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2019 Formula 1 Season Thread

I've been trying to limit my viewing this season, as I'm just frustrated with the whole circus that F1 has become. Not being able to watch races on terrestrial TV has also been a factor.

The steward decision on Sunday was just wrong, but I suspect without it there would have been very little to talk about. We'll never know if Hamilton could have challenged Vettel, but the past races have suggested not, which pretty much destroys the whole point of the sport. If drivers are unable to follow a car at a distance close enough to allow wheel-to-wheel racing, they might as well just award the points based on Saturday's qualifying and save everyone a few hours on a Sunday. If they took away DRS, which is nonsense anyway, there be less than a handful over overtakes during the entire race weekend.

:(
 
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F1: That's rejoining the circuit unsafely!

WEC: Hold my beer.


Gonzalez rejoins in front of Conway, who was looking right towards the apex and pit straight and didn't see him.
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
One person not buying a product doesn’t mean millions of people don’t. Red Bull were the first major energy drink supplier so we remember the name whether we buy it or not, due to the exposure..
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Red Bull came about when Dietrich Mateschitz (who was working for Proctor & Gamble) came across a popular energy drink called Krating Daeng in Thailand. He teamed up with the owner of this product (which is very similar to Red Bull, down to the logo) to create the company we know today.

If I was to think of the perfect vehicle for a massive money-laundering scheme - then energy drinks would come pretty high on the list. The business model is such that you sell roughly seven cents worth of sugar water and caffeine in a brightly packaged can for dollar (or more) per 250ml. A single international shipping container of such a product has theoretical retail value of almost half a million dollars. You don't need to be an accounting genius to see the opportunity to create a plausible rationale for having millions of dollars or cash revenue from markets in the developing world. You could realistically give the stuff away in corner shops and convenience stores, and persuade the shopkeepers to sign fabricated purchase orders in exchange. Deposit the cash you need to launder as receipts in the local bank, and your dirty money is washed clean at ten cents on the dollar. A figure, I'm reliably informed, that most drug barons and arms traffickers would consider a bargain.

I ought to make clear: This is not the way Red Bull became the runaway international phenomenon that it is. But the sudden appearance of a brand like Rich Energy, with no evidence that its actually available for sale anywhere in the developed world, certainly raises questions in my mind.
 
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vrDrew said:
Red Bull came about when Dietrich Mateschitz (who was working for Proctor & Gamble) came across a popular energy drink called Krating Daeng in Thailand. He teamed up with the owner of this product (which is very similar to Red Bull, down to the logo) to create the company we know today.

If I was to think of the perfect vehicle for a massive money-laundering scheme - then energy drinks would come pretty high on the list. The business model is such that you sell roughly seven cents worth of sugar water and caffeine in a brightly packaged can for dollar (or more) per 250ml. A single international shipping container of such a product has theoretical retail value of almost half a million dollars. You don't need to be an accounting genius to see the opportunity to create a plausible rationale for having millions of dollars or cash revenue from markets in the developing world. You could realistically give the stuff away in corner shops and convenience stores, and persuade the shopkeepers to sign fabricated purchase orders in exchange. Deposit the cash you need to launder as receipts in the local bank, and your dirty money is washed clean at ten cents on the dollar. A figure, I'm reliably informed, that most drug barons and arms traffickers would consider a bargain.

I ought to make clear: This is not the way Red Bull became the runaway international phenomenon that it is. But the sudden appearance of a brand like Rich Energy, with no evidence that its actually available for sale anywhere in the developed world, certainly raises questions in my mind.
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I think the fact Rich Energy have been aware of Whytes Bikes for a few years now and their branding due to links with F1 and have blatantly copied their branding is enough to see they aren’t 100% legit. How they’ve managed to get a title sponsorship role with Haas after being turned down by Williams suggests the marketing department at Haas isn’t the best.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
I think the fact Rich Energy have been aware of Whytes Bikes for a few years now and their branding due to links with F1 and have blatantly copied their branding is enough to see they aren’t 100% legit. How they’ve managed to get a title sponsorship role with Haas after being turned down by Williams suggests the marketing department at Haas isn’t the best.
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I would consider that they (Haas) got the money, they could care less what Rich does, as even if they lose the bike thing, they still paid Haas, and all this is just making the name Haas more views.
After all we would not be speaking about Haas if it weren't for Rich issue :D, their performace are little to talk about.

So may be, the marketing department did good :D
 
Rich Energy are more scamming than a Nigerian Prince with a Hotmail account.

Do a bit of digging on William Storey. He's the director and owner of 6 different companies. Busy man! Two of these companies have folded (alarm bells...), and two of the remaining four are both Rich Energy.

One of the remaining two is a technology company, with the same name as one of the folded companies. The company (TryFan) claims to supply Apple, Google, Microsoft, Sony, IBM and more with...LED Lightbulbs. It's also in liquidation. The remaining company is a boxing promotions company with has no Google results. And all of these companies (including Rich Energy) are being run from their HQ...a church in England.
 
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YaBe said:
I would consider that they (Haas) got the money, they could care less what Rich does, as even if they lose the bike thing, they still paid Haas, and all this is just making the name Haas more views.
After all we would not be speaking about Haas if it weren't for Rich issue :D, their performace are little to talk about.

So may be, the marketing department did good :D
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'huh?

I'm lost.

What brought this up?
 
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The-Real-Deal82 said:
How they’ve managed to get a title sponsorship role with Haas after being turned down by Williams suggests the marketing department at Haas isn’t the best.
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That's the thing that puzzles me.

If you take Gene Haas, a legitimate billionaire who spent eighteen months in Federal prison for tax evasion, you'd think that he would have people who would be telling him to stay a million miles away from anything even vaguely sketchy when it comes to international finance. Maybe he's just looking for someone to write a check for a few million to ease the burden of financing the hundred million or so it takes to field an F1 team, and isn't too picky about where the cash comes from. But the US Justice Department can be pretty hardcore when it comes to holding people accountable.

I'd really like to see Haas succeed as a team. I just hope their title sponsor doesn't end up bringing them down. That'd be a real tragedy.
 
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YaBe said:
I would consider that they (Haas) got the money, they could care less what Rich does, as even if they lose the bike thing, they still paid Haas, and all this is just making the name Haas more views.
After all we would not be speaking about Haas if it weren't for Rich issue :D, their performace are little to talk about.

So may be, the marketing department did good :D
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It all depends if you want your brand just to get hits or whether you care for the reason it’s getting mentioned? Not all exposure is good and Haas are a big brand already due to being well respected in the machining Industry. Being associated with a dodgy drinks sham isn’t great even if they’ve got £5m out of it.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
It all depends if you want your brand just to get hits or whether you care for the reason it’s getting mentioned? Not all exposure is good and Haas are a big brand already due to being well respected in the machining Industry. Being associated with a dodgy drinks sham isn’t great even if they’ve got £5m out of it.
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Well considering
vrDrew said:
If you take Gene Haas, a legitimate billionaire who spent eighteen months in Federal prison for tax evasion.
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I mean ... the damage was done even before Rich :D

In business it's all about the money, good or bad, as long as they talk about you is great, in a couple of years no one will remember Rich energy drink (are they even in stores?) but Haas will still be there, with other willing to pay sponsors. :D

They should thought make people speak about Haas for their results (as they did during the past 2 seasons!)
 
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YaBe said:
Well considering

I mean ... the damage was done even before Rich :D

In business it's all about the money, good or bad, as long as they talk about you is great, in a couple of years no one will remember Rich energy drink (are they even in stores?) but Haas will still be there, with other willing to pay sponsors. :D

They should thought make people speak about Haas for their results (as they did during the past 2 seasons!)
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I signed off a £350k Haas CNC milling machine for the place I work last month and had no idea Gene Haas has been in prison until I read that post so the damage hadn’t reached me. Rich energy however seem to sell very few drinks and nick the branding from companies that do sell products. If I see a Rich Energy drink for sale now I wouldn’t buy it after the exposure I’ve had to it’s branding and the fact the motorsports community are ripping the piss out of them on Twitter.
 
The-Real-Deal82 said:
I signed off a £350k Haas CNC milling machine for the place I work last month and had no idea Gene Haas has been in prison until I read that post so the damage hadn’t reached me. Rich energy however seem to sell very few drinks and nick the branding from companies that do sell products. If I see a Rich Energy drink for sale now I wouldn’t buy it after the exposure I’ve had to it’s branding and the fact the motorsports community are ripping the piss out of them on Twitter.
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You made my point, as much as Haas fraud was a non issue for the business, so is the sponsorship they have, they got the money and they do not care what happens to Rich.

I said that the marketing department did the right choice to sign them, no mtter how bad rich crashes, Haas reputation is safe, and they go tthe money.

And I repeat myself "In business it's all about the money, good or bad, as long as they talk about you is great"
 
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YaBe said:
You made my point, as much as Haas fraud was a non issue for the business, so is the sponsorship they have, they got the money and they do not care what happens to Rich.

I said that the marketing department did the right choice to sign them, no mtter how bad rich crashes, Haas reputation is safe, and they go tthe money.

And I repeat myself "In business it's all about the money, good or bad, as long as they talk about you is great"
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I think it’s a sad state of affairs though that F1 teams are that desperate for sponsors that they take whatever money they can get off companies like that though. Williams are in need of funds but turned them down for reasons undisclosed and it was only 9 or so years ago there was a waiting list of companies eager to sponsor a team. Now it’s a task getting companies to even want an association with F1 because they know less people are watching and the fees are still sky high. McLaren struggled in 2014 to get sponsors after Vodafone pulled away and since the tobacco days I think the sport has continued to see a lack of interest from major companies willing to pay £15m a season to be plastered on the car.

There will always be varying views on marketing and my view differs from yours. I suppose neither of us can claim to be right as it depends on the industry. Bad marketing is not always a good thing but can be beneficial depending on the company. It would sink certain businesses even if the quick cash is there initially.
 
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Hey guys.. just posting a video from Montreal. I only noticed this when qualifying started. The Mercs were the only cars on their out-laps that would blow off some smoke as you can see in the video. They would come out of the pits, take the corner and then right as they put down the power you can see the smoke blow out of the exhaust. It was only on the outlap and not during practice. I guess I'm curious... what is it, and since they are the best team - how come no other team does the same thing?

Turn 1 Exhaust
 
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BenTrovato said:
Hey guys.. just posting a video from Montreal. I only noticed this when qualifying started. The Mercs were the only cars on their out-laps that would blow off some smoke as you can see in the video. They would come out of the pits, take the corner and then right as they put down the power you can see the smoke blow out of the exhaust. It was only on the outlap and not during practice. I guess I'm curious... what is it, and since they are the best team - how come no other team does the same thing?

Turn 1 Exhaust
Click to expand...

They are topping up the engine oil before a run, and the excess oil is being burnt off, producing the additional smoke. It doesn't happen in practice as they aren't topping it up before a run, and it won't happen in the race as that'd be burnt off during the formation lap.

Burning oil is technically illegal - you can only burn the fuel given. But realistically, there is no way of stopping it happening. Red Bull first accused Mercedes of it a couple of years ago, and then Ferrari last year. Burning oil obviously gives you a little bit more power.

The FIA have actually banned teams from topping up oil between qualifying runs now, in an attempt to stop it. Presumably, the teams have just found another way of doing it.
 
BenTrovato said:
Hey guys.. just posting a video from Montreal. I only noticed this when qualifying started. The Mercs were the only cars on their out-laps that would blow off some smoke as you can see in the video. They would come out of the pits, take the corner and then right as they put down the power you can see the smoke blow out of the exhaust. It was only on the outlap and not during practice. I guess I'm curious... what is it, and since they are the best team - how come no other team does the same thing?

Turn 1 Exhaust
Click to expand...

Yeah like every other race you'll see them smoke right before the formation lap and I get excited because it looks like one of them, preferably Lewis, is about to blow an engine then they don't. :(
 
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Le Mans, kind of nice to see racing with actual passing. Best comment was a description of a cars paint livery. FYI, crazy paint job with lots of fluorescent, "Looks like a washing machine accident with fluorescent markers". Good weather so far but you know Le Mans, comes the night so does the rain. GO Fernando!
 
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