#lotus renault f1

[thef1x]

[andromedasummer]

actually michael schumacher shouldve never been punished for driving into jacques villeneuve in 1997 because what people dont realize is that in the moment before he turned his car towards villeneuve, michael was sent a vision of the future where he saw villeneueve's name in jeffrey epsteins black book and, upon being given divine comprehension of what this meant, he took action into his own hands everybody say thank you michael please do it again michael

[gentileformula1]

[shutinlear53]

2011 was one of the silliest F1 seasons

Pictured here are the Renault R31 and the Lotus T128, both featuring similar color schemes, Renault & Lotus branding and the same Renault RS27-2011 engine. The two teams, namely Lotus Renault GP and Team Lotus, had no relations whatsoever.

[threecheers-forsweetrevenge]

Pictures you can hear

[j-emini]

here, have some old f1 liveries to remind you that this sport did once have flavour

Brawn BGP 001 / McLaren MP4/4 / Renault R26 / Arrows A22 / Jaguar R2 / Lotus 48 Gold Leaf / Ferrari 641 / Jordan 191

[ferraris-gf]

explaining f1: the cars

chassis

modern day f1 cars are constructed from composites of carbon fibre and other ultra-lightweight materials. the minimum weight currently permissible is 740kg including the driver but not the fuel.

engines

as of the 2014 season, all f1 cars have been equipped with turbocharged 1.6 l v6 engines, which were previously banned in 1989. this change gave up to a 29% increase in fuel efficiency.

transmission

f1 cars use highly automated semi-automatic sequential gearboxes, with regulations stating that 8 forward gears and 1 reverse gear must be used, with rear-wheel drive. fully automatic gearboxes are illegal to keep driver skill. the last f1 car fitted with a conventional manual gearbox was the forti fg01 which raced in 1995.

as of 2009, all teams use seamless-shift transmissions, which allow a near instantaneous changing of gears for minimal time loss. shift times for modern f1 cars are in the range of 2-3ms.

steering wheel

the wheel can be used to change gears, adjust the fuel/air mix, change the break balance and call the radio among other things, allowing the driver a huge amount of control. data such as engine rpm, lap times and tyre temperature etc. are displayed.

fuel

the fuel in f1 cars is fairly similar to ordinary petrol.

to make sure teams and fuel suppliers are within regulation, the fia requires fuel teams like shell, petronas etc. to submit samples of the fuels they are providing for races. at any time, fia inspectors can request a sample from the fuelling rig to compare. the teams usually abide by rules but in 1997 mika hakkinen was stripped of his third place finish in spa due to his fuel being the incorrect formula.

tyres

you can read all about tyres in f1 here!

breaks

the brakes used in f1 cars are designed to work in up to 1,000 degrees celsius.

drivers can control brake force to compensate for changes in track condition or fuel load.

notable cars

the victorious red bull racing rb18 from the 2022 season, driven by max verstappen.

the dominant mclaren mp4/4 driven by ayrton senna in 1988.

the highly successful ferrari f2004 driven by micheal schumacher at the 2004 united states grand prix.

the 1994 williams fw15c, widely considered to be one of the most technologically advanced f1 car of all time

the first f1 car to be powered by a turbocharged engine; the 1997 renault rs01.

the lotus 78, which exploited the aerodynamic effects of downforce, or ground effect, which was banned by the fia in 1983 (though it was later brought back for the 2022 season onwards).

the 2009 brawn bgp001, using a 'double diffuser' (to harness downforce) which was banned by the fia in 2011.

[boxboxblog]

Rivals: Senna v Prost

(Senna left, Prost right)

While I have dived a bit into Senna and Prost in my general history, posts I thought it would be interesting to go more depth specifically on their rivalry. Next to Hamilton and Rosberg, this to me is the most interesting one by far, a strange combination of hero worship, competitiveness, friendship, and tragedy. This will be a long one, so buckle up.

So, to understand their relationship you must first understand where they came from. Starting with Prost, the older of the two, this Frenchman was already an established figure by the time Senna came into F1. 1980 was the first year for Prost, immediately signing with McLaren. He would switch to Renault from 1981-83, but by the time Senna was there Prost was back with McLaren, the team having improved their car to be front runners again.

(Prost in his 1980 McLaren)

Senna, on the other hand, was this newbie from Brazil, a F3 champion and obvious talent, but fresh faced and young. He came in on a lower level team, Toleman, and his talent very quickly outshone his team. He would eventually be signed to Lotus, but that is moving to far ahead. Let's focus on 1984.

1984 saw Prost as a frontrunner for the title (which he eventually lost to Lauda) and Senna as a midfielder at best. This did not stop the two drivers from having their moments on track though. They were almost polar opposites when it came to most things. Senna was passion, Prost was calculation. Senna was raw speed, Prost was perfection. Senna was instinct, Prost was logic. Their nicknames showed this. Magic Senna, versus The Professor. More than that they portrayed themselves very differently. Senna had the gravitas, the intensity, and was the type who did not believe friendship could be found with other drivers. Prost, while not the opposite, was a much calmer figure, mature and not so personable.

In 1984, while not on track rivals, they had a very famous race. Monaco, in the pouring rain, saw many drivers retire. But not Senna nor Prost. The Frenchman was in the lead, and Senna, with rain being the great equalizer, was chasing him down. The Brazilian had the speed to catch Prost, and would have, had the race not gotten called off a few laps before the end (many say due to Prost's request). This essentially took away Senna's first victory. This was their first real moment, as Senna declared the win his and stated that Prost benefitted from a biased decision maker.

(1994 Monaco Race, Senna going by Niki Lauda)

But again, Senna was a backmarker and Prost was a championship contender.

In 1985 this changed. Senna was signed to Lotus, a front of the field team, and almost immediately became a race winner, taking his first victory in the second GP of the season. Prost won the championship that year, and in 1986 as well. For the next two year, even if Prost was not winning the title, things remained basically the same. Senna was a top fielder but not a winner, and Prost was usually second in the battle.

(Senna when he was with Lotus)

During this time they had a friendly relationship, not close and certainly competitive, but respectful. Prost saw Senna for what he was, and recognized his talents even when he was with Toleman. Senna, who has grown up admiring Prost, saw him as the target, the person to beat. But regardless, a cordial relationship.

(1988)

That is, until 1988. Lotus had been dropping off in speed for a while at that point, unable to fight up there with McLaren, Brabham, and Williams. So Senna, ever the supreme talent, left them for McLaren, and in the process became Prost's teammate. This would be the real start to the rivalry, and dipped between a deep understanding and a deeper antagonism, cumulating in a championship battle that saw Senna take his first world title by only three points over Prost. During this year Prost called Senna's much more aggressive style 'dangerous', notably about a rather risky move made by the Brazilian at the Portuguese GP, where he said "If that's how [Senna] wants to win the championship, I'm not interested. I don't want any part of it."

(unsure of date)

But they were still something more respectful during this time. This would change in 1989. While tensions were high, as in most rivalries, they came to a head at the San Marino GP were Senna overtook on his teammate, ignoring McLaren team order. Things would slowly bubble from there, on track meetings and and the back in forth of points only making it worse. It reached its peak at Suzuka, the title deciding race.

(1989)

Prost was ahead of Senna in the points, but a collision between the two drivers made it so he was unable to finish the race, a crash many people still say was intentional on Prost's part today. Senna rejoined after getting his car restarted, and went on to win the race. This would mean he now has the championship, but he was disqualified from the race shortly after the end for not rejoining the track correctly. Taking away his win, this move also made it so Prost would win the championship that year, an extremely controversial decision by race direction. Almost poetically, it mirrors Senna's first almost win in Monaco all those years ago. A decision by race direction ripped victory from his hands once more, benefitting Prost.

(The Marshals attempting to help Senna back on track, Japan 1989)

More than on track tension, during this season there was team tension. Accusations of favoring were thrown around, with Prost claiming that Honda (the engine supplier for McLaren) was giving the other man a faster engine, or that the team was helping him more, and many other such things. Senna, for his part, declared that the FISA president, a Frenchman, was favoring Prost with his calls throughout the season (especially his last call in Suzuka, where the president threatened to ban Senna for life if he did not take back his critical remarks on the decision). There was also some press play, notably Prost sharing one of their private disagreements with a reporter, humiliating Senna in the process. No matter the team dynamics though, Prost would announce before the Italian GP in 1989 that he was leaving McLaren for Ferrari in 1990, and insulting them in the process. A move that had Senna, ever the opportunist, asking McLaren to get rid of Prost before the season ended. They didn't, Prost won, and then they were no longer teammates.

(Prost dropping his 1989 Italian GP trophy to the Tifosi, while still with McLaren)

The next year saw them battle for the title again, this time on different teams (teams that also had a rather storied rivalry). This too would end controversially in Suzuka, with Senna (the championship leader) crashing into Prost on turn one and taking them both out of the race, clinching himself the title. Prost insisted this was purposeful, many agreed with him, but Senna denied the accusation until the French FISA president was replaced by a new man, who had much more favorable views on Senna years later. Many people say that this purposeful crash in 1990 was a direct answer to the 1989 crash caused by Prost which had won him the title. Vengeance is a thing that Ayrton Senna seemed to hold close to his chest, especially with his rivals.

(Japan 1990 crash)

That was the last year Senna and Prost would battle for the title. 1991 saw Prost in a slower car, although they had enough moments to get sat down by the FISA and told to get along. Neither of them were up for title contention in 1992, as McLaren did not have the speed of Williams and Prost took a sabbatical.

(1993)

1993 saw even more interesting things happen. Prost would go to Williams that year, set to pair with rookie Damon Hill for that season and Nigel Mansell for 1994. This saw him winning the championship, his last, and Senna nowhere near the fight. However what happened on track was not the most incredible part, but rather behind the scenes. Because Senna, whether out of his wish to be in a fast car or an incomprehensible need to follow Prost, begged to join Williams for 1994, even stating he would do it with no salary. Williams used this offer to attempt to strong arm Mansell into a worse deal, but the British driver wanted none of it and promptly left F1. This would mean that Senna and Prost would be teammates again. That is until Prost took one look at it all, and declared he would rather retire than be Senna's teammate again (an actual stipulation in his contract). And so he did.

(Senna pulling Prost onto the podium at his last race)

But things do not end there. You might take a look at this and think Senna would be thrilled his closest rival had run away. But actually it was the opposite, Senna was deeply upset about Prost's retirement, begging the Frenchman to return. At Prost's last race he pulled his old rival up on the podium, embracing him. They called regularly after this, discussing F1 related things, often marked with Senna asking Prost to return, declaring that it was pointless now. During this time they became something close to friends again, though not quite there.

1994 Senna was with Williams while Prost was a pundit. The morning of the Imola GP it was Prost who Senna had his breakfast with, something the Frenchman said years later he is selfishly glad for. Over the radio before the race, Senna famously said "A special hello to my...to our dear friend, Alain. We all miss you Alain." This was his first and last acknowledgment of Prost as a friend.

Imola is where Senna would crash with his Williams, smashing into the wall. He would die on impact, a death that rocked the motorsport world then, and still has a massive impact today. Alain Prost would attend his funeral, serve as a pallbearer, and stated that when Senna died "a part of himself had died also". He refused to ever drive an F1 car again.

(Senna's funeral)

Today, this intense rivalry is remembered with fascination and no small amount of reverence. Senna is a legend, and and Prost's name is put up next to him forever. When one mentions Prost, they must mention Senna. When one mentions Senna, they must mention Prost. The Frenchman looks back on their time together with no small amount of regret, stating that they could have perhaps been closer with time. He wrote an article in 2014, ending the poignant story on this note:

I look back on those days now and think to myself, "Why did we put ourselves through all that? Why did it have to get so venomous?" If we had to do it all again, I'd say to Ayrton, "Listen, we're the best. Between us, we can screw all the others!"

This to me is one of the most fascinating and heart wrenching rivalries in F1, and one I think no other duo has come close to matching. They are a massive part of F1 history, and their names will be tied to each other forever.

I hope you enjoyed.

Cheers,

-B

[not-that-syndrigast]

I hate Alpine.

And I know, it seems hypocritical of someone that claims to be incapable of hating, but that is why i am about to give you the longest analysis on whats wrong at Alpine.

The thing is, I don't hate alpine because of their drivers or just for fun, the reason i hate alpine is that i know they could be so much better. They have great drivers, they could be fighting for podiums right now, but sometime in 2022 it all went downhill. I don’t hate Ferrari, as an example, because I am well aware that they are trying their hardest and I don't agree with their strategies, but I don't hate them because it's not that deep. 

So, let's start from the beginning; the downfall of Alpine. But to fall, you have to rise. 

Alpine, or officially BWT Alpine f1 team, formerly known as Renault sport formula one team have had a rocky path. For clarification; the official team name has changed multiple times and Renault (the car brand) has been involved in different percentages. In 1995 they produced the engine that would help Schumacher win the world championship and the then team called Benetton the constructors title. In 2000 Renault officially bought the team and changed its name to renault f1 team in 2002, these are the parts where it becomes interesting; in 2005 and 2006, with the help of Alonso and Fisichella, they won both the drivers championships and constructors championships. In 2010, they pretty much sold the team to Lotus, only to buy it back in 2016 and rebrand it to Alpine in 2021, to “promote Renault sports car brand” as stated on wikipedia. 

Now, why is all that important? Considering all these facts, it's pretty clear that Alpine is not a winning team like Mercedes, Red Bull or Ferrari, but they still managed to win some things. Different then other current backmarker teams, they have experience that they should use, which brings us to the big point of this; the real rise of alpine.

The 2022 drivers line up, consisting of Alonso and Ocon as drivers and Piastri as test driver is the perfect example of a popular strategy on how to build a team. With the alpine rebrand, they made a lot of changes in head positions to ensure a new beginning. This strategy is most famously known from Mercedes in 2010. The strategy is easy; the team signs a former world champion with many years of experience, in this case Alonso. Alonso knows the big teams, knows how they work. He almost won a championship with both McLaren and Ferrari, he knows how to make a team competitive. His role was to teach Ocon and Piastri, because it was pretty clear Alonso wouldn't be able to stay with the team for another decade, that's what Ocon was for. Ocon as a driver was already experienced and thus cheaper than a rookie, he lacked experience in fights though which Alonso could give him. Piastri would have replaced Alonso and thus the team would have two young drivers with different strengths to build the team around and win. You can't make a championship winning team with a car and drivers in a year, but with the Ocon and Piastri combination, they could have easily kept both for a decade, if not longer. 

But this is where the downfall begins. The strategy was not the problem, it would have worked if everyone actually followed it. Ocon has mentioned in interviews before how his, Alonsos and others comments on the car were ignored and they’ve been facing the same issues for years, which means Alonso's whole reason to be there was ignored. The only reason why Mercedes managed to be so good was the fact that they could have employed Schumacher and Rosberg as engineering interns, they knew how cars worked and they could give feedback. Ocon and Alonso could do the same, only that they were ignored. Then, many important people left, like Piastri and Alonso. They had planned on Alonso leaving the team, but under better circumstances and suddenly they also lacked the second driver they had planned with Piastri, and that's where they made their next mistake; signing Gasly.

Now don't get me wrong, I love Gasly, but it's a strategic failure. The team had a not functioning car, drivers lacking experience that they should’ve gotten from Alonso and the team lacking basic team work. When a midfield team signs two experienced but not winning drivers, that's usually a transitional strategy when they either plan to sell or start a new strategy. With Gasly and Ocon they are aware they can't win, which is why we are at their current masterclass of disaster team strategies.

They got rid of Ocon, after being absolutely weird not just about him but pretty much everyone that has left, which is why I'm questioning why people even want to drive for them, but alright. Their next step is to sign a rookie in hopes to build a team around them, only that said rookie has no experience and won't be able to get much experience from Gasly either. Even if they fix their car, neither of them knows how to fight for a championship or even a win. 

I want to go into deeper detail about Ocon though, because to me it's the best proof that Alpine is absolutely going nowhere. Ocon is with this team for his now fifth season, he got their first win as Alpine, he's been there through a bunch of bad seasons, with different teammates to now decide that he would leave. This leaves me to believe that there could only be two different explanations as to why he’s leaving; either, the team wants to get rid of him. No team is nice to their drivers unless they are currently winning and even then it's really on edge. It's about money and not being nice, so after Monaco there was quite a bit of talk. I wont address Monaco here, because the crash itself is irrelevant; relevant is only how they talked about Ocon which led many to believe they wanted to get rid of him. It makes no sense in my opinion though, considering that Alpine seeks to get a rookie into the second seat, he’s the one with actual experience on fighting. Many talk bad about his on track fights, but i think it's exactly what you need to win. The other thought is that Ocon deliberately left because he doesn't believe in Alpine anymore, which would frighten me if i was at Alpine, because he’s been through four rather bad seasons, even if he could have signed for another team and there were talks, he used to believe in Alpine. Only that belief is over now and he thinks Haas could be better.

But these are only speculations; back to the facts. In recent times, Alpine also could not score with being likable in any other way. From the way that no one stays at the team and the team principal once again got exchanged to the fact that they want to become a customer team. Yes, the Mercedes engines are better but just logistically, everyone knows they won't be able to build a better car than both McLaren and Mercedes so they could have focused on engines.

Last but not least, it's good that they support many young drivers through their drivers academy, if only they actually got the chance of a seat that would be a bit better, but considering that except for getting an F1 seat, the Alpine academy is one of the best, i can't really hate them for it.

As always, these are only my thoughts and ideas so I would be very interested in what others think of Alpine and if you agree or not and why. Also i'm sorry this got so long, i still have many thoughts about them.

[scotianostra]

Happy Birthday to Alan McNish born in Dumfries December 29th 1969.

With a highly-successful career spanning karting to Formula One, including three victories at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans and winning the FIA WEC World Championship, Allan is one of the most respected and liked personalities in the dynamic and competitive world of motorsport.

Having started in karting and sealed six Scottish and three British titles, the young McNish progressed, under the watchful eyes of David Leslie Snr & Jnr, into single-seaters at Knockhill.

He won the 1988 Formula Vauxhall Lotus Championship and finished second in the 1989 British F3 Championship by three points.

McNish also gained F1 experience, with testing contracts for McLaren and Benetton, Toyota – including a full F1 World Championship race season in 2002 – and Renault.

But it was in sportscars where he proved to be a world-beater. Having first won at the world’s greatest endurance race with Porsche in 1998, McNish — with his tartan band round his race helmet — made his Le Mans debut with Audi in 2000.

Audi team orders had ensured it was the Audi driven by a German, Frank Biela, which won, despite McNish’s car being clearly faster over the closing stages.

It was another eight years before he stood on the top step at Le Mans with Audi, but three years later, in 2011, the Scot somehow miraculously walked away from one of the most explosive crashes ever seen at the La Sarthe circuit, as seen in the second photo.

Twelve months later, McNish was again left devastated when he and his Audi were nudged at high speed into the barrier in the closing stages when he was leading. McNish’s career has also racked up three American Le Mans Series titles, plus four wins in both the Sebring 12 Hours and Petit Le Mans races. He also finished second in the Daytona 24 Hours on three occasion. McNish, though, will always be associated with Le Mans.

Although he lives in Monaco and enjoys the almost permanently good weather to be found on the Cote d’Azur, Allan McNish is a proud Scotsman. He regularly wears the family tartan kilt or trews to official engagements.

[heliads]

and here's another conversation 🗣 for you, because my curiosity and love for yapping knows no bounds: cym as the f1 grid? not as pilots on the grid, but who would be teammates with whom and on which team. create a grid with your mutuals basically, i think that could be so fun asfjdjsj

wait this is absolutely incredible. clara your MINDD. moots who don't follow formula one, know that everything about this is positive

red bull racing: @mayfieldss and @musicallisto. you're funny, you're confident, you know what you're about. winners all of the time. world champions of my heart <3

ferrari: @schuvries and @diorsluv. hot girls. we all wish we were you. red is your color and you deserve millions of tifosi supporting you.

mclaren: @faerieroyal and @hiya-itsamber. you're my unproblematic faves. you experience happiness and you look good in bright colors. every day is a joy because you know you have nothing to worry about (my unwavering affection or a contract renewal).

mercedes: @zaypay and @spideyanakin. i have such fond memories of both of you that have lasted for many many months. this is a narrative parallel to the long-lasting success of the mercedes amg petronas formula one team. even if we haven't talked in a little while i will always be happy to see you winning.

aston martin: @retvenkos and @eclliipsed. i see you as responsible people. although fernando is not responsible (known war criminal) his status as one of the most experienced drivers on the grid gives him credit. i see you as experts in your field so this makes sense to me.

williams: @neewtmas and @mxltifxnd0m chaotic but friendly duo. the team i would take on a road trip. irl they gave these two a podcast, which was an incredible move. i wish i could hear you two on a podcast we would have such wonderful things to say.

alpine: @marmar-c and @mystic-writings. you are a classic team even through different themes and different years (similar to how alpine has been renault and lotus in the past). you will always be famous to me.

vcarb: @kobbiesmainoo and @w1shes43. you are people i wish i could talk to in real life. even when we haven't talked in a while i see your posts on my dash and i know that if we ever got dinner together we would have a lovely night, similar to how i could totally get takeout somewhere with yuki or danny and get along splendidly.

sauber: @reinekes-fox and @swanimagines. people from totally different fandoms who i think would get along, quite similar to current sauber drivers zhou guanyu and valterri bottas. the grid goes crazy and you two would simply be living life to the fullest.

haas: @kuromibrainrot and @sirofreak. i trust you two to channel the spirit of kevin magnussen and commit vehicular manslaughter on the daily. plus you two are crucial members of the unwind fandom so i know you'll have the unbreakable bond currently displayed by the members of this team.

[thef1x]

[georgegraphys]

Timeline of George Russell to Mercedes

2014: His manager got a hand of Toto's e-mail, gave it to George, he sent his CV to Toto after winning British F4. Toto answered several weeks later, they met up alongside other racing executives in Mercedes, George came there alone and presented his CV to Toto. Toto invited him to join the junior programme but could only offer him a seat at Mücke Motorsport (based in Germany which could mean him moving to Germany) due to Mercedes limited seat connection (wants to put George on PREMA but is a Stroll focused team). George rejected the offer but Toto and George kept in contact for the future. He joins Carlin Volkswagen, a british team (currently Rodin Motorspot)

2015: George enters F3 European with Carlin Volkswagen. Finishes 6th. Due to financial problems, he was driven to the edge because he could no longer continue Formula careers with his own funding. As a back up, he tested for BMW in DTM series. He tops the testing, beating Mercedes and Audi's time (even beating BMW's drivers) and BMW offered him a $$$,$$$ contract. At the same time, he was already an unofficial test driver for BMW.

Mercedes heard of this through an ex-BMW employee who moved to Mercedes and Gwen Lagrue contacts George for the second time (For reference, Gwen Lagrue. Not Toto. Gwen Lagrue has known George since karting and helped him to get a seat in Eurocup Formula Renault while Gwen was at Lotus, but couldn't bring George to Lotus Junior Academy due to financial problems). Mercedes met up with him and explains if George picks BMW, Mercedes will close their door on George and he will no longer be their option.

George and Gwen sat down, agreed on one-year testing period in which George will do sims for Mercedes and they will see his performance on and off track before accepting him as a junior driver. In 2016, he became an unofficial Mercedes Junior Driver and signed up with HiTech GP, a Mercedes powered team for his second season in F3 European, leaving Carlin Volkswagen (because it's powered by VW and Merc don't want that). George finishes 3rd in a completely new team and behind two PREMAs.

2017: George was officially signed as a Mercedes Junior Driver. He got his first F1 test at Budapest 2017 and he joined ART Grand Prix for his GP3 and F2 stint.

[superm4ks]

The John Player Special livery of the Renault-Lotus Team is considered by many to be one of the most legendary liveries in Motorsport history. Following the success of partnerships between Formula 1 teams and tobacco giants like Marlboro and Yardley, Lotus turned to the John Player Special cigarette brand and Autosport cartoonist Barry Foley for a new redesign of its gold leaf colors. John Player agreed, for as long as Lotus maintained at least one British driver on the team. The JPS livery ran throughout the 1970's and 80's until the end of 1986, when Renault chose to withdraw from F1 and Lotus turned to Honda for the company's engines. As part of the deal, Lotus dismissed Johnny Dumfries to sign Japanese driver Satoru Nakajima, which meant there was no more British representation within the team, at that point dominated by Senna, and effectively ended the team's ties with the John Player brand. Despite many attempts to bring back the iconic color scheme, including a 2011 fan design by the short lived Team Lotus and an even flimsier (and inexplicable) partnership between Haas and alleged energy drink brand Rich Energy in 2019, the elegance of the original black and gold car is yet to be replicated.

[formulatrash]

With the rumours the Flav is back at Enstone, following their god damned NFT crypto push in the year of our lord 2024. . .is there any hope for Enstone or should I give up and back Williams forever now?

of course there's hope for Enstone Mario Andretti is trying to buy an F1 team.

no in all seriousness I was chatting to Dre Harrison about this last night and bearing in mind that team used to be Lotus, I mean really be Lotus, they are doing the absolute most lately.

they've had an equal number of team principals to podiums since they rebranded, they're on the brink of firing the only driver they've been able to actually retain over that period, they're actively sliding backwards in the results. there's been a mass staff exodus at the top and middle of engineering and despite being backed by such a small player as the Renault-Nissan alliance, they had to flog 20% of the team off to celebs like a fucking provincial football ground.

(mind you, the Renault-Nissan alliance has its own issues)

is there hope for Enstone? of course there is, it survived Lotus. I went up to the factory last year or something and was amazed how much machinery they have now because they'd basically had to flog all the carbon fibre equipment off the last time I'd been there.

should Flavio Briatore be anywhere other than a jail cell? absolutely not. he was banned from F1 for life in 2009, which if you're wondering what scale of bad you have to be to actually get banned even though you're a massive Ecclestone buddy, he coerced Nelson Piquet Jr to deliberately crash at Singapore, as Piquet Jr's manager and team boss (this is why that's no longer allowed) and then threw him under the bus and said it was entirely Nelson's fault and fired him. it took a year of legal proceedings to clear Nelson's name and indict Briatore, who then got the ban overridden by a French court in 2013. in fact, the scandal was so bad that Enstone got a two year suspended ban for it, too. so: fuck that guy.

god knows what dirt he has on someone to keep coming back, even in the Liberty era.

[kimimraikkonen7]

F1 Grand Prix of China - Previews

SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 12: (CHINA OUT) Lotus-Renault driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland attends a welcome dinner at Four Seasons Hotel on April 12, 2012 in Shanghai, China.