Welcome to Thursday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
Alpine’s explanation for its plan to “rotate” drivers after replacing Jack Doohan with Franco Colapinto was greeted with deep scepticism by some:
Let’s be real. There won’t be any rotation, that’s just words to make themselves feel better.
I don’t know who I feel for more. Jack for getting booted, or Franco for being handed the poison chalice of a team and car that just isn’t in the same competition as the rest.
Alpine will sell up, they’re just waiting for someone to offer that mythical billion dollars. DB-C90 (@Dbradock)
'what I feel like I need is a clear project. And I think it’s a good example with a new team, that would be quite refreshing, when you can really start from scratch. But at the same time, if a place opens up in a car that you can fight for good points or even podiums or wins, then of course I would be happy to.'
'Andrea is the name of friends and family. It is also the one Wolff uses - as a joke between them according to team insiders - when things could have gone better.'
'Correa’s international experience includes stints in the FIA Formula 3 and Formula 2 championships, where he showed consistent competitiveness. His career has spanned multiple racing disciplines, including endurance racing, where he participated in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, further showcasing his versatility and skill in different racing formats.'
'We brought over $2 million of new fence and new walls,' said Denker. 'That investment allows more efficient infrastructure putting these walls up. You're not going to see any more cable. The mesh fence, that took a lot of time.''
'We trained behind the cars for about seven months from F4 to F1 cars. I watched every single race I could, but we also went from track to track and filmed in between actual grand prix races.'
One one hand, I think Bottas is great. He’s an excellent driver, a genuinely solid, reliable pair of hands. He may not win WDCs, but he’s a fantastic person to pair with a raw talent that hasn’t had time to cook yet, or for a team that needs a driver with experience and perspective who’s seen it all. He’s also charming as F, and has grown into a delightful social media presence who can bring personality and flair to a team he works for.
That said, he’s also had a decade+ in F1, and for me, unless you’re fighting at the sharp end, that’s enough time for a driver, and it’s time to give opportunity to new talent.
I wish there was an “F1 Masters” category, where retired drivers would take spec-ish cars for a spin. It’d be more for fun, less competitive, but you’d get to see your favorites from several generations of F1 compete. So Kevin Magnussen vs. Heikki Kovalainen vs. Stoffel Vandoorne vs. Esteban Gutierrez. I dunno – give everyone who’s made it through the wringer a chance to just goof around in more or less equal machinery for kicks. Bottas would absolutely kill it in a format like that.
So yes. I’d like to see him return. And no. He’s had his time.
Great idea. The list of good drivers that all had a chance in F1, but didn’t quite make it or weren’t labelled as the next big thing… would all get a second chance to shine.
Stick them into 2 year old F1 cars and run a support series just below F1. It wouldn’t stuff up the pathway to F1 for junior drivers coming up from F2, and we’d get to see more racing from drivers that didnt quite get there. Who wouldn’t watch that?
@helava The ‘he’s had his time’ reference equally applies to Checo (& quite a few others), but he’s likely to get hired by Cadillac eventually, so hiring both him & Bottas wouldn’t be a bad move at all for a start-up team in a season with considerable technical regulation changes.
It does apply to others. And hopefully the strong showing of various rookies will finally get the teams out of this rut they’ve been in for years, where they prized experience above everything else.
Though it would be funny to see the US Americans come crawling to Mexican Pérez to drive their car, given that they have only Sargeant as an alternative. Newgarden, who has no interest but was available, is also set to lose his 40 points given how poorly he is doing this year in Indycar.
MichaelN The thing about Newgarden is applicable only if he doesn’t presently hold a valid super license because once a driver obtains it, the points system becomes inapplicable to that driver, just like the points system is inapplicable to former F1 drivers, who simply need to do at least 300 km of modern F1 car driving at racing speeds to re-validate a super license that has expired after three full years without driving in a single race in F1.
Of course, Sargeant stopped active racing altogether, so effectively Herta & Crawford are the only viable options, who can both reach super license eligibility & are in suitable enough career situations for F1.
On the other hand, Herta has spoken skeptically about moving to F1 deep into his professional racing career.
Therefore, he might turn down an offer even if he reached eligibility this year.
A driver who has recently held a full Super License (not FP only) must complete 100 kilometers in an official F1 practice session in a three year time-span prior to a request to renew said license (13.1.5b). If the driver has not held a full Super License in the past three years, it will be up to the FIA to judge their application, which they will do based on recent single-seater achievements in other categories (13.1.5c).
The 300 kilometers in the previous 180 days in a representative F1 car is in addition to the above requirements (13.1.5 note).
How is he fantastic in the described situation? He seemingly didn’t bring anything to Sauber nor Zhou, and they spent multiple years just slowly getting worse rather than better.
The idea that Bottas, at this stage, would be a great hire for a new project, never mind a top team, just seems wishful thinking on his part. He has had his years.
Top Gear: Nothing new as he’s been seeking a return ever since his time as a full-time F1 driver ended for the time being, & Cadillac is literally his only chance because all existing teams are se with their drivers for the foreseaable future, meaning that only something drastic would lead to changes in the short-term.
I don’t get Isack Hadjar’s image in Keith’s tweet, by which I mean, what does he have to do with the Alpine driver change matter?
2005, being both Alonso’s first championship-winning & Bearman’s birth year (& for that matter, the second championship year is Antonelli’s birth year), is already a good coincidence, so the 2005 Spanish GP race day being more specifically Bearman’s birthday is an even greater coincidence, & another note-worthy coincidence is that Sainz Jr. attended that round as a 10-year-old at the time (11 later that year).
I wouldn’t consider it a sacking yet. Doohan hasn’t been bad enough for that. I expect Colapinto to be better, but if he messes up and does a worse job, he won’t continue.
Bottas return? hahahaha, that would be a new low for F1. Nothing against the fine man, but he is mediocre at best. Hugely flattered by the Mercedes back then. I think F1 can do better with the just 20 seats available. Hahahahaha, what a joke!
Now that would be a low ambition start of their campaign! I can relate to them wanting to have someone with experience so there is some benchmarking going on but both Perez and Bottas would be too much. I would go for a combination of experience and talent.
Ferdi I fully get your point & can understand people wishing for a mixture of experience & freshness.
Ultimately the easy & safe move of maximizing available F1 racing experience for their first season wouldn’t be harmful at all & if anything, something I think they’d be wise to do unless both Herta & Crawford fail to reach super license eligibility this year & if that happens, they can re-look at the matter for 2027 & consequently sacrifize Bottas after only a single season if they still definitively want to have an American driver.
Alrthough his race last race was coincidently a mess with Perez and Magnussen, his qualifying was amazing. he qualified P9 in pretty much the worst car on the grid, outqualifying Perez who was P10 and didn’t even look to make mistakes on his lap. Bottas was excellent in qualifying and made the least mistakes of anyone that was in F1 the same time perious as him. He just was a bit underwhelming in terms of racecraft and also a bit inconsistent with his race pace too.
Ok, your have some solid points and maybe I am being too harsh on Bottas. I would like to see some talent rather than going on safe, this being F1 and all and not a junior category.
Something tells me you don’t know the meaning of the word “mediocre” if you’re using it in such a way, you certainly don’t seem to know anything of Bottas’ career.
I see Bottas as this era’s David Coulthard. Talented, pretty fast if not as quick as some of his team mates but sufficiently close to push them hard, makes very few stupid mistakes that cost the team money and places/points, is good for the sponsors and above all if the car has points in it that race, he’ll generally get them.
Could obviously be rose-tinted spectacles in regards to both, but in the main I see them as safe hands/feet.
Seppo (@helava)
8th May 2025, 0:57
One one hand, I think Bottas is great. He’s an excellent driver, a genuinely solid, reliable pair of hands. He may not win WDCs, but he’s a fantastic person to pair with a raw talent that hasn’t had time to cook yet, or for a team that needs a driver with experience and perspective who’s seen it all. He’s also charming as F, and has grown into a delightful social media presence who can bring personality and flair to a team he works for.
That said, he’s also had a decade+ in F1, and for me, unless you’re fighting at the sharp end, that’s enough time for a driver, and it’s time to give opportunity to new talent.
I wish there was an “F1 Masters” category, where retired drivers would take spec-ish cars for a spin. It’d be more for fun, less competitive, but you’d get to see your favorites from several generations of F1 compete. So Kevin Magnussen vs. Heikki Kovalainen vs. Stoffel Vandoorne vs. Esteban Gutierrez. I dunno – give everyone who’s made it through the wringer a chance to just goof around in more or less equal machinery for kicks. Bottas would absolutely kill it in a format like that.
So yes. I’d like to see him return. And no. He’s had his time.
Tomcat173 (@tomcat173)
8th May 2025, 5:10
Great idea. The list of good drivers that all had a chance in F1, but didn’t quite make it or weren’t labelled as the next big thing… would all get a second chance to shine.
Stick them into 2 year old F1 cars and run a support series just below F1. It wouldn’t stuff up the pathway to F1 for junior drivers coming up from F2, and we’d get to see more racing from drivers that didnt quite get there. Who wouldn’t watch that?
Miane
8th May 2025, 17:29
Maybe just enforce teams to run 1 rookie in each sprint race. The same rule as it’s now for free practices.
Ideals (@ideals)
8th May 2025, 5:26
I thought that already existed. I think they call it Formula E.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 6:36
@helava The ‘he’s had his time’ reference equally applies to Checo (& quite a few others), but he’s likely to get hired by Cadillac eventually, so hiring both him & Bottas wouldn’t be a bad move at all for a start-up team in a season with considerable technical regulation changes.
MichaelN
8th May 2025, 8:00
It does apply to others. And hopefully the strong showing of various rookies will finally get the teams out of this rut they’ve been in for years, where they prized experience above everything else.
Though it would be funny to see the US Americans come crawling to Mexican Pérez to drive their car, given that they have only Sargeant as an alternative. Newgarden, who has no interest but was available, is also set to lose his 40 points given how poorly he is doing this year in Indycar.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
8th May 2025, 10:02
Ironically, sargeant was outperforming perez in their last season as colleagues! Although obviously perez was significantly better at peak.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 11:38
MichaelN The thing about Newgarden is applicable only if he doesn’t presently hold a valid super license because once a driver obtains it, the points system becomes inapplicable to that driver, just like the points system is inapplicable to former F1 drivers, who simply need to do at least 300 km of modern F1 car driving at racing speeds to re-validate a super license that has expired after three full years without driving in a single race in F1.
Of course, Sargeant stopped active racing altogether, so effectively Herta & Crawford are the only viable options, who can both reach super license eligibility & are in suitable enough career situations for F1.
On the other hand, Herta has spoken skeptically about moving to F1 deep into his professional racing career.
Therefore, he might turn down an offer even if he reached eligibility this year.
MichaelN
8th May 2025, 20:23
That’s not quite right.
A driver who has recently held a full Super License (not FP only) must complete 100 kilometers in an official F1 practice session in a three year time-span prior to a request to renew said license (13.1.5b). If the driver has not held a full Super License in the past three years, it will be up to the FIA to judge their application, which they will do based on recent single-seater achievements in other categories (13.1.5c).
The 300 kilometers in the previous 180 days in a representative F1 car is in addition to the above requirements (13.1.5 note).
MichaelN
8th May 2025, 7:55
How is he fantastic in the described situation? He seemingly didn’t bring anything to Sauber nor Zhou, and they spent multiple years just slowly getting worse rather than better.
The idea that Bottas, at this stage, would be a great hire for a new project, never mind a top team, just seems wishful thinking on his part. He has had his years.
kuvemar
8th May 2025, 15:16
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbnvYONIo54
BlasterMaster
8th May 2025, 19:11
+1
Branding X-F1
Grid- 15 drivers randomly allocated F2 cars + 2 rotating part timers
~25/30 laps(track dependent)
Practice- 1 hour
Qualifying- 1 out lap + 1 hot lap Shootout
Top 5 score points
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 6:40
COTD: Spot-on.
Top Gear: Nothing new as he’s been seeking a return ever since his time as a full-time F1 driver ended for the time being, & Cadillac is literally his only chance because all existing teams are se with their drivers for the foreseaable future, meaning that only something drastic would lead to changes in the short-term.
I don’t get Isack Hadjar’s image in Keith’s tweet, by which I mean, what does he have to do with the Alpine driver change matter?
2005, being both Alonso’s first championship-winning & Bearman’s birth year (& for that matter, the second championship year is Antonelli’s birth year), is already a good coincidence, so the 2005 Spanish GP race day being more specifically Bearman’s birthday is an even greater coincidence, & another note-worthy coincidence is that Sainz Jr. attended that round as a 10-year-old at the time (11 later that year).
A.Barrister
8th May 2025, 8:22
Isack…I-sack (I (Flavio) sack (fires/makes redundant). It is a play on words and their pronunciation/meaning.
S Arkazam
8th May 2025, 9:30
It’s a new feature on Racefans.
When we find out that Briatore used WhatsApp to fire Doohan, it will show an image of ‘Max Verstappen’ followed by Flavio ‘First-Apped-Him’ .
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 11:33
A.Barrister S Arkazam An Sionnach
Thank you all for the clarification. I simply struggled to interpret this word play thing precisely.
Simon
8th May 2025, 20:54
Oh dear :/
An Sionnach
8th May 2025, 8:30
I-sack-Hadjar, I sack Doohan
An Sionnach
8th May 2025, 8:32
I wouldn’t consider it a sacking yet. Doohan hasn’t been bad enough for that. I expect Colapinto to be better, but if he messes up and does a worse job, he won’t continue.
Ferdi
8th May 2025, 7:10
Bottas return? hahahaha, that would be a new low for F1. Nothing against the fine man, but he is mediocre at best. Hugely flattered by the Mercedes back then. I think F1 can do better with the just 20 seats available. Hahahahaha, what a joke!
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 7:57
He’d at least be a comparatively better option than Perez purely based on meritocracy & alternatively, Cadillac can hire both if they want to.
Ferdi
8th May 2025, 9:33
Now that would be a low ambition start of their campaign! I can relate to them wanting to have someone with experience so there is some benchmarking going on but both Perez and Bottas would be too much. I would go for a combination of experience and talent.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 11:32
Ferdi I fully get your point & can understand people wishing for a mixture of experience & freshness.
Ultimately the easy & safe move of maximizing available F1 racing experience for their first season wouldn’t be harmful at all & if anything, something I think they’d be wise to do unless both Herta & Crawford fail to reach super license eligibility this year & if that happens, they can re-look at the matter for 2027 & consequently sacrifize Bottas after only a single season if they still definitively want to have an American driver.
Ben Rowe (@thegianthogweed)
8th May 2025, 8:18
Alrthough his race last race was coincidently a mess with Perez and Magnussen, his qualifying was amazing. he qualified P9 in pretty much the worst car on the grid, outqualifying Perez who was P10 and didn’t even look to make mistakes on his lap. Bottas was excellent in qualifying and made the least mistakes of anyone that was in F1 the same time perious as him. He just was a bit underwhelming in terms of racecraft and also a bit inconsistent with his race pace too.
Ferdi
8th May 2025, 9:35
Ok, your have some solid points and maybe I am being too harsh on Bottas. I would like to see some talent rather than going on safe, this being F1 and all and not a junior category.
Jere (@jerejj)
8th May 2025, 11:29
@thegianthogweed Good points, but one note worthy aspect is that Bottas performed comparatively better in a top team than Perez.
Craig
8th May 2025, 12:14
Something tells me you don’t know the meaning of the word “mediocre” if you’re using it in such a way, you certainly don’t seem to know anything of Bottas’ career.
Lapov Onor
8th May 2025, 13:14
I see Bottas as this era’s David Coulthard. Talented, pretty fast if not as quick as some of his team mates but sufficiently close to push them hard, makes very few stupid mistakes that cost the team money and places/points, is good for the sponsors and above all if the car has points in it that race, he’ll generally get them.
Could obviously be rose-tinted spectacles in regards to both, but in the main I see them as safe hands/feet.
Miane
8th May 2025, 17:31
Alpine is a good car for Colapinto, it’s far from being the worst in the grid, actually it’s better than Sauber, Aston and maybe Hass.