F1 needs “ten more Ricciardos” – Ecclestone

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In the round-up: Bernie Ecclestone has heaped praise on Red Bull racer Daniel Ricciardo.

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The Haas NASCAR team may point the way for its F1 squad
Haas could use Ferrari as a stepping stone to bigger things:

As an American F1 fan it is awesome to see Haas make a mark. I have been a fan of his NASCAR team since Tony Stewart became co-owner.

I think that team gives clues to their long term goals in F1. Their NASCAR team use Hendrick engines and chassis and have built a championship-winning car around those components. Next year they are stepping away from Hendrick and building their own chassis and using Ford factory engines.

I see Haas doing the same thing for a few years with Ferrari and Dallara, then; maybe with their new alliance with Ford, will move more towards a fully independent race team with Ford power. They have a state-of-the-art wind tunnel and engineering capabilities. After a few years of data and success on track I can see them being a strong, consistent team and maybe an avenue for another power unit manufacturer.
@Gunner22

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On this day in F1

On this day 30 years ago Damon Hill made his Formula Three debut in the British championship at Thructon after a deal to race in F3000 fell through.

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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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80 comments on “F1 needs “ten more Ricciardos” – Ecclestone”

  1. Ford back in F1.. Now that would be interesting! :)

    1. Can only be good for F1.

      1. Yeah, who makes good 1.6L turbocharged engines…. some small american company i hear…. and they put em in pony cars or something?

        Imagine an F1 like 1.6l engine with 500 bhp in a mustang… revving to 9000 rpm, with 50% fuel efficiency. Ford executives must be salivating at the edges… And then imagine you do it before VW and Toyota are able to get their hands on it.

        This would totally synergise with their ECO engines.

    2. Apex Assassin
      9th March 2016, 17:43

      Been clamoring for that for years, especially with RBR needing an engine partner and Ford’s ecoboost return to racing.

      Not to mention their strong results as an engine manufacturer in F1.

  2. How many tokens are left? Does anyone know? They raised the token allocations last year right? Seen a lot of talk from Red Bull about this mid-season engine development that’s coming, but is something so major even possible within the regulations? :S

    I’m excited for this year, everything’s pointing so far towards an amazing season. Ferrari performance catching up to Mercedes, the follow up to intriguing intra-team battle at Mercedes, question marks all over the place with McLaren, HAAS, Manor… Besides all the complaining about the changes or state of the sport it’s shaping up to be great, the storyline’s are set at the very least.

    Feels like it’s going to be the “epic conclusion” to the 3-year run of these cars before they change majorly again for 2017. Really hope so anyway. It’ll be such a disappointment if the conclusion boils down to “and Mercedes dominates again.”

    1. Nobody has homologated so every team has 32 tokens I believe.

      Are tokens even being used? They are gone in 2017 right?

    2. I could be wrong, but I think they scrapped the token system.

      1. Tokens in for this year, but raised to 32 and all ‘black boxes’ (frozen areas) scrapped.

        Next year, the token system is also abolished.

        The FIA are still requiring 4 engines per driver per season, with the aim for that number to reduce to 3 fairly soon.

        1. Ah no frozen areas, that’s pretty key. Thanks for that info, hopefully they can turn it around then.

        2. it’s actually 5 engines this year due to having over 20 races @optimaximal et all.

        3. @optimaximal This year it’s 5 I believe since it’s more than 20 GP? I also remember Rosberg saying that he’ll treat the situation as if there were still 4 engines and use the fifth as a performance bonus end of season

          1. @montreal95
            In what way is that different to “treating the situation” as if there was 5 engines?

            I would assume everyody is gonna use their 5th engine for performance at the end of the season.

          2. @rethla It’s different because normally if you have 5 engines spread over 21 races then most engines would average 4 races apart from one that has to do 5. What Rosberg meant was that he intends to have most of his engines to last 5 and the last one to do significantly less but be free from reliability worries and instead unleash all-out performance

          3. Rosberg managed last season on 3 race engines after he lost one in Monza practice, the only driver not to use at least 4 race engines. Having seen Mercedes reliability in Barcelona, getting through the season on 4 should be a piece of cake, even with an extra race.

        4. If they rushed through the silly qualifying format in a few weeks why not just scrap the tokens now? It will give more potential for others to improve.

    3. I would not pin all your hopes Merc not dominating. Rosberg set a particular long run in testing that was, well, fast with very, very little drop off. Which is the best indicator towards the cars performance.

    4. ColdFly F1 (@)
      9th March 2016, 6:11

      How many tokens are left?

      I guess that Renault and Honda still have all tokens left for this year.
      They could have done all development so far as ‘reliability improvement’ which is token-free. (it has to be within the season, but they can loophole that by introducing it on 29 feb).

  3. “Some days some of the top times they seem reachable, some other days they seem unreachable. A little bit confused with the performance of everybody else and ourselves as well.”
    Sounds suspiciously like McLaren won’t be in Q3.

    1. I think it’s fairly obvious that Mclaren won’t be in Q3 come Melbourne. My prediction for them entering Q3 is probably Barcelona (Alonso Heroics only), Monaco, Britain, Hungary, Germany, Baku, Singapore, Japan.

      Which is still a massive improvement from 0 Q3 appearances in 2015

  4. No One Better (@)
    9th March 2016, 0:36

    Oh look its Webber criticizing F1. Shocker!

    1. @noonebetter

      I don’t think he did.
      He said, basically, they don’t look great, vision is a concern but, he never wants to see a driver die because of lack of safety. Also, we should just, kinda just wait and see before we make up our minds.

      I think, none of that was critical or controversial.

    2. Oh look it’s @noonebetter, getting it wrong again. Makes you wonder how the strategy committee and FOM get it wrong so often, they should just ask Mark Webber who is right again on both counts.

      1. No One Better (@)
        9th March 2016, 5:00

        Dude, repeating others comments is so lame. Makes you sound like child.

        I hope Mercedes dominates again so you lot having something to bicker about. Although I’m sure there is no shortage of things you guys take pop shots at F1 for.

        I know what the majority of negative fans want. Its not a closely contested championship because that is not F1. Majority of F1 history is one team kicking everyone else’s behind.

        I’d have more respect for you lot if you flat out admit what you want is Ferrari dominance. Effectively swapping Mercedes for Ferrari.

        1. “I know what the majority of negative fans want”

          How do you know this? Have you done a survey? Or are you just assuming that you know? How arrogant.

          1. No One Better (@)
            9th March 2016, 17:59

            You’re being contrarian for the sake of it. Nothing would put an end to the negativity surrounding F1 faster than a couple of titles for Ferrari. You know that’s the truth. A closely fought championship with Mercedes coming out on top will not stop the complaining.

            I would even say if we had a Williams revival and they suddenly start winning titles, you’d still have a huge cloud of negativity because what the masses truly want is Ferrari at the very top. Till that happens, the new power units, drs, Pirelli, Ecclestone, tracks, the most minor rule changes…etc will continue to be the punching bag of unhappy fans yearning for Ferrai glory. Who knows, they might get their wish granted in 2016.

        2. Oh look it’s @noonebetter, at getting it wrong, getting it wrong again. I’m not going to grace that childish presumption with an answer other than, wrong.

      2. ColdFly F1 (@)
        9th March 2016, 6:17

        @hohum, there is a lot of ‘mine is better than yours’ in Webber’s ESPN article.
        I agree with @noonebetter that Webber is fairly critical, and it is not the first time since he left the sport.

        On a more positive note:
        RBR has found a way to finish 3rd this season by getting BE to approve their 10 Ricciardo’s line-up ;-)

        1. @coldfly, well, it probably is in Webber’s best interests to be critical of F1 given that he is employed by a party (Porsche, which is an extension of VW these days) who consider it to be in their commercial interests to be disparaging of F1.

          1. To be fair, Webbo was critical of F1 when he was in F1. That’s why Bernie wants more Aussie drivers. To support his counter-promo promotion of the sport. It’s that upside down approach that Bernie wants to see more of in F1 if/while he can still fathom what is up or down.

          2. Firstly, there is much to criticize in F1 right now, and everyone is doing it, and change is coming from it, so it would be a shocker if MW didn’t criticize F1.

            Secondly, he’s a Channel 4 commentator now, so…hired and paid to contribute verbally.

            Thirdly, he has first-hand knowledge of current WEC so who better to compare?

            And lastly, he is only saying things virtually everyone agrees with, no?

          3. @robbie, I think we can at least agree that Webber is adept at working the media to ensure that his comments resonate with the more vocal aspects of the fan base.

            With regards to his position on the WEC, it should be considered that Webber is making his comments from an extremely privileged position within the sport. He is driving for a manufacturer that has considerable political leverage over the governing body, is driving for the preferred car within his team and, given the performance advantage his team had over Toyota and the team orders situation within the team, was virtually guaranteed a podium position in every race in 2015 so long as reliability did not intervene.

            From his point of view, why would he not adore the WEC? Everything about the current situation in the WEC is skewed to the benefit of organisations like Porsche, and by extension Webber, so why would he want to complain?

            I cannot help but feel that if he’d ended up in Nick Heidfeld’s position, for example – where he is driving for a privateer team that was struggling for their financial survival in a dwindling class which could never hope to compete with the manufacturer entries – that Webber might not be quite so positively disposed towards the WEC.

        2. No One Better (@)
          9th March 2016, 18:03

          That’s the problem with Webber. SkyF1 has had A.Davidson for years and he never plays the WEC is better card. Weber hasn’t even started his gig at C4 and we already know what his MO is.

          1. No experience of current F1 either. I guess Anthony Davidson drives the simulators, and 4’s Susie Wolff has driven a competitive current car pretty quickly on a Friday.
            I guess Nico Hulkenberg’s the only guy who’s raced both.

        3. @coldfly, give Webber credit, he spoke his mind even when he was in F1, it’s just different questions now he is out.

          If 10 Ricciardos had MB engines which one would win? ;- {

          1. No One Better (@)
            9th March 2016, 22:59

            By that logic we should be giving Donald Trump credit for speaking his mind.

            Sometimes its wiser to keep your mouth shut and show a little restraint. Yelling FIRE has a diminishing return.

          2. I disagree that MW’s F1 experience is no longer relevant in spite of him not driving these hybrids. He has tons of friends inside F1 happy to describe in detail to him the feeling he knows compared to what is different now. The aero effect is still there for example.

            And I highly doubt MW has an agenda to sell WEC via Channel 4 by degrading F1. He’ll only be, as evidenced by his diplomatic remarks referenced above by Keith, echoing the same things the drivers and fans are saying, and the best thing F1 can do to halt any criticism is improve, as they are already working on doing.

  5. And F1 needs one less Ecclestone. #boom

    1. Beat me to it!

      1. was reading last night a pole.. on some site.. 75% would not miss Bernie if he left his station as F1 sherif…

        I guess internet people dont matter… they dont buy rolexes..

  6. Ferrari was your last team too Alonso ;-)

    1. Well, to be fair, it was the LAST team he drove for…

    2. No, that was his last last team. There’s a difference. This is his current last team. F1 is all about exploiting loopholes. ;-)

    3. To be fair to Alonso, Ferrari was the last team in F1 he drove for.

      Currently, he is participating in GP2 :P

  7. Formula 1 needs ten less Bernies.

  8. Wow. Comment of the Day? Unreal. Been lurking for almost two years and my first forum post gets recognized. Thanks @keithcollantine for the shout out and for the grammatical fixes. This made my day!

    1. @gunner22 You’re welcome!

  9. Ford back in F1? Not entirely unrealistic. The turbo hybrid formula will bode well with their Ecoboost branding. Further to this, In Guenther Steiner they have a former Ford employee who now knows how not to let the parent ruin a team.

    If Haas proves to be moderately successful, it is not inconceivable to see it get Ford as a works partner.

    1. When Stewart-Haas announced moving to Ford in 2017 my first thought was if Haas F1 was next.

      I had not thought of the Steiner connection. Very good point and probably more of a reason this partnership could happen.

  10. Ecclestone can’t make his mind, thats’ why F1 is spining in circles. Lest year he’d wanted more Hamiltons, and the year before more Vettels.

    1. This is simply BE drumming up headlines in OZ ahead of the forthcoming opening GP.

    2. @jeff1s The fact that F1 is in Australia in just over a week probably has a lot to do with the latest comment in the Bernie life saga.

      1. @9chris9 and @woodyd91 Spot on with both comments!

        If nothing else, Bernie is an astute businessman, always doing and saying whatever is best for HIS business.

        1. I used to argue that aswell. He always does the best for HIS business… but in fact he does not… not anymore. Headlines he tends to generate are negative in general… and F1 revenue is going down… Not a sign of a great businessman.

    3. Great grid with Hamiltons and Vettels, nor sure on Ricciardos unless it brings loads of sponsorship from teeth whitening companies.

      1. Not sure on the Ricciardo’s?

        Why? Would it upset you when he smashed the Hamilton’s and Vettel’s to pieces??

        1. They have won more titles than The Grin has races. The Grin has lost twice in 4 years to team mates. Hamilton and Vettel have since 2007 lost once to team mates….says it all.

  11. March 2016: “Fernando Alonso says McLaren will be his final team in Formula 1”

    April 2013: “I will end career at Ferrari, Alonso reiterates.”
    http://www.gpupdate.net/en/f1-news/292855/i-will-end-career-at-ferrari-alonso-reiterates/

    I have to hand it to Alonso. He always displays total commitment to his team, until he doesn’t.

    1. you should have included his mentions from 2007 about always having aspired to be at McLaren, I am pretty sure he wanted them to be his final team then too.

    2. His career ended in 2014 when he left Ferrari. His current employers have not built an F1 car for years.

  12. ColdFly F1 (@)
    9th March 2016, 8:55

    @keithcollantine, when can we start our 2016 predictions?

    PS – maybe an idea to tweak the scoring a bit? previous years we found that the only way to score high is to have a perfect top-5.

  13. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
    9th March 2016, 9:07

    This is probably the first time I have agreed with Ecclestone since he come out in Vettel’s defense during “boogate” in 2013…

    Ricciardo is a professional, dedicated and devastatingly talented young man, but equally probably the least egocentric driver on the grid. During autograph and Q&A sessions he interacts with fans individually, meticulously and with genuine humour and enthusiasm. In interviews he is by far the best at reconciling the need to beat the team drum whilst being engaging, light and insightful. Hamilton, Alonso and Raikkonen might be box office names, but at the most I think Ricciardo and Vettel are the best driver public relations ambassadors by far…

    1. I think you could add Jenson Button to that list of PR ambassadors.

      1. WilliamB (@william-brierty)
        9th March 2016, 16:04

        @asanator Agreed.

    2. Apex Assassin
      9th March 2016, 17:48

      The only reason he wants 10 more Ricciardos is that Melbourne needs to pay up and shut up. That’s the only reason Ricciardo is even in F1. He’s not any better than his teamie or his former teamies or Toro pair sacked prior to that.

      1. Yeah funny he says this a week away from the Australian race. Agree on the over hyped Ricciardo (50% success v team mates in 4 years) I always imagine where Vergne could be now was always much more impressive.

      2. @markp , Apex Assassin

        That is harsh on a racewinner (and unlike a certain Venezuelan, has multiple podiums and wins). Ricciardo outscored Vergne in their time together, and DR was felt to have lost more points to misfortune in 2012. Dan’s quali record was also superior in both years.

        The two drivers that Ricciardo and Vergne replaced also failed to show much promise in 3 years, which is why they were sacked.

        1. Everyone goes on about the bad luck as to why he loses to team mates but it happens a few times which for me is down to his failings that he loses. He is nit far off Maldonado with some of his moves. I always thought Vergne had much better race craft but was hampered with worse reliability. We will see but a loss to Kyvatt again this year should end him as a potential top driver.

    1. Good news.

  14. So, is Webber in or out of F1? It’s hard to tell with all the sour sound bites coming from that direction.

    1. @psynrg Did you even read the articles or just the one line above? He is not at all critizing it in any way other than fans do and even active F1 drivers do. Of all the people he is the most experienced in both F1 and WEC combined so he is the person to compare both on many things.

      1. @xtwl I must admit on this occasion I didn’t read any further than “Webber says…” as he has been banging on about F1 in what seems like every negative way he could think of, since he left.

        Personally I don’t see how WEC has any relevance to F1 any more (or less) than Indycar, Super Formula or (insert other motorsport here).

        F1 stands alone and he knows that – now he’s elsewhere he sees himself as more than a just the midfield F1 driver he always was, or a #2 at best and likes us all to know about it.

        I used to really like the guy, but now he just comes across as a discontented bell end, trying to elevate where he happens to be above the level of where it’s at…

        1. @psynrg In a world where everyone seems interested in a comparison between the WEC and F1 he is the go to man. It’s only logic he gets asked these questions and he only answers them honestly. I don’t see how that is any wrong. He voiced his opinion about F1 many times when he was racing for Red Bull before so it’s hardly something new or related to him no longer being in F1.

          Those who keep saying it is to get in the picture have no idea about the kind of media attention the man has to endure in the WEC.

          a just the midfield F1 driver he always was – I also think you know that’s not true…

        2. @psynrg
          Fought for the title until the final round against Vettel and 3 other champions all season. “Not bad for a midfield driver!”

  15. One less Bernie will do.

  16. Evil Homer (@)
    9th March 2016, 11:47

    BE is correct with the comment about Daniel Ricciardo, he is certainly the best ambassador for F1 at the moment by some fair way! The “trippin’ balls” comment on the podium in Australia 2014 gave the world a glimpse of the guys he is, what you see on TV is what you get- I have met him quiet a few times and he is just a normal guy….. that drives fast!

    Lewis is the other guy that BE likes to use to improve F1 to the “outside world”, which is smart, as that are very opposite. I am not the biggest Lewis fan that lives (love his track work though) but the jetsetter, (poor) rapper, party guy that would rather be in LA just reeks of James Hunt doesn’t it?!?! If F1 ever needed another James Hunt its now!

    Last I saw Lewis was posing with Sir Paul McCartney and Dan was on stage with Parkway Drive- either way its good publicity for F1 that some drivers have personality! (or more accurately can SHOW that personality)

    As for Webber, some drivers are robots, others have an opinion, Mark certainly the latter, and that’s fine! I have certainly seen so many ex ‘also rans’ comment in the past two years from nowhere to comment on F1, so happy to sill hear what Webber has to say instead. And he actually makes sense too!

    ……………….Hurry up Melbourne!!

    1. Hurry up Melbourne!!

      So we have some actual news yes.

      Mark Webber will now be a comentator right? :D so we will listen to his puns a lot more…

      1. I can’t imagine Webber being unbiased ‘re vettel. –

  17. As an additional point to that, I would point to Ricciardo as a signing. RB are a marketing company, so Kvyat makes sense. Big market for them. He also happens to be a handy driver as well. Only time will tell how good. Verstappen was the next big thing, so the marketing dollars were also well spent. He also happens to be a very handy driver. Sainz, well Spain is also a big market, but I think this guy got signed on potential only.

    With Ricciardo, marketing can’t have been a big thing. Australia is a market for RB, but with 21M people, it is a very very small one. He spent years battling in lower series trying to get where he was and they can only have promoted him each time because of the potential they saw. Other than his smile, there is no real marketing potential here.

    I mentioned marketing reasons for the other drivers, but in reality, I think they picked all of them because RB thought that they might emulate Vettel and win a championship. Anything other marketing opportunities were just cream on the cake. I bet they would promote a butt ugly person with no personality if they thought it would win them the title. Obviously in a 50/50 proposition, they will pick the marketable person, but who wouldn’t. Better than the rest of the teams picking pay drivers. At least RB pay their development drivers.

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