^Qwerty^

We'll he's in to Moto2 next season, so one way or another I expect we'll see them racing each other in the next 2-3 years.

Kwik

iTrader: (10)

If you've seen the video of Marc Marquez aged 8 drifting a bike round a track you know that they've been brought up with one thing in mind.
Having 2 marquez's on the starting grid together will be amazing.

stedee

iTrader: (4)

I can't believe ppl questioning how good he is. He is way above everybody else, the other riders ( including Rossi) are studying his style to try and make gains. He is the latest braker out the lot and for a small lad that makes it even more incredible. He is a genius on a bike , end of.
I don't think his bro has got the same bike control tbh but time will tell.
I'm a Rossi fan btw but would love to see stoner back on a Honda and how is pedrosa still there?????

Kwik

iTrader: (10)

I don't think anyone questions how good he is, it's just he's got an obvious advantage having a way faster bike for most of the season. It stands to reason that now Yamaha have caught up I don't think Marquez has won for 4 races.
Yamaha even won at Hondas he track they have caught up so well.
Because of this he will have to prove himself even further by changing manufacturers at some point and winning elsewhere.

RA Dunk

Would you lot with your fetish for men in tight leather suits pi$$ off and get your own thread!

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Caterham's staff locked out by building owner, are their days in F1 coming to an end?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-29738116

stedee

iTrader: (4)

they were never in it were they???

Tidgy

sounds like the old owner (tony fernandes) has never turned over control so the new ones wont put any more money in. Tis a shame realy, its not about racing its business politics. they should have let prodrive in instead.

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

The other side of that story is that Fernandes tweeted: "If you buy something you should pay for it. Quite simple."
Somebody is being economical with the truth.

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

It's all very strange???

http://www.caterhamf1.com/news/2014/...m-statement-(1)

If this is how big business operates no wonder the worlds economy is in such a mess!!!

JDM_Stig

iTrader: (3)

Yeah that's the stories I have been hearing also

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Link not working Dude

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

This is the official Caterham statement in full.

On 29 June 2014, Caterham Enterprises Ltd, Caterham (UK) Ltd and Sheikh Mohamed Nasarudin (Seller) and their shareholders Tony Fernandes and Datuk Kamarudin Bin Meranun entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement (SPA) with Engavest SA (Buyer) with regards to 1Malaysia Racing Team Sdn Bhd/Caterham F1 Team.

Since the date of the Agreement, the Seller has refused to comply with its legal obligations to transfer their shares to the Buyer. The Buyer has been left in the invidious position of funding the team without having legal title to the team it had bought. This is in total contradiction to the Seller's press release of 3 October 2014 which stated that Mr Fernandes and his Caterham Group had no longer any connection with the Caterham F1 Team.

The administrators of Caterham Sports Limited have been appointed on behalf of Export-Import Bank of Malaysia Berhad (Exim), a creditor of Mr Fernandes and the Caterham Group. The Buyer has no connection with Exim. Caterham Sports Ltd was a supplier company to the Caterham F1 Team. Very regrettably, the administrators' appointment has had devastating effects on the F1 Team's activities. Since their appointment, the administrators have released various press statements which have been severely detrimental to the management of the Caterham F1 team.

After three months of operating the Caterham F1 Team in good faith, the Buyer is now forced to explore all its options including the withdrawal of its management team. Lawyers have been instructed by the Buyer to bring all necessary claims against all parties, including Mr Fernandes who, as an owner, will run the F1 operation.

Tidgy

so fernandes has not released the shares he should have?

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

The waters are indeed quite muddy.
What made me chuckle was the news that Bernie was getting involved to help 'straighten' things out. A Bernie quote from the BBC says...
"All I know is what I've been told. Not too sure it's all true either."
Pot-kettle-black?

I hope they can pull this out of the fire, wouldn't want to see the demise of yet another team.

Devildog

Apparently he's not been paid for the shares.

Tidgy

hmmmmm, is it not been paid, or not been paid enough?

doubt we'll ever find out whast realy going on but such a shame that the team is going under cos of a stupid business argument.

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Caterham now in the hands of Administrators
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/29756519

Rescue Dude

iTrader: (11)

Not just Caterham in trouble.

http://www1.skysports.com/f1/news/17...miss-the-us-gp

Nothing official from Marussia though yet.

Blue by You

iTrader: (23)

Indeed...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-29784602

Petem95

I expect more teams will go under as the appeal of F1 continues to dwindle. With only a few exceptions I've been a fan for about 15 years, but the Russian GP was probably the last race I'll watch this year (which couldn't have been any less exciting).

No surprise that viewing figures for F1 appear to be in terminal decline. I really couldn't care less who win's this year.

Carnut

Viewing figures go up and down.

The Russian GP was a bit shìt for obvious reasons such as tyres were incorrectly chosen because of it being a new track, the rest of the season on the other hand has been one of the better ones in recent years.

In the 15 years since you became a fan there has been seasons were the cars just followed each other round in the hight of traction control. I watched a vid yesterday (about 2004 i think) with Jenson Button explaining how to launch the car, you just pressed a button then floored it when you wanted to go, not unlike a auto.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

I don't think F1 was that bad. Yes, Russia was boring as hell, but that's the only race this season that I really felt like watching something else. (I never would though through fear of missing something)

This season has been a blinder as the two guys fighting for the championship are on equal terms.

Although I hated the noise of the V6 Turbo engines to start with, I have warmed to them. And, at least they are relevant to road cars, as F1 always should be. I reckon the TV sound guys positioning the microphones in better locations have helped the engines sound better over the TV.

However, the only thing I really don't like is the fuel capacity and flow limits. I am sorry, but that it not needed. Teams will always run with as little fuel as possible to achieve the desired results. The more efficient engines will always do better and that is how it should be left.

All this lift and coast nonsense makes my blood boil.
Want to do a economy run? Don't f&cking race.
The technology alone is enough to push industry forward without further interference from the FIA.

Tidgy

F1 is heading down a very bleak path way its going, elitist and to regulation restrictive. teams have to spend millions to get anywhere because a good idea is soon vaped now.

With two teams in administration, vettel not running for most of the weekend, sponsers loosing interest and crowd numbers dropping its not a great place to be in. It can be turned round, but its gonna need some pretty big changes to.

Gear Head

iTrader: (2)

Why would Vettel not run for most of the weekend? He is clearly going to take part in the practice sessions, just not qualifying due to his entire power unit being changed. I would think that this is one of the weekends where he may do well due to having so many brand new parts. Wear does effect these engines, a lot more so previous engines.

F1 has always been elitist. The fact that 3 new teams started in 2010 with the hope that budgets would be capped at £40 Million shows just how deluded they were. Why the hell should McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, Mercedes limit their spending? Mercedes invested the most in this years formula and it shows.

With a limit on spending, there is no incentive to do well.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Because they are cooking the goose that lays the golden eggs! F1 made them, and in turn they are destroying F1, becoming a who-can-spend-the-most race, rather than who has the best engineering - doesn't really appeal to most fans.

I know I'd rather see a fuller grid, with many diverse teams, spending a quarter of what they do now, over teams spending what they do on over-engineered wing-mirrors and ultra-light exhaust packages that no-one cares about in the real-world. The cars may be a half-second/lap slower, but at least there'd be more than 12 cars.

neil-h

Really? Most of the people I know are of the opinion that F1 should be the technological pinnacle of Motorsport. Pushing the very limits of what can be achieved by man and machine. If that means spending millions of pounds on exotic materials and manufacturing processes then so be it.

Kwik

iTrader: (10)

Most manufacturers have accepted that small and economical is the way forward. Less emissions = less tax, less insurance etc etc so becomes more appealing to the buying public. Screaming V12's are so far from the normal car user, and its pointless developing engines that will never see the technology drip down to the everyday car.

Mercedes seems to have the most powerful setup and most economical so it would look as though they could in the near future pass that down to their road cars.

ReallyReallyGoodMeat

Within reason, yes, but surely not at the cost of competition. Plus, they've never been able to do as you describe as the rules on aero and aids restricts development to an ever narrowing range. If they got rid of these restrictions the cars would be sooo much faster than they are now, but they would be so boring to watch as they would be stuck to the road like being on rails, and a boring competition, like having 12 cars would be. There is a balance between the technology and the entertainment, and the spiralling costs are seeing to it that the balance will inevitably move away from entertainment.

neil-h

This for me is the problem, if the rules were more flexible then it opens up the possibility of more innovation and that doesn't necessarily take vast sums of money. All it takes is someone thinking out of the box and the rules allowing them to run with it. Take Brawn and the double diffuser as an example, a team that in 1 season went from mid field to winning both the drivers and constructors championship.