Williams has signed a new title sponsor and changed the team name for 2025 .

https://www.planetf1.com/news/williams-announce-biggest-deal-in-teams-history-with-new-title-sponsor

Herr Oberst, No need for head shaking, really glad you you like F1 and have enthusiasm for it

I really believe we're going to be in for a golden year of driver and team championship battles

Both championship decieded on the last race :cool:

Concord, NC will be the engine manufacturing location for the Cadillac F1 team. Not too far from Gene Haas' North American location in Kanapolis, NC.

https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/new-formula-1-team-is-targeting-concord-significant-piece-its-operations/FR25MQGYFBABNO6SORBKGSEZT4/

Six new 2025 rules

No fastest lap point is a strange one

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I liked the animation showing the (now outlawed) McLaren flexi wings.

The fastest lap point delete makes sense to me, for just the reasons they gave. If they gave it to a driver who achieved fastest lap of the race while leading, it would be a nice bonus. To just let whoever is first in line with a big enough delta to be able to pit for fresh have it in the last two or three laps defeats the purpose. My opinion.

Agree 100%, always thought a point for fastest lap it was the same as a participation medal schools give out to the slow kids

Hey Captain! Do you think Newey will be able to help AM much this year? Or will he be totally on the 2026 car?

Hey Reg, this years car will be mostly done, aero concept direction already set and development upgrade plan finalised etc

I'm sure he'll be more than busy guiding the team into the 2026 new rules and getting people/everything in place for a full on assault for the 2027 championship

ESPN has announced they are not interested in being the TV station for F1 after their current contract expires . Let the bidding war begin .

https://awfulannouncing.com/racing/espn-drops-formula-1-rights.html

^ This is really bad news for US fans since we've always been the "red-headed stepchild" of US sports coverage (no offence to red heads, I've had good relationships with a couple of them :) ).

I was overjoyed with Mother's sponsorship of ESPN coverage a few years ago with ad free races for the first time in the US. Come to find out the only reason we had US based F1 commentators was so they could cram commercials into the British broadcast!

I hope some other cable company like Motortrend picks up that contract. ESPN often shut off coverage of the race after just the first interview of first place. Then changed to some idiotic thing like cornhole, or a basketball replay from the 1960s.

It would be wonderful for Motortrend to get the full Sky broadcast, and the interviews after the podium ceremony.

I would be OK with NBC or CBS picking it up as most everyone has access . If Netflix or some other streaming channel picks it up that could limit access for some .

I agree when Mothers was a sponsor the commercial free viewing was nice to watch . We will just have to see how it plays out . Hard to fathom not having a quality TV partner with 3 races in the US .

ESPN was paying F1 90 million per year for their 3 year stint . That 270 million is quite a chunk of change and I assume the price is going up . Not sure how many companies want to pay out 100 million + per year . That dollar figure will filter out some players .

Agreed. Plus I thought the tactic of stealing it away from someone in the points by someone at the back simply because they could... was a bit wonky. I mean, if you haven't been competitive all race and you simply want to frustrate a rival setting fastest lap at the end while in 15th position is a bit rich.

Nothing worse than Nichole Briscoe appearing on the TV thanking us for watching now screw off to ESPN3+ to watch continued coverage of post race. ESPN's heart was never in it anyway since it didn't involve a ball or Americans playing for a 'World Championship' of an American only sport.

I think Motortrend has problems of its own. They recently cancelled a bunch of shows from the Hot Rod lineup which were hugely popular, especially Roadkill.

https://www.hemmings.com/stories/roadkill-show-cancelled-motortrend-production-studios-closes/

#motortrend sux

motortrend sold out to warner bros discovery, which is run by people who want nothing to do with shows about cars that ruin the planet.

GOOD shows like roadkill, roadkill garage, garage squad, hot rod garage, full custom garage, four wheeler, roadworthy rescues, engine masters, etc.
All cancelled.

IOW most of the stuff on TV that was worth watching.
There is little to nothing on motortrend TV anymore that is worth a plugged nickel.

On a lighter note, WBD stock is at 10.34, down 65.77% over the past 5 years.
I'll be a buyer when it hits ZERO.

On second thought, F1 TV is good and not too expensive so I think I’ll survive without ESPN.

Can F1 TV be recorded for playback at a later time? I am a fan, but I ain't getting up at 2:00 AM to watch a race. I record all the F1 coverage with my DVR. And I watch when convenient for me.

That was my biggest fear in subscribing to F1TV, but you can watch a race at any time including a "Watch in 30" feature that distills the race to the best 30 minutes. All spoiler free when you open the app.

F1 should be really exciting this year. Having 6 rookies will really mix up the grid being hot headed, going for ill advised passes and causing yellow flags.

OK, next question, you speak of the APP. Does that run on a Firestick, or Apple TV? What platform runs the APP. I don't plan on watching a race on my phone when I have a nice TV to use.