CVC ‘to replace Ecclestone even if he wins case’

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Formula One owners CVC Capital Partners are reported to be planning to replace Bernie Ecclestone even if he wins his bribery court case in Germany.

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Formula One’s owners sell stake and call time on Bernie Ecclestone (The Guardian)

“Decision makers at the City-based private equity firm have decided that Ecclestone, the sport’s chief executive and commercial rights holder, must go even if he wins his court case in Munich, where he is fighting bribery charges.”

Lotus Mercedes deal is done, announcement due soon (Adam Cooper’s F1 Blog)

“The deal for Lotus to use Mercedes power units from 2015 will be confirmed in the next few days.”

Pastor Maldonado Q&A: Podiums will be possible again (F1)

“The lack of connectivity within the whole power unit [is a problem]. The engine is still fragile. There are stupid things that are costing you time and resources. So first they need to improve the quality and reliability, and secondly the power. There is a lack of power compared to other engines.”

Hamilton unable to learn from Rosberg (Autosport)

“The long run data doesn’t really help in the sense that we drive differently.”

Surtees: Lewis could win on two wheels (The Telegraph)

“In a way, this part of the season has been a learning curve for Lewis. Perhaps he has had to mature a little bit. One or two things which happened I don’t think were in his interest or frankly in the interest of beating Nico Rosberg.”

Wolff keeps her F1 dream alive amid disappointment (Reuters)

“I’ve still got Hockenheim. I’ve got to go out in Hockenheim and show what I can do because I didn’t get the chance to do that today. I’ve still got one more shot at it, so head up high.”

A presenter’s perspective on patriotism in F1 broadcasting (The F1 Broadcasting Blog)

“Reading comments on various sites leads me to believe that Sky Sports F1 is actually quite mild in comparison to RTL’s over the top reporting for Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel and Rosberg.”

British Grand Prix Betting: Home Hero Hamilton Ready To Rule At Silverstone (Unibet)

My British Grand Prix preview for Unibet.

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Comment of the day

The question of engine noise continues to provoke differing responses from fans:

I just got home from the practice day at Silverstone, having gone there wondering whether all the fuss about noise was real. To me, the sound on television is pretty good, when the volume is turned up.

When the cars rolled out for first practice, they sounded pretty good. There’s complexity in the noise, and the different engines sound unique which is great. Yes, they are quieter than before, but I can listen comfortably without earplugs. Plus the cars sneak up on you because all the noise is ejected rearwards, meaning you only get the whoosh of the turbo giving you any hint there’s a car coming.

However, there were a couple of parade laps of some beautiful older cars celebrating the 50th Silverstone race. Bringing up the rear was a recent Red Bull. The sheer ear splitting thunder that car brought was stunning, and I miss it. So did everyone else in the stand.

Bring back the noise!
@JohnH

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On this day in F1

Tony Brooks led a Ferrari one-two ahead of team mate Phil Hill in the French Grand Prix at Reims 55 years ago today.

That moved him up to second in the championship behind Jack Brabham, who finished third for Cooper.

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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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36 comments on “CVC ‘to replace Ecclestone even if he wins case’”

  1. Do you think they really want to get rid of Berny, or is this just public gesturing to secure a more favourable contract with him? :p

    1. :D

      PS. Hooray for removing the artificial grass. However, I also hope that this does not make it more dangerous for other series/lower formulae etc.

    2. @eurobrun, a dose of his own medecine is just what Bernie needs but I think it has become clear to all involved that Bernies only skill is squeezing blood out of a stone and the stone is now dying from blood loss. It is doubtful that without Bernie CVC will be able to retain such a grossly unfair share of the revenue hence their constant attempts to sell their stake, but no-one should feel sorry for CVC , even if F1 collapsed entirely or the EU reversed the deal between FIA and Bernie, CVC would still have had a fantastic deal, F1 has paid back with interest everything CVC spent on it, selling it for a price based on past performance would be a huge windfall, the iceing on the cake.

      1. +1, totally agree

  2. regarding cotd…. i was also at silverstone today & certainly do not miss those old v8s, I really like the sound of the new v6 power units.

    when they rolled out the red bull with the old v8 it reminded me of just how bad they sounded & just how painfully loud they were. i could never enjoy going to f1 races with the old v8s because the damn things were so ridiculously loud that you couldn’t take in or enjoy it, they just sounded like a very loud noise.

    having to go to a race & wear ear protection which mutes the sound which many claim they go to see just always seemed stupid to me, i want to take in & enjoy the sounds & not have to try & make them quieter to stop them killing my ears.

    today when the old red bull v8 came out i was in so much pain because of how loud it was that i had to cover my ears & wince & could in no way enjoy the track parade which was going on with the track parade & that was always an issue for me with those cars.

    as to the new v6 turbo power units, i went in expecting the worst yet came away pleasantly surprised. I thought they sounded fine & i really enjoyed the noise they made & because they are quieter they were not painful to listen to so i could actually enjoy watching them out on track.

    outside of the noise these new 2014 cars are so much fun to watch sitting trackside. watching them squirm about as drivers are trying to get the power down, watching them sliding about & drivers having to really hustle the cars reminded me of watching the f1 cars of the 80s before big downforce & electronic aids took over into the 90s. there a joy to watch & i had a brilliant day :)

    Won’t be there tomorrow or sunday as i’ve got some family stuff going on (Daughters getting married), But i’ll be back for the testing next week.

    1. Not sure about this earplug thing….I’ve been to three Canadian GP’s (’06, ’08, ’10), and sat at the hairpin. My first time there, I bought earplugs and put them in. I thought to myself as cars went round, “What am i doing?”.

      So i took them out. I loved it. I did not or have not worn them since.

      Unless standing trackside, I did not think the earplugs were needed (Granted I did go trackside a few times and felt my ears ringing, almost itching inside). At the same time from what I’ve heard on tv, I love the sound of the new V6. I think from China onwards this year the broadcasters have done a better job of getting the sound out to the viewers. However, to really make my point valid I need to visit Montreal next year.

      1. Perhaps @sward28 you already had suffered some permanent hearing loss to claim that you could comfortably sit through three GP’s w/o ear plugs (especially b/c the exit of the hairpin is a high-energy noise location, relatively speaking), because the science and current research suggests that the V8 noise specifically at Canadian F1 GP could cause hearing loss!

        I sincerely hope @keithcollantine will publish this comment, because the seriousness of the topic deserves appropriate factual reference. See this 2014 article in the journal Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics by the Acoustical Society of America:

        Noise exposure in the general audience of a Formula 1 race:
        authors: Craig N. Dolder, Joelle I. Suits and Preston S. Wilson
        POMA 20, 040003 (2014); http://dx.doi.org/10.1121/1.4865925
        presentation: 5aNS7
        summary: “Formula 1 cars have a reputation for being among the loudest race cars. As such, noise exposure should be a major concern for not only drivers, crew and staff, but also audience members. Calibrated acoustic measurements were taken at multiple general admission areas at a Formula 1 race. Analysis of these measurements show that the exposure exceeded multiple standards for daily noise exposure limits within a fraction of the race. This presentation predicts the total noise exposure experienced at different track positions and what noise reduction rating would be required in order to reduce the exposure to safe levels.

        For those who aren’t going to read even the summary of the research (“What a Formula 1 Race Does to Your Eardrums”), last season, Craig Dolder, then a doctoral candidate in acoustical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin (now a PhD), collected sound data at the 2013 Canadian GP and reported peak levels of transient, high-energy noise of almost 140 dB; this is above the pain threshold and approaching sound levels known to cause permanent hearing loss.

        Dolder stood among the general admission crowd within about 25 feet of the racing cars, and he measured the sound at three different locations. Afterwards he stated unambiguously, “Noise levels at Formula 1 races are loud enough to potentially cause hearing loss.

        He determined that cumulative noise levels, or those sustained over a length of time, soared well above what the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) considers safe for a normal workday. At some locations, the noise exposure as the field passed by over the course of only one lap put people above a safe level of daily noise exposure. People sitting at the noisiest location would get 85 times their daily noise dose if they sat through an entire race with no ear protection.

        “I just took measurements at three locations,” Dolder said. “There’s certainly likely to be louder positions in the audience and quieter positions than those I mentioned.”

        Dolder also reviewed the efficacy of various hearing protection devices and found that someone attending a Formula 1 race would have to wear both earplugs and noise-reducing earmuffs typically worn in machine shops simultaneously to get sound levels down to those OSHA considers safe for a normal workday.

        As an aside, Keith himself reported the maximum volume of the new engines is around 134 decibels, down from 145 last year, but still louder than the typical noise level at the front row of a rock concert (110 decibels) and above the threshold of pain (130 decibels).

        1. @joepa Good article, I understand the risks of not wearing them. However, if I am losing my hearing then I would say I am not the only one. Spectators to my left, right, below and behind were not wearing earplugs.

          There is an inherit risk of being at a motorsport event in general. It says so on the back of the ticket, as Jackie Stewart always says.

          Perhaps there is of more danger now. If the new engines are around 134 decibels (above the pain threshold) and more and more spectators choosing not to wear them because it doesn’t seem “as loud”, maybe more damage is being done.

          Reading over the study I see it was received January 3rd, and published February 4th. As well as presented to an acoustic meeting in December 2013. So perhaps they need to do a new study or work off of this one to take a look at the damage the V6’s could possibly do.

          I would have to do some searching around it because I’m sure there has been studies done on earbuds for music purposes, however I would be interested to see what the effects of wearing earbuds and listening to music everyday would be in comparison to one weekend of motor racing.

          Awesome stuff though thanks for the heads up!

  3. Gideon Hadi (@)
    5th July 2014, 1:14

    Wow, interesting statemnet from Lewis

    1. Gideon Hadi (@)
      5th July 2014, 1:19

      *Statement

  4. There is no comparison between ITV’s coverage and Sky’s coverage today in terms of patriotism. I can only go on the in race commentary, but ITV’s was at times odious in its singular focus on, and support of, the British driver of the day. Sky don’t seem to have anywhere near the same singular focus during the race. That’s not to say others countries feeds aren’t worse, I can only go on what I actually see and hear, and I suspect many are even more patriotic, i.e. AMW (Australia’s Mark Webber) and ADR (etc).

    The constant battle between trying to snag the casual fan drawn in by supporting a fellow citizen and trying to provide for the more fanatic F1 fan less interested in nationality than the racing itself.

    1. I’d agree that the actual race coverage is fairly neutral with no over focus on the british drivers.

      There pre/post race stuff however at times can be fairly bad in that regard. Johnny Herbert for instance seem to pick Lewis as his pick for pole/wins/championship regardless of where his pace is. I can remember times in 2012 when the McLaren was nowhere that he’d pick Lewis to win.
      There’s also there extra in-car camera feeds which Lewis seems to constantly be on, At times to the expense of the official fom in-car feed with all the telemetry on it.

      Then there’s Max Chilton who every weekend until Canada we were reminded 1000x that he’d finished every race & there constantly talking him up even when he’s been utterly destroyed by his team mate.
      I remember last year when someone tweeted about Max been beat by Bianchi & they actually said on air that it wasn’t a fair comparison because Bianchi was more experienced? They were both rookies last year?

      There was also Di Resta who got talked up a lot & Herbert & Lazenby almost seemed offended at the fact he was under pressure last year because he was ‘Doing an brilliant job’.

      Even with Button they go a bit OTT at times, Like today when they spent 5-10 minutes discussing why Ron Dennis was wrong in his criticism.

      Overall I love Sky’s coverage, I prefer there in-race commentary, I like all those interactive goodies we get & the other shows that provide. But at times they take the patriotism way too far although nowhere near the ITV levels of 2007/2008 which was often so bad it was making me want Lewis to fall out of the race just to get them to focus on the race rather than talking about how awesome Lewis was & constantly trying to find excuses for any mistakes he was making back then.

      I remember laughing at Monaco in 2008 when they were gushing about a flawless drive & how he’d shown up everyone else by not making mistakes…. When he’d actually hit the wall given himself a puncture & had to pit early & that it was that early pit stop which pretty much lucked him into the off-strategy which got him the lead & gave him a big advantage in terms of getting the win.
      Had he not made said mistake & not needed that early stop & needed to pit around the time everyone else did, He likely would not have won that race as in the early part his pace wasn’t all that good & the leaders were building a significant gap to him.

    2. The mentioned “RTL” is really, really bad, though. Even far worse than ITV has been. There´s a reason so many of the “more fanatic F1 fans” in germany go for either pay-tv, streams of british TV-stations or (only available in the south) austrian TV.
      Still don´t know why nationality is an issue in F1, why someone would support a driver just because he is from his home nation. Drivers are visible enough to be perceived as individuals whom you can like or dislike for their personalities, and furthermore most of them choose to live elsewhere than their homecountry anyway. Some even chose the country of their driving-license for sponsorship reasons (e.g. Rosberg is as much finnish and monégasque as he is german). Also, some drivers from the same country are so different, I can´t get how one could support both (e.g. Button and Ham, Glock and Sutil, Prost and Alesi).
      And most of the teams are stationed in england (regardless of their official country) anyway, and have employees from dozens of different backgrounds.

    3. Neil (@neilosjames)
      5th July 2014, 3:10

      ITV’s coverage when Button was in his first year was appalling. It took me until about 2003 to get over the dislike of him I developed because ITV kept ramming him down my throat every 20 seconds and fawning over him finishing fifth like he’d just won the championship.

      But if I recall correctly, poor old DC didn’t actually get much love…

      1. I agree with you. Im probably a bit younger by the sounds of it, but the main reason I cant stand Hamilton is because he was always being rammed down my throat. We have a word up here in Scotland “thrawn”, which pretty much means if you try and make me like/do something, I ain’t gonna do it. It is a lot better now, with Sky than ITV although I would always be interested in less about Hamilton and more about more interesting parts of the race. I’m not really sure why the nationality of the driver makes any difference. I just like to see real racing going on, regardless of the driver.

    4. This is just symptomatic of current F1, it’s just so shallow, nationalism, girlfriends,pets, celebs etc. but you really have to scrounge around (F1Fanatic 1st.) to find out anything about the cars other than how bad they look and sound, it’s like a very narrow slice of “Hello” or “People” magazine.

  5. Suggestions for the next F1 Boss, good, bad, funny, and rubbish:
    – Farmer Jody Scheckter (who owns a farming company plus F1 cars)
    @keithcollantine
    – Stefano Domenicali
    – Tony Fernandes
    – SLEC
    – Petra, same surname as above
    – Tamara, again with the same surname
    – Yuji Ide
    – Taki Inoue (if he were the boss perhaps the safetycar would be removed entirely instead of stupid restarts, and medical cars will probably be replaced by helicopters)
    – (Make teams make money and put )Robert Kiyosaki (on there, or)
    – Warren Buffet
    – (Or keep some of today’s F1 alive and make a call to) Flavio
    – Alexander Fermor-Hesketh, 3rd Baron Hesketh (yes, that one)

    1. I won’t vote for @keithcollantine for F1 boss because then the site will got to pot,
      So with all my heart I believe it has to be Niki Lauda

  6. BJ (@beejis60)
    5th July 2014, 5:57

    Renault losing two teams in two years, both of which happen to be on the strategy group… They are certainly up a creek without a paddle.

    1. As much as I think they deserve it. I think it would be horrible. With them title sponsoring e.dams Formula E team and Agag talking about how in 2015 or ’16 there could be possibly three powertrain manufacturers (McLaren, Renault and Mahindra), they could quit altogether.

      Now I think this depends squarely on how Formula E does, but from the outset, the project looks viable.

  7. Not to mention, you know what, great for Susie she got a shot this week and then in Hockenheim she will get another. However, Susie, looking back at her career has done absolutely nothing to convince me she should be even on the track.

    I’m sorry, you can call me short sighted, but she hasn’t done anything. Not even sure how she got her DTM drive all those years ago. Two 7th place finishes in 73 starts, congrats Susie.

    1. Merc and Audi together decided to field one female driver. She beat Audi females most of the time though.

    2. Its simple. Toto Wolff owns stakes in Mercedes and Williams, and she is a woman. But it would be great to have Susie racing, she would be a symbol to women all over the world, as they watch her go around being lapped by Max Chilton.

      1. Haha…fiar enough. I did look into the Wolff thing, clearly, but she only married him 2011, while her DTM career started in ’05 or ’06. So I figured she had to earn that drive on merit. Right?….lol @Breno

  8. Happy for lotus :)

  9. Despite all contracts and who owns whatever, I am pretty sure that Bernie actually has the ability to fire everyone in CVC and rule his kingdom alone ;)

  10. Good for Susie but that should be Simona out there on track, replacing Sutil for the rest of the season.

  11. An interesting reminder in the Cooper Blog that the Enstone team has been powered by Renault since the Ligier takeover by Briatore which was mentioned in the recent Moncao 1994 flashback. Back then Benetton were desperate to get hold of the Renault engine by any means, how times have changed and it’s Mercedes engines which everyone would like to get their hands on.

    I’m not sure that the team has strictly had a direct relationship with Renault for the full 20 years though because of the Mecachrome/Playlife era which I understand was a continuation of the original Renault engine but with Renault no longer involved.

  12. I’m actually surprised about Lotus using Mercedes power. A few years ago it was the Renault team, which over a few years gradually became Lotus (I remember when everybody was saying they would refuse to call it Lotus), and now they are moving away from Renault all together. How times seem to change.

    1. Well, it seems Renault might leave F1.

  13. I think Williams are playing the female card a bit much, she’s a pay driver pretty much, and at 32 shes probably past it anyway, I mean talk of Jenson retiring at 34 and Kimi, how well could she do anyway?

  14. Oh please. You lot are actually moaning that a BRITISH broadcaster has an interest in a BRITISH driver?! It’s the same in every sport and country. Look at Wimbledon, it’s basicaly 2 weeks of Murray. Look at the world cup, every half time when England where in it was about them. Grow up people.

    1. Because obviously it’s too much to ask for balance.

  15. Tell this guy that engine noise is overrated :).
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IF5rMU5rDXE

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