F1 2024 Singapore - Marina Bay Circuit Pre-Race Thread

I think its the posters and concerts overall lol

 

Yeah, what a lousy guy that Stroll Sr. is. Making a quick buck by saving Farce India from bankruptcy procedures and turning it into a successful F1 team. Shame on him for such exploitation.

 

Of course.

 

Clearly, Williams and Haas are sharing poster technology.

 

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Getting track ready tonight … teams running / biking the course right now. Great view from my hotel room . Several drivers staying at our hotel —got to meet several at the pool (Colapinto, Ocon, Mick Schumacher) who were a delight and very pleasant. Also met Crofty who was my airplane seat neighbor — what a classy guy and delightful to talk to. Biggest disappointment was Fernando Alonso (WAS a fan since the beginning of his career) who was a complete d&^% ! Oh well. Ready for the race tomorrow! So far no rain here…

 

Nice company you got there at the pool and the plane. Not bad at all. Enjoy!

 

Unfortunately, sometimes when you get to meet your heroes, they turn out to be zeros.

 

How was Alonso unpleasant?

 

If he had turned it into a "successful" F1 team, they'd be winning races. All he did is make it a PONZI scheme.

 

He simply bribed Newey to be his new pet poodle and pose for pictures for the next few years. The only way he can get Lance out of the seat is to promote him to Team Principal...then shove in another young driver and claim they are in a rebuilding mode. Meanwhile, Alonzo keeps cashing the checks and have fun.

 

All he did so far is to invest and I am sure his plan is to flip it for a huge profit. Calling AM a successful F1 team at the moment is a huge streech. Will see if AM wins anything in 2026 and beyond....

 

My response was to your scenario where in 2026 you said they would get some podiums (realistic assumption). I call that a successful team.

What exactly is wrong with "flipping" a team for a huge profit? This is F1 after all, possibly the most capitalistic of all sports.

And carrying a team for many years and rebuilding from the group up isn't exactly flipping. Brawn F1 was more like flipping but there too I don't see the problem. F1 is first and foremost a business and a way for teams and their associates to make a living. That's why teams like Williams and Haas even exist when they know full well they won't win the WDC (anymore).

And to assume that only Ferrari is the real team because they do it for the love of the sport. C'mon! Ferrari is a business as well and they know that the F1 pedigree helps selling road cars. The times of Enzo are long gone. As they should be since this is now a publicly traded company.

 

Ferrari doesn't necessarly have to win in F1 but they have to be in F1. They sell their brand based on racing pedigree which they can get from WEC etc but nothing screams racing pedigree like F1. Just look at some of the sales brochures for their road cars: They always link the F1 connection in somehow, be it through pictures or directly text information. This all has purpose.

Furthermore F1 generates enormous brand exposure and brand awareness. This again helps selling cars to the "nouveau rich" who doesn't care per se about F1 but knows that the Ferrari name is big and also knows that everybody else knows the name and therefore gets the car.

To put it differently: If F1 wouldn't help selling cars, Ferrari would be fools to continue participating in it. They are no fools (despite not hiring Newey). They are in F1 because it helps them. It helps them technically to push the envelope and it helps them marketingwise and ultimately financially. Plus they are making a boat load of selling F1 swag. Sounds trivial but the numbers are staggering. And last but not least they have a special "Ferrari bonus" in the prize money because F1 knows that they need Ferrari for their own good. It is a symbiotic relationship which helps both entities to make more $.

 

Oh, he'll be in the wall long before that...

 

I suspect that Ferrari is able collect more 3 times more sponsorship than they are allowed to spend under the budget cap ! .
Brands are queuing up to be associated with Ferrari, paying $millions get a sticker on the red cars. It must be the best mobile billboard existing.
Hours upon hours of worldwide exposure over 24 weekends each year. Ferrari is always talked about. What can beat that !!!
When the tifosi get depressed if a Ferrari hit the wall, the advertising guys rub their hands in glee at the added publicity !!
The Scuderia has become a money making business.

 

I'm not sure on that simply because I have no data. You could be right though.

As for Ferrari the company, F1 is just another marketing expense. They don't advertise for their cars, their F1 team fulfills that role.

 

After watching the FP1 and FP2 I am getting a feeling that we will see Charles and Carlos on the podium this Sunday. I hope there will be no crashes for either of the Ferrari drivers this weekend.