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Post by robmarsh on Aug 31, 2020 17:58:05 GMT
Good post Mikael. The Ford adverts display a humaness that Mercedes lack. I think everybody always expect Mercedes to dominate as they have done every single time. LH said after the race yesterday that when he got back to his office in the motorhome after the interview process he would find the Mercedes guys focused and analysing the data. They would not be celebrating the victory but just going forward. How Soulless.
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Post by charleselan on Aug 31, 2020 18:23:39 GMT
Yes Mikael, Ford did it the right way. They were involved in so many different branches of the sport, won lots but never dominated, so perfect marketing. However there best ever bit of marketing was backing the Cosworth DFV project and putting the Ford name to that, so much for so very little in real terms, absolutely inspired.
Then again we have the Le Mans program and the long and illustrious rally project that inspired so many people with eh Cortina and Escort models.
Mercedes Benz are now in a negative situation with this undiluted dominance of F1, complete overkill and for way too long a period. Those that say F1 would be finished if MB left are talking absolute nonsense there will always be others to fill the void and the s[port as whole would be better for it to happen.
I still maintain that this current formula is way too complex, and needlessly so. Plus the cars are absolutely ridiculous things size wise and yet no one in F! can see this.
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Post by Carl on Aug 31, 2020 22:50:48 GMT
Ford has always been comfortable with performance and had a rational approach to the importance of motorsport on tracks and in advertisements worldwide, as Mikael makes clear.
Henry Ford instinctively understood that speed appeals to buyers and an early creation was "Old 99", driven to record speeds by Barney Oldfield wherever allowed, often on circular horse tracks, the origination of American counterclockwise oval tracks. Oldfield was recently given credit for a cool distinction by MotorSport, as the inventor of opposite lock steering. 
Henry Ford and Barney Oldfield in "Old 99" (1902)  Ford's flathead V-8 was praised by gangsters John Dillinger and Clyde Barrow for its escape velocity, on which Ford never capitalized. But a letter from the famous and popular John Dillinger would be printed by newspapers and word gotten out.
Ford's greatest rival, General Motors, has seldom allowed open involvement in racing. GM badly wanted fast cars, but maintained a curious pretense of denial with the use of surrogates.
Mercedes desperately needs a diplomatic way to exit, but its Germanic work ethic may have it paralyzed. Was Mary Shelley prescient to have an ingenious monster created in Germany? Has Blitzen Benz turned on its creator?
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Post by René on Sept 1, 2020 11:35:17 GMT
Tin hat on now: I wonder if the authorities have made Ferrari wear the sack cloth this year and next as punishment for their misdemeanours with their "interesting interpretation" of the power unit regulations. In other words not humble them publicly by fining or banning them, but making Ferrari do some private remorse. Whatever it is a terrible waste of two highly talented drivers, and it is them that i feel for most as well as the fans!
I think you're spot on here JC.
I still find it difficult to accept what Ferrari did though. Were they so desperate (or the internal or national pressure so high) to beat Mercedes they chose a development path they knew was not legal, or at least not in the spirit of the regulations? Were they really so naive to think noone would find out? The enormous power boost they enjoyed on the straights was there for everyone to see. I still can't get my head around this to be honest. Ferrari is paying a very high price and with them the drivers and the fans. Very sad.
And this combined with the sterile Mercedes dominance makes this season hard to watch. And we probably have to endure another season like this next year.
Last sunday in the middle of the race, my wife came in and said she was going for a walk with the dog now because there was a big rain shower expected in an hour that would last for the evening. I said " I will join you" to her huge surprise and for the first time for as long as I can remember, I walked out of a a live Formula 1 race and watch the rest later....
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Post by charleselan on Sept 1, 2020 18:30:51 GMT
Tin hat on now: I wonder if the authorities have made Ferrari wear the sack cloth this year and next as punishment for their misdemeanours with their "interesting interpretation" of the power unit regulations. In other words not humble them publicly by fining or banning them, but making Ferrari do some private remorse. Whatever it is a terrible waste of two highly talented drivers, and it is them that i feel for most as well as the fans!
I think you're spot on here JC.
I still find it difficult to accept what Ferrari did though. Were they so desperate (or the internal or national pressure so high) to beat Mercedes they chose a development path they knew was not legal, or at least not in the spirit of the regulations? Were they really so naive to think noone would find out? The enormous power boost they enjoyed on the straights was there for everyone to see. I still can't get my head around this to be honest. Ferrari is paying a very high price and with them the drivers and the fans. Very sad.
And this combined with the sterile Mercedes dominance makes this season hard to watch. And we probably have to endure another season like this next year.
Last sunday in the middle of the race, my wife came in and said she was going for a walk with the dog now because there was a big rain shower expected in an hour that would last for the evening. I said " I will join you" to her huge surprise and for the first time for as long as I can remember, I walked out of a a live Formula 1 race and watch the rest later....
At this juncture I am prepared to give Ferrari the benefit of the doubt René. I haven't in the past when I have held firm beliefs that they were bending the rules, but this time shall we say that they interpreted the rules on power units a certain way and it then became clear that maybe it was a step too far. They probably did not set out to cheat just gain a very clever advantage, but the interpretation was wrong. All teams try to get an advantage with something novel or ingenious even in these terribly restricted times. Just look at the steering system used by MB, clever it may be but I do not think it is within the spirit of the rules either. On Sunday Martin Brundle was talking about what it did and in all innocence also commented that it may well also change the rake of the car; if that is the case then to my understanding it is illegal as the cars aerodynamics are adjusted. Maybe someone should investigate that, if they haven't already and I am therefore surprised that someone like Horner isn't making a big song and dance. Unless of course he and the Fizzy Drink team also have something to hide. Talking about leaving a live race transmission through boredom or disinterest, that happens. I did it many times during the Schumacher days, couldn't take it at all, and I always do things when the current racing is on, like make a pot of tea etc. Fortunately in the Schumacher days at their worst MotoGP was making a big comeback on terrestrial TV and they usually had races on at the same time, so that took priority in my viewing schedule. |
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Post by chrisb on Sept 3, 2020 6:17:56 GMT
when does the line between innovation and interpretation of the rules take place? Like John I lost so much interest in the Michael days with 'how to measure a barge board Ross" type incidents, and until Renault got their act together it was not motor racing as I knew it, so would walk away in disgust many a time, but now, when you have one team so dominant and a clear number one and for what purpose? what does MB get out of this dominance?
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