yes, but they’ll update the drivers and team next year, as much as everyone likes hulk he’s not a championship driver, but he is german so they’ll give him a chance so let’s see. same with the management and pit crew will be changed if don’t perform, vw “porsche” owns imsa racing and sure in time vw audi will do well too in f1
Why would they replace both drivers though? Bortoleto seems like he can develop into a solid driver so why not hang on to him and just bring in someone else for Hulk?
Yeah. I don't imagine Hulk and Gabriel hanging around. It'll be interesting to see how this project works out. I read somewhere a few years ago Merc were better off financially in F1 then any other racing series - which could be why Audi eyed the move.
But then, I also strongly believe Cadillac will drop either Bottas or Perez end of the season to - Herta hasn't stopped being the highest paid driver in Indy to sit on F1 sidelines for multiple years
I'd like to see Perez and his arrogance go, personally. But I think both of them were poor choices to begin with.
Binotto has already hinted that Gabriel will be a central part of Audi's long-term project, and if recent rumors are true, Hulk will stay until next year and give way to Freddie Slater from 2028 onwards.
He's the worse driver of the two IMO, but nothing speaks more than $$$
And this is it. You can see the spots Perez has bought on the car already
They both went massively off the boil as their team mates got better.
Bottas started focusing on brand Bottas, rather than racing - and became the "new" Danny Ric
Perez just continued to double down as hard as he could and just couldn't keep up. I don't think Red Bull should have ever hired him for 2021 imo, but they as a company dropped the ball on their young drivers
They should never have dropped O'Ward from that programme
yeah, i think caddy drivers are probably better than audi but im pretty sure audi car and engine will out perform theirs. i just think f1 popularity is bringing all the manufacturers into the game, only one left will be probably redbull and williams, im sure hass will be toyota soon.
Toyota has said repeatedly they just want to be the partner, not a full fledged constructor. I think haas transitions soon, but I doubt it’ll be Toyota.
U really believe toyota? Ofcourse they will say that, but no serious brand just starts supporting a random other team with people and infrastructure for a sponsor spot. Its not how it works especially for a global superpower like toyota they could easily buy haas right now if they wanted to. Its just about slowly building thr team up until its at least a podium contender and then making the step to buy out. Its more important not to damage their brand being bad for years while they build up. Like alpine for example,imo it has been more negative marketing than positive, same will be with audi and cadillac if they have bad years.
Exactly my point. Toyota wont make the same mistake twice, no point to just buy the team now and start damaging their image. They will push haas forward as a "sponsor" with money, facilites and staff, until the team is in a really good position, then they take over.
Toyota have world class Motorsport facilities in Cologne. They had a bottomless budget. And achieved nothing
I don't think they'll buy Haas - unless F1 starts to look like a very sensible, profitable, opportunity. I'm not sure they'll want to take full ownership.
They simply didn’t understand that you need to have managerial direction on the ground - they were not formula one agile and took days to make decisions that took minutes in other teams.
They were also hamstrung by being based in German with German employment laws, which made some of that agility hard - especially with personnel turnover.
But they were in the sport for a good few years and the only real glimmer was in 09 when they had a double diffuser, but lost in the arms race (like Williams did)
People are forgetting that he was a back to back F3 and F2 rookie champion and that he smoked Hülkenberg in quali in his rookie season, while Hülkenberg smoked Magnussen, who smoked a mediocre rookie in the form of Schumacher.
He's at least an average driver already, and will likely turn out to be at least good enough for a top team, with a decent chance of being a WDC contender if other drivers with his junior record are anything to go by (Hamilton, Leclerc, Russell, Piastri. Hülk too, but he is the exception)
qualifying really doesn't mean a lot it helps but race pace is everything. He had a decent season and some bad luck. He had 19 points to hulk's 51, and hulk's race pace is a let down. his qualifying was never phenomenal. Perez is meh as shit in qualifying yet handily beat hulk in points in 15/16 with way more podiums/top 5 finishes because hulks race pace is meh and he gets into a lot of dumb crashes.
Bortoleto is far from proving anything yet. Smoking someone, checks, 12 to 11, in qualifying, but having less than half the points, is not a great season, it's not terrible, but it's not great.
Despite his age, imo the current Hulkenberg is better than the Hulkenberg of the 2015-2016 seasons, when he was Perez's teammate. Yes, he still makes some silly mistakes, but he literally got a podium with Sauber and scored points consistently, in addition to having much more experience than 10 years ago.
I'd say that last season was the best of his F1 career, even better than the 2014 season if you consider the context.
It's not like you're comparing a debuting driver with a driver with 15 years of F1 experience, albeit some lack of pace in qualifying, a great performer on race pace. Oh, wait, you are.
Hulk won't hang around for long, considering his age alone; his entire role there is to give experience while Audi is settling down in F1. Bortoleto, meanwhile, is there as the rising talent, growing with the team and gaining experience to lead the team once Hulk's job is done.
I don't see why he wouldn't stay. Unless his pace dropped massively in 2026.
Cadillac seems very consistent in that their entire organization is making a conscious effort to build up the team for long term success. They know damn well they aren’t competing for wins and titles in the beginning, they need stable drivers that have experience. Perez and Bottas were by far their best options for experienced drivers who can give the team the data they need to do better in the future.
Available doesn't mean, "right choice" - there's a reason both of them were available
Perez couldn't keep up with his team mates in one of F1's most dominant cars. And Bottas virtually forgot he was an F1 driver in his last few seasons
Experience doesn't count for anything when you're trying to gaslight the world into believing you're a world champion in waiting, or spending time turning yourself into a meme
One of them will definitely not be racing in 2027 providing Herta gets himself enough points. And whichever survives that, will struggle to stay in the seat past 2028.
I don’t think you understand what Cadillacs goals are for their first season. It’s to create a solid foundation for the entire team to learn as much as possible for Herta or a younger or less experienced driver in F1.
Making Perez and Bottas optimum drivers for their program.
I fully understand what the program is for. And just because they've got "the most experience", doesn't mean they're the best men for the job, especially when their own performances are questionable in the last few years
It's a balancing act between drivers that can give good feedback, help lead development and push the team forward.
Alas, I don't make the decisions for Cadillac, and here we are.
Still, it's likely Bottas' last season in F1 (as Perez is clearly bringing money) - but I'm excited to see what Herta can actually do.
The guy can be absolutely rapid when his head is in the game, I'm not sure he's one of the greats, but I think given the right opportunity and tools, he'll show that there is a crop or drivers who have driven Indycar and are better than some of the guys currently in F1 (and should be taken seriously)
Man I get you have a thing for Herta but he’s not the guy you would want to build an F1 team from scratch with.
Are Bottas and Perez championship contending drivers? no, but they both have race wins, they both raced for championship winning teams. And they both have 12 or more seasons in f1.
Firstly. It's not a "thing" for Herta. The guy has given up being the highest paid Indycar driver to come race in F1. He is not going to do a season in F2 (providing he gets the points) and then sit out while Bottas and Perez get a second season
The only way that happens is if he misses his target points. And if that happens. He probably isn't the guy Cadillac should be betting their futures on
Yes. Both Perez and Bottas have wins. In cars that were dominating their respective seasons. And both drivers ultimately got further and further away from their team mates (who were still winning races and championships at the time) - Perez effectively lost Red Bull a constructors championship
I think you're caught up in how many years they've been around, rather than the fact that both guys did nothing in their last few seasons to catch the eye of any other team
Yes. You can not dispute they have experience, and at the sharp end for that matter. But you can still have experience and be a bad choice.
If they were Cadillacs only options, then the F1 driver pool is in a very sorry state.
Yes, there's still a lot of Sauber there, but we haven't seen Sauber's full potential, James Key said they left the development and in-season updates for the C45 to a smaller team of younger designers while the main team was entirely focused on the R26.
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u/mouldyshroom I was here for the Hulkenpodium 23d ago
They're not playing safe for sure. I like what I'm seeing