Can Bottas’s roll continue?
HAMILTON WILL BE HOPING FOR A BETTER SHOWING Verbal sparring continues between new owners of F1 commercial interests.
This weekend it will be Spain for the fifth round of the championship at the Catalunya Circuit in Barcelona, a track well known to all teams after winter testing.
Hopefully this will result in a better showing for some.
Lewis Hamilton will be looking for an improved set-up after a shocking weekend in Russia. He struggled with the balance of his Mercedes from FP1 and never really found the sweet spot. Added to this was an overheating problem resulting in a car incapable of even challenging for the lowest spot on the podium.
Valtteri Bottas, his Mercedes team mate had no such issues and drove an almost perfect race to win. He will be hoping to repeat the exhilaration.
Ferrari should continue to pressurise the Brackley-based team with the objective of taking the lead in the constructor’s title race.
It seems we can expect rough weather regarding the relationship between the new owners of F1’s commercial interests, Liberty Media, specifically CEO Chase Carey and the previous el supremo, Bernie Ecclestone, below.
Despite the 86-year-old Englishman’s official cessation of the day to day running of the sport, he has been a high profile guest of the heads of government in both Bahrain and Russia.
Inevitably he has been targeted by the media as has Carey and the two appear to be involved in a verbal wrestling match.
When the Liberty Media Group initially stated its intention to bid for F1 we all wondered about Ecclestone’s future, but that was soon resolved when Liberty announced that he would remain for a period of three years as an integral part of the new management board. But within days of the final takeover in January, Ecclestone’s 40-year tenure came to an end.
Media reports indicated the Englishman was not overjoyed at the sudden decision and a war of words commenced. Carey was reported as saying: “We felt that, particularly over the past four or five years, the F1 business has not grown to its full potential.”
Ecclestone responded by pointing out that he had successfully co-operated with the previous owners, CVC Capital Partners, to the investor’s satisfaction.
Recently Carey informed the press that: “I find a level of frustration. F1 was very much a sport that got into a habit of saying no too much.”
He continued. “I want to be saying yes to a whole lot more. What is the value of having an idea if the answer to everything you want to do is no?”
He praised Ecclestone for the job he had done in creating a global sport worth millions, but was surprised that nothing had really happened for the last four or five years and said that Ecclestone lacked vision.
Ecclestone said he envied Carey as the new organisation seemed to be aiming for short-term planning , whereas with CVC he had no option but to maintain solid longterm investments.
Hopefully the exchange of words will cease at some stage, allowing Carey and his team to concentrate on delivering on the promises of a better future for all involved in Formula One.
Several reports on the Sochi event were derogatory, one claiming it was 48 minutes of tedium and four minutes of excitement.
Perhaps I was watching a different race because generally I found the event an entertaining one with the chase to the flag nail biting.
Every race weekend someone will complain, presenting statistics to prove that last year there were 30 passes but this year there were only five.
I take those facts as correct because I have never counted them.
But the racing this season has certainly been worth watching. The fact that it is no longer a Mercedes benefit as Ferrari delivers serious competition and that both are liable to be threatened by Red Bull in the second half of the season is the best news in F1 for some time.
Fernando Alonso has been finding out about oval tracks in the last two weeks and has impressed those in the know. The Indianapolis 500 is no easy race and the Spaniard may find it tough, but his determination and ability will certainly come to the fore. If he has the power and reliability in his car I believe he will relish every minute.
This week he will concentrate on his home Grand Prix and hopefully a better performance from the McLaren Honda, although I doubt it. The day after the event he heads back to the US for the official practice sessions.