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I think Ocon, himself, would agree to a two-year deal if it guaranteed to keep him on the grid.
But I believe his contract would have to go through Mercedes, who would want Ocon available to them at any time (encase they don’t extend Bottas’ contract, or if any unfortunate injuries in the main line-up forced someone out of action).
And I doubt any team would want to agree to those terms at this time.That said, I could see Williams go for it if (maybe) Mercedes agreed to do a straight switch between the two teams of Bottas for Ocon (in the case of a call-up).
But right now, I think Williams’ concern is income.
And for Mercedes, it might require a re-negotiation of Bottas’ contract (as it already has a 2nd-year extension ready).Wasn’t Valery Markelov [last year finished 2nd to Leclerc in F2, currently 5th this year] linked to a seat at Wlliams, only for his dad (who has been financing his career) to be arrested as part of a corruption investigation earlier this month.
That might have put a spanner in the works.Now, whether Williams can end their downward spiral and build a working car is another question…
As for Ocon: only Williams, Racing Point, and Toro Rosso, yet to announce a second driver.
With the current consensus saying he’ll be a test/reserve driver for Mercedes next year.Yeah this is great news to see. The question here is does Ocon bring in enough money as ultimately it does boil to that to some elements.
Part of the problem, Ocon has, is teams are looking long term with their drivers, to develop the car in the run up to potential new regulations in 2021.
It’s why we’ve seen some big moves around the grid (Ricciardo, Kimi, Norris, Leclerc, Gasly, Sainz). It’s about cementing a team for the upcoming years.
So teams want drivers locked down for 2-3 years.
But Bottas’ one-year contract at Mercedes hangs over Ocon’s head. And a team might not want to gamble on a driver who’s long term availability is in doubt, when they know they can get a driver they can keep.I won’t say Max did it on purpose, but it was his fault. He rushed his recovery to avoid losing his position.
Had he just followed through and straight lined the corner, it would been the safer approach. But there would have been the chance he’d have to hand the position to Kimi, for cutting the corner.
So Max’s path of moving back onto the track [asap] was probably he’s best chance of keeping his claim to his position in front of Kimi. But got him the penalty for the unsafe rejoin.
It’s a bit lose-lose. But it was his own error that got him into it.As far as my view of Kimi: He was the one on the track, and kind of has the right of way as a result.
It was up to Max to rejoin the track in a safe manner.
So for Max to rejoin and make contact in the process was going to end in a penalty.As for pundits not critiquing Max. I think some are a bit too starry-eyed about a fast young driver, who’s a bit rough around the edges, driving in a top team.
And while I’d admit, its exciting, having a young driver who won’t back down easily. It doesn’t make him exempt from criticism.
I believe they’d be talking differently, about Max, if he was up against his contemporaries (if he was being matched by Leclerc in the Ferrari, or a Mercedes driven by Ocon) as he’d no longer have the aura/excuse of being THE young guy battling near the front.I think the same can be said for a lot of media. Books, TV, Movies.
Something has to be wrong in the world for the hero to overcome.
The larger stakes, the greater the obstacle, the bigger the drama, the more engaging it is. At least in theory.The term “commercial sense” also strikes me.
To me, it hints that its more than money/cost. Its that Mercedes don’t see them as big enough “commercial stars” to invest in.
They don’t carry the same levels of hype or branding than the likes of Hamilton. Or, for a younger example, Max Verstappen. Or, for a future example, possibly Mick Schumacher. Funnily enough, two drivers Mercedes have expressed interest in.Lewis won’t drive for Mercedes forever, so they know they’ll need someone to fill those shoes once he’s gone.
They don’t just want someone who’s fast; but someone who brings eyes to the product. And maybe they don’t see that in Ocon or Russell.
So if they’re not to be Mercedes’ Number 1 “Star”, why invest so much into them? Especially as they could easily nab a top driver from another team. After all, they’re Mercedes.It also increases my doubts regarding Mercedes team’s future involvement in F1.
They seem pretty blasé regarding F1’s problems. Not interested in lowering costs to help smaller teams and F1’s sustainability, but want to do the opposite by increasing the size of teams and the costs involved.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Mercedes dropped F1 if they feel the new regulations don’t suit them, or if Liberty planned to implement something that Mercedes don’t like. Almost like Mercedes are willing leave F1 once it stops being about them.
As far as marketing goes, the project has worked. Mercedes have reestablished their reputation (after their 2000s dip), with F1 dominance as a marketing symbol of their prominence. So a F1 team (going forwards) could be surplus to requirements.
After all, if there were budget limits or regulations that allowed competition to become closer with smaller teams, the mighty Mercedes would start to look normal.I think you’re a bit harsh saying half the grid are pay drivers (I’d consider three drivers, of the current grid, to be money-over-merit). But I get your point on drivers requiring significant financial backing to get drives in F1 and promising talents missing out.
And I still don’t think we’ll hear any potential teams plan to enter F1 until after we know Liberty’s future plans (regarding the layout of F1) in full. Too many unknowns right now.Ah. I forgot about Rocksmith.
I’m also surprise by the SNES controller count.
Not so much the number (I realise emulation and retro-style games are big), but I didn’t know Steam could detect them as such (assumed it would go under “PC Gamepad”).I’ve only met four people with PC wheel set-ups. One of which was into iRacing.
Out of friends on Steam, maybe four or five have wheels. But, keep in mind, I don’t really dive deep into online sim racing.
I’m not surprised that its a low number.
I’m more surprised by the number of rockband instruments.I remember when Codemasters confirmed there wouldn’t be a cockpit cam in Grid2 because it wasn’t worth the resources (considering barely anyone used it in the previous game).
If you skim through https://steamcharts.com/ you can see the sort of numbers racing games are getting (in terms of people playing).
Also keep in mind a few games, such as iRacing, run off their own client. But even then, iRacing boasts of 70,000 members.Its hard to say, since most of the changes implemented, so far, have been in presentation.
Some have been good. F1 definitely needed a lick of paint, and to move on from Bernie’s fear of technology.
Some have been more questionable (Do we really need beeps added in as the five red lights come on? Sounds so cheap. And maybe not give Heineken so much free rein).
But I commend them for at least trying.I knew the entertainment would have to come from further back. And sure enough, there’s plenty to talk about there.
As for the leaders, its the same old story.
If you get closer to the guy in front, you lose downforce, ruin your tyres, and your car overheats. So everyone sits around and waits for… I don’t know what.I won’t deny that the PS1 made a major impact.
Even the PS1 price announcement was a bombshell moment that will probably never be matched.
I could understand if Perez was worried about the Haas making contact with his rear tyre, and made the shift right in response.
But he should have shown more awareness.It’s a real shame for Ocon.
I’m sure he would have wanted to spent more time on track just to get away from the off-track speculations.Its a tough one.
I have to say the SNES.The NES helped to reestablish the console market.
But, at least to me, the SNES reaffirmed the foundation, and its game library is what pushes it ahead.That’s a very interesting point.
How long can Ferrari deal with Vettel throwing away points and, essentially, championships?
His current contract ends in 2020. 2020 being the next (potentially) big window for top teams. So the next year could be decisive.And this year could end up as his best opportunity. He should have been in control of the standings by now.
The flashback safety-net helps with that. 😛
I’m not one for buying the same game annually. So 100% race distance helps to extend the lifespan of the game.
But its only because the game can throw up mixed conditions and safety cars (plus the ability to gamble on race strategy), that changes the dynamics of a race on the fly, and keeps me invested with the longer races.I’ve been really enjoying Wreckfest.
And I agree. The controls are intuitive, and that feeling of weight and momentum is great, as you go through dips, over bumps, while up against lighter and heavier vehicles.
I found the singleplayer to get tired after a while. It’s a good way to get to grips with the game, and some of the special scenarios are cool. But racing against the AI race after race became dull.However the multiplayer is a lot of fun.
It’s really funny how the multiplayer contrasts to other racing games. I’m used to seeing on-track incidents turn to bickering in the chat, with people holding grudges and spite from then on. But in Wreckfest, everyone is free to sort out their differences on the track. So I’ve seen bumps, turn into words, turn into fights, but ending in mutual understanding/respect because they’re able to get it out of their system. Not all the time (some people just want to burn it all), but it happens.So Ferrari and Sauber are indeed going to swap Kimi and Leclerc.
I guess that proves me wrong. 😛Could be interesting to watch, with Kimi taking over from Alonso as the “veteran world champion further down the field”.
Does that mean Kimi is still Ferrari’s backup if it doesn’t work out for Leclerc?
This has definitely been one of the more interesting years for the driver market…
