Shropshire Seagull
Well-known member
Bernie Ecclestone, the richest weasel on the planet. Would not trust him further than I could luzz his syrup...
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[Other Sport] F1 2024
- Thread starter Audax
- Start date
- Jan 19, 2010
- 1,444
Slightly less rich after being stung with a £652.6m tax bill.
And now trying to recoup some funds by selling his F1 car collection via Tom Hartley Jr.
Bernie Ecclestone puts his legendary £500m F1 collection up for sale
Ex-F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has put his legendary £500m F1 collection up for sale.
www.crash.net
- Thread starter
- #844
Re: the Ocon / Doohan situation at Alpine.
There's some worrying (for Doohan supporters) rumours doing the rounds that the specific purpose for doing this is to use this 1 race to effectively judge whether or not to stick with Doohan for next season or make a move to grab Colapinto instead.
IMO Colapinto would be a mistake. As impressive as his initial run of results with Williams were, the crashes in Brazil and (more specifically) Vegas are a worry. Also ... he's impressed up against Albon. Who, don't get me wrong, has done very well at Williams ... but I can't help but think that if it was Russell vs Albon at Williams over the last two seasons, we wouldn't be looking at Albon's results in the same way. Albon's beaten some slow opponents in the same car, but he's not done it as impressively as Russell did IMO and there's been patches where Albon's performances have dropped off (notably immediately after Colapinto came into the team, with Colapinto's crashes coming in races where Albon had started to re-establish dominance).
Conversely, Doohan's record in F3 and F2 is markedly better than Colapinto's was. And Doohan has been embedded in that Alpine team, being groomed for the seat that he currently has for 2025. He's been credited with helping to get the team out of the early season slump with simulator set up work, and Alpine have spent significant sums of money on giving him runs in older cars.
For me ... it feels a little like F1 is starting to borrow some ideas from football transfers. Those being the shady side of how the rumour mill is "used" by players, agents, and teams to try to manipulate transfer dealings. Then again ... we are talking about Flavio Briatore, probably one of the most ruthless F1 figures and also someone who has historically been a bit odd in his decision making. But Doohan is managed by Briatore, so making that switch would be detrimental to his own interests... It's a weird one.
There's some worrying (for Doohan supporters) rumours doing the rounds that the specific purpose for doing this is to use this 1 race to effectively judge whether or not to stick with Doohan for next season or make a move to grab Colapinto instead.
IMO Colapinto would be a mistake. As impressive as his initial run of results with Williams were, the crashes in Brazil and (more specifically) Vegas are a worry. Also ... he's impressed up against Albon. Who, don't get me wrong, has done very well at Williams ... but I can't help but think that if it was Russell vs Albon at Williams over the last two seasons, we wouldn't be looking at Albon's results in the same way. Albon's beaten some slow opponents in the same car, but he's not done it as impressively as Russell did IMO and there's been patches where Albon's performances have dropped off (notably immediately after Colapinto came into the team, with Colapinto's crashes coming in races where Albon had started to re-establish dominance).
Conversely, Doohan's record in F3 and F2 is markedly better than Colapinto's was. And Doohan has been embedded in that Alpine team, being groomed for the seat that he currently has for 2025. He's been credited with helping to get the team out of the early season slump with simulator set up work, and Alpine have spent significant sums of money on giving him runs in older cars.
For me ... it feels a little like F1 is starting to borrow some ideas from football transfers. Those being the shady side of how the rumour mill is "used" by players, agents, and teams to try to manipulate transfer dealings. Then again ... we are talking about Flavio Briatore, probably one of the most ruthless F1 figures and also someone who has historically been a bit odd in his decision making. But Doohan is managed by Briatore, so making that switch would be detrimental to his own interests... It's a weird one.
Cordwainer
Well-known member
- Jul 30, 2023
- 593
Max Verstappen v George Russell - what's going on?
Andrew Benson digs into the ongoing row between F1 world champion Max Verstappen and rival George Russell.
www.bbc.co.uk
Hopefully this bodes well for a bit more track based needle next season.
Out in Q1…
Found this an interesting read - cycling journalist sent on an F! freebie in Austin.
Apparently it was published but then pulled as it was a bit too cutting. The internet doesn't forget though...
Apparently it was published but then pulled as it was a bit too cutting. The internet doesn't forget though...
, you don’t expect a bollard to go under your car on a quali lap.JackB247
Well-known member
A total Mercedes balls up. Look at his FP3 pace, there was absolutely zero reason to leave that lap to the very last minute and although the bollard part was freakish, it sums up this season for Lewis sadly. Having been a massive supporter of the team for the best part of a decade - they are a shadow of the operation they were when they were winning all those titles.
Suspect Lewis will come through to P6/7 with great pace tomorrow and show the team what might have been on his farewell weekend.
- Nov 15, 2006
- 4,676
A true GOAT performance, did Russell let him past? I don’t think so as he couldn’t take the risk of running Lewis wide in case he took both of them out.
“Rookie numbers” says Franco Colapinto
Cordwainer
Well-known member
- Jul 30, 2023
- 593
Good article..I do feel a lot of eco guilt with enjoying F1.
- Thread starter
- #857
Slight correction: there was damage to his car during the season. But none of it was due to Gasly being "at fault". For eg Ocon hit him at Monaco.
Thought that was a cracking season in the end. Started out looking like a 2023 repeat, but everything flipped as first Mclaren, then Mercedes and Ferrari found upgrades that put them much, much closer to Red Bull. Mercedes' performances were all over the place and very reliant on temperature (cold weekend = Mercedes quick). Ferrari threw away a WCC chance with their mid-season upgrade failures. McLaren and Norris threw away a possible opportunity to put Max under a whole lot more pressure for the WDC with a lot of points being left on the table through small errors.
Piastri - in the longest season ever, became only the third driver in history to complete 100% of the racing laps available.
Alpine - one to watch for next season? They've developed that car really well through the season, although there's rumblings that may have been achieved by going to a one-car focus after Monaco (Gasly getting all the upgrades, Ocon not).
Perez ... how the heck did he survive the season? Across the final 12 races he was just 9th in the standings, with even Gasly scoring more points in that period.
I'll get the 2025 thread up and running later this week - suspect there could be an early start to conversation with Perez' future still TBC and ongoing rumblings that Briatore might do the dirty on Doohan and bring in Colapinto instead.
- Thread starter
- #858
Season done! Time for final scores 
b. 10/24. Not 50%.
c. Let's count this.
0.5 / 1
b. plus Mercedes
1.5 / 2
b. Tyre deg issue solved
c. With better race management, yes. But they've not achieved as many double podiums as they could have, and there's the mid-season slump to consider
d. Monaco.
2.5 / 3
b. But Red Bull haven't ditched him (despite rumours post-race at Spa that they had told Ricciardo and others that he would be replaced)
Learning for next year's predictions: don't be so specific!
2.5 / 4
2.5 / 5
So: FAIL!
2.5 / 6
b. Behind Ferrari initially, then ahead when Ferrari slumped. Mercedes now behind again.
c. Both regular visitors to the podium (and winners, even)
3.5 / 7
3.5 / 8
b. Not Antonelli, but instead Colapinto (who I have to admit has surprised me with his performances so far)
4.0 / 9
b. Awaiting anything on 2026, but rumours have been emerging that a 2026 entry might happen now that Michael Andretti has stepped away from leadership.
5.0 / 10
So a 50% final score.
2023's score was 40%, so a slight improvement for this season. But plenty of scope to get a better result next year!
a. Won the WDC.
b. 10/24. Not 50%.
c. Let's count this.
0.5 / 1
a. 4 different teams.
b. plus Mercedes
1.5 / 2
a. Yes, definitely closer to RBR from season start
b. Tyre deg issue solved
c. With better race management, yes. But they've not achieved as many double podiums as they could have, and there's the mid-season slump to consider
d. Monaco.
2.5 / 3
a. He's struggled regardless of pressure from anywhere
b. But Red Bull haven't ditched him (despite rumours post-race at Spa that they had told Ricciardo and others that he would be replaced)
Learning for next year's predictions: don't be so specific!
2.5 / 4
FAIL!
2.5 / 5
Started the season that way, but they've steadily improved and their double podium has elevated them to 6th. Also: Haas better than thought, and Sauber the clear wooden spoon.
So: FAIL!
2.5 / 6
a. Yep, both stronger
b. Behind Ferrari initially, then ahead when Ferrari slumped. Mercedes now behind again.
c. Both regular visitors to the podium (and winners, even)
3.5 / 7
FAIL!
3.5 / 8
a. Yep
b. Not Antonelli, but instead Colapinto (who I have to admit has surprised me with his performances so far)
4.0 / 9
a. Definitely a thorn with both US and EU political scrutiny. US has progressed to a full anti-trust investigation.
b. Awaiting anything on 2026, but rumours have been emerging that a 2026 entry might happen now that Michael Andretti has stepped away from leadership.
5.0 / 10
So a 50% final score.
2023's score was 40%, so a slight improvement for this season. But plenty of scope to get a better result next year!
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Enjoyed this season once Max stopped having everything his own way. Some great races, including at Silverstone and a constructors championship back to the UK thanks to a Lando win.
Potentially interesting stuff next season too between the new racers coming in and Lewis's move to Ferrari. If the McLarens stay where they are now in relative performance and pace terms then it'll be interesting to see how long their Papya Rules philosophy runs. Will they be happy if Max gets another WDC but Lando + Oscar way outscore Max + whoever? Or will they try and back a horse earlier next season?
Thanks @Audax for your expert and invaluable posts on this thread. Always worth reading
Potentially interesting stuff next season too between the new racers coming in and Lewis's move to Ferrari. If the McLarens stay where they are now in relative performance and pace terms then it'll be interesting to see how long their Papya Rules philosophy runs. Will they be happy if Max gets another WDC but Lando + Oscar way outscore Max + whoever? Or will they try and back a horse earlier next season?
Thanks @Audax for your expert and invaluable posts on this thread. Always worth reading
- May 8, 2018
- 10,834
Checo gawn