In the round-up: The Indian GP could move to December 11th to accommodate Bahrain.
Links
Top F1 links from the past 24 hours:
Bernie looking at December 11 for Indian GP (Adam Cooper)
“A couple of weeks ago after a tip from a good source I suggested that the Indian GP might end up on December 11, and Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali confirmed today that Bernie Ecclestone has indeed proposed the date.”
Bahrain GP unlikely to go ahead
“‘The problem is the date,’ Ecclestone said. ‘The trouble with the teams is that it’s difficult with all their people, so they’re going to speak to all their people and find out what the general feeling is for the group.'”
Jenson Button leaves door open for surprise move to Ferrari (The Guardian)
“Ferrari is obviously a team I haven’t raced for. I’ve won the world championship and I would love to win the world championship again.”
Motor racing teams feel it’s time to leave Ecclestone behind (The Times, subscription required)
“As one principal, who would not be named, put it: ‘In the eighties Bernie was brilliant for Formula One, in the nineties we got on with it but now he is holding us back and we need to move on.'”
Ferrari: Improvement will take time (Autosport)
Stefano Domenicali on replacing Aldo Costa as technical director: “It was a very difficult decision from an emotional point of view,” he said. “You can imagine when you have worked with a person for many, many years, you grow up together, and it’s not easy.”
Review of the last race, no significant new material.
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Comment of the day
Quite sick of the Lotus saga by now and have quite a bit of sympathy for Steph’s point of view:
Winners: lawyers who have been paid bucket loads when really everything will carry on the same.
Losers: fans and F1 for having to put up with yet another confusing mess caused by warring egos.
Steph
From the forum
Wren asks about the changes coming for 2012.
Happy birthday!
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On this day in F1
Fernando Alonso won the Monaco Grand Prix five years ago today.
Mark Webber briefly led for Williams but retired while chasing Alonso.
Having started at the back of the grid following his qualifying penalty, Michael Schumacher finished fifth.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
28th May 2011, 0:05
My mom is a lawyer… they do their jobs, defending or accusing the other party. It’s up to the judge to make a decision.
The lawyers were paid “bucket loads” of money and, heck, they deserve it!
It’s hardly an easy “winner” as its put there, they surely had to work their rses out… I’m bored with that kind of things towards lawyers, honestly. It’s a constant all over the world.
Calum
28th May 2011, 0:26
I agree that lawers are winners in this, it is a big case for them to earn a good sum of money from, but I beleive that both Team and Group Lotus have also won because they can continue as normal in F1 with the use of logos, names and all important liveries.
I disagree with the losers though, have there really been any? Look at how much discussion it has provided, this court case result is sports websites all over the internet giving F1 publicity, fair enough it’s quite negative having two teams battling against each other in court, but as the cliche says, there’s no such thing as bad publicity, Bernie will be loving what is essentially free advertising of the sport.
Finally, I don’t think fans have got a raw deal either because most just ended up ignoring the ongoing court case anyway, it was quite tedious.
I do however think both parties were very lucky that they both get to use the name/keep there high profile in the sport, because I did think for a bit none of them would get the name..
Michael Griffin
28th May 2011, 0:29
Lawyers don’t really have a had job in my opinion.
Talk endless rubbish, get paid a silly amount of money.
A bit like Tony Fernandes at times….
Michael Griffin
28th May 2011, 0:29
****hard, not had
sw6569 (@sw6569)
28th May 2011, 8:56
I suggest you train to be one then.
Cacarella
28th May 2011, 1:28
Poor GeeMac, Gonna get a lot of hate in this round-up.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
28th May 2011, 4:45
GeeMac? What did he do?
GeeMac (@geemac)
28th May 2011, 8:48
I’m a lawyer!!! ;)
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
28th May 2011, 9:17
Oh, in that case… I no longer have any respect for you! Only kidding, this ‘knock the lawyers’ thing is a bit silly. ;)
Mark Hitchcock
28th May 2011, 0:14
A solid second driver is just what Ferrari need at the moment. They’d probably snap him up if they got the chance.
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 5:36
Speaking of which, when was the last time Ferrari had two former WDCs driving for them? The closest they came to that was if Massa had won the 2008 championship.
Dutch_Alex
28th May 2011, 9:23
Interesting stat actually! I can’t find a single instance where they had two (former) WDCs driving for them. They did come closer in 1990 though, with Prost and Mansel.
I wonder if they always had the philosophy of having a number 1 and number two driver, or that the WDCs didn’t want to drive for they because for a lot of years they didn’t have a really good car.
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 10:23
Ferrari were consistently mediocre only between 1985 and 1995 (except for the Prost years 1990-1991) Otherwise the cars were usually at the top or thereabouts. A Ferrari driver should have won the title in 1982 and 1985, going by the mid-season standings in both those years.
From what I’ve read, Ferrari’s problems were more to do with management, especially through the ’80s with Enzo slowly fading out of the picture. Poor in-season development of the cars and embarrassingly poor pit crew management seem to have been their biggest problems. The cars were usually quick out of the box.
US_Peter (@us_peter)
28th May 2011, 0:16
It’s great that team principles are finally speaking out against Bernie, it’s just too bad that it’s not unanimous and on the record… The battle over the next Concorde Agreement is going to get nasty.
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th May 2011, 0:49
Too true. This Concorde Agreement will be his last.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
28th May 2011, 4:46
Which is a shame. Bernie is our only hope of retaining the current engines! :(
BasCB (@bascb)
28th May 2011, 11:36
LOL, I just read retarding the current engines there Damon.
I do think it would become retarded having the same old engines for another 5 years. Would be like NASCAR using age old technology engines.
Oliver
28th May 2011, 0:29
I doubt Ferrari will go for an English driver any time soon. They know how the English press can destroy morale in a team
Calum
28th May 2011, 0:40
Then let me recommend them PdR!
Has a Scotsman ever raced for the factory Ferrari F1 team?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th May 2011, 0:51
PdR has Mercedes written all over him.
Calum
28th May 2011, 0:57
Totally agree, and I don’t see JB going to Ferrari. He will retire at Mclaren.
Calum
28th May 2011, 1:38
98 Formula 1 drivers and the closest to a Scottish driver the Scuderia have come is with Johnny Claes who had a Scottish mother.
Journeyer (@journeyer)
28th May 2011, 2:07
Jackie Stewart came very close for 1971. As did David Coulthard for 1996 (as Schumacher’s #2).
Calum
28th May 2011, 2:25
It’s a good job he stayed with Matra/Tyrell, ws 71 not his ‘easiest’ of the three titles he won?
AndrewTanner (@andrewtanner)
28th May 2011, 7:17
Yea. Ferrari couldn’t get away with two drivers at the back end of their career.
Lee
28th May 2011, 10:21
you missed where Alonso singed a contract extension through to the end of 2016? Clearly the back end of his career. Pratt
TomD11 (@tomd11)
28th May 2011, 11:33
You missed where Alonso has already been in F1 for 10 years? I always thought 10 > 5.
The only benefit I can see in Button going to Ferrari is the coining of some cool Mansell-esque nickname; ‘Il Bottone’ perhaps or ‘Il i frontalini sono di bloccaggio’ (courtesy of google translate).
David-A (@david-a)
28th May 2011, 0:38
I’m looking forward to the 2011 Indian Grand Prix, to be held on July 22nd 2012.
MVEilenstein (@mveilenstein)
28th May 2011, 0:52
+1
US_Peter (@us_peter)
28th May 2011, 1:21
:-D
Ben
28th May 2011, 5:19
haha nice
mike77 (@mike77)
28th May 2011, 11:23
Seriously though, isn’t 11th december a little bit late in the year?
craig
28th May 2011, 1:39
There were big problems in getting the Commonwealth game facilities finished on time and meeting requirements. I would not be surprised if there were similar problems for this track.
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 4:47
That’s partly because the Government was completely in charge of the Commonwealth Games. The minister who oversaw the Games has been sacked and is facing charges of corruption. The Indian GP will not see as much involvement from the Government and from what we hear, construction is going as per schedule.
It’s been brought up on this site before, but the daytime maximum temperature in Delhi in December is around 22-24°C, and that’s at 3pm. If Bernie wants to make this a twilight race like Malaysia, the temperature will be around 20°C or lower. Is that warm enough for the tyres?
Prisoner Monkeys (@prisoner-monkeys)
28th May 2011, 5:13
And construction is being done by a private company, not the lowest public bidder.
PT
28th May 2011, 8:29
I don’t know if that’s warm enough for the tyres, but it’s certainly not warm enough for me, used to the tropical climate of Kerala in southern India :)
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 10:13
I hear you, that’s too cold for me too! Does anybody know what the coldest race on record is? I bet one of the Swedish GPs has a good chance of holding that record.
PT
28th May 2011, 10:26
This link should give an idea. Apparently temperatures were 10 degrees celsius during the 2009 German Grand Prix at Nurburgring during the first practice session
https://www.racefans.net/forum/topic.php?id=925
Bleu
28th May 2011, 11:35
1995 Nurburgring was very cold, held on October 1st. At least in practice I recall seeing a picture where Barrichello had tuque under his sponsor cap.
wasiF1 (@wasif1)
28th May 2011, 2:42
So Button think that he can’t win the WC in Mclaren? For what reason the car is good & you have to drive well.
bosyber (@bosyber)
28th May 2011, 8:40
But probably he knows by now that Lewis will likely always be a bit ahead, not by much, but quite possibly enough to ensure that he is likelier to win a WDC with McLaren.
Not sure that is true entirely though, Lewis has had several seasons now with scrappy races near the end, when fighting for WDC; Button got his Brawn back on track near the end of his WDC.
damonsmedley (@damonsmedley)
28th May 2011, 4:58
Congratulations on the COTD, Steph. :D
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:26
I wonder why I never have one, but then I noticed this was a greater comment than any of mine.
Steph (@)
28th May 2011, 11:21
Thanks guys but Fixy don’t be daft! I always love reading your comments. You’re one of my favourites on here! :)
BasCB (@bascb)
28th May 2011, 11:38
But that was a very nice COTD for certain Steph!
Scary Terry (@hatebreeder)
28th May 2011, 5:42
if JB leaves, it’s definitely Nico taking his place in Mclaren.
sumedh
28th May 2011, 6:41
Button instead of Massa will be good.
Icthyes (@icthyes)
28th May 2011, 9:29
Button would be a great catch for Ferrari. But Ferrari would be a step back for Button. What he has now works; why spoil it?
paolo (@paolo)
28th May 2011, 10:03
I think he realises that he will never win the championship at McLaren because Lewis is clearly faster than him. So I guess he is looking at other options.
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 10:11
If it’s unlikely that Button will win the title with McLaren, it’s even less likely he’ll win with Ferrari, what with the team having recently committed to Alonso with a 5 year contract.
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:24
Alonso is as fast as Lewis if not faster. And he is doing well at McLaren, so why have to change team?
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:23
First part- agree
Second part- agree
Third part- agree.
Atanu (@ilovevettel)
28th May 2011, 10:16
I was going through the Judgement(Well I was bored in office on a Saturday :D)..
I found this very interesting:
I think it means Team Lotus can use either Lotus or Team Lotus in F1 but Group Lotus will have to append something with Lotus in order to use in F1.
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:22
Group Lotus should have either:
1 – Bought Lotus Racing rather than Renault, name it Team Lotus and everyone would have been happy;
2 – Bought Renault not in an act of response to Fernandes’ team but one year earlier so that Tony would have made a new team with another name or not entered F1 at all or become part of another team, such as Virgin and HRT.
Atanu (@ilovevettel)
28th May 2011, 12:43
That would have been the ideal solution but unfortunately that is not the case…
Currently I see this hypothetical solution:
Team Lotus and Renault exchange the history.
In that way TF will get Renault history money(Which is a substantial one) and rename the team as Caterham F1. Group Lotus will finally have the Team Lotus name. So that everybody would be happy.
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:17
No way. He suits McLaren well, he would be number two at Ferrari to a double world champion, and he would be worse than he is now.
Fixy (@)
28th May 2011, 10:19
Love this quote.
Burnout (@burnout)
28th May 2011, 10:27
+1. Completely agree with that quote. That’s F1’s biggest open secret.