(Racing Point) Force India 2018

Nobody gave much chance to Mateschitz when he bought the ailing Jaguar team to form Red Bull Racing either.
He had been sponsoring Sauber without much success, and Jaguar was a flop.
Look what happened !!!

Lawrence Stroll shouldn't be underestimated, IMO. Only time will tell.

 

Their has been research of course for this investment. I do not under-estimate him given his known caliber. But one knows what Mercedes and Ferrari and Red Bull spend as a habit for results.

 

I don't like Lawrence Strulovitch as a person but I am looking forward to see Jordan/Force India/Racing Point more successful and bugging the top teams. I have a particular admiration by them and Sauber, it's not easy to thrive as an independent team. Anyway, if Lance wins a race next year or in 2020, I will be happy for the team.

 

Interestingly, the reason Mateschitz bought Jaguar to transform into his own Red Bull team was down to Sauber's driver decision in 2001. Dietrich had been a sponsor of Sauber for many years, and had taken an equity stake in 1995. In 2000, Kimi Raikkonen stormed Formula Renault out of nowhere, Sauber ran him for a F1 test, and were so impressed they wanted to sign him straight into F1 for 2001. However, Deitrich was backing Enrique Bernoldi and wanted him in the Sauber in 2001. When Sauber went against Deitrich's wishes and insisted on giving the 2001 seat to Kimi, Deitrich paid for Bernoldi to drive for Arrows, and announced that Red Bull would be leaving Sauber at the end of 2001.

They did patch things up and Red Bull stayed with Sauber for another 3 years, but at a smaller scale, and Dietrich realized he didn't has the power/control he wanted at Sauber and began looking into acquiring his own team. In 2004 he bought Jaguar, which was renamed Red Bull Racing for 2005.

 

You could say that Mateschitz was backing the wrong horse at the time, and that Peter Sauber was more savvy.
Who remembers Bernoldi ?

 

As far as I remember Bernoldi was a very good driver but was a victim of the poor financial management from Arrows. He also had a near fatal road accident that put him into coma for a long time.

 

They have respectable mid field results. To get above that will require time and investment. Will be interesting to watch them develop.

 

They should change their name to the Eh Team.

 

Complaining about Haas.

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/haass-ferrari-link-friction-rivals/4314040/

Haas announced last month that it would not appeal its protest against Force India after alleging the new entry was not a constructor because it used a design from a different entity.


The American outfit had claimed it was seeking "clarity" and it was the second time in 2018 that it had been involved in a protest, after Romain Grosjean was disqualified from the Italian Grand Prix for an illegal floor design.

Haas was also subject to calls for FIA checks at the beginning of 2018 and its technical partnership with Ferrari has been repeatedly questioned since its arrival in F1 for the '16 season.

When asked by Motorsport.com about the source of Haas tension, Szafnauer said: "Well, I think when you design, make and build your own cars, and there's one team that isn't doing it, and is getting a lot of technology from a top team, you're going to get that friction.

"I think that's what it's really about. It's not about the competitiveness. That's the root cause of the friction.

"It's just a bit curious that only two teams had a front-floor that wasn't in compliance with the regulation after the FIA pointed it out, it was Haas and Ferrari [referencing Grosjean disqualification at Monza].

"It's kind of like having two snowflakes that are the same.

"It's tough for two totally independent designers to design an aerodynamic piece with exactly the same radius that isn't compliant. It's those types of things."

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has said F1 needs to look "very carefully" at the potential for 'servant' outfits, and stated the concerns began with Haas.

Force India had asked for clarity on the situation, with Szafnauer adding: "We had lots of things happen this year with our team that took our focus away from that type of stuff. We'll see where it goes in the future.

"Both the FIA and FOM are working on clarifying those things just to make sure teams do remain constructors and are independent from each other in respect to what the rules dictate what should be independent of each other.

"So for example, all aerodynamic surfaces needed to be designed and made by a constructor. You can't share. Anything the air touches. That's a lot of the car."

Szafnauer told Motorsport.com that the Haas protest was both "good and bad".

We would rather not have the protest because it always causes uncertainty, like the Germans say, when you're on high seas or in front of a judge you're in God's hands," he said.

"So even though we're 100% certain we were fine as a constructor it's never nice.

"The good news is they did thing the process, everyone put their cards on the table and the stewards said 'yep, you're a constructor'.

"The irony is we designed a lot more parts than they did."

 

https://www.planetf1.com/news/stroll-reveals-lofty-ambitions-for-racing-point/
Stroll reveals lofty ambitions for Racing Point

 

https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/21138 -
Sergio Perez plays down Lance Stroll favouritism concerns

 

Whatever you do Sergio ,do NOT crash into Lance!

 

And don't say you have better pace, so let me pass.

 

Sergio should. He brings funding to the team and that counts. Stroll - Daddy is hoping LIberty wins the budget cap and funding distribution battle against Ferrari and Mercedes, to challenge them in a more level playing field. Thats a big wish in a grid dominated by 2 or 3 major teams with far more funding available as entities. We shall see in the future of course.

 

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Live from the launch

 

Livery is actually worse than last season. Ugh!

 

At least it's not predominantly black, or the 3-minute livery like on the Williams.

 

I guess the "pink" sponsor brings the most money. How else do you explain the hideous colors . . .

 

this is quite possibly the most hideous livery on a modern formula one car. Not saying that because of the pink even...it's just a mess. None of the colours go together.

 

Somehow, Lance looks pretty good in Pink.

 

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30 day thread ban for tifoso2728 and jgonzalesm6 posting P&R.