When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
What a race, first race I've watched live from start to finish in years.
Who woulda though Racing Point would have selected the last tire change to dry's so perfectly?
And to top it off, Toto even banged his fist on the table when Bottas shunted it. .
You need to slap yourself . . . first race in years! Agree on Racing Point and I was actually hoping for Lance's sake he was going to do something to redeem his rather fortunate and lackluster career (Daddy buys my seat). MBZ-huuuuuuge celebrations, period dress, lock out front row=bumpkiss.
Peter Windsor in his YouTube channel video was all over Ferrari for not changing to drys when Vettel wanted to.
He claims Vettel woulda won the race had he wanted dry softs (about the same time Racing Point changed Stroll)
What's ironic is in his two worst starts of the season, Max has won both races. He lost 2 positions on Sunday, he lost several at the start of the Austrian GP and won that race.
I messed around and looked at the individual plots and Ferrari shoulda won this.
Vettel went from 9th to 2nd in 11 laps.
But also gotta give credit to Max for staying cool and calm despite his drop at the start and spin in the race.
Helmut Marko has revealed that Honda will be bringing a major upgrade to Monza and will also be bringing a fuel upgrade to the Russian Grand Prix. The Red Bull advisor believes that this could lead to the team closing the gap to Mercedes and has not ruled out Max Verstappen's chances of Championship success this season.
"In Monza, we get an engine upgrade, in Russia new fuel. Then we should have unlocked the engine. The car will improve a lot," Marko said to auto-motor-und-sport.
These upgrades will increase the competitiveness of the Honda engine and will give Red Bull and Toro Rosso a real performance boost.
Speaking about the performance in Germany Marko was pleased with how his two teams did and believes that they could launch an attack of the Championship.
"We do not exclude a championship. Everything came together for the first time. We won on the track, not because Mercedes had problems. Cooling the car is also part of the package. And Max has overtaken Ferrari and Mercedes on the track."
The new upgrades will have Mercedes worried as Verstappen is only 22 points behind Bottas. The Silver Arrows will hope that their own upgrades are as successful as Honda's.
The Mercedes Formula 1 team has outlined changes to the composition of its board, including the nomination of a new non-executive chairman following the passing of Niki Lauda.
Markus Schafer and Frank Markus Weber have joined as board members of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, following two departures
Ola Kallenius has stepped down after assuming the role of chairman of the board of Daimler AG, Mercedes’ parent company, while Bodo Uebber has left his position as Daimler’s chief financial officer. The duo stepped down from the board on May 22 this year.
A board meeting in Stuttgart last week nominated Schafer, Daimler board member “responsible for group research and Mercedes-Benz cars development”, as its non-executive chairman
Three-time F1 world champion Lauda previously performed the non-executive chairman role but passed away in May.
The same month, long-time racing supporter Dieter Zetsche stepped down from his role as chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz cars, to be replaced by Kallenius.
Schafer has been a non-executive director of Mercedes GP since March 11.
Daimler’s vice-president of corporate development Weber was appointed as a non-executive director of Mercedes GP with immediate effect at the same board meeting.
They join Mercedes F1 team principal Toto Wolff, Britta Seeger and Rene Berger on the board.
Wolff said: "The commitment of our parent company has been fundamental to the team's success and will continue to be so in the years ahead.
“This support for Formula 1 has always been reflected in our team's board, with strong representation from Daimler's senior leadership, and it continues through the appointments of Markus and Frank Markus for the years ahead.
“Formula 1 is a powerful technology and marketing platform for Mercedes-Benz globally, and a valuable shop window for the company's values and its competitiveness."
New non-executive chairman Schafer added: "Mercedes-Benz is a driving force in the transformation to emission-free mobility.
“To maintain personal mobility, cutting-edge technology is required to push boundaries and redefine standards, and this can only be achieved by focusing on a shared goal and through fantastic team spirit.
“Our learnings from the exciting world of Formula 1 have brought us valuable and inspiring synergies, and I am looking forward to build upon that close cooperation."
Claire Williams has told Mercedes to keep their hands offGeorge Russell. Mercedes are thought to be looking for a possible replacement for Valtteri Bottas and the Williamsdriver is a possibility for the seat. However, Williams has said that Russell is signed to the team for three years and will want him to fulfill his contract
"I told Toto that George is on a three-year contract with us, he is firmly in our plans for the future and is going nowhere,"Claire Williams said to the Daily Mail.
Toto Wolff has admitted that Mercedes are looking at potential drivers for the future and at the moment it looks like it is between George Russell and Esteban Ocon.
"We’re very happy with the development of Esteban and equally George," said Wolff. "They are our most senior junior drivers and the aim is to make them ready for a seat in a Mercedes. You want to take all the time you properly need to assess (the line-up).
"We will take the decision in August. But that doesn’t necessarily mean we will announce it in August."
It is unclear if Russell has a break in his contract with Williams and if he would be able to go to Mercedes if he was offered a place.
Either way, Russell or Ocon could be driving in the fastest car on the grid before too long.
I think Grasly, Bottas, and Grosjean all will lose their drives this season.
Albon, Russell, and Ocon deserve a chance at better drive/teams
Gasley and Grosjean need to lose their seats over the summer break.
I almost thought halfway through the race this past weekend Grosjean was going to have a redeeming race and then those two idiots came together again. I mean seriously how does that keep happening. It is so much worse than the Hamilton Rossberg issue since they were at least fighting for wins.
Gasley is just a waste of that second Red Bull car. They need to promote Kyvat or Albon to that seat. Before the German race I would have said Albon should have that seat but with Kyvat securing a second place and racing a heck of a race in Germany it will be hard not to put him back in that car when he already has the experience with the top team as well.
This is awesome news about Honda. With Max closing that gap to only 60 some points this weekend things could get really fun towards the end of the season.
I am pulling for Red Bull at this point even though at the start of the season I was pulling for Ferrari. They look to have dropped the ball though too many times at this point. To be honest I don't care if Merc wins again as long as it is still a truely competitive championship down till the last race or two. If these last 3 races are an indicication of whats to come we very may well actually get that.
I'm MB fanboi #1, but looking forward to some fight between MB & RBR, maybe with a bit of FER thrown in there when they can get their strategy together.
Also, watching the recap/onboards on YouTube, did they not broadcast HAM asking to retire the car? Lucky for him that Bonno denied him & kept him out to grab a couple points in the end.
Alain Prost has expanded his role with the Renault Formula 1 team.
According to a report in Autosport, the four-time world champion has become a non-executive director for the works team following a one-month stint in which he served as a member of the Renault Sport Racing Ltd board.
Prost replaced Thierry Bollore in that role when Bollore transitioned to the road car side after the resignation of Carlos Ghosn. Previously, Prost served as an ambassador and advisor to the Renault F1 project since it acquired the Lotus team after the 2015 season.
The team’s other directors are team principal and managing director Cyril Abiteboul, company president Jerome Stoll, Renault Group financial chief Thierry Cognet and Genii boss Gerard Lopez -- the latter who has retained a minority stake in the team since Lotus as a member of Gravity Motorsports.
In the report, a Renault spokesman described the role as “establishing vision, mission and values, setting strategy and structure, delegating to management, exercising accountability to shareholders and being responsible to relevant stakeholders” as well as “taking key decisions for the company such as approval of the annual accounts and financial statements and approval of key contracts with sponsors, partners and drivers.”
It's worth noting that Prost’s longtime rival and former McLaren teammate Niki Lauda served in a similar role for Mercedes until his death in May.
I think Grasly, Bottas, and Grosjean all will lose their drives this season.
Albon, Russell, and Ocon deserve a chance at better drive/teams
Gasly and RoGro definitely need to lose their seats, Bottas I believe is doing the best job he can and slots in well with Hamilton. He never hits Lew and always obeys team orders. He has flashes of brilliance but marked against his team mate in the same car, just doesn't have the "tiger's eye" yet for the continual kill.
Gasley and Grosjean need to lose their seats over the summer break.
I almost thought halfway through the race this past weekend Grosjean was going to have a redeeming race and then those two idiots came together again. I mean seriously how does that keep happening. It is so much worse than the Hamilton Rossberg issue since they were at least fighting for wins.
Gasley is just a waste of that second Red Bull car. They need to promote Kyvat or Albon to that seat. Before the German race I would have said Albon should have that seat but with Kyvat securing a second place and racing a heck of a race in Germany it will be hard not to put him back in that car when he already has the experience with the top team as well.
Gasly needs to go, drop him down to Toro Rosso, bring Kvyat up.
Originally Posted by CCColtsicehockey
This is awesome news about Honda. With Max closing that gap to only 60 some points this weekend things could get really fun towards the end of the season.
So happy to see Honda back at the pointy end of the field!
Prost was my absolute and still is, my favorite F1 driver. His "experience" however, isn't translating into any positive results for the Regie. Can they suck any harder???
^ Agreed on Gasly & Grosjean.
I think a swap between one of the STR drivers & Gasly would improve RBRs position, would be a bit of irony for Kvyat to get promoted back to the big kid's table.
Ocon to Haas to replace Grosjean
I'm an admitted Bottas fan, so a bit biased, but he is having his best season yet. Hard to compare him to Hamilton, who seems to be on supreme form & is outdriving pretty much the entire field. Bottas being able to fight with him on occasion & them not taking each other out & the 1-2 finishes should be enough to get him into 2020, IMO.
Really hoping for some improvements at Renault. Ricciardo is one of my favorites, too, and it sucks seeing him continuing his bad luck.
Who’s going to hit 1000 horsepower first? The question has been hanging around the Formula One paddock in the current hybrid era—since about 2014—and as more manufacturers entered the series, curiosity has amped up. And in a surprise to pretty much all of us, Renault has said they’re the ones who’ve achieved it first.
Renault confirms that this season has already retrieved 1,000 hp (736 kilowatts). “There are only certain performance peaks in qualifying,” says Renault’s engine boss Remi Taffin. “We can not always get that performance. It depends on many factors. For example, the distance and the outside temperatures. “
So, they’re not consistently achieving 1000 HP. But they’ve been able to hit that benchmark at least once this year.
When asked about hitting 1000 HP, Mercedes and Ferrari were both pretty reticent to confirm whether or not they’d actually hit it, according to journalist
With the power of the electric machines, the system performance is four digits. Renault GPS measurements reveal that Mercedes has the same performance potential - including more than 1,000 hp. Honda is somewhat behind, Ferrari is the class leader. “They have an advantage over Mercedes and us in qualifying.” Mercedes holds on tight: “We would not talk about 1,000 hp. Maybe Renault has a different calculation model. What matters to us is the lap time.” Taffin says, “Maybe they expect English horsepower.” 736 kilowatts are in the British horsepower 987 hp.
So it sounds like there might be a little bit of confusion as to how teams should actually be measuring horsepower production (which is honestly pretty typical of F1—everything ends up being harder than it needs to be). I have to say, it’s tough to imagine that Renault was able to hit 1000 HP before a team like Mercedes or Ferrari—but, then again, horsepower isn’t fully indicative of performance.
We’ve reached out to Renault to confirm the 1000 hp number and also to clarify how they calculated that number and will update if they respond.
Four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has criticised the disappearance of classic venues from the calendar in favour of new territories where there is little appetite for motorsport.
Speaking at Hockenheim, which as yet does not have a deal to host a grand prix next year, Vettel described the disappearance of historic tracks as "wrong"
Losing Monza, which has struggled in recent years to strike a deal with the commercial rights holder, would be "stupid".
"I know the people here [at Hockenheim] very well," he said.
"They're putting a lot of effort and passion and they're very keen on staying, on having the grand prix here. It's a great show but I don't think they make any money
"I think they lost money last year, and thanks to Mercedes [which took on title sponsorship of the event for 2019] they were able to have the grand prix again. So I don't know about the negotiations for next year and how much more money they would need or not.
"The problem is that Germany isn't keen to pay anything, so you need people from outside, investors. The government isn't happy to support, unlike in the Netherlands [which is supporting the return of the Dutch Grand Prix] and other places that we go.
"I think the way they [F1] string their business is based on how much people pay and then you get a grand prix. It's important that we don't lose certain grands prix, it's irrelevant what they pay.
"F1 without Monza would be stupid. Losing big countries with a lot of history like Germany or Spain is wrong."
Vettel pointed out that many races which joined the calendar during F1's eastward expansion under Bernie Ecclestone are sparsely attended.
"People always want to make money and profit so it doesn't help if [some] tracks pay less than others," he said.
"It's important to bring the sport where there's passion for the sport - so keep countries like Germany in the calendar, the UK and all those iconic places. That would be my take on it.
"It's more fun as well for us to drive in front of a lot of people rather than empty grandstands, even if they're all equipped with new seats - useless when there's nobody sitting on them."
Toro Rosso Formula 1 team principal Franz Tost believes Daniil Kvyat is ready to return to the main Red Bull outfit – but hopes the under-pressure Pierre Gasly is given more time.
Kvyat’s shock podium finish in the German Grand Prix was Toro Rosso’s first since 2008, and has strengthened the Russian driver’s case for taking the place alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull
He had previously raced for the team for just over a season, but was demoted to Toro Rosso to make way for Verstappen and was axed from the Red Bull programme entirely in 2017 – only to return after a year as Ferrari’s development driver.
Asked by Motorsport.com whether Kvyat is now ready for another shot with Red Bull, Tost said: “Yes – because there is such a long period now gone, and he is much more experienced now, he knows now what to do, how to handle everything - he is another step forward
“This is the reason I always say I need drivers for three years to educate the driver, and then he is ready to go to Red Bull. Because Red Bull is another level. Red Bull is a team fighting for victories, fighting for championships.
“And for this you are tackled with another pressure, you are working on another level. And you cannot compare this with Toro Rosso.
“He is another driver [than] he was at Red Bull, because there he was younger. He only went after one season to Red Bull because of the change when [Sebastian] Vettel went to Ferrari.
“And in the meantime [since 2016] he learned a lot, also last year at the simulator at Ferrari he learned a lot, and this year, you know, we had now 11 races, that means also here he learned a lot.
“And that Daniil has a very high natural speed and that he is a really skilled driver we knew. We knew from Formula Renault or from GP3 and also from our first year in Formula 1.”
But while Tost has long made it clear that the decision over the two teams’ 2020 line-ups is firmly in Red Bull’s hands, the Toro Rosso team boss is keen to retain his current line-up of Kvyat and Alexander Albon.
“I hope that the driver line-up at Red Bull will stay like it is and I would also like to continue with our drivers, because we have a driver line-up one of the strongest we ever had,” Tost said, having also commended Albon for an “unbelievably good race” to sixth place in Hockenheim.
Tost also continued to back Gasly, saying: “We all know Pierre. And Pierre is also a high-skilled driver, I rate him very high, although his year so far he was not so lucky and didn't show the performance maybe he himself expected.
“But you must not forget Max Verstappen is established in this team, and he is unbelievably fast - and you know, maybe the car does not fit so well to the driving style of Pierre and he has to get used to this.
“But this takes time, and I hope that Red Bull will give him time, because he will be there. Earlier or later, he will be there. I make a bet [on] this.”
The German Grand Prix last Sunday was Mercedes’ worst race in recent memory, and one the team would probably like to forget. While we, the fans, would like to watch the seemingly perfect team implode because of some bad tire choices during the next season of Netflix’s Drive to Survive with a big gulp and a comically large bag of popcorn, it would seem that star driver Lewis Hamilton won’t let that happen.
Netflix was granted access to the Mercedes team for just one race this season, and as luck would have it the producers chose the German Grand Prix as the one. The team was celebrating its 200th Grand Prix with special team kit and a one-off livery, which adds to the pomp and circumstance. The team also ran strong at the front with a 1-2 in dismal wet conditions.
But as the track started to dry out, Mercedes biffed the call to change tires, and both drivers suffered multiple spins on slicks. Valtteri Bottas shoved his Mercedes into the wall, and in spite of two spins, Hamilton managed to finish the race 11th on the track, 9th after penalties were assessed to the Alfa Romeo team.
According to GP Fans, Lewis commented after the race: “I won’t be in the Netflix show much, because I was sick the whole time. I won’t allow them to release that.”
So in a race in which Hamilton had his worst finish of the season, and where Netflix had cameras rolling—we won’t get to see behind the scenes? Hamilton, as usual when things don’t go his way, spent much of the latter half of the race complaining about his tires and blaming the team for his position. After his second spin, he asked for the team to retire his car.
I don’t know about you, but I want to see that episode! God forbid anyone allow the world to see Lewis Hamilton acting human.
F1 reveals German GP broadcast was nearly thwarted by fire
Aug 1, 2019, 5:29 AM
Formula 1's broadcasting division has revealed it came close to not being able to transmit the track action from Hockenheim last Saturday after an overnight fire destroyed a truck in the TV compound.
The fire, which started during an electrical storm, burned out the F1 up-link and fibre truck, which is responsible for sending pictures around the world.
With the third practice session of the German Grand Prix weekend fast approaching, the F1 broadcast team had to spring into action on Saturday morning to make alternative arrangements, which it was eventually able to do after broadcast partners came to rescue by loaning equipment.
“0650 on the Saturday morning of a race weekend is never a good time for your mobile to ring,” said the F1 organisation’s television systems group manager Trevor Turner in a race preview.
“The call was to tell me that the truck had been completely destroyed a little over 90 minutes previously. The fire services were leaving the site having done what they could and crews from Eurovision and our host broadcaster in Germany, RTL, were already on site assessing the situation.
“While the truck itself looked relatively intact, inside it was completely destroyed. It quickly became clear that we were in real trouble.
“The Eurovision Services truck is primarily responsible for distributing pictures to our European broadcast partners, but it was also looking after additional transmission services for Canal+ in France and Movistar in Spain. Those services were now unusable.”
Fortunately local broadcaster RTL was able to help, although there was a gap to be plugged. “RTL had already stepped up and arranged for two satellite trucks to be driven to Hockenheim (one from Frankfurt and another from Munich) but neither was expected to arrive before FP3.
“We identified that if we wanted have a chance of getting FP3 to air then the only transmission paths available in the quantity required were those between F1’s Technical Centre at the track and its UK Media & Technology Centre in the UK, the ones used to deliver its social, web, app and F1TV content, and also for transmissions to Asia and the Americas.
“So, the first solution was to use the Asian international feed at our UK Media & Technology Centre to cover the loss of transmissions over Europe and Eurovision teams in Geneva to plan transmission of this feed in both HD and UHD formats from an alternative fixed satellite facility.
“Tata offered access to their on-site back up world feed satellite link to support the new transmission set-up we’d put in place for Europe. In addition, RTL offered access via their fibre to Cologne and Sky UK’s Master Control Room was on standby to support with signals which they also had available via F1 and Tata in London.”
All of this fast work meant that FP3, qualifying and the race were transmitted without problems.
“We were able to broadcast FP3 live without any issues,” said Turner. “It was real team effort and the assistance we received from all our partners – at Eurovision, Tata Communications, RTL, Sky – was brilliant.
“It really was a bit like a Formula 1 team arriving on Saturday morning to find they got a problem and need to do an engine change in a real hurry. In fact it was worse. It was like opening the garage and finding that the car’s gone!”
With no time to replace the damaged truck the same arrangements will be in place in Hungary this weekend.
“All the additional resources we finally had in Germany are going through to Hungary,” said Turner. “We are maintaining the additional services through to Eurovision, but that’s more of a fail-safe than anything else, and they have requested that. There will be a couple of additional trucks there, but yes, on Friday morning in Budapest it will be business as usual.”
07-28-2019, 11:50 AM
Agree on Racing Point and I was actually hoping for Lance's sake he was going to do something to redeem his rather fortunate and lackluster career (Daddy buys my seat). MBZ-huuuuuuge celebrations, period dress, lock out front row=bumpkiss. 
I messed around and looked at the individual plots and Ferrari shoulda won this.
Hopefully that shunt was a kick in the ass for Bottas to get back on form.
