21-06-2018, 10:10 AM
Danny Ric's if he ever wants a shot at winning a WDC needs to move to one of the current big three. Renault have capped their budget spend to €250m a season... which is still below McLaren (for now). Red Bull are chucking over an extra €100m at it and Mercedes and Ferrari a little bit more. His options for winning a WDC are therefore Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, although in no particular order. If he moves to McLaren or Renault he can kiss his dream of a WDC good bye... and that statement truly shows the issues the sport has.
When Mercedes decided that they wanted to win the WDC in 2014 they spent €150m for 5 years, every year on the engine alone, and hired people who were the top of their game in every field almost, with wages no concern just to work on the 2014 car... from 2011 onwards. They had other teams senior engineers working on the new regs for 3 years. Ferrari did similar when in 2015 they decided to target 2017's regulation changes.
We now hear stories that Mercedes are already working on the 2021 engine, and have been for a year and half having predicted what was likely to be coming,band given Ferrari's personnel recruitment for the last 2 years, I assume they're doing the same. Renault meanwhile still haven't anywhere near the resources of the top 3 and are struggling to make up ground on them.
So, I think anyone driving for Renault the next two seasons should expect to get nothing. Not even a lucky podium, because I feel they'll soon realise they need to target the next regulation changes and hope they get it right, and even then there's no guarantees. So how does it look for Danny Ric at Ferrari or Mercedes?
The Ferrari door seems to be closing, senior management are starting to believe Vettel can deliver a WDC again, and are backing him, plus Leclerc has impressed them, and they don't want to block his route to a Ferrari seat. I think Ferrari are a long shot truth be told for Ricciardo, mostly thanks to Vettel's form and Leclerc showing he might well be the real deal.
Mercedes, I know what I'm about to say might ruffle a few feathers... but... I believe Mercedes have the current best driver on the grid. Hamilton. They've seen what happens when they have another closely matched driver and didn't much like the experience. So they are going to go the all but in name number 2 route, which is Bottas or possibly Ocon, but Bottas is currently doing enough. If Hamilton signs for Mercedes again, then Ricciardo is out.
That leaves Red Bull as his only option. But they've just signed Honda engines, and most drivers on the grid actually respect what Alonso has to say, and he's savaged them for 3 years, and their recent record doesn't inspire much confidence. So Danny has a big choice to make, as given his age this could be the contract that makes or breaks him, but there really is only one show in town... Red Bull.
When Mercedes decided that they wanted to win the WDC in 2014 they spent €150m for 5 years, every year on the engine alone, and hired people who were the top of their game in every field almost, with wages no concern just to work on the 2014 car... from 2011 onwards. They had other teams senior engineers working on the new regs for 3 years. Ferrari did similar when in 2015 they decided to target 2017's regulation changes.
We now hear stories that Mercedes are already working on the 2021 engine, and have been for a year and half having predicted what was likely to be coming,band given Ferrari's personnel recruitment for the last 2 years, I assume they're doing the same. Renault meanwhile still haven't anywhere near the resources of the top 3 and are struggling to make up ground on them.
So, I think anyone driving for Renault the next two seasons should expect to get nothing. Not even a lucky podium, because I feel they'll soon realise they need to target the next regulation changes and hope they get it right, and even then there's no guarantees. So how does it look for Danny Ric at Ferrari or Mercedes?
The Ferrari door seems to be closing, senior management are starting to believe Vettel can deliver a WDC again, and are backing him, plus Leclerc has impressed them, and they don't want to block his route to a Ferrari seat. I think Ferrari are a long shot truth be told for Ricciardo, mostly thanks to Vettel's form and Leclerc showing he might well be the real deal.
Mercedes, I know what I'm about to say might ruffle a few feathers... but... I believe Mercedes have the current best driver on the grid. Hamilton. They've seen what happens when they have another closely matched driver and didn't much like the experience. So they are going to go the all but in name number 2 route, which is Bottas or possibly Ocon, but Bottas is currently doing enough. If Hamilton signs for Mercedes again, then Ricciardo is out.
That leaves Red Bull as his only option. But they've just signed Honda engines, and most drivers on the grid actually respect what Alonso has to say, and he's savaged them for 3 years, and their recent record doesn't inspire much confidence. So Danny has a big choice to make, as given his age this could be the contract that makes or breaks him, but there really is only one show in town... Red Bull.
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