F1 Thread

[RichC]

In season development at the back end of last season was phenomenal for RB but he still had to win the races.

I do actually think he'll leave RB at some point maybe after next season if he wins it again, so much time on his hands to add to 5 (potential) titles and I get the feeling he wants to be remembered as one of the greats which if he stays at RB will maybe be tainted or not given the credit he would deserve.

[G]

He'll end up at Ferrari following in his best mates footsteps. Be funny if Alonso went to Red Bull and Vettel beat him to a title in the Ferrari!

[RichC]

He does need to move IMO, he's a very good driver but it's all been laid on for him. Let's see him develop a car and get it up to a wining standard, if he can do that then no questioning his credentials

[Daniel 7]

So for the umpteenth time he's a very good driver but there are more factors to it than just his skill behind the wheel which isn't being questioned.

I wasn't meaning you tbh, I was meaning the general public and some columnists as well.

Yeah, another constructor and more championships would mean a lot thats for sure.

[RichC]

I was a bit ratty yesterday!

It would be interesting to see him do it, no reason why he's not capable.

Finally watched Senna last night, I'd forgotten just how dangerous the sport used to be pre Imola '94.

[RichC]

Surely there were multiple moves from Vettel at the start

[G]

Super achievements by him and the team but, meh!

[RichC]

Aye, got to feel sorry for Webber yet again his car fails on him.

Be interesting to see his comments on team RedBull when he's gone

[RichC]

Oh and hats off to Vettel, best car and all that but he's still had to go out and do it, 4 years on the trot does suggest he's got a huge appetite to be the best.

Let's hope the rule changes next season shake things up a bit and we see a few more teams competitive for the whole season.

[G]

Yeah I'm hoping for a lot of unpredictability next season, failures ,mistakes etc.The cars are practically bullet proof these days and the drivers are like robots,nobody ever makes a mistake when leading or whatever like Senna in Monaco or Hakkinen in Imola,Vettel gets pole,pulls out a 2 second gap and the race is never in doubt from then on,very dull.

The burnouts and car worship on the start/finish straight were good though.

[RichC]

Not a huge shock - a certain racing team in Woking could do with a strong team principal

Ross Brawn to leave Mercedes at the end of the current F1 season

Ross Brawn will leave his position as Mercedes team principal at the end of the Formula 1 season.

Brawn and Mercedes have failed to reach an agreement on a role in which he would have been happy to stay at the team, sources close to Mercedes said.

Mercedes will now be run in tandem by their two executive directors, Toto Wolff and Paddy Lowe, along with non-executive chairman Niki Lauda.

Both Mercedes and Brawn refused to comment on the development.

Brawn's impending departure follows months of talks between Mercedes bosses and the man who masterminded Michael Schumacher's seven world titles at Benetton and Ferrari.
The German company had originally last winter signed Lowe, who was formerly the technical director of McLaren, with the intention of him replacing Brawn with immediate effect.

But plans then changed, with Mercedes saying they wanted a 'soft transition', that they would like Brawn to stay and that he was in control of his own destiny.

Lauda pushed for Brawn to remain at the team, but the stumbling block was over the level of authority he would have.

Brawn, 58, wanted to stay in overall charge, as he made clear at the Japanese Grand Prix earlier this month.

However, sources close to the team say that option was never open.

Mercedes believe a single team principal is an outdated concept given the complexities of modern F1. They were hoping to persuade Brawn to stay on in another role that did not involve the day-to-day running of the team.

Negotiations reached an impasse and Brawn decided he had no option but to leave.
Wolff, the executive director (business), will now run the political and financial sides of the team, while Lowe, the executive director (technical), will be in charge of the sporting and technical aspects. Wolff is also the director of Mercedes' motorsport operation.

Brawn's future is unclear. He has emphasised that he would not try to line up a new job elsewhere while still in his present role, but he is now free to find one if he wishes to continue working in F1.

He has been linked with roles running Honda's new F1 programme when the Japanese manufacturer returns to the sport in 2015 as engine partner to McLaren, as well as to a position with governing body the FIA.

FIA president Jean Todt used to work with Brawn at Ferrari, in roles very similar to those now to be occupied by Wolff and Lowe at Mercedes.

Brawn moving to Honda is considered unlikely by some insiders, who say he had grown frustrated with certain aspects of working with the company when he ran their F1 team in 2007-8, particularly dealing with Honda management and repeated trips to Japan.

Claims Brawn will move to McLaren, though, are incorrect, according to sources.

[Daniel 7]

I'd heard rumours of him going to Williams, but how that would work if he's fallen out with Mercedes (their engine supplier from next year) is beyond me.

Is this the end of the old guard then? Frank Williams and Patrick Head are stepping aside, Ross Brawn is going, Ron Dennis went a while back, Adrian Newey saying Red Bull is his last job...

Its about time there were some new designers coming through. There never really seems to be any names mentioned other than Brawn and Newey nowadays, though some of the Red Bull team are being eyed by Ferrari (but that might just be some people basking in the Newey glow)

[G]

BBC F1 report it 8 hours ago.

Sky's 'sources' tell them about it 2 hours later. On the ball as ever Sky

Would love to see Brawn at McLaren,don't think Whitmarsh can cut it,or Domenicalli for that matter but I don't think he wants to return to living abroad.

[Daniel 7]

Anyone bothering?

I hate Sky coverage, it really is a turn off for me. Hill and Herbert piss me off but they don;t offend me anywhere near as much as that gurning idiot, Lazenby. The man is a ****ing cunt.

[G]

Nope.

Agree on Sky,they do my head in. Their "exclusives" blatantly robbed from elsewhere really wind me up! It riled me big when the FOM thermal camera debuted and sky where bigging it up like it was their invention.