No more compromises for New Jersey – Ecclestone

F1 Fanatic Round-up

Posted on

| Written by

In the round-up: The organisers of the planned grand prix in New Jersey say construction work at the track is proceeding.

Links

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

Ecclestone: We’ve compromised enough on New Jersey (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“Asked if he really wanted the race to happen, he said: ‘Yes, of course. We’ve been mucking around and waiting long enough. We’ve compromised enough. We sent them 10 million to pay some of their debts, and keep the doors open, so we’re a little bit serious.'”

Bernie who? WNY mayor says Grand Prix of America still on for 2014 (NJ)

West New York Mayor Felix Roque: “As far as we are concerned, the race is still on. (Construction crews) are working diligently on Boulevard East, getting curbs and sidewalks done… They are out there today.”

Interview with New Jersey chief (GP Update)

Race organiser Leo Hindery Jnr: “I think if we’d have had this conversation a couple of months ago I would have suggested that we hadn’t yet made permanent the paddock and pits. But that’s now substantially along and about two thirds of that construction is behind us.”

My F1 future is at McLaren – Button (BBC)

“That was very unfair of me [to point out his contract for 2014 hadn’t been signed yet], but I was just stating a fact. I’ll be here for my future in Formula 1.”

Jenson Button: Fernando Alonso the best man to catch Sebastian Vettel (The Guardian)

“I think Fernando’s the one to look at to challenge Sebastian. He seems happy with the car and they’re making progress.”

Red Bull: Webber issues inexcusable (Autosport)

Christian Horner: “We could see on the formation lap that the clutch did not appear to be performing as it should. Adjustments were made on the formation lap but the clutch has not delivered as it should have done at the start.”

Lloyds-Backed Firm In Silverstone Deal Talks (Sky)

“LDC, which owns shareholdings in some of the UK’s best-known companies, is in advanced negotiations about a deal, which is expected to be announced within weeks.”

The author of this story had a terse exchange of views about the origins of this article with another journalist on Twitter.

Team Podcast: Belgian Grand Prix (Red Bull)

Mark Webber said his difficulty overtaking during the Belgian Grand Prix was because the car was set up to hit maximum rpm in top gear in clean air.

I have the pace to stay – Massa (ESPN)

“The pace today was positive and I think I showed that I have the pace. If we do everything right in the race, I’m sure we can be competitive at every race.”

Good finish to a tough weekend – Daniel’s blog (Toro Rosso)

Daniel Ricciardo: “The team put together a good plan for the race. The intention was always to stop twice but going long on the first stint with the hard tyre gave us the flexibility to switch to a one-stop race if that looked like the right call. But once we put on the new Medium tyre we knew it gave us quite a lot, so we pushed hard, stopped for another new set, and were able to pass enough people to break into the top ten by the chequered flag.”

‘Sad to miss Indian GP’ (Deccan Herald)

Sauber team principal Monisha Kaltenborn: “In only two years, India had established itself as a great event with a lot of interest by the Indian people. I truly hope that a solution can be found for the future”

Finding the balance (Sky)

“At Spa the speed trap showed Red Bull was fastest onto the Kemmel straight and seventh fastest by the end of it. That combination may well have got the Red Bull down the straight in less time than any other car. Essentially, it was retaining more downforce – enabling it to be very quick through the twists of sector two – at not too costly a price in drag.”

Rush: Ron Howard’s take on the 1976 F1 Hunt v Lauda showdown (The Telegraph)

Screenwriter Peter Morgan: “If you were to tell the darker story of James Hunt – and there is a darker story to be told about James – it wouldn’t be the ’76 season. It would be what happened in the aftermath of that. I hope we indicate such a thing exists without labouring it.”

Notes from Spa (MotorSport)

Adrian Sutil is a total petrolhead. "You know the best sound in the world?" he asked me. "V12", he replied before I could speak. He owns an eight cylinder Ferrari F40 and would very much like to race at Goodwood.”

Q&A with McLaren Young Driver: Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren)

“At the end of 2012, when I won the Formula Renault 2.0 championship, [sporting director] Sam [Michael] called me and asked me if I wanted to join the McLaren Young Driver Programme. I said yes, of course, and I’ve now met Martin Whitmarsh quite a few times too.”

Tweets

Comment of the day

@Journeyer on Martin Whitmarsh’s claim Kimi Raikkonen is trying to leave Lotus:

I see this more as a thinly veiled message for Jenson Button, who tried to cause mischief with his comments about not having a McLaren contract for 2014 yet.

That said, Jenson has already stated a firmer verbal commitment to staying with McLaren, so this message may well have already achieved its purpose.
@Journeyer

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Malibu_Gp!

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

Victory in the Belgian Grand Prix 25 years ago today was Ayrton Senna’s seventh in eleven starts and allowed him to wrest the championship lead off team mate Alain Prost.

The pair finished one-two for McLaren for the eighth time that year, albeit separated by half a minute. Ivan Capelli gave March their first podium finish since Ronnie Peterson won the 1976 Italian Grand Prix, but he was 75 seconds behind Senna.

From second on the grid Prost beat pole sitter Senna to turn one but as this video shows it didn’t stay that way for long:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEZj-fbPPus

Images © Red Bull/Getty, Daimler/Hoch Zwei

Author information

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...

Got a potential story, tip or enquiry? Find out more about RaceFans and contact us here.

76 comments on “No more compromises for New Jersey – Ecclestone”

  1. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    28th August 2013, 0:23

    Re: Jenson: “I think Fernando’s the one to look at to challenge Sebastian. He seems happy with the car and they’re making progress.”

    It’s amazing how quickly fortunes change in Formula 1. At the previous race to Spa, every report about Ferrari was that Fernando was not happy, the car was terrible, and Luca issued knives to his employees.

    Now, Fernando looks on form again (not sure if he ever wasn’t, but the car could have disguised that), and looks like a strong competitor to Vettel. The Ferrari looked like it handled very well, and Luca hasn’t made any outrageous statements to the media… Yet.

    But when this circus ends up in Brazil, I still think there will be 4 men jostling for the championship (VET, ALO, HAM & RAI). It’s very easy to get caught up in the moment with the ebbs and flows of Formula 1’s Lady Luck.

    It’s also no surprise to me that Vettel looks to be well on track for title #4 because himself and red bull are the ones with the least variance in form, barring technical failure. If Vettel isn’t running away with the victory, then he’s usually there or thereabouts to score some solid points.

    1. More like 3 people jostling to be runner-up methinks.

    2. Alonso has always been the main contender to Vettel, he’s got the second more consistent car on the grid (considering Mercedes is hit or miss and Lotus needs a big yellow hot sun). However, Vettel and RBR are way more consistent, having finished no lower than 4th so far.

      1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
        28th August 2013, 3:18

        @austus but don’t you think it’s a polite way to forget about Hamilton? Of course the Ferrari is a more balanced car now than a couple of races ago., but Mercedes are serious contenders to be set aside so soon.
        That also gives me the opportunity to cemment something. I was checking the season stats and Ferrari got more points then Mercedes only in 2 races. Can the reason be Massa? No, of course not…
        Massa had the unlucky tyre gamble in Silverstone, but so did Lewis, so Massa is really weakening Ferrari from the inside. And with more money from the F1 prize (if they climb to second I mean) Ferrari could finally get the car Alonso needs. I know Ferrari can keep injecting money, but I don’t know when was the moment they forgot the pride to be Constructor Champions… probably in 2008 when they won it but they lost the WDC.

        1. And what exactly is wrong with forgetting Hamilton?

          That’s what annoys me about a lot of F1 fans – no matter what happens they always think that Hamilton should be included in any WDC talks regardless of the fact that he has finished no higher in the WDC than 4th since 2008!!!

          And another thing I’d like to point out is that Alonso is NOT always Vettel biggest challenger. Correct me if I’m wrong, but only the season before last, Button came 2nd in the WDC to Vettel, beating Alonso and Hamilton along the way. Yes, this year is over thanks to the disaster that is the MP4-28, but that’s not the point.

          When are people going to realize that Hamilton isn’t all that? There are only 3 drivers who have finished either 1st or 2nd in the WDC in that last 4 years – Vettel, Alonso and Button.

          I mean seriously, how many more years have to go by with Hamilton finishing 4th or 5th before people stop sprouting the same old garbage about him being the best in F1? Quite clearly – HE ISN’T!!!

        2. I’m sorry if I sounded unfair or something, but I never saw Hamilton as a big contender against Vettel. He was new in Mercedes, he’d never been in a F1 team other than McLaren before. In the first half of the season Mercedes had many problems with the car (and tyres), and still manage to get poles, but they drop back a lot during the races. The team is a real contender to RBR, but I dont think Hamilton could win the WDC (despite what he said after Hungary).

    3. Was just thinking the same. Everyone seems to jump on the last race as show of form but it changes at every event.

    4. @tophercheese21

      Indeed. Somehow, I think Alonso will win at Monza and more people will jump into Ferrari-Alonso bandwagon like people did when Lewis remarkably won in “hell-hot” track in Hungary. I’m also expecting to see a Mercedes 1-2 in Singapore and maybe another round of enthusiam around Mercedes :)

  2. At last we have acknowledgement that Webbers bad starts are not all down him.
    And more questions about next yearstyres will Michelins be as comfortable to sit on?

    1. It would have been great if they had started solving those issues 3 years ago though @hohum!

      As for the tyres – its possible McLaren would stay with the Pirellis, I understand Michelin returning would likely mean tyre competition making a comeback

      1. Pirelli have always been strongly against a tyre war. Even if Michelin and Pirelli were both allowed to supply tyres, I’d bet that Pirelli would withdraw immediately.

    2. This is the first time I’ve read anything where RBR actually admitted that it’s their faulty equipment caused that bad start in Austrailia, not the McLaren ECU.

  3. Nicely put by Mark Hughes, I thought. Combined with the observation that Lewis Hamilton was slow out of La Source (elsewhere in the Motor Sport article by Andrew Frankel) it may explain how Vettel was able to blast past Hamilton on lap 1.

    1. Hamilton made a mistake on lap 1, he went wide at Eau Rouge and totally cut Raidillon, meanwhile Seb took it correctly and thus passed Hamilton so easily

      1. Not sure it was really a mistake. The Mercedes was always a bit slower through there. On top of that, Vettel used KERS much less than usual at the start, and saved it for the run down to Eau Rouge.

  4. Daniel (@collettdumbletonhall)
    28th August 2013, 1:38

    I wonder what they mean about the darker side to James Hunt after the ’76 season? I’ve only ever heard about the playboy side.

    1. Abdurahman (@)
      28th August 2013, 8:18

      It’s called savage alcoholism.

    2. Playboys yearn for love and affection, usually because they didn’t receive it growing up. So they set about scouring the planet looking for that one person that will fulfil this intense desire your real affection, of course they don’t find this elusive person because she doesn’t exist – the only person that can truly make you happy indefinitely is yourself. So upon realising this, most playboys then turn to drink, not to fill the gaping hole in their heart but to forget that the hole exists.

      Anyways, let’s talk about racing cars…I love cars…especially racing ones.

      1. Abdurahman (@)
        29th August 2013, 10:14

        @hellotraverse

        Very eloquent.

  5. I know Jenson is a pretty good driver but being in the Autumn of his career spreads a shadow over the team. And Perez ain’t helping that’s for sure.

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      28th August 2013, 2:15

      But Perez will learn, for sure. I see him as a better prospect than a Grosjean or a Vergne. Perez is still being caught and given penalties, but when the team “twisted his ear” his reaction was soon and great. He looks aggressive (sometimes so much) and goes for it no matter who he is battling with.
      About Button, you say he is in the autumn, but the same was said about him when he got his championship. He was not a scared chicken against Lewis, he has learned to be a good driver after all. The 2013 car is a piece of… but he is still delivering consistently. And the team can have that pair for a couple of seasons, and of course, if both of them are a waste, they will get someone else. They are McLaren so they can struggle one year and then surge again. Remember how bad his car was in 2002, just winning a race? They got a near miss in 2007 and a champiion in 2008, so they will be fine… eventually.

      1. @omarr-pepper You’re absolutely right about Button and Perez, and I would like to agree with you about McLaren, but something about this season is causing me some doubt.

        Last year they had the best car but could not capitalize and this year the car is certainly a piece of… What I can’t figure out is why the car is so bad. Doesn’t it seem odd that McLaren has taken such a big step backwards while the regulations remained consistent?

        1. From what I can recall, McLaren have two main design teams that alternate year to year, so this is the same car designed by those that made the 2011 car.
          Further to this McLaren talked about taking the 2013 car in a new direction with a higher development ceiling, stating that they had to go for a completely new design this year as they’d brought the 2012 car to its maximum, and couldn’t make it go any faster.

          I’d take all that with a pinch of salt, but I’m no aerodynamicist so maybe they’re telling the truth! Either way it’s a troubled car, but even the best teams seem to do have an off year from time to time.

          1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
            28th August 2013, 3:25

            @colossal-squid can anybody remind me what happened to the
            “Enstone team” after 2 championships in 2005 and 2006? And please don’t just say “they lost Fernando”, I mean, the next car lost all the potential to be a race winner.

          2. @colossal-squid Thanks for the explanation. I remember reading about that earlier in the season but it had slipped my mind.

            Something about this is still a bit odd… I still can’t make out why McLaren saw fit to have a complete rethink when they had the fastest car in 2012 and knew that a complete redesign was in order for 2014. Why not just trot out the 2012 car, development ceiling or not, and focus all 2013 resources on 2014? What did they have to gain this season by redesigning the car?

            I think the problems with McLaren are a bit more serious than one bad season. While @omarr-pepper is right, McLaren’s will eventually bounce back, I think it might be a while… 2015, at the earliest, with some help from Honda.

          3. @omarr-pepper Renault won the 2005 and 2006 championships but by the end of each of those seasons they didn’t have the fastest car. By the end of ’05 McLaren was much quicker, and by the last race of 2006 Ferrari and arguably Honda were ahead of them. After that it was pretty much a reversion to the mean – a team that could sometimes compete at the front but was mostly outcompeted by bigger and better-resourced teams.

            Alonso would probably have got a few podiums out of the ’07 Renault, at least.

          4. @omarr-pepper There were many reasons for the downfall of Renault in 2007 but I think that switching from Michelin tyres to Bridgestone hurt them most, they somehow couldn’t adapt to the new rubber.

          5. @pandaslap I think McLaren would have been really successful in the first few races this season with an updated 2012 car, possibly even snatched a few wins. But if what they said is true then they would have run out of updates quickly and found themselves in the midfield like they are now. I guess they took a gamble and it didn’t pay off. I’d say McLaren with hindsight would do that and at least nab a few wins before fading away.

            I agree that I don’t see McLaren challenging for titles again until their Honda partnership takes off.

            @omarr-pepper I think both @girts and @red-andy summarised well the factors that went against Renault since ’06.

            A 2007 F1 yearbook that I have states in its review of Renault’s season that “the problem was eventually traced to wrong aerodynamic data, most of it relating to the front of the car, which is exactly where more downforce was needed to make the bridgestone work properly”. It goes on to highlight how under-funded the team was compared to Ferrari and McLaren.

  6. Ferrari really need to buck up. Yes, the performance on Sunday was good, but it wasnt good enough as the manner of Vettel’s victory was almost damning. He was lapping almost a second faster with relative ease.

    Will it be any different in Monza? I hope not, but its hard to see anybody beating Vettel…I hope I am proved wrong.

    If Fernando is to challenge Vettel, he needs to go on a winning streak, which looks very unlikely at this point.

    I guess my streak where no driver I have supported has won the WDC is set to go on…

    1. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      28th August 2013, 3:22

      I read a comment in an Italian website where Alonso is quoted to say that he really needs some bad luck strikes Vettel to have a chance. I guess he is running out of wise ancient eastern words.
      (That or the Italian newspaper is quoting just what they want to hear from Fernando)

      1. He made the comment to the Spanish media, pretty tasteless uf you ask me.

        1. He is just being realistic if you ask me…

        2. I also agree that he’s being realistic, it’s not as if he’s wishing for Seb to have bad luck, at least not publicly :P

          1. @omarr-pepper I don’t know,I feel I should withdraw my statement after reading the exact quote

          2. It’s funny that we always come back to Grosjean taking out Alonso at Spa and never talk about Alonso taking himself out in Suzuka where Massa finished 2nd.

          3. dont think he took himself out. It was 50/50

          4. @omarr-pepper Do you have a link to the orginal source/s?

          5. @KeithCollantine As I understand, the website refers to this source: http://www.totalrace.com.br/site/noticia/2013/08/alonso-quer-vencer-4-seguidas-e-que-alguem-atropele-vettel

            I don’t know how reliable this source is.

            As I understand, Alonso doesn’t directly say that he wants someone to take Vettel out, it’s rather like “It’s happened to me before, why couldn’t it happen to Vettel? And, if it happens, I might become a serious title contender again.”

          6. @keithcollantine
            I have found this article: http://www.f1passion.it/2013/08/f1-alonso-pensa-al-2012-e-ci-riprova-con-le-macumbe-verso-vettel/

            I don’t know if this website is reliable. I think it might be, some of my friends use it.

          7. @keithcollantine Here is the video, is in spanish.

            He talks about how he was winning the WDC after Monza. He said that they, Ferrari, are working to win 4 or 5 races next. And that he need s taht in a start someone take Vettel out of the race, or that Vettel car fail. He said that they need help to win the title and if that it was happened last year to them why wouldnt happened to Sebastian

            http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeyNhVpOUEo&feature=player_embedded

          8. @girts @yobo01 @celeste Thanks for the links guys I’ll have a rummage through it all.

        3. @celeste agreed – just race Fernando! It’s worked well for Vettel!

          1. @Vettel1

            By looking at the pecking order it looks highly unlikely that Vettel will lose his lead unless something dramatic happens ( like a couple of DNFs)… and I am sure Alonso will race as hard as he can in the coming races though that alone may not be enough… I for sure would nt be complaining if Vettel had a couple of DNfs :)

          2. @puneethvb well I’m sorry but I think it’s the height of unsportsmanship to want your opponent to crash. There’s no other way of looking at it IMO.

          3. @vettel1 +1… talk about a Samurai!

          4. @Vettel1 & @celeste

            I guess you are missing the point completely… the only way Alonso would catch Vettel is if vettel were to have a couple of DNFs ,atleast it appears that way at the moment.. and TBH what Alonso said is that things would change if he goes onto win a few races and it would help if Vettel were to crash out ( I firmly believe he was just trying to point out that WDC is still not lost) …. if you look at it objectively what he said makes sense… since it was Alonso who made the comment it became political and mind games and unsportsmanlike in your opinion( which I respect but completely disagree)

            and for my statement I stand by what I said…. I would nt be exactly crying if Vettel dint finish the next race… and I don’t think any of the Vettel fans were crying last year when Alonso crashed out in Spa and Suzuka…

          5. @puneethvb well I’m sorry but I flatly get the impression that he is actively hoping for a Vettel retirement to bring him back in contention. I’ve never heard Vettel say anything of the sort!

          6. OmarR-Pepper (@)
            28th August 2013, 23:18

            @puneethvb @vettel1 IMHO, Alonso sounds as if he wants Briatore to design the race strategy for Massa, sort of a Singapore08-like thing :P

          7. @puneethvb If you speak spanish I recomend you watch the video… what Alonso means is very clear, and IMHO not something I want any driver saying

            @omarr-pepper LMAO

          8. I don’t like Alonso’s personality but I think he is stating the obvious. It was mentioned a few weeks before when Hamilton won and it looked like Mercedes are on a run and with the Red Bull’s good form that may be the only way for the rest to catch up Vettel. After all it’s happened before. These things are not rare and is always a part of the plan for the chasers and the defenders. I’m sure last year Vettel had similar wishes at middle of the year.

          9. @debeluhi if it’s so obvious why state it then though, if it’s only going to make you look sadistic and do no favours for your public image?

  7. I think the overall “whatever” tone of the comments on that NJ.com article are pretty illuminating, although I know it’s never a good idea to take anonymous internet commenters seriously (he says, ironically).

    FOM and Ecclestone have conducted business for the last decade in a Messiah-like fashion; annointing races to those righteous nations that are “lucky” enough to have near bottomless finances.

    The implicit F1 business model has been that any one country/city is far less important to F1 than F1 is to that country/city. For every Bahrain, Valencia, Turkey or even Britain there is a Russia, Mexico or Thailand ready and eager to take its place. And the F1 juggernaut will inexorably rumble on regardless.

    I’ve no doubt there are economic benefits for any country or region hosting F1, but Bernie has to realise that in some cases F1 has much more to gain than whichever host city he is trying to extort. Sheikhs and Oil barons won’t roll out the red carpet and open their wallets everytime he dangles a shiny new race in front of them, sometimes he will need to swallow his pride and really get his hands dirty.

    New Jersey I sense doesn’t particularly care about F1, and F1 certainly has more to gain from a race there than just another perverse pay-to-host race fee.

    1. Couldn’t agree more. And as an American F1 fan, this makes me feel quite disheartened, as I really don’t expect Bernie’s attitude about it all to change. If he’s serious about F1 having a solid presence in America that actually has any hope of lasting, he has to accept that (a) it’s an absolutely massive country, and (b) it needs to be courted smartly, or the majority just won’t care.

  8. Happy birthday @Malibu_Gp!

    1. @bascb You’re always the first to wish happy birthday…kudos to you.
      Oh yeah, I checked myself (by your recommendation) but unfortunately it’s too late, I’ve already wrecked myself!!

      1. oh, well @hellotraverse – at least it can’t get worst now :-P

    2. Thank You very much @bascb!

  9. Felix Roque: “As far as we are concerned, the race is still on. (Construction crews) are working diligently on Boulevard East, getting curbs and sidewalks done… They are out there today.”

    Leo Hindery Jnr: “I think if we’d have had this conversation a couple of months ago I would have suggested that we hadn’t yet made permanent the paddock and pits. But that’s now substantially along and about two thirds of that construction is behind us.”

    Has anyone shown them what happened to Donington?

    1. @splittimes – I think you’ll find that Donington was the collateral damage in the negotiations between Bernie and the BRDC. The BRDC assumed that they would always have the British Grand Prix. Bernie wanted to keep the race at Silverstone, but he also wanted to send a very clear message to the BRDC that he was the one in control, and went to Donington to prove it.

      But here, Bernie isn’t trying to make a point like that. He wants a race in or near New York and has been trying to get one since the 1980s. There is no reason for him to burn them the way he did Donington Park.

      1. @prisoner-monkeys – I think he’s doing the same here. There have been a few comments about how F1 needs this race more than the venue needs F1. Leaving them high and dry (even if its only temporary, i.e. another year or so) will have the same effect – to show he’s in control. Local authorities might not have that kind of patience, though. And remember, this isn’t New York: its New Jersey. In any case, I just hope they know the risks.

  10. I read the Deccan Herald everyday. Don’t know how i missed the Sauber interview!

  11. Positive words from NJ, but I fear it’s no more than that – positive, well-rehearsed words.

    It’s 2 months after the race was originally meant to happen. The venue should at the very least be nearing completion by now…

  12. Sometimes I think drivers say things like ‘I still have a chance’ or ‘Driver X still can beat Vettel’ just to keep the fans watching the next race. I think we all know Vettel has more than likely got this in the bag and the real fight is between Alonso, Raikkonen and Hamilton for 2nd. But drivers constantly waffling on about still having a chance when they’re 50 points behind Vettel, (whose worst finish the season is 4th and has only DNF’d because of a car failure) makes me think they’re creating a sort of false hope in order to stop people from turning away and watching the football/motoGP/EastEnders instead.

  13. I read the interview with the NJ chief and could hardly get past the second paragraph. This paragraph pretty much states that he didn’t want to do this with any Gov’t assistance.

    “We stumbled pretty badly; certainly we had hoped that we would be racing in 2013. We put some fairly high hurdles in front of us, the least of which was that we insisted that it be done only with private capital and no assistance from either the municipalities or the state. It’s something that I believe in strongly, but in a difficult financial market it became clear late last fall, really early in the winter that we would not make 2013.”

    My beef with this is that he, and the media, are still saying that CoTA built their track with assistance from Texas. This is total **. CoTA was built, from scratch, in less than 2 years and then held a world class Formula One race pretty much without any problems. YES, I’m a huge fan of our track here in Austin, Texas and of F1. The guys in New Jersey have had almost the equal amount of time and are still bitching about more money. The fact is I hope they make it but many of us saw this coming a long time ago.

    1. Austin is a great track – one of my favorites of the new ones.
      NJ is in a different situation though, it won’t be a permanent track and they only have 1 weekend to generate revenue and profits. With a 20Mio license fee it’s impossible to have a race without subsidies from someone or a discount from Bernie. Even for CoTA and some other permanent tracks in Europe it’s already hard to have F1 races and generate profits. That’s why ticket prices are so stupendously high at the tracks that receive little to no subsidies.

      1. Bernie or his replacement needs to understand that the global economy can’t afford his fees anymore. As I understaood it, New Jersey’s fee was going to be very low and the track and race promoters were going to get some of the advertising revenue that FOM usually gets. If Bernie were to do this for every track, then most of the high prices would all come down.

  14. Is there a website that shows up-to-date photographs of the construction of the New Jersey track?
    Or, if there isn’t, is thaere anyone whho lives relatively locally to the track who could describe the visible progress so far?
    I’m really looking orward to the possibility of the race in this location and I’d be really interested to know how far they’ve got.

    1. I was there last month and I don’t know what ********* they’re saying, I never see any construction going on apart from the garage that’s going to be a municipal parking lot. The roads still have some potholes, the speedbump on the uphill is still there and part of the road where the track is supposed to go to is nowhere near ready. I should probably take a gopro video of the area so everyone can clearly see how behind they really are.

      1. Oh dear, that really sounds a bit depressing. Although I wouldn’t expect them to re-dress the roads for the track until after the winter, but the buildings – pits, medical centre, media centre – should be well advanced.
        If you go there again, some still shots would be fantastically interesting.

  15. With regards to the Sky article, it’s worthy to note that both Canada and Spa were either wet or predicted to be wet, which normally requires a difference in downforce vs. its dry counterpart. Merc likely wanted to be on the safe side and turned up as much downforce as they could, taking the gamble of it to be raining more than it did in both of those races.
    If Monza is to be dry all weekend, I expect Mercedes will be ready to compete for a win.

    1. @beejis60 that’s a very good point.

      I think Monza will probably be the most competitive weekend between Mercedes and Red Bull since Silverstone – Red Bull definitely do seem to have a very good low downforce set-up akin to 2011’s and Mercedes have always been strong in that regard so it could be an interesting fight! I expect Ferrari to be right in there too judging from Spa and their usual Monza form.

    2. I think it’s a bit more complicated than this. imo the reason why Merc went for higher downforce is linked to the solution they have for their tire wear problem. Monza requires a lot of good traction and Merc aren’t the strongest in that perspective. I expect them to be strong but I guess either RBR or Ferrari will win.

      1. Less downforce = less wear = less heat

        1. @beejis60 not necearasily: it’s usually the case that downforce actually helps to preserve the tyres as the greater grip through corners means there is less tyre slip which creates graining and heat.

          However, this season that has never really been the problem – it’s cornering energy that is hurting the tyres, so in that regard you are correct; downforce actually hurts the tyres. The constructions have changed now bearing in mind though, so the problem may become more “standard” if you will.

          I don’t think you’re correct on Merc not being very strong on traction though @tmf42 – they’re actually very good in that regard! Remember they won in Monaco which is quite a heavily-based traction circuit?

Comments are closed.