In the round-up: Red Bull hit a revenue record in 2011 as they won the constructors’ championship for the second time.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Revenue record for Formula 1 championship-winning team Red Bull Racing (This Is Money)
“Energy drinks manufacturer Red Bull gave its championship-winning Formula 1 team a £3.5m marketing boost last year, driving its revenue to a record £108.5m, according to Christian Horner, the boss of the racing outfit.”
Rosberg: Mercedes progress ‘massive’ (Autosport)
“If you would walk through the factory today, you would see a massive improvement compared to three years ago.”
Austin’s F1 race also financial boon for San Antonio (Austin-American Statesman)
[Local limousine and charter service George] Mery said that, because race traffic was handled so smoothly this year, there’s no reason why Circuit of the Americas couldn’t accommodate more fans next year.”
Tweets
Still looking for a present for an #F1 fan? Our exhaustive gift gude is here to help:http://t.co/xuit263o
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) December 22, 2012
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Mantresx picked up on an interesting claim form Ferrari yesterday’s round-up:
From the Ferrari article:
“By the time he had signed for McLaren, Mexico’s Sergio Perez had already left the Academy.”
I don’t believe that, at the time it was never mentioned he had “left” the Academy before signing and actually I remember Baldisserri saying that he was too aggressive, blah blah blah, so he must’ve been involved one way or another at the time.
Mantresx
From the forum
- What’s it like watching F1 in Australia?
- @Olliekart is doing a series of video track guides for Codemasters’ F1 2012
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to BasCB and Olliekart!
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 F1 driver Bertrand Gachot who is 50 today.
Image © Red Bull/Getty images
notTheStig (@iamnotthestig)
23rd December 2012, 0:11
Most of what Rosberg said is the same stuff we’ve been hearing for the past three years. Just change “2012” to 2011 or 2010. -.-
Nick (@npf1)
23rd December 2012, 0:33
Obviously last race/season didn’t bring the results we hoped, but the next race/season should suit us a lot better.
notTheStig (@iamnotthestig)
23rd December 2012, 2:52
Exactly :P
nackavich (@nackavich)
23rd December 2012, 3:08
Something something “maximum..”, something something “potential..”, something something “for sure..”
Brace (@brace)
23rd December 2012, 0:33
Mercedes seems to be Massa of F1 teams, at least both of them in the last 3 years.
F1Yankee (@f1yankee)
23rd December 2012, 1:04
as short as it is, i found that This is Money article very difficult to understand. is it poorly structured, or just very specialized?
@HoHum (@hohum)
23rd December 2012, 18:45
@f1yankee, me too, I was expecting some insight into the prize money division for this year but all I learned was that they got GBP55 million for 2011, the rest was like the old 3 shell trick where everything is shuffled around so many times you have no idea where the “pea” is.
Thinking about the 55mill.as the top prize earner, and considering how much money has to be spent just to be in with a chance of winning it doesn’t appear to be a very good business plan.
Drop Valencia!
23rd December 2012, 22:26
Red Bull tec is not there to make a profit directly (much like starbucks, who want to pay UK company tax) but the market exposure of Red Bull over the last few years equates to Billions in sales for RB inc., at a very high profit margin.
@HoHum (@hohum)
24th December 2012, 16:20
Understood about RBR being both owner and sponsor, what about the rest?
Please jump in and say Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren are selling cars as team-owner/sponsor, F1 fans need the reality check.
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd December 2012, 3:08
COTA has apparently been forced to cancel all of their planned track days for 2013, except for those paid for in advance. It doesn’t affect the likes of the Grand Prix, V8 Supercars, MotoGP, or ALMS and so on – only the track meetings – but no explanation has been given beyond this. Nobody seems to know exactly why the circuit has cancelled those track days, but a little bit of reading between the lines of Loignon’s comments in that press release suggests to me that they’re having problems with insurance. I’m guessing that there has been a lot more demand than expected, and their insurers aren’t happy with the size of some of the planned events.
Spinmastermic (@spinmastermic)
23rd December 2012, 3:19
So no public track days?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd December 2012, 3:27
No, no public track days. At least not in 2013. It looks like COTA are only taking organised events from car clubs – and even then, only four of them because for of them paid in advance – with the maximum number of people in attendance limited to a number agreed upon in advance. That may change to allow more (or less) if it is some kind of legal or insurance issue that has prompted this move. As to what might happen in 2014, I cannot say.
Spinmastermic (@spinmastermic)
23rd December 2012, 3:50
What a waste of a great track. Tracks are there to be driven on. I can’t wait to drive Spa next year after hitting the Nurburgring
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
23rd December 2012, 4:59
It’s only temporary – and you can hardly blame COTA for it if their insurer is unhappy with the situation.
It could be worse. This could be the result of neighbours going through the courts to limit the amount of days the circuit can be used. If it’s a problem with the insurer, it can be solved. If it was a legal problem brought about by unhappy residents, then there is little that could be done.
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd December 2012, 10:27
Exactly @prisoner-monkeys, when I first heard about it I also feared a NIMBY problem. An insurance company can be convinced it does make business sense, neighbours’ emotions can’t be reasoned with.
Fisha695 (@fisha695)
23rd December 2012, 7:54
The way I read an article on Autoweek (I think that’s what site it was) it sounded as if it wasn’t “only 4 track-day events for 2013” but more along the lines of “we’ve had to cancel 4 track-days events for 2013”.
codesurge (@codesurge)
23rd December 2012, 20:07
After the public backlash, COTA has since reinstated the four track day events that they initially wanted to cancel.
mantresx
23rd December 2012, 3:11
Yes first COTD!!! now I have one more reason to finally register on F1F hehe
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd December 2012, 11:07
Congratulations with the COTD. And It is a good reason to register indeed :-)
Brace (@brace)
23rd December 2012, 4:23
I’m sure Red Bull also hit record spending.
IDR (@idr)
23rd December 2012, 8:22
happy birthday BasCB!!!! and happy birthday also to Olliekart… and Merry Christmas to all F1F fans!
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd December 2012, 11:06
Thanks @IDR, currently its even possible we might have a white christmas over here. Snow is falling (but its said to hit up to 12 degrees again tomorrow, so probably it won’t last!)
JimmyTheIllustratedTinsleCoveredMincePieEatingSantapopolis III
23rd December 2012, 14:49
Happy birthday Bas and Ollie and a merry christmas to you and you’re loved ones!
verstappen (@verstappen)
23rd December 2012, 9:50
@bascb gefeliciteerd en fijne verjaardag – congratulations and have a nice birthday!
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd December 2012, 11:05
Bedankt @verstappen!
BasCB (@bascb)
23rd December 2012, 11:08
A happy birthday to @Olliekart and @bosyber too!
CROWSPITE
23rd December 2012, 11:31
Is there any news when ForceIndia will announce there second driver. Dont they normally confirm their drivers at their Christmas party? Surely they have had that by now?