The F1 thread

Fretwired

Cols said:

McLaren say all their financial problems have been solved.  It sounds a bit “everything’s fine” to me.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/mclarens-financial-problems-solved/

I suspect the bond holders have backed down at the last minute so that McLaren's  assets can be used to secure a loan. The question is what they do with the car company .. it's losing cash as sales of its cars have slumped and has been embroiled in some public spats with customers over dodgy business practices and reliability issues which have damaged the brand.

Cols

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Fretwired

Cols said:

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Check this out .. long but a masterclass in how to screw your customers ...

thumpingrug

Its going to be almost all back to back racing from this weekend.  I love it, wife already hates it.  

The Mercedes looks so cool.

Going to be very interesting season to see what races actually take place.

Cols

Fretwired said:

Cols said:

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Check this out .. long but a masterclass in how to screw your customers ...

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  The letter they were asked to sign (atrocious spelling, by the way) accepting all the things that were wrong with the cars by design was the real kicker.

Fretwired

Cols said:

Fretwired said:

Cols said:

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Check this out .. long but a masterclass in how to screw your customers ...

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  The letter they were asked to sign (atrocious spelling, by the way) accepting all the things that were wrong with the cars by design was the real kicker.

It gets worse .. I think there's three vids in the series (unless this is a summary). The funniest is when McLaren deliver the wrong car after the father's car is sent back to the factory to correct faults. The sad thing is the response of McClaren.

prowla

When he mentioned Sytner in the first couple of minutes I went uh-oh...

I've twice been to Sytner garages to buy a BMW and come away with nothing and I wouldn't bother again; sales people who act like they are doing you a favour by deigning to talk to you are really irksome.

chillidoggy

Fretwired said:

Cols said:

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Check this out .. long but a masterclass in how to screw your customers ...

I know this bloke.

Cols

Fretwired said:

Cols said:

Fretwired said:

Cols said:

The car side of the business dwarfs the F1 operation these days; last year it had a revenue of $1.4 billion compared to $173 million for the F1 team.  Put together though, the group didn’t turn a profit.  It could weather the suspension of the F1 season, but not the inability to sell cars.

Check this out .. long but a masterclass in how to screw your customers ...

Doesn’t exactly inspire confidence.  The letter they were asked to sign (atrocious spelling, by the way) accepting all the things that were wrong with the cars by design was the real kicker.

It gets worse .. I think there's three vids in the series (unless this is a summary). The funniest is when McLaren deliver the wrong car after the father's car is sent back to the factory to correct faults. The sad thing is the response of McClaren.

I would’ve taken the wrong one which turned up; it was a nice metallic yellow instead of the slime green hue of the actual car.

Fretwired

Ferrari forced to redesign car .. not what they need right now I'd guess.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/53160036

Cols

Everyone else, including Williams, is bringing upgrades.  Ferrari realised that they’d designed a shitbox car which they have to run next year as well, so they’re throwing their weight behind a full redesign with a longer lead time.

chillidoggy

How on earth can a top team like Ferrari get it so wrong? Beggars belief.

sweepy

chillidoggy said:

How on earth can a top team like Ferrari get it so wrong? Beggars belief.

I think you might see LeClerc chatting to other teams because I'd be amazed if he didn't have a performance clause in his contract

Fretwired

sweepy said:

chillidoggy said:

How on earth can a top team like Ferrari get it so wrong? Beggars belief.

I think you might see LeClerc chatting to other teams because I'd be amazed if he didn't have a performance clause in his contract

Not sure - very few races this year so being crowned champion won't be as big a deal as in other years and where would he go? LeClerc is young so I think he'll stay put as time is on his side. Ferrari need to get some decent talent on board and they can only do that if they change the way they operate. Newey said he'd never go to Ferrari as everything is done by committee.

Is Hamilton about to leave Mercedes? There are some rumblings about his support for BLM - not good for a brand like Mercedes which has already been reminded on Twitter that it used slave labour under the Nazi's.

Dodge

chillidoggy said:

How on earth can a top team like Ferrari get it so wrong? Beggars belief.

Williams were a top feam once, as were McLaren.  I can't say I feel sorry for Ferarri though, hope they enjoy it in the midfield.

stickyfiddle

Nah, he'll stay. The team are on the right side of all of this by standing with him and I'm sure they've already decided they're happy to lose some sales to some bigots. 

I have to be honest I've been a bit taken aback by the level of outrage from so many fragile white dudes on social media over a racing car being painted black. 

fretmeister

stickyfiddle said:

Nah, he'll stay. The team are on the right side of all of this by standing with him and I'm sure they've already decided they're happy to lose some sales to some bigots. 

I have to be honest I've been a bit taken aback by the level of outrage from so many fragile white dudes on social media over a racing car being painted black. 

Amazing isn't it!

Imagine having that much white privilege and still not amounting to anything more than being a whiny bitch.

Fretwired

stickyfiddle said:

I have to be honest I've been a bit taken aback by the level of outrage from so many fragile white dudes on social media over a racing car being painted black. 

Not seen that .. I just associate silver with Merc and black with the great Lotus JPS. The black Merc has grown on me though - let's see what it looks like on track this weekend. Hamilton is right about the lack of diversity in F1.

Bernie's been up to his old tricks moaning about racism - did anyone catch a throw away line that he and Anthony Hamilton were going into business with each other. Bernie's not going to buy an F1 team is he?

Fretwired

Hamilton being greedy?  He apparently wants a £40 million a year new deal ...

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-demanding-40m-deal/

Cols

Fretwired said:

Hamilton being greedy?  He apparently wants a £40 million a year new deal ...

https://www.planetf1.com/news/lewis-hamilton-demanding-40m-deal/

Well, Mercedes are going to have lots of spare cash left over next year when the budget cap kicks in.  Why shouldn’t Lewis help himself to some of it?