In the round-up: Pierre Gasly says he’s surprised Sauber aren’t further ahead of Toro Rosso.
What they say
Sauber moved ahead of Toro Rosso two races ago and are now nine points ahead of their rivals in eighth place. But Gasly is surprised the gap isn’t bigger.
In a way I’m surprised they didn’t score more points because it’s been quite a while since they were quite consistently in Q3. I think the fact that they’re working with Ferrari as well helped a lot the development and [they] came with a lot of upgrades every weekend. The car pace been a lot stronger than it used to be at the beginning of the year.
So now they are clearly really competitive and [it’s] not going to be easy at all to catch them in the championship. But we kind of knew it [would] come at some point because based on the performance and the pace they show already since the middle of the season we knew it would be difficult to beat them.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Still can’t believe what happened yesterday. This was from inside our photo bunker, serious damage. @nytimesphoto @cnn @SCMP_Sport @nytimes @Motorsport @MacauGP @7NewsSydney @9NewsAUS @abcnews @germannews45 @SophiaFloersch @appledaily_hk @fiaf3europe @MotorsportTV_UK @SkyNews pic.twitter.com/qkIACkTQAN
— Christiaan Hart (@christiaanhart1) November 19, 2018
One step closer. #spinalcordinjury #gaittraining pic.twitter.com/KzUlNI9c4W
— Robert Wickens (@robertwickens) November 20, 2018
Dear @SkySportsF1 As you know this is the last season a lot of #f1 fans in the U.K. will watch because of your greed and desire to put sports behind a paywall. You only have to read through the forums to see what I mean. I hope you rethink your decision on a bad deal for all
— Paul Blackwell (@paulblackwell27) November 20, 2018
Ecclestone taking a swipe at Liberty Media for saying they want 25 races and six rounds in America. He must think we've forgotten this:https://t.co/2n6sgqO8g8 #F1
— Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) November 20, 2018
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Liberty Media CEO Greg Maffei on the future of entertainment and sports media (NBC)
"We like motor sports. If NASCAR were available, we’d certainly take a look."
Mick Schumacher to partner Sebastian Vettel (in) Team Germany at ROC Mexico (Race of Champions)
"This will be an emotional occasion as Vettel previously partnered Mick’s father Michael Schumacher to six consecutive ROC Nations Cup titles from 2007-2012."
Bridgepoint gets serious over Moto GP sale (Bike Sport News)
"Moto GP could be under new management in the very near future as owner Bridgepoint has hired bankers Lazard to advise on a fast sale."
Saudis transform ancient site into Formula E race track (Arabian Business)
"This is the first time that Saudi Arabia has issued tourist visas for an event outside the realm of religious tourism."
Three tonnes of paint and hundreds of plants: Abu Dhabi prepares for Formula 1 (The National)
"Meanwhile, painters are giving a fresh coat, or four to be precise to the 26 kilometres of track and will apply more than 500kg of paint to the circuit’s kerbs every day until Thursday."
Ecclestone's blunt verdict on F1's new ambitions (Autosport - subscription required)
"When they appeared they said, 'We're going to have 25 races, six in America'. If you're sitting there, like most people do when they're working at business plans, they put together what they would like to happen, not knowing how they're going to make it happen."
Schumacher latest: Close friend of Mick Schumacher provides update on F1 legend (The Mirror)
"Michael Schumacher’s condition ‘remains a mystery’ to even the closest friends of his son Mick."
We always endeavour to credit original sources. If you have a tip for a link to feature in the next RaceFans round-up please send it in here:
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Comment of the day
The ultimate ruthless competitor, a devious rule-breaker or somewhere in between? Here’s @Twentyseven’s view on Fernando Alonso:
This is the type of driver I’m interested in viewing, someone to whom the sport means everything. I’m not interested in watching a sterile spokesperson for the best paying sponsor. I don’t expect drivers to be nice people. In fact I can’t name one driver on the current grid I’d like to meet for a pint (or a sports drink) and that’s fine, massive egos and an unhealthy obsession with winning are powerful tools for a driver. Look at Schumacher, even the scandals we know about are ridiculously unsporting.
I would go as far as to say that Senna who I worshipped as a kid (like many people on here) was all heart and passion, yes, but also obnoxiously bullheaded and hot-tempered on and off the track.
Hans Herrmann (@Twentyseven)
From the forum
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Polishboy808, Piyush Arya and Piyush Arya!
If you want a birthday shout-out tell us when yours is via the contact form or adding to the list here.
Neil (@neilosjames)
21st November 2018, 0:22
Article: No update, as everyone knew would be the case.
I dislike all clickbait, but I have a special sort of hatred for that sort.
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st November 2018, 0:33
+1. I didn’t click.
MtlRacer (@mtlracer)
21st November 2018, 0:49
I haven’t clicked either thanks to Keith’s well chosen quote.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 2:57
+1, thanks to Keith’s excerpt and your comment that there’s nothing to it. Reminds me of the ‘saved you a click‘ sub-reddit.
As an aside, maybe it could have been excluded from the round-up as well? I’d have offered this speculative article about Ghosn as an alternative.
ColdFly (@)
21st November 2018, 8:04
In cannot recall one single Mirror article deserving a round-up spot. Weird to see this one pop up here.
And I agree that I’d love to see a bit more background on the Ghosn story. Like Marcciano and Zetscke he was a driving force of pumping huge amounts of money in the sport.
anon
21st November 2018, 8:04
@phylyp, with regards to the theory being suggested in that piece, if they did want to take Ghosn out in a way like that, it would seem to be a bit of a clumsy method given that they’ve now opened themselves up to prosecution (there are reports that the Japanese authorities are preparing to take legal action against Nissan, as if Ghosn was misreporting his income as claimed, Nissan itself is potentially liable as well).
ColdFly (@)
21st November 2018, 8:56
They might charge Nissan’s CEO and Chairman, or even the guy who facilitated the unreported income :P
Yes of course Nissan can expect legal consequences, which would be a fine.
But much more worrying is a lawsuit from their investors for misrepresentations in their annual accounts.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 10:43
Interestingly, Bloomberg has also come out with a piece that asks whether Nissan’s attempts to sever ties with Renault/Ghosn have a role to play, particularly given the exceptionally strong statements that Nissan’s CEO made about Ghosn.
Reuters has also shed some light on the details behind the misconduct:
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st November 2018, 0:31
It seems to be all good news (under the circumstances) from Macau so I hope it’s not too early to say: Once again amateur race video makes the official video unexciting, video gathered by news organisations appears to show Ms.Floersch’s car travelling much faster than an F1 car ever appears to go, and I don’t think being airborne had anything to do with it.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 3:03
@hohum – Agreed. That said, you can’t see any sponsors’ signage on the car in the amateurs’ videos, can you? It’s all blurred out by speed, isn’t it? That’s why they’re amateurs* ;-)
Nothing underscored this oft-mentioned point more – to me, at least – than 2016 Brazil. When Kimi spun on the straight, the commentators worried about the danger, and my first thought was “the others aren’t going that fast, surely they can see him and avoid him even in that rain”. Then I saw fan video from the stands, with the cars buzzing past like angry gnats, and (with Bianchi’s incident still fresh) was terrified for the drivers involved.
* In case it wasn’t obvious to anyone else, I was being sarcastic about the priorities of trackside coverage being marketing first and an honest rendition of the speed second.
@HoHum (@hohum)
21st November 2018, 4:40
@phylyp, Sarcasm or not you’re dead right about being blurred by speed.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st November 2018, 8:15
I used to get blurred by speed back in my youth – foolish days ;P
BlackJackFan
21st November 2018, 17:08
When I was speeding it always seemed to be the background that was blurred… ;-)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 2:54
Whaaaaat? Bernie’s a hypocrite? You don’t say :-)
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
21st November 2018, 7:05
No, this isn’t the fault of Sky Sports, it is the fault of the TV Rights Holder and the contract they offered. If the TV Rights holder wanted races to be shown on Free to Air TV then it would have been stated in the contract. The fact Sky got the rights means there was no such clause.
If it is any consolation, there shouldn’t be any adverts during the races.
BlackJackFan
21st November 2018, 17:15
Hi Stephen – sorry, I’m not convinced by your logic…
Are you suggesting the contract ‘offered’ by ‘TV Rights Holder’ states categorically that Sky is NOT allowed to provide any free-to-air service…?
Otherwise, your statement: “The fact Sky got the rights means there was no such clause”, seems illogical – even if correct…
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
21st November 2018, 17:46
The sentence has to be read in its entirety. “. If the TV Rights holder wanted races to be shown on Free to Air TV then it would have been stated in the contract” is a reference to the older rule that a free-to-air channel had to have the rights in any major market where that was possible. Although Sky has two free-to-air channels, only one of these (Pick) is available across Britain, and that is exclusively for re-runs, not for original programming. It should have been obvious that only a compulsion in the contract would have made Sky break that pattern and make F1 the first original programming it had broadcast free-to-air.
BlackJackFan
22nd November 2018, 9:14
Thank you for your attempt to clarify, although I did, of course, read the whole sentence – I was just quoting the bit that seemed illogical…
And now you just state: “It should have been obvious…”, which it clearly was not…
But thanks for trying. ;-)
sean kettlewood (@skettlewood)
21st November 2018, 8:10
This !
The rights holder has chosen to put it behind the paywall, same as Premier League Football, Golf, Tennis, Rugby etc.. etc.. They went with Sky’s offer, they didn’t need to and they could have chosen a free to air TV channel or free to air clause, the same way that ITV has long-term deals with BTCC as the right holders want it to be free-to-air. Blaming the TV channel is great if it makes Paul and others feel better, however, fans displeasure is very much misplaced and would be far better being sent to Liberty Media even though it was an inherited deal (so Berni’s gree then…), At the 2024 resigning they know what the UK fan base wants.
It would make sense for the UK to get the streaming service instead at that point.
Richard (@rick1984)
21st November 2018, 10:18
There won’t be a tv contract renewal, it’ll see UK added to f1 tv pro. Then you get to pay liberty directly!!!
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st November 2018, 8:14
Totally agree with the COTD.
This is why I have never understood any kind of fan worship. Just because someone is the best at something – no matter what – sports, acting, singing, whatever, that doesn’t mean they are a wonderful person.
To have the drive and ambition to be the best at anything tends (not always, but mostly) to indicate a self centred and aggressive personality that I personally find repulsive.
I’m glad there are such people in the world as they provide great entertainment but I have absolutely no desire to know or associate with them. There must be exceptions of course but I suspect they are few and far between.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 13:19
@nullapax +1 to your views. Respect them for what they’re good at, but don’t go about putting them on a pedestal.
Todfod (@todfod)
21st November 2018, 8:16
Up until the last couple of races it was neck and neck between Toro Rosso and Sauber, so I’m surprised that Gasly was so convinced that they couldn’t stop Sauber once they saw their mid season pace. Kind of convenient how he mentions that Sauber should have had a larger lead already, like the Toro Rosso drivers have been doing a phenomenal job to keep things close, despite neither of them showing up since Hungary. Maybe Gasly should give his insight on how Toro Rosso finished behind McLaren despite having a better car than them for most of the season.
There’s something about this Gasly guy…
I can’t wait for him to go up against Max.
Abe (@okeptl)
21st November 2018, 9:35
I don’t know where Gasly got his news but Sauber have stopped its development for 2018 since the summer break.
I find him as a decent guy both in and outside the car, but he really loves to run his mouth. It reminds me to early 2017 where he was confident on getting that Toro Rosso seat, only to be denied by Dr Helmut
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 10:35
@todfod – ha ha, yeah, for all his talk, it’ll be good to see if he’s got the “go” to go with his “show”.
Jere (@jerejj)
21st November 2018, 9:52
I’m not surprised.
– Great COTD. I agree with it in principle.
– From the NBC-article: ”Q: Have you had talks with Vincent Bollore, [former Chairman and CEO and current board member of Vivendi.] A: No comment.”
– What’s wrong with just telling whether something has or hasn’t been done? I don’t get it. I can understand an attempt to be secretive and or avoid telling something in public on most of the instances, but not on this type. Merely telling whether something has been done or not isn’t ‘normally’ off-limits to tell in public so to speak. The above question from the interview in the article is perfectly relatable to the case of Rosberg in the Wednesday press conference for the 2016 Monaco GP where he was ‘merely’ asked whether he had or hadn’t talked with Hamilton about their lap one crash in the previous race, and yet he still initially attempted to avoid telling that. The most fitting answer in both of these cases would’ve been something along the lines of ‘Yes, but I won’t go into the details of the context of the discussion’ in case the thing in question had been done, or if not then simply nothing more than a ‘no’ would’ve done all the justice.
petebaldwin (@)
21st November 2018, 9:55
Well said Hans @Twentyseven
I’ve been saying this for years! Show me a nice, friendly, selfless driver and you’ll be showing me a great number 2!
To be the best, you have to push everything to the limit (including your conscience). In doing so, you’ll sometimes go a bit too far and all the greats have been guilty of that.
Levente (@leventebandi)
21st November 2018, 10:00
Fortunately people going out crying about that we will be left without real personalities and be left with pr robots when ALO and RAI will leave the sport are just showing the symptoms of usual fan narrow sight.
Fortunately there will be Always interesting guys behing the wheels. A great example is the Haas duo, KMag especially, the Redbull drivers (boy how many people can be triggered if Max speaks about anything), and we could continue the list.
Todfod (@todfod)
21st November 2018, 19:16
@leventebandi
LMAO…Had me in splits on that one. Below mediocre talents with no racing etiquette are not what F1 fans are looking for.
Max is a great talent and racing fans will appreciate him regardless of whether they feel positively or negatively about him.
Kmag though.. is one of the most insignificant drivers on the current grid.
Josh (@canadianjosh)
21st November 2018, 10:55
Formula E should follow up their Saudi Grand Prix with a North Korean Grand Prix. I try to keep politics out of racing but wow.
BlackJackFan
21st November 2018, 17:19
+111
Zim
21st November 2018, 10:58
Link to Schumacher ‘article’ is the usual tabloid nonsense, giving zero information.
Poor show guys, in light of the family’s wishes to be left alone.
Poor show.
A bit of decorum would be nice.
I’m slowly going off this site…
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 11:02
Kubica gets a race seat at Williams
BaKano (@bakano)
21st November 2018, 11:44
WOW! It is good because of all that happened to him.
Nulla Pax (@nullapax)
21st November 2018, 12:14
Hmmm, I didn’t think Kubica would ever get a drive in F1 tbh.
I expected all teams to consider it too potentially risky.
Good on the guy and wouldn’t be funny to see him giving the Force Indias a hard time next year ….
(You know what I’m talking about ;P)
Joao (@johnmilk)
21st November 2018, 13:06
Is this real life?
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 13:20
Is this just fantasy?
Joao (@johnmilk)
21st November 2018, 15:37
Caught in a landslide.
(Are we doing this?)
Mashiat (@mashiat)
21st November 2018, 16:43
@johnmilk I’m putting an end to this.
Joao (@johnmilk)
21st November 2018, 17:03
Thank you @mashiat
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 17:12
Boo, @mashiat 😕
Joao (@johnmilk)
21st November 2018, 20:47
this could have been the thread of the day @mashiat, and you know that @phylyp is always ready for a good rhapsody
Mashiat (@mashiat)
21st November 2018, 19:34
@phylyp 😁
MaliceCooper
21st November 2018, 12:36
Sauber was so strong this year it even made Marcus look good. Bodes well for next year. Would be fun to see Kimi still mixing it up in the top 10.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
21st November 2018, 12:46
Let’s not assume Sauber will maintain their rate of improvement into 2019. Their performance this year was in no small part due to moving from a rather average 2016 Ferrari PU to 2018’s impressive PU; alongside car development due to added funds and Leclerc’s performances.
I’d love to see Kimi duking it out in the (upper) midfield, but I have an uncomfortable suspicion that Kubica and Kimi will be the other pair of drivers in their 30s racing one another.
Dave
21st November 2018, 22:11
It seems Torro Rosso were boasting all season about how good their relationship with Honda was, how badly McLaren screwed up by divorcing them, how they were making progress blah blah blah.
About 5 races ago they were patting themselves on the @$$ after a good qualy session declaring “we can fight for a top 10” which was a dig at Alonso – since then they haven’t done squat.
Gasly is a bit cocky which is OK but recently declared that him, LeClerc and Lando were the future of F1. Maybe he’s right but I think it would have been best to wait until at least mid season next year to make such a statement.
After all, he is the most likely of the three to not last a full season considering he’s going up against VER. Maybe he will surprise – should be an interesting season