2015 Silly Season Thread

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 04 Sep 2014, 10:37

Shizuka wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Sauber and Marussia are behind in their engine payments to Ferrari

In Marussia's case, I guess the engine cost is offset somewhat by them running Bianchi in the car. It's still pretty gloomy reading though.

And Sauber is less and less likely to grab points to ease their financial status...

I just hope they can survive. Things are increasingly hard for smaller teams out there and FIA isn't making their life easier either...

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 04 Sep 2014, 11:44

East Londoner wrote:Sauber and Marussia are behind in their engine payments to Ferrari

In Marussia's case, I guess the engine cost is offset somewhat by them running Bianchi in the car. It's still pretty gloomy reading though.

But let's actually look at the "journalism" in that article. It's a quote taken from a German language newspaper in an interview with an Italian team principal. Immediately it's already been mis-translated or taken out of context well before f1today.net got their desperate hands on it. They've attempted to make an article out of it by cobbling together a second paragraph consisting of some spurious comments made by unknown journalists and a so-called rumour that Marrussia wouldn't make it to Monza, despite the fact that they very much are there.

In summary, it's not even worth believing. Just click-bait to boost the site's ad income no doubt. If there was a problem it would be widely reported that Ferrari were chasing up the payments. But the fact is, they're not.

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 04 Sep 2014, 12:57

AndreaModa wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Sauber and Marussia are behind in their engine payments to Ferrari

In Marussia's case, I guess the engine cost is offset somewhat by them running Bianchi in the car. It's still pretty gloomy reading though.

But let's actually look at the "journalism" in that article. It's a quote taken from a German language newspaper in an interview with an Italian team principal. Immediately it's already been mis-translated or taken out of context well before f1today.net got their desperate hands on it. They've attempted to make an article out of it by cobbling together a second paragraph consisting of some spurious comments made by unknown journalists and a so-called rumour that Marrussia wouldn't make it to Monza, despite the fact that they very much are there.

In summary, it's not even worth believing. Just click-bait to boost the site's ad income no doubt. If there was a problem it would be widely reported that Ferrari were chasing up the payments. But the fact is, they're not.

It's aggregated. Look at the end of the article - "GMM" - Global Motorsport Media. They're like an AP/Reuters kinda thing for motor racing...except they're wrong most of the time.

I think Danny Sosef probably outsources most of his English stuff to the GMM aggregator - his English isn't great IIRC, and most of F1Today's 'original' news is centred around Dutch drivers.

But...yeah, it's GMM, so truckloads of salt and all that.

Post by **mario** » 04 Sep 2014, 18:50

Biscione wrote:
AndreaModa wrote:
East Londoner wrote:Sauber and Marussia are behind in their engine payments to Ferrari

In Marussia's case, I guess the engine cost is offset somewhat by them running Bianchi in the car. It's still pretty gloomy reading though.

But let's actually look at the "journalism" in that article. It's a quote taken from a German language newspaper in an interview with an Italian team principal. Immediately it's already been mis-translated or taken out of context well before f1today.net got their desperate hands on it. They've attempted to make an article out of it by cobbling together a second paragraph consisting of some spurious comments made by unknown journalists and a so-called rumour that Marrussia wouldn't make it to Monza, despite the fact that they very much are there.

In summary, it's not even worth believing. Just click-bait to boost the site's ad income no doubt. If there was a problem it would be widely reported that Ferrari were chasing up the payments. But the fact is, they're not.

It's aggregated. Look at the end of the article - "GMM" - Global Motorsport Media. They're like an AP/Reuters kinda thing for motor racing...except they're wrong most of the time.

I think Danny Sosef probably outsources most of his English stuff to the GMM aggregator - his English isn't great IIRC, and most of F1Today's 'original' news is centred around Dutch drivers.

But...yeah, it's GMM, so truckloads of salt and all that.

Given that Marussia is known to have racked up heavy losses for the last financial year and Sauber have relied on injections of capital from Peter Sauber, it is one of those stories which can just about maintain an air of plausibility without being able to offer anything that is of substance. As you say, it's one story where you'd hope for a more authoritative source to report on it before making too many assumptions.

LellaLombardi · Post by **LellaLombardi** » 04 Sep 2014, 19:51

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29067962

Probably Benson doing his usual stirring but if this does come to pass then who's leaving?

In spite of the criticism Rosberg got from the team in the last race, I think it would be Hamilton getting the door shown.

They'd never afford him, but I'd love to see him beside Bottas at Williams.

Post by **mario** » 04 Sep 2014, 20:33

LellaLombardi wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29067962

Probably Benson doing his usual stirring but if this does come to pass then who's leaving?

In spite of the criticism Rosberg got from the team in the last race, I think it would be Hamilton getting the door shown.

They'd never afford him, but I'd love to see him beside Bottas at Williams.

It's especially unlikely given that Massa's position at Williams is likely to be key to them retaining Petrobras, who are already sponsoring the team in a low key way and are due to become an official technical partner and their official fuel supplier for 2015.

Reading Wolff's comments, it has to be said that they do come across as a somewhat ineffectual attempt by him to stamp his authority on his two drivers that has only really made the matter worse, given that they basically give writers like Benson a free quote to run with. Wolff may want to draw a line under what happened in Spa, but his comments have only really drawn attention back to it...

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 05 Sep 2014, 06:48

LellaLombardi wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29067962

Probably Benson doing his usual stirring but if this does come to pass then who's leaving?

In spite of the criticism Rosberg got from the team in the last race, I think it would be Hamilton getting the door shown.

I can't see either of them going unless Rosberg starts doing silly things, loses the title to boot and there's another decent German driver (Lotterer?

) available to replace him.

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 05 Sep 2014, 09:59

mario wrote:It's especially unlikely given that Massa's position at Williams is likely to be key to them retaining Petrobras, who are already sponsoring the team in a low key way and are due to become an official technical partner and their official fuel supplier for 2015.

I am not so sure that Massa's position is key at Williams. Sure they will want Petrobras on board given the sponsorship and all technical partnerships but for that the only real requisite should be a Brazilian and Massa has been the only real option ever since Rubens 'retired'. With this in mind they only need to convince Petrobras that Massa is past it and Nasr is the future of Brazilian racing. And I believe that this is their plan all along really. Unless Bottas leaves Williams in the meanwhile.

What's more, both of them are called Felipe so the top brass at Petrobras wouldn't even notice the difference.

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 05 Sep 2014, 10:03

DanielPT wrote:What's more, both of them are called Felipe so the top brass at Petrobras wouldn't even notice the difference.

Are you suggesting the Petrobras Christmas card (a green and yellow Santa Claus) is just a copy & paste job?

DanielPT · Post by **DanielPT** » 05 Sep 2014, 10:16

CoopsII wrote:
DanielPT wrote:What's more, both of them are called Felipe so the top brass at Petrobras wouldn't even notice the difference.

Are you suggesting the Petrobras Christmas card (a green and yellow Santa Claus) is just a copy & paste job?

Regrettably I am. But don't worry, Santa Claus will still deliver your gifts!

Post by **DemocalypseNow** » 05 Sep 2014, 11:54

DanielPT wrote:
mario wrote:It's especially unlikely given that Massa's position at Williams is likely to be key to them retaining Petrobras, who are already sponsoring the team in a low key way and are due to become an official technical partner and their official fuel supplier for 2015.

I am not so sure that Massa's position is key at Williams. Sure they will want Petrobras on board given the sponsorship and all technical partnerships but for that the only real requisite should be a Brazilian and Massa has been the only real option ever since Rubens 'retired'. With this in mind they only need to convince Petrobras that Massa is past it and Nasr is the future of Brazilian racing. And I believe that this is their plan all along really. Unless Bottas leaves Williams in the meanwhile.

What's more, both of them are called Felipe so the top brass at Petrobras wouldn't even notice the difference.

I don't think being Brazilian is even a pre-requisite for Petrobras. The two have been partners previously between '98-'09. The only Brazilian to race for them during that period was Antonio Pizzonia, and the relationship coming to a close coincided with Rubens arriving at the team.

On the other hand, the Banco do Brasil sponsorship is certainly driver-dependent - this backing comes courtesty of Felipe Nasr.

Williams simply have to convince Petrobras there are currently no Brazilians in racing of the required calibre to drive for the team, to the point that hiring for nationality would hurt the team's performance, so that they can focus on pursuing more talented targets.

DonTirri · Post by **DonTirri** » 05 Sep 2014, 21:01

Biscione wrote:
DanielPT wrote:
mario wrote:It's especially unlikely given that Massa's position at Williams is likely to be key to them retaining Petrobras, who are already sponsoring the team in a low key way and are due to become an official technical partner and their official fuel supplier for 2015.

I am not so sure that Massa's position is key at Williams. Sure they will want Petrobras on board given the sponsorship and all technical partnerships but for that the only real requisite should be a Brazilian and Massa has been the only real option ever since Rubens 'retired'. With this in mind they only need to convince Petrobras that Massa is past it and Nasr is the future of Brazilian racing. And I believe that this is their plan all along really. Unless Bottas leaves Williams in the meanwhile.

What's more, both of them are called Felipe so the top brass at Petrobras wouldn't even notice the difference.

I don't think being Brazilian is even a pre-requisite for Petrobras. The two have been partners previously between '98-'09. The only Brazilian to race for them during that period was Antonio Pizzonia, and the relationship coming to a close coincided with Rubens arriving at the team.

On the other hand, the Banco do Brasil sponsorship is certainly driver-dependent - this backing comes courtesty of Felipe Nasr.

Williams simply have to convince Petrobras there are currently no Brazilians in racing of the required calibre to drive for the team, to the point that hiring for nationality would hurt the team's performance, so that they can focus on pursuing more talented targets.

To be fair, do Williams need a supertalent on the other seat? As long as Bottas stays, they can rely on having a really good driver around. Maybe get a rookie like Nasr to pay the bills and/or develop into a proper racer, instead of keeping Massa, who's A) Way past his due date and B) Expensive.

AndreaModa · Post by **AndreaModa** » 05 Sep 2014, 22:37

I don't understand what the issue is here for Williams - whether they need a Brazilian in the other seat to satisfy sponsors is irrelevant. They have a top class rookie on their books in the form of Nasr.

Bottas has demonstrated this year that he has the ability to run at the front and be the effective team leader. Massa's experience is no longer required. Get him out, get Nasr in, and suddenly Williams have one of the most exciting line-ups on the grid!

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 06 Sep 2014, 08:59

LellaLombardi wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29067962

Probably Benson doing his usual stirring but if this does come to pass then who's leaving?

In spite of the criticism Rosberg got from the team in the last race, I think it would be Hamilton getting the door shown.

They'd never afford him, but I'd love to see him beside Bottas at Williams.

A bit of an extreme statement from Wolff there. If Ross were still holding a significant position at the team I think he would have just banged Rosberg and Hamilton's heads together. He wouldn't have threatened them with the sack for either of them. Recent events really have exposed how different and dare I say, bad Wolff and Lauda are as team leaders compared to Brawn.

Post by **mario** » 07 Sep 2014, 06:32

good_Ralf wrote:
LellaLombardi wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29067962

Probably Benson doing his usual stirring but if this does come to pass then who's leaving?

In spite of the criticism Rosberg got from the team in the last race, I think it would be Hamilton getting the door shown.

They'd never afford him, but I'd love to see him beside Bottas at Williams.

A bit of an extreme statement from Wolff there. If Ross were still holding a significant position at the team I think he would have just banged Rosberg and Hamilton's heads together. He wouldn't have threatened them with the sack for either of them. Recent events really have exposed how different and dare I say, bad Wolff and Lauda are as team leaders compared to Brawn.

That's quite true - Brawn would have done the hard talk behind closed doors and presented a much more conciliatory face to the media, knowing that such statements to the press only tend to stir up things between their drivers rather than cool things off.

On another note, it is a little amusing how two wildly different stories have cropped up in both The Guardian and The Telegraph, even though both articles are including the exact same comments from Ron Dennis.

The Guardian's take, which also factors in comments from Boullier over McLaren needing to show their form, suggests that McLaren are looking to stick with their current line up of Button and Magnussen for 2015 amid suggestions no driver wants to move until the Honda power unit proves competitive. Based on Boullier's comments, they are suggesting that McLaren will stick with Button, who is perhaps under more threat for his seat, because his popularity in Japan makes him potentially more marketable within Honda's home market than Hamilton.

The Telegraph, on the other hand, have ignored Boullier's comments about needing to prove their competitiveness and are instead focussing just on Ron's comments. That results in a very different interpretation, with their writer believing that McLaren are attempting to push one of their drivers out and intends to replace them with Hamilton.

Post by **mario** » 07 Sep 2014, 08:52

AndreaModa wrote:I don't understand what the issue is here for Williams - whether they need a Brazilian in the other seat to satisfy sponsors is irrelevant. They have a top class rookie on their books in the form of Nasr.

Bottas has demonstrated this year that he has the ability to run at the front and be the effective team leader. Massa's experience is no longer required. Get him out, get Nasr in, and suddenly Williams have one of the most exciting line-ups on the grid!

Much as you may like that prospect, Williams have just announced that both Massa and Bottas are staying put for 2015 - the former already had a contract in place, so the announcement was more of a formality, whilst Williams have already exercised their option for Bottas and will be keeping him on too. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115750

good_Ralf · Post by **good_Ralf** » 07 Sep 2014, 09:09

mario wrote:Much as you may like that prospect, Williams have just announced that both Massa and Bottas are staying put for 2015 - the former already had a contract in place, so the announcement was more of a formality, whilst Williams have already exercised their option for Bottas and will be keeping him on too. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115750

Honestly I expect Williams to perform quite badly in 2015, for in recent years they just haven't managed to maintain good form e.g. 2007, 2012

Shizuka · Post by **Shizuka** » 07 Sep 2014, 09:30

mario wrote:Williams have just announced that both Massa and Bottas are staying put for 2015 - the former already had a contract in place, so the announcement was more of a formality, whilst Williams have already exercised their option for Bottas and will be keeping him on too. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115750

But Nasr would be a good addition to the team... and if Williams would bring another scrap car, then he could learn without pressure. Much as like Bottas did in 2013.
Sometimes I don't understand the driver decisions.

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 07 Sep 2014, 10:38

Shizuka wrote:
mario wrote:Williams have just announced that both Massa and Bottas are staying put for 2015 - the former already had a contract in place, so the announcement was more of a formality, whilst Williams have already exercised their option for Bottas and will be keeping him on too. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/115750

But Nasr would be a good addition to the team... and if Williams would bring another scrap car, then he could learn without pressure. Much as like Bottas did in 2013.
Sometimes I don't understand the driver decisions.

Frankly, after Nasr's performance in Monza, I've got my doubts whether or not he'd be an improvement over Massa - he had a golden opportunity to make up a lot of ground to Palmer and completely and utterly failed to do so.

Ed24 · Post by **Ed24** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:18

Explosive claim from Adam Parr on Twitter:

"This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars."

Well certainly looks like Caterham's in trouble not sure about the others. Hard to know what connections Parr has these days but let's hope it's inaccurate, would be a terrible path for F1 to go down.

Post by **Ataxia** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:21

Ed24 wrote:Explosive claim from Adam Parr on Twitter:

"This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars."

Well certainly looks like Caterham's in trouble not sure about the others. Hard to know what connections Parr has these days but let's hope it's inaccurate, would be a terrible path for F1 to go down.

Yeah, sounds like utter horseshit to me. It very well could happen, but that's like saying my grandad could grow tits.

There's also rumours that Sauber will be sold to Lawrence Stroll, and that Caterham will be absorbed into what was known as Forza Rossa, so yeah, I don't see three-car teams being a thing. Yet.

andrew · Post by **andrew** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:43

Apparntly if kurt bush wins nascar gene haas will give him an f1 test. Does he not realise f1 includes more than turning left?

Salamander · Post by **Salamander** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:47

>Kurt Busch
>Testing an F1 car

Not that he'll win, but if he does...

Klon · Post by **Klon** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:47

andrew wrote:Does he not realise f1 includes more than turning left?

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 07 Sep 2014, 15:48

Kurt Busch testing an F1 car will be awesome to watch

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 07 Sep 2014, 16:12

roblomas52 wrote:Kurt Busch testing an F1 car will be awesome to watch

Bugger that, it's obvious McLaren have signed Montoya for 2015, that's why he was in the paddock

He's replacing Button again.

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 07 Sep 2014, 20:08

Salamander wrote:>Kurt Busch
>Testing an F1 car

Not that he'll win, but if he does...

...I thought he did quite well in an Indycar in May, well enough to be part of it full-time

ADx_Wales · Post by **ADx_Wales** » 07 Sep 2014, 20:10

Ed24 wrote:Explosive claim from Adam Parr on Twitter:

"This is the last year of F1 as we know it. In 2015 eight teams will contest the championship, with several teams entering three cars."

Well certainly looks like Caterham's in trouble not sure about the others. Hard to know what connections Parr has these days but let's hope it's inaccurate, would be a terrible path for F1 to go down.

...someone has been reading my old FOTA GP1 thread back in the day...

Cynon · Post by **Cynon** » 07 Sep 2014, 22:02

andrew wrote:Apparntly if kurt bush wins nascar gene haas will give him an f1 test. Does he not realise f1 includes more than turning left?

Kurt Busch is actually one of NASCAR's better road racers, and fared well when he tested a Champ Car at Sebring in 2003. I wouldn't expect you to know that, though...

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 08 Sep 2014, 07:35

It's only a rumour but fingers crossed...

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/exclu ... 6/?v=2&s=1

Backmarker · Post by **Backmarker** » 08 Sep 2014, 08:21

CoopsII wrote:It's only a rumour but fingers crossed...

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/exclu ... 6/?v=2&s=1

Brilliant! Is he related to Ferrari's Lance Stroll?

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 08 Sep 2014, 08:26

Backmarker wrote:
CoopsII wrote:It's only a rumour but fingers crossed...

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/exclu ... 6/?v=2&s=1

Brilliant! Is he related to Ferrari's Lance Stroll?

He's the Daddy apparently. I'm not convinced it's a reliable source, he may just have walked past the Sauber pits and smiled, but right now it's probably Saubers best hope.

roblo97 · Post by **roblo97** » 08 Sep 2014, 11:42

CoopsII wrote:
Backmarker wrote:
CoopsII wrote:It's only a rumour but fingers crossed...

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/exclu ... 6/?v=2&s=1

Brilliant! Is he related to Ferrari's Lance Stroll?

He's the Daddy apparently. I'm not convinced it's a reliable source, he may just have walked past the Sauber pits and smiled, but right now it's probably Saubers best hope.

I hope its true because Sauber are stalwarts of the sport now.

lgaquino · Post by **lgaquino** » 08 Sep 2014, 13:19

That's got to be good news for Sauber. Being that or nothing, that is.
Wonder if they'll become benetton or andrea moda...

OsellaFA1L · Post by **OsellaFA1L** » 10 Sep 2014, 00:04

This is the the best news I have heard about Sauber in a while. I can't help but be cautiously optimistic about this

Post by **Bobby Doorknobs** » 10 Sep 2014, 00:22

It definitely sounds better than the shady Russian investors from last year!

Post by **tommykl** » 10 Sep 2014, 05:59

Simtek wrote:It definitely sounds better than the shady Russian investors from last year!

Indeed. We know who he is, we know he has money, and we know he has an interest in motorsport

Post by **Miguel98** » 10 Sep 2014, 07:17

*Four days ago* I won't resign as Ferrari's CEO.

*four days later* I'm resigning as Ferrari's CEO.

https://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/865839816.jpg?1410332284

CoopsII · Post by **CoopsII** » 10 Sep 2014, 07:47

Miguel98 wrote:*Four days ago* I won't resign as Ferrari's CEO.

*four days later* I'm resigning as Ferrari's CEO.

https://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/865839816.jpg?1410332284

Hah! More like he received a phone call and was told to reconsider and by reconsider I mean quit.

The end of an era and, all things considered, it was a pretty good 23 year era for the F1 team. Many lows obviously but the highs were pretty historic. A pity they never signed Senna, though.

RonDenisDeletraz · Post by **RonDenisDeletraz** » 10 Sep 2014, 08:46

CoopsII wrote:
Miguel98 wrote:*Four days ago* I won't resign as Ferrari's CEO.

*four days later* I'm resigning as Ferrari's CEO.

https://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/large/865839816.jpg?1410332284

Hah! More like he received a phone call and was told to reconsider and by reconsider I mean quit.

The end of an era and, all things considered, it was a pretty good 23 year era for the F1 team. Many lows obviously but the highs were pretty historic. A pity they never signed Senna, though.

This probably belongs in the Rantbox, but I am seriously sick of people constantly trying to link Senna to Ferrari. It never happened, so people should shut the bathplug up and not try to find any tenuous link between Ferrari and Senna