Rob, Calling another member a troll, continuing to wind him up, and then inferring another member is as ass is forbidden by the zero tolerance rules of the F1 forum. Please see the thread I linked and familiarize yourself with it so you can avoid posting anything that will incur a severe ban for yourself. Thanks! All the best, Andrew. Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
Upon review with the other moderators, we accept that the comments to furoni were intended as a blinkered horse to indicate tunnel vision, not an ass/donkey. This was an incorrect reception of the post by me. The comments to tifosi12 were considered carefully. They are edgier than what we would like to see in the F1 forum, and we encourage users to apply the ignore button to those they regard as trolls. However, in the absence of other problematic history regarding this tone, taking it as a first strike seems overly severe. In light of this review, the ban of moretti has been lifted. All the best, Andrew.
Thanks for the reconsideration of my post Furoni is a funny guy whom I like and I was just referring to his blinkered approach to FA ..... hope you took it that way furoni
Pedro is a cool chap, and knows how to take a joke, I would imagine he laughed as much as you did moretti! He has a great sense of humour
AUGUST 29, 2017 Angry Verstappen has nowhere to go says Mateschitz Team owner Dietrich Mateschitz is adamant Red Bull is not going to imminently lose Max Verstappen. That is despite the fact the angry and frustrated rhetoric from the Verstappen camp has ramped up since the 19-year-old retired for the sixth time out of twelve races last weekend in Belgium. "A 50 per cent failure rate is simply unacceptable," Red Bull mogul Mateschitz told Speed Week. But earlier, Red Bull official Dr Helmut Marko said he would not release Verstappen from his 2018-2019 contract even for EUR 100 million. "Dr Marko values me at 100 million, so who knows?" Verstappen told Ziggo Sport Totaal on Monday. "Maybe I will go to (football club) Paris Sainz-Germain," he joked. According to Max's father and manager Jos, his son's patience is noticeably up. "I notice that Max is very upset," said the former F1 driver. "It's hard to keep your motivation when this happens all the time. He outqualified his teammate by half a second but in the race he is suddenly out after seven or eight laps. "This should not happen in a top team," Verstappen snr added. Given the escalation in rhetoric, it is therefore obvious to question whether Verstappen can remain committed to Red Bull for much longer. "Perhaps it's not the right time to ask this question," Jos admitted, "but in a situation like this you do start to question everything." However, the only teams more competitive than Red Bull at present are Mercedes and Ferrari, and their driver lineups are not going to change for 2018. "We are the best team remaining," Marko told German television Sky. Mateschitz agrees that Verstappen has nowhere else to go. "At the moment, where would he go?" the Austrian billionaire wondered. "But we know we cannot keep Max in the future if we cannot give him a car." All the fingers of blame are being pointed at Red Bull's engine supplier Renault, but Mateschitz said: "Nothing has changed for us. "We cannot get a Mercedes or Ferrari, and a Honda would not help us."
SEPTEMBER 4, 2017 Wolff admits having coffee with Verstappen Toto Wolff has admitted he met with Max Verstappen's father at Monza. Amid the high-profile talks involving McLaren, Honda, Toro Rosso and F1 officials at the scene of the Italian grand prix, another notable meeting took place rather more quietly. It was between Wolff, the Mercedes team boss, and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen, amid rumours his frustrated son Max wants to leave Red Bull. Wolff told the German broadcaster Sky: "Firstly, I know Jos since he was a driver. "We've both got a friend who was there visiting us, Niki (Lauda) and I were sitting in the office, our two Dutch friends were there so we had a cup of coffee." But when asked if the meeting is a sign that Mercedes is interested in signing Max, Wolff insisted: "For next year clearly not -- he is not available. "After that, he is one of the names that you definitely must have on the radar. Max is one of the great formula one stars of the future, but there are many others as well like Valtteri, Daniel (Ricciardo) and Esteban Ocon." Mercedes is set to announce a new one-year contract with Lewis Hamilton's current teammate Valtteri Bottas.
So there it is. Max at Merc from 2019. Wolff is being diplomatic with the other names. Ricciardo will go to Ferrari in '19. Question is, will Lewis stay at Merc alongside Max ?
If he let his best drivers leave the team, does that mean that Dieter Mateschitz is going to shut down Red Bull, as Helmut Marko warned sometime ago?
Hold off, who said ANYTHING is confirmed? Dieter won't shut down his team before knowing what's coming next. If he likes the new formula he'll stay. Max won't go anywhere if RBR produces a good car next year, especially if Renault builds a decent engine. Ricciardo might still go to Ferrari then but that also depends on a) the Red Bull and b) Leclerc. Ricciardo won't play lap dog for Vettel if his Red Bull proves to be a good car.
I didn't say that he is about to leave now, but he may be considering it. The next engine formula has to be decided soon to be in place by 2020, I think, unless there is an extension to the present one. Such extension would have to be agreed by the teams, since, in theory they are only contracted until 2020. Before long, the main players, and mostly the constructors interested in supplying engines will be know. Marko has said that Mateschitz would only be interested to continue F1 if there is an independent supply of engines. Red Bull felt restricted by the choice of engines, and the difficulties to switch from one supplier to another. It became very political. So, we should know within the next season a) the new formula, b) the constructors in F1, c) if the FIA has arranged for an independent engine supply for independent teams. I am only guessing that if he doesn't get what he wants, Mateschitz would put his threat to execution, and Red Bull trade his best assets - Ricciardo and Verstappen- to give them a chance to pursue their careers in top teams, in anticipation of leaving F1. Pure speculation on my part, I know. But let's face it, Dieter Mateschitz had his fun, and F1 isn't his core business. He is a soft drink entrepreneur, first and foremost.
I only saw your post now...i was not offended by it, in fact it was funny and i would have asked andrew to reconsider your ban myself if i had seen it earlier.
Now you hurt my feelings....but still, that won't make Alonso any faster than the other i mentioned......and next year, with lçeclerc on the grid there will be another one that is faster...
I can see this. Nobody stays in F1 forever, except Ferrari, and I would not be surprised if another prestige marque such as Aston Martin enter F1 with Horner and Newey joining the new team. They already have a street car project together so this could work for Aston and Horner/Newey.
I WOULD be surprised if Aston joined F1. They aren't a big enough company, and their customers are not as keen on motorsport.
You mean they are not keen on F1. Aston Martin has been very much supported by his customers in motor racing for years and is presently represented in the various GT3 and GT4 series in different countries. Also Aston Martin has a successful works team in the WEC; they won the GTE category at Le Mans again this year, and will probably win the championship in their category too. But I don't think that Aston Martin has the resources in engineering and finance to contemplate stepping to F1.
David Richards's Prodrive taking over Red Bull with Horner as team manger and Adrian Newey as technical director to rename it Aston Martin? That's a different proposition...
True. Although a case can still be made (don't kill me) for the recently desperate-for-manufacturers WEC, which is altering its previously proposed rulebook looking to drop costs...
Toto Wolff admits Mercedes interest in Verstappen - after 2018 Toto Wolff admits Mercedes interest in Verstappen - after 2018