We saw Ferrari's supposed attempt at showing how they can make F1 look better with a Gran Truismo inspired (IMO) car. Here's Williams' version...tongue firmly in cheek, clearly. :wink: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyCBJvVwIcw"]Hackett & Williams Martini Racing = The Coolest Pitstop Ever - YouTube[/ame]
The soap opera continues. VDG got his paddock pass, which didn't work. Finally got in, had a seat fitting and was even seen wearing Ericsson's race suit! He still doesn't have a superlicense, though, so couldn't drive in FP1...but neither Nasr nor Ericsson drove either, possibly because the team was worried about the ramifications and didn't want to risk their cars being seized? Both drivers sat in their cars for a bit but that's it. Kaltenborn skipped the press conference so will likely be fined for that, but least of her worries right now. Now FP2 is running and both Nasr and Ericsson are out. The FIA are trying to fast-track VDG's superlicense and he might be technically qualified soon enough to participate in Saturday's festivities. Here you go. I said it was a soap opera. The VDG camp asked the court to send Monisha Kaltenborn to prison.
Whiting said that he can't get on the track without the license even in practice, so I really have to wonder what he's hoping to achieve.
Sauber needs to add another seat in one of their cars. One guy gets the wheel & the other the brakes & gas peddle. Problem solved!
The more I read about this case, the more I'm convinced that Sauber screwed up royally. It looks like VDG and his backers paid $8 mil for the seat, and Sauber took the money. But the other drivers paid more, so they got the seats. So Sauber should at least pay back the money, but doesn't appear to have done so. Still, VDG insisting on driving seems irresponsible as well at this point, and it's beginning to look his efforts will actually keep Sauber from racing at all. So if Manor and McLaren fail to get their cars running properly (both of which seem possible) and with Sauber possibly out due to the legal wrangling, we'll have a 14 car race. Heck, even if McLaren and Manor start at the back of the grid, there's a good chance they'll have to retire reasonably early on. Ugh, I say.
I love this type of team trying to scrape together a F1 effort. Look at the chassis: the only sponsorship on it is series sponsorship. I've actually just penned a proposal for Helix to sponsor Manor F1, I can't go into the details of the contract, but Lets just say it's big buxx (think HUNDREDS of dollars per race). Stay tuned for developments.
It's a convoluted mess if you try to figure this out via media reports, as you can imagine it would be...sensationalists for the most part. But here's what I think happened based on snippets I've read. The team is involved in the license issuance process...I think. As in, the team has to request it(?), among other things. One of the things the license board checks on is the contract situation. You can't just go get a superlicence, you have to have an appropriate seat in which to use it. As you'd expect, the contract part is, or at least was, a bit of a mess. I think one of the things the team is being accused of is intentionally delaying the license process by telling the board VDG's contract was terminated and then, after the court decided that wasn't true, of neglecting to correct the error...intentionally. The courts decided the guy has a valid contract so the FIA stepped in to push things along to "help" Sauber get him into a race seat.
The Saubers are out in the second session in Melbourne. The drivers are Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson.
Let me toss this out there.... Marcel Boekhoorn is a Dutch investor with a wide array of business interests. Mr Boekhoorn's estimated current net worth stands at €1.3 billion, making him one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs in the Netherlands Marcel Boekhoorn has a daughter That dude in the picture that looks like he's her husband...welp....that's Giedo. Now that is a unique way to get a drive!
I'll second that. Apparently they've come to some sort of agreement to avoid shutting down immediately and possibly having everything seized. No word on what the agreement is. Plus the original rulings still stand. I'd say Sauber are in for plenty more reaming.
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