F1 News - Alonso stays at McLaren

So, finally, the announcement Fernando Alonso has signed for McLaren for another year ...

He says he is very happy at Woking alongside Stoffel Vandoorne... but only for 1 more year.

Now the double world champion has had 3 terrible seasons at McLaren, and few other driving choices.

There are no seats at top three Ferrari, Mercedes or Red Bull.

But I don't believe it is either inertia or money that is keeping Fernando in Zak Brown's squad.

He knows something.... There are engine and chassis developments afoot that have persuaded him to stay post the Honda debacle.

I think he knows 2018 could be a major return to form for the team and he wants to be back in the points not back on the retirees list.

Alonso is a truly great racer, give him just half a chance in anything reliable and he will work wonders. All of the other front runners, Lewis, Sebastian, Daniel, know, respect and perhaps fear him a little. Only Max fails to give respect.

Will we see him back on the podium next year? I believe we will ... and much more importantly, Fernando believes we will.

Graham Benge

An all-round view of F1

If you're a fan of F1 then you'll almost certainly have spotted the name and branding of TATA Communications strategically-located in and around the circuits.

As well as being a technical partner of the all-conquering Mercedes team the telecommunications arm of the vast Indian conglomerate is also - and I'll quote this verbatim given the degree to which Formula1 and its various corporate acolytes like to exercise control over these things - the 'Official Connectivity Provider' in addition to being the "Official Web Hosting And Content Delivery Network Provider Of Formula1.com".

So there.

Anyway, being pretty cutting-edge, the clever boys and girls at TATA have been working with their counterparts at Formula 1 on enhancing the 'show' for the viewer and their latest wheeze has seen them experimenting with 360 degree live video feeds from a race - specifically the recent high-value stock-car smashup that was the Singapore Grand Prix - good timing..

Now, whilst 360 degree video is a relatively new technology it has been available in a number of forms for a few years now - most recognisably in videos available on Youtube where the viewer can pan and tilt the camera either in their browser or Youtube app or alternatively by donning one of the ever-increasing number of virtual-reality headsets whose complexity ranges from a cardboard affair into which one slips their smartphone, right up to the high-end, high-definition devices which imbue the wearer with a sense that he or she has just stepped off the set of the latest Star Wars epic..

Either way, the technology is starting to mature and this hasn't gone unnoticed by - amongst others - the aforementioned  Formula 1/TATA partnership & whilst other sporting events have dallied with this emerging applied science, their output has been limited - for technical reasons - to a delayed feed, (typically by 30 seconds) which isn't really ideal if you're wanting to convey an immersive, live atmosphere to those who weren't able to make it to the event being relayed.

So, the boffins at TATA got their collective thinking caps on and managed through some form of electronic witchcraft to live stream the recent carbon fibre-strewn proceedings in real time through a pair of 360 degree cameras; one being located in the paddock and the other trackside, so, conceivably you could have followed the fractious relationship between Sebastian Vettel and his team mate from 'racing incident' to recriminations and huffiness back at the team motorhome..

At the moment, this experiment in all-round visuals is being treated very much as a proof of concept and we're probably a few years away from being able to take control of the camera angles from the comfort of our own sofas, but rest-assured - this is a technology which will come into its own within the next decade as the infrastructure and demand for it become ever more pervasive. As mentioned above, Formula 1 is keen to improve the spectacle of the events it stages, not least in the face of increasingly lower audience share and it will undoubtedly see this toe-in-the-water-exercise as a step towards offering the service - perhaps as an additional cost package - in the not-too-distant future.

In this era of video on demand and timeshift recording capability, the consumer is becoming ever more used to deciding what he and she..consumes..and for the die-hard F1 fan, the ability to be able to call the shots is one which I feel will be pretty attractive.

Even with the drop off in viewing figures in recent years, subscription viewing numbers remain fairly healthy and if a value-added service such as TATA and F1 have just trialled is rolled out for a relatively cost-effective fee I wouldn't be willing to bet against it becoming a popular option for those who want a bit more from their F1 involvement.

Watch this (3D) space I guess..

Dave Wakefield

All Change!! - F1's musical chairs

Over this last weekend, Singapore appeared to be turning into a glittering high rise rail terminus so common were the cries of "all change" in a veritable waterfall of announcements from the majority of F1 teams.

So, continuing my watery analogy, let's try to fathom out the extent of the flood.

Starting with unpicking the driver moves, as ever there are far too many talents for too few seats.

Mercedes have re-signed Bottas but only for 1 year which gives both parties options for 2019.

This especially apt as Kimi has also done a 1 year deal with Ferrari for what will probably be his last season in F1, leaving a very desirable seat that many will look towards.

Massa, having already retired from Williams once before, will probably step aside at the end of 2017 in favour of a younger hotshoe.

The principal question is where does Alonso go? Will the engine change chez McLaren persuade the double World Champion to stay on for possibly another rebuilding year? Or will he be persuaded that the Renault engine is ready now? Fernando says he's waiting for more info before deciding. I believe he will want a chance at a 3rd Championship in a 'red car', so will wait a year before moving.

I am reminded of those motor sport historians who reckon Stirling Moss could have won several championships had his car and engine choices been better or luckier, whereas Fangio always seemed to sign for the right team, with the right car and engine, at the right time.

Luck or judgement?

Meanwhile, it looks like Jolyon Palmer is out of Renault to be replaced by Carlos Sainz. Will there be another slot for a talented driver with poor luck? Only his wily dad will know what irons are currently in the metaphorical fire.

Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool

It looks like the very patient Pierre Gasly will step up from years as Red Bull test driver to a Toro Rosso drive.

Perez has re-signed at Force India, but his team mate may yet change, and I expect some changes in the sponsorship arrangements. You can only sell so much beer to finance your team.

The merry-go-round has many revolutions yet to go before the 2018 grid is settled.

On the engine front, the biggest change is the (not entirely unexpected) split - by mutual consent - of McLaren and Honda. After 3 dire seasons where the once great team and engine supplier have both lost considerable face, it is certainly a more important loss to Honda than for the recently installed tough Executive Director of McLaren, Zak Brown.

Into McLaren comes Renault with an engine deal of promised parity with the Renault works team. An engine that looks like it should revive McLaren's fortunes. It is hoped that this will push the orange cars way up the grid, the Honda power unit being by far the weakest component in an otherwise strong McLaren this year.

Honda will go off to power Toro Rosso, but I think this will be a rebuilding year for a demoralised Honda before they do a long term deal with Red Bull.

Red Bull are also rumoured to be in talks with Porsche as an engine supplier, or perhaps the highly profitable sports car maker will even buy the whole team. It can afford to, and retain Horner and both drivers, perhaps in 2019..? This would allow Red Bull (the drinks company, not the team) to reduce its huge spend to that of a sponsor.

Ferrari had a lousy weekend, and there are clearly political machinations again. I suspect a change in senior management is imminent.

Philip Platzer/Red Bull Content Pool

Aston Martin, which is currently closely linked with Red Bull, have been rumoured to want to either set up or buy a team. Their MD, while at first reluctant to comment, then offered in a grid interview with DC that they were looking closely at the 20/21 engine regulations and were confident they could produce a package. With a lot of Arabian money in the mix, we could well see Aston Martin on the grid in 2021. Let's hope they are more successful than the disastrous Jaguar entry of a decade ago.

So as the teams head to Malaysia, expect more team, driver and engine announcements to come. Just bear in mind, through all the speculation, that to be successful, any team needs to have available the mighty resources that brought Mercedes to the top. Even the smallest teams have budgets in excess of £100million.....

Graham Benge

"Was it Bill or was it Ben?" - F1's Singapore scrap

OK, so you have to be my age to understand the title reference, but Sunday's three-way tie for the Singaporean scrapyard will run on for the rest of the season and may well be the championship decider.

Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

So who was to blame?

Given that the total bill for two scrapped Ferraris, and a scrapped Red Bull, is circa £10 million, if they were insured it would certainly NOT be regarded as a no fault accident!

Well, there seem to be several schools of thought...

• Was it a pure racing accident with no blame to attach?
• Did Kimi's rocket start cause it?
• Did Max's reluctance to be squeezed out and his failure to brake when squeezed make it inevitable?
• Did Seb's swerve to his left lead to the smash?

Actually, after several viewings it's probably (at least partially) 'yes' to all of the above! So, it's a racing accident...

BUT, that is not the first time a rather reckless swerve by Seb to protect a position has caused an accident.

There are parties in, or recently exiting, the pit lane who will suggest that perhaps Sebastian Vettel, a worthy four-time champion, has a little of the darker more ruthless elements of Michael Schumacher about him at times.

So, no penalty then for any of the drivers, but all three were called in to the stewards, and hopefully all were given a real warning about driving standards.

They all know accidents are many times more survivable in the latest F1 cars. A decade ago that accident could easily have led to two or even three deaths or life changing injuries.

Let's hope all three learn from Sunday's shambles.

Graham Benge

What will Alonso be driving at Indy 500..?

If you've been wondering what Fernando Alonso will be driving at Indianapolis, Motorsport.tv have kindly produced a 3D model of the McLaren Honda Andretti indycar with mention on many of the differences between it and Fernando's usual runabout....

Mclaren Honda Andretti by Motorsport.tv on Sketchfab

Goodbye Bernie - "The king is dead. Long live the king."

So the reign of Bernie the great dictator is over ... or is it? 

Bernie Ecclestone, as chief executive of Formula 1, has been deposed by the sport’s new owners, Liberty, and its powerhouse leader, Chase Carey. 

Bernie is to be retitled as Chairman Emeritus an oddly disjointed title in an oddly disjointed scenario.

Chase Carey was fulsome in his praise of Bernie's achievements, if startlingly frank in his observations  that it was time for the 86 year old dictator to head into exile.

He also said in recent years there had been many mistaken decisions pointing the finger of blame in Bernie's direction.

So we are promised a brave new world of F1. New ideas,  new arrangements,  a new concentration on on-line media as global TV audiences have been plummeting and a greater concentration on entertainment. 

Given that the various teams and team bosses have all got very rich under Bernie's rule, it will interesting to see if Chase Carey can corral them into making decisions that benefit the sport rather than their own pockets, personally and corporately, which has often been where the poor decisions came from.

So let's hope the new era under someone who will probably have to become a new dictator is better than before, but pause a moment.

Let's thank Bernie for 4 decades of F1 where his mostly benign tyranny has made a small time weekend warrior sport into a globe-spanning multi-billion pound spectacular where everyone has got rich, the racing has often been spectacular and it's been safer than for many decades without the regular annual slaughter of the young heroes. 

Bernie has yet to say his piece, and it wouldn't be the first time that Bernie has sold something that turned out to be ephemeral, at a price that was very real.

Graham Benge

Formula One 2017 dates

The FIA has announced confirmed dates for next year’s F1 season:

• 26 Mar - Australia
• 9 Apr - China
• 16 Apr - Bahrain
• 30 Apr - Russia (Sochi)
• 14 May - Spain (Barcelona)
• 28 May - Monaco
• 11 June - Canada
• 25 June - Azerbaijan (Baku)
• 9 July - Austria (Spielberg)
• 16 July - Britain (Silverstone)
• 30 July - Hungary
• 27 Aug - Belgium (Spa)
• 3 Sep - Italy (Monza)
• 17 Sep - Singapore
• 1 Oct - Malaysia
• 8 Oct - Japan (Suzuka)
• 22 Oct - USA (Austin)
• 29 Oct - Mexico
• Maybe 12 Nov - Brazil (Sao Paulo)..?
• 26 Nov - Abu Dhabi

Disappointingly, notably missing is a German location… Neither Nurburgring (whose turn it is to host the event) or Hockenheim have firmed up a deal. Remembering how much money talks in the sport, this possibly isn’t surprising.

On a positive note, the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal IS on the calendar, despite rumours that it was far from certain.