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[LC0112G]

There are quite a few up and coming "promising" youngsters in Formula 2. Last years winner Oscar Piastri is the one that is most talked about. Look at the previous winners -  Mick Schumacher, Nyck de Vries, George Russell and Charles Leclerc. There is also a lot of young talent in Formula E. Trouble is, none of these are very likely to be dropped straight into a competitive F1 car.

There is also a lot of politics in driver placement, with many of the drivers being tied to managers or manufacturers. Mercedes supply the engine for the Aston, so they have a lot of clout in who gets to drive for them.

Piastri is 'owned' by Alpine. With Alpine now running in 4th place on the grid, they may allow him to race for another team to gain experience. Can't see him dropping straight into the Alpine alongside Ocon at the expense of Alonso. And I don't see Alonso going to Aston either - why would he go from a team challenging the big 3 to a team that currently struggles to get out of Q1.

Aston have just signed Alonso so Merc haven't had much say in that one I wouldn't think

AIUI the negotiation over engines is often along the lines of...

A) You buy our engines at £100 Million per year
B) You buy our engines at £50 Million per year, and we loan you Driver X for the season and we pay portion Y of their wages.

If you don't need the money, and/or you think you can get a better driver, then you opt for A.
If you're skint then B.

Aston have obviously decided on A, and that a 41 year old Alonso is better than any other options available to them. What's in it for Alonso is a mystery to me - he can't need the money can he?

I was pondering it during yesterdays GP. Aston certainly need an experienced driver, so I could see Ricciardo partnering Stroll, and someone like Piastri partnering Norris at Mclaren. Maybe Alpine think Piastry is ready for the Alpine seat, but it looks a big risk to me to have Ocon and Piastri - two rookies - in the same team.

Still I doubt that will be the last "shocking" move now we're in silly season. 

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

Alonso is still capable of winning races. Imo, its unlikely Aston Martin ever will be.
Only two possible reasons for him signing for them.1-Money. 2-He has spent his career (post Renault) signing for the wrong teams at the wrong time.

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

Alonso is still capable of winning races. Imo, its unlikely Aston Martin ever will be.
Only two possible reasons for him signing for them.1-Money. 2-He has spent his career (post Renault) signing for the wrong teams at the wrong time.

Possibly. But F1 drivers are like boxers they reach a peak and then start coming down the other side.

To replace a 35 year old driver with a 41 year old who should be put out to pasture seems crazy to me.

Some young hot shot from the lower leagues would chomp at the bit for the opportunity, and for a lot less money than Alonso. Max started in F1 at 17.

[Varche]

We will see.

[TheBoy]

So they have no interest in winning then.

An uncompetitive car driven by a man years past his 'best sell by date'.

It might be they want a "good" driver to help develop the car.  Much like that useless waste of carbon, Jenson Button, 15 years ago - he was never going to win anything*, but he was very good at telling his teams what the issues were with the car, and constantly giving feedback on all the tweaks applied.


*OK, so he got lucky one year when the illegal controversial Brawn was always going to win until the other teams could redesign the arse of theirs.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I dont like Alonso. He seems to be a sly devious crafty self regarding rsole. He is still a seriously quick driver though, despite his age.
Im convinced he is wasting whats left of his career though signing for AM.

[TheBoy]

I dont like Alonso. He seems to be a sly devious crafty self regarding rsole.

And the others aren't?

[henryd]

So they have no interest in winning then.

An uncompetitive car driven by a man years past his 'best sell by date'.

It might be they want a "good" driver to help develop the car.  Much like that useless waste of carbon, Jenson Button, 15 years ago - he was never going to win anything*, but he was very good at telling his teams what the issues were with the car, and constantly giving feedback on all the tweaks applied.


*OK, so he got lucky one year when the illegal controversial Brawn was always going to win until the other teams could redesign the arse of theirs.

He managed to outscore Hamilton on points during there three seasons together !!

[LC0112G]

So rumour now is Alonso to Aston, Ricciardo to Alpine, and Piastri to Mclaren.

Piastri and Norris sounds like a good team to me if they can work together. Ricciardo and Ocon at Alpine - meh. If Ocon outdrives Ricciardo in the first few races next season he'll be toast. I still don't understand why Alonso has gone to Aston though. 

Ricciardo may be on the way out but there are several others I'd ditch before him. Latifi is forever crashing and causing safety cars. Stroll just isn't good enough and wouldn't be there if it weren't for daddy. Not convinced about Schumacher either with KMag regularly beating him. I'll give Zhou another year to convince me, but it's worrying that Bottas is outclassing him.

[Migv6 le Frog Fan]

I dont like Alonso. He seems to be a sly devious crafty self regarding rsole.

And the others aren't?

Of course, but I have a suspicion he is worse than most of the others, apart from Verstappen, obviously.