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When you think back to Lewis’ early days with McLaren/Alonso, it’s nice to se how much he has matured and grown into a place where he seems pretty content with who he is and what he has achieved. I’m still not much of a Lewis fan, but most certainly can appreciate the talent he is and how he has become a most worthy representative of the sport. A class act.
Got to believe that’s overstated, without a lot of expensive wine that would have to be impossible anywhere in the world right? And supposedly no alcohol I thought I heard, or maybe that was a joke, I dunno, Muslim country, hard to know what is what.
and while Lewis would love to drive for Ferrari during his career, Leclerc and Sainz are inked until the end of '24. Unless he retires, I see Lewis doing another one-year deal for the '24 season.
Aussie rookie Oscar Piastri takes Ricciardo's seat and may be wishing he had stuck with Alpine. Zak and Andreas Seidl's seats are getting warm.
While 2022 wasn't my favorite Formula 1 season simply due to one team dominating the competition, it was still vastly entertaining to follow.
A few stories to follow in '23...
1. Lewis Hamilton is signed with Mercedes through the end of the year. We should know by mid-season what his plans are for 2024. He turns 38 in January = lots of gas in the tank for more racing. However, I don't see him leaving for another team -- Red Bull probably isn't going to be an option
2. Mattia Binotto is likely out as the Ferrari principal. Rumor has Alfa Romeo's Freddie Vaaseur taking over, which seems to be a good move. The team's gotta figure out their raceday strategies as 2022 was purely embarrassing, especially with them having a car that can run with the Red Bull.
3. The Max/Checo "feud" will more than likely get smoothed out... although many lost respect for Max after what happened in Brazil. The bigger story with Red Bull is IF Danny Ricciardo ends up signing on as their reserve driver, he'd merely be a positive Covid test away from getting back in his old car.
4. Nyck de Vries will be the 2023 rookie of the year and will be fun to watch in the AlphaTauri. Not a stretch but, I envision him outperforming teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who needs to improve and mature.
5. Alpine may have walked away with an impressive fourth place in the constructors standings... but wow, their car was far from mechanically sound. How many points did Fernando Alonso miss out this year on due to the car breaking down? Plenty. Pierre Gasly replaces the departing Spaniard. Will the Frenchman be able to work with his fellow countryman, Esteban Ocon? Can Alpine exorcise the gremlins out of their car? Is it possible to work more pink into the livery?
6. Zak Brown is ready to put '22 behind him, but is '23 gonna be any better for Team Papaya? Lando Norris probably has nightmares he signed an even longer contract.
7. Alfa Romeo impressed early in '22 but quickly fell into familiar territory as the Mercedes- and Honda-powered teams dialed in their cars. Valtteri Bottas was solid in his first season with the team while rookie Guanyu Zhou scored a few points. Vasseur's departure would be the only big change I see for the team.
8. We said goodbye to Sebastian Vettel who capped off his F1 career with two lackluster years at Aston Martin... he will be missed... but the team swaps out one World Champ for another as Alonso steps into his ride. The 41-year-old Spaniard was fast this year, but it's gonna be worth watching to see how he fits into Team Stroll which will soon open its new headquarters at Silverstone. The team in green came on strong in the latter half of the '22 season. Can they keep the momentum going?
9. Haas welcomes Nico Hulkenberg back to full-time competition, replacing Mick Schumacher who is rumored to be in the running for the reserve driver role at Mercedes. One wonders how much longer Gene Haas will continue to spend money on this team.
10. Williams has Alex Albon back for 2023 and is expected to secure American Logan Sargeant to the second seat as they bid adieu to Nicolas Latifi. Toto Wolff claimed he would like to reduce the number of customer teams Mercedes supplies engines to by one in the future. It won't happen in 2023... but could Williams lose their Mercedes power down the road?
11. Las Vegas gets a race next year, making three U.S. stops on the F1 tour. That's two too many, but nobody asked me.
12. The number of sprint races increase for 2023... with Baku, Austria, Spa, Brazil, Austin and Qatar all getting in on the action. That's six too many... but again, nobody awwwwww you know the rest.
Thanks to everyone who makes this thread fun from year to year, especially all you regulars -- I appreciate your contributions!
And Ross Brawn is retiring. Hmmm... maybe he's going back to Ferrari.
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Someone knows their wines.Below is a photo of the receipt from the drivers' dinner. 615,065 in UAE Dirham which equals about $167,000 U.S. dollars.
Petrus appears to be wine. I chuckled at the virgin mojitos.
Researching the restaurant online... looks like a high-end steakhouse.
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Oof, no. Please no. How about just a stiffer penalty for cheating, might help the other teams catch up a bit.
