Ferrari won’t be close to Red Bull next year – Lotus

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In the round-up: Lotus doubt Ferrari will close the gap to Red Bull next year.

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Ferrari ‘should forget’ 2014 title hopes (Autosport)

Lotus trackside operations director Alan Permane: “If I was Fernando, talking about winning the championship? Forget it, they are not even close. And they won’t even be close next year, if they [Red Bull] have got that sort of advantage now.”

‘Vettel always wins and he will continue to do so’ (The Telegraph)

“They (Red Bull) made a step somewhere on the car this weekend, but I still feel like we can fight at some point through the weekends for the rest of the season.”

Q&A with Lotus’s Eric Boullier (F1)

“The strategy behind the team was to build the team up and bring it back as a top team. Genii gives us the means to achieve that, but obviously to go to the next level you need more means and more resources and it is no secret that for quite a while Genii have been looking for partners to make sure that we can bring more money to the team and have access to a bigger sponsor portfolio. We need to secure sponsors, as this is the only way to step up.”

Lewis Hamilton: “I wonder how Kimi came from where he did…” (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“I wonder how Kimi [Raikkonen] came from where he did – jeez, that was incredible.”

Disgraceful disrespect – why the booing of Sebastian Vettel is simply not on (Sky)

Martin Brundle: “That’s disgraceful and I instinctively felt the need to say something as I was the one chosen to do the podium interviews at the event.”

Why Red Bull is a perfect fit for Vettel (BBC)

Gary Anderson: “In second practice on Friday, Vettel was one second-per-lap faster than the Mercedes. If you add up the leads Vettel built up during the race in a safety-car interrupted race in Singapore at various times, it adds up to 63 seconds. In a 61-lap race. A second a lap in other words. So that one-second margin on Friday was real.”

How Formula One hit the big screen with ‘Rush’ (Autoweek)

“[Peter] Morgan tuned his script, meeting people like Alastair Caldwell and Bubbles Horsley, former McLaren and Hesketh team managers, respectively, who knew Hunt well. Hunt’s own family was very skeptical, though that changed over time.”

Passenger safety in F1 (ESPN)

“Tino, telling his man to side astride the engine cover and hold the rollover bar, sets off. But, being a Brambilla, he only knows one speed.”

Formula For Success (F1 Confidential)

“Autonomy’s Virage software… helped Mercedes to save 0.1 seconds of lap time. This made them more successful on-track, gave them a higher championship position and greater end-of-year prize money. A great story to tell potential customers! But could it have been more powerful at Marussia, where it could have helped the team gain more time, let’s say, half a second? Last year that half-second could have meant 10th place in the championship and the millions of dollars the team ultimately missed out on.”

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Comment of the day

@JerseyF1 says the FIA made the right call when it came to Alonso and Webber’s reprimands:

I think that on these types of issue the FIA has generally been quite understanding of the fine line between applying rules and entertaining fans. For example I don’t believe that Hamilton was punished for doing ‘doughnuts’ at the end of the British Grand Prix in 2009 or Alonso for picking up a flag at Barcelona this year. In both cases I think the FIA could have punished the drivers but applied common sense.

I think that the difference in this case is the fact that both Alonso and Webber acted recklessly and therefore common sense actually suggested some form of punishment, a reprimand is the lowest level of punishment and therefore I don’t think the FIA or stewards can be faulted here. We’ll never know whether the stewards would have overlooked the matter if Alonso had stopped safely and Webber hadn’t run so close to the moving Mercedes but I suspect they would have based on the other examples above.
@JerseyF1

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Happy birthday!

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On this day in F1

Relations between the McLaren team mates began to deteriorate 25 years ago today after Ayrton Senna edged Alain Prost towards the pit wall during the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix.

Prost prevailed and won the race while engine-troubled Senna slipped to sixth. That put Prost back in the lead of the championship.

Ivan Capelli was second for March, revelling in the Adrian Newey-designed chassis, with Thierry Boutsen third for Benetton.

Here’s the contentious moment between Senna and Prost:

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Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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93 comments on “Ferrari won’t be close to Red Bull next year – Lotus”

  1. Strange how Permane thinks things wont change next year.
    It’s a big shake-up and redbull could miss their start even tough they have Newey.
    Like in 2009 we saw Ferrari and McLaren do a complete miss.
    I hope it won’t be another Vettel dominant year, I respect him a lot, but it would be best for F1 to have another champion next year.

    1. I also don’t understand the view of Permane. First, there is the engine that will be unknown. Secondly, the cornering style that Vettel and RBR have perfected (and much more so than others), using the exhaust gases to create downforce, will not be possible anymore.

      Sure, RBR would not be a bad bet to continue doing well. But to suggest that the others should already give up is a bit … strange.

      1. Totally agree. The lack of EBDs is going to be the main change next year that will affect Vettel. I think Ferrari’s engine development is the main point of concern for Alonso at the moment, not Adrian Newey to be honest. Every article on the 2014 engines I read claims that Mercedes and Renault are ahead of the game.

        I think Rosberg and Hamilton will have the best chance next season to challenge Vettel next year, but who really knows at this stage, even if your Alan Permane?

      2. The engines might be unknown to us but the teams probably have a good idea. Permane, as a Lotus employee, may know a bit about the same Renault unit RBR will be running in particular.

        Vettel also likes quite a loose rear end to get the car to rotate on entry. Slow corner exit is where the big performance gap will be, just like 2009, and I don’t remember Vettel doing too bad that year.

    2. Maybe there’s some frustration at Ferrari poaching Lotus’ more talented staff for 2014.

      1. True that. Dont see a reason why he would make a statement like that. Its not like he has any info on what Ferrari has in the bag for next year.

        OR

        Maybe he’s trying to poach Alonso

    3. Probably just wants to vent out the frustration from losing kimi.

      1. He responded to Alonso’s comment that 2014 would be the best year for him and Ferrari to win but he did not have Alonso in mind, rather his comment was directed at Kimi.

        1. Good point. However, Kimi has bluntly said that he went to Ferrari for the money, I think he would be fine if he doesn’t win another WDC.

          1. Kimi saisd he left Lotus over finacial issues, but he did not just referring only to the fact he was not paid. He did not feel that the team had the financial resources to be a top team. They lost key personell because they could not pay them, and they cannot keep up with the other teams in the development of the car. Kimi wants to win another WDC and I suspect he wants to get his revenge by doing it with Ferrari. So I expect that next year he will be hungry and fully motivated.

          2. I think you have to differentiate that a bit. Kimi chose Ferrari, because he didn’t get paid at Lotus. To my recollection of recent events, he never said anything about receiving a higher paycheck at the Italian team.

            I don’t think you can fault him for wanting to be paid AT ALL, especially in his enviable position. What he didn’t say, but what I’m sure will have played a part in the decision as well, are the reasons and consequences of him not being paid: the team is in debt and will have a hard time of keeping their relative standing amongst the other teams.

            Lets say you’re in the position of Kimi. He’s the one that basically uplifted the team for the second season in a row now. The other driver has shown moments of brilliance, but does not seem to be capable of doing his part in pushing Lotus towards or beyond Mercedes and Ferrari. You are the indisputable leader of the team and have gained lots of publicity and championship points with your race-craft and consistent results. Still, the team doesn’t seem to be capable of paying you for the good job you do. Why wouldn’t you look for alternatives elsewhere? You are, after all, the hottest driver on the market without a contract for next year. Why wouldn’t Ferrari, next to Alonso, be an exciting challenge for you, especially as you’re nearing your mid-thirties and the end of your time in the sport?

            Maybe that’s a bit presumptuous of me, but I don’t believe, that Kimi didn’t care about a good car or his chances for his second championship title. That said, I’m convinced that Ferrari will be (at least) the second best team in 2014 as well so the move shouldn’t hurt him from continuing where he left off!

      2. And Allison and De Beer…

    4. I think there’s a lot of “oh my God, Vettel is going to dominate everything from now on” going around. What surprises me is to hear it from such a senior figure in the F1 paddock, especially stating the vastly overrated 1.5-2 second advantage that Vettel would have per lap.

      The competitive picture in F1 can change race by race. Let’s not forget only two races ago it looked a safe bet to have Hamilton on pole. I’m sure Vettel will be very competitive for the rest of the season, but he won’t necessarily run away with it every race, let alone next season.

      1. @adrianmorse

        Overrated? Really? Sure it will not be 1,5-2 seconds everywhere because circuits are different but you cannot ignore that. If I was Rocky I’d tell Vettel to attack all the way to the end and we would’ve lap everybody.

        1. we would’ve lap everybody.

          *Fix*

          he would’ve lap everybody

          1. we would’ve lap everybody.

            *Fix*

            he would’ve lap everybody

            *Fix*

            would’ve lapped everybody ;)

        2. @jcost, darn, I meant overstated. If he really did have that much advantage in hand there would be nothing overrated about it. What I was getting at was that for one part of one Grand Prix, he was much faster than a struggling Rosberg. It’s not like Vettel is that much faster for every lap of every race.

    5. Also reliability will be a huge factor next year, one only has to look at the engine switch in Indycar to see what will happen in F1, last year all drivers took several penalties for changing engines too soon.

      Also aerodynamics are very closely related with the packaging of the engine, Ferrari and Mercedes will have a small advantage there.

    6. A few things would indicate that RB is going to be strong next year – their change in philosophy to go from high down-force to more efficiency already this year would suggest that they are pretty far with the concept for next year and they know already how to apply these things.
      But still there are so many factors that you can’t say right now how the pecking order will look like in 2014 and how good their reliability will be.

      In general I think it’s more likely that we see another runaway winner, not necessarily RB but 1 team will get it right while the others catch up. I’ve more hopes for 2015 to be a close championship.

    7. It’s their normal defeatist attitude. They are a team happy with a third place. I’m not surprised that they can’t find sponsors.

    8. I agree it’s a strange comment from a senior team member, very defeatist in my view. If Ferrari have no chance surely Lotus would have even less? Unless this is related to Ferrari’s supposed issues developing their 2014 engine. While he is corrent the teams aren’t “starting from zero” as Alonso said, surely it’s the best chance for all the teams to close the gap.

      Also this “Vettel is 2.5 seconds faster than everyone else” is nonsense. Sure he was around 2 seconds faster at some points of the singapore race, but that’s one race in the season, usually the margin is nowhere near that. Also, singapore is the longest lap time wise which adds to the performance difference and some of his performance was due to spending more time on the supersofts than those following (most running long stint mediums which were nearly 2 secs slower anyway). Also, Vettel saved more fresh tyres than anyone else. All these things add up, Gary Anderson’s column indicates a 1 second per lap pace advantage in Singapore which is far more representative (still a lot i know!) and still doesn’t represent the season as a whole.

    9. I think this is some dirty PR after Kimi’s move to Ferrari.

  2. I bet Renault was working hard in 2004 even though Ferrari had a huge advantage. Guess what happened in ’05?

    If everybody had given up while watching Schumi go and win almost every race, we wouldn’t have F1 now. Nobody’s unbeatable Alan. Not even Seb. Nor Red Bull.

    1. +100. Good comment!

    2. People have short memories my friend @carlitox.

    3. Absolutely spot on!
      Nobody can really know which car would be faster in the start of 2014. Obviously having financial and technical resources increase the odds of success but they are not a guarantee as we see teams like Lotus punch way above their budget level compared to Ferrari and possibly even Red Bull (I don’t have the budget numbers, but it would be great to see how many points teams scored per every 1000 dollar they spent)

      1. I don’t know about today’s values – although at least estimates of the numbers should be out there already – but from a number of years ago I know, that Ferrari scored very high in that category. See F1Fanatic’s articles about that on the 2007 and 2008 seasons:

        https://www.racefans.net/2008/09/22/toyota-has-biggest-f1-budget-4456m/
        https://www.racefans.net/2008/11/09/4378133-the-price-of-a-point-in-2008/

        1. thanks @kneyfield
          I guess the high-performer in this should probably be Lotus followed by Red Bull, however Force India might also be surprisingly good.

  3. Well if Alan Permane is right…we better stop watching

    But whatever the case or formula, as long as Red Bull keep giving Vettel the support he needs and Newey keeps chruning out masterstrokes with his pen….Red Bull will keep winning.

    Ferrari are making genuine efforts to win. I think their restructuring exercise is good and the fact that they have brought Rory Byrne back into the fray shows they understand where the gaps are. As much as I like Stefano, I think its time for him to go. He is too nice a guy to manage a team like Ferrari. You get the sense that the team principle at Ferrari needs to be somebody a little bit more ruthless.

  4. Nice one Fernando, all is forgiven, I’ll be barracking for you from now on.

    1. Great tweet from Alonso, much better than all that samuri nonsense. Never knew he was from Yorkshire though (Ey Mark!).

    2. Looks like Alonso has people lurking around reddit :)

  5. About Mark Webber & Fernando Alonso’s taxi ride, all I have to say is – Tom Pryce, 1977 Kyalami. Rest in peace.

    1. @raymondu999 that accident is exactly why I think the stewards were right to reprimend Alonso and Webber

    2. While we are at it we better jail those unbelievably negligent parents who let their young children drive go-carts.

      1. @hohum Those children are more protected in their go-carts than Van Vuuren ever was

        1. @raymondu999, Yes they are, and Van Vuuren was a marshall, who tragically ran unsited across a wet track in the middle of a race resulting in his own death as well as the death of the driver who hit him travelling at around 280 kmh. So the question is, who is the better judge of safety a 37 year old F1 driver or a 19 year old track marshall?

          1. @hohum Your assumption that a 19-year old can never make a better judgement on safety than a 36-year old is so over-simplistic it is hard to describe on words. I really can’t understand for the life of me how, after watching all that footage, you still believe that Mark Webber did a safe thing that didn’t warrant any action from the stewards.

          2. @hohum

            Fernando did a good gesture but it was unsafe. There were alternatives to do that in a safer manner.

          3. @guilherme, I was responding to someone who was trying to bludgeon all defense of Web/Alo by citing the tragedy that occured 35 odd years ago in totally different circumstances where 2 people died because a track marshall made a terrible misjudgement in the middle of a race, I quoted their respective ages because it relates to their experience which in turn qualifies their judgement, and your assumption that I said a 19 year old could not make a better decision than 36 year old is totally wrong, I would back a 19 year old Seb. Vettel over a 36 yo non driver anytime. As for the video, we are only seeing close ups of the parked car which throws up 2 questions for me, 1 Webber was in the slip road when he began his run onto the road, I am shure he could see approaching traffic and vice versa,
            2; Cameras compress the action and make everything look a lot closer than they actually are, an overhead shot showing the whole area is the only reliable way to assess the situation accurately.

          4. Taki Inoue must be nearly 37…

      2. Because crossing into traffic is just as dangerous as karting, right? I doubt you’ve seen a pedestrian, no matter how old and wise, get hit by a car. Being a grown man won’t make the impact of the car or the tarmac any less painful than being unaware.

        1. @npF1, actually hiking is the most dangerous sport.

    3. @raymondu999 What an absurd comparison.

  6. Lotus is cute. Their star driver leaves them for Ferrari, so they start saying Ferrari will suck next year. Boullier says he’s hiring plenty of people, but he cant even pay his employees; and makes it sound like Lotus is hiring more than Ferrari. They shouldnt keep saying the Renault engine will be better either, for all we know Renault are building for RBR, Ferrari and Mercedes for themselves.

  7. Looking at that map of Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

    If those are the proposed layout for next year it looks like the only change is to the final part of the esses, Specifically the final left onto the straght before peraltada which looks to be a lot further over to the left (And therefore not as tight) than it presently is.

    I also get the impression that as I expected they will run through the baseball stadium rather than run through the peraltada. I can see the part where the track turns into the stadium & I guess his pen to highlight the part where it exits the stadium.

    I think the biggest issue with peraltada isn’t just the lack of run-off but also that its very fast & also pretty blind due to the wall on the inside. If a car crashes there, With no run-off there going to bounce off the wall & back onto the circuit & with it been so fast, Very narrow & pretty blind all the way through the cars behind will have practically no time to react to avoid the stationary car.

    1. Actually having taken a closer look I’ve spotted another change.

      The straght down to turns 4/5 is slightly longer. Turns 4/5 are tighter as is the hairpin at turn 6 & there’s now a straght where the initial left/right part of the esses was.

      The middle left/right/left part of the esses looks unchanged as does the following right with the final left been altered as described in my above comment.

      Turns 1/2 may be tighter as well but its hard to tell because of how the paper is folder slightly near t1.

      Regardless, The general characteristics of the track have remained & I don’t believe the changes really take anything away, They will probably add a couple passing zones though.

      1. Looks like the peraltada is halved, like they did in Champ Car, cutting across the baseball field.

      2. On that note, the Mexican Organization of Int’l Automotive Sports (OMDAI) has officially confirmed in a press release that it will be on the calendar, there’s only a small problem with the teams that might want a change in the engine regulations to accommodate the extra race(s).

      3. @gtracer

        The straght down to turns 4/5 is slightly longer. Turns 4/5 are tighter as is the hairpin at turn 6 & there’s now a straght where the initial left/right part of the esses was.

        I actually like those changes. They’re typically Tilke, but I never really liked that corner much to begin with. It always just seemed like a fiddly little bit that was thrown in to connect two parts of the circuit because there needed to be something to fill the gap. At least Tilke has tried to make a bit of an overtaking point out of it, and then reprofiled the following section to give everyone a chance to sort themselves out before the Esses. I’d like to imagine that if you lost a place going into that corner, you could compose yourself through the next section and pick your line through the Esses to try and get the place back.

        I also get the impression that as I expected they will run through the baseball stadium rather than run through the peraltada. I can see the part where the track turns into the stadium & I guess his pen to highlight the part where it exits the stadium.

        Ideally, we would have the full Peraltada, but let’s be honest – that was never going to happen. Still, I don’t see why it needs to be three slow corners. Sure, slow the cars down for the first corner, but the second corner could easily be a sweeper and the third could turn the Peraltada into something like the Parabolica.

      4. I like that layout. I doubt it’s official though.

  8. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    25th September 2013, 2:26

    I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Red Bull won every race from here to the end of the season. In fact, I’ll be surprised if someone can actually beat them.

    1. @topphercheese21 sigh . you are right . IF the gap is 30 seconds every race I might skip watching Abu Dhabi as it is already boring.

  9. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    25th September 2013, 3:34

    About Permane, he forgets that once in a while, the new year brings an all-new top gamer. Like Brawn.

    1. Did I hear that Williams were switching to Merc power!?

    2. The only real surprise with Brawn, was that Honda did not stay in to have a year of success, remember that car was designed for 2 years with enormous heaps of money thrown at it.

      Nothing the like is currently happening, although I can imagine a McLaren now going fully into developing next years car (honestly, even Ferrari could just do the same because there is no real chance of winning the championship).

  10. Permane comes off sounding like a bitter man. F1 is a tough game. Life is tough. Hope Lotus can hold on and compete well next season. Being bitter won’t help. Finding a way to beat Red Bull will be sweet for any team that can do it. Guess it’s bittersweet that if the Renault engine package is good for Lotus it will be good for Red Bull as well. Good luck, Mr. Permane.

    1. On the other hand I wouldn’t put money on him being wrong.

      1. There is something to what he says, particularly about Red Bull being the best now and what is to stop them next year. The real question is, what is to stop any of the other teams from improving their cars and getting closer to Red Bull than they are now? Interesting that he mentions Ferrari. At least they have made efforts towards that end. With the new regs nobody really knows what the future holds. In the present Ferrari is taking action while Mr. Permane is crying the blues.

  11. So fans booing a driver/team is “the most unacceptable thing in the world and is going to bring down F1”, yet one team pretty much saying another team is going to flat-out suck next year is perfectly acceptable and not going to hurt F1?

    I’d reckon to say that teams putting down other teams (and Bernie putting down sponsors/potential tracks) is more harmful to F1 then a few fans booing somebody but yet for some reason nobody ever gets upset over those two things….

    1. @fisha695

      “the most unacceptable thing in the world and is going to bring down F1″

      Where’s that quote from?

      1. Just a general paraphrase, though I did see somebody mention in one of the booing articles that the few hundred fans that boo Seb each win is going to destroy the commerical factor of F1 and drive sponsors away.

        1. @fisha695 Seems to me to be a gross exaggeration of your opponent’s argument in an attempt to make yours seem more reasonable, misleadingly dressed up as a direct quote.

          1. If it was supposed to be a direct quote it’d have the person(s) being quoted mentioned ;)

    2. I doubt that the same number of people who saw Vettel being booed last Sunday or heard about it, will also read Permane’s quotes. The impact is much smaller.

      Plus, this mainly makes him look like a sore loser, as opposed to sending a message about f1 fans.

  12. “If I was Fernando, talking about winning the championship? Forget it, they are not even close. And they won’t even be close next year, if they [Red Bull] have got that sort of advantage now.”

    In that case, Lotus shouldn’t even bother showing up.

  13. Let see..Ferrari looking for Constructor Champion..with the Singapore result it would be Vettel+Ricciardio=25 points, Kimi+Alonso= 33 points. Worth a shot!

  14. Having thought about the booing business, I wonder if ignoring it might be the best strategy. The squeals of outrage we get every time it happens are just emboldening people to try the same thing again.

    1. @red-andy Of course some people will react to disapproval by doing more of what’s being criticised – some may misinterpret that criticism as validation of their complaints about Vettel.

      Not all of them will. The criticism of the booing has come from many quarters including Red Bull’s biggest rivals Ferrari and Mercedes – something those teams should be praised for, as it may speak directly to fans of those teams who might be doing the booing.

      But even if criticising the booing was completely ineffective I would still do it. The ineffectiveness of doing the right thing is no justification for condoning unacceptable behaviour. Then you just become an accessory to it.

      And then there’s the ‘slippery slope’ argument: where do we end up when behaviour like this is ignored and allowed to fester? The depths football supporters have plumbed over the years (here in Britain at least) serves as a warning.

      1. But even if criticising the booing was completely ineffective I would still do it. The ineffectiveness of doing the right thing is no justification for condoning unacceptable behaviour. Then you just become an accessory to it.

        I do see your point, but I will stick by an old saying: “if you want something or somebody down you either ignore it, or laud it as much as possible”.
        I have been always of the opinion to ignore the issue because we are talking about a behavior of a group, an unidentified group, difficult to address to. So yes, it is perfectly normal to make a stand against it, but to repeatedly criticize it may provoke the opposite. I am not saying that the booing people are reading these columns but anyway I say, leave them be. It is not something to be taken personally and it is a part of the human nature.

        1. While I get that booing is unbecoming, and not something I personally do, I don’t get the outrage either in the sense that I don’t get what it is people think they can do about it. I don’t get how you can police such a thing, which is why I have been asking in recent comments on this topic for F1 to look at the reasons why this is happening now. I don’t recall it being an issue last year or the year before when SV won, so why now? I don’t believe this is a slippery slope toward something like footballers experience because again, I don’t get what is supposed to be done about it…how you would police for it. Nor that policing should even be done. Maybe the viewers who boo are tired of 4 years of SV, not just frustrated at the fact that he is looking to run away with this year’s WDC. Maybe that is why it is happening this year and didn’t last year or the year before.

          Is it as some have suggested, that with the gadgety racing comes a percentage of fringe fans that seem to be what F1 wanted but also have to accept some booers that belong in that category too? Was it that the tires, which deserve booing themselves, were problematic and yet were supposed to be ironed out and provide much closer racing than the SV runaway is displaying? I don’t know but something seems to have changed that this has become an issue and the only way I see of tackling it is for F1 to look itself in the mirror and ask themselves if there if something they can do with the product that will prevent this type of behaviour. If we must have these tires, and phony DRS, perhaps we must have close racing as well, or what were the gadgets for? I know that is a frustration of mine, not that I would boo SV at a race over it.

          So to me the booing is a symptom of something, and I think too few people are asking the hard questions about it, and rather most are just happy to point out their disgust, but aren’t offering solutions to get to the heart of it. No matter the technical regs regarding cars or tires, I think that if the racing were closer, then even if SV was winning yet again, but by smaller margins, and with a few other drivers in with a shout, and if we got the sense that it wasn’t seemingly so darn easy for SV, then things might be different, non-SV fans might even cheer a strong effort rather than boo it.

          My simplistic solution…get rid of the gadgets…get rid of the aero dependancy…get back to mechanical grip being the prevalent way to get around a track quickly, and I think we would see so much more drivers vs driver seat of the pants racing, that all the racers would have all the fans respect no matter the points standings.

        2. @caci99 When someone is being jeered at in this way, ignoring it and pretending it’s not happening will be interpreted as tacit acceptance. I think the way these people are treating Vettel is disgusting and I will continue to say so.

          To put it another way, if people don’t criticise this sort of behaviour how else are those who are booing supposed to work out their behaviour is wrong?

          1. @keithcollantine You generally manage to make clear where you stand, and I as a reader of your blog know what is your stand. So for me once is enough. Repeating it may backfire. We do define ourself by our own actions, so I know where I stand and I know where the booing people stand. I do not agree with those that boo at all in this particular case. If they were not doing it I wouldn’t know how to treat them.
            On the other hand, I do see it as a beneficial action. Thanks to them, this year we have had Vettel’s closest competitors laud him and protect him, he is receiving the credit which in previous years was missing. He is a world champion and deserves it, and as a matter of fact I think that no world champion was there by chance or luck.

  15. Funny Alan. You reckon that one of the largest regulation changes in the sport’s history will yield a 2014 form guide identical to the current 2013 status quo. What is Alan is actually saying is…

    “If I was Fernando, talking about winning the championship? Yeah, I think he has a good chance next year, that is if Ferrari produce a good V6. And if they do Ferrari will be substantially ahead of the field, and Red Bull, who I hope have a competitive year because it’d be good for Lotus as we share Renault engines.”

    …OK, he’s right about ruling Alonso out of 2013, but 2014? Guessing that Red Bull will be waaaay ahead in a completely new era of technical regs is so spurious, so speculative, that it is actually funny. It’s politics again; giving Alonso some of his own medicine if you like. I suppose Lotus are also a bit sick of Ferrari stealing all their staff…

    1. Yeah and I would think that at a minimum we should all be talking not just about who will have pace, but I’m assuming there will be a relatively high amount of unreliability with everything being so new, so lets see if RBR et al can be quick AND reliable.

      I think we can be pretty sure that if RBR struggles at all, they and their fans will be letting us know of their dismay and the unfairness at the drastic reg changes meant to curtail the juggernaut that is SV/RBR. Maybe there will even be some revenge booing by RBR fans.

  16. I don’t know how things turn out the next year but as a f1 keen just hope seb won’t be the champion , in that case it will be real boring but i dont think it really could happen again . there are more teams could not miss the next season , includin mclaren and ferrari ,historical teams that they didnt win from ots of years .just believe it will be real interesting cause we’ll see who will be the best team to act the new rules…forgive my bad english

    1. We only need a change of power, at least with more teams competing at the front. This way people won’t feel like turning away, switch the TV off or ‘booing’ like it has happened already. Anything to provide some excitement!

  17. There was a cop killer who is also the Thai heir to the Red Bull fortune in the luxury booths of the Singapore GP. Khun Vorayuth is who should have been booed, and the fans and press should have been asking some serious questions about his presence at the race. Yeah, it’s a bit off topic.

  18. I can´t get over the “brass” on Permane! He is talking about Ferrari like if they were building yugos! Have some respect sir! You are talking about the finest car builders in the whole world! The builder that gave Schumi the longest reliability streak in a loooong while!! Surely they will know how to build a turbo engine! Sure, RBR have Newey, but with the “aero” taking a backstep next year and mechanical grip taking center stage, things will be a lot closer.
    Ferrari might not be close in qualy but they have got a podium guaranteed with ALO and that might make up the difference, if there is any, next year. I guess some people are just sore Kimi left.

    1. @karter22 How is mechanical grip taking centre stage?

      1. @muzzleflash
        If I remember correctly, I read here in the forum that the nose will have to be a lot lower next year, I might be wrong. That means that they will design a whole new car from scratch. I doubt that the RBR cars will function as well in 2014 with a lower nose even if they have mastered the coanda effect. It´s gonna be a whole diferent ball game in 2014.

    2. The guy should be more worried about Lotus…they are going down like the titanic

  19. Compete scumbag move from Senna and one which shows him in a more true light: dangerous, hot headed and stupid.

    In this case his logic is apparently “if you see a gap and you don’t crush someone in it, you are no longer a champion”.

    1. Hmmm I personally didn’t see it as that bad, but if that is how you have reacted to this clip, you must have absolute disgust in MS in his Mercedes when he did far far worse to RB in terms of running him toward a wall 2 or 3 years ago.

      BTW, stupid is the last think Senna was.

  20. Permane is just frustrated because Ferrari didn’t call him, it’s a opportunity once in a lifetime and he didn’t receive that call…
    Anyway my personal bet : Red Bull won’t win a single race in 2014…remember 2004. Bookmark this page and let’s talk next year at this time.

    1. It’s done, mate.

    2. Red Bull won’t win a single race in 2014

      Yeah, Red Bull will win 20 races :D

  21. Why would Alan take all the bash and say something which is considered stupid? Maybe he is right. What is it which Ferrari, Mclaren and Mercedes and all others could not do which RedBull did. Yes 2000- 2004 domination got ended but wasn’t Ferrari back in 2006? Now its different, Ferrari has failed to deliver for last 5 years , which is not something unusual. Isn’t it a same team who failed to win a championship for 20 years. And Mclaren hasn’t won a constructors title for last 15 years.

    So saying Mclaren and Ferrari would certainly bring down RedBull with the regulation changes is rubbish. Yes they have a better chance than they have had in recent years but it doesn’t mean RedBull will be rubbish. RedBull have as much chance of another dominant year than Ferrari and co matching them.

    Another question i want to ask,Why is it that RedBull has no competition in the second half of the season? I think its because they are always ahead in the development race. Keeping that in mind what makes us believe they would be behind others in the 2014 car development?

    1. Yeah I see no reason to think RBR won’t be strong next year. I think we all expect that, given their track record over the last 4 years. But I think with the big reg changes many (including F1 itself) just hope that somebody nails their package and takes over the top spot, ie. does an even better job than RBR likely will. I think the majority of people likely just want to see close racing and a close Championship, even if SV wins it in the end…at least let’s see it come down to 2 or 3 guys with a chance in the last race of 2014.

  22. If Lotus can’t even pay their drivers perhaps they should forget about F1? Just a thought.

    On the whole booing business. Yeah, it’s mean but seriously there are bigger problems in the world and in F1. At the end of the day, it’s a boo. It’s not like a racial slur or anything deeply offensive. It’s unpleasant but it happens all of the time and it’s just a sport.

  23. Lotus should just dust themselves down and accept Kimi left. Lotus should be more concerned about there own survival, than trying to talk down on other teams. petty jealousy.

  24. Lotus could be get more appearance/importance if only they decided to call themselves Renault F1… I don’t know why, with the changes brought from 2014 I’d rather work on that, to consolidate my status instead of being ‘only’ an engine supplier to Red Bull. Thy aren’t enough recognizable!

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