Checo out, Vettel in

Either that or he'll just confirm that he's completely lost all drive he had before.

^ Here too, apart from anything else, they will be relying on someone with uncertain motivation. Perez and Vettel would have given them something to build on. The boy can get the job done in some ways but is not the complete package and imo he is the sort of driver F1 should weed out.

Money isn't the issue, Perez is a pay driver as well. Stroll isn't terrible in the Alex Yoong mould by any means and has definitely been better this year. But he too often fails to get the most out of the car - notably at Monza, where he should have won. He isn't as good as Perez and doesn't deserve an F1 seat on merit (though he's not alone in that).

He's a perfect example of what can be achieved with an unlimited budget. You could go to any kart circuit in the UK, choose any quickish kid, give them every advantage (money, coaching, unlimited testing, zero accountability for damage etc) and you'd end up with a Stroll.

Inferior driver on current form in a poor car racing for a team he's never gelled with but let's not forget he's still a 4x world champion.

Undoubtedly a shame for Perez. He was loyal to the team on two fronts. He helped them from administration a few years ago. Sergio also turned down offers from other teams as well, whilst driving for RP since 2014. I can understand why RP were attracted to Vettel. Whilst Perez is a great driver, he isn’t a winner like Vettel is. Unfortunately good opportunities have just slipped away from Perez generally, and Stroll has started to beat Perez in qualifying this year, which suggested that Perez had started to reach his peak in raw speed.

If I were Haas, I would hire both Perez and Hulkenberg. I’ve been a Magnussen supporter for years, but he’s just too inconsistent and keeps getting involved in silly incidents that really haven’t gained him anything. Perez and Hulkenberg worked well at Force India, they would both be invaluable in the 2022 car development.

Stroll is a puzzling one. I remember him utterly dominating European F3, which at the time was the best breeding ground for future F1 drivers. Its almost like the complexity and sophistication of F1 cars throws him off. I think someone else here mentioned how Stroll was nowhere when Perez couldn't race at Silverstone, because he couldn't look at his set-up. Note how Hulkenberg came in and out-qualified Stroll, despite never have driven the car. But on the flip side, Stroll qualified on the second row in a Williams at Monza back in 2017. He can drive, but its in too limiting circumstances. In my view, he struggles to adapt his set-up over a weekend from FP1 and into qualifying. The complexity of F1 isn't for every driver. 

OK the Stroll bashing is boring, money talks and bullshit walks, its the same in every aspect of life. Why should F1 be any different. Yes he's not the best driver on the grid but still deserves a place on the grid ahead of many like Grosjean, how he still has a seat I have no idea and Giovinazzi who crashes more then the Nigerian stock market.

Not sure why the new AM think that Vettels a better driver then Perez but I guess he's a big name and AM need the column inches. Perez can take Carlos Slims money to Haas along with his ability to nick a podium every other year.

Vettel will or should be faster then Stroll so should avoid the problems he had with Ricciardo and LeClerc. What he'll be like when he has to share his data and not get number 1 status is another matter.

Hamilton fits in with the team but when Jenson was his team mate he out-pointed Hamilton, so yes: Hamilton is not as good as he seems on face value: like all F1 multiple-race winners he's in the best car. Same for Giggs: what would he have achieved at Man City in that era? Same as Man City: fuck all, as the Welsh national team results suggest also.

The team thing and dragging them up is the psyche thing: Mercedes owe more to the 5,000 staff and management than to Hamilton's driving, as seen by a title win for Rosberg who, quite frankly, was so inferior to Hamilton that it was embarrassing. Having a multiple world champion on the team drags everyone's mood up, as Kimi did at Lotus.


Back to Football: Dennis Bergkamp was a shocker in Milan as he is a very private person and the Inter fans were of the opinion it was because he didn't care that he went straight home after training and matches; when he retired from Arsenal he had won a title without losing a match and scored the goal that was voted the greatest goal ever seen in the Premier League and acknowledged by Thierry Henry as the "dream to play with". As it is some football fans out there still think that there are or have been better players with the ball at their feet: they are of course wrong and that's the nub of the argument: in some peoples' opinions Vettel is a better prospect because of his record than Checo and some of them are team principals.