A big factor is George Russell is British. Sky Sports is the number 1 Formula 1 broadcast and they have heavy British Bias. Remember the "Mr Saturday" hype? The British market remains as one of, if not the biggest in Formula 1. George has more camera presence. Albon is still quite shy. Soft spoken. GR is a bit more aggressive, plus his girly eye lashes are likely better for advertising whatever crap he is paid to push.
That's true. He was born in London, so about as home soil British as it gets. Yet he doesn't get marketed as a Brit. I do think his quite demeanor sort of keeps him off the radar to some. It's a shame. I think he has plenty of skill. More than a lot of other drivers that got better opportunities.
No stereotype in your post. Of course not !! Russell is maybe more marketable than Albon, because he had obtained better results ?? But that would be too logic perhaps; everybody knows sponsors for "gitly eye lashes".
Did that offend your political correctness? Sorry, but that's the real world. Albon has has got much better results at Williams than George Russell did yet nobody is looking at him at all. As I mentioned and you seemed to ignore, was the fact SkySports hyped the hell out of George Russell. They haven't done the same with Albon. But we are talking about marketing value. The ability to use the driver to sell product. Popularity means more than results and sorry to tell you, but personality and attractiveness is massive to popularity and marketing. Hate to break it to you, but so does where you are born, gender and sometimes even race. Don't get mad at me for big companies looking at these criteria to benefit themselves. It's just how it is. Go protest to them, not to me.
Maybe he is. Would it be related to his popularity among the female demographic? Probably. The marketing teams would surely look into it. If you think Albon is more marketable, then please share your thoughts. Giving some evidence would be helpful. I've stated George Russell is more marketable and I've given the fact that he was promoted more by Sky Sport than Albon. He is more popular, he is on more advertisements. All this despite Albon being more successful at Williams than George was. I subjectively think George has more camera presence. It's also a fact that George was and is more desired by the big teams than Albon. With all the empty spots in F1, Albon got no interest and had to resign with Williams. I think it sucks, I like Albon and I think he's as good, perhaps even better than George. I do stand by my opinion than George is more marketable. How much of an impact that has on moving forward in one's career, don't ask me.
Not contesting that, but this is looking through a very narrow window. Look at the larger picture. Since his Williams years, Russell has PROMOTED to Mercedes, until recently a top team, and won a GP. Albon, in the opposite, was SACKED from a top team and is doing years of redemption at Williams, so far. Hate to break it to you, but their careers have taken opposite directions: one has been ascending, the other no so ... All that due to "girly eye lashes" of course. SKY Sports cannot hide these facts: in 2022, Albon finished 19th in the WDC with 4 points, Russell 4th with 275 points; in 2023n Russell was 8th with 175 points, Albon 13th with 27 points. So far this year, Russell is 7th with 44 points, Albon is ... nowhere with NIL point. So, even with the backing of his compatriots at Red Bull Thailand, Albon' track record is not so ... marketable, and nothing to do with being British or Thai, or because SKY Sports blows one's trumpet and not the other's.
Was that 51% from the prior founder and CEO that died? Are we sure Red Bull will stay at the extent they are in F1? All the discussion of 'nationalities' reminds me of the discussions about Mario Andretti and Eddie Cheever - one born in the USA but raised in Italy, the other born in Italy but raised in the USA....
Yes, his son inherited ths shares. He supports Horner, BTW. Non, there, is no certainty there; that's why there is a rift in the organisation.
You realize I clearly said George is more marketable. That doesn't mean a drivers advancement or fallout throughout their career is solely based on their marketing. In 2020 Helmut Marko had one of the biggest voices against Albon. He got fed to the wolf as a rookie because Gasly, a promising driver was getting destroyed by Max. Albon the same. Now Perez, a veteran driver that people overrated for years also got destroyed. As of 2024, everyone has concluded that all of Max's teammates are likely to struggle against him. What Albon has done at Williams is far more representative to his value than what happened in 2020. This is common sense stuff too. A driver does not always get a seat based only on his driving abilities. This is a fact. There are better drivers out there than Lewis, yet he lands the Ferrari seat and an enormous contract. You know as well as I do that there is a marketing element involved with that signing. Does where you are born matter? Sadly yes it absolutely does. Hulkenberg just got signed with Audi because they want a German driver. Rosberg went to Mercedes because of the same. Yuki Tsunoda only made it to F1 because of Honda and the Japanese connection. Even after a horrendous rookie season, he stayed because of that connection. Zhou brought a huge Chinese sponsorship with him which got him into F1. Look at the coverage he got during the Chinese GP. Logan Sargeant gets pushed during every US race because of Liberty and their goal to increase the US market. He's the worst driver out there, but they give him his headlines simply because of where he was born. Lets not forget about the very real British bias. Fans have been saying it for year because it's so obvious. Naturally I completely expect it from the British based Sky Sports, but it comes from the FIA/F1 as well. Even Alonso has spoken up about it. You cannot be this naive to believe where a driver is born doesn't matter. I don't know what your point is by comparing one of the best cars on the grid to one of the worst.
I think Russell is more marketable simply because he is a better driver than Albon ! That has nothing to do with where is was born, SKY Sports, or his "girly eye lashes". Mercedes-AMG is a German-licenced team; Toto Wolff don't care where his drivers come from. Nationalism never pay. Do you think Honda's obsession in pushing Japanese drivers against the odds brought them any success? At least the hard-nosed Brazilian banks were clever when sponsoring Fittipaldi, Piquet or Senna,.
Williams in advanced talks with Sainz over 2025 F1 deal Williams has emerged as a surprise contender to snatch Carlos Sainz for next year, Autosport has learned, with talks underway between the Formula 1 team and the Spaniard. Jonathan Noble Oleg Karpov May 23, 2024, 7:12 PM Image Unavailable, Please Login Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images Sainz’s future has been the subject of intense speculation over recent weeks as he bids to finalise a race seat for next year. He is known to have an offer to join Sauber on a long-term deal that would run through into its transition to become the Audi works team from 2026. The German manufacturer wants an imminent decision as it has a desire to get its line-up sorted so it can focus on putting other key foundations in place for the long term. But Sainz has not wanted to rush into a decision, with there being potential opportunities that could open up at Red Bull and Mercedes. However, those chances there appear to be fading, with Red Bull likely to keep Sergio Perez on a one-year deal and Mercedes edging towards promoting Andrea Kimi Antonelli from F2. Autosport has learned, however, that Sainz is engaged in talks with Williams about what it can offer as the squad lays out its ambitious targets for the future. The squad already has Alex Albon under contract, and team principal James Vowles is pushing for infrastructure changes that he hopes can help it advance up the grid. One of the aces up its sleeve, which could be very attractive to Sainz, is its customer engine deal with Mercedes for 2026 amid speculation that the German manufacturer has delivered some early promise with its new power unit design. Speaking at last weekend’s Imola Grand Prix, Vowles said the team was doing everything to ensure its rate of progress was as fast as possible over the next few years – even if it meant its current performance was not stellar. “The 2025 car is in the tunnel, it’s as simple as that,” he said. “And you’re doing that to get ahead of yourself in time for actually 2026 and 2027. All the way through my messaging will continue to be the same: it’s not that I don’t care about these years [before 2026], but I want us to be successful in the future. “To do that, I’ve got to make some pretty harsh decisions in order to transform the organisation.”
If Carlos goes to Williams I will be in disbelief. Leclerc has been tipped as a top 3 driver and Carlos has been there with him his entire time at Ferrari. So from a driving standpoint he should be desirable. I wonder if there is some politics going on behind the scenes with his connections with Santander that are scaring teams off.
No one predicted ever, LH to Mercedes lol. I was a bit surprised by this story but its a slow news day so why not bring it out. Interesting to consider and as Sainz said we only know rumors and he has the true picture of his status.
Hamilton knew Mercedes as engine supplier. McLaren was going to lose its factory team status. Mercedes was now operating a new factory team. To me it was a no brainer.
It was a massive shock at the time. People weren't expecting the Honda power plant to start off so poorly, and Mercedes has a lot of issues at the time. When it was announced that LCH was going to Mercedes, the general reaction in the press at the time was 'He got his one WDC, but Vettle is getting the career he wanted, so he's just going to Mercedes for the big payday as things haven't worked out like he wanted'.
Apparently, Sainz disembarks in Williams where he is expected to perform better than Sergeant, currently, last of the lot. It remains to be seen what carlos is capable to achieve. https://www.gpfans.com/en/f1-news/1022241/f1-carlos-sainz-contract-williams-legal-spanish-grand-prix/
Driving for the worst team replacing the slowest driver might be a pressure-free ride, and he will earn some decent money. He might even lead his team over Albon. All looks bright for him. Honestly, listening to him singing smooth operator freezes my spine.
Sainz may have been shown Dorilton's plans for the future, and see the potential. He may have been given assurance that big investment in staff and equipment is coming. Who knows ?
