Today In F1

[HandyNZL 1]

As with every power (a lesson that most people, sadly, forgets), FOTA's power is as much as the memebers gave to it. In this case (the RRA) it is pretty big. They all agreed on a set of rules (yeah, including RBR) and they agreed that any overspending would be deducted from next year's spending quote. They also agreed on giving FOTA's enough power to audit evereybody for overspending. So, in this case, FOTA is quite powerful. What's the worsee they can do? Expel RBR from FOTA? Ohhh look, I'm trembling!

You better be, because the same reasons that made you sign up for FOTA are the ones that should make you not want to be expelled from it. PR wise would be a disaster. Having every other team (except HRT) under an association that you no longer belong to is bad.

And, above all, for the same reasons Germany was a disaster for Ferrari. It doesn't matter whether you can be punished enough or not, or whether objectively your move is that bad or not. You accepted a set of rules then broke it. Ask Ferrari how good it was for them the Hockenheim affair. And that was one race, and no perecivable gain for Ferrari. Being called a WCC and WDC because you cheated after being the Holy Inquisitors of fair play will certainly make you look like something your Austrian energy drinking bosses will not be happy about.

BOld part is my point in a nutshell.

I don't think the PR would be that bad, honestly. The majority of fans aren't like the people here; they don't understand the situation entirely and therefore just don't care about it. Besides, the main sponsor is Red Bull...they aren't going to stop sponsoring their own team over a little PR (since they've had bad PR in NASCAR over lawsuits and their driver having problems with blood clots right after research about Red Bull causing blood clots came out, IndyCar over having their team run by Eddie Cheever and how he treated Tomas Scheckter who had a thing for prostitutes, and then there's the non-racing bad PR that's the worst of all as it threatens their product from being marketed/sold/etc). A blatant case of cheating will hurt (like fixing a race through a planned crash), but something that fans can't see under rules most fans didn't even know existed for an organization most fans can't understand won't do anything.

Likewise, I don't think Germany was a disaster for Ferrari at all. Still the most popular team, still with all the sponsors they had at Germany supporting the team. There were no consequences.

Yeah, what the teenager said.

[Rainmaster 7]

First of all I'm not convinced there is all that much substance to the accusations of overspending (Red Bull were accused of everything last year other than causing the BP oil disaster), but if it is true then I agree with QO, and the toilet guy. I don't think their is much chance of a PR fallout in any real terms, most fans I know don't even know what FOTA is, let alone that there is a RRA, and I don't think they care (I'm a fairly serious fan of the sport and I don't care that much). On the other hand, I think Red Bull want, and to some extent need, to be on good terms with FOTA. They are certainly less powerful without FOTA than they are with it.

[Caesar 0]

nothing will happen, because they cant punish them in any way.

so they will decide to let red bull go this time, they will look so merciful ,

but they will know that they cant touch them, they really dont want to punish them.

it is something that sells newspapers and ads, a circus.

if flavio got away, anyone can....

[Port-A-Loo 0]

More like one week ago in F1, but I just stumbled upon this:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-plans-for-race-at-mallorca-still-progressing

I like it. One because Valencia's just not a good track, and two because it's finally a track with F1 hopes not designed by Tilke. Nothing against Tilke, of course, he's a better designer than he gets credit for, but one man can only come up with so many ideas that work. The schedule is really going to shift over these next few years.

Another thing from the article: the September 2012 projected date pretty much confirms the rumors that Austin will be the week after Montréal, which is just horrible planning. Did they forget what happened with Dallas in early July? Perhaps FOM should watch the YouTube video of Mansell collapsing and the track surface melting before they take it down for copyright infringement.

I personally would have put Austin after Abu Dhabi and before Brazil. Partly to give them more time to complete the track, and partly to have nicer weather for the success of the event. But then you're competing with the NFL in the U.S. market for television viewership (though even with casual viewers, I don't see there being much overlap, personally), and I'm sure FOX put pressure on FOM to have it in June (FOX airs four races per year in the U.S. and they like them to be consecutive; Canada and U.S. have always been the major races in their network coverage since they're live at 1 when FOX shows them).

All that aside, I like to see schedule changes, and really hope this abundance of tracks/races starts a trend of tracks sharing dates and alternating each year (and not just ones in the same nation like Germany). The variety would be nice and it would add value and hype to permanent races (like Monaco and Britain) from a TV perspective (see the value of races like Daytona, Indy, and Le Mans compared to the others on their schedules). It would help, perhaps artificially, keep the WDC/WCC shaken up each year, too, and boost ticket sales at struggling events as people would be more compelled to go to races that aren't going to be happening every single year (see the value of the World Cup and the Olympics). And it would keep costs down for track promoters. But now I've completely lost where I was at the start of this post...

[JHS 1]

Another thing from the article: the September 2012 projected date pretty much confirms the rumors that Austin will be the week after Montréal, which is just horrible planning. Did they forget what happened with Dallas in early July? Perhaps FOM should watch the YouTube video of Mansell collapsing and the track surface melting before they take it down for copyright infringement.

I don't think the conditions will really be an issue for the drivers. I think that perhaps the drivers are much more physically and mentally prepared for the challenge that faces them than drivers were a few years back. They race in scorching conditions like at Bahrain and Valencia, and the humidity is always really high at places like Malaysia and Singapore. We haven't had problems with drivers fainting or whatever recently, so I doubt the drivers will have an issue. It'll be the fans that'll need to worry sitting in uncovered grand stands!

[Port-A-Loo 0]

Yeah, cooling systems for the drivers are much better now, I'm sure. I was more concerned with attendance, as you mention, and the track surface.

[Rainmaster 7]

Somebody here might be interested to know that you can follow Martin Brundle on Twitter now. Example tweet: 'Jonathan Legard is a lovely bloke, we never had a 'personality clash' or a cross word. There's so much nonsense gets cut and pasted as fact'.

[yurp 0]

Somebody here might be interested to know that you can follow Martin Brundle on Twitter now. Example tweet: 'Jonathan Legard is a lovely bloke, we never had a 'personality clash' or a cross word. There's so much nonsense gets cut and pasted as fact'.

So much nonsense gets cut and pasted as fact, I don't know whether to believe your post or not.

[JHS 1]

Somebody here might be interested to know that you can follow Martin Brundle on Twitter now. Example tweet: 'Jonathan Legard is a lovely bloke, we never had a 'personality clash' or a cross word. There's so much nonsense gets cut and pasted as fact'.

Yep, there is such a lot of bullsh*t about. Hopefully Martin can attempt to readdress the balance.

[Port-A-Loo 0]

The Rome Grand Prix is off.

FOM announced their strange viewing figures. They always release a season total (this year it was estimated to be 527 million), which is a bit meaningless. The most-viewed races are estimated to get between 80 million and 85 million. How they determine that over 19 races they had 527 million unique viewers using household data is a bit sloppy, and a meaningless number. They should just release the race-by-race viewership like they do in all other sports; that would mean more.

[Port-A-Loo 0]

Nico's a man now. Time to drive like one. No more crapping the bed while leading. Once I finish skimming my 200 pages of notes on every word Jonathan Legard said more than once during the broadcast of the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix and writing an essay about that, I'll surely talk about the significance of Rosberg's new look and how that will impact the sport.

[Caesar 0]

Nico's a man now. Time to drive like one. No more crapping the bed while leading. Once I finish skimming my 200 pages of notes on every word Jonathan Legard said more than once during the broadcast of the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix and writing an essay about that, I'll surely talk about the significance of Rosberg's new look and how that will impact the sport.

he probably thinks : " i am so damn handsome now , they should let me drive without helmet, god damn it! damn helmet! look at me , look at me! "

[JHS 1]

Nico's a man now. Time to drive like one. No more crapping the bed while leading. Once I finish skimming my 200 pages of notes on every word Jonathan Legard said more than once during the broadcast of the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix and writing an essay about that, I'll surely talk about the significance of Rosberg's new look and how that will impact the sport.

No need for smarmy comments.

Anyway, it is expected that Paul di Resta will be confirmed today alongside Adrian Sutil. Watch this space.

[Rainmaster 7]

Turns out Schumi has been suffering from simulator sickness throughout his career.

I hear Lewis Hamilton has the same thing, 'cos you know, he's sick on that simulator. He is, err, how you might say, wicked good on it.

At least I think that's what the article means.

[JHS 1]

No suprises here. Di Resta joins Force India alongside Sutil. Hulkenberg as a reserve driver, whilst Tonio gets the boot.

[Port-A-Loo 0]

It was time for Liuzzi to go, but I'm not sure di Resta was the right guy to replace him. The Friday drives didn't stand out at all, really, but it will be interesting to see. Mercedes are obviously sold to place him in over the German drivers that they seem to be big on. As for Hülkenberg, well, I guess the terms of his contract will tell if it's a good move or not. If he's signed to a guaranteed race seat as Liuzzi was, or if he's gotten in with Mercedes and has a chance to go there in a few years, it's not bad.

[Quiet One 15]

It was time for Liuzzi to go

Meh, you could never forgive him for not being sacked along with Scott Speed

Vitantonio shall prevail! He was the pinnacle of the pinnacle of motorsport! Di Resta is a pay driver!

[Insider 0]

This is hardly a surprise. Vijay is feeling the pinch in his business right now and he needed a driver with loot. di Resta will probably improve dramatically now while Sutil goes backwards. The latter should have moved on by now, for my money. The Hulk is certainly a worthy reserve.

[JHS 1]

Meh, you could never forgive him for not being sacked along with Scott Speed

Vitantonio shall prevail! He was the pinnacle of the pinnacle of motorsport! Di Resta is a pay driver!

Hello Joe Saward!

[Port-A-Loo 0]

Meh, you could never forgive him for not being sacked along with Scott Speed

He missed testing to buy a new mattress and they had the nerve to question Scott's commitment?! Come on.

You'll see, though. When Alexander Rossi, Robert Wickens, Daniel Morad, Esteban Gutiérrez, and Josef Newgarden complete the North American domination of Formula One to the point where all the races are North American (and half on ovals) surely you'll admit Liuzzi was a waste of time and Speed should have been rewarded for two points-less seasons with a ride at Ferrari.

[Ikyrotz 0]

So Ferrari unveiled their car today, are there any surprises/innovations that our technically aware posters can comment on? I hear they keep a pushrod suspension, while it was expected that everyone would change to pullrod, following Red Bull. Is this true, and if so, what might be the reasoning in Ferrari concerning this?

[EDIT: should of course discuss this in the launches thread... sorry]

[Argento Reloaded 1]

It seems the F150 shown has few things in common with the definitive car in the aero package. Ferrari boys said this car is focused on mechanical reliability and performance. The first competitive aero pack will be finished only days before the first race. Seems logical since they have new gearbox, Kers, and the moveable wing -wich needs to be reliable

[JHS 1]

I would've gone down the route of trying to get the car ready for the first test. There's so many new things to adjust to that they'll need all the track time they need. Curious on why McLaren have decided to do differently.

[Rainmaster 7]

Not F1 news, but saw this about Red Bull.

That's a lotta toys.

[Schumikonen 2]

The season hasn't started yet and Ferrari is already cheating

the car today.