The F1 thread

chillidoggy

VW won't be getting into F1, their engine would never pass the emissions test.

Fretwired

VW make an annual profit of around 11 billion Euros - this scandal will hit the company hard but it will recover. This scandal may make it less likely to enter F1 due to the cost or more likely to repair VWs damaged reputation and boost sales. Unfortunately, the guy who was keen on F1 has been fired.

It will depend on whether Red Bull survive .. Mercedes have said no to an engine deal, Ferrari were warm until Horner demanded parity with the Ferrari works team which I can't see happening. Renault buy Red Bull? Perhaps, but there's ill-will within the team towards Renault.

My prediction - Red Bull, Torro Rosso and Renault pull out .... :-)

Fretwired

chillidoggy said:

VW won't be getting into F1, their engine would never pass the emissions test.

But they'll 'do a Merc' and get it designed and built in Britain. Bernie needs to get Cosworth on board.

chillidoggy

No.

 Bernie needs to do us all a favour, and retire!

stickyfiddle

I think Grosjean to Haas is the result of believing the Enstone car will have a shitbox Renault engine next year, and the Haas seat gives him half a chance of a Ferrari drive when Kimi goes.

How about Renault buying Red Bull AND Lotus? Lotus is worth basically nothing, and Red Bull is a good investment... Who fucking knows tbh. Silly season indeed. 

All I know is I'll be queueing for however long it takes to meet JB and shake his hand in Abu Dhabi come 29th November.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

I think Grosjean to Haas is the result of believing the Enstone car will have a shitbox Renault engine next year, and the Haas seat gives him half a chance of a Ferrari drive when Kimi goes.

How about Renault buying Red Bull AND Lotus? Lotus is worth basically nothing, and Red Bull is a good investment... Who fucking knows tbh. Silly season indeed. 

All I know is I'll be queueing for however long it takes to meet JB and shake his hand in Abu Dhabi come 29th November.

Buy Red Bull get Torro Rosso .. my take on Grosjean was he thinks Lotus will go bust. Haas are hardly going to be competitive - the don't have the works Ferrari engine.

chillidoggy

What's the point of entering F1 when you know you're not going to be competitive? Just a hole to pour money into in that case.

Fretwired

chillidoggy said:

What's the point of entering F1 when you know you're not going to be competitive? Just a hole to pour money into in that case.

Which is why F1 needs an engine manufacturer like Cosworth and a chassis manufacturer so that the cost of entry is low. I think Haas has a plan .. three or four years with Ferrari whilst a US company builds a new engine. You know what the yanks are like .. has to have Made in the USA written all over it.

The problem with Ferrari and Mercedes is that their own teams will always have a better engine. Honda may be different if they ever become competitive. There are those that think Honda may give up - the last time they were successful their engine was actually designed outside the group. There is concern they don't have the technical know-how.

fretmeister

New rule

A company can be an engine supplier or a competing team. Not both.

Job done.

Fretwired

fretmeister said:

New rule

A company can be an engine supplier or a competing team. Not both.

Job done.

Not sure. If you want to make an engine and own a team then you have to:

a) Stick to running your own team; or

b) Be forced to supply the same engine to competitors that your team uses

It's Bernie that's at fault for allowing Mercedes and Ferrari to ensure their works teams have an advantage.

The solution is to have an 'F1 house engine manufacturer' like Cosworth which can develop a highly competitive engine that teams can buy off the shelf.

holnrew

chillidoggy said:

No.

 Bernie needs to do us all a favour, and die!

The only way he'll leave F1 sadly.

chillidoggy

holnrew said:

chillidoggy said:

No.

 Bernie needs to do us all a favour, and die!

The only way he'll leave F1 sadly.

I bow to your superior intellect.

Heartfeltdawn

Fretwired said:

Which is why F1 needs an engine manufacturer like Cosworth and a chassis manufacturer so that the cost of entry is low. I think Haas has a plan .. three or four years with Ferrari whilst a US company builds a new engine. You know what the yanks are like .. has to have Made in the USA written all over it.

If you bring in a stock chassis and engine and get three or four teams going with that, then you will in effect create a sub-tier within F1. If that creates something similar to LMP1 and LMP2 as seen in the WEC, then at least it's a transparent tiered system unlike the less than transparent funding model we have now coupled with the advantages given to works teams. 

A five-team Class 1 tier coupled with as a six-teams or more Class 2 tier would be pretty interesting. Class 1 would get the budget and the glitz but the better racing would come in the second tier. Win-win, I say.

holnrew said:

The only way he'll leave F1 sadly.

Somehow the miserable old bastard will make someone else pay for his funeral. 

Fretwired

Heartfeltdawn said:

Fretwired said:

Which is why F1 needs an engine manufacturer like Cosworth and a chassis manufacturer so that the cost of entry is low. I think Haas has a plan .. three or four years with Ferrari whilst a US company builds a new engine. You know what the yanks are like .. has to have Made in the USA written all over it.

If you bring in a stock chassis and engine and get three or four teams going with that, then you will in effect create a sub-tier within F1. If that creates something similar to LMP1 and LMP2 as seen in the WEC, then at least it's a transparent tiered system unlike the less than transparent funding model we have now coupled with the advantages given to works teams. 

A five-team Class 1 tier coupled with as a six-teams or more Class 2 tier would be pretty interesting. Class 1 would get the budget and the glitz but the better racing would come in the second tier. Win-win, I say.

Exactly, although if Cosworth built a really competitive engine then teams could be competitive as they could tweak the aero and other design features - Williams are doing pretty well on a small budget. The smaller teams could also share expensive wind tunnel sessions. But at least there could be racing and maybe points awarded to the teams at the back.

Bernie will have to do something as the viewing figures are dropping away - the Singapore grand prix had the lowest UK viewing figures ever (Sky + BBC highlights).

holnrew

The move to sky was a bad idea.

MattFGBI

Indeed. 

I think they need to spread the prize money around a bit more and give the teams more from the advertising and rights. One way to ease the burden of costs will be to increase the team's income. And you need the viewing figures to do it. 

But again, as long as there are greedy pockets to fill at the top this won't happen. 

Fretwired

Budget cuts at Honda force engineers into new rear wing testing regime to help McLaren improve the aerodynamics of their car ..

boogieman

holnrew;793214" said:

The move to sky was a bad idea.

The BBC losing all F1 coverage from next season will screw the viewing figures even more. I can't imagine a huge number of people will get a Sky package just to watch it. Very bad move IMO.

Fretwired

boogieman said:

holnrew;793214" said:

The move to sky was a bad idea.

The BBC losing all F1 coverage from next season will screw the viewing figures even more. I can't imagine a huge number of people will get a Sky package just to watch it. Very bad move IMO.

Well that will be me gone ...

fretmeister

I've only kept sky sports for the rugby. So I'll still have it, but if the rugby moves to BT, then I won't keep the channel.