Cellar Posted January 21, 2014 Share Good to see Kobiyashi back! That ought to keep some guys awake on track... Isn't he the hotdog eating champ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaBee Posted January 21, 2014 Share No, he's the side pod eating champ... but at least he's trying to overtake! Steven Knoetze (sk27) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 22, 2014 Share http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/wp-content/uploads/Screen-Shot-2014-01-22-at-10.42.02.png Mopkop, Captain Fastbastard Mayhem and Jacques999 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 22, 2014 Share Good to see Kobiyashi back! That ought to keep some guys awake on track... Like him even more now that I read he said no the a expanded offer from Ferrari in their GT efforts which would have included simulator time. Will also be driving for free - THE MAN WANTS TO RAAAAACE! http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112216 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaBee Posted January 22, 2014 Share Was also surprised to see he's racing for free. Love the black livery on the FI! Interesting to see them having another cycling sponsor in F1... Suddenly two of them?! (Not counting "Team Alonso"!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted January 22, 2014 Share Really thought that was a continuation on the photoshopped cars from a while back.Still not sure of the colours but it'll stand out thats for sure.Still a backmarker team though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted January 23, 2014 Share So I've heard McLaren will no longer have Vodafone as a title sponsor.So livery will be vastly different this year. Wonder who the new title sponsor is though.Will see tomorrow I suppose. Edited January 23, 2014 by sk27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 23, 2014 Share Yip, was announced early 2013 and that time Whitmarsh said there will be a big announcement in Dec 2013. Everybody figured it was going to be Telmex due to Perez being there. Not sure who got canned first, but neither Telmex nor Perez will be there this year. Anyway, closer to Dec Whitmarsh came out and said the new title sponsor wil be announced at the launch. But last week it became pretty clear that there is no one as of yet and Neale came out and said they are financially secure without a title sponsor for 2014 so the thinking is McL will race a McL orange F1 car this year before Honda (and according to rumours Sony) arrives in 2015. Read the financial difference between paying for Merc engines this year vs getting Honda for free next plus the extra money Honda will bring is worth $100m a year! No wonder The Ron made a boardroom coup to put himself back in charge as CEO of McL racing. When that news broke he said they will announce team principal in Feb. Rumour has it Ross Brawn has been persuaded by Ron Dennis and Honda to join McL. Either way, looks like Whitmarsh is out or at best will be there for this year. A year McL has already labelled a transition year. Edited January 23, 2014 by The Crow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 23, 2014 Share More on the McLaren situaitionhttp://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/01/mclaren-boss-we-will-have-larger-budget-in-2014-than-any-previous-season/ And about Ron taking overhttp://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2014/01/ron-dennis-retakes-control-of-mclaren-what-next-for-whitmarsh/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Knoetze (sk27) Posted January 23, 2014 Share Wowser, missed that completely. Thanks for the info. Always thought the BAR Honda had a brilliant engine but let down by a poor chassis, McL/Honda might just be the perfect marriage.I would seem that sponsorship money is getting harder and harder to secure since the booze and fag companies were banned all those years back and with costs rising it's taking it's toll. On a different sport altogether I see the MotoGP Factory Yamaha M1 was recently launched and are again without a title sponsor, even with a certain Mr Rossi still in the picture, albeit for promotional reasons rather than winning expectations these days.3rd year now I think since Fiat left. Not looking good for motorsport in general at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Dale Posted January 23, 2014 Share Kimi and Alonso in Ferrari's Hmmm Gonna be juicy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 23, 2014 Share I find the whole business model ridiculous. 2012 reported spend / staff per team looked like this Red Bull 605 staff $344mFerrari 600~ $240mMcLaren 600~ $240mMercedes 550 $225mLotus 4-500? $190mWilliams 4-500? $145mSauber 300 $104mForce India 300 $100mToro Rosso 300 $110mCaterham 260 $96mMarussia 175 $105m I find it stupid that a team like Ferrari or Red Bull spend that much more and only manage to go 1.5 - 2 seconds faster than a Marussia. Will we notice those 2 seconds? Nope. I'm with the guys who say they must cut back budgets and with it re-look the business model. Stands are empty at races, because tickets are too expensive and racing has been / were dull. Tickets cost a gazillion bucks, because FOM wants all the money for themselves and CVC. All of it. Sponsors, TV Rights and advertising around the track. Country / track / organiser only gets to keep the ticket fee. Teams want more and more and that money can only come from hosting fees and commercial rights. None of it goes back into grass roots, the event or promoting F1 as a sport. The whole show can be done for a lot cheaper. Somewhere it will implode. I think if budgets were cut back to size teams like Force India and Sauber will give the big teams a serious go on race day - if you look at what they have achieved at a fraction of the cost. Edited January 23, 2014 by The Crow Steven Knoetze (sk27) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 23, 2014 Share HmmmGonna be juicy Looking forward to some action! http://www.f1pulse.com/UserFiles/kimi-110913.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyclewizz Posted January 23, 2014 Share I find it stupid that a team like Ferrari or Red Bull spend that much more and only manage to go 1.5 - 2 seconds faster than a Marussia. Will we notice those 2 seconds? Nope. I'm with the guys who say they must cut back budgets and with it re-look the business model. 2 seconds in F1 is a huge difference.If a team is 2 secs off the pace they might as well pack up and go home. I thought that Ferrari had the biggest budget. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwan Kemp Posted January 23, 2014 Share 2 seconds in F1 is a huge difference. It is now, but it won't be when everyone is at more or less the same pace. All cars will be slower this year and most track's lap record is still held by 2004 / 2005 cars when tyres were fat and fast and F1 howled to the tune of V10's. There was a time when the second fastest team was 2 seconds off the pace. Everybody closed the gap and we're better off for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaBee Posted January 23, 2014 Share Agree with Wizz, 2 sec a lap is a lifetime. Your top 10 are sometimes covered by 1/10th in quali. And... flame suit on... In my my tiny mind a lot of the state of F1's "boredom" is BECAUSE OF all these cost cutting measures and crap that F1. Rules and regs to curb this, that and the other development, for the sake of cutting costs and financial fair play. I mean FFS, I hear this year they're even restricting wind tunnel time! Sorry, but give the guys room, let them develop cars and tracks and let them race. Then we won't have every 2nd car looking almost the same and artificial DRS and KERS overtakes. Hmmm... I think I've just given my age away. Oh, and to continue the rant. Just when everybody is on the same playing field, top teams are dicing (or were, untill they changed tyre regs mid-season ) and even smaller teams are getting closer, as Crow said... they go and AGAIN change the flippen rules! Cost savings there was...?! Now everybody has to redevelop and redesign. Sorry, but I really am baffled with goings on of the last couple of years. Johny Bravo and Cellar 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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