The Motorsport Thread (Part 2)

[Ambient Sheep]

Just found this, that explicitly states it.

https://www.eurosport.com/formula-1/permane-is-witness-x_sto2078319/story.shtml

Which, ironically, has made me less convinced, because it says (a) that it was reported in the Daily Mail and (b) "Rumours had circulated that the man in question was Renault driver Fernando Alonso,".

Now to me it would make far more sense for Alonso to want anonymity regarding his prior knowledge of the scheme, than for a guy whose name was only known to diehard F1 fans.

On the other hand, Alonso wouldn't drop his manager, Briatore, in the shit, would he?  Or would he... given what he did at McLaren?

Who knows?  All I know is that I'm less certain than I was before...

[Ambient Sheep]

Thought I'd have a look back at what we all thought at the time.  If any of you are interested, it starts here, on page 30 of the old thread:

funny rumour doing the rounds that the FIA are investigating whether nelson piquet crashed deliberately at last year's singapore GP to allow his Renault team mate Alonso to win...

Some great discussion following that.  I'd forgotten just how much leaking was going on, and that at one point Briatore and Renault F1 were attempting to charge the Piquets with blackmail!


Page 32 was rather interesting, with allegations about both Piquet Jr.'s and Häkkinen's sex lives that I'd completely forgotten about!


Then on page 33 we have:

As for Witness X, my money's on Alan Permane.

A German magazine has now named him as such.

Since that German article is (a) dated 26th September 2009, three days before the Eurosport article I linked above that quotes from the Daily Mail, and (b) says it "learned from two reliable sources", my vote's back on Permane.

Sorry for the Alonso distraction waffle in my previous post.


By the way, that appears to be the last post on the thread on this subject.  We all then got engrossed in Toyota pulling out of F1, Mercedes buying Brawn, and what looked like some crackingly-good races (and one or two boring ones). :-)

[Bently Sheds]

Thanks for linking to that old thread, Sheepy. I'm now wondering what all those other scandals were that were hinted at by drivers in the know. From what I remember it was just the pre-planned crash that made the headlines around that time, nothing else about Briatore or Ecclestone...

[Ambient Sheep]

Oh yes, I forgot to mention that.  Quite a bit of stuff about how this was just the "tip of the iceberg", but then nothing else ever came out.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Not sure if that incident where Sutil got done for GBH was related to any of that.

[Ambient Sheep]

Don't think it was, no, but there was certainly an interesting reading-between-the-lines hypothesis surrounding it.

[Huxleys Babkins]

Christian Horner has just confirmed to Sky that there is no place for Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull Racing next year.

[petril]

Not sure if that incident where Sutil got done for GBH was related to any of that.

gods, that amused me because Sutil was at Force India at the time. they used to be Jordan. and Jordan had to deal with Bertrand Gachot's assault situation. wee parallel there

[Alberon]

Vettel's broken. No one in the top rank would want him.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Binned and done

[Ambient Sheep]

Sadly I think you're both right.

Well either that, or Ferrari keep persisting at building cars almost exactly, but not quite, antithetical to his driving style.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

That Pole lap is up there with anything we have seen. Senna, Schumacher, etc.

[Ambient Sheep]

Yes!  Although a shame we never got to see what an un-spinning Max might have done.

[Blumf]

Stunning.

Also great to see McLaren getting back into it, even though Norris is struggling with something and a penalty.

[Huxleys Babkins]

"When I race, I take my time. Otherwise, I take my time."

This Sky Sports Kimi Alfa Romeo ad is doing my head in. What the fuck does it even mean?

[Blumf]

*BEEP* *BEEP* P.O.D.I.U.M. B.O.T. *BEEP* *BEEP*

[Alberon]

Perhaps they should put those bots in the Ferraris.

[Ambient Sheep]

"When I race, I take my time. Otherwise, I take my time."

This Sky Sports Kimi Alfa Romeo ad is doing my head in. What the fuck does it even mean?

Glad I'm not the only one to have my head fucked by that (on the Sky One highlights package last week)

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

After a shit first 15 laps Norris did really well again, turning it around on strategy for later in the race with an amazing finish clawing his way up to 5th. Livened up a comparatively dull race barring the double DNF for Ferrari and midfield exchanges. Looks like Racing Point/Renault/McLaren are going to be tight together this year.

[ersatz99]

"When I race, I take my time. Otherwise, I take my time."

This Sky Sports Kimi Alfa Romeo ad is doing my head in. What the fuck does it even mean?

You're mis-hearing.

"When I race, they take my time. Otherwise, I take my time"

[Ambient Sheep]

That would explain it, thanks.

Still a stupid ad.

[petril]

WHEN YOU RACE, NEVER TAKE YOUR TIME

[Huxleys Babkins]

You're mis-hearing.

"When I race, they take my time. Otherwise, I take my time"

Fair enough.

But that doesn't make any sense either.

Also, Renault have protested the Racing Point cars. The FIA have impounded the RP's brake ducts as well as those from last year's Mercedes.

I'm guess they are targeting the brake ducts as, yes, you can copy aero surfaces from photos, but you could never perfectly recreate something as intricate as a brake duct.

[Blumf]

Also, Renault have protested the Racing Point cars. The FIA have impounded the RP's brake ducts as well as those from last year's Mercedes.

I'm guess they are targeting the brake ducts as, yes, you can copy aero surfaces from photos, but you could never perfectly recreate something as intricate as a brake duct.

What's the complaint? From what I've (very briefly) read, it's an issue with them copying last years Merc design. So, why isn't Mercedes complaining? And how's that a problem anyway?

[Huxleys Babkins]

The allegation is that there has been a transfer of Mercedes IP to Racing Point that is outside of the FIA's allowed list of parts. There's been no theft, just an alleged sale of IP that isn't permitted under the rules.

[Blumf]

Ah, the usual F1 regs tediousness. Ugh!

[Ambient Sheep]

This tweet from an F1 tech journalist was amusing & insightful, I thought:

https://twitter.com/SomersF1/status/1282411049686368258

[Bently Sheds]

Lots of noise online about Vettel having talks with Aston Martin (Racing Point/Force India) with a view to a drive there next year.

As Lawrence Stroll owns the team there is a school of thought that Sergio "Not The Owner's Son" Perez would get the boot and not his underperforming teammate Lance "Dad bought me an F1 Team" Stroll.

However, keen observers note that it would be significantly cheaper to boot out Lance than buy Perez (and his considerable sponsorship from one of the richest men in the world) out of his multi-year contract.

Apparently Stroll Jr was an extremely uncommunicative interviewee this weekend (when Vettel's talks were allegedly taking place) and seemed to be in a foul mood to outside observers.

[Wonderful Butternut]

That'd be hilarious.

"Kid, you're so shit that even you're Dad's team doesn't want you."

[Bently Sheds]

That'd be hilarious.

"Kid, you're so shit that even you're Dad's team doesn't want you."

Joe Saward reports that solid sources say a deal has been struck & Stroll Jr will be bought a seat elsewhere, I'm guessing Alfa Romeo, Haas or back to Williams...