In the round-up: Williams chief technical officer doubts the team will be suffering from a loss of motivation as it aims to continue its streak of Formula 1 success.
What they say
Mercedes are aiming for their sixth consecutive sweep of the championship titles this year and the team’s former executive director for technical sees no sign they my relent:
It’s always very difficult to maintain motivation to continue to win when you’ve already been doing it. I think that’s a problem we already faced when I was there before. I think they have the right approach to it so I think they’re going to be difficult to beat.
We saw that again [last] year. I think it was a competition between two teams and two drivers and the better ones won, of each. Because you saw the cracks appearing eventually in the opposition. Mercedes is a great team. I know how good it is. It will be very difficult for anyone to beat them.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
This young Finnish #F1 star, @ValtteriBottas really has a steep learning curve in rallying! First tests with a proper #WRC and it goes very well! I enjoy co-driving him 👍#ArcticLaplandRally @MSportLtd @RalliSM @OfficialWRC #flyingfinn pic.twitter.com/fEdVBvA02N
— Timo Rautiainen (@RautiainenTimo) January 21, 2019
One of my favorite car ever…@JaguarFrance @Xbox @fanatec pic.twitter.com/nmP3nERX7e
— Romain Grosjean (@RGrosjean) January 21, 2019
Regarding showing F1 testing LIVE, it would be interesting if their was rrevolutionary access inside the garages/teams, live conversation, mechanics with bodycam, cameras in the engineer and driver rooms 👍🏼 Wishful thinking I know 🤔 #F1
— Tom Gaymor (@TomGaymor) January 21, 2019
🚨BIG NEWS 🚨 We are thrilled to announce that @maxchilton will be back for his 4th season in @IndyCar with @GallagherGlobal for the 2019 season! #GallagherRacing #INDYCAR https://t.co/x4jtXajgEC pic.twitter.com/x0xSGPaouc
— Carlin (@CarlinRacing) January 21, 2019
Just calculating the wheelbase impact of the extra 5kg of race fuel for #F1 this year.
It could be as little as 1.5cm! Less than half a percent increase in wheelbase.— Craig Scarborough (@ScarbsTech) January 21, 2019
"If we do get into the EU at least we'll be able to buy some Matras cheap…" Bruce McLaren, 1967.
— Peter Windsor (@PeterDWindsor) January 21, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
IndyCar's Star Rookie Plucked Directly From Formula 1 (The Drive)
Marcus Ericsson: "I'm coming here to try and be up there, to fight for victory, so I'm not coming here to be P10 or P12. So that's the goal."
Ferrari junior Schumacher set to work with Todt (Autosport)
"Working with Todt, who has always been close to Schumacher, would add further structure for the 19-year-old as he bids to make it to F1."
Arden International Motorsport and HWA Racelab to initiate Formula 2 co-operation (F2)
"The partnership between Arden International and HWA RACELAB, therefore, brings together one of the most successful talent factories in International single-seater racing with the most successful team in the history of the DTM."
Is F1 the right fit for Vietnam? (The ASEAN post)
"As noble as Carey’s ambition may seem, it is a self-serving one that may not be shared by many Vietnamese."
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Comment of the day
There’ll be more live coverage of testing this year – but is it on the wrong platform?
For a minute there I thought it was going to be broadcast live on YouTube like Formula E. But no, stick it behind a paywall. Thanks Sky!
@Dave124
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faulty (@faulty)
22nd January 2019, 0:26
I will save you the clickbait, Indycar’s “star rookie” for that article is no Pato O’Ward. As it should have been.
;)
tonyyeb (@tonyyeb)
22nd January 2019, 8:43
@faulty Ha! And “plucked” nonetheless!
Tristan (@skipgamer)
22nd January 2019, 0:40
Why are people concerned about the platform for the testing stream? Re-streams for motorsports are as easy to find as a google search. Sure it’s legal greywater and there’s some minor inconvenience finding another as they get pulled. But grow a backbone people.
I don’t imagine anyone is expecting the Vietnam race will last the ages, a few years and then done is my bet. It’s a street-circuit after all, half the problem with Malaysia and Turkey were the empty stadiums… If they just came and went without that sad imagery it probably would have been “job well done.”
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
22nd January 2019, 1:09
@skipgamer as a frequent “streamer”, yeah it’s no biggie, but it would be amaizing if they showed a very irrelevant on track action on youtube for free just for the heck of it. They could well make a show out of it and turn testing interesting, interviewing people, showing the changes for the season or whatever.
Also, going through streams is a huge effort… for testing, I’d not do it at all…
Jeanrien (@jeanrien)
22nd January 2019, 8:47
Especially that more and more sites force you to disable Adblock ans then you have to close dozen of various pop-up and ad before finally reaching the video then set full screen and better not leave it… Except that the steam will freeze and you will have to start again. Quite irritating but that’s the price for “free” content.
Actually I think they would earn a lot more by having testing on YouTube and accessible to all. That’s not the kind of content critical for those paying sky, only a nice addition. And surely it won’t make someone suddenly decide that it is worth paying sky for F1. But in the other hand it would be a great door for those not yet watching F1 to have a first glimpse at it without having to go through annoying streams or pay a fortune. F1 is really missing an access door to the sport to attract new viewers.
RogerA
22nd January 2019, 1:06
i don’t get why cotd is blaming sky for testing not been on youtube as even if they didn’t have the rights it wouldn’t be on youtube because the bbc & itv both had the same sort of exclusivity deals as do many broadcasters around the world. plus there is the f1tv service which f1 themselves want people to subscribe to.
also let’s not ignore the likelihood that the bbc, itv or even channel 4 would likely not broadcast any coverage of testing at all, they never bothered with it in the past & why would any of them dedicate a whole afternoon of tv time to something not many are actually going to watch?
sky or no sky live testing or any other live track action would never be on youtube so your blaming the wrong people just because it’s cool to hate sky who have done a far better job with covering f1 with far more coverage that’s far more in depth than any of the fta broadcasters ever managed. as i say when did any of them ever bother with testing?
and let us not forget that in 2013 sky themselves produced live coverage of testing, can’t see any of the other broadcasters ever doing that.
Ryan
22nd January 2019, 12:26
How dare you bring logic into the senseless moaning about Sky! They’re meant to ignore the fact that they paid a hefty sum to get exclusivity to the content, even after allowing C4 to broadcast the British GP live, pay their employees to go out and cover the testing just to give away the content that they do produce for free!
Phylyp (@phylyp)
22nd January 2019, 5:11
What’s with these numerous quotes from Lowe pontificating on all matters F1? It feels like we get at least one each week.
Let him get back to fixing the Williams car :-)
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
22nd January 2019, 21:46
@phylyp: It’s fixed. Now Lowe is looking to ‘fix’ all the other problems in F1. One soundbite at a time.
BlackJackFan
23rd January 2019, 16:02
Hahaha – both of you.
Jere (@jerejj)
22nd January 2019, 9:05
”Because you saw the cracks appearing eventually in the opposition.”
– He isn’t exactly wrong although more precisely on the driver-side.
Regarding the ASEAN post-article: It’s 20 drivers from ten teams, not 18 drivers from nine teams.
Bruce Mclaren’s quote from 1967, though.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
22nd January 2019, 10:01
Regarding comment of the day… Not sure the FE race in Marakesh was live on YT. Tried to watch it but on the official channel i only found some kids commentating about it. Was it really live on YouTube?
bosyber (@bosyber)
23rd January 2019, 4:28
Well sort of (not) @gechichan, in that yes you could in principe see it on YouTube, but only if you (or your VPN) were in a locale without any broadcast contract for it. Otherwise only practice was viewable.
They should have communicated that a whole lot better. (and finding a VPN-able locale to see it was a lot of trouble).
I was sort of lucky that the Dutch hospital I was in (successful kidney transplant, Jay) had a near-instant EUR2.99/day deal, which included eurosport as a channel, so I could still see the 2nd half of the race.
Now out of the hospital and temporarily in NL, I guess I will be looking for a Ziggo weekend pass or something, just miss it, or find time to cycle through all the locales with VPN, not yet sure.
BasCB (@bascb)
24th January 2019, 14:01
Rigth you are there @bosyber – for me, it told me to go and look at the race on Eurosport @gechichan – I guess I could get that with a cable provider who has EUROSport in a sports package, an IPTV package that offers them or on sattelite (realistically the second and third options only since no one offers cable where I live). Off course all of these are pay2view options.
Trayambak Chakravarty (@major-dev)
22nd January 2019, 10:15
There you go Britain, Bruce Mclaren said it.
nase
22nd January 2019, 11:07
Sometimes, IndyCar manages to out-IndyCar itself. Where else in the world would Marcus Ericsson be considered a ‘star rookie’? Where else would it be ‘thrilling news’ when Max Chilton adds another year to the running joke without a punchline that is his career?
Only in IndyCar.
And they say Formula E is basically a bunch of Formula 1 rejects who spend most of their time patting each other’s backs …
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
22nd January 2019, 13:38
I’m confused by your comment. I think Ericsson would be considered a ‘star rookie’ in most series. He has 5 years experience in what is considered by most to be the top open wheel series in the world. Pretty strong CV.
nase
22nd January 2019, 16:23
I’m confused by your confusion caused by my comment. I mean, have you seen his career stats? Like Chilton (who spent two years in F1, speaking of strong CVs), he neither earned his seat in F1, nor justified a single one of his contract extensions (as evidenced by his failure to outscore, outrace or outqualify any of his quickly changing and mostly very inexperienced team mates) with any other argument other than money.
It speaks volumes about the sorry financial state of F1 that he managed to occupy a seat for so many years, and it speaks volumes about the sorry state of IndyCar when a driver with such an appaling CV in F1 can arrive there and be celebrated as a ‘star rookie’.
Don
22nd January 2019, 16:29
Don’t be ridiculous! Of course IndyCar is going to say star rookie. Why wouldn’t they? They’re not going to call anyone crap, AND if they come out of F1 they deserve to be called a star rookie whether they are Lewis Hamilton or not.
anon
23rd January 2019, 8:03
nase, Ericsson did in fact outqualify Nasr over the course of the 2016 season – the final score was 12-7 in Ericsson’s favour at the end of the year, with an average advantage of +0.213s over Nasr. He’d have also beaten Nasr if it hadn’t been for the fluke 9th place that Nasr scored in the 2016 Brazilian GP (up until that point, Ericsson had recorded Sauber’s best finish of the season).
I believe that, if you account for the fact that he had to run overweight relative to Wehrlein (around 8-10kg heavier), Ericsson was also quicker than Wehrlein. Wehrlein’s average advantage in qualifying over the season, which was only a few hundredths of a second, was less than the time that Ericsson is likely to have lost on average due to that weight penalty – it’s been suggested that might have been part of the reason why Mercedes has moved away from Wehrlein over time.
G (@unklegsif)
22nd January 2019, 12:54
I love the fact that Lewis is the only one still wearing his hat, whilst waving his hat along with everyone else!!! :)
NS Biker (@rekibsn)
23rd January 2019, 1:47
It’s called a “Hat Trick”.
Big Joe
22nd January 2019, 14:26
Have Mercedes replaced many staff? given we’re told they built a slower car than Ferrari.
GT Racer (@gt-racer)
22nd January 2019, 16:12
In reference to COTD. Even if Sky didn’t have the broadcast rights in the UK you wouldn’t get the live coverage of testing on platforms like youtube because the wider broadcast contracts don’t allow for it.
While newer contracts that have been signed under Liberty have added a clause for F1TV there is nothing beyond that.
And while this is only a test since all the teams will be there & a full world feed production will be made available it fall’s under the same broadcast deals as a race weekend would.