On a possibly related note, Autosport reckon Button is now likely to stay in F1 rather than retire since Dennis has admitted he wanted to tell Button sooner about Mclaren's intent to take up the option. The only way Alonso's leaving is if he's leaving F1 entirely, and that I don't see - yet. I think he has too much unfinished business to not at least start next year with McHonda. Given that he's always been a lot like Prost (he definitely has the same paranoia) I could see him not finishing the season, of course... (also unless a seat opens up at Renault there's literally nowhere he could go)
Alonso sticking the boot in will do nothing to help the situation. Honda are well aware of what's going on, they're not sitting around thinking they've done their bit and can in no way improve the situation, they'll be doing everything they can to try and improve (as will all manufacturers including Mercedes for that matter). Behind the scenes Dennis will be putting far more pressure on them and that will carry more weight than anything a driver says. McLaren's hands are kind of tied though, Honda are already sinking a lot of money into the project (and a not insignificant chunk of that goes straight into Alonso's pocket), any more and they might do a Renault and decide they're spending so much they might as well run their own works team. McLaren aren't like Red Bull, they need Honda's money, they don't seem to be doing well commercially right now, there aren't even any rumours of a title sponsor at the moment.
Surely the title sponsor , or lack of , is down to Ron Dennis arrogance in the first place ,? He owes the team BIG time .
McLaren announcing a new sponsor next week but no confirmation that it is a title sponsor. Couple of Twitter feeds saying a big story coming tomorrow although that may be to do with Red Bulls engines or the Renault takeover at Lotus.
Didn't Dennis say that he would rather not have a title sponsor than 'undersell' space on the car? Reckon that's coming back to kick him hard in the ass very soon..........
It is, but that's largely irrelevant now, they aren't attractive to sponsors any more. Even if Dennis swallowed his pride and was prepared to take a lower offer, those offer's probably aren't on the table now. Williams only get about $15m from Martini, I can't see McLaren getting more than about $25m. To be fair to Dennis he managed to get $20m out of Johnny Walker whilst leaving title sponsorship open to other investors, so his plan didn't backfire that badly. Problem is McLaren's worth is plummeting season on season.
You realise Infiniti are owned by Renault-Nissan right? Their branding would never appear on a Honda powered car. It would be like VW's entry having BMW as a title sponsor.
The more I think about Grosjean to Haas, the more it makes sense to me - Renault are going to struggle hard next year I feel, this gives Romain a chance to schmooze Ferrari and the other team bosses so that he might get a proper competitive drive before he retires. Plus, he's an obvious talent so it'll help Haas in whatever they do (which is probably battling Manor and SaubeR)
Could Ferrari be potentially funding it in order to get a closer look at Grosjean before deciding if he could replace Kimi in 2017?
Good call on grosjean. I think he would be the perfect no2 for Ferrari. I wonder what they will do with marchiello though.
Probably stick him in one of their GT cars. He's not really set the world on fire in GP2 this season, which is a shame.
I like this move on Grosjean's part, he's really rolled the dice and acted decisively when the tendency from both teams and drivers these days is to act very conservatively. As much as I like and rate the guy I can't see Ferrari going for him, he's not really polished enough to be a number 1 in a top team and he's still perhaps a little too erratic to be a number two. I think his career should've kicked off while he was at Lotus but his first season was disastrous, he needed to beat Kimi the following year to really establish himself, but because of their reputations and the team's financial troubles he wasn't really given a fair crack and didn't get the credit his performances warranted. I really hope this move works out for him.
Even though Grosjean has moved to Haas, still not much of a merry go round this year.... Mercedes Hamilton, Rosberg Ferrari Vettel, Kimi Williams Massa, Bottas Assuming both RedBull teams stay in F1 RedBull Ricciardo, Kvyat Torro Rosso Vestapern, Sainz Force India Hulk, Perez Sauber Nasr, Erikson Lotus/Renault Maldonado, TBC Marussia TBC, TBC McLaren Alonso*, Button* Haas Grosjean, TBC *McLaren may want to retain them but do they want to stay? If Both stay, where does that leave Vandorme? Lotus, when bought by Renault, will they want to put a Frenchman in the seat or maybe go with Palmer, or Magnussen should he not get the McLaren gig? With Marussia getting Merc power, can see them having to take Pascal Wehrlein and maybe stick with Rossi for the second seat? No secret that Esteban Gutiérrez is likely to get the second seat at Haas.. Can't say most of those guys don't deserve to be in F1, but the route in is limited to the up and coming drivers, for 2016 at least!
As I said in an earlier post , the Daily Mirror ( yes I know ) are reporting that Renault want Button . That would work IMHO .
The final 2016 calender has been released with some ermmmmmm situations. Confirmed 2016 F1 World Championship Calendar 20 March Melbourne 3 April Bahrain 17 April Shanghai 1 May Sochi 15 May Barcelona 29 May Monte Carlo 12 June Montreal 19 June Baku 3 July Spielberg 10 July Silverstone 24 July Budapest 31 July Hockenheim 28 August Spa-Francorchamps 4 September Monza 18 September Singapore 2 October Sepang 9 October Suzuka 23 October Austin 6 November Mexico City 13 November Sao Paolo 27 November Abu Dhabi Those well know neighbours Canada and Azerbaijan are back to back, with the Azerbaijan race clashing with Le Mans. Season starting 2 weeks earlier than planned, better adjust those schedules teams! Singapore, Malaysia, Japan back to back. Despite Singapore and Malaysia wanting to be apart. Silverstone clashes with the Wimbledon mens final (and the Euro 2016 final).
