8 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

Williams have already sold their other businesses to try to keep WGPE running, but the end could be in sight. With McLaren Group in trouble and Aston Martin too, I wonder how many teams will remain for the new rules in 2022? 

 

Needs the hybrid car makers to return ie Toyota, maybe Honda with their own team.  Most car makers are struggling to survive never mind chuck a few hundred million at motor racing.

 

Perhaps Hyundai/ Kia though they seem to prefer WRC for some reason.

 

13 hours ago, camelspyyder said:

WILLIAMS for sale after title sponsor walks 3 years early.

They made a loss of £13 million last year so without sponsorship they are unfortunately doomed and who would buy them in the current mess F1 finds itself?

Who lets random start-ups promise to sponsor your F1 team for 5 years? HAAS and Williams that's who.

 

I remember thinking " Who the heck are ROKiT?" or words to that effect when Williams signed them up.

 

Its a symptom of the whole grid chugging towards failure.

 

According to the internet Williams is for sale, Haas has publicly talked recently about selling up, Mclaren Group as a whole is in trouble, Renault pull out whenever finances are poor, and Mercedes are rumoured to be pulling out too before 2022 

 

In addition Lawrence Stroll is very publicly performing the parable of "How do you make a small fortune from F1?  Start with a large fortune!" and hes doing it twice - having bought into a luxury car company that has been bankrupt more often than Lamborghini.

 

Is there going to be a market for Ferrari vs Red Bull match races with no other opposition from 2022?

 

I wonder how few cars there will be, and will Liberty lose all the cash they've put into a dying sport.

so what do you think of these plans (allegedly approved by all Teams apart from Mercedes) to shake things up in this already "so wierd we might end up cancelling it anyway" season with reverse grid ways of qualifying - , especially for those "double headers" where nobody wants to see a carbon copy of the qualy and race from one to the other? 

From what I understand, the format is

 

- result from previous race gets turned in reverse

- this sets the starting order for a qualy "Sprint race" of a smaller number of laps on the Saturday

- result order from this sprint race sets the pole /starting order for the real race on the Sunday

 

I like the thought of it, and see this season as a good way to pilot it. If it works (*) then keep it, if not then bin it from what will hopefully be a "proper season" next year.

 

* - how do we judge if it works?

- if it's more entertaining than the current qualifying ?

- if it results in different people getting pole?

- if it means closer racing in the full races ?

 

I would imagine that most people near the front of the "natural order" would still want their race points, and would race hard on a Sunday for them, not worry about going slower so they get a better position for next Qualy Sprint - but it could mean that those drivers in the lower teams may think twice about trying to finish a race in 14th instead of 15th, thinking they'd prefer a better position for the coming sprint race which could get them closer to real points in the next race.

7 hours ago, Wet Kipper said:

so what do you think of these plans (allegedly approved by all Teams apart from Mercedes) to shake things up in this already "so wierd we might end up cancelling it anyway" season with reverse grid ways of qualifying - , especially for those "double headers" where nobody wants to see a carbon copy of the qualy and race from one to the other? 

From what I understand, the format is

 

- result from previous race gets turned in reverse

- this sets the starting order for a qualy "Sprint race" of a smaller number of laps on the Saturday

- result order from this sprint race sets the pole /starting order for the real race on the Sunday

 

I like the thought of it, and see this season as a good way to pilot it. If it works (*) then keep it, if not then bin it from what will hopefully be a "proper season" next year.

 

* - how do we judge if it works?

- if it's more entertaining than the current qualifying ?

- if it results in different people getting pole?

- if it means closer racing in the full races ?

 

I would imagine that most people near the front of the "natural order" would still want their race points, and would race hard on a Sunday for them, not worry about going slower so they get a better position for next Qualy Sprint - but it could mean that those drivers in the lower teams may think twice about trying to finish a race in 14th instead of 15th, thinking they'd prefer a better position for the coming sprint race which could get them closer to real points in the next race.

It's a load of artificial bull****. Why don't Liberty just buy NASCAR and rename it F1?. It gets their required extra races in the USA as well 😉

8 European races confirmed starting with Austria on 5th and 12th July, then Hungary on 19th July. Then a 2 week break and onto Britain for 2 races followed by Spain, Belgium and Italy.

We can but hope eh?  It was the highly credible Mr. Carey who announced this, yes?

 

I don't know about Austro-Hungary, but the next 5 races are in the heartland of Covid-19, so we shall see?

 

Edited 2 June, 20206 yr by camelspyyder

It was posted on BBC News sports page. Estimated 15-18 races with last 2 being Bahrain Dec 6th and Abu Dhabi Dec 13th.

I may need to sort out my dodgy streaming services and pirated sports TV ready for the races then... as I also read today there are no plans to extend free-to-air TV coverage, so I'll just have to steal it again.

I will watch the races at my Dad's house if (1) he lets me in the house because he is 79 and (2) if he hasn't already cancelled his SKY F1 subscription?

1 hour ago, shyVRS245 said:

It was posted on BBC News sports page. Estimated 15-18 races with last 2 being Bahrain Dec 6th and Abu Dhabi Dec 13th.

Autosport published those dates months ago, but only the first 8 races are said to be locked in . BBC's Benson doesn't quote sources, he likes his audience to think he is the only one with a hotline to the F1 God's, but Autosport credited Carey with today's wise words.

 

2 races at Austria is a plus for Honda - they go well at high altitude tracks, although 1 of RedBulls recent successes there was down to a most rare double breakdown by Mercedes I think.

3 minutes ago, shyVRS245 said:

I will watch the races at my Dad's house if (1) he lets me in the house because he is 79 and (2) if he hasn't already cancelled his SKY F1 subscription?

We used to have Free Sky F1 but lost it after going to another supplier (for only 6 months as it turned out). Not paying them any more than we already do. Desperate for the contract to end if I'm honest. At least using a VPN gives access to foreign free to air.

Edited 2 June, 20206 yr by camelspyyder

6 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

We used to have Free Sky F1 but lost it after going to another supplier (for only 6 months as it turned out). Not paying them any more than we already do. Desperate for the contract to end if I'm honest. At least using a VPN gives access to foreign free to air.

Switched from SKY to BT a couple of years ago and got free football with BT Sport but not much use if they are not playing.

Liberty now making announcements that override FIA rules.

 

Ross Brawn says the 8 planned Euro races (at only 6 tracks) will be enough to count as a World Championship...

 

carefully ignoring the "minimum 3 continents" rule...

 

given that the only other races pencilled in are Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, they still don't meet the FIA criteria even if all 10 events go ahead.

5 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

Liberty now making announcements that override FIA rules.

 

Ross Brawn says the 8 planned Euro races (at only 6 tracks) will be enough to count as a World Championship...

 

carefully ignoring the "minimum 3 continents" rule...

 

given that the only other races pencilled in are Bahrain and Abu Dhabi, they still don't meet the FIA criteria even if all 10 events go ahead.

Reminds me of that Genesis song "Land Of Confusion".

Live Motorsports at the weekend. Scott Dixon dominant for Ganassi in the Indycar 300 at Texas Speedway, and it was quite exciting but the cars! RedBull's aeroscreen has been attached to last year's lovely looking cars - and it's hideous - worse looking than the halo IMHO. Every car looked like it was running with a missing chunk of bodywork aft if the screen. Really happy that F1 rejected it.

Baku, Singapore and Suzuka officially cancelled. Don't know where these 15-18 pie-in-the-sky races are going to take place?

Mclaren now looking to sell 30% of the F1 business.

 

If Williams and Mclaren are in this much trouble how will any teams survive?

Surely the other privateers must be struggling, and the manufacturers wont be able to afford it either.

 

Renault? Often leave F1 for Financial reasons

Honda? Likewise, tend to quit if not winning titles (and on cost grounds too)

FCA? Can they justify the cost of the Alfa team to new partners PSA who've never been keen on F1.

Mercedes? Have won everything, what's their motive to stay?

 

It seems like a house of cards waiting to fall.

 

What can the FIA replace it with?

On 18/06/2020 at 15:15, camelspyyder said:

 

What can the FIA replace it with?

 

Marbula 1 ?

10 minutes ago, Wet Kipper said:

 

Marbula 1 ?

Certainly more cost effective. Perhaps Disney would sponsor it as well being child and enviromentally friendly.

F1 to race at Mugello? 

 

Bit narrow maybe and don't know what it'll be like for overtaking (turn 1 with DRS could be OK) but wow - what a track. Looking forward to watching F1 cars there.

Silver Arrows go black for 2020 in BLM move.

Reminiscent of the '93 Sauber C12 which marked Mercedes return to F1 after 38 years away.

Edited 29 June, 20205 yr by camelspyyder

19 minutes ago, camelspyyder said:

Silver Arrows go black for 2020 in BLM move.

Reminiscent of the '93 Sauber C12 which marked Mercedes return to F1 after 38 years away.

I like it just like my Black Skoda menacing .Wonder if they are trying to keep the No.1 driver happy to sign another Mega contract?Perhaps they used Black Magic Pearl.

Some things in F1 never change first race of the season in Australia.........sorry Austria, so it must be March........sorry July and after the first practice session although Ferrari didn't use the faster soft tyres reliability looks like it might be an issue for the Prancing Seahorse looking at how few laps they did compared to Mercedes. Just like the end of the 2019 season first pacesetters are No.1 Hamilton, No.2 Bottas and No.3 Mad Max, so as I was saying some things never change. Looking forward to the next installment for a clearer picture at 2pm.

Perez in the Racing Point Friday's surprise as 5th in Practice 1 and 3rd in Practice 2. Same again as Merc drivers dominate with Hamilton and Bottas first and second. Red Bull appear to be struggling on one of their stronger circuits.