Funny, as he cost Lewis a title, hopefully Bottas has been educated on the F1 points system, and how 2nd pays more points than third place.. He was not aware of this in 2021, kept getting 3rd places.. For Mercedes this was a strange strategy, but then I am not a TP.. I bet by the end of 2021 a certain TP felt like he was a TP salesman.. In a country that prefers bidets!!
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2025 Formula One Season Thread
- Thread starter The-Real-Deal82
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It is, however, what a brand new F1 team needs to develop the car.
Not sure old men with aching old bones and painful muscles is the right option, you want fresh new meat, fresh from the grinder of the system, you want 2 noobs fresh from F2, that are under 21, fit, strong that have no ideas of TP's with grudges and failing memories.. Bottas has been benched since the end of the season.. Tired.. You want two brand new guys..
This is the very reason why Sprints are so vital to F1, to keep the reserves match fit, there is nothing worse than being the benchwarmer then having to come on in a vital role, and you put it in the hedge, you are unsafe, it is stupid to take someone cold and then get them racing, he has no recent race miles.. Where as if you take 2 guys straight from F2, they have recent fitness, a keen eye, are ready, maybe faster, have new ideas... Bottas is hours away from 36.. Almost time to grab a F1 pension brochure and talk to a licensed broker!!!
This is the very reason why Sprints are so vital to F1, to keep the reserves match fit, there is nothing worse than being the benchwarmer then having to come on in a vital role, and you put it in the hedge, you are unsafe, it is stupid to take someone cold and then get them racing, he has no recent race miles.. Where as if you take 2 guys straight from F2, they have recent fitness, a keen eye, are ready, maybe faster, have new ideas... Bottas is hours away from 36.. Almost time to grab a F1 pension brochure and talk to a licensed broker!!!
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Starting any new program from scratch is already a very large challenge. Having experienced drivers means that there is one fewer variable to worry about. They have the knowledge of how a top-class team is run, and how such a team operates internally, and externally, within the paddock.
There are few, if any other options anyway, esp. if the desire is to have an American driver.
Herta already drives for TWG, and has garnered some F1 interest in the past, but is mired in 8th place in his own current series, and doesn't have a SL. Jak Crawford is seen as a possibility, and the next American Hope but still developing.
Cadillac is wise to try to first stand up on its own feet, and learn to walk, before worrying about how fast and long it can run.
No need to destroy the confidence of young drivers, but putting them in position to fail, because the team is under pressure and can't perform itself. We've already seen how the scenario plays out, and quite freshly.
There are few, if any other options anyway, esp. if the desire is to have an American driver.
Herta already drives for TWG, and has garnered some F1 interest in the past, but is mired in 8th place in his own current series, and doesn't have a SL. Jak Crawford is seen as a possibility, and the next American Hope but still developing.
Cadillac is wise to try to first stand up on its own feet, and learn to walk, before worrying about how fast and long it can run.
No need to destroy the confidence of young drivers, but putting them in position to fail, because the team is under pressure and can't perform itself. We've already seen how the scenario plays out, and quite freshly.
Actually there is a better way, more humane method of slow poison, V Bottas as DTP, and no that is not desktop printer, dep Team Principle.. Bigger $$ every month, and he gets to make the decisions, instead of being a lab rat..A kid 18, 19, 20, is young enough, fast enough, has the desire to compete and maybe push that 1%, we have seen drivers older on bigger contracts fail as they are just too old, Bottas is nigh 36, old by F1, old enough to be the kid at 18's dad.. Ouch..
So hire Bottas as the Dep TP, not as the meat in the seat, 2x F2 grads would be better than 2 pensioners that really should by now have at least a PHD, and decades of how to run teams, not be mules and having no say..
Bottas has been sitting idle for almost a year, what does he know of modern? He is outdated and old as a driver, mature is great in cheese, and as consultants, Bottas should start 2026 as his year 1 as a manager of drivers, not a simple meat in the seat..
So hire Bottas as the Dep TP, not as the meat in the seat, 2x F2 grads would be better than 2 pensioners that really should by now have at least a PHD, and decades of how to run teams, not be mules and having no say..
Bottas has been sitting idle for almost a year, what does he know of modern? He is outdated and old as a driver, mature is great in cheese, and as consultants, Bottas should start 2026 as his year 1 as a manager of drivers, not a simple meat in the seat..
"No need to destroy the confidence of young drivers"...
What happens when you finish in F3, you move to F2, then F1, or WEC, you are 17-20, you know nothing, you are still learning at a vast rate, and to have a new car, new regs, new team, new evertything, and 2 new drivers, better than having old and slow drivers that have to have the zimmer frame frunk.. We have seen this use of old with pensioners, and truly it is ugly, there is a time and a place...
AM would have won the title in 2025 if they had fired junior and the pensioner, had hired 2 guys from F3... Hired Alonso as the Team Driver Coach and had Stroll Jr as the Travel Advisor.. But no daddy hires to no hopers, and wonders why his team is just anchors for Max's yacht...
There is nothing wrong with youth.. 18-22, still way too young to do any sort of scarring, that comes later, in the 30's..or 40's and trust me you don't think Lewis has nightmares daily now after this last few races.. He had as much admitted that maybe he made a huge mistake.. He should have done the WEC, or management, but he chased the high and fell... When you are young, failing, falling is actually fun..
What happens when you finish in F3, you move to F2, then F1, or WEC, you are 17-20, you know nothing, you are still learning at a vast rate, and to have a new car, new regs, new team, new evertything, and 2 new drivers, better than having old and slow drivers that have to have the zimmer frame frunk.. We have seen this use of old with pensioners, and truly it is ugly, there is a time and a place...
AM would have won the title in 2025 if they had fired junior and the pensioner, had hired 2 guys from F3... Hired Alonso as the Team Driver Coach and had Stroll Jr as the Travel Advisor.. But no daddy hires to no hopers, and wonders why his team is just anchors for Max's yacht...
There is nothing wrong with youth.. 18-22, still way too young to do any sort of scarring, that comes later, in the 30's..or 40's and trust me you don't think Lewis has nightmares daily now after this last few races.. He had as much admitted that maybe he made a huge mistake.. He should have done the WEC, or management, but he chased the high and fell... When you are young, failing, falling is actually fun..
F2 drivers are going to be trying to get familiar with F1 machinery. They're not going to be able to provide the development feedback of two seasoned F1 drivers who already have a firm foundation and frame of reference to compare to and work from. Rookies also tend to have more accidents and you absolutely do not want to be spending your budget cap on repairing chassis when it could be spent on developing chassis in your first years on the grid.
Another aspect that LawVS makes in his latest video is that F1 today is as much about entertainment as it is engineering. While many old school fans hate it, "Drive to Survive" and "F1 the Movie" have brought in millions of new fans to the sport. And for those fans, Bottas and Perez are drivers they recognize. Few of them are going to know who the current crop of F2 drivers are (hell, I don't know any of them, really).
So having experienced and known former F1 drivers helps you not only develop the team, but also market it. Something a current F2 driver just cannot due.
And finally, Cadillac is using a Ferrari SF23 as their testing and development mule, and Bottas has experience with the powerplant in that car from his Alfa Romeo days.
Another aspect that LawVS makes in his latest video is that F1 today is as much about entertainment as it is engineering. While many old school fans hate it, "Drive to Survive" and "F1 the Movie" have brought in millions of new fans to the sport. And for those fans, Bottas and Perez are drivers they recognize. Few of them are going to know who the current crop of F2 drivers are (hell, I don't know any of them, really).
So having experienced and known former F1 drivers helps you not only develop the team, but also market it. Something a current F2 driver just cannot due.
And finally, Cadillac is using a Ferrari SF23 as their testing and development mule, and Bottas has experience with the powerplant in that car from his Alfa Romeo days.
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New regs, they start as if they are noobs, they cannot offer anything relevant other than it was like this or that.. I do see a point, but as drivers in a season, that is stupid, expensive and achieves very little.. Bottas is old, 36, has not raced in almost a year, so has no recent information, he might as well watch youtube tutorials..
He is not going to push the car to the same point, as he knows that point, and maybe yes, not crash, but that point is why AM and others are weeks behind MacLaren in 2025.. You have drivers their brains will not allow them to go that 0.x % faster where as a 19 yr old might.. On certain tracks that is the difference between 1st and 15th..
Will Cadillac be a 1 season donkey? 24 races of nothing but Q1 fails cause of old tired men draining them.. I wonder.. Or do you risk hiring a couple of young blokes fresh and faster straight from F2???
He is not going to push the car to the same point, as he knows that point, and maybe yes, not crash, but that point is why AM and others are weeks behind MacLaren in 2025.. You have drivers their brains will not allow them to go that 0.x % faster where as a 19 yr old might.. On certain tracks that is the difference between 1st and 15th..
Will Cadillac be a 1 season donkey? 24 races of nothing but Q1 fails cause of old tired men draining them.. I wonder.. Or do you risk hiring a couple of young blokes fresh and faster straight from F2???
Even if the formula changes are the most in a generation, it's still Formula One at the core. An experienced F1 driver is going to have a far better foundation to build from than a rookie F2 driver.
Bottas has evidently been very active in the background with simulator work at Mercedes to help develop the car and, as noted, he is already very familiar with Ferrari powerplant design philosophy.
On most tracks, that is the difference between finishing in any position and not finishing at all because you put it in the wall.
I think with Bottas and Perez, Cadillac has a decent chance of emulating Haas' inaugural year and finish 8th in the CC.
With two raw rookies? They're 11th.