Mercedes to be challenged in Singapore, really? Or is this yet another Ferrari-inspired pre-race PR hype? Singapore has been tagged as Red Bull Racing’s track, and boy are we excited! Will we get to see some Max Verstappen vs Daniel Ricciardo action? Will Red Bull Racing let it be a fair fight?
To keep his championship hopes alive, Nico Rosberg must fight against all odds in Singapore. Forget winning, he’s not been on the podium here since 2008! At the same time, he had his ‘first-ever’ wins in Spa and Monza in the last fortnight; can he keep up that trend? We hope his ‘FOMO’ drives him to the top step on Sunday.
Lewis Hamilton is good for F1 and for our podcast. The last episode should have been called ‘Lewis Hamilton’s Team-Mate Wins In Italy’ to get more people to tune in! In a lot of ways, Rosberg is fighting not only Hamilton, but an entire mentality in the paddock (and the million fans) who believe that Hamilton is meant to be World Champion.
Max Verstappen and Niki Lauda had a public face-off, will they visit a psychiatrist together to bond? Glad we’re reminded that Verstappen is still a teenager by his typical teenage back answering. Given the lacking bromance between Lauda and Verstappen, we are glad that Verstappen didn’t sign with Mercedes. But for how long can they remain apart?
Elsewhere, the new F1 owners say they will evolve the business model to generate more revenue. We think they should also fix the regulations that don’t allow us too much competition these days. They’ve picked up the profitable business of Formula 1, but will they be able to make the eco-system stable and profitable too?
Also, will the American owners be at their toughest best when negotiating with the Russian Grand Prix organisers? Official Live Streaming (rather than just Official Live Timing) is the next big introduction that Formula 1 should make. MotoGP has had theirs since almost a decade!
Speaking of the spirit of competition, did Mercedes actually help Ferrari improve? And if so, Ferrari were foolish to not seek help from Red Bull Racing too. Luckily they weren’t so foolish so as to seek help from Mclaren!
It certainly looks like a season of retirements – Felipe Massa, possibly Jenson Button and now Bernie Ecclestone too? Or will Ecclestone’s be a sabbatical? One thing’s for sure, we aren’t retiring any time soon.
