The Official F1 2022 silly season *contains speculation*

[vaud]

Bright Halo said:

If they were flying from one location to another and just by coincidence happened to overfly the starting grid?

Given Silverstone is the busiest helicopter zone in the UK (world?) on race days it will be restricted airspace and need permission?

[vaud]

I thought it would have opened with,

"This little doll represents Masi. Now let's see the effect on the doll once place inside our latest combustion chamber"

[vaud]

ajprice said:

Dates for testing

Permission needed to view.

[vaud]

MissChief said:

They’ve tried to be smart and called the Barcelona test a shakedown and the Bahrain as the first official test. Ridiculous from FOM. Bahrain have apparently paid for first live tv of the new cars. F1 had a chance to do something for the fans and have blown it again. Apparently there won’t even be live timing at Catalunya! Stupidity still afflicting FOM.

But is that FOM, or is that request from the teams?

[vaud]

MissChief said:

I’ve only heard that Bahrain wanted the first live tv, nothing about teams wanting the test as a private one. Not sure why the teams would want it private, they want to hide any ideas they have from the other teams, not the fans.

True, but don't they rely on access to the track timing systems for competitive data, sector by sector?

[vaud]

patmahe said:

jsf said:

Biggest change in car design concept for generations and they do the first running behind closed doors, genius.

Agreed it's idiotic, we've waited years for these cars, we want to see them move, follow etc.. I think sometimes F1 forgets if we stop watching the money dries up. We need more access not less.

Meh. It's one test. Few fans watch testing.

[vaud]

super7 said:

Must be the new cars......... but every single ticket for Silvesrstone this year is Sold Out

Carry over tickets from 2020?

[vaud]

super7 said:

I believe the teams themselves have asked for Barcelona to be viewed as more of a Shakedown test rather than pre-season testing.

I guess there's no appetite for a team to rock up at Barcelona and find their car is a piece of st in front of the whole world live on telly As such they wan't it behind doors so they can hide their embarrassment from the world.

Like in 2013 when there were so many engine issues?

I suspect it is the teams asking so that they can hide a 1 sec lap deficit if it comes to that.

[vaud]

sparta6 said:

Monaco and Monza are always worth attending regardless of the championship

I love Monza. I get General Admission and sit on the bleachers with the locals and a picnic. Great atmosphere.

Then go home and watch the race to find watch actually happened.

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https://www.miamiherald.com/news/business/article2...

$500m / 5 year Oracle title sponsorship for RB.

[vaud]

Yup

Larry Ellison is quite similar to Max and Christian as well... in some ways.

[vaud]

glazbagun said:

I do wonder what Oracle can possibly get to make it worth it though. Surely any potential customer already knows who they are and won't care who wears a shirt with their logo on it.

Larry Ellison...

What's the difference between Larry Ellison and God?
God doesn't think he is Larry Ellison.

[vaud]

ch37 said:

some weird concept front for a tobacco company etc etc.

No longer.

[vaud]

Dermot O'Logical said:

I thought that Red Bull didn't want any sponsorship outside of their own companies. Times change, I suppose.

???

2021 had Puma, Tag Heur, Tezos, cash app, Walmart, poly, pokerstars, oracle, esso, claro, citrix, at&t, siemens, etc and that was just on the car...

[vaud]

Mark-C said:

That and God can't afford Oracle licensing ...

Or survive an Oracle audit.

[vaud]

Jinba Ittai said:

I have a feeling based on nothing tangible, that Red Bull are going to slip back after having put much more resource into 2021 than the other top teams, but will catch up by mid season.

Mercedes/Ferrari
Red Bull/McLaren
Aston Martin
Alpha Tauri/Alpine
Williams
Alfa Romeo/Haas

Really? 2013 was an engine limited change… I wouldn’t bet against Newey in a new aero spec.

[vaud]

pablo said:

F1 will be in Russia this year, it’s pretty much powerless. F1 is one of the worlds most corrupt sports, with dirty money flying all around. Liberty et al won’t be put off by what’s happened in Ukraine and won’t have the balls to pull the race, Putin will be keen to use the GP as a demonstration of Russian superiority for internal propaganda.

Russia > F1

Maybe. Some countries might apply travel bans on their citizens...

[vaud]

_Yeti said:

Verstappen signed until 2028. Seems a bit of a gamble when a team could drop the ball and you're stuck in a lemon.
Sky Sports F1 Linky

He will have exit clauses.

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Fundoreen said:

Do oracle do business the same way max drives?

Pretty much, yes.

They like to win. They compete very very hard. Their software crashes occasionally but it is quite good (if pricey).

Oh, and they are a divisive topic for many CIOs...

[vaud]

entropy said:

Senna wanted to drive for Williams knowing that McLaren was on a downward slope.

As someone said earlier, very naive of Verstappen to sign such a long contract.

It's the start of next-gen F1 cars and no-one knows the form guide. What if RBR build another car that can't battle for WDC for a number of years?

It's not necessarily naive.

There will likely be car performance clauses and other exit clauses baked in. I understand it is common in F1 contracts, at least in the leading pack.

He is the WDC, he will have been able to set a lot of the terms. Only the 2nd person in the modern era to beat Lewis Hamilton.