There is not much going on on the track in Formula 1, Max Verstappen does what he wants. It will be exciting on the driver market, as RTL reporter Felix Görner reveals in his sport.de column. There is already a “victim” of the “Silly Season”, other drivers are wobbling.
The “silly season” is starting now – and after the tire tests at Silverstone we will probably see that. According to our information, Nyck de Vries will be replaced by Daniel Ricciardo at AlphaTauri. It would be the first driver change of the season and that after just ten races.
This shows that the teams are taking stock. AlphaTauri is not the only team that is dissatisfied with the driver staff. Alfa Romeo is not happy with Zhou Guanyu and Valtteri Bottas, at Williams Logan Sargeant is on the brink.
Formula 1: Marko and Red Bull stick to their tough line
At the moment it looks like only de Vries will be replaced. It’s a shame for the young Dutchman, who isn’t even allowed to drive his home race in Zandvoort. But that’s Formula 1.
Helmut Marko did exactly the same thing when he kicked out Pierre Gasly. So it’s common practice at Red Bull to take tough action and AlphaTauri is repositioning itself for the future anyway.
Unfortunately, the name Mick Schumacher does not come up – Dr. Marko says: Mick is a Mercedes driver, Toto Wolff has to take care of him. Unfortunately, nothing is happening from this side at the moment.
Otherwise, Formula 1 has become a “simple” sport. Freely based on Gary Lineker: 20 cars drive off and in the end Max Verstappen always wins. It’s like counting peas: The eleventh win for Red Bull in a row, the eighth win of the season for Verstappen. We will have an extremely early Formula 1 World Champion in 2023, it could happen as early as Monza, for F1 that would of course be unbelievable.
Second place behind Verstappen a “miracle cup”
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin are going in the opposite direction. It is interesting that the second place behind Verstappen has become a kind of “challenge cup”. Sometimes one appears and disappears back into Nirvana, then another. You’ve seen Ferrari, who were quite good at some tracks and suffered a disaster in England.
Now McLaren was strong but I dare say there will be another second and third place finisher in Hungary because McLaren won’t be that far up there.
Felix Görner is an RTL reporter and Formula 1 expert
Formula 1 slaps Germany badly!
Another topic for me is the 2024 racing calendar. It is a slap in the face for German automobile and Formula 1 fans! He is a slap in the face for Germany! What Stefano Domenicali and Formula 1 have decided shows that Germany is no longer one of 24 venues. Germany is now a developing country in Formula 1. That must be of great concern.
Neither Hockenheim nor the Nürburgring are remotely capable of holding a Grand Prix. This shows: Domenicali and Formula 1 only go for dollars. “We are not a welfare company,” says the F1 boss. This is very strong black and white thinking.
It would be nice if there was some solidarity. At the moment, however, Formula 1 is just a money-printing machine, and the idea of solidarity is very low on the priority scale. This is bitter news. And when it comes to Mick Schumacher, one can only hope for the year 2024.
Felix Gorner