Renault should rehire Briatore to lead its team, and try to poach Alonso from Mercedes. That's what I think. Briatore was very good at keeping the reins on spending and Alonso's 2 WDCs came at a fraction of the price other teams usually spend. Briatore is excellent value-for-money, plus F1 needs a rogue to keep Bernie in check. Also, I would like to see the faces of his detractors!!!
The reason why I was asking the question about him being still banned - or not - is because that thought begins to be voiced by some. And Flavio himself said this week-end about Alonso: "he should stay put at McLaren, but not too long, at least next season...". As we say in French, William: "deux plus deux, ça fait quatre" ("two plus two is four", meaning that there are some clues that I find, let's says: "interesting"; or "no smoke without fire" if you prefer...) P.S: and of course a typo in your post, as Fernando is not driving for Mercedes, but for McLaren, for his dismay... Rgds
Just published at Autosport; Much "due diligence" happening right now..... Although, I still don't quite understand how their PAYE bill can be UKP 900K per month! Cheers, Ian
How could I get that wrong !! For all the accusations against him, Briatore is a good motivator and knows how to keep a budget under control. I like the guy. As for his detractors (Mosley, Ecclestone, Dennis, etc...) they they are like Briatore and cut in the same cloth. All of them engaged in not-so-ethical methods to get what they wanted at some point.
Seems a done deal now: leaks after Renault's" extraordinary board meeting" of today. Enstone personnel have had their employment contracts already extended, some Renault people already working there adapting the chassis to the Renault engine, Bob Bell will be technical director. Official confirmation should be made at Abu Dhabi. F1, Formule 1 - Infos - Rachat de Lotus par Renault : l'annonce sera faite à Abu Dhabi | Nextgen-Auto.com Rgds
Yes - good news for the team in general. Happy for them. Now - we just need RB to get real and sign an engine deal with . anyone that will have them. Or evaporate (which would be just fine too).
Yes indeed, pathetic. Red bull did more for F1 than Renault will ever do, hopping in and out every few years. And Lotus? that's just a brand name bought by some smart people. Colin would turn in his grave seeing the devaluation of his once so famous brand. Red bull did what every self respecting company would do. Do everything to be back upfront asap. They will be. Sooner that the hater can stand. BTW the same haters are predicting a collapse of F1 one for months/years. The will have to swallow that disappointment too. Its not gonna happen. No matter what they say, F1 IS the top-level of auto sport and every young race enthusiasts silent dream. The rule makers will not be able to change that (although sometime they seems to try hard)
Hmmm, I'd disagree. Aside from introducing the turbo era of the 80s, Renault powered a long string of Williams and Benetton championship teams (92, 93, 95, 96, 97), then powered Alonso to 2 titles, then powered Red Bull to 4 titles. Renault was key to those Red Bull titles, even though Red Bull liked to complain about the Renault engines even then. Renault developed the off-throttle exhaust blowing technology which was essential to making the Newey diffuser design work; without the Renault exhaust blowing, Red Bull would have had a tougher time. Meanwhile, you say Renault hopped in and out, but what is Red Bull doing? Having two tough years, so threatening far and wide to pull out. Not very respectable behaviour, they're tarnishing their own records and achievements with their current whiny childish actions. I would content that Renault has done far more over their 30+ year span of involvement than Red Bull has done in 8 years of team ownership and another 8 or so of sponsorship. Come to think of it, let's discuss Sauber - Red Bull was their title sponsor, until Deitrich had a fit in 2001 when Peter Sauber wouldn't hire his preferred driver (Enrique Bernoldi) and went for a different rookie instead. When Sauber hired Kimi Raikkonen, Deitrich terminated his Red Bull sponsorship deal with Sauber and gave some sponsorship to Arrows to run Bernoldi. Hmmm, hopping in and out of F1 fickle decisions on a whim or tantrum. Never mind that Raikkonen proved to be a much better prospect that Deitrich's preferred driver Bernoldi.
Hate is a strong word, but seeing the arrogance of the Red Bull troika over the years(Mateschitz, Marko and Horner), I would have great pleasure to witness them fall flat on their faces.
Saying that Red Bull won't be missed is not a case of hate, it's just a fact of F1! If Red Bull leave this season, F1 will not grind to a halt, it will carry on regardless! Yes it would be noticed by most that Red Bull were not there in the first season without them, but by the 2nd and 3rd seasons it would barely be noticed! And should Red Bull leave F1 then they'll just become one of many teams who came along, raced for a few years and then left again. In all honesty, how many on here think about any of these teams whilst watching a Grand Prix: Brabham; Tyrrell, Benetton, Renault (as a proper F1 team); BMW; Honda (as a proper F1 team); Toyota; Minardi; Arrows; Jordan; Ligier; Jaguar; Stewart racing; BAR; Brawn; Lola; Prost (to name but a few)?
Correct. I started watching GP in an era when the names on the grid were Cooper, Brabham, BRM, BRP, Lola, Lotus, Porsche, Eagle, which have all departed F1 since.
Deal closed - Renault completes takeover of Lotus F1 team - F1 news - AUTOSPORT.com Renault completes takeover of Lotus F1 team By Ian Parkes Thursday, December 3rd 2015, 15:22 GMT Renault is poised to confirm it will remain in Formula 1 after finally completing its purchase of Lotus, Autosport understands. Almost 10 weeks after announcing it had signed a letter of intent regarding the potential acquisition of Lotus, and months after negotiations initially started, it now appears the final hurdles have been crossed and the deal has been signed. Over the course of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, the deal appeared to be in the balance, with talks taking place between F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and Renault Sport president Jerome Stoll. On the table was the need to find a compromise solution over Renault receiving a share of the constructors' championship bonus and historical payments. That resulted in Renault CEO Carlos Ghosn spending the last few days assessing Ecclestone's final financial offer, with the 61-year-old believed to have now given the green light. In means Renault will be back in F1 as a constructor for the first time since 2011, returning to Enstone where it enjoyed many years of success.
Interesting. So is RB still going to have Renault engines? After publicly shaming them, I'm sure they are going to get an awesome engine. LOL What does this mean for the Lotus road cars?
I'd guess it means absolutely nothing for Lotus road cars. Lotus was merely a primary sponsor back when marketing "genius" Dany Bahar conned his way into running Lotus cars for Proton; beyond sponsoring the colour scheme and name on the side, Lotus had absolutely zero to do with the Genii F1 team. Bahar/Lotus never paid the sponsorship commitment anyway, so Genii converted the unpaid sponsorship deal into a right to use the historic Lotus name on the Team Enstone cars for a few years.
