F1 News Snippets

[Chrill]

Sooo... Aston Martin the new AlphaTauri/AlfaRomeo then? That should mean Vettel will not stay for long. Either promote him to Mercedes or dump him, then.

[Penfold]

I suppose you'd say not quite at Alpha/Alfa level because Aston still an independent company, but this move surely cements the relationship with Mercedes.  Have to consider Vettel as the figurehead of Aston Racing, at least for the time being, so assume he stays at least a couple of years unless he's soundly beaten by Stroll in '21....

[Chrill]

For the young drivers test after the Abu Dhabi GP, some new kids will be testing!

Roy Nissany and Jack Aitken will share duties for Williams. At Haas, we will see Schumacher in the car. At Renault (well, Alpine), a little-known 39 year young Fernando Alonso will be driving. Red Bull, similarly, will use up-and-coming Formula E driver Sebastien Buemi (32 years old). Robert Kubica, the promising talent who won the Formula 3.5 series (fifteen years ago), will drive for Alfa Romeo.

https://wtf1.com/post/young-drivers-alonso-kubica-and-buemi-set-for-abu-dhabi-test/

[Penfold]

Fangio was 38 upon entering his first F1 race and he did okay in the sport, so let's give this Alonso chap a chance.

[Chrill]

Ah yes. But he debuted at 38 not due to a lack of progress in junior formula racing. Rather, F1 literally did not exist.

[Penfold]

Quite, two years earlier for his first proper Grand Prix and a whole load of racing beforehand, but that would've somewhat spoiled my whimsical comment....

[Penfold]

Mercedes F1 will now be a three-headed beast with equal shares held by Mercedes, INEOS, and Toto Wolff: https://www.racefans.net/2020/12/18/mercedes-sells-stake-in-team-to-ineos-as-wolff-extends-contract-as-team-principal/

We can call it Team Cerberus.

[Chrill]

How about calling them Mercedes?

[Penfold]

Well, yes, but Cerberus because of the three heads...

[Chrill]

The ce in MerCEdes does stand for Cerberus. Mer stands for Mercedes. Des stands for "Das Engine ist Superb"

[Penfold]

So long Frank, one of the giants of the F1 World: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-legendary-f1-team-boss-sir-frank-williams-dies-aged-79.mCPM4nj5n62elIhFoPhtv.html

[Penfold]

Williams rings money out of ROKiT (I'd forgotten all about that terrific partnership!): https://www.motorsportweek.com/2022/01/05/williams-wins-35m-lawsuit-against-former-title-sponsor-rokit/

[Penfold]

Oracle now upgraded to Red Bull title sponsor: https://www.racefans.net/2022/02/09/red-bull-eye-race-strategy-and-car-development-gains-in-500m-oracle-deal/

[Chrill]

$500 million for five years, at a $140 million cost cap? They've covered most of their total budget with this deal. Insane.

[Chrill]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/red-bull-lands-record-150m-cryptocurrency-sponsorship-deal-8220897/8220897/

This coupled with Oracle, and Red Bull themselves won't need to bring any money at all to the team! Well, pay salaries of Max, Sergio and Adrian perhaps because there are a few posts you can exclude from the budget cap. Still, Red Bull is operating incredibly well financially now.