Dennis tells Magnussen not to change his approach

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In the round-up: Ron Dennis tells Kevin Magnussen not to change his approach to racing despite his recent penalties.

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Kevin Magnussen Q&A Part 1 (Crash)

“After Spa, yes. Yeah he did, he called me just to say I shouldn’t change, I should avoid penalties but not change the way I sort of push and fight.”

Lewis Hamilton: Leading title race will not change my approach (The Independent)

“I’m happy I’ve been at my best, getting the [recent] pole positions, maximising all the races.”

A big Ferrari heart for the President (Ferrari)

“The Caprino Bergamasco branch of the Scuderia Ferrari Club, the one with the most members of any Ferrari club in the world, made a point of bringing along the giant heart flag, that features the Scuderia Ferrari logo. It is now a regular feature of the Monza Grand Prix and today, it was unfurled at the factory entrance in Via Abetone, as the fans shouted out ‘Thank you president, you will always be in our hearts.'”

Amber Lounge: Formula 1’s travelling after-party (BBC)

“Sonia Irvine, sister of former racing car driver Eddie, is the founder of Amber Lounge – a party that travels with the Formula One to its glitziest venues and where celebrities mingle with racing fans, at a price.”

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Comment of the day

@Coldfly on how the inequalities of Bernie Ecclestone’s prize money system hits the smallest teams the hardest:

For Catherham ending tenth versus eleventh this year will cost them possibly some $49m. They will not only lose the $14m linked to ending tenth this year, but also a bonus of some $35m for not ending in the top ten in 2 of the last three seasons (they still achieved that last year).

It will be hard for any team to cover a variance of $49m, but surely lethal for them.

Interestingly, Red Bull ‘only’ loses $11.5m by ending 2nd this year versus 1st in the previous seasons. This just shows how skewed (shrewd) Bernie’s prize money scheme is.
@Coldfly

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22 comments on “Dennis tells Magnussen not to change his approach”

  1. COTD is spot on i dont know when the prize money scheme was changed last time but it was clearly brought in to make teams strive to win because with this scheme its either do very well and keep winning and do badly and lose everything it may have looked good at the time to attract manufacturers maybe but times have changed and so the prize money scheme needs to change

    1. Yep, the system is appalling. But, of course, Bernie’s atitude is “If you can’t afford to be here, leave”, which, of course, is the wrong attitude. I have great respect ror what he’s done for the sport but there needs to be change.

      1. *attitude, *for

      2. I agree that the system is terrible.

        I’m all for “survival of the fittest” and seeing smaller teams fall away if they can’t compete on a level playing field. But the system in F1 is so unfair and the small teams have no ability to compete. Not very sporting.

    2. It looks bad and the public has had this feeling for some time but on the other hand we know little still about the subject. Ethically I do believe that F1 should reward greatness, rather than doing like the premier league (apparently)

  2. Happy birthday Mika! Not that you would read these comments obviously.

  3. I agree with Ron Dennis about Magnussen to some level. But if they are losing out to Force India by the end of the season they might regret those decisions.

    1. The way that Magnussen portrays the situation, it seems that McLaren are telling him not to get penalties but are not helping to define for him what is considered to be an appropriate course of action on a race track (he is curiously blaise about the way that he pushed Alonso onto the grass in Spa, for example).
      If you’re actively encouraging a driver to be aggressive on track, you have to accept that increases the risk that he will fall foul of the regulations and is more likely to rack up a penalty, because inevitably he will end up pushing too far if there is no moderation of his actions. With that in mind, McLaren may well end up paying a heavy price if Magnussen’s penalties cause then to fall behind Force India.

    2. Hm, but is Magnussen the reason for them losing out?

      1. He has lost them points by getting 2 penalty’s for his driving at Spa & Monza.

        McLaren are not 7 points behind Force India in the constrictors table & those penaltys lost Kevin 8 points at Spa & 6 at Monza. And without Kevin’s penalty’s Force India would be 5 points lower as they gained spots in the races thanks to those 2 penalty’s.

        He is also behind Button in the championship by 33 points.

  4. Formula Indonesia (@)
    28th September 2014, 8:54

    McLaren should pair Alonso-Button if they want to success

    1. I think it should be Alonso-Magnussen. Button is past it and he is probably the most experienced F1 driver on the grid, having started in 2000. Experience might be good in a small team like Caterham, but were talking about Mclaren here. IMO Button should have retired last year, or this year. Magnussen is a new driver and shows promise. I think he’s lost 10-15 points in the last few races due to ridiculous penalties and would have been ahead of Raikkonen in the standings. Although I do agree that Mclaren need Alonso, he would probably take Mclaren to 4th in the WCC if he was at Mclaren this year.

      1. Formula Indonesia (@)
        28th September 2014, 10:04

        Button still a fighter even though he had pass his primes, he still better than Perez, without.him maybe McLaren will be far behind Force India and ra note that Force India is same level on McLaren, Button also had some bad luck like Bahrain and Singapore, which will put him comfortably ahead of Hulkenberg.

        1. You’re not really setting the bar that high by using Perez as a comparison. JB may still have some fight left in him but is he really a better choice than Hulkenberg, Bottas or even Magnussen ?
          Jenson will be lucky if he gets another season at McLaren, he’s well past his prime and I’m struggling to remember the last time he got close to exceeding anyones expectations. He’s a top bloke and genuinely likeable but if I was a team boss I’d find it difficult to justify keeping him instead of hiring one of the many very good younger drivers and if Alonso were to agree to join the team there’s no way I’d keep him instead of Magnussen.

          1. And yet Button is 32 points ahead of Magnussen in the championship & has regularly been out-racing Kevin all year.

            The McLaren this year is clearly not that good a car yet Jenson has still been able to get it into the top 6 on 6 occasions while Kevin has only had 1 top 6 finish.

            Magnussen has been a big disappointment for me this year, He had the strong start at Melbourne but since then has done nothing of note apart from driving like an idiot down the straght at Spa which resulted in that penalty.

          2. @beneboy
            I agree, that Perez is not a really good yardstick to measure against, but still, Button was better than him, and now he is still better than Magnussen.

            About the expectations:
            Well, It is not JBs fault that everyone expect McLaren to fight on the front, but in a team, that is scrapping for 5th in the constructors, he is 7th at the WDC.
            Forget the teams name, and think again, he is in a midfield team, their cars are around 5th-6th-7th best depending on which track they drive on, so you would expect their drivers should be in 9th to 14th place in the WDC. So I think he and Hülkenberg are doing a pretty good job.

            You mention some drivers that in your opinion are better choices, but do any of those driver have proven values? There are a lot of examples when a young, talented driver, with a good reputation got crushed under the expectations, and fell flat on the ground. None of the currently avaible drivers are proven to be better than JB. (I dont count VET-ALO-HAM avaible)

            I dont want to write a long reply comparing every driver to Button, but I think his only disadvantage to any other driver is his age, which shouldn’t be a problem if we look at Schumacer.

          3. Come on man, Button even ahead of Raikkonen and Massa, and without some bad lucks he 6th in championship, and remember that McLaren was 5th-7hth fastest

          4. And yet Button is 33 points ahead of Magnussen in the championship & has regularly been out-racing Kevin all year.

            The McLaren this year is clearly not that good a car yet Jenson has still been able to get it into the top 6 on 6 occasions while Kevin has only had 1 top 6 finish.

            Magnussen has been a big disappointment for me this year, He had the strong start at Melbourne but since then has done nothing of note apart from driving like an idiot down the straght at Spa which resulted in that penalty.

          5. Let’s not forget that it was Jenson and not Lewis that won the last races for Mclaren. Jenson has also won in Suzuka something that Hammy hasn’t achieved yet

      2. @ultimateuzair
        I dont think ALO-MAG would be a good idea. Button is a short term solution for McLarens problem because of his age, Alonso is only a bit younger than him so he would be a mid term soulution, while Magnussen has to be in the long term plans.

        If they pair Magnussen with Alonso, it can have two endings. Hopefully like the HAM-ALO partnership, but then why waste the money on Alonso who will flee if he doesnt get preferential tratment. In the second case it could be like the Hakkinen-Coulthard partnership, with some team orders, and after the older one retires the other wouldnt fill his shoes.

        More importantly I dont think the McLaren would be a better car with Alonso behind the wheel. He might have finished in front of Perez in Italy, but thats the maximum. He wouldnt win a race in that car, nor catch a podium apart from Australia. So I think he would only bring a few more points with this car than Button, but they are way behind the other teams in the WCC.

  5. It looks bad and the public has had this feeling for some time but on the other hand we know little still about the subject. Ethically I do believe that F1 should reward greatness, rather than doing like the premier league (apparently).

    1. The Premier League does reward greatness, it just does so using a system that ensures that those at the bottom end of the league can survive. Manchester City earned double the amount Cardiff City earned from domestic TV revenue last season (they finished 1st and last in last season’s league for those who don’t follow football). Cardiff still got just under £28 million, plus money for overseas TV deals.

      http://www.businessofsoccer.com/2014/05/16/barclays-premier-league-clubs-split-2-6-billion-in-television-revenue/

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