Colapinto wrote off another alpine in Hungary tire testing today... I wonder how long before his crash cost/lack of points > Sponsor money.

For those interested... Chris harris has a podcast "chris harris and friends" or something, on the latest Ep there is an earmarked section where he discusses the background of his recent super popular film with Verstappen in the mustang GTD, and talks about max personality and ability "in person" in a car he'd never driven on a track he'd never seen, and really makes some great points... Highly recommended for Max Haters/lovers/in between.

with the 3 week down time, thought I would post this lap of the old, long Spa circuit. Having just been there, le Source to Eau Rouge and the Kammel straight seem mostly unchanged.
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It seems like Cadillac is going to announce Sergio as one of their drivers. I'm OK with this. His last year with Red Bull shouldn't define his career. (I'm a fan of Red Bull, but I think things spiraled in the second half of last season, and his confidence was shattered. An edgy car and a driver who's up in his own head - bad combination when the lead driver is making do and winning awards)

Don't discount redbull's strategy failures that had Checo on at least 2 occasions sitting in the garage at the end of Q1 while everyone else was on track setting better times.

I see that Zak Brown is taking McLaren into the WEC.

It's hard to put into words what I feel about this, but I do know that the point in time that Ron Dennis announced McLaren's LSR program is about the same time that the mighty McLaren team started showing the cracks that led to many, many years in the woods trying to regain the glory days.

Bortoleto has been Alonso's protoge since F2 and is managed by Alonso's company.
So I'm shocked to hear him tout (and exaggerate) his boy's alleged accomplishments. :rolleyes:

I say we put him in the red bull car ;)

Considering how all of his replacements fared, I think it's obvious that negative judgments of him at the end were misplaced.

I would think both Antoneli and Hadjar are better rookies than him, but he’s Fernando’s client so I get it.

Remember the big 8-8 announcement from Hamilton ? Did it happen on 8-8 ? all I see is he launched a new non-alcoholic mezcal.. Jesus man, try to catch up to Charles instead !

Yep, he needs to focus on driving or retire and focus on all the other crap. Back in June he met with the PM about some education reform. IIRC, he doesn't even live in the UK so why care? Image.

Unfortunately it is a YouTube short so no embed that I can find. Man, it sure is a show.

https://youtube.com/shorts/zta9vbVs5QM?si=i-VYoxHuxG0r4dks

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1756225877.jpg


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1756225877.jpg

They will have some experience. It will be interesting to see if they can finish in the mid-pack or at least not dead last.

Christian Horner isn't part of Cadillac; in fact the team came out with a statement denying that Horner has been signed or will be signed.

I'm happy for Perez and Bottas both. Good call for Cadillac to scoop them up. (In fact, it would have been a mistake IME to sign anyone else but them who is available. )

I wonder how much sponsorship $$$ if any the drivers are bringing to Cadillac ? A new team definitely needs experienced drivers to give the engineers feedback and suggestions . I wish them well . No mention of the reserve driver .

Really happy for Perez and Bottas, both great drivers and smart move by Caddy. Not sure why anyone would want Horny at this point though.

Looking forward to getting back to racing this weekend!

Side topic: explain Cadillac's entry to me ?

That brand basically does 3 things:
- Sedans only septua-octogenarians buy
- 2x Cool sporty sedans that absolutely No-one buys despite years of great reviews
- Escalades for rappers and drug dealers

Which of these (or new) demographics will associate Cadillac and F1 and buy more cars as a result?

On top of which they will run a Ferrari engine - you could argue that chassis wise, F1 and street have nothing in common and are a hard sale, but at least engine wise you can use that marketing... not here.. Ferrari ! (look cadillac can't make engines)

Bonus: they hired 2x identical drivers (safe, older, experienced) and ignored the commercial attraction of a competent american name (herta, Rossi, or Palou for the interest in the indy cross over). Neither of these has any experience with Ferrari engines BTW (merc and honda).

I do not get it, what's the end game? If it's image, zero connection, why not use a more popular brand of the group then? Chevrolet ? Corvette signage, get folks excited? Do they think anyone's gonna go buy more Escalades ?

Cadillac has been reinventing themselves for some time. Their V series would have been unthinkable three decades ago. Now those in the know are aware that Cadillac has some interesting cars. Those are the folks they want. Participation in F1 should spread that message. They don't want to rely on their demographic of the 70s and 80s. There's no future there.
Of course there's risk, but so were the V cars.

If you want a fast performance sedan from Chevy with a manual transmission, you have to buy a Cadillac. Swing by a Caddy dealer and just look. They ain't for me, but they have some fast cars.

I am surprised Chevrolet did not brand the team Corvette, but Caddy will be in the fight for the mid lower pack.