OCTOBER 31, 2017 Sauber decides to drop Wehrlein for 2018? Sauber has reportedly decided to drop Pascal Wehrlein from its 2018 driver lineup. Earlier, amid rumours the Swiss team wanted to keep at least one of its existing drivers next year, it appeared it could be Marcus Ericsson that is shown the door. But the Swede has strong ties to Sauber's new owners, and Blick newspaper now claims Ericsson is indeed definitely staying in 2018. He looks set to be joined by Monaco-born Charles Leclerc, a junior driver for Sauber's engine partner Ferrari and the new GP2 champion. Roger Benoit, the well-connected Blick correspondent, claims the announcement of Leclerc, 20, joining Ericsson at Sauber will be made "in November". German Wehrlein's future is therefore clouded, with his Mercedes backing said to be running out and only an outside chance of a switch to Williams. "I have no news yet on this side," the 23-year-old said last weekend in Mexico. "But there are some discussions going on for next year and I hope we can fix something soon."
Leclerc will be one of the major atractions for next year, most promissing driver i have seen in years, hope he will deliver...
Hoped Haas dropped Grosjean for Giovinazzi in 2018 but contracts are signed already. We need an Italian driver back on the grid!
Why no one is considering a possible comeback of Felipe Nasr, either for Williams or Sauber? In 2015 he did some great races and finished 13th. In 2016 he didn't do so well but he trashed his team mate Ericsson.
Nasr "ttrashed" Ericsson last season? In the 20 races in which they both qualified and participated last season, Ericsson outqualified Nasr 12 to 8, and he finished ahead of Nasr 13 to 7. Hardly qualifies as a trashing.
I could see Williams taking Wehrlein if Mercedes sweetens the deal somehow. Kvyat might not be a terrible choice--he can race, has reasonable speed, and will bring money which seems to be a priority at Williams these days. Perhaps Paddy Lowe can refocus the team.
F1 budget cap could be phased in from 2019 Initial proposals for a budget cap in Formula 1 are likely to be submitted to teams at next Tuesday's Strategy Group meeting. Recent reports suggested the imposition of a $150M limit on spending, but Germany's Auto Motor und Sport believes the figure will actually be 150M euros and could go as low as 100M euros. The publication also reports that the budget cap would likely be applied incrementally, with 2019 determined to be a "trail year", with no penalties for overspending and the specific cap to not include driver, top management or marketing costs. http://en.f1i.com/news/284725-f1-budget-cap-phased-2019.html#.Wfw8HwRPkGl.twitter
I just don't understand how they going to attempt to police this. Impossible. the only way you can police it is to limit what they can spend money on. Get rid of all the extra aero bits, clean up the body, simplify the wings. Only so much you can do with the chassis. Simple NA engine with a fuel restrictor. It doesn't take a genius to sort it out. But a budget CAP? Never going to work. They'll just move their departments around, artificially reduce costs. Too easy to hide money.
I agree. It's going to be a huge hurdle. And the man of the hour has something to say about it. Cost caps can't be policed
For teams like Mercedes, it would be easy to hide R&D in some corporate lab somewhere and then whisper the results to the team. It would be hard ot imagine Williams being able to do that. A cap might even result in the development of outsourcing of some R&D to specialty companies. This already happens with lubricant and fuel companies. Why not aero companies or independent engine makers. How would engine development at Mercedes, Ferrari, and Renault be allocated amongst the teams? By far the best way to limit costs is to limit the materials used, design specs, and the areas that can be developed.
Any big corporation knows how to play the game of outsourcing and subsidiary companies. Policing such a cap is close to impossible and also not what F1 is about: The win goes to the best team and that includes big $. If you want affordable racing go watch a standard series like Nascar or gokarts. F1 is the top echelon for a reason.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/massa-announces-f1-retirement-after-2017-season-974647/ Massa announces retirement again. Last years send off was nice but don't repeat it please, now it'll be cheesy.
In this crazy F1 world, maybe mark Webber could get some Porsche money behind him and make a comeback! Or David coulthard, he shown in the other thread he wears cocktail dresses while drinking his martini!!!!!! What an advertising statement, very pc. F1 appeals to all types, even those curious/confused ones. Hehehe Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat
There are rumours that Wehrlein is returning to the Mercedes DTM team in its last year before leaving the series. Would make sense as he had his biggest success there by now winning the 2015 season....
Pirelli to introduce sixth tyre(Ultra Ultra soft) in 2018 http://www.f1-fansite.com/f1-news/pirelli-introduce-sixth-tyre-2018/ … via @f1fansite
NOVEMBER 6, 2017 Liberty, FIA helped broker complex deal says Brown Liberty Media and the FIA helped to keep Fernando Alonso at McLaren and Honda in formula one. That is the admission of Zak Brown, the McLaren executive. He is referring to the complex recent negotiations about 2018, with McLaren and Honda splitting, Renault signing Carlos Sainz and the formation of Toro Rosso-Honda. "Liberty - and I mean Chase Carey and Ross Brawn - played a crucial role," Brown told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But all the names you mentioned, including the FIA, all worked together. Otherwise I don't think the deal would have been successful, Fernando Alonso probably wouldn't have stayed with us and Honda would have left F1," he added. Convincing Alonso by switching to Renault power could mean McLaren is a force to be reckoned with in 2018, Brown reckons. "We have GPS data from all the teams and we can see that we are close to Red Bull, Ferrari and Mercedes in some races with the car. "We are confident that we will be fighting with them next year, which is the goal," he said. As for Alonso deciding to stay, Brown added: "Fernando is a fighter on the track, I'm a fighter too, so we speak the same language. "I hope that was one of the reasons why he stayed, along with the fact that McLaren is a great team," he said. "Things did not go so well with him at Ferrari, but here we have created an environment that he likes," Brown added.
Marseille to host London-style live F1 event https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/marseille-f1-live-french-grand-prix-event-975494/ … via @motorsport France will return to the Formula 1 calendar in 2018 after an absence of 10 years. The race will take place at the Paul Ricard circuit.
FIA issued a new tech directive to prevent suspension trickery. Was ist triggered by Red Bull? AMuS: FIA wants to tighten chassis regulations It's about "suspension systems". The clarification begins with the sentence: "Despite the guidelines for the legality of suspension systems in terms of their influence on the aerodynamics, which were defined in the documents TD / 006-17, TD / 010-17 and TD / 014-17 want we're going to add an additional point of view. " Warning: "We consider switching between states or modes (using devices including, but not limited to, switches and solenoid valves) that cause differential response of a suspension system to changes in the load on the wheels while the vehicle is in service Movement is, as an adjustment of the suspension system, in violation of Article 10.2.3 of the Technical Rules. " And it says: "During the ride, no adjustment of the suspension may be changed." The FIA clarifies in its circular that this rule applies even if changed settings have no effect on the aerodynamics. Red Bull suspension checked by the FIA From 2018, this directive should become law. However, the World Association reminded the participants that if necessary this interpretation would be applied this year. That was implemented on Sunday morning before the GP Mexico in the fact. All five cars with hydraulic trolleys were inspected in relation to this requirement. Alle waren legal. All were legal. Maybe Red Bull has developed a clever mechanical system. The fact that something is happening in the area of suspension has been seen in Austin and Mexico City. Red Bull had modeled on the model of Ferrari modified the geometry of the front axle to better pull the car into the curve. Das Experiment wurde beide Male abgebrochen. The experiment was stopped both times. "We stay tuned," promises motorsport director Helmut Marko. https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/red-bull-aufhaengungstrick-rb13-12793024.html&prev=search
NOVEMBER 9, 2017 Giovinazzi not giving up on 2018 F1 dream Antonio Giovinazzi says he still has his eye on the big "dream" of racing in formula one for Ferrari. The Italian actually had a minor role in this year's F1 season, replacing the injured Pascal Wehrlein at Sauber early on. "The year gave me more than I expected," said the 23-year-old, who was Ferrari's official reserve and also a Friday practice driver for Haas, another Ferrari-powered team. "I do not hide that after a great year in GP2, I felt ready to race a full season in F1, but that's how it is," Giovinazzi told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "But now I feel even much more prepared than I did last winter." However, the next step for Giovinazzi is not clear. In China, he had an awful race weekend for Sauber and since then it has been Ferrari's other junior, Charles Leclerc, who has commanded most of the attention. "In Australia I had a great time but China was the worst weekend of my entire career as a driver," he admits. "It happened to me on the most important stage when I had all the media pressure on me. Critics attacked me a lot. I understand better that you always have to keep your feet on the ground," Giovinazzi insists. "I do not want to say that it went to my head, but perhaps in China I set goals that were bigger than I could do at that time. You have to be aware of your limitations and that everything comes to you in time. "But the disappointment has helped me to grow." Indeed, it is Leclerc who is believed to have definitely secured the Sauber seat for 2018, with the Swiss team wanting to please its owners by keeping Marcus Ericsson. But there are rumours Ferrari is still pushing hard to convince Sauber to pick Giovinazzi to be Leclerc's teammate instead. Sauber boss Frederic Vasseur is expected to make his decision before the end of the 2017 season. Also rumoured is that Haas is still under pressure to accommodate Giovinazzi in 2018, even though Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen are already under contract. Asked by La Gazzetta dello Sport to explain why he deserves to be on the grid, Giovinazzi answered: "Because, like so many others, myself and my family have made great sacrifices to get me here. "F1 is not football, where you can play for many teams. Here there are only 20 places in the world but I have always believed I could do it just like Vettel and Hamilton, who also achieved great success from scratch. "I can say that I'm still dreaming to follow Schumacher. "When I signed for Ferrari I could not believe it," he revealed. "I had always been a 'gypsy' in my single seater career but now I live near Maranello, I am almost every day at the factory and I feel at home now."
