In the round-up: Liberty Media is planning further changes to the ownership of Formula One which would further marginalise Bernie Ecclestone.
Links
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F1 power-broker Liberty Media plots fresh shareholder shake-up (Sky)
"The new power-broker in Formula One motor racing is plotting fresh changes to the sport's investor base in a move that will further distance its ownership from the era of Bernie Ecclestone."
Shield won't stop 'unlucky accidents' – Verstappen (Crash)
"You know when the tyre lands, the Shield will not protect you. I don't really like it, it doesn't look very cool, and I remember Formula 1 like they are now, they were just open."
Tyres won't decide 2017 title fight - Bottas (Autosport)
"They are managing their tyres at every single track on every Sunday and they've been very much on top of every compound of tyres. They've done a very good job on that."
F1 planning new fan initiatives from Spanish GP (Motorsport)
"We are also reviewing the broader race weekend in areas like support races to enhance and improve the experience for fans."
"His resignation should not affect the French GP deal that has been done with the Formula One group, which involves funding from different levels of government at local, departemental and regional level. It is nonetheless an odd decision and is probably related to the forthcoming parliamentary elections that will be disputed between June 11-18."
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Found it interesting talking to RIC in Sochi. When asked about the new car for Spain he said it had a lot of red and a lot of silver…
— Will Buxton (@thebuxtonblog) May 9, 2017
For those getting overexcited about Red Bull's updates this weekend, the team assures me there is no 'all new' car nor plans for RB14 rename
— Jon Noble (@NobleF1) May 9, 2017
We are very happy to welcome our special guest Peter Sauber in Barcelona at the first European #F1 race of the season! #SpanishGP
— Sauber F1 Team (@SauberF1Team) May 9, 2017
Sergey Sirotkin will drive for Renault in first practice again (and will hopefully do more than one complete lap this time!) #F1 #SpanishGP
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) May 9, 2017
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Mark Webber’s comments about Jenson Button’s return in Monaco prompted a debate about whether he really wants to come back:
If this is a non-story it is only because the odds are that Button and Vandoorne will likely not even be near any points again. Full stop. But that doesn’t mean Button isn’t happy to fulfil his role. I would suggest one of the reasons or ingredients that was in place in order for Alonso to go to Indy was that they had Button in his role on the team.
Webber might be right that this is a non-story because it’s not like Button is going to win or even get points. But let’s not make it sound like Button has a gun to his head and is hating doing this.
@Robbie
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Julian Castaldi!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
10th May 2017, 0:20
Webber sounds as full of sour grapes all the time. Starts to remind me of JV.
Ricky Johnson (@bamboo)
10th May 2017, 21:28
He who dares not offend cannot be honest.
Wesley (@)
10th May 2017, 22:04
Sour grapes? Sounds like he was just speaking the truth like he usually does. I miss Webbo.
@Ricky Johnson ….well said!
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
10th May 2017, 1:21
Webber does make a fair point about the superlicence points. I wonder if McLaren would’ve tried someone else instead of Jenson if the superlicence points weren’t inforced. JB has nothing to win and probably isn’t that interested in retiring 5 laps into the race with an engine problem. Maybe it’d be a good way to give other guy a chance to actually do something and learn in the process.
Michael Brown (@)
10th May 2017, 1:48
Isn’t it that true that if the current superlicence points requirement was in effect ten years ago, some of F1’s current top drivers would not have been allowed to race on their debuts?
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
10th May 2017, 5:01
@mbr-9 Then again, with the superlicence points rule in effect, we got Rio Haryanto
Fran
10th May 2017, 8:11
Who more than matched himself against Wehrlein
He Man
10th May 2017, 8:21
Erm no. He didn’t shame himself to be sure, but he was definitely not a match for Wehrlein.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
10th May 2017, 8:50
The superlicense system was tightened after he raced, mostly due to a 17-year old being able to go from Euro F3 straight into F1. Obviously Max belongs there, but it’s mostly to prevent others of that age that don’t belong in F1, from entering.
Also suspect it was a way to make the ladder more progressive (needing more GP3 and F2 races) in order to promote the direct feeder series, and not other, slightly more obscure series (FR3.5, Euro F3).
Michael
10th May 2017, 13:52
who was better than stroll and palmer.
Lancer033 (@lancer033)
10th May 2017, 7:14
off the top of my head, Kimi Raikkonen for sure wouldn’t have had enough points and i’m sure there are others. To be fair though, if points had been a requirement, i’m sure some of them would have changed their plans for their time in the junior formulas so that they could have gotten points.
anon
10th May 2017, 7:23
@mbr-9, even at the time, Raikkonen failed to meet the requirements of the superlicence regulations – he had only raced in 23 races in Formula Renault, and even then it was only in the lower powered 2.0 litre class. Peter Sauber had to pretty much beg the other teams and the FIA to agree to exempt Kimi from the rules to let him race, as they had deep misgivings of allowing such an inexperienced driver to race.
@davidnotcoulthard, whilst not the most stunning driver, by historical standards Haryanto is nowhere near as bad as some of the pay drivers that used to be allowed to race or test (you missed the times when, for example, Minardi ran Chanoch Nissany in the practise sessions for the Hungarian GP).
Lancer033 (@lancer033)
10th May 2017, 8:20
Yuji Ide actually had his super license revoked after only 4 races. I think that’s as bad as it gets.
Lancer033 (@lancer033)
10th May 2017, 8:26
never mind, found a better one.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1778582-ranking-the-10-worst-drivers-in-f1-history
1. Chanoch Nissany
The closest most Formula 1 fans get to competing in the sport is through their dreams or chosen video games console.
For successful Israeli businessman Chanoch Nissany, his dreams became reality when he bought himself a drive for the Minardi team.
Nissany only took up racing as a hobby at the ripe old age of 38 but made his F1 debut during practice for the 2005 Hungarian Grand Prix, then aged 41.
Well off the pace, Nissany span into a gravel trap before being craned off the circuit whilst still seated in his car because he couldn’t remove his steering wheel.
He was immediately replaced by the far more competent Enrico Toccacelo.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
10th May 2017, 8:52
Wonder if Sean Gelael will outdo even these un-talented drivers – he certainly has the “potential” to, especially as Sauber’s financial position will surely only deteriorate further and further.
anon
10th May 2017, 18:06
@ho3n3r, mind you, when Gelael took part in the mid-season test in Bahrain with Toro Rosso, his lap times weren’t that bad – he was more competitive against Toro Rosso’s drivers than Alfonso Celis was when testing for Force India.
Lapov Onor
10th May 2017, 13:08
Gaston Mazzacane – or as I liked to call him, Gaston Max-chicane
NinjaBadger (@ninjabadger)
10th May 2017, 11:49
It could be down to the circuit itself.
A more open track may offer a better opportunity for someone else to fill in. But for someone to jump into a F1 seat and be thrown into Monaco for your debut; its probably better to let an experienced driver take the wheel. He knows the track, how the team operates, the weekend schedule/duties, the PR surrounding the Monaco race (although that could be to Honda’s detriment); he’s the most logical option.
Also, if we are to expect the car to break down after a few laps, thus being a waste for Button, then what would we expect a younger driver to learn in that time?
And if they have a hiccup, before the car does, then no-one has come out looking good. So best not have that on the shoulders of a debut driver.
uan (@uan)
10th May 2017, 15:38
What’s up with everyone thinking Button will need to retire 5 laps into the race? Yeah, maybe. But the conventional wisdom was that Monaco was actually the race that gave Alonso his best chance at a points finished. Just because his car failed to make it to the grid in Sochi, doesn’t mean that will happen again, either in Spain or Monaco.
I could see some of you folks working for McLaren, “hmm, maybe we should save money and not even go to the races…”
Honda’s failed miserably – which still boggles my mind after they had a chance to see how Renault had messed up – but I’m sure they are working incredibly hard not to have more failures and improve reliability.
Monaco, being a non power track, may actually give the Honda engine enough of a break to finish the race.
YAYYYY
10th May 2017, 2:45
Just thought I’d share something that made me giggle. Here in Canada, F1 is aired on TSN. I just saw their commercial for the Spanish GP. They spend most of it talking about Verstappen’s win last year. Then they say that Stroll is looking to do the same this year, as if it’s a good possibility! It makes me wonder if they’re running commercials in Sweden asking, ‘will Ericsson take it this weekend?’ Haha!
Shaun Robinson (@)
10th May 2017, 8:11
Haha, no chance!
Fukobayashi (@)
10th May 2017, 10:35
Hilarious! haha
erikje
10th May 2017, 11:15
It would be nice if he finished without errors.
NinjaBadger (@ninjabadger)
10th May 2017, 11:54
Well, Williams’ last win was in Spain, at the hands of Pastor Maldonado.
So who knows…
Ashwin (@redbullf1)
10th May 2017, 19:56
Yeah @ninjabadger Spain sometimes spins a roulette over the winner , honestly it could happen !
W-K (@w-k)
10th May 2017, 4:35
re COTD, Monaco is Monaco, unpredictable. Remember Panis.
Ricky Johnson (@bamboo)
10th May 2017, 6:38
McLaren is McLaren. Remember Sochi (1x DNS), Bahrain (1xDNS), Shanghai (2x retirements) and Melbourne (1x retirement).
erikje
10th May 2017, 11:15
But McLaren is not unpredictable ;)
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
10th May 2017, 8:21
To be fair, we don’t really have retirements anymore. Keith posted some really interesting stats on here not too long ago, and I believe it was around 2001-02 where everything changed and the cars started to become more bullet proof.
I’d be extremely surprised to see anything like that happen again for a long time.
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
10th May 2017, 8:30
@ecwdanselby well, if that’s true mclaren didn’t get the Memo until 2006
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
10th May 2017, 8:58
Yeah, the bulletproofing only came a bit later – around 2007, when engines were required to last 2 races and engine specs were frozen (cost cutting etc.).
In 2000-04, only the Ferrari was bulletproof, the others all had their intermittent issues. In 2005, Renault joined the party properly, and even surpassed the Italian squad’s almost-mythical reliability.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
10th May 2017, 10:11
Yup, my apologies, it was a little later, you’re right.
Pete (@repete86)
10th May 2017, 13:05
McLaren still hasn’t received the memo.
Robbie (@robbie)
10th May 2017, 13:24
Thanks for the cotd mention @keithcollantine Yeah for sure Monaco can have surprise results and in further commentary I made I include that possibility of JB getting some points. One never knows.
nase
10th May 2017, 13:45
Powered by a Mugen-Honda V10. A fine engine that was, albeit with a bad habit of blowing up spectacularly every once in a while. It’s a bit of a shame that this kind of spontaneous fireworks has become a thing of the past.
Speaking of which: Last year, only 7 cars failed to see the flag, and that was in tricky conditions. The year before that, 3 DNFs only. High attrition is a thing of the past, even in Monaco. Counting on other cars’ and drivers’ unreliability to play into McLaren’s hands is almost as optimistic as believing in Father Christmas.
And another thing: All that talk about McLaren having a good day in Monaco pretty much limits itself to Button. But do we really have much of a reason to believe he’ll have the upper hand compared to Vandoorne. I don’t see much of a chance of Button hopping into the car without much relevant preparation to outpace Vandoorne immediately. I’m not even sure he’d beat him if they were regular team mates …
So, long story short: As a McLaren or Button fan, I think it’d be wiser to expect a massive anti-climax.
le besset
10th May 2017, 15:06
button just has to be the logical choice
car breaks down , takes off helmet and walks home
oh, and he has already been paid come what may
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
10th May 2017, 5:43
Force India targeting Red Bull with Spanish GP updates.
Red Bull targeting Ferrari and Mercedes with Spanish GP updates.
Hmmm…
Mashiat (@mashiat)
10th May 2017, 6:07
@sravan-pe After a tense 7 man battle for the chanpionship, Vettel and Hamilton collide in Abu Dhabi, leaving Esteban Ocon F1’s youngest champion.
Dewald Nel (@ho3n3r)
10th May 2017, 9:00
@sravan-pe @mashiat Hahaha :D
Sravan Krishnan (@sravan-pe)
13th May 2017, 11:21
@mashiat LOL!
Craig
10th May 2017, 8:41
I’m with Max up to a point regarding the Shield not preventing ‘unlucky incidents’, but then the Halo and Aeroscreen wouldn’t prevent them either. None of these concepts would have helped Bianchi (they may have even ended up killing him instantly), though could have given the likes of Wilson and Surtees more of a chance by either slowing the projectile or deflecting it just enough to prevent serious injury.