Sauber/Alfa looks like a team going backwards. The new management doesn't seem to have made any difference in its fortune, IMO. Also, keeping the same drivers pairing is a sign that they don't have much ambition for this year. Kimi is simply going through the motions, and Giovinazzi ... well, I can't see no spark coming from him.
Here is the thing: The driver pairing was likely dictated by Ferrari as Vasseur always expected to get Mick. He was totally taken off guard when Haas announced that Mick drives for them. That probably showed Vasseur that in the Ferrari empire they have been relegated to #3.
Well it's obvious that Ferrari found a good way to circumvent the budget cap by moving many of their staff onto the Haas payroll. Good for them. Will also boost the Haas since it is now a 70% Ferrari. Well, that's assuming the engine will finally deliver... So good news for Ferrari and Haas and not so good for Sauber/Alfa.
Why Vasseur couldn't try a new pair of drivers like Haas did? Is Maranello dictating them everything these days?
Interesting article in Russia Today Decision to back F1 ace Mazepin after ‘groping row’ was defeat for cancel culture. Now his team need to ride out tide of woke fury https://www.rt.com/sport/510664-haas-mazepin-victory-cancel-culture/
Its simple economics and nothing more for Haas. Without a need for money he doesnt get a Haas seat. Period. He never really faces any consequences for actions, wealth and connections ensure such reality. Just a rich punk who's father bought him a day job he is not prepared for. After years in F2 and other series his preparation for F1 was nil. No shock as he again faces what consequences when wealth just continues to fix his issues. The Pravda article is ****e and full of conservative cliche'. How many more excuses does he get after his on track/post race garbage. He has had plenty of chances.
I suppose when you get used to the garbage spoon fed to you every day, all day by the absurd media, then you start to accept this SJW crap as common sense reality? This is what you see as reality? "Just imagine how it looks giving the clear message that sexually assaulting women is ok to all the women who work at Haas, all the women who work at other F1 teams, & all the female journalists in the F1 paddock. What you’re saying is that Mazepin can sexually assault them too." I feel sorry for you. Kevin
I don´t think the issue is about drivers but about that Alfa/Sauber can build a car themselves while Haas subcontracts almost everything. Now Haas is going to subcontract from Ferrari instead of Dallara, and I suppose Mick Schumacher was included in the same deal. Mazepin is just about money. BTW, I still don´t know how this Ferrari/Haas deal was made. Supposedly you can´t subcontract from another team, so I don´t know what legal trick they´re using.
Like all teams, Haas must own the IP of their chassis, and not get it from another constructor; that's what the rules say. That's why Dalarra was mandated to design and build the chassis for Haas, so far. Now Haas is going to benefit from ex-Ferrari technical staff who will design of future chassis, probably still made at Dalarra. That's the way I understood it.
More difficulty for the team next year possibly - https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154349/haas-boss-steiner-expects-difficult-2021-f1-season Haas boss Gunther Steiner thinks his team will face another "difficult" Formula 1 campaign in 2021, but says there are grounds to feel it can make progress. The American-owned outfit finished ninth in the constructors' championship this year, with its hopes not helped by engine supplier Ferrari experiencing a step back in power. With F1's rules meaning teams must carry over their cars for 2021, Steiner concedes that there will be no dramatic progress over the winter. However, he hints at some hope that a new engine Ferrari is producing could at least give it a chance of moving forward. "I know it will be another difficult one," said Steiner about 2021. "It's just how difficult it is - and that I don't know yet. "But there are a lot of factors which I have no influence on and are outside of my control, and I hope those factors - I know what we speak about here - I hope they get better. "Obviously we also need to do work on our side, a lot of work. We will be pushing to do the best in the short time we have got. That's the only thing I can do at the moment, and hopefully somebody else adds something to the party as well."
What if the rules were turned on their head? Throw out all the technical rules and only have a budget cap...seven million dollars per car per season. Let the smart people build the best car using the same amount of money that the dumb people use to build the worst car. And throw a major cap on driver salaries. No active driver can be paid more than five million dollars per season, including endorsements. I know lots of people who could live on five million a year. So the total cap would be twelve million per car and driver per year. Run out of money before the season ends and you don't get to race any more that year. No refueling. Use any tire you want and change them as often as you want.
Ferrari moving technical personnel to Haas seems like a set-up for future trouble. They should get their own car and team straight, doing a bit of side development with a troubled team with inexperienced drivers can only harm them. Re Mazepin: 98% of the people just think he is a spoilt rich punk daddy-boy. 1% think he should be cancelled because of an Instagram-incident and 1% now think he should be savoured because that would mean a victory against the SJW-baddies. No need to feel like the ceiling of the world is falling down because empty barrels make the most noise.
Frankly I don’t care about Mazepin. I think you’re underestimating what’s going on ideologically. I’m not going to expand because I don’t want to be banned until New Year’s.
While I like your idea in general the whole underlying notion that $ caps can somehow be controlled is a complete illusion. Anybody who has ever looked at how any major corporation is financed/structured/controlled through holding companies can see that. Following the money trail is nearly impossible and beyond what a FIA could do physically nor legally.
The budget cap is just a smokescreen to dissipate the outrage caused by Mercedes domination. Like you correctly said, it won't work. I would add, thanksfully !
Yes, there is that. F1 is capitalism at its best. Why should there be a budget cap at all? I have no problem with Ferrari spending a billion on its F1 team if they so want to. Nor do I have a problem with billionaires buying a F1 team for their sons to race. Money talks. If you want a fair competition, watch field and track. Anybody can buy a pair of sneakers.
Mazepin is just punk who has not learned to face his new situation by preparing for it. I dont care what cliche is used to describe something a group feels. His actions on track show this clearly, his stupidity with respect to a social situation amplify it. He has no sense of things affecting a larger strategic picture. He is a man in his 20s now. Does anyone think change now will be easy or swift. Look at Vettel lol. He has a bad temper and has never managed it costing more than 1 title at Ferrari. Mazepin knows fully his family will cover his idiocy and potentially buy him a team. He feels apparently he is entitled to that and more with minimal accountability. Haas are a broke useless operation in F1. Period. Im amazed a substantial business owner thinks an employee of Mazepin calibre is a sound idea.