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No real surprises there. Albon needs up his game, 8 tenths off max!
Just had a meet up with the usual local F1 clique.
A guy with a son at Mercedes was told they didn’t use party mode in qualifying, they’ve saved the engine for more presses of the overtake button.
We shall see. Really looking forward to this afternoon.
A guy with a son at Mercedes was told they didn’t use party mode in qualifying
https://the-race.com/formula-1/the-numbers-that-show-the-true-extent-of-mercedes-dominance/
blimey that ferrari is a dog
I thought initially when I saw a red car facing the wrong way, it was Vettel spinning it again...
absolute master class, cooked max for 15 laps then waltzed off into the distance. (makes the fishy tire choice for the aniversary gp smell a little more foul)
ferrari running 5th in the constructors!
Didnt see the race but just saw the Albon Interview, first thing that came to mind with the way he was talking is he's been told he's being replaced.
no doubt total rubbish but he looked like a rabbit in a cars headlights.
Surprisingly enjoyable race thanks to the midfield action. Masterclass from Hamilton, looked like they had bags of pace left.
Vettel/Ferrari relationship sounds FUBAR
Ended turning the race off, combination of mediocre race and C4 going to advert s every 5 mins
Wow, vettel ended up doing 37 laps on used softs...well deserved driver of the day imo!
Vettel: "you need to let me know now what you want me to do in terms of pace."Ferrari: "go faster"
Vettel: "for how long?"
Ferrari: "3 laps" .... "all you have" .... "no more saving"
(*a few laps later*)
Ferrari: "What do you think about going to the end with this tyres"
Vettel: "Oh for ****s sake! I asked you this before and now I've been pushing for 3 laps!"
I wouldn't be surprised to see Vettel leave Ferrari before the last race, he really is losing it with the team!
Good fun in the midfield, plenty going on with different strategies that relied on overtaking to work.
Ended turning the race off, combination of mediocre race and C4 going to adverts every 5 mins.
I've spotted that if it's a boring race C4 put more ad breaks in the actual race coverage than they do for a good one. Not really complaining about it though as you know that you're not missing anything. Plus it's 10x better than having to put up with Crofty's stupid shouting at anything more exciting than paint dry.
Didnt see the race but just saw the Albon Interview, first thing that came to mind with the way he was talking is he’s been told he’s being replaced.
I get that feeling too - at the minute they've not even got a decent No.2 driver. 8th in a car capable of podiums isn't good enough.
I'm not sure Gasly is a good option either. But honestly don't know who else they could go for. Hulk or Vettel aren't long-term options, and they've no-one ready in their driver development programme.
Would love to see Vettel vs Max in that car. Mind you, sounds like it's a right handful to drive, and Vettel hasn't exactly shown himself to be able to drive around instability in the car...
Horner has been pretty clear in saying they're not interested in Vettel. RedBull is now more of a one man team than Ferrari was under Shumi - the #2 driver just needs to be there to stop other teams taking poihts, but Albon is not doing a great job there. I have zero sympathy for RedBull though - they had a promising young driver line up but have squandered them by first preferring Seb and now Max, leaving the #2 drivers riddled with doubt about their own ability. They've got a couple of options in their junior programme in F2/F3 - none are setting the world alight with their pace at the moment but my feeling is that they will reshuffle the pack for 2021 switching Kvyat or Gasly back to be Max's punchbag and Albon back to AT, and look for new talent in 2022 when they have more of a chance of beating Merc.
Albon is not doing a great job there.
It's hard to judge from the outside. The car appears to be difficult to drive. Verstappen, despite being an annoying, arrogant ****, seems to be extremely talented, on the level of Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, etc. Verstappen has the confidence and reflexes to drive it right on the limit despite it being very unpredictable. Merc have a similar situation, with cars over the last few years that have often been very difficult to get the best out of. Hamilton has generally done better at that than Bottas, but Bottas seems to be a fairly decent driver. He's just unfortunate enough to have a teammate who has credible claim to the Greatest of All Time. Same problem for Red Bull and Albon - he seems to do better in races than in qualifying, but he's driving a difficult car and being compared to a truly exceptional teammate. Red Bull will have a better picture of what's going on, but they need to produce a car that's a bit more predictable before writing off young drivers.
I must say I'm kind of on the same page as Retro here. While he has had quite a fall from grace I thought Vettel did a pretty good job of making those tyres last and keeping the train of clearly faster cars behind him. Yes, it helps that Barcelona is not the easiest track to overtake on but there is also an element of skilful and tactical driving and I thought Vettel did a very good job yesterday.
I think Albon has potential to improve. He has shown that he can be a brave and optimistic driver with some great drives, in places. I think he deserves a bit more time. I have also been impressed with George Russell this season. Despite being in a pretty uncompetitive car he has achieved some impressive results. In some ways I am surprised that Mercedes have given Bottas another year and not gambled with Russell.
At first I also thought that the comments from Seb sounded like major meltdown in the relationship but, again, thanks to retro's post I have the context that we didn't see in the highlights, and they make an awful lot more sense. Also, Vettel did have a more rational conversation on the radio a bit later in the race and seeing both of these together makes me think the relationship is not quite as toxic as might be suspected if you only heard the "Vettel: “Oh for **** sake! I asked you this before and now I’ve been pushing for 3 laps!” line
The Red Bull has been twitchy so far, remember that Verstappen ended up thumping the wall on a formation lap a couple of weeks back.
We know from Albon's promotion in 2019 that he's quick and capable of delivering the goods. It's evident that Albon does not have a confidence inspiring car underneath him.
It’s hard to judge from the outside. The car appears to be difficult to drive. Verstappen, despite being an annoying, arrogant ****, seems to be extremely talented, on the level of Senna, Schumacher, Hamilton, etc. Verstappen has the confidence and reflexes to drive it right on the limit despite it being very unpredictable.
Yup, there's a good chance that Albon is the one showing how good the car actually is
Bet you didn't know that Kovalinen was faster over a lap than Prost? 😂
The stat I liked from the weekend was Kimi’s overall distance in F1 races has now beaten Alonso’s 83,846km.
Nearly 84k Km in F1 races - blimey.
Yep a nice shift!
Seems odd it will be beaten again so soon though when Alonso returns for at least 2 seasons.
This season in the Alfa poor old Kimi must have felt like he was doing that extra distance every race.
This season in the Alfa poor old Kimi must have felt like he was doing that extra distance every race.
He's also losing a few km's by being lapped each race 🙂
Yin and yang.
Williams has been bought by Dorilton Capital
Excellent news.
Wonder if Claire is studying her other options yet?
Excellent news.
Maybe not so excellent for Claire, as mashr says. There's no way an investor is going to buy a failing team and not try to turn it around and the first thing they'll look for is someone to lead the team through that. Sadly I don't think that's Claire - I'd expect some sort of reshuffle where she goes back to the marketing side and someone else takes on a full team principal role. Frank will probably become 'Team Principal Emeritus' a la Bernie.
I cant see how an investment company can make any money from an F1 team without breaking it up and selling the bits off. They will want quick results, Williams is already (almost) at the back of the grid, and it'll take a mahoosive amount of investment to make them even remotely top of the mid-field.
The rest of the grid isnt going to sit still, unless Williams get lucky with the rule changes or can attract some real top end engineering skills (I'm not saying the current ones aren't talented, more that others are more talented than them 🙂 ) then I do wonder how a company that exists to make money for its shareholders can actually make any money from racing.
I'd put £10 on it being sold again within 5 years, and thats a shame as I love the team and have great memories of them in their pomp.
I thought the engineering co within/behind Williams was pretty profitable though?
I thought the engineering co within/behind Williams was pretty profitable though?
The press release specifically mentions the sale of Williams Racing, not any other part of the Williams Group so I expect the engineering side is still family owned.
Yup, Williams Engineering isn’t in the deal
Toto is as Team Manager? He's been dropping hints he's not staying with Merc and he already owns Williams shares. Something big brewing in the background?
Williams is already (almost) at the back of the grid, and it’ll take a mahoosive amount of investment to make them even remotely top of the mid-field.
The whole point of the huge changes coming in the next couple of years is to make it possible for mid-field teams to be profitable. The sport needs 10 teams that are financially stable, so the cost cap and new concorde agreement were aimed at that. The richer teams will still have an advantage because the salaries of drivers and chief designer aren't part of the cost cap, which means that Merc, Ferrari, and Red Bull, can pay massive salaries for superstar drivers and designers that the poorer teams can't afford, but the big teams won't be able to hire 1000 engineers versus 200 for the small teams. A smaller team with a well-managed technical department should be able to get much closer to the front than they can now, hopefully that will help them attract sponsors so they aren't all perpetually on the verge of bankruptcy. Williams' new owners seem to think it's worth a gamble.
Wasn't Williams Advanced Engineering already sold last year?
Reading more about the buyer, it sounds like they'll try and turn the team around rather than break it up and asset strip it.
Genii Capital did a pretty good job with Lotus so hopefully these guys can do the same.
From Dorilton's website:
Patience
We prefer to create value over the longer term by reinvesting cash flow while avoiding excessive leverage.
PartnershipWe work actively with existing management teams recognizing that long-term business success is the result of a team effort. Dorilton views its role as providing additional capital for acquisitions and growth projects and support and expertise to take its companies to the next level.
ContinuityWe partner with companies that are led by strong management teams and have a successful history and culture. We firmly believe in our companies continuing with the elements that have made them successful.
Reading more about the buyer, it sounds like they’ll try and turn the team around rather than break it up and asset strip it.
They'll not say on the website "We'll saddle the company with debt and asset strip it for a profit" tough will they?
I'm not really sure that an F1 team would be a suitable target for asset stripping. Obviously, they have engineering facilities, future prize money payouts, and IP, but the sale price will reflect the value of the facilities, the prize money will only be paid if they continue to operate, and the IP generally won't have much market value IMO. This is because i) Their car is horribly slow so no other team will want their data; ii) Teams have to design their own cars so they can't just buy designs from other teams. However, that IP will have value as part of an existing team because it means the buyers own an existing car design instead of having to design a car from scratch like new entrants have to do. The Williams name has some value, IMO, it still has a lot of loyal fans from its glory days, but that value is only associated with F1, so they won't get much for it if they close down the team and sell the name to a clothing label.
So my opinion is that the buyers probably think it is worth more as an operational team than selling off the bits.
Don't forget the value of the F1 grid slot too, much easier for a new manufacturer to enter by buying an existing team than financing a new entry from scratch.
I hope Williams end up better due to the deal as it really hurts to see them at the back. I'd be happy with consistent midfielder with the odd good result!
It’s a bit of a no loose situation for the investors as it doesn’t cost them any money as they will transfer the cost of buying the team to the team as debt.
It’s a bit of a no loose situation for the investors as it doesn’t cost them any money as they will transfer the cost of buying the team to the team as debt
sort off. The buy-out will be financed in a large part by bank debt, but there will also be PE money from both a company level and individuals within that PE firm - there may also be money from HNWI's. The money back will come in the form of 3-4 mechanisms'
Managament fee back to the PE's -monthly - this can be fairly substantial
then you'll have the loan notes of different types (C1-3 and likely some D notes with different values)
Debt payemtns to bank - i would have thought 6 monthly
Debt payments back to PE - (this will be at end of term normally, so say 5 years) - this will accrue monthly and compound over the course of the term at an interest rate say min 12% (Some HNWI's will be in this)
Sweet equity - thos are loans at the lower end of the payback scale after debt and are realised post sale. These can be worth exponential amounts depending on the sale of the company, or worth nothing if it goes below the asking price. (Some HNWI's will be in this)
Profit after all other debts, loans, equity is shared out.
For companies to asset strip, there has to be something worth asset stripping, generally in F1 there is sod all as it's all owned by other people/rented, so they have to work on the assumption they are buying the brand, the people and the success of the company, so that they can sell it for either
a. multiple of what they bought it for
b. multiple of it's EBITDA
c. multiple of it's EBITDA potential
d. some chomp with more money than sense just gives over a random amount - (not unheard of).
this is unfrotunately why people like he that should not be named, never go away as they never put money, but are good a courting people into high profile deals that have a potential to go right!
this is unfrotunately why people like he that should not be named, never go away as they never put money, but are good a courting people into high profile deals that have a potential to go right!
So you're say that Flavio Briatore is behind the buyout?
Wonder if they'll still keep a bed at the office for Frank.
So you’re say that Flavio Briatore is behind the buyout?
no idea, but possible - i was actually refering to the "he that should not be named" as the other knobber that steals bike logo's, though wont be behind this.
Four more races announced:
https://www.planetf1.com/news/turkish-gp-return-2020-calendar/
It'll be interesting to see the difference in lap times at Istanbul Park, compared to the last time they raced there.