I guess that was just in case Red Bull bought them and used their Merc engines!!!! I would say that if Aston Martin had been to buy Manor then Merc would be happy for them to use Merc engines.
Yeah I was thinking something similar, an existing or potential engine supplier buying them out and stripping their engines down.
I don't think there is even a slight possibility to look inside an engine. I believe that all PU suppliers have a team of engineers stationed with the team. I think all engines are returned to suppliers at end of each race. So while they would find out lots of technical info, layout and configuration details plus lots of pictures they wouldn't see inside an engine. The info they could glean would be very valuable. I think the main reason is so that Red Bull didn't find a back door route to run Merc power units.
Veteran McLaren engineer Phil Prew has left the Woking team to join Mercedes, Motorsport.com can reveal. Prew will take on a senior role at the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains facility in Brixworth, as chief engineer. His presence will ensure that the power unit division has a man on hand who has detailed knowledge of the chassis side, helping to improve integration even further. Prew stopped work at McLaren several weeks ago, and is currently on gardening leave prior to taking up his new job on January 1. His departure is a major blow for McLaren. He joined in May 1997, and has been a mainstay of the race team ever since, latterly as chief engineer. During that time he worked closely with current Mercedes technical boss Paddy Lowe and Lewis Hamilton, two others who have switched camps.
Tavo Hellmund the man behind the COTA track returning the USA to calendar and bringing back the successful Mexico GP is working on some other projects in F1. "he is engaged on a new F1 venue in ‘North America’. He told Will Buxton, “We’re looking at a project that’s probably two weeks away from being able to talk about it, then looking also maybe making an investment with a team.” Rumours are the track is in california and the F1 team investment is the manor team bringing them even more in competition with HAAS
Hopefully she has pushed the barriers back a little to encourage teams that women can compete in F1. I still can't believe there are no women drivers capable of beating some of the current F1 drivers. The teams need to actively encourage women into the sport. Just think of the weight advantage let alone the marketing/sponsorship opportunities.
If I'm honest, she wasn't good enough and she was only in F1 because she was a woman and for marketing/sponsorship opportunities. Her record didn't suggest was would ever become a F1 driver so she was lucky to get a break as a reserve driver. I do agree that there will be some women who are good enough, and they need to be encouraged in the lower formulas so they break though, but Susie Wolff and Carmen Jorda of Lotus have probably done more damage than good.
Disagree that she has done more damage than good. Wolff did not disgrace herself in the FP1's that she did. Showed reasonable pace and consistency, didn't make an arse of herself by spinning at every other corner. Likewise, didn't show anything special to merit an F1 drive unless she could bring a bag load of cash to a team, but there have been plenty of drivers who were no different to that and got drives. You could say that it shows how easy F1 cars are to drive these days, therefore how relevant is records in other formula prior to getting an F1 drive? A lot was said about di Silvestro possibly getting a drive with Sauber at one point. Her record is okay, but a single podium in Indy cars is hardly anything to shout about amongst a field of drivers that are generally considered to be pretty average too. As for Jorda, has she actually driven for Lotus yet?
Fair point, and I was a bit harsh. But for me what is needed is a female star, one that really can step up and challenge. I suppose that's a little unrealistic as there are only a handful of true great F1 drivers for any generation and the pole of female drivers will be much smaller, so the chances of finding one straight away will be slim. What we need now is a rich female driver who can buy a seat I think at least we'll be able to see that they are no worse than half the current grid.
A pretty woman that could hold her own would easily get the money for a seat, it's a marketing dream. If she was a minger she'd find it a lot harder. I doubt very much that Wolff would be able to hold her own.
With a record that had a best championship finish of 13th in DTM and 5th in Formula Renault UK, and not a single professional race win to her name I'm actually glad she didn't get a F1 seat as it would have sent out completely the wrong message. Positive discrimination is almost as bad as negative discrimination in my eyes as it tends to mean you're taking the place of a more deserving candidate. A female F1 driver will happen, there's nothing to stop it other than a small and ever shrinking group of people who are no doubt sexist etc. If a female driver can start winning in GP2/3 then the hype attached to her would be huge, an unstoppable force. A female driver turning up in F1 and holding her own will hopefully open the floodgates. One turning up and getting trounced will just please the "I told you so" group.
The female driver issue is pure numbers - participants and money. As I have said many times on here, grass roots is far too expensive which limits the number of individuals who actually get an opportunity. There is so much talent that could make it, but doesnt because of pure funding. I'm not sure what the actual ratio of female participants in Motorsport is, but at grass roots level I would say on average its 1/30. Given that F1 only has 22 cars probably answers the question.
It's always sexism or racism according to the BBC, who miss the irony of how sexist and racist their agenda is.
Talk of red bull making their own PUs next season having come to an agreement with Renault for joint interlectual property. Will use the Renault unit as a base and develop from there.
Realistically it's the best option now and a no lose scenario. If they do a **** job, they can still blame Renault for fundamental design structure issues, if they achieve they will claim it's down to their development. I read an article last night where ToTo was quoted as saying that they declined redbull for two reasons. Firstly the competition issue of being beaten by your own PU and secondly because of commercial and intellectual issues. He went further to say that RB would be bought by Audi in a few years time (2017?) and that there technology would be at risk with a direct competitor both on the race track and in road development.
