He is a great racer - still - and I think he would give it another go if a team would accept him, but he would want paying a lot. However there are a lot of young drivers out there who the teams will see as a better investment - cheap, no baggage and easily molded into what they want. However experience in developing a car and giving feedback is valued and he would be able to do this better than the young drivers - but at what cost?
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All very good arguments I suspect.
The odd situation this year with having two consecutive GPs at the same circuit makes for an interesting comparison. Austria has traditionally been a bogey track for Merc (along with Singapore), so I predict that Mad Max will get the luck that deserted him last weekend (and adhered itself to LeClerc and Lando). Just a shame thereās no Orange Army in the grandstand!
Yeah Austria could be a bogey track for Mercs although they didnāt seem to do to bad last weekend, if you take out the penalty. But then they have two stints at Silverstone that must be good for Hamilton.
Alonso for Reggie in 2021?
I am a big fan of Fernandoā¦butā¦ 
The Renault performance in race 1 was a bit pish. Maybe they could do with some of the old Blade runner magic? Can they afford his salary?
Interested to hear Sainz Jr mentioning his dad was still racing, so I looked it up and apparently Senior just won the Dakar, aged 58!
So maybe age shouldnāt be seen as a barrier to excellent performanceā¦
Oh, itās confirmed! Alonso back for 2021!
Bonus question: pipe & slippers for Vettel?
Good question Fred, can see him with pipe in mouth in a shed tinkering with his classic bikes.
Heās had his entire life to get angry and frustrated by racism, all thatās different right now is people are asking him about it. He doesnāt look to me as if heās lost any focus on the track, heās just not the only guy out there with the talent and who really, really wants to win.
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Saw an article where Mark Webber said Ricciardo dodged a bullet by not joining Ferrari. He reckons things will be more laid back for him at McLaren.
Oh no Lando overtakes under yellow and get 3 grid penalty for this weekends race.
Also this weeks race, may be a wet one going by weather forecast, so there might be some surprises.
Ricciardo bins it big time in last corner, Renault totalled.
Yet again Formula 1 scores an own goal by penalising racing drivers for behaving like racing drivers . Itās bad enough being penalised because your engine breaks (which race engines used to do all the time ) but even worse is the ludicrous blame culture which now pervades F1 .
Many drivers are guilty of exploiting a misjudged overtake by bleating on the radio to their team about what the naughty man just did . They should STFU and race instead .
Penalties should be reserved for cynical attempts to push a rival off track - Schumacher on Hill in 94 and Villeneuve in 97 , Vettel on Hamilton at Baku 2017
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Donāt know if I missed something, but it looked like he was already committed to overtaking the other cars, before yellow. And anyway it didnāt Look like he put anyone in danger.
āIt was I ā¦LāClerc.
Listen varee car-foolyā¦I shall bin thees honly vunceā¦ā
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First lap red mist for one red car driver, into 3rd corner,
What a plonker Rodney. Avec moiā¦Avec moi.
Did anybody catch the radio message from Toto at the end?
āLewis, your driving was *******ā.
I couldnāt make out what he said?
Yeah would also like to know what Binotto said at the end of first lap and later in the Debrief room. Bet all their faces were as red as their uniforms. Donāt think it would have made much difference to the result any how. Total lash up from Ferrari yet again.
At least LeClerc accepted responsibility and was apologetic. Obviously it was a huge disaster for the whole team, but it makes a change that a driver says sorry. Going back to the point of the thread - the young drivers were certainly making the race more entertainingā¦
However you cannot say that Hamilton was not head and shoulders above everyone else during practice and on race dayā¦ When that guy has a point to prove he is currently unbeatableā¦
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I totally agree Snelly, about the weekend, BUT if some of the young guns were in equivalent machinery, would it be the same, the future will only tell.
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Still trying to work out who the new Mercedes driver is, according to Ch.4ās subtitles.
Some guy called āValkyrie Bottleā?
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Letās see what happens today, with 4 Mercedes drivers up at the front.
Maybe they should run races in pairs and then have reverse grid for second race, that would be more interesting, sort out the men from the boys and see who the overtakers are. Go George RussellšŖ