In the round-up: Rio Haryanto is set to be confirmed as Pascal Wehrlein’s team mate at Manor for 2016.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Briton Stevens loses drive (The Telegraph)
"Stevens, 24, spent last season with the minnows but is understood to have been replaced for 2016 by Rio Haryanto. The Indonesian is bringing at least £10 million in sponsorship in large part thanks to backing from the country’s state oil company."
Why Luca preferred Vettel over Alonso (Motorsport magazine)
"I recalled that when I was trying to convince Michael (Schumacher) to return with us after Felipe's injury in 2009 he was saying 'the guy you need for the future is Vettel'."
Toro Rosso gets late-2015 Ferrari (Autosport)
"This engine, which is the model from the end of last year, is for us a big step forward, and I'm optimistic."
F1 2016: Rules and Trends (ScarbsF1)
"Recalling the very narrow nose of the Caterham in 2014 (ignoring the wedge shaped vanity panel) it could be possible to go very narrow, having a tube-like structure trailing from the front wing only flaring out before the front bulkhead."
The secret life of an F1 component (McLaren)
"Each separate part requires weeks and months of design and manufacture – using a suite of Mazak multi-axis machines – before it can even be assembled together."
Allmendinger: I’ll never race an open-cockpit IndyCar after Wilson’s death (Motorsport)
"The only way I would do it is if they put in a closed cockpit over the car and tested it and they thought that was a good direction in safety."
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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Mein neues Helmdesign für 2016! 😍🔥
// New design for 2016 – love it!#PW94 #JMD#Germany#Mauritius pic.twitter.com/SEs548gIkv
— Pascal Wehrlein (@PWehrlein) February 16, 2016
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Has Sebastian Vettel hit upon in important factor in F1’s declining popularity by pointing out how complicated it has become?
Formula One is far too complicated. Try and explain the 2016 tyre regulation to any casual or someone who isn’t a fan of the sport. With every regulation change the sport has gone through since 2010, F1 has proved nothing other than the fact that it is run by absolute idiots.
There’s a good reason to why simple sports (football, basketball) who have rules that can easily be explained to anyone are so popular and appease to such an large global audience.
@Kingshark
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On this day in F1
Williams launched their Honda-powered FW11 on this day 30 years ago. The team won the constructors’ championship that year but drivers Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet narrowly lost the championship to Alain Prost.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
17th February 2016, 0:12
Good for Haryanto: Manor has already done this with Bianchi and Chilton. They got the money from Indonesia and the talent from Mercedes, so it works out for them. Not the first time it’s happened…
About that Motorsport Magazine article, it was fascinating to read and just amaizing that everything fell together for Ferrari in the end. A brilliant move by Montezemolo and Co. That’s one side of F1 that’s always interesting to read: I remember reading Peter Warr’s excelent autobiography and the chapter about the negotiations with Senna was fantastic.
Also, replying to @Kingshark ‘s COTD: motorsport is always hard to explain to people that don’t know anything about it. Driving in racing conditions is something so difficult and so different from normal driving that the general public has a hard time understanding it: it’s not running and kicking a ball, which we can all do, regardless of the outcome. Driving a racing car involves undestanding a lot from the car, the physics of it, the conditions, and then there’s the rules. It’s a huuuge task to learn such a thing while sitting in front of the telly.
F1 might be just a little bit harder than other disciplines. But I’d apply what you say to all motorsport: it just doesn’t reach the masses as well as other sports.
George (@george)
17th February 2016, 0:38
Good for Haryanto? Maybe. I guess this is about as good as it was going to get for him so just being in F1 is an achievement. Bad for Wehrlein though, Bianchi set the bar for how completely you have to beat your unfancied team-mate to get noticed.
Kingshark (@kingshark)
17th February 2016, 1:59
@fer-no65
I didn’t find Formula 1 that difficult to understand at all when I began watching at the age of 6. The premise of Formula 1 is very simple, it is drivers completing a race distance in a car as quickly as possible while trying to beat each other. The basics of this sport is not much more complicated than football. The problem is when they install an abundance of ridiculously complicated rules.
@HoHum (@hohum)
17th February 2016, 2:02
@fer-no65. Yes, explaining the nuances of any sport can be difficult, I still can’t work out how the scores in cricket test matches can be a draw, but being Australian I have on occasion tried to explain the basics of cricket, which to me is simpler than baseball, to Americans with little success.
petebaldwin (@)
17th February 2016, 12:18
But the problem is that cricket is spectacularly simple when compared to F1.
If F1 ran cricket, can you imagine what the rules would be like?
– You have to manage your bat as after 20 hard shots, the handle will fall off.
– If you need to carry out any maintenance work to any of your equipment after drinks on the first day, you lose 100 runs. If you don’t already have 100 runs to lose, you have to run over to the side of the field for 10 seconds whilst the bowlers continue to bowl.
– Bats now carry out the same basic function as they did previously but now cost £3m each. They will be supplied only by the Australian national team who will offer a differing quality of bats depending on the threat posed by the team they are supplying.
– Classic stadiums such as Lords, MCG and so on have been replaced with carparks in Syria and North Korea.
– There is now no boundary line in place around the field – decisions on whether a ball has crossed the line or not will be decided by a panel following the match.
– In order to increase runs, batters can now press a button on their bat that automatically hits the ball.
– The classic sound of “leather on willow” has been replaced by an inaudible low thud.
– The best players in the world are slowly replaced by rich people who buy a spot on the team.
Does anyone fully understand the tyre rules for next year? Did anyone understand the token system? Could anyone work out the penalty system last year? Does anyone understand why going off the track and not having to slow down isn’t gaining an advantage when previously, they would have lost a load of time?
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
17th February 2016, 12:53
the difficulty to understand and thrill new f1 watchers is also due to new situations which are the only source of exitement generated by actual rules.
If you take a situation where the lead twi drivers are laping at around the same time and the second can’t pass. The second switch to medium tyres and keep upbthe pace with the front runner, he has pretty good chances to pass by the next stint when the situation is inverted which will be a good and thrilling situation for most f1 fans but won’t for a non fan as for him the situation is unchanged. Juste to provide an example.
i think football or basketball are easy to understand because we have always known it and learn the rules progressively but they ain’t that simple. However watching those sport can be enjoyable without understanding all of them because the goal is to outscore your opponent and teams usually do their best for it. While f1 drivers are not pushing to the max at all time and that can be feeled when watching a race which won’t probably hook a newcomer.
InSilico_ (@insilico)
17th February 2016, 13:07
Is F1 really that complicated as you guys are making out? It’s just 20-odd drivers driving around racetrack and whoever is quickest wins. Seems pretty simple to me. For a casual fan some of the rules might be confusing but the vast majority of them their interest wouldn’t venture that far as to be interested in engine tokens etc.
drmouse (@drmouse)
17th February 2016, 13:28
The basics are pretty simple, the rest not much more complicated. Yes, they are over complicated in my opinion, and I still don’t see why we need them to run multiple tyre compounds in a race, but they are not as complicated as people make out. The way they worded them, however, was gobbledegook.
Yes. To change a part of an engine cost a number of tokens. The manufacturers had a limited number of tokens to use. So, they could change anything they wanted, but only up to that number of tokens. What’s difficult to understand about that?
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
17th February 2016, 15:58
It’s not the fact that they are complicated that annoy me but the fact you must know the rules to enjoy a f1 race
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
17th February 2016, 16:49
@jeanrien Except you don’t need to understand all the rules to enjoy a race.
Drivers all drive around and whoever finishes first wins
sometimes they will stop for new tyres
You only need to delve into the rules if you are a fan and interested in more than just race day.
sato113 (@sato113)
17th February 2016, 0:23
I’m surprised the indonesian oil company has the money to throw away backing an average driver. what with the oil industry suffering.
Gabriel (@rethla)
17th February 2016, 8:43
“Suffering” is a relative term. The mountain of cash the oilindustry is sitting on is bigger than any of the other F1 sponsors.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
17th February 2016, 13:49
@sato113 And that’s not considering how much crude oil we export only to be imported back as petrol, etc……
(Indonesia’s a net importer of petroleum…..)
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:20
who cares, however u get it money is money
ZackOfSpades (@zackofspades)
17th February 2016, 0:23
Well, when one driver is there on mostly merit, it seemed likely that the second seat would be a driver who brings a significant backing. Nothing new. Wish Rossi could’ve found a little more sponsorship, though.
Really digging Wehrlein’s helmet. The two flags above his name are a nice touch.
petebaldwin (@)
17th February 2016, 12:19
@zackofspades – There’s still the 5th or 6th seat at Sauber….
ColdFly F1 (@)
17th February 2016, 15:50
Is it new news that he’ll be racing #94?
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
17th February 2016, 0:27
Pros: Indonesian finally have a representative in F1.
Cons: Rio becames a backmarker.
Taufiq A. Utomo (@taufiqutomo)
17th February 2016, 1:55
Cons #2: Even then, F1 doesn’t look like coming back to Indonesian TV
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
17th February 2016, 15:58
We couldn’t move on from 4:3 aspect ratio..xD
MattDS (@mattds)
17th February 2016, 7:28
@ernietheracefan to be honest, Haryanto doesn’t deserve anything more than being a backmarker. 6 years of GP3 and GP2, very mediocre results to show for it – even in AutoGP he was uninspiring.
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
17th February 2016, 15:56
@mattds that’s why I’m still keep my though about Rio should doing WEC with Manor LMP2 or goes to Blancpain GT with Lambo instead.
MattDS (@mattds)
17th February 2016, 17:04
That would be a good fit @ernietheracefan . I certainly agree.
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
17th February 2016, 21:28
The recent example: Sean Gelael, from hitting pit exit wall at Yas Marina to winning the last two rounds of Asian Le Mans Series.
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:26
@mattds …… and what did Pascal offered to us ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal_Wehrlein
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_Haryanto
MattDS (@mattds)
18th February 2016, 7:17
@gunusugeh I thought we were talking about Haryanto. I have no particular interest in Wehrlein, and he’s a big question mark for me too. But maybe that’s just it: Wehrlein is a question mark (who has obviously gained Mercedes’ trust) while I have no question marks at all about Haryanto: he doesn’t cut it.
aditya
17th February 2016, 10:47
Until there is a news from Autosport, I think the seat is still vacant. Even so, that doesn’t guaranree anything!
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:24
@ernietheracefan … so will Pascal
Yes (@come-on-kubica)
17th February 2016, 0:37
Basketball and Football do have confusing rules but nothing like the ridiculous ones in F1.
mantresx (@mantresx)
17th February 2016, 1:10
Specially American football, I watched a game the other day and couldn’t really understand much more than the basics and stopped paying attention after the first half lol.
I guess this is how a non regular F1 viewer feels when watching a race?
Michael Brown
17th February 2016, 1:58
I suspect American football is as popular as it is because of the higher amount of advertising opportunities.
Zane Jakobs (@zjakobs)
17th February 2016, 2:15
It’s really popular for two main reasons: the action and the strategy. Every play is full of action everywhere, and there’s actually a significant degree more strategy than association football (soccer– does anyone actually call it association football?). I may not be a fan personally (Real Madrid fan here), but I get why people are.
ColdFly F1 (@)
17th February 2016, 6:35
with the action being in 10sec bursts and outdone by cheerleaders and the animal/clown costume.
and as much strategy as child playing with a bulldozer!
It’s still fun though with the whole atmosphere around it when attending a game!
Mike
17th February 2016, 10:21
I think you’ll find fans of football will disagree with you on both the action and the strategy parts…
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
17th February 2016, 11:56
Comparing soccer and American football is like comparing checkers and chess. American football is one of the few team sports where the coaches are more important than the players to the outcome of the game. I have been watching for decades and I still constantly see new situations emerge for the referees to deal with. The complexity of the sport is part of its draw, much like Formula 1.
GeeMac (@geemac)
17th February 2016, 13:50
No, everyone just calls it football. ;)
CarWars (@maxv)
17th February 2016, 14:57
Football is the sport you play by kicking a ball with your foot.
American Football is the sport were you throw and egg around with your hands, hence: Football
JCost (@jcost)
17th February 2016, 7:37
It has tons of adds because it’s popular, why it is popular is another question.
Gabriel (@rethla)
17th February 2016, 8:48
It has lots of downtime just like hockey and baseball, thats why its big in US. Football and racing have a hard time squeezing in adds everywhere and therefore struggles. Unsuprisingly the racing leagues with dozens of yellow flags and downtime is the most successfull.
petebaldwin (@)
17th February 2016, 12:21
@jcost – Big reason is that it’s only on for a few months a year. People don’t get bored of it.
Of course, as with everything else, you’d expect F1 to spot something that works and go with the absolute opposite.
Loen (@loen)
17th February 2016, 18:05
It pains me to reply with this.
My Dad used to say this, ‘Nothing that comes out of the USA and is labelled ‘Sport’ will be simple
and clear. And that is because virtually every US sport is entirely ruled and dominated by pure
commercialism. The commercial side dictates virtually every aspect of any sport exposed to
American TV. They call it ‘The American Way’, and it’s one of the reasons why F1 has always struggled to operate a sustained presence in the USA. It’s also why European style football
struggles to compete on major-channel American TV.
And it seems to me that that sort of commercialism, beloved of CVC Capital Partners and their
F1 dictator Bernard Charles Ecclestone, will eventually be the death of an already deeply
polluted F1.
JackySteeg (@jackysteeg)
17th February 2016, 0:52
Slightly cynical about this, considering Haryanto is being funded by the same struggling industry that funded Maldonado. I’d be surprised if he races for the full season, to be honest. Good luck to him, though.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
17th February 2016, 17:33
@jackysteeg As someone said above, struggling is a relative term. They still have truckloads of cash. And the rumored 10 million pounds they allegedly have to pay is barely a third of what PDVSA were supposed to pay for Maldonado. Couple that with the fact that Venezuela’s struggling a lot more than Indonesia in general and you see the difference between the cases
AmbroseRPM (@ambroserpm)
17th February 2016, 1:02
One oil funded driver off the grid, one on the grid. The difference between Maldonado and Haryanto is that the Indonesians are providing about $20-30 million less than PDVSA did.
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:28
lets hope he crashed less than Maldonado
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
17th February 2016, 1:33
Great article by Mark Hughes.
Alonso and Ferrari just fell out of love with another. A person can only push so hard, and when there is no end result, you cant fault that person’s frustration. On the flip side, would it be fair to draw comparison to Alonso’s stint at Ferrari to early part Schumacher’s time there? Schumacher build a winning team, but Alonso somehow didnt manage that?
Perhaps, when Schumacher walked into Maranello, he knew the task at hand. The hadnt won a title for 17 years at that point, and it wasnt really a winning machine. It took him, Todt, Byrne and Brawn 4 years to turn the ailing animal into the Prancing Horse we saw from 2000 to 2004.
However, in Alonso’s case, it was so very different. When he joined Ferrari in 2010, it was a team that was ready to win, and it almost did, but thats as good as it got. It was all downhill from there. Could Alonso have influenced the team better? Perhaps, we will never know what happened behind the scenes.
All in all, 2010 to 2014 would still rank as a memorable era in the history of Ferrari. The dogged performances of Alonso in 2010 and 2012 in sub par machinery will be remembered fondly when we look back in years to come.
Mr. X
17th February 2016, 1:54
There is no “Alonso” in team.
j3d89
17th February 2016, 4:44
Agree..totally
CashNotClass (@cashnotclass)
17th February 2016, 17:04
Let’s not underestimate the weak leadership of Stefano Domenicali. When Todt stepped back after 2007 it was Stefano’s team. While he was busy cultivating relations with McLaren’s Whitmarsh in FOTA, other teams were becoming the new players in F1. To this day I do not understand why he caved in so easily on the EBD-issue in 2011.
Mr. X
18th February 2016, 4:15
Not sure you can call that falling out of love with eachother… I think it was Ferrari doing everything they could do open doors for alonso’s exit, AKA, being soft fired.
Any driver wanting veto power of technical appointments in the team is clearly someone with an agenda, and that agenda is NOT winning but having power. History proves this to be true.
Robbie (@robbie)
18th February 2016, 14:50
If true, the request for veto power over technical recruits only came after frustration set in after 3 years of failing to product a WDC car, and should not really be a surprise to a team that itself thrives on having veto power.
Mr. X
19th February 2016, 0:05
A driver wanting veto over technical staff is almost as bad as fans wanting to control technical regulations.
Leave it to the people with brains.
Like i said history proves my statement on Alonso to be true.
#nomoreWDC (for a reason)
Brian Kneis (@clustr1)
17th February 2016, 1:53
Just a general comment… but I think it is great to see how fully F1 teams have embraced social media. The additional exposure teams are able to provide their sponsors has grown significantly over the last few years. I wonder what effect this is having on the value of being a sponsor in F1. While it may not be a significant part of the equation today, I imagine it will be in the near future.
draizze
17th February 2016, 2:10
About Haryanto’s F1 funding. FYI, that oil company actually only funded about one third or half of the total fund. The rest maybe from various company, backing from some rich figure and crowdfunding.
If I’m not wrong, Haryanto also have signed with some Japan’s marketing agency so maybe He’s also got some sponsorship from there.
In positive light, Haryanto could give F1 more exposure to Asia’s market particularly in South East Asia region.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
17th February 2016, 10:01
I know he hasnt set GP2 alight, but I’d still give him the benefit of the doubt. I’ll always remember watching him at the Formula BMW round at Singapore in 2009, he was the class of the field. He basically walked away with the title that season, it was pure dominance. Ok, one could argue that there wasnt much competition.
Hey, wouldnt it be nice he turned out like another Kobayashi? KK came to F1 with hardly stellar record in his junior program, but proved to be an instant hit with fans and the paddock.
Lets see how he stacks up against Wehrlein. Well, he cant be worse than Max Chilton..right?
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
17th February 2016, 17:39
@jaymenon10 Chilton was disgracefully bad . . . not to put Bianchi down, but with a more capable team mate it would have been interesting to see.
montreal95 (@montreal95)
17th February 2016, 17:46
@jaymenon10 Sorry, but I can’t share your hopes for Haryanto. Even though KK didn’t have great results in junior series, to those looking there was clearly great talent there. On the other hand I’ve been watching Haryanto in junior series for many years and can’t see that spark in him for the life of me.
I’ll wish him good luck anyway, if confirmed. I’ll be happy to admit my mistake, but I just can’t see it
evered7 (@evered7)
17th February 2016, 2:15
People hate what they don’t understand. And if they really want to get into watching F1, they will make an effort to know the working behind it. One doesn’t need to understand the whole game in the first few months. Also unlike other sports, here the Formula isn’t fixed. It is updated every now & then and hence one has to read up to get an understanding of what and why that change happened.
It will never be simple as 20 brawny men chasing a leather ball around and trying to put it in the net. BTW Football’s offside ruling is changed every few seasons (in BPL). Even the refs can’t get it right. Same goes for what is a red and what is an yellow. It’s not followed to the letter by most refs.
The basic premise has been the same all through the years. The first three people crossing the finishing line the earliest are given trophies in the podium :)
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
17th February 2016, 2:38
Good news, good day.
Patrick (@paeschli)
17th February 2016, 16:12
Which good news?
Replacing Maldonado in the sport by someone with even less talent doesn’t excite me in the slightest.
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
17th February 2016, 17:42
@paeschli I’m always willing to give drivers a chance. Some guys don’t excel in lower formulas but bring great performances to F1.
Some great performers in other series often fail to leave a mark.
@keithcollantine Any chance you’ve got some info around who’s been a pit pants in lower categories but done well in F1, and vice versa?
Alex Williams (@scuderia-alex)
17th February 2016, 3:37
I may be biased, seeing as I’m an American, but I feel like Manor is really making a mistake by choosing Haryanto over Rossi. Alex was the 2006 Skip Barber West champion. In 2007, he finished 3rd in Formula BMW America, and the following year, he was the Formula BMW USA champion, even winning the Formula BMW Finale. In 2009, he raced the full season of GP2 Asia, finishing 9th with mostly top 10’s. In 2010, he did a full season in GP3, finishing 4th in the championship. He had 5 podiums, two were wins, and he also had 2 poles. He moved to Formula 3.5 in 2011, finishing third in the championship, with six podiums, two wins, and he was only bested by Vergne and Wickens, while he outraced Daniel Ricciardo. In 2013 he had his first year in GP2. Ever since, he’s raced at Le Mans and Daytona. He’s had 11 podiums, four of them being wins, one of those coming in his debut year. He’s consistently outraced Rio all three of his years in GP2, and last year, he was only bested by none other than the most successful GP2 driver in history. He’s even been driving F1 cars since 2012, and he’s raced in 5 Formula 1 races.
That’s certainly 5 more than Rio. Rio was 2009 Formula BMW Pacific champion, and thats it. He only started getting consistent points finishes in his fourth year of GP2. So as a result, I see no reason other than on the basis of financial backing, to choose Haryanto over Rossi.
jCage
17th February 2016, 4:58
I don’t think there needs to be any other reason from Manor’s perspective. As you say, the last title either driver achieved was in regional Formula BMW. And I say this as an American who would have been very happy if Alex had gotten the nod.
Based on last year, Rossi is likely the most meritocratic choice of the 3 guys vying for this seat, but it’s not a Vandoorne vs Chilton comparison here, it’s between the men who finished a distant 2nd and 4th (probably would have been 3rd if that last race had not been called off) in GP2.
Fernando (@fernanzazpi)
17th February 2016, 12:07
Actually, that’s infinite times Rossi has raced than Ryo, since the indonesian has never raced any GP :D
Anyway, for me it’s a mistake for Manor. I would say as a spanish fan I wish to see Mehri in that seat again, this time with a Merc’s engine in the back, and a much improved car than last year… But, yeah, probably Rossi had the edge, he shined in his five races last year. Instead, they have chosen a paydriver with less talent, y’all know what that means…
Sumedh
17th February 2016, 4:04
Great article about the Alonso-Ferrari siutation in 2014. Although, I don’t think Mattiacci was just bluffing (to keep negotiations going) when he asked Alonso to extend his contract until 2018. I think he and Ferrari genuinely wanted Alonso to stay, but only under certain conditions (long term contract, no exit clauses, full commitment). It was this ‘conditions’ part that Alonso didn’t agree with and left, I believe. And I am sure that may have also been one of the reasons why Mattiacci was removed.
It also feels as if Luca backstabbed Alonso a bit He talked with Vettel in late-2013 (just after the ear-tweaking incident), gave Alonso an exit clause which was ostensibly his choice but actually just allowed Ferrari to push Alonso into a corner.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th February 2016, 7:03
Don’t know about Ferrari wanting Alonso to stay. If they started assessing their options in 2013, it shows that neither side was happy.
I find it hard to believe that Ferrari were disappointed with Alonso’s performance, as I couldn’t see any driver on the grid being able to take the championship fight to the last race of the season in the 2010 and 2012 Ferrari challengers . Up until mid 2013, between Alonso and Vettel, Alonso was the better driver.
Keeping aside his on track performance, off track, Alonso was unhappy since mid 2012. He had a public spat with Pat Fry when Pat said Alonso could have qualified better in a particular race, to which Alonso reverted that the rear of the car hadn’t made any progress since the start of the European season. When tensions began to rise in the Ferrari camp, Fernando had no qualms in pointing the finger at Ferrari’s short comings. This was the cardinal rule broken by a Ferrari driver. You never blame the team, you never say you rather be driving another car, and you never make these feelings public. As much as Ferrari loved Alonso, their ego was hurt, and let’s face it, the only thing bigger than Ferrari’s resources is their ego. Regardless of how good Alonso was, it was time for Ferrari to plan his exit.
So step in Vettel, a 3 time WDC who was in love with Ferrari and had bagged enough championships already to win another one with the red team. Unlike Alonso, Seb had time on his side, and the patience to handle a loss. I don’t think Vettel is a better driver, but he has a temperament that will suit Ferrari well, and if Ferrari were to rebuild their successful days, he would fight patiently till the day will come.
What remains to be seen is how long Seb will stay cool without adding another WDC to his tally. It took Alonso 3 seasons to start losing his cool, and what seemed like the Rosiest of Red Marriages in 2010, went sour in 2013. Honestly, if you ask me, if Vettel doesn’t have a WDC by 2018, I could see him leaving Ferrari. Maybe not in the ugly manner Fernando left them, but he will leave nonetheless.
MattyPF1 (@mattypf1)
17th February 2016, 4:48
While I much prefer Rossi to be in the seat (as he’s been waiting far too long for his big break) but I did think that signing Haryanto may be a good idea. While he brings backing, I reckon he’ll be like Chilton and show pure consistency throughout the year. I’m just hoping he proves to be quicker than Chilton.
MattDS (@mattds)
17th February 2016, 7:34
@mattypf1
Don’t count on it too much… Chilton needed “only” three seasons in GP2 to accomplish the same as Haryanto in four seasons (wins + fourth place in the final ranking).
Now feeder series are not the be-all end-all, but going by that it doesn’t inspire much confidence.
MattyPF1 (@mattypf1)
17th February 2016, 10:29
Fair point
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
17th February 2016, 17:50
@mattds @mattypf1 I think whilst Chilton showed consistency, consistency is only good if you are in the right place to take advantage of it.
Despite being British, Chilton just annoys me by how un-competitive he was. He never seemed to have that racer instinct, and he never showed the speed even mediocre drivers can show.
MattyPF1 (@mattypf1)
18th February 2016, 1:51
@captainpie he even proved in Indy Lights last season, being outclassed by Ed Jones (who done very well I must say) and only done a little bit better than Ed in the last couple of races and then paid his way into a full time Ganassi seat yet champion Spencer Pigot (who was absolutely amazing) gets 3 races at best despite being a deserving champion. One reason why I hate money and people who have loads of it
hobo (@hobo)
17th February 2016, 6:34
This is largely in response to Vettel’s comments that led to the COTD, but posting here because posting on an prior roundup it will get lost in the shuffle.
I think Vettel and @kingshark both make some sense (more the latter) because if you wanted to explain the regs to non-fans, it’s tough. All racing has rules, but I feel like watching a WEC race takes zero additional knowledge aside from that there are different classes competing. Just explaining F1’s DRS and tires/tyres is a chore. And most people will either dismiss that as boring or want to know why implement these rules? (now explain the history leading up.. downforce, OWG, f-duct; grooved tyres and tyre war, one set per race, elimination of refuelling, boring race without pits.) Meanwhile one could sit down in front of a WEC race or LeMans, watch, get up, and come back later without a big problem.
If we were to take Vettel’s complaint seriously, without resorting to making F1 a spec series (which I think many do not want, including many in F1)… What if they had single-make races on the F1 weekend sort of like the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16 race back in 1984. You could have different makes at different races—a spec Merc one weekend, a spec Fiat, a spec Renault, etc. It wouldn’t have to be at every weekend, but it could.
This could change up the weekend a little too, to bring in more people. For example. Have P1 and the spec race on Friday, P2 and Quali on Saturday. New guys would still get to learn the track, they’d only lose an hour of setup time (P3) and there would be a reason to come to the track each day. Plus you’d get Top Gear-esque bragging rights between the drivers because they’d be in the same cars.
Someone please make this happen.
markp
17th February 2016, 10:02
The spec driver idea would be a marketing disaster, Merc pay Hamilton a lot of money they do not want him to win a race in a car from a rival brand and have it shown across the world why they are paying him, same applies for all the other top line drivers. Also having the top drivers racing too much over the weekend would take away somewhat from the main event.
Asanator (@asanator)
17th February 2016, 12:25
They have spec races, they are called GP2 and GP3!
JohnS
17th February 2016, 17:27
I’m seeing a number of people making this argument – that the alternative to overly complicated rules is a spec series – and it doesn’t make sense to me. For most of its history F1 has been much less of a spec series than it is at present and at the same time it had much less complex rules.
In fact I’d say that the entire purpose of the incredibly long and detailed rule book controlling every aspect of the modern cars is to try to get the result of a spec series while still having different manufacturers.
CashNotClass (@cashnotclass)
17th February 2016, 23:46
@JohnS F1 did at one time have less complex rules while also being less of a spec series, but that was when the science of making fast cars was less advanced. Since at least the 1980s the FIA has been banning inventions that would make the cars too fast. Ground effect, active suspension, traction control, exhaust blown diffusers, you name it. If you relax the rules today, within a year or two the cars will go so fast that it would be irresponsible to go racing with them.
Melvin (@)
17th February 2016, 18:51
i have never had any trouble explaining f1. You race as fast as possible and try to win. The only thing i had trouble explaining is most of the stewards decisions.
Todfod (@todfod)
17th February 2016, 10:41
Aren’t car launches starting today? I thought there was one scheduled for the 17th of Feb
just.daz (@nemo87)
17th February 2016, 11:01
Red bull apparently..
GeeMac (@geemac)
17th February 2016, 13:56
It’s just a livery launch @todfod, not sure what time it is though.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
17th February 2016, 14:27
@todfod @nemo87 @geemac The Red Bull livery launch is at 5pm UK time (it’s in the calendar) but it’s already been leaked:
https://twitter.com/f1fanatic_co_uk/status/699957969899954177
GeeMac (@geemac)
17th February 2016, 14:45
Thanks for that @keithcollantine.
The livery looks…meh.
accidental mick (@accidental-mick)
17th February 2016, 10:51
As I post this I am aware that I’m in a bad mood – I have had my share of time-wasting idiots today and is is not yet 11am.
It is mostly aimed at people who do not have English as a first language. If an activity involves a ball – whatever the shape or size- it is not a sport, it is a game. Games are for children.
Please stop comparing motorsport with games.
Fernando (@fernanzazpi)
17th February 2016, 12:16
Arguments for that statement, may I ask? Because they could state any sport with an engine it is not a sport, it’s a show. Is chess (grand master level ofc) a sport, for instance?
F1 rules are overcomplicated to explain. I can remember when they introduced first time the colours in tyres to tell apart the compound by a small dot… Well, that was a disaster, the cameras could not distinguish’em. Or take the Qualy system: try to explain the available tyre sets for each driver, to a casual viewer…
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
17th February 2016, 11:32
This just proves how useless the super license point system is. Only one of the three rookies for next season has enough points to qualify for a super license. Haryanto has been in GP2 for four years now and what does he have to show for it? One decent season and three seasons where he struggled to even score points and only got a few lucky podiums. Wehrlein is a different story because he has been successful in European F3 before going to DTM and I think the system doesn’t appreciate DTM like it should.
hahostolze (@hahostolze)
17th February 2016, 11:37
F1 rids itself of Chilton, Maldonado and Stevens only to get stuck with Haryanto. It never gets better.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
17th February 2016, 13:57
@hahostolze We’ve gotten better since Ide so……
Q85
17th February 2016, 12:18
Luca doesn’t half took some rubbish.
If anyone thinks Vettel could do more in those Ferrari than Alonso did they aren’t quite right in the head. Ferrari’s problem was Alonso was so good, so good that the car didn’t need to be up to scratch. The 2012 was simply terrible and he nearly won a title with it.
People have short memories…
Tim M (@tim-m)
17th February 2016, 16:08
People really do have short memories! Alonso did a fantastic job in 2012; and regardless of whether someone thinks Vettel is the better driver of the two, I really don’t think he would have done any better in the F2012 than Alonso did.
petebaldwin (@)
17th February 2016, 15:20
Well that’ll be fun for him this year. Sadly, it’s unlikely he’ll be able to prove his worth in a car several laps down…
I wonder who is paying more and therefore gets the updates first? Mercedes or Indonesia?
David Adrian
17th February 2016, 16:36
I’m really glad Haryanto finally enter F1. I think he deserve it. His achievement at GP2 last year is quite moderate, nor good or bad (if the last race wasn’t cancelled, he might took 3rd rank). I know there are lot of drivers faster than him deserve F1 seat, but this is the reality we face in F1. Not every fastest driver in GP2 get the opportunity to be a F1 driver. Without proper funding, no matter how good they are, the driver are easily dumped if the principal gets better offer. Yes, I know Vandoorne is a lot faster than Haryanto, Rossi (well, not so much.. but he has more experience). But how about Merhi, last year? or Maldonado? were they qualified?…
I just hope pure pay driver like Gelael never enter F1, before at least he won something. bah!
Arnold Triyudho Wardono (@ernietheracefan)
17th February 2016, 21:25
Sean was winning the last two rounds of Asian Le Mans Series..
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:35
in a ‘road car’, not formula ……
W-K (@w-k)
17th February 2016, 17:36
Is Rio Haryanto actually eligible?
https://www.racefans.net/2015/12/07/revealed-which-drivers-have-enough-superlicence-points-to-race-in-f1/
gunusugeh (@gunusugeh)
17th February 2016, 23:38
perhaps not ….. Then Manor should takes Helio Castroneves
Apex Assassin
17th February 2016, 18:16
I wish any driver too scared to race open cockpit would just quit or retire and find themselves a job in a series where they feel comfortable. It’s not like open cockpit series would suffer in any way.
Why do people need to force their beliefs on others?
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
17th February 2016, 21:41
Hehe, reading LdM interview…. Awesome. Well played.
But hey such is life many a Ferrari driver was sacked for comments about the car or engine…
Alonso is an excellent racer on sunday.. But on monday to saturday, toxic attitude just destroys a team.
There is hardly a better guy in that sense than Vettel, Michael was right in that sense. And he knows a thing or five about winning titles with Ferrari.
But hey, as Alonso would say… They still have not won a title yet.