The reason I'm starting this thread early (I had started Silly Season 2019 early as well) for 2 reasons.

1. Literally most of the drivers have contracts that continue into next year as well. We're in due for a subdued silly season for 2020.
2. The only one in the Mercedes camp who'll be unhappy is Ocon. It was assumed Bottas would start off slow & struggle against Hamilton which would prompt Toto to sign his protege waiting in the wings. But things are completely the opposite as Bottas is matching Hamilton & as of now seems Hamilton's only title competitior. So where does this leave Ocon now going into 2020? Ocon had said if he doesn't get a good drive in 2020 in F1, he rather would drive elsewhere instead of sitting it out in the simulator & pit garage.

The contract info of the drivers:

Mercedes:
Lewis Hamilton - Contracted till 2020
Valtteri Bottas - Contract expires in 2019, extendable option for 2020

Ferrari:
Sebastian Vettel - Contracted till 2020
Charles Leclerc - Multi year deal

Red Bull:
Max Verstappen - Contracted till 2020
Pierre Gasly - Contracted till 2020 (?)

Renault:
Nico Hulkenberg - Contract expires in 2019
Daniel Ricciardo - Multi year deal

Racing Point:
Sergio Perez - Contract expires in 2019
Lance Stroll - Multi year deal

McLaren:
Carlos Sainz - Multi year deal
Lando Norris - Multi year deal

Haas:
Romain Grosjean - Contract expires in 2019
Kevin Magnussen - Contract expires in 2019

Toro Rosso:
Alexander Albon - Multi year deal
Daniil Kvyat - Contract expires in 2019 (?)

Alfa Romeo:
Kimi Raikkonen - Contracted till 2020
Antonio Giovinazzi - Contract expires in 2019 (?)

Williams:
George Russell - Contracted till 2020
Robert Kubica - Contract expires in 2019 (?)

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Feel The Fourth

What about circuit silly season?

Zandvoort in, Barcelona out
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/14307 ... 0-calendar

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I always felt Barcelona was the most boring circuit but seeing Zandvoort's layout, I'm hoping it's a better replacement for 2020.


Source - http://snaplap.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.c ... dvoort.jpg

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Feel The Fourth

Zandvoort is a great layout that flows really well but won't be good for overtaking.

Zandvoort was perfect when cars were smaller and narrower. Not sure it's that perfect for today's buses.
And it had a problem with the sand spread on the track by the wind (which is not a surprise considering the name of the place...). Not sure they moved the beach a little further.

And that's where Piers Courage and Roger Willamson died.

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As my brother said : "I've got the brain of a four year old. I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it".

I think Ocon may have a chance at STR or even Red Bull if he leaves the Merc umbrella. I wouldn't count him out of the Merc drive for 2020 yet either. Merc will be wary of Bottas' usual fade once a contract is sorted out.

Agree that Ocon has options if he leaves the Merc umbrella. I could see him at Haas as both Grosjean and Magnussen are out of contract this year.

I reckon Merc will leave Bottas' contract as long as possible.

If they re-sign Bottas then they may well let Ocon go knowing they still have Russell?

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Yeah good point, something else to consider. Might be tricky for Merc to judge Russell in race conditions with the Williams car the way it is and Kubica as his teammate.

Merc won't hold Ocon another year. They'll either give him a seat or let him go.

Well Russell will have had at least 2 seasons before that decision is taken plus will Kubica still be at Williams next season?

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Yeah very much so.

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I can't see Merc letting Bottas go. He was new to the team in 2017, had a bad year of bad luck in 2018 that basically eliminated him from the WDC. Both him and Hamilton get on very well. Introducing Ocon or Max to the mix will cause many issues at Mercedes, a la Rosberg/Hamilton.

I think if Merc got a whiff of Hamilton even considering the remotest possibility of retiring then they do everything they could to get Verstappen in.

Is this like the Nico Rosberg scenario - damned if he did beat an over the hill Schumacher and damned if he didn't?

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They already tried to get him but Verstappen decided to stay at Red Bull after they offered him a much improved contract to stave off the Mercedes interest, plus Verstappen admitted he didn't really want to join Mercedes while Hamilton was still there.

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2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

Yeah it's a lose/lose situation for Russell much like it was for Rosberg.

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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

I think if they could sell him the idea of being the Hamilton replacement he would go.

No one can know how long Hamilton intends to stay in F1?

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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

Not on the outside. As I said, I think Merc would go for Verstappen if the got hint from Hamilton he may be retiring. Maybe they won't even get a hint but if they did then they would go for Max.

Like I said they already tried to get Verstappen to pair him up with Hamilton but Verstappen said no.

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Podiums: (8)

And like I said, if they sold it to him that he was going to be replacing Hamilton he might say yes.

No that comes across as being different as in Mercedes making the decision to replace Hamilton with Verstappen regardless of what Hamilton intends to do.

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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
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Did Max say no or Red Bull blocked all possible negotiations?

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He said no but it also took the sweetener of an improved contract from Red Bull and words like the team was going to built around him which I think perhaps didn't go down to well with Ricciardo?

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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

Anyway till Hamilton is there, Max wouldn't want to go to Mercedes & am sure Hamilton too wouldn't want Max there. Hamilton, Max & Vettel wouldn't want their numero uno status disturbed.

I wonder if Toto would go for Max if Ocon is available? No doubt Max is more skilled but if Toto would go for Max, it not only would be a royal snub to Ocon but also would question the existence of the Mercedes junior programme!

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That may happen. Look at how Schumacher ended at Ferrari. Merc can't afford for Hamilton to do a Rosberg and leave them without a top driver.

But if Mercedes intends to get Max, why hold Ocon? Release him already.

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Feel The Fourth

that won't happen after this season. the big dogs have seats open for 2021. ham may want to drive a ferrari for two years before retiring, may not. if he is finished with merc after next year, then yes, i think max ends up there.
way to early though, have to see how Leclerc does over the long season. vettel could retire, or want to drive for mercedes before retiring??
obviously if they go through with big changes for 2021 (i think it gets pushed back a year or two) it will be a gamble for any of the big name drivers, not knowing who is going to get the new formula right

Schumacher was 37, Hamilton is 34 and seen by many as the best driver in F1, if they oust him for Verstappen then he merely joins the main opposition probably Ferrari, Hamilton could be good to go until he's 40, it's not really good short term planning to bolster your opposition?

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2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
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2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: 7th place

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

I could be wrong but wasn't retirement Schumachers choice though because he was against Raikkonen joining the team?

Thinking of the Merc future, to me, it'd make sense to punt Bottas at years end, bring in Ocon for a season to see how he measures up against Hamilton.

If Hamilton retires at the end of 2020, which I think's quite possible, Merc can then make an informed choice as to which direction they'd take. If they see that maybe Ocon is more a Webber / Coulthard type driver as opposed to a Vettel / Hamilton type, that'd still leave room for then to chase a big name & i'd put a million on it that Verstappen would be top of their list & rightly so.

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Races since last non RB, Merc, Ferrari winner (After Abu Dhabi - 19) - 138 & counting.( Last win, Lotus, 17/3/13)

Non RB, Merc, Ferrari podiums won in Hybrid era - 360 trophies available, 26 won

2017 WCC CPTTC - Jalopy Racing (Herb & Me)

I could be wrong but wasn't retirement Schumachers choice though because he was against Raikkonen joining the team?

Thinking of the Merc future, to me, it'd make sense to punt Bottas at years end, bring in Ocon for a season to see how he measures up against Hamilton.

If Hamilton retires at the end of 2020, which I think's quite possible, Merc can then make an informed choice as to which direction they'd take. If they see that maybe Ocon is more a Webber / Coulthard type driver as opposed to a Vettel / Hamilton type, that'd still leave room for then to chase a big name & i'd put a million on it that Verstappen would be top of their list & rightly so. If it looks like Ocon has the goods, that then leaves room for Russell to join up as Merc's 2nd driver.

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Races since last non RB, Merc, Ferrari winner (After Abu Dhabi - 19) - 138 & counting.( Last win, Lotus, 17/3/13)

Non RB, Merc, Ferrari podiums won in Hybrid era - 360 trophies available, 26 won

2017 WCC CPTTC - Jalopy Racing (Herb & Me)

Kimi was signed by Ferrari in 2005 I believe, because Schumacher was stalling on a new contract, he was thinking about retirement, if you remember 2005 was a bad season for Ferrari which maybe had something to do with Schumacher's thinking?

Anyway the signing of Kimi kind of ensured Schumacher was going to retire because it was going to be the end of the Ferrari #1, #2 driver policy which was the set up that Schumacher basically wanted.

Regarding Mercedes presently it would be a no brainer to not sign Bottas for 2020 but we've seen what's happened the past 2 years with Bottas when they have done that, my guess is that they will wait until around September and it will be based on how Bottas is performing rather than a need to evaluate Ocon and the need to plan for Hamilton's successor.

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2013: 5th Place
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2017: 9th Place
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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

When was that?

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@mcdo - If this did happen, it could be in mid 2018 when Bottas started to struggle. I don't think they approached Max before Bottas as Toto kind of panicked when Rosberg announced his retirement & since Toto was Bottas' manager as well, he chose Bottas in an eye blink.

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Just before Verstappen got his much improved and extended contract with Red Bull, this was done by Red Bull to stave off the approach from Mercedes.

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
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Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

No 2017, maybe for the 2019 season, Bottas had already signed to Mercedes for 2018, I think Verstappen may have had a get out clause in the final season of his initial contract?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vers ... 0/3053198/

Rumours were that this had been done to stave off interest from Mercedes.

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PF1 Pick 10 Competition

2013: 5th Place
2014: Champion
2015: 3rd Place
2016: 4th Place
2017: 9th Place
2018: 7th place

Wins: Canada 2018, Abu Dhabi 2017
Podiums: (8)

Wasn't it also rumoured that he was fast tracked into the senior team in 2016 for the same reason?

I can't see any changes at Mercedes for 2020, unless Bottas really drops the ball later in the season. If they get a 1-2 in the WDC and take the WCC (which seems more than likely), it will be status quo.

Gasly might be the only change in the top 3 teams. He's had a run of bad luck, but his speed is well down on Verstappen and Red Bull aren't known to be lenient for long. Wouldn't be surprised to see Albon promoted for 2020.

Haas is where I see some changes. Grosjean was very lucky to retain his seat for this year, but I don't think he'll do enough to keep it for 2020. Magnussen is likely to stay given there aren't many other seats available and he's burned his way through a few teams.

Sergio Perez might be an interesting one to watch. Racing Point are showing speed, so there's good reason to stay, but after seeing the Netflix doco I'm not sure how happy he'd be staying at Team Stroll.

Hulkenberg is out of contract, but given the lack of any better seats I think he'd stay at Renault barring disaster and Renault should be happy to keep him.

Probably will be a boring silly season with maybe a small midfield reshuffle.

Will we see Williams on the grid in 2020?

BIB; how is it a no brainer to not sign him presently?

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