OK, I have a question for the F1 folks here.

Renault makes the engines in the Red Bull Racing team but they just call it a Tag Huer for some reason. Red Bull has an Infinity logo on the side. I presume they are more than just a advertiser. Now the new engine is going to be called a Aston Martin? What?

Did I just dream all that? Can someone please explain?

Lots of companies have branded engines that they did not make. Porsche has even done it, with the TAG engines from 30 years ago.

Few companies possess the expertise to make these things. Any company can write a check for advertising.

JR

More or less... The team is gonna be Aston Martin red bull... No word on whether the engine itslef will remained a tag heuer or also become an aston martin. I kinda doubt Renault would let them do that..

You can see why Renault is kinda annoyed with RB. For 4 years they pushed RB to 4 WCs and got almost zero publicity (partically their own fault I'm sure). Then RB slandered them for 3 years in a row (very bad publicity), and now they're winning with that engine and it's a TAg-heuer ;-(

I'm looking forward to seeing them in a MacLaren.

A F1 steering wheel costs around $75k and is easy to steal

Also Ferrari may have a innovative/trick clutch release mechanism that they don't want other teams to know about

It was entirely in their hands. They had Infiniti on the sidepods and the team was named "Infiniti - Red Bull Racing" and a limited FX Vettel edition street car at the height of their powers. The F1 car was also featured prominently at Infiniti booths at car shows and in advertising for Infiniti brand and product. The whole time however, the Renault logo was also on the car, albeit in smaller font on the engine cover near the rear suspension.

They can't be too upset at RB because daddy wanted to bring attention to his other kid.

David Hobbs said in the post race that it's a FIA violation and fine if you don't replace the s-wheel. Seems that it was pretty obvious that he was trying to hide something.

Vettel has said post-race that he had difficulty trying to put it on and decided to take it with him so it wouldn't disappear.

Ah yes, but when it blew up it was "renault engine this, Renault engine that " ;-)

The irony of course is that Renault owns Infinity. Renault canned their own F1 team when they were having more success with Red Bull and kicked up the sponsorship under the Infinity name.

I would not trust Hobbs these days. During the race, there were a number of times where he misidentified a car or driver. I think NBC needs to bring back Varsha.

Well, he's correct about the fine for not putting the steering wheel back...

I will agree that they need to find a younger F1 expert than a 78 man that hasn't been in a F1 car in 50 years. But he was right about the fine for the s-wheel.

Is Scott Speed available?

I'll disagree. Look at this video. Why the f was he passing on a cool down lap anyway? Princess blames everyone else all the time- it's getting more than old.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtSkusC4VCY

They all pass on cool down. Agree that Seb blames everyone all the time but in this instance he may have a point. Kind of like the boy that cries wolf.

Anyway, the video in #354 is not the best one. I can't find it, but there is one from a car behind the two. It clearly shows the left hander coming up. Vettel takes the left and Stroll just keeps going straight and it appears as though he was not even looking up.

This doesn't rise the level of Maldonado or Kvyat stupid driving though.

Here is the video from the car behind Stroll.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-Yf-FskAEmk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Possibly bad news (as I think the NBCSP coverage is excellent), at the very least more channel jumping and new people, doesn't say much about practice or qualy....or commentators (varsha?)

Formula 1 is moving from the NBC Sports Group to ESPN/ABC TV in 2018.

ESPN and Formula 1 have agreed to a multiyear agreement that brings the sport to ESPN and ABC TV. ESPN and ABC will televise all 21 races in the championship. The first Formula 1 race ever aired in the U.S. was on ABC in 1962.

The new deal, however, calls for just two races to be broadcast live on over-the-air television (U.S. Grand Prix and Mexican Grand Prix). This season, NBC put four races (Monaco, Canada, U.S. and Monaco) on live over-the-air TV. The 2018 Monaco Grand Prix is schedule to be broadcast on ABC TV on a tape-delayed basis on May 27 following the Indianapolis 500 (it will be live on ESPN that day).

All F1 races will air live in the United States on either ESPN, ESPN2 or ABC in 2018.

“ESPN has had a long commitment to motorsports, and Formula 1 is a crown jewel in the sport,” said Burke Magnus, ESPN executive vice president of programming & scheduling. “There are many passionate Formula 1 fans in the U.S. and we look forward to bringing the pageantry, spectacle and excitement of F1 to viewers across the ESPN platform.”

NBC Sports Group has held the U.S. broadcast rights for F1 since 2013 and has grown its average viewership 135 percent during the five-year run. According to NBC Sports Group, average viewership on cable (NBCSN, CNBC) has increased during that time from 187,00 viewers to 440,000 viewers. Throw in NBC over-the-air coverage, and that average for 2017 is 548,000 -- up 13 percent from 2016.

The highlight of this year's numbers came from the Monaco Grand Prix over Memorial Day weekend. That race, broadcast live on NBC, drew an average of 1.444 million viewers -- second only during the five-year run to the 2014 Canadian GP on NBC (1.488 million).

In a press release, the network said, “Although we take great pride in having grown Formula 1’s visibility and viewership since we became its exclusive U.S. media rights holder in 2013, this will be our last season with the series. In this case, we chose not to enter into a new agreement in which the rights holder itself competes with us and our distribution partners. We wish the new owners of F1 well.”

The network declined to cite specific examples of the competition between F1 owner Liberty Media and possible TV partners. However, Liberty Media has increased the series' social media footprint, and F1 continues development of subscription apps that could be considered competition to any rights holder.



Read more: http://autoweek.com/article/formula-one/formula-1-moving-espn-abc-tv-2018#ixzz4uYR29y9u

Oh no!...no more over-caffeinated Will Buxton on the grid prerace??? I'm heartbroken.

ha, I think that is some of the best pre race. Rather doze off while Hobbs rekindles captain obvious? :) I really like the current coverage too, I hope quali and at least p2 are still in live.

I agree.

My guess is the move will be similar to the move from Speed to NBCSP. They brought everybody over...even Will. It must be a winning formula or networks wouldn't be up-bidding on it.