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F1 2022

Only just sort of registered that Ricciardo and Piastri are both Australian; what's the reaction like to all this in their home country? Any sides being taken?
 
Bingoman said:
He could join Alpha Tauri if he joined the Red bull Programme then?
Click to expand...
Yes. Perez got a contract extension earlier this season so it is most likely that if (and its a massive if) Mick Schumacher did join Red Bull it would be to replace Yuki Tsunoda who has a contract to the end of this season.
 

Daniel Ricciardo 'demands £12m to quit McLaren' as negotiations start over ending contract​

Daniel Ricciardo has reportedly demanded £12m to quit McLaren as the negotiations to end his contract have commenced. Team boss Zak Brown is said to be trying to move the eight-time race winner on in order to create space to sign reigning Formula Two champion Oscar Piastri. Ricciardo is contracted at the team until the end of 2023 and will need to be paid off to depart early. It is understood he is the only party to have the right to cancel his current deal, and it is expected Ricciardo’s asking fee may be reduced as McLaren haggles over a price.

There is also a possibility that should the 33-year-old secure a drive elsewhere next season, any salary component he receives would see the same value refunded to McLaren. Formula One expert Peter Windsor believes that the current situation leaves Brown in an uncomfortable position, with the American regretting the deal he initially gave the former Red Bull and Renault man. "What will take some time now is the deal that Zak Brown will make with Daniel,” he continued. “Daniel will be riding for him for the rest of this year, so it will not be a comfortable situation for Zak. He's bound to regret the contract he drew up in the first place, which means Daniel now has so many options and he himself doesn't."

Ricciardo has broken his social media silence after reportedly being told he will lose his McLaren seat for next season. Ricciardo was photographed beaming while swimming on holiday, suggesting the Australian is not worried about his F1 future. He posted the image alongside a caption which simply said “hello” with a sun emoji. Ricciardo has been consistently outperformed by his team-mate Lando Norris this season. The Brit currently has 76 points this campaign after finishing 7th in Hungary - 57 more than Ricciardo has managed so far.

The Australian has been defiant in recent weeks about his future and issued a public statement confirming his intention to see out his current deal, which many took as a stand to CEO Brown, who has remained tight-lipped about Ricciardo's chances of staying with the team for the long-term. It is believed Ricciardo has no interest in moving into Formula E, where McLaren recently launched a team. With four teams reportedly making an approach for his services ahead of next season, including Alpine, the battle is on to sign up Ricciardo for 2023.

(some reports claim £17m others as much as $21M)
 
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Wolff explains Andretti F1 bid opposition​

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained why he has been one of the loudest voices opposing the addition of Andretti Global to the F1 grid. Former F1 champion Mario Andretti confirmed in February that his son, Michael, had applied to the FIA for a position in the F1 paddock in 2024. But the announcement was met with a mixed reaction by the existing 10 teams with the addition of an extra outfit guaranteed to dilute the prize fund and other revenue streams. New teams are required to pay $200million that is split between the existing outfits to negate this 'damage'. After this was introduced in 2020, Wolff claimed the fee "sets a floor for team valuation". Whilst Andretti is seeking to add to the 20-car field, German manufacturer Audi is instead looking at taking over Alfa Romeo.

Asked how the two are different, Wolff said: "I think whoever joins as an 11th team, whoever gets an entry needs to demonstrate how accretive they can be for the business. Andretti is a great name, they have done exceptional things in the US but this is sport and this is business. We need to understand what it is you can provide to the sport and if an OEM or multi-national group joins Formula 1 and can demonstrate they are going to spend X amount of dollars in activating, in marketing and in various markets, that is obviously a totally different value proposition for all the other teams. We have 10 franchises that we hope can increase the value and you are certainly not going to increase the value by issuing new franchises to people who cannot increase the overall value of Formula 1."
 

Briatore ‘handwriting’ all over Piastri saga​

Flavio Briatore’s “handwriting” is all over the Oscar Piastri affair. That is the sensational claim of former F1 driver Christian Danner, after Alpine boss Otmar Szafnauer admitted some “sharing of information” could indeed have taken place. The rumour is that Piastri’s manager Mark Webber, Aston Martin defector Fernando Alonso and Briatore himself – who was instrumental in both former F1 drivers’ careers – put their heads together to engineer Piastri’s shock signing by McLaren. The latest reports suggest the Contract Recognition Board has already approved the McLaren deal, with Piastri’s other contract being only with Alpine’s driver academy – not the Enstone based F1 team itself.

Szafnauer is furious with 21-year-old Piastri. “The way I grew up, if I sign something, no one needs to say ‘you’re lying, because you signed this’. There’s no way I would go back on my word,” he told El Confidencial. “I don’t need a piece of paper so I can say ‘Look at this clause, I can get out of it now’,” he charged. As far as Danner is concerned, “This whole situation has Briatore’s handwriting all over it. It’s classic Flavio,” he told Austria’s motorsport-magazin.com. “There’s probably a Piastri contract that Flavio has skimmed over. I’d say there was definitely a clause.”

Danner says it’s a clear sign that Briatore sees in Australian Piastri a level of potential on par with Alonso and Michael Schumacher. “If he believes in someone, he definitely has the foresight to plan in a positive sense. Ruthlessly too, which is logically the case in this business,” he said. “I can imagine Piastri freeing himself from Alpine’s grip so he can drive for McLaren for two years and then be free for the big one. That’s definitely Briatore’s signature,” added Danner.

He also thinks Piastri will not be fazed about the level of intrigue surrounding his Formula 1 debut, with Szafnauer already furious about the disloyalty. “He knows what’s coming,” Danner said. “He wants to win and nothing else. The rest doesn’t interest him at all. And this Webber-Briatore combination is probably ideal for such people.”
 

FIA break silence on Daniel Ricciardo and Oscar Piastri mess as statement released​

The FIA has broken its silence over the Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo driver debacle at McLaren and Alpine. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem claimed the FIA would solve the issue through their own means instead of teams having to go to court. He posted: “The FIA’s Driver Contract Recognition Board (CRB) was set up to deal with contract priority issues between drivers and F1 teams. That's why we rely on their decision to resolve any conflict.”

The CRB was set up to determine the legality of driver contracts and settle disputes between teams. The group is made up of independent lawyers and aims to settle issues within a few days. The body was set up after Michael Schumacher signed for Benetton despite having agreed to discuss a contract with Jordan for the 1991 season. The FIA’s statement comes after Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer said there was a 90 per cent chance the team will go to the High Court over the dram.

Alpine posted that they had promoted Piastri days after Fernando Alonso announced his switch to Aston Martin for next season. However, Piastri took to social media to publicly reject that he had signed a deal with the French manufacturer. It is understood he has since signed a deal with McLaren while Daniel Ricciardo has already been told of the team’s decision to let him go. However, Alpine intends to fight the decision to keep the former F2 champion after investing heavily in his career. Szafnauer said he was aware of F1s CRB but warned the drama may need to be settled in court anyway. He suggests Piastri could simply sit out his contract at Alpine and refuse to drive for the team.

In this situation, Alpine said it would look for payouts to reimburse the costs they have invested into the Australian’s career. Szafanuer explained: “Going to the High Court is over 90 per cent certain that’s what we’ll do. If the CRB says ‘your licence is only valid at Alpine’, and then he says ‘that’s great but I’m never driving for them, I’ll just sit out a year’, then you’ve got to go to the High Court for compensation. We haven’t sat down with the accountants to figure out everything we’ve spent. We will have to do that if we go to the High Court.”
 

F1 set for FIFA World Cup clash after date change​

A change to the schedule for this year's FIFA World Cup in Qatar means that sports fans face a conundrum with the competition's opening ceremony set to clash with the F1 season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. F1 had moved forward its schedule this season to finish its campaign at the end of November in a bid to avoid pitting itself against the World Cup. Originally, the tournament had been set to kick off the day after the Abu Dhabi race, with Senegal playing the Netherlands.


But in order to stick with tradition and have the host nation play the opening match, FIFA has shuffled its fixture list and moved the game between Qatar and Ecuador to Sunday, November 20th, with the kick-off at 16:00 GMT. With the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix starting at 14:00 GMT, the match itself will not clash but the opening ceremony, which has also been brought forward, will.

"The decision followed an assessment of the competition and operational implications, as well as a thorough consultation process and an agreement with key stakeholders and the host country," said a FIFA statement. "The release period, as previously decided and as governed by the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, will remain unchanged, beginning on 14 November 2022."

Although fans will not be required to choose between the two sporting contests, only between the grand prix itself and the FIFA opening ceremony, only time will tell how the clash affects viewing figures. Should the drivers' and constructors' championships have been decided before the season-ending race, this is also likely to have a negative result on the figures.
 
Lord Camomile said:
Only just sort of registered that Ricciardo and Piastri are both Australian; what's the reaction like to all this in their home country? Any sides being taken?
Click to expand...

Almost nobody cares as F1 isn't a big deal in Australia.

In the UK, if you are a middle class white man who makes it to age 30 without any particular interests you get assigned F1 by default. Not the case here...
 
DownwardDog said:
Almost nobody cares as F1 isn't a big deal in Australia.

In the UK, if you are a middle class white man who makes it to age 30 without any particular interests you get assigned F1 by default. Not the case here...
Click to expand...

This is exactly what happened to me.

In other news, this is highly irresponsible and should be roundly condemned.



:D
 

F1 confirms 2026 engine regulations, turbo V6 remains​

The FIA has finally confirmed its plans for Formula 1’s 2026 power unit regulation change, but the big news is that the current 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine will remain at the heart of things.
Yep, it’s bad news for all those who had hoped the introduction of 100 per cent sustainable fuels would see a return to the screaming V8s, V10s or V12s of old, but the FIA has said that no further fossil fuels will be burnt in F1 as a result of the new regs. Impressive.

“The FIA continues to push forward on innovation and sustainability – across our entire motor sport portfolio – the 2026 Formula 1 power unit regulations are the most high-profile example of that mission,” said FIA boss Mohammed Ben Sulayem. “The introduction of advanced PU technology along with synthetic sustainable fuels aligns with our objective of delivering benefits for road car users and meeting our objective of net zero carbon by 2030. Formula 1 is currently enjoying immense growth and we are confident these regulations will build on the excitement our 2022 changes have produced.”

What else will change, then? Well, the FIA has outlined four "key pillars" that it hopes to target with the new regs. The first is "Maintaining the Spectacle" which essentially just means keeping the V6 engines. Second is "Environmental Sustainability" which is mostly covered by the aforementioned sustainable fuel. However, the new power units will also generate much more of their thrust from the hybrid system, with around 50 per cent of the circa 1,000bhp apparently coming in the form of electrical assistance. Fuel rate to the combustion engines will be reduced too, with the aim being for cars to use just 70kg of fuel during a Grand Prix. That compares with the 100kg needed in 2020.

The third pillar is "Financial Sustainability", which means a specific power unit cost cap will be introduced that’ll limit spending to $95m between 2022 and 2025, rising to $130m from 2026 onwards. To help teams meet that cap the complicated MGU-H unit that keeps the turbochargers spooled up and uses exhaust gases to generate electricity for the hybrid system has been dropped, while the positioning of some of the key components will be more tightly regulated. For example, the MGU-K will now have to be enclosed in the chassis (within the safety cell) alongside the battery and other high-voltage bits, so the cars should be safer too. The removal of the MGU-H system should also help the snappily titled pillar four – "Attractive to New Power Unit Manufacturers". That was apparently one of the requirements for the Volkswagen Group brands, so it really does look like we’re getting closer to both Porsche and Audi finally joining F1.
 

What Honda U-turn means for Red Bull​

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has the implications of Honda's U-turn decision to continue to supply power units to the team until the end of 2025. After Honda announced that it would be pulling out of F1 at the end of the 2021 season, the Japanese manufacturer confirmed it would continue to support Red Bull as the track but only for the current campaign.

Beyond this period, the newly formed Red Bull Powertrains division was expected to produce its own power units from Honda parts, while simultaneously developing its own unit for use in 2026. But Honda's recent decision to continue a direct supply of fully built power units has changed the landscape for Red Bull. Speaking to Motorsport-Total, Marko said: "Thank God there is a change in policy among the Japanese. Originally we would have had to assemble the engines ourselves from 2023. But you need spare parts for that, and 90 per cent of the suppliers are in Japan. Thank God that has been revised, because that would have become a technical, logistical and linguistic problem. Now Honda is making the engines until the end of 2025."

Honda retaining control of the power units also clears the path for Red Bull to enter in 2026 as a new powertrain manufacturer and retain all of the concessions that come with that. "We get them [power units] sealed and we can't look in there," added Marko. "That's also important for our newcomer status in 2026. They deliver it in a box, and if there's any problem, only Honda mechanics are allowed to work on the engine."
 
spitfire said:
This is exactly what happened to me.

In other news, this is highly irresponsible and should be roundly condemned.



:D
Click to expand...


A loooong time ago I was asked to help some guys get a Villiers 210 kart running. They'd bought one, hadn't a clue and couldn't get the thing started.

To cut a long story short, my mechanic and I got it running just fine. And to prove it, I took it for a quick drive from their house and along a few local roads.

Scared the crap out of me... :D :facepalm:
 

Ecclestone in court Monday for hiding $480-million assets​

Former Formula 1 ‘dictator’ Bernie Ecclestone is accused of falsely claiming he had only set up a single trust for his daughters in an alleged failure to declare £400-million ($480-milion) of overseas assets to the Government, according to court documents. 91-year-old Ecclestone is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Monday to face a charge of fraud by false representation between July 13 2013 and October 5 2016.

According to the court listing, the former F1 supremo allegedly claimed that he had “established only a single trust, that being one in favour of your daughters” and is also alleged to have said “other than the trust established for your daughters you were not the settlor nor beneficiary of any trust in or outside the UK”. Ecclestone, who has three grown-up daughters, Deborah, 67, Tamara, 38, and Petra, 33, is said to have made the representations “intending to make a gain, namely not stated, for yourself”.

The charge against the billionaire, whose address is listed in Knightsbridge, central London, was authorised by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) last month following an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC), which said the probe had been “complex and worldwide”. Chief Crown Prosecutor Andrew Penhale said at the time: “The CPS has reviewed a file of evidence from HMRC and has authorised a charge against Bernard Ecclestone of fraud by false representation in respect of his failure to declare to HMRC the existence of assets held overseas believed to be worth in excess of £400-million.”
 
Wake up! Wake up!

It's back this weekend. Belgium. I predict an entire race lost to the orange fog of hand-held flares.

Here are the telly times in the UK:

Fri 26 Aug
FP1 - 13:00
FP2 - 16:00

Sat 27 Aug
FP3 - 12:00
Qual - 15:00

Sun 28 Aug
Race - 14:00

And now let's join hands a send our heartfelt prayer to the gods of F1:

Nous prions pour que les deux voitures Red Bull fonctionnent comme un canard avec des hémorroïdes.

or for Dutch speakers:

We bidden dat beide Red Bull-auto's presteren als een eend met aambeien.

:)
 

Audi/Sauber F1 takeover for 2026 to be confirmed at Spa?​

Audi could announce its entry into Formula 1 for 2026 at the Belgian Grand Prix after agreeing a deal to take over Sauber. It is well-known that the German manufacturer is eyeing an entry into F1 when the new power unit regulations are introduced in four years time. Initially, Audi was linked to buying McLaren but that was vehemently denied by the Woking-based outfit. Other teams were then rumoured to have had talks, including Aston Martin.

More recently, a tie-up with Sauber has become the clear route for Audi to achieve its F1 goal, and now Motorsport.com reports a deal has been reached between the two parties and could be made official as soon as this weekend at Spa. Under the arrangement, Audi would buy in to Sauber and operate it as a works team from its HQ in Switzerland, while the power units would be produced at their base in Neuberg, Germany.

It is a similar situation to when Sauber raced as BMW in the late 2000s and coincidently, current Audi CEO Markus Duesmann was head of development at the team during that period in 2007-2009. Since 2018, Sauber has been in partnership with Alfa Romeo, with the Italian brand taking over the full naming rights of the team in 2019. That collaboration is ongoing on a year-by-year basis and will likely continue until 2025.

At the same time, F1 is also awaiting confirmation of Porsche's entry from 2026 in a partnership with Red Bull. The first details of that deal were revealed in documents filed in Morocco last month, with Porsche set to acquire 50% of Red Bull Technologies, the parent company under which all F1 operations are included.
 

Bernie Ecclestone denies fraud over Singapore assets​

Bernie Ecclestone has denied fraud over an alleged failure to declare about $650m in overseas assets. The 91-year-old former Formula 1 boss indicated a not guilty plea to a charge of fraud by false representation at Westminster Magistrates' Court. He is accused of failing to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing funds that at the time would have been worth more than £400m.

Police warned photographers not to mob him outside court because of his age. After arriving at court for his first hearing in a white Range Rover, the business magnate was escorted through the exit of the court building by his legal team and court security. Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring allowed Mr Ecclestone to stand outside the dock after his barrister, Clare Montgomery QC, said her client was "having a little bit of trouble hearing".

Mr Ecclestone stood to confirm his name and address in Knightsbridge, central London, before indicating a not guilty plea. The charge brought against him in July followed an investigation by HM Revenue and Customs, which said the probe had been "complex and worldwide", relating to a period between 13 July 2013 and 5 October 2016. Prosecutor Robert Simpson told the court: "During the course of that investigation he was asked about any trusts placed abroad that he was involved with. "The Crown has based this charge on the basis he failed to declare a trust in Singapore with a bank account containing approximately $650m."

Ecclestone is alleged to have disclosed "only a single trust" to tax authorities, one in favour of his daughters, according to the charge read in court. The court heard he said he was "not the settler or the beneficiary of any other trust" and the prosecution alleged the businessman acted "with the intention of making a gain for yourself". Mr Ecclestone was granted unconditional bail ahead of his next appearance at Southwark Crown Court on 19 September during the hearing, which lasted about five minutes.
 
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