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Esteban Ocon will return "Home" for the
2020 Formula 1 season, with le Reggie'. (Image Source: thecheckeredflag.co.uk)
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"You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in the fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in the fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by
It slips between your hands like water
This living in real time
A dizzying lifetime
Reeling by on celluloid..."
This living in real time
A dizzying lifetime
Reeling by on celluloid..."
Author's Note
Like many stories
languishing like broken pieces of scattered Driftwood here upon thoust Isle 'O
Nofendersville. This story was originally "Penned" in the Fall of
2018, but simply wasn't finished. And therefore is slightly dated, but still
relevant concerning today's Formula One's Stairway Development Schemes.
whilst surely
Y'all know that Monsieur Ocon will return to thoust Pinnacle 'O Motorsports,
nee Formula 1 triumphantly next year for le Reggie', alongside Danny ric',
Wee-Wee...
Perhaps you've heard
All of the Kerfuffle over the current plight of Mercedes Junior Team Driver
member Esteban Ocon, who's apparently likely being locked-out of a Formula 1
race seat next year, due to his backing by Mercedes.
As Ocon's a highly rated Up 'N Comer; Err
rising F1 Star who Mercedes wishes to keep racing in Formula 1 in preparations
for when or if his services are required at the Silver Arrows as one of its
future race Pilotes'.
But current Scuttlebutt suggests that it's
looking unlikely the French Young Gun will land the lone remaining Team Willy'
seat, the last vacancy for the 2019 Grid. As apparently Williams F1 is seeking
another "Pay Driver" to help fill Thar coffers upon Martini's exodus.
Yet Mercedes is probably partially keen upon
keeping Ocon active in Formula 1 since he was one of the few drivers able to go
toe-to-toe with the overly ballyhooed Max Dutchboy' Verstappen during their formative
years.
As Ocon won the 2014 FIA Formula 3 Euroseries
Championship with nine wins vs. Verstappen finishing third overall that season.
Whilst I'd ARSE-Sume that Carlos Sainz, Jnr, Lance Stroll, Charles Leclerc and
Stoffel Vandoorne are part of this "Brat Pack" youth generation
hoping to usurp the current Top Bananas, i.e.; 'lil syd Viddle, nee Sebastian
Vettel and Golden Child, aka Lewis Hamilton.
Although we know that Vandoorne's been tossed aside
by McLaren in favour of it's far younger Rising Star Lando Norris, with the
Belgian having sought refuge in the Formula E Series instead...
Ironically, Mercedes two current F1 Drivers
are graduates of other teams past Development programmes, for which we'll soon
discover, a plum Junior Driver assignment doesn't necessarily automatically
Punch your Ticket for the Big Dance, nee thou Pinnacle of Motorsports, aka
Formula 1. Nor long-term employment Thar'.
As what's that Old Motor Racing saying? Oh Yeah,
"You're Only as Good as Your last race!"
Current F1 Driver Development programmes
Although unofficial, this is what I could
gleam from the All Knowing "Intrawoods," nee internetz' regarding
Formula 1 Teams currently using some sort of Driver Development scheme, whilst
not all ten current F1 Teams are currently doing so.
Presumably the most well known is the Red
Bull Junior Team, which feeds both Red Bull and Scuderia Toro Rosso at a prodigious
rate! Next best known is the Ferrari Driver Academy, which is pre-dated by the Renault
sport Academy, followed by the McLaren Young Driver program
Mercedes Junior Team arrived on-scene
relatively late to this "Farm system" tradition, albeit they didn't
return as a Formula One Constructor until 2010. While Force India has, or had a
Junior Team? And lastly, Ditto for Team Willy', aka Williams F1, which I don't
think has anyone presently on its Driver Development rolls?
And I couldn't find anything
"technically" for either Sauber or Haas, which isn't exactly true,
especially since both are linked with Ferrari unofficially. As I know I wrote
about current F2 and IndyCar Driver Santino Ferrucci being one of Haas's
"Development" Drivers last year.
Meanwhile it's old news that current Alfa Romeo
X Sauber Young Gun Charles Leclerc's graduating to Ferrari next season in a
seat swap with Kimi thee "Iceman" Raikkonen.
Yet for Mwah, I tend to think of Driver
Development from thou 'Ol Dayzes', when Test Drivers actually got to test year
round, with some making quite a comfortable living this way. As the names Gary
Paffett, Alexander Wurz, Pedro de la rosa and Olivier Panis come to mind. While
others like Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa were groomed for future F1 racing
careers...
Partial Song lyrics from: Rush
"Thee
Unofficial No Fenders House Band"
Song: Between the Wheels
Album: Grace Under Pressure
Year: 1984
