Welcome to Sunday’s edition of the RaceFans round-up.
Comment of the day
Should Formula 1 allow teams to go further in varying their liveries between cars, like IndyCar does?
Does it matter that McLaughin has a different sponsor for the Indy race? Not really. Fans will still see the number three, fans will know he is a Penske driver and the commentators will point him out (and his sponsors) in the telecast.
Was a Yardley, West or Marlboro sponsored McLaren take away from the McLaren brand identification? Not at all. People still identified the car as a McLaren. F1 fans don’t have a problem with changes of livery (McLaren’s gorgeous Gulf livery for Monaco being a prime example, as was a white Red Bull and a pink Racing Bull) on F1 cars, so why would they have a problem with different sponsors?
Just another point of differentiation between the closed and closeted franchise operation that is F1 and the rest of the racing world.
Gerrit
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to 130r and Sushant008!
On this day in motorsport
- Born on this day in 2000: Yuki Tsunoda
- Born today in 1965: Future Ferrari team principal and now Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali
- 50 years ago today Niki Lauda won the Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, despite fading oil pressure which allowed Emerson Fittipaldi to close late in the race.
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EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
11th May 2025, 3:34
I just don’t see it happeneng.
pcxmac (@pcxmac)
12th May 2025, 9:45
Did you see McLaren’s success happening, after they got bailed out by Mumtalakat/CYVN Holdings?
I would hazard to guess that since Miami last year, McLaren have been given both the keys to success by Pirelli and Mercedes. And this year, Mercedes are just turning up the wick on all their partners cars to celebrate their V6 coup de grâce.
F1 is only about increasing stakeholder leverage/benefit. It’s not about innovation, it only cares about the political dimension as access to the ‘political market’. The racing, i would wager is almost completely fake these days. Pirelli’s responsibility to the financial benefit of F1 and them making shady tires has been known since they came in to F1 before the hybrids.
thats what I see happening.
All you really have to do is look at how uninterested guys like Ferrari are on the pit wall at trying to scrap for positions. It’s like most of the people in the know, know that it’s not worth getting excited about, worrying about, or even caring about. Fans care more about their teams or drivers winning than teams like Mercedes or Ferrari (Red Bull I think care, how honest they are as to why & how is the real question).
And when the teams don’t get it right, or a driver steps out of line, the stewards will penalize them, not for running someone off the track, but to protect the stakeholders investment.
EffWunFan (@cairnsfella)
11th May 2025, 3:36
or indeed ‘happening’.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2025, 6:25
What do you even mean?
Coventry Climax
11th May 2025, 10:23
Future Ferrari team boss?
And you didn’t see that?
S Arkazam
11th May 2025, 11:56
If you don’t see it, then there are other ways to ask for help: phone a friend; 50:50; ask the audience. ;)
SteveP
11th May 2025, 16:18
Probably time to search for a text called something like “The subtleties of English grammar vs. colloquial phraseology” (a tutorial for the native and non-native speaker)
Simon
11th May 2025, 18:11
Yep. Not a “how can I over-analyse or over-hypothesize” situation, so does not compute…
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2025, 6:32
Regarding the LM first-quarter report, the GP amount was exactly the same as last year within the equivalent period & likewise the locations, so I don’t get the ”different mix of races held” part either.
The only differences between this & last year’s first quarters are the precise order for some rounds (BAH-SAU-AUS-JPN-CHI-MIA versus AUS-CHI-JPN-BAH-SAU-MIA) & consequently, date ranges for the Australian, Chinese, Bahrain, & Saudi Arabian GPs since these four are the ones that shifted around compared to last season.
MichaelN
11th May 2025, 11:48
The quarter is the first three months of the year. Lest year there were three races, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia, this year two, Australia and China.
Jere (@jerejj)
11th May 2025, 16:57
Okay, I simply messed up how quarter portions are split, so I fully comprehend now.
First: January-March
Second: April-June
Third: July-September
Last: October-December
Yes, one fewer round in March (& consequently first quarter) than last year, & neither early-season Middle East round was held in that month, so I also realized the ‘different mix’ reference.
Simon
11th May 2025, 18:14
The above is a masterclass in “how can I over-analyse or over-hypothesize”
Then failing miserably…
Ideals (@ideals)
11th May 2025, 6:53
Ollie Oakes did not quit his job and run to Dubai because he’s innocent. Even in the most charitable interpretation that is beyond sus. Now where we can be charitable is the reasoning. Perhaps it was simply to save his team from bankruptcy after the sanctions. But either way, we won’t be seeing him for a very long time.
You do have to feel sorry for the employees of the various Hitech outings. That company is obviously not going to last much longer given all this. And they run a lot of different categories so that’s a lot of people, hopefully someone saves it before the money dries up.
Jay
11th May 2025, 8:57
This is a conspiracy theory with almost zero facts. He quit his job and flew to Dubai, fact. The rest is a hypotheses or assumption. How about we wait for some real details to come out first?
Ideals (@ideals)
11th May 2025, 9:59
Where is the conspiracy?
anon
11th May 2025, 11:03
@ideals I guess that the argument Jay is making is that, whilst the circumstances suggest a particular course of action by Oliver, we do not know the exact reason why he has gone there and, until guilty intent is proven, we should not judge him guilty because of those actions alone.
An Sionnach
11th May 2025, 11:28
Yes, the principle of innocence until proven guilty in a court of law is important, as is equal treatment under the law for all. Mob “justice” should be a thing of the past. The vast amounts of information available to us today and the fact that our societies are built on these principles, make it less forgivable when a mob sharpens its pitch forks.
Even if Oliver Oakes is later apprehended, charged and convicted in relation to this, it is presently wrong to say that he is guilty. As the article states, he has not been accused of anything and is not wanted for questioning in relation to anything.
S Arkazam
11th May 2025, 12:20
I largely agree with anon and you, but you left out an important word in your ‘presumption of innocence’ principle reference: ‘presumed’.
It’s indeed (totally) wrong to say he IS ‘guilty’, but similarly you cannot say he IS ‘innocent’ either; merely presumed to be. We need to be careful and considerate. But at the same time it’s okay to share facts and suspicions based on those facts, as long as you make clear that’s what they are, ‘suspicions’.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
11th May 2025, 8:17
F1 income drops in first quarter – not sorry!
Coventry Climax
11th May 2025, 10:26
To then say they had a race less over the first quarter and a couple other ‘parameters’ that were different.
Let’s see by the end of the season.
But I agree: I wouldn’t be sorry one bit if revenue turned out to have dropped.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th May 2025, 10:45
It seems funny to think that we might celebrate a drop in revenue for the sport that most of us have loved for years. But it does demonstrate what little regard we have for the people now running the sport, or the ‘show’ and the way they are doing it. It’s now all about the revenue and that’s mostly what seems to matter :-(
anon
11th May 2025, 10:56
@phil-f1-21 didn’t people spend several decades making exactly the same complaint about Bernie Ecclestone?
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
11th May 2025, 11:07
Yes, a good point. I think some probably did. When you think things are not so good, beware, there is always the prospect of something worse out there!
Tony Mansell (@tonymansell)
11th May 2025, 19:30
Seems funny that people clutch their pearls about corporatisation when that boat sailed as soon as Lotus slapped a sticker on their cars 60 years ago. I cant think of a sport where so much of it is hated by so many ‘fans’. Its a tyranny of negative group think
Ferdi
12th May 2025, 9:19
Indeed. But then we should all be very worried about a drop in revenue. We all know it will lead to more desperate format coming from Liberty in an attempt to boost value for their invisible shareholders. I am very concerned the circusification will reach new level of lows.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
12th May 2025, 13:14
You know I did think about that. If their revenues drop, Liberty will probably want to extract even more out of the circuits that hold races, etc. This might mean it becomes even more difficult for European and more traditional venues to stay on the calendar. Or add extra sprint races! It’s unlikely they will look at the other way and see the error of their ways (in my opinion).
An Sionnach
11th May 2025, 11:32
Well done to Mick Schumacher for his good qualifying and last stint performance at Spa. Too bad about the puncture!
Coventry Climax
11th May 2025, 14:35
So next time Joe Jackson’s car was rigged to win, you’ll root for him then?
Bob
12th May 2025, 3:17
Mick is no longer in the Ferrari family. He’s driving for Alpine in the WEC at the moment.
Coventry Climax
12th May 2025, 12:01
And? What’s Ferrari got to do with this, other than also joining the rigged WEC ‘Championship’?