F1 2020

[Ax^]

TBH Max Verstappen is being seen as the F1 child prodigy since his debut with only charles le clarce in the Ferrari now getting a simular number of headlines
since last season


but in the year that Max and Carlos both shared the same machinery
Carlos was more than able to give Max a run for his Money


Carlos is more inline with the driving style of hamilton that the other 2

it could still get interesting an Ferrari if they were both allowed to race
but that not how the scuderia operates

 

[MrCurry]

I agree it’s not how the scuderia operates, but they have shown they can switch their support to the no.2 driver in the following season if they outperform the lead driver across a year. How else can we view the promotion of LeClerc? I would be happy to see the same thing happen to Sainz, as I’m still a bit sore towards young Charles for his somewhat dirty driving pushing Hamilton off the track at the entry to Variante Della Roggia in Monza 2019.

Was this just a one off, or an early sign of a driving style which will develop and become a hallmark of his when he is less inhibited by being a young driver on his best behaviour? I hope not.

It’s going to be great seeing how Sainz measures up against him anyway. If he’s the equal of LeClerc, it will put Vettel further down the pecking order I reckon.

 

[1%er]

McLaren and Aston Martin in trouble
After major financial worries at Renault, there are now also noises from McLaren and Aston Martin that don't sound too positive. The British brands lack government support and are now in dire straits. News Saturday morning that McLaren announced that it needs no less than 280 million euros to get out of the corona crisis. The umbrella brand of the Formula 1 team not only misses out on F1 revenues, but sales of the sports cars have also dropped a lot since the corona virus. McLaren's plan was to borrow against the historic Formula 1 cars and its own head office, but the make has now returned from that. The bondholders announced that this had already been done in 2017, when they had to buy out the contract of then team boss and shareholder Ron Dennis.

Data from the Financial Times would also show that the production of McLaren's sports cars has been at a standstill since March and that they wanted to start again in April. Whether that has already happened is still unclear. Earlier, McLaren had already lost government support and shareholders had already put £300 million into the company out of their own pockets. Yet that is not enough and McLaren needs more. McLaren is not the only British motorsport brand that suffers from the crisis, because Aston Martin is also in dire straits due to the corona crisis. The brand didn't have an easy time of it already and had a lot of hope for the first SUV, to help it get back on its feet with Lawrence Stroll's investment. Whether that will succeed, is still very much to be seen.

[I read something a while ago that claimed that McLaren were in trouble, it had to do with the way they financed the sale of new cars (apparently they did a lot of this in-house). I have to admit I didn't fully understand the sums behind the report or the financing, but iirc it had something to do with the value of the car at the end of the financing period (balloon payment I think and a guarantee they would buy back the car or guarantee its residual value. Anyway the person who wrote the report said it was a very stupid way to run a car company and was just building up problems for the future). Again iirc the report went on to claim, the price of they cars on the second-hand market has dropped like a stone, their dealers are crap and the build quality is rubbish, they have a massive amount of work carried out under warranty at their dealerships, with the cost of this being carried by the car company. If I can find the report I'll link to it. I think a friend sent me a youtube link after we spoke about it also, so I'll look for that as well]

Not Looking good for the British GP
The future of the 2020 British Grand Prix looks bleak after Formula 1 were told they will not be exempt from the new rules being enforced by the UK government regarding international travellers. All people arriving in the UK from 8 June will have to self-isolate for 14 days, a rule which threatened the British Grand Prix at Silverstone with the first race scheduled for July 19. And now the race is in even greater doubt after Formula 1 were officially told that they will not be given an exemption from this rule.

"If all elite sport is to return to TV, then exemptions must be provided," an F1 spokesperson told Autosport. "A 14-day quarantine would make it impossible to have a British Grand Prix this year. Additionally, it has a major impact on literally tens of thousands of jobs linked to F1 and supply chains." While the rules will be reviewed every three weeks and so may not be in force come July 19, Formula 1 can't just turn up at Silverstone without an extended period of time beforehand to get everything ready.

Nonetheless, Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle remains optimistic of making a British Grand Prix happen in 2020. "I am very clear that the importance of the industry is understood by government," he told Sky Sports F1. "I remain very optimistic that they will find a way. I'm very, very conscious that it's extremely complicated drafting these things and working up against ever-moving deadlines – it's not a task I'd wish to undertake. "So I remain optimistic that a sensible and pragmatic solution, which puts the onus on the sport quite rightly to come up with the right solution, can be found."

It has been suggested that Hockenheim could return to the calendar to replace the British GP or Hungary could take its spot with F1 officials accepting of Silverstone's fate and planning ahead without it. Since seven of the ten teams have bases in England, an idea to work around the quarantine rules is to have a run of three or four race weekends in a row, before personnel can then return to the UK and isolate for 14 days before heading to the next race.

[If Bernie was still the boss I bet loads of money on the British GP taking place LOL but I'm sure Liberty Media are doing their best].

 

[1%er]

Looks like Aston Martin has a new CEO
Having struggled over the past several months, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated problems for Aston Martin. And now there is going to be a major management shake-up at the highest level. According to Reuters, Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer has decided to step down from his position and will be replaced by Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers. Aston Martin has not yet released an official statement on the matter, but it is expected shortly. The choice of Tobias to run the legendary UK brand should not come as a big surprise. Mercedes-AMG's parent company, Daimler, already owns a 5 percent stake in Aston Martin and supplies it with the AMG-built engines, specifically the 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 found in the Aston Martin Vantage.
Aston Martin F1
In an interesting move, Lawrence Stroll has cleared the way for car manufacturer Aston Martin to invest up to £200m in Racing Point, which is to become the Aston Martin F1 Team from next year after members of the consortium which bought the Silverstone-based outfit in 2018 went on to buy a controlling stake in the car company.

According to documents filed by Racing Point, the company voted "to allot ordinary shares in the company up to a maximum nominal amount of £200,000,000 to enable the directors to grant AML an option to subscribe for shares of the company in anticipation of the sponsorship agreement". Aston Martin, in which Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff recently bought an estimated £37m stake, last week revealed pre-tax losses of £119m in the first three months of the year, this coming on top of a £104m pre-tax loss in 2019.

However, the Daily Mail reveals that the shares do not need to be allotted for five years and possibly as long as ten. Indeed, the shares in the team can be sold to Aston Martin "at any time or times during the period of five years from the date of this resolution", while leaving the door open for shares to be "allotted and issued upon the extension of the sponsorship arrangements into the 2026 - 2030 seasons".



Latest Driver rumour
Sebastian Vettel kicked off the silly season earlier this month and remains one of the central figures with the German now on his way to Mercedes. But which driver will he replace? According to the rumour mill Valtteri Bottas is looking at his options for 2021, more on that later, but his may not be the Mercedes seat that Vettel takes. While Toto Wolff has already acknowledged that a German driver with a German team would be good marketing, he has poured cold water over the idea of Vettel teaming up with Hamilton.

But what about Vettel and Bottas? Former F1 driver Alexander Wurz reckons that could be a possibility. He told Sky Sports: “Are you sure Hamilton is staying with Mercedes? “Everyone is speculating about the second seat at Mercedes, but the first seat hasn’t been confirmed yet either.” Hamilton added some fuel to the fire when he revealed that he had given some thought to quitting Formula 1, left feeling “groggy” and unmotivated. He however, quashed that as soon as he spoke of it. “I think all these different things, and then I’m like ‘Damn it!’, and the next hour, or whatever, it passes, and I’m like ‘Damn! I love what I do! Why would I ever consider not continuing?” he said.

That leaves Bottas’ seat for Vettel. Maybe. The Finn is said to be shopping around as he considers his options for the future. Last week reports claimed that Bottas’ manager Didier Coton was in talks with managing director Cyril Abiteboul, however, it has now emerged that it is not only team boss Coton has been chatting to. According to F1-Insider, ‘Coton also invited Red Bull team boss Christian Horner for dinner for the same reason’. Bottas management is said to be wondering about both Mercedes future in Formula 1 as well as the driver’s future at Mercedes.

That, though, is all that’s been said about that as Horner has already made it clear that he wants to continue with Alexander Albon as Max Verstappen’s team-mate. "We have a long-term agreement with Max,” he recently told Sky Sports. “I think Alex is doing a good job and we have a good dynamic within the team.”

 

[Badgers]

 

[Limejuice]

It will be good if Silverstone can step up to the fray. Besides, I bet corvid-19 is scared of loud noise. Or petrol fumes. Or Guenther Steiner.

Plus they can stake out Rosberg in the pit-lane, out like a canary in a coal mine, to see if he starts coughing first.

Anyway, I bet those drivers' helmets are better than any mask. So bring it on.

 

[1%er]

McLaren video
A couple of days ago I posted about the financial woes of McLaren and Aston Martin. Well it seems that Aston are moving forward, they have secured 200million in extra funding and have confirmed Mercedes-AMG CEO Tobias Moers is now their CEO, this announcement has sent their shares up considerably. While Lawrence Stroll and his mates have deep pockets they didn't get their money by backing losers and I'm sure would pull the plug if they thought Aston Martin was just a money pit, the same ggoes for Daimler AG who have a 5% stake in the company. So for the time-being I think Aston will be OK.

I mentioned above that McLaren Automotive have not been financially great for a while and I've read things about the company that don't make good reading, the video I was sent by a friend about it is below and represents many of the arguments about why the company isn't looking good for the long term. I'm sure McLaren Automotive will find investment for the short term, but if the points made in this video are correct, I wouldn't be looking to invest in the long term. (Edit to ask Limejuice iirc you are involved in the financial world or money, account or something like that. If McLaren give a guaranteed residual value is it they, McLaren who have to pay any difference between what the car is worth in the real world and what they guaranteed the value with the finance company would be? I know it seems like an obvious answer but it could also be that McLaren agree to buy back the car at an agreed price, words and phrases don't always mean what they appear to mean when dealing with finance and legal issues.)

 

[not-bono-ever]

BTW MC road cars regularly need massive repairs- gearboxes every few thousand miles are common- they offer a nose to tail warranty for upto ten years or something if you pay a few grand more when buying. it is killing them as the boxes are 20k+ apiece and the warranty is transferable.

 

[spitfire]

hooo dear.

Formula One carmaker McLaren cuts 1,200 jobs amid Covid-19 crisis

Group seeks to raise £275m after racing season and supercar sales ground to a halt

www.theguardian.com

 

[Limejuice]

(Edit to ask Limejuice iirc you are involved in the financial world or money, account or something like that. If McLaren give a guaranteed residual value is it they, McLaren who have to pay any difference between what the car is worth in the real world and what they guaranteed the value with the finance company would be? I know it seems like an obvious answer but it could also be that McLaren agree to buy back the car at an agreed price, words and phrases don't always mean what they appear to mean when dealing with finance and legal issues.)

Yes, the devil's in the details and they can be hideously complex. Broadly speaking, if McLaren have offered a finance company a GFV, they have to underwrite that. That is, at the end off the lease, the owner settles up any residual payment, and hands the keys over to the finance company. The finance company looks to sell the car, gets the best price it can (which could be yet another lease deal with all sorts of inclusions, but let's not go there), and when the price it achieves falls short of the GFV, it turns to the guarantor to make up the difference. McLaren might well turn round and offer to take the vehicle off the finance company's hands for a reduction in the shortfall they have to pay.

Meanwhile, McLaren, depending on how smart they have been, might have laid off the risk of GFV with another hedge fund type operation. That is, when they sell a car with a GFV, they pay a third party to assume that liability. It's a sort of derivative that would operate a bit like a credit default swap. Since 2008, that's been a prickly area, but people like the idea of easy money. In essence, the derivative buyer gets thousands of pounds from McLaren for each car sold with a GFV, and they assume the liability for the future value. Yes, it's close to gambling on second-hand car values. But that's not the craziest thing to do. If that derivative buyer was also smart, they'd lay off some of their liability too, etc, etc.

Worst case, McLaren gets handed a huge bill by the finance companies, can't pay it, gets sued, loses and goes into administration. Second worst case: no finance company will touch the financing of a McLaren and the volume sales evaporate. McLaren can't shift enough stock through dealers, suffer a cash-flow crisis, can't raise any liquidity, and go into administration.

(Just my idle thoughts. Does not constitute legal advice. Errors and omissions excepted. Safe when used as directed. Wipe up spills. External use only.)

 

[1%er]

Yes, the devil's in the details and they can be hideously complex. Broadly speaking, if McLaren have offered a finance company a GFV, they have to underwrite that. That is, at the end off the lease, the owner settles up any residual payment, and hands the keys over to the finance company. The finance company looks to sell the car, gets the best price it can (which could be yet another lease deal with all sorts of inclusions, but let's not go there), and when the price it achieves falls short of the GFV, it turns to the guarantor to make up the difference. McLaren might well turn round and offer to take the vehicle off the finance company's hands for a reduction in the shortfall they have to pay.

Meanwhile, McLaren, depending on how smart they have been, might have laid off the risk of GFV with another hedge fund type operation. That is, when they sell a car with a GFV, they pay a third party to assume that liability. It's a sort of derivative that would operate a bit like a credit default swap. Since 2008, that's been a prickly area, but people like the idea of easy money. In essence, the derivative buyer gets thousands of pounds from McLaren for each car sold with a GFV, and they assume the liability for the future value. Yes, it's close to gambling on second-hand car values. But that's not the craziest thing to do. If that derivative buyer was also smart, they'd lay off some of their liability too, etc, etc.

Worst case, McLaren gets handed a huge bill by the finance companies, can't pay it, gets sued, loses and goes into administration. Second worst case: no finance company will touch the financing of a McLaren and the volume sales evaporate. McLaren can't shift enough stock through dealers, suffer a cash-flow crisis, can't raise any liquidity, and go into administration.

(Just my idle thoughts. Does not constitute legal advice. Errors and omissions excepted. Safe when used as directed. Wipe up spills. External use only.)

So if as the story's go, McLaren have given very high GFV to loads of their cars, they have just pushed their money problems down the road a little and it could really come back to bite them. The prices of secondhand McLarens have fallen greatly, so the company could be in real trouble (as the reports claim). I've seen a number of reports claiming the company is looking to raise a few hundred million. Two story's in todays press don't make good reading but they are claiming its down to COVID-19, that may well not really be the case?

McLaren F1 team get rid of 75 employees
A potential buyer for embattled Renault’s works Formula 1 team has emerged. On Tuesday, it emerged that about 75 members of the McLaren team are losing their jobs, with chairman Paul Walsh admitting it is a “challenging time for our company”. [not sure why they dropped that in a report about Renault]

At the same time, reports suggest that Renault’s obvious financial problems could also be set to come to a head in the coming days and weeks. Italy’s La Gazzetta dello Sport even claims that a potential buyer for the Enstone based team may have been identified. He is Dmitry Mazepin, a Russian billionaire whose son Nikita races in Formula 2. In recent years, Mazepin and his company Uralkali have been linked with other team buyouts that did not materialise, including Williams and Racing Point. “The name that comes to the surface is always the same,” La Gazzetta wrote, referring to Mazepin.

Giancarlo Minardi, a former F1 team owner and boss, commented: “Renault is in these days busily asking for government aid, so I find it difficult to imagine that the F1 project can continue beyond 2021. “But it will not be easy to find a suitable buyer as we are not talking about a winning team at the moment,” he added.

McLaren Group cutting 1200 jobs
Supercar manufacturer and Formula One team operator McLaren Group has announced plans to reduce its workforce as part of its major restructuring program to cope with the economic downturn caused by the coronavirus pandemic. The British company announced on Tuesday that it may be cutting up to 1,200 jobs in the coming weeks to reduce its overhead costs.

McLaren mentioned in a statement that the job cuts will mostly affect workers at its applied technology, racing, and automotive business. The company explained that the global shelter-in-place orders, lockdowns, shutdown of its manufacturing plants, and cancellation of motorsports events have greatly affected its ability to generate revenue. In order to cope with the unprecedented changes, the company has had to formulate a viable plan to stop it from hemorrhaging any more money. McLaren's executive chairman, Paul Walsh, had stated that the course of action that it will need to undertake is unfortunately hard to avoid.

While it doesn't really want to let go of its employees, it will have to do so in order to ensure its survival. Walsh added that they have already implemented dramatic cost-saving measures across all of its businesses and cutting jobs was its last resort. Earlier in the month, reports citing sources with knowledge in the matter revealed that McLaren was seeking to raise money through loans against its collection of race cars and other assets.

According to local media reports, McLaren currently has around 4,000 employees. This means that the latest round of job cuts will reduce its workforce by more than a quarter. The company, which is majority-owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat, already furloughed some of its workers under its Formula One program back in April.

With the suspension of motorsports events, the company was forced to furlough more than 90 percent of its Formula One team. McLaren employed around 800 people as part of its Formula One program. That number is expected to be reduced to only a crew of around 70, most of which will be maintaining the company's race cars and equipment.


McLaren was the first Formula One team to furlough its crew members due to the coronavirus pandemic. Organizers of the popular motorsports event have announced that they may be imposing a $145 million budget cap during next year's season. The purpose of the budget cap is to ensure the survival of the other 10 Formula One teams, who may not have much of a budget coming out of the economic crisis. McLaren is currently the second-most successful Formula One team in the sport's history, right behind Ferrari.

 

[Limejuice]

So if as the story's go, McLaren have given very high GFV to loads of their cars, they have just pushed their money problems down the road a little and it could really come back to bite them. The prices of secondhand McLarens have fallen greatly, so the company could be in real trouble (as the reports claim). I've seen a number of reports claiming the company is looking to raise a few hundred million. Two story's in todays press don't make good reading but they are claiming its down to COVID-19, that may well not really be the case?

Yes, they may well have delayed their financial woes. Offering the GFV helped them sell a large number of their less expensive range to people who would be cost-sensitive concerning depreciation. If they were clever, they would have used a mechanism to share or shift the risk of faster depreciation. But if they were under the usual optimism bias and working with the overconfidence effect, they might have imagined their cars could never be too far less valuable than their forecast. If so, they may be looking at a large bill from the finance companies.

 

[MrCurry]

Just another company who employed overpaid finance boffins who needed to produce returns on paper to justify their excess salaries and who came up with the wizzard wheeze of borrowing against the future to prop up an unsustainable valuation which was bound to go pop at some point, when the future turned out not to be as rosy as they had hoped for.

Just like the 2008 banking crisis, it’s the ordinary workers who will be paying the price as they lose their jobs, and no doubt the finance svengalis will be long gone go enjoy their millions in peace.

 

[Badgers]

Dutch GP cancelled

 

[1%er]

Dutch GP cancelled

It also looks like the British GP will be pushed back a week or two, word is that the FIA will publish an 8 race calendar on the first of June.

The gossip doing the rounds is that Bottas will not be at Mercedes for 2021, he will be at Renault, but Ted Kravitz is quoted as saying that Bottas's manager (Didier Coton) has been talking to Red Bull It looks like things are starting to point to Vettel at Mercedes alongside Lewis for 2021

 

[Badgers]

Williams could sell F1 team as board announces £13m loss in 2019 and split from title sponsor | Formula 1®

Williams say they are considering selling a minority or majority stake in the iconic British Formula 1 team as they pursue a “new strategic direction”.

www.formula1.com

 

[1%er]

Williams could sell F1 team as board announces £13m loss in 2019 and split from title sponsor | Formula 1®

Williams say they are considering selling a minority or majority stake in the iconic British Formula 1 team as they pursue a “new strategic direction”.

www.formula1.com

To add fuel to the fire it is reported that Frank Williams himself has cancelled the Williams F1 team contract with ROKiT the title sponsor of the team and major sponsor Rok Drinks. It is thought that this is because as big sponsors of the team they would/could have been able to block any sale. I think Frank will keep some interest in the team but is likely to end up as a minority share holder. Sad day if this story is true.

I say sad if true, because today there appears to be some strange story's in the press including one that claims "Wolff is stepping down, Mercedes calls a board meeting on F1 future" and another claiming "Bottas has signed for Renault". Both these story's seem to have headlines but no webpage will open when the link is clicked [I think the Williams story is true personally].

In other news Renault have said they are staying in F1 but Mercedes made this statement “There is no decision and no reason to withdraw from Formula 1”, so not really saying if they will stay or go just saying at this time, there is no decision and there is no reason to withdraw, but no one says they will withdraw now. All the story's I've read say that will happen before the new Concorde agreement is signed.

Autobild and other German news outlets ( Motorsport Total ) reported yesterday "Toto Wolff will resign from his operational role at the head of the factory team after the end of his contract and switch to the team’s supervisory board, in a similar manner to Niki Lauda’s role previously". There are also reports claiming the Mercedes team will be rebranded as Aston Martin Racing.

Other reports are claiming that "Daimler, the parent company of Mercedes, could increase it’s 5% stake in Aston Martin, and that current majority share holder Lawrence Stroll receives significant portion of the 70% shares in Mercedes in return, thus making Stroll and Wolff majority shareholders in a Championship winning F1 team".

Lots of indicators over the last few months and they say no smoke without fire, I have a feeling we haven't heard the last of this

 

[Limejuice]

Wow! ^^^

What a tangled web we weave. Who knows what's happening!

 

[1%er]

Wow! ^^^

What a tangled web we weave. Who knows what's happening!

I think concerning Williams there are a lot of things that have brought them to the state they are in now and why they have had to make public statements, they are a listed public company on the German stock exchange so the rules mean they can't hide financial problems from share holders. There results over the last couple of years means they will get very little money from FOM because of the column 1, 2 and 3 payment method, it is spread over three years depending on their results, so Williams will get the least payout for the next 3 years.

If people remember "Rich Energy" they may also remember that they had an agreement with Williams before jumping ship and going to Haas (a lucky escape for Williams you may think). But Williams having lost Martini announced ROKiT telecommunications as their new title sponsor and shortly after that they announced ROK Drinks was also sponsoring them, just after PKN Orlen left when Robert Kubica to Alfa Romeo. The big problem for Williams is that according to their accounts ROKiT owes them more than £10m for the year ending 2019 and that will I'm sure mean they owe them a lot for 2020, that is a big hole to fill for a company like William. It should also be remembered that reports in the press said that Michael Latifi (father of Nicholas and 10% stake holder in McLaren) loaned Williams £50m not so long ago.

Yesterday, the news from Williams took a further turn for the worse as it was announced that the board of Williams Grand Prix Holdings is "undertaking a review of all the various strategic options available to the Company", admitting that "options being considered include, but are not limited to, raising new capital for the business, a divestment of a minority stake in WGPH, or a divestment of a majority stake in WGPH including a potential sale of the whole Company."

The problem as I see it for Williams is their outdated business model, they are the only independent team in F1 that build their entire car (except power-unit) unlike AlphaTauri, Racing Point, Sauber under a new name and Haas who all source technologies from their engine supplier. The only other team who build most of their car independently are McLaren (who do source some parts) but they are also in the news for being in financial trouble. An other problem for Williams is F1’s inequitable revenue structure, we see teams like Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull cream almost $2bn in bonuses alone over six years, while Williams received just $60m in revenues over and above its share of prize money (during the same period McLaren earned around $180m in bonuses, but other teams like Renault, AlphaTauri [sauber], Haas and Racing point didn't receive such payments at all ).

I have a feeling that Michael Latifi will offload his stake in McLaren (if under the current conditions he can get a good price, but I'm not sure he can as McLaren are also having problems) and buy a majority stake in Williams, so his son can continue to race, a bit like other billionaires LOL. It would be a great shame to see the name Williams go from Formula 1, iirc they have the second best record in F1 albeit that that record is because of their history not because of anything they have done in recent years.

While now isn't a great time for anyone to invest hundreds of millions, the fact that any investor now knows that with the budget cap in place they will not have to pay more than £145 million a year to keep the team going

With regard to Renault and Mercedes, we can see now that Renault are saying they need to make cuts across the company of at least €2 billion over three years, that means they need to cut nearly 15,000 jobs, including 4,600 at its core French operations, which will not please the French government who have a massive stake in the company (but under EU law they cannot subsidies the company, but they don't seem to take much notice of EU law when it come to them only enforce it when it comes to others). Renault were having problems before the COVID-19 pandemic with former boss Carlos Ghosn on financial misconduct charges in 2018 which led to deep rifts in its alliance with Japanese partners Nissan and Mitsubishi. In February, the company unveiled its first annual loss in a decade, followed quickly by the 2020 health crisis that saw new car registrations in the European Union plunge 76.3% year-on-year in April.

In an “adjustment” plan announced to unions Thursday, Renault said nearly 4,600 jobs would be cut out of 48,000 in France, and more than 10,000 in the rest of the world – some 8% of the company’s global workforce. Renault CEO Clotilde Delbos said “F1, we said publicly, and we confirm that we intend to stay in F1. Actually the news about new regulations, new cap, in terms of investment is very good for us, because we had less investment in this area compared to some of our competitors which were spending a lot of money,” But can they really stay in the sport without having customer teams, I'm not sure they can.

On Tuesday, while announcing an €8 billion rescue plan for France’s car industry which has seen sales and revenue slashed by some 80%, President Emmanuel Macron said he wanted no production of any car model made in France to move elsewhere. Macron’s plan is heavily focused on bolstering France’s electric car industry, and he said Renault had agreed to join a Franco-German project to produce electric batteries. This had been a condition for Renault to receive a €5 billion government rescue loan, along with guarantees from the company over the future of staff. The French government holds a 15% stake in Renault. The previous day, Nissan reported a $6.2 billion annual net loss and said it would shut its Barcelona plant and slash production. (its interesting that the French government can support Renault, but Italy was fined for supporting its tourist industry, funny old world isn't it ).

Having made what can only be described as a wishy washy statement the other day, Daimler have now come out with what they claim is a definitive statement “The sport has taken the right measures to address the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and its future financial sustainability, and we welcome these steps. It is our clear intention to continue competing in Formula One as a Mercedes-Benz works team in the years to come, and to do so with our managing partner Toto Wolff.” it said in a statement. I guess we will have to wait and see how true that statement really is.

 

[Indeliblelink]

The reverse grid might be trialed at the (hopefully) forthcoming double-headers

F1 aims to trial reversed-grid sprint format in 2020 openers - The Race

Formula 1 is considering using the early 2020 double-header races to experiment with a reversed-grid ‘sprint race’ qualifying format

the-race.com

Formula 1 is considering using the upcoming double header races set to start the 2020 season to experiment with the long-pondered reversed-grid ‘sprint race’ format for deciding the main event’s grid.

At a meeting between Liberty Media, the FIA and the teams on Friday, Liberty proposed the idea of using one each of the back to back races at the Red Bull Ring and – clearance permitted – Silverstone to trial a Saturday sprint race to determine the grid for the Sunday race.

The grid for the short Saturday sprint race would be the reverse of the championship order, with further details yet to be established. The results of the sprint race would form the grid for the grand prix.

The grid for the other event at each venue would be decided in the conventional way by qualifying.

In this way the two consecutive races at the same venue just one week apart could be more easily differentiated – and would give F1 some valuable data about whether the format would be a worthwhile one for the future.

The onus would therefore be on the drivers in the fastest cars starting from the back to get as near to the front as possible in the short sprint race.

 

[MrCurry]

If it’s going to be tried, then perhaps I should wait and see, but I just don’t like the idea of a reverse grid qualifying race. Just feels Mickey Mouse to me, but maybe it’ll be fun and I’ll have to eat my words.

I suppose it can’t be worse than the progressive elimination qualifying experiment!

 

[Indeliblelink]

I agree, I can see why it might make having two races at the same venue in a row more interesting but in the long term I'm not sure it's a problem that needs fixing and I'm not sure F1 should be dicking around with it's format in such challenging times. If it makes it harder for good drivers in good cars to win races then I don't think it's fair to Lewis when he's trying to break Schumacher's record.

But yeah, it could end up being good entertainment, just not sure it will feel like F1 any more.

 

[1%er]

Looking good for Sliverstone
Silverstone’s hopes of staging the British Grand Prix have significantly improved after Formula 1 was given the go-ahead by the UK government to hold two races this summer. F1 hoped to get the heavily-delayed 2020 season off the ground with back-to-back races in Austria in early July before returning to Britain for another double-header event at Silverstone, but the plans were dented by the introduction of the UK government’s new quarantine rules which will force international arrivals to observe a 14-day quarantine period from June 8.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson kickstarted an intervention to ensure the races could go ahead and the UK government has since indicated that its travel restrictions will be relaxed for elite sports following weeks of talks. Speaking during a briefing on Saturday, Oliver Dowden, the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, specifically mentioned F1 as the UK government declared the resumption of sport behind closed doors from Monday June 1. "The wait is over," Dowden said. "Live British sport will shortly be back on in safe and carefully controlled environments. This guidance provides the safe framework for sports to resume competitions. It's up to each individual sport to decide exactly when to resume competition; they know their sports best. But football, tennis, horse racing, F1, cricket, golf, rugby, snooker and others are set to return to our screens shortly, with horse racing first out of the gate in the north-east next week.”

Despite not gaining an overall blanket exemption, it is understood that the government will now provide flexibility for sports personnel arriving in the UK providing a detailed plan of travel arrangements and movements within the country is approved. An F1 spokesperson said: "We welcome the government's efforts to ensure elite sport can continue to operate and their support for our return to racing. We will maintain a close dialogue with them in the coming weeks as we prepare to start our season in the first week of July.”

It comes as F1 is expected to unveil its plans for the European leg of the revised 2020 calendar in the coming days, following the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Silverstone’s pair of races are set to be the fourth and fifth events on the calendar on August 2 and August 9. The 2020 world championship season will start with back-to-back races in Austria on July 5 and July 12, followed by the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 16, the Silverstone double-header, and then further rounds in Spain, Belgium and Italy. All European rounds will take place behind closed doors within a "biosphere" environment, with everyone in the paddock set to be frequently tested for coronavirus. F1's 10 teams will be limited to a maximum of 80 people at each race.

Rich Energy at it again
Just when things were not looking bleak enough for Williams, Rich Energy has seemingly declared an interest in becoming their new title sponsor. Williams recently announced that a formal sale process has begun which include a minor or majority stake in the company being sold, or the whole company. Whilst the fallen giant declared they were open to offers, they also confirmed the sudden end of their title sponsorship with ROKiT after just one full season together. The original agreement was set to be in place until 2023 and reasons why the two parties went their separate ways are unclear.

Williams reassured everyone that the team met all contractual obligations, while ROKiT’s other motorsport partnerships with the W Series and the Venturi Formula E team are going to continue. Deputy team principal Claire Williams said that, as a result of the split, a new race livery will be launched ahead of the season hopefully getting underway on July 5 in Austria.


Rich Energy then saw an opportunity; The proposed Rich Energy Williams Racing car at @WilliamsRacing HQ. A great team that with the right management and investment can get back on the podium in @F1 #RichEnergy #British #EnergyDrink #WilliamsF1 #F1 #Motorsport #History #WilliamsRacing — Rich Energy HQ (@rich_energy) May 31, 2020

Rich Energy were involved in a turbulent partnership with Haas before they parted company in September 2019. The ex-title sponsors openly criticised Haas’ performances in F1 via social media and were involved in legal disputes over its horn branding. The drinks company have previously explored opportunities with Williams, McLaren and the team formerly known as Force India before agreeing a deal with Haas.

Two teams not supporting reverse-grid
A proposal to introduce reverse-grid races at two rounds this year will not go ahead unless two teams join the others in backing the plan. While some reports have identified Mercedes as the only team withholding support for the proposal, some reports claim Racing Point is also yet to decide whether to support it. As Racing Point is Mercedes’ power unit customer, its stance may be a political move. Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn said a similar plan failed to gain approval last year because it was opposed by two teams. The sport trying to win fresh support for the reverse-grid qualifying race proposal as a means of adding extra interest to the second events in the two double-header rounds it is planning this year.

The championship is set to announce double header races at the Red Bull Ring in July and Silverstone in August. Under the plan, the Saturday qualifying session at the second of those two weekends would be replaced with a 30-minute race to set the grid for Sunday’s grand prix. The Saturday race starting positions would be set by reverse championship order. This would mean the starting grids for the second and fifth rounds of the championship would be established by reverse grid races. A driver could therefore secure pole position for the reverse grid race at round two being the first to retire from the season-opening grand prix next month.

Its understood understands Mercedes and Racing Point agreed to reconsider the latest reverse grid proposal over the weekend and a decision on whether the plan will be adopted is expected this week.

Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel derided the reverse grid races idea when it was proposed last year. “I think it’s complete bullshit to be honest,” said Vettel, while Hamilton added: “The people that are proposing this don’t really know what they’re talking about.”

 

[Badgers]

F1 confirms first 8 races of revised 2020 calendar, starting with Austria double header | Formula 1®

The Austrian Grand Prix will kick off the new season as Formula 1 returns – get full details on the first eight races here.

www.formula1.com

 

[MrCurry]

FINALLY!

Something tells me I will enjoy these races like no others!

 

[1%er]

European calendar so far for 2020

Date	Venue
July 5	Red Bull Ring, Austria
July 12	Red Bull Ring, Austria
July 19	Hungaroring, Hungary
August 2	Silverstone, Britain
August 9	Silverstone, Britain
August 16	Barcelona, Spain
August 30	Spa, Belgium
September 6	Monza, Italy

Vettel to Haas?
While several possibilities have been floated, such as replacing Ricciardo at Renault, moving to Mercedes in one of their two open seats, or returning to Red Bull Racing, where he won his four world titles, one possibility that had not immediately emerged was moving to the Ferrari-powered Haas team. Haas are one of two Ferrari-powered teams aside of Ferrari themselves, the other being Alfa Romeo Racing, which have effectively become the Ferrari B-team. Vettel had also been linked to Alfa Romeo Racing, as neither one of their two drivers, Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi, are under contract for next year. Likewise, neither one of Haas’ two drivers, Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean, are under contract for next year, and given the recent clashes that have transpired between the pair, the 2020 season may end up being their final year together.

If that is the case, could Vettel end up with Formula 1’s lone American team next year? According to team principal Guenther Steiner, Haas don’t have enough money to sign Vettel, and even if they did, he may not be fond of the idea of competing for a mid-pack team anyway.

Here is what Steiner had to say about the matter to Sky F1 on The F1 Show. “I cannot afford it! I think Sebastian, being a four-time world champion, I wouldn’t say he’d want to go to the midfield anymore. If you have a successful career, what you don’t want to do is to take too many risks. I’ve got a good relationship with him but I haven’t offered him a seat. I think somebody else with a lot deeper pockets than me will do that!”. One of the reasons why Vettel opted not to re-sign with Ferrari, despite the fact that they did make him an offer, was due to the massive pay cut he would have had to take. Additionally, this offer, which he reportedly called a “joke”, was only a one-year deal, and he has been used to three-year deals in recent years.

 

[Badgers]

It is good news to have a target date (for now) but another month yet

 

[1%er]

F1 must race on three continents
With the first eight races on the calendar, Formula 1 can start, but the big question remains what will happen next? Eight races is enough to meet the requirements of the championship, but it also has to be driven on three continents. With a minimum of fifteen races in mind, Formula 1 still has work to do. After the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, seven more races have to be driven and at least two other continents have to be visited. There are three candidates for two more races in Europe: Hockenheim, Imola and Mugello. With Monza already on the calendar, it doesn't seem desirable that Imola and Mugello appear on the calendar, so there is a good chance of a return to the German Grand Prix. After that, however, the problem follows.

The Middle East is not a problem. Bahrain would like to organize two races and Abu Dhabi still wants to have the final race, which adds three races and one continent to the calendar. But then there is a gap in the calendar and that needs to be filled with a number of races. However, many are already falling off. According to reports, Singapore, Azerbaijan and Japan are dropping out. The first two cannot organize the race without fans and Japan will not allow travelers until March 2021. Also Vietnam doesn't seem to appear on the calendar until 2021, since there is not much to get for Hanoi without an audience in the centre of the city. Formula 1 would now be engaged in a double race in Russia. Russia has been hit hard by the coronavirus, but mainly in Moscow. Sochi is less affected in that respect and besides that the circuit is largely remote. So this would make it easier to organize a race without an audience.


However, visiting the third continent is the biggest problem. Mexico and Brazil are suffering enormously from the coronavirus and seem unable to organize a race that is safe enough. America has shown that with IndyCar and NASCAR it can hold races behind closed doors again, but the circuit in Austin is the problem. For example, IndyCar has already taken the race in Texas off the calendar because the circuit is in big financial trouble. No event seems to be able to take place there for the time being. According to news reports the Speedway of Indianapolis would be an option for Formula 1. In the past F1 raced there and the circuit is still in use for the IndyCar, for the famous Indy 500. A calendar with fifteen races and weekends on three different continents is certainly possible, but behind the scenes a lot of puzzle pieces have to be put in the right place. Whether Formula 1 will be able to present this entire calendar at the end of June is therefore doubtful.

Aston Martin join the cutting crew
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC (LON:AML) has announced it is cutting 500 jobs as part of what it says is a fundamental reset of the luxury carmaker. Production of front-engined sports cars is being reduced to a level which will restore profitability, it said. Action on costs is being taken all across the business, the group added, including contractor numbers, premises and marketing and travel. On an annual basis, the restructuring is expected to save an additional £10mln, on top of £10mln announced previously, and lower manufacturing costs by £8mln while capital expenditure is being cut by £10mln. The restructuring will cost £12mln, which will be charged to the 2020 accounts.
Aston Martin has had a tough time since it listed in late 2018, with the business shedding 94% of its market value, culminating in a recent £536mln rescue led by F1 magnate Lawrence Stroll.

The Canadian billionaire has re-shaped the board since he took over and last week Tobias Moers, from Mercedes-AMG, was appointed as chief executive to replace Andy Palmer. Chairwoman Penny Hughes and finance chief Mark Wilson departed in April and three non-executives have just finished their notice period. Analysts have said a recovery by the carmaker hinges on the performance of its first SUV, the DBX.
In today’s statement, Aston Martin said the DBX remains on track for deliveries in the summer and has a strong order book.

 

[1%er]

Some interest in Williams
Williams’ current financial difficulties are likely to be resolved in the near future with new investment, says Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn. Having announced last week that a “potential sale of the whole company” was being considered, speculation has been rife with whom exactly could step-in to save the nine-time constructor’s champions. Such individuals as Michael Latifi (father of current Williams driver Nicholas), Sylvan Adams, Dimitry Mazepin and Boris Rotenberg have been floated as potential investors, and while Brawn refused to offer any names, he is confident someone will step forward.

“There’s been some fairly serious people looking at Williams, and I think it shows that there’s a decent model behind it to make it a serious consideration,” he told reporters. “I think without the things we did [with cost cuts] it would have been much more worrying, but it’s pretty stable.” However, Brawn maintains it is simply more than financial investment that the Grove outfit needs to turn things around. “Quite honestly, if you finish last, as they have for the last few years, there’s going to be a consequence. And now unfortunately they’ve reached that point. Whoever goes in there needs to look at the fundamental reasons why they’ve not been able to perform, and whether it is just finance, or the structure they’ve got, or the approach they’ve taken. I honestly don’t know. But it needs that understanding. It may just be financial, and with extra financial support they can be more competitive, and it needs someone to go in there and try to understand what’s going on.”

In any case, one individual who has already stepped up is Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who has acquired a 5% stake in Williams. The second time Wolff has held a stake in the team, he previously possessed a 15% share that he sold in 2014.

No new manufactures before 2026 says Ross Brawn
Formula 1 boss Ross Brawn has conceded no new power unit manufacturers will enter the sport until the rules change in 2026 and stresses options for what format will eventually be chosen are still wide open. With the Volkswagen/Audi interest having long ago rejected an F1 programme, no potential new entrants are currently waiting in the wings. Brawn duly admits that the situation won't change under the current regulations, which are guaranteed to be in place until 2025.

The hope is that a reset with a new PU specification will encourage other suppliers to start planning to join Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault and Honda in the long term. "It's not that far away when you think you've got to do a new engine," Brawn told reporters. "You will have to be starting your engine design in 18 months if you want to get one for then. So with the FIA and with the manufacturers we're now looking at what the next powertrain should look like, and I think that's the opportunity to get new manufacturers involved, and we need to find a design specification to do that. We're looking at what we feel is a relevant powertrain for that period. No one is going to invest in the current engine, because it's going to finish in that time, and it's a very substantial investment to get up to speed."

Although there is no urgency to fully define the new regulations experts from both F1 and the FIA have already begun to assess ideas. "We were having a discussion about it," said Brawn. "Pat Symonds, Nick Hayes, Gilles Simon, Fabrice Lom and Nikolas Tombazis, we're all working on what the powertrain should look like for the future. We know what the objectives are, relevance, the economics of it, and it's got to be a good racing engine. We know what we want to achieve, we just haven't defined yet what that will be. We continue to believe that there are alternative approaches to solutions to the future. We don't think there's one solution. We believe we can occupy a very relevant space. Sustainable fuels are a big thing for us, because whatever engine we have, that will be a major part of it. With some of our partners we're now working on a strategy for introducing sustainable fuels into F1. So that will be a big element for the future. But really for the moment I don't have an idea on how the engine should look."

Asked if there would be a revision to the current rules or a more radical shift he said: "I think for the moment we feel it will retain similar technologies to what we have now. There are a number of radical engines on the horizon, but we don't think they are well enough established that in 18 months you can commit yourself to them."

[I'd like to see them try something with hydrogen (not going to happen but I'd still like to see it ), as this electric car bullshit isn't going to save energy, test taking into consideration building, batteries and running power, just moves pollution from the car to other areas, I don't think electric is a long term solution]

 

[1%er]

Renault wont supply McLaren wit power-unit for testing
McLaren won’t be testing ahead of the Austrian GP, not because the 2018 MCL32 wasn’t powered by Renault but because the French manufacturer reportedly won’t supply an additional PU. The 2020 Formula 1 season will begin in early July at the Red Bull Ring, the first green light shining four months after the final lap of pre-season testing. As such many of the teams are holding private tests for their drivers but those tests have to take place in a car that is two years or older.

McLaren recently revealed it won’t be in action because of “powertrain switches.” Team boss Andreas Seidl told Sky Sports: “On the driver side, unfortunately we don’t have this possibility of having a car that is two years old that we could operate because of all the powertrain switches we had here in recent years. But as you have seen already, Lando was doing some karting and the free testing [in an F3 car] and we look into the same thing also with Carlos to have the drivers ready. Of course, we will do some simulator work as well with them.”

The comment about “powertrain switches” stumped many as while McLaren did swap from Honda to Renault engines, that was at the end of the 2017 season. The team’s 2018 car, the two-year-old car that the team would be permitted to test ahead of Austria, was powered by Renault. However, it seems the switch Seidl is speaking of is not the Honda to Renault move but rather McLaren’s decision to swap to Mercedes engines for 2021.

According to reports it is ‘because McLaren is switching to Mercedes engines next year, that has complicated matters with the French manufacturer [Renault] reportedly refusing to provide an additional power unit for the test’. 2020 will be McLaren’s final season with Renault, which could be a problem for the Enstone team come 2021 as the Renault’s works team will be the sole Renault runner.

Brawn reiterates sensible interest in William
Ross Brawn is confident Williams will remain on the F1 grid, revealing there are “sensible people” looking to buy the team. Last month Williams announced that its Formula 1 team, the winner of nine Constructors’ titles and seven Drivers’ crowns, was up for sale. The decision came after back-to-back seasons at the very bottom of the log saw Williams’ finances take a massive hit. The team’s fortunes were not helped by the departure of title sponsor, ROKiT, nor Formula 1’s hiatus.

Brawn, though, believes the team will find new backers. “I think what’s encouraging is there are quite a lot of sensible people looking at Williams because they can see the opportunities in the future,” the F1 sporting boss told reporters. “I think they can see the improving landscape for Formula 1 economically, commercially, and the competitiveness that an independent team should have in the future. I think they see it as a prime time, even in these extremely challenging times they still see it as an opportunity. So I think there’s every chance Williams will be taking on some new partners in the future. We’d like to see it stay as Williams, and stay with the heritage and history of Williams. It’s a great team and we’d like to retain that. I think there’s some fairly sensible people now looking at the opportunity to get involved with Williams and give it the support it needs to be successful in the future.”

Brawn reckons Formula 1’s new rules, not only the budget cap but plans for a fairer distribution of prize money, will help teams such as Williams in the future. “I think the problem in the past was there was no control over spending and the commercial model the payments to the teams was very heavily distorted in terms of the benefits for the top teams and very poor payments for the smaller teams,” he said. “As of next year, that slope if you can imagine it as a slope has flattened. The smaller teams, the teams in the midfield and the second half of the grid will be getting a much bigger proportion of the pie than they’ve ever done before. The size of the pie depends on the success of Formula 1. Formula 1 was in a great place six months ago, it’s got to meet this challenge and no doubt it will have an impact on us but I think in another six or 12 months we can really get it back to where it was. For a smaller team, there are several aspects, but one is the commercial model is far more viable. We want a small team to be profitable. We need them to wash their faces at least. So with our prize money and with a reasonable stable of sponsors they should be able to find the funding they need to fund the team.”