FORMULA ONE - 2020

I want to play the crazy select a drive game for LHs seat: 

This is a perfect opportunity to put someone fairly rando in the best car on grid.  Show how amazing the cars are.  Kinda like when they have those sports science things where they have a amateur athlete complete the NFL combine, or GCN has a Pro vs Presenter cycle challenge.  For best results it should be someone with some competence but not a established truly great driver, and someone who will document the experience well. 

I nominate the following for consideration:

Chris Harris (I mean that would be a great Top Gear episode)

Jimmy Broadbent (Shed Dweller could go head 2 head with real F1 drivers.  He did well in the Esports F1 earlier this year)

Ken Block (Imagine Honnigan media machine does F1)

Andreas Bakkerud (He's Tested open wheel cars/sports cars, he's actually a good wheel and finished well in RallyX)

Or 

Reward America's best Open wheel driver with a chance at F1.  Throw Scott Dixon in the seat.  Surely the FIA would let him have a Super License.  He's Fit to handle the G's and he's not busy right now.  

The preceding suggestions are hillarious and fun and not real.  Russell should get the seat.  Merc should loan LH to Williams next year.    But it will go to Vandoorne.  

It would be funny if Pietro Fittipaldi was like, sorry Haas, I'm driving a Mercedes this weekend lol

In reply to nocones :

What about Susie Wolff? add her to the list!

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to nocones :

What about Susie Wolff? add her to the list!

If only she knew someone at Mercedes who could make that call.

adam525i (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to nocones :

What about Susie Wolff? add her to the list!

I hadn't even thought about that.  Are there any Female drivers that could qualify for a Super License?  That would be a HUGE PR win for Merc if there was one that could and then to possibly score points.    I looked all Female F1 drivers have combined for 0.5 points in the history of F1.  

Mr_Asa said:

Those guys should be proud. They built a hell of a survival cell.

Mr_Asa said:

That'll buff out.

ran when parked...

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Keith, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Haas tubs built by Dallara?  They deserve a pat on the back, too.

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Keith, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Haas tubs built by Dallara?  They deserve a pat on the back, too.

I was referring to everyone involved. I don't know the supply chain well enough to pat specific people on the back.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

So you're saying you're just going to go round patting random people on the back then???

Keith Tanner said:

This is literally Vandoorn's job. Why would he NOT get the seat?

Because he's the fallback, the one that Mercedes keep in their back pocket to be sure they have *someone* available.  That isn't the same as saying he's the best option at any given time.

Mercedes has both championships locked up already, they don't need points.  This is an opportunity to audition new drivers for the future, and Vandoorne has already had that kind of audition.  They already know what he can do. 

DeadSkunk (Warren) said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Keith, correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Haas tubs built by Dallara?  They deserve a pat on the back, too.

Correct they are Dallara chassis 

Tom1200 said:

In reply to Keith Tanner :

So you're saying you're just going to go round patting random people on the back then???

The guys standing there in that picture were involved in building and maintaining that car. So I think they deserve applause as they all had their hands in it. Everyone involved in that car should be proud of how it performed. If you have a full list of names, please share. I'm just going to say that "if you were involved in the design/manufacture/assembly/maintenance of that HASS, good job". That's not random.

codrus (Forum Supporter) said:

Keith Tanner said:

This is literally Vandoorn's job. Why would he NOT get the seat?

Because he's the fallback, the one that Mercedes keep in their back pocket to be sure they have *someone* available.  That isn't the same as saying he's the best option at any given time.

Mercedes has both championships locked up already, they don't need points.  This is an opportunity to audition new drivers for the future, and Vandoorne has already had that kind of audition.  They already know what he can do. 

I would say Mercedes is going to want someone who's going to get the car around the track in one piece, obey team orders, and not be enticed into going wheel to wheel into T1 with Bottas.  Both Vandoorne and Russell would have something to prove.

I'm crossing my fingers for Hulk.  He seems the least likely to ball it up, and a Hulk podium would surely be good Netflix episode.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Forgive my "airplane" sense of humor.  Totally agree that everybody on the team from designers to mechanics did a top notch job.  

The Grosjean Christmas card list ought to be pretty lengthy this year. It would be interesting to have a look at that tub with Romain and see what's going through his head.

One thing we all need to realize, whoever replaces Lewis will be asked to finish behind Bottas.  Especially if that's also ahead of Verstappen.  This guest driver needs to help the team accomplish their goals- 1) Constructors (done) 2) drivers (done) 3) Drivers 2nd place- (pending)..  

So unless Valteri has an issue, neither Russel nor Hulk will win the race.

In reply to alfadriver (Forum Supporter) :

I forgot Bottas hadn't locked up 2nd yet. Verstappen will be pushing like a mad man, there's still 50 points up for grabs, and if Lewis has to sit out the following race, too, it'll be an entertaining two weeks.

In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :

So did I until I was watching on of my favorite F1 vloggers.  Then I thought about it as he talked about who the replacement was, and the fairness of whoever to Bottas.

That's a good point. And I agree that the #1 job of the stand-in will be "don't crash the car". 

It all depends on how Mercedes sees this opportunity. If they drop Russell in, they'll give one of their up-and-coming future drivers a taste of the big car and also get an evaluation on his speed and learning curve. That's pretty valuable. It would also be great publicity. We keep wondering what will happen when Lewis finally calls it quits, this is a peek at a future potential Mercedes starter.

Hulk would give them a safe drive. That's about it. There's no future in him, he would be nothing more than a placeholder. It's one step above only running one car in the race, really. Same with Vandoorne. Do the rules say they HAVE to start? It might be tempting to pocket a few million bucks and park #44 for the weekend.

Maybe Alonso would like some extra practice for next year? Mr. Button has history with the team?

I'm full of bad suggestions.

In reply to Keith Tanner :

Wiki says all teams have to run two cars in every session on a race weekend, and they can only use four drivers over the course of a season. I don't imagine that second part has come into play for any team yet.

Curious that Perez has a press conference Mon to make his announcement of Redbull or Retirement.