F1 Most liked posts in thread: 2015 - F1

Renault bids for Lotus F1 Team… (joesaward.wordpress.com)

 

The Suzuka track is dry for the start of FP3. Given all the rain yesterday it's likely to be a very busy session.

 

It did, because Verstappen lost power and parked it...if I remember correctly.

As bad as that is for Verstappen who, depending on what actually happened and the remedy required, could end up starting well back because of a penalty (yet again) Kvyat's day was worse.

"I’ve never rolled a racing car before and they say there’s a first time for everything. I’m feeling more disappointment than pain. I put two wheels on the grass and there was not much run off area at that point so it put me straight into the wall. I was pushing hard after a messy FP3 and this is the consequence of going over the limit. The car looks really bad and I’m sorry for the guys who have already had a tough couple of weeks and now they have even more work to do."

 

Yeah, that's gonna need a little work...

 

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwcSaayPy7w"]Your Favourite Japanese Grand Prix - 2005 Raikkonen's Suzuka Masterclass - YouTube[/ame]

 

There's speculation Ferrari clarified Red Bull's option re Ferrari engines by offering them only modified 2015 engines for 2016. Ferrari won't comment but Horner says things just got critical because RB now have no engine and no prospect for an engine for 2016...and it's already very late for them to not know what they're designing for next season.

The Renault bridge is likely well and truly burned, Merc won't give them a deal, Ferrari will only give them "customer" engines (apparently) and you know they won't accept the Honda solution.

I honestly think that unless they decide they can live with the lesser Ferrari solution there's a better than 50:50 chance Red Bull will pull out of F1 after this season, and that includes Toro Rosso.

Here's the $64,000 question (that's a call back only some of you will understand). Red Bull and Toro Rosso combined have more than 1K people and a lot of resources and investment. What will they do with all that if they drop out of F1? I've seen a bit of speculation elsewhere but I'm wondering what the fascinatingly disparate minds of M/A think.

 

Ah, and that ^ is the answer to the other question, the one I didn't ask. I think you're right, it's in the Concorde Agreement or something else that the teams are obligated at some point.

I'm interested in what Red Bull will do with all those people, technology and infrastructure if they pull out of F1. I imagine (and I'm hopeful) they won't just fire everyone, sell what they can and shutter the rest. I'd say there's a pretty good chance they'll restructure a bit to redirect those resources elsewhere... Some would characterize that as "if you don't start playing right we're going to take our toys and play with someone else." I don't care, they can do whatever they want, but I'm curious what they might be thinking.

Mateschitz owns two race tracks now. They have over 1K highly trained people, tons of resources, including Adrian Newey, plus Ricciardo, Kvyat, Verstappen, Sainz, and I don't know how many reserve drivers on retainer. That's a potentially potent organization that might soon be looking for a way to be effective outside F1.

Or, you know, Mateschitz could decide to just cut his losses and sell out. Who knows?

 

I'm pretty sure that's still a Red Bull contract thing but that doesn't mean Newey will ever go back to designing F1 cars. He said he'd lost interest due to all the restrictions, plus he might be enjoying life on that boat project.