The king is dead, long live the king.
With the 2024 season done and dusted and lots of chatter now about drivers and how they will perform for the 2025 season, thought it would be no harm to start a 2025 season thread.
Go!
Some good news for Alex Dunne
Mixed feelings about this if I'm honest. Great he has some sort of role in McLaren and Formula E is a great watch but in terms of a path to F1, it's not that big a step forward. Hope he gets something in F2.
Toyota "gradually moving" towards full-scale F1 return
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/toyota-gradually-moving-towards-full-scale-f1-return/10687965/
Great if this happens. I am sure Gene Haas and the Haas team would be delighted to have Toyota take over them fully.
Manufactures come and go, most can’t be relied upon to stay long term, so their involvement isn’t necessarily a good thing for the sport.
Manufacturer commitment is subject to many factors such as internal politics (change of leadership, boardroom coups, unrealistic expectations and timelines for success etc) plus economic factors etc.
Consider Toyota, last time they spent billions to achieve nothing, leaving with their tail between their legs. Their budget in their last season was USD 450 million.
The next major recession the manufacturers that aren’t successful will either desert F1 like Honda did in 2008/2009 for example or sell the team to raise a few billion to prop up the parent company.
Once a manufacturer like Toyota or Volkswagen enters F1 there is pressure to succeed from day 1. With budget caps they can’t throw unlimited cash at building a great car.
Look at Alpine / Renault, a complete joke. No longer an engine supplier after this season, multiple leadership changes in last 2 seasons, in and out of F1 2 or 3 times since the 2000’s. Renault no longer 100% owner.
Audi, already selling a minority stake before they have even officially entered F1. VAG was originally planning 2 teams (Audi and Porsche) but when they couldn’t buy RedBull to ‘guarantee’ success that changed to 1 team.
Even Mercedes only own 1/3 of their own F1 team. (Toto Wolff and Ineos own the other 2/3).
We’ll see…
There is no way we should be having a 2nd race in Saudi Arabia - so you can gaurantee that is what will happen.
I think the article mentions they want one and have deep pockets
The original plan for Saudi Arabia was to build a dedicated race track to replace the current street circuit when ready. Sounds like they now want both.
"Consider Toyota, last time they spent billions to achieve nothing, leaving with their tail between their legs. Their budget in their last season was USD 450 million."
They had no real ideas or leadership to guide thrm in F1 the right way back then. Maybe this time thry will and because of the budget cap Toyota will be more focused on how they spend it and more strategic with it too.
I think the way Aston Martin have developed over the last couple of years is a blueprint for how to enter F1. Granted we have to see the results and they started from a different position having bought out an existing team and developed over a few years. But there's clearly a pathway that can be shortcut providing the right people can be acquired.
Except Aston is all about Stroll Sr, so he can do what he wants and doesn't really need to report back to the shareholders.
True. But he was careful enough with the money at first. Didn't really start the big spending until he felt he could actually achieve something. Or at least that's how it looked to me.
That's a tough one to repeat though.
Buy an existing team,
Hire a very expensive, top driver with a really unusual profile,
Build a brand new factory,
Hire the best designer on the grid and various top team members from around the grid,
Use your own companies to sponsor the team.
I wonder if there's any change from a billion dollars of investment? It's a blueprint alright, but it's not really practical for anyone else.
Yeah. But Toyota won't be buying an existing team (I assume - although there could be some candidates like Haas for instance).
It's more that the amount of spend, investment and crucially the right people that provide the blueprint. Assuming AM are successful (and you could argue they already are), it demonstrates what you need to do.
Toyota already have a deal with HAAS as sponsors and assume if they do come back to F1 full time that they will be taking over HAAS.
Toyota have their driver Miyata testing for Haas in a tpc test in Spain
Cadillac has appointed Xavier Marcos, a former race engineer for Charles Leclerc at Ferrari, as its technical director for the LMDh sportscar project.
It’s also a technical partnership, so Toyota could easily just up their stakes a bit in that also.
Who's going to be getting some Lego F1 cars?
The Red Bull, Aston Martin & VCARB look terrible, they are all the wrong colours. The others look pretty cool though. All 10 teams available, all based on last year's car.
They also have the FW14B with Nigel Mansell which is a similar set to the Aryton Senna MP4/4 which is on my desk and is cool.
Have the Senna one too. Thought the price point was nice for the building in it. Not a Mansell/Williams fan though. Would love a Schumacher one to come along.
Tempted by the €27 Ferrari one (not the €230). Any way around the delivery charge?
Smyths will possibly have them?
Schumacher in the Jordan 191 would be where they should go next.
That’s a great shout, cheers. Never realized they have free delivery on €25+. Lego site was €12 delivery.
In the Jordan might be a bit too niche!
I see Will Buxton will be IndyCar lead commentator for Fox this year. So we’ll see much less of him with F1, great news that! 😁
Hamilton's first day at Maranello…
Practical clothes to be wearing…
what a douche
😂
Guessing it's a meet and greet day or in BS speak - "total immersion programme".
Not a Ham fan (by a long shot) but not seeing the issue with a respectable suit and overcoat.
(I checked elsewhere for an uncropped photo. He is wearing trousers, not a skirt. Given some of the clobber he has sported this is a good thing.)
Were people expecting him to turn up in a racesuit and helmet and go full kit w***er? 🤔
If needed (e.g. for seat fitting) he can change into a racesuit.
God LH is an awful eejit as they'd say around this parish. Regardless of his driving provenance or otherwise.
Ah I couldn't care less what he wears, was the first bit of F1 news I noticed on the BBC for a while. He's due to drive a 2023 Ferrari sometime this week and then again at Barcelona before proper testing starts in Feb. Man I can't wait for the season to get back underway for real.
