Exactly, Mercedes is a global company that produces in many countries, and gets the best where it can. Mercedes manufactures cars not only in Germany, but also in Hungary, in Austria, in Spain, in the US, etc... For modern F1, the Mecca is now Britain in terms of facilities, suppliers, specialists, engineers, racing mechanics, etc... So no wonder that Mercedes uses the UK as its base for its current F1 effort. That doesn't mean that it wants to forgot its racing heritage from the pre-war or the 50s. This is why the comment made previously (post #50 by Mitch Alsup) that Ferrari is still an Italian team, operating in Italy, run by Italians the Italian way is quite valid. Did you have a go at him for saying that ? The Scuderia is run with excessive passion, like a Greek tragedy with constant dramas, much bloodletting and casualties every year. Maybe this insistance in being Italian at all cost, as opposed to being more international, is working against Ferrari in F1. I thought they had turned a page under Jean Prost, with Ross Brawn, Byrne, etc... They returned to their old bad days nder Luca de Montezemolo who apparently wanted the team to be more Italian. We now see the result ... Someone said that enthusiasm alone cannot win, and that sums up Ferrari's fortune.
Putting Hamilton in the Ferrari will dispel the talk about who's better. It just didn't seem to me that Vettel was trying that hard.
Mercedes has their facility in England because they acquired Brawn F1, which was Honda F1 and before was BAR. Hard for them to move facilities. If England is the Mecca for F1, then HAAS(Brand new team) would be headquartered there. The teams in England have been there since the beginning, Redbull, Renault and racing point acquired existing teams.
Yes I know, but its for tuning purposes between races, since they are mostly in Europe and Asia. Most development is done in the US.
What a complete nonsense and what you would call polemic. I can only shake my head when a guy who likes to say "we in Britain" is making such comments about other countries and national pride. Ferrari was fully Italian and WDC and WCC when your countrymen were still garagists or still trying to get a spark out of Lucas electronics... nowadays your great British management is not able to have a single major manufacturer in you country that is not taken over by the "enemies of the former Empire" I am curious what the base for this arrogance is... Gesendet von meinem SM-G930F mit Tapatalk
Most F1 teams are based in UK, because there are plenty of facilities, suppliers, specialised firms, subcontractors, and wind tunnels, related to motor racing. Also the huge pool of engineers, mechanics, fabricators, machinists, composite technicians and else make it the ideal place to base a team. Motor racing is a leading industry in UK, and the operating costs and business laws are most competitive compared to many countries. Young enthusiasts come from all over the world to work in small F.Ford, F3, F2 teams in UK where they learn their trade and hopefully graduate one day to F1. Finally, there is a long tradition of race car design in UK, even taught at university now . It's this concentration of technical expertise and educated workforce that makes Britain attractive for a F1 team to locate.
As I have said before, I am extremely proud of the UK's motorsports industry, it's truly great in terms of prestige , innovation and income. I'm just glad that my favourite team is not based here. Now can we drop the sweeping nationalism and get back on topic?
Always the same story. Yeah, Ferrari was great when Barnard, Pat Fry or Tombazis made the cars. And Williams is doing great too. People wants easy answers. Why trying complex reasonings when you can make an ad hoc fallacy? What´s the difference between Ferrari and other teams? The cars are red and are built in Italy. Thinking that the color is the reason is too ridiculous so it has to be the other thing. Yep, that´s it: I know the answer, I´m smart, I can relax.
They all gave up early on, except CL. A poor start to a long season. I'll give the new guy a few more races, but hitting the ground with a stumble isn't very good.
That was a pretty good race, with that being said, I hope this year is not just a continuation of last year. I love to see good racing , I am sick of seeing Hamilton get pole and win all of the time. I was glad his teammate finally won a race. As far as Ferrari goes, I would love to see them win another drivers and constructors title, with that also being said it would be nice if there were more than just 2 teams winning all the time, thats why I watch moto GP, its way more exciting than F1 , If F1 wants to get better, it should go back to being an open class with very few bull **** rules. Let the teams design whatever they want, or they should stop calling it F1 because its no longer FORMULA ONE with all the dumbed down rules. Its that simple. Thank you
You forgot Stepney (RIP). And what everybody, including me, said when Allison left? Ferrari was doomed! All Italian never heard of started winning instead. Not to talk about how many Italian engineers fired by Ferrari are working at Mercedes, etc. etc.
Yes, and they work in a completely different atmosphere that is more conclusive to success. It's not the nationality of the individuals that matters, but the team structure and overall mentality.
That may explain their handicap then. Religion = blind faith. Other teams take a more pragmatic approach and consider F1 simply as an engineering contest.
I don't criticise anything, but just try to understand why there is often a fly in the ointment at the Scuderia. The first time he was shown the installations at the Gestione Sportive at Maranello , young Nikki Lauda remarked: " With such a set up, it's difficult to understand why you don't win ALL the races ! " . It didn't take long for him to understand why, although he was lucky that LDM became manager for a while, and put some order in the team. Three years in the cauldron of intrigues was enough for Nikki, and he left, like Fangio, Gurney, Surtees, Amon, Ickx, or Andretti before him. Passion is good when Under control; it's motivation that matters.
A shame that a thread I started for Ferrari fans to discuss the performance deficit in Melbourne has just descended into sweeping generalization and nationalist cliche. Those who oppose Ferrari always jump in with the same anti Italian tropes which provoke a response form those of us keen to defend our team and it's country of origin. Its just boring, the mods should sort it out.
I don't feel myself included in "Those who oppose Ferrari", because I apply exactly the same impartiality when I examine other teams. I have been harsh against McLaren, Williams, Red Bull and other teams. I don't support any particular team, nor am I against any one. But it's obvious that the main protagonists are the ones that get talked about a lot on a F1 forum. A lot of Ferrari supporters also criticise their team, I have noticed.
