F1 2017

[Limejuice]

Oh NO!!!
Now Liberty Media say they want to make every Grand Prix like a Super Bowl, a week long event.
There was a report in the FT with some details but it is behind a pay-wall, but I'm sure if you search for "grand prix super bowl" you'll find what they are planning

The new owner of Formula One wants to make it more like the Super Bowl

Oh, fuckeroony!

'the company planned to make each Grand Prix "the equivalent of the Super Bowl." '

The intrinsic value of a Super Bowl is that it happens once a year. If you try to artificially ramp up enthusiasm 20 times a year, people habituate very quickly.

It's the law of supply and demand. Genuine scarcity boosts value - both emotional and monetary. Flood the market, and the price collapses and you get "emotional inflation". In other words, people get bored very quickly. This is not rocket science.

Liberty Global? They own the commercial rights company, not the teams and not the fans. I can see an opportunity for a new, Son-of-Bernie to put together a new concord agreement and sign up the F1 teams.

Alas, Liberty will win the teams over with more money. Sponsorship is falling, even at the top of the sport. They'll swallow hard and endure the indignity of the Liberty circus if it saves them having to find sponsors. And when the teams are no longer financially independent, they will be longer be privateers with an independent view. The concord agreement will be a one-sided contract and less of a multi-lateral treaty.

Lewis Hamilton says F1 should be more like the Super Bowl

Lewis, you are a blithering idiot. He already despises the hoopla of being paraded around the circuit on a flatbed truck and all the press bollocks. Think how much he'll love it when the US audience votes for him to have Wagner played over his radio all through the race, and mandatory Twitter breaks in pit stops.

Happy New Year!

 

[Bungle73]

How exactly would you stretch out a grand prix weekend to fill a week? Populate it with that? And, besides, most people will be too busy working to take much notice anyway.

 

[1%er]

How exactly would you stretch out a grand prix weekend to fill a week? Populate it with that? And, besides, most people will be too busy working to take much notice anyway.

They'll have bands playing during compulsory 3 hour pit-stops, stop the race halfway through so they can beam expensive adverts into peoples homes for 4 days and make the build up so long and boring that everyone is asleep by the time the race ends. I wonder if they will make the stewards wear black and white stripped shirts and run along beside the cars with whistles imposing instant penalties.

I have a feeling that if they Americanize F1 audiences will fall faster than they currently are but I'm sure wiser heads will prevail, the teams have massive investment and I'm sure will not allow F1 to become the American football of motor racing.

Its interesting that major Americas sports are only played mainly within North America, I'm sure there is a reason for that. We call them Rugby, rounders and netball, they call them American football, baseball and basketball

 

[Limejuice]

Lest anyone think we're wetting our F1 beds for no reason, know this:

A one-hour game of American football takes three hours to complete and encompasses 200 to 300 TV commercials and "messages" on a bad day.

An infamous WSJ study showed the average one-hour game of American football shows 11 minutes of action. (Spread over three hours!)

Audiences are falling by double-digit percentages - for a number of reasons. Games televised on Sunday afternoon and evening, as well as Mondays and Thursdays, and the hammering of interruptive advertising are high among them.

 

[Bakunin]

Oh NO!!!
Now Liberty Media say they want to make every Grand Prix like a Super Bowl, a week long event.
There was a report in the FT with some details but it is behind a pay-wall, but I'm sure if you search for "grand prix super bowl" you'll find what they are planning

The week-long idea won't work on a full season basis.

The reason it works at Le Mans is that the 24 Hours is once a year and is unlike anything else on the calendar. Trying that sort of palaver every two or three weeks is likely to cause a loss of interest, not boost it.

 

[1%er]

The week-long idea won't work on a full season basis.

The reason it works at Le Mans is that the 24 Hours is once a year and is unlike anything else on the calendar. Trying that sort of palaver every two or three weeks is likely to cause a loss of interest, not boost it.

Yes, I'm sure all Liberty Media are doing at the moment is kite flying, they clearly have been watching to much Bernie

 

[1%er]

Rumor has it that Bottas visited Mercedes factory two days after it closed for the Christmas holiday, it is believed he was there to checkout his seating position and to have a seat fitting, he was said to have left with a box of technical manuals to help him get up to speed on the 2017 Mercedes car.

Mercedes are expected to announce their new driver tomorrow (3rd Jan), but as Massa has said he will be driving for Williams next season and Wehrlein will be driving for Sauber, it seems it is a done deal and the worst kept secret in F1 is out in the open and Bottas will be driving alongside Lewis in 2017.

 

[1%er]

Ferrari's controversial suspensions system
It seems that Ferrari may have gone for an outlawed suspension system for their 2017 car. They appear to have gone for a front and rear interconnected system, this type of system was banned by the FIA back in 2014. With just weeks to go until testing they are only now requesting information about the conformity of the system, Ferrari have sent a letter to the FIA's Charlie Whiting which has now been circulated among all teams. Whiting's initial response has been that "any system acting in the way Ferrari has described its system would contravene the rules".

Other changes to the 2017 Ferrari (code-named 668) seem to indicate they they have broken through the 1000 BHP barrier with what is being described as a "new power unit concept" with a new multi-jet ignition system in the combustion chamber and an "optimized MGU-H". They have radically modify the gearbox to maximize traction at the rear axle. It is also rumored that the car will have some "unusual” shapes" on the bodywork.

 

[Limejuice]

I can smell the petrol in this post ^^^.

 

[weltweit]

Unusual shapes on the bodywork won't compensate for having to change the suspension at the last minute. Hopefully the controversial suspension is just an option, not the main plan.

 

[1%er]

Unusual shapes on the bodywork won't compensate for having to change the suspension at the last minute. Hopefully the controversial suspension is just an option, not the main plan.

It seems that this is the system that is currently fitted to their 2017 car, I'm sure Ferrari will point to what Mercedes did with their suspension towards the end of last season when they began testing suspension components and an 'S' duct.

The Front-to-Rear-Inter Connected Suspension that was banned by the FIA in the middle of 2014 used hydraulic accumulators connecting all four corners of the car to help stabilize it and was considered an "active system", Mercedes "new" system of hydraulically-controlled suspension tested last year was considered "Non Active" as it wasn't a connected system, all 4 wheels were independently controlled (Mercedes claimed when questioned about the system "These are passive systems that are tuned to work harmoniously rather than being programmed to react to a particular situation and thus are non active"). It all centers around what the teams call the "heave" element what most non F1 people would call a damper (the 3rd suspension arm most teams use is a spring unit but Mercedes use hydraulic units).

 

[weltweit]

It sounds like a dampener on the team's innovation which might be a shame.

 

[1%er]

James Allison watch
As mentioned above (Dec 11 & 12 posts) James Allison will be joining Mercedes F1 at some point during the Summer as soon as his gardening leave expires. While there has not been an official announcement it seems that contracts have been signed.

Why is F1 overlooked in Honors list?
I'm interested to know why Andy Murray who has only won a few Grand Slams has been knighted, yet Lewis Hamilton who is a 3 times World Champion (so far and is 2nd in the all time race winners list only beaten by Schumacher ) has only got an MBE? Wiggins was knighted back in 2013 after just one Tour de France victory (I accept he has gone on to do more since 2013) yet Chris Frome won his third Tour de France and is a OBE

I notice that Jenson also has only got an MBE yet Claire Williams has an OBE. Most other British F1 Drives also have been given OBE's. Damon Hill (1997), Nigel Mansell (1991), Jackie Stewart (1971), Graham Hill (1969) and Jim Clark (1964). Mike Hawthorn died just after winning and I don't know if they award them posthumously, James Hunt I think wouldn't have excepted his I believe, what about John Surtees Formula One World Champion in 1964? Surtees got an MBE back in 1959 for his motorcycle racing but never anything for being F1 world Champion.

Motor racing is one of Britain’s biggest success stories over the last 50 years (and there hasn't been many of them), it brings billions of pounds into the British economy and employs tens of thousands of workers.

Its the disparate that interests me I couldn't give a fuck about the Honors list, I guess some sports people are more equal than others

 

[1%er]

More on the suspension row
It seems that Ferrari may well put in an objection to other teams suspension systems at the first race of 2017. Paddy Lowe has also inadvertently added to the row by comments he made when explaining the Mercedes system during an interview for Italian TV last season. While speaking to Giorgio Piola (a preeminent Formula 1 technical journalist) in 2016 Lowe said "A spring classically was linear, [but now] we are playing with far greater and more complex ranges of non-linear compliance. That's allowing us to play games with getting the aero platform exactly where we want. It's more difficult to do than it was with FRIC, but it's the same thing really".

The argument seems to be, what is "active" and what is "passive"'. Ferrari has queried the use of more complex systems than the one that Mercedes has legally put to good use, primarily one that stores energy that can be then be released to improve the car's aerodynamic platform over the rest of the lap when it is better needed. The questions raised is, have teams like Mercedes been doing it already and are they planning on doing it for 2017, or is Ferrari's bid simply to cut off an avenue of expensive development before it pushed on with its own concept?

The crux of Ferrari's request for clarification centers around the recovery and storage of energy to be used at a later time to extend a spring seat or other parts of the suspension assembly (would that be considered an active system).

This infers the use of hydraulic accumulators that are designed to store and dispense energy under certain conditions, creating a sort of high-pressure hydraulic computer. This fluid logic system would react to inputs, as the car undergoes various conditions around a lap.

Think then of the heave element and ancillary remote accumulators as a three-dimensional map, rather than just the cylindrical elements they outwardly appear to be, with small and large chambers interspersed to accommodate the various inputs, loads and conditions.

As an F1 car brakes for a corner, the weight of the car should shift forward and the aerodynamic loads are altered. If a team fully understood the inertia from a mathematical perspective you could model a reactionary response from the front and rear suspension that would keep the platform of the car within an acceptable tolerance, improving both mechanical and aerodynamic performance. The knock-on effect is that the driver can carry more apex speed and will accelerate out of the corner earlier than is ordinarily the case, it could also improve tyre performance and life, enhancing mechanical grip with an emphasis on increasing the contact patch.

But because of the new rules and car designs for 2017 its effect on aerodynamic performance could be dramatic, if a team can get the balance right it will produce a more stable platform and thus much faster lap times. It is believed that the increase in Red Bulls performance during the 2nd half of last season is because they started to use this type of system. They call it a "Hydraulic Pitch Control" system but as Paddy Lowe said about the Mercedes system is acts in the same way as the outlawed FRIC system (although the Mercedes and Red Bull systems are different in design hut result in the same effect). It is reported that the Red Bull system could be considered "active" but the FIA will now also have a much closer look at the Mercedes system.

I have a feeling that this row could go on well in to the first half of the season.

Live races on C4 2017
Channel 4 will show 10 live Formula 1 races next season and they will be:
16-Apr Bahrain Live
30-Apr Russia Live
28-May Monaco Live
25-Jun Azerbaijan Live
16-Jul Great Britain Live
27-Aug Belgium Live
17-Sep Singapore Live
01-Oct Malaysia Live
22-Oct USA Live
26-Nov Abu Dhabi Live

All races will be available over the internet just ask for a link and one will be provided

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

This row over suspension only highlights just how incredible the engineering on those cars is. It's mind bogglingly clever stuff.

 

[1%er]

The annul "Silverstone can't afford the GP" story's hit the press
It seems to be an annul news item, but reports are all over the wire that the BRDC can not afford to host the race anymore as it is still loosing money. It seems a letter was sent out on the 19th December from the chairman of the British Racing Drivers Club John Grant stating "the Board is considering whether we should give notice before the 2017 BGP (as required, 2 years notice) of our intention to exercise the break clause in the BGP contract at the end of 2019. This is not a simple decision, and we will consider fully all the implications before coming to a conclusion by mid-year". Despite the fact that the BGP always sells out well in advance, the BRDC who own Silverstone and who also act as promoter for the race are unable to make a profit from it, they claim that again in 2016 they made a "considerable loss".

It could be that they are trying to get the new owners of F1 to reduce the hosting fee or will again approach the British government for money (the BGP is one of only a couple of races that don't get some form of government funding), but Bernie is still in the driving seat at FOM and he is extremely unlikely to reduce the fee, also the government has steadfastly refused to put any money toward the race, regardless of the fact that F1 employs thousands of people in the UK and adds hundreds of millions to the British economy.

When asked about the letter Bernie's response was typical Bernie "If they want to activate a break clause, there is nothing we can do. Two other tracks have contacted us and we are keen to keep a British Grand Prix, there is no doubt about it, we want to have one. As far as Silverstone is concerned, it's not in our hands".

 

[Indeliblelink]

Manor Racing enter administration and are on brink of collapse

 

[Limejuice]

Dear Liberty Global, how much did you pay for the F1 circus?

And how much would it cost to keep it just as strong and competitive?

Yours, ever, etc.

 

[1%er]

Manor Racing enter administration and are on brink of collapse

Interesting story but it may not be all it seems. There are 3 consortium's currently looking to buy the Manor racing team. For sure Tavo Hellmund had put in an offer, there were also news reports that the Chinese consortium Ron Dennis put together to buyout McLaren were pushing him to buy the team and there was also talk of a management buyout by Manor's sporting director Graeme Lowdon and Indonesian businessman Ricardo Gelael.

It seems that it is "Just Racing Services Ltd" that has been put into administration, that is the company that oversees the racing team, but its sister company "Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd" that owns the rights for the team's participation in F1 is not in administration, so it could be a way of removing debt before any sale, as Just Racing Services Ltd could hold the debt while the real valuable asset for sale is held by Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd, the rights to race. It isn't uncommon for businesses to remove debt prior to selling a company and it looks to me like this is what is going on here. Clearly the profits from any sale for Fitzpatrick will be far greater if he can remove the debts before any sale.

I am fairly confident that Manor F1 will be on the grid in Australia as the list of buyers is there to pick-up the assets to allow them to go racing. Manor's problems started last season when Sauber scored points in the Brazilian GP pushing Manor into 11th place and outside the prize money for the season, as FOM only pay the top ten places in the constructors championship.

 

[1%er]

Dear Liberty Global, how much did you pay for the F1 circus?

And how much would it cost to keep it just as strong and competitive?

Yours, ever, etc.

They are interesting and far reaching questions. Who has the power in the sport at the moment, is it Liberty Media, is it the FIA or has the balance swung towards the Manufactures? There is only one manufacturer that has an agreement with FOM past 2020 and that is Renault, who I believe signed until 2022 when they brought Lotus.

What happens if the Manufactures don't get what they want from the new Concorde agreement? The manufactures between them nowadays supply all the other teams with power units, so no Manufactures no Formula 1. We saw back in 2009 that they were prepared to set up a break-away series, if they get together prior to the negotiations for the 2020 Concorde agreement they would have a lot of power. This is why Bernie wanted to bring in a different/independent power-unit supplier, to give him some leverage over the manufactures power-unit monopoly.

If Liberty Media doesn't get the manufactures onside for the 2020 Concorde agreement, what do they own? What happens to their $8.4 billion investment? iirc the last 3 Concorde agreements haven't been signed until the very last minute and in one case (2010) was signed only after the season started by some teams. The longer the teams can string-out the negotiations the more leverage they have, they also have a lot of leverage over the customer teams who can't race without a power-unit.

Bernie is the key to the 2020 Concorde agreement as he has all the history, loans and leverage against the individual teams and for sure he fully understands his position and power. If you take a step back and look at Formula one and ask, what are its assets, they are the TV rights, the contracts with the circuits and the contracts with the promoters, but without and franchisees (the teams) their other assets are very limited in value.

 

[1%er]

Honda make big changes to power-unit (size zero out)
Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa has given the green light to move away from the compact 'size zero' concept that has been used for the past two years. The size zero power-unit featured a split turbine and compressor situated within the confines of the V-bank of the internal combustion engine. It is thought that the new power-unit will have the compressor situated at one end of the engine while the turbo will be located at the other end (similar to Mercedes). Also the turbocharging system will be joined by a connecting shaft that runs inside of the V-bank as the other items have been moved, also the inter-cooler will be moved and located between the chassis and the engine, this will significantly lower the power unit's center of gravity.

It is expected that Honda will adopt a multi-jet injector system inside the combustion chamber, similar to the turbo jet ignition system that Ferrari has been using. The dimensions of the engine will be slightly larger, although McLaren will still able to keep rear-end packaging of its MP4-32 very tight. These are big changes so it will be interesting to see how it effects McLaren's development.

Liberty Media offer teams a chance to own shares in F1
Liberty Media are to offer teams a chance to buy shares in the new company that will control Formula 1. Liberty has proposed offering 20 per cent of the shares still owned by previous majority shareholder CVC Capital Partners at a cost of $22 a share, but with the proviso that no team can purchase a stake bigger than five per cent. A one per cent stake in Formula One would cost around $40 million. Teams that buy into the sport would share in the annual profits generated by the business, but crucially, they would not have any voting rights in decisions relating to strategy, technology, marketing, prize money distribution or the appointment of senior officials such as the sport's CEO or technical director (conflict of interest rules).

The teams have until the end of January to decide whether to take up the offer, before the shares are offered to a wider pool of investors. Large teams such as Ferrari (who already own a small stake in Formula One's parent company Delta Topco), Renault, Red Bull and Mercedes will likely have the necessary funds available should they wish to buy shares, but teams at the other end of the grid such as Sauber, Force India and Williams are unlikely to be able to afford the investment.

It may not be a great investment, as it has emerged that the valuation of the sport has fallen by several hundred million pounds since the sale to Liberty was announced

Did Mika Hakkinen let the cat out of the bag?
Mika Hakkinen when interviewed about Bottas said live on TV "The situation could not be better for a driver, a team wants you, especially if it’s a team that has dominated Formula One such as Mercedes, it’s a dream situation. (he them said "I believe Bottas will win the world championship now he is with Mercedes" but changed the last statement when ask if Bottas had already signed, he then said) "I can imagine Bottas winning the championship. When you get to the team which is on top of the mountain, and which is able to win championships and races, then it's up to you to develop, to take wins and the championship."

Now was this a fraudulent slip or did he miss-speak? Mika is very close to Bottas and in fact used to manage him, I could understand that he miss-spoke had he been speaking in English but he was speaking Finnish, as at the time he was being interviewed by Finnish TV channel MTV3

Felipe Massa had signed for a Formula E team
There are reports in the Spanish press (Marca) that Felipe Massa had signed a "preliminary contract" with an unnamed team, it is reported that the deal had been done with the Formula E team, but Massa and the team amicably agreed to break the contract after Williams approached Massa to resign for 1 year after Mercedes and Williams agreed to Bottas deal.

It seems that almost every day there is a new story confirming that Bottas will be moving to Mercedes, so it seems strange that there has been no official announcement. It would appear that there maybe some complications behind the scenes, they may not be about Bottas but other areas of the deal, it is also unlikely that they are about Massa or money, so could it be about Paddy Lowe?

 

[1%er]

Is tyre management leaving F1
We will have to wait and see but some very good news coming from Pirelli. Having now carried out 24 days of testing, albeit with 2015 cars from Mercedes Ferrari and Red Bull, degradation appears to be much lower. Technical changes, completely new compounds and wider tyres indicate that tyre management could be a thing of the past. Higher levels of performance drop-off should also mean that tyres don't "fall of the cliff" after just 20 laps and tyre temperatures will be easier to control.

The problem is that 2017 cars are expected to have higher racing speeds (up to 5 seconds a lap at some tracks we were told last season) and better down-force making cornering speed greater and therefore putting more load through the tyres. So testing with older cars will give very difference results, I think we will have to wait until the new cars are testing the new tyres to get a real idea of how they will effect racing and to be sure that tyre management to the extent of the last few years is a thing of the past (Simulations of the Barcelona circuit suggest performance will jump from last year being full throttle for 50% of the lap in 2016, to 70% with 2017 machinery).

Its (almost) official Paddy Lowe has moved to Williams
Sources close to the Williams team have confirmed that Paddy Lowe has left Mercedes and will be joining Williams in a senior management position. It is also being reported that Lowe will be able to start work without having to take gardening leave as part of the deal over Bottas. Chief technical officer Pat Symonds left Williams at the end of 2016 and it is unlikely that he would have retired if Lowe wasn't able to take up his post with immediate effect.

Mercedes declined to comment on the matter when contacted but it is thought that James Allison will be starting work for them during the Summer once his gardening leave is over.

Can Manor be saved
The more I think about it the more it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to take over Manor F1 and race in 2017. It seems from reading the press that Stephen Fitzpatrick spent no money on developing a car for 2017 and with all the changes to the car design for this season it would be impossible for anyone to develop a new chassis and body in the few weeks we have before the start of the season. Racing a 2016 car would just be a waste of money as there is little chance of it being about to compete, they would just be throwing millions into a black-hole.

F1 rules are clear about a team that becomes bankrupt, they loose there right to race. while this isn't the case with Manor at the moment, it is the parent company Just Racing Services Ltd that has gone into administration not the company that holds the license to race Manor Grand Prix Racing, so there is still some value in that company.

It will all come down to economics, is it cheaper to buy the company that holds the license to race (but without a car for 2017) or just buy up the assets of Manor and start a new team to enter the circus in 2018. Its an ill wind the saying goes and what Manor not racing will mean it that all the teams racing in 2017 will get prize money as with 20 cars, so ten teams they will all be eligible for money at the end of the season.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

Yeah, with no 2017 car Manor are fucked. Shame

As for the racing this coming season - I have a sinking feeling it's going to be shit. Yes, lap times will be quick and individual laps will look spectacular with more corners at full throttle. But more downforce on the straights, reduced braking distances and more dirty air behind the cars will not make for easier overtaking, quite the opposite.

I've said for years that if F1 wants more overtaking they need to 1) reduce the braking ability of the cars, thus making braking distances longer and 2) cut back on aero stuff to rely more on mechanical grip.

A fiver to the server fund says this season will prove me right in a big way

 

[1%er]

Renault problems come to a head
As mentioned in last years F1 thread (post 2119), the problems between Managing Director of the Renault Sport F1 Team Cyril Abiteboul and the team principal Frederic Vasseur now seem to have been resolved with Vasseur leaving the team. With just weeks to go until the new seasons starts Vasseur has said he could not go on because of the team's approach.

"The reason is that there was too much different vision in the management of the team, so at this stage I think it makes sense for me to leave, for the Renault team also, if you want to perform in F1, you need to have one leader in the team and one single way. If you have two different visions then the result is that the work inside the team is slow". Martin Brundle posted on Twitter "This is a big surprise and suggests further underlying problems" (not sure why it is a surprise Martim, did you miss the post on Urban from the 11 Oct 2016 KKKK). In the meantime, the team will continue to be managed by Jerome Stoll its president and Cyril Abiteboul the managing director.

As for the racing this coming season - I have a sinking feeling it's going to be shit. Yes, lap times will be quick and individual laps will look spectacular with more corners at full throttle. But more downforce on the straights, reduced braking distances and more dirty air behind the cars will not make for easier overtaking, quite the opposite.

I've said for years that if F1 wants more overtaking they need to 1) reduce the braking ability of the cars, thus making braking distances longer and 2) cut back on aero stuff to rely more on mechanical grip.

This is an interesting discussion that seems to change depending on the engineer who is talking about it, I think the racing will be the final arbiter. Some engineers are claiming that the new design will hinder overtaking because of the new aero package, other are claiming that the lower rear diffuser and better mechanical grip from the wider tyres will more that compensate and should lead to more overtaking.

Once we see some racing we will see, my view is close to yours, it seems to me that the new designs will not result in more overtaking, but maybe the lower rear diffuser (wing) will have the effect it is meant to have. Clearly just pure speed isn't a good indicator of who will win the race as Williams have for the last two years have had most "highest speed trap" speed, but went backwards last season from 4th to 5th place in the constructors.

 

[Limejuice]

The proof of the racing will be in the racing.

I'm happy with that.

 

[1%er]

The proof of the racing will be in the racing.

I'm happy with that.

Well yes, I could/should have explained better but I ran out of time

The big difference in "will overtaking be better or worst", is going to be down to the tyres more than the aero. If the tyres work as well as Pirelli claim they will have much less degradation and also less thermal overheating, which should allow the drivers to push the tyres much harder for much longer (less pit-stops could also be a result of better tyre-ware).

The tyres themselves are 25% larger (in width) which means a 25% increase in the contact patch, that should lead to 25% more grip, added to that, Pirelli claim to have improved the compound through better technology, plus the increase in down-force from the new aero package will improve grip. So one could expect more than 25% improvement in grip. But we will have to wait and see if the claims by Pirelli translate into the real world on track, to-date they have only tested the tyres on simulators with adapted 2015 cars, so the data may not translate as they claim.

One thing is for sure, if the tyres do show at least 25% extra grip (as claimed by Pirelli), that will well compensate for any increased wake from the changes in aero from the car in front. Some engineers are claiming that the new aero package could also help overtaking by around 5% because of the influence of the front wing will be lower, since the floor and the diffuser will generate more downforce, allowing more overtaking (again this needs to be tested in the real world).

So yes, "the proof of the racing will be in the racing", as that will be the time when all the above theory is tested in the real world

 

[1%er]

Brundle heart problems
As every F1 fan will know Martin Brundle had a heart problem during last season, what many may not know is he suffered a heart attack after finishing his commentary of the Monaco GP and running to do the podium ceremony. During an interview at the Autosport International show Martin revealed "I had a small heart attack running to do the podium in Monaco, I ended up with a 23mm stent in my left arterial descending” which is why he missed the Canadian GP. Just to show there is hope for us old folk, just a couple of weeks after his surgery he competed at Le Mans in an LMP3 and he and his team finished 2nd, not bad for a 57 years old just 2 weeks after heard surgery

Manor has less than a week
The administrator of Just Racing Services Ltd has said they have until the end of this week to find a buyer, after the 20th January the fate of the team will be sealed. It is claimed that the 2017 car is ready to go into production at its Banbury headquarters. However, with the team being in administration, production of the parts cannot start as the administrator has blocked all extra expenditure in order to protect creditors. So anyone buying the team with the hope of racing in 2017 would have to produce all the parts, put the cars together and pass the FIA crash tests by 26th March, they would almost certainly not have any time for testing.

Technical director John McQuilliam resigned on the 30th December to make way for new directors believed to be part of the Tavo Hellmund bid to buy the team, but it is thought that the deal fell at the last hurdle. A statement from the administrators says "John remains with the team and remains fully committed to working with colleagues and the joint administrators to secure the future of Manor Racing. While John remains fully committed to continuing his work with colleagues on the team, on 30 December 2016 John resigned his position as a statutory director of Manor Grand Prix Racing Limited in anticipation at that time of Manor Racing being imminently under new ownership" (so it seems a deal was on the table).

All circuit need safety review
The FIA has written to all circuits directing them on improving safety for the forthcoming season. Because of the new designs and higher grip, cars are expected to be able to corner as much as 40km quicker in some places and reach higher top speeds. Therefore runoff areas and barriers need to be improved to cope with the extra speed. This will be done circuit by circuit in calendar order. The FIA has used simulation software to predict what areas of which tracks need to make changes.

For example, Melbourne, which hosts the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 26, had done what was required by putting up additional safety barriers at turn 12 in place of tyre walls also at turns one, six and 14 will have the existing tyre walls doubled in depth.

 

[1%er]

Someone has put in a bid to buy Manor F1
Last year there are reportedly 3 buyers interested in buying Manor. They were Tavo Hellmund and an Asian consortium led by former sporting director Graeme Lowdon and Indonesian businessman Ricardo Gelael. Ron Dennis and his Chinese consortium were also linked with a potential bid, it isn't clear at this time which group is the front runner but for sure the administrators have received one bid. It is reported that the buyer wants to buy 3 of Stephen Fitzpatrick's companies, Racing Services Ltd which is in administration plus Just Racing Ltd and Manor Grand Prix Racing Ltd, which holds the F1 and FOM license, both these companies are not in administration.

While the new Manor F1 car is ready to go into production at Banbury, the administrators FRP Advisory LLP have blocked any extra spending required to produce new parts for 2017 until a suitable buyer for the business can be found. So any new buyer will have plenty of work to do if they want to build a car and race in 2017. They have until the end of the week to complete the deal.

Wehrlein, Bottas, Mercedes and Williams
Sauber have formally announced that Wehrlein has signed for them, which means that Bottas has signed for Mercedes. It is thought that Mercedes will make an announcement later this week confirming what everyone already knew. In an interview with Skysport Clair Williams talks about Bottas in the past tense saying "It has been dragging on and I think everyone wants to know, probably more who is going to be Lewis [Hamilton's] team-mate next year, and of course whenever Nico made his announcement we knew the call was probably going to come from Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss]. No-one needs or wants a driver in your team that really wants to be somewhere else. It is not nice either to stop a driver who has such a great opportunity, particularly at this point of Valtteri's career, but it has to work for Williams and that is what we've been working hard on over the past six weeks. We are nearly there, we are at the tail end of it and hopefully we'll be able to make an announcement this coming week, but it has to be right for Williams, whatever we do will always be the right decision for Williams no matter what other people's opinions might be".

In other F1 news
There is a report in Auto-Bild (in German) that claims the Haas team have put a block on Force India receiving some of its prize money from FOM early. FOM pay out prize money in May. It appears from my poor German that all teams must agree for FOM to make early payments to any team. Force India have in the past few years been paid early to cover heavy season start up cost but this year it seems Haas have said no. What Force India will do now to bridge the gap isn't clear, but they need to pay many suppliers and also 18 million Euros to Mercedes for their power-unit.

Sir Stirling Moss is still in hospital in Singapore with a serious chest infection. Because of the severity of the infection it resulted in some complications and his recovery has not been as speedy as was expected or wished. However, his condition continues to improve and his doctors now consider him to be stable.

Silverstone are in talks with the British government to try and get some cash to help them continue holding the Grand Prix there after the current contract runs out in 2019. Derek Warwick, the president of the British Racing Drivers Club which owns the track, says they are in talks with Bernie and also Liberty Media and Chase Carey. He said "I just feel that there’s light at the end of the tunnel. I think we will have a grand prix past 2019. We are talking to government, it’s not widely known, but we are talking to government to see if there’s any help here. I’m not really sure”. He went on to say "the story being in the press about Silverstone giving notice to FOM about canceling the GP from 2019 came from Bernie, he had nothing to talk about so he picked on Silverstone”

 

[spitfire]

Surprise of the week:

F1: Valterri Bottas joins Mercedes to replace Nico Rosberg

(posted to give 1%er a break )

 

[Limejuice]

Toto: Bottas is "Pretty Finnish".