Massa at Williams next year!!!!
Massa assina acordo com Williams para 2017 e abdica da aposentadoria por causa de 'efeito Rosberg' / Grande Prêmio Brazilian press affirm Massa has signed with Williams for next year.
I'm not sure I see those signs just yet, but it's not that far out there. I'm sure he could convince the board with his numbers that it's the right thing to do. Especially if Liberty makes it hard for Ferrari to take as big a part of the pie.
The preferential treatment clause may not be on the next contract when it's pushed across the table for Marchione to sign. That's a drop of $80M a year in the budget.
Fans are leaving F1 with Ferrari on the grid. Lets be quite serious. F1 is in need of more help than Ferrari staying. They need a working formula for the future. Question is will Ferrari remain with a new Formula. More electric/hybrid etc. F1 needs a solid identity in the sea of change in racing in general and auto makers.
It may sound ridiculous, but many can show that fantasy football actually helped revive the NFL. I'm not suggesting that is something for F1, and I know there are fantasy f1leagues etc, but perhaps some out of the box thinking is required here. Even if the racing improves and the noise comes back, it may not be enough to grow the fan base.
Why this constant worry about the size of the F1 audience? F1 is for F1 enthusiasts, it's not like fashion or a trend to follow to be like everybody. F1 existed before the Mosley, the Todt and Ecclestone of this world. It existed before TV broadcast, the internet, Twitter, advertising and other gimmicks. F1 existed when there was no celebrities around, no Taylor Swift concerts, no money to be made there, etc... I really don't see why F1 needs a huge crowd to be appreciated. Less people may in fact be better, if they are die-hard enthusiast, and not just fellow travellers.
I wonder when the guys at Ferrari are coming off their high horse...Certainly every driver must prove to be worth getting a ride but after the episode with Alonso and now with Vettel it is more like Ferrari has to earn his place to have a multiple WDC. Ferrari still has some glory but if they do not start to deliver there might not be to much left to attract top drivers with anything else than money. Vettel might have been over motivated for parts of the season and must tone down but far more Ferrari has to start winning...
It might be that they want champion behavior first and not an agitated driver screaming. That being said this is not the MS way of working in or with Ferrari. That died with LdM departure. They clearly dont care to see Vettel being a MS type team leader but maybe want him focused on the driving more. Who knows. Its Italian
That seems like a rather naive position to take William. If F1 doesn't continue to grow and other motorsports surpass it, advertising will leave, manufacturers will leave, the best drivers will look elsewhere...and it will not longer be the pinnacle of driving. I don't care how big the audience is, but if FOM and the FIA also don't care, then soon F1 will cease to be interesting to us because it will be a shell of its former self.
In any activity, you will find "fair weather enthusiasts", people who follow because of the hype, the glamour and the publicity, and then leave when it's not trendy anymore, or something better arrives on the scene, etc... I have seen it in other sports I follow, where public interest declined. I am not worried about that. In fact, if Grand Prix was to go back to his roots and be again a semi-professional sport for eccentric amateurs without advertising and not awash with money, that would suit me fine.
If the audience reduces significantly you won't see it unless you spend a lot of time and money travelling the world, because it won't be on television.
Vettel and Kimi must be livid at that bs from sweater. What a prat, he messes up the team, causes mass demotivation, and then steps all over the two guys who actually put their lives on the line driving the rubbish his demotivated team produce. If I was Vettel, I'd tell him not to worry about 2018, I'll be gone, and disappear off to a team that values him, and Kimi take my pension and run. The scuderia won't be winning anytime soon, and destroying the motivation of every person in the team is not the way to get anywhere near winning in the near future
Yes, there is that, of course. GP could lose it's prominent live broadcast if the advertisers don't support it. I understand that possibility. But there are plenty of motor racing in lower categories that are covered on smaller channels, not live. So I gather that F1 would still be on the box, somehow. I used to follow GP when you could only read a column in the paper the day after. Now there is the internet, YouTube, etc... Plus plenty of forums!!!!
I think the "fair weather" enthusiasts that only follow because of the glamour have been a core part of the audience since the late 70s, if not earlier. That's not who I am or who I identify with, but they still pour money into the sport. I really don't have a problem with it either. People don't have to enjoy things the same way as me for me to accept them. You can't make anything successful by just catering to the hardcore enthusiasts IMO. You see the same thing in the NFL - there are hardcore fans and people that are there because of the club seat and luxury box environment. You need to be able to appeal to both to be successful. There is no "correct" way to be a fan IMO. The auto industry is the same way. You hear a lot of criticism of Ferrari for not making more hardcore cars. But in reality, that isn't the actual way to be successful as a company. Like everything in business and life, striking the right balance is difficult, but essential for success.
The conversation was that if its audience doesn't grow, F1 is at risk. I consider that it isn't: it will just go back to a hardcore of followers, so advertising will shrink and with it the teams budgets. So be it ...
