Ferrari prefers more competitors to three-car teams

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Ferrari, who have previously argued in favour of three-car teams, now believe it would be better for F1 to have more two-car competitors.

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Ferrari: Three car teams not the solution (Crash)

"Our goal is to attract other constructors, other teams and to have a grid which is going to be competitive and with as many teams as we can."

Giedo van der Garde demands start (Herald Sun)

"In documents lodged yesterday, Mr van der Garde claims he was guaranteed a spot on this year's Sauber team on June 28, 2014, but team bosses reneged on the deal just months ago."

Fernando Alonso 'thought he was in 1995' after pre-season crash (The Telegraph)

"Asked who he was, what his job was, and what he hoped to do with his life, Alonso reportedly replied: 'I'm Fernando, I drive go karts and I want to be a Formula One driver.'"

Fernando Alonso: Unanswered questions over F1 crash (BBC)

"One highly-experienced engineer said: 'Nothing I can see in the GPS data makes me think it was anything other than him going too fast and losing control.'"

Michelin turned down F1 over degradation request (Crash)

"For us (high tyre wear) is exactly the opposite of what we want to show. It would be counterproductive. So no way were we willing to do that."

DTM manufacturers want F1 superlicence rules to change (Autosport)

"Getting the championship included would be of biggest use to Mercedes, whose F1 reserve Pascal Werhlein would currently not qualify for a superlicence in 2016 under the current criteria irrespective of what he achieves in DTM this year."

Vettel hopes Ferrari can be Mercedes' closest rivals (Reuters)

"It depends how strong and dominant Mercedes will start into the season. It is expected that they will be very strong. But for the pack behind them it will be very tense."

McLaren-Honda power unit layout (F1)

"Honda, however, have chosen to follow a different approach to all three manufacturers, positioning the MGU-H between the compressor and turbo at the rear of the engine, and the MGU-K at the front."

Tweets

https://twitter.com/_markgallagher/status/573443703102132224

Comment of the day

At least one reader has very high hopes for Max Verstappen:

I think we are lucky enough to see the arrival of one of the future greats of F1 this year. I think Verstappen will outshine both Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso in the years to come. I haven’t seen such talent since a rainy day in Monaco many decades ago. I hope Ferrari has the sense to replace Raikkonen with Verstappen when Raikkonen hangs up his racing boots.
Kimiwillbeback

From the forum

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On this day in F1

Giancarlo Fisichella scored a surprise victory in the first round of the 2005 championship ten years ago today.

He had taken pole position in a wet/dry qualifying session and was followed home by Rubens Barrichello, who started 11th, and Fernando Alonso, who lined up 13th.

This was also the first grand prix after F1 Fanatic was founded. Here’s the report:

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...

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128 comments on “Ferrari prefers more competitors to three-car teams”

  1. Well, that COTD… At least it’s nice to see Jos Verstappen is an active member of F1F community.

    1. Hasnt even done a race yet and already comparing him to Panis! :)

      1. :D ha haha made my day

        1. Haha, brilliant! :)
          I forgot about that race, but in fact that race too was almost 2 decades ago!!!

      2. And the Comment of the Year award goes to @Alex Ward

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          6th March 2015, 3:38

          +1

      3. I thought he was referring to Beltoise. No?

        1. No, he’s reffering to Senna in 1984

      4. lol Alex, that’s a gem. I think we all know what the enthusiastic cotd meant with “many decades” more than a couple for sure.

      5. Rofl! Nice one :)

    2. Hahaha. Awesome my wife even laughed

      1. Panis was a legend too :D

    3. Wasn’t just like that last year with magnussen ?

  2. Some had similar thoughts about Jan Magnussen…

  3. I really hope it does work out for Young Max! Sounds like he has a good head on his shoulders so im sure he will be fine and do great. We are all hanging out for the next Alonso, Hamilton and in Max i hope we do get it.

    1. He will probably have trouble preserving his tyres during his first year. Just like all the other rookies in the Pirelli era. But watch the fans going on about how disappointing and overhyped they think he is, when his race results doesn’t live up to his qualification results.

  4. Fernando Alonso ‘thought he was in 1995’ after pre-season crash (The Telegraph)
    “Asked who he was, what his job was, and what he hoped to do with his life, Alonso reportedly replied: ‘I’m Fernando, I drive go karts and I want to be a Formula One driver.'”

    That is really, really strange.

    There is mounting speculation that he might never drive again.
    http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/formula-1/fears-grow-fernando-alonso-never-5281023

    1. Very strange indeed. First I’ve heard of Alonso’s post crash amnesia.

    2. The theory that he lost consciousness before hitting the wall has already been disproved as the telemetry showed that he was braking, downshifting & counter-steering before the crash.

      There was also an article on the BBC website yesterday where Andrew Benson said that he had seen the GPS/Timing data & it showed that contrary to the reports that Fernando was going slow, He was actually going round Turn 3 faster than he had been on his fastest lap to that time of the day so he was clearly pushing when he lost it.

      The stuff about memory loss & been advised to miss the 1st race isn’t uncommon with a concussion. I suffered one myself a few years ago & was told that I did suffer some confusion in the moments after I hit my head, I still don’t remember what happened when I fell down the stairs that day. I was also advised by the doctors to take it easy & avoid doing anything which put me at risk of hitting my head again for a month.

      1. @Roger have to agree, especially after reading that Benson article, that this could be an unfortunate event, and simple caution. By the way I do not usually rate/read Benson, but this was a solid, balanced and informative article.

    3. It is very common for confusion in concussion cases.

      Furthermore I would not trust anything the Mirror writes. It is purely headline bait.

      “Now sources close to the Spaniard say he remembers everything except the accident itself and that he may never return.”

      What does that evem mean. The end of the sentance has no connection to what the sentance is about. Is it a typo. Should it not say “and that it may never return”.

      As they cannot even put together a sentence that makes sense, I will wait until the second race and/or a more detailed informed viewpoint, such as Alonso’s doctor.

      1. exactly, we should only trust what McLarens laywers tell us through their PR statements. Why doesn’t everybody understand this?

        1. Layercake, whilst you’ve made it abundantly clear that you have considerable contempt for McLaren’s side of the story, why are you so eager and willing to trust journalistic sources that are, frankly, of rather dubious quality or have even just fabricated stories altogether?

          As @mach1 points out, The Mirror, for example, has a reputation for printing misleading headlines and sensationalistic stories to drive up sales. Have you not seen how many times people on this site have been complaining about the journalists in The Mirror being lazy, incompetent, plain wrong or deceitful?

        2. The issue isn’t that McLaren should be trusted 100%, it’s that the Mirror should be trusted 0%.

          1. Haha, I thought this should be obvious for all. :)

        3. @anon lets agree, I’ll do my best to take mclarens pr statements as the truth but if Alonso isn’t sitting in the car when the lights go out in Malaysia you’ll join the dark side and be willing to admit they were hiding something all along.

          1. I’m not saying that you have to take McLaren’s statements as absolute statements of truth, rather that you shouldn’t be placing much, or indeed really any, faith in a bunch of liars like The Mirror (this is an organisation which has been sued for libel multiple times in the past few years and lost most of their cases).

            For what it is worth, Hartstein – who hasn’t exactly shied away from making comments about the health of those in F1 and frequently commented on both Bianchi and Schumacher – has said that, in his opinion, none of the information that has been presented so far from more reputable sources has indicated that there is anything abnormal about Alonso’s injuries or treatment.

          2. @Anon have you heard about ferrari’s onboard video from vettels car? apparently it shows no motion from mclarens cockpit as he was heading towards the wall, the car was also not changing direction – it apparently looks as though its ghost driving itself. Pretty spooky if true.

      2. As a spaniard, I can assure you that, whenever I read any piece of news about F1 (specially if Alonso is involved), I automatically don’t believe it until I see it confirmed by a more trustworthy source. If you think The Mirror is headline bait, you really don’t want to know what spanish press is…

        1. You can’t be talking about Marca, Antena 3 or other Spanish media :P

    4. Soon you there will be a report that the Mclaren-Honda MP4-30 is actually a time machine and that the reason for its lack of reliability is due to its faulty flux capacitor and that in truth, Fernando drove into the wall because he was hoping to get to 1″88″ mph which would have taken him to the past when the wall wasnt actually there yet….

    5. Yaj, another tabloid cooking up stories. Sorry but I really think that the biggest story is that F1 is taking concussion and potential for more injury as serious as other sports have started to do in recent years (NFL, Rugby, etc) as doctors learn more about how things work (and find more questions unanswered).

      By all means have a look at finding out how the accident exactly happened, and check Fernando to see if he is really fine before having him race again. But stop cooking up sensational headlines from nothing really but badly translated or quoted things.

    6. Oh my god, please stop the conspiracy theories. Read the stupid article, it’s normal, the guy had a concussion, he recovered in a week, Mclaren wanted him to rest with no medical basis.

      1. also is possible Fernando rather stay home and play while still collecting big pay check, enhanced by insurance money than drive that mchonda to retirement each race.

        VDG maybe just getting off contract to drive manor, reimbursed sort of speak

  5. Did someone from Ferrari actually say that? Wow. Making some strides, are we?

    1. @joao-pedro-cq In what sense? Stop throwing jabs at virtually the only non British team. I think we should cherish Ferrari. Going against the grain is not easy and it could have meant the end of Ferrari a couple decades ago. Actually hearing that Ferrari is more interested in making money supplying new entries makes you wonder what’s Ferrari’s financial status at the moment. Considering that both RBR and Merc are probably all for 3 car teams or costumer cars, Ferrari group is either trying to save money or actually interested in the future of the sport, in the past there was BRM supplying 5 cars but F1 was doing ok, F1 is not doing ok now.

      1. Hi @peartree, wouldn’t you agree that for the last year(s) Ferrari have tended to be dismissive of non-working teams, and seemingly supportive of Bernies oft repeated ‘we need Ferrari not others’? That to me makes this an unexpected change of tone.

        Apart from Mercedes having said they do not want 3 car teams, interesting thoughts on Ferrari and F1, quite agree.

        1. Working == top

      2. What jabs @peartree. Ferrari have been just about the only team who was pushing for 3 car teams in the past (Mercedes have mentioned they do not like the idea, RBR have claimed BE would have to pay them and McLaren has also clearly said that for them its expensive and not effective too). Ferrari have supported the 3 car idea and have been very dismissive of all the smaller teams for years now.
        So if they now say that 3 car teams are not a good solution, and that the sport needs smaller teams, its a 180° turn for them. And one we should all welcome for the good of the sport.

        But until they put their money and actions where there mouth now is, I will remain sceptical of seeing any change in behaviour (such as changing who gets what money, getting to work on actually lowering cost etc).

        1. I must admit to being quite impressed with Maurizio Arrivabene so far, it’s nice to hear some sense coming out of Maranello for a change. Between these latest comments and his going to sit with fans in the stands during preseason testing on the back of his comments that F1 needs to better enguage fans, I’m hopeful that Ferrari will use their considerable political clout in the sport to push for changes that will actually benefit the sport as a whole.

        2. @bascb Just because Montezemolo wanted 3 cars a few years ago it doesn’t mean anyone else didn’t hold the same opinion. Ferrari is outspoken and I’m sure RB who runs 4 cars wouldn’t mind 6,
          @bosyber Merc did want 3 cars before they went on to became a powerhouse.
          SFI was the first team to vote on Marussia, does that make sfi always the enemy, other teams share the same view.

          @matt90 It’s called nationalism, it’s instilled in everyone of us.

          1. @peartree I don’t understand your point. Are you saying you’re Italian and thus naturally protective of Ferrari?

          2. Ok, so you start talking about taking “jabs” at Ferrari for a commenter saying how much it is a change of heart. And then you want to argue that that comment was unfair using these arguments to support it @peartree?

            Monti wasn’t in favor of 3 car team “a few years ago” he was in favour right until he got booted by Ferrari less than a year ago. And apart from Red Bull (who only commented that it would be costly to do so) all other teams have actually come out saying that they don’t like the 3 car team solution at all. Running 4 cars for 2 teams who both can score is indeed a huge difference to running 5 cars (STR is not obliged to do so by contract) when the 5th car is not one adding to their championship chances.
            I would really think that your “Merc did want 3 cars” comment needs some sources, because I don’t rememer anything the like from the team.

          3. @matt90 You know your comment about the “Mirror”, the one you wrote in this round-up. you’ve mirrored my comment.

      3. Stop throwing jabs at virtually the only non British team.

        I didn’t know that being non-British made you exempt from ridicule even while you were being ridiculous.

  6. Congratulations, @keithcollantine. And thanks for keeping us updated with F1.

    It seems that you guessed right when you answered that Van der Garde would substitute Ericsson.

  7. Happy Birthday F1Fanatic! Here’s to another 10 and many many more besides.

    1. ColdFly F1 (@)
      6th March 2015, 3:31

      Happy Birthday F1F!
      And thanks @keithcollantine for all the hard work and good site.

      I have used the go add free link to send the birthday present.

    2. +1

      Thanks Keith @keithcollantine for the amazing job you do

  8. Happy 10th Birthday F1 Fanatic! @keithcollantine

  9. One highly-experienced engineer said: ‘Nothing I can see in the GPS data makes me think it was anything other than him going too fast and losing control.’

    So it was Vettel’s misjudgement and subsequent comments that gave rise to all those conspiracy theories which people used in trying to figure out how he crashed at such a low speed, when in fact he crashed while flooring it faster than ever before that day.

    I never understood those who were looking for something else, when it was 100% checked information that alarm was set off in the car due to 30G crash or something like that. Why is it strange he got a concussion in a 30G crash?

    1. Vettel himself made it clear that he had only seen the tail end of the accident and was unsure himself what exactly had happened – unfortunately, that comment he made has not been as widely published as some of his other comments, no doubt because it doesn’t make for a good sensationalist headline.

    2. Vettel only saw the end of the incident, from the GPS data (figures taken from Auto Motor und Sport) we know his estimate of the speed was fairly accurate. He did not describe the start of the incident when Alonso ran wide on the entry to the corner (215km/h) as he did not see this. Alonso then braked and changed down gears slowing the car (135km/h), it is from this reduced speed that Vettel reported the car turning right and hitting the wall (105km/h).

  10. WOW! Happy Birthday F1 Fanatic ! :D the site has come a long way since I started commenting back in 2007/2008, and it’s so nice to see so many comments, and regular readers, share their views about EEEEEEEEEVERYTHING involving F1.

    This is the best F1 site by a loooong way and it’s made all this seasons a lot more enjoyable. Let’s go for 2025, man! It’s hammer time !

    1. +1

      Great site with the best commentors!

      1. This by far the only F1 related site, where i actually enjoy reading all the comments. The level of maturity in discussions is impressive

        1. Yep completely agree. With most sites that have a comment section the vast majority of the comments read like they were written by children. This site has an amazing number of well informed regular posters and I’m constantly learning new things about the sport from them. On top of Keith’s well written articles and reports it really is a brilliant site for F1.

  11. Neil (@neilosjames)
    6th March 2015, 1:18

    The more Arrivabene says, the more I like him.

    Wonder if he’ll put his money where his mouth is and give up Ferrari’s ‘bonus’…

    1. I don’t see why he has to give up Ferrari status just to make you happy given that 9 out of 10 F1 teams are british (including Mercedes…). It’s an insurance…

  12. @keithcollantine Happy Birthday. It is so good to be back and reading articles from my favourtie site after a LOOOONG time.

    Also, I’m blessed with a baby boy last month and we named him “Sebastian”

    1. pastaman (@)
      6th March 2015, 3:59

      Should have named him Keith!

    2. @icemangrins,won’t that give conflicts with your name when either Ferrari driver beats the other? Welcome back, and congratulations!

  13. Happy Birthday F1 Fanatic! @keithcollantine

    No More a toddler …You are into Middle school now…. So looking at you to be a responsible older brother !!!!

  14. I find the speculation surrounding Fernando incredibly frustrating. Such click-bait is pretty cheap in my opinion. Concussions are still a fairly mysterious event in the medical community, and no one can predict exactly what will happen. Let’s just hope he comes back after the first race. If he doesn’t, it will be because he hasn’t progress as the doctors want, not because there is some vast conspiracy hiding the truth from us. Just google “sidney crosby concussion timeline.” He is one of the more famous players in the NHL here in North America, and a two concussions in quick succession and then ended up being sidelined nearly a year. Caution is the best policy.

  15. Some said Fernando thought he was a Ferrari Driver and now some say that he was a karting Kid…. too many stories out there about Fernando…. Well it seems like a tricky accident altogether!!!!

  16. GB (@bgp001ruled)
    6th March 2015, 2:09

    @keithcollantine, congrats!!!! your site rules!!!! i have been reading and participating since 2009 and is the coolest F1 site that exists!!!! keep up the good work!

      1. Seriously, all that pink, what the hell was I thinking…

  17. GB (@bgp001ruled)
    6th March 2015, 2:10

    congratulations, van der garde! that is the best way to ensure you never return to F1 again!!!! (what are you thinkin!!!)

    1. He would probably never return anyway. This is just a way to get the money back he paid Sauber for the contract. And he is totally right to do so.

      1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
        7th March 2015, 18:48

        he could crearly state that he wants his money back! but he is demanding the drive…
        @spafrancorchamps

        1. He is, but this is about the money. He and his lawyers know perfectly well any court would say there is a damaged working relation here, and it is not good for both parties to continue with each other. Therefore it’s more likely the judge will force Sauber to pay Van der Garde his millions back. + a sum for damaging his career of course, due to Sauber he’ll never become a f1 champion anymore :p

  18. GB (@bgp001ruled)
    6th March 2015, 2:11

    manor: i am happy you are back! hopefully, you will be able to do some racing, even if just by yourself…

    1. Well I think they’ll be in the top 10 again this year:)
      @bgp001ruled

      1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
        7th March 2015, 18:50

        haha!
        yep they will be!
        my comment refered to the hope that they dont just showed up to collect the money and then dissappear…
        @fletch

  19. Happy Birthday F1Fanatic! One of my favorite places on the world wide web. Long may you continue.

  20. Big congrats on your success @keithcollantine, happy to say I’ve been getting my F1 fix from you for a good chunk of those 10 years now.

  21. Next thing you know, Alonso will think it’s 2007, and he’ll get on Ron’s bad side again. Oh, Fernando, you little rascal. But spare a thought for poor Lewis. Without Nicole, his bromance with Fernando is all he has.

  22. That Honda layout with the generator unit attached to the exhaust driven turbine looks so wrong, heat is the enemy of electrical generators and associated electronics and Turbos get very hot, providing enough coolant to stop heat transfer to the generator will add extra weight. I thought the problem seals were in the MGU-K but I would expect problems with this MGU-H configuration to outweigh any packaging advantages. I predict a different arrangement for 2016.

    1. The teams have even less tokens to use for 2016 so I doubt a complete change in engine architecture will be possible as a lot of ancillary parts would need revisions too. I’m afraid they are stuck with it now…….why they didn’t do something closer to Mercedes when the benefits are there for all to see. I have an uneasy feeling about the Honda PU and I’m a McLaren fan!

    2. @hohum And if it were all that simple to see, why wouldn’t Honda’s very highly qualified and surely intelligent engineers see it? I’m sure there’s more to it that!

      1. @ssm0304, I agree, doesn’t make sense to me, perhaps @ bosyber, has the answer.

    3. Engine weight may not be an issue as they have designed the PU in conjunction with the McLaren chassis and if McLaren have done a good job with a lightweight chassis the engine could easily be a little heavier without hurting performance, it’s the center of gravity that really count I would have thought.

      1. Engine minimal weight is prescribed in the rules anyway and the COG might be slightly lower this way although I doubt it makes much difference

    4. Rumor has it the integration between Honda’s PU and McLarens chassis is 1-2 years AHEAD of the competition, us armchair engineers shouldnt be so quick to judge. This thing could be a 1000hp monster once its running, truth is nobody has a clue.

      Also, to flame a conspiracy nobody has mentioned yet. If honda are for instance 100hp NORTH of Merc, the smart thing to do would be to fail as much as possible during these practice sessions. They could have a running chassis deep in the japanese mountains, for the last 2 years, proving real world reliability for all we know. If honda were 100hp ahead of the curve you can bet your salary Merc and co would be throwing a hissy fit over honda’s token eligibility, etc. Just a theory, but a very plausible theory.

    5. @hohum, scarbs said on Twitter that his info indicated a Merc-like layout, which makes more sense

    6. I’m no engineer but since MGU-H is in charge of harvesting electrical energy from heat, the cooling should not be an issue. Plus, I’ve read somewhere (probably a ling on F1F) that the “size zero” packaging is possible because Honda’s PU operates in higher temp window thus require less cooling.

      1. It doesn’t actually convert heat directly, it’s MGU part is the give away (motor generator unit) it works by using the spin on the turbine to covert into electricity, very similar to how the MGU-K works. I too thought at the start of 2014 that they had cracked turning heat directly into energy but alas this is not the case.

        1. ColdFly F1 (@)
          6th March 2015, 12:31

          @thebullwhipper, does that mean then that:
          – the MGU is like a dynamo on my push bike
          – MGU-K links that dynamo to the drive-train, and slowing it down like on my bike;
          – MGU-H links the dynamo to a fan driven by the exhaust gasses, like a wind-mill.

    7. You don’t think Honda engineers would have that in mind while conceptualizing the layout?

      1. They are both like a dynamo, except when they are not charging up the battery the power is reversed and fed back so they work as a motor, K adds extra drive to the crank shaft and the H spins up the turbo to stop turbo lag. MGU should be written in full Motor/Generator Unit, when you see it written that way it helps explain what it does.

        The really clever bit is how they harvest and deploy the energy between the 2 MGU’s to aid acceleration, spun up the turbo or harvest from the H directly to the K once the turbo is up to speed and so much more, it can make ya brain hurt lol.

        Hope that’s helped you understand a bit easier, it took me a while.

  23. @keithcollantine

    Know anything about this? Most Australian news sites are woefully inaccurate when it comes to F1 reporting and coverage, so I wanted to see if you knew of a more reliable source?
    http://www.theage.com.au/sport/motorsport/formula-one-teams-threatening-australian-grand-prix-boycott-report-20150306-13x7bz.html

    1. Yes just reading up on this now. Aussie media sites may not be the best with its F1, but inaccuracy of a story is different to simply making something up. This may not be 100% correct, but I doubt it is 100% incorrect either.

      Pretty easy to work out who the unnamed team boss is too.

    2. German Bild had a similar piece.

      1. The story itself is here, but as always with these, everything is heard from a team boss – one Anonymous Andy.
        http://sportbild.bild.de/formel-1/2015/formel-1/formel-1-gibt-es-boykott-wegen-alonso-unfall-40018878.sport.html

    3. I saw that, obviously it’s just a rehash of what’s in Bild.

  24. Keith,
    Congratulations with the 10 year anniversary. Thanks for providing such a great F1 site!

  25. Congratulations on the 10th anniversary. Good to know that I am not the only one getting old.

  26. OmarR-Pepper (@)
    6th March 2015, 5:41

    @keithcollantine so your “son” is getting 10? Congratulations for the good and hard job you do to bring for us, the real F1 fans, all the info and debate we need (especially during the off-season) I still remember my first comments were just when I was looking for some info about Vettel becoming champion in 2010, and now many of the people who commented then are still here.
    All the best for you, and let’s not forget @willwood

  27. Happy 10 years Keith. I’ve only been following you for a few years but this has become my defacto source for F1 commentary and news. I’m american and i’d like to give a nod to any fellow americans following this site, wish we had something on our side of the pond as good as this! Keith let me know if you’re ever ready to open F1Fanatic West, i’m down to help :-)

  28. Happy Birthday F1 Fanatic!!!
    Keep up the good work Keith!

  29. I would like to add my congratulations for 10 years of this site. I think you do a great job here Keith, and I am sure I can speak for all of us in saying how much we appreciate what you do. @keithcollantine

  30. Many many happy returns of the day F1 fanatic.

    I appreciate your efforts Keith.

  31. I can’t think of many other fields where you would sue to force a company to let you work for them.

    The thing is, even if there it a court ruling I doubt he will be in the seat in Melbourne. But it’s setting up a hell of a damages case against the team, potential loss of earnings etc…

    Could well finish Sauber off when he shows up at the factory with bailiffs to seize a car.

    1. Actually it happens quite regularly in conflicts where a company fires an employee and said employee files a case for unrightful dismissal @philipgb. I understand that the part that is VdGarde now tryign to have enforced is Sauber being ordered by the Swiss arbitration institution to not do anything that would make the dismissal reality (in other words, not having a different driver take his place) until they decide on the merits of the case.

      In normal working space it does often end up being the employer having to pay damages when such a situation arises, because of bad feelings at the workspace. In F1 such bad feelings would make it pretty concocted to take him back on.

  32. Happy Birthday! F1Fantic!

    And thank you very much for the content and contributions you make @keithcollantine

    Hope Ferrari and their drivers will flourish and win the Champions soon!

  33. Happy 10th Birthday F1F. The best site on quality F1 news and the commentators are especially good here. Here’s to many more decades!

  34. In other legal news, “80s pop duo Hall & Oates are suing the company that makes the ‘Haulin’ Oats’ granola bar”. Not sure who out of them or van der Garde has the stronger case, or the more desperate one.

    1. @kingshark – I got Fernando Alonso since I’m not so partial to drivers that are too a) funny and b) Will Stevens-esque.

      1. Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
        6th March 2015, 10:46

        Will Stevens

      2. I got Grosjean

      3. ColdFly F1 (@)
        6th March 2015, 12:40

        Grosjean as well – speed – overtaking – win or bin – experienced
        I expected another name (and will stick to my gut feel)

        1. I didn’t not choose any of those three, just “experienced” and I still got Grosjean.

  35. 10 years ago qualifying conditions masked how the car performance was related to each other. But considering how the season went, it really wasn’t surprise win although it was #2 driver of the team winning.

  36. Thanks again everyone for all the kind wishes, it really does make me proud to see how many people keep coming here and enjoying the site. I just have to keep finding news ways to make it bigger and better!

    1. Sound plan @keithcollantine. Thanks for years of F1Fanatic and many more to come!

    2. @keithcollantine Excellent plan, since this blog, this forum of the brightest and best of the world’s armchair experts, flatters the very sport it celebrates. Great job Keith, and happy birthday F1Fanatic!

    3. Happy birthday to the best F1 site on the Internet! And the best Commenters!

  37. Happy Birthday to F1 Fanatic, though am not following the site these days but back in 2006 I came to meet a lots of friends from this website. I want to wish Keith all the best for the future.

  38. Happy birthday F1 Fanatic! I think it was in late 2008 or early 2009 when I stumbled upon this site and was blown away by the daily round-up of news.

  39. Happy 10th birthday F1 Fanatic! A great job Keith, thank you for all of this!

  40. Parabéns F1 Fanatic!

  41. How about Daniel Johnson’s reputation? A good journalist?

  42. Happy anniversary to F1 Fanatic!

    Awesome work to make a blog into one of the major F1 sites on the net.

  43. Congratulations on 10 years of F1Fanatic, Keith!

    It was the excellent high res picture galleries that brought me here initially, then I found myself visiting it almost daily since. Top, top site!

  44. Happy Birthday F1fanatic!!!! I started with this website when I first got into F1 (2005). I was educated and entertained by the most knowledgeable people on the subject. I love this site and it is a part of my everyday life even though I don’t post much anymore. Thanks Keith, crew and commenters!

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