- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
Also, it's disappointing because now I can't use the "Vote Romain / Vote Perexit" joke that I was planning for the caption competition.
Sky have been reporting that Sauber are close to having secured a deal to guarantee their financial future. They're pretty confident that it involves selling a stake in the team, if not selling the team entirely. Details are thin at the moment, but Sky are fairly certain that an announcement will be made before the summer break, which means either the German or Hungarian Grands Prix; certainly by the end of the month.
This naturally begs the question of who might be interested in buying or buying into a Formula One team. If it's a private backer, then all bets are off, but otherwise I can think of two possible candidates: SMP Racing, who have money to spend and are pushing out to as many series as possible; or Theodore Racing, who have expressed interest in getting back into Formula One somehow.
Yeah, that does sound a bit like wishful thinking. Maybe if the team just needed a quick injection of cash, but they appear to be deliberately limiting their running again to keep costs down, which suggests a bigger problem.The loose rumour is that it's one of Ericsson's backers but I can't see which one it would be, none are big enough or surely interested enough to take a full interest in the team.
http://marcusericsson.com/partners/
They have worked together in the past, mostly in Macau, but they otherwise separate.What about Prema Powerteam, or is that actually backed by Teddy Yip?
No, it's pretty much been dismissed altogether.Is there any follow up on the story about Alfa potentially joining?
I have been looking into this and it seems that not all of his sponsors are corporate sponsors; some of them back him individually. One of them has ties to Tetra Pak, a company that developed ascetic food processing in the 1960s, and keep supplying the machinery to produce Tetra Paks (and sort of food packaging shaped like a tetrahedron or the like - soy milk cartons, for instance). That seems to be the company interested, at least according to rumours.The loose rumour is that it's one of Ericsson's backers but I can't see which one it would be, none are big enough or surely interested enough to take a full interest in the team.
I have been looking into this and it seems that not all of his sponsors are corporate sponsors; some of them back him individually. One of them has ties to Tetra Pak, a company that developed ascetic food processing in the 1960s, and keep supplying the machinery to produce Tetra Paks (and sort of food packaging shaped like a tetrahedron or the like - soy milk cartons, for instance). That seems to be the company interested, at least according to rumours.
However, my source is a story that appears to have been written in Swedish, translated into Portuguese for the Brazilian media, and then translated into English whereupon I found it.
Or maybe it's like Credit Suisse - they didn't gain anything from sponsoring the team, but the CEO was a fan. Maybe they see Formula One as a vehicle to increase brand awareness.It's hard to see what a link-up with F1 would bring such a fiscally conservative board though unless is has to do with their expansions into 3D printing tech.
Richard Buxton not Will Buxton. Who the hell is Richard Buxton?A rumor attributed to Will Buxton has it that Alonso is in line to replace either Rosberg or Hamilton should either fall afoul of the management.
https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/mercedes-play-fernando-alonso-181127969.html
Someone trying to use the Buxton name for some ill-deserved credibility?Richard Buxton not Will Buxton. Who the hell is Richard Buxton?
Just one question, though - when is Monisha Kaltenborn going to be replaced? The team has struggled ever since she took over.
Most of those were down to the sudden withdrawal of BMW and the QADBAK debacle. By the time Kobayashi and Pérez were driving for them, those issues had mostly been resolved. It's the recent troubles that can really be lain at Kaltenborn's feet - under her watch, Sauber have steadily fallen from occasional podium contenders to being mired behind MRT and showing no signs of improving. And, of course, there was that farce with Giedo van der Garde.That's completely ignoring all of the money issues they've had since before she took over.
Well, it looks like the deal to save Sauber is done:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/125286/kaltenborn-relieved-as-sauber-nears-salvation
Just one question, though - when is Monisha Kaltenborn going to be replaced? The team has struggled ever since she took over.
I'm sure she can keep her share and someone else take over as team principal.Unless it's her 1/3 share in the team that has been sold, not any time soon.
Also, does anyone also feel slightly annoyed at the fact that an 18 year old kid can just come and drive an F1 car? F1 cars should be hard to drive and hard to set up. It is slightly annoying that an 18 year old can come and drive one so easily. It wasn't like that in the early 80s.
The rumour that Tetra Pak has bought a stake in Sauber has gathered pace around the webs this morning, perhaps unsurprisingly.
And the buyer is... Longbow Finance, a Swiss-based investments company.
It's the family office of the Tetra Pak heirs, the Rausings, from what I can figure out. Basically a company formed to manage their wealth, investments, trust funds etc.
Christian Horner has been stirring things up in the Dutch press, claiming that Vettel will go to Mercedes and suggesting that Hamilton will move to Ferrari to do what Vettel couldn't.
It would actually make for an interesting story, though. If Hamilton wins this year, both he and Vettel have four titles. But many of the same criticisms that can be levelled at one can be levelled at the other - that they won because they had the best car. So how does Hamilton separate himself from Vettel as the better driver? By going to Ferrari and doing what Vettel couldn't.From Sports Bild*, that bastion of common sense and accuracy. So far Fox are the only English sprechers who've picked it up that I can see... birds of a feather and all that
*Whole article not available online at this time