[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

I see RIC's move to AT as a suicide mission !

Because the AT car (AT04) really s@cks and RIC s@cks too in a bad car ...
Can't wait to see him drive it , and I really hope the best for him .

On the other hand !

If RIC (still)! can show it , like in his glorious days of the past ...
Well ...Then his has a very good chance to get Checo's seat in 2024 .
But I fear the worse for him , and see his new chance more like a F1 Exit !

Marko doesn't even know himself, he's waiting to see if Checo is more consistent but if not then it's probably Yuki to the 11 car who poses no real threat to Max.
Charlie is married to Ferrari and Lando is the loose cannon now that can jump ship, Carlo should watch out as 'Ferrari' or whoever it is that rules the outfit doesn't like any of the drivers bitching too much, say too much and you're out, Fred just follows orders.
Agree that it's just a matter of time before RIC is pensioned off.

[Artemis]

In December 2020, De Vries performed his first F1 test for the Mercedes team at the season-ending Young Driver Test. In 2021 he became one of the reserve drivers for the Mercedes team.

But it looks like Toto Wolff didn't mind him leaving to Alpha Tauri.

If Wolff is convinced that De Vries has F1 talent of the calibre of Russell, Norris, Leclerc or Verstappen, he could welcome the Prodigal Son again at Mercedes. Wolff knows him well: that's an advantage ...or disadvantage.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by Artemis

In December 2020, De Vries performed his first F1 test for the Mercedes team at the season-ending Young Driver Test. In 2021 he became one of the reserve drivers for the Mercedes team.

But it looks like Toto Wolff didn't mind him leaving to Alpha Tauri.

If Wolff is convinced that De Vries has F1 talent of the calibre of Russell, Norris, Leclerc or Verstappen, he could welcome the Prodigal Son again at Mercedes. Wolff knows him well: that's an advantage ...or disadvantage.

DEV being shown the door after 10 races at AT than TSU who hasn't been great himself being there much longer, he holds the Honda name to his advantage.

[F32Fleet]

Originally Posted by g21

all fresh drivers are cheap.

but fresh drivers are untested.

Danny Ric is an animal that they know, so happy to use him.

Just don't understand why they are not using fresh blood.

the 2022 F2 1st 2nd and 3rd all have no drives in F1

Yep.

II bet Ric is even cheaper as in essentially free and he's a known quantity (unlikely to wreck, hitting the ground running, etc.). Perhaps they don't want to burn the rest of their season on another rookie and would try to earn some points/money? AT is dead last at 2 pts. Of course if the car is shit not even Max will get you there.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by Artemis

In December 2020, De Vries performed his first F1 test for the Mercedes team at the season-ending Young Driver Test. In 2021 he became one of the reserve drivers for the Mercedes team.

But it looks like Toto Wolff didn't mind him leaving to Alpha Tauri.

If Wolff is convinced that De Vries has F1 talent of the calibre of Russell, Norris, Leclerc or Verstappen, he could welcome the Prodigal Son again at Mercedes. Wolff knows him well: that's an advantage ...or disadvantage.

Wolff should give De Vries a Mercedes contract to replace LEW ..
LEW's $230 Million contract demand is too expensive anyway !

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by g21

all fresh drivers are cheap.

but fresh drivers are untested.

Danny Ric is an animal that they know, so happy to use him.

Just don't understand why they are not using fresh blood.

the 2022 F2 1st 2nd and 3rd all have no drives in F1

I didn't see an animal in the 2022 McLaren...

But actually I agree . A turtle is also an animal

[chuckthis]

Originally Posted by Artemis

In December 2020, De Vries performed his first F1 test for the Mercedes team at the season-ending Young Driver Test. In 2021 he became one of the reserve drivers for the Mercedes team.

But it looks like Toto Wolff didn't mind him leaving to Alpha Tauri.

If Wolff is convinced that De Vries has F1 talent of the calibre of Russell, Norris, Leclerc or Verstappen, he could welcome the Prodigal Son again at Mercedes. Wolff knows him well: that's an advantage ...or disadvantage.

Toto already welcomed Mick into Mercedes, one Prodigal Son at a time.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Wolff should give De Vries a Mercedes contract to replace LEW ..
LEW's $230 Million contract demand is too expensive anyway !

My friend, we all know that wolfy is the biggest idiot with too much money, I think de Vries would be the bargain of the season in Merc replacing LEW and having a decent car would be hounding the Russell boy before long

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

My friend, we all know that wolfy is the biggest idiot with too much money, I think de Vries would be the bargain of the season in Merc replacing LEW and having a decent car would be hounding the Russell boy before long

Breaking news !

As you can see my friend

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

I didn't see an animal in the 2022 McLaren...

But actually I agree . A turtle is also an animal

This is my song for RIC in AT, a track to nowhere

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Breaking news !

As you can see my friend

If LEW keeps on with his silly demand then what the hell...it's gonna happen !

[GuidoK]

I wonder...
It's clear that DEV has been replaced by RIC to see if RIC is fit and fast enough to replace PER next year. They want to give RIC as much races as possible to put down a decent performance for that.
But what RIC also gets beaten over and over by TSU (TSU has improved himself quite a bit since GAS left imho, so I'm still not convinced that RIC will beat TSU).
Will they (Marko) promote TSU to replace PER?

I mean, Marko now still states that PER race pace is good (or adequate) but we all know that it's sub par, considering the car he's driving and how Max performs. And that has been an ongoing saga since mid season last year that difference in performance is enormous. Even if you take away PER bad qualifying sessions. The way PER cuts through the field and the way Max does it, is a world apart. Just look at Miami.

And I don't think TSU minds playing 2nd driver at RB like PER did. For TSU it would be a huge promotion any way you look at it.

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

If LEW keeps on with his silly demand then what the hell...it's gonna happen !

And here is RIC in the RB19...

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by 3798j

While the rumor was out there, the announcement was just a couple of hours ago. RedBull's "sink-or-swim" environment sure eats up young talent.

The same enviroment resulted in Max now decimating the field 2 years in a row, and the only driver that could rival Hammy with a spectacular driving style.
Yes it's hard, but there are 2 plus sides: more drivers get a chance (I mean, how long has DEV been on the bench at Mercedes, never got a chance, and to put it even stronger: how many new talent got a chance at Mercedes anyway?), and if you're good, you can promote yourself very fast to the top cars.

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by chuckthis

Toto already welcomed Mick into Mercedes, one Prodigal Son at a time.

Mick will get just as much racetime at Mercedes as Nyck did. Zero..Nothing....Nada.
Sitting on the bench at Mercedes is a dead end. Sitting on the bench at RB not, as you make a chance to perform at AT, and if you succeed, you're into RB with the fastest car on the grid.
It sucks when you have a seat and things are not going to plan or if you have trouble with the pressure.
But it rules when you're on the bench.

[GuidoK]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

It depends how RIC is performing during the tyre test in the RB19 , from there Marko will see how it goes with RIC .

I think Marko made up his mind before that.
This is what Jack Plooij said preceding the austrian GP, where he said Nyck only had 2 races to show performance (I guess that means getting points, so Austria and Silverstone):
https://youtube.com/shorts/PTuX2uUPTaM

So I think the performance at the tyre test was not that important. Nyck sealed his fate himself.

And maybe Nyck even knew it earlier, which would explain his action on KMag at the canadian GP (which was for P12, so a close chance of scoring a point)
That action where he rammed KMag oozed desperation.
It's superhard, and his bad luck is that RB has RIC on the shelf and they're looking for a replacement for Checo (despite Marko saying the opposite....) but Nyck still got more chances at AT than sitting on the bench at Merc...

Nyck's biggest chance....Ricciardo doing great this year, replaces Perez next year (Perez not performing this year and not getting 2nd place, that is his set goal for this year) and Perez is too proud to take place in an AT car for his last year and decides to quit early with payed leave
Who's then gonna fill that seat then?

[Artemis]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Breaking news !

As you can see my friend

[Toto Wolff and Nyck De Vries spotted in Monaco on July 12, 2023]

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by GuidoK

I think Marko made up his mind before that.
This is what Jack Plooij said preceding the austrian GP, where he said Nyck only had 2 races to show performance (I guess that means getting points, so Austria and Silverstone):
https://youtube.com/shorts/PTuX2uUPTaM

So I think the performance at the tyre test was not that important. Nyck sealed his fate himself.

And maybe Nyck even knew it earlier, which would explain his action on KMag at the canadian GP (which was for P12, so a close chance of scoring a point)
That action where he rammed KMag oozed desperation.
It's superhard, and his bad luck is that RB has RIC on the shelf and they're looking for a replacement for Checo (despite Marko saying the opposite....) but Nyck still got more chances at AT than sitting on the bench at Merc...

Nyck's biggest chance....Ricciardo doing great this year, replaces Perez next year (Perez not performing this year and not getting 2nd place, that is his set goal for this year) and Perez is too proud to take place in an AT car for his last year and decides to quit early with payed leave
Who's then gonna fill that seat then?

[G30M]

Originally Posted by Artemis

Attachment 3226982

nope.

Toto, i recall you said "Lewis, I know the car is shit, please drive it"

Well, I know how to drive shit cars.

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

He can drive a Sherman tank (Fury) so a lightweight F1 car should be no problem

[///M Power-Belgium]

Originally Posted by M5Rick

He can drive a Sherman tank (Fury) so a lightweight F1 car should be no problem

Sure . And the Sherman tank has the necessary fire power to take the Merc's down .

[M5Rick]

Originally Posted by ///M Power-Belgium

Sure . And the Sherman tank has the necessary fire power to take the Merc's down .

The 70 pounder 76.2 mm main gun of the RBR Sherman Firefly is enough to disable a Tiger Merc that's lost it's tail