In the round-up: McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1’s budget cap will take “probably another two years” before the system begins bringing teams closer together and increase competition.
In brief
Budget cap needs ‘another two years’ to produce “awesome competition” – Brown
McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1’s budget cap will take “probably another two years” before the system begins bringing teams closer together and increase competition.In an interview posted by the team on social media, Brown said that teams with less sophisticated resources require a handful of years to build up facilities before they can compete with the larger teams. Asked when he forsaw the cap closing up the field, Brown said “I think probably another two years.
“I think even though we’re all kind of on the same money spend now, some teams have bigger infrastructures,” he explained.
“We’re still waiting for our wind tunnel, which is down the road to be done, which will be done here shortly – a new simulator. So even though everyone’s kind of on an equal playing field, or most teams from an annual expenditure standpoint, a handful of the teams have come in with a better technology infrastructure, which we’re catching up on and some other teams are.
“So I think as these regulations stabilise, people will catch up. I think in a couple of years time it’s going to be an awesome competition.”
Blakeley has one hand on esports title as Opmeer eliminated
Reigning two-win Formula 1 esports world champion Jarno Opmeer will lose his championship crown during tomorrow night’s final round after he was mathematically eliminated from contention.
McLaren Shadow driver Lucas Blakeley won his fourth race of the season at Interlagos, leading the majority of the race from pole in changeable conditions to extend his championship advantage to 21 points over Red Bull’s Frederik Rasmussen and Haas’ Thomas Ronhaar a further point behind. Blakeley requires only a top seven finish to secure his first F1 esports championship.
Fox Sports extends Mexico F1 broadcast deal
Formula 1 will remain on Fox Sports in Mexico for the next three seasons after Formula 1 announced it had extended its existing deal with the broadcaster.
Fox Sports Mexico will continue to hold exclusive rights to live coverage of the world championship until the end of the 2025 season. Belgian broadcaster Play Sports will also continue to show Formula 1 in the European nation for the following two seasons after its own deal was extended.
Nato fastest on penultimate day of Formula E test
Nissan driver Norman Nato set the fastest time on the third day of the pre-season test in Valencia ahead of the 2023 season.
Nato, who did not compete in this year’s championship, set the best time of a 1’23.776 to top the third day of running with the series’ new Gen3 car. Nato’s best time was just a tenth of a second quicker than Mahindra’s Oliver Rowland, with Sebastian Buemi putting his new team Envision into third.
Reigning champion Stoffel Vandoorne had eclipsed Nato’s quickest time late in the session, but had it deleted due to exceeding track limits. The test ends with a final day of running tomorrow.
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Links
Motor racing links of interest:
Michael Masi joins Karting Australia board (Speedcafe)
"Michael’s experience in the world of motorsport in Australia and on a world, level is exceptional, and we’re delighted that he has decided to accept the invitation to join the Board."
Who is our new Team Principal, Andrea Stella? (McLaren)
"Twenty-four hours is a long time in Formula 1, and although it may seem like a lot has changed within a short period, the wheels of Andrea Stella's trajectory to Team Principal have not only recently started turning, they've been in motion for some while. The Italian's roles, responsibilities and value to McLaren have grown ever since he first set foot into the McLaren Technology Centre and walked the famous white corridors back in 2015."
2023 Grand Prix to be the chequered flag for GP boss Andrew Westacott (Australian Grand Prix)
"The Australian Grand Prix Corporation today announced that Andrew Westacott, AGPC’s Chief Executive Officer, will not seek another term following the conclusion of his current contract, which runs until 30 June 2023. The 2023 Grand Prix will be the fifteenth Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix event for Andrew during his time at AGPC, having also been involved in the delivery of fifteen Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix events."
Doohan and Iwasa’s tyre management skills recognised with Pirelli Trophy honours (F2)
"Voted on by a panel of international Formula 1 and F2 journalists, Doohan and Iwasa were jointly awarded the Pirelli Trophy for the best utilisation of their tyres, beating out fellow nominees Logan Sargeant, Enzo Fittipaldi, Frederik Vesti and Dennis Hauger."
Gen3 impressions: the drivers on Formula E's all-new car (Formula E)
"Max (Guenther) has already gone quicker than the fastest lap we did here last year so we’re already faster over a lap. We can expect a bigger difference but that will come with us exploiting the car better – you will see bigger differences on targets in the race and on target laps because the car is effectively a lot more efficient."
The 2022 F1 Season Animated! (F1 via YouTube)
"F1 Animated is racing like you’ve never seen before. We've got Sebastian Vettel rocking out, Valtteri Bottas sun bathing and Max Verstappen handing out presents..."
Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo : The Story (Gran Turismo via YouTube)
"The Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo, the first Ferrari concept car created specifically for virtual motorsports, is coming soon to Gran Turismo 7. To mark the occasion, we are releasing a special behind-the-scenes ‘Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo: The Story’ video from the development team at Ferrari who worked on the Ferrari Vision Gran Turismo."
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Signed. ✍️ @SchumacherMick meets the Boss. 🤝 pic.twitter.com/7kuQXlJdMS
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 15, 2022
These two go back all the way to the drawing board 💪✏️ pic.twitter.com/MlHoTiWSal
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) December 15, 2022
Look! 👀 It matches!
SHANGHAI skyline!🏙️#TeamZHOU pic.twitter.com/GHuUmjQrHL— 周冠宇 | Zhou Guanyu 🇨🇳 (@ZhouGuanyu24) December 15, 2022
Good times 🚲#VB77 #mulletlife #australia pic.twitter.com/ArJD9oVp1v
— Valtteri Bottas (@ValtteriBottas) December 15, 2022
THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS.@LucasBlakeley01 wears his heart on his sleeve as he takes his fourth win of 2022, and comes within striking distance of the title 🥺#F1Esports #F1 @fanatec pic.twitter.com/M99ftz4F3e
— Formula 1 (@F1) December 15, 2022
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- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
While Mercedes’ announcement that Mick Schumacher would join them as reserve driver for 2023 thrilled his fans, others were less enthused. Reader PeterG believes Schumacher – and all young drivers – deserve more patience…
People are far too quick to write off drivers now after a difficult season, Especially the younger rookies.
It’s funny how back when testing was unrestricted rookies were given more time to learn than they are now when they get barely any time in an F1 car at all.
It used to be accepted that young rookies would struggle and make mistakes in the first year or two. Yet now if they’re not on it from day 1 they are considered as not that good and written off as not worthy of an F1 seat.
Felipe Massa was awful in his rookie season but he was allowed to learn and mature to the point where he nearly won the championship.
Andrea De Cesaris crashed a lot early on yet developed into a pretty safe pair of hands.
James Hunt was similar but was given time to mature into a champion. Similar with Jody Scheckter.
I doubt James Hunt would have been given the opportunity to fight for a championship in modern F1 as he’d be written off as hopeless before getting there and even if he did he’d be out within a year.
It’s sad the state the sport is in now in this regard.
PeterG
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Johnny86, Ovviamente, Matthew Nowell, Kiefer Hopkins, R.J. O’Connell and Godwin Joseph!
S
16th December 2022, 1:46
Doubt it very much.
As for CotD – this is the way the whole world is now. If one person can come in and do well off the bat, then that’s the new expectation. Anyone who doesn’t meet it is not good enough.
Add the blatant commercialism that F1 is all about now, and less than expected results translate directly into reduced incomes and profit. Not good for any business, never mind one running on F1 scale.
Another factor not mentioned in this comment is also that while (some) drivers in the past were given more time to mature, that time made them older. Being older tends to mature people anyway.
Not many 18 year-olds think like, act like or have the values of a 35 year old….
Darryn Smith (@darryn)
16th December 2022, 1:59
In regards to the COTD, I think they give drivers too much time nowadays. Look at Hulkenburg for example. Nothing but chances. Even Schumi Jr had two full seasons with a total of 50 races or so. All the great drivers of my life showed within the first couple or races or even their first race. That hasn’t changed and won’t. The Sennas, Prosts, Schumachers, Hamiltons, Vettels and Verstappens all were obviously better than the rest from their first few races. And you compare that to Andrea De Cesaris? Tools like Hulkenburg serve a purpose, but there are a lot of drivers like that and they can and should be moved along after 1 or 2 seasons at the most.
Jay
16th December 2022, 7:58
Add Yuki Tsunoda to the list too. He scored seven points finishes in `21. Just four in `22, and three were in the first 6 races(he DNS in Saudi Arabia too!). He was told to get his head right after last season, I don’t know what you tell him after this season. And now that I look at it, he had the same amount of points as Mick.. WOW. And mick had a sixth place finish, which put him ahead of Yuki.
Zhou Guanyu is also on a fine line with just three points finishes vs Bottas’ nine!
M
16th December 2022, 3:45
hhhhhhhh-aaa
hhhhhh-aaaa
Mick – I am your farder
SteveP
16th December 2022, 8:15
Wrong your metaphor is
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
16th December 2022, 7:30
Nothing will change. Max and Red Bull will dominate until 2026 unless FIA and FOM think their entertainment business is in danger of earning them less money, so nerfs to Red Bull car are applied.
2022 rules were supposed to be the game changer, where old guard of Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari are dethroned and new ambitious teams with resources, like Alpine, McLaren and Aston Martin, are at the front, exactly as it has happened in 2009. In reality not a single dry, normal race finished with anything but F, RB and M at the top and the rest miles behind. In 2009 you had Brawn, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Toyota, BMW, Williams, Renault and even Force India (and I’m pretty sure Toro Rosso with top driver would’ve been on that list too) all fighting for a win or at least podium in a grand prix. In 2022 it was always the same 3 teams and 6 drivers, week-in, week-out. How are people still buying tickets for this fake, staged sport I have no idea.
Jere (@jerejj)
16th December 2022, 11:02
@armchairexpert First regarding 2009, Not all teams you mentioned fought for a podium or win in a single race, albeit the field from top to midfield was generally tighter further into the season than this year, but otherwise, quite accurate on everything.
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
16th December 2022, 12:38
Brawn – race winners
Red Bull – race winners
McLaren – race winners
Ferrari – even if I think Belgium was cheated win, they had several podiums
Toyota – several podiums
BMW – several podiums
Williams – Rosberg was chasing Hamilton for the win in Singapore until he made a mistake leaving pits
Renault – podium
Force India – podium
So I don’t see where I was wrong saying 9 out of 10 teams that season had at least 1 grand prix with a realistic chance of a win or podium.
S
16th December 2022, 9:45
That was never going to happen. F1 didn’t even ‘promise’ it, because they knew it wouldn’t happen.
They wouldn’t want it to, either. Apart from the fact that the big teams have the most political power within F1 to decide and exploit those new rules, everyone knows they are the biggest drawcards for F1.
Just imagine if F1 had Hamilton, Verstappen, and Ferrari all spread out throughout the lower half of the grid, unable to compete with the new leaders for several seasons… Haas, Alpha Tauri and Sauber taking most of the podiums…
Biggest marketing and PR disaster ever.
The on-track racing product would likely never be better in that scenario – but racing hasn’t been their priority for several decades.
S
16th December 2022, 9:46
@armchairexpert
Armchair Expert (@armchairexpert)
16th December 2022, 12:50
Oh, I agree with you saying they absolutely don’t want to see big names firmly in the midfield, but looking at the comments in last few days they also don’t want podium or even top 5-6 essentially locked out by the same 3 teams and 6 drivers every weekend. 2009 was really fun season with unbelievable level of competitiveness across the whole field. 2022, besides the fact it’s not a sport anymore, was more like a continuation of the last decade or so. If they market it as the great reset (not explicitly, mind you) and there’s no even a chance for 14 drivers, it’s a gigantic failure. Let’s see how long these DTS fans can endure Norris finishing 8th for the next 3 years. Or maybe they don’t care and it’s all about that social media content.
Nick T.
16th December 2022, 10:27
Just a couple days ago someone called me an idiot for saying Andretti joining F1 could potentially help bring in an American manufacturer even if it didn’t up being with Andretti or even if it was just a badging exercise.
Not saying it’s going to happen, but: l
Jere (@jerejj)
16th December 2022, 11:03
Zak should have some caution in his estimation, only time will tell, but hopefully.
I largely share COTD’s view.
KaIIe (@kaiie)
17th December 2022, 7:14
Regarding the Brown quote: F1 is probably the only sport where the future (or the past, if you feel nostalgic) is always better than the current era/season. It seems that we are always promised better things in just a few year’s time, yet everything stays basically the same.
Crawliin-from-the-wreckage (@davedai)
17th December 2022, 11:36
” still I look to find a reason to believe 🎸
Qeki (@qeki)
19th December 2022, 14:31
Until in 2026 when we will introduce new regulations