Well last year Ferrari just refused to talk to press at all. It was as if they couldn't care about their fans. So it's no surprise they refused to take part. I believe they have a new press officer this year, they poached someone from McLaren I think. So hopefully this will improve their communication with fans. As for Merc, interesting one, unless they were just concerned that other teams would learn things they didn't want in the public domain? I am looking forward to watching the NetFlix documentary when it comes out, any ideas when that is?
The link says 8th March . I always thought that Arrivabene was under instruction from the man that has now passed away ,not to talk to the press . May well be wrong though ?
So not long just a week on Friday Sergio Marchionne had been CEO of Ferrari since about 2004 I think, so I would be surprised if it was him who told Arrivabene not to talk. My guess and it is a guess is Arrivabene just didn't like talking to the press in a similar way to Kimi It was a bit surprising as Ferrari have previously actively encouraged fans or is that just a marketing tool to earn lots of money from merchandising? Fingers crossed it will be a good season with decent battles hopefully at the front as well as mid field. Pity it's only highlights on C4.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/47723538 Hamilton is absolutely correct. F1 also has a problem in some croud circles that I have sadly witnessed first hand at our own British GP ...but that said I hope Lewis realises he is not innocent in some sketchy comments he has made in the past.
Perhaps just me, but this stinks of Williams still believing they're good enough without proper external help. Patrick Head is no doubt a good person to bring in, but I question whether he's the right person for the root and branch overhaul they appear to need in order to be competitive. The culture and ethos at Williams appears dated, bringing back their own past doesn't necessarily help with that. The sport has moved on, they need fresh ideas not old ones.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/formula1/47951936?__twitter_impression=true New race in Hanoi in 2020, talks about a second race in China, a second race in the USA, a race in Copenhagen... Begs the question as to which tracks we would be losing? What worries me is that we won't be saying goodbye to (imo) boring tracks like Russia and Baku, as these Governments hand over a huge amount of $ to F1, but instead threatening the existence of some of our more historic and exciting races. Thoughts?
Bernie in control, for sure it'd be about the money he can extract from the media & track, with Carey, it's about the show. Spa, Monza, Canada, Silverstone, Suzuka & Monaco will be kept, they're the 'classics'. Personally I'd be happy to see the back of the 'race' at Monaco, it's long passed it's sell by, but the others have the potential for good racing, which is what Carey will be more interested in, as that's how he'll expand the viewer/customer base.
Liberty want a 25 race calendar, so in their minds presumably there's no plans to cull races just yet. 21 this season, + China2, USA2, Vietnam and Netherlands would be 25. The Copenhagen race appears to have fallen through. Kymiring in Finland might be interested, but unlikely to get the budget. The issue is nobody else wants a 25 race calendar, it makes the season too long. There was talk before of regional sub-championships within an F1 season, allowing them to crown a "King of Europe", "King of Asia" and "King of the Americas" as a way to add more drama to the season. Again, not a hugely popular idea outside Liberty circles, but the rearrangement of the calendar to achieve that might make it easier to fit more races in. This season we have Monaco, Canada then France, meaning the F1 circus goes all the way to Canada only to come back to somewhere 200 km from the previous race. To accommodate Canada, they have to have a weekend off before and after it. If you wanted more European races, move Canada and you can probably have two races in that gap. That said, weather, existing scheduling, countries wanting to pay for "glory slots" in the calendar (Abu Dhabi), etc, is going to make that fairly nightmarish, and we haven't seen any evidence of discussions yet. _______ Fundamentally, it comes down to F1 being too expensive for itself. If the costs of racing decrease, the teams don't need so much money, so F1 would be less beholden to the circuits/countries with cash, and more able to improve the championship. As it is, we're forced to have tracks like Russia because F1 needs the fee they pay.
I have only had time to watch the first 5.5 mins but I had to chuckle at the advertising, penthouse and associated woman on the side of the Hesketh. How times have changed. I met and knew an ex model who was once James Hunts's girlfriend, all those years ago. The times have sure changed!