In the round-up: Renault chief Cyril Abiteboul prefers to recruit a future world champion than pay top dollar for a driver who has already won the title.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Renault not 'writing off' Magnussen, Palmer for 2017 (Motorsport)
"Buying an existing world champion, I don't think this is an absolute necessity in modern F1."
Pertamina quits advertising on Manor after Rio demoted (The Jakarta Post)
"Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm Pertamina, the main sponsor of Indonesian Formula One driver Rio Haryanto, has decided to stop advertising on F1 team Manor Racing’s cars for the rest of the 2016 season, an official says."
Haas: Buying a team was a better idea (Autosport)
"Not only do you get 'column A' money but you also get freight and airline tickets for the team."
Romain Grosjean answers your questions (F1i)
"I’d like to do Rallycross, I’d like to do the Le Mans 24 Hours, I like to race on ice in the winter. So more or less everything with a steering wheel and four wheels I do enjoy."
There is only one... Sebastian Vettel (Formula One)
"If you could pick just one motor race to watch... SV: The 1961 Monaco Grand Prix (which was won by Stirling Moss)."
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Even though it's summer break, we're still training every day!!! 💪🏾 pic.twitter.com/PyDalprlCJ
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) August 15, 2016
😂😂😂 calling bullshit on that https://t.co/0p4zFXUgC7
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) August 15, 2016
It's now official i will be having the "31" as my race number, i won my first national championship with this one😉! pic.twitter.com/GhRLJsLQVP
— Esteban Ocon (@OconEsteban) August 15, 2016
So @OconEsteban will use number 31. The last driver to race as 31 was @brabsracer in the 1994 Australian GP: https://t.co/nXs0byfkDs #F1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) August 15, 2016
Today's 'news' on Schumacher: (https://t.co/pHmABBrFXI and elsewhere) seems to be a repeat of a story from May: https://t.co/7dmFmgrZut #F1
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) August 15, 2016
August 15th means Ferragosto in Italy, which used to mean the Pescara Grand Prix on the longest track #F1 ever used: https://t.co/6u1GcjTVwQ
— F1 Fanatic (@f1fanatic_co_uk) August 15, 2016
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
This week’s poll asks whether we’ve ever had a better F1 field than we do today. @Dragoll suggests a year which did:
I think it is difficult to compare different eras, whether its for this discussion or who is the best driver etc…
However, when you consider the seventies where there were genuinely talented drivers such as Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Clay Regazzoni, Carlos Reutemann, Jody Scheckter, Ronnie Peterson, Chris Amon, Denny Hulme, Francois Cevert, Jacky Ickx, Mike Hailwood, Peter Revson and Niki Lauda. These are all well-known, even to the newest F1 fans amongst us. So when you think of all these amazing names, and see the 1972 season where all these guys were apart of, then its hard to think that any year in the modern era could hold a candle it.
@Dragoll
From the forum
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Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
16th August 2016, 0:20
Great banter from Daniel. There were a few Hamilton fans who completely missed the joke though, unsurprisingly.
As for Manor, I hope they pick up another sponsor soon. They were my favourite out of the three 2010 teams. And keep fighting, Michael. I wish that the press would leave the Schumacher family alone.
Kgn11
16th August 2016, 9:28
Here’s a question…
If Lewis had said that, would people consider his comment banter or him being disrespectful to Daniel?
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
16th August 2016, 13:22
I personally would consider it to be banter. Doesn’t matter which driver said it, it was still a joke. And I can also almost guarantee that there would be far less Ricciardo fans giving Hamilton hate if he said it, compared to the unnecessary hate that Ricciardo got from salty Hamilton fans, as a lot of Hamilton fans are rude.
Kgn11
16th August 2016, 14:01
Come on mate, had Lewis said that he’d be nailed to the wall for that. Lewis is already widely hated just for being him. You really think Ricciardo’s fans wouldn’t lay into him for saying that? Come on now, this is Lewis we are talking about, the man who gets criticized for the clothes he wears, haircuts and generally for existing.
Every driver’s fan base is filled with a lot of rude people, not just Hamilton’s. Ricciardo’s fans would viewed it as him being disrespectful and come to his defense and that’s what many of Lewis’s fans did.
I am a Hamilton fan and when i saw it, i just moved on to something else as i didn’t think it was that big of a deal.
Uzair Syed (@ultimateuzair)
16th August 2016, 16:30
I wouldn’t criticize him for making a joke like that at all. Maybe others, but not me. I really don’t know why Lewis himself gets so much hate. It’s not like he commited a serious crime or anything. However, it’s a lot of his fans who annoy me. There were several salty Hamilton fans who missed the joke and made stupid comments at Daniel for that. I know that there’s good and bad in every fanbase, but some Hamilton fans really go too far. I’ve seen it on YouTube, Twitter, and even on this site, which is meant to be free of this behaviour. I know that there are a lot of nice people who are Hamilton fans and you seem to be one of them, but there’s more negativity in the Hamilton fanbase than any other to be honest.
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
16th August 2016, 20:09
@ultimateuzair You have the people who don’t like him because he’s British, you have the people who don’t like him because he’s successful (and rich), you have the people who don’t like him because he’s living the type of lifestyle he lives and there are the mouth-breathers who think he shouldn’t be driving cars because his skin colour is not the correct one for their white supremacist views.
There’s your Venn diagram of Lewis Hamilton haters.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
16th August 2016, 18:42
Kgn11: The thing is, Lewis didn’t say that. He posted a shirtless pic for Beiber fans to ogle. Daniel made a joke. Maybe I’m missing something, and Lewis’s post was supposed to be funny, but I doubt it.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
16th August 2016, 0:22
What a bloke. Holding crazy kart races with 6 year olds on off weekends, sculling champagne from a boot on the podium and straight up calling out other drivers photoshopped bs on twitter.
Certainly a breath of fresh air in this overly PC and PR’d sport.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
16th August 2016, 0:55
photoshopped? are you talking about the out of focus background? or something that was cleaned up for publicity?
Tristan
16th August 2016, 2:08
I first saw it on phone, and didn’t see you could see his 2nd arm behind the first. Thought it was inflated/warped. My bad.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
16th August 2016, 3:00
yeah, I had no idea, I am sure some of his images are ‘cleaned up’ but I don’t think hes short enough in the wallet or long enough in the gut to require any significant changes :) Cheers. & for the record, I would never post that many selfies on my twitter, but I also don’t have to worry about promoting myself like he does, or using twitter as a means for “publicity.” I appreciate his candor a lot though, I think RIC does a good job too, but RIC holds back way too much still :) I like evil Dan “Save it !” :) :)
AntoineDeParis (@antoine-de-paris)
16th August 2016, 10:50
“What a bloke. Holding crazy kart races with 6 year olds on off weekends, sculling champagne from a boot on the podium and straight up calling out other drivers photoshopped bs on twitter.
Certainly a breath of fresh air in this overly PC and PR’d sport.”
“I first saw it on phone, and didn’t see you could see his 2nd arm behind the first. Thought it was inflated/warped. My bad.”
lmao
http://www.reactiongifs.com/r/mjl.gif
MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
16th August 2016, 0:37
I wonder who was ocon’s hero growing up……..just can’t put my finger on it.
Also, while i also tend to romaticize these past eras i think the (kind of sad) truth is todays blend pr-machines would totally blow the doors of anything pre 2010 driverwise (Consider the current-pre-2010-drivers exempt). There is just no competing against todays bred, raised and trained sportsmen. Actually that is probably why they are all boring to unnerving outside the car. Except Kimi. He’s awesome. But he also can’t compete against the borebots any longer :-(
Daniel
16th August 2016, 2:42
Supertrained and pr-polished athletes are a growing trend in every sport for a long time.
It’s pretty certain the current champions would beat the past ones, but not so sure who would prevail when given equal training conditions.
Despite the PR worries, we don’t lack big characters today: Hamilton the agressive flamboyant champion, Kimi the cool one, Ricciardo the big smile, Vettel the discrete and history curious champion, Alonso the controversial, Verstappen the golden boy, Button the gentleman. It’s pretty good for me.
Obviously these media constructed portraits, such as Senna’s divinally inspired character was
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
16th August 2016, 17:09
Obviously a person has more “personality after 100-200 Grand Prix…
Jenson wasn’t an established gentelman after first 5 years, maybe not eve 8-9..
Hamilton was quite polished for first few years…
Vettel, much changed from start of his Ferrari drive…
Who knows how much charisma will grow on todays drivers in the future…
krxx
17th August 2016, 23:07
@mrboerns
truth is todays blend pr-machines would totally blow the doors of anything pre 2010 driverwise (Consider the current-pre-2010-drivers exempt). – I wouldn’t second that.
Biggsy
16th August 2016, 0:57
Do we really have to hear about every vapid thing Hamilton does? All of his instagram is just posing, self-marketing. I honestly don’t think he ever took a picture without thinking how it would make him look on the instagram/twitter or whatever.
Kgn11
16th August 2016, 6:39
I’m not sure how you can be annoyed at someone using their own (operative word being OWN) social media account to post things about them self.
I’m going to assume to that you follow some of his social media accounts, if don’t, then apologies.
So my question then is, “if it’s so vapid and it annoys you, then why would you in the first place go through all that trouble to click the follow button?”
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
16th August 2016, 20:12
Well, for a start Biggsy, he clearly didn’t take that picture of himself. He has a PR team doing all this social media work.
pcxmac (@xsavior)
17th August 2016, 0:59
yeah, but they could stand to be a tad more subtle, and less focused on projecting Lewis. If you look at RIC’s twitterings, he has his friends in shot, and even interacts with other people on Twitter. A more successful strategy for sure, something to consider I think. I think Lewis does some of his own tweets though, but the self promotion can be over the top some times. I guess it’s all how ‘intimate’ you take twitter for.
chris (@)
17th August 2016, 6:07
I’m a Lewis fan, I follow his Twitter and Instagram as I do many others yet I only see stuff like this on sites like this, trying to drum up trade by whiling up a it of hysteria, purely because I don’t bother opening Twitter or Instagram. As kgn stated why bother getting all worked up by someone using their social media for social media. Just don’t look at it. It’s like hating the amount of sport/porn/dramas shown on tv, just don’t look at it.
Mr. X
16th August 2016, 2:05
You have to build a championship winning car first… good luck.
Patrick (@paeschli)
16th August 2016, 7:02
Putting money in your car is smarter than putting money in drivers, just ask McLaren…
Looking forward to a Perez-Ocon line-up next year. :)
Robbie (@robbie)
16th August 2016, 13:42
I’m of two minds on this, but I hope it is about to change next year and onward anyway.
Firstly if the driver matters less in modern F1 that is a shame, but no surprise as we see them trundle along conserving everything and having DRS. So in that sense yeah it doesn’t take two WDC’s to do that on a team.
However, hopefully that is about to start to change with cars more difficult to drive that are faster and therefore more taxing on the drivers.
I would like think it still holds, and will start to become more important again, that a team is better off with the best most experienced drivers they can possibly afford, because with them comes the ability to get to the heart of problems more quickly, not to mention increasing the odds of doing well on the track in general.
Mac could be accused of wasting two WDC’s but they are there, and one could easily ask where would Mac be without them? Perhaps even further behind. Surely we all should be hoping that the driver always matters very much in this series, or if just anybody can do it…?
Nigel
16th August 2016, 17:57
JP once said F1 was 80% the car you have. Because of the development race in F1 that will never change. Are there drivers that are special yes and all details seem to point towards Perez being one of them. If Renault can give Perez a powerful engine I feel we are in for a treat.
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
16th August 2016, 8:14
“Renault sees no need to buy a world champion”
That left me a little bit confused, because I thought I remembered him saying just a week or two ago that Renault needed a ‘charismatic driver’ to head the team. And to my mind these two statements run counter to each other. Have I remembered incorrectly and attributed the ‘charisma’ statement to the wrong person?
petebaldwin (@)
16th August 2016, 8:58
The ones they were interested in obviously said no!
ColdFly F1 (@)
16th August 2016, 10:00
good one @petebaldwin.
Cyril probably did a ‘Trump’ – he said it literally but meant it sarcastically ;-)
Craig Woollard (@craig-o)
16th August 2016, 9:49
@nickwyatt Just because someone is a world champion does not necessarily mean that they are charismatic…
Nick Wyatt (@nickwyatt)
16th August 2016, 11:07
Good point, very good point.
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
16th August 2016, 11:24
@nickwyatt I would say Ricciardo and Sainz are very good examples of charismatic drivers that are not world champions.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
16th August 2016, 17:19
And would be great to have on a team!
Nigel
16th August 2016, 18:06
Everyone thinks different drivers are chrasmatic. Depends on what you like. Kimi I think has no personality and could be seen as boring. I agree that Perez has that quality Renault are looking for. Williams daughter seems to think the same. For the most part the mob mentality seems to like the establishment drivers.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
17th August 2016, 0:28
Renault need people with charisma who are fast but won’t demand more from the team than it’s able to give right now. World champions tend to fail the latter criterion. However, they are useful for clearly illustrating certain personality traits that would be desirable in the drivers that are wanted without tipping Renault’s hand to early and potentially wrecking wage negotiations…
Fast
16th August 2016, 10:42
Gene Haas Classic American. Everyone does it one way and advises the same but no he’d rather do it his own way.
Then rues the whole system rather than his own system of thinking. So boring… USA, USA
Robbie (@robbie)
16th August 2016, 13:30
Yeah like a non-American would never have made the decision he did, without the luxury of hindsight of course. It’s exclusively an American thing? And I don’t sense he ‘rues the whole system’ really, does he?
fast
16th August 2016, 22:10
He sure speaks with regret about what happened rather than regretting the flaws of his own thought process.
BasCB (@bascb)
16th August 2016, 17:14
Yup, pretty much everyone who knows anything about F1 saw that one coming the moment they announced their entry.
fast
16th August 2016, 22:07
+1
grat
16th August 2016, 17:29
Nice to see someone painting a nation of 320 million individuals with one inaccurate brush. :)
First, you’re (apparently) ignoring that he’s 8th in the championship, and beating Manor, Sauber, and Renault. Second, he’s not “ruing the whole system”, he’s admitting that it would have been cheaper, and more lucrative more quickly, to buy a team.
Of course, then we’d still only have 20 cars on the grid instead of 22.
fast
16th August 2016, 22:12
That’s the same comment as the fellow above. read his reply for clarification. (America, ranked last of the first world countries in education.)
Djangles LeVaughn (@royal-spark)
16th August 2016, 11:40
A Mercedes affiliated driver running #31 on their car. Me likey.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
16th August 2016, 17:17
Looks promising. To bad no chance in Manor.
Djangles LeVaughn (@royal-spark)
17th August 2016, 11:00
Just to elaborate on the connections:
– Schumacher drove the #31 Mercedes C11 in the ’91 Le Mans 24hrs
– Al Unser Jr drove the #31 Penske Ilmor-Mercedes in ’94
David Bell
16th August 2016, 13:17
Unfortunately no matter how good the drivers were back in the 60’s / 70’s they would not be as good as today’s drivers, purely because of advancements in training and young nurturing. This happens in every way of life, records get broken eventually because naturally we get better as more is invested in it. Look back on old Olympic games and what they needed to do to get the Gold medal and compare to today.
I’m in no way saying the older generation were not very good drivers, they were the best of that era. If they had access to today’s technologies and workout regimes back then they would have been even faster. You can only compare one person with another when theyve had equal oppurtunities.
Robbie (@robbie)
16th August 2016, 14:19
I think that is a fair comment and a comparison can be made to the Olympics with respect to technology and training no question.
However, I think there is a glaring difference in F1 in the 60’s/70’s to now in terms of the mental strength it took knowing the numbers of fatalities and injuries that had high odds of occurring, that would have had to have been a huge factor in how drivers dealt with that aspect or even decided whether to be racers or not in their youth. Only the truly most determined and driven racers, the strongest mentally, needed apply. Nowadays, that element barely exists. Not saying they need to go back to that level of danger…just saying let’s keep in mind what more they had to deal with back in the day. Surviving back then was a feat in itself. What are the truly great feats the drivers are achieving today with the limiting tires and with DRS?
David Bell
16th August 2016, 14:37
Very good points, i had forgotten about the risk factor. There is no doubt that has an effect on the driving as it was in the past couple of races a question was put to Verstappen about his great overtake on Rosberg at Silverstone. His reply was something along the lines of he saw Rosberg had a wobble and thought why not have a go around the outside and he didnt have any worries because of the run off area.
NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
16th August 2016, 17:15
Renault is quite right… Look at talent outside F1, Vandorne and other drivers similar to that.
Now they could get Alonso for say 25 milions per year? I bet they could get better value in hiring 100 extra engineers. And then pay some nonchampion driver 400k per year.
Their issue is not drivers. If their car was 3s a lap faster and power unit 100bhp stronger, they would find a driver good enough to compete and win.
Look at Red Bull, they take talented drivers and make star out of them.
They should emulate that.
Nigel
16th August 2016, 18:12
I agree that’s why Perez would make a great choice to built into a world champion to emulate RB.
TED BELL
16th August 2016, 18:13
Good luck Renault…
Discounting the merits of having a top of the line driver in any team that is floundering is a free ticket to never getting anywhere. Renault success will be compromised by this decision. Money or the lack of money has blossomed this incorrect idea of progress and their future will remain bleak without change
Nigel
16th August 2016, 19:54
I also think with their current line up their future remains bleak.
ferrox glideh (@ferrox-glideh)
16th August 2016, 18:47
I love F1fanatic, but could do without the vapid instagram and twitter reposts. It just brings down the journalistic tone of the whole site.
Nigel
16th August 2016, 19:51
Agreed
Optimaximal (@optimaximal)
16th August 2016, 20:16
@ferrox-glideh Don’t look at them?
lockup (@)
16th August 2016, 18:58
Maybe you could stop disparaging ‘Hamillton fans’ @ultimateuzair. It’s the same thing, after all. Untrue, insulting, and not about F1.
Nu
20th August 2016, 6:49
Don’t think any wise topdriver will touch Renault before they have results – risking career and season…
Maybe in 2018 IF the car was fast enough in 2017 there will be a topdriver coming to the team…by a topdriver I do not think of PER …
Right now KEV and PAL is just fine in the Renault seat – they may loose 1/10 of a second but if the car is 1/1 second slower it reallt doesn’t matter….and maybe – just maybe – we will see that KEV or PAL actually is the starmaterial that Renault is looking for…having anothor season to prove themself..