You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
Hamilton, Newey, Horner at Ferrari for 2025. The 2025 car will be a dog, but Newey will focus on 2026... which will also end up being a dog coz Ferrari. Then all 3 retire.
Hamilton, Newey, Horner at Ferrari for 2025. The 2025 car will be a dog, but Newey will focus on 2026… which will also end up being a dog coz Ferrari. Then all 3 retire.
It would be an ironic way for Hamilton and Newey to end their careers - kinda like John Barnard and Alain Prost joining Ferrari at the top of their games and failing, but with the dial turned up to 11.
Still can't see Newey going to Ferrari - wherever he went it would take 4 to 5 years to turn round a design department (especially one like Ferrari!).
As I said I think he'll stay with Red Bull, work as a consultant for Aston or go and play with boats again as he's done in the past.
ffs the alpine livery is mostly bare carbon as well
Maybe bare carbon is the new black? 🙂
Any thoughts on the sprint weekend rejig? Opening parc ferme after the sprint makes sense, but any incident in the sprint could now ruin quali and so probably (except for max last year) the race as well. Overall I still don't think it adds to the weekend.
* Breaking * New Gossip on the Socials! **** 🙂
Trouble at t'mill with the 'stappens and Horner.
https://twitter.com/fastestpitstop/status/1755225219273245148?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
So there's both a blue and a pink version of the black car for more BWT sponsorship presence at some races? How a small strip of colour on the nose classes as a livery is beyond me. This is just getting silly now. How long before there's a mandated minimum paint coverage to put a stop to the ever-growing darkness?
With F1 Alpine we get black! With WEC Alpine we get...
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
So who’s the mystery female between the Verstappens and Horner? She’s the one raising the complaint, would be useful to know.
Trouble at t’mill with the ‘stappens and Horner.
I know that Twitter link above is basically gossip, but Jos Verstappen and Helmut Marko working to get Christian Horner booted for behaving like a ****.
when Jos’ name would come up…
It wouldn't be the first time that Verstappen senior has fallen out with someone.
Odd that people are talking as if Horner can be ousted - isn't he at least a part owner of the team?
No - just an employee...
[i]With Mateschitz gone, ownership of the energy drinks company is now divided between his son Mark, who has a 49% stake, and Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya who has majority control. [/i]
...unlike Toto who owns a third of Mercedes F1.
I think the Red Bull F1 team is entirely owned by the parent company.
the-muffin-man
…unlike Toto who owns a third of Mercedes F1.
Maybe I was just confusing the 2 . . .
Thai billionaire Chalerm Yoovidhya who has majority control.
......who is said to be supportive of Horner.
As understand it, the investigation is by the parent company not by Red Bull Racing.
I'd suggest randomly posting the full names of women that work at RBR in conjunction with this probably isn't something that they'd welcome 😳
It's called Jigsaw Identification and you can get in serious trouble for it once legal proceedings are under way.
WTF, why are you listing all their names?!
Maybe remove the names then?
Absolutely bizarre and unacceptable post from @WorldClassAccident. Tried to use the report post button but could only do it on their follow-up post if mods see this.
The screenshots are the story - knives are out...
https://twitter.com/creative_chaos2/status/1755501392725250374?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
Silverstone confirmed for another 10 years. Trigger warning for the video: high levels of cringe.
https://twitter.com/SilverstoneUK/status/1755585084063650175
That’s great news. Silverstone has accounted for about 90% of my race coverage related popcorn consumption over the past few years.
The screenshots are the story – knives are out…
That article just seems like an unnecessary hatchet job just as Horner is being investigated..."We must presume he's innocent" it says, "But here are the ways in which he acts like a shit otherwise..." It's as if an editor has said to the reporter "Give me a couple of thousand words on what a terrible person he is"
nickc
That article just seems like an unnecessary hatchet job just as Horner is being investigated…”We must presume he’s innocent” it says, “But here are the ways in which he acts like a shit otherwise…” It’s as if an editor has said to the reporter “Give me a couple of thousand words on what a terrible person he is”
Posted 17 minutes ago
Hatchet job or not, it articulates nicely how I feel about how he operates. I respect what he's achieved with the team but that's as far as it goes. Imagine working in an environment lead by somebody like that.
I think the female employee is a smokescreen, it’s Michael Masi.
Michelle Masi?
The new Torro Rosso livery looks fairly decent! (well, colourful at least!)
Shame it's stuck on a Red Bull - I'm currently stocking up on sausage rolls and pork pies ready - fingers crossed - for the best F1 news since Lewis joined Ferrari. F1 for me will be so much better if Mr Smug is not longer on the pit wall.
Shame it’s stuck on a Red Bull – I’m currently stocking up on sausage rolls and pork pies ready – fingers crossed – for the best F1 news since Lewis joined Ferrari. F1 for me will be so much better if Mr Smug is not longer on the pit wall.
I'd be amazed if we hear anything (one way or the other) today....tho i hope I'm wrong
Yes, unless it was serious criminal behaviour, I expect it will take weeks or months to be resolved and we might not ever hear the details. AFAIK, Horner is accused of "bullying", which could cover a huge range of things. The meeting today is with Red Bull corporate lawyers to establish the facts. If there is criminal conduct, I would expect him to be escorted out of the building, but I doubt that it's that serious. If it's at the less serious end of the scale, it's quite likely that he will be told to apologize, everyone at Red Bull will have to attend workshops on how to behave appropriately at work, and Horner will be monitored to make sure he doesn't repeat.
Unless they offer him "resign or we fire you" cos it's bad but not criminal...in which case he may "consider his position" over the weekend.
You have to think if they want him gone it's going to happen before the new car launch next week.
RB might take a while to release the findings, but that doesn’t mean Horner will keep his trap shut… and then Ferrari announce his arrival on Monday
Times is reporting that they've been told not to expect any resolution until just before the first Grand Prix
Does he have a reputation for being unpleasant to work for? Outwardly he's in the Simon Cowell mould of knobber I'd elect to engineer my career to not work with but that's not the same thing. It'd be odd for him to step over the line from unpleasant and exacting knobber to outright unacceptable bully with one employee only over 20 years so either everyone else has kept their head down and this is the first whistleblower (maybe of many) or he's found himself up against someone thinner skinned than usual for the industry. One person's unpleasant and exactly knobber is another's bully I guess. There is a certain whiff of Dominic Rabb about him.
Times is reporting that they’ve been told not to expect any resolution until just before the first Grand Prix
A cynic may say that’s plenty of time to pressure the witness and force an out of court settlement with a NDA applied. But you’d have to be a cynical type mind…
Does he have a reputation for being unpleasant to work for?
My assumption about most of the top people in F1 is that they are extremely demanding people who expect a lot of their subordinates. In other words, a lot of them are probably unpleasant to work for when things don't go exactly as planned.
I remember a story about Tom Walkinshaw grabbing a journalist by the throat and hanging him out over the pit wall as cars raced past because he'd written something unflattering about Walkinshaw. I sure Walkinshaw wasn't alone in being a nasty **** when he didn't get what he wanted.
you dont take a job in a F1 team if work life balance is what you are looking for!
A cynic may say that’s plenty of time to pressure the [s]witness[/s] accuser
FTFY. (Unless you know something that I don't?)
Oh look, another half painted F1 car is launched.
Green from the side...
Black from the top
Some neat details emerging on the new Aston after it hit the track today, and new gearbox and rear suspension too - which means Merc have changed theirs too (as Aston buy it from them). If Aston, Merc, Ferrari and McLaren have all upped their game we could have a cracker of a season! 🤞
https://twitter.com/dr_obbs/status/1757106660735086976?s=12&t=EQoHg-RGok071Fjc15ZHKw
Oh look, another half painted F1 car is launched
I think they're mainly vinyl wrapped these days, paint is too heavy 🙂
If Aston, Merc, Ferrari and McLaren have all upped their game we could have a cracker of a season!
FFS, you’ve jinxed it now. That comment just made Adrian Newey find 2 seconds extra pace
🤣🤣
…Newey has even said a 3rd gen of the same car may be too safe a choice. Won’t be long till we find out.
Ah, so like the F2002 was an update on the F2001 then 😉
the-muffin-man
Full MemberSome neat details emerging on the new Aston after it hit the track today, and new gearbox and rear suspension too – which means Merc have changed theirs too (as Aston buy it from them). If Aston, Merc, Ferrari and McLaren have all upped their game we could have a cracker of a season! 🤞
Yeah there's a lot of interesting stuff going on there, hope it's quick. The sidepod undercut, curved wishbones and the coanda air inlets are really trick.
I always wondered why more aero use wasn't made of the suspension given its prominent position. I had assumed it was something to do with structural, performance or regulatory restrictions. If they can put curves in it then they can better position it to avoid/direct air flow I would have thought.
Also, given it moves with the wheel AND body movement, there might be some extra benefit they can extract that isn't available on surfaces that just move with the body.
I always wondered why more aero use wasn’t made of the suspension given its prominent position.
The used to - then FIA introduced a 3:1 profile ratio to reduce the effect of any aero profiling. Some old aero suspension...
[img] 
[/img]
I always wondered why more aero use wasn’t made of the suspension given its prominent position.
regulations about moving parts and aero.
That Ferrari is beautiful. Let's hope the race strategies are similarly attractive.
RE Horner, according to a sports journalist from a well known sports newsletter in a WhatsApp group I am in, it was an unsolicted pic of an explicit nature sent by Horner to his PA. Said pic has been presented by the accuser as evidence.
RE Horner...
...according to the socials gossip - even Bernie has told him to resign. And if Bernie thinks you're a wrong 'un then...!! 😳😳
I don't want to doubt the contacts on your newsletter, but I thought all the reports had said it was regarding controlling behaviour of a non-sexual nature.
I think if Horner had sent his PA a ****-pic then I don't think it would have required 8 hours with a lawyer.
I’d also seen that. TBH I would not have passed on what’s essentially gossip were it not for the source.
Let's hope we find out one way or the other!
I think if Horner had sent his PA a *-pic then I don’t think it would have required 8 hours with a lawyer.
Have you seen Mr Horner speak - he could easily argue for 8 hours that a *-pic was a pineapple. And you were the fool for thinking otherwise!!! 🙂
but I thought all the reports had said it was regarding controlling behaviour of a non-sexual nature.
I've read that it was 'inappropriate behaviour of a controlling kind', I've not seen it reported as non-sexual though. TBH, my first thoughts when it mentioned a female employee where that it'll be a suggestive photo or email.
I don’t want to doubt the contacts on your newsletter, but I thought all the reports had said it was regarding controlling behaviour of a non-sexual nature.
I think if Horner had sent his PA a ****-pic then I don’t think it would have required 8 hours with a lawyer.
Exactly. Also, as irritating as I find Horner, I really doubt that he would be stupid enough to send an unsolicited dick pic to a female employee.
the-muffin-man
Have you seen Mr Horner speak – he could easily argue for 8 hours that a ****-pic was a pineapple. And you were the fool for thinking otherwise!!!
He'll be getting Alex Albon in next, for a re-creation to see if it was in fact possible.
RE Horner, according to a sports journalist from a well known sports newsletter in a WhatsApp group I am in, it was an unsolicted pic of an explicit nature sent by Horner to his PA. Said pic has been presented by the accuser as evidence
If he’s going to fall on his sword I think it will be tomorrow before their car launch.
If the pic photo rumours really do have any weight then they’re indefensible for a man in his position and fighting it for weeks is a very bad look for Red Bull.
…and it will take all the headlines away from the Mercedes launch.
Unsubstantiated rumours abound that both Newey and Verstappen would bail if Horner goes 🧐🧐
Not sure I'd want to be the one to make any decisions with that prospect! 😬
Unsubstantiated rumours abound that both Newey and Verstappen would bail if Horner goes
According to Joe Saward, it is believed that Newey and Horner have clauses in their contracts that say they can bail if the other leaves. I could see them going off to Aston Martin and taking Verstappen with them.
Black and orange go well together.
Unsubstantiated rumours abound that both Newey and Verstappen would bail if Horner goes
Isn’t it assumed that a Verstappen is the one that leaked the story?
Are they unhappy with Karen, or wider redbull and looking to engineer an exit?
One rumour is that the Thai and Austrian shareholders disagree about the level of autonomy given to the F1 business. As irritating as I find Horner, I think Red Bull were right to let him and Newey (and Helmut) run it without having to get permission from the board to do stuff. Gary Anderson had a column a while back about what happened when Ford took over Stewart and imposed their management ideas on the team.
Exactly where the Verstappens fit into it, I don't know. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if Max wasn't still sulking about Perez being allowed to win races last season. He's a brilliant driver but he really is a petulant little **** at the same time.
Are they unhappy with Karen, or wider redbull and looking to engineer an exit?
I can imagine that relationships at the very top of an organisation like RB are fraught with political infighting with all sides looking to get an advantage, control other people, or stir the pot occasionally just to keep everyone else off balance. I imagine that Horner and Verstappen(s) and folks at RB probably do it as normally as breathing.
Gary Anderson had a column a while back about what happened when Ford took over Stewart and imposed their management ideas on the team.
There's an interview with Otmar Szafnauer in this months Motorsport Magazine saying pretty much the same. Renault wouldn't leave them alone to manage an F1 team and want to apply car production methods that just don't work. They just wanted results quick.
He was also saying it can take a year or more just to get key members of staff due to negotiations and notice periods - never mind the difficultly in convincing people to move from a top-notch working environment like McLaren to modest outfit in Enstone like Alpine.
Well the Mercedes unveiling was a short affair.......
Looks pretty decent though!
All change - hope it works! 😬
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
[img] 
[/img]
"The black of Alpine car has overtaken the black and slightly green car, but finds itself stuck behind that other black car.. The black car with the orange stripe has taken advantage of the confusion and has dived up the inside of the Black car of Mercedes"
RE Horner…
…according to the socials gossip – even Bernie has told him to resign. And if Bernie thinks you’re a wrong ‘un then…!! 😳😳
Bernie has tweeted today to deny this.....so that means he did 😂