F1 leadership key to Renault’s future

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn says the future governance of Formula One is central to whether the engine manufacturer continues to compete.

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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.

Renault's F1 future in doubt as it ups Formula E investment (Auto Express)

"It's not only down to us, it's down to the organisers. We want to see how the governance of Formula One changes."

Wolff: F1 criticism has to stop (Autosport)

"By constantly picking the negatives we have got ourselves into a spiral of negative controversy. I don't think this is what is good for Formula 1."

In conversation - Bernie Ecclestone and Max Verstappen (F1)

"The most stupid thing that could have happened to F1 is these engines. These are no longer engines in fact."

Nelson Piquet jnr seals Formula E title (The Telegraph)

"Asked how it felt after the ‘crashgate’ scandal which disgraced his career, Piquet joked: 'Great question, thanks. It was a long time ago.'"

Not just Bottas on Ferrari's short list - Arrivabene (F1i)

"If I gave you the list of drivers who have called me since the start of the season, Bottas is just one of many."

Mark Webber opens up on Ann Neal, the driving force behind his spectacular Formula One racing career (ABC)

"'I think Mark came out of his F1 career with his head held high. That was more important than winning the title. I think is code of ethics, his sportsmanship, was actually far more important,' said Neal, who was never happy with the actions of his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel."

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Congratulations to @Nemo87 who won this week’s Caption Competition:

Look, see… Mark Webber still came second.

Thanks to everyone who joined in this week, especially @Robbie, Tom Gawthorne, @Bullmello and @Theflyingfinns who also made some of the best suggestions.

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On this day in F1

Alan Jones won the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard on this day 35 years ago, he and his Williams team drawing satisfaction from beating rivals Ligier on their home ground.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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100 comments on “F1 leadership key to Renault’s future”

  1. Lewisham Milton
    29th June 2015, 0:29

    The McLaren strategy meeting lasts longer than the car.

    1. As long as you have a good strategy the car doesn’t matter ;-)

    2. 10am Strategy
      1. Make car last
      2. Make car faster
      3. Finish a race
      4. Win

  2. “I think Mark came out of his F1 career with his head held high. That was more important than winning the title” – This statement from Mark’s wife really shows both their mindset. Kinda makes its clear Mark was never championship material – not against Vettel or any top driver for that matter. I mean, she believed in him far more than he did himself, and yet she can still make a statement like this.

    1. @kbdavies “not against Vettel or any top driver” probably means in status rather than quality. I bet that if you were to throw a 500kg, 900 bhp f1 car with rock solid tyres you wouldn’t find anyone faster than Mark Webber.

      1. Sean (@spaceman1861)
        29th June 2015, 2:17

        Wouldn’t that be fun to watch :)

      2. Hamilton?

        1. Hamilton lol. It only shows how bad Hamilton is to not dominate Rosberg like Vettel used to do against Webber. You can say all you want that Rosberg was a rookie but he had unlimited testing and even with that, he was soundly beaten by Mark. I also think Webber in his prime would beat Hamilton easily.

          1. Yes, very much like a Mark’s best friend, a certain Spanish champion in his prime that thought he could easily beat that young Hamiton…

          2. I also think Webber in his prime would beat Hamilton easily.

            One of the worst statements I’ve seen here in a while.

      3. @peartree, you say that, and yet when we had those conditions back in 2005 Nick Heidfeld was actually ahead of Mark Webber in the World Drivers Championship (28 points to 24 for Webber) when Nick was injured and forced to miss the last third of the season.

        1. Heidfeld is very very underrated, and Webber usually had a pace advantage, Heidfeld was favored (to help keep BMW at Williams, the most blatant being the undercut at Monaco)

          1. Heidfeld was just as fast as, if not faster than, Webber, Raikkonen, Massa, Kubica, etc. The most underrated driver of recent times…

        2. Terry anon and Alex W. You don’t remember the bad luck Webber had in 2005.

          1. @peartree, I might be mistaken but didn’t Heidfeld actually retire from more races due to mechanical problems than Webber did that season?

            Alex W, I don’t really buy the idea that Heidfeld was being favoured to curry favour with BMW – the relationship between both sides had completely broken down and Williams already knew by the Monaco GP that BMW were leaving them and going to buy Sauber (the public announcement came only a few weeks later). Why, therefore, would it be in their interests to favour Heidfeld when BMW were going to leave irrespective?

      4. Yeaaa… I don’t think Webber would be any closer to Vettel for like 90% of the time, again… It’s quite possible that it would be even worse than their time together. We don’t really know. Just guessing….

    2. Well, to me it always looked like Webber was a bit using the press to disturb Vettel and he kinda turned him into an “antihero” which I think is infinitely more intriguing than the heroes and the villains. And I say this as someone who have always appreciated Webber.
      We should also listen to Hanna Prater to learn what she thinks of Webber. But then we already know Sebastian Vettel would not prefer that as they seem more private.
      I read some of the things Webber and his camp said and for some reason they irked me. A lot of speculations and such. Makes me want to protect Vettel really…

    3. They should ask how his other teammates feel about Sebastian Vettel. Of course Webber and Vettel had a championship winning car, but this sort of Vettel bashing, esp. from Mark Webber and co, is getting unpleasant. I’ve always liked Mark, except for his demeanor regarding Vettel. As always they have negative things to say about him while Vettel doesn’t even answer to those things.

  3. “Sometimes I switch off the display in my car! I want to rely on my gut feeling. Isn’t that what made great race drivers in the end?” – Wow! I like this young Verstappen lad!!

    1. :)

      “Sometimes I switch off the display in my car! I want to rely on my gut feeling. Isn’t that what made great race drivers in the end?”

      Luke, Luke… use the force Luke.

      His targeting computer’s off. Luke is everything ok?

      1. :)

        “Sometimes I switch off the display in my car! I want to rely on my gut feeling. Isn’t that what made great race drivers in the end?”

        Luke, Luke… use the force Luke.

        His targeting computer’s off. Luke is everything ok?

        … Luke red-bulls-eyes the death mercedes…

    2. Hm, I think Verstappen lent himself to be a tool in Bernies PR against the current engines (and power of the engine manufacturers) really.

      Sure, its nice and all, but some of the lines read like they fitted perfectly into that kind of story. Instead BE should listen to what several others in the paddock have started saying: get into promoting the championship instead of talking it down.

      But Verstappen does make a good piont with that line: its up to the drivers to tell their engineers/teams to leave them do the driving (or let some use more feedback, some less, dependent on their own preference), instead of listening to the engineers all the time as if they were just a RC-puppet.

      1. Bernie + Max = 84+17= 50.5
        Not bad, not bad at all…

      2. @bascb

        Would agree with Max being used as a tool. That looked like the most staged interview of all time. Respect from the young gun towards the old sly guru, etc. etc.

        Suprisingly, Max had the exact same point of view as Bernie.

    3. Verstappen hums and haws and turns to Bernie: ‘Can’t you put me in Ferarri?’

    4. Yeah, after he made all the necessary adjustments and estimated exactly when to turn it on. All drivers can drive like that, but the fact that they can also keep making the adjustments speaks volumes of their multitasking capabilities and them being able to drive just as precisely despite all that. You can argue that their single focus should be on driving, and that is still the case anyway. But maybe you can give them less option on the steering wheel.

  4. Alo_official
    13:32 – Retired the car

    1. @david-a Your comment is way funnier than the caption competition.
      It really looks like Seb is trying to convert Bulls to Horses in his “stablet”.
      Today’s caption is really not that light hearted. Webber did fail again though, he’s making an habit of it.

      1. pastaman (@)
        29th June 2015, 3:16

        How did Webber fail? Wasn’t his fault…

        1. @pastaman Without the 1min penalty the A team would still lose to the new guys.

    2. Willem Cecchi (@)
      29th June 2015, 14:05

      COTD

  5. I’ll be honest, Piquet winning it just doesn’t feel right. He’s like the Pete Rose of racing, it’s hard to cheer for him after what he did. :/

    1. I feel the same about everyone involved. Including Alonso’s. People can put their heads in the sand all they want but Flávio would do anything to protect the image of his #1 earner including fall on the sword. Clearly this was a tactic the team had discussed prior to that weekend, was Alonso aware of this? 50/50. Did Alonso make the call? Of course not. Did Alonso know after the race? Most likely within a few hours, 100% within a few days.

      As long as that win remains on Alonso’s record I’ll never support the guy. A real sportsman would ask for that win to be removed.

      I don’t mean to troll here, genuine comment on the situation and its new relevancy given today’s questions.

    2. @joey-poey Such a close title fight, really Piquet Jr, Buemi and Di Grassi are all winners from that outcome. You have to feel for Buemi though, his spin cost him the title as Bird pipped Piquet Jr’s fastest lap by 0.05! Di Grassi also would have won but for the front wing technical infringement and DSQ?

    3. Crashgate was an invention of his bosses. I don’t blame him for it.

      1. It was his fault. He could have refused.

        1. yes, and I am sure that he now knows it, probably knew/felt it at the time and from what we see from him, has learnt a great deal from it Tiomkin (and partly in answer to @joey-poey).

          We all make mistakes, and there is enough to point us to the character of Flav to know that he is not a great boss / manager to work with when not the current apple of his eye to say the least, so I can feel sympathy for Nelson not seeing any other way out / to save his dreams from shattering at that moment.

          But if the individual learns from their mistakes then I am convinced that they should get more chances to prove it.

          1. You’re right that people can change and grow, but when picking favorites in sport, that’s a hard blemish to overcome. While things like team orders are a grey area, things like throwing a race to hand your teammate a win stray into straight up unethical territory for me. Things you can’t reconcile as being okay and a person as smart as Piquet should be full aware that it’s not okay as you’re doing it. For those unfamiliar with Pete Rose, I make the comparison because he’s a famous baseball player who is banned from the hall of fame for betting on games *including* against his own team. He’s won championships and even holds a significant record but what he did has tarnished him to the degree that now decades after his betting was revealed, he’s still banned. You commit an act that’s unscrupulous enough, and even character change can’t save your reputation. He made a bad choice and it will always stick with him, which is why I personally can’t find it in me to cheer for him.

          2. @joey-poey I feel the 2 situations are not really comparable…

            now, even as a brazilian, I feel very little sympathy towards Piquet Jr.: to be blunt, I think he’s as much as an idiot as his dad was [and not as talented] and I’d much rather the title went to Razia, who, I believe, never really had a fair shot at F1 [partly because he was not named Piquet or Senna].

            that being said, though, from what you told, there was a big difference between Piquet Jr. and Pete Rose: while Rose was fixing results on his own benefit, Nelsinho was not the one who profited the most from his accident. that makes me believe he was probably being pressured to participate, otherwise risking to lose his job. now, of course that doesn’t excuse him, but, for me at least, gives him the right to “move past it” so to speak.

            so, I say, let the guy race, he’s actually not a bad driver… ;)

  6. So do people prefer Bottas or Hulkenberg at Ferrari?

    1. Sean (@spaceman1861)
      29th June 2015, 2:14

      Danny Ric

      1. Danny Kvyat

          1. Karthikeyan.

    2. I prefer Hulk. I like finish people better though but Bottas should be crushing Massa, and he shouldn’t have crushed Pastor, not to mention that Danny Ric beat Bottas in junior category.

      1. @peartree If you’re going to use that argument, then shouldn’t Hulkenberg be crushing Perez? Excluding races where one driver suffered a mechanical failure, Hulkenberg is only ahead of Perez 12-11. Meanwhile, Bottas is ahead of Massa 15-10 in races.

        Granted, Massa had plenty of bad luck in 2014 so they should be a bit closer, but still, I rate Massa a fair amount above Perez, so I don’t see how Bottas is any worse of an option than Hulkenberg is. In my eyes, Bottas is the stronger option at the moment (though if the impact of a weight disadvantage in F1 was reduced in the future then I could see Hulk’s results improving).

        not to mention that Danny Ric beat Bottas in junior category.

        Also, which junior category were you referring to with this comment? The only instance I can find of Bottas and Ricciardo competing against each other in junior categories (excluding the time when Bottas did 4 races as a guest driver in British F3) is the 2008 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 season, in which Bottas edged out Ricciardo for the title by 3 points (I still rate Ricciardo above Bottas regardless of this, but
        http://www.grandprix247.com/2015/06/12/marko-ricciardo-will-definitely-be-with-us-in-2016/“>according to Helmut Marko Ricciardo has a “bulletproof” contract with Red Bull for 2016, so he won’t be changing teams until 2017 at the very earliest).

        1. Oops, formatting error, here’s what the final bracket was supposed to look like:

          (I still rate Ricciardo above Bottas regardless of this, but
          according to Helmut Marko Ricciardo has a “bulletproof” contract with Red Bull for 2016, so he won’t be changing teams until 2017 at the very earliest).

        2. Bottas doesn’t look any lighter than Hulkenberg to be honest. Vettel has weight advantage over, like, everyone….

          1. Maybe not over Massa. That little dude is smaller than a jockey

          2. I had checked out their weights recently and Vettel was even lighter than Massa. And he is not a short guy. He must be so hungry…

        3. @polo I rate Pérez above Massa, well above. Polo I don’t need to be informed in F1 politics. I was just stating what I wanted to happen since that was the question put up above.

          So do people prefer Bottas or Hulkenberg at Ferrari?

          I just stated my opinion.

    3. I have always been a big fan of Hulk. Since he came pretty close to landing the seat at Ferrari before, I would like to think that he is held in high regard at Maranello. Having said this, there is obviously very little to choose between Bottas and Hulk.

      This is where Hulk’s Le Mans win may tip the scales in his favOur

    4. Can’t help but wonder about where Jules Bianchi would fit into this discussion…..if only.

      1. Sushmit Kumar Mondal
        29th June 2015, 6:26

        Jules Bianchi would be the top of the pile. he would have been in the race seat for Ferrari without a doubt in 2016. No need for contract extensions or F1 silly season. Drivers who come through lower rung teams imho are probably better than those who get a drive in a top team at the get go since cars in smaller teams are a lot tougher to drive and they also get a lot of competition from similar speed cars. How many times have we heard that a driver in points scoring position is driving a lonely race. This is why in JB’s absence the Hulk should get a chance. He proved himself. Though Bottas would be good too. He has shown he can take the title of the new Iceman from Kimi.

        1. Agree completely. Bianchi was an absolute shoe-in to replace Raikkonen for 2016.

          I would’ve loved to have seen what he could do in a Ferrari, against a top team-mate.

          1. Shoo-in*

    5. The Hulk. He’s not that much faster than Perez indeed, but he’s very consistent.

      And also Bottas is still young, while Hulkenberg is at a now-or-never moment in his career.

      1. Consistency is one of the most important factors for a championship imo. That makes him a potential champion/championship material. If a driver is both consistent and a good qualifier, that’s like a ticking bomb. Waiting just for the right car…

    6. Definitely hulk. Only problem is ferrari don’t want 2 germans.

    7. HULK #HulkForFerrari

    8. I’m veering towards Hulkenberg.

      I would love to see what both of them could do in a top team, but I suppose Bottas has had a season and a half in a top 3 car and he has a bit more time to make the step up. Hulkenberg has never been in a car other than a midfielder. If he keeps performing like he did in Le Mans and Austria, Ferrari will surely look at him.

      What makes me think Bottas is more likely though is Hulkenberg was already passed over for Massa’s seat two years ago.

    9. I like both of them both don’t think Ferrari will sign either – at least if Vettel has his way.

  7. Sean (@spaceman1861)
    29th June 2015, 2:11

    Goddamn FE spoilers hahaha. I was gonna watch the race at lunch :(

    1. Still worth watching apparently, the racing was pretty tough.

    2. @spaceman1861, you have to be careful when visiting f1fanatic nowadays. Its kind of frustrating because we come here for F1 news mostly. I wonder what’s next… MotoGP race spoilers??

      1. When I record a race I get up early to watch it before I listen to the news or read my emails, it’s the only way.

      2. @sudd

        nowadays

        There’s always been coverage of other series here; nothing has changed.

        If you’re actively trying to not find something out, stay away from sources of information.

        1. Sean (@spaceman1861)
          29th June 2015, 23:31

          @keithcollantine I didn’t mean to lay the blame apologizes if it sounds like I did It was poor planning on my part going onto a motorsport news site haha.

      1. Everyone knows the rules – if you don’t want to know the scores, look away now. Too many people think that just because they’ve got one of them new fangled Beta-Max now they can expect the whole world to stop talking about something until they’ve seen it. Someone the other day was moaning about BBC Breakfast talking about Game of Thrones TWO DAYS after it had happened. If it’s that important watch it quick my friends.

        1. How about the BBC revealing the F1 result on the news before their highlights air (when they only show highlights)? I have to put my fingers in my ears and start humming…

        2. Too many people think that just because they’ve got one of them new fangled Beta-Max now they can expect the whole world to stop talking about something until they’ve seen it.

          Exactly.

  8. Two things for Toto: show us the positives, and fix the negatives so there aren’t any to pick on.

  9. Woolf; Criticism has to stop !
    Bernie; These engines are stupid !

  10. Finally, a senior figure in F1 stating the bleeding obvious. Of course the negativity about F1 has to stop, I hate waking up every morning to be greeted with a fresh barrage of put-downs on the sport I love. Yes it has problems, but if all the very clever people in the paddock sat down and spoke about them lik adults, rather than playing some ridiculous game of political brinkmanship, we would get the solutions the sport needs.

    Now, politics and self-interest serving have always been and will always be a part of the sport, but this crisis we face now is probably the worst the sport has ever faced, so I find it so odd that the powers that be and the people who can actually do something about it are taking a “well this is how we have always done it” approach. We need a bit of creative thinking and initiative here.

    1. Isn’t it ironic to read a PR message with Bernie using young Verstappen to do exactly the opposite of that in the same roundup @geemac.

      I agree that talking F1 down is only serving the purposes of BE – staying/getting back to being in control of it.

      1. Yeah. It’s kinda obvious. You can clearly see BE effects on drivers.

    2. @geemac, unfortunately most of the problems stem from the creative thinking of Bernies initiatives. Apart from being virtually identical and very expensive, there is nothing wrong with these engines that Bernie keeps complaining about.

    3. petebaldwin (@)
      29th June 2015, 10:26

      @geemac – Right but all the “very clever people” in the paddock aren’t sitting down to fix the problems.

      For anything to happen, the teams, Bernie and Todt have to agree but that won’t happen. You’ve got Bernie looking at how to make more money for himself with a third of the votes, the teams looking to benefit against the other teams with another third and a guy who recently said “I need some input, I don’t know where the problems are” with the other third.

    4. Ever since Mercedes started dominating F1, in a fashion rarely if ever before seen in the history of the sport, I’ve been a seeing a lot of people (especially F1 journos) worrying about “negativity”. Long story short, they seem to be trying to tell fans to “Shut up and enjoy it”.

      Curiously enough a lot of these same F1 journos spent years furiously denouncing F1. Andrew Benson even wanted to scrap the WDC as it currently exists and replace it with a poll of team principles and F1 reporters like himself. Of course that was when Voldemort was winning.

      If we want to talk about “problems in F1” the shameless bias of professional F1 reporters in general should be mentioned. It’s not like this in other sports.

  11. Mark Young (@terry-fabulous)
    29th June 2015, 6:23

    Hi Keith
    I just tweeted you this to you but in case anyone in OZ has missed this
    ‘Mark Webber is the focus on ABC @AustralianStory tonight 8PM AEST’
    Looks like he will be unloading on Seb again!

  12. Cracking choice for the caption Keith, thanks! ;)

  13. Bernie wants us to go back to the good old steam engines of his youth. The drives should mine their own coal too to make f1 more challenging. Don’t forget the steel tires for extra durability.

    1. Don’t forget the steel tires for extra durability.

      And for those sparks he wants.

  14. F1 is better than ever. The ones complaining are those failing to master the current formula and those who are “in love with the idea of F1.”

    You can tell who has been brainwashed when they start using words like “gladiators” to describe drivers or go on about the “danger” effect. Danger is not what made F1 great and there has never been a time where drivers can push flat out without diminishing returns. Tires, fuel, engines, and brakes are all consumables. Once you come to grips with these basics, you will begin to appreciate F1 for what it really is not what you take away from a season highlight reel or F1 propaganda documentaries. Yes, that’s correct, the documentaries are propaganda designed to create a certain image of what F1 machines and drivers should be seen as.

    F1 has always been about forward thinking. Your fathers F1 will never be the same as your or your kids generation F1…and it should never be! V8/V10 engines reving to 20K RPMs were engineering marvels of their time. But their time has passed just as surely the time of the current “power units” will some day.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      29th June 2015, 10:33

      @sudd – So OK, do you think F1 is the peak of what is achievable at the current time? If you asked me that question about F1 cars of yesteryear, I would have said yes.

      The very fact that they are talking about making changes to “allow” the cars to go 5 seconds a lap faster would suggest not!

    2. F1 was the best thing before 2014. Viewership figures was good, only decline was probably due to pay tv. Despite Vettel winning 4 in a row, figures were pretty stable that it was weird. You would think the transition to pay tv and the same guy keep winning would amount to serious decline. Well it didn’t have the huge impact at that time. But now it looks like it does.

      1. Actually, there was a serious decline in 2013. In fact, there was an even steeper decline in 2013 than there was in 2014. The decline in 2014 was only the third-largest annual decline of the past nine years – the biggest decline occurred in 2009, following the big regulation changes.

        1. @polo – Quite a surprise that viewing figures declined in 2009, with the shakeup leading to new frontrunning teams. Perhaps down to some Mclaren & Ferrari fans losing interest?

      2. Could be inertia. But it seems to me every time some particular reason gains currency, something comes along to disprove it.

        “It’s the noise”, but then WEC and FE are great.
        “It’s pay-tv” but Germany has FTA.
        “It’s the weekend as a whole, do it like Austria” but then next time Austria is 50% full.
        “It’s the boring drivers” but then we have Lewis and his post-McLaren post-Nicole show.

        What next? Well it won’t be faster cars or wider tyres either. Nor Michelin nor refuelling. After a certain point the faster the cars are, the harder it is to overtake. See GP2. An excess of torque over grip is good, and what we have already. If we make them exit corners faster what’s gonna happen?

        If the cars were simple people would be saying “make them the technological masterpiece F1 is all about”!

        IMO FoM need to improve the coverage of what they have: throw out the TV director and the people who do their website and app (and whoever appointed them), broadcast a LOT more data, and then accept that there’s a lot more choice of entertainment these days.

    3. @sudd I disagree. I use the word gladiators because right now, with the extreme conservation that goes on, the drivers cannot be considered gladiators, nor categorized amongst the Greats of the sport. They’re simply not pushed to anything close to physical or mental limits, as the tires and fuel limits prevent that.

      I think you are missing the point. We all know that tires, fuel, engines, and brakes are consumables and have always had to be preserved to some degree. We all know that drivers have never been able to push to the limits for every lap of every race, although there have been eras where they have come close…mainly the MS/Ferrari era. The point you are missing is that never has the degree of necessary conservation taken over the story of F1. Never has it been so much about conservation that there is the sense the drivers are held back.

      There is a balance between drivers being able to show their gladiator side, and drivers/teams having to mind the gear. Right now all they do is mind the gear. You are right that time moves on and the current gen of F1 is different from our fathers’ and their fathers’ but that does not guarantee that the current gen is the best just because it is the current iteration. And it is not just ‘the brainwashed’ that have major issues with the current gen…it is those within F1 too.

      If you think F1 is better than ever, that’s great, but I and many others don’t, yet we’re still watching. But we’re watching F1 light, and thank goodness there is much talk of change. One thing is a given, as you have pointed out…F1 changes over time.

  15. Piquet may not be the most popular driver on here, but his racing record is superb. He failed completely in F1, but in every other series where he took part in a full season he performed well. He won many, and with merit. I feel sorry his potential went unexploited and angered that he left with a disgraceful act, but as a driver he deserved this title.

  16. You now have these people like Toto Wolff and Jean Todt talking about how there’s too much negativity. Well… you know why there’s too much? Because you’re all too concerned with how F1 appears (the ‘show’), instead of how good it actually IS. There are a ton of complaints because F1 is broken. So fix it instead of trying to push the perception that it’s fixed. Though you might think your audience is dumb enough to brainwash that way, many of us aren’t. We can tell when an increasingly rubbish product is being polished.

    1. The only rubbish thing about F1 right now is the silly fans it has that became nothing but Horner’s and Bernie’s voice.

  17. It would be great to have a V8 Engine with NO fuel or power restrictions. and NO electric drive motor. Now if they would stop racing on the street courses we may have some good racing again.

  18. Kimi’s position is not too good. This will be very hard.

  19. The arrogance of Ferrari never ceases to amaze me. Arrivabene seems to be another narcissist and fits in perfctly with them. He acts like Ferrari is the best, most succesfull team in F1 when in reality athough they have improved, they still cannot challenge Merc. Wouldn’t surprise me to see Williams surpass them soon.
    In reality, I think Ferrari is in a pickle. With Vettel being their so-called savior, is it smart for them to bring in a driver such as Hulk or Bottas? Although they haven’t achieved Vettel’s status, they are very good and may do to Vettel what RIC did. Is this what Ferrari wants? I don’t think so.
    In spite of Arrivabene’s bragging, my guess is that Kimi will get another year with them. Vettel has already made it known he wants Kimi back. He wants a team mate who won’t be threat to his having number 1 status, like Schuey.
    They need to keep the savior happy and that’s what they will do.

    1. I agree. I hope Kimi goes and Hulk comes in. Let’s just see if it was all down to demotivation when Ric kicked his ass.

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