2014 United States Grand Prix - Austin

[mikeerfol]

It was an oil leak actually according to Hamilton.

[Vary]

Hamilton said to Italian tv (Rai) that it was an oil leak but "it was friday 'box"

[De Jokke]

Lowe said it was a small hydraulic leak.

[Hail22]

Bernie Ecclestone talking about the current drama with regards to smaller teams failing:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgrbdKQ3zzs[/youtube]

Epstein has finally come out as one of the outspoken organisers / leaders of an event complaining about the lack of "sound and feel" of Formula 1.

Change is needed, this will reach its way up to the FIA's ivory tower sooner or later.

[AnthonyG]

"Get rid of these engine regulations"
Thank god!

[Moose]

"Get rid of these engine regulations"
Thank god!

Bear in mind, Bernie is not entirely unbiased here. While he certainly has a large interest in drawing crowds, he also is well known to have a big interest in Seb winning. A large part of his issue with the V6s may well be that the Merc is doing too well.

[Blanchimont]

Some random (re)tweets by Lotus...
https://twitter.com/Lotus_F1Team/status ... 9747366912 https://twitter.com/Lotus_F1Team/status ... 5387062272 https://twitter.com/Lotus_F1Team/status ... 5096041472 Edit: This post was created, reported to the mods and edited all by Blanchimont.

[SparkyAMG]

Bernie needs to go. It's largely because of the expense involved in developing a new engine/power unit that F1 is in the financial trouble it is in. The last thing the sport needs is to give up on these 1.6 V6 engines so soon, and waste another load of money developing something else.

As for the race, it was a hydraulic issue on Lewis's car which should be fine for the race. I'm thinking Nico might pip Lewis to pole this weekend and could very well see a Williams in 2nd by the 1st corner. Hopefully that'll make for a more interesting 1st half of the race before Merc disappear into the distance.

[LookBackTime]

Boycott threat emerges as next F1 teams face collapse

http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/ ... _collapse/

[Manoah2u]

Bernie needs to go. It's largely because of the expense involved in developing a new engine/power unit that F1 is in the financial trouble it is in. The last thing the sport needs is to give up on these 1.6 V6 engines so soon, and waste another load of money developing something else.

As for the race, it was a hydraulic issue on Lewis's car which should be fine for the race. I'm thinking Nico might pip Lewis to pole this weekend and could very well see a Williams in 2nd by the 1st corner. Hopefully that'll make for a more interesting 1st half of the race before Merc disappear into the distance.

Actually, i'm shocked i'm saying this, but bernie doesn't have to go at all

Which financial trouble is f1 facing, really? Does Mercedes face financial trouble? no. Does Ferrari face financial trouble? no. Does Mclaren? no. Does RedBull? no. Does Toro Rosso? no. Does Williams? no. Did Honda before? no. Did Toyota before? no. Would Audi? no.

So which teams are in financial trouble? Ah, the hugely controversial Caterham F1 team by TF that has been run under several names, is. yes. Marussia, too, yes. where did they come from? HRT fumbling, ah nobody will let a tear there.

If you'd investigate the dirt behind the scenes i'm sure we'd all be jumping happy around that HRT is gone (what a cloghole that was), Caterham will be gone, and Marussia, too.

The only reason Marussia got some respect recently was because Jules Bianchi being a potent driver which unfortunatly is in a sad situation now. Marussia didnt pass caterham because of their own 'advancement', they passed because caterham is reaching their demise, and marussia's 2 points in the championship are pure luck, nothing more.

Rumour has it Sauber and Force India are the ones in trouble. Same has been said about williams before. Where are they now?

The smaller teams are in trouble because 1. they didn't do their jobs good enough. should that be rewared by firing the hand that feeds you (bernie)? no. 2. they never were or have fallen into not being really serious about their job (HRT). should that be rewarded by artificially keeping them alive? no. and 3. you win some you lose some. I can't remember being this much attention and critisism when teams of the glory days 'fell'. Footwork/Arrows? Simtek? Forti Ford? Pacific (essentialy Caterham now)Onyx? Life f1? Eiffelland? Dome? Mastercard/lola? etc etc etc etc etc

why is there such a big fuss made about the 'natural' life end of 'private' smaller teams?

Force India used to be Jordan, Midland, Spyker. If any, it showed with the right people doing the right stuff, a team like Jordan and in the form recently of Force India can reach the front.
If we look at Tyrrell, they turned into BAR when their 'natural' course seemed to come to an end, then BAR became Honda, Honda became Brawn, and Brawn became Mercedes. Both Tyrell, Brawn and Merc were highly successfull resulting in championships. BAR and Honda themselves were successfull, too.
So if a team 'dwindles down' (remember tyrrell in the 90's), it doesn't mean they are in dire need or in dire problems; they just need the right solution. throwing $$ at a problem doesn't solve it, because the root of the problem isn't financial problems. it's operational problems that get hampered more by logically following financial problems.

We might lose a couple of teams, you win some, you lose some.

At the same time we might be hearing announcements of retiring teams like Caterham and Marussia, we might just as well hear about big names joining like Audi (who knows).

I for one will be glad if F1 needs to lose some smaller backmarker teams if it means we'll subsequently lose worthless paydrivers like ericsson, maldonado, chilton, etc etc etc.

[Juzh]

Bernie needs to go. It's largely because of the expense involved in developing a new engine/power unit that F1 is in the financial trouble it is in. The last thing the sport needs is to give up on these 1.6 V6 engines so soon, and waste another load of money developing something else.

As for the race, it was a hydraulic issue on Lewis's car which should be fine for the race. I'm thinking Nico might pip Lewis to pole this weekend and could very well see a Williams in 2nd by the 1st corner. Hopefully that'll make for a more interesting 1st half of the race before Merc disappear into the distance.

Actually, i'm shocked i'm saying this, but bernie doesn't have to go at all

Which financial trouble is f1 facing, really? Does Mercedes face financial trouble? no. Does Ferrari face financial trouble? no. Does Mclaren? no. Does RedBull? no. Does Toro Rosso? no. Does Williams? no. Did Honda before? no. Did Toyota before? no. Would Audi? no.

So which teams are in financial trouble? Ah, the hugely controversial Caterham F1 team by TF that has been run under several names, is. yes. Marussia, too, yes. where did they come from? HRT fumbling, ah nobody will let a tear there.

If you'd investigate the dirt behind the scenes i'm sure we'd all be jumping happy around that HRT is gone (what a cloghole that was), Caterham will be gone, and Marussia, too.

The only reason Marussia got some respect recently was because Jules Bianchi being a potent driver which unfortunatly is in a sad situation now. Marussia didnt pass caterham because of their own 'advancement', they passed because caterham is reaching their demise, and marussia's 2 points in the championship are pure luck, nothing more.

Rumour has it Sauber and Force India are the ones in trouble. Same has been said about williams before. Where are they now?

The smaller teams are in trouble because 1. they didn't do their jobs good enough. should that be rewared by firing the hand that feeds you (bernie)? no. 2. they never were or have fallen into not being really serious about their job (HRT). should that be rewarded by artificially keeping them alive? no. and 3. you win some you lose some. I can't remember being this much attention and critisism when teams of the glory days 'fell'. Footwork/Arrows? Simtek? Forti Ford? Pacific (essentialy Caterham now)Onyx? Life f1? Eiffelland? Dome? Mastercard/lola? etc etc etc etc etc

why is there such a big fuss made about the 'natural' life end of 'private' smaller teams?

Force India used to be Jordan, Midland, Spyker. If any, it showed with the right people doing the right stuff, a team like Jordan and in the form recently of Force India can reach the front.
If we look at Tyrrell, they turned into BAR when their 'natural' course seemed to come to an end, then BAR became Honda, Honda became Brawn, and Brawn became Mercedes. Both Tyrell, Brawn and Merc were highly successfull resulting in championships. BAR and Honda themselves were successfull, too.
So if a team 'dwindles down' (remember tyrrell in the 90's), it doesn't mean they are in dire need or in dire problems; they just need the right solution. throwing $$ at a problem doesn't solve it, because the root of the problem isn't financial problems. it's operational problems that get hampered more by logically following financial problems.

We might lose a couple of teams, you win some, you lose some.

At the same time we might be hearing announcements of retiring teams like Caterham and Marussia, we might just as well hear about big names joining like Audi (who knows).

I for one will be glad if F1 needs to lose some smaller backmarker teams if it means we'll subsequently lose worthless paydrivers like ericsson, maldonado, chilton, etc etc etc.

=D> =D> =D>

[Jonnycraig]

It's a bit much to suggest that Williams are not in a precarious financial position when they have two large paydrivers in Bottas & Nasr. Albeit a talented one in Bottas' case.

[Manoah2u]

Actually, Williams struggled with finances and used the likes of Maldonado hoping it would help them - it didn't.
Williams has a healthy Martini sponsorship now, has top driers in Massa and Bottas, and the entire 'environment' of Williams improved as soon as Maldo went to lotus.

Now they're driving at the front like in the old days. Claire Williams seems to be doing her job good, better and better actually, and imho, despite the fact you obviously need income to be able to spend, they seem to realise the issue was quality, not neccesarily finances.

Surely the Merc engine is a big help - but Mclaren is running the same engine and they aren't near Williams' performance throughout the year. Looking how Williams made a huge leap from the back to the front you can only have respect for their efforts, i for one did not expect this and had lost lots of hope for Williams before. I stand corrected because i could not imagine them pulling out of the mess they were in.

Instead, they are thriving again and their success for this year WILL grant them a good position for coming year.

And since when is Bottas a paydriver?

[Harsha]

I agree with manoah2u
we all can agree F1 is the Most complex and expensive sport yet
F1 is looking in dire state due to the slow back marker teams , yes its bad to loose a team but its their problem when they get the financial issues and surely if FOM gives prize money to them and who can say that their financial issues won't come back at later times.
in a way these smaller / medium budget teams is also making F1 to step into heavy restriction zones, take them out and let the teams breathe with much relaxed restrictions. Im not against more teams in F1 but im against those who can't put good resource management and operational structure for their long runs and come to cry about the issues they faced during their stint.

[Manoah2u]

Exactly.

It's like a 2-employee small fruit and vegetable vendor complaining to the government that it isn't fair that they can't compete with the likes of Tesco, Walmart, Ahold and Aldi and demand a spending cieling for these megaconcerns meanwhile wanting government backing so they can spend as much as these megaconcerns.

If you aren't up for the task, don't do it.

I can't buy a multi-million dollar house. I'm not able to get in dept enough to even buy one in debt. I'm not gonna boycott so the government or banks give me multi-million dollar debts which i can never pay back just so i can live in the same street as people who actually did their effort or had effort done for them resulting in actually living debt-free in a big house.

the reasoning of the small teams is rediculous at best, let them bleed to death (not literally obviously).

F1 can take it and bernie shows the solution is 3-car teams. I haven't given this much credit, and i still believe it is a concept that doesn't really fit F1, but what it is is that it maintains a healthy field.
After reading teams can have them run their own livery and colours even name them differently, i'm all for it. These 3rd cars become the open entry for feeder series to pass through potential drivers. They haven't got much pressure because they aren't granted points, meanwhile the drivers can show their potential without needing to buy a seat (no more paydrivers).

It's getting better and better and the more you think of it, the more positive it is and the more you understand bernie's reasoning behind it. I don't think one has to doubt bernie's capacity in running F1, he's been doing it like almost forever now. He's a weird and odd little guy, but gotta give it to him; he knows how to handle things.