That casino thing does seem like a misunderstanding, but the rueful flight in economy class is weird. Whoever booked the seats must have known. (Although flights to Queenstown can be ridiculously expensive, so they could be forgiven for thinking they were traveling business class.) According to stuff.co.nz (a news website down here) he posted on social media "So, we made it. New Zealand! First time ever to New Zealand so I'm excited to see this beautiful place". And yet he went to a casino, drove around a city of 2 million people, and then went to (possibly) the most tourist-heavy place in the whole country. (To be fair, Queenstown does have some great scenery around it, but he won't see much of it from the town.) If anyone knows him, get him to drop me a line next time he's down here, and I can give him a guided tour of some much more stunning places. Big Ern, you're his mate - can you let him know the next time you see him?
World champion Lewis Hamilton has been investigated by police, but will not have any action taken against him, after appearing to take a selfie while riding a motorbike in New Zealand. The 31-year-old Briton, who visited Auckland ahead of this week's season-opening Australian Grand Prix, posted the videos to his Snapchat account. One video appeared to show Hamilton, driving a Harley-Davidson, entering the motorway, while another shows him riding the bike. It has been illegal to use a mobile phone while driving a vehicle in New Zealand since 2009. The incident was investigated by local police, but they chose not to take any further action against the three-time world champion after citing a lack of "sufficient evidence". "Auckland City Police will be taking no further action in relation to recent media publicity about Lewis Hamilton and his motorcycle journey in Auckland," a police spokesperson said. "The video footage available does not provide us with sufficient enough evidence that an offence has occurred. (Press Association) https://d2kmm3vx031a1h.cloudfront.net/ERxa9NtoTYaQIVg3eUmV_22.jpg
Damn that looks nice. So many teams struggling to produce a decent livery and Renault has produced two in a couple of months. Manages to be bright and eye-catching as well as simple and elegant at the same time. Best paint job this century in my opinion. I'm now a Renault fan.
Seems like Honda didn't need many tokens! Mind you Renault have virtually used none, I wonder if that was to do with the team purchase? Engine tokens spent: Ferrari 23 (9 remaining) Mercedes 19 (13 remaining) Honda 18 (14 remaining) Renault 7 (25 remaining)
Would appear Honda's overhaul wasn't such an overhaul after all! Obviously they were just sandbagging last season.
Niki Lauda says that F1 has lost all direction – and blames Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt for a situation where changes desired by the teams can easily be blocked. https://adamcooperf1.com/2016/03/19...king-globally-what-is-the-best-for-the-sport/ Niki Lauda: “Nobody is thinking globally what is the best for the sport…” Niki Lauda says that F1 has lost all direction – and blames Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt for a situation where changes desired by the teams can easily be blocked. Lauda says that the new qualifying system was a “big mistake.” He was present at the Strategy Group meeting where the system was first discussed, but only as an observer, as Toto Wolff was the official representative of Mercedes. “This strategy meeting, Bernie stood up and said, ‘We have to make more excitement in the practice,’” Lauda told Sky F1. “The first in qualifying will have to start from the 10th position, and the 10th guy has to start from first position. Horner said, ‘Yes!’, because he thought he would be 10th and it would give him pole position. “So it all started. We all laughed, but it was serious. And then Charlie [Whiting] came up with this new system, so to get out of this problem with first and 10th, we were led into this big mistake. And this is the way it happened. “It was obvious that when we took that decision nobody thought of all the details. But when the team managers got together later, and Charlie, they realised there might be some up and downs. “The funny thing was once it was voted through then Ferrari was against it, then when the team managers complained that it might not work that well it was voted again, and everybody was for it. “So this is really wrong, and we should change it quickly, get everybody here together, have a quick discussion about changed for Bahrain. People can make mistakes, this is a big mistake.” Lauda pulled no punches when it came to the bigger picture: “We lost I think all direction. Now it is very simple. Normally Bernie and the teams stick together because we have contracts with each other to run the business of the sport. But it has changed because Bernie and Jean Todt, the president of the FIA, try to decide things beforehand together. If the teams don’t like it they can vote together against us, or the other way round. “So the whole system is blocked at the moment, in a situation whereeverybody is defending his own position, nobody is thinking globally what is the best for the sport, and therefore we make these wrong decisions.”
How to lose friends and alienate people... Max Verstappen says he doesn't care what Toro Rosso chooses to do with team orders in the future, because he thinks he will normally be 'miles ahead' of Carlos Sainz anyway. http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/verstappen-doesn-t-care-about-toro-rosso-team-orders-681315/
