Bianchi’s points ensured Manor’s survival – Booth

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In the round-up: Manor team principal John Booth says the team was only able to continue into 2015 because of the points Jules Bianchi scored in Monaco last year.

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Manor 'would not exist without Bianchi' (ESPN)

"Without him, without those two points he got in Monaco last year, we would not be here."

Nurburgring says no to German Grand Prix (Reuters)

"A Nurburgring spokesman said the circuit could not do so 'for time, financial and organisational reasons.'"

Why has the German Grand Prix apparently foundered (BBC)

"Mercedes even stepped in to try to help, offering a limited level of financial support to Hockenheim. But they were reluctant to go too far, in case it set a precedent."

Renault says it won't give up on F1 (Autosport)

"I don't want to be out of F1, because it's a great marketing platform for what we are aiming to do in countries such as China and India."

Only a matter of time until Ferrari catches, says Wolff (Crash)

"If you can see the kind of jump they've made from last year to this year, it's really impressive. It's just the first year, but we've seen from the GPS data that the engine is really powerful and the car is really good. "

Kamui Kobayashi not planning on return to F1 (Motorsport)

"Kobayashi, however, in fact appears not to be in the running to replace (Roberto Merhi)"

Renault eye swift progress despite 100bhp deficit to Mercedes (Sky)

"We're probably 100bhp down on Mercedes at the moment."

The consequences of untested power unit parts (F1 Technical)

"They can reuse their old, detuned part latter on in the season, but that will mean they'll be probably running against competition with all their unused tokens introduced. The alternative is using a 5th allocation and again picking up the penalty along the way."

New F1 Engines Have Boosted Sponsorship Says Williams (Forbes)

"From my perspective as a commercial director, the change in the engine regulations has definitely alleviated pressure talking to companies that look at Formula One as a sport and are put off by the environmental questions around it."

Silverstone facing ruinous court case (The Telegraph)

"Although it will not sit for at least another two months, the case will examine in forensic detail the boardroom coup which saw Richard Phillips, the managing director of 10 years, removed along with a number of his fellow senior managers. "

Couple asks Lewis Hamilton to take their picture in Sydney, have no idea who he is (News Australia)

"You’d think a man who up until only recently was dating singer Nicole Scherzinger and is set to become Britain’s richest ever athlete might turn a few heads while walking along Sydney Harbour. Apparently not."

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Comment of the day

@Schooner’s view on the competitive order in the second year of the new engine regulations:

Last year I was happy to see that the Mercedes designers and engineers nailed the new formula, and took home a well deserved constructors’ championship. I was happy to see Hamilton get his second drivers’ championship.

I was particularly happy to see the resurgence of Williams, even if it was due in large part to the Mercedes power unit. It certainly appears that Mercedes will pocket the big prizes again this season, but I really like what I’m seeing from Ferrari.

There seems to be a fresh attitude and an upbeat atmosphere in Maranello since all the big changes, and I’d love to see them hit their stride and challenge Mercedes for race wins this year. Maybe even something will click over at McLaren, and they can work their way up to the pointy end as well. That would be awesome.

As for Red Bull, I’ll be polite and just say that I won’t mind seeing them picking up the scraps left by the teams that got it right, and who aren’t crying for the FIA to legislate Mercedes down to their level.
@Schooner

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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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77 comments on “Bianchi’s points ensured Manor’s survival – Booth”

  1. I just wanted to brag that this is my first ever post from work! I was finally able to get my company to stop blocking this website (which was an odd thing to do, considering we pay $250mm to sponsor F1). Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement, since I’m going to be all over this place now.

    On topic though, Bianchi would have had an amazing career in F1. What a shame.

    1. @chaddy – Amazing that Jules Bianchi’s efforts are still helping to save a whole team. Amazing and heartbreaking at the same time. Especially for his family.

      1. Absolutely tragic.

        If Jules does nothing else with his life, carrying an F1 team on you’re back even after you are gone is an amazing thing.

        Reminds me of the third stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s If
        Which ironically was used as channels 10’s opener to the season last week.

        1. Excellent Kipling reference @mickey18 . Quite apropos.

    2. You’re welcome @chaddy!

    3. Bianchi was the single reason I fumed when Force India tried to block Manor’s entrance to the 2015 season, for Jules, Manor has to be there and they should name their chassis after him!

      #ForzaJules

    4. @chaddy Hi, welcome to F1Fanatic… Just out of curiosity, what company do you work for which pays such a huge amount in sponsorship

      1. Well if the company he works for sponsors F1 directly that narrows it down a lot, it could only be DHL, UBS, Rolex, Tata or Emirates I reckon.

    5. morningview66
      20th March 2015, 7:21

      I have a suspicion it might be something to do with it having ‘fanatic’ in the website title, my government job also blocks this website.

      Shame really

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        20th March 2015, 10:21

        It’ll be because it’s referred to as a blog. My company blocked any “personal blogs” but I managed to get them to unblock it. Not sure why they agreed to that as it costs them a good 1-2 man hours a day! :D

        1. Mine’s filter thought it was malware, I think because of some ads and pop ups that used to exist

  2. Simon (@weeniebeenie)
    20th March 2015, 0:10

    Who is this Sean Kelly fella? I’ve seen a few doomsday messages from him about F1 but does he actually have any knowledge/connections?

    As for Renault, 100hp deficit is crazy.

    1. Google him, the man knows his F1 stats :-) I’ve seen him on quite a few Peter Windsor (The Racers Edge) videos on youtube too.

    2. He does ‘stats’, data really, for several F1 broadcasters. Live. Works from the NBC studios.

    3. I think it is fair to say he has forgotten more about F1 than you will ever know. He is THE stat guy and probably knows more stat-wise than anybody else in the industry.

  3. Tip of the hat to the COTD! A very polite and well reasoned response that demonstrates the true spirit of Formula 1. Ignoring all the whinging from some parties Ferrari have positively pushed themselves forward and also helped to lift Sauber up in the process. That is how you do it in this series. All the crying and begging for rule changes will never make your team faster.

    I may add Ferrari to the teams I support this season. This would be a first for me though I have long admired their rich history and tradition in F1. Many of the changes made over the last two years have resulted in a more positive attitude and on track results.

    1. Exactly, there’s always something interesting to watch in any F1 season no matter how boring it looks at first glance.

    2. I won’t mind seeing [Red Bull] picking up the scraps left by the teams that got it right

      What did Red Bull get wrong?

      1. @faulty – Some have mentioned packaging tolerances. Obviously Renault has some work to do. One indicator for Red Bull would be a comparison with how Toro Rosso is doing. Another would be year to year 2014 to 2015.

    3. Yes, COTD nailed it.

      Ferrari did a great job and I wish them the best. I hope they hand Seb and Kimi a Merc-beater soon.

      I’m backing Lewis but Lewis vs. Nico vs. Seb vs. Kimi should be 1000 times better than the two horses battle we have today.

      1. Ferrari are moving in the right direction and would love to see those battles too. One encouraging note is that reportedly Mercedes have used more of their engine tokens so far than have Ferrari or Renault. Guess it’s hard to say how that could actually translate into potential on-track improvements going forward, but could be something to look forward to.

    4. petebaldwin (@)
      20th March 2015, 10:27

      Moaning about rule changes before they happen – OK.
      Moaning about rule changes after they happen providing you’ve voiced your disapproval already – Understandable.
      Moaning about rule changes only once you realise you’ve got it wrong – Laughable.

      1. Spot on @petebaldwin

        The approach that Ferrari have taken to tackle mercedes is admirable and completely what sport is all about, “if you can’t beat them, then take a step back, analyse, reflect, learn and try harder until you do”. The approach that red bull have taken is in my eyes shameful and nothing to do with sport

  4. Mercedes even stepped in to try to help, offering a limited level of financial support to Hockenheim. But they were reluctant to go too far, in case it set a precedent.

    Yeah, god forbid a circuit actually makes money hosting an event.

    1. @george ! Long time no see, mate ! how you doing? you’re not on iRacing since December, mate !

    2. @george I think you need re-read the article, and make sure to understand it.

      The “precedent” was not about the circuit making money. On the contrary, it was about Hockenheim NOT making money (that’s why they’re cancelling it) and a third-party (Mercedes) giving them money just for the GP to take place.

    3. As Nx mentions, the precedent was that Bernie would start expecting them to pay up for the German GP, and would no doubt see it as a reason to further push up prices for the future @george.

      1. petebaldwin (@)
        20th March 2015, 10:32

        Exactly that. Bernie would use it as power to get more money. I’d imagine any grand prix considered a “home” one for a team would shoot up in price and Bernie would expect the teams to pay the extra.

        F1 is becoming unaffordable for several of the tracks and the solution is for the costs to come down to a reasonable level. If the teams start paying towards them, the costs won’t go down and Bernie will continue to get away with it.

        1. Excellent point. I suppose it’ll take a calendar of 10 races and a grid of 12 cars before FOM get the message though.

  5. “You’d think a man who up until only recently was dating singer Nicole Scherzinger and is set to become Britain’s richest ever athlete might turn a few heads while walking along Sydney Harbour. Apparently not.”

    How’s that surprising? He isn’t Federer even if he’s a double F1 champion. I can show my friends a picture of Alonso, Vettel or Hamilton and they’d have no freaking idea about who they are… F1 is far down the list in the news department in many places around the world…

    1. If anything it’s probably nice for Hamilton to be treated like a normal person for a change.

      1. @george

        I can only imagine Lewis’ surprise as well , being asked for 10,000 pics with fans then asked to take one and not being in it , lol

    2. It would be surprising if it was in Britain, but in Australia I’m not surprised.

      The top F1 drivers are actually very widely known of in their home countries though: Repucom conducts annual surveys to measure the marketability and public awareness of drivers, and according to the survey this year Hamilton is known of by 93% of the UK. Alonso has the highest public awareness in his home country of all the drivers – 98% of the population of Spain know of him (he’s basically a national hero there). But I imagine that the public awareness of Alonso in the UK is considerably lower, just as Hamilton’s will be much lower in Spain, Australia, etc.

      1. I just realised the article I linked contradicted what I said about Alonso, haha. Massa has the highest public awareness in his home country, known by 99% of Brazil (Brazil has long had a passion for motor racing, particularly after Senna, so I guess it makes sense).

        1. @polo Either that or Massa was a notable junior football player :p

    3. Pretty much no one in America seems to know any F1 drivers, except perhaps Schumacher’s name, though I doubt appearance

      1. I hear Hamilton and Vettels name brought up more than I did a year or 2 ago… But as someone pointed out, yeah, no tiger woods or Federer.

      2. If former F1 drivers count, then they probably know the likes of Montoya, Villeneuve, Mansell, Fittipaldi… because they raced in the US. Not to mention Andretti, which in the US is a household name and practically synonymous with driving fast. Of course, they probably don’t know them as F1 drivers.

        1. @ironcito Arrgh, you beat me to it!

          Add Dan Gurney, though.

      3. Autoweek had an article a dozen years ago about how Michael Schumacher loved coming to Texas and riding his Harley Davidson motorcycles and being virtually anonymous. He bought a ranch in Texas in 2012!

  6. Hamilton just bought a LaFerrari (surprisingly since it was sold out about a year ago) let the ferrari 2016 rumor mill run

  7. The sooner CVC sells F1, the better. Their purchase of F1’s commercial rights, along with Max Mosley selling Ecclestone a commercial rights deal for 100 years for an absurdly low sum are the two worst things that have ever happened to F1. This sport should not be run by a bunch of people who don’t understand it and have no hope of improving or making the even greater money someone who understood motorsports could be making from F1.

    1. Not at all. Do you think CVC will sell it to the party that cares the most about the sport, or the party the offers the highest price?

      I agreed that the sale of the rights was shocking, but its more the fact that who doesn’t own these rights as opposed to who does own the rights that is the issue.

      That % of F1 is lost forever.

      1. Companies like CVC never own their assets for long. Hopefully it will be sold to someone who likes racing and has tons of money.

        1. Thats because they are good at stripping things bare, fast.

          Get used to the owners having Limited or LLC at the end of their name, as opposed to Federation or Trust.

  8. I specially agree with the part of the COTD about Ferrari, they really seem like a new team, much happier and more relaxed.

    I think firing so many lead people, jaded after years of losing, plus Arribavene’s PR talent (little things like talking personally to the pit mechanic, drinking coffee with the fans in the stands) give a much better image of the team.

    Also, and I’m sorry to say it, the lack of Alonso’s constant “I’m so sad”/”I don’t get the car I deserve”-face really does help. Having the (for the moment, at least) joyful Vettel is certainly a step up. Alonso was did amazing things for Ferrari, but the atmosphere of “we’re are sooo sorry for the car we gave you” (regardless of how deserving you think it was) got tiresome fast. It’s much better this way.

    Heck, even Raikonnen is smiling.

    1. I think you’re on to something. It reminds me of all the management research into attitudes and cultures and their effect on team performance. I often wonder whether such things affect, on an almost subconscious level, the speed of a pitstop, or the quality of mechanical work on the car of a successful driver and the one who has a positive influence on the team– “I have to get this right, this is Vettel’s final pit-stop to win 9 straight” vs. “Mark is coming in, he might get third place this season”– not that the differences in such things were ever large enough to suggest statistically significant differences. People want to believe conspiracy theories about differences in speed and reliability, etc., but even though I completely believe a team thinks it handles teammates equally, if there’s ever any difference right at the edge… well, success breeds luck, even if that is no one’s intention.

      Ferrari seems to be firing on all cylinders.

    2. I partly agree with COTD. I think getting rid of Luca was a huge step forward in improving the team atmosphere as his ‘heads will roll’ approach wasn’t working at all.

      Stefano was a great guy for Ferrari, but always seemed under a lot of pressure to deliver due to Luca. Unfortunately, they replaced him with a bit of a clueless and obscure character in the form of Mattiaci.

      Arribavane seems like a person who wants to change things around as he has seen the mistakes made by his predecessors. Things couldn’t get much worse than they did for Ferrari last year, so it obviously is going to lift the spirit of the team when they arrive in Australia with slight improvements

      But I think we need to refresh our memory back to 2010, and about how positive that season was viewed when Alonso first entered the garages in Maranello. There was a lot of upliftment, and with a win on his debut, there was a far happier and excited attitude in the Ferrari garage than there has been with Seb’s arrival. In fact the incredible effort by Ferrari and Fernando in the 2010 season was one that got a lot of affection for both, the team and the driver, by fans worldwide. It was only post Abu Dhabi 2010 that heads started to roll and the team atmosphere had started to change.

      I think it’s good that Ferrari have started off on a positive note, but lets face it, it’s only race 1 that is over. It is a long season, and there is a lot of time for things to go wrong. Expectations are low from Ferrari this year, but that doesn’t change the fact that if they don’t finish P2 in the WCC, then there will be toys thrown out of some red pram.

      1. Well said @todfod. So far the signals seem positive (better attitude, boss who talks as if the fans and the sport are important to him as well as team spirit and a better car) but its only one race.

        I hope Ferrari can deliver on that positive vibe at the start of the year, altough I still doubt they will have more than a lucky chance at a race win or two this year and I am not sure how they will hold up in the face of a tough challenge ahead.

  9. As a Canadian, I can assure you that anyone of Hamilton, Alonso, or Vettel could walk through downtown during the rush hour of any major Canadian city, and it’d still be a miracle if they were recognized by anyone. F1 is bigger in Australia than it is in Canada though.

    1. @kingshark Same for Belgium. I don’t even think more than 20% of our population know what a beauty is in our back garden, let alone know about the big races held there. Highly doubt even anyone would recognize Vandoorne.

      1. @xtwl What about Ickx?

        1. @davidnotcoulthard I think elder people will know he once drove a F1 car but have no clue what that really means. I also highly doubt people (not only Belgians) know what a driver he was. His record is quite impressive and proves what an all-rounder he is.

  10. Happy birthday @girts!

    1. @KeithCollantine @BasCB Thanks guys! I’m considering throwing a birthday party on F1 Fanatic, cannot really think of a better place :)

      1. Happy birthday!

        1. Virtual beer -woohooo

          At least we can safely drive home :)

  11. @girts Happy birthday braliukas F1 fanatic! :-)

    1. @Osvaldas31 Thanks a lot bro! Two countries, one passion :)

  12. “If you can see the kind of jump they’ve made from last year to this year, it’s really impressive. It’s just the first year, but we’ve seen from the GPS data that the engine is really powerful and the car is really good. ”

    This almost seems like trolling after F1 Fanatic’s story earlier about Mercedes pulling even further ahead. :D

  13. Regarding Renault’s power deficit: I followed Verstappen en Sainz closely last GP, and they lost over half a second on the two consecutive straights alone. And that’s not compared to Mercedes, but compared to Sauber (Ferrari) and Force India (Mercedes). A higher downforce setting alone cannot result into such a big gap.

    1. @matthijs What tyres were they on when you followed, because Verstappen was on the Primes throughout the race, its only when he switched to Options that his engine broke down..

      1. Verstappen was on mediums and Sauber and Force India were on softs. But Sainz was on softs as well and he also lost about half a second. And that was on the start/finish straight and the straight after that, so hardly any corners at all.

    2. Red Bull’s options for the future are well documented in this article.

      They could hire Ilmor Engineering, Mario Illien’s firm, to design a new hybrid V6 turbo, which would be build by austrian firm AVL.

      If this happens, it would be easy for Dietrich Mateschitz to sell Red Bull Racing (chassis and engine) to VW/Audi and sell Scuderia Toro Rosso to Renault

      With the money Mateschitz makes, he could buy shares from CVC and invest in the Formula One Group.

  14. Keith, thanks for refering to our article at f1technical! I hope your readers get a clearer picture of the true mess Renault is in.

  15. ColdFly F1 (@)
    20th March 2015, 9:58

    I was never a big fan of Toto (probably because I think Brawn deserved more credit for last year’s wins).

    But I’m starting to like the guy more, and his comment to praise the good work at Ferrari and their ability to catch up to Mercedes is nothing short of excellent. This is the best way to tell other teams (RBR!) to focus their efforts internally and close the gap rather than complaining and moaning.

    1. I was never a big fan of Toto (probably because I think Brawn deserved more credit for last year’s wins).

      @coldfly ^This is exactly my view of Toto right now… While the sun shines, we won’t see Wolff’s true colours. If we look over the garage, we’re starting to see the ruthless tenacity and political posturing by another former golden child in Christian Horner. I hope that Wolff handles the decline in more ethical and positive manner.

      1. Horner was showing his colors even when he was winning. You people just weren’t paying enough attention.

  16. petebaldwin (@)
    20th March 2015, 10:11

    If ever there was a comment that proved that everyone in F1 exists only in their own little bubble, it’s the one from Williams’ commercial director suggesting that the new engines have made finding sponsorship easier.

    So let me get this straight, you have found sponsors more interested in F1 since the new engine regs? And you can’t think of any other reason why Williams might be just a little more attractive to sponsors at the moment than they were in 2013? Anything at all??

    Have McLaren, Lotus, Manor, Sauber and Force India experienced this phenomenon as well??

    1. @petebaldwin

      And you can’t think of any other reason why Williams might be just a little more attractive to sponsors at the moment than they were in 2013? Anything at all??

      Anything other than the best engine on the grid?

      Hmmm….You needn’t be dumber than a toddler not to be able to, even though in all fairness there are other reasons..

    2. Force India has. The others don’t appear to have done…

  17. I have a question for the British users. The British Grand Prix is obviously one of the most important races on the calendar- as it is most of the teams’ home race, and F1 is probably more popular in the UK than it is anywhere else, and it is the center of purpose-built racing car competition. But since the British GP has been held at other venues other than Silverstone (Brands, Aintree), how important do you think Silverstone is as a venue to the British motor racing enthusiast public, Formula One and international motor racing in general? Is it as important a venue as Monza, Spa, Monaco or the Nurburgring?

    1. For me, having a British Grand Prix is the important thing. Whether that’s at Silverstone, Brands, Donington or somewhere else is by-the-by.

    2. Silverstone is important to the British motor racing public, but importance is largely down to the wide variety of major events it runs. Brands Hatch and Donington are the other two major British circuits, though they tend to have rather lower-key events at the moment than in the past.

  18. “Being here now is our way of saying to Jules that the race is not over until the chequered flag has fallen. I don’t know if our presence at the track is any help to his parents, but I hope it is, however small and insignificant.”

    If you aren’t on track when the lights go out the race is over for you. Talking of presence on track is one thing, let us actually see it. Until I see them cross the finish line, even if they are 2 or 3 laps behind I won’t be convinced this years entry isn’t just a token effort to cash in on the payout from that brilliant Monaco race.

    Their mentioning Jules in a statement gives me hope they do plan on racing, as I’d hate to think they shamelessly use his name if they weren’t genuine. At least they have McLaren to race this year. If they can beat them in the WCC that will be almost as big an achievement as scoring points.

  19. i dont trust Booth and his supposed revival of this team, i think it will tank before years end, and he will walk away a bit richer at everyone elses expense. there is no real investment plan for the future, they are going to be trodling around 2 laps slower then everyone else in last years car and engine. Booth just wants to look like a hero that he saved the team. lets see how long this lasts, its all a bit fishy. he is no Paul Stoddart

Comments are closed.