Formula One

[PHXPhlyer]

Former F1 racer threatens to sue to overturn superstar Lewis Hamilton's 2008 championship
Citing new revelations, retired Ferrari driver Felipe Massa told NBC News he will “fight to the end” to claim a world championship he insists he was robbed of 15 years ago.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/sports/for ... rcna104894

Retired Formula One racer Felipe Massa is escalating his legal fight to overturn the result of the 2008 championship as the sport returns this weekend to Singapore, the site of a notorious race-fixing plot dubbed “Crashgate,” which he says robbed him of glory.

“I won the trophy. I’m fighting for the justice of the sport — to have the trophy,” Massa said in a wide-ranging phone interview from his home in Brazil. “And this is what I will fight to the end, even if I need to go to the legal, to the court, to prove that what happened to me was not fair. And that’s why we — me and the legal team that we have — are 100% ready for that.”

His team maintains that recent remarks by then-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone and newly unearthed comments by Charlie Whiting, the former race director for the sport's governing body, FIA, indicate they knew more about the cheating scheme by Renault than they let on at the time. The team also says the two waged a “conspiracy” to “conceal” it rather than nullify the points awarded in the race.

“One race was manipulated. And unfortunately, that manipulation took away my championship,” Massa, who raced for Ferrari, said. “We know — and we have evidence — that very, very important people knew in 2008.”

He said the “correct thing” would be to cancel all points in the race and reverse the title result.
Many analysts are skeptical that Massa’s extraordinary challenge could succeed because Formula One championships do not get overturned after they are awarded, much less after 15 years. F1 and the FIA didn't return messages seeking comment.

His proposed legal action threatens to reopen one of the darkest chapters of the sport’s history at a time when it is growing a fanbase in the U.S. The stakes also are high for Lewis Hamilton, who ended up winning that title by one point in the last lap of a thrilling final race of the season in Brazil.

Hamilton, driving for McLaren at the time, later left for Mercedes and went on to win six more championships, tying F1 legend and former Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher’s record. Massa, 42, has since retired after a storied career but without a title.

In a series of letters reviewed by NBC News, Massa’s legal team has issued document preservation notices to Formula One and FIA; his former team, Ferrari; the offending team, Renault, now called Alpine; and several former Renault officials. Formula One and the FIA have asked Massa’s team for more time to address the claims.

Massa’s team gave the parties until Oct. 12 to respond before it plans to mount a full-scale legal challenge involving “multiple jurisdictions,” said Massa's lawyer, Bernardo Viana.

It all goes back to the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, when Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. — under orders from team bosses, he later admitted — deliberately crashed to bring out a “safety car” and upend the race dynamic to help his teammate. The plot succeeded, as teammate Fernando Alonso took advantage of the chaos and won.

Massa, who was leading the race at the time of the crash, fell victim to a Ferrari error in a frenzied pitlane and scored no points, while Hamilton finished third and picked up six points that ended up being decisive to his title.

The race counted toward the final result of the championship because, as officials said at the time, they didn’t learn about the Renault scheme until the following year, by which time it was too late to change the result.

The “Crashgate” saga is well-known to longtime Formula One fans but less familiar to newer “Drive To Survive”-era fans. Massa said it’s an opportunity for the sport and its new owners, the U.S.-based Liberty Media Corporation, to prove the sport is better today.

Massa started legal efforts after Ecclestone told the German website F1 Insider in March that he and then-FIA President Max Mosley were made aware of the Singapore scheme during the 2008 season but didn’t act to annul the race to avoid a scandal. He said he felt sorry for Massa because if they had done so, Massa would have been champion, not Hamilton.

“I was destroyed when I saw the comments,” Massa said.

Then the saga took a strange turn.

After Ecclestone's assertions sparked a firestorm and Massa threatened legal action, the 92-year-old former F1 boss told Reuters he didn’t recall giving the interview: “I don’t remember any of this, to be honest.”

Now, he is accusing Massa of making a play for cash. “The Massa clan only cares about money. But the chances of that happening are zero,” Ecclestone told the Swiss German outlet blick.ch.


Massa rejects that assertion.

“I’m not doing this for the money,” he insisted. “Ecclestone is only saying it because we show it — just how serious we are. And he knows we will not accept the stain to the sport... Also, he’s likely afraid of what will become public, as well.”

Because Whiting and Mosley have died, and Ecclestone is shrugging off his earlier remarks, Massa’s team is left without cooperating witnesses at the highest levels. Some suggest that if Massa’s legal challenge were to succeed, it would open the door for other drivers to sue to overturn championships that ended in controversy.

When asked if Massa would accept a co-championship with Hamilton, Viana said: “At this point of time we can’t make any conjecture about potential settlement because we haven’t received any offers. But of course, our channels are open.”

Massa said he’s not accusing Hamilton of any wrongdoing and that he hasn’t spoken to the seven-time champion about the case. But he said he would encourage Hamilton to re-evaluate it, given the Briton’s advocacy against injustice.

“I think the most important thing is that if he really shows the people that he’s looking for justice, he’s looking for things which happen in the correct way, I think it’s important that he analyze my case in the right way,” he said. “Like, the way he really shows how he is for helping so many problems that happen around the world — with racism, with injustice.”

Hamilton’s representatives declined to comment, and the Mercedes driver has avoided publicly weighing in on Massa’s actions.

“I have a really bad memory,” Hamilton told reporters when asked about it recently, according to crash.net. “I’m not really focused on what happened 15 years ago.”

PP

[OneHungLow]

Has anybody noticed that Max Verstappen and Red Bull didn't win the Singapore GP?

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/2023 ... /10521611/

[Woody]

Is he Conservative Party supporter?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67088503

[OneHungLow]

Is he Conservative Party supporter?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-67088503

He has previous with the Labour Party, but given his corrupt credentials, the use of brown paper envelopes with the Tories wouldn't be beyond the realms of possibility.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ur1997to99

A High Court judge spoke clearly about his opinion of Ecclestone's probity in the following case, despite the fact that this case was dismissed on a technicality in a case where one corrupt party sued another corrupt party.

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

The Payments were a bribe. They were made because Mr Ecclestone had
entered into a corrupt agreement with Dr Gribkowsky in May 2005 under
which Dr Gribkowsky was to be rewarded for facilitating the sale of BLB’s
shares in the Formula One group to a buyer acceptable to Mr Ecclestone;
iii) Mr Ecclestone’s aim was to be rid of the Banks. He was strongly averse to
their involvement in the Formula One group and was keen that their shares
should be transferred to someone more congenial to him;
Constantin Medien AG v Ecclestone & others
Approved Judgment
iv) Mr Mullens was complicit in the corrupt arrangement, but Bambino was not.
The claim fails as against Bambino for that (as well as other) reasons;
v) It was no part of Mr Ecclestone’s purpose (or Mr Mullens’) for BLB’s shares
to be sold at an undervalue, and neither Mr Ecclestone nor Mr Mullens had
any desire for the shares to be sold at an undervalue or believed the price at
which they were in fact sold to be below market value. Mr Ecclestone was
probably conscious of a risk that the shares would be sold for less as a result of
his arrangement with Dr Gribkowsky, but that has not been established as
against Mr Mullens. The claim fails as against Mr Mullens for that (as well as
other) reasons;
vi) No loss to Constantin has been shown to have been caused by the corrupt
arrangement with Dr Gribkowsky. That fact is fatal to the claim as against all
the defendants;
vii) Constantin’s claim would anyway have failed as a matter of German law
(which I consider to be the applicable law) because (a) any loss it might have
suffered would be reflective of loss suffered by BLB and (b) none of the
defendants had any knowledge of the overage rights on which Constantin’s
claim is founded; and
viii) Constantin’s claim would also have failed had it been governed by English
law.
371. I shall dismiss the claim.

[PHXPhlyer]

‘I don’t like it at all’: Max Verstappen calls Las Vegas Grand Prix ‘99% show, 1% sport’

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/16/sport/ma ... index.html

As Las Vegas gears up to stage its first Formula One Grand Prix in more than 40 years, three-time world champion Max Verstappen appears unenthused by the prospect of racing in the glitzy host city.

Kylie Minogue, Journey and John Legend were among those who performed at the event’s opening ceremony on Wednesday, surrounded by bright lights, fireworks and an enormous F1 logo.

Step into the race paddock and you might also encounter several people dressed as Elvis, a “no money” casino, and even a wedding chapel, as well as the team’s names illuminated in neon lights.

But Red Bull driver Verstappen, who wrapped up his most recent world title last month, isn’t particularly enamored by the theater atmosphere on display in Las Vegas.

“I think it is 99% show, 1% sport,” Verstappen told reporters on Wednesday, according to Reuters. “They [Formula One] still make money if I like it or not, so it is not up to me.

“But I’m not going to fake it. I always voice my opinion in positive things, in negative things, that’s just how I am. It’s not really my thing. Some people like a show, I don’t like it at all.”

CNN has contacted F1 regarding Verstappen’s comments.

This is the first time since 1982 that Las Vegas has hosted a stop on the F1 calendar, and Saturday’s race will be held on a temporary street circuit taking place in the famous Las Vegas Strip.

Not all the drivers, who were introduced to the crowd via ascending and descending platforms during the opening ceremony, necessarily shared Verstappen’s view.

“I think there is room to do both [show and racing] and I hope we can do that this weekend,” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc told Sky Sports.

“Of course, there has been a lot of show already with the opening ceremony. It’s a beautiful sport, but you also need to attract new people to this beautiful sport.”

Verstappen and fellow Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez greet spectators at the Las Vegas Grand Prix opening ceremony.
Etienne Laurent/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Meanwhile, fellow Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz said that he has had a “fun week” having had the opportunity to play – and win – a golf event alongside PGA Tour star Justin Thomas earlier in the week, even though he later broke the winners’ trophy while celebrating.

The race will get underway on Saturday at 10 p.m. local time (1 a.m. Eastern Time), taking in 50 laps of the 3.8-mile street circuit, ahead of which there will be practice sessions on Thursday and Friday.

“I guess it feels a little bit different, a night race and a lot of glamor and all of this stuff,” said McLaren’s Lando Norris, “but inside, it’s just another race weekend.”

Verstappen has dominated this season, winning 17 of the 20 races so far and sealing the world title weeks before the end of the season.

Behind him in the standings are Red Bull teammate Sergio Pérez and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton, who is still looking for his first win this year.

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

Formula 1 Las Vegas ticket prices continue to plunge a day before the Grand Prix

https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/15/business ... index.html

Ticket prices continue to decline sharply for Formula 1 Grand Prix in Las Vegas, even as the highly anticipated event is set to rev its engines in just one day.

Since last week, prices have dropped 23% for Saturday night’s main event, falling below $1,000, with the current “get-in” price for tickets hovering around $800, according to TickPick. That’s down 50% since a month ago when the cheapest ticket sold for $1,645.

Prices for the practice and qualifying sessions, on Thursday and Friday respectively, are crashing too. The cheapest tickets for both days dropped as much as 20% in a week and are down 70% from last month.

It’s a drastic decline for the sporting spectacle, the first F1 race to be held on the Las Vegas Strip. A year ago, when tickets initially went on sale, this Saturday’s title race tickets were selling for around $1,622. This week’s prices indicate that they have fallen by 50% since November 2022.

Thursday’s practice tickets were sold for $919 last year but have sunk to $119 this year, TickPick said, an 87% decrease. Friday tickets for qualifying races are selling for $259, a 76% drop from last year’s price of $1,085.

Several factors are contributing to the drop, according to TickPick CEO Brett Goldberg, including the fact that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen already won this year’s championship title in Qatar last month thus dampening enthusiasm among the sport’s fans as it nears the end of the season.

That, plus the expected chilly weather and the overall cost of attendance when factoring in flights and hotels “during a down season in the cold means the reasons to travel beyond the race are limited,’ he said.

Goldberg predicts that ticket prices will normalize next year, perhaps not being priced as high as they were when they initially went on sale in 2022 for the inaugural race.

“With the popularity of the sport on the rise domestically, the investment in the infrastructure, and the spectacle of Las Vegas road races, it was a difficult decision on go-to-market pricing, but the public has spoken this year,” he said.

Despite the falling ticket prices, Goldberg expects that the three-day event “will be well attended” and “it will create amazing visuals and experiences for those in attendance,” noting its distinct track that snakes around the Las Vegas Strip at night.

“If F1 is able to maintain a long-term view on the race location, this will be a distant memory very soon,” he said. (F1 Las Vegas organizers didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment.)

Las Vegas is the third US city to host an F1 race this year, after Miami in May and Austin in October. Drivers have credited the popularity of the Netflix series “Drive to Survive” for growing the sport’s audience in the US.

However, there are some small indications that American interest in the sport might have peaked: US TV ratings for this year’s F1 season have fallen 8%, but are the second-highest average on record for ESPN, according to SportsMediaWatch.

Motorsports writer Jeff Gluck for the Athletic hypothesized that the casual viewers who were drawn in from the Netflix series might have already lost interest, signaling a “real danger” for the sport in the US if they bail altogether.

Gluck wrote that something compelling has to happen. “‘Something’ could mean Red Bull falls off or another team mounts enough of a challenge to make it more interesting next season,” he wrote. “But what F1 likely can’t afford in the US is for 2024 to be a similar year to the last two — because that could cause the group with newfound F1 passion to follow the casuals out the door.”

PP

[PHXPhlyer]

The Las Vegas Formula 1 Grand Prix's timing is definitely favoring most of the rest of the world vs. the host country and hemisphere.
I will have to be up long past my bedtime to watch most of the practices, quali, and race.
Those of you elsewhere enjoy watching at a decent hour.

PP

[Woody]

BA actually have added an extra flight to LAS tomorrow, BA271

[tango15]

As a former avid fan of F1, (Malaysia, Barcelona, Monaco, and countless Silverstones, I'm losing interest faster than it takes to do a tyre change. New regulations every race it seems, retrospective point deductions, and the constant bickering between the drivers, (which was always there of course, but not reported blow-by-blow like it is now). Street circuits are OK if they're in old cities like Baku and Singapore, but I'm not too sure about Miami and Las Vegas. Time will tell I suppose. I imagine there will be 'celebrities' by the bucketload on the pit walk...

[Wodrick]

Followed Motor Racing since I could drive and F1 in particular. Strikes me that there has been a rather large bollock dropping afoot in Vegas.
I'm pretty sure that all the "Road" circuits, where there are inevitably drain covers they are secured for the duration, usually welded closed.

Quite where the Americans and the FIA circuit inspector went wrong I know not but they sure went wrong somewhere.

Big bill forza Ferrari.

[llondel]

Clearly not my sport, I wouldn't pay $800 for a ticket.

[Wodrick]

Neither would I, I haven't that amount available.

[PHXPhlyer]

Ferrari Was Screwed Over

Sainz handed 10-place grid drop for Las Vegas Grand Prix after practice incident

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... BjDbp.html

Carlos Sainz has received a 10-place grid drop for this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, with Ferrari forced to change a host of power unit components following first practice.

Sainz came to a halt in the early stages of Thursday evening’s session at the all-new Las Vegas Strip Circuit after hitting a drain cover, causing damage to his engine, Energy Store and Control Electronics, along with the survival cell.

Ferrari submitted a request to the stewards asking for a 'derogation of the Sporting Regulations', to allow a replacement of the Energy Store from outside the pool without penalty, but this was not permitted.

After hearing from a Ferrari Team Representative, the Director of the FIA Single Seater Department, and having viewed video evidence and examined the team’s declaration sheet, the stewarding panel explain their decision.

“The stewards determine that notwithstanding the fact that the damage was caused by highly unusual external circumstances, Article 2.1 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations obliges all officials, including the Stewards, to apply the regulations as they are written,” read the document.

“Accordingly, the mandatory penalty specified under Article 28.3 of the Sporting Regulations must be applied.

“The stewards note that if they had the authority to grant a derogation in what they consider in this case to be mitigating, unusual and unfortunate circumstances, they would have done so, however the regulations do not allow such action.”

When second practice began, the FIA duly confirmed that Sainz had taken on a third new Energy Store for the season, exceeding the limit of two, resulting in a 10-place grid drop for the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

PP

[Hydromet]

Clearly not my sport, I wouldn't pay $800 for a ticket.

I can get the same excitement watching the numbers go round on the petrol bowser.

[CharlieOneSix]

I watched the race replay on Channel 4. Got to about lap 24 out of 50 and I fell asleep for the rest of it. There’s more excitement on the snooker Champion of Champions final which I’m now watching.

[tango15]

I watched the race replay on Channel 4. Got to about lap 24 out of 50 and I fell asleep for the rest of it. There’s more excitement on the snooker Champion of Champions final which I’m now watching.

Likewise, I watched it for a while, but switched it off before I fell asleep. I see that Billy Monger was wearing trousers - first time I've seen that. I suppose he was told that he would only spoil the razzmatazz of Las Vegas if he appeared showing off his prosthetic legs. (For those not in the know, Billy Monger is a double amputee, following a motoring accident in 2017, and normally only wears shorts when he's presenting).
I see Verstappen rowed back on his previous comments, saying he can't wait to race there next year. The PR people must have been very busy prior to the race...

[Woody]

This is not going to be popular in Catalunya

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/68065785

[Wodrick]

Not with the teams either, BCN is considered the best track for testing, a little bit of everything. If the car goes well there it is good in most other places. A loss for the teams.

[OFSO]

So F-1 is still going on ? Nary a mention on TV in Spain. No body can afford to go in person, the local trains don't stop at the Catalan circuit, TV sub is too pricey and other than Alonso the leading drivers are unknown and unpopular.

[PHXPhlyer]

Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari next year, reports say
The seven-time champion is set to make the surprise swap after the 2024 season, two media outlets said Thursday.

https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/01/sport/le ... index.html

Rumors and speculation are swirling as multiple UK outlets and racing publications are reporting that seven-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton is poised to leave Mercedes and join Ferrari for the 2025 season.

CNN contributor Phil Duncan, an F1 correspondent with Press Association in London, reports that a source with direct knowledge of the deal confirms that it is expected to be announced soon.

Nothing has been formally announced, and none of the parties will confirm a deal is in place. CNN has reached out to Mercedes and Ferrari, who both declined to comment. CNN has also reached out to representation for Hamilton.

The 39-year-old, who shares the record for the most F1 world titles with Michael Schumacher, joined Mercedes in 2013 after starting his career with McLaren in 2007.

A glittering period followed for the British driver, during which he won six titles over the course of a seven-year period.

Hamilton has been with Mercedes for more than 10 years. Clive Mason/Getty Images
Mercedes has struggled to maintain its dominance in recent seasons, but Hamilton, who finished third in last year’s driver standings, signed a contract extension in August, keeping him at the team until the end of the 2025 season.

However, in a shock move first reported by Sky Sports and Spanish media, Hamilton is now expected to leave Mercedes a year early to join Charles Leclerc at Ferrari for 2025, replacing Carlos Sainz.

Leclerc finished fifth in last season’s championship, while Sainz was two places behind in seventh.

“Lewis Hamilton’s gone two years without winning [a grand prix], which for him is basically unprecedented, something he’s never had to deal with in his career,” Duncan told CNN Sport’s Amanda Davies on Thursday.

“At the age of 39, he’s probably thinking this is his last big chance, his last big move, and his last chance to drive for Ferrari – a team that’s always appealed to him … This is probably the biggest transfer in Formula One history and it really does breathe new life in the sport.”

PP