Formula 1 World Championship 2016

[Demoncrash]

What happened to those snazzy Aeroscreens the Red Bulls were using? Not allowed in the qualifying/race?

[Ligier]

Max Verstappen will race for Red Bull in place of Daniil Kvyat, who goes back to Toro Rosso.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/15465823

Thoughts?

Personally I believe it's too soon for Verstappen, and that Red Bull should have brought in Jean-Eric Vergne as he did so well at Toro Rosso.

[DrMcNinja]

Max Verstappen will race for Red Bull in place of Daniil Kvyat, who goes back to Toro Rosso.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/15465823

Thoughts?

Personally I believe it's too soon for Verstappen, and that Red Bull should have brought in Jean-Eric Vergne as he did so well at Toro Rosso.

We'll find out whether it's too soon or not. I think it's just a red herring so they can fight off Mercedes and Ferrari in trying to claim him.

I think demoting Kvyat is a little bit over the top.

[Vestig3]

Im realy suprised by this tbh, do i think max will do great at Redbull? yes, is it to early? maybe, but i think Redbull felt the Ferrari and Mercedes breathing down their neck so they handled fast.

Sad for Kvyat tho he had 1 bad race and got replaced right away.

Looking forward to how Max will do at the front tho as i have no doubt we will see great things from him the next couple of years still would have loved to see him go to Ferrari.

[willtron]

That was a great start from Vettel and this time it was Kvyat's fault. Pretty poor form IMO.
Rosberg is on fire this year. His driving is immaculate. His desire to beat Hamilton is really strong.

And bad mistake by Red Bull - medium compound? There was almost zero testing during practice.

I sort of agree. He's done well in qualifying, but he hasn't really proved himself as a racer this season.

The fact Mercedes had to come out and say there is no A or B team, makes me think there is...

This season, the really interesting racing is further down the table. P3 down, imo.

[DrMcNinja]

Im realy suprised by this tbh, do i think max will do great at Redbull? yes, is it to early? maybe, but i think Redbull felt the Ferrari and Mercedes breathing down their neck so they handled fast.

Sad for Kvyat tho he had 1 bad race and got replaced right away.

Looking forward to how Max will do at the front tho as i have no doubt we will see great things from him the next couple of years still would have loved to see him go to Ferrari.

Personally would have wanted him at Ferrari as well, but beggars can't be choosers. Red Bull saw their chance to give Max a seat and took it right away.

[Vestig3]

Personally would have wanted him at Ferrari as well, but beggars can't be choosers. Red Bull saw their chance to give Max a seat and took it right away.

Not that a 2019 contract is any problem for either Ferrari or Mercedes maybe its good for them that he will drive a bit for Red Bull so they can see him under better conditions.

[Bigbazz]

I really think that's a poor move, Verstappen so young and their putting him up against Ricciardo, I don't see why they are in a rush to put him in the Red Bull team when the car is unable to compete at the top and he's still early days developing as a driver. At the same time Kvyat makes one mistake (albiet a pretty bloody stupid one) and is seeing his promising career go down the drain seemingly overnight.

4 races into a 21 race season I think it's crazy what they are doing. I guess Jos was pushing hard for this like a shark smelling blood.

[Merkava]

I really think that's a poor move, Verstappen so young and their putting him up against Ricciardo, I don't see why they are in a rush to put him in the Red Bull team when the car is unable to compete at the top and he's still early days developing as a driver. At the same time Kvyat makes one mistake (albiet a pretty bloody stupid one) and is seeing his promising career go down the drain seemingly overnight.

4 races into a 21 race season I think it's crazy what they are doing. I guess Jos was pushing hard for this like a shark smelling blood.

He's only under contract for one more year. He's clearly the future of Red Bull and they don't want to let him get away.

[Bigbazz]

He's only under contract for one more year. He's clearly the future of Red Bull and they don't want to let him get away.

Well where is he gonna go? Ferrari don't take young inexperienced drivers, Mclaren already have drivers under contract / their own young driver program, Mercedes already have drivers + their own young driver program. Whether he's in Red Bull or Torro Rosso now doesn't make much different on that front.

I think it's silly to think putting him in a Red Bull is going to stop him moving at the end of the contract, if there are better opportunities (which is unlikely) then this changes nothing, with the Renault engine in the Red Bull it will barely be much faster than the Torro Rosso.

[Merkava]

Well where is he gonna go? Ferrari don't take young inexperienced drivers, Mclaren already have drivers under contract / their own young driver program, Mercedes already have drivers + their own young driver program. Whether he's in Red Bull or Torro Rosso now doesn't make much different on that front.

I think it's silly to think putting him in a Red Bull is going to stop him moving at the end of the contract, if there are better opportunities (which is unlikely) then this changes nothing, with the Renault engine in the Red Bull it will barely be much faster than the Torro Rosso.

I think first of all, if you believe the reports, that they needed to promote Verstappen to Red Bull in order to retain him contractually. If those reports are true, and if you're Red Bull, and you know that you'd rather have him on the main team than Kvyat, there's no reason to put off promoting him. If it doesn't work out, then you know you can look for someone else. If it goes well, then you sign him up past 2017.

I don't know the details of a lot of the driver contracts. I know Raikkonen's contract is coming to an end, so is Massa's. Toto Wolf said that Mercedes would be stupid not to consider Verstappen if they had the chance. Arrivabene has said that the Verstappen is one of the guys they were looking at to replace Kimi. If Mercedes and Ferrari are considering him then you can bet nearly every other team is as well. The logistics may be difficult depending on the driver market and current contracts, but I bet he'd be likely to end up somewhere else after 2017 if they didn't promote him. It sucks for Kvyat, but F1's a big boys game.

[Bigbazz]

I think first of all, if you believe the reports, that they needed to promote Verstappen to Red Bull in order to retain him contractually. If those reports are true, and if you're Red Bull, and you know that you'd rather have him on the main team than Kvyat, there's no reason to put off promoting him. If it doesn't work out, then you know you can look for someone else. If it goes well, then you sign him up past 2017.

I don't know the details of a lot of the driver contracts. I know Raikkonen's contract is coming to an end, so is Massa's. Toto Wolf said that Mercedes would be stupid not to consider Verstappen if they had the chance. Arrivabene has said that the Verstappen is one of the guys they were looking at to replace Kimi. If Mercedes and Ferrari are considering him then you can bet nearly every other team is as well. The logistics may be difficult depending on the driver market and current contracts, but I bet he'd be likely to end up somewhere else after 2017 if they didn't promote him. It sucks for Kvyat, but F1's a big boys game.

I'm not sure I believe a word of Ferrari, these are the same guys who weren't interested in 2x World Champion Vettel because he was too young and not experienced enough, Verstappen is still an unproven talent and Ferrari usually only take on experienced drivers with a clear No1 + No2 driver situation which is why it might make more sense for them to take someone like Bottas or Grosjean.

If Red Bull wanted to do some research for the other teams though then putting him up against a proven top driver like Ricciardo is the way to do that. Kvyat outscored Ricciardo last season and was shown to be very fast, he had a rough start this year but still bagged a podium with some top driving, so dumping him 4 races into a 21 race season seems pretty harsh. All of the top drivers have had similar runs of poor form, so I don't think 2-3 off form races is grounds for demotion.

[Merkava]

I'm not sure I believe a word of Ferrari, these are the same guys who weren't interested in 2x World Champion Vettel because he was too young and not experienced enough, Verstappen is still an unproven talent and Ferrari usually only take on experienced drivers with a clear No1 + No2 driver situation which is why it might make more sense for them to take someone like Bottas or Grosjean.

If Red Bull wanted to do some research for the other teams though then putting him up against a proven top driver like Ricciardo is the way to do that. Kvyat outscored Ricciardo last season and was shown to be very fast, he had a rough start this year but still bagged a podium with some top driving, so dumping him 4 races into a 21 race season seems pretty harsh. All of the top drivers have had similar runs of poor form, so I don't think 2-3 off form races is grounds for demotion.

First of all, no one in the F1 paddock thinks Kvyat is better than Verstappen. Second of all, if Red Bull knows that, then why not promote Verstappen sooner? Especially if you're going to lose him by 2017 if you don't do it?

I don't know who Ferrari would take. Arrevabebe wasn't at Ferrari when those decisions were made. That was Domenicali and Montezemolo and both those guys are gone.

Everyone know Verstappen was going to replace Kvyat at Red Bull in 2017. All this does is move thing up. Again, it sucks for Kvyat, but that's life.

[Deleted]

Well where is he gonna go? Ferrari don't take young inexperienced drivers, Mclaren already have drivers under contract / their own young driver program, Mercedes already have drivers + their own young driver program. Whether he's in Red Bull or Torro Rosso now doesn't make much different on that front.

I think it's silly to think putting him in a Red Bull is going to stop him moving at the end of the contract, if there are better opportunities (which is unlikely) then this changes nothing, with the Renault engine in the Red Bull it will barely be much faster than the Torro Rosso.

You're forgetting the one making the Toro Rosso go so fast.

The thing is, Verstappen is the future of F1, he will be the benchmark of the next decades. He's a professional like no other driver or even athlete out there.
The guy has a passion that surpasses my passion for sleep, he spends 4 hours a day in a simulator for relaxation.

Ferarri wants him, Mercedes wants him, Mclaren wants him (Verstappen/Vandoorne 2017/2018 team? Yes please) Every team wants their potential to be the max.
Now Ferarri wasn't really going to be an option, because of Vettel. But the other teams i can see them trying to fit him in, Mercedes was already in talks with team VES before Red Bull dangled the keys of the TR in front of him.

As for Kvyat goes.
It's a shame for the guy, but let's not pretend he did amazing the past 1,1/5th season. Sure he got a podium in China, but that had nothing to do with his driving skills, and last year he had more points than RIC but was slower overall. And even if he did managed to beat RIC for a season. There was no way that RBR was going to drop RIC in favor for either KVY or VES.

RIC/VES was the goal for 2017 with the new regulations and they put VES in so he can adjust to the team with a little bit more time.

[Ariselea]

Ricciardo had to push pretty hard in Q3 I feel. Verstappen is gonna be breathing down in his neck all season and to be honest, as much as I hate it, because I love Ricciardo, I think Mad Max is the better driver, and will only get better as time goes on, probably "peaking" in the next ~5 years.

- - - Updated - - -

HOLY FUCK! Hamilton took Rosberg out!

- - - Updated - - -

Both Mercs outta the race! Let's go Ricciardo!

[Wilian]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA NOTHING MAKES ME MORE HAPPIER THAN HAMILTON FUCKING UP SO BAD!

Once again proves his head doesn't manage pressure. He can only win from position of overpower

In before "but but but Roseberg cut in" while holding onto his lawful racing line.

[Xanjori]

Blaming Hamilton? Are you not even watching the fucking race? Jesus Christ the haters are real.

[Wilian]

Blaming Hamilton? Are you not even watching the fucking race? Jesus Christ the haters are real.

Yes. I am blaming Hamilton. Rosberg held onto a racing line and tried to cover, where-as Hamilton was pushing too hard into the corner unable to handle it.

[Deleted]

That was not a racing line lol - he changed his position. Didn't even leave a cars width like he was supposed to by rule.

[Xanjori]

At that point no point even discussing, the blind hatred is actually blinding.