(03-05-2022, 02:47 AM)NeilP Wrote: Sounds amazing....
But it is not in my view.
Neither are going to being a new team into F1, Porsche are said to be teaming up with Red Bull and Audi are trying to buy out an existing team and have been approaching according to what I have read, McLaren, Aston Martin, Sauber and Williams. I wonder if the $200 Million buy in price tag has anything to do with that. Maybe, maybe not its a lot of money but I guess not to those companies.
I frequently tell you guys I know very little about F1 other than what I can see with my own eyes and figure out with my own brain (of which both are unreliable these days) but I have had the distinct impression for some time now that Liberty have been manipulating the sport towards getting these specific companies on board with F1.
Its hard for me to be positive about pretty much anything in my life right now yet alone sport so maybe that is clouding my perspective.
Lets hear some of yours...
We are now a few months on and whilst we may question why F1 are trying to bring on board the VW group we now know that Sauber will be Audi's entry and there seems to be some interesting stuff going on with the Red Bull Powertrains marry up with Porsche. Looks to me as if we actually won't end up with any additional manufacturers here unless Audi are going to produce an engine.... and whilst that may be diserable to some... why would the VW Group have 2 engine manufacturers in F1. Also, if lets say they did, how would Red Bull Powertrains respond to having Porsche looking over their shoulders potentially giving away the IC to Audi.
I suspect that other than a rebadged Sauber (away from Alfa over to Audi) and from the looks of it a Red Bull Power Trains in a limited partnership with Porsche what we will get is ultimately Sauber moving over to Red Bull Power Trains if Porsche are partnered and that's about it. Actually their impact on the face of it is really very small and becomes a branding exercise.
Lets face it Alfa Romeo are hardly making huge inroads to developing their own tech and charging into realms of the unknown in F1 tech... they are just a colour scheme for a Ferrari B team. In fact all this appears to be is the march of B Teams. RBR will have not only Alpha Tauri but also Sauber Audi in it's stable with some sponsorship dosh from the VW Group to help soften the blow.
What for you might ask.... well, do we expect Merc to continue ad infinitum? There were rumours that Merc were looking to withdraw whilst they were winning... just how many years will they hang around if this years little voyage of discovery does not return them to winning ways either in the second half of the season or next?
So netting another huge manufacturer may simply be a way of shoring up F1's future should Merc decide enough is enough. Also, just how long is Alpine's 99 race plan? It feels as though as long as I've been watching F1 Renault have had a plan in execution to get them to the front of the grid and you could say that the rebranding to Alpine is them throwing up the hands in defeat handing over the reigns to a lesser known brand whilst they quietly exit and simply return to engine manufacture (which is exactly what they have done).
Unless someone puts a fuel/engine on the table that pumps out oxygen and consumes carbon dioxide (Hydrogen?) then I can't see that in 5/7 years any of the large manufacturers will be all that interested in the internal combustion side of the powertrain.... the relevance in our own lives given the prevelance of everything Electric is fast making us all feel like we are personally responsible for flooding and wiping out Indian ocean and Pacific Ocean island races because of the sport we like to watch. (I drove up the M6 this weekend and the number of Electric cars on the road was quite staggering..........though I have to admit there are still a majority of us flooding those island nations.)
Anyway - my 50 pence for what's it's worth is that we end up with nothing new other than some branding changes.....which would actually be a shame.