In the round-up: Williams executive director Toto Wolff expects Pastor Maldonado to “take a different approach” after a string of penalties earlier this year.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Q&A with Williams’ Toto Wolff (F1)
“From one stupid, heated incident in Monaco it has almost become an avalanche – and this is affecting his performance. But I think he has understood now that he has to take a different approach – this is not GP2. But he is an intelligent guy and he will learn from it.”
Karthikeyan keen to stay at HRT for 2013 (The Times of India)
“To get one hour of practice on Saturday and then to go faster than a fast guy is difficult. And the difference between me and [Pedro de la Rosa] is not big, only a couple of tenths. It changed in the last race at Monza and am planning to keep the momentum.”
Hamilton holds the key to the F1 carousel (Reuters)
“Hamilton’s departure would surely mean the end of the road for seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher, whose 91 wins make him the sport’s most successful driver, at the age of 43 and after three disappointing comeback years with Mercedes.”
Chris Evans buys Dunlop Bridge from Donington Park (BBC)
“Christopher Tate, managing director at the circuit, said the bridge was taken down in 2009 during the previous owner’s bid to host the British Grand Prix.”
Ferrari could return to prototype racing with American privateer (Racing Engineering)
“American film director James Glickenhaus has set his sights on bringing Ferrari back to sports prototype racing.”
The Opulence Of Singapore (Speed)
“Until you have witnessed first-hand the grandeur of the Singapore Grand Prix, it is difficult to grasp its glamour and opulence. The magnificence and prestige of the event truly embody Formula One.”
Italian Grand Prix highlights video (F1.com)
Highlights from the last race, including Felipe Massa getting a subtle reminder about his mirrors.
Where Are The Fighting Spirits? (F1Speedwriter)
“The pushy puppeteers who pull the drivers’ strings from the computer-controlled perspective of the ‘Prats Perch’ along the pit wall constantly strive to curb the enthusiasm of the real racers in the field.”
Tweets
I need to start preparing my bag, but the same doubts as always..;) Oakley racing jacket best for sports, but color? pic.twitter.com/aaFy0xYF
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) September 17, 2012
Comment of the day
@Lin1876 on the topic everyone’s talking about:
McLaren really are caught between a rock and a hard place here. On the one hand, they’re surely looking at their bank balance, knowing Perez or Rosberg won’t impact on it anywhere near as much as Hamilton, yet if they lose Hamilton they lose a great talent. An expensive and petulant talent, yes, but a talent nevertheless.
I don’t see them showing Hamilton the door, but I doubt they’ll be bending over backwards to keep him either ? Button/Perez or Button/Rosberg could still get the job done in the right environment.
I find it hard to believe all this isn’t a distraction. His foreseeable future is at stake here, and he has to choose between being confident of challenging and the opportunity for more freedom. I would personally stay, but choosing the latter would be a very Lewis Hamilton thing to do.
@Lin1876
From the forum
- Will the 13th team slot ever be filled?
- The radical DeltaWing will race again in next month’s Petit Le Mans
- Video of another open cockpit near-miss, this time involving Oliver Rowland in the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to UKK!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is by emailling me, using Twitter or adding to the list here.
On this day in F1
Happy birthday to former Minardi team principal Gian Carlo Minardi who turns 65 today.
Image © Williams/LAT
Alex Brown (@splittimes)
18th September 2012, 0:18
Can’t explain how excited I am about the possibility of Ferrari returning to sports cars. I’m now composing an email to Ferrari to this same effect (and possibly carrying some suggestion of a role within the endeavour for myself).
@HoHum (@hohum)
18th September 2012, 0:38
A very pretty race car but not a realistic winning race car, LMP may be a good place to spend a lot of money on research that may, purely coincidentally, be applicable to F1.
xeroxpt (@)
18th September 2012, 1:46
@hohum This new take P4/5 LMP looks gorgeous nice follow up to the original, but Ferrari would never back it up, they can’t afford it, even thought the new rules make it more feasible but they would never put their brand on something that has no chances of winning, unfortunately it is one of their policies since ever, personally i would enjoy watching even though i have never watched Ferrari race prototypes.
@HoHum (@hohum)
19th September 2012, 0:00
@ukfanatic, no doubt the illustration is designed to win investment not races, there is no place for beautiful curves in modern racing, but that does not mean that Ferrari will not “assist” a privateer entry using Ferrari parts and technology, particularly if the program provided a test-bed for future F1 components.
xeroxpt (@)
19th September 2012, 1:45
@hohum I agree with you about the purpose of the drawing, but I do believe that modern day racing cars have beautiful lines. As I said before i can’t recall the last time Ferrari partner with a privateer.
coefficient (@coefficient)
18th September 2012, 12:20
http://www.motorpasionf1.com/24-horas-de-le-mans/especial-24-horas-de-le-mans-2010-sonando-con-el-regreso-de-ferrari
matt90 (@matt90)
18th September 2012, 0:35
I don’t know why, but although I don’t support Ferrari in F1, I could really get behind a new LMP car. It’d be exciting to see them making a return, even if it is with a privateer.
matt90 (@matt90)
18th September 2012, 0:37
Is that the first actual admission that it was intentional? He really should have earned at least a 1 race ban.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2012, 0:51
@matt90
I don’t think so. Reading Wollf’s comments, I think he means that wasn’t thinking, made a silly mistake when he clipped Perez, and ever since then has been trying too hard to demonstrate that it was a one-off thing and has over-driven the car as a result. It’s really the same thing that affected Hamilton last year – he got an early win, thought he could be a contender, but then made a few mistakes and started getting frustrated, and it’s showing in his driving.
Only if it was intentional. And there has been absolutely no proof of that.
chaostheory
18th September 2012, 8:38
So, you cant get a race ban for being a bad driver? Cool!
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2012, 8:58
I don’t see how Maldonado did anything worthy of a ban in Monaco. He made a mistake. If the FIA banned drivers every time they made mistakes, half the grid would have been banned by now.
BBQ2
18th September 2012, 12:37
So PM, you think Grosjean intentionally ran into LH therefore the ban?
matt90 (@matt90)
18th September 2012, 10:15
To me, it being a ‘heated moment’ suggests that he got angry and decided to swipe him.
N
18th September 2012, 11:24
Exactly.
You’d have to be blind and/or stupid to think it was a mistake.
It was clearly intentional, just as it was in Spa.
John H (@john-h)
18th September 2012, 12:30
The thing is, it’s like saying there is absolutely no proof that Schumacher parked his car intentionally at Moncao in 2006. You have to start making judgements at some point.
Have a look at this image of the collision and tell me what Maldonado is trying to achieve by going off the racing line before Portier?
Still just a ‘mistake’ PM?
Mads (@mads)
18th September 2012, 15:37
@john-h
Exactly. No racing driver is going to admit that they crashed on purpose, and how else are we going to actually prove that they did it on purpose? Even that isn’t 100%, as they could just as well say it in order to appear interresting.
There are understandable stupid mistakes. Grosjeans was one of those. He got a 1 race ban. And then there is Maldonardo sideswiping both Hamilton and Perez under circuimstances that did NOT involve actual racing. At some point they need to tell him that, whether he actually did it on purpose or not, he can stay home and watch TV for a couple of weekends instead.
Its just too pointless and too stupid to be anything but intentional, or at least intentionally trying to scare them. Which he then cocked up. Both of which are worthy of a very harsh penalty.
ScuderiaVincero (@scuderiavincero)
18th September 2012, 0:45
It’s simple, Maldonado had better learn from his mistakes.
And what in the world Fernando? You’re not Scott Summers!!
Hairs (@hairs)
18th September 2012, 1:12
Maldonado hasn’t learned from his lifetime ban in Monaco. Or from last year. Or from all his shunts this year. Why would he start now?
Last year his reaction to criticism when he sideswiped another driver was a s-eating grin and “this is formula 1”, when talking to two men who know better. His response to criticism of his driving is to attack the drivers he hits. His response to almost killing a marshal was “I must learn from this” but what has he learned?
I’m actually quite saddened by Williams’ continued defence of the man. It shows how far they’ve fallen, that a driver with the dubious qualities of Pastor is allowed to get away with this sort of thing. 20 years ago Frank would have hung him out to dry before he could finish smirking.
matt90 (@matt90)
18th September 2012, 1:15
I read the other day that he described his driving style as ‘aggressive but intelligent.’ I laughed. A lot.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2012, 1:31
That yellow flags mean that he should slow down.
That might sound facetious, but I’m pretty sure he hasn’t been cited for speeding under yellows since.
Dizzy
18th September 2012, 11:58
After the Monaco yellow flag incident he actually went on to ignore Red & yellow flags again at Zolder just under a year later.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt5nt7IdyPs
Antonio Nartea (@tony031r)
18th September 2012, 1:46
Because at this rate he’s gonna get his licence revoked, maybe? I don’t know about him but if I were a racing driver, that would be a solid incentive to get my act straight.
Hairs (@hairs)
18th September 2012, 7:52
@tony031r He’s already bought his way out of that particular punishment. Why would he fear it now?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th September 2012, 3:08
Be fair to him. If I were Williams, I’d certainly not be happy with him, but the guy is seriously fast and he brings money, so I’d keep him. Maybe they have pulled his ear this time considering what happened to Grosjean… I think if they manage to “fix” Pastor, he could well be a contender in the future… he has showed that he’s good enough for podiums and wins, if only he wasn’t such a tool.
I don’t think Williams would’ve fired him, he’d probably told him “get the job done or YOU are done” much more quickly… but I guess Frank knows when he has a good driver in hand.
caci_99
18th September 2012, 11:54
All this talk about Maldonado changing his driving style is coming after the ban of Grosjean. I suspect there have been talking between the stewards and Maldonado, or maybe the message was pretty clear to him. He should have get his race ban long time ago, but money talks
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
18th September 2012, 1:55
I’m really enjoying Alonso’s use of Twitter. Much of the content is upbeat messages and pictures from training sessions, but every once in a while you get a glimpse of his personality away from the cameras in the F1 paddock which is rare these days.
Also I have to laugh at Karthikeyan stating that the gap to De La Rosa is ‘only a couple of tenths’. Buddy, you’re being constantly out-performed by a guy that isn’t a Hamilton/Alonso/Vettel. He’s north of 40 and is a fantastic test driver but not a great racer.
David-A (@david-a)
18th September 2012, 2:55
Indeed. He’s been “
onlyat least a couple of tenths” off every teammate he’s ever had. But he has never beaten one over the course of a seasonKingshark (@kingshark)
18th September 2012, 4:08
Karthikeyan’s 3 teammates throughout his career have been none other than Pedro de la Rosa, Vitantonio Liuzzi and Tiago Monteiro. While I mean no offense to any of them, they weren’t exactly the greatest drivers of their era; and it hasn’t been uncommon to see Narain K been out-qualified by his teammates by about 5 tenths to a second.
The only thing worse than a pay driver who doesn’t deserve his drive in Formula One, is someone who actually thinks he’s fast/good.
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
18th September 2012, 5:58
@kingshark Actually Karthikeyan isn’t a bad racer. He used to do well in A1GP and some others as well. I don’t think he is that bad in F1 either but it does seem to be a bit too much for him in the HRT. Although he was no great shakes in the Jordan either but still, he has managed to stay out of trouble, not impede anybody and race without incident. And besides, Someone has to bring up the rear :) !
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 6:50
I think that probably 5-6 years back he was a relatively solid driver, but by now he is past his peak. But as you say, HRT are going to make up the back anyway.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th September 2012, 9:36
@mahavirshah to be honest Karthikeyan won one race in A1… and lets face it, the competition in A1 wasn’t always strong. For someone who has raced in F1, he should have made more of an impact in every other racing series who took part in. Instead, he was more than happy being an average driver in other series.
Im not saying Karthikeyan shouldnt be a professional racer… I’m just saying he never was F1 material, and right now he’s hands down the worst driver on the grid. F1 is about the top 20-25 drivers in the world… and Narain doesn’t even make the top 100
MahavirShah (@mahavirshah)
18th September 2012, 9:46
@todfod Yeah that was what I was getting at as well. He is not F1 level. Just that there are many drivers out there who think they should be in F1 but are not upto it. For me Sakon Yamamoto was the worst though :) ! Although, whatever happened to Neel Jani. He was always being touted for F1 and then just vanished.
Dizzy
18th September 2012, 12:10
he beat Nico Hulkenberg in A1GP more than once & also beat solid competition to win in Superleague formula.
go back further & he was very competitive in British F3, winning a couple races against guys like Jenson Button.
If you go back to 2005, He actually did a decent job in the Jordan, He was solidly faster than his team mate & was getting the Jordan solidly into the mid-field.
I remember him having a great race at Spa getting well into the top 10 untill a slow pit stop dropped him back.
Something that affected his season was the firing of Trevor Carlin from the Jordan team just after Mid-season. Trevor was acting as a mentor to Narain & was a big believer in Narain’s talent.
Narain wasn’t a bad driver, He was a solid racer, However I think sadly for him he missed his opportunity & isn’t anywhere near as good now in F1 terms as he was 6-7 years back.
Colossal Squid (@colossal-squid)
18th September 2012, 12:26
As @todfod said, he’s not even in the top 100 drivers in the world. That’s my main problem with Karthikeyan being in F1. I have no personal dislike of the guy but there’s no way he’s cut out for even a backmarker team.
I want HRT to replace him with someone new, or give talents that were passed over a shot. I really enjoyed watching Daniel Ricciardo get his F1 start in the team. There has to be a sponsor of a young up and comer with deep enough pockets to pay for a HRT drive!
coefficient (@coefficient)
18th September 2012, 12:31
Yuji Ide?
Drop Valencia!
18th September 2012, 12:30
Incorrect, when he was team mates with Ricciardo, he beat him every time ;) He couldn’t manage to start ahead of him though, even though Ricciardo had a 5 spot gearbox penalty!
Scalextric (@scalextric)
18th September 2012, 2:57
The writer of that Speed piece is former F1 pilot David Hobbs, who provides colour commentary on Speed in the USA. He does this from a studio in Charlotte, N. Carolina, and will only be at one GP this year, in Austin TX. his first GP attendance since Indianapolis in 2007.
So he’s never “witnessed first-hand the grandeur of the Singapore Grand Prix”. I imagine he therefore finds it “difficult to grasp its glamour and opulence”.
Maybe he wrote that with tongue in cheek.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 6:51
:-)
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th September 2012, 3:26
Is Alonso the best twitter user of the whole F1 grid? I think yeah… he’s only been a couple of months on twitter, but he’s very worthy of a follow, I like his tweets !
JimmyTheIllustratedBlindSolidSilverBeachStackapopolis III
18th September 2012, 6:39
I have no idea what the other drivers get up to cos im no twitterer but that pic is hilarious it’s like something out of alien.
david d.m.
18th September 2012, 7:02
To be honest I don’t really care about the driver’s personal lives I find what they do on track much more interesting than what they had for breakfast or where they are on holiday, having said that, it’s good for F1 that they get “closer” to those fans that want to know more about them.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
18th September 2012, 10:25
that’s a bit weird ,in the past Alonso used to hate technology (smartphones notebooks….) he used to think also that social networks are violation of privacy
being a constant user of twitter is a clear change
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th September 2012, 13:32
@tifoso1989 It’s only an invasion of privacy if you share more information than you’re comfortable with. Twitter is great for connecting with fans and no one expects anymore. Facebook is a different thing altogether.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
18th September 2012, 11:41
Yep Alonso uses it well, he’s grounded and quite inventive, and I’ve learned a bit of bonus Italian and Spanish from him too. I like his “look at all the training I’m doing” updates – I’m sure they’re intended for his rivals to see…
Mads (@mads)
18th September 2012, 15:51
@fer-no65
+1!
Suave (@suave)
18th September 2012, 4:42
Looking at the Alonso/Vettel pass in slow motion it’s very clear that a significant portion of Alonso’s car was along side Vettel’s when Vettel began pushing Alonso off the track. That could have been a very bad shunt and the penalty was definitely deserved.
Whether or not Alonso should have been penalized last year for the incident is irrelevant in this situation. To say that Vettel shouldn’t have been penalized because Alonso wasn’t last year for a similar (all though not exactly the same) incident is absurd. The stewards cannot not give a penalty when there is a clear violation of the rules because a penalty was not issued in the past for a similar incident. If that was the reasoning then what’s the point of the rules? Yes, there needs to be more consistency among the stewards, but that’s a whole other topic.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 10:43
To be frank, Vettel deserved a harsher punishment.
What Vettel did, was to first hug the inside line of the curve, then launch himself to block Alonso, and drive him off track. This explains why he was very slow coming out of the corner. It was a very deliberate action and could have had a dire outcome.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th September 2012, 13:34
That’s not the case at all. Vettel had the racing line and didn’t move off it, that’s the problem here. There were no intentional moves towards Alonso.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 15:15
So why was Vettel suddenly so slow coming out of that corner?
From my post above, I gave you the reason why his exit from that corner was very slow. He hugged the inside of the corner so Alonso was forced to go to the outside, then he accelerated to block Alonso on the outside. His line through the corner could never have allowed him to carry much momentum out of it.
David-A (@david-a)
18th September 2012, 15:56
His entry was slow, which is what allowed Alonso to come from so far back. It wasn’t a case of him suddenly accelerating to block at all. He simply took the line he did from every other lap, which this time Alonso was already partially on, and given that this didn’t leave Alonso room, he got the penalty.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQBwyxwCwaE
John H (@john-h)
18th September 2012, 17:51
But it’s not actually the racing line through curva grande, as demonstrated by the dailymotion link at the bottom of this page.
Hotbottoms (@hotbottoms)
18th September 2012, 14:41
Obviously that was the only lap of Monza you saw. Since Vettel took the same racing line on every lap. As did Alonso. And every other driver on the track.
Mads (@mads)
18th September 2012, 15:54
@OOliver
There, fixed it.
Mads (@mads)
18th September 2012, 15:55
Except for the obvious mistake that I deleted “was to” as well… That didn’t go well…
Anyway, you get my point.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 20:29
@Mads
There, repaired a shoddy job.
David-A (@david-a)
19th September 2012, 5:08
Mads was actually closer despite the error.
xeroxpt (@)
18th September 2012, 7:49
Really interesting interview by Toto Wolff, He was surprisingly open, if he keeps going with this mindset he will surely become a great asset to Williams, and hopefully avoid like he says the third generation, 2014 is their great chance and hopefully we can see a different Williams, a Williams true to themselves back in full strength. Chris Evans bought the bridge for £300, for charity explain me how did he got so rich and how was he so cheap to only donate £300 of something that should worth more in steel!
THOMF1S (@thomf1s)
18th September 2012, 8:15
because it was an auction?
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
18th September 2012, 8:41
Chris Evans is a multi-millionaire. He made it big about 20 years ago.
Alan (@dogmop)
18th September 2012, 9:25
He used to own and then sold Virgin Radio (and his own entertainment company) for millions.
The £300 bid was the only bid for the bridge in the auction supposedly. (No one else wants to own a bridge?)
matt90 (@matt90)
18th September 2012, 10:22
Bridges aren’t the most practical thing to own I guess. Even considering that though, I’m amazed the bidding did’t start much higher than that.
JCost (@jcost)
18th September 2012, 7:49
On COTD:
All I know about Lewis Hamilton is what the press serves to me, sure I look at who’s serving the plate but from my reading I think Hamilton values more sports success than stardom. Maybe money would be playing a part but I don’t see Hamilton going to Mercedes unless he has strong guarantees that they have enough means to build a winning car ASAP, it could to materialize but to get him signed they will have to show him what they got.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
18th September 2012, 9:44
You don’t think they’ve already done that?
It would have been the first thing they had to pitch to him.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 10:48
Perhaps they are pitching that Mercedes wont come on live TV while the race is on and be blaming Hamilton for anything that goes wrong, like has been happening a lot at Mclaren.
Greater respect for a driver would be reason enough to move.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th September 2012, 11:16
And when have McLaren done that?
OOliver
18th September 2012, 14:19
Well how about at Spa, where the race was on going and Paddy Lowe I believe was answering interviews, and said Hamilton chose not to use the wing. While that may indeed be correct, it may also be misleading as he didn’t say what information influenced that decision, secondly it also drives viewers opinion against Hamilton. It is not the first time either he or Withmarsh has done that.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th September 2012, 14:43
You said McLaren “blame Hamilton for anything that goes wrong… a lot”. And to justify that you offer one vague example, without a quote, of something someone may have said on one occasion which might have been misleading.
I’m not convinced.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 15:01
That Keith, is a matter of choice.
I have my opinions and I am okay with that.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
18th September 2012, 15:22
Just so long as we’re all clear your opinions aren’t based on any facts.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 18:52
Do you watch the Sky live feed or the BBC live feed?
JCost (@jcost)
18th September 2012, 12:09
I’ve more journalists pointing fingers to Lewis than McLaren. I think McLaren F1 team has been very correct with Hamilton, at least before the press.
JCost (@jcost)
18th September 2012, 12:19
I’m sure they’ve done that. What I’m not sure is whether or not they’ve been successful at convincing Hamilton Mercedes will built a car he can win a championship soon. Ross Brawn says every 5 seconds that manufacturers will be strong come 2014 but I’m afraid it’s not enough, certainly Mercedes past seasons record is appalling compared to McLaren’s, as we both know in absence of tools to properly foresee the future men tend to support their prediction on recent past, we do it pretty often in economics but as we both know (economics) predictions are half science half art…
JCost (@jcost)
18th September 2012, 12:21
@prisoner-monkeys
JP (@jp1987)
18th September 2012, 11:14
Does anyone has any idea who is Sergio’s manager? Because his dad tweeted 13 hours ago something around the lines of “Its ready, contract signed. Congratulations for Mexico and the Mexicans. Tomorrow we will talk about it” Maybe it can be something else, but I thought I would bring your attention to it.
JCost (@jcost)
18th September 2012, 14:34
That’s juicy @jp1987.
I’ll put my Spanish on and browse some Mexican newspapers, I don’t want to wait, I’m journalist-generated-speculation hungry. (’cause journalists can write a book based on a single tweet)
JP (@jp1987)
18th September 2012, 14:51
I know it is largely speculative. But the fact that he said “congratulations to Mexico and the Mexicans” does make me raise my eyebrow. I am sure there are different type of contracts he can be involved with, but hardly anything that would be big news for Mexico and Mexicans. We will see in the next days I guess :D
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
18th September 2012, 12:21
Something that wasn’t shown on the world-feed & wasn’t in the Monza highlights video is the OnBoard from Vettel’s car from when Alonso got onto the grass.
This was shown on the OnBoard channel & something this shows is that Vettel is clearly looking in his mirror & clearly makes a a couple small steering inputs to the left just as Alonso gets alongside.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtopku_vettel
StefMeister (@stefmeister)
18th September 2012, 12:24
To compare his line/steering inputs on that lap to his other laps:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xtopnu_vettel-onboard-curva-grande-monza-2012_auto
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 13:11
That really shows Vettel did know Alonso was there and knowingly left him less room than he should have, although he probably thought he was leaving barely enough.
OOliver
18th September 2012, 14:22
Vettel knew very well what he planned to do. Block the inside line by almost coming to a standstill, they block the outer line afterwards.
Himmat Singh.
18th September 2012, 13:03
Nice bit of marketing for alonso there :)
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 13:13
I like the arty first 20 seconds of the race edit. The rest is just way too short, as they have all been this year.
John H (@john-h)
18th September 2012, 13:38
I see Jake Humphrey has jumped shipped now. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19635534
Good on him, I probably wouldn’t hang around. It’s a shame though for us BBC F1 viewers!
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th September 2012, 13:42
@john-h Change is good and best of luck to him, I just hope it isn’t a flop! I switched to Sky coverage this year and to be honest, it did highlight just how much Jake’s presenting did annoy me at times. He’s a little cheesy!
JimmyTheIllustratedBlindSolidSilverBeachStackapopolis III
18th September 2012, 23:55
TV people are so two faced. I’m sure alot will disagree with me but i was under the impression jake did it because he liked it not just because it was an available job and he had bills needing paying. Guess the only reason he didn’t go to sky was that he was under contract already or simply didn’t want to risk getting chucked off the olympics. (insert sad face)
Eleanore (@leucocrystal)
19th September 2012, 2:13
He’s also about to have his first child, so I imagine the constant travel is no longer such an attractive option. Is Martin Brundle two-faced as well, by your estimation?
JimmyTheIllustratedBlindSolidSilverBeachStackapopolis III
19th September 2012, 7:31
What does it matter to you? you obviously don’t agree.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
18th September 2012, 13:40
That’s a good interview with Wolff. He seems to have a real passion for the sport and he knows that he has still plenty to learn, as I guess most do in F1. The worst thing they could have is some know-it-all who doesn’t know anything.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
18th September 2012, 13:58
I doubt the concept Ferrari being talked about there will ever come to fruition, however it is definitely a good indicator for the future. We already have Audi, Porsche, and Toyota competing, with involvement from Lotus in both P1 and P2. The change in regulations from 2014 throws it all wide open in terms of participation. You’ll have at least two VAG marques building engines (I’m assuming Porsche have no intention of running TDi), plus Toyota and Mazda (Skyactiv based diesel hybrids for P2), and one can probably assume that Nissan will continue to participate. Add in the potential for Ferrari, Mercedes, and Renault to all put their engine technologies into the fray at the sharp end too, and you have to say we could be looking at a new golden age of sportscar racing. Imagine a grid made up of Audi, Porsche, Toyota, Lotus, Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault, and Nissan, all fighting it out in LMP1. If that doesn’t get your pulse racing then you better call an ambulance because you’re clearly dead..
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 14:01
It certainly looks this could be very exiting.
Although those sketches of the Ferrari do not look anywhere near close to a real prototype, but it would be really good if they supported someone in building a car.
MazdaChris (@mazdachris)
18th September 2012, 14:08
I could certainly see them marrying a stock chassis to a Ferrari powertrain and then giving it a tweaked aero package. It was quite a good solution for Aston Martin with their Lola Coupe. Unfortunately I think you need to an an F1-style approach to development and refinement in order to compete properly, so it’s likely that only those teams with full factory backing are likely to fight for wins. But it is a good feeler for the likes of Ferrari to measure the effects of brand exposure in prototype racing.
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 14:22
I would imagine it would have to start out with putting the engine in an existing package like the Lola or something.
But with a bit of Ferrari support it could well have a good shot at solid results that could lead Ferrari to start officially backing a team in the future. Certainly it could be a valuable test bed for the 2014 engines
BasCB (@bascb)
18th September 2012, 14:34
Not sure where this comment from @coefficient dissapeared to, but this looks really nice, even if the real version would end up being more rounded and higher
The Limit
18th September 2012, 13:59
Interesting comments from Toto Wolff and Williams, but not exactly unexpected. What really has angered me about Pastor Maldonado is that he has had several incidents in which they were clearly intentional on his part, yet he has never been banned in F1. Yet, as we all know, the FIA were quick to ban Roman Grosjean and its the unbalanced application of these penalties that annoys me.
If the FIA really are serious about safety, then Maldonado’s move against Perez in Monaco should have resulted in a ban. It was intentional, just as Pastor’s coming together in Spa last year was with Hamilton. Mr Wolff’s comments for me are as close as an admission of Maldonado’s guilt as we are likely to get. Personally, I don’t like Pastor Maldonado. Yes, he is obviously talented, but having all that money behind him obviously makes him believe that he can do what he wants and that the rules do not apply to him.
Mr Wolff’s comments come across also as if the team is trying to make excuses for Pastor, trying to justify having him at Williams despite winning the Spanish Grands Prix earlier this year. Naturally, the real justification for Williams is the millions of dollars worth of South American oil money Maldonado brings with him. Its almost as if Williams are admitting that they will except this bad behaviour as long as they get that financial backing and in truth, who could blame them!
Dizzy
18th September 2012, 16:04
As martin brundle said on the sky broadcast at monza, the stewards took the seriousness of the outcomes of each accident into account.
The outcome of Grosjean’s accident was a lot more serious than the outcome in any of Pastor’s previous incidents.
His collisions with Hamilton at Spa last year & Perez at Monaco this year resulted in no real damage to either car & caused no larger problems. Grosjean’s move at Spa this year resulted in cars flying through the air & in his car flying past Alonso’s head in an incident that could easily have led to Alonso suffering serious, if not fatal injuries.
James Kear (@unionjak)
18th September 2012, 15:35
“From one stupid, heated incident in Monaco…”
scribbler (@scribbler)
18th September 2012, 16:20
@keithcollantine , Sorry its a bit off topic but have you heard how the incoming Director General of the BBC has sacked the Woman responsible for halving the BBC’s live coverage of F1? or should i say responsible for the messing up the bbc’s excellent coverage format debacle.
JimmyTheIllustratedBlindSolidSilverBeachStackapopolis III
18th September 2012, 23:51
Great news though to late i fear, f1 is lost to ppv even with skys dismal ratings.
Kany (@kani)
19th September 2012, 8:13
Re: Maldonado will learn from mistakes:
That’s a tired old song!
The first thing Maldonado has to learn is that they are mistakes in the first place!
Last time I heard him blurt out, “I’ll never change my style” and in the next race, he was being given his 7th penalty!