F1 2023 thread

Harika

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/honda-is-logical-choice-for-cadillacs-f1-entry-with-andretti/10417560/

Reports it will be Honda. Like talked before Andretti into F1 will be another massive boost for Liberty in America. My US journalist bubble was highly excited from the Austin GP that had more attendees than any other Indycar race, with the exception of the 500 ofc.

Also Kudos to Michael Andretti who is building a motorsport empire after his lacklustre driving career.

The 200 million entry fee seems to be under scrutiny too and might be forfeit.

flazio

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120069910#Comment_120069910

If you know GMs history, you know that car could be changing badges from country to country.

They've tidied up and sold off some brands lately (Opel most notably) but throughout the 00s its mad how one car could have an Opel/Vauxhall/Holden even Chevrolet badge depending on where in the world it was sold. Even a Daewoo could become a Chevvy or a Suzuki.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120072348#Comment_120072348

Andretti might have had a crap time of it in f1, but he did pretty well in the states. I wouldn't call him lacklustre...

quokula

Seems F1 are still pretty lukewarm on the idea of letting Andretti in, but with GM backing and a lot of media interest it will be hard to justify blocking them now.

I really dislike how resistant F1 has become to getting back up to a full 26 car grid like it's supposed to have. The current 10 teams is really the minimum viable grid, part of me wonders if the manufacturers are pressuring to keep it that way so if a Haas or a Williams goes bust that sets the stage for them to run three car teams.

Ten years ago F1 was happy to let in teams like Marussia or Caterham. Sure, these teams aren't going to win races but it still creates more competition through the field, more action in races, gives young drivers more seats to fight for and more opportunities to get into the sport, and occasionally gives us very memorable moments like that time Mark Webber scored points for Minardi in Australia, Jules Bianchi's points in Monaco for Marussia or Damon Hill leading in the Arrows in Hungary.

The sport needs a bigger grid and when it's reticent about even a well funded manufacturer backed bid like Andretti's what hope do others have.

mickdw

I'm sure they will grab this one. Why would they turn down an American outfit with a famous racing name with American manufacturer on board. It's the dream ticket surely re gaining further traction in the states.

AMKC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120072873#Comment_120072873

occasionally gives us very memorable moments like that time Mark Webber scored points for Minardi in Australia, Jules Bianchi's points in Monaco for Marussia or Damon Hill leading in the Arrows in Hungary.

Or Sebastian Vettel in the Torra Rosso don't forget.

Harika

F1 Teams see it in a way that the prize money cake is divided by 10 or 11 teams.

As with the disasters that HRT, Marussia, Manor, Caterham were, not all by their own fault, FIA was guilty here too but those teams did not add anything to the business. So the question for the teams is what does Andretti bring to the table?

Also under Bernie time, 10 teams required two cargo planes to move the equipment between sites, 12 teams required three planes what costs more money.

Summarised are the teams thinking about their wallet first.

Jordan 199

...

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120073734#Comment_120073734

Surely Andretti brings a bigger American audience, which ultimately will bring more money in?

Frank Bullitt

Have to hand it to Andretti here. He knew F1 wouldn't be too into a solo team like them and indeed it seems like his reception was not at all welcoming.

Now, he has the biggest car maker in the USA (F1s big target) along with him.

Serious power pose.

KillerShamrock

Love em or Hate em this will most likely spell the end of WTF1 imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CH6ro6Yj94

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120086014#Comment_120086014

They both tweeted the same thing at same time this morning:

https://twitter.com/TommyWTF1/status/1612390655979831297%20

So I assume they have something lined up together. I enjoyed the mix of WTF1 and the race podcasts after a race, so I hope they end up somewhere...

guyfo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120086296#Comment_120086296

The new line up looks terrible, who on earth is a Stroll fan and the one who said she used to find F1 uninteresting and is now a "fan" said her favourite car is the bloody Aston safety car.....

Dre, the only lad that seems decent is confined to just doing the podcasts.

All very strange.

KillerShamrock

Apparently they all have ties with Aramco or something like that.

I dunno really, replacing 2 lads who seemed to have genuine passion for the sport with shills/tik tok "influencers" by the looks of it if you ask me.

Hopefully they got hired by someone for commentary or something.

El_Duderino 09

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120089360#Comment_120089360

Wouldn't surprise me if they have. The-Race podcast was sponsored by Saudi or Aramco leading up to the Saudi GP last year. Naturally, they couldn't spend much time discussing the Saudi GP in anything but pretry positive terms.

That's what sports washing is.

Harika

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120074645#Comment_120074645

You will need to do the maths, how much more money needs to be generated to get the lost money back?

It will come down to a showdown with the teams and FIA to change the Concorde Agreement to hand over more money. Will be some Pokergame over the next months. FIA and the Fans will want Andretti here clearly, the Teams have to look at themselves so will oppose them for more money.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120090191#Comment_120090191

The teams should never have been given a say. Sure why don't they all have a vote to boot Haas out and then they only need to split the money 9 ways?

20-30 years ago anyone who was fastest enough could compete. It's a sport and that really should be the extent of the criteria.

F1 is awash with money right now and has a huge amount of momentum in the last year or two. There are more races on the calendar than ever. There are cost caps keeping spending down. There are more sponsors coming in than there have been in a long time.

The grid should be 26 cars, or at least 24, but it hasn't been since 2012. The reason it hasn't is that a bunch of manufacturers jumped ship due to the 2008 financial crisis, then just as the grid was recovering and filling with privateer teams the disastrous 2014 rule changes came along and put a number of those smaller teams out of business. We then ended up with 4 manufacturers and smaller teams often acting as dependents or feeder teams in order to survive. Nobody wanted to join for this period, but things are finally picking up again now, teams are thriving and there is a lot of interest.

This is why they should be doing everything in their power to get back to a full grid now while times are good again, because they won't always be good and if there are only 10 teams the sport won't be able to survive 3 of them dropping out over the course of a year or two, as has happened during difficult periods before. And a healthy mix of privateers (who will stay as long as they can afford to) and manufacturers (who have money but will stay or go on the whims of the board) is also needed, making Andretti a perfect fit for the current state of the grid.

afatbollix

Always happens when a huge company buys a smaller one. Profit comes first and the stars leave as they are forced to sell car givaways or gear knobs. Or how great Saudi is.

Car throttle bought WTF1 a few years ago but then Car throttle got bought by a huge publishing company.

Car throttle has lost some big names, Turns out they don't need a name, They can become influencers them selfs and get 100% of the profit.

dulpit

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120089360#Comment_120089360

They've registered a company together called P1 Podcast Ltd and both are listed as presenters, so I assume they'll pop up again soon:

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/14567547

Harika

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120090487#Comment_120090487

f1 has a full grid right now, would more teams really add something? The 3 teams in 2010 did nothing for F1, Andretti will be a different beast, still from 2010, two team folded before the 2014 change and one had one season never leaving the back of the field. Cute to have them around, Haas had a great start but gradually moved backwards, F1 development during the season is a steep learning process. It did not help to become the laughing stock with Rich Energy.

Right now it only looks like only Andretti is a serious contender. There is talk about some Thai billionaire, but in the past those entries tended to be disasters, so don't see him going ahead except if he can engage someone like Prodrive to bring the expertise.

Just to fill the grid is not enough, and here I am worried that Andretti wants to start already in 2024, not enough dev time to bring up something from a solid base.

Jordan 199

Williams livery launch on the 6th of February (Monday).

muckwarrior

f1 has a full grid right now, would more teams really add something?

At the very least it would create more opportunities for young drivers to get a spot on the grid. Plenty of top drivers got their opportunity in backmarker teams over the years.

guyfo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097426#Comment_120097426

F1 has a full grid right now?

I don't know where you live but where I come from 10 does not equal 13.

Harika

Where is defined what a full grid is?

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120097426#Comment_120097426

F1 doesn't have a full grid right now. 20 cars is not a full grid and never has been.

quokula

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120098273#Comment_120098273

Article 8.6 of tech sporting regulations says it is 26 cars, which it has always been historically. In fact it wasn't unusual that there would be more than 26 but the fastest 26 would qualify to take part in the race, hence the word "qualifying".

This thing of there only being 20 cars is something that has only become normalized in the last few years. In fact when it first dropped to just 10 teams there were a lot fears that the grid was too small and talk of the big teams running 3 cars to get to a full grid, at one point I think they had an agreement that this would happen if it dropped to 9 teams.

Jordan 199

Fifth series of Drive to Survive begins on the 24th of February.

quokula

Anyone going to the Red Bull thing in Dublin this weekend?

I couldn't get a ticket but was planning to go and see the car because I'm sure they originally said it would be freely on display on Saturday ahead of the demo run on Sunday. Just checked their FAQ again and it looks like they've updated that so it's only for ticket holders too now though?

The Red Bull Racing F1 Car and its garage will be on display on Saturday 14th from 1-5 pm. The garage will be positioned opposite the Central Bank on North Wall Quay. This will only be available to see with a ticket. These can be purchased on Ticketmaster on Tuesday 10th of January.

SureYWouldntYa

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120099348#Comment_120099348

Looks to be a separately ticketed event, €2 a pop but also seems to be sold out

Managed to get a ticket for the Sunday, the event itself is 4.30 to 6.00 so hopefully the street lights are in good nick

AMKC

Must have been too many people tget did not want there before you know the ordinary person so the made sure this time it's for the special well off people only :(