If you want to know, it's Renault that killed the MATRA name. Renault isn't a very good guardian of historical names: look at Alpine, or Gordini.
I loved their Blue/Yellow cars. Certainly one of the best colour combos we've had. Very eye catching and easily distinguished from others!
+1 to both. Got me wondering though; Green is the English color; red Italy, white the US, and so on. I guess Colin added the yellow stripe.....
Yeah, the best way to end up with a small fortune is to start with a big one ! In motor racing, it's better to use other people's money, rather than your own.
As I have previously posted on occasions on here, a journalist once said to Bernie Ecclestone: "So Bernie, how do you become a Millionaire in F1?" Bernie: "By starting off as a Billionaire!"
That quote is hardly accurate, and I doubt it's from Bernie Ecclestone anyway. He knows better . According to Forbes, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis and Bernie Ecclestone became millionaires in F1. I think that Ross Brawn, Christian Horner, Jean Todt , and some other principals also became millionaires, perhaps even Eddie Jordan or Patrick Head, or Adrian Newey, possibly Gordon Murray. Among the drivers, many became multi-millionaires, like Lauda, Andretti, Irvine, Schumaker, Mansell, Alonso, Button, Hamilton and Rosberg, Raikkonen etc... probably Coulthard, Hakkinen, etc... I don't think all they people were billionaire before their entered F1. But it is true that some individuals have lost a lot of money in F1, often with not much result: Lord Hesketh, Count Zanon, Walter Wolf, Teddy Yip, etc... Usually it hardly made a dent in their fortune.
I think you're taking the quote far too seriously TBH! As you are taking it so seriously though, I'd bet that far more people/companies have lost money in F1 than have made money! As for the quote coming from Bernie or not - he stated in an interview with the BBC in the past that he made it! (And of course, Bernie would never take credit where it isn't due! )
Flavio denies the Alonso to Renault rumors and says that "Fernando will not return to Renault"... F1, Formula 1 news - Briatore denies Alonso to Renault rumours | Nextgen-Auto.com Rgds
It's all about the first tests with next year's mclaren and how competitive it seems imo If it sucks again from the start I see Nando out straight away, and not just in the wall like last year either
Very true, but if they plan to play close to Mercedes and Ferrari, they will have to do better than Maldanado. That will require them being prepared to spend big bucks to capture the best that become available. In 2017, that could include Kimi, Hulk, Perez, Bottas, Kvyat, Ricciardo, Verstappen, Sainz. I'm not sure who among them is available in 2017, though most must be, but any one of them would be better than what they have now.
Alonso has no reason to move. Renault and Honda have a big climb ahead of them, yet I remain more hopeful for Honda's baseline clever design than that of Renault.
We must consider Renault's political power going forward with their now Historic voting rights. Honda will never have that status, and I am not convinced their "clever" design will ever work. Forthcoming rules changes can be tailored more in alignment with Renault's developments, helping them to become more competitive. I have seen tangible improvements with the Renault PU, where Honda's PU seems to have gone backwards. I still say Alonso will be brushing-up on his French over the winter...
Honda's clever design would have been a disaster even if they had joined F1 in the first year of this silly formula. Their reliability is awful, and drivability is no better. Even if every other PU maker stood still they would be lucky to be third best next year.
In other news, Nissan which is associated with Ghosn and Renault has ditched his "clever" fwd lmp1 project for good.
Of that lot, I think Renault could do worse than chasing Ricciardo for a contract. The guy has lot of potential and he is a proven winner already. I think Ricciardo is under-estimated in many discussions; also PR wise, he is very marketable.
