Formula One

General Chit Chat
Message
Author
User avatar
Wodrick
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8332
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:23 am
Location: Torrox Campo, Andalucia.
Gender:
Age: 74

Re: Formula One

#41 Post by Wodrick » Sat Dec 03, 2016 6:53 pm

How about
Wehrlein to Williams, Bottas to Mercedes, engineered by a doggies doo dahs deal on the engines.
2d
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ITORRO10?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

User avatar
OFSO
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 18600
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:39 pm
Location: Teddington UK and Roses Catalunia
Gender:
Age: 80

Re: Formula One

#42 Post by OFSO » Thu Dec 15, 2016 7:29 pm

Hardly a connection to F-1 I know, but lovers of the Prancing Horse will be saddened to hear that Ferrariland at the Valencia Theme Park burned down last night. As one might expect from builders of spectacular cars, the flames were most impressive.

There's a video on this site: http://www.marca.com/motor/formula1/201 ... b4632.html

Capetonian

Re: Formula One

#43 Post by Capetonian » Thu Dec 15, 2016 8:02 pm

Insurance scam?

User avatar
Wodrick
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 8332
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2015 8:23 am
Location: Torrox Campo, Andalucia.
Gender:
Age: 74

Re: Formula One

#44 Post by Wodrick » Mon Jan 23, 2017 7:32 pm

From Autosport

Bernie Ecclestone has lost his position as the CEO of the Formula One Group and been replaced by Chase Carey.

The 86-year-old says he has been offered the title of honorary president, but has acknowledged that he does not know what his role will be.

"I was deposed today," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "I am simply gone. It's official. I am no longer the leader of the company. My position has been taken by Chase Carey.

"My new position is one of those American terms. It's something like an honorary president.

"I have this title now, even though I don't know what it means."

Asked about his future he said: "My days in the office will be getting quieter now. Maybe I will attend a grand prix sometime in the future.

"I still have many friends in Formula 1. And I still have enough money to afford to attend a race."

Ecclestone doesn't expect to retain his seat on the World Motor Sport Council.

"I doubt it," he said. "First of all, I have to talk to [FIA president] Jean Todt about this."
https://www.wunderground.com/dashboard/pws/ITORRO10?cm_ven=localwx_pwsdash

G-CPTN
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 7594
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2018 11:22 pm
Location: Tynedale
Gender:
Age: 79

Re: Formula One

#45 Post by G-CPTN » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:22 am

Bernie to stand trial on fraud charges.

Not bad for a second-hand car dealer (many moons ago).

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: Formula One

#46 Post by TheGreenAnger » Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:49 am

G-CPTN wrote:
Tue Oct 04, 2022 11:22 am
Bernie to stand trial on fraud charges.

Not bad for a second-hand car dealer (many moons ago).
He has previous with the courts having evaded charges in the past but having been noted by a judge as being a man entirely unsuited to being a director of a company on the basis of unreliability .

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/upl ... ne-ors.pdf

Fascinating case, but to save a good part of your life reading that, here is the gist...
FORMULA 1 motorsport boss Bernie Ecclestone has been described as not "reliable or truthful" by a High Court judge despite winning a legal fight with a German media company.

Mr Justice Newey made criticisms as he ruled on a dispute between Mr Ecclestone, 83, and Constantin Medien at a High Court hearing in London.

Mr Ecclestone had been accused of entering into a "corrupt agreement" with a banker to facilitate the sale of the Formula 1 Group to a buyer chosen by him.

Constantin Medien said it lost out as a result of the deal and wanted tens of millions of pounds in compensation.

Mr Ecclestone, chief executive of the Formula 1 Group, said Constantin Medien's claim "lacks any merit" and denied any conspiracy.

The judge dismissed the claim yesterday but he concluded that payments made were a "bribe".

He said they were made because Mr Ecclestone had entered into a "corrupt agreement" with the banker in 2005.

But he said no loss to Constantin had been shown to have been caused and therefore the company's claim failed.

The judge heard that Constantin wanted around £80 million damages.

"Even... making allowances for the lapse of time and Mr Ecclestone's age, I am afraid that I find it impossible to regard him as a reliable or truthful witness," said Mr Justice Newey, in a written ruling.

"The payments were a bribe. They were made because Mr Ecclestone had entered into a corrupt agreement with Dr Gribkowsky in May 2005."

After the ruling, Mr Ecclestone said: "Whether I told the truth or not... questions were asked, I answered them and I told the truth. This was an opinion that had nothing to do with the case."
https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/131 ... -reliable/
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: Formula One - What do they do now.

#47 Post by TheGreenAnger » Wed Oct 05, 2022 2:17 am

F1 drivers never really retire and some have gone into the aviation business.

Got to talking about this subject with the owner of the helicopter company I frequent and he mentioned a memorable trip down to the south of France to test fly a Bell Jet Ranger that ex-F1 driver Thierry Boutsen's company was selling. The ensuing flight with Mr Boutsen was interesting for all sorts of reasons, not least including another F1 driver and helicopter pilot (who shall remain nameless) who joined them straight from Monaco where he had been in the divorce court that morning getting a divorce, who then flew a leg of the test flight with them that included hovering over his farmhouse to wave at the new lady in his life, where in the ensuing amorous excitement, he over-torqued the engine, thereby nixing the purchase of the aircraft. I couldn't remember if Belgian Thierry Boutsen had won any Grand Prix so I looked it up. He won three and comes over as a pleasant and interesting chap. You may enjoy this interview with him...

Beyond the Grid with Thierry Boutsen

https://corporate-jet-investor.foleon.c ... y-boutsen/

I think his comments about Rory Byrne are apposite.
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Has Formula One become too sanitised?

#48 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:25 pm

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arti ... t-its-soul
It feels like some have been saying it almost since racing records began (none more so than Denis Sargent Jenkinson) but we might just have reached the point where motor racing has become too sanitised.

Within days we have had Superbike ace Loris Baz fined for making an offensive gesture at high speed, WRC legend Sébastien Ogier penalised for doing two too many donuts in front of the podium and F1 refusing to hit the track if so much as a sneeze of condensation appears on a driver’s visor.

Admittedly the era of Hunt, Sheene and other fellow hell-raisers might be gone, but have we finally breached a time where no fun is allowed, unless its framed with a neat hashtag or nicely framed in an instagram story – and sponsored by Crypto.com, of course?

The same goes for driver relations across various grids.

One of the main reasons the 2021 F1 season was seismically popular was that the rivalry between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen was just so bitter – going against the increasingly cordial trend of recent years, and harking back to Mansell vs Piquet, Senna vs Prost and even Hamilton vs Alonso.

The Mercedes man gives off his holier-than-thou impression of driving for a higher power and greater cause, whilst the no-nonsense diehard Dutch racer takes no prisoners. If it wasn’t the drivers, then team bosses Christian Horner and Toto Wolff were constantly sniping as the live soap opera unfolded.

Many people are instinctively tribal and subconsciously love to pick sides – this was evidenced by the way fans quite simply lapped it up. All 2021 needed was Murray Walker commentating to top it off…

However, in F1’s ever greater drive for increased commercial revenue through a squeaky clean image, it is clearly becoming more and more anodyne.

George Russell briefly broke out of head prefect mode to rip into Valtteri Bottas when the two collided at Imola last year, following the then-Williams driver Russell going full BTCC and giving the Finn a little tap on the crash helmet in the immediate aftermath, to great delight from the baying crowds. Wolff then came down on Russell like a tonne of Mercedes-branded bricks, forcing him to retract his opinion or forever be banished to a career in the Renault Clio Cup.

Mercedes is falling in line with the corporate atmosphere that dominates a world championship which is becoming ever more risk averse, with the FIA following suit.

This was evident at this year’s Monaco GP, with the race delayed, according to the FIA, due to “safety reasons in consideration that there has been no wet running this weekend”. They might supposedly be the world’s best racing drivers, but heaven forbid they should run on a wet track with no experience!

F1’s Viking throwback Kevin Magnussen summed it up best in his typically sardonic Scandinavian tone.

“If conditions are OK, they should start us,” he said. “Or maybe give us a crash course in wet-weather driving or something, or take some classes.”

Similar delays happened in both Singapore and Japan – don’t let them run in the wet, whatever happens! Monaco’s many great rainy races, the ’99 European GP, Fuji ’07 and plenty more now feel like a very distant memory…

The same goes for F1’s draconian approach to track limits and even penalty points. Pierre Gasly currently tops the table – curiously not yet sponsored by a highly dubious NFT/crypto firm, though it’s surely only a matter of time – with 12, after he was given a penalty point for his tête-a-tête with Lance Stroll in Mexico.

A penalty point, seriously? For a slightly over enthusiastic move? Daniel Ricciardo was slapped with two more also for his not-very-Honey-Badger-esque nose up the inside of Yuki Tsunoda. Not all moves work out – is this the death of motor racing?

In another example of teams attempting to beige-ify the media landscape, Red Bull has now declared a boycott on Sky F1 after its pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz opined in Austin that Hamilton had been “robbed”.

Whatever your opinion on the 2021 Abu Dhebacle GP, it’s an incontrovertible fact that that year’s drivers’ title was won in highly controversial circumstances.

There’s an air of a dictatorial approach from Red Bull about this, censoring press opinion and erasing events from figurative photos – it did actually happen, you know.

The team apparently revels in a ‘no-nonsense’ approach – but when it involves the Milton Keynes team, it’s just as corporate as everyone else.

F1’s attempts to make motor sport as corporately bland as it likes appear in sharp contrast to NASCAR across the pond.


Scuffles in the stock car paddock aren’t infrequent (not that we condone violence) and Bubba Wallace’s shocking 200mph takeout of Kyle Larson and other events such as Ty Gibbs ramming Ty Dillion towards crew members in the pitlane were certainly unacceptable.

However, young Gibbs needlessly dumping team-mate and fellow title Xfinity contender Brandon Jones at Martinsville last weekend, welcoming the subsequent boos with open arms and then comparing himself to Jesus afterwards was undeniably entertaining.

The next day in the top-tier Cup series, ex-watermelon farmer Ross Chastain – who drives for a team run by famously subdued rapper Pitbull – put his foot to the floor and rammed his Chevrolet along the barrier of the last corner of the last lap, pipping rival Denny Hamlin to the line as bits flew off his car, securing his place in the playoff final with it.

The daring last-ditch overtake went viral on social media, with drivers from Fernando Alonso to Romain Grosjean expressing their admiration, in a move of spontaneity rarely seen in F1 – NASCAR drivers often express unbridled emotions, and the fans love it.

However, more and more other series appear to be going the way of F1.

WRC star Sébastien Ogier was fined €1500 for doing a couple of donuts before perfectly lining up his Toyota Yaris with the podium after winning Rally Spain last week.

“Money well invested… for the FAN !!! Enjoy the dinner,” the eight-time world champion pithily put it in response to the outcry.

The WRC was briefly reignited earlier this season when now semi-friends Ogier and Seb Loeb went up against one another in Monaco, with fans’ imaginations well and truly captured.

The excitement over that sheer level of sporting greatness on show was clearly accentuated by the residual animosity from years gone by, now somewhat lacking in the WRC – are Elfyn Evans and co just too nice?

Another none-more-testosterone-fuelled discipline isn’t immune either, as our contributing editor Mat Oxley explains.

“Neither is motorcycle racing free of overzealous officials apparently obsessed with sucking the last drop of rock and roll out of racing,” he says.

“At September’s Argentine World Superbike round, Frenchman Loris Baz was sanctioned with a 1000-Euro fine for a middle-finger gesture to rival Axel Bassani, who had just knocked him off.

“Baz, who made the gesture while sliding along the track on his backside, was unrepentant, later posting a photo on social media of him giving the middle-finger salute once again. Most rivals agreed with Baz’s stance.

“Motorcycle racing is a rough game, so it’s no surprise that riders sometimes get a little angry, especially when they’ve just been taken out by a rival. Therefore attempting to purify the sport into some kind of petrolhead’s tennis game doesn’t make sense. Fans love motor sport partly because it’s edgy and risky, so trying to make lions behave like sheep won’t do anyone any good.”

Combined with suggestions that MotoGP’s latest superstar that Fabio Quartararo was investigated for proffering his injured finger in parc fermé, has two-wheel racing lost its edge now it’s in commercial rights holder Dorna’s domain?

Who knows, perhaps if the performance levels of Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes converge next year, the non-sanitised fun might begin again, at least in the world championship. Don’t count on it.
- James Elson


Two naughty boys who made their respective motorsport categories more interesting...

My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

User avatar
OFSO
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 18600
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 6:39 pm
Location: Teddington UK and Roses Catalunia
Gender:
Age: 80

Re: Formula One

#49 Post by OFSO » Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:51 pm

Who cares? I used to be a fanatical follower of F1, but today it's a sport for spectators with deep wallets, administered by incompetents.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: Formula One

#50 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:53 pm

OFSO wrote:
Thu Nov 03, 2022 6:51 pm
Who cares? I used to be a fanatical follower of F1, but today it's a sport for spectators with deep wallets, run by incompetents.
A pithy statement of fact. It truly has become so anodyne!
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: Formula One

#51 Post by TheGreenAnger » Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:12 pm

In a moment of misplaced enthusiasm, I paid to watch the Bahrein GP on television last Sunday, and almost immediately wished I hadn't as the Red Bulls were dominant as usual at almost a second a lap better than the best of the rest, the rest in this case being Alonso in the Aston Martin. While it was good to see Alonso back at his competitive best in a car that at least shows some promise, it was pitiful to see how he, driving a Mercedes powered car (I wonder what Martin, Bamford and Brown might have thought of that) totally outperformed the Mercedes team, who are going through the total opposite of a purple patch, more like the black of an oil stain on a once pristine, unchequered legacy that was never more gloriously pristine and dominant than in the early 1950's until the awful events at Le Mans in 1955, left the Mercedes management and a distraught Alfred Neubauer to shutter up their pits and leave the Grand Prix world for decades to come.

I was apt to think of the other great German team, Auto Union of the pre-war year when my son sent me this photo of a report of the Grosvernor Grand Prix held at at the Pollsmoor track (now a notorious prison) in Cape Town back in 1937.

AutoUnion.jpg

My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

TheGreenAnger
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 3286
Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2022 11:40 pm
Location: Unfashionable end of the Western Spiral

Re: Formula One

#52 Post by TheGreenAnger » Fri Mar 10, 2023 2:02 am

TheGreenAnger wrote:
Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:12 pm
I was apt to think of the other great German team, Auto Union of the pre-war year when my son sent me this photo of a report of the Grosvernor Grand Prix held at at the Pollsmoor track (now a notorious prison) in Cape Town back in 1937.
Auto Union - Polsmoor.JPG
Auto Union - Polsmoor.JPG (43.08 KiB) Viewed 1023 times

http://8w.forix.com/au-sa37.html
A frantic battle was raging amongst the earlier starters, but the crowd was soon on their feet when the phenomenal Auto Unions began attracting their attention, with flames shooting from their stubby exhausts. They were storming down the track and lapping at steadily higher speeds. Von Delius who had to average 106mph, soon lapped at 92mph and then at 110mph, while Rosemeyer rose in lap speeds to a best lap of over 114mph. The crowd were incredulous as the two silver bullets tore round the circuit. Past the grandstands, Rosemeyer and von Delius, heedless of the roughness and narrowness of the track they had noted before the start, tore down the straight at 180mph.

After about 5 laps the German cars were in trouble, though. The experimental synthetic tyres that they had opted to use could not cope with the pace of the cars and road surface. Rosemeyer, with the canvas of his nearside rear tyre stripping away rapidly, showed no sign of slacking. Pit stops where his downfall, though, and he had to make no less than 5 stops during the race to change tyres. In one such incident he swung round Potter’s Pass, the last corner before the pits, at about 135mph. One hundred and fifty yards from the pits the tyre cover blew completely. The crowd saw in amazement how the car slid broadside for the next 50 yards before Rosemeyer again gained control. He wrestled the car in on the wheel rim before stopping in his pit in a shower of stones. The team changed all four wheels on the car and also refuelled it within 48 seconds. The despondent driver was shouting at his mechanics and pointing to his tyres during stops.

If Bernd could just made one pit stop less during the race, he surely would have won the race with an average well above his set mark of 108 mph, but he had to be satisfied with fifth place in the end. First place went to Pat Fairfield in an ERA, followed by Buller Meyer (Riley Ulster), Francis “Steve” Chiappini (Riley Special) and Hans Ruesch (Alfa Romeo). If it were not for the handicap system under which the race was held, Rosemeyer would have run away with the race on scratch. After the race he told reporters that he must have touched nearly 200mph on the fast Orange Grove back section of the circuit. Spectators mentioned that it seemed to them that his car took off only to touch the ground every 15 yards.
My necessaries are embark'd: farewell. Adieu! I have too grieved a heart to take a tedious leave.

User avatar
CharlieOneSix
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 5005
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 12:58 pm
Location: NE Scotland
Gender:
Age: 79

Re: Formula One

#53 Post by CharlieOneSix » Fri Mar 10, 2023 8:59 am

TheGreenAnger wrote:
Thu Mar 09, 2023 12:12 pm
In a moment of misplaced enthusiasm, I paid to watch the Bahrein GP on television last Sunday......
I find that the GP extracts on Channel 4 lull me into a fullsome sleep in my armchair and I miss most of it. I don't know how they can call it a sport nowadays - it's nothing but big business with massive amounts of money thrown at it. I usually wake up just before the end to find it's been the usual boring progression of cars ending in virtually the same order they started with the only variance in finishing order being whether the pit crews can do a pit stop in 2.7 or 3.5 seconds. I think the time has come for me to give up watching any Grand Prix on TV.
The helicopter pilots' mantra: If it hasn't gone wrong then it's just about to...
https://www.glenbervie-weather.org

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17209
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Formula One

#54 Post by Boac » Sat Apr 01, 2023 7:37 am

Well, at last this one might be worth watching! WTF happened to Mercedes in qualifying? The first corner should be a hoot. :YMAPPLAUSE:

User avatar
Ibbie
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 6077
Joined: Sat Aug 22, 2015 9:11 pm
Location: Mijas Costa, Malaga, Spain
Gender:
Age: 74

Re: Formula One

#55 Post by Ibbie » Sun Apr 02, 2023 7:12 am

What a total fup to end the race.

OneHungLow
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 2140
Joined: Thu Mar 30, 2023 8:28 pm
Location: Johannesburg
Gender:

Re: Formula One

#56 Post by OneHungLow » Sun Apr 02, 2023 3:28 pm

Did anybody watch "that ludicrous display!"

And I am not talking about the Joshua fight. F1 is not what it once was.

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17209
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Formula One

#57 Post by Boac » Sun Apr 02, 2023 4:55 pm

Watched the replay on UK TV. The first few laps were excellent and there was some inspired driving throughout. As to the Stewards......................

User avatar
llondel
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 5913
Joined: Wed Oct 03, 2018 3:17 am
Location: San Jose

Re: Formula One

#58 Post by llondel » Mon Apr 03, 2023 7:04 pm

Boac wrote:
Sun Apr 02, 2023 4:55 pm
Watched the replay on UK TV. The first few laps were excellent and there was some inspired driving throughout. As to the Stewards......................
At the bar, were they?

Boac
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 17209
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Here

Re: Formula One

#59 Post by Boac » Mon Apr 03, 2023 7:59 pm

"At the bar, were they?" - missing the :)) or just confused :)) ??

Hydromet
Chief Pilot
Chief Pilot
Posts: 4302
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 8:55 am
Location: SE Oz
Gender:

Re: Formula One

#60 Post by Hydromet » Mon Apr 03, 2023 10:01 pm

Formula 1 has, for me, all the excitement of watching the numbers go round on the petrol bowser.

Post Reply