As long as this stays very very close - we will see this wonderful, its great and we love each other as F1 competitors die very soon and Charles will hopefully defeat Max in some nice creative ways. Then we will hear Horner more and more just like he talked about Mercedes. This 'niceness' we see is a joke.

LMAO, the love fest is only because MB is not part of the mix and if Ferrari can maintain or win more than RB, game on. Secondly, you will never see a multiple time world champion be so lovey dovey with a competitor, unless it is a newbie or someone that just had a great race. If you are contender, they will congratulate you out of courtesy and move on. The opposition is the enemy period!

Also, that side by side thing hasn't really worked the best for Max. Both Lewis and Charles got the jump on him each time. Charles has pinned him on the short side of the track both times and in a fair fight, Lewis on red tires would have run away from him. You got to time your jump perfectly because the lead car is in control. They simply slow and go. The sided by side car has to respond to both moves and is on the back foot.

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Max has limited tools. He is an idiot at times. So he goes side by side and allows the driver in P3 an easy block on him as P3 can draft the leader potentially.

He has a title that was GIFTED to him. He wants to forget that. I will not ever forget it LOL. The new rules dis-allow his only true skill = brake late, dive and block. He has about as much finesse as a ancient Russian battle tank burning in Ukraine LOL :)

I just love we are having different conversations about how people race instead of how unfair and boring F1 is with Mercedes just needing to finish to win. This is shaping up to be an exciting year where team/driver strategy and true skill will be seen in a new light.


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It's official. Las Vegas night race here we come! A fast, 6.2 km track on the strip.

Define skill, all the F1 drivers are skilled. Some are more so than others, but the driver with the fastest car has the best chance of winning. K Mag is great example. Look at Ocon and Alonzo. If either one had the fastest car on the Grid they would be finishing first or second. Strategy will also be key for the for the front running teams.

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Pinnacle of skill, this is F1 best of the best in the world, cars are a lot more even this year, not equal but closer than they have been in almost a decade. Was Bottas good the last few years only because he was in a Mercedes, well in an alpha he’s been looking good, sainz, perez really getting to see how they handle a car capable of winning where before they were just middle of the pack.


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My point exactly! A lot of skilled drivers and yes more of the cars are evenly paced.

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Vegas is going to be f-ing sick. F the layout, ripping down the strip is enough.

I'm late to this topic, but I happened to see that clip again, and i think Max did just slightly overtake Lewis at one point

but that was NEVER going to be called after that SC stunt they pulled off.

Not so sure about that part.
No disputing their talents, but the selection process is pretty limited. The best of the best of the Euro karting league who had the wherewithal to go on to Formula racing (which is still pretty damn good about 17 or 18 times out of 20, and we know who those 2 or 3 exceptions are!!!) is a more apt description.

The Mrs & I already have our trip booked!! :tup:

Marko: Red Bull likely to lose Gasly if it can’t offer senior F1 team return

Helmut Marko has acknowledged Red Bull is likely to lose Pierre Gasly once his Formula 1 contract is up if it cannot offer him a return to its senior team.

I’d get where he is coming from, but doubt he’ll find as good a car available to him in another team.

I dont see Gasly returning unless Perez 'melts' down. Gasly will find a better ride in terms not being under the idiot Marko's thumb. I see Vettel's seat opening up. They need a young racer like Gasly there potentially. Experienced and with technical knowledge. He would have no issues out driving Lance and might actually help the team a bit.

He would fit well at Mclaren but they are drifting and I dont see Ricci leaving. Not much open anywhere else. If Alonso leaves etc. Will be interesting to follow his path out of RedBull shite.

Right now his best chance to move is if Vettel retires in the next year or two....LMAO I just saw were Vettel is going to retire at the end of this season.

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Red Bull needs to cut F1 car weight to stay at the front, says Marko

Red Bull needs to cut weight from its RB18 Formula 1 car if it is to keep fighting at the front of the field this season, according to Helmut Marko.

Red Bull advisor Marko acknowledged the RB18 car was running overweight, and that it had to focus on reducing this figure to remain competitive at the front given Ferrari’s perceived weight advantage.

Marko said the added challenge facing Red Bull to reduce the weight of the car was the cost cap, which limited the areas of focus.

“It's much more difficult to get off the weight because of the cost cap,” Marko said in an exclusive interview with Autosport's sister publication Formel1.de.

“You have to calculate more precisely where technical progress, where weight reduction and reliability [can be found], i.e. these three components, and then you have to find the right compromise.

“But one thing is clear: you certainly won't be able to drive at the front of the field this season if you're overweight.”

I don't disagree, but Aston would have to considerably up their game to be a "better car". The Marko issue notwithstanding, of course.

And if rumours hold, Audi will be making a play for McLaren, at which time they may have their own ideas about a replacement for Ricciardo.

Renault Alpine might be a good alternative, if as you say Alonso gets bored and re-retires. I'd love to see Ocon and Gasly in the same car!

Keeping in mind today's date.... Just sayin'

Well, Gasly is full of air. No loss if he lands a different seat.

Hey everyone! I was looking to get into Formula 1 but don't exactly know where to watch and when to watch? Didn't want to start a new thread so if I could get some help?

This is the F1 Official website. For fans in US the ESPN network presents all races in coordination with SKY F1 out of the UK

https://www.formula1.com/en.html

SKY link - https://www.skysports.com/f1

ESPN link and it includes data for TV schedule in US - TV sched is on top https://www.espn.com/f1/

Thanks for this! :icon17:

Rescue mission averts F1 freight delay for Australian GP

Formula 1 headed off the danger of some teams being left without equipment for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix thanks to a last-minute rescue mission to fast-track freight to Melbourne.

Amid worldwide freight delays that have been triggered by rising transport costs and the impact of the Ukraine war, shipments of equipment that teams had sent weeks ago risked not making it on time.

A ship containing the freight of three teams, which had originally been expected to take 42 days, was delayed by more than one week that left it on a tight timetable to make it to Australia.

But amid the risk of further delays, F1’s official freight partner DHL intervened last weekend and took the decision to pull the freight from the ship at Singapore and fly it down to Melbourne instead.

DHL’s Vice President of Motorsport Logistics, Paul Fowler, took the decision to travel to Singapore to personally oversee the rescue mission – knowing that any delay to freight could impact running in Melbourne.

With planes rerouted from Los Angeles and Vietnam, the freight was removed from the cargo ship and loaded on to two Boeing 777s and a 767-300 before being flown direct to Melbourne.

The delivery arrived in Australia on Monday morning, ensuring all teams had their equipment in time ahead of this weekend's third round of the F1 championship.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/re...an-gp/9658057/

Mercedes has not, after all, brought the initially-planned lower downforce rear wing to Melbourne. It's now set for an appearance at either Imola or Miami.
— Mark Hughes (@SportmphMark) April 7, 2022

Australian Grand Prix: Can Charles Leclerc maintain title lead in Melbourne?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/60958892

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/th...epeat/9715469/

The data that shows Red Bull vs Ferrari in Australia is set for a Jeddah repeat
By:
Alex Kalinauckas
Apr 8, 2022, 8:52 AM
As in Jeddah, Ferrari swept both practice sessions on Friday in Melbourne - although Carlos Sainz Jr and Charles Leclerc this time took turns in pacing FP1 and FP2. But Max Verstappen and Red Bull looked strong on race pace long-runs and, with four DRS zones in play, F1's Albert Park return could produce a similarly enthralling battle to the one seen last time out between the two teams in Jeddah

The majestic Melbourne mob had waited 756 days. All that time since Formula 1 cars should’ve last been running around Albert Park two years ago back at the aborted 2020 season opener. Finally, wonderfully, in opening practice on Friday for the 2022 event, they were back. And a bumper crowd was there to see it.

Here on Friday, 112,466 people packed into the Melbourne track, with bold predictions coming from F1 that the combined weekend attendance level could end up being be the biggest multi-day crowd number in Australian sporting history – even though race day itself cannot be a record due a cap on spectator numbers imposed by the race organiser.

Having endured the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdown and being a sports mad city, Melbourne deserves the returning Australian Grand Prix to be a good one. And, based on the showing from 2022 pacesetters Red Bull and Ferrari so far in practice, all the signs at this stage point to there being a similar battle to the thriller that took place in Jeddah two weeks ago.
FP2 overall order
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1 Leclerc Ferrari 1m18.978s
2 Verstappen Red Bull 1m19.223s +0.245s
3 Alonso Alpine 1m19.537s +0.559s
4 Bottas Alfa Romeo 1m20.055s +1.077s
5 Norris McLaren 1m20.100s +1.122s
6 Gasly AlphaTauri 1m20.142s +1.164s
7 Russell Mercedes 1m20.212s +1.234s
8 Stroll Aston Martin 1m20.611s +1.633s
9 Magnussen Haas 1m21.191s +2.213s
10 Albon Williams 1m21.912s +2.934s

On headline one-lap pace alone, things look very good for Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc topped FP2 by a healthy margin over Red Bull’s Max Verstappen – his rival for race victory at each of the two races so far this season. And he got there in fewer qualifying simulation efforts compared to the Dutchman, who sacrificed time gathering race fuel load data late in the second one-hour session to try set-up adjustments on his RB18 when running the soft tyres.
Leclerc ended Friday with a 0.245s buffer over Verstappen following their FP2 soft tyre runs

Leclerc ended Friday with a 0.245s buffer over Verstappen following their FP2 soft tyre runs


The red-walled rubber is set to be something of a qualifying special given it is the softest in Pirelli’s range, the C5. The medium, the C3, did show signs of graining during the FP2 long runs here, but this is thought to be mainly down to the track temperature for the second session being 8°C cooler than earlier on Friday (30°C down from 38°C). Large rain clouds had built up over Melbourne, but didn’t end up unleashing anything more than a smattering of spitting over the track.

The lower than expected FP2 temperature – and things are predicted to be hotter for the rest of the weekend, particularly on race day – also means Ferrari can’t get too carried away with its headline pace. Because it looked as if Verstappen didn’t put it all together even on his best lap, with all teams struggling to get the softs into the optimum performance window thanks to the cooldown.

But, conversely, Leclerc said after FP2 that “I don’t think that anyone really put their lap together”. So, it could well be that Ferrari also has more time to find through driver perfection come the sessions that matter in qualifying.

When comparing the speed for Leclerc and Verstappen on their fastest FP2 laps, the Ferrari driver goes from being 0.1s ahead to 0.25s down by the time they brake for the Turn 11 right

Data Autosport has seen suggests that, just like in Jeddah (and further back in Bahrain too), Red Bull is gaining significant time compared to Ferrari on the straights. This is because it is again running its low drag rear wing, which was actually also something of a hinderance to Verstappen at other points in the Albert Park lap.

Compared to Leclerc’s Ferrari, which again is running a high downforce package overall – Leclerc said in Friday’s press conference that “whenever we'll have this [a lower drag package], I think we'll do a step forward” – Verstappen was having to lift off going through the final corner on his fastest lap, per the GPS data we’ve seen.

This is indicative of how the two downforce packages behave – particularly with the close walls on the exit after the medium-speed right-hander in mind for the drivers.

The difference in straight-line speed is particularly stark in a section of Albert Park that isn’t all that straight – the run from the re-profiled Turn 6 right at the start of the middle sector, all the way to the big braking zone at Turn 11, a sequence that includes the second and third of the four DRS zones at the 2022 event.
Red Bull pulls ahead on the straights, but loses ground in the slower corners due to its lower downforce rear wing

Red Bull pulls ahead on the straights, but loses ground in the slower corners due to its lower downforce rear wing



In this run, when comparing the speed for Leclerc and Verstappen on their fastest FP2 laps, the Ferrari driver goes from being 0.1s ahead to 0.25s down by the time they brake for the Turn 11 right – now expected to be the main overtaking point after all the changes made to the track for its return to the F1 calendar.

Leclerc’s higher downforce then gets him back ahead through the rest of the final sector, with the championship leader clocked gaining 0.4s on Verstappen through the slow, meandering Turn 13 left (the penultimate corner here now) alone on their respective best FP2 laps.

This shows just how strong Ferrari is in the slower stuff, but it should also be noted that Verstappen was particularly ill at ease at that point during his soft tyre runs in FP2.

“I also had a car in front of me on my final lap, so that didn't help,” he later explained. “But I think in FP1 and the beginning of FP2 we were lacking a bit of balance. And for the final run we changed the car around a bit and I felt a lot happier.

“We're a tiny bit off Ferrari but I think we can make it a little bit closer. But yeah, they are quick again.”
Medium tyre averages
Pos Team Average Time Laps
1 Red Bull 1m23.162s 7
2 Ferrari 1m23.248s 6
3 Alfa Romeo 1m23.983s 5
4 Mercedes 1m24.200s 6
5 Alpine 1m24.239s 6
6 McLaren 1m24.526s 6
7 Aston Martin 1m25.526s 5
8 Haas 1m25.613s 6
9 Williams 1m25.720s 6
*N/A AlphaTauri

In the long-run averages on the medium tyres above, surely set to be the compound to start on for the race, the times between the top teams are very close, and come in on comparative stint lengths.
Mercedes can be encouraged by its pace on the medium tyre relative to its soft tyre performance, though it still lagged behind Bottas's Alfa

Mercedes can be encouraged by its pace on the medium tyre relative to its soft tyre performance, though it still lagged behind Bottas's Alfa


As is typical, overall fuel load and engine mode settings for practice must be considered when reading these times, and there’s an added warning this time that the late-FP2 running was disrupted by the red flag caused by Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin shedding part of its left-side top wheel cover.

Traffic was also an issue for all the drivers that logged the times in the table above, which makes relying on their pace as definitive for the race even more tricky than usual, and then there’s the tyre warm-up issue in FP2, which was also a major factor in how quickly drivers could go over a higher-fuel stint.

In the best Mercedes average in the table above, George Russell managed to lap significantly quicker from the fourth tour of his stint, after which he was able keep up the pace even with worn rubber. Autosport understands that this reflects when the tyre temperature came to the Briton, and he was able to kick on as a result.

"At the moment, we're in a vicious circle where the drivers don't have the confidence to carry the speed through the faster corners, and it's that speed that will generate the temperature we desperately need" Andrew Shovlin

Not unsurprisingly, Russell’s squad remains mired in the battle in the pack, which is set to be even bigger (and therefore better) this weekend because so far it seems McLaren is performing better than it did in Bahrain and Jeddah.

In this scrap, Alpine led the way on Friday given Fernando Alonso was able to briefly bother the fight between Red Bull and Ferrari, but the GPS data referenced above also suggests the Spaniard’s car was running in a hotter engine mode compared to both Verstappen and, particularly, Leclerc.

Alonso was gaining time compared to Russell on their best laps on all the straights, which is indicative of a higher engine mode making the difference.

Also, watching trackside from the exit of the second corner during FP1, Autosport observed Alonso and team-mate Esteban Ocon having to hustle their A522s through Turns 1 and 2 (faster and wider for 2022), although Russell and Lewis Hamilton were among the worst for car stability there too. Also, unsurprisingly, the Red Bull and Ferrari cars were the best planted.
Alonso briefly bothered the Ferraris and Red Bulls in FP2, but the Alpine looked a handful to drive

Alonso briefly bothered the Ferraris and Red Bulls in FP2, but the Alpine looked a handful to drive


Mercedes is at least just 0.157s behind Valtteri Bottas’s fourth best overall effort for Alfa Romeo (from the 10 teams) in FP2, with the engine mode caveat for Alpine pointing to a big battle to be the best-of-the-rest third highest placed team in qualifying.

But the Silver Arrows squad seems to have the edge on its midfield rivals in terms of race pace per the times above, with its big problem on one-lap pace on Friday simply being both Russell (who led the way in FP2 for Mercedes) and Hamilton lacking confidence in the high-speed turns and having poor rear grip overall around the course here.

That lack of rear stability was evident to Autosport at our Turn 2 vantage point in FP1 and was then shown best in Hamilton’s FP2 trip through the gravel exiting Turn 12 during the early laps on the medium rubber. There, the seven-time world champion had to battle two big oversteer snaps, which came as he pushed on trying to find the limit.

“We're finding it hard to generate tyre temperature here so that's the big thing we need to work on overnight,” said Mercedes’ director of trackside engineering, Andrew Shovlin. “We were clearly more competitive in the first session than in the cooler conditions of the afternoon session, and the data we're seeing from the car is supporting the fact we're just not hot enough.

“If we can improve that then it's quite possible to find a good amount of grip. But at the moment, we're in a vicious circle where the drivers don't have the confidence to carry the speed through the faster corners, and it's that speed that will generate the temperature we desperately need. So, not an easy day overall but we're getting used to those this year.”

Russell ended the day with a 0.309s one-lap pace advantage over Hamilton, but Mercedes expects that to naturally close once it has completed its overnight analysis of their respective set-up approaches from Friday, all of which revolved around using a rear wing not at Mercedes’ minimum downforce level (it has various flaps that can be trimmed as the drivers require).

Porpoising continues to be a topic to be aware of across the grid, with Mercedes again encountering the issue substantially the lower it ran its W13s to the ground on Friday. Ferrari is also bouncing badly too in Australia – worse than in Bahrain or Jeddah per Leclerc – but not at the cost of pace, just driver comfort. Not that it bothered Leclerc.

Latifi just can't catch a break.

Like, he's one of those stand-in cars that crash regularly on an episode of Speed Racer or something.

But The Clerkster up at pole again. Dream season still active.

The 2 billionaire boys club idiots today lol. Really? How much longer does this idiocy last at Williams and Aston. They are 'train wreck' teams with their moronic drivers. If you are a potential sponsor, as long as Lance and Latifi are around do you park your money on either car LOL???????????

Albon put in work.

Wonder how long this lasts for Ferrari. LeClerc had like 20 seconds on Perez. Forgot the split until Max pulled out, but if I recall, that gap was also just increasing.

McLaren seemed to turn things around a bit.

my thoughts from the race (I even got up to watch it live)

• Williams - what a strategy to get a point
• Haas - why put KelvinM on Hards to begin with, poor strategy
• MB - simply amazing to see how they are doing and Russell is 2nd in the championship
• McLaren a nice return to form..
• AM - Stroll no comment
• Alpha Romeo - Bottas, just fun to watch him race, and see his form
• RB - funny how they talk about them being an engine manufacture when they have contracted out the engines to Honda. Will be interesting to see how the season goes

Overall just fun to watch F1 this year
:tiphat:

Ferrari just showed they are the better overall team given they are slower on the straights. That was a Mercedes position a couple years ago.

Perez looks good but does not have Max' race pace.

Aston is a joke, Stroll is inept x2 both father and son. Why is Seb even there. He should leave. Fk that entire Stroll operation. Living in the back of the grid and suffering an ego-maniac billionaires idiot brat??\

One more DNF soon for Max and he does NOT win the title = more payback for the idiocy of Masi and Max/RedBull last year. IM LOVING IT!:happydance::happydance::happydance::happydance :

In depth BBC review of the race. Not a bad read -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/61058362

I feel like he's gonna play into whatever happens to Riccardo and Gasly.

If a multiple time champion can wind up on a bottom end team like that, I can only wonder what happens to current drivers of a lesser caliber.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff labels Michael Masi 'disrespectful' and a 'liability'


Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has accused former Formula One race director Michael Masi of being disrespectful to drivers, bad at taking criticism and a liability to the sport.

Mercedes blames Masi for costing Lewis Hamilton the championship at last year's Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after he incorrectly implemented the safety car restart procedure at the end of the race.

Masi's decisions set up a one-lap sprint which saw Max Verstappen overtake Lewis Hamilton in dramatic fashion for his first title win.

Masi was removed from his role as race director in the aftermath and the role has been completely revised by motor racing's governing body, the FIA, for this season.

An FIA report into the Abu Dhabi race was critical of Masi's decision-making, although it insisted the Australian acted in good faith throughout.

Wolff compared how good he feels Hamilton is at taking constructive criticism to how Masi seemed to ignore it, even when it came from a good place, and recalled a meeting he had with the former race director before the controversial Abu Dhabi event.

"It is quite interesting because I had lunch with him on the Wednesday before the race, and I said to him that 'I really want to tell you, without patronising you, that you need to take criticism on board and develop from there. Lewis [Hamilton] does it every day, but you are a guy who always seems to know better'," Wolff told the Press Association news agency.

"It wasn't about influencing him but really giving my honest feedback that he shouldn't block outside opinion as simply being wrong.

"You hear from the drivers and how the drivers' briefings were conducted [by Masi] and some of the guys said it was almost disrespectful how he treated some of them.

"He was just immune to any feedback and even today he has not properly reflected that he did something wrong.

"He was a liability for the sport because everybody kept talking about Abu Dhabi and the race director, and the race director should not be somebody that people talk about, but someone who does the job and makes sure the race is run according to the regulations."

F1 has two race directors this year, Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas, who alternate duties.

One of the findings of the FIA's Abu Dhabi GP investigation was that Masi had too much to deal with, so the two new race directors are assisted by Herbie Blash, the long time deputy to Masi's popular predecessor, Charlie Whiting, who died suddenly on the eve of the 2019 season.

https://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/3...tful-liability

Kind of annoying I just tried to find the race broadcast replay on ESPN app only to find it is only available in Espanol (no English) :icon14:

That sucks!

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The 2 pics I attached - first from nose on has small illuminated area on the ground. I could see this yellow glow as LH approached a turn on TV. I was surprised it was not sparking. Thats the first sensor. The second shows it attached to the floor on the outer edge.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/th...-plan/9835259/

The glowing light that offered clues about Mercedes’ F1 recovery plan
Eagle-eyed observers of Formula 1's Australian Grand Prix could not help but notice a strange glowing light coming from beneath Lewis Hamilton's car at points of the race on Sunday.


s2_1.jpg
By: Matt Somerfield
Co-author: Giorgio Piola
Apr 12, 2022, 7:40 AM
lewis-hamilton-mercedes-w13-1.jpg


But rather than this being some funky idea for his W13 to look better, the light was actually a working sensor, and the result of the ongoing push by Mercedes to get to the bottom of its porpoising problems.

Mercedes believes that if it can understand what's needed to stop its 2022 F1 car bouncing on the straights, then that can help it run it in a better set-up window, which will deliver an automatic step forward in performance.

The difficulty is that so far Mercedes has not yet got to the bottom of the triggers for the porpoising, and exactly what are the factors that cause the phenomenon to appear.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff admitted that there were some hidden "gremlins" with the car that needed to be found, and things were especially confusing because no matter what set-up changes were made over the Melbourne weekend, they appeared to have little impact on the problem.

The porpoising appears to be less frequent in the races, and in a bid to try to comprehend why that is, Mercedes elected to keep on an optical rideheight sensor for the duration of the Australia weekend on Hamilton's car.

undefined-1649763440600.jpg
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Motorsport Images

The sensor, which emits a light when switched on, measures the ride height and the car's trajectory in relation to the track, so can be used to deliver answers on what exactly is happening on straights and in corners.

These devices are quite commonly used in F1, but normally are only fitted in free practice sessions because they do add extra weight to the car, believed to be somewhere between 1kg and 2kg.

Mercedes felt, however, that the benefits of keeping it on the car for qualifying and the race for the extra knowledge gained, would outweigh any downside in having extra ballast.

As Lewis Hamilton explained to Sky Sports F1: "I've got something on my car that makes it a little bit heavier, but it's not a huge, huge step. Hopefully it will enable the team gain more information in the race."

But the light sensor was not the only data gathering exercise Mercedes conducted, as during some of its free practice runs, it added further optical rideheight sensor housed within pods on the edge of the floor.

mercedes-w13-side-detail-1.jpg
Mercedes W13 side detail

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/mo...talks/9868145/

Monaco: Zero concerns over F1 future amid new contract talks
The organisers of the Monaco Grand Prix say they have zero concerns about the future of the Formula 1 race amid talks over a new contract beyond 2022.
Luke Smith
By:
Luke Smith
Co-author:
Benjamin Vinel
Apr 13, 2022, 11:05 AM

Monaco has long stood as one of F1's most prestigious events due to its rich history and glamorous image, acting as the original street race on the calendar in 1950.

But, amid the current expansion of the F1 calendar to include more city events such as Miami and Las Vegas, questions have been raised about Monaco's future, particularly as the race has traditionally not paid a hosting fee.

F1 CEO and president Stefano Domenicali recently warned that it was "not enough to have a pedigree anymore" for races to keep their place on the calendar, and that the arrival of new events would "force the organisers of traditional grands prix to raise their level of quality".

Following confirmation that Las Vegas would join the calendar from 2023, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown said in an interview with Reuters that he thought Monaco "needs to come up to the same commercial terms as other grands prix" and give thought to its track layout due to the demands of modern cars.

Monaco's existing contract expires after the 2022 race, but the president of the Automobile Club de Monaco, Michel Boeri, responded to concerns about its future by expressing his confidence that a new contract would be signed as negotiations with F1 continue.

"I'd like to refer to what has been read in the press, where it is said that we may struggle to keep organising grand prix races beyond the 2022 event, so as early as next year," Boeri said at an event with the marshals ahead of next month's race, according to La Gazette de Monaco.

"It was implied that the fees required by Liberty [Media] were too excessive for Monaco and the grand prix would no longer be held.

"That's untrue. We are still in talks with them and must now seal the deal with a contract.

"I can guarantee you that the grand prix will keep taking place beyond 2022. I don't know if it will be a three- or five-year contract, but that's a detail."

F1 is set to hit the 24-race limit in the Concorde Agreement next year with the addition of races in Las Vegas and Qatar, as well as a possible return to China, which has a contract in place until 2025.

I don't know how I feel about it - Love the atmosphere and history of the Monaco event, but it is really crummy racing. I doubt that any of the 2022 rule changes will improve that.

With F1 bumping up against the limit of races (actually, will exceed it by a couple of races next year), either they need to extend the Concord agreement to go beyond the 24 event maximum (and address the cost cap and parts allotments accordingly), or races like Monaco have to go. I've heard that Spa is another on the potential chopping block and I'd rather lose Monaco than Spa any day. But Spa is in the middle of the Ardenne forest in Belgium, not a rich billionaire playground destination the way Monte Carlo and the Mediterranean is, so I know which one is more likely to lose.