[Jody Barton]

NeilP the situation at Williams is that they have two pay drivers. So they both have a slightly stronger hand than most drivers do. However, there will be performance break clauses. Soooo, yeah, Sirotkin might be missing those right now. As to how they could replace him? Wehrlein has a boatload of Mercedes cash behind him, as does George Russell, but more importantly Kubica's has a ton of cash.

The situation with Ericsson is different, and altogether more complicated. Ericsson doesn't bring any cash to Sauber, instead Sauber's major shareholders, a Swedish firm, want Ericsson as a driver, but Ferrari now have a much bigger stake in Sauber, and potentially a much bigger say. Ericsson has been beaten by every team mate he's had, even with the team favouring him. He's got to be on shakey ground.

Hartley is probably in the most precarious position of them all. He has no money backing him, he was part of the RBR young drivers program. A program that is full of very talented youngsters, so his pressure is very different. Do I believe TR and more importantly RBR will replace Hartley mid-season? If he doesn't perform, and they have a ready made replacement, then yes, they'll pull the trigger. I do however believe he has a fair few more races before any decision is made either way.

[forzaferrari]

Nowt to do with the above topic but Red Bull related none the less

Red Bull to arrange F1 test for Marquez....https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-to-arrange-test-for-marquez-1040037/

[PapaofGags]

Haha, you beat me to it bud.

[PapaofGags]

https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/18473

"Red Bull Racing are reportedly courting McLaren star Lando Norris as a potential replacement for Brendon Hartley, who, according to various sources is at risk of losing his Toro Rosso seat.
Hartley and team-mate Pierre Gasly joined STR late last season after the outfit axed Daniil Kvyat, whilst Carlos Sainz was loaned to Renault at short notice following Toro Rosso's switch to Honda engines.
The team, which is owned by Red Bull, has a history of changing its driver line-up if it believes one of its juniors is underperforming and Hartley, who has scored just one point to Pierre Gasly's 18, is under pressure to lift his results.
Rumours in Spain suggested former Sauber driver and Mercedes junior Pascal Wehrlein could be in line to replace Hartley, but those claims were dismissed by Hartley himself who insisted he holds a valid contract.
"I was surprised to hear that [rumour]. I have a contract. There's always a lot of rumours in Formula 1, so as a driver, it's better not to read too much."
But what of Red Bull's own stable of young drivers? Dan Ticktum is the most senior but given he's in his maiden season of the FIA European Formula 3 Championship, it's not thought he'll be ready for the jump to F1 until at least 2020, which is the same story for Nirei Fukuzumi."

Not seen such a busy silly season for a while.

[PapaofGags]

https://www.planetf1.com/news/renault-wa...s-ticking/

Renault are running out of patience with Red Bull with Cyril Abiteboul warning that their offer for a 2019 engine offer may no longer be on the table come the Austrian GP.
Under F1 regulations, all teams had to inform the FIA of their 2019 engine supplier by May 15.
Red Bull delayed their decision as they wanted to see the updates that Renault and Honda brought to the track at the Canadian Grand Prix.

However, even the race has come and go, Red Bull have still not made a call, saying they won’t until the Austrian GP.
That, though, may be too late for Renault.
“I guess they have all the information that they need now. I don’t see why they are going to further delay the decision,” Abiteboul told Motorsport.com.
“As per the regulations, [the deadline] was May 15, and then we accepted to extend that a little bit on the back of 12 years of good collaboration.
“But past a certain point, the offer we made, and that they requested, will not stand. It was Montreal that they wanted to wait for: our new spec, Honda’s new spec.
“They have all the information, I see no absolutely no reason to delay that any further.”
Asked if Renault were willing to wait until the Austrian GP, Abiteboul replied: “I don’t think so. It’s simply because we need to source the components.

“We’re already behind, and it’s Renault deciding the timing, not Red Bull.

[Monster Hesh]

Rumours starting RedBull will be powered by Honda.

[NeilP]

Rumours starting RedBull will be powered by Honda.

My money is totally on them running Honda next year.  I kind of feel sorry for McLaren they went through the pain of Honda and probably left at the wrong time but in all reality did they have any choice but to do that!

[LotusLover]

Rumours starting RedBull will be powered by Honda.

My money is totally on them running Honda next year.  I kind of feel sorry for McLaren they went through the pain of Honda and probably left at the wrong time but in all reality did they have any choice but to do that!

Hi Neil

This is my instant reaction and I think in answer to your question Yes they did have a choice, I feel they may have been pressured by FA and his theat of quitting, good things take time to establish and agreed it was painful, but well we all have choices. I have no doubt there was pressure from sponsors and whoever else but the decision was Mclarens alone.

[PapaofGags]

Rumours starting RedBull will be powered by Honda.

My money is totally on them running Honda next year.  I kind of feel sorry for McLaren they went through the pain of Honda and probably left at the wrong time but in all reality did they have any choice but to do that!

Agreed lads, I was so hoping it would come good for McLaren Honda, I was sad when it didn't work out, don't think Alonso's ego (f1 drivers & their bloody ego's) would of allowed him to stay with Honda another year & it looks like McLaren chose him over Honda, weird how life go around in circles then comes back to bite you in the butt isn't it? pretty convinced RedBull/Honda is going to be very strong, though soon enough to keep Daniel? time will tell.

[NeilP]

Rumours starting RedBull will be powered by Honda.

My money is totally on them running Honda next year.  I kind of feel sorry for McLaren they went through the pain of Honda and probably left at the wrong time but in all reality did they have any choice but to do that!

Agreed lads, I was so hoping it would come good for McLaren Honda, I was sad when it didn't work out, don't think Alonso's ego (f1 drivers & their bloody ego's) would of allowed him to stay with Honda another year & it looks like McLaren chose him over Honda, weird how life go around in circles then comes back to bite you in the butt isn't it? pretty convinced RedBull/Honda is going to be very strong, though soon enough to keep Daniel? time will tell.

I really, really want to see Danny in a Mercedes next year!!!