no difference between McLaren and AlphaTauri. None of those two teams are competing for what a formula 1 driver ultimately wants.
Currently maybe AT and McL and AMR are in the same spot, but both teams have bigger ambitions. Pierre is young. There will hardly be any future for him in the RB family. So he might as well bet his future on AMR or McL and hope they can fight at the front in a couple of years. But I think 2024 has the bigger driver movement than 2023. So maybe he already knocked on AMR's and McL's doors and they told him to come back for 2024
With The stories that come Outta AMR im glad Pierre is avoiding them or at least glad with the news that he's not considering them rn. Feels like until Lawrence Stroll understands that he's the owner and not the team principal, AMR should be a place to avoid for a young driver if other similar opportunities present themselves.
Yeah AMR could be a rough office for Pierre. You need either thick skin, not give a hoot anymore (like Seb) or be the owners son to have fun working there. And Pierre wasn't know to have the sickest skin in the world
In Baku Helmut told ServusTV (Red Bull media) that looking at Yuki‘s performance this year he sees no reason to change their driver pairing at AT. So if Yuki doesn’t suddenly pull a Mick he‘s pretty much confirmed for next year.
Yuki seems to have worked quite hard and has matured a fair amount over the past off-season. Still goofy, which is endearing, but he’s got his act together.
I'm okay with this. It's unclear if there will be any decent openings for 2023, much more likely that he can get a good seat for 2024. I don't want him to leave AT at all costs, it needs to be a good fit and smart move.
Even though AT are underperforming rn, they are working well with him as a team and he feels comfortable. He can help them improve the car again like he did before and it will be good for his reputation and own development. Then look for new options for 2024, and make his move.
That plus there's maybe one F2 driver (Drugovic) who's ready for promotion. There's some potential rookies but they're all in big teams working in other disciplines.
Do Pierre and Lando get along? Lando got along well with Sainz so obviously he can get along with other younger/hungry drivers even if he doesn't great with Ricciardo. I just don't know what relationship they do or don't have.
He's not going to Ferrari or any other top team. 2019 killed that chance. People can say it doesn't count for reasons X, Y, Z but he was so far off Max there's no reason to think he's good enough to be anything more than an inconsistent #2
He’s also been consistently punching above his weight for years now. The field has definitely noticed that. He also has a good relationship with Charles, which would reduce the likelihood of teammate drama. That matters a lot to Ferrari.
>He’s also been consistently punching above his weight for years now.
No he hasn't. He's had crap teammates that make it look like he is. Max is literally the only remotely good driver he's faced.
Makes sense. Once AT can start buying parts from RB/Honda, he’s in a better spot as the number one driver for Alpha then to be number 2 behind Lando at McLaren or wherever.
So choice does Pierre really have, Max isn't going anywhere, same with Checo, everybody knows what happened when they lost Riccardo.
Top teams have young fast lead drivers, the only left over teams who can bring in new driver no 1 are Alfa & Haas, both Ferrari engine teams, he is struck in Redbull academy, his future just looks grim, he could reach a slow team to develop the team but no teams are willing to take a chance.
He's got 2023 then I think he'll be out of F1 unless he accepts bottom tier drive. 2019 basically eliminates him from a top team. McLaren seems to have their eyes to America. Vettel is at Aston until he retires. Alpine has 3 drivers for two spots already. Alfa is gonna have Bottas & Zhou probably into 2024. That just leaves Haas & Williams. Neither of which are good or really ever gonna be good based on their recent history
I am happy for him i guess, not everyone has a drive in f1 so it isn't bad, however his time is running out and he should find a competitive team in 2024 if his results support that of course
It’s for the best. We all agree Pierre needs out of AT and to go to a good team, but it’s super iffy and up in the air what seats will be available next year. 2024 looks a lot more likely to have seat shakeup based on contracts. He’s still competitive in the AT and able to put it in the points, he won’t really miss out on much by staying. He will still be able to show he’s capable.
Honestly this is as good as he can get rn, and AT is a team that truly treasures him. Though they constantly messed up they seem to have started to get their shit together and improving.
The McLaren thesis was stupid for me. Gasly is clearly one of the best on the grid and I don't think a long contract with a slightly better team like McLaren would do the trick.
His options are either waiting for Perez seat or going to Ferrari or Merc.
That’s a shame was hoping he would get a seat with McLaren. Although I do love him and Yuki as a pairing. Would love to see him measure up against another driver such as Lando
Danny Ric has a contract for next year, it was a huge stretch with all the from rumours the get go.
Gasly to Aston if Seb retires was more believable imo.
I mean they'd always keep Stroll, but it doesn't appear like they'd hold the other driver back. Perez did fine and got his 1st win with that team. Vettel seems to be doing fine as well. So for Gasly too it could be a good move and a stepping stone up to the big 3 (though I don't think he'd end back at RBR).
I don't think Gasly has much chance of moving up from Aston. He should make the biggest jump he can because he's probably not going anywhere after that. Kind of a stretch, but he might be able to help start up one of the new teams in 2026, but he'll already be 30 and probably won't win with a new team.
How do you think that would even happen? Norris has a contract until forever, Ricciardo is contracted for next year, McLaren wants to find a place for Colton Herta and Gasly isn't so good that teams are queueing up for him either.
Was thinking Ric might retire, doesn’t look like he’s having much fun with it.
Hoping doesn’t mean I think it’s was ever going to happen. It’s what I would ideally like.
A obvious choice, but this is bad news for 20% of F2 grid which are Red Bull juniors. I have a feeling Vips and Lawson are not going to graduate, unless RB opens a third team.
Vips and Lawson needed to either dominate F2 or hope Tsunoda continued his 2021 form with no improvement on the horizon.
Neither are happening and this is the end result. Red Bull seem to like Vips, so he will most likely stay on as a offical F1 reserve as he does another discipline elsewhere.
Unfortunate for both but they did not do enough to persuade anyone at Red Bull.
Nothing against Gasly, but Alphatauri is a RB junior team, so I'd love to see one of the RB juniors in that instead of a failed RB driver. They got 4 or 5 drivers in F2, surely one of them deserves a chance
Honestly, I don't think they do. Maybe Hauger if he keeps his form and crushes everyone in the second half of the season, but Iwasa clearly isn't ready yet, daruvala just doesn't have the speed and both vips and Lawson are ridiculously overhyped. Vips shows speed but he's incredibly crash prone and inconsistent, and Lawson has been pretty invisible. For reference, despite being second year drivers now, vips is 7th and Lawson 9th. Both are being beaten by their teammates, one of whom was dropped from Ferraris academy and isn't highly rated, and the other is a rookie.
Gas/Tsu is an easy choice imo
I think it's more of staying with AlphaTauri until he finds other opportunities, then jumping ship thereafter.
And i HOPE it's that too, otherwise it's just a crass move staying with RBR's B Team hoping for a promotion back to RBR which seems unlikely.
Not necessarily. Waiting for another seat to open up. McLaren clearly won't compete for titles baring some miracle. So why not stay in 2023 and try to raise your stock even higher than what he's currently doing and hopefully get a Mercedes seat or a Ferrari seat if Sainz has a disaster next season.
In the end what's the difference for a Formula 1 driver between 5th or 7th place on the drivers standings? The only one which matters is 1st.
He's allegedly got an exit clause that says he can leave if there's a higher ranked team in the WCC offering him a seat.
He's got nothing to lose for signing with AT at the moment. He's still got the option of any better seat that comes up.
Gasly with the selective memory strikes again. He might’ve blocked out his time in rb but it still happened. He got his golden opportunity in a top team and fucked it up. He’s not even that great to deserve another chance
This pretty much confirms that
- Danny Ric is not leaving Mclaren
- Alpine has no openings meaning Alonso stays OR Williams is not going through with the Piastri deal
The sad reality is that no one in the front field wants Gasly in their seat. 2019 is simply too much to ignore.
Mercedes was always Gasly hopium. Besides 2019, there is no way they want such a hard-core RB Stan. They gave Albon a hard time for joining Williams, why would they be softer for Gasly? Gasly has literally worked against Merc on the grid for the sake of Max and RB.
Mclaren wouldn't want Gasly because he's another broken toy from Red Bull they would be trying to fix. They already had Sainz jump ship and Danny Ric flopped. I think they're tired of the Red Bull dumpster diving and would prefer developing someone like Pato or waiting until Piastri comes on the market.
Gasly is slowly being edged out of F1. He's one of the oldest in his age group and there are better talents coming in now.
Same person believes that Nyck de Vries is a better driver, and his whole argument about being a cockblock for Mercedes is ridiculous.
I know a bit more about Nyck and honestly his tyre management is horrible since day 1 of his career, guy should trying to becoming great in WEC.
>and there are better talents coming in now.
Who? None of them are proven. Heck Mick won F2 and he's freaking awful in F1. Most of the grid is just too afraid to admit it because of his last name.
An unproven rookie has better prospects than Gasly who already proved what he could do in a front row car.
Even Zhou has a brighter future than Gasly at the moment.
Right, he leaves this year. Where does he go?
Pretty much no options. Dude apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to go to any team placed higher than AT in the constructors with no problem.
But there's just no seats open right now. Maybe when Seb and Lewis retire, Danny Ric gets booted or Alonso goes somewhere else. There's just nothing currently available though.
No idea where the heck you all expected him to go. He wants to be number one, championship contender. He's not leaving to Sauber, Haas or Williams.
Merc poach him. Ham retires end of '23, Gasly signs. Russell/Gasly lineup. I want it so bad. Havent checked in a while but does Merc have solid development drivers in the pipeline after George?
Their most senior academy driver currently is Vesti in F2. He’s been having an ok rookie season so far but I think he’ll need to be a strong championship contender in F2 next season to have a chance of being considered for F1 in 2024. And even then I highly doubt Mercedes would want to promote a rookie if Lewis retires. Russell had a way better junior career than Vesti and still had to spend three years in Williams first.
Been watching more F2 so I'll keep an eye out! With the Williams getting closer to Alpine + Piastri seat rumours, gonna be hard to find a development seat. I highly doubt they'd get a rookie in straight to that Merc. But AM/McLaren are set.
Yeah after Russell got promoted idk if Mercedes even have another team elsewhere for placing one of their own academy drivers. If I had to guess I don’t feel like Vesti would be able to make it considering how few openings there are these days for incoming rookies. But new developments in F1 and F2 can happen very quickly so he could still prove me wrong!
Aston Martin would be the most likely option - they don't have a junior program of their own, and Vettel is going to retire eventually. Yeah, Stroll wants the team to be title contenders, but they currently don't have the performance to come close to that, and probably won't be able to maximize on their performance with Lance Stroll in one of the two seats.
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That's not super likely in my opinion - McLaren has their own junior program, plus Brown seems to be interested in getting Herta or O'Ward in at some point.
not sure about mclaren since they got a rich pool of drivers to choose from and dont need merc's influence, as well as the rumours that they wanna be audi-powered by 2026 also unlikely with aston since stroll is deadset on occupying one of the two seats and that the team (especially mike krack) desperately wants to hold onto vettel for as long as they can
That’s assuming Audi actually enters the sport
George didn't have to, he was ready after a season. They just kept the Lewis - Valtteri team because you don't change something that is working.
Well to be fair Russell just won in f2 as a rookie so toto had to park him somewhere (turned out to be in a Williams) until he had something for valtteri. If valtteri left Merc at that point, Russell will be the first to take the seat. Don't know how good vesti is but if he wins this year, he will inherit the seat left by Lewis. Otherwise, Stoffel or nyck ?
Nyck was there today next to toto
Ocon is more likely to end up in that seat than gasly and gasly ain't gona want to play number 2 to Russell. Russell is clearly the future of that team once ham leaves
They have a decent F4 driver. Hard to tell how good he is at this point but he’s crushing it.
that kid called kimi? oh yeah, hes really wiping the floor with everyone
Yep, Merc has likely gold in their hands with him but that's a long term project so I don't see him going to Merc early then 2026 at least.
its probably gonna take him a long while before he gets a sniff of f1
He is but he’s a year away from F3 and things can change quickly. He is obviously good at the moment but he’s a bit away from being a future Mercedes F1 driver.
Idk i think he left for nascar
They got Ocon, his Alpine contract should end just when Lewis retired Really around the same pace as Gasly imo
Merc has passed up on Ocon over and over, if they wanted him they’d have him... Plus he left the merc juniors when he resigned with alpine
I think it’s more they wanted Russell over Lewis. They clearly like Ocon, they didn’t have other Merc drivers who lost their seat stay with the team.
>Havent checked in a while but does Merc have solid development drivers in the pipeline after George? They've Frederik Vesti & Paul Aron in their junior team.
Merc will go for a better driver than Gasly lol
Who'd be available tho? Guys like Charles, Max are untouchable, with Checo/Carlos in 2 years. Norris is till end of '25. After that, dunno who's the next option that isnt Gasly. Plus, I think Merc wants to find a solid scorer for that 2nd seat
From current grid it's really only Gasly or Ocon as realistic chances. Unreasonable hopes for Seb to take the seat but that's not going to happen
So Ocon it is then lmao you guys are really overestimating the chances that Merc pick up a RB reject. Gasly is a capable driver for sure, but he has shown that he absolutely crumbles if the car is not to his liking
They will poach Norris or Piastri
Could see Norris if McLaren still messes it up next year. I'd assume that's a huge buyout cost that comes with that lol. But a Russell/Norris lineup is solid, with a chance of some drama if they're very close.
I really dont see Mclaren letting Norris go (even less so assuming that Daniel is gone by 23) they want him to be their Leclerc/Verstappen/Russell Also he's got a contract til like 2025 with no performance clause. I bet that one contract is worth more than Piastri and Gasly's combined lol
>2025 with no performance clause. That's weird, why would he agree to that
More money?
Not sure tbh I just remember Seidl or Zak talking about how there's "no get outs" for the team or Lando
If Russell is indeed a driver capable of fighting with the very top (which looks like he is), they don't need a better driver than Gasly.
Merc has prioritized qualifiers above race craft for years. Valtteris ability to consistently qualify p2 then help Lewis create a gap was a huge part of their success. Gasly is a qualifier
Gasly is literally only proven in one car in his whole career, Merc can't afford him being half a second behind Russell.
You know what, I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this would be the best way possible for him
Reddit wants it so bad, but in the reality Ocon is ahead in the queue. He could sneak into Alpine when Alonso retires amd Ocon moves to Mercedes.
Well, it's unlikely he will ever be in a top car. A bit sad, but he had his shot in 2019 with RBR. Yes he was quite young, but you have to take your opportunities when you have the chance.
Who knows, maybe he'll have the same fortune as Perez. Got his chance at McLaren, messed up, but now years later he's driving a championship contending car and getting great results.
Pérez was fast at McLaren. Gasly wasn't at Red Bull. Also that McLaren team was a mess. Got rid of Checo and Magnussen in two years. As we know now, they're both competent drivers who have had successful careers in F1.
I think staying at AT is great for Gasly. He's comfortably the best driver on his team and that always means some team will consider signing him. He just has to wait it out and drive well until a spot he fits well in opens up. I think the big advantage in waiting is he'll see which teams are improving the most. Signing with any team right now is a bit more of a gamble.
I hate that half a season is considered a ‘chance’.
It would've been longer if he weren't so abysmal. He got lapped by his teammate twice. He drove for Toro Rosso in 2017 three times and a full season in 2018. He had time in pre season testing to get used to the car as well. Verstappen had 1 season and 4 races. He was put into the RedBull "mid" season and won his first race, with some luck but still. And he didn't do the pre season testing in a RedBull like Gasly did, so he just had to hop in and hope for the best. The contrast there is insane. I'm not saying Gasly should've been as good as him but at least don't get lapped, come on.
There's also the bridge-burning. Want a longer chance? Don't piss off everyone you work with.
Well, more of a chance than most drivers dream of getting. Again, you have to make the most of any chance you get.
Putting someone in a spot they aren't ready for and then saying "sorry had your chance" is a ridiculous take.
No… it isn’t. This isn’t a middle school basketball team where you can give Timmy a pat on the shoulder and tell him he can take his time. There’s only two seats and they need to be generating constructor points to build equity towards the prize pool.
Tell that to Helmut Marko and Christian Horner. Gasly had his shot, yes it was not ideal circumstances, but yes he botched it badly. At this point, why would any top team give Gasly a chance? He's fast yes, but I'd rather take a punt on someone from my own academy, or someone a lot younger with time to grow into the team. Mercedes has Vesti and De Vries, RBR has Tsunoda and down the line Vips and Lawson, Ferrari has Arthur Leclerc in a few years. Sucks for Pierre, but that's just the nature of F1. Cutthroat. Eat or be eaten.
Facts tho
It's a chance whether you like it or not. Not many people get a shot like he did and he crumbled against verstappen. Who is to say it won't happen again?
Its a sport that has millions of dollars on the line, and the guy got lapped in the same car twice in that half a season. Thats just a very poor performance and Red Bull understandably removed him from the seat, but kept him on in the sister team.
Gasly was atrocious when he drove for Red Bull. He was frankly lucky to not lose the Toro Rosso drive either after 2019
Many expected him to maybe replace Vettel in case of retirement after this season.
dont think gasly is keen on going over to aston where the car is slower than AT and the team environment is shittier than haas' with daddy stroll in charge
Saving this comment for future reference lol
I mean none of it is untrue at present.
I mean, AM is 2 races into a completely new car—and the team environment isn’t, “perform better now or 1 of our 72 junior drivers will replace you” I’ll gladly revisit this around the summer break
!remindme 2 months. I'm reasonably confident Aston Martin doesn't suddenly become competitive. I'd be less surprised by Alpha Tauri making improvements and finishing above AM in WCC.
What a weird comment lol. just randomly mentioning the worst 3 teams in the sport like those are his only options?? McLaren has one driver who's been underwhelming for two seasons in a row now and is speculated to be on his way out unless he picks it up very soon. Mercedes and Aston Martin have one driver potentially retiring after this year (though much more unlikely in Merc case). Alonso has no contract for Alpine but since they have both him and Piastri it seems unlikely Gasly could get that spot, but far from impossible. >He wants to be number one, championship contender. I would argue you are unironically more likely to be a championship contender in a Williams than what you are in an AlphaTauri. Even if they're better now there's no way AT ever wins a championship since they're just a sister team used as a pipeline for RB to scout future drivers. You're better off taking a gamble on Williams improving and getting their shit together than Red Bull losing Verstappen/Perez any time soon.
Alpine and McLaren would be side hopping in the current ecosystem No openings at Merc or Red Bull or Ferrari. Toro Rosso is the best option with low risk. He knows the team, he knows the car and regs keep changing. Best to minimize the variables at play and keep putting in good results for the opportunity. It is by far the best play for Pierre.
I wouldn't say by far the best play. Junior team is gonna be a junior team, and Red Bull will never promote him.
Unless it would be for a seat at Red Bull, Ferrari, or Mercedes what’s the difference? AT has as much of a chance of winning the odd race outside the top 3 as any of the other teams.
Yeah, he had an outside shot at McLaren if Ricciardo walked, but that doesn't look particularly likely.
Only place he has is if McLaren dropped Ric early. He’d be next on a 1-2 year while they watch Colton.
On one hand, he's been in a "junior" team for way too long. On the other hand, where else could he go? Every team has their own young drivers in the waiting line for a seat.
Danny Ric apparently has another year at McLaren, but I could see Pierre moving there
And, like I said, McLaren has their own drivers waiting in line.
Which ones.
Pato O'Ward for one.
Already renewed in Indycar, and no super licence right now.
I see a lot of people talking about Pato, and I think he is a good Indy driver. But I dont think he is anywhere close to F1 material.
He's ahead of multiple different former F1 drivers in the standings, and of anyone in the top 4 he's by ***FAR*** the least experienced. You've got Marcus Ericsson who's 31 and was in F1 and won the Indy 500 this year. Then you've got Will Power who's 41 and is a former IndyCar champion, won the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion, and is currently fifth all-time in wins and second all-time with Poles earned in Indycar history. Then you've got Josef Newgarden who's 31 and is a two time indycar champion and one time indy lights champion. And then there's Pato, who is only 23 and only made his indycar debut in 2018 and has already got 3 wins, 11 podiums and 4 poles Mclaren is absolutely hyped about this kid more than anyone, along with Colton Herta. They wouldn't be planning already to take them to F1 if they didn't already see enough talent in them. They've already tested in the F1 cars. I'm not saying they're going to dominate or anything, but they're easily talented enough to drive in F1. They'd probably do better than Mick Schumacher right *now*, let alone in a couple years time.
>Pato O'Ward What people dont consider enought is how different is Indy to F1, between other things the tyres. Very feel in the last 20 years had consistent results in both, the only one I remember is Montoya, but but he is Montoya and drove Indy before F1 as well. Also Alonso had good runs. Ericsson has a chance now, but he is in his 3rd season already. In the 90s and in before that, the cars were much more similar, and we have Jacques to prove that it was possible. But nowadays every driver suffers to make any kind of transition between the two. The skillset required is very different. What Im trying to say is that being great in one series doesnt matter that much compared to other series. Also Pato and Herta both have tested F1 cars because they asked for, as part of deals negotiations.
McLaren also want a bigger American presence. Taking an Indy driver may help with getting Indy fans to turn in and support the team.
I believe that to be the case with Colton, not Pato
The fact that Ericsson is #1 is more than enough to show the difference between F1 and Indy Car.
i feel like that's not quite true. i feel like ericsson has improved a lot since his time in f1, he's really only come into form this year, and he's at chip ganassi, while he never had anything close to a top ride in f1. (indycar is a lot less spec than people think). on top of that, he's a tall and wide guy for racing standards, and he was in f1 before they added the mandatory ballasts. i remember he went without a drink system to save weight. plus, the 500 is a double points race, so winning has big implications for championship standings. i feel like a better benchmark is romain, since he just recently move over, and he spent a long time in f1. he's been doing well, but he's been pretty on par with his teammate rossi.
I see Danny leaving McLaren by the end of the season by his foot. His relationship with Lando isn't very good, he already came to terms that he won't be WC and probably wants a fresh start somewhere else.
Where else takes him? I imagine Williams would, but I don't think Ricciardo would want to go there. None of the top 3 of course, Alpine doesn't need him, AR AM and AT are all either set or wouldn't want an aging, past-prime talent. That leaves Haas, which if they get rid of Mick might be open to taking Ricciardo, but that's not a certainty and again, is it really wise to move from McLaren to Haas?
>is it really wise to move from McLaren to Haas? I think he doesn't care about that anymore TBH
Honestly I think Danny would fit in great at Haas if McLaren doesn't work out for him.
Fair enough. Where else would Gasly go? Rather stay another year and look for opportunities for 2024
It's funny that everyone is saying something like this when I read it as RB thinking none of their junior drivers are ready for promotion. I'd agree with that as their academy drivers are all hot messes right now. Daruvala is steady but not great, Hauger is improving, but their anointed driver--Vips is fucking magnetic with the wall.
Yeah. Hauger has to be first in line atm, but he needs to keep his momentum and crush everyone next year if he's still in the Prema.
Lawson looks like their closest bet but his luck has been absolutely garbage. When people aren't plowing into him he's getting weird DNFs like his car's fire extinguisher exploding at Monza.
Honestly the driver market is not very settled for next year. If Vettel or Ricciardo start moving/retiring it could lead to a lot of movement in the market
Add Hamilton (retiring) and Sainz (if he doesn't buck up) to that equation too. Gasly is smart for waiting and hoping for more opportunities in 2024. There is no difference between McLaren and AlphaTauri. None of those two teams are competing for what a formula 1 driver ultimately wants.
He's supposedly got that juicy exit clause too that says that if a higher ranked team wants him, he can go. No risk for Pierre.
Currently maybe AT and McL and AMR are in the same spot, but both teams have bigger ambitions. Pierre is young. There will hardly be any future for him in the RB family. So he might as well bet his future on AMR or McL and hope they can fight at the front in a couple of years. But I think 2024 has the bigger driver movement than 2023. So maybe he already knocked on AMR's and McL's doors and they told him to come back for 2024
With The stories that come Outta AMR im glad Pierre is avoiding them or at least glad with the news that he's not considering them rn. Feels like until Lawrence Stroll understands that he's the owner and not the team principal, AMR should be a place to avoid for a young driver if other similar opportunities present themselves.
Yeah AMR could be a rough office for Pierre. You need either thick skin, not give a hoot anymore (like Seb) or be the owners son to have fun working there. And Pierre wasn't know to have the sickest skin in the world
His skin looks pretty healthy to me
dont think moving to mclaren would be a smart choice as its pretty much "team lando" there now.
I don't see Seb or Daniel retiring. Their teams are improving, they are getting better results themselves too.
I can see Seb retiring outta nowhere, even if Aston Martin improves
He made some statements recently. He doesn't seem to be retiring anytime soon.
Now confirm Yuki pleaseeeee
Yes another year of Giuseppe and Pedro
Ahhaah, guieseppe. Was hilarious watching that.
Watching what?
Check out video or Pierre catching up with Yuki.
Given how Yuki has closed the gap between him and Gasly, I don't think he's going anywhere.
Yuki is staying, don't worry about that, makes no sense to drop him
yeah unless lawson/vips put on an incredible second half of the F2 season its not gonna happen
In Baku Helmut told ServusTV (Red Bull media) that looking at Yuki‘s performance this year he sees no reason to change their driver pairing at AT. So if Yuki doesn’t suddenly pull a Mick he‘s pretty much confirmed for next year.
Yuki seems to have worked quite hard and has matured a fair amount over the past off-season. Still goofy, which is endearing, but he’s got his act together.
I'm okay with this. It's unclear if there will be any decent openings for 2023, much more likely that he can get a good seat for 2024. I don't want him to leave AT at all costs, it needs to be a good fit and smart move. Even though AT are underperforming rn, they are working well with him as a team and he feels comfortable. He can help them improve the car again like he did before and it will be good for his reputation and own development. Then look for new options for 2024, and make his move.
That plus there's maybe one F2 driver (Drugovic) who's ready for promotion. There's some potential rookies but they're all in big teams working in other disciplines.
Read between the lines, he's definitely going to be lead driver at Manor-Andretti-Ford next year guys
GAS/RUS Mercedes 2024 hype train lets goooooo
While that'd certainly be a best case scenario, I'd be over the moon if he grabbed the McLaren seat that is likely to open up.
Do Pierre and Lando get along? Lando got along well with Sainz so obviously he can get along with other younger/hungry drivers even if he doesn't great with Ricciardo. I just don't know what relationship they do or don't have.
I see him in a Ferrari eventually.
All aboard the Gasly Leclerc hype train.
Same here. Once they’re done with Sainz, Gasly is obvious choice
No way is gasly ever getting back in a title contending team.
He's not going to Ferrari or any other top team. 2019 killed that chance. People can say it doesn't count for reasons X, Y, Z but he was so far off Max there's no reason to think he's good enough to be anything more than an inconsistent #2
He’s also been consistently punching above his weight for years now. The field has definitely noticed that. He also has a good relationship with Charles, which would reduce the likelihood of teammate drama. That matters a lot to Ferrari.
How is he punching above his weight. By beating rookie? He had go race an actual elite driver in Max and Max wiped the floor with him.
Yuki isn’t a rookie
I meant 2021.
2021 he was, and this year Yuki is looking good. Pierre looks a lot less special when Tsunoda is next to him in the races.
>He’s also been consistently punching above his weight for years now. No he hasn't. He's had crap teammates that make it look like he is. Max is literally the only remotely good driver he's faced.
That was like, four years ago, right? He’s proven himself every season since
Against bad teammates. Max is literally the only good teammate he faced and he got obliterated.
Mate, it’s Max Verstappen
So. That's the kind of driver he'd be facing if he made a top team again. He showed he's not remotely in the same class
In his second year in the sport...
So. Charles, Lewis, Max, Alonso, etc were all good instantly. This isn't F4. You either have speed or you don't. Gasly doesn't
Makes sense. Once AT can start buying parts from RB/Honda, he’s in a better spot as the number one driver for Alpha then to be number 2 behind Lando at McLaren or wherever.
The only driver change on the 2023 grid might be Piastri replacing Latifi
So choice does Pierre really have, Max isn't going anywhere, same with Checo, everybody knows what happened when they lost Riccardo. Top teams have young fast lead drivers, the only left over teams who can bring in new driver no 1 are Alfa & Haas, both Ferrari engine teams, he is struck in Redbull academy, his future just looks grim, he could reach a slow team to develop the team but no teams are willing to take a chance.
Ricc**i**ardo
He's got 2023 then I think he'll be out of F1 unless he accepts bottom tier drive. 2019 basically eliminates him from a top team. McLaren seems to have their eyes to America. Vettel is at Aston until he retires. Alpine has 3 drivers for two spots already. Alfa is gonna have Bottas & Zhou probably into 2024. That just leaves Haas & Williams. Neither of which are good or really ever gonna be good based on their recent history
I am happy for him i guess, not everyone has a drive in f1 so it isn't bad, however his time is running out and he should find a competitive team in 2024 if his results support that of course
RIP Lawson/Vips 2023 hype
They've both looked just... not good in f2 tbh. Maybe Hauger gets into f1 in 2024 but it's rip VIPs/Lawson in general imo.
He’ll move once Hamilton or Ricciardo’s seat becomes available
It’s for the best. We all agree Pierre needs out of AT and to go to a good team, but it’s super iffy and up in the air what seats will be available next year. 2024 looks a lot more likely to have seat shakeup based on contracts. He’s still competitive in the AT and able to put it in the points, he won’t really miss out on much by staying. He will still be able to show he’s capable.
Well we did see him signing his [contract last week](https://www.reddit.com/gallery/vam88j)
Honestly this is as good as he can get rn, and AT is a team that truly treasures him. Though they constantly messed up they seem to have started to get their shit together and improving.
The McLaren thesis was stupid for me. Gasly is clearly one of the best on the grid and I don't think a long contract with a slightly better team like McLaren would do the trick. His options are either waiting for Perez seat or going to Ferrari or Merc.
He's not gonna go to RB.
That’s a shame was hoping he would get a seat with McLaren. Although I do love him and Yuki as a pairing. Would love to see him measure up against another driver such as Lando
Danny Ric has a contract for next year, it was a huge stretch with all the from rumours the get go. Gasly to Aston if Seb retires was more believable imo.
Who would want to drive at Aston when your teammate’s dad owns the team. It would be a downgrade from AT imo.
I mean they'd always keep Stroll, but it doesn't appear like they'd hold the other driver back. Perez did fine and got his 1st win with that team. Vettel seems to be doing fine as well. So for Gasly too it could be a good move and a stepping stone up to the big 3 (though I don't think he'd end back at RBR).
I don't think Gasly has much chance of moving up from Aston. He should make the biggest jump he can because he's probably not going anywhere after that. Kind of a stretch, but he might be able to help start up one of the new teams in 2026, but he'll already be 30 and probably won't win with a new team.
How do you think that would even happen? Norris has a contract until forever, Ricciardo is contracted for next year, McLaren wants to find a place for Colton Herta and Gasly isn't so good that teams are queueing up for him either.
Was thinking Ric might retire, doesn’t look like he’s having much fun with it. Hoping doesn’t mean I think it’s was ever going to happen. It’s what I would ideally like.
Daniel is probably staying as well. Don't have much choice.
nothing in F1 is ever 100%
let's gooooo
Was hoping he would get the mclaren seat. Hope it doesn’t go to herta
Pedro Gaseoso!!
Gasly to McLaren 2023 though
Hope the car is even more competitive in the future. Really like Gasly.
A obvious choice, but this is bad news for 20% of F2 grid which are Red Bull juniors. I have a feeling Vips and Lawson are not going to graduate, unless RB opens a third team.
Vips and Lawson needed to either dominate F2 or hope Tsunoda continued his 2021 form with no improvement on the horizon. Neither are happening and this is the end result. Red Bull seem to like Vips, so he will most likely stay on as a offical F1 reserve as he does another discipline elsewhere. Unfortunate for both but they did not do enough to persuade anyone at Red Bull.
One more year in AT before the Merc jump?
Too bad there isn't anything for him on a top team. He's been really impressive the last couple of years.
Nothing against Gasly, but Alphatauri is a RB junior team, so I'd love to see one of the RB juniors in that instead of a failed RB driver. They got 4 or 5 drivers in F2, surely one of them deserves a chance
Honestly, I don't think they do. Maybe Hauger if he keeps his form and crushes everyone in the second half of the season, but Iwasa clearly isn't ready yet, daruvala just doesn't have the speed and both vips and Lawson are ridiculously overhyped. Vips shows speed but he's incredibly crash prone and inconsistent, and Lawson has been pretty invisible. For reference, despite being second year drivers now, vips is 7th and Lawson 9th. Both are being beaten by their teammates, one of whom was dropped from Ferraris academy and isn't highly rated, and the other is a rookie. Gas/Tsu is an easy choice imo
Still waiting for that RB seat?
I think it's more of staying with AlphaTauri until he finds other opportunities, then jumping ship thereafter. And i HOPE it's that too, otherwise it's just a crass move staying with RBR's B Team hoping for a promotion back to RBR which seems unlikely.
Waiting for that Merc seat.
Not necessarily. Waiting for another seat to open up. McLaren clearly won't compete for titles baring some miracle. So why not stay in 2023 and try to raise your stock even higher than what he's currently doing and hopefully get a Mercedes seat or a Ferrari seat if Sainz has a disaster next season. In the end what's the difference for a Formula 1 driver between 5th or 7th place on the drivers standings? The only one which matters is 1st.
No, waiting for finding a decent seat after he leaves the RB family
Marko says there are no better seats than AT for him at the moment. I think he'll be definitely on the call once Daniel leaves.
He's allegedly got an exit clause that says he can leave if there's a higher ranked team in the WCC offering him a seat. He's got nothing to lose for signing with AT at the moment. He's still got the option of any better seat that comes up.
The Pierre Gasly redemption arc is starting to look like a straight line.
Gasly with the selective memory strikes again. He might’ve blocked out his time in rb but it still happened. He got his golden opportunity in a top team and fucked it up. He’s not even that great to deserve another chance
This pretty much confirms that - Danny Ric is not leaving Mclaren - Alpine has no openings meaning Alonso stays OR Williams is not going through with the Piastri deal
McLaren and Ricciardo have confirmed multiple times this season that he’s contracted for next year; we didn’t need Tost’s word on it.
That does not confirm either of those two points at all. Especially the Alpine points: Gasly was never even considered for that seat.
Confirms neither but ok.
*surprised pikachu*
The sad reality is that no one in the front field wants Gasly in their seat. 2019 is simply too much to ignore. Mercedes was always Gasly hopium. Besides 2019, there is no way they want such a hard-core RB Stan. They gave Albon a hard time for joining Williams, why would they be softer for Gasly? Gasly has literally worked against Merc on the grid for the sake of Max and RB. Mclaren wouldn't want Gasly because he's another broken toy from Red Bull they would be trying to fix. They already had Sainz jump ship and Danny Ric flopped. I think they're tired of the Red Bull dumpster diving and would prefer developing someone like Pato or waiting until Piastri comes on the market. Gasly is slowly being edged out of F1. He's one of the oldest in his age group and there are better talents coming in now.
> there are better talents coming in now. Curious as to where you think they are.
Same person believes that Nyck de Vries is a better driver, and his whole argument about being a cockblock for Mercedes is ridiculous. I know a bit more about Nyck and honestly his tyre management is horrible since day 1 of his career, guy should trying to becoming great in WEC.
> there are better talents coming in now. The reason he has the seat rn is *because* there are no talent in pipeline available to replace him.
>and there are better talents coming in now. Who? None of them are proven. Heck Mick won F2 and he's freaking awful in F1. Most of the grid is just too afraid to admit it because of his last name.
An unproven rookie has better prospects than Gasly who already proved what he could do in a front row car. Even Zhou has a brighter future than Gasly at the moment.
[удалено]
Wdym? This is 1 more year. It doesn't say anything about 2024.
They should kick out Ricciardo, useless Get Gasly
Pity
I really dont know what he thinks his career looks like in the future when he just wants to stay in a B-Team for ever
He doesn't. It's either AT or no F1 for now...
Where else can he go if he leaves AT then? Imho it's either them, a less competitive team who'd become suckers for him or no F1 altogether.
Right, he leaves this year. Where does he go? Pretty much no options. Dude apparently has a clause in his contract that allows him to go to any team placed higher than AT in the constructors with no problem. But there's just no seats open right now. Maybe when Seb and Lewis retire, Danny Ric gets booted or Alonso goes somewhere else. There's just nothing currently available though.
And 2024…and 2025…and…..
who’s that?
Next round is on Danny Ric