The F1 thread

Cols

Verstappen has cheerfully admitted driving Ocon off the road in Abu Dhabi (which was pretty bloody obvious anyway, but still...).  

Aren’t there consequences for intentionally causing a collision these days?

https://www.planetf1.com/news/verstappen-took-revenge-on-ocon-in-abu-dhabi/

simonk

He he... did anyone see the clip of Kimi at the FIA gala? He was proper twatted! Good old Kimi.

Fretwired

Maurizio Arrivabene has been sacked as Ferrari team principal and replaced by former technical boss Mattia Binotto. Not surprised given the mistakes made by the team during the 2018 campaign.

Cols

There doesn’t seem to be a great deal of sympathy for him either.  It seems he was autocratic and aggressive, and endeared himself to few people in the paddock.

stickyfiddle

I thought he was not bad tbh - they've just had their best couple of seasons in ages, and arguably could have won either championship if Seb hadn't made mistakes.

I suspect he didn't make any friends in the press, which is half the reason for the harsh headlines this morning.

Cols

stickyfiddle said:

I thought he was not bad tbh - they've just had their best couple of seasons in ages, and arguably could have won either championship if Seb hadn't made mistakes.

On the technical side, the team had delivered a superb car; arguably the best on the grid.

Operationally the team made too many mistakes, compounded by Vettel’s frequent errors.  As such, they failed to make adequate use of the technical gains.  Possibly a more affiliative management style would have reduced intrateam tension and avoided the mistakes.

Allegedly Arrivabene had fallen out badly with Binotto, to the extent that the latter was ready to leave if Arrivabene stayed.  Evidently senior management decided that he was more valuable to the team than Arrivabene.

Fretwired

Cols said:

stickyfiddle said:

I thought he was not bad tbh - they've just had their best couple of seasons in ages, and arguably could have won either championship if Seb hadn't made mistakes.

On the technical side, the team had delivered a superb car; arguably the best on the grid.

Operationally the team made too many mistakes, compounded by Vettel’s frequent errors.  As such, they failed to make adequate use of the technical gains.  Possibly a more affiliative management style would have reduced intrateam tension and avoided the mistakes.

Allegedly Arrivabene had fallen out badly with Binotto, to the extent that the latter was ready to leave if Arrivabene stayed.  Evidently senior management decided that he was more valuable to the team than Arrivabene.

^^

This.

Ferrari had the better car and in Vettel a top driver. The team made mistakes. Mercedes hardly put a foot wrong and Hamilton outdrove the capabilities of the car - look at the gap between him and Bottas in qualifying and that stunning lap in Singapore. The Mercedes techies in Brackley then improved the car and Ferrari's chances evaporated. Not totally Arrivabene's fault - Vettel needs to stick his hand up. He made too many mistakes for a driver of his calibre.

The new season could be good - Ferrari will be back with a new driver line-up. Bottas has to up his game and who knows whether Mad Max and Red Bull will be right in the mix. It would be great to have a three way fight.

fretmeister

All this excitement and only 1 live race on terrestrial telly this year.

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

All this excitement and only 1 live race on terrestrial telly this year.

I've not read the detail but Sky are offering me a deal for F1 via Now TV.

fretmeister

I useNowTV for the rugby so I’ll probably pay for a race or 2, but I’m not sure I care enough about it anymore to pony up for more than that.

Fretwired

Highlights on C4 then.

Fretwired

McLaren have appointed German Andreas Seidl as the new boss of the Formula 1 team. He successfully ran Porsche's World Endurance Championship team. Brown remains CEO and will focus on Indy Car with Alonso .. interesting.

stickyfiddle

Fretwired said:

McLaren have appointed German Andreas Seidl as the new boss of the Formula 1 team. He successfully ran Porsche's World Endurance Championship team. Brown remains CEO and will focus on Indy Car with Alonso .. interesting.

That's a pretty serious statement of intent. He should be good - a much more motorsport-focussed guy than Brown. 

Cols

Verstappen’s ‘public service’ punishment for the scuffle with Ocon at the Brazilian GP was served at the weekend.  It was “observing the stewards at the Formula E race in Marrakesh”.

That’s... that’s it?

Fretwired

Mick Schumacher, son of seven-time champion Michael, has joined the Ferrari driver academy, sources close to the team say.

The 19-year-old is embarking on his first season in Formula 2, the final feeder category before Formula 1, with the leading Prema team in 2019. As part of his deal, Mick Schumacher is to drive in two tests with Ferrari this season.

Vettel's ultimate replacement signed ...

sweepy

Cols said:

Verstappen’s ‘public service’ punishment for the scuffle with Ocon at the Brazilian GP was served at the weekend.  It was “observing the stewards at the Formula E race in Marrakesh”.

That’s... that’s it?

He had to sit through a Formula E race, that's punishment enough 

Cols

sweepy said:

Cols said:

Verstappen’s ‘public service’ punishment for the scuffle with Ocon at the Brazilian GP was served at the weekend.  It was “observing the stewards at the Formula E race in Marrakesh”.

That’s... that’s it?

He had to sit through a Formula E race, that's punishment enough 

He’s hardened to it; he’s already had to sit through the Spanish, French, Hungarian and Singapore Grand Prixs last year without being allowed to fast forward past the boring bits.

Cols

Rumours that Liberty are planning to sell part or all of their stake in F1.  I’d take it with a pinch of salt, as Bernie’s name has been mentioned.  He’s 88, after all.

https://johnwallstreet.com/

In related news, the circuits are apparently pissed off at Liberty - chief concerns are lack of strategic direction, moving away from free-to-air TV, lack of clarity over future rules and the attempts to attract new races.  The rumours that Miami were effectively offered a race with no hosting fee seems to have gone down particularly badly.

Formula 1: Race organisers express concerns over
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47040731

stickyfiddle

Cols said:

Rumours that Liberty are planning to sell part or all of their stake in F1.  I’d take it with a pinch of salt, as Bernie’s name has been mentioned.  He’s 88, after all.

https://johnwallstreet.com/

In related news, the circuits are apparently pissed off at Liberty - chief concerns are lack of strategic direction, moving away from free-to-air TV, lack of clarity over future rules and the attempts to attract new races.  The rumours that Miami were effectively offered a race with no hosting fee seems to have gone down particularly badly.

Formula 1: Race organisers express concerns over
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47040731

 I don't believe it - I genuinely think this ie Bernie trying to stir the pot so he can buy it back again. He has no idea what else to do with himself. 

The trouble is all the shitty contacts Ecclestone got into in his final years in charge all have unwind before Liberty can make serious inroads commercially. I suspect Liberty know exactly what they want to do but can't announce it because they can't do half of it for several more years, and don't want to reveal half a plan 

Cols

Britain, Italy, Spain, Germany and Mexico are all out of contract after this year, and all of them have the same message - they will not continue under the current financial terms.  Fully one third of Liberty’s revenue comes from hosting fees, so the potential of the venues walking or negotiating a lower fee is a significant drop in revenue.  The other major income streams are from TV fees and sponsorship; loss of home races in core markets would hit these badly.  Sponsorship is already in poor shape due to the loss of free-to-air viewers.

I do hope that Liberty have a good and realistic plan for the future.  The current situation, however, seems to be largely unchanged from a few years back; circuits are still being squeezed for every penny, any team without the backing of a major manufacturer/fizzy drinks company/Bahraini investment fund is struggling financially, and the race outcomes are predictable.