Motorsports Thread

[Jenkins]

Wonder if this is a Verstappen Sr lead thing otherwise Verstappen Jr signs for Mercedes.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Wonder if this is a Verstappen Sr lead thing otherwise Verstappen Jr signs for Mercedes.

Lots of comments on "other forums" about it being
a) Max insisted on it
b) Max has said he is going and that was the last straw so CH had to go
c) Max was in the meeting that decided CH was going but didn;t have much say

etc etc
lots of comments - naff all facts or evidence

done just after one race and with a big gap to the next
which sounds like it was planned in advance to me

 

[icowden]

done just after one race and with a big gap to the next
which sounds like it was planned in advance to me

Agreed. The team have been struggling for a while. They have one car which can be set up in such a way that Max can win races in it, but which is undrivable by anyone else. Horner has got though 6 or 7 second drivers and they are all having the same problems. Red Bull aren't even close to coming in the top 3 for the Constructors championship. Max is struggling to come 3rd. He's ahead at the moment, but there are 12 races left and he only has a lead of 19 points over Russell. If Ferrari can make their car just a bit more competitive there is still time for him to be overtaken by LeClerc and Hamilton as well.

Credit to Max, he is making the RB Car do things that on paper it shouldn't be able to do. He is an incredibly talented driver, albeit dislikeable and prone to temper tantrums. Wolff will be aware that George is a good, reliable driver and Antonelli makes a good teammate, but also that it's a bit likely that Russell maybe doesn't have the streak of ruthlessness needed to be World Champion.

At the moment, the fight is between Merc and Ferrari. Not Red Bull.

 

[Drago]

Lots of comments on "other forums" about it being
a) Max insisted on it
b) Max has said he is going and that was the last straw so CH had to go
c) Max was in the meeting that decided CH was going but didn;t have much say

etc etc
lots of comments - naff all facts or evidence

done just after one race and with a big gap to the next
which sounds like it was planned in advance to me

I often suspect Max isn't as radical as some of his entourage, and is happy with a quiet life providing things get done.

It doesn't seem Toss was involved, and I suspect he'll end up quite disappointed if he thinks this will be an opportunity to try and extend what little influence he does have.

 

[Drago]

Increasing chatter in the media about Horny moving to Fezza.

 

[Reynard]

Well, whatever's going on, I'll paraphrase Churchill...

The bulldogs are battling it out under the carpet, and we won't get to know what the outcome is until all the bones are spat out.

 

[IanSmithCSE]

Good morning,

The most sensible thing I’ve read is here;
https://www.planetf1.com/news/red-b...ts-at-possible-root-of-christian-horner-axing

The idea is that Red Bull have three share holders 49%/49%/2% and the 2% holder has sold allowing one of the 49% holders to have their way and do what they have been wanting to do for a while.

I’m not sold on Horner to Ferrari, he made a good decision to get Newey on board and has ridden that success.

Apart from that there have been a lot of issues and Red Bull are facing going in to 2026 using their own power unit.

Despite the budget cap F1 is still expensive and a lack off success means a lack of sponsors and possibly Ford thinking oh no not Jaguar F1 again!

It’s not obvious that the current generation of Red Bull management see the value in an F1 program if it is not mostly self funded. After all Red Bull are not the newbies giving the establishment a kicking they are the establishment.

Red Bull are prominent on the Bora Hansgrohe team and top teams are looking at around £30 million a year budgets. They could have done that years ago,

Bye

Ian

 

[figbat]

Alpine still have a TP job vacant don’t they? They are local to where the Horners live and could do with an injection of something to cure the rot.

Ferrari’s revolving door of TPs has not really moved the dial for them and being isolated in Italy, away from the motorsport corridor of middle England, doesn’t help.

 

[Drago]

Apparently he's still in contract with RB until 2030, and he's liable to made the accountants sweat when it comes to buying him out of the contract. I wish I had a job so I could be sacked and sent on my way with a dumper truck laden with cash.

 

[Tom B]

Apparently he's still in contract with RB until 2030, and he's liable to made the accountants sweat when it comes to buying him out of the contract. I wish I had a job so I could be sacked and sent on my way with a damper truck laden with cash.

I think "sacked" in this case is not necessarily the usual definition. More relieved of his duties. I would expect his contract will have some sort of termination clause for both sides. It'll be expensive, but i imagine he'll be on the payroll for a while yet.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

So he has a very highly paid job that he no longer has to do anything for
I never thought of asking for one like that when I was applying fro jobs in the old days!!

 

[Drago]

I can't see things getting any better under Laurent. Performance won't improve, Jos the Toss still won't be able to run the outfit like he thinks he should (he's a nobody in that regard, and they only humour the idiot to keep max quiet), there will be more recriminations and finger pointing, and more hurried changes of top personnel.

My prediction is RB will slide even further down the pecking order and it'll take thick end of a decade to recover. Meanwhile it'll cost them an absolute fortune in prize money and sponsorship, meaning the mothership will have to keep making up the shortfall. Oh, and Horny will probably then die laughing.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

I can't see things getting any better under Laurent. Performance won't improve, Jos the Toss still won't be able to run the outfit like he thinks he should (he's a nobody in that regard, and they only humour the idiot to keep max quiet), there will be more recriminations and finger pointing, and more hurried changes of top personnel.

My prediction is RB will slide even further down the pecking order and it'll take thick end of a decade to recover. Meanwhile it'll cost them an absolute fortune in prize money and sponsorship, meaning the mothership will have to keep making up the shortfall. Oh, and Horny will probably then die laughing.

That is pretty much my thoughts!

I think it will come out eventually that it was the Newey designs that got them where they were and once he was no longer involved- - and the people with him - then there was little Horner could do

I also wonder if the rather cringey "Isn;t Max wonderful - and it is all someone else being nasty to Max" attitude may change now he is no longer in a situation where he needs to back Max

If he become the manager of another team it will be interesting if he is the same sort of person or if he seems changed
which might mean that his interviews for the last few years were partly just to back up Max and his ego

or he might just be the same t**t he has been


we shall see