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The 2024 Formula One Season

An interesting documentary on an old favourite of mine, John Surtees:


What interested me particularly is that it went into more detail about the problems Surtees had with Ferrari team manager Eugenio Dragoni. Dragoni believed that an Italian team should have Italian drivers, and he was constantly promoting the Bandinis and Scarfiottis while whispering anti-Surtees things in the old man's ear. What I hadn't previously heard was that, at the meeting resulting from the 1966 Le Mans debacle, Dragoni telling him that, if he continued to drive for Ferrari, his safety couldn't be guaranteed. Already, he'd had problems, such as a spanner that had been left lying in the engine. Deliberately? No one knows, but his trust in Ferrari was destroyed, and he was gone.
 
tones said:
An interesting documentary on an old favourite of mine, John Surtees:


What interested me particularly is that it went into more detail about the problems Surtees had with Ferrari team manager Eugenio Dragoni. Dragoni believed that an Italian team should have Italian drivers, and he was constantly promoting the Bandinis and Scarfiottis while whispering anti-Surtees things in the old man's ear. What I hadn't previously heard was that, at the meeting resulting from the 1966 Le Mans debacle, Dragoni telling him that, if he continued to drive for Ferrari, his safety couldn't be guaranteed. Already, he'd had problems, such as a spanner that had been left lying in the engine. Deliberately? No one knows, but his trust in Ferrari was destroyed, and he was gone.
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A good friend worked for a large Italian company til around 2015. Still mostly run by the old, old family. An awful lot, they’d rather see their company suffer long term damage than admit the Englishman could well be correct.
 
Sorry just don't do F1 anymore just to predictable, on the other hand today's BTCC racing was marvelous. ( and I can afford to get to Brands & Thruxton )
 
martin_b said:
Sorry just don't do F1 anymore just to predictable, on the other hand today's BTCC racing was marvelous. ( and I can afford to get to Brands & Thruxton )
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What a worthwhile contribution to an F1 thread, I can see why you posted and I'm sure you'll sleep better tonight knowing we all know that. :rolleyes: BTW BTCC hasn't been any good since the demise of the Super Touring era around 2000, just saying!
 
Btw didn't Mercedes divorce McLaren because they couldn't buy a majority stake ? I keep reading Wolf and Ratcliffe each own 33% of the current team, somehow that seems weird to me.
 
cutting42 said:
Newey likely to leave sooner rather than later.

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A lot of reports suggesting Newey's legal team are trying to negotiate an early exit which would indicate he wants to go elsewhere rather than retire. Trouble is I can see arguments against all the teams being mentioned. Much as I'd love to see him at Ferrari I can't see him wanting the upheaval of relocating to Italy at the age of 65.
 
tiggers said:
A lot of reports suggesting Newey's legal team are trying to negotiate an early exit which would indicate he wants to go elsewhere rather than retire. Trouble is I can see arguments against all the teams being mentioned. Much as I'd love to see him at Ferrari I can't see him wanting the upheaval of relocating to Italy at the age of 65.
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Maybe he could recreate the Guildford Technical Office
 
cutting42 said:
Maybe he could recreate the Guildford Technical Office
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Ferrari still think that was the reason they didn't win the championship in that era... I doubt they'll ever do it again... sadly.

Maybe I'm wrong and, a bit like Hamilton, Newey will want the prancing horse on his CV as his swansong in the sport.
 
If, as it seems, Newey has left the team because of Horner then from a purely business perspective they should have got rid of Horner. Newey is almost impossible to replace, Horner (as good as he is and he obviously is good at his job) is less so.
 
There must me some quite serious turmoil within the upper echelons of RB. As they say no smoke without fire, the rumours about Newey proved correct, I wonder if the Verstappen ones will also have merit? Would Verstappen want to give up the rather cush position of being in a dominant car (at least for another season) or take a challenge of joining another team? The rumour mill points to Mercedes, perhaps a rivalry between Hamilton at Ferrari and Verstappen at the team Hamilton left may interest him!
 
MartinC said:
There must me some quite serious turmoil within the upper echelons of RB. As they say no smoke without fire, the rumours about Newey proved correct, I wonder if the Verstappen ones will also have merit? Would Verstappen want to give up the rather cush position of being in a dominant car (at least for another season) or take a challenge of joining another team? The rumour mill points to Mercedes, perhaps a rivalry between Hamilton at Ferrari and Verstappen at the team Hamilton left may interest him!
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Rumours about Newey..???
 
I'd like to see him go to Aston Martin.

If I were Max, I'd be staying put until the time that RB are no longer able to provide him car that is competitive. In my view, it'll take at least one more year after this year, before the others will catch up i.e. the 2026 rule changes will very likely shake things up.

NB: Personally I'm not totally convinced by Ferrari's capablity to deal with the comprehensive changes the 2026 rules bring.. e.g. Engine, Vehicle dimentions reduction, dynamic aero etc Sounds like too much all at once for them to cope with.
 
Interesting.

"Last year Horner suggested Newey was replaceable, which by all accounts was not well received and led to the designer’s wife branding the comments “hogwash”.

Previously such issues have been smoothed over but time, too, may have played a part. Newey is 65 and has said he wanted to work with Hamilton and Ferrari, so choosing to go now still gives him the prospect of a good run at Maranello in what might be the last major challenge of his F1 career."

www.theguardian.com

Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit could have domino effect that upturns F1 grid | Giles Richards

Loss of top designer leaves team principal Christian Horner badly exposed and could shake up the sport’s status quo
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com
 
So, will Ricciardo row backwards in today's sprint, or will he show some form?
 
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