Ferrari made approaches to Hamilton last year

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Ferrari tried to sign Lewis Hamilton on more than one occasion last year.

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Ferrari made two attempts to lure F1 champion Lewis Hamilton for 2016 season (The Mirror)

"The 30-year-old was secretly approached last year by former Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci."

Fernando Alonso crash 'very strange' says Flavio Briatore (BBC)

"He crashes without any reason. We have to see if there was a steering problem."

Force India still frustrated over Manor (Autosport)

"Even if that money was distributed, it would be a minor sticky plaster on the problems. And it had nothing to do with the way we voted."

McLaren’s F1 struggles caused by distractions, says David Coulthard (The Guardian)

"There’s stuff going on there which is very unMcLaren like. But then they’ve had a pretty bad run for years now."

Lewis Hamilton aims to set benchmark on the track and for what he earns at Mercedes (The Telegraph)

"Have I enjoyed it? I’m not too sure I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been an experience. I’m glad I’ve done it."

Lewis & Nico ready for rematch (Sky)

"Nico knows what I am capable and I am very much aware of what he is capable of and what he can do – and I’m conscious he will be trying to do everything under the sun to improve and beat me this year. "

Revamped Formula 1 website unveiled (F1 Broadcasting)

"No live video, either, the only thing surrounding video concerns 'HD video edits, highlights and behind the scenes.'"

Kevin Garside: F1 needs to return to its essence where drivers rule over engineers (The Independent)

"Somewhere along the line F1 went too far down the lab route at the expense of theatre."

I've matured, says Hamilton, as he uses Ferrari as a negotiating chip (James Allen on F1)

"He is known to be asking for a huge retainer from Mercedes, part of the reason why the negotiations have been going on for so long."

Tweets

Snapshot

We’ve already seen Ferrari’s vision of how future F1 cars might look, now reader Andries van Overbeeke has created this design based on the current Williams car.

“Lack of genetic diversity leads to weaknesses that can wipe out a whole species at once,” comments Andries on his design. “There is an ongoing ailment involving nasal deformation, caused by living in the standardised cages.”

“We must set them free. Legend goes that in the remote untraveled fields, savages still roam. Let life find a way.”

Andries has kindly supplied some extra-high resolution images of his artwork allowing you to appreciate it in its full glory:

Comment of the day

As the FIA is rather fond of banning things at the moment, Michel has a suggestion:

F1 should get with the times, and stop parading around half-naked woman to attract what they seem to think is there main audience (16-year-old boys?)

It’s not 1950 any more. Women can be engineers, drivers, team principals and anything else on the track. It’s time to ban this sexist tradition which makes F1 look silly.
Michel

From the forum

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday to Fred Schechter!

If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.

On this day in F1

Happy birthday to former F1 driver Toshio Suzuki who is 60 today. He started two races at the end of 1993, and is one of few drivers to have shared a surname with one of his rivals despite not being related to them: Aguri Suzuki started the same two races, albeit closer to the front of the grid than his back row-occupying namesake.

Here’s the latter in action at Adelaide:

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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151 comments on “Ferrari made approaches to Hamilton last year”

  1. That concept Williams looks fantastic. It looks believable and most importantly, fast!

    1. totally! i would love to see a grid full of those!

      1. Sergey Martyn
        10th March 2015, 12:03

        A grid full of the same looking cars i even more boring than the processional races.
        (BTW I believe the most important and most beautiful F1 car in history was Lotus 79)
        If you strip the today’s liveries the cars are sadly look the same.
        Where is the freedom which have led to great innovations, unusual and stunning designs, mind-blowing power figures etc.?
        Where are the difference between the V12 aria and banshee howl of V8, where are those crazy six-wheelers, fan-cars and fire-blasting turbo monsters with 1-2 second power lag?
        I prefer reading the memoirs of Gerhard Berger who said how scary and exciting it was to blast 1400 hp turbo rocket in qualifying trim through Zeltweg straight than yawning hearing the mumblings of today racers about tyre issues and how they won the races saving the rubber and frigging planet with green engines and low emission.
        We want fire-throwing, hi-octane spectacle of the unimaginable cars which are so powerful they twitch on long straights even not on full throttle… and what do we have now? Processional parades of the same-looking machinery – the numb state of Bernie’s is contagious and very rarely inerrupted by Kimi who knows what he’s doing or by some loud crash – thank God F1 coverage is free where I live – I hardly imagine I would pay a cent for that ersatz-show of who saves his tyres better.
        P.S. There is a absolutely perfect movie describing the state of modern F1 done at the end of 80’s turbo era – ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ – where a pair of losers try to pretend that their murdered employer is really alive. That is exactly the same now – F1 is dragged to strange places like say Korean swamp just to prove it’s still alive an drawing the unexciting (due to overkill rstrictions) designs that in fact will bury it no matter how the curent administrations at FIA and F1 ant to make it look like it’s alive and kicking. An these old emmiters of intenstine gases want to attract youner auditories? Wake up folks – I’e talked with my son and his friends who are between 22 and 30 and are great not only motoring enthusiasts but people who spend days and weeks in garages reanimating and tuning the cars.
        Do I need to tell you they are all yawning trying to watch the modern F1 and are eager to watch a discuss the old footage of those monsters being thrown at qualifying trim through the Monaco labyrinth or Eau Rouge? That’s where I see the excitement, respect and genuine interest, not the grid full of the same-looking cars.
        Beauty is in the eye of beholder and I prize ugly B186 monster over the slick design of this rendering. Form folows the function – does it matter how ugly or beautiful the car is if it wins the races?

        1. I like your passionate reaction and I agree with you, even on your last point: I too would like to see the return of ugly monsters with radical ideas. Look at the new Nissan LMP1. Is it a freak? Is it a beauty? I don’t know, but I know it’s an amazing beast. My concept stays fairly close to what we know, because the approach was to make a realistic and implementable car for the next rule changes.

          1. And thank you for the effort @andriesvanoverbeeke, in contrast to Ferrari’s completely over the top visual, your version looks futuristical while also harking back to cars many fans grew up with.

            I think like the detail of the curvy and low rear wing as well as the nice and flowing lines.

          2. Great concept Andries! Feels like a design resultant from a strict formula – DNA and features baked in real performance. The Ferrari concept was designed by car designers (stylist), most likely an intern or two. Nothing on their concept was baked in performance and almost all the surfacing was unnecessary and superfluous. I found Ferrari’s concept quite insulting actually, as though real F1 fans dont appreciate the fact that these things are rolling laboratories – not products that look like they have gone through a marketing committee.

          3. I’m not a big fan of endurance racing but Nismo is the perfect example of how the fresh air of freedom can lead to beautiful or ugly innovations, I sincerelly wish Nissan to win LeMans to prove that such bold and somewhat crazy ideas lead to most inspiring and progressive innovations. FIA’s butt-squeezing rules are plain overkill.

      2. Not radical enough for me. I want to see something that looks like it’s from the future, not 1995.

    2. I would much prefer that one to the one Ferrari came up with.

      1. It is impossible to be true however.

    3. Very nice and fairly realistic concept. Not a far fetched progression from current cars. I even like the idea of a less complex front wing though some might call this boxy.

      A concept car should be a target to aim at or a direction to go. Some of the past F1 concepts go so far they become unachievable short of a minor part or two. Not to be rude, but some concepts look like a Tyrell P34 mated with the Batmobile.

      A concept somewhere between this one and the recent Ferrari concept could be interesting.

      1. UNeedAFinn2Win
        10th March 2015, 7:10

        Tusks! yeay…

        I miss tusks. And single pylons. And low keels. And that weird Jordan hexagon

    4. How is this the future, it looks like a 2005 F1 car we need to go forwards not backwards.

      1. @andriesvanoverbeeke Really really cool stuff. Just wondering…what about 18″ rims?

        1. i dont know but i think i wanna keep seeing the 13″ rims

          http://www.ausmotive.com/F1/2014/Lotus-E22-18-v-13-inch-comparison-02.jpg

        2. Thank you. The fronts are still 13 inch, the rears are 15,35 inch (390 mm). I prefer these to the 18 inchers :)

          1. I’d love it either way. Just wondered wrt them talking about potentially going to larger rims in the future. Or was that just what Michelin would demand pending a return to F1?

            Anyway for me that gorgeous low rear wing takes me/us back to such iconic cars and times, if it were up to me I’d instigate that look into the regs as soon as possible.

    5. Awesome effort @andriesvanoverbeeke, my fave is pic number 4, well done mate :)

  2. Flavio Briatore regarding Alonso’s crash.
    “He crashes without any reason.”

    You know Flavio, sometimes people crash for no apparent reason.

    1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
      10th March 2015, 0:48

      epic!!!

    2. ColdFly F1 (@)
      10th March 2015, 8:50

      good one!

    3. Nailed it!

      1. Maybe it was a ” Flávio practise crash “

    4. HAHAHAHA Nice one dude!

    5. AHAHAHA!

      on the other hand though, Briatore is kind of an expert on Alonso-related weird crashes… ;)

    6. Just remember, even though this may have been Flavio’s idea, Alonso had no prior knowledge of it! (sticks head in sand and continues to believe that myth)

  3. “The 30-year-old was secretly approached last year by former Ferrari boss Marco Mattiacci.”

    Imagine the reaction… “Haha, good one Marco… oh, you’re serious?! bahahahaha yeah, right, I’m leaving the most dominant team in decades for FERRARI! BAHAHAHAH!”

    Also, I’ll leave others for Flavio’s comments reaction.

    1. @fer-no65 – Yes I’m sure he laughed in the boss of Ferrari’s face, burning a bridge in the process, rather than listening to the offer and taking it as a compliment and potential future lead. Because maturity and common sense. ;-)

      1. DANGER: Sense of humor not detected (even if my joke wasn’t the best one, way to kill the mood)

        1. @fer-no65 I don’t know. His response looks a bit like a (counter-)joke, to be fair…..

          1. @davidnotcoulthard the smiley at the end kills me… :P, :), :D are okay, cool chaps… the blinking dude comes out as arrogant… hate the guy…

            ;-)

      2. Come on now, we all knew Marco wasn’t going to last. So of course Lewis had a jab and a laugh. Try to find the humor in what @fer-no65 just did in a sarcastic joking manner to make people laugh.

  4. Force India needs to give it a break and move on or risk losing what little fan support they currently have.

    1. The structure of F1 and its inequitable funding distribution certainly is not the Fault of Manor. Even though Fernley did say it’s not about the money.

    2. I disagree, being righteous and sustainable is SFI if anything it only makes me like them more. I suspect though, SFI is an hypocrite as all teams are, as long as they got the dough they’ll ruin the show, by overpricing F1, when they’re broke they do this, which is actually the right thing to do.

      I think the intent behind half naked girls on the grid is questionable, but if you think that beautiful things are dumb that’s your problem not F1’s.

      Everyone uses Ferrari as a bargaining chip, guess there’s four aces of Ferrari in F1’s deck, last year it was Newey using the Ferrari card, now it’s Lewis.

      Andries don’t get mad if I say I don’t like your nostradamus, it’s not because it isn’t well made, it’s not your render but if that’s what F1 is cooking, I think I’ve see this book before, it looks like the mid 90’s again. Where’s the originality F1?

    3. Force india was 100% correct to ask only that marussia will fulfill the basic safety rules everybody else are required to fulfill too. I have no idea what kind of mind acrobatics it takes for you to make the force india look like the bad boy when marussia seems to have been asking to race unsafe car and ask for concessions for basically unlimited amount of time without any decent plan how and when they would fix the safety issues.

      I mean force india losing their fans.. really??? It is marussia who are being wrong. That is a fact. It’s not force india’s fault if marussia wants to race unsafe car and others won’t allow it. You need to remember also how the voting went. An unanimous decision was required and as soon as force india voted against the decision all the other teams chose to now vote.

      Do you even know the facts? Lol, there were other teams who would have voted against that as well:
      http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/31158612
      “Although sources say Force India were the only team to veto the plan in the meeting, a number of other teams were also against it.”

      1. should have said: “all the other teams chose to NOT vote.”

        why is there no edit buttons…

  5. stop parading around half-naked woman to attract what they seem to think is there main audience (16-year-old boys?)

    Somebody doesn’t know much about women, who are if anything even bigger fans of images of pretty half-naked women than men are. Next time you’re in the magazine aisle of your book shop take a look at the covers of womens magazines. Then ask yourself why the favorite womens spectator sports are ice skating and womens gymnastics.

    1. Yeah, it’s not like they’re not paid to stand around and do nothing except look beautiful. Keep them on I say!

    2. GB (@bgp001ruled)
      10th March 2015, 0:53

      besides we all love to see half naked women (at least i do)! and in the states watch basketball, football and other sports and you will see women shacking all they got in the half time pauses! and they are also half naked, too! and they are dancing!!!

      1. @bgp001ruled so… cheerleaders in F1? *confused myself*

    3. @RM Yep last time I checked hen’s nights were organized trips to the women’s Ice skating and gymnastics! Get naughty ladies!

      Oh dear..

    4. If that’s the case, why don’t we have grid men? The point is if we are serious about equality, then its either that or no grid men/girls at all.

      1. No, please no @john-h.
        There’s a time and place for everything, and I don’t think a race track is the place for sex of any flavour.

        1. @timothykatz – James Hunt would have disagreed with you.
          Actually, I think he would have been too busy to disagree with you. Ahem.

        2. Agreed. Let’s settle on none at all :)

          1. lets settle on you stop being a pansy

      2. That’s equality right there, that is the point of equality the right to chose equally what you want to do. Equality is not about having a grid girl and grid boy half naked. Everywhere, billboars, TV, magazines, newspaper, etc… there will always be a half naked woman. I even remember a woman in Spain during elections choosing as billboard for her campaign her own boobs, arguing that it is the right of the women to do what that like with their body on the picture got banned.
        Nobody is forcing them there, it is the path they have chosen for their life, so please stop this nonsense of equality. Heck, you can’t even watch a decent video song nowadays without half naked women shaking every where and anything.

      3. They tried them a few years ago; if my memory serves me well it was at the 2011 European GP (at Valencia) and some other circuit as well.

      4. Women love seeing other half naked women not guys do not like to see other half naked men

    5. You’re giving women’s magazines as an example of … what, exactly? Are you aware of the concerns about the unrealistic body images portrayed by some fashion magazines, and the harm they can do to young girls?

      In case you hadn’t guessed, I agree with the CotD. I feel embarrassed for the sport when I see the “brolly dollies” on the grid and then lined up to cheer the drivers onto the podium at the end. F1 needs to be dragged into the 21st century in more ways than one.

      1. Are you aware of the concerns about the unrealistic body images portrayed by some fashion magazines, and the harm they can do to young girls?

        How is that relevant? Is their choice to buy these magazines anyway.

        1. How is that relevant? Is their choice to buy these magazines anyway.

          because sexism. sexism sexism sexism sexism sexism…. you sexist.

  6. Ferrari already have one thirty million pound driver …. can they afford a second one even if they want one? It strikes me they’d be better off using some of that money to improve their CFD and aerodynamics.

    1. Their sponsor appeal can more than make for their salary. For instances Lewis McLaren departure led to an array of new Mercedes sponsors from McLaren, namely Hugo Boss. This has been standard since the 50’s even, more noticeable from the start of the sponsorship boom in 70’s.

      1. Personally, I don’t see anything ‘unexpected/weird’ in BOSS leaving McLaren for Mercedes. It’s a german brand leaving a british car-manufacturer in the favour of a german car-manufacturer. Patriotism still exists, I guess. Plus, it was Mercedes’ return to F1 as a team since 1955.

        1. I think it was nothing more than a brand leaving another brand that wasn’t performing good ROI and moving that investment to a brand that was constantly being shown on TV/Media & News. I’m also guessing that having a driver who is a multiple world champion and race winner and also happens to have a massive fan base around the world along with a huge social following had some sway on where they spent their advertising budget.

        2. Nobody said Hugo Boss leaving was weird. However the timing of when they left is significant. I don’t see how you “expected” it. Mercedes had been in F1 since 2010. Hamilton did not leave McLaren until 2012, just before Hugo Boss, and Vodafone. I don’t see how you think these events are unrelated, knowing that Hamilton is one of the most commercially successful drivers on the grid.

          I very much doubt “Patriotism” explains the full story.

    2. It’s a no-brainer that Hamilton’s pay is bound to rise, the question is; by how much?
      His association with MercedesAmgF1 has been a beneficial experience to all parties involved. He has brought success to the team and the team have come through on delivering his second championship to him.
      His ‘star power’ remarkably increased the profile of the team, and fan numbers grew, all happening soon after he was signed. Their tyre munching 2013 season did not deter the numbers from rising.
      Now, being the current champion, and knowing his value as a racer, it is expected for him to effectively use all of this as bargaining chips. I would. It’s only normal.
      But MercedesAmgF1 can choose not to retain him and therefore sign someone else. It is absolutely understandable. After all there are quite a number of good and promising talents in the field and the car will most likely still be fast in 2016 – regulations untouched.
      The big question, however, is who would you as a team boss or engineers want to be at the wheels of your car as soon as the new regulations which Benny and the FiA are currently pushing for comes in 2017? Alonso is engaged at Mclaren, Vettel is tied to Ferrari, Verstappen is yet a lot of hype. Hamilton has proven that he can guide engineers towards a good development path with any car he is given.
      MercedesAmgF1 can, in the short term, save quite a lot of money if they choose not to renew Hamilton’s contract. But in the long run the money lost will be much greater as some sponsors may jump ship while others may simply decide not to renew their association with the team anymore, as Mclaren has experienced.
      As for Hamilton, well, he can always find a place to drive even for less, if he chooses, out of principle.
      MercedesAmgF1 might be fast today but a relatively unknown 2017 is looming around the corner.
      Toto Wolff should not bungle this contract negotiation.

  7. I really, really do not like the looks of that Audi R18. To me it looks like a cross between the Batmobile and the Popemobile. Not saying it isn’t a great machine though.

    I really *do* like the fantasy Williams. It looks especially natural and flowing.

    1. good im not the only one! I think its hideous!

  8. Travis Humphery (@)
    10th March 2015, 1:27

    I completely agree with the COD.

    I have a 5 year old daughter who I would love to be able to share my love of F1 with but how am I supposed to explain to her that the scantily clad women are there just to look at as they hold the drivers name signs.

    I feel embarrassed watching the F1 with my wife and teenage daughter in the room as the winning drivers walk past the lines of women post race. It’s just so archaic.

    As the COD says, how do they expect it to move forward to new fans.

    1. @travis tell her she can have a scantly clad man holding her sign one day as she races for F1. See that’s sticking it to the establishment.

    2. You could tell her that the human body isn’t something to be ashamed of. When did we become so puritanical?

      1. This is nothing to do with puritanical beliefs. The human body is a wonderful, beautiful thing, in all its myriad forms, and we should absolutely celebrate it. But what we’re talking about isn’t a celebration of the human body, it’s a celebration of straight male sexuality. It’s about using women to decorate F1, as literally nothing more than sexy signposts. It’s an affirmation of the dominance of male straight sexuality, and how men use that sexuality to subjugate women and create clear boundaries about what women can and cannot do within a male-dominated domain. Yes, we have a few female drivers, and a couple of women team bosses, but there’s no escaping the fact that F1 is overwhelmingly dominated by men. Specifically straight white men. Straight white men using their sexuality to exclude women as effectively as they can by sending out one clear message – women, you are not here to compete with us. You aren’t here to support us or to work alongside us. You are here for one purpose only; our sexual gratification. We want you here because we find your bodies arousing, and as men we demand that we should not be forced to undertake any endeavour without the reward of being able to look at your bodies and fantasize about having sex with you, because that, we believe, is the true value of a woman.

        That is the message that grid girls send out. That is the thing that makes it so hard for women to break into male dominated environments, because bigoted men measure a woman’s worth purely by her sexual attractiveness, not by any of her genuine human qualities. To them, women are just meat, to be consumed.

        1. @mazdachris: hear hear! You said it much better than I managed.

          1. I suppose the argument should then extend to cheerleaders too, fashion models, models at car shows etc etc, but the problem I have is this…unless someone forced these women to do this, I’ll assume they are participating of their own free will…the very free will that would have us progress to where, as COTD points out, women can be engineers, drivers, team principals, and ANYTHING else on the track. The same free will that has males modeling all over the world too, including F1 drivers, no doubt.

            So women should be banned from doing this quasi modeling even if they were hoping it was a way of advancing their modeling career, or fashion career, or of networking with people and making contacts? Even if they are marketing students or some day want to have their own business? Let’s just assume these women don’t have educations, nor career aspirations of their own, nor free thinking. They’ve had no choice and therefore they shouldn’t have this to put on their resumes.

            Of course I understand the point and agree with not objectifying women. I would just prefer to see women making their own educated decisions, and parents who might recoil in horror at seeing these women, use it as a teaching moment to explain that nobody has forced these women to do this, and there is a good chance these women want to be there and have career aspirations of their own, but there are many other career choices too, and people should have choices and be able to do what they enjoy. To assume otherwise without knowing them is just as dangerous. Just as it is to assume all straight white men objectify women and want to marginalized them.

            I will proceed in this world with the understanding that women have come a long long way, and as they continue to do more and more they are also more educated than ever, and if one day no women decide to be signholders at F1 races, then there will be no signholders at F1 races. And if they do sign up only to somehow suddenly then find they are repulsed by the objectification, then they are free to leave that position and take from it and grow and educate others. The fact they signed up to begin with would indicate they are likely go-getters, and don’t likely look at the role as diminishing themselves, and I’m sure certainly don’t think of themselves as nothing more than sexy signposts.

            I’ll also proceed in this world with the understanding that more and more men are educated and get it, and in fact are better people than men within F1 are being portrayed here, who have mothers, and sisters, and girlfriends, and wives, and daughters and therefore respect and honour women and support their choices when they have made them.

          2. @robbie

            I don’t think that grid girls exist because there are loads of women really wanting to be grid girls. You make out like this is some sort of favour the organisers are doing. Nonsense. This is about middle aged men wanting to be able to indulge in a bit of mild sexual gratification while thye wait for the racing to start. The fact that there are women prepared to do this job does not mean that it would be some kind of infringement of their rights to get rid of it. As I say above, I love the human body and I feel it should be celebrated, and that positive body image is a very important thing. But this is nothing to do with that at all. Because of context. A scantily clad person in one context is a totally different proposition to a scantily clad person in a different context. I don’t believe that there should be bare breasts in a family newspaper. But I have no problem with the concept of topless modelling or photography. I just think that sexualised imagery can be damaging and demeaning, and shouldn’t form part of a family spectacle.

            And after all, what does it really say about us men? Are we really so pathetic and low brow that unless someone shows as a pneumatic smiling girl, so that we can imagine having sex with her, we’ll lose concentration and just wander off?

            My point is not at all about shaming the women who choose to work as models. It’s simply that as a society, we should be past the need for this kind of base titillation as a side dish to family attractions. And if we can’t, then what really does it say about us as intelligent creatures supposedly capable of higher reasoning?

          3. @robbie: I’m sure that women become “grid girls” for a variety of reasons, but I’m willing to bet that they’re not all “go-getters” with glittering careers as engineers or executives ahead of them.

            They may not think of themselves as “nothing more than sexy signposts” but that’s what they’re being hired for: their bodies, not their minds. This is part of why it’s such an insidious thing: you can sell it as “empowerment” and “freedom of choice” for the models, but what it comes down to is bums on seats. Specifically, male bums who like to look at beautiful ladies. And this perpetuates the objectification of women.

            You said, “if one day no women decide to be signholders at F1 races, then there will be no signholders at F1 races” (my emphasis). This in itself presupposes that no man would want to do such a thing, which is the sort of unconscious prejudice which needs to be examined.

          4. @mazdachris You’ve given me another, as usual, well worded and intelligent response, and about the only one I could think of to expect as I was writing my post above.

            I just haven’t looked at grid girls as so damaging and demeaning, just as you categorize where bare breasts should and should not belong wrt family spectacles vs. modeling or photography sessions. For me they’ve often been dressed more akin to flight attendants (a role which many men do too), than the truly scantily clad women we have all seen in other places.

            So I totally appreciate your comment about what it says about us men, but nor did I need the grid girls to keep from wandering off. And as intelligent reasoning creatures, I debate how many men actually do need them or they’d change the channel. Should we be past the need? Sure. I just didn’t really need them to begin with and wouldn’t miss them if they were gone, and I think there are more men like me than you are giving our side of the race credit for, with what I thought was a pretty broad brush with which you are painting all straight white males.

          5. @robbie

            I think as straight white males (assuming that you are of course, apologies if I have misinterpreted) it’s very easy to fall into the trap of only assessing things in relation to ourselves, and often don’t even consider the possibility that people who aren’t straight white males may have a very different experience of the world. I know that I’ve been guilty of it most of my life, and have only in the past few years opened my eyes to it, and actually started to listen when people tell me that things affect them differently. It’s easy for us to say that because we personally don’t find something harmful or offensive, that it therefore ISN’T harmful or offensive. But this is not a helpful perspective.

            As you say, I think most men are so used to the concept of continually seeing women used as decoration for their entertainment, they literally stop noticing it, and think that it’s so normal that there’s no way it could possibly be harmful or problematic. But if you try to see it from women’s perspective, how would you feel if the only representation of your gender was as nothing more than set dressing? Like a decorative pot plant. There just to smile and look pretty and applaud the drivers. My characterisation of middle aged men perving over them is probably inaccurate; even worse perhaps, I think most men simply neither notice nor care. Which is what makes it all the more galling that some men get so defensive when you suggest that you could do away with it entirely and it would only be beneficial. It’s like, I don’t really care about it being there, but if you try to take it away I’ll kick up a right stink. What better illustration of the typical mindset than that?

            Of course there are far worse injustices in the world, and while ultimately this is unlikely to ever make a difference outside of the world of motorsport, it’s something which could be resolved very easily and with literally zero negative consequence. If it makes F1 a more inviting, safer space for women and children, and most men simply don’t care either way, then what possible argument can there be for continuing with it?

            Simply this; F1 is ruled by an old man who simply doesn’t understand the world in the 21st century.

          6. @jimg I never suggested grid girls were all potential engineers nor executives, and only suggest they are likely way more than they appear, and needn’t be judged without knowing them. And for you to suggest some presupposition on my part that no man would want to do such a thing because I used the word women, and that is a subconscious/unconscious prejudice that needs to be examined, is a bit disingenuous. As far as I know they have only ever hired women for this role, and we are talking abut the objectification of women, starting off with COTD. If men were sometimes or often hired for this role I would have included them, not to mention we would not be having this debate and COTD would not have been composed. Although, in a truly fair world, I suppose we would end up talking about the objectification of men, if indeed they were hired as grid guys.

          7. Steph (@stephanief1990)
            10th March 2015, 15:19

            As, I think (please correct me if I’m wrong), the only only woman F1 fan in this discussion it’s really a revolutionary change to see men debating to what women should do with their own lives and bodies :P Joking, but seriously:
            F1 is riddled with sexism, homophobia, transphobia, classism, disabilism and racism. This all needs to be tackled. I’ll argue any day any time about the pernicious sexism in this sport but grid girls aren’t the problem. This conversation reminds me of the ‘No More Page 3’ campaign in the UK recently – it was basically people trying to campaign for women to be out of work and disapproving of the choices they had made. The campaign spoke over the women doing the jobs who wanted to keep being employed. I know women and men who are models and sex workers and they do it for many different reasons. To them it’s a job like no other. How many jobs are actually based on brains or talent? Very few, especially low paid ones.
            This might not be a choice that you like but it’s not your choice to make. If we want true equality in the sport we’d scrap grid girls and just have models of any gender. We’d also not just pander to the very narrow idea of beauty we have but have models of all races, shapes and sizes. We’d work more on promoting women drivers and engineers and strategists. We’d work against the overwhelmingly sexist culture, we wouldn’t try to be kicking the few women in the sport out of it because we’re not comfortable with their choices.

          8. @stephanief1990 I’ve tried to write a couple of different responses to your post, and nothing has quite hit the right tone. In the end, you are a woman and your perspective on this is necessarily more informed than my own. I would simply say that I honestly hope you don’t think that my position on this is based on any kind of judgement of the women who choose modelling as a career. I know several women who do it, and they are happy with their life choices and as well adjusted people as you could hope to meet.

            What I would say, is that if you haven’t had the chance to read through the testimonials section on the NMP3 website, then they are well worth a look. I hadn’t ever really thought critically about it before until I read some of the harrowing stories on there.

          9. @robbie: Rereading your comment it’s true that you didn’t suggest that grid girls were all potential engineers or executives, but are likely to be more than just a pretty face. I think that my point still stands: the pretty face is what they were hired for.

            As for this bit:

            If men were sometimes or often hired for this role I would have included them, not to mention we would not be having this debate and COTD would not have been composed. Although, in a truly fair world, I suppose we would end up talking about the objectification of men, if indeed they were hired as grid guys.

            Very well put!

          10. @stephanief1990: Welcome to the discussion :-) I don’t see grid girls as a real problem in F1, more a symptom of the underlying issues. By which I mean that F1 would get along just fine without them, but chooses to have them for titillation.

            I don’t have a problem with people wanting to stand on the grid and hold a number or an umbrella, or applaud the drivers up to the podium. What I have a problem with is that the people hiring them are only hiring tall, thin women. No men, nobody with too many curves. This reinforces the stereotypes of what is beautiful, and also as these are the most visible women in F1 it sends the message that men drive and women stand around looking good.

            I’m not so comfortable with “positive discrimination”, hiring or promoting women just because they’re women. I think that the culture does need to change, but I don’t know how that can be done. Surely making all women feel more welcome would have to be a good start wouldn’t it?

        2. @stephanief1990

          no one is talking about kicking woman out because of their choices, we are talking about how f1 looks to young girls and boys: Men race and lead, slim and tall woman are decoration, other woman hardly exist.

          I am not opposed to models, i am opposed to how they only use woman, and a very small subset of them in a demeaning position.

          no one here is judging someone looking for work.

  9. To me, McLaren have been suffering since Spygate.
    And here’s a crazy theory about Alonso: he has realized what crap car they have and didn’t want to embarrass himself in Melbourne, so the doctors said he had to rest because of a concussion. His discontent was exemplified by the sponsor-free “I’m okay” video. (No, I don’t really believe it.)

    As for Lewis, he needs more money to pay for the jet, studio equipment, recording time, and personal photographer that follows him around 24/7 taking pics for twitter/instagram. I’m surprised he hasn’t shown up with bleached-blond hair a-la Jacques Villleneuve!

    1. Yes, that is a crazy theory. Yes, the doctors said he has to rest because of a concussion because that’s what you do after a concussion. You know why? Because it is a brain INJURY.

    2. To add more spice to your conspiracy theory – Nando doesn’t have a performance clause in his contract, so it’s going to be hard for him to get out of Mclaren. Medical reasons could be a way out..

      If you’re conspiracy theory is true… Mclaren must have created their worst car in their racing history. For a driver to know within a test session that it’s an absolutely unrecoverable disaster

      P.S. Don’t believe in that theory myself… but crazier things have been true

      1. ColdFly F1 (@)
        10th March 2015, 12:02

        Or here is an even crazier theory: Alonso lost control of his car, bumped at 15-30g into the wall, had a concussion, and the doctors told him as a precaution not to race 2 weeks later.
        And to make it even crazier: everybody and nobody who have nothing else to contribute try to get their 15mins of fame by sharing their views of what happened.

  10. Chris (@tophercheese21)
    10th March 2015, 2:27

    Re: COTD
    It may make F1 look silly, but remember that almost every other Motorsport that exists has grid girls.

    If you want to get rid of it, then F1 should lead by example, because the MotoGP grid girls are dressed much more provocatively than Formula One’s grid girls. If anything, Formula One has some of the most conservatively dressed grid girls in all of Motorsport.

    1. @tophercheese21: Yes, F1 should lead by example. It is the most visible form of motorsport and the most prestigious. Where F1 leads, hopefully others will follow.

      “Everybody else does it” is not a good argument.

    2. I have written this before, and I would like to bring it up again @tophercheese21, @jimg, @mazdachris: Instead of having the current idea of “grid girls” and even worse the gals that get champaigne sprayed all over them at the podium, give the opportunity to local kids who either participate in racing (either as drivers or team members) at the country to hold up a standard for their idols.

      That way you immediately get a better connection with the locals (picture Granny going to sit in the stands with half her family around her pointing to her grandchild next to Hamilton/Rosberg etc) and it also helps creating a bit of a grass roots approach to grow motorsports (a bit like local kids helping at ice stadiums or collecting the balls in tennis)

      1. @bascb Totally agree with you. There is so much you could do with the opportunity. Those kids could then spend the day with the teams while the race is going on. There are so many better ways that they could use it to engage with fans.

    3. i agree that motogp is even worse, but that does not change the f1 situation

  11. I agree with DC, but now that Ron is back at the helm, maybe things will change.

  12. those Williams images look amazing!

    however is that Mark Webber driving in the last image?

    1. Thank you! The driver is Valtteri.

  13. The COTD is ridiculous.

    The F1 girls aren’t half-naked. They wear things like miniskirts and tights. Things you can even see on the street in summer. Women on the beach are half-naked, and I don’t see people making a fuss about it.

    Women can be anything, yes. Including models. They’re not there as slaves, you know? Many women like to show themselves. You want to ban their occupation of choice.

    It’s not 1950 anymore? Exactly! The COTD actually wants to go back to 1950, it seems.

    1. I honestly couldn’t agree more. How this has even come up as an issue is beyond me. Some people will whine about anything I guess.

    2. As I comment above, why don’t we have grid men then? I’m sure the female F1 audience would love to perv at them like we do the women. I look forward to your answer.

      1. Because nobody wants to see grid men. Not men, not women. There are plenty of men around F1 already. You want to replace the few women there are with men? How is that not sexist?

        1. “Not men, not women”
          I was making a point, which seems to have worked. I agree, neither.

          1. Not men, not women want to see grid men. Reading comprehension!

    3. totally agree with @ironcito . The F1 grid girls arent even ‘half naked’ anymore, especially some of the middle eastern countries where they are pretty much totally covered up anyway. So I dont know why this subject has even been brought up :-S

      Watch motoGP… they have proper grid girls ;-)

    4. @ironcito: Women on the street, or on the beach, are not being broadcast globally as examples of what some middle-aged straight man thinks women should look like. And make no mistake, that’s what the grid girls are.

      Yes, some women like to show themselves and make a good living from it. And some women are ashamed to show themselves, because they see the images in the media and think that they don’t measure up to those standards. It trains everyone, men and women, to regard some looks as “beautiful” and others as “ugly”.

      The problem with the whole thing is that it’s about role models. As I mentioned in another comment, are you aware of the concerns about the portrayal of women in the fashion industry and the effect it has on young girls? If the only women shown in the media are tall and thin, that’s what impressionable young girls aspire to and some of them will starve themselves to try to attain what they think they should look like.

      1. @jimg I would argue that F1 drivers having to starve themselves to reach the weight requirement are far worse role models than a good looking woman holding the drivers number and a much bigger problem…

        Whats wrong with adding a bit of female galmour to the grid in amongst all the male engineers?

        1. @brawngp: You’re quite right about drivers starving themselves, but that is a separate issue.

          I have three problems with “adding a bit of female glamour to the grid in amongst all the male engineers”. The first is that it’s all female, in a world which is roughly 50:50 male:female. The second is the current concept of glamour is tending towards an extreme which can be, as with the drivers last year, physically and no doubt mentally unhealthy. The third is the fact that all the engineers are, as far as I know, male.

          1. @jimg Aside from my lengthy response above, I’ll add this in response to your three problems. Firstly, yes the grid girls are all female, no denying that. Secondly, I think you will find the modelling/fashion industry has in fact already recognized the dangers of women starving themselves to the point of looking like bone racks, and that is no longer fashionable, and women have already educated themselves quite a bit toward all around physical and mental health while still looking glamorous. And thirdly, I’m guessing you might be thinking of the lack of female engineers in the pits visible to the viewing audience, but I would not be surprised at all if amongst the hundreds and hundreds of employees behind the scenes of all the teams, which makes up the majority of the effort that goes into what we actually see, there are many many women engineers and women taking up many other roles back at the shop too.

          2. @robbie: Specifically, I was referring to the engineers on the grid, as in @brawngp‘s original post. I did a bit of quick googling and although there are some female engineers in the teams (I don’t think there are yet “many many”) I couldn’t find any references to any who are actually on the grid. I would be very happy to be corrected on this point.

            The point which I didn’t make very well is that a possibly flippant remark about putting some girls among “all the male engineers” plays on a stereotype that engineering is “a man’s job”. While that stereotype is still widely understood, there is still work to do towards full equality.

          3. So we should ban the women that like to show themselves because other women see them and are ashamed of themselves? Please.

            Hey, ley’s ban professional sports. I see those athletes and feel ashamed of myself. I might even stop eating and work out like crazy, which could kill me. While we’re at it, let’s ban singers, actors… oh let’s just ban anyone that looks good or has any talent, they make me feel inadequate.

          4. @ironcito: As someone else has pointed out, the fashion industry has acknowledged the problem and is trying to clean up its act.

            The rest of your argument is known as a straw man. Please stick to the point.

            And I still don’t see why having pretty girls holding grid numbers is in any way relevant to the whole Formula 1 experience.

          5. The fashion industry has reacted to pressure from groups who made up the problem in the first place. The same kind of groups that blame rap music and video games for murders and shootings.

            I stuck to the point. You blame pretty girls on TV for ugly girls feeling bad. How would that be different from athletic, successful men on TV from making “regular” men feel bad?

            The fact that you don’t see the relevance is irrelevant. Most people like them, that’s why they’re there.

          6. @ironcito: Again you’re using a straw man argument (rap music and video games). The problems in the fashion industry are well documented, and the industry has acknowledged them and is working on resolving them. Why shouldn’t F1 follow that lead?

            Please be clear: I am not blaming the girls for being attractive. I am blaming the powers that be in F1 for perpetuating an outdated sexist mindset.

            And you did not stick to the point, you made a straw man argument about athletes, singers, actors and “anyone that looks good or has any talent”. My point is about the effects of promoting a particular narrow definition of beauty, which are well documented. Please read those links above.

            As for “most people like them, that’s why they’re there”, keeping on doing something because that’s the way it’s always been done is not a good reason. Would anyone stop watching or attending F1 races if the grid girls were replaced by grid guys, grid people, fans drawn by lot or local kids? (good suggestions @bascb!). I suggest that most people watch or attend races for the racing. The current grid girls are a bonus for some and an embarrassment for others, but irrelevant to the main event.

          7. Whatever, dude. The girls want to be there, the F1 organizers want them to be there, and the vast majority of viewers either like them or don’t give a damn. There’s a minority that always has to complain, be ofended, and be the political correctness police.

            The “problems” in the fashion industry that you mention are about ultra skinny, sick-looking girls, which is not the case of the grid girls. These are regular, healthy girls that everyone would agree are pretty, with regular, elegant and appropriate outfits, often reflecting local traditions.

            But keep complaining, if you must.

    5. The COTD is just social justice warrior type feminazi bs. Always feel sorry for those guys.

      1. thank you @shrieker for proving our point

        grid girls in motorsport are used because the people in charge (white straight and rich males) think all there fans are like you

        in reality you are just a very sad vocal minority that has to post this aggressive because society is changing and you are going to be left behind with you closed minded attitude

  14. Couldn’t agree more with COTD, grid girls are so out-dated. Similarly, the director cutting away from the racing action to show a driver’s girlfriend or just a random pretty girl makes me cringe too. Hope we get rid of it as soon as F1 gets rid off Ecclestone.

    1. Yes! We pay hundreds of pounds a year to watch F1, So that’s what I would like to see on the screen. If I wanted to see half naked women then I could go online for such things, and If I wanted to see famous peoples girlfriends I could buy The Sun, as it is though, I don’t…so, Directors listen up, show the cars on track and when there is a battle for the lead in the closing laps of Bahrain don’t show me a back marker for 5 laps while only cutting to the battle at the last corner on the last lap.

      1. Oh forgot to mention, Maybe this year show less of the pure fool Putin…no matter how much Bernie tells you to.

  15. Interesting to see FOM and their website updates. But it seems there’s not much more to be had than a website add-on to the online app. And that won’t be working for me on my windows phone nor tablet / PC so even if I would feel compelled to go with the paywall idea here, I won’t.

  16. You know I’ve never heard a model either male or female complain about being objectified, it’s typically men trying to sound progressive or unattractive women.

    How about we let grown adults make their own choices in life. A women who is physically attractive wants to pursue work that doesn’t require much more from her than standing there smiling? Well that’s her choice, and it’s not stopping her going after a cerebral career either as she probably gets paid a hell of a lot more for relatively little work than anything else she might do while studying. Working behind a checkout at primark is hardly appreciating her mind is it.

    I had a job collecting glasses in a bar when I was a student. I’m capable of so much more but at that time someone would only pay me for the fact I could walk and pick things up, now that is feeling objectified. If I’d had the option to stand there in a skimpy outfit smiling to pay my way through education I’d have loved it.

    Some people actually enjoy adulation, these people so quick to jump to the defence of women being objectified may actually want to try talking to some women and finding out that sometimes they do like to be appreciated physically as well as mentally. And those that don’t have plenty of other work options open to them so it’s hurting no one.

    1. @philipgb I think you’re missing the point here: of course women can choose their own profession, and if they want to be a grid girl, then why not? Heck, if I were a girl, I would totally be a grid girl, wouldn’t mind getting closer to the action at all. The point is that grid girls give the impression that the sport is aimed at adult men only – women and children are not supposed to enjoy Formula 1.

      1. @andae23

        First let me say, I couldn’t care less about grid girls. I watch for the technology and sport. I’m a nerd. I can walk the streets of Melbourne and see beautiful women every day, often wearing far less than the grid girls if that’s what I wanted. They have no appeal to me being involved. But I don’t care to see them go if they are appealing to someone, which given their presence I have to assume they are.

        Get rid of them and that’s work those girls had gone just for the sake of something that wasn’t doing actual harm maybe not being politically correct?

        And who cares if women enjoy F1? If they aren’t enjoying it then they obviously don’t. I don’t enjoy the Twilight films, but taking the guys walking round with their tops off wouldn’t change that, it still just wouldn’t have any substance for me.

        This isn’t like the vote, and equal pay. Things that are basic human rights. It’s a frivolity and as such it’s not essential that it covers broad tastes. I’m pretty sure it’s not just there being grid girls that keeps women from having interest on the same scale as men. Plenty of women seem interested in fashion shows where they parade about. I’ve just never met a women that finds motorsport interesting. People are just pushing for inclusion for the sake of inclusion.

        1. @philipgb: Taking your initial comment first, I don’t actually know any models but I would be surprised if the successful ones did complain about essentially being told that they’re good at their job. The problem isn’t the select few who receive the adulation, it’s the many who are told, directly or indirectly, that they are ugly because they don’t conform to the images shown in the media.

          It may be obvious to you that the vote and equal pay are “basic human rights”, but women had to fight for both against a male-dominated society which dismissed them as not worthy of either. In many parts of the world women are still fighting for these “basic human rights”. Grid girls may be frivolous to you but they are a visible sign that things are still not equal, even in places which pride themselves on their support of “basic human rights”.

          Who cares if women enjoy F1? Quite apart from any social or moral responsibility the people who run the sport should care if they’re potentially alienating half their audience and competitors!

          1. @jimg

            The grid girls are no more an indication things aren’t equal than a film like magic mike is.

            Some things can’t appeal to both sexes. That doesn’t mean it’s unfair and like I said, girls I know who don’t like F1 couldn’t give a monkeys about the grid girls.

            I’ve sat and watched a few races with ladies, they universally found the two hours of circling a circuit dull beyond belief. One said the only thing she liked about it was Jenson Button as eye candy.

            How is it a social or moral responsibility to have a frivolity like F1 appeal to women? Like I said it’s hardly as important as basic fairness like pay and voting. It’s entertainment. Sometimes entertainment appeals to both sexes and that’s just dandy. Sometimes it only appeals to one. But that’s just fine as well because there’s plenty of other distractions out there for everyone.

            Inclusion for inclusions sake is just wasted energy.

          2. @philipgb

            I haven’t seen Magic Mike, so I can’t comment. But I think that in a world where the ratio of male:female is roughly 50:50, having 100% female grid people is unequal, and designed specifically to appeal to men.

            I don’t think that having or not having grid girls will make or break the popularity of F1; I think that it is a distraction from the racing, and an embarrassing one.

            I’m not saying that it’s a social or moral responsibility to make F1 appeal to women. I’m saying that it is a social and moral responsibility to treat people as people, not objects of desire. And I think that this is important for F1 because it has a global reach and is perceived as setting a standard for others to follow.

            Sure, some entertainment appeals mainly to men and some mainly to women, but I don’t see that there’s any fundamental reason why motorsport should be restricted in that way. And I believe that part of the reason why motorsport is apparently unappealing to women is that it has a pervasive “blokey” atmosphere. Anything that can be done to dispel that feeling will help to bring more women into the sport and make it more interesting for everyone.

            You seem to accept that voting and pay should be equal, but you don’t seem to understand that those equalities have been hard-won (where they have been won at all), and that equality does not end there.

          3. Actually @philipgb, @jimg, there have been quite a large amount of top models, who can afford to speak up, that complain about the size-0 thing and the effects it has on young girls.

            And as an earlier poster highlighted (was that @robbie?) it has actually started something of a move in the fashion industry already, altough its far from being fine yet.

            As for Grid girls, there really is no reason why they have to be there apart from being used to it. And no, these girls do not get a job from it if you mean they get money to stand there on the grid. Most likely they are there because someone promised them an opportunity to get noticed and get into some modelling work.

            I would be all for having young and promising racers, or marshals, or just racing enthusiasts there. Regardless of their looks. It would make me want to get there too, and maybe get to see my kid standing there once himself and get that close up to the action and who knows, maybe some day, get into a team working on those cars!

          4. @jimg showing attractive girls on tv isn’t callin other people ugly. Sometimes people seem to search for hidden meanings in things when there’s no need. Also in response to a comment earlier in the thread, just because someone finds someone attractive, it doesn’t mean that all the can think of is having sex with them. I think we need to be s little less pc sometimes otherwise we won’t have any entertainment left for fear of offending someone

          5. @3dom: I encourage everyone to read up on size zero models. Not F1 cars I’m afraid.

        2. I wish your comment makes today’s COTD. It’s magnificently articulated and really shows just how pointless and trivial political correctness is.

          As you said, it’s entertainment, not a basic human right. As such, it has it’s target market and does its best to keep it and grow it. If they figured out that the best way to grow it is to focus on males, then they have every right to do so. You’d do a study and realize that 99% of our audience is male, and that out of non-audience, it is males, not women, who are more likely to become an audience. Then, you go and do what you think will add the attraction for your target audience. It’s really as simple as that.

          1. @jimg I’m not sure F1, in spite of it’s global reach, is or even should be considered a standard for others to follow. Spygate, Liegate, Crashgate, CVC money grabbing, lawsuit-filled, dictator-loving F1 has many issues of concern that most would not consider standards to follow. To look toward F1 for high standards of equality would seem folly, although as we have discussed there are women in F1 other than holding a sign. And I think there are only going to be more women in F1. Here in Canada more women are going to University than men. And more women are getting into the trades than ever too. The sky’s the limit for them moving forward as things are way better now than they were, and from my viewpoint only stand to get better.

          2. @robbie: I agree with you on all of the things about F1 which are not good examples. I didn’t mean to say that F1 is a good standard to follow, but that it should aim to be, as should any organisation with its profile.

      2. petebaldwin (@)
        10th March 2015, 16:43

        @andae23 – They’re not! Bernie said so himself. If you can’t afford a Rolex and aren’t interested in investment banking, find another sport because F1 is not for you.

      3. The point is that grid girls give the impression that the sport is aimed at adult men only – women and children are not supposed to enjoy Formula 1.

        I have no idea where this notion that women are deeply offended and disgusted and turned off by the sight of pretty women originated, but it is preposterously divergent from reality. Have you actually spoken to any women on this topic? (And I don’t mean your local feminist professor whose livelihood depends on finding things to complain about)

  17. @keithcollantine If I’d have to guess I’d say the artist used a CAD program to do the images of the Williams he made, but since I’m not sure could you possibly find out and let me know or the forum for those who are interested in doing the same thing with their own ideas.

    1. Yes, I used CAD!

  18. Hans (@hanswesterbeek)
    10th March 2015, 8:46

    If F1’s really trying to get a grip on what a future F1 car could look like (and then frame safety-grounded rules around that prototype), they should hire Newey to draw a few cars. He always said that the current rules were too restrictive and severely limit the designer’s creativity. Now it’s time for him to put his money where his mouth is, and come up with a number of great prototypes.

    1. He already has, 3 times, Google: red bull, gran tourismo, prototype.

  19. There’s a horrible incongruity in the contrast between the desire of race organisers to have attractive women in attendance at a race and the ancient and crusty F1 upper management.
    On the one hand, it seems that the attendance of “beautiful people” enhances the perceived value of an event.
    On the other, we have unattractive, destructive, outmoded, nostalgic Bernie.
    Creepy.
    Shouldn’t we be trying to get rid of Bernie first?
    Then we can address the problems of possible exploitation.

    Personally I like women, especially pretty ones (though my choices may not be mainstream). But I’d be happier about the attendance of “beautiful people” if the grid was better balanced and the whole discussion about women drivers was made moot by a couple of really good female racers. And there are some good ones out there.

  20. I read “Lewis & Nicole ready for rematch (Sky)” and thought – here we go again… until noticed my mistake.

  21. Really I hope Lewis is not as stupid as this. The importance of the car is far greater than the driver. If I was Wolff, and Lewis was asking ridiculous sums to drive what is by far the fastest car, I’d just say “bye mate, don’t let the door hit ya on your way out”. If Lewis hadn’t won it last year, Nico would have. Or any other top 10 F1 driver. He has no trump card with which to negotiate

    Moving on from a guy who is hopefully not as stupid as the press makes him look, to one who is definitely stupid. Namely Independent’s Kevin Garside. If I would list all the things that are wrong in his article it would take me an hour, but worst of all he makes Bernie look like a saint that had nothing to do with F1’s current situation instead of being the one guy, who, blinded by his insatiable greed, has ruined F1 and may yet bring about its complete destruction

    Last but not least, I have to agree with @keithcollantine. That Audi looks insanely great. Pure evil! It’s what Darth Vader would look like as a Transformer. I never liked endurance “racing” and never will, but I promise to watch at least half an hour of Le Mans just to see this Audi scaring everything around it right off the track

  22. That williams F1 car loks so……2008!

    1. @davidnotcoulthard There is something of 2008 yes, but it’s better than 2008 simply because it’s clean without all the ugly winglets

  23. I love the sidepods and rearview of the bodywork on the Williams concept. The circular design of the body work just seems to make sense. Well done.

  24. I would like to revise the COTD re: half naked women on the grid. Smart women are sexy too. So lets try using female engineers in bikinis with pocket protectors. Because lets face it, if they put the guy engineers in bikinis, most everyone would run away screaming. LOL

  25. But Fernley told AUTOSPORT that it was safety concerns and the quality of the plan presented by Manor, not the incentive of extra money, that shaped Force India’s decision.

    hmmmmm ok so safety for a car that ran last year fine was your concern and not $$$$$$$MONEY$$$$$$$? ok, makes perfect sense, I believe you.

    1. petebaldwin (@)
      10th March 2015, 16:49

      I think it’s more the point that rules were changed on the grounds of safety and you can’t excuse one team from this simply because they don’t have the money to comply.

      I’m absolutely sure that Force India’s motive was 100% money related but that doesn’t really take away from the fact that they were actually right.

      What would happen if they used the 2014 car and someone died. It doesn’t matter if it was the car’s fault or whether it was just a freak accident – you’ve seen with Alonso how details can be very sketchy! If they ran a car that was knowingly not complying to 2015 regs (based on safety) and someone got hurt, who would deserve the blame? Manor or the FIA?

  26. Well, if women can be engineers, drivers, team principals, they also have a right to be grid girls. And empirically looking, so far, they have only outshone males as grid girls. Which career choice a girl will make out of those above, depends on her parents, much more than anything Bernie parades around every other weekend. And on top of it, I really don’t know who even cares so much about grid girls. With the availability of imagery all over the net, we are not so deprived, so I’m usually 100% focused on F1 matters during the broadcast, not on grid girls.

    1. it’s not about career choice it’s about promoting motorsports only to straight males
      it’s even worse in motogp and DTM, and it’s sad and outdated

      1. What about lesbian females? Are they loving these grid girls or not? There’s a conundrum for you. No sleep until you figure that out. It’s very important.

  27. For all of the Ferrari fans that are complaining that Alonso wasn’t loyal enough, I think the idea that Matiacci was so open to bringing both Vettel and Hamilton to Ferrari shows that Ferrari were about as loyal to Alonso as he was to them; perhaps even less so.

    I do wonder if Arrivabene had replaced Domenicali rather than Matiacci, would Fernando have stayed at Ferrari?

    1. There are maybe 10 humans on this planet that know the true timing of when Alonso wanted to leave (or was fired – truth is, we dont know which version happened), when vettel was approached (or when vettel made his approach – rumors as early as 2013), when lewis was approached, when newey was approached, when arrivabene was approached. It’s a bit of a waste of time to put together a timeline from the press to figure out who was being loyal to who.

  28. Duncan Snowden
    10th March 2015, 17:41

    “Revamped Formula 1 website unveiled”

    Uh-oh.

    Mind you, it’s not as if I was using the live timing since they crippled it last year anyway.

    That concept Williams looks amazing, though. Don’t have a clue what the bloke’s talking about, but it’s a million times better than that Ferrari Hot Wheels nonsense. By the way, has anyone seen the new Indycar high-downforce setups? Still a bit over-styled around the sidepods, but I love those 1980s-esque rear wings.

    “Women can be engineers, drivers, team principals and anything else on the track.”

    But not grid girls? Why do people always want to ban stuff they don’t like? Live and let live.

  29. Looks like Manor F1 is going for a White and Fluorescent Red livery, capitalizing on the color scheme Mclaren didnt use. I hope it gets them in lots of social media photos and potential sponsors notice this.

  30. That is a BEAUTIFUL rear wing! Nice and wide! The question is – would they go for it? I suspect they dislike wide rear wings because it creates too much dirty air that prevents overtaking…

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