2024 discussion thread
Posted: 01 Jan 2024, 20:46
It's going to take some getting used to, Sauber not being called Alfa Romeo but Strike, or Steak, or whatever it is now instead. Only to change to Audi in a few years anyway.
A tribute to the heroic failures of Grand Prix racing
https://www.gprejects.com/forum/
It's even more complex than that - the team name features Stake, but the chassis name is "Kick Sauber" (which is the streaming platform created by the investors behind Stake in response to Twitch having targeted Stake for running adverts that encouraged additions to gambling).
Yes, it's a bit of a mess, isn't it. Kick Strike Alfa Romeo BMW Sauber Ferrari powered by Ilmor...mario wrote: ↑02 Jan 2024, 20:28It's even more complex than that - the team name features Stake, but the chassis name is "Kick Sauber" (which is the streaming platform created by the investors behind Stake in response to Twitch having targeted Stake for running adverts that encouraged additions to gambling).
Broker Red Bull Kick Stake Alfa Romeo BMW Sauber Ferrari Petronas powered by Ilmor, concept by Mercedes-Benz, to be rebranded as Audi.
I'm curious how this saturation point works for everyone. Please tell me about it.takagi_for_the_win wrote: ↑04 Jan 2024, 20:42 Good to see that the FIA/F1 have simply decided that the concept of a saturation point simply doesn't apply to them.
I try to watch all of F1 (quallys, petits prix, grands prix), plus the races only of FE, BTCC, IndyCar, and W Series/F1Academy. IndyCar currently doesn’t always fit into my schedule, and I often end up watching BTCC on catch up, skipping over most of the support races, leaving only F1 and FE that I watch live, or as close to live as I can manage.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑05 Jan 2024, 16:39I'm curious how this saturation point works for everyone. Please tell me about it.takagi_for_the_win wrote: ↑04 Jan 2024, 20:42 Good to see that the FIA/F1 have simply decided that the concept of a saturation point simply doesn't apply to them.
For me, I can make room for about 1 sporting event per weekend, but with a few instances a year where I can squeeze in two. That works for me because the only sports I watch are F1 and the 4 golf majors. Given that, I still have many, many weekends with no sporting event that I want to watch. I'm nowhere near saturation at this point. My younger brother watches what I watch, plus premiere league and NFL football (and probably more besides). I have never heard him complain about saturation in any of the sports he follows, though he almost certainly doesn't watch every race/match/round/game.
I'm good with limiting the number of races for the mental health of the racing team employees, that's a good reason in my book. But saturation isn't the problem for me. I can watch more races, and probably will. To me a bigger problem isn't saturation in the number of races, but the dilution in the average quality of the tracks/racing.
So in a perfect world, if they could ease the burden on the employees and take us to the 24+ best tracks in the world, I'd watch every single race and be begging for more.
dr-baker wrote: ↑05 Jan 2024, 18:22I try to watch all of F1 (quallys, petits prix, grands prix), plus the races only of FE, BTCC, IndyCar, and W Series/F1Academy. IndyCar currently doesn’t always fit into my schedule, and I often end up watching BTCC on catch up, skipping over most of the support races, leaving only F1 and FE that I watch live, or as close to live as I can manage.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑05 Jan 2024, 16:39I'm curious how this saturation point works for everyone. Please tell me about it.takagi_for_the_win wrote: ↑04 Jan 2024, 20:42 Good to see that the FIA/F1 have simply decided that the concept of a saturation point simply doesn't apply to them.
For me, I can make room for about 1 sporting event per weekend, but with a few instances a year where I can squeeze in two. That works for me because the only sports I watch are F1 and the 4 golf majors. Given that, I still have many, many weekends with no sporting event that I want to watch. I'm nowhere near saturation at this point. My younger brother watches what I watch, plus premiere league and NFL football (and probably more besides). I have never heard him complain about saturation in any of the sports he follows, though he almost certainly doesn't watch every race/match/round/game.
I'm good with limiting the number of races for the mental health of the racing team employees, that's a good reason in my book. But saturation isn't the problem for me. I can watch more races, and probably will. To me a bigger problem isn't saturation in the number of races, but the dilution in the average quality of the tracks/racing.
So in a perfect world, if they could ease the burden on the employees and take us to the 24+ best tracks in the world, I'd watch every single race and be begging for more.
It's too much. People have lives outside of their primary interest. At the moment, on a Sunday, I take a neighbour to church, we have lunch together, I take her home, I then pack and do my 75 mile weekly commute from home to Hounslow (around 2 hours once I also refill the car with petrol and do food shopping). Sunday is a busy day without any motorsport to watch. And with the amount of series that I want to keep on top of, it's hard. There is no way I want a NASCAR schedule.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 14:22
I'm curious if you think of the added races as a bad thing or not. And also is there some limit to the number of races you will watch? I will say that I watch almost every qualifying and sprint race. I could do without the sprint races, but I'm fine with them, especially if it improves the experience for the fans (and doesn't exacerbate the unaffordability problem).
It's not surprising that there are so many adverts for gambling, as the reason that Kick was set up was that Twitch cracked down on gambling adverts that they felt were intentionally exploitative and directly targeted Stake as one of those guilty parties.Wallio wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 15:55 The whole "Kick Sauber Stake Romero" thing is mildly amusing to me. I don't watch any type of gaming streams, but my friends who do tell me that Kick is quite literally Twitch with blackjack and hookers (sports betting and nudity), so that's funny if nothing else.
Not sure how many others on here received the FOM survey that made the rounds mid-December. Since it was mostly F1TV-focused, I assume that's why I received it. Price seems assured to go up, but they claim new feeds are coming (pitwall, analytics-based, etc) 8k streaming (I just got a bloody 4k! tv!), and more graphics and data (I asked them why they didn't just bring back the old "triple box" layout). They did ask about more races. One question was whether or not I would watch a 30-race season. So they are at least discussing it.
I cannot believe that me, the board's resident grumpy old man is the one saying this, but the question now is:Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 14:22
And also is there some limit to the number of races you will watch?
With regards to Steiner, the statement from Haas is that he's been kicked out given that pretty much every single season has seen the car go backwards in competitiveness due to poor development:Wallio wrote: ↑10 Jan 2024, 15:50I cannot believe that me, the board's resident grumpy old man is the one saying this, but the question now is:Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 14:22
And also is there some limit to the number of races you will watch?
"Is there some limit to the races you will watch live"?
I watch all of F1 practice, qualis, sprints, and races. I watch all Indycar races, most qualis, and a bit of practice. I watch as much WEC/IMSA as I can. But I can count on two hands how many I watch live. F1TV, Peacock, and Motortrend+ let me watch it whenever I have time. Now NASCAR, and NHRA both of which I can only watch live, I watch MUCH less of each year.
EDIT: It now also appears that both Simone Resta AND Guenther Steiner are out at Haas. Nothing confirmed yet, but they have been scrubbed from the team's website. Is Gene finally selling up?
https://www.racefans.net/2024/01/10/ste ... principal/“Moving forward as an organisation it was clear we need to improve our on-track performances,” said Haas. “In appointing Ayao Komatsu as team principal we fundamentally have engineering at the heart of our management.”
Wallio wrote: ↑10 Jan 2024, 15:50I cannot believe that me, the board's resident grumpy old man is the one saying this, but the question now is:Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 14:22
And also is there some limit to the number of races you will watch?
"Is there some limit to the races you will watch live"?
I watch all of F1 practice, qualis, sprints, and races. I watch all Indycar races, most qualis, and a bit of practice. I watch as much WEC/IMSA as I can. But I can count on two hands how many I watch live. F1TV, Peacock, and Motortrend+ let me watch it whenever I have time. Now NASCAR, and NHRA both of which I can only watch live, I watch MUCH less of each year.
EDIT: It now also appears that both Simone Resta AND Guenther Steiner are out at Haas. Nothing confirmed yet, but they have been scrubbed from the team's website. Is Gene finally selling up?
For now, Gene Haas is insisting that he has no interest in selling - whether that is simply a negotiation tactic to push up the price or a genuine attitude, time will tell.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑11 Jan 2024, 16:46 RE Haas, Mark Hughes thinks it's likely a sale will happen. I'm hoping he's right. Give Andretti a chance I say. What do you think Andretti will be able to do with it, if they buy the Haas outfit?
mario wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 10:13For now, Gene Haas is insisting that he has no interest in selling - whether that is simply a negotiation tactic to push up the price or a genuine attitude, time will tell.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑11 Jan 2024, 16:46 RE Haas, Mark Hughes thinks it's likely a sale will happen. I'm hoping he's right. Give Andretti a chance I say. What do you think Andretti will be able to do with it, if they buy the Haas outfit?
Haas does also present a few problems for Andretti if he wants to go down the route of building cars in house, given that Haas relies heavily on subcontractors (especially Dallara). He is probably of the mindset that, if he has to invest capital into a team, it might as well be his own effort from scratch instead of Haas's efforts.
It is possible that he would still buy them out for the entry rights, but I guess it's not his preferred course of action.
Michael has claimed in the past that he did approach other teams about the possibility of buying them out, but most of them showed no interest in striking a deal with him. Sauber seems to have been the only team that did seriously entertain talks, but we know that his attempts to buy a majority stake in that team failed.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 16:15I can understand why he'd want to do it from scratch, but I don't think he's going to get the chance. But, by buying Haas, he'd avoid the anti-dilution fee, he could run the team as-is for a couple seasons while building a new organization from the ground-up on a separate site. Honestly, it sounds so expensive that it scarcely seems worth doing that way, but I'd imagine it could be done.mario wrote: ↑12 Jan 2024, 10:13For now, Gene Haas is insisting that he has no interest in selling - whether that is simply a negotiation tactic to push up the price or a genuine attitude, time will tell.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑11 Jan 2024, 16:46 RE Haas, Mark Hughes thinks it's likely a sale will happen. I'm hoping he's right. Give Andretti a chance I say. What do you think Andretti will be able to do with it, if they buy the Haas outfit?
Haas does also present a few problems for Andretti if he wants to go down the route of building cars in house, given that Haas relies heavily on subcontractors (especially Dallara). He is probably of the mindset that, if he has to invest capital into a team, it might as well be his own effort from scratch instead of Haas's efforts.
It is possible that he would still buy them out for the entry rights, but I guess it's not his preferred course of action.
But even just taking the existing operation and gradually forming it into what he wants would seem to be preferential to shouting from the sidelines.
Mind you, it could be said that this site provides many examples of teams that fell into that category too...Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑16 Jan 2024, 15:28 You've covered it Mario. I acknowledge my desires are purely what makes sense to me as a fan. I'd like a more competitive team in Haas' entry and they seem to be treading water at this point. Nobody believes they are maxing out their budget. As irrational as it might be, I'd love for FOM or the FIA, or the teams to take Gene aside and say: "this is the pinnacle of motorsport, either put in the effort or sell it to someone who will."
Maybe it's just me, but it kind of looks like the sort of livery you get when you tell Motorsport Manager to come up with a random livery.
I'll be honest, I have way more respect for the reject drivers in what obstacles they had to deal with and overcome than I have for the reject teams who provided those obstacles. I'm sure I'm not being totally fair, but there it is.
I don't think it's unfair in general but this is one of those instances where the team's bottleneck is purely management rather than regulations or funding - since they can't throw money at the problem anymore, the teams that are genuinely underperforming to their potential show up more. As you folks have said, Gene could invest in the team if he wanted to, and he clearly doesn't. So I think any frustration directed at them is more than fair.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑19 Jan 2024, 14:07 I'll be honest, I have way more respect for the reject drivers in what obstacles they had to deal with and overcome than I have for the reject teams who provided those obstacles. I'm sure I'm not being totally fair, but there it is.
I suppose it would depend on who took Max's Red Bull seat. If it were someone like Yuji Ide, then sure, Max would win. But put someone in the Red Bull like Fernando or Lewis in their prime in the Red Bull against Max in a Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes, then Max would have a challenge.
It seems that he left it deliberately vague as to whether he thought that applied to just one race or the entire championship in those cars. That said, the interview as a whole seemed to be more about Bernie taking a dig at Mercedes, and Hamilton in particular (Bernie has developed something of a grudge against Hamilton in more recent years).Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑20 Jan 2024, 23:34If he means the odd race, maybe 1-3 races, sure, could be. If he means the championship, he’s delusional. (Caveat, this is talking about the 2023 season)
Fair point, it doesn't only depend on the car. It needs a good driver with a good car and a team of good pit crew members. At the moment, Red Bull seems to have a perfect combination which is why they have been dominating the F1 for the last few years.dr-baker wrote: ↑21 Jan 2024, 09:13I suppose it would depend on who took Max's Red Bull seat. If it were someone like Yuji Ide, then sure, Max would win. But put someone in the Red Bull like Fernando or Lewis in their prime in the Red Bull against Max in a Ferrari, McLaren or Mercedes, then Max would have a challenge.
There is a danger of forgetting that teams could be rather unsubtle about advertising in the past either - after all, you had Yeoman Credit/Bowmaker from 1960 to 1962, which was set up for the purpose of advertising those financial service companies, or you had Lotus renaming their cars after the John Player Special tobacco company (the 76 through to 79 were officially the "John Player Special Mk. I" to "John Player Special Mk. IV" in the late 1970s).
That's a good point Mario. The relative dumbness of the name isn't indicative of some slippery slope to oblivion, IMHO.mario wrote: ↑24 Jan 2024, 21:17There is a danger of forgetting that teams could be rather unsubtle about advertising in the past either - after all, you had Yeoman Credit/Bowmaker from 1960 to 1962, which was set up for the purpose of advertising those financial service companies, or you had Lotus renaming their cars after the John Player Special tobacco company (the 76 through to 79 were officially the "John Player Special Mk. I" to "John Player Special Mk. IV" in the late 1970s).
Given you can go back to the 1970s and find organisations like Autosport criticising Lotus for being too sycophantic to JPS, perhaps it could be said that, ever since sponsorship began, so too did complaints that the commercialisation was excessive.
I hope you’re both right but one things for sure; without even revealing the car it’s created headlines and thus advertising for the brand so it’s job done as far as that’s concerned.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑24 Jan 2024, 22:17That's a good point Mario. The relative dumbness of the name isn't indicative of some slippery slope to oblivion, IMHO.mario wrote: ↑24 Jan 2024, 21:17There is a danger of forgetting that teams could be rather unsubtle about advertising in the past either - after all, you had Yeoman Credit/Bowmaker from 1960 to 1962, which was set up for the purpose of advertising those financial service companies, or you had Lotus renaming their cars after the John Player Special tobacco company (the 76 through to 79 were officially the "John Player Special Mk. I" to "John Player Special Mk. IV" in the late 1970s).
Given you can go back to the 1970s and find organisations like Autosport criticising Lotus for being too sycophantic to JPS, perhaps it could be said that, ever since sponsorship began, so too did complaints that the commercialisation was excessive.
That hasn't stopped complaints bordering on near hysteria in some quarters though - the comments section of the Racefans website was that blend of amusing and seriously depressing about how worked up some posters got, for example.Row Man Gross-Gene wrote: ↑24 Jan 2024, 22:17That's a good point Mario. The relative dumbness of the name isn't indicative of some slippery slope to oblivion, IMHO.mario wrote: ↑24 Jan 2024, 21:17There is a danger of forgetting that teams could be rather unsubtle about advertising in the past either - after all, you had Yeoman Credit/Bowmaker from 1960 to 1962, which was set up for the purpose of advertising those financial service companies, or you had Lotus renaming their cars after the John Player Special tobacco company (the 76 through to 79 were officially the "John Player Special Mk. I" to "John Player Special Mk. IV" in the late 1970s).
Given you can go back to the 1970s and find organisations like Autosport criticising Lotus for being too sycophantic to JPS, perhaps it could be said that, ever since sponsorship began, so too did complaints that the commercialisation was excessive.