Grand Prix thread Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2020

On his day Bottas is a very accomplished racing driver, however his head has been ruined, he's had some awful races of late.

He will likely bounce back next March like he always does, but he'll never be close to a match to the likes of Hamilton over a season.

He'd be a perfect fit for the likes of Racing Point. If Vettel can also get back in the game a Vettel Bottas pairing would be awesome. Sadly that's about as unlikely to happen as a Bottas wdc.

 

Yes I agree . Every new season he says he is better than ever , but he still fails this year quicker than previous years . I think next year will be his last in F1 .

 

I think Merc have let the genie out of the bottle and now they can’t put it back. George was absolutely electric in the Merc and now it’s just ridiculous for him to be back at Williams. The pressure for Merc to act before 2022 is now massive, despite their traditional loyalty to their drivers.

 

It will be interesting to see what they do . If , and imho it’s still a big if , they drop Bottas before the start of next season , surely that’s him done ? He won’t want to back to Williams and doesn’t strike me as the sort to take a year out , not that anyone will be in a position to pick him up anyway for 2022 .

 

Of course the simplest way (and maybe the one that mitigates Merc’s buying out of contracts the most) is a swap for him to go back to Williams, something that would please Williams a lot more than it would please Bottas. Would he even agree to go there? He would have some thinking to do.

 

Yes , but I just can’t see him wanting to . It could be interesting . Unless They sign Russell and bin off Lewis . Never going to happen though , imaging having a driver win his 8th WDC with your team ? And if they get the WCC as well ..... Not that this will definitely happen though .

 

I can’t see them getting rid of Lewis to keep Valterri. It would just make no sense. Perhaps Lewis may choose to retire, but I think he wants 8 WDCs and 100 wins first.

 

I wasn’t being totally serious

But I really do think a lot depends on where Toto is . If he’s still hands on boss I think it likely Bottas will at least start the season , if he steps back , then they could well move Bottas on / out .

 

Definitely. With Toto gone Bottas would have no protection. I think Toto will hang on for at least a year though. I think their plan seems to be all change in 2022, but that race from Russell may make that untenable.

 

Yes . In that case like I said I can see Bottas starting the season , but maybe not for to long . Mind you , if Merc have been reluctant to break contracts in the past , how would they feel about dropping a driver during a season ....interesting times as they say .

 

While I would love to see George back in the Merc I don't see it happening. Merc have consistently said that one thing that helps them is consistency of having the same staff for many years! So they want to build loyalty in their team from all staff. It would send the wrong message to the rest of the staff and the media would jump on them.
They have a high probability of being written into the history books for many many years if they can get 8 constructors championships in a row!! Plus they would have helped Lewis to the most drivers championships.
Both those records are going to be around for a long time.
So I can't see them rocking the boat. Bottas does a good job of a no2 driver, not a great job but a good one. He is good at quali and in free air he's OK but if he loses a bit of the line he struggles at times. He just racks up team points.

 

I agree with all of that , and as people know I Like Bottas . I just get the feeling something may happen during next season . Not saying I want it to happen obviously , but it wouldn’t surprise me .

 

Albon not helping himself again. Can't see him in seat next year.

 

It's just one error after another, there's obviously more to it if he keeps his seat next year.

 

Great lap from Max. Sets things up nicely for tomorrow.

 

That was one heck of a last sector from Bottas. An amazing lap from max.

 

Merc have lost the pole at every race all season record.

 

Norris has done well there, just 0.25 off pole on a very long lap.

 

First non merc engine

 

Very good point - I forgot Lance