First F1 race of the year was terrible, second race pretty good

[crosscourt]

It will be Sainz as hes presently still under contract to Red Bull but honestly likes driving for Renault. Gasly is very talented and would get along well with Verstappen I believe. Raikkonen will be amazing in WEC but a few people think he will end up driving for Mclaren.

[tlmiller]

Unless Alonso retires, I think it would be a mistake for McLaren to have 2 older (for F1 standards, obviously) drivers. The current 1 veteran 1 young driver is a good strategy that also allows for a transition once the veteran leaves/retires and you now have a younger driver that in theory should have learned from the Veteran that can become the teams leader, while you get another developmental prospect.

I think if Gasly can pull off another few good races like he had in Bahrain, I can see Red Bull wanting to pull him up instead of Sainz. He's younger than Sainz and while Sainz has looked good recently, remmeber in 2015 he was HANDILY outdriven by Verstappen, and in 2016, while he outperformed Kvyat after his demotion to STR, he hadn't fared well at all against Verstappen again. If Gasly can have a few more lightning in a bottles, I wouldn't be surprised if management decided to go with him instead of Sainz, who they've SEEN against Verstappen in the same car and know that he wasn't on the same level.

[crosscourt]

McLaren is talking abou8t a third car so i think thats where that situation is coming from but Renault might also be interested in Raikkonen. If Sainz leaves Williams could use him desperately given how their drivers are performing presently.

[tlmiller]

McLaren is talking abou8t a third car so i think thats where that situation is coming from but Renault might also be interested in Raikkonen. If Sainz leaves Williams could use him desperately given how their drivers are performing presently.

I don't think Williams is all (or even mostly) the drivers fault. That car is a POS this year. No downforce still, but also not very fast in a straight line!!

I doubt Michael Schumacher in his prime could have made that car look good.

[crosscourt]

The young drivers are compounding what are already severe issues and they are not working well with the tech crew on the car. An experienced driver provides a rare level of feedback that can quickly help a car improve more quickly. I think the situation could improve a lot more and Wiliams given their cash issues need that kind of help.

[crosscourt]

Saw the qualifying today for the Spanish GP and Hamilton was spectacular winning the pole, with Bottas behind him, followed by Vettel and Raikkonen.
Alonso was 8th so he has a good chance to move up depending on the conditions and actions.

Should be a good race.

[tlmiller]

I did enjoy watching the qualifying. Was surprised after the 3 practice sessions to see Ferrari as close as they were.

I enjoyed that all 3 practice sessions were aired here, too.

[crosscourt]

Vettel really had to work hard to get third and had Verstappen not made that one mistake he could have easily been in third.

[tlmiller]

Yes, but in all 3 practice sessions it looked like the Ferrari was going to be .5 second off the Mercedes best case, yet it was MUCH, MUCH closer than that, and long run I dare say that both the Ferrari and Red Bull are MUCH better on their tires compared to the Mercedes.

[crosscourt]

Agreed as Mercedes particularly with the rear tires has some issues. Im hoping Verstappen will be a bit more competitive on a course that really suits him and we get a really good race with more drivers being competitive.