F1 2024 Season

I’ve never watched Drive to Survive, but if they did a whole season covering all this behind the scenes stuff I’d be tuning in :lol:

Pretty much all sports are doing their best to put me off watching these days.
 
Rooney1987 said:
This is the most f1 season I've seen in a while all this off the track drama nonsense being more entertaining then the sport itself. Andretti, Lewis/Ferrari, Horner and now this. Drive to Survive next year is gonna be all this and no races.
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Nah they ll conveniently dance around it like anything else truly impactful.
 
F1 is a right mess, shite racing with more drama off the track, not sure why anyone would want to join or invest into this circus.
 
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/red-bull-f1-civil-war-verstappen-horner-endgame/

"....But who is behind Jos? Is he speaking on behalf of Team Verstappen? His son as well? Where does Helmut Marko stand in this, and Red Bull GmbH’s Austrian contingent including executive Oliver Mintzlaff? What about Mark Mateschitz, son of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich?

All have been linked with siding against Horner of late...."

"..Is there, maybe, a desire for a team principal even more amenable to prioritising Max?

"...Or is it even wilder, and this is part of a much grander, surprising play, as what Team Verstappen really wants is to have an escape plan?

"...If Red Bull’s engine progress for 2026 is insufficient, it may be in Verstappen’s interest to be eyeing some escape ramps. Who knows what opportunities Horner being axed could facilitate.

There is already some very tentative speculation about moving somewhere else, like Mercedes. That feels like a stretch at the moment but the question is at least being asked and team boss Toto Wolff didn’t go out of his way to shut it down when asked if he could sign Verstappen as soon as 2025...."
 
Also anyone find it suspect that Ben Sulyaem asked Max to publicly support Horner earlier today and now this allegation appears against him?

Someone powerful desperately wants Horner gone.
 
hp88 said:
F1 is a right mess, shite racing with more drama off the track, not sure why anyone would want to join or invest into this circus.
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Yeah it's in a dreadful position at the minute, the off track drama can survive if the actual racing is good, but when the product they're punting is particularly dull then it's a downward spiral. The Sulyaem story today is just mind blowing and his integrity has been shot, I'll be surprised if he lasts.
 
hobbers said:
I think Max will definitely have his eye on moving in 2026.

If you're going to back a horse for a new engine you wouldn't instinctively back the team that has just set up the facilities and have no prior experience, beyond working alongside Honda, over Mercedes or Ferrari.


Imagine Mercedes give a year contract to Alonso and then replace him with Max in 2026...
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Far strangers things have happened. To your point, Merc is probably far more likely to nail engine regs and clearly has been on top the last time engine power was more important than aero. Add to that that Toto has long been a big Max fan. Hell even Newey might be interested in one final new challenge before he retires. Merc powertrain+Max+Newey could arguably be the dream team of the century.

Of course that's not to take away from Horner, the whole thing is all so weird. Clearly the man has built a really effective team and legacy since he's been there - but the heavy handed and ruthless approach he takes I am sure has ruffled many feathers over the years.

In some ways none of this is all that unusual either. High level dirty politics has long been a Hallmark of Formula 1. Even during the times, or rather - especially during the times, when some people seem to think the on track stuff was more interesting. If anything, its been relatively quiet for a while.
 
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F1 is a shambles on and off the track, off the track politics and backstabbing seems to be the norm, Bernie was no angel but it was never this bad.
On track it’s the most one-sides it has ever been , I would say slightly worse than the Mercedes domination.
F1 needs to clean its house up or fans will stop watching and or buying tickets.
There was a time when I would drop everything to watch, now if I have something else to do F1 takes a back seat.
 
F-Red said:
Yeah it's in a dreadful position at the minute, the off track drama can survive if the actual racing is good, but when the product they're punting is particularly dull then it's a downward spiral. The Sulyaem story today is just mind blowing and his integrity has been shot, I'll be surprised if he lasts.
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He cant last, he had to step down, in his position even a hint of corruption, must mean his job is untenable
 
Whatever is going on. None of us will ever even get close to getting but -maybe -half the story. Nor will the journos, so I'm avoiding all press on this unless it happens to be linked here. Let's get rid of all the team bosses and FIA and F1 and just make it free for all for the drivers and engineers alone. Can't wait to see what the next story being blown into the ether will bring :lol:
 
pauldyson1uk said:
F1 is a shambles on and off the track, off the track politics and backstabbing seems to be the norm, Bernie was no angel but it was never this bad.
On track it’s the most one-sides it has ever been , I would say slightly worse than the Mercedes domination.
F1 needs to clean its house up or fans will stop watching and or buying tickets.
There was a time when I would drop everything to watch, now if I have something else to do F1 takes a back seat.
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I agree with you. It's such a mess in so many ways. So many politics behind the scenes. For example, Williams can't upgrade their very antiquated and outdated infrastructure. James Volwes asked for their infrastructure to be exempt from the cost cap. But FIA said no. So Williams are stuck in a catch 22, spend the money on the car, but constantly being behind the curve or take hit on the car for 5 -6 seasons so infrastructure can be updated to modern standards. They can't win. They can never come back to their glory years

However AM and McLaren got to build new wind tunnels outside of the cost cap.

Before the cost cap, the big three had teams of 700-800 personel. They are all upto 1500 personel while under the cost cap.

You need a minimum of 700 personel to be a top team. Some teams i.e. RB Cash App have a team of 100 personel, how can they ever compete ?

The bottom 3-4 teams on the grid don't even hit the cost cap limit. How can they compete? How has the cost cap levelled the playing field?

Alpine have the least powerful engine on the grid. The other manufacturers having increased the power output under the banner of "reliability". When alpine asked for an exception to be allowed to bring their engine's power output inline with the other engine manufacturers they were told no.
So until 2026, they are down on power output compared to the rest.

There's so much slight of hand, politics and bullshit in modern F1. It's a pale imitation of the product I grew up with in the 80s and 90s.
 
dinostar77 said:
I agree with you. It's such a mess in so many ways. So many politics behind the scenes. For example, Williams can't upgrade their very antiquated and outdated infrastructure. James Volwes asked for their infrastructure to be exempt from the cost cap. But FIA said no. So Williams are stuck in a catch 22, spend the money on the car, but constantly being behind the curve or take hit on the car for 5 -6 seasons so infrastructure can be updated to modern standards. They can't win. They can never come back to their glory years

However AM and McLaren got to build new wind tunnels outside of the cost cap.

Before the cost cap, the big three had teams of 700-800 personel. They are all upto 1500 personel while under the cost cap.

You need a minimum of 700 personel to be a top team. Some teams i.e. RB Cash App have a team of 100 personel, how can they ever compete ?

The bottom 3-4 teams on the grid don't even hit the cost cap limit. How can they compete? How has the cost cap levelled the playing field?

Alpine have the least powerful engine on the grid. The other manufacturers having increased the power output under the banner of "reliability". When alpine asked for an exception to be allowed to bring their engine's power output inline with the other engine manufacturers they were told no.
So until 2026, they are down on power output compared to the rest.

There's so much slight of hand, politics and bullshit in modern F1. It's a pale imitation of the product I grew up with in the 80s and 90s.
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It's been like this since the stock market went to shit in 08, in some form or another, remember the token system,
 
It's in a awful spot. Too much meddling and pandering by the Americans, and they dropped the ball with these last regs.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
F1 is a shambles on and off the track, off the track politics and backstabbing seems to be the norm, Bernie was no angel but it was never this bad.
On track it’s the most one-sides it has ever been , I would say slightly worse than the Mercedes domination.
F1 needs to clean its house up or fans will stop watching and or buying tickets.
There was a time when I would drop everything to watch, now if I have something else to do F1 takes a back seat.
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I've watched since the early 80's. I've been a Williams fan for as long as I remember and still am. I would watch every race like I would every United game regardless of where I was in the world. And the last couple of years has left me feeling why do I bother.
 
Just enjoy the drama. I honestly don't think any of this is any worse than has always existed in the sport. It just gets a lot more attention now, rightfully or wrongly. The amount of shit people got away with in the 80/90s and even 2000s likely pales in comparison to today's soap drama. A close colleague of mine used to represent high level employee issues before my time (60/70s into 80s) and it makes the shit we terminate people for these days seem very lax. I wish I could go into more detail.
 
Tsunoda isn't that bad, he is nothing special but I am not sure Ricciardo even proved yet he is better than him(altough I have no doubt that he will once he reaches good form).

Saergant and Stroll are terrible though and clearly there for everything other than being good drivers.
 
pauldyson1uk said:
I agree, have said it before, I wonder how much power Jos really has ? I firmly believe he is behind the leak.
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As someone who knows little about F1, feel free to make me look an idiot but how much power can the father of a driver possibly yield?

Even the best driver?!
 
ChrisNelson said:
As someone who knows little about F1, feel free to make me look an idiot but how much power can the father of a driver possibly yield?

Even the best driver?!
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I also don't know anything about it, but presumably he has some kind of influence on Max? And if he can nudge him to take his talents elsewhere, that is maybe something he can leverage, given that Max is clearly the greatest driver of all time.
 
f1 doing its level best to turn itself into wwe.
 
Especially when it comes to Mohammed it feels like they keep throwing mud at the wall to see what sticks. Not to say none of it is true or that Im defending the guy - it just seems like being FIA president is a job few should want. It's also easy to forget it covers more than just F1 so who knows what other classes of motorsports covered by them might want him out. F1 related dirt just gets the most press.
 
I think it's interesting someone is really ramping up these allegations against CH when there's suddenly now a vacant seat at Mercedes...

Would daddy and co be so keen in their pursuit if there wasn't an equally powerful seat available
 
United Hobbit said:
I think it's interesting someone is really ramping up these allegations against CH when there's suddenly now a vacant seat at Mercedes...

Would daddy and co be so keen in their pursuit if there wasn't an equally powerful seat available
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Yeah it def doesn't feel out of left field. It's long been rumored there are concerns with the PU development at RB for the new regs. Merc has long coveted Max and is more likely to nail engine regs than aero, and they d probably love to stick it to Lewis and Ferrari by offering him a bigger contract or equivalent and then blowing them out of the water on the track.
 
hobbers said:
“Whistleblower” pretty thick then. Even if this were true it makes no sense and no one would believe it.

Claiming the opposite would have been more convincing, that he tried to pressure them to certify LV circuit despite it not being fit.
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It makes complete sense, long standing tension between FOM/FIA and Las Vegas was the first 'in-house' Grand Prix where FOM were the promoter as well. Sulayem knew that if this model was successful it would put a lot of power back into FOM's hands.
 
Smells like somebody wants MBS out, not a surprise really as he's not exactly covered himself in glory since he's taken over.

Now the question is, is it coming from inside FIA or from Liberty
 
Ahmer Baig said:
Smells like somebody wants MBS out, not a surprise really as he's not exactly covered himself in glory since he's taken over.

Now the question is, is it coming from inside FIA or from Liberty
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Both could be true. Several people having an axe to grind with FIA like a Toto who happens to also have commercial interests through the Liberty side. And that's just the one we most know about. Enemy of my enemy and all that.
 
hobbers said:
Maybe. Still doesnt help that it's the same person whistleblowing on two very divergent themes and there being other officials in the room who have 'different recollections'.

The second claim undermines the credibility of the first if anything.
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The whistleblower has been that credible that the FIA's own compliance officer thinks there's merit in the claims and has submitted it in a report to their ethics committee. I don't think someone of their standing would risk their reputation if they didn't think there was merit in the claims.
 
F-Red said:
The whistleblower has been that credible that the FIA's own compliance officer thinks there's merit in the claims and has submitted it in a report to their ethics committee. I don't think someone of their standing would risk their reputation if they didn't think there was merit in the claims.
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Perhaps. But people like that need to protect themselves too. Often times complaints are brought forth because otherwise the next complaint will be against you, or you open the door for other types of allegations being made against the company for not taking a claim seriously. In other words, them taking it "seriously" could be more about self preservation. They *need* to take it seriously.
 
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