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F1 2019

Team budgets in 2018
1. Ferrari (2nd in constructors championship)
  • $410 million (361 million euros)
  • total 950 employees + 480 in engine department
  • Receives the largest part of the sport’s commercial revenues redistributed by F1 on account of the team’s historic status in the sport. Backed also by cigarette manufacturers Philip Morris via their “Mission Winnow” project.
2. Mercedes (1st)
  • $400 million (352 million euros)
  • total 950 employees + 500 in engine department
  • Daimler-Benz’s F1 activities are split into two -- Mercedes GP for race operations and the powertrains, operating independently.
3. Red Bull (3rd)
  • $310 million (272 million euros)
  • 860 employees
  • Should benefit in 2019 from sister team Toro Rosso and common engine supplier Honda
4. McLaren (6th)
  • $220 million (194 million euros)
  • 760 employees
  • Supported by Middle East investors but despite losing Fernando Alonso for the new season, will benefit from various new sponsors one of which is British American Tobacco through their projet “A better tomorrow”
5. Renault (4th)
  • $190 million (167 million euros)
  • 680 employees + 300 in engine department Strategic partnership of Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi but overshadowed by the Carlos Ghosn affair
6. Williams (10th)
  • $150 million (132 million euros)
  • 630 employees
  • Lost title sponsor Martini for the season to be replaced by telecommunications company ROKiT. With the support also of Canadian multi-millionaire businessman Lawrence Stroll -- the father of driver Lance Stroll.
7. Toro Rosso (9th)
  • $150 million (132 million euros)
  • 460 employees
  • Should benefit in 2019 from its sister team Red Bull and common engine supplier Honda
8. Alfa Romeo Racing (ex-Sauber) (8th)
  • $135 million (119 million euros)
  • 400 employees
  • Benefitted since 2018 by a Ferrari engine deal and now boasts support of Alfa Romeo
9. Haas (5th)
  • $130 million (115 million euros)
  • 250 employees
  • Will benefit in 2019 from a title sponsor, energy drinks manufacturer Rich Energy
10. Racing Point (ex-Force India) (7th)
  • $120 million (105 million euros)
  • 405 employees
  • Will benefit in 2019 from new title sponsor, internet sports betting site SportPesa.
Jean Todt pushing for a return to 12 teams
FIA president Jean Todt wants to increase the number of teams in Formula 1 but is facing resistance from the sport’s current competitors. In an interview with Sky Todt admitted he wants to increase that number “It’s always a long debate, at the moment we have 10 stable teams. As you know we are talking together with the commercial rights holder [Liberty Media], with the teams, about the renewal of the Concorde Agreement [beyond] 2020. And we are considering a lot of things. Of course for me I think it would be better to have 12 teams. If you speak about that to the actual team principals they are not very happy about that because of course it will change financial distribution, so it will be different for them. But it’s part of the discussion”. Todt indicated Formula One Management also wants to expand the grid “At the end of the day the most important is not so much the number of teams it’s the quality of the team and the quality of the show. So that’s something we do fully agree together with Formula 1, with Chase Carey, with his team and we are working very closely together”.
 
When is "fake news "not fake news
A couple of months ago I posted a story from the Italian press that claimed, Mattia Binotto and Maurizio Arribanene had fallen out and that Binotto had been approached by other teams. Ferrari, Arribanene and Binotto all claimed this story was fake news, but today Mattia Binotto has given an interview to Corriere della Sera in which he confirms everything in the previous articles.

Speaking to Corriere della Sera Mattia Binottois is reported as saying "I felt I was no longer in a position to do my job well and I made it known, this was not a difficulty I was experiencing alone but also related to the whole group because even if a technical director does not work at his best, everything is reflected in those he manages." When asked if he was approached by Mercedes he went on to say "Yes, it’s true: other teams have been in touch with me because my experience has value in F1". Asked to clarify why he had found himself at odds with Arrivabene and on the two men's very different conceptions of how the Scuderia should be managed, he explained "Working here for 25 years I was lucky enough to live those glorious moments with Todt, Brawn and Schumacher. And then with Stefano Domenicali, I have always learned from everyone, even from Maurizio and I thank him for this. The personal relationship has always been good. Never a fight, the difficulties involved the vision, the management of the group or a race weekend. We had different points of view".

Speaking about his rapid rise through the ranks at Ferrari over the years, Binotto paid tribute to former Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne, the man who orchestrated his forward march "He had already promoted me to head the engines in 2014 but I think with the second nomination he wanted to break the mould, not only here at Ferrari but in F1, he chose a technical director who had never designed a car. It was a gamble that had to do with this horizontal organization, with which we continue to work with. As a manager, you can no longer go into detail and automatically empower people. It is not Binotto’s machine, it belongs to everyone: the artist, the painter, the driver… collaborators become protagonists" said Binotto.

A point for fastest lap
As mentioned above, the FIA and the world motor sport council had both approved a new rule to give 1 championship point (in the drivers championship) to the driver who got the fastest lap as long as that driver finished in the top ten at the end of the race. For this to become a rule for the 2019 season it needed to pass a vote in the Strategy Group and F1 Commission, yesterday that vote was taken and both delivered a unanimous verdict in favour of the new rule.

Formula 1’s sporting boss, Ross Brawn, said the bonus point system was put forward after months of research and will make races even more interesting. “Together with the FIA we have been committed to evaluating ideas and solutions that can improve the show whilst maintaining the integrity of our sport,” said Brawn. “We felt that the reintroduction, after 60 years, of a point for the driver of the fastest lap in the race goes in this direction. We have been considering this solution, which represents a response to detailed research carried out with thousands of our fans around the world for a number of months. How many times have we heard the drivers on the radio ask the team about who holds the fastest lap? Now it will no longer be only a matter of record and prestige, but there will be a concrete motivation that will make the final part of the race even more interesting. Sometimes it is useful to remind ourselves of the heritage of our sport to move forward”.

It is not the first time an extra point has been awarded to the driver with the fastest lap, as it was in place for the first 10 years of the Formula 1 World Championship.

Bernie is responsible for F1's current problems
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei has blamed Bernie Ecclestone for creating some of the problems that Formula 1's new owner is facing as it attempts to renew grand prix contracts. Although the new management has managed to extend some race deals in the past two years, this year the contracts of the British, German, Spanish and Italian and Mexican GPs are all coming to an end and no renewals have been agreed as yet. In addition to differences of opinion over hosting fees, Mexico and Spain both have issues with the public funding that has hitherto supported the races. Maffei said that former F1 boss Ecclestone had not helped matters by suggesting that races were paying too much under the very deals that he originally put together.

Speaking at a Deutsche Bank conference yesterday Greg Maffei said "Bernie had done a very good job, arguably too good a job, and had drained the promoters and we got a lot of blow back, partly because we're public now and they can see the prices, and also partly because Bernie suggested to a lot of them that they were overpaying. That didn't help the cause.

Asked about potential new Races, Maffei suggested that a race in Africa was among those high on the agenda "We remain working on Miami, but there are obstacles to a lot of that, exacerbating that are governments trying to pull back subsidies, in Mexico, other places such as Spain. So that creates some challenges. We've looked at other alternatives in the US, including Las Vegas. We've looked at other alternatives in Africa. We're trying to solidify some of the western European races and bring those in. That core fanbase is strong, and there are some in the works that may very well come to pass in those traditional western European places. You're always trying to balance both solidifying where you are strong, or core, which is historically western Europe, and then adding other things, like expansion to Vietnam, potentially a second race in China, potentially a race in Africa. We're not yet prepared to announce any, but there's a careful mix or blend of where you want to grow and where you want to solidify.

The Vietnam GP secured for 2020 is the first new event Liberty has added to the calendar. Maffei said it "will be more exciting and a positive improvement over Malaysia, which was not differentiated enough from Singapore".
 
The changes to the Williams car that make it legal for the Australian Grand Prix
It is amazing that the Williams suspension was built with 7 elements when the rules clearly state that it can only comprise of a maximum of 6 elements. Each wishbone counts as two elements, the pull-rod (or push-rod as some teams use) counts as one and the steering-rod which also counts as a suspension part makes 6. Williams added an extra part which all engineers who were asked said they just couldn't explain, other than saying "it is bazaar to us as the rules are clear cut and state that the suspension can not exceed 6 parts". I hope this is covered by the Sky F1 crew over the weekend as I'd really like to know how such a basic mistake was made by Williams and not caught by the team themselves and had to be pointed out to them by the FIA.

The 2nd part of the car that needs to be changed is the wing-mirrors, which interestingly enough Paddy Lowe told one reported during an interview "I think I should get a meddle for these mirrors, because its such a bazaar design". It is a great design and also works well to deflect the air around the rear tyre, but he forgot to put usable reflective surface on them, there are believed to be 2 problems with the mirrors. The first is that that the reflective surface is too convex which distorts the image to much [the rules state you can have a "non-planer mirror" (which just means it doesn't have to be flat) but it must not distort the image] the 2nd is the top of the mirror which protrudes out towards the driver and therefore covers part of the view from the drivers position, so masks a large part of the mirror from the driver.

Unfortunately for Williams I think they are going to need really good mirrors this season as they are likely to be running at the back and it will be important that they see clearly the front runners coming up to lap them.

Bernie on Williams, McLaren and other things
Bernie Ecclestone says both Williams and McLaren need new management. The once-great F1 teams are now struggling, and former F1 supremo Ecclestone thinks the problem is the people in charge. "They are no longer in the hands of super competitive men like Ron Dennis and Frank Williams. To come back strong, they have to find another Ron and another Frank." Today, Zak Brown leads McLaren, while Frank Williams' daughter Claire is in charge at Williams. When asked about other F1 teams, Ecclestone said he is looking forward to the new Red Bull-Honda collaboration. "I suggested this alliance to Red Bull three years ago, Honda is competitive by nature just look at the bikes".

On the sport more generally, Ecclestone said F1 could survive without the FIA and its president Jean Todt. "Jean did a good job of convincing Liberty that they need the FIA to change things. But F1 could even exist without them. The teams and promoters could write the rules themselves and race under another name, personally I'm not for democracy, we need a dictator who says 'here are the rules'". He also thinks it is possible Mercedes will not agree terms with Liberty for a 2021 Concorde Agreement "I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't have an official team anymore" he said in an interview with Corriere della Sera.

Good news for Ted Kravitz fans
Sky Sports journalist Ted Kravitz will host a brand new Formula 1 show in 2019. Kravitz, known for his notebook and pitlane punditry, was rumoured to have been sacked by Sky in the winter. The new show is set to feature technical analysis and will take place every Wednesday throughout the season. The first show will take place after the Australian Grand Prix on March 20 at 6 pm. During the opening show, he will be joined by Rob Smedley, a former team member of Williams and Ferrari.
 
RIP Charlie Whiting, a guy who has made a huge contribution to the running of F1.

I once sneaked into Monza on the weds before the GP. Wasn’t hard to do - the Italian policemen at the main entrance didn’t speak a word of English so holding up a business card with a chequered flag printed on it and saying “administration office” with a straight face was sufficient to have me waved through.

At the entrance to the paddock the turnstiles were just in the process of being installed, so I walked right on past and wandered past the medical centre into the top end of the pit lane.

Charlie was there, maybe three arm lengths away from me, talking with a small group of people. I saw in my peripheral vision that his gaze rested on me for long enough to suggest he probably realised my face didn’t fit. I was, after all, looking around like a tourist!

He was good enough to leave me be. Didn’t call for anyone to find out what the heck I thought I was doing. And that same tolerant, diplomatic approach has saved many race incidents from becoming full blown arguments off the track. I wonder if his successor will be able to keep things harmonious as successfully as Charlie could.
 
That's very sad, never really heard a bad word about him, other than the odd driver whinging when they didn't get the decision they wanted. Sounds like a decent bloke.
 
C4 highlights

Australian GP
Saturday 16 March - Qualifying Highlights - midday
Sunday 17 March - GP Highlights - 2.30pm
 
spitfire said:
C4 highlights

Australian GP
Saturday 16 March - Qualifying Highlights - midday
Sunday 17 March - GP Highlights - 2.30pm
Click to expand...

More sociable hours than the live show at least for this race but reading the restrictions Sky have placed on C4 is a depressing read - no pen interviews allowed, no grid walk allowed, no more than 50% of show to be allowed to comprise of actual race -
Formula 1 2019: A new era for the sport on television as well as on track
Sky has imposed a series of restrictions on C4 in the contract for the highlights races, which will affect both the race coverage itself, and what happens around it.

For example, only 50% of the total running time of C4's programme can now be taken up by the on-track coverage - down from between 60-70% last year. They are not allowed to do interviews in what is known as the 'pen' - where all the drivers are taken to do a round-robin of broadcasters after qualifying and race - or in the pit lane. Any 'pen' interviews they use will have to come from Sky. The amount of interviews C4 can do in the paddock is restricted. And they have been forbidden from doing a 'grid walk'.

None of these restrictions apply to the live British Grand Prix.

In addition, the highlights programmes can now not start until a minimum of three hours after the race, although this could be a blessing in disguise as it pushes them into evening prime time, when audiences are potentially bigger.
Click to expand...
 
Spoof CW twitter account with a lovely tribute to Charlie Whiting

Fake Charlie Whiting says ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@charlie_whiting) on Twitter



D1mrqEcUkAAeqO-.jpg
 
Are Mercedes really that much quicker than the rest of the field
Free practice 1
Pos No Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:23.599 26

2 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:23.637 +0.038s 18

3 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:23.673 +0.074s 18

4 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 1:23.792 +0.193s 22

5 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:23.866 +0.267s 30

6 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 1:24.816 +1.217s 18

7 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:24.832 +1.233s 30

8 10 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda 1:24.932 +1.333s 23

9 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:24.934 +1.335s 24

10 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:25.015 +1.416s 11

11 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 1:25.166 +1.567s 23

12 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:25.224 +1.625s 18

13 23 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:25.230 +1.631s 21

14 55 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault 1:25.285 +1.686s 19

15 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes 1:25.288 +1.689s 26

16 11 Sergio Perez Racing Point BWT Mercedes 1:25.498 +1.899s 21

17 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:25.634 +2.035s 16

18 4 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 1:25.966 +2.367s 31

19 88 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes 1:27.914 +4.315s 25

20 63 George Russell Williams Mercedes 1:28.740 +5.141s 25

Free practice 2
Pos No Driver Car Time Gap Laps
1 44 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:22.600 33

2 77 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1:22.648 +0.048s 33

3 33 Max Verstappen Red Bull Racing Honda 1:23.400 +0.800s 33

4 10 Pierre Gasly Red Bull Racing Honda 1:23.442 +0.842s 31

5 5 Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:23.473 +0.873s 35

6 7 Kimi Räikkönen Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 1:23.572 +0.972s 40

7 27 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1:23.574 +0.974s 37

8 3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1:23.644 +1.044s 31

9 16 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1:23.754 +1.154s 35

10 8 Romain Grosjean Haas Ferrari 1:23.814 +1.214s 37

11 26 Daniil Kvyat Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:23.933 +1.333s 36

12 20 Kevin Magnussen Haas Ferrari 1:23.988 +1.388s 27

13 18 Lance Stroll Racing Point BWT Mercedes 1:24.011 +1.411s 38

14 55 Carlos Sainz McLaren Renault 1:24.133 +1.533s 26

15 99 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari 1:24.293 +1.693s 37

16 11 Sergio Perez Racing Point BWT Mercedes 1:24.401 +1.801s 34

17 23 Alexander Albon Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda 1:24.675 +2.075s 40

18 4 Lando Norris McLaren Renault 1:24.733 +2.133s 26

19 63 George Russell Williams Mercedes 1:26.453 +3.853s 32

20 88 Robert Kubica Williams Mercedes 1:26.655 +4.055s 33

Williams problems continue
Robert Kubica’s FP2 ahead of the Formula 1 season-opening Australian Grand Prix was “compromised” by a parts shortage which meant he had to drive a damaged car. Kubica and Williams team-mate George Russell occupied the bottom two positions on both the practice one and two timesheets, with Kubica ending the second session four seconds adrift of Lewis Hamilton’s benchmark pace. Williams endured limited running during pre-season testing, missing the first two and a half days in Barcelona as a result of its FW42 being delayed. Mileage on the final day was truncated by a lack of spare parts.

This spare parts shortage has carried over into the Australian Grand Prix weekend, with Kubica highlighting that his FP2 was hindered by having to drive with damage. “The second free practice was quite a lot of compromises with some damage on the car. So, we try to rebuild the parts and fix the parts because unfortunately we don’t have a lot of spares. We have to try to do the maximum from what we have. The car is difficult to drive and if you’re faced with a number of damages it’s even more difficult" he said. Kubica indicated that the damage was sustained from the kerbs and was an issue which first surfaced during testing.

Williams rookie George Russell believes the team could fall foul of the 107% rule in qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix. The team has been cut adrift at the back of the F1 field compared to their rivals. Russell admitted the team could fall below the 107% rule in qualifying. "Obviously we didn’t have the best of days. The lap time is stating the fact that we’re quite a long way off the rest at the moment, but we knew what we were in for. We know what this weekend is going to be about, and we just need to build on that. We knew what we were in for at this race and probably the first couple of races, and we just need to focus on building on that, and ensure come mid-season and the end of the year that we have something better" he said.
 
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