F1 » Hamilton insists Mercedes split 'doesn't concern us'

@Bobby Ewing, A one time loss of 100mn is a whole different puppy than a consistent loss of 80mn/year...And let's face it, it's not just the loss of dosh, no matter how equal Mercedes' treatment, their own team will be the first priority. Thankfully some people still have the good sense to realise this is not a good thing for McLaren. At the very least not good for McLaren F1...

F1 » Hamilton insists Mercedes split 'doesn't concern us'

It's true that McLaren has had a great part in the Merc engine being such a succes after really being a disaster before. The ECU was designed by a subsidiary of McLaren. It would be stupid to think they didn't analyze all the specs of that Merc engine and made the ECU to suit it perfectly. All the other manufacturers somehow let that happen and it's their own mistake. A bad mistake by BMW and Honda, who had the most to loose since they always have been the best engine manufacturers and still would be if not for FIA intervention.

F1 » Hamilton insists Mercedes split 'doesn't concern us'

...really their only saving grace is the fact that other strong teams have either left or are seriously weakened as well. There are only 2.5 real factory teams left for now. Still, if they can't make things happen in the coming two years, sign some sponsors etc, there is no reason why other teams couldn't catch up. A company like McLaren can only really exist with constant huge amounts of funding thrown at them...Then they can build amazing facilities, perform at a high level and deliver the goods. If not for the money, they are Williams.

F1 » Hamilton insists Mercedes split 'doesn't concern us'

Yes, that's what I'm implying. Because there is relative consistency concerning the rules and obviously the basic design of the car for next year is pretty much done by now it won't become apparent in the next year or maybe next two years, but I think it will be hard for McLaren to keep up with Ferrari and Mercedes GP after that. Money talks and they've lost a lot of that with Mercedes leaving. Now they've got 2 british drivers, making them less appealing for sponsors. Some of the sponsor come with Mercedes, so they'll leave with Mercedes. Santander will go concentrate on Ferrari in the future. I think it's safe to say their competitive position has taken a hit...

F1 » Barrichello: Brawn should've fought to keep drivers

Barichello was absolutely right to accuse the team of making him loose the race, too. Him and Webber were miles ahead of Kovalainen in P3 that race and Webber had a drive through to take care of. If they would have switched Rubens from that stupid 3 stop to a 2 stop right there, he would have been 1st or 2nd for sure. Instead they let him stop for little fuel, dropping him back just behind some of the slow long first stint guys with a light car he couldn't take advantage of. Then he ultimately let Button pass for P5. If Ross Brawn is half as brilliant as most people say he is, there is no doubt in my mind he deliberately made Barichello loose points to help Button there.

F1 » Hamilton insists Mercedes split 'doesn't concern us'

ORLY? Maybe if he says it enough times to himself he'll start believing it. I think Hamilton will leave the team 'he would drive for forever' in a year or two, maybe three tops.

F1 » Mercedes ramp up efforts to poach Schumacher

They are after Kubica, that's why they haven't signed Heidfeld yet. Heidfeld is in no position to demand anything, although he's IMO a better driver than Kubica Mercedes know Heidfeld has no better option than to drive for them so they can make him wait. Realistically Heidfeld's 2nd best option is to remain at Sauber which is a far cry from being at a manufacturer team both competitively and financially as it stands right now. With Kimi OTOH, it's more like if Kimi had wanted to be signed, it would have happened already. To me it's even more unlikely Shuey takes some management position at Mercedes than take the race seat. And I think he will never take the race seat.

F1 » Force India reveals 2010 F1 driver line-up

@Sennaforever You have to compare that to Sutil in the same car though. At Monza he would have finished ahead of Sutil if not for the driveshaft failure (lost some cash on that one). Singapore Sutil retired, car was crappy on that circuit. Japan, ok, bad race by Liuzzi... Brazil, crashed in Q2 in tricky conditions, not able to qualify better than P15 when session restarts...then 5 places penalty. Abu Dhabi, qualified P16, not 20 and in front of Sutil in P17 (race and quali). Not saying he's the best out there in any way, but he's not out of place in F1 and deserves a full year in a car that's not an STR.

F1 » Renault F1 names trio for young driver test

Good to see a Dutch driver added to the schedule (Ho-pin has Dutch parents, but the Chinese pasport obviously opens the door to some sponsor yuans). Don't think he's really F1 material though...He won formula BMW Asia and German F3 years ago but didn't perform in GP2 (albeit with some crappy teams, 1st BCN and 2nd year alongside Conway at Trident). His performance in A1 and Superformula didn't exactly signal any exceptional talent either...But Chinese roots and cash might go a long way with some of the new teams.

F1 » Force India reveals 2010 F1 driver line-up

Fisi made the right decision to go to Ferrari I think. It didn't work out for him for sure but then again, if he didn't take that chance, his carreer wasn't going anywhere it hadn't been already. He sacrificed maybe a possible podium at Monza and Interlagos for ging to Ferrari and it would have been questionnable if he could have kept the drive and if yes how ood FI is going to be next year. I don't see them winning races all of a sudden. On Topic: Good decision by FI, also shows me they're in better shape than some think. They could have gone for a bag of money but decided to give Liuzzi a real chance, so apparently they didn't need it...