Did you not hear the interview with Arrivabene? Strong hint that Kimi's contract might not be renewed...

Did you not hear the interview with Arrivabene? Strong hint that Kimi's contract might not be renewed...

 

I think the view is that they won't start contract negotiations with Kimi so as to keep him motivated throughout the year.

I think Kimi was motivated from the start of the season. The change to his personal circumstances (little Kimi arriving) must have sth to do with this

Anyone else ****ed with Brenie's attitude towards ManourMarrusia? I'm aware he might be in such a privileged position that he cannot remember what being the underdog, scraping through might mean.

 

I always root for the underdog. I was a big fan of Minardi back in that day. They were in it for the passion, for the joy of racing and everyone loved it when they did well.

 

You only have to look at the reaction to Bianchi scoring those precious points last year to see that they are NEEDED in the sport. I hope that when their 2015 car turns up it's quick enough to mix it up with the rest of them. It's going to have the 2015 Ferrari engine, so it's already got a good start.

Anyone else ****ed with Brenie's attitude towards ManourMarrusia? I'm aware he might be in such a privileged position that he cannot remember what being the underdog, scraping through might mean.

 

I always root for the underdog. I was a big fan of Minardi back in that day. They were in it for the passion, for the joy of racing and everyone loved it when they did well.

 

You only have to look at the reaction to Bianchi scoring those precious points last year to see that they are NEEDED in the sport. I hope that when their 2015 car turns up it's quick enough to mix it up with the rest of them. It's going to have the 2015 Ferrari engine, so it's already got a good start.

 

Couldn't have put it better myself. Always had a soft spot for HRT and Caterham/Lotus too when they started in 2010. One image that I remember is the HRT team at Bahrain in 2010 during Practice with their cars in bits and the mechanics stood around having a cup of tea .

Remember that most of the team were small private teams once, so very short sighted by Bernie.

Bernie should be championing the little guys, as they're less likely to kick off at changes/costs than the old establishment

The structure is sick to the bone. The way the income is re-distributed is plainly criminal. Eccelstone never had a morale backbone and his only driver ever was the money.

He's greed crazy old bitter little man... I sincerely detest him!

On the other hand, it was him who turned F1 from an often lethal game into the much safer event it now is, by hiring Sid Watkins and pretty much handing him a blank cheque to improve the drivers survival chances.

Anyone else ****ed with Brenie's attitude towards ManourMarrusia? I'm aware he might be in such a privileged position that he cannot remember what being the underdog, scraping through might mean.

 

I always root for the underdog. I was a big fan of Minardi back in that day. They were in it for the passion, for the joy of racing and everyone loved it when they did well.

 

You only have to look at the reaction to Bianchi scoring those precious points last year to see that they are NEEDED in the sport. I hope that when their 2015 car turns up it's quick enough to mix it up with the rest of them. It's going to have the 2015 Ferrari engine, so it's already got a good start.

H*11 Yeah!!

 

Or perhaps he should be giving Macca the same sort of abuse since they've shown very little sign of better performance this season?

On the other hand, it was him who turned F1 from an often lethal game into the much safer event it now is, by hiring Sid Watkins and pretty much handing him a blank cheque to improve the drivers survival chances.

 

I'm not sure i would say that. I would say the person who made the biggest difference was Sir Jackie Stewart. He was the one who started organizing the Grand Prix Drivers Association (a group of all the current drivers) to start boycotting the most dangerous circuits until they were made safer. Basic stuff like armco and fire-retardant materials for drivers and marshals.

He was also instrumental in the medical facilities (such as Sid's 'passion wagon' medical truck going to all the races) being improved.

Aaaannyway. I do hope ManourMarussia have a breakthrough, so they can publicly stick it to Bernie in the best possible way.  

On the other hand, it was him who turned F1 from an often lethal game into the much safer event it now is, by hiring Sid Watkins and pretty much handing him a blank cheque to improve the drivers survival chances.

 

I think it was more Mosley's doing than Bernie's and Jackie Stewart was leading the charge indeed.

Edited 22 April, 201511 yr by Jabozuma

I'm not sure i would say that. I would say the person who made the biggest difference was Sir Jackie Stewart. He was the one who started organizing the Grand Prix Drivers Association (a group of all the current drivers) to start boycotting the most dangerous circuits until they were made safer. Basic stuff like armco and fire-retardant materials for drivers and marshals.

He was also instrumental in the medical facilities (such as Sid's 'passion wagon' medical truck going to all the races) being improved.

Aaaannyway. I do hope ManourMarussia have a breakthrough, so they can publicly stick it to Bernie in the best possible way.  

 

 

I think it was more Mosley's doing than Bernie's and Jackie Steward was leading the charge indeed.

It depends on who's history you read which was more responsible, but it's definitely between Jackie and Max as to who started the drive for safety, who originally hired Sid etc...

 

At that time Bernie was, at most, a team owner, and isn't due any credit.

Sid Watkins:

 

In 1978 he met Bernie Ecclestone, at the time chief executive of the Formula One Constructors Association, who offered Watkins the position of official Formula One race doctor.^[11] Ecclestone had checked in for a medical problem and offered Watkins $35,000 a year for the entire season. Watkins had to pay airfares, hotel bills, rental cars and all incidental expenses. Watkins accepted, and attended his first race at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix. Outside of the Grand Prix weekends, he remained in his position as a neurosurgeon in London. His first day as the Safety and Medical Delegate, was at Brands Hatch to introduce himself to the drivers.^[12] Watkins did not attend private test day sessions due to the large number of sessions held over the course of the year.^[13]

Initially, his appointment was met with hostility by some of the racing circuits, who saw his appointment as a way of monitoring their performance. At the time, medical facilities would sometimes consist of nothing more than a tent. At the 1978 Italian Grand Prix, Ronnie Peterson crashed heavily on the first lap, with the car catching fire. Fellow drivers Clay Regazzoni, Patrick Depailler and James Hunt pulled him from the wreckage but by the time Sid Watkins arrived at the scene, Italian police had formed a human wall to prevent people from entering the area. Watkins was initially stopped from assisting with the treatment and there was a long delay of approximately 18 minutes before an ambulance arrived to take Peterson to hospital, where he died the following day. Following the race, Watkins demanded that Ecclestone provide better safety equipment, an anaesthetist, a medical car and a medical helicopter (Medevac). All were provided at the next race in the USA. In addition, it was decided that the medical car containing Watkins would follow the racing cars for the first lap of the race in order to provide immediate help in the event of a first lap incident.^[14] The organisers at Hockenheim had denied Watkins access to race control and Ecclestone threatened to stand in front of the grid and order the drivers out of their cars.^[15]

 

 

So Mr E was already head of FOCA and clearly took serious actions to improve safety.  HIs motivation may have been protecting his TV product - but he did it anyway.

 

It is undeniable that SIr Jackie Stewart started a commendable safety push in the 1960s after a horrendous crash he had.

 

or indeed that Max Moseley made a crusade of it later on - However his horse had already bolted at Imola 1994. (RIP RR,AS)

 

I am only giving Bernie credit where it's due - he's done loads of other stuff I don't approve of at all.

Edited 22 April, 201511 yr by camelspyyder

Er, Formula One Constructors' Association (association of team owners), not FIA.

KenONeill, on 22 Apr 2015 - 16:06, said:KenONeill, on 22 Apr 2015 - 16:06, said:

Er, Formula One Constructors' Association (association of team owners), not FIA.

 

????

 

 

Bernie has never been head of the FIA.  As head of FOCA he fought the FIA for the rights of all the teams.

 

 

There was some poacher turned gamekeeper stuff later when his mate Max became FIA president.

Edited 22 April, 201511 yr by camelspyyder

I recently finished Sid Watkins' book and he does credit Bernie Ecclestone with at least helping improve safety because the circuits wouldn't listen to Sid Watkins and generally found his requests a pain in the neck (even though they were more than reasonable) but they would listen to Bernie and he would always back up Sid.  Threatened with the race being cancelled by Bernie unless they complied with Sid's requests usually meant the race organisers would implement the requested safety measures.

 

I'm absolutely no fan of Bernie Ecclestone but while he was in no way solely responsible for improving F1 safety, I would say it's one of the few things he's due credit for in F1.

 

John

Incidentally I'd highly recommend Sid Watkins' book:

 

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-At-Limit-Triumph-Tragedy-ebook/dp/B00BQF6RBO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1429744611&sr=8-1&keywords=sid+watkins

 

After watching the '1' film which briefly spoke about Bernie bringing in Sid Watkins and Sid being the only man Bernie would defer to I decided to give the book a go and found it a great read.  Sid Watkins was clearly an incredibly talented Doctor but he's got such a lovely manner, not in the slightest arrogant or condescending and it's unbelievable how bad medical facilities were at F1 circuits not even that long ago.  He worked tirelessly to improve the facilities and all he cared about was making sure the F1 drivers were as safe as possible which they were of course ever grateful for, I can't remember if it was Lauda or Berger that at the start of practice and qualifying sessions would intentionally get their car out first and block the pit lane.  If they got a thumbs up from Sid they'd carry on, if not they'd stay there and prevent other cars getting out.

 

I think it was last year one of the Audi prototypes at Le Mans had a terrible crash leaving the car so badly wrecked that it was difficult to tell what class the car was never mind which actual car was.  My first thought was how are they going to get the car repaired in time for the actual race, not because I'm that callous I don't care about the driver but it's unusual for drivers to suffer injuries and in most cases they just walk away from these crashes which happened this time as well.  Going back to races a few decades ago it's quite terrifying that in crashes it was entirely normal for drivers to be seriously wounded and sadly not make it due to the lack of proper medical facilities.  

 

John

I think it was Alan McNish and he did walk away unscathed indeed. 

I think it was Alan McNish and he did walk away unscathed indeed. 

 

Loic Duval had a massive one in practice last year @ Le Man. But there have been various ones.

May be of interest to some - i was reading this article online today about Honda's F1 Engine.

Some nice detail on the engines and variations from the main teams....

 

Focuses on the Honda unit... but details Merc, Ferrari, Renault etc on Pages 2/3...

 

http://en.f1i.com/magazine/10369-hondas-radical-power-unit-design.html

I think it was Alan McNish and he did walk away unscathed indeed. 

 

I know the crash you mean and that one was certainly spectacular, how no-one was killed by the shower of debris from the car as it went over the barrier I don't know:

 

 

The one I was meaning was Loic Duval's crash which left the car even more trashed:

 

http://www.velocipedesalon.com/forum/f32/le-mans-24h-37380.html

 

Of course frequently it's better for the driver to have a spectacular crash where the energy of the crash goes into destroying the car, often the worst accidents such as with Simonsen and some of the rally crashes are where the car just comes to an immediate halt in the crash without throwing parts all over the place.

 

John

Edited 1 May, 201511 yr by JohnMcL7

It was 2011 - Nishy's teammate Mike Rockenfeller was also had a horrendous smash caused  by a slow Porsche in the same race on the fastest part of the track down to Indianapolis

Webbers crash was pretty nasty too

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/11264725/Watch-Mark-Webbers-horror-crash-footage.html

Webbers crash was pretty nasty too

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/11264725/Watch-Mark-Webbers-horror-crash-footage.html

 

I was wondering whether this was going to be the one where his F1 car went into the back of the Lotus at speed (or one of the other backmarkers) or where his Mercedes had taken off at Le Mans but I'd forgotten about that crash in the Porsche.  I was looking for video of the Le Mans crash and came across this compilation (

), I hadn't remembered him driving with that many teams.  The same user has uploaded a Maldonado crash compilation which is only four minutes long, I was expecting at least a couple of hours.

 

John