RB was having a difficult relationship with Renault even when they were world champions
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Unless Honda and Red Bull have a fruitful relationship it's not difficult to imagine Horner putting the boot in at some point. As many of you may be aware I'm a huge fan of Ricciardo, the way he both drives and conducts himself, and these recent comments from his old boss just reinforce my belief that CH (and, quite possibly, Helmut Marko) are incapable of reflection.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/r...fight/4345151/
My Club Silverstone tickets arrived this morning... just 130 days to FP1 :smug:
Which is why I said " I know it's only testing..."
Looks like there could be a vacancy coming up for anyone ready to take on a real challenge - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47476566
Indeed. Reports of Lowe's departure vary from the BBC's (Andrew Benson) "sacked" through Pitpass and Crash.net "leave of absence for personal reasons".
Either way, with Rob Smedley already gone, the situation at Williams seems to go from bad to worse - the 2018 season fiasco followed by the 2019 pre-season test fiasco doesn't inspire much hope or confidence.
it was inevitable, I never worked out what his contribution at Mercedes was, but we did only see him on the telly at weekends.
It must be extremely difficult to move things along in a very competative technology driven environment with no or very little money.
Williams are going to run out of people to fire soon.................. Claire Williams, what does she bring to the party?
Looks like we have Mission aborted at Ferrari, how did they ever think they can get away with back door tobacco product advertising, now McLaren need to get rid of BAT
Surely association is enough,
I am always surprised that some teams get away with alcohol sponsors.
I don't get the energy drink sponsorship, Red Bull, Monster and now Rich energy, I think Ferrari had TNT, this stuff is all supposed to be very bad for you.
Maybe its just a money thing, so everyone turns a blind eye.
Apparently the Netflix documentary that is available from tomorrow has Claire asking herself that very question!
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/formula-...recipitous-f1/
An interesting analysis of the 2019 Williams from Marc Priestley:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jr0...ature=youtu.be
The problem with their 2018 car was getting all of the aero to work together, apparently. With the late appearance of the 2019 car meaning that they had less track time than everybody else, they're starting the season with a largely untested car (the car which appeared at Barcelona was not believed to be the finished article, and some aspects, as explained in the video are questionable, if not illegal), one driver with no Formula 1 experience, and one coming back after a lengthy absence following catastrophic injuries.
Rumour has it that the workforce at Williams is very demoralised, and "working to rule".
It doesn't seem like a recipe for success.
she had no relevant experience in any aspect of the car, I know its daddies team but I don't understand how this was ever going to work. she wasn't even a professional manager. Maybe they have rooms full of program and project managers to ensure all of the elements of the car and the team are working.
I think Williams are on a very slippery slope and through ineptitude and incompetence have ruined what they once had, on the way have lost the wealth of talent and the unique David and Goliath aura that they once had.
A view on the situation at Williams from Peter Windsor:
https://www.omologatowatches.com/blo...-edge-williams
1 point for the fastest lap...link:
Formula 1 is set to change its scoring system this year by giving a point to the driver who sets the fastest lap in a grand prix.
The move is part of a bid to make F1 more appealing and increase audiences...
For what it's worth, if this had been in force last season then VB would have jumped to 3rd, ahead of KR and MV who would have slipped to 4th and 5th respectively.
(Checked whilst waiting for the kettle to boil. Posted in order to hopefully spare anyone else curious enough the tedium entailed.)
Thanks for that, it was a great read especially coming from Peter Windsor who has a long relationship with the team. Interesting fact about Jonny Williams and what could have been, sad as I saw him in the Williams F1 documentary on iPlayer and for all intents and purposes he has been relegated to a parts manager and you could feel there was some bitterness there.
I thought Liberty said they weren't going to bring in any gimmicks?
It has the potential to make a complete farce of the final race of the season. I want to see the championship won by track position not someone running at the back of the pack trying to get fastest lap as happened in Formula E a couple of seasons ago. Terrible decision from Liberty.
Should have been qualifying points
Liberty being from over the pond could also introduce a point for most laps in the lead...
I just saw the first episode of the Netflix documentary, it was ok, but obviously targeted at people who have never seen a Formula one car in their lives.
The rest of the episodes are far more fly on the wall, and not siege coated.
It seems that Willian’s let Lawrence Stroll has far to much influence at Williams last season, it’s a shame they didn’t have the confidence to tell him where to get off. It must affect this years car
Anyone else taking part in the PFRL Fantasy League this season? Just tried to set up my teams and realised I don't know the TZ league name, or even if one has been set up.
Doesn't Tokyo Tokei normally set things up as he has a hand in running the site?
Edit to add that he doesn't appear to have posted for a good few months now.
Extremely surprised to see Formula E on BBC 2 this morning considering their complete disinterest in motorsport, maybe it is politically correct now.
I have just had an email from Now TV offering the F1 season on Sky F1 for an up front price of £195. I won’t be signing up, but for anyone keen, it would be cheaper than signing up to full sky sports. Not sure if generally available, but worth a search if of interest
Now confirmed...FIA link
Starting from this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, one point will be awarded to the driver who achieves the fastest lap in a race, provided that driver is also classified in the top 10. A point will also be awarded to the Constructor of the driver setting the fastest lap.
The FIA World Motor Sport Council approved this change to the 2019 Sporting Regulations at its last meeting on 7 March in Geneva, subject to the successful outcome of an e-vote by the F1 Strategy Group and the F1 Commission. This process was concluded today and unanimous approval given.
The change means an extra 21 championship points can be accrued over the course of a season.
It’ll be fanboost next
Who knows. The extra point however is a stimulus in the opposite direction of coasting to save fuel. It is sómething.
Ok, it is a patch on the symptoms; should not be necessary I agree: A bit more fuel, higher max. and easier to overtake cars would be better but thát currently is not.
We will see.
Seen MotoGP this Sunday? Mán what a thriller. F1 has a tough example to follow.
I think it is a terrible idea, I read somewhere that historically it would not have changed many results, Massa would have won the 2008 championship
Toward the end of a race a tail end team could send a light car out on fresh tyres to get a point, more importantly a front running team could do that with their second car to make sure the front car doesn’t get the point. LH first SV second CL third, Ferrari get CL to do it to make sure LH doesn’t get it, sacrifice the second car enough times and it will influence the championship.
I agree, I think the extra point for fastest lap is a gimmick and a bad idea.
It may not change much if you compare results retrospectively however there's little to be gained by that seeing as no-one was racing with those potential extra points in mind. Towards the end of the race all cars will be light and it would be unlikely a tail end Charlie would go for the fastest lap as it won't count unless they also finish in the top 10. There's also the jeopardy element - does a driver/team decide to push for that lap when that increases the chance of a) binning it and losing all points and b) the increased stress on components.
Of course one team may try to steal those two points away from another, it is a team sport after all and they'll all be trying to maximise their point scores just like they have in the past. I haven't fact checked this however I'd guess that less than half of race winners also have the fastest lap, if the race leader is aware that another team may try to get those points then it's an incentive for them not to just cruise to the line. You could quite easily have a few drivers going for that lap in each race as well, with fastest laps potentially being traded in rapid succession towards the back end of the race. Also, imagine a scenario where, at the last race of the season, a driver needs both a race win and the fastest lap for the championship! That driver could qualify on pole and lead the entire race, though he'd have 9 other drivers that could take the championship away - they'd be forced to push to the end, and there'd be others willing to push them.
The more I think about it the more I'm in favour of the idea. I also hope what I've typed makes sense as I've been awake for the last 20 hours...
It's an annoying gimmick and a poor attempt to try and make things less predictable.
The fastest lap point is complete folly. It should only be about who wins. It frustrates me seeing a someone running around in a lowly position only for them to put together a hot lap towards the end of the GP. It just makes me think why didn't you put in some laps like that earlier and you could now be challenging for the lead. I know not all teams have cars offering great race pace, but it still bugs me none-the-less.
Call me old fashioned but I'd still rather we lost downforce to allow closer action on track and increased mechanical grip. I don't know how it can be achieved but if the racing line become less critical it should allow more overtaking opportunities, maybe reducing downforce and upping grip would help in that regards; but I guess the racing line will always be the racing line and the fastest way to lap a track, a shame really.
Maybe reintroducing manual gears would help, it was always great to see Mansell et all missing a gear or being caught in the wrong gear, it added to the overtaking thrills, but sadly that would be a technological retrograde too far and F1 as the pinnacle of Motorsport should push technologies and development.
Why do you all think it will be a back marker that sets the fastest lap? I think it will be one of the guys at the front who normally manage their pace towards the end of the race. I also think it will be set during the last two or three laps of the race (rather like Q3, I guess).