using f1 -the most overvalued form of advertising there is-

To be a works team, you need to either build your own engines or be supported by an engine partner who not only develops, but also finances that development, primarily for you. McLaren isn’t a works team anymore since their switch to Renault, whereas Red Bull has become a works team since their move to Honda.

I mean, there’s no way that Aston Martin will be a full works team immediately in 2021. Developing a semi-competitive power unit can’t be done in a year. Ask Honda. And financially it just doesn’t seem to make sense for a company like Aston Martin to pump money into a project when your minority shareholder already has…

No, Red Bull had an exclusivity clause. Basically, if AM wanted out of the deal, they couldn’t sponsor/support another F1 team for an x amount of time. Red Bull waived that clause.

That’s a fairly ignorant way of thinking short term. The Novel Coronavirus seems to have a significantly higher mortality rate (~2%, though it’s an estimation at this point as it’s impossible to say how many cases have been unreported) than the common flu (<0,01%), which mostly kills people with weakened immune…

Still haven’t seen any confirmation that it’s going to be a ‘true’ works team. With Daimler also holding a minority share in AML, they could just keep using Mercedes power units and re-brand them.

Very little. Aston and Red Bull Technology will continue their partnership on the Valkyrie, but Red Bull Racing will look for a new title sponsor for their main team. If they can’t find one, the company is more than able to close any gap in their budget it creates. Remember that Red Bull has the financial ability to op…

He’s the anti-Trulli.

Aston Martin isn’t taking over anything. They’re selling shares to the Stroll consortium and Racing Point is being re-branded as Aston. Turned out it wasn’t Stroll and Geely teaming up, in fact it was Stroll vs Geely.

They don’t, even under the new ownership. Just announced that it’s actually Racing Point, not Mercedes, that will be re-branded as Aston Martin.

Perez is known as someone who’s much, much better in races than qualifying. He was pummeled by Ocon in 2018.

half the drivers have a seat because they bring sponsors to the team

You should try it. It’s fun.

Half the grid is there because of the sponsors they bring

Your view of relevance is fairly narrow, though. Mercedes, like several others, is not in F1 because of road car development, it’s a marketing tool for them. It’s always quite difficult to gauge the effectiveness of that.

Are you willing to put money on that prediction, Mr. Camping?

No, because with Red Bull’s main strength becoming less of a factor under the new regulations, this could mean we truly end up with one team that can outspend everyone. I’d much prefer Merc v Ferrari than Ferrari v Ferrari.

Ferrari hasn’t been in Williams’ position. Williams is really the last ‘true’ independent, and their insistence to remain so is costing them dearly. They keep refusing to use other manufacturers parts in order to use their own, by F1 standards, ancient technology. These failings have been going on for more than a…

Honest question, do you think there is an argument at all about Lewis vs Seb? I think that’s been settled for a while now.

To be fair, it’s a bit easier to gain places starting from the back row.