In the round-up: Pastor Maldonado’s manager says it would make no sense for him to chase one of the remaining F1 seats at Manor.
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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Maldonado hoping for 2017 return to F1, says manager (Reuters)
Nicolas Todt: "Manor are not really an option. After five years at Williams and Lotus...with all due respect to Manor, it makes no sense for Pastor."
Ocon poised for Renault reserve role (F1i)
"Total is keen to promote a French driver, and an agreement is expected to be found with Mercedes to free Ocon from his commitments, knowing that the German manufacturer can only offer the Frenchman a DTM program in 2016 having been struggling to place its own reserve driver Pascal Werhlein in F1."
Haas sets date for 2016 car fire-up (Autosport)
"We're at that stage where the car is continuously being assembled now, with most of the parts built, so it's all about putting it together."
Vettel leads driver delegation in F1 meeting (Motorsport)
"Vettel is also there and has been joined by Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas, while Nico Rosberg may also attend."
McLaren & Me: Pedro de la Rosa (McLaren)
"Alex (Wurz) had a simulator sickness, and that also helped me a lot, because he couldn't do the correlation work, and I could. It was early days for simulators, and it was easy to get sick. I wanted that role and I knew if I got sick like Alex, they wouldn't take me!"
F1 Baku Grand Prix budget much less than $150M (Trend News Agency)
"Twelve million manats (£5.18m) have been spent for upgrading a six-kilometer road."
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Comment of the day
Who could step in to buy a chunk of Force India?
I highly doubt someone like Carlos Slim would throw even a penny at an F1 team after he looks at their financials.
I’ve been seeing his companies’ logos on F1 cars for about four or five years now, and I wonder whether he’d purchase a team after having been familiarised with the industry and terms. I just think he’s too stingy and shrewd to own an F1 team.
I don’t think Slim got to where he is today by being bad with financial statements and money management.
@Texasisbiggerthanfrance
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Brawngp!
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On this day in F1
Jules Bianchi speaking about the challenge of driving the new V6 hybrid turbo cars on this day two years:
It was not easy, for sure. But this is why we are here for, you know? We are here for a challenge and we want to be the quickest as possible with what we have.
Philip (@philipgb)
3rd February 2016, 0:22
The comment of the day is correct that an F1 team is by and large a terrible financial prospect. The old saying is how to make a small fortune in F1? Start with a large one. F1 makes sense for say Mercedes as it’s starting to bring the brand exposure and association of the pinnacle of car technology to said brand, but for most F1 is a passion project.
Carlos Slim obviously has an interest in the sport, funding two drivers also doesn’t make much financial sense, who know he certainly has enough money for a vanity project like an F1 team. Who would ever have imagined the owner or a fizzy, caffeinated sugary tin of poison to go on to fund 4 back to back championships.
Sometimes for these people leaving your mark on the world is as important as the number on financial statements.
Mike
3rd February 2016, 0:30
Quite a humble article by Pedro, very interesting.
Although I’m not so sure about Renault’s advertising strategy…. #hearuscoming?
Are they really sure they want to highlight the bit that the layman didn’t like?
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd February 2016, 1:31
You mean the bit that 29% didn’t like. (F1 fanatic survey)
mantresx (@mantresx)
3rd February 2016, 0:41
With Maldonado’s luck, Manor will probably end up being faster than Renault this year!
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 1:43
Pastor has no luck, good or bad. He was the master of his own demise.
Everyone involved with him, however, had bad luck.
Corey
3rd February 2016, 1:58
He did have that one win, however it was the same race that the Williams garage caught fire.
Apex Assassin
3rd February 2016, 15:33
Correction, Pastor has no money which is the only thing keeping him out of F1, even at Manor.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd February 2016, 1:42
Well it’s going to be a brave driver that is going to point out the obvious failings of Bernies big idea with Bernie sitting at the table. Pirelli should have polled the drivers separately and recorded their views without accreditation for discussion with management.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
3rd February 2016, 2:00
@hohum I hear that he actually supported the drivers view regarding the tyres this time round.
I also hear that there is still no contract in place with Pirelli beyond this season & that despite things moving along as if there is, Its still no 100% out of the question that their could still be a change in supplier.
@HoHum (@hohum)
3rd February 2016, 4:10
@gt-racer, I guess I’ll have to give Bernie credit for sticking to his guns, both before and after he finally changes his mind.
GeeMac (@geemac)
3rd February 2016, 8:19
So he’s backing the drivers in opposition to a tyre supplied by a supplier he chose which is making tyres to a fulfil a brief he requested. Only Bernie…
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 1:48
For a team with as much power as MERC has it’s disappointing they seem unable to bring new talent into the sport.
Red Bull is the benchmark in this aspect and nobody can say they haven’t wow’ed the entire F1 world with their commitment to their young drivers and actually getting them seats in competitive cars.
5 of the top drivers in F1 right now are direct RB products.
MERC: 0
MAC: 1
FER: 0 (reset because of our loss of Jules)
Michael Brown
3rd February 2016, 2:20
People badmouth Toro Rosso and Red Bull for kicking out drivers that don’t perform to their standards (Buemi and Alguersuari, among others) but they’re the only team that puts talent first when selecting rookies.
MattDS
3rd February 2016, 8:16
Lots of people don’t understand that that’s the only way the program can work: by regularly making space for new drivers. Those that are the real deal will stay in F1 regardless, those that aren’t probably wouldn’t have entered F1 to begin with.
The drivers know it too when they sign up. It’s perform well and move up, or don’t and move out. If they keep performing to the highest standard, they will get into F1. That much is fair. And they also know the system is only possible if the STR drivers move up or out after a few years at most.
Asanator (@asanator)
3rd February 2016, 16:43
Perez was joined the Ferrari Driver academy which got him his 2011 Sauber seat. He left when he signed for McLaren.
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 17:53
@Asanator
Thanks for that, I did forget perez. Tally amended:
5 of the top drivers in F1 right now are direct RB products.
MERC: 0
MAC: 1
FER: 0.5
lockup (@)
3rd February 2016, 10:50
I don’t see it really. Vettel was a BMW find wasn’t he? He was going to make it anyway, like Max. McLaren/Merc have their own programme which found Hamilton. Red Bull introduce certain ‘decent’ drivers, who are in f1 instead of others. There are 22 drivers in F1.
ColdFly F1 (@)
3rd February 2016, 11:39
Good point @lockup!
And accepting that Vettel is from the BMW acadamy, who is the latest WDC from the RBR young-driver programme?
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
3rd February 2016, 11:56
@lockup @coldfly I think Marko was loaning him to BMW as they were a much faster outfit at the time – they had their own junior in Kubica who was their main priority.
lockup (@)
3rd February 2016, 13:04
Ah that rings a bell @fastiesty. Still, Schumi was supporting Seb wasn’t he, so I still reckon Seb was getting into F1 anyway.
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
3rd February 2016, 13:21
@lockup Yeah, like you say, Hamilton and Vettel are basically the same idea achieved through different means. Max will probably become the next archetypal F1 development route (Verstappen or Chilton!).
MattDS
3rd February 2016, 12:18
@lockup how was Vettel a BMW find? He was enlisted in the RBR Junior Team from 1998, just a few years after he started driving karts and well before he debuted in anything BMW-related. How do you know he would have made it without RBR grooming and funding him?
Same thing with Max – he “would have” made it. Sure, who would have given him a shot and when?
I mean, we’ve seen how easy it is for talent to go wasted. Ask Frijns. Didn’t enter a junior programme, and is now doing GT’s.
You can’t just belittle RBR’s junior programme because you don’t like RBR (I presume). The progress rate from any junior programme other than RBR’s is ridiculously low.
As for the “decent” drivers: well, F1F’s recent driver rankings had 4 RBR products in the top 10. You can say what you want but they let their drivers in F1 on a regular basis and they are good to excellent. No other junior programme can say that.
lockup (@)
3rd February 2016, 13:31
But what difference does Red Bull make exactly @mattds, in terms of the sport? Would Seb have been overlooked without them? And if so, who would have been in F1 instead? Someone really exciting, perhaps!
Max, with Jos the Boss behind him, was going to make it. He didn’t even need to do the really expensive series..
It’s great for the individual drivers they choose, but it’s very arguable that Red Bull raises the cost for everyone else, like Robins Frijns indeed. There are 22 drivers, it’s just a case of which.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
3rd February 2016, 14:02
@lockup
Ask Robin Frijns.
Bernie – although to be fair he’s a bit of an ally with RBR……
MattDS
3rd February 2016, 14:33
@lockup I’m sorry, but I find you reasoning too simplistic. Fact is we don’t know:
1) whether the stars of current days would have made it
2) in case they didn’t, whether those replacing would have been of equal quality
Given how the trend for new drivers these last years has generally been “decent with cash back-up” instead of outright talent, it’s more probable that the level of talent would have been somewhat lower.
But what we do know is that at least they commit. McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari seem to just tie up drivers and let them go to waste them in the end.
lockup (@)
3rd February 2016, 17:54
I was responding to a post claiming Red Bull are better @mattds not saying I know. My point was that we don’t know. Yes they might have saved us from more Maldonados, but they also fill their teams with their own drivers, so they don’t help anybody else like Vandoorne or Frijns, in fact they must help to raise the cost for others by outbidding them for seats in junior categories. They’re just a little club on their own. If you like them fine, but they’re not any kind of benefactor. And Seb, Max and Carlos for example had dads or backing anyway. It’s all perfectly okay, but nothing especially worthy.
I don’t see how they commit more than others either. They fill their F1 seats and no more, the other hopefuls are dumped just like the other teams’ juniors. Maybe Honda will dump Jenson after the divorce and Vandoorne will get his chance.
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 17:59
“But what difference does Red Bull make exactly @mattds, in terms of the sport?”
More of a difference than MERC/MAC/FER combined. Did you miss that point?
“It’s great for the individual drivers they choose, but it’s very arguable that Red Bull raises the cost for everyone else, like Robins Frijns indeed. There are 22 drivers, it’s just a case of which.”
This is F1, stop crying about costs. Also, speaking of the difference Red Bull makes, if it wasnt for them, there would only be 18 seats…
lockup (@)
3rd February 2016, 21:04
What difference to they make to the SPORT Mr X? Saying ‘more than Merc/Ferrari/Mac’ is not an answer to that question.
It’s not F1 that Frijns is in. It’s the costs to get TO f1 that’s the point.
Yes they employ 4 drivers, fair play. Two per team, like all the other teams.
Mr. X
5th February 2016, 2:47
@lockup
“What difference to they make to the SPORT Mr X? Saying ‘more than Merc/Ferrari/Mac’ is not an answer to that question.”
It’s the start of an answer. if we can quantify “difference they make to the sport” which is impossible and why your question isnt deserving of an answer, then any quantification applied to MERC/FER/MAC would be less than the total of RB’s.
(with regards to bringing in new talent of course)
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 17:55
LOL @ Vettel being a BMW find.
Keith has wrote an amazing article on Vettel’s road to F1…
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 2:56
Exactly, RB may be a cold-hearted when it comes to saying goodbye to drivers, but RB have still provided more F1 drives than MERC + FER + MAC combined (in the last 10 years). I’d say every F1 fan has a RB graduate in their top 3-4 current drivers.
Mr. X
3rd February 2016, 2:56
haha, whoops.
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
3rd February 2016, 3:54
These days it’s very hard to lauder money in sports, the man to take on SFI needs to accept the fact that you can’t make any money from owning an f1 team.
Todfod (@todfod)
3rd February 2016, 8:23
With all due respect to Pastor, Manor won’t have him as a driver if he isn’t bringing in big money. Sure, Manor needs funds, but if they are hiring a non-pay driver, they could have a hundred better drivers to choose from before they consider Pastor.
Manor has attracted talents like Bianchi, and might get in Wehrlein in this season. So to be fair, Pastor didn’t have a shot with Manor based on his talent.
Pastor needs to find some funding during 2016 before he can come in and wreck more cars in 2017
SatchelCharge (@satchelcharge)
3rd February 2016, 14:22
lol yes. You are so right.
GeeMac (@geemac)
3rd February 2016, 8:24
I honestly had no idea Pastor was managed Nicholas Todt. Surely Pastor didn’t need help in running his career when his strategy seemed to be that he would turn up at a reputable but cash strapped team with a big chest full of US Dollars.
BaKano (@bakano)
3rd February 2016, 10:51
Simulator sickness -> I had never thought about it, but it must be pretty common, considering that I remember also getting sick from playing simulator games on the PC and I was not moving!
ColdFly F1 (@)
3rd February 2016, 11:42
For me it was more the people living with me getting sick of it when I played a lot ;-)
BaKano (@bakano)
3rd February 2016, 11:49
Yes, that happens too :-D
Peppermint-Lemon (@)
3rd February 2016, 13:33
Michael Schumacher suffered with sim sickness when returned Merc. He couldn’t do any sim time so Nico had a huge preparation advantage.
Fernando Cruz
3rd February 2016, 11:40
“Manor would “make no sense” for Maldonado”
Maybe it could make sense, as they will have Mercedes engine. But in general a team like that (Manor or Caterham before) is a waste of time for any driver aiming to survive in F1. It would be a waste of time for Bruno Senna had he accepted to go there after losing the seat with Williams for 2013, as it was a waste of time for Kamui Kobayashi after he accepted to go there for 2014.
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
3rd February 2016, 11:47
Me too, @bakano. It seems legit though. I had the chance to borrow the first version of the Occulus Rift, which can also be considered as early days and it was very easy to feel motion sickness for example.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
3rd February 2016, 14:03
@spoutnik I read that a reduction in latency solved quite a bit of that.
It’ll be interesting when I try the Rift for myself (having myself got a bit of motion sickness). Oh wait, the money……
Iestyn Davies (@fastiesty)
3rd February 2016, 11:57
Indeed, even if Renault refunded the $7m advance payment from last year, that’s still not enough to get a Manor F1 seat.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
3rd February 2016, 12:01
F1 right now makes great sense for several car companies…
#Ferrari, most prominent recepient of extra brand value. Without Scuderia, Ferrari would at best have a brand value of Masserati, Alfa Romeo or worse Lancia.
#McLaren amazing how profitable their road car business is. All steaming from motosport mastery. Their cars reflect it greatly.
#Mercedes. They would sell their cars just fine… But toggether with technical revolution of mercedes engine, coupled with formula 1 success, people nolonger turn to BMW for road sportsaloon.
Makes incredible sense, Honda and Renault would love to emulate, their roadcars greatly lag behind the top.
Maybe infusing their cars with F1 potential would help R&D and sales.
Another team who should consider returning should be Toyota, they clearly lack turbocharging expertise… But they got burned baddly last time, focusing now on WEC rather than turbo F1.
Porsche doesnt need F1, but in VAG Lamborgini might benefit a bit.
So there is Value in F1 for large automakers. But, second place is hardly good enough. That is why many stay away. Imagine Audi enters and is behind Mercedes for a few year. CEO egos would never recover.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
3rd February 2016, 14:04
@jureo I can’t help but think that McLaren, at this rate, is on the path to becoming Lotus. (No, not team Enstone)
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
3rd February 2016, 15:42
Not at all, lotus was making sexy sports cars.. trying to compete in a pretty saturated sportscar market. McLaren is going for supercar crowd. There is lots of room for excellent products there. More or less their entire supply is sold… P1 apperently is the first car that will never depreciate….
McLaren is not trying to sell 40.000€ worth of chassis magnificence… they are selling 250.000+€ supercars. And they do it well.
GCE
3rd February 2016, 12:49
With all due respect to Manor……. I think Manor’s budget will be much better spent on development rather than a continuous supply of spare parts that would be needed ….
Robbie (@robbie)
3rd February 2016, 15:12
Interesting in the article about Vettel and other drivers meeting regarding 2017 changes, that the teams cannot agree on the degree of aero changes they should shoot for. In other words it is obviously not crystal clear that more more more aero is the way to go as one poster in particular on this site has claimed. So it is not just one camp of fans that blindly claim more aero is not necessarily the way to go. It is F1 teams with wide open eyes too.