In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner dismisses Ross Brawn’s suggestion that Formula 1 could save costs by stopping teams from using their motorhomes at European race weekends.
What they say
[f1tv2020testa]Speaking in the ‘Holzhaus’ motorhome which became Red Bull’s regular motorhome last year, Horner said he doesn’t want teams to be forced to use sub-standard facilties.
Ross needs to have a look in his own Concorde Agreement because it doesn’t make any reference to that in their drafts. So I’m not quite sure what he was referring to there.
But you know, this is very sustainable. It’s all out of wood. I think for the European races teams’ hospitality is their face, their home for those European races, it makes sense.
Obviously for the flyaway races we all survive. But I think what’s vital is that moving forward, we get charged a fortune for a tent and chairs and whatever else, that those costs are provided for by the promoter, so that when you turn up, you get a set amount of facilities, that we don’t end up buying tents at every grand prix wherever we go around the world.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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[smr2020test]
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Comment of the day
Russell needs to raise expectations of Latifi, says Adam:
Being honest, I’ll be shocked if Latifi out-qualifies or beats Russell at any race. Latifi’s arguably got more to gain by beating Russell than Russell has of beating Latifi – everyone expects there to be little contest.
So Russell ‘hyping’ Latifi up a little isn’t surprising. It’ll be interesting to see if Williams can close up to the field and fight other cars, rather than just each other.
Adam (@Rocketpanda)
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Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
24th February 2020, 2:38
Christian Horner may have a point about motor homes. I remember reading some years ago how F1 teams are gouged outside of Europe, where local promoters charge disproportionate amounts for renting menial items (fridges, fans etc). This leads to F1 teams buying new equipment every time they visit a particular country, which works out to be cheaper…which is ridiculous!
Motor homes probably make sense from a financial perspective, but not so much from a carbon footprint perspective. Having said that, if F1 mandate that the local promoters in Europe need to provide “facilities” (your everyday fridges and fans for example), whats to stop them from charging extortionate amounts for their facilities? What if teams like Red Bull decide to truck all their kit in, or worst still, buy new every time? Wouldn’t nullify any carbon footprint gains?
Im not saying this cant work. If teams and F1 management agree to an iron-clad contract that details the minimum requirements per race weekend with respect to facilities to be provided by the promoter, for a certain fee, motor homes be damned! Obviously, this is a lot easier said than done.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th February 2020, 15:30
It kind of shows the issues the sport is facing, doesn’t it @jaymenon10. On one side we have Liberty earning a large chunk of the money, then we have the big teams like RB, Mercedes and Ferrari cashing in, and then we have the backend of the grid as well as the promotors who have trouble making ends meet. The promotors do it by overcharging the parts where they can, which in turn hurts the smaller teams as well as journalists because they end up paying crazy amounts for tents, for internet coverage etc.
Since Liberty already wrings out the last drop – altough not quite to the extent Bernie did, out of the promotors, dictating them to offer top facility out of pocket on top, isn’t a solution though.
Instead they just need to get over that typically F1 reflex of crying wolf when a proposal is made (Brawn did make a sensible proposal IMO) and just sit down and discuss what is needed, and how to best provide that without having to lug an army of about a hundred trucks around Europe largely filled with the motorhomes etc.
Maisch (@maisch)
24th February 2020, 7:10
A maximum limit on trailers wouldnt be a bad idea, its gotten a bit out of hand, then you wouldnt need the size of belgium just to house the teams.
DAllein (@)
24th February 2020, 7:15
Oh my God, that day came!
I finally agree with Mr.Horner on something!!!
ColdFly (@)
24th February 2020, 9:15
I think we’ve got a case of mistaken identity.
You’re mistaking the readers here for people who care!
Dale
24th February 2020, 9:47
Except that he totally missed the point Ross was making.
Some of the teams have a fleet of trucks just to move their hospitality units around, which is going to make it difficult for F1 to become carbon neutral … and if they don’t they will become a toxic property for sponsors and countries in the future.
Remember back to the days when F1 relied heavily on tobacco money … they were eventually forced to change because countries were no longer allowing the cars to run the sponsorship, others weren’t allowing televised pictures of the sponsorsed cars, and other sponsors didn’t want to be associated with such a toxic asset.
Same is going to happen with carbon neutrality in the future, and F1 would do well to get ahead of the controversy.
Mayrton
24th February 2020, 7:18
Good luck Ricciardo! If Ocon follows Abitebouls attitude I am sure he is convinced to be crowned WDC at the end of the year. It will be interesting to see Ocon within a French team that have not (for the past decade) presented itself as a team capable of self-reflection or anything actually. Well, they are entertaining though, or at least Abiteboul.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
24th February 2020, 8:49
Renault brought the wrong frenchman to the team, they should have gotten Fred Vasseur to replace Cyril. The problem was never their drivers, it was the leadership.
Matt (@hollidog)
24th February 2020, 11:40
They had Fred for one year in 2016, left because he couldn’t stand Cyril
GechiChan (@gechichan)
25th February 2020, 8:36
yeah, I know, I was meaning to say that they should replace Cyril with Vasseur.
Balue (@balue)
24th February 2020, 19:49
@gechichan Point
JohnH (@johnrkh)
24th February 2020, 7:40
Leave the motorhomes alone they have nothing to do with the actual racing, but everything to do with wooing and entertaining sponsors and politicians needed to keep the sport going.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th February 2020, 7:56
Hoo boy – let’s hope there isn’t an outbreak there, or the calendar is going to start looking a little raggedy.
Ministry of Health confirms first case of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Bahrain
The Ministry of Health has confirmed the first case of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) in the Kingdom of Bahrain after a Bahraini citizen arriving from Iran was suspected of having contracted the virus, based on emerging symptoms.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
24th February 2020, 8:22
@phylyp I have bad news for you from Monza
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th February 2020, 8:26
@m-bagattini – it’s contained there, though, right? Like pretty much every country except China. I don’t think the teams or Liberty would have a problem in going to a country where the authorities are well on top of the cases.
Matteo (@m-bagattini)
24th February 2020, 8:58
@phylyp it’s really too early, it all started a few days ago. Numbers are quite high but at this stage I don’t feel the need to worry; however, it’s spread all over northern Italy and all gathering events are cancelled (from soccer matches at Milano San Siro to school lessons). Really no idea how long will it last and of course the Italian GP is deep in the season; my feeling is that the numbers are getting higher and higher here because we started counting. I don’t think that other EU countries have really those lows infections, is just that some of them are under the radar (but of course it’s just my opinion with no evidence at all).
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th February 2020, 9:09
@m-bagattini – I didn’t realize the numbers had increased. But yeah, you’re right, we’re nowhere near the panic stage yet, so fingers crossed that this gets sorted out.
Nashidar
24th February 2020, 8:55
Italy, Japan, South Korea have all confirmed outbreaks. Unless contained it makes sense not to host an international event there.
JohnH (@johnrkh)
24th February 2020, 10:20
@phylyp @m-bagattini On the news tonight in Aus they said The WTO was going to declare a pandemic. That may change things quite a bit.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
24th February 2020, 8:33
Sometimes I think Brawn should maybe just keep his thoughts to himself or at least engage brain before speaking.
Given some of the things he’s dropped out during the last 12 months, I suspect he’s channeling Bernie at times. It makes great headlines and sparks a lot of discussion, so I suppose they serve their purpose.
Jon Bee
24th February 2020, 9:37
I’m starting to believe the power of running F1 has gone to his head. A few more of Brawn’s “I’ve got an idea and I’m in charge” pronouncements and he’s going to start annoying the teams. F1 needs to be stable, pushing though changes and tweaks every year might appeal to the American owners and kiddies, but there are thousands of people who’s lives depend on the sport.
Ross Brawn needs reminding what a pain Bernie was when played games with the teams.
Robbie (@robbie)
24th February 2020, 14:28
I don’t see anything wrong with Brawn at least broaching the subject of motor homes when F1 is looking at how they can make F1 more affordable as well as go carbon neutral. I notice even in the heading above it is called Brawn’s ‘plan’ and then two lines later it is his ‘suggestion,’ because in reality it is just a topic Brawn has brought up for discussion. I really doubt he has a plan to force this upon teams if it makes no sense and/or he can’t get teams on board. I can’t see how this is playing games with the teams. I can see however, that if they agreed, then they would be saving money and being more carbon neutral. And if they don’t agree on banning elaborate motor homes, so be it, and I would expect Brawn and those in charge of the environmental file of F1 will not just be stopping at motor homes for suggestions and ideas of what they can do better. I don’t think this was ever something Brawn thought he needed to write into the Concorde Agreement. He’s just brainstorming and then accepting the feedback.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th February 2020, 15:39
Exactly @robbie. Brawn making a proposal that might help solve seveal issues F1 is having – how to compress the calendar without needing too many more people, carbon footprint & cost – to discuss with teams to see if that is a way forward is the most sensible thing one can do for the future.
Thing is @dbradock, getting rid of the motorhomes might help a lot:
– building them up and tearing down costs the crew a lot of time during the F1 weekend. So if you want to find a way how to get more races in a season, wouldn’t it make sense to cut down on this, instead of “on track” time?
– The people who build this have to be the first to be there, and are the last to leave. Again, something that hurts the ability to have back to back races.
– Off course lugging 50 trucks of motorhomes around, and the work involved in building them up and tearing down also costs money, and it causes extra pollution too.
The question is, for what intrinsical benefit? To me, this is exactly the kind of thing to look at first, miles ahead of thinking of cutting the friday running (since that will mean less action for visitors, hurting visitor numbers and promotors in turn.).
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
25th February 2020, 2:02
I wasn’t questioning the logic of the suggestion, I was just simply stating that Brawn is somewhat prone to making this sort of statement quite possibly before it’s been discussed in any detail.
I just find it a bit reminiscent of the sorts of things Bernie used to do to stir things up a bit and I guess I expected slightly more measured announcements post Bernie.
Balue (@balue)
24th February 2020, 19:54
I too am getting concerned. The key will be to see if the rules stays steady a good while after 2021. If they too soon start to change in order to ‘jumble up the order’ (under whatever excuse) we’ll know Brawn’s got the decease too.
Tornado (@tornado)
24th February 2020, 8:59
Funny that the rival which won the WEC title when his rival suffered unexpected punctures was from ‘Black-Arts’ racing!!
Phylyp (@phylyp)
24th February 2020, 9:08
@tornado – ha ha, nicely spotted. You think they’d be a little more subtle…
Aldoid
24th February 2020, 13:53
Ha! I completely glossed over that! I was thinking to myself, what are the odds? But now it makes perfect sense! BlackArt’s Juju was stronger than Doohan’s Kung Fu.