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RACING NEWS
F1 ROUND-UP MARKO: NO MORE
Mosley film
FormerFIApresidentMaxMosley
saysanupcomingdocumentary
abouthislifetellsthefull“warts EXCUSES FOR RED BULL
andallstory”,whichpremieresat
theManchesterFilmFestivalon
March8.Anewly-releasedtrailer Honda’s “good increases” in power mean team’s advisor is demanding a title fight
hasprovidedthefirstlookatMosley,
whichwillincludematerialheadmits
hewouldhaveleftouthaditbeen Photos: LAT
uptohim.Thefilmdoesnotshy ByJonathanNoble however, and Max Verstappen
awayfromcontroversy,covering scored three victories over the
Mosley’srelationshipwithhisfather RedBullsaysHonda’s remainder of the campaign.
Oswald–leaderoftheBritishUnion “goodincreases”inpower Marko famously set a target
ofFascistsbeforeWorldWar2– meansithas“nomore of five wins last year, and for
aswellasthefalloutfromtheNews excuses”intermsofnot 2020 his sights are set on doing
oftheWorldrevelationsabouthim beingacompetitiveforcein even better than that.
in2008,andhissubsequent the2020Formula1titlerace. “Honda has good increases
campaigningformediaprivacy. Theteamenjoyedan for this year,” he said about
encouragingfirstyearwith the forthcoming season.
Perez optimistic Hondain2019,andambitions “And since everything has
SergioPerezbelieveshisRacing haveincreasedforthecampaign been fulfilled so far, we assume
Pointteamhasmoreroomtogrow ahead–withRedBulltargeting that this will happen. That
thananyotheroutfitinFormula1, afightfortitleglory. means we have no more
havingbeenhinderedbyits2018 RedBullmotorsportadvisor excuses, in plain English.”
crisislastseason.Initsprevious HelmutMarkobelieves Asked to be specific on how
iterationasForceIndia,the Mercedesremainingsucha many races he thinks the team
Silverstone-basedteamenjoyed strongforceinF1meansRed can win, he said: “I think it will
steadyyear-on-yearimprovements, Bullcannotaffordtobeplaying have to be more than five.”
butthisdidnotpreventitfromrunning catchupinperformanceterms Marko also said Red Bull will
intofinancialtroubleandentering orinthepointstablebynot not consider bringing former
administrationin2018.“Thereisvery hittingthegroundrunning juniors like Jean-Eric Vergne
big,hugepotentialinthisteam,”said fromthefirstrace. back into its F1 fold in the future.
Perez.“Ithinkthisyearweshouldbe “Wewanttofightforthe A shortage of F1-ready drivers
abletoseeit.Idon’tthinkthereisa championshipandtodosowe in its junior scheme two years
teamthatcangrowasmuchasthis knowthatwehavetobe ago led to Red Bull signing
onealreadyforthisyear,and[thenew competitivewiththechassisright Brendon Hartley, who had left
rulesetin]2021isabigopportunity fromthestart–andthatmeans its programme in 2010 and had VerstappencouldbechallengingtheMercedesmoreregularlyin2020,ifRedBullhasastrongstart
forustomixwiththebigboys.” theveryfirstrace,”saidMarko. subsequently won the Le Mans 24
Lastyear,RedBull’scampaign Hours and the World Endurance WEC and Formula E champion chances of returning to F1 with requirements that we have in
Renault’s struggle startedslowlyasittookitseveral Championship title with Porsche Sebastien Buemi, Red Bull’s Red Bull: “The topic is closed. Formula 1.
Renaultsaysitlackedthe“force” racestogetontopof thefront since being dropped originally. reserve driver, and fellow FE They have made careers in “It would take him a whole
tomakethemostofits£15million wingchangesthatcameinto Though Hartley lasted just champion Vergne have been other directions and other season to get used to the
investmentinitsEnstonebaseand forcefor2019. over a season at what was then repeatedly mentioned as motorsport categories. specialities of a Pirelli tyre. So for
improveitstechnicaldevelopment. Anupdateintroducedatthe Toro Rosso in 2018, the precedent potential candidates for Red “Now, if a Jean-Eric Vergne that reason, it’s all in the past.”
Themanufacturerexperienced AustrianGrandPrixunlocked of his return has raised questions Bull-controlled vacant seats. wins Formula E, it’s something Additional reporting by
difficultygettingthemostfromits thefullpotentialof thecar, over other ex-drivers. Marko said of such drivers’ completely different from the Christian Nimmervoll
upgradesin2019,particularlyone
itbroughttoitshomeraceinPaul
Ricard.Thatpromptedamajor
internalreviewoftheorganisation, WILLIAMS HAS “HEALTHY RACING BUDGET” FOR 2020
whichconcludedRenaultneeded Alonso and McLaren partnership ends
somerestructuring.“Wetalkalot Williamsinsistsithasputin
aboutfigures,andheadlinenumbers placea“healthyracingbudget” FernandoAlonsoand hasnowconfirmedithasnot
like750peopleinEnstonenow,” for2020,despiteadropinprize McLarenhaveendedtheir beenrenewedfor2020.
saidteambossCyrilAbiteboul.“But moneyearningsandthelapse formalrelationship,andthe AMcLarenspokesperson
allofthatneedstobedrivenbya of somesponsorshipdeals. Spaniardisnolongeran said:“Fernandoisaworld-
force.Andwefeltthatwewereabit TheGrove-basedoutfitis ambassadorfortheteam. classcompetitorandwe
weakintechnicalleadership.” comingoff thebackof an Thetwo-timeworld wishhimwellforthefuture.
incrediblydisappointing2019 championmaintainedties Whileourrelationshiphas
Charity auction campaignwhereitscarwasthe withMcLarenlastyearafter cometoanaturalconclusion,
F1willauctionoffmerchandiseand slowestinthefield. hismostrecentspellracing hewillalwaysremainpartof
anumberofexperiencepackages Thedropdowntheorderhas withitfrom2015-18. theMcLarenfamily.”
toraisemoneyforthoseaffectedby meantafallincommercialrights Alonsokeptcloselinkswith Theteamwasclearfromthe
thedevastatingwildfiresinAustralia. incomefortheyearahead,andits McLareninhisambassadorial middleof lastyearthatitfelt
Theauctionwillfeaturebothmeet- financialmattershavenotbeen role–helpingtoadvisethe itsfuturewaswellservedby
and-greetstylepackagesand helpedbysomeof itssponsorship team’sdriversandengineers, currentdriversCarlosSainz
exclusivemerchandise,generously dealscomingtoanend. Loss of prize money from poor performance does not worry team aswellasconductingaPirelli JrandLandoNorris,who
donatedbyteamsanddrivers.The ButwithWilliamshaving tyretestinthe2019car. werebothretainedfor2020.
listofmerchandiseincludesgloves signedanumberof freshsponsor sponsorship and it’s never easy. proceeds of which come into Hewasalsoapartof Alonso(left)mostrecently
andbootswornbyRenault’sDaniel dealstoliftitsincome,ontopof “It hasn’t been for the past the F1 team, in order to bolster McLaren’seffortsatlast tookpartintheDakarRally,
Ricciardoin2019,thehelmetthat thecontributionof titlesponsor decades, but we still managed the budget as well. year’sIndianapolis500,but andhisnextcompetitivefocus
KevinMagnussen(Haas)willwear Rokit,ithasfurtherboosteditsF1 to find a healthy racing budget “So I have no concerns over thatattemptend ontheIndy500.
duringthisMarch’sAustralianGrand team’sfinanceswiththesaleof a to do what we need to do over the racing budget for 2020.” disappointment asbeenclear,
Prix,andracesuitsfromRedBull majoritystakeinbusinessarm the course of the year. Williams revealed that its new hefailedtoqual er,thathemaylook
duoAlexAlbonandMaxVerstappen, WilliamsAdvancedEngineering. “We have that going into this car has passed all its crash tests Alonso’sdeal hatopportunities
aswellasHaas’RomainGrosjean Williamsdeputyteamprincipal year. Obviously, as you all know, without major drama this year, untiltheendof l hastoreturnto
andToroRosso’sDaniilKvyat.The ClaireWilliamssaid:“Our we sold a majority stake in which is in contrast to wh en its year,andMcLar F1in2021.
auctionwillrununtilFebruary9. businessmodelreliesheavilyon Advanced Engineering, the 2019 challenger hit trouble.
WHY TOM CHILTON HAS MOVED TO BTC SQUAD FOR 2020 BTCC SEASON PAGE 24
