F1 2024 News/Misc.

German TV aired a 2.5 hour documentary about Michael Schumacher last night. I thought I'd share it here because idk if there are some of you who understand the language and it's well worth watching.
Today it's been 10 years since his life-altering ski accident. 10 years! Holy ****, where has all the time gone?
It's just extremely sad what happened to him.

www.ardmediathek.de

Being Michael Schumacher - Videos der Sendung | ARD Mediathek

Videos zu Being Michael Schumacher | Am 29. Dezember 2013 zieht sich Michael Schumacher bei einem tragischen Skiunfall schwere Kopfverletzungen zu. Seitdem ist der 7-malige Formel 1-Weltmeister aus dem Blickfeld der Welt verschwunden. Und ist trotzdem immer noch da. Gerade in der Formel 1, wo...
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Rumors going around that Steiner is not far behind. What a dumpster fire of a team.

 
Not an easy gig to have. Hopefully it pans out, Haas have been nowhere for the better part of five seasons now.

 
Really needed to happen. I was beginning to wonder if
Gene was getting ready to just shut down or sell the F1 team.
Should be interesting to see what happens.
 
Hotrod said:
Really needed to happen. I was beginning to wonder if
Gene was getting ready to just shut down or sell the F1 team.
Should be interesting to see what happens.
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Not so sure I’m gonna get my hopes up too much. Sounds like Gene is trying to run a Formula 1 team using the Moneyball approach, while Steiner wanted more investment at a time when Williams, McLaren, Aston Martin, Sauber are all using the CapEx allowances to try to catch up to the big teams.

www.motorsport.com

Steiner out of Haas as Komatsu takes F1 team principal role

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I admit being surprised that Steiner has left Haas. He's the face of the team with Gene being content to let Gunter be the front man. Funny though how the main thing the internet gets out of this is how it will affect Drive to Survive because he is so prominent on that show. It won't be as much fun without him.

Having said that, Hass simply has not delivered. Something had to give, and it starts at the top. Hopefully his replacement, Ayao Komatsu can drive the team to some good results and haul that sled up the grid. Gene Haas has spent so much money and suffered for so long he had to be getting fed up. Maybe Stiener can land in WEC or IMSA or something and he's even been in Nascar before. He has great organizational talent, but his lack of technical prowess was rumored to be the reason for the switch.

My prediction is they will have him do something on DTS, just because he drew in so many people and was so entertaining. Maybe it will be commentating. I read Brundle won't be back, so a Steiner grid walk might be possible. This guy is too much fun to not be a part of things.
 
The bigger picture is that Gene Haas and Steiner have been at loggerheads in terms of how to move forward. This sport evolves at a rapid pace, and what worked when the team finished fifth in 2018 is no longer good enough.


Immediate rivals Sauber, Williams and AlphaTauriare making significant investment in infrastructure and personnel as they try to close the gap to those ahead, while Haas has been stagnating, its hands tied by its reliance on Ferrari and Dallara. The budget cap has forced all teams to ruthlessly pursue efficiency in order to cut R&D and manufacturing spend, but Haas is still committed to paying its main suppliers at a given price.
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The former Manor factory in Banbury was just about fit for purpose when the team started in 2016. Allowing for the fact that manufacturing is done elsewhere, it has nevertheless fallen behind the times. Even the paddock hospitality facility is the most basic of any team.

Although he was always efficient with the budget granted to him, Steiner was keen to upgrade everything in an attempt to keep up. He was held back by Haas, with dissenting views on management and spending becoming obvious.
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www.motorsport.com

Why Steiner's departure is a big loss for Haas F1 team

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None of the reporting regarding Resta leaving or Steiner being pushed out is encouraging if you want to see Haas succeed. They probably couldn’t make an external hire because no one wants to join a team who’s going to tie their hands with regard to spending. In an aggressive and fast-paced industry, it’s hard to see how an organization focused on “efficiency” and cost-cutting achieves significant growth. Haas are going nowhere fast.
 
Gene Haas is firing people and replacing them with people already there. Ayao Komatsu has been there since 2016.

Gene’s problem is he thinks he can run an F1 team on a string budget. They’re not even close to reaching budget cap level spending.
 
I hate to see another classic circuit get the boot to make room for another street circuit that probably won't give us a better race.
 
donthaveanickname said:
A street circuit in Madrid with no apparent passing opportunities will replace Barcelona from 2026 on.
www.motorsport.com

Madrid lands Spanish GP from 2026 as Barcelona fights for F1 future

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Barcelona had been one of the more tame mainstays on the calendar for years, but getting rid of the stupid chicane at the end made it more enjoyable last year. A lot of this circuit looks as clunky for modern F1 cars as that chicane did. I’ll keep expectations low for this one.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Barcelona had been one of the more tame mainstays on the calendar for years, but getting rid of the stupid chicane at the end made it more enjoyable last year. A lot of this circuit looks as clunky for modern F1 cars as that chicane did. I’ll keep expectations low for this one.
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Suzuka maybe next because supposedly the city of Osaka has put in a bid for an F1 race...
 
If they treat the city like they did Vegas that will be the end of racing in Chicago after NASCAR did a ton of hard work.
 
Jorge De Guzman said:
Sleuths on Reddit are saying this one might take the place of COTA in 2026. Barf.
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That might be even worse. COTA was designed and built for F1 and has the biggest attendance in the series. It would be absolutely stupefying if they canned that for another street race.
 
FLRacingFan said:
That might be even worse. COTA was designed and built for F1 and has the biggest attendance in the series. It would be absolutely stupefying if they canned that for another street race.
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Does anyone know if F1 has a strategy for awarding events to a location or circut aside from it being the highest bidder?
I know there is a fee to pay per event but what happens if they have to decide on one date with two or more locations that will pay.
 
FLRacingFan said:
That might be even worse. COTA was designed and built for F1 and has the biggest attendance in the series. It would be absolutely stupefying if they canned that for another street race.
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Liberty is doing the kind of stuff Ecclestone only threatened. F1 is gonna end up having more street courses than Formula E.
 
Mispeedway15 said:
They’re going to run the series into the ground. Not every street course is Baku
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I quite like Baku. The first few years it was pretty bizarre with drivers complaining about safety and then driving like little grim reapers and crashing into each other on the straights. One time they red flagged it because there was so much debris. We had deliberate collisions under yellow, crashes under yellow and teammates taking each other out. Even Kimi got in on the act and took out Ocon. I think the driver lose their minds when they go there, but it's always fun.
 
Doc Austin said:
I quite like Baku. The first few years it was pretty bizarre with drivers complaining about safety and then driving like little grim reapers and crashing into each other on the straights. One time they red flagged it because there was so much debris. We had deliberate collisions under yellow, crashes under yellow and teammates taking each other out. Even Kimi got in on the act and took out Ocon. I think the driver lose their minds when they go there, but it's always fun.
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Exactly. But it’s got character and is a gem. Not every street course is
 
Baku was pretty terrible this year. Maybe the worst race weekend of the season, tbh. It’s really fast and the castle section is cool but if it went away I wouldn’t cry about it.
 
Greg said:
Does anyone know if F1 has a strategy for awarding events to a location or circut aside from it being the highest bidder?
I know there is a fee to pay per event but what happens if they have to decide on one date with two or more locations that will pay.
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Part of it is trying to penetrate new markets, and they generally think city street circuits are best for continuing to attract younger fans. These circuits are also almost always heavily funded by local government(s) to make it happen and attract event tourism. A lot of the traditional circuits just don’t have that level of money to be competitive. It’s much the same with the Middle East.

Vegas is the one instance where F1/Liberty took on the risk in building and promoting the event on their own, because they really want to be there.
 
Disgraceful.

Andretti needs to hit Gene Hass up with a partnership offer. That would seem to be Mikey's way in and Gene's way to get more competitive.
 
They did them so dirty. Insults and all.

They really said they would add nothing to the sport. Insane.

I think the only reason they let the doors open for 2028 is because the Concorde agreement is up for renegotiation in 2025 at which point the teams will all agree to up the entry fee into the sport from 200 million to possibly 1 billion.
 
rd45usa said:
“would look differently on an application”==higher buy in price.
Judge Judy line 1. 😂
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Reck said:
They did them so dirty. Insults and all.

They really said they would add nothing to the sport. Insane.

I think the only reason they let the doors open for 2028 is because the Concorde agreement is up for renegotiation in 2025 at which point the teams will all agree to up the entry fee into the sport from 200 million to possibly 1 billion.
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Yep…the current buy-in was set at $200M before times got good. Now everybody’s eating as well as ever and they can’t simply say they don’t want the individual slices of the pie to get smaller. Next Concorde is just going to solidify that you won’t be able to enter the sport without buying out another team for a massive sum.

Hopefully they take their ass to court.


Doc Austin said:
Disgraceful.

Andretti needs to hit Gene Hass up with a partnership offer. That would seem to be Mikey's way in and Gene's way to get more competitive.
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Unfortunately Andretti have been rebuffed each time they’ve inquired with Gene about selling. He’s been adamant he’s not selling to anyone anytime soon.
 
FLRacingFan said:
Unfortunately Andretti have been rebuffed each time they’ve inquired with Gene about selling. He’s been adamant he’s not selling to anyone anytime soon.
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It might be a good time to hit Gene up with a partnership offer seeing as how Gunter has moved on, the team is bleeding money and going nowhere.

Gene is tired of both bleeding money and bringing up the rear, and with the loss of a good team principle it's not going to get any better soon. Mikey would bring good engineers, a good principle and a ton of sponsors to take the financial load off. Finally, Mikey would bring Cadillac, which would complete the American package and assure a permanent supply of engines. They would lose the Ferrari parts, but they aren't working anyway.

Financially and competitively, Gene would be better off all the way around with a partner like Mikey. This appears to be the only way in for Mikey, so I expect they will at least have lunch together.
 
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