JANUARY 17, 2018 Sirotkin, Stroll is hungry driver lineup says Salo Williams has put together a "hungry" driver line up for the 2018 season. That is the claim of former Ferrari and Toyota driver Mika Salo, who is now the sporting director of Russian bank SMP's motor racing programme. The cream of that programme is Russian 22-year-old Sergey Sirotkin, who has been controversially appointed to become teammate to Lance Stroll, 19, for 2018. It means the popular candidate Robert Kubica misses out on the seat, even though the Pole will instead be a key reserve, test and occasional Friday driver this year. The wait for confirmation about the last race seat on the 2018 grid was long, but Finn Salo said: "The Williams agreement was born quickly. "The negotiations were not that long," he told the Finnish broadcaster MTV. "Williams is the best choice for Sirotkin. It's a good team, he has a young teammate and both are definitely hungry," Salo added. Many say Sirotkin is little more than a 'pay driver' with a reported $20 million in SMP Bank backing, but Salo defended the Russian. "He's a smart guy. He knows a lot about engineering and technology and has good experience of F1 cars with Renault," he said. But Salo won't predict which Williams driver - Canadian Stroll or Sirotkin - will have the upper hand in 2018. "I think they're pretty much the same, but we'll only find out in the races," he said. "They will certainly fight hard against each other, which takes the team forward and brings results for both of them." SMP Bank's Boris Rothenberg, a billionaire, is quoted by Ria Novosti news agency: "In 2018 we are making our debut in formula one with Williams and Sergey Sirotkin. "This will undoubtedly please Russian fans and have a significant impact on the development of Russian motor sport," he added.
FIA brings in Martin Whitmarsh to help with cost control plans Former McLaren head-man Martin Whitmarsh is set for a return to Formula 1 after accepting a consultancy role on behalf of the FIA. A report from Motorsport.com says Whitmarsh will work with the governing body to help with the implementation of future cost cutting measures in Formula 1. The 59-year-old manager was ousted from McLaren's top executive position at the end of 2013 when Ron Dennis returned to the helm of the Woking-based team, and formally parted ways with the company in 2014. Whitmarsh left the motorsport arena to lead the Land Rover BAR America's Cup team in 2015, ultimately stepping down from his position at the end of last year. He was then appointed to Formula E's Global Advisory Board, a committee chaired by four-time F1 world champion and FE team owner Alain Prost. The FIA is tapping into Whitmarsh's valuable expertise and extensive knowledge of F1 as it considers introducing cost cutting measures into the sport, although it's unclear if the initiative will lead to a full blown budget cap. Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey submitted the concept of cost reduction to teams on several occasions last year, with the full support and encouragement of the FIA. While there appears to be broad-based support in the F1 community for reining in costs, putting together an effective framework will likely be challenging for teh sport's managers and the FIA, hence Whitmarsh's hiring. Carey recently explained without any form of cost reduction "the competitive spirit overtakes, and you just spend what it takes to win." "When today people on the outside look in, in some ways they look at the challenges of the sport - what the top teams are spending - and that's a deterrent," he said. "It ends up with realistically with about six cars competing at one level and the rest of the cars competing at another because of the spending differences and the engine differences and the like. "We have to create a structure that makes it about how well you spend your money, not how much you spend," he added. "I think that will create a better model for fans. A better model for existing partners. And a much more interesting proposition for potential new entrants." http://en.f1i.com/news/290259-fia-brings-martin-whitmarsh-help-cost-control-plans.html
Nice spin, I think Williams is heading for a tough year with an inexperienced line up. McLaren and Renault will move ahead of them this year now that McLaren has gotten rid of the Honda and Renault actually has 2 drivers (Palmer was beyond worthless) and has been able to staff and develop the team and put their stamp on the car. I expect Williams to compete with Haas and Sauber but finish ahead of Toro Rosso.
Williams are in the ****....regardless of the car, they are now confined to fight against Toro Rosso, Sauber and Haas. Haas drivers are both vastly superior to Williams to if the car are matched, williams doen't stand a chance. In Toro Rosso, gasly is better than both williams, although his nothing special, and leclerc shoul be on another planet, so if the sauber is any good, Williams are in deep trouble..i +predict they will fight for scarps..and there won't be many of those....
Vietnam street race in the works in the city of Hanoi (Hanoi Hitlon??) . This suckee suckee..Me no love long time. This emerged from a busy day of meetings in London yesterday beginning in the afternoon with a gathering of the Formula One Promoters Association in the Sofitel London St James hotel. “Vietnam street race is what they are going to announce,” said one source. It is believed that the race is planned for the streets of Vietnam’s capital Hanoi but it has not yet been officially announced so it could still fail to get to the finish line. It is no secret that a plan for a race in the country is in the works. Vietnam ranks worse than Ethiopia, Algeria and Egypt on the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index and isn’t a major market for any of F1’s ten teams. In contrast, seven of them are based in Britain so it would be logical to assume that they are more concerned with the survival of their home race than the addition of a new one in Vietnam. https://www.forbes.com/sites/csylt/2018/01/17/vietnam-grand-prix-expected-to-race-onto-f1-calendar/#664205ef1558
Yep. I'll be supporting Sirotkin. Williams will have a big problem on their hands if they're either very equal or worse, if Stroll beats Sirotkin...However if Sirotkin outperforms Stroll near the margin Massa beat him, at least they'll have one decent enough driver and can start looking towards another pay driver who can actually get a car round a track before the track has eroded
What a waste of time, a race in a slum, where the few fans that bother to go and get in the horrible country get fleeced for anything they own...... cool. While we are at it, what about a Baghdad GP, and of course, the season ender (in more ways than one) in the downtown rakka GP. FFS, sort out the boring races we have before adding new ones, especially in places few of us would ever be interested to see in a book, let alone visit
some journo's still calling the team STR??? Are they not HTR now???....New logo for TR. Image Unavailable, Please Login
You have clearly never been to Vietnam...your description is very far from the mark of reality. I’ve been MANY places where there have been attempts to fleece me...Vietnam is not one of them. Sure, there are bad apples, but there are bad apples in London, Paris, New York and Munich. I have been to Vietnam a few times...I’ve been in the major cities and in MANY small towns and villages. Extremely nice and pleasant people. My plane ticket will be booked the moment a race becomes reality.
They are still calling themselves STR...scuderia has become synonymous with ‘racing team.’ They were STR with Ferrari power...STR with Renault power...why wouldn’t they be STR with Honda power?
Yeah, you can keep it, I wouldn’t go there if they paid me. Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/133973/italyEURTMs-free-f1-tv-coverage-slashed-for-2018 - So connecting fans to sport right Liberty???? Possibly not. Formula 1's mainstream free-to-air television broadcasting in Italy will be slashed in 2018, with Monza the only race expected to feature live on RAI. Italy's national public broadcasting company has been the backbone of its live TV coverage for decades, although has been diluted by a move to Sky Italia in recent years. Until last season Italy operated a similar system to the UK, with all the races carried live by Sky and RAI showing nine rounds live and highlights of the rest. RAI failed to satisfy Liberty's financial requirements during recent negotiations over 2018 arrangements and no deal was agreed, leaving Sky as the only source of live races this season. The Italian situation is the opposite of that in France, where live F1 races are returning to free-to-air on TF1, which will be showing the French and Monaco GPs and two others, plus highlights. That arrangement may yet be replicated in Italy, albeit not on a mainstream channel.
What a strange concept of showing a limited number races live. Either you want to watch F1 or not. Weird how this should make any sense.
The "Imperial First Order" just ordered a brand spanking new wind tunnel to its arsenal. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Silverstone getting a resurface Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
More from Catalunya...gravel run-offs and tyre barriers Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Bad news for German F1 fans: Sky Germany (pay-tv) confirmed today it will NOT show any F1 races this season. So it looks like the races will be broadcasted only on RTL (free-tv) with ad breaks. #AMuS
