New regulations new season....
Can redbull keep up the pace
Are you implying that we should assume his political opinions based on surname alone?
Mazepin is in a unique situation where his father, and benefactor, is directly supporting the putin regime. So he should suffer the effects of those sanctions. That shouldnt affect all Russians as they're not in mazepins position
I'll flat out say that someone who wouldn't assume someone called Irvine from Northern Ireland's background either doesn't know or maybe is being incredibly obtuse. Like I'd be happy to guess at the background of a McGuinness, Murphy, Williams, etc. Or are we at the stage now that we have to pretend that all that knowledge and experience doesn't matter?
BTW, not in the least having a go at Irvine. Says now he identifies as Irish but is a Rangers fan. :P There's a story (don't think ever confirmed) about him getting death threats about the Irish flag going up after he got a podium. He was happy to be seen as Irish though he has a British passport. And that's all fine, I've no issue with it. But I'm not going to pretend that I wouldn't know his background from his name.
Then again, maybe I'm assuming too much knowledge for people not in/around NI when it comes to names etc. If so, yeah, Irvine is a name very much more associated with a particular "side" up there.
IMO it was a farce in the Olympics because at the Olympics you are representing your nation, and are part of your national team set up. Allowing them to compete is ROC was stupid because the Russian Olympic Commitee is defacto the country when it comes to the OG, as is the apparatus that was supposed to be getting punished.
In F1, you are not. You are a driver for your team. There isn't a Russian F1 team, or German or English etc. Same for football at club level. Playing for Man United doesn't mean you are representing either England or your own Country - you are representing Man United - and afaik Soccer hasn't banned russian players from playing for non-russian teams, just banned Russian teams from playing (so a Brazilian at a Russian club can't play for them either).
Tennis has a mixture of players playing as idividuals, mostly, but also some team related events.
If his position is so unique then The West should put sanctions on the Mazepin family. I wouldn't object to that if it's warranted. But I don't think it's up to us to place adhoc sanctions on individuals.
The FIA has chosen self-interest over doing the right thing, as usual.
Considering the pressure the other oligarchs are getting, like Roman Abramovic, I wouldn't say there too far off getting those sanctions. And yes the FIA have seriously dropped the ball, but they don't have a great track record when it comes to humanitarian policies
British motorsport banning Russians and Belarusians. Would Mazepin be able to take party in Silverstone?
Edit: problem solved.
"It means that Russian driver Nikita Mazepin, who races for Haas in F1, would not be able to compete in this year's British Grand Prix if the team decided to keep him on. A decision on his future at the American-owned team is expected to be made imminently."
Seen on sky sports that he wouldn't be allowed to race at the British gp by a decision by motorsport UK
Also means if Alonso or Ocon can't race in Silverstone, Kvyat can't step in. (Official reserve driver for Alpine)
I wonder could Mazepin get a licence from another juristiction and race at Silverstone? I doubt he would as he may not get a very warm welcome. He wasn't very popular to begin with.
An excellent decision by Motorsport UK.
Just like FIFA before it, the FIA is going to have to be bounced into the right decision on this matter by its national affiliates.
We may not see national bans in the Middle East races, but I'd guess that they will be in place in Australia, Italy, the US, Spain etc.
Hopefully Haas can sort themselves out. Otherwise 206 people will be out of a job.
Looing forward to the new season. Hopefully more competitive racing on the track, and a lot less virtue signalling off it.
Kvyat isnt the official one this year. They gave the official reserve gig to Piastri.
I also think I remember something about Kvyat possibly taking up Italian citizenship when the ban on Russians was first being introduced, before the "neutral" became an option.
Less virtue signalling? They're banning drivers from countries for political reasons (reasons which I agree with). If you're looking for less virtue signalling, you're in the wrong year.
I'm surprised he's signed such a long 5 year contract. He's established himself as the undisputed top driver in the world, while there are zero guarantees that Red Bull will get the new regs right or will find themselves a solid engine partner after Honda. If things did go south for RB he'd be in a position to walk into any other team, and if they went well for RB he'd be able to renew regularly at his leisure. Doesn't seem to make sense to me to commit for so long in advance. If Hamilton made that kind of long term commitment when McLaren were strong he'd still be a one time WDC right now. While being tied to a team with an underperforming car is a hard situation to recover from, as we've seen with Alonso who despite his undoubted excellence has been never been in the running to get back into a top seat while far lesser drivers like Bottas or Albon have done.
I would be fairly sure there is a get out clause in there if RB produce a donkey of a car
An interesting take on the testing times. I think it would be great if this was remotely accurate.
5 year contract extension for Max, that must be one of the longest extensions agreed to in this sport?
No doubt he'll have exit clauses, but he won't be happy if the car isn't great this year
Russian GP contract terminated
Only right. Delighted. It will not be missed.
As long as Adrian Newey is there I think the car will always be top 3 at the very least.
I'm surprised to see that they actually terminated the contract after they'd already replaced it with Turkey for the coming season. I wonder is it more to do with the effect of the sanctions as opposed to any moral conundrum they're having?
Mazepin and Haas part ways
Has Mazepin left? He Haas!
Glad to see the back of Sochi but, strictly politically, I would have preferred to see Germany back on the calendar rather than Turkey. Great track that it is but Turkey isn't exactly the most political stable place either, no where near as bad as Russia obviously but I'd have loved to have seen Nurburgring or Ostereichring back on the calendar.
Sky have a two-part doc out this weekend about how Hamilton was screwed by Masi in Abu Dhabi because Toto claims Masi was "turned" by red bull SD Jonathan Wheatley. Toto makes claims about the Jeddah "deal" when under a red flag.
They (Sky) are unbelievable, every effort being made to discredit Max.
Toto and Hamilton really are so easy to dislike. The sense of entitlement, but beyond that it's like they actually cannot remember their own words and actions when they don't get what they want.
Ah, they're selling airtime. If it worked the other way around, sky Netherlands would be selling thr exsct same documentary in reverse.
I also don't pretend to know what kind of skullduggery goes on. F1 is a mix of sport, entertainment ans business. F1 needed a new champion for the entertainment and business parts. I wouldn't be at all surprised if there was bias (whether explicit or implicit) towards helping someone else win the championship.
Hamilton is not good with words, but Toto usually chooses his words very carefully. If he's making an accusation of serious conspiracy against his team, is it worth wondering if there's something to it before declaring it a Sky conspiracy to discredit Max?
What is the Jeddah deal?
Max cut T1 but a red flag came out, so the "deal" was to give the place back on the grid as opposed to a 5 sec penalty Presumably.
Sky are quoting Toto as saying Masi and Wheatley had a "bromance" and Masi was "turned" by Red Bull. It's very much aimed at discrediting Max.
Its like Toto never sent emails to Masi or was never on the radio telling him not to bring out the SC when it suited Merc.
Pulling out of russia and ignoring Saudi amd Bahrain etc is so typically f1, like why even pretend you give a **** about ethics and morals???
Toto Hamilton and sky need to review lap one. They also need to review their own tactics in leaving Hamilton a sitting duck.
Verstappen was ahead on points going into the last race so Mercedes were always at a disadvantage strategy wise given that both driver not finishing would benefit max.
If they had pitted Hamilton, max would have been ahead on the restart but would have made it very very hard for Hamilton to pass as he could afford a crash.
Mercedes tried to steal the race on lap one by not giving the place back. When it didn't work out, Toto spat the dummy. No class at all and a low act trying to discredit max and his championship that he won in every measurable way.
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