Unless Verstappen makes use of his âthe car is not performingâ clause
I do not see Lewis and Max in the same team - we saw what happened when Lewis and Alonso was in the same team
Well Hamilton and Rosberg was in the same team, and Iâll hazard a guess that the dymanic between Verstappen and Hamilton will be the same. It didnât go smoothly always for either drivers, but they both pushed each other so far that Merc dominated further than it probably wouldâve.
Also I think @PsychoFish has a good point. I donât see Hamilton driving after the 2020 season, and Merc will need a new driver lineup. I guess Ocon is out of the picture, or Bottas will be released in favour of Verstappen, with Hamilton leaving at the end of 2020 and Verstappen and Ocon becoming the Merc lineup for the major changes of 2021.
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Slightly off topic, but too good not to share.
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Donât write Ocon off so quickly. Merc have made some effort to keep him on the books as reserve driver. Heâs a fantastic talent, and if the Bottas renaissance doesnât continue, he could still find himself in a racing seat before very long.
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Hamilton has always said that he wants to be regarded as âone of the bestâ; He wants to better or equal Schumacherâs 7 titles. He wontâs stop at 5 if he doesnât think 6 is achievable, and there is no way he wonât go for it in 2020 if he takes the 2019 title.
However with the 2021 regulations and possibly having 6/7 titles under his belt by then itâs unlikely for him to continue. How the crazy Dutch / evil Belgian Verstappen does in a Silver arrow is to be seen.
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My prediction is :
2020 - Hamilton and Verstappen
2021 - Verstappen and Ocon
Bottas will likely join Red Bull or Ferrari and will give everyone a proper fight for a podium position.
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Yes, this is exactly what I also said. So I fully agree with this prediction
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This is certainly possible. I think however that a lot will change depending on what happens this year and next, especially with the new rules coming into effect. Some drivers on the verge of calling it a day may feel they donât want to race under the new regs, or conversely, feel the new cars are worth driving for a bit longer.
Hypothetical: Things fall apart at Ferrari and Seb decides to quit. At the same time, the final 2021 regs are published; Hammy doesnât like the look of them and thus he calls time on F1 as well. Now you have two open race seats in the top two teams. Who gets them?
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The young Mick Schumacher is already being groomed for F1 glory at Ferrari. I will hazard a guess that Kimi wonât be with the sport for too long, giving way for Schumacher to join the Alfa team to get some F1 race time. While unlikely, I wouldnât be surprised if we saw him in the car in 2020 already, given Kimi retires at the end of this year. If Kimi stays for another year, it will give Schumacher another year in F2 to dominate and work on maturing as a driver. So Iâll say that Ferrariâs long term plan is Leclerc and Schumacher for 2021 and onward.
Merc will be chasing Verstappen and Ocon, with Bottas potentially in the mix if he shapes up. Luca Ghiotto is another driver in F2 that needs to be considered. While he is not in the Merc plan, he has already tested with Williams, but Mercedes will definitely keep him in their sites. Then there is George Russel, which might also be considered by Mercedes in the future.
For Red Bull though, things are a bit thinner. They will try to keep Verstappen as long as possible, as I would guess he is, or was, their long term planned driver. But they did sign SĂŠrgio Sette Câmara to their Junior Development Program, and he has been very competitive in F2. I guess a Bottas move to RBR wouldnât be the worst idea ever. I honestly donât think either Kvyat or Albon will get call ups to the bigger RBR team in the next few years. At the moment neither has shown the flashy showmanship that RBR wants.
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Pretty good summary, Hammer. That does assume however that Schumacher Jr is good enough to cut it at this level; I know he has good genes, but he hasnât made it to the top just yet. Would be absolutely brilliant to have him and Leclerc as team mates though.
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Iâm not certain that Red Bull will give up on Verstappenâs (very lucrative) contract before itâs expiry at the end of 2020. If they do release him for next year, itâll come at a pretty steep cost. From 2021? Absolutely can see him in the Merc, alongside Ocon. I agree that Hamilton will probably do another season at Merc, and I reckon theyâll keep Bottas there as well, especially if he continues to provide a good challenge to Lewis.
On Mick Schumacher - agree 100% with Hammerâs assessment. His path is definitely with Alfa and then Ferrari alongside Leclerc. His Barcelona testing performance for both Alfa and Ferrari was solid, and thereâs already rumours starting about him being given at least one Friday free practice session by Ferrari this year - probably in Germany.
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The 2019 Chinese F1 Grand Prix Preview
ć¨ĺĽ˝ďźćŹ˘čżćĽĺ°ä¸ćľˇďź- NĂn hÇo, huÄnyĂng lĂĄi dĂ o shĂ nghÇi!
Hello, and welcome to Shanghai and our preview for the Formula 1 Heineken Chinese Grand Prix 2019.
This weekendsâ Grand Prix will be Round 3 of 21 of the 2019 Formula One Championship. More symbolically, itâll see the Formula One Race Counter tick over to 4-digits: it is officially numbered as Race #1000 of the F1 championship. Expect a lot of reference to the milestone throughout the weekend. (In fact, the F1 website, social media accounts and YouTube channel are already peppered with some very interesting and historical posts and videos â go check them out.)
This year sees the 16th running of the Chinese Grand Prix, all of which have taken place at the Hermann Tilke designed Shanghai International Circuit, located in the Jiading District of Shanghai.
The city of Shanghai is one of the four municipalities under the direct administration of the central government of the Peopleâs Republic of China. With a population of over 24 million, it is the largest city in China by population, and the second most populous city in the world. It is a global financial centre and transport hub and has worldâs busiest container port. Located in the Yangtze River Delta, it sits on the south edge of the estuary of the Yangtze in the middle portion of the East China coast.
The first of the 15 Chinese F1 GPs held so far took place in 2004 and was won by Rubens Barrichello driving for Ferrari. The most recent race was won (somewhat fortuitously some might say) by Daniel Ricciardo in his Red Bull.
In all, only five constructors have won in China, with Mercedes leading the wins count with 5. Ferrari (4), McLaren (3), Red Bull (2) and Renault (1) are the others.
Five is also the number of times that Lewis Hamilton has won in Shanghai (twice with McLaren, three times for Mercedes). Hamilton is also the only current driver with multiple Chinese victories. The only other drivers with multiple China wins (2 each) are Fernando Alonso and Nico Rosberg. Of the current field, only Ricciardo, Vettel and Raikkonen have won in China.
Hamilton is also the driver with the most Chinese Grand Prix pole positions â he has managed the top time in Qualifying six times so far. If he takes the P1 slot this weekend it would give him the same number of pole positions as the rest of the grid combined (85) and the most for a single manufacturer (59).
If pole position is somehow claimed by a driver without a pole start to their name yet, they would become the 100th different F1 polesitter at the 1,000th World Championship race. But thatâs a pretty big âifâ.
In terms of the race win proper, the odds have got to be with Hamilton as well. In addition to his excellent driver record in Shanghai, the Mercedes team have a pretty solid recent record there as well. Having won 5 of the last 7 Chinese GPs, the Silver Arrows must be favourites to add to their win tally.
The standing F1 Race Lap Record of 1:32.238 was set by Michael Schumacher for Ferrari during the inaugural 2004 race. Based on the fact that the previous two races failed to produce new lap records, I reckon this one might stay too. What may fall though is the 1:31.095 Outright Lap Record, currently held by Ferrariâs Sebastian Vettel set during Qualifying last year.
The Schedule
The racing action this weekend runs on Shanghai time, my Chinas. So set your clocks with enough time to boil the kettle before the lights go out at 8:10 on Sunday morning. Hereâs a look at the full weekendsâ times:
The Circuit
The Shanghai International Circuit is a permanent 5.451km motorsport circuit built on reclaimed swampland in 2003, at an estimated cost of $450-million. Itâs designed to look like the Chinese symbol for âshangâ, meaning upwards.
The GP circuit layout includes two DRS zones, and, at 1.2km, one of the longest straights on the calendar. Two of the circuits 16 turns are hairpins, but itâs the beginning of the lap that has the most interesting complex of turns on the circuit - ever tightening Turns 1 and 2 that go through almost 270-degrees, followed almost immediately by the double left handers of Turns 3 and 4. MEW drivers who have been running laps in China as part of the MEW Race of Geeks challenge can attest to how tricky this opening section of the lap is.
Hereâs the âIceman in an Alfaâ doing as little as possible to fulfill his required marketing responsibilities to show us around a lap:
The Tyres
Pirelli have offered the teams the middle of the 2019 compound range for the Shanghai circuit. Teams selected from C2 (hard), C3 (medium) and C4 (soft) compounds.
As Danny Ric discovered last year on the way to his win, tyre strategy and pitstops can be crucial at Shanghai. The wide track is renowned for its long straights and corners: the straights can cool down the front tyres in particular, causing front locking into the tighter turns. Weather is also important, with cool temperatures common (and expected again this weekend). Add to that the lower tyre blanket temperatures this year, and I guess weâll see a fair number of spinners, especially in practice as the drivers get to grips with the conditions.
Hereâs a look at the Pirelli Preview and Selected Sets infographics:
The Weather
The forecast for the weekend in Shanghai looks like a normal mid-April weekend in Shanghai. i.e. not that exciting. As I mentioned, the cool temperatures may be the only thing that teams should be wary of.
The Digital Grand Prix Guide
Quite the collectorâs item this one, what with this being the 1000th race and all. (Itâs worth it just for the feature article that has current F1 drivers and personalities select their favourite past GP.)
https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/3c697a26#/3c697a26/1
Thatâs it folks (bar the pre-race driverâs press conference that Iâll add in once itâs out). Letâs hope China serves up a race worthy of carrying the 1000 banner into F1 history. Enjoy the race!
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Hereâs one of those Race 1000 videos that I mentioned. Love that stats like this exist!
The Top 10 Highest Driver Win Percentages:
Spoiler Alert: #1 is not Lewlew!
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Fantastic preview as always @GregRedd!
Grand Prix #1000, wow! To mark this very special occasion, I highly recommend a listen to the most recent edition of the excellent Beyond the Grid podcast. The reason should be obvious.
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Required listening indeed! What an absolute legend Murray Walker is. I canât believe that at 95 years of age he stills sounds exactly the same as he always did. And so full of F1 knowledge and memories. Canât believe he hasnât been knighted yet. Make it so Pommie Queen Lady, make it so!
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Free Practice 1 Results:
@DieGrootHammerâs is better! (Where are those results from please? Asking for a friend.)
FP2 about to start in a minute or two. (Live on SS6 for those fortunate enough to still have a DSTV Premier subscription - or know someone who will share their DSTV Now access on the web or console app 
)
And Ted Kravitz is around tooâŚ
ninjaed!
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Lol I get these from the F1 subreddit. Usually these results formats are posted almost instantly after the completion of each session.
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So based on that, Ferrariâs pace on the mediums is equal to or better than Merc on the softs. Eish.
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