#driver market

[helmet-hairs]

Drivers with an unconfirmed teammate for 2025: George Russel, Nico Hulkenburg, Yuki Tsunoda, Pierre Gasly.

Everyone has such great pictures so why did they choose one where Yuki’s hair looks like it is standing straight up from the wind.

[sainzers]

driver market is about to kick in, watch.

i feel like it was just waiting for one of the top drivers to make a move then other teams and drivers will go from there. like the start of domino effect. but tbh alonso staying in am was not on my list. for better or worse, it got me questioning on my manifestation of sainz to am. is lance gonna stay? bc there was a retirement rumor going around, not sure whether he was joking or not. wait does it seal off kimi to merc? i feel like it is. i cant see sainz go to any other team other than am or rbr. checo said that he's basically not concerned of his seat but it's rbr and i feel like they're a lil bit unpredictable. if stake/audi wants sainz i feel like he needs to be convinced that they won't suck next year. will there be a big change from the drivers with a long contract? like a buy off perhaps. this brings on so many thoughts i just ran with the keyboards lol.

[breast-man-69]

The Lawson Question: How Long Will Red Bull Wait?

The Formula 1 world watched with keen interest. Red Bull Racing announced Liam Lawson as Max Verstappen’s teammate for the 2025 season. This move signaled a new chapter for the young New Zealander and the team. Replacing Sergio Perez, Lawson stepped into what has often been described as one of the most challenging seats in motorsport. He partnered with a dominant world champion. Lawson faced the…

[ifitcisntsky]

Yesterday I was doomscrolling through tiktok and I came across F1's take on the "he doesn't know it yet, but" trend, and everybody had some of their best and most impressive achievements in this sport mentioned.

Then I see this

Like I'm sorry??

THAT'S what the official F1 tiktok admin decided was the best achievement in George's career?

not the PPTS and the balls he had to contact toto at the age of 16 for a future career at mercedes AND ACTUALLY GETTING IT? not him becoming the head of the GPDA? Not going from starting last on the grid in Williams to leading 64 laps of his first GP in a mercedes BEFORE he even had a contract, which he would've won if it wasn't for a bad pit stop? not the absolutely faultless drives that got him his maiden win in Sao Paulo 2022 and also Las Vegas 2024? Not the 34 laps/238 km on the same tyres in Spa 2024 which was ALSO a faultless drive? Not him outperforming a 7x WDC and arguably the best talent this sport has ever had in equal machinery two years in a row? Not outqualifying a fucking mclaren rocket in 2025??

And that's not even all!

"Oh it's not that deep it's just a funny tiktok" but it IS that deep, especially when everybody else got nothing but praise.

To me, this is blatant disrespect and an insult to George as a driver.

Of COURSE nobody in this sport takes him, his fans or his achievements seriously anymore. How could they, when not even the person running the literal F1 account on one of the biggest platforms out there does.

It is embarrassing.

[markscherz]

a person who named a genus, on tumblr

Actually, three genera, but Anilany and Nanohyla are not as catchy as Mini. A full list of the taxa I have described is available on my website. :)

[shovlison]

An evolution of Mercedes’ team kit (part 2)

2015-2017 Hugo Boss

The white shirt and fitted, non-cargo, trousers were a massive improvement. Wonderfully dapper jumpers and jackets. Very James Bond. Somewhat unnecessarily tight blouses for women that needed improvement. Special tribute goes to the Mercedes wet shirt! Thank you to the models who drenched themselves in champagne and made us have some wet dreams!

[slutforpringles]

Since signing Colapinto from Williams, following his cameo role in the final few races of last season, the theory has been the access to Latin American money the Argentine gives means Doohan is on borrowed time. But that threat seems to have diminished for now, the funding perhaps more theoretical than real.

Interesting (and reassuring) bit of reporting about Jack's prospects at Alpine from Andrew Benson.

via: BBC | Is Tsunoda an improvement on Lawson? F1 Q&A

[jamminvroomvroom]

coming back just to tell you that lando breaking into fashion/fragrance WILL finish me off so actually this might be our last correspondence!

[charles-leclerc-official]

Formula 1 and Home Races - Disconnect between Marketing and Fan Expectations

Home races are a very exciting thing in Formula 1, for the fans and for the drivers. The teams make sure to capitalize on bringing attention to their driver and their home race.

But there is a problem with the way teams and fans think about home races. It leads to a big disconnect of expectations from the fans, and often leads to frustration aimed at teams or even individual drivers.

What is a Home Race?

A home race is a race taking place in the home country- sometimes even home city or region - of a driver. Not all drivers have a home race, but given the international nature of the sport there are often quite a few home races to look forward to in any given season.

For the drivers a home race is special. They get to be in front of a home crowd, show what they can do on track, make an exciting weekend for their home fans and even friends and family. These home races are usually more emotional as they are a part of a driver's journey in Formula 1. Winning your home race is often a goal of drivers who are lucky enough to have a home race on the calendar.

To the fans a home race is fun. It celebrates their favorite driver and also puts a spotlight on their country and city. Home races can really create a great sense of community between international fans and local fans. Fans also appreciate getting to see their driver have this more emotionally impactful part of their F1 journey.

To the teams a home race means two things: marketing and money. Teams do not really care about home races. Not in the emotional way they present. They use them for marketing if a driver on their team has a home race, they will take full advantage making them do more media leading up to the race, arranging special events, custom merchandise. One the surface it looks like they care, and they do, but only about the money and success than can be gained for the team. The actual race and outcome for the fans and the driver are second consideration.

The Disconnect

The final two points above are the disconnect we often see in Formula 1. Fans are very attached to the fantasy of a home race, the larger than life feeling, the emotional journey, the sense of real community. While teams are more concerned with money, they always have been and they always will be.

Teams are very good at marketing. They will make emotional videos, often filming their driver sharing their emotional journey. And fans naturally see this kind of content and believe that this emotional message from the driver to the fans is also shared by the team. When it isn't.

Teams aren't heartless, there are humans that care working behind the scenes. But the feelings are very secondary to the results and money. They are not going to do anything differently simply because of emotional impact for fans.

So what we often see is this setup of expectations from fans where a driver is “the main character” to the team for their home race weekend. And teams do a good job of making it appear that is the case on social media, they will often post more stats and pictures of the home race driver. But then teams don't give any special treatment to a home race driver on track and fans are left confused and sometimes hurt.

Because to a team it is a marketing tool. That's it. When the home race driver gets a result they lean into it more, hype of the mythology of the winning driver, the journey to winning it.

Make no mistake, regardless of the outcome teams see it as a marketing opportunity. Nothing more nothing less. Expecting more will only result in disappointment.

The biggest disconnect between the teams and fans is that there is the fan expectation a driver will get special treatment on track because it is their home race. That is not a reason to give a driver any kind of preferential treatment on track, it never has been and it never will be. The only thing that matters on track is a driver's performance, if they are fastest they will get priority, if they aren't then they won't home race or not.

Naturally this can lead to situations where a driver does not outperform their teammate during a race weekend, and fans are upset that the teammate seemingly got more support. When they didn't, teams run races the same way they always do regardless of location, the difference is the perception of fans due to the fact it's a home race.

The Press

The press also feed into this issue. They will naturally interview the home driver. They will run more thinkpieces on them, highlight their successes thus far, and naturally pull on the emotional weight of a home race. This is for entertainment. They know fans want to see the home driver so they give them that content.

And again this kind of spotlighting really skews expectations for the team's treatment of the driver on track.

All of this paints a very emotional picture that fans want to buy into, because of course they are attached to the home driver. However the fact it is all just entertainment and marketing is rarely clear.

I do not want to call fans stupid for “falling” for marketing. I do want to point out that teams never say they are going to give preferential treatment to a driver because it's their home race. The only reason they will do that is if that driver is faster. And if the home driver is faster they will say afterwards “we were happy to be able to help X win his home race that is always special” and people will think that meant special treatment was given, when again, it wasn't. The teams do what they always do.

I write all this to make people aware that this is marketing. As a fan I am emotional for my driver and their home race. I don't expect the team to care, and I try to take the content they put out for what it is, a marketing tool. It isn't a promise, it's to generate interest in the team and to sell team and driver specific merch.

Example

I want to examine the most recent example of this disconnect that has been seen with the Ferrari drivers. Both Charles and Carlos have a home race on the calendar.

In Monaco Ferrari made posts leading up to Charles' home race, he had the spotlight in the media.

On track nothing special was done for Charles. They ran the same program they intended to all weekend. Charles qualified on pole and won the race from pole. The important thing to note is that he qualified ahead of his teammate, that is the reason he got priority from the team, because he was faster, it did not have anything to do with the fact that it was his home race.

Ferrari didn't do anything different or special on track because it was Charles' home race. But because he won the perception that he got a lot more from the team is there.

Cut to Spain. Carlos' home race.

Ferrari do the same thing in the media, the attention is on Carlos.

On track nothing is different. Ferrari ran the program they had planned and no preferential treatment was given. Even the choice to upgrade Carlos' car first for a free practice session had nothing to do with it being his home race, it was about them wanting to compare data and they made the choice based on who was going to produce the best data with the older car model.

In qualifying Charles qualified ahead of Carlos. He was faster, and in the race this was also the case, Charles' pace was faster than Carlos. Ferrari did what they always do: support the faster driver. The softs they saved were for whoever was fastest. Charles was fastest. Carlos got no preferential treatment.

The only difference in these two weekends was not the way Ferrari treated either driver, they were treated the same on track. The difference was that Charles was fastest during his home race, and Carlos was not fastest during his. That's the only thing the team cares about, they do not care about the emotional impact of a home race unless the outcome is positive. If a driver wants to win their home race they have to be fastest. It's that simple.

I use Ferrari as an example here, but this applies to every single driver who has a home race. This goes beyond any one team and any given race or year.

So you can see how the media and team social marketing set up expectations for fans. They create this beautiful idea of a home race celebrating a driver. There is an implicit promise that the team care more about this driver for the home race weekend. The media draw attention to this driver, repeat over and over "how much this will mean for him" and fans believe it. Why shouldn't they? As a fan it's something people want to believe. But it is just talk. It doesn't translate to the track. And it leads to disappointment most of the time if the expectations are there.

Of course the few times a home race is won and we get that fairy tale ending the social media and press pieces feed into this idea that it's possible, that a team engineered the entire weekend to get a driver a win. When in reality the team just did what they would do any weekend to secure the faster driver the win.

It's healthy for fans to be aware of this reality. To be aware of the reason home races are valuable. And to know to temper expectations.

Conclusion

As fans have fun with a home race. Celebrate your driver's story and the country. However do not go into a weekend expecting anything special on track, that is setting yourself up for disappointment. The teams are here to win, not to fulfill narrative fairy tales. Understand that marketing does not mean anything about what a team will do on track.

[helmet-hairs]

“Sergio Perez will remain a Formula One driver beyond the summer break and until the end of the year, Red Bull confirmed on Monday.

The shock decision was announced by Horner to the Red Bull factory on Monday, sources confirmed to ESPN.”

Full Article Here

WHY DO THIS? What is the point? The team must think they’re just fucked from car development either way. This feels like a bad sign.

There were no reports on his future for the 2025 season. At the moment I would assume that he has the seat.

The focus has now shifted to the junior Red Bull team where Daniel Ricciardo has a unconfirmed seat. The article talks about how he is going to be defending again Liam Lawson. It is unsure whether Ricardo will finish out the 2024 season or if he’ll be replaced by the reserve driver. I think his seat is safe for the remainder of the year, but I can’t say whether he will be resigned or not. The market is clearly not something I can predict after the news with Perez.

[rickybaby]

I’m so glad Daniel was back within the Red Bull family when he broke his hand. This sport is a business yes, but sometimes a little understanding and compassion go a long way …

[ynbabe]

Williams after ignoring Logan’s lap of legends, giving him a heavy ass car, with no updates while giving his teammate the lighter less damaged car with upgrades, throwing him under the bus for team mistakes, and generally showing no support or confidence in a driver they pulled up too early: we care about both driver equally 🥰

8 fucking posts about him re- signing not one(that I could find) about lap of legends…

Pls do not use this to hate on Alex cause even though he should be standing up for his teammate at the end of the day we don’t know if he is or not and we don’t know what the team management is doing either so…

[everybodyisaferrarifan]

jack doohan might have been promoted but is there any confirmation if pierre is going to stay with alpine??

(so after this year, is esteban officially welcomed to the alpine hating club which already includes alonso and piastri??)

toto has got options now- kimi, esteban, maybe mick too!?, seb(im still in delusion) or maybe bottas coming back??

what about carlos ?????????????????????

[kingdom-of-sins]

This silly season started the moment Seb posted his retirement announcement video which was 2.5 years ago (?) and ended today, at least it seems like it

[tirednotflirting]

ASK ME HOW IM DOING (danny ric was basically in tears during post race interviews getting asked about the rest of the season)

[salutethesargeant]

i feel so bad for the child already.

everyone already hyping the child as a future race driver.

if it will be a boy i can see the piquet side definitly pushing for the kid to become a driver

Course, all Piquet boys are thrown into racing for better or worse rates of success. I won't deny that if the kid is a boy, there will be much more favoritism present than if it were a girl. Still, even if the kid is a girl, she's bound to get more media attention than Penelope Kvyat due to marketability and a 'better' surname. (speaking of, why is there a tag for her on this site? That's weird. She's 5 — and a Kvyat, btw. 'Piquet' stop trying to erase her paternity like how Kelly wants you to so she'd get more attention)

A lot of the community seems to be actively hoping the kid is a boy and will get into racing. I've seen comparisons that Kelly is the Virgin Mary and the new baby is baby Jesus (what the fuck?) and is bound for an F1 seat just... because? But oh, apparently, that's not nepotism now. Somehow.