In the round-up: Derek Warwick suggests Silverstone could offer corner naming as a means of raising revenue.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Silverstone owners confident British Grand Prix will continue at circuit (The Guardian)
"(Chase Carey) is saying he is going to change the way we can earn more money from the grand prix. Maybe we can have more pit walks, bigger concerts, more sponsorship – maybe we can name corners."
F1 driving force proud of a rich commercial legacy (The Straits Times)
"Now it seems maybe that's not good enough for the new owners. It's not what Liberty wants to do."
Alonso: 2017 performance pegged to aero choice, not power (F1i)
"Let's say that Mercedes, the top power, will be difficult to reach, we know that - not for us, but for everyone."
Daniel Ricciardo Q&A: Lewis won’t have it easy! (F1)
"I felt more grip from the bigger tyres, but the car was a kind of random/hybrid set-up so wouldn't have given the real 2017 feel. But the tyres seemed fun, so I expect good things when we get on track in Barcelona."
Toro Rosso took risks to counter old engine (Autosport)
"There was no way to develop the chassis to a level that we successfully could compete against the other teams where the power unit as well was developed."
Teams split as F1 2017 braking forces go up by 25 percent (Motorsport)
"What we think is that at some tracks like Silverstone, or Interlagos – the real number of stops is going to decrease but the energy of the stops is going to increase."
Manor's slim hopes (Motorsport magazine)
"The idea that the sport’s commercial rights holders, Liberty Media, should step in to prevent the loss of a team and the two cars on the grid it supplies is a non-starter."
Easier said than done (The Way It Is)
"Malone and Carey may well discover the only solution to building a proper F1 driver scholarship program and promoting the most accomplished, best-known young American open-wheel drivers to F1 is to overpower or buy IndyCar and rebrand the IndyCar series as F1 America."
The 1985 European Grand Prix at Brands Hatch (Paul Debois)
"Not only were they not there, they had jumped into a dip in the ground, and were screaming at me, to get f*** out of it."
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January on F1 Fanatic
A selection of F1 Fanatic’s top reads from last month which you might have missed this month:
- The complete F1 Fanatic 2016 season review
- Does Ocon ‘know how to deal with Verstappen’? Maybe not
- Title fight had little effect on Hamilton’s jet-setting
- Why Bottas is the right choice for Mercedes
- Seven Bottas races which show he’s the real deal
- Has F1 hit ‘peak penalties’? Fewer sanctions in 2016
- Financial doping: Why Liberty’s budget cap idea is doomed to fail
- Alonso, Vettel and Bottas: The keys to the 2018 F1 driver market
- The 38 drivers with enough superlicence points to enter F1 in 2017
- The seven F1 deals which made Ecclestone rich and powerful
- Only one thing mattered in the Ecclestone era
- Hamilton to break pole record? The stats to watch for in 2017
Sean Doyle (@spdoyle17)
31st January 2017, 0:23
Well, at least if they rename Club Corner to Tesco, it would make sense. I sure hope they don’t rename Maggotts-Becketts anything awful though. The possibilities make me shudder.
John H (@john-h)
31st January 2017, 1:03
Copse cutter?
Michael Brown (@)
31st January 2017, 3:10
Nah, everyone extends Copse
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
31st January 2017, 3:31
I’m envisioning every corner named after Santander…
GeeMac (@geemac)
31st January 2017, 8:49
“…and he’s gotten a great run out of Santander, they are side by side going into Santander, and he’s through and is pulling away on the run down to Santander…”
It is ridiculous enough to actually happen….
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
31st January 2017, 13:12
It will always be Abbey to me
Charles King (@charleski)
31st January 2017, 16:55
Ah, I get it, you’re hoping Santander resurrect their Abbey National brand :).
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
31st January 2017, 18:33
@charlski :D
Martin
31st January 2017, 13:31
Maybe if it were products it would work
Maggotts-Becketts (corners 10,11,12) could become the “Santander 1|2|3” for example
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
31st January 2017, 9:59
He’s almost flat through Copse in association with Northamptonshire Police, and into Maggotts From Bob’s Fishing Tackle.
DanimalHouse (@thrillerwa09)
31st January 2017, 16:34
Easy… keep the names, but solicit brands WITH those names to invest! Here…
Vale Denim
Downton Abbey
Canadian Club Distilling
Bicester Village
Brooklands Pet Products
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
31st January 2017, 17:30
the Hunter Wellington Straight.
When Kyalami returned in the early 90s, it came with a particularly lame set of sponsored corners – Budget and Yellow Pages. Derek Warwick should be able to remember to sensation of ripping through Yellow Pages (in his Footwork). They didn’t last long.
Willem Cecchi (@)
31st January 2017, 22:47
Kyalami have returned the iconic corner names in the latest redevelopment.
http://racingcircuits.info/africa/south-africa/kyalami/#.WJEWmFVBrIU
TheLeggacy
31st January 2017, 0:26
The corners already have names! I don’t want historic parts of the track being named after products I probably won’t buy.
“As we see Lewis Hamilton exiting the toilet duck bend and making his way down the 888.com straight”
pSynrg (@psynrg)
31st January 2017, 6:32
Agreed, absolutely awful, but preferable to no Silverstone at all?
John H (@john-h)
31st January 2017, 13:08
I think I’d rather have no British GP than be subjected to that.
OmarRoncal - Go Seb!!! (@)
31st January 2017, 13:42
@john-h for real? I would watch every GP of the year even if they were named Bernie E, Tamara E, Ivanka T, Vladimir P, you got it.
ob1 (@ob1)
31st January 2017, 7:33
I think someone at Silverstone has been watching too much Grand Tour. Will the corners they can’t sell just be referred to as “Your Name Here”?
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
31st January 2017, 10:02
@ob1 I remember an F1 team trying that recently…..
ExcitedAbout17
31st January 2017, 7:42
I would focus on the real issues rather than the way a circuit can make the numbers add up!
Lewisham Milton
31st January 2017, 9:49
Toilet Duck would work well. Or Armitage Shanks. Most of the newer turns at Silverstone are shaped like U-bends.
Just when you thought the stupid F1 ideas to get headlines and clicks had gone away with Bernie… now that he’s gone, they should turn the Wing into housing.
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
31st January 2017, 16:52
Well…they want to tap into the American consumer market no? Lewis might soon be going through the ‘corner complex presented to you by 5-hour Energy’ instead of Maggots and Beckets.
Verstappen blocking Kimi on the ‘Like a good neighbour, StateFarm is here – straight’ at Spa as were looking from Kimi’s Verizon Onboard camara with stewards having to check the ‘Taco Bell-Telemetry graph’ to see if he was turning under braking…
Thát’s how we are going to make F1 Great Again people!! brought to you by Liberty Global.
Mashiat (@mashiat)
31st January 2017, 4:02
Let’s just hope Simply Sausages doesn’t sponsor them as they did with Donington
Pat Ruadh (@fullcoursecaution)
31st January 2017, 13:34
Muller Fruit Corner?
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
31st January 2017, 14:02
@fullcoursecaution Genius!
TheLeggacy
1st February 2017, 23:23
Awesome 👏
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
31st January 2017, 6:37
After some thought I realised that yes, Manor has to go the way of all the other unsuccessful F1 teams and go, even though I think some of the blame for their demise lies elsewhere. There is an obligation for F1 to treat all their teams fairly and impartially, and I don’t mean just in the way it vets the cars and administers the rules in a race, it should also be fair in the way each team is presented to the public.
Manor, Sauber, Force India, etc all paid their fees to race in the F1 series for the 2016 season, so one would expect them get fair TV coverage at each race, or are these teams supposed to pay extra to get their entitlement of fair TV coverage?
Serg (@)
31st January 2017, 7:20
A corner loses its identity when it starts being surrounded by endless tarmac run-offs, and not when its name changes.
ExcitedAbout17
31st January 2017, 7:46
Well said @serg33.
Fudge Kobayashi (@)
31st January 2017, 9:41
That Gordon Kirby article is absolute fantasy, pie in the sky, money no object, licensing no object, copyright and contract law out the window material. Akin to saying F1 needs a Senna back in the sport so lets pull Bruno back and put him on a 12month intensive unlimited mileage testing program and also allow him to take performance enhancing drugs and wrap it all up in a montage Ivan Drago style and present him as McLaren’s Alonso replacement! Um, no.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
31st January 2017, 10:14
@offdutyrockstar you’re right, I do love Gordon Kirby and this does all make sense… but as a wishful thinking exercise only, unfortunately. I agree with it all, just can’t see it happening. The thought of F1 Indycar is pretty cool and brings back memories of CART in the 90s when it really was seen as a de-facto F1 in the US (with Andretti, Mansell, Zanardi and Villeneuve switching back and forth, amongst other Indycar drivers testing for F1). But since then F1 has never wanted a strong Indycar because why would it want a strong competitor? No, Liberty surely would be happier to see the continuation of a week Indycar. And just rob Long Beach off them.
David
31st January 2017, 11:41
But.. didn’t they just spend on a huge wing shaped hospitality area.
I love silverstone but I find it difficult to accept how they can take a dive financially so suddently… or have they been in trouble for a long time. What about the BRDC?
Sean
31st January 2017, 12:51
I may be wrong but, I think Bernie bullied them into a major upgrade of hospitality as part of the contract negotiations.
Matt Conway
31st January 2017, 12:09
Not sure I can deal with anymore renaming scandals if I’m honest.
What happens when something gets called “Cornery McCorner” and it gets vetoed.
THIS IS NOT THE DEMOCRACY THAT I SIGNED UP FOR.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
31st January 2017, 13:24
Curvey McCurveface
George (@george)
31st January 2017, 17:46
Yes, sell your heritage for some puny sum that won’t make any difference in the long run.
Just face the music Silverstone. If you can’t afford the GP, don’t host it. All this politicking and begging really gets on my nerves. I think Silverstone as a “brand” is strong enough to survive without F1 – at least in the medium term, it’s not suddenly going to be overtaken as Britain’s premier circuit. Do whatever you need to to sort your finances, eat some humble pie, then a few years down the line see if a more sustainable deal is on the table.
mrfill
2nd February 2017, 12:14
A good game to play on a wet Wednesday is available on the BRDC website.
Go to the list of members and spend a couple of hours playing Spot the Tax Exile million/billionaire.
When you have finished, any sympathy for the BRDC and its pleas for state aid are likely to evaporate.
Certainly, F1 finances need some sorting out but for the BRDC to suggest that they ‘can’t afford it’ is a bit of a stretch of the imagination.
Newfangled (@newfangled)
31st January 2017, 19:39
I wish I could muster the passion to care about the potential loss of Silverstone, but it’s a dog of a track these days since the redevelopment. Sector 1 is awful, and Maggots-Becketts does not a great circuit make. Donington won’t happen–nor will Brands, so all I can do is shrug. And I live in Northamptonshire.