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F1 2020

cybershot said:
So let's see which teams/drivers boycott this race on human rights.

No doubt none, as will proclaim the country is going through change and this is positive instead. Nothing to do with money at all.

www.skysports.com

Saudi Arabian GP to join Formula 1 calendar from 2021 season

Night race to be held on the streets of Jeddah in 2021 as Saudi Arabia becomes the third Middle East round in F1 after Bahrain and Abu Dhabi
www.skysports.com www.skysports.com
Click to expand...
Let's hope Hammy can squeeze something pithy onto a t-shirt...
 
Mattia Binotto to attend fewer races
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto has revealed plans to attend fewer races next year and said he may not travel to all of this season's remaining events as he focuses on the bigger picture in a bid to get the team back to the front. Ferrari finished second in the championship last season with three wins and a total of 504 points. This season, they have managed just two podium appearances, the last one 10 races ago and collected just 103 points.

The team set up a new Performance Department in July, led by Enrico Cardile with Rory Byrne, the team’s Chief Designer in the early 2000s, becoming more involved, and Binotto feels he now needs to spend more time at the factory. “I think, considering myself, you need always the balance, you have tasks at the racetrack and at the factory,” said Binotto. “The factory is important, where we are developing the cars. I will not follow the races [next year]. Even in 2020 I’m already considering skipping some of the races on the last part of the season, starting from Turkey. That’s [going to be] even more next year. At the end, when you’re responsible for an entire team, certainly the race event is important but the management of the entire team is even more important.”

The teams were shown a planned 23 race calendar for next season at the last race in Imola and many have confirmed they will need to begin rotating crew to cope with the intensity of the programme. Each driver has a core team of engineers and data analysts working around them, however, and Binotto admitted it will be difficult to decide if and how to break up those teams to allow a rotation of crew. He said: “We will certainly plan a turnover for all the persons that we can. I think that’s the best way, to make sure that we are somehow going through the entire season doing the right level of efficiency, concentration and focus. By increasing the amount of races I think there are judgements that need to be done, to know where to return on some engineers, some technicians and eventually balance the duties.”

Saudi Arabia will be on 2021 calendar
Saudi Arabia is the newest addition to the FIA Formula 1 World Championship in 2021. The drivers will race around the streets of Jeddah in a night race planned for November 2021, making the first time the F1 circus had travelled to Saudi Arabia. The race is planned to start and end on the corniche which runs along the coastline giving the race an incredible backdrop. The new addition to the 2021 calendar will be the first of what is expected to be a multi-year deal to hold a race at Jeddah.

His Royal Highness Prince Abdulaziz Bin Turki AlFaisal Al Saud, the Minister of Sport said: “Saudi Arabia is accelerating forward and the speed, energy, excitement of Formula 1 perfectly reflects the transformational journey the country is on. As we’ve witnessed in recent years our people want to be at the very heart of the biggest moments in live sport and entertainment. And they don’t come any bigger than Formula 1. No matter where in the world it’s held, Formula 1 is an event that brings people together to celebrate an occasion that goes far beyond sport. We look forward to sharing this unique experience and sharing Jeddah with the world. For many Saudis this will be a dream come true.”

Chase Carey, Chairman and CEO of Formula 1, is excited to bring on Saudi Arabia to the calendar due to is expanse portfolio of sporting events being held at the middle-eastern country. Motorsports is the second most popular sport to its residences, only coming second to football. Carey said: “We are excited to welcome Saudi Arabia to Formula 1 for the 2021 season and welcome their announcement following speculation in recent days. Saudi Arabia is a country that is rapidly becoming a hub for sports and entertainment with many major events taking place there in recent years and we are very pleased that Formula 1 will be racing there from next season. The region is hugely important to us and with 70% of the population of Saudi being under thirty we are excited about the potential to reach new fans and bring our existing fans around the world exciting racing from an incredible and historic location. We will be publishing our full provisional 2021 calendar in the coming weeks and this will be submitted to the World Motorsport Council for approval.”

Formula 1 posts a $104 million loss
Formula 1 has reported a $104 million loss for the third quarter (July to September), but says income is beginning to recover from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. COVID-19 wiped out the start of the F1 season, resulting in the cancellation of many races between March and June, which led to revenue dropping from $620m in the second quarter of 2019 to just $24m this year. However with a rescheduled calendar kicking off in July, revenues have begun to recover, with the F1 Group earning $597m in the third quarter of 2020, although that’s still $36m down on 2019 for the same period. That resulted in a loss of $104m compared to a $32m profit last year in Q3.

The rise in income on Q2 is reflected by the number of races that took place during the period, with 10 grands prix held between July and September, however it remains down on the same period last when just seven races were held. This is because some of those races paid a reduced hosting fee due to a lack of fans, whilst some were subsidised by Formula 1 itself. A statement from Liberty Media, which owns the sport, said: “Results in the third quarter of 2020 were impacted by the absence of fans, the location of races as well as the timing of the revised race calendar and pro rata recognition of certain revenue streams. Primary F1 revenue decreased mainly due to the limited race promotion revenue received since fans were prohibited at all but one race during the third quarter. This was partially offset by growth in broadcasting and advertising and sponsorship fees due to the impact of higher proportionate recognition of season-based income with three additional races during the current period, as well as the impact of recognising revenue over fewer races in 2020. However, both broadcasting and advertising and sponsorship revenues were lower than originally contracted. The altered schedule triggered lower broadcasting fees pursuant to the contractual terms within certain broadcasting agreements, and also led to other one-time changes as certain broadcasting fees were renegotiated for the current year.”

Its finances were also impacted by a “one-time changes in sponsorship contracts” because they were unable to deliver all “elements of a typical sponsorship offering”. The closure of the Paddock Club also hit finances. Teams received a higher than normal payment for the July-September period which totalled $440m compared to $335m last year “due to one-time fees paid to teams upon signing the new Concorde Agreement.”
 
My views on the driver market
Guenther Steiner has been reported as saying many times that he doesn't think Haas should have 2 rookie drivers in the team for 2021, but I believe he is wrong (or diverting the truth) and that Haas will have 2 rookies driving for them in 2021. I think that Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will have the seats in that team. From the many news reports I've read my money is on this pair to be Haas drivers. My reasoning is that Mick Schumacher is the big name and Nikita Mazepin brings the money. Dmitry Mazepin (Nikita Mazepin's father) is a billionaire who has been looking to invest or buy an F1 team for a couple of years and while there is a cost cap coming into place soon there are many areas not covered by the cap where teams can spend. There have also been rumours that Gene Haas isn't happy with F1 and wants to unload the team or get a big investor to cut his costs. Haas have lost 10's of millions in prize money over recent years, they started slow in F1 with two 8th place finishes in the constructors, then jumped to 5th in 2018, but last year and this year they will finished 9th. I believe Haas will take Nikita Mazepin for the money.

Mick Schumacher I believe was set to take the 2nd seat at Alfa Romeo but as Kimi wanted to stay the team wanted to keep him, also Ferrari didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket with Schumacher and wanted to keep their options open with Antonio Giovinazzi remaining with the team. So Ferrari have used their influence with Haas (their customer team) to place Schumacher there. Schumacher is a bit of a wild card, while he has shown good speed in F2 that doesn't always continue into F1 as we have all seen many times over the years, but he has an extremely famous name and will for sure bring lots of press coverage to the team and may also bring sponsorship in the future, for sure he doesn't bring much sponsorship at the moment. I believe Haas will take Schumacher because of Ferrari and his name.

So what of Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg, why haven't Haas gone for one of them? Well Perez has massive backing, but the vast majority of that money goes to Perez it appears, not to the team, so I'm betting Mazepin would take more money to Haas than Perez. As for Hülkenberg I think he is on his way to Red Bull. For teams at the bottom of the championship pay drivers are more important at the moment than experienced ones, that will change when the new rules and power-trains come along but for the next couple of years, pay drivers will be more important for team at the back of the grid.

What about Albon? Will he move to Scuderia AlphaTauri? We know Daniil Kvyat is out of the team so there is a free seat, but I have a feeling that Honda will use there influence in a deal over the power-unit to try and get Yuki Tsunoda into that seat, but that seat is still well and truly open.

I'd be very interested to hear other F1 thread users views on this, I'm thinking out loud and would like to know if you disagree and why :)
 
1%er said:
My views on the driver market
Guenther Steiner has been reported as saying many times that he doesn't think Haas should have 2 rookie drivers in the team for 2021, but I believe he is wrong (or diverting the truth) and that Haas will have 2 rookies driving for them in 2021. I think that Mick Schumacher and Nikita Mazepin will have the seats in that team. From the many news reports I've read my money is on this pair to be Haas drivers. My reasoning is that Mick Schumacher is the big name and Nikita Mazepin brings the money. Dmitry Mazepin (Nikita Mazepin's father) is a billionaire who has been looking to invest or buy an F1 team for a couple of years and while there is a cost cap coming into place soon there are many areas not covered by the cap where teams can spend. There have also been rumours that Gene Haas isn't happy with F1 and wants to unload the team or get a big investor to cut his costs. Haas have lost 10's of millions in prize money over recent years, they started slow in F1 with two 8th place finishes in the constructors, then jumped to 5th in 2018, but last year and this year they will finished 9th. I believe Haas will take Nikita Mazepin for the money.

Mick Schumacher I believe was set to take the 2nd seat at Alfa Romeo but as Kimi wanted to stay the team wanted to keep him, also Ferrari didn't want to put all their eggs in one basket with Schumacher and wanted to keep their options open with Antonio Giovinazzi remaining with the team. So Ferrari have used their influence with Haas (their customer team) to place Schumacher there. Schumacher is a bit of a wild card, while he has shown good speed in F2 that doesn't always continue into F1 as we have all seen many times over the years, but he has an extremely famous name and will for sure bring lots of press coverage to the team and may also bring sponsorship in the future, for sure he doesn't bring much sponsorship at the moment. I believe Haas will take Schumacher because of Ferrari and his name.

So what of Sergio Perez and Nico Hülkenberg, why haven't Haas gone for one of them? Well Perez has massive backing, but the vast majority of that money goes to Perez it appears, not to the team, so I'm betting Mazepin would take more money to Haas than Perez. As for Hülkenberg I think he is on his way to Red Bull. For teams at the bottom of the championship pay drivers are more important at the moment than experienced ones, that will change when the new rules and power-trains come along but for the next couple of years, pay drivers will be more important for team at the back of the grid.

What about Albon? Will he move to Scuderia AlphaTauri? We know Daniil Kvyat is out of the team so there is a free seat, but I have a feeling that Honda will use there influence in a deal over the power-unit to try and get Yuki Tsunoda into that seat, but that seat is still well and truly open.

I'd be very interested to hear other F1 thread users views on this, I'm thinking out loud and would like to know if you disagree and why :)
Click to expand...

Not sure I know enough to add any further insight, reckon you're probably on the money.
 
www.bbc.co.uk

Formula 1 calendar: Vietnamese Grand Prix dropped from 2021 F1 schedule

The Vietnamese Grand Prix is dropped from the 2021 Formula 1 calendar, raising doubts that the race will ever take place.
www.bbc.co.uk

Vietnamese Grand Prix dropped from 2021 F1 schedule

The move has been triggered by the arrest on corruption charges of a key official responsible for the race in Hanoi.

Hanoi People's Committee chairman Nguyen Duc Chung was arrested in August for alleged appropriation of documents containing state secrets.

The case is not related to his involvement in the grand prix.

2021 Formula 1 calendar
21 March: Australia (Melbourne)

28 March: Bahrain (Sakhir)

11 April: China (Shanghai)

25 April: TBC

9 May: Spain (Barcelona)

23 May: Monaco

6 June: Azerbaijan (Baku)

13 June: Canada (Montreal)

27 June: France (Le Castellet)

4 July: Austria (Spielberg)

18 July: Britain (Silverstone)

1 August: Hungary (Hungaroring)

29 August: Belgium (Spa)

5 September: Netherlands (Zandvoort)

12 September: Italy (Monza)

26 September: Russia (Sochi)

3 October: Singapore (Marina Bay)

10 October: Japan (Suzuka)

24 October: USA (Austin)

31 October: Mexico (Mexico City)

14 November: Brazil (Sao Paulo) *

28 November: Saudi Arabia (Jeddah)

5 December: Abu Dhabi (Yas Marina)

* = provisional pending promoter agreement
 
Wolff "Everything has been done to stop us"
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says his team is fired up to ensure its Formula 1 dominance does not end in 2022, because "everything has been done to stop us". The German manufacturer has secured its seventh successive F1 world championship double this season. It wrapped up the constructors' championship at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and its drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas are the only remaining contenders for the 2020 drivers' crown. With F1's rules remaining stable heading into next year, Mercedes is already favourite to extend its title success - but things are more open for the following season. Wolff accepts that the raft of changes coming for 2022, which include all-new car regulations, a budget cap and a new prize money structure, will be especially challenging for his outfit. And he suggests that the main ambition behind the changes has been to close up the field and wipe away any advantage Mercedes has had.

"Next year will be a transitional year with the same machines," he said. "As I've said before, I expect Honda to give it a big push. And then obviously this big challenge of 2022 is on the doorstep. That will motivate us. Everything has been done to stop us. We will all fight on a level playing field financially and everything is pretty much capped. I'd like to see us continue to perform well, even through this most dramatic regulatory change that has ever happened in F1." While Wolff has one eye on ensuring Mercedes can retain its place at the front of F1, he has yet to finalise his own F1 future.

He is currently in negotiations with Mercedes' parent company Daimler about implementing a succession plan, as he begins looking for a long-term replacement. Wolff will stay on at Mercedes next year, but would like to transition into a new role that does not require him to attend every race. "My situation is a little bit different, because I'm a co-owner with Mercedes of the team, so I'm never going to abandon it, because it's just what I love to do," Wolff told Sky F1 after the last race at Imola. "What's better than to be part of a sports team, to be part of such a fantastic gang of people? What I said is that I believe everybody has a shelf life in a role. I haven't come to the end of mine, I think I can still contribute. But I need to think about the future also going forward. Bringing somebody up, developing him doing this role, is something that is a fantastic challenge for me that will be one of the next chapters. But you will see me around for a while."

[The word in some quarters is that both Wolff and Hamilton have signed "letters of intent" with Daimler, which I'm told means they will both stay at Mercedes unless an "unreasonable contract" is offered, which is very unlikely]

spitfire said:
Not sure I know enough to add any further insight, reckon you're probably on the money.
Click to expand...
I'm fairly sure about Haas and have a couple of bets on that, the wildcard for me is Red Bull, personally I think the Hulk will go there but Perez is also a good choice. I think it will comedown to which one Marko likes the best.
 
Some comments on the 2021 calendar
With a 23 race calendar there is room to drop races if the Covid isn't sorted but I think Liberty Media will have signed strong contracts with the government involved to try an avoid governments taking easy decisions about that. They need as many races as possible because they need the race fees (that I hear haven't been made any cheeper) and the money from TV rights. The team revenues for this year from F1 are expected to be around half of what the teams were expecting, so money will be tight for many.

The Olympic Games in Tokyo has meant that there is only one race between 18 of July (Britain Silverstone) and 29 of August (Belgium Spa), that is Hungary (Hungaroring) on the 1 August, so teams will get their summer break. There are two difficult triple-headers: the first being Spa, Zandvoort and Monza on August 29, September 5 and 12 with the second being September 26 (Sochi), October 3 (Singapore) and October 10 (Japan). There are five double-headers, Australia-Bahrain, Baku-Canada, France-Austria, US-Mexico, and Saudi Arabia-Abu Dhabi. April 25 was meant to be Vietnam but I think rather than just cancel that race, F1 will look to tracks from this year such as Turkey or Portugal if they can find the money (the European leg starts May the 9th so they could bring that forward to fill the April 25th race).

There is also a doubt over Brazil, there is no contract with Interlagos, F1 don't want to deal with the previous race promoter and the city government seem unwilling to put up the money as times are hard here in Brazil at the moment, I'm not sure the people would back so much money being spent on the race without a big political backlash. Rio de Janeiro despite all the big talk hasn't even got the necessary licences for building work to start, so there is no chance of that tract being close to ready (so watch this space for more news about that race). And still no German race, the problem there is that both Hockenheim and the Nurburgring can't get any money from their local governments. Miami is still a distant race as the whole project is covered by lawsuits that could take years to resolve.

Lets hope everything is sorted and we do get a full 23 race calendar :)
 
Hamilton and Wolff
It appears that Lewis and Wolff will both be staying at Mercedes but do not want to make the announcement before they wrap-up both championships, according to a few people in the know, "both deals have been done and are just waiting to be signed". What is not clear is how long they will stay with the team, according to reports in the Austrian press, Wolff has said “I think I will stay for another year and that I will indeed remain as team manager. I think the next two years could be an interesting situation and as long as I enjoy it, I want to continue to do so. I know that I will have to train my replacement slowly and that he will be able to work alongside me next year”. Will it be one or two years for Wolff and will Lewis sign a multi-year contract?

Albon says he will not return to Alpha Tauri
According to reports from Spain, Alex Albon has said he will not move backwards and race at Alpha Tauri. Both Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly were in Spain this week for a fashion shoot for Alpha Tauri, it is reported that Albon has been quoted as saying “No, I wouldn’t agree to going back to Alpha Tauri, It’s every driver’s dream to race for a high-level team and that team for me is Red Bull. My intention is to continue”. A strong statement if true and I'm sure that Marko will have taken note.
 
beesonthewhatnow said:
Am I the only one who thinks 23 races is ridiculous?
Click to expand...
No, I agree.

In business, it's called 'sweating the assets' - making the main engine of revenue work too hard, so that it wears out faster than normal, and costs more to repair or replace than the short-term gain you made. It's the sort of thing that occurs before a sell-off, and the next owner gets to pick up the pieces. Here, Liberty has a fixed-term concorde agreement to get rich from.

From the instant I learned a media owner was buying F1, I knew that the lure of year-round revenue would be too much for Liberty to resist. If It could, Liberty would run 26 races - one every two weeks. It ain't (so much) about profit (I'm lying, it usually is) as cash flow. Regular income beats sporadic windfalls into a cocked hat.

In fairness to Liberty, though, it hasn't sweated the sport as much as I feared. They are mostly respectful of the ethos Bernie handed over, and seem content to have a month-long summer break, as well as the closed season winter break - if for no other reason than to allow upgrades and redesigns. Also, as a race fan, the more the merrier.

That said, I have a big problem: the business model for Liberty (and Bernie beforehand) involves promoters putting tens of millions of dollars on the table up front. In many places the only source of money is government, local or national. The only benefit to those places is to boost tourism and attract investment. Which means that new tracks are street circuits built around such geographic eye-candy as harbours and beach-fronts and picture-postcard city buildings. These make for lousy racing. Yes,they're pretty and, in Liberty's mind, will attract more viewers who see F1 as a high-speed travel brochure. But these folks are not loyal race fans; they are fickle and uncommitted, and only milkable in the short term. Meanwhile the patience of loyal F1 fans gets stretched by the inferior product until they begin to drift off - it turns out that loyal audiences too can be sweated for their money and devotion.

The problems for teams is that cramming the scheduled together under Covid, plus the mission creep of extra races, is not a good operational model for them. Triple- and double-headers must be a logistical nightmare, as well as exhausting for the race crews. A couple of the teams have already spoken of rotating race personnel to avoid too much stress.

But the nature of the commercial beast is to maximise revenue and that's what Liberty does. No matter what assurances Liberty gives, it will use mission creep to slowly extend the racing up to the limit they believe they can get away with - 26. I can already hear the lizard brains of Liberty's PR people rehearsing their off-the-record briefings - 'C'mon, guys. We're only asking teams to work half a year. Who else wouldn't want to get away with only working 6 months of the year?'

I was perfectly happy when the race season was about 16 races.
 
beesonthewhatnow said:
Am I the only one who thinks 23 races is ridiculous?
Click to expand...
Limejuice said:
No, I agree.

In business, it's called 'sweating the assets' - making the main engine of revenue work too hard, so that it wears out faster than normal, and costs more to repair or replace than the short-term gain you made. It's the sort of thing that occurs before a sell-off, and the next owner gets to pick up the pieces. Here, Liberty has a fixed-term concorde agreement to get rich from.

From the instant I learned a media owner was buying F1, I knew that the lure of year-round revenue would be too much for Liberty to resist. If It could, Liberty would run 26 races - one every two weeks. It ain't (so much) about profit (I'm lying, it usually is) as cash flow. Regular income beats sporadic windfalls into a cocked hat.

In fairness to Liberty, though, it hasn't sweated the sport as much as I feared. They are mostly respectful of the ethos Bernie handed over, and seem content to have a month-long summer break, as well as the closed season winter break - if for no other reason than to allow upgrades and redesigns. Also, as a race fan, the more the merrier.

That said, I have a big problem: the business model for Liberty (and Bernie beforehand) involves promoters putting tens of millions of dollars on the table up front. In many places the only source of money is government, local or national. The only benefit to those places is to boost tourism and attract investment. Which means that new tracks are street circuits built around such geographic eye-candy as harbours and beach-fronts and picture-postcard city buildings. These make for lousy racing. Yes,they're pretty and, in Liberty's mind, will attract more viewers who see F1 as a high-speed travel brochure. But these folks are not loyal race fans; they are fickle and uncommitted, and only milkable in the short term. Meanwhile the patience of loyal F1 fans gets stretched by the inferior product until they begin to drift off - it turns out that loyal audiences too can be sweated for their money and devotion.

The problems for teams is that cramming the scheduled together under Covid, plus the mission creep of extra races, is not a good operational model for them. Triple- and double-headers must be a logistical nightmare, as well as exhausting for the race crews. A couple of the teams have already spoken of rotating race personnel to avoid too much stress.

But the nature of the commercial beast is to maximise revenue and that's what Liberty does. No matter what assurances Liberty gives, it will use mission creep to slowly extend the racing up to the limit they believe they can get away with - 26. I can already hear the lizard brains of Liberty's PR people rehearsing their off-the-record briefings - 'C'mon, guys. We're only asking teams to work half a year. Who else wouldn't want to get away with only working 6 months of the year?'

I was perfectly happy when the race season was about 16 races.
Click to expand...
Liberty Media are getting their ducks in a row with a view to selling the sport, that is what this is all about
 
Mazepin and Stroll heading to Court next week
Dmitry Mazepin’s legal action against Lawrence Stroll’s acquisition of Force India begins next week in London, Back in 2018 Force India went into administration, triggered by driver Sergio Perez in a bid to save the Formula 1. Two bidders came to the party, Mazepin and Stroll with the latter winning. He acquired the team for £90 million, rebranded it Racing Point and put his son Lance in the car alongside Perez.

Mazepin, who wanted a team for his own son Nikita, cried foul. He threatened to take the matter to court, claiming at the time that the bidding process, led by administrators FRP Advisory LLP, was flawed. In a statement back in July last year, Uralkali, the Russian chemical company company owned by Mazepin, claimed that the administrators had failed to “determine the highest bid in the process. from Uralkali as successful”. Added to that the company alleged “misrepresentations and lack of transparency in the process run by the Administrators”.

Just over two years after Stroll’s bid was accepted, the matter will now go to court. According to reports the court case is to determine whether Uralkali has suffered financial loss because of the Administrators and Stroll.

No F1 in Rio due to unprofessional organisers
Rio de Janeiro can pack their bags for the time being. The city in Brazil wanted to organize its own Formula 1 race, but after the promoters asked if they could also have the television rights, the negotiations stopped. On the Brazilian programme Efe Uno, Victor Martins of Grande Premio announced that Rio had not withdrawn from the negotiations with Formula 1, but that F1 itself had pulled the plug on the project. The promoter is said to have demanded television rights and was therefore no longer taken seriously. The organisation of the race in Rio had previously stated that they had failed to organize a race because the coronavirus had made the market unstable, Grande Premio says. However, the fact appears that the organization was never able to give a financial guarantee to FOM or Liberty Media.

F1 will now once again be negotiating with Interlagos (real name Autódromo José Carlos Pace), which is already on the calendar for 2021. However, there are still doubts about this, as the contract for this circuit expires. [according to other reports F1 have been negotiating to sign a 5 year contract to keep the race at Interlagos, but it is unclear who they have been talking to, as they have fallen-out with the old race promoter claiming they don't want to deal with him any more. I believe the city of Sao paulo still owns the track so they will for sure be talking to them and maybe also GloboTV who own the F1 rights here in Brazil]
 
hmm been reading a bit of buttons comments and a few other in general about Hamilton starting to take over Schumi record


now I'm not Hamilton fan and seeming's as I only started really getting interested in f1 around the 1994 season..
so no Schumi fan either


find it very odd that people are taking pots shots at at Lewis for not having more competitive team mates

When the hell did Michael have a team mate on equal status with him after the early years at benetton

:hmm:
 
I see Ben Edwards is leaving his commentator job at Channel 4. Sad to see him go, always liked him, much better than that twat Crofty but yeah like most I'm forced to watch Sky since C4 lost all the live races apart from Silverstone.
www.autosport.com

Ben Edwards to step down as Channel 4 F1 commentator

Channel 4 has announced Ben Edwards will step down as the lead commentator for its Formula 1 coverage at the end of the 2020 season
www.autosport.com www.autosport.com
 
Morning.

FP1 - the drivers are reporting the track is like ice.

They're using the hard tyres which need 35C to switch on, and the track temp is 18C. The new tarmac surface is only ten days old, so the oil is still exuding. There's been no racing activity on the track whatsoever, so no chance of building grip. Finally, they washed the track yesterday and it's still damp in places.

We should see some pirouettes.

:thumbs:
 
Red flag within minutes. Leclonk took out the marker cone at the start of the pitlane. Marshals have to bolt it back down.

Still much kvetching about track limits and stewards excluding times.

Ah, back out again.
 
Interlagos set to sign 5 years deal
While I don't want to count my chickens etc...... I did predict that Rio wouldn't get the GP back when it was first announced, I've lived here long enough to spot political bullshit when I see it :)

Interlagos is set to remain the home of the Brazilian Grand Prix until at least 2025 according to the Governor of Sao Paulo, João Doria. The venue, which has continually hosted Brazil's F1 event since 1990, was scrapped from this year's schedule due to the coronavirus pandemic but the race is included on the provisional 2021 calendar released by F1 earlier this week. F1 commercial rights holder Liberty Media has yet to confirm Sao Paulo's planned new contract, but the deal's signing is a mere formality according to Doria. "I am proud to reveal that F1 has just renewed a contract to hold the Brazilian GP until 2025," said Sao Paolo's governor at a press event held on Thursday. "The Interlagos racetrack has been confirmed as the venue for the next five years. The contract will be signed by Mayor Bruno Covas and Liberty Media, the rights holder of F1."

It is believed that Liberty Media was initially unwilling to renew Interlagos' contract, having found itself at odds with the event's promoter who is known to have strong links to former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. But a new promoter handling the circuit's affairs has paved the way for a new deal. While Interlagos' presence on the sport's 2021 calendar is perhaps not a surprise, a five-year contract is unexpected given Rio de Janeiro's recent push to take ownership of the Brazilian Grand Prix. However, the proposed Deodoro circuit, located in the vicinity of Rio on a military base that was used for several events during the 2016 Olympic games, was set be built in the Camboata Forest, a plan that generated the wrath of local environmental groups who opposed the area's deforestation.

Last month, Formula 1 chief executive Chase Carey said that a deal for the sport to return to Rio de Janeiro had been agreed in principle, although the contract was conditional upon pending building permits. With the latter not forthcoming, it appears that Rio's efforts to host an F1 event may be dead in the water.

[Again I don't want to jump the gun as I'm sure there will be things to iron out and nothing is sure until the paperwork is signed. The teams don't like coming to Brazil because of the crime so that is a question that needs to be sorted and where will the money come from, is also a big question. But things are looking good for a 5 year contract, it also gives Bolsonaro a bloody nose so that's got to be a good thing :thumbs: )
 
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