I'm donating to Caterham not only because I want them to make the grid, but I want them to get their prize money for 10th that they should now be eligible for. I also want to stick two fingers up to Bernie to show the senile old bastard how out of touch he is with the fans. Hope some fellow not606ers will join me!
Done. Shoulder to shoulder with Caterham F1. It feels this good... Thanks for the motivation, SgtBhaji.
I'm not sure where i stand on it tbh. I think Marcus Ericsson summed it up when he was asked in Ted's notebook "So Marcus, have you donated to the refuel Caterham campaign?"... "No" Even when pressed further, he eventually said there were too many unanswered questions. And that's where i am. Caterham, have been badly run from the outset. Whilst that's not the fault of those guys who work for them, and it is them i feel truly sorry for, where does getting them to Abu Dhabi lead? does it save the team? who then owns it? It's still Fernandes seemingly (though administrators are in place). Is there a sustainable rescue plan? There is just nothing beyond Abu Dhabi IMO. It's money down the drain. Marussia... i would have donated to, They at least tried to go about things the right way, have had some horrendous luck/incidents. Donating to Caterham (A rich mans toy he got bored of) to get them the money Marussia should have had feels totally wrong to me. Whilst sticking 2 fingers up to Bernie and proving a point would be fabulous, unless there is a firm and definite plan (and by that, i don't mean chuck us a few million and let's see what keeping our fingers crossed brings), then i don't see what it achieves bar seeing them one more time. That said, good luck to them.
I don't know... But what saving Caterham does is save the jobs of a few people, stops Bernie from pocketing the 10th place prize money (and potentially redistributing it among already very rich teams) and sends a message to those that run the sport that we actually give a s**t. Even if you don't care about Caterham, just donate to screw over Bernie! It's money well spent!
For how long? That's the big question for me. All the money raised, what happens after Abu Dhabi? If there is a sustainable plan in place then great. If not, then there are more worthy causes. The redistributed "extra" money won't make any difference whatsoever to the already rich teams, it will however make a difference to the likes of Sauber, Force India and Lotus. Again it comes back to whether Caterham have a sustainable plan, the prize money, what does them getting it achieve? Does it get them into 2015? can they complete a season if a model is followed? Or is it just more money going to a lost cause? Keep in mind that their "owner", is the same man that doesn't blink an eye funding QPR and their massive overpaid squad and could quite easily fund Caterham through to the end of the season if he could be bothered. As nice as screwing Bernie over would be, i don't really see how this truly achieves it other than getting up his nose that a "begging bowl" team re-appear (possibly only for one race before folding, which would actually STRENGTHEN his argument that the whole idea was a disaster!!), and should Caterham only last one more race and get the money, it could be argued that this campaign is screwing over the 3 other teams that really need the cash too. Basically, a lot more info needs to come out.
I just read this interesting article from The Telegraph concerning the small teams, funding and Bernie's plan to introduce customer teams. It isn't pretty but there are some interesting quotes from those involved. Bob 'Crow' Fernley: Monisha Kaltenborn: Gerard López claims one team principal was laughing about the demise of Marussia and Caterham; my money's on Horner but I'm very disappointed by Toto Wolff's position in this too. One anonymous "insider" summed it up very well: I'd love to know who that was.
[h=1]Red Bull F1 boss fears 'ridiculous' engine spending war[/h] This is a slightly ridiculous story. Horner is basically saying that if he doesn't get his way in 2015 he'll push for unlimited development from 2016... which will be bad. Why is he saying he doesn't want something which he has major control over, it's a massive contradiction.
It seems he's basically saying: give me my own way now or I'll do something I don't want to do which will **** things up for almost everyone. Such an unpleasant man, probably a bit of a psycho.
Both Horner and Wolff can jog on. Can't be doing with either of them. The one laughing at teams collapsing should be ashamed. That's real people's jobs being wiped out. It really feels like the spirit of F1 is dying.
I don't think Horner does shame. After all, he left his wife and baby so he could stick his willie inside an ageing Spice Girl.
Modelled on Ferrari's history of getting pretty much everything demanded by way of threat. We should therefore not be surprised at upstarts seeking to emulate; or that Red Bull have become a convenient mouthpiece for Ferrari because they chant with the same bullying tone – but now even louder! Although he may amuse himself by acting the clown, Bernie is anything but. – Long ago having not only allowed such a precedent to continue but actively promoted it, he sits content in the knowledge that agreement amongst his gladiators is made all but impossible; and that the wastage of those enticed into his arena is excusable as nothing more than the nature of lions…
Sauber, Lotus, Force India, Marussia and Caterham should break away and form an alternative series. I'd follow them and gladly leave F1 behind. It's a laughing stock. As for Bernie? Is he smart? It looks like he's losing it.
Was trying to think of some idea's on how to make things easier for the smaller teams. There was the two regulations idea from a while ago and something like that could work if you operate below a budget? Something that wouldn't effect the car design, like removing the need to run both compounds, little things to give leg ups.
Well, even Bernie knows one can only milk a cow so long as both entitties* live. (sic) *Milker and milked.
for 4 of the last 5 years RBR have dominated thanks to their aerodynamics, every team has had the opportunity to copy their and change their cars in a attempt to copy their designs, though ultimately failing the powers that be have now given a team, who was last year caught in the most flagrant abuse, a title because RBR and Ferrari haven't been allowed to challenge because the rules say they aren't allowed to catch up with Mercedes advantage. Are you surprised they are complaining?
Whenever ANY team in the history of F1 has become too dominant the rules have been changed to attempt to reset the playing field. This has happened repeatedly and is nothing new. The very conditions which led to dominance for Red Bull came about due to changes in regulations which they were better able to exploit than the others. As and when Mercedes become dominant over a number of seasons the rules will be changed again.
Oh dear oh dear. "Formula 1's small teams say Bernie Ecclestone has floated a plan to boost the F1 grid with 'Super GP2' cars." http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/116734
