METALMAN Posted December 9, 2020 Report Share Posted December 9, 2020 I would assume his dad ploughing money into Haas will ensure he stays safe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUKIE Posted December 9, 2020 Report Share Posted December 9, 2020 They won't drop him. They will send him to "sensitivity training". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted December 9, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted December 9, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted December 10, 2020 Report Share Posted December 10, 2020 Hamilton given all clear to race, George back to Williams. (Boooo) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted December 12, 2020 Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 Max on pole, pit straight at Silverstone now known as the Hamilton straight, but the only thing anyone seems to be talking about is Fernando driving the Renault R25 around after qualifying, particularly how loud the engine is and how everyone misses the noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted December 12, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted December 12, 2020 Quote A consortium of US-based investors is close to buying a big stake in the McLaren Formula One (F1) team in a deal that will value the historic British racing outfit at more than £550m. Sky News can exclusively reveal that MSP Sports Capital, whose partners have had extensive involvement in Major League Baseball, American basketball and European football, is leading a group that will inject £185m into McLaren Racing over a two-year period. The deal could be announced as early as Sunday, according to sources, coinciding with McLaren's most important F1 race for years. The team's drivers - Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz - qualified for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in fourth and sixth places respectively, giving them the chance to clinch third place in the constructors' championship for the first time since 2012. McLaren's deal with the MSP-led consortium will underline the investors' belief in the team's long-term resurgence and provide a welcome injection of capital into a broader automotive group which has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis. The new investment is expected to value McLaren Racing, which also competes in the INDYCAR championship in the US, at £560m after the injection of the £185m of equity. Sources said the consortium members included The Najafi Companies, a private investment firm, and UBS O'Connor, a hedge fund subsidiary of the Swiss investment banking giant. The consortium will initially acquire a 15% stake in McLaren Racing, rising to 33% by the end of 2022, according to one source. As part of the transaction, one of the consortium's principals, Jahm Najafi, will become a vice-chairman of McLaren Racing, while Jeff Moorad of MSP and Rodrigo Trelles Zabala of UBS O'Connor will join the McLaren Racing board as non-executive directors. Mr Moorad has been involved in the leadership of a string of US sports franchises, including baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks and San Diego Padres, while MSP is a current investor in clubs in the Spanish and Portuguese football leagues. The deal for its F1 team does not affect the ownership of McLaren Automotive, the division of McLaren Group which makes luxury road cars and which was highly profitable prior to the COVID-19 crisis. Founded in 1963 by Bruce McLaren, the car marque is one of the most famous names in British motorsport. During half a century of competing in F1, it has won the constructors' championship eight times, while its drivers have included the likes of Mika Hakkinen, Lewis Hamilton, Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna. In total, the team has won 180 Grands Prix, three Indianopolis 500s and the Le Mans 24 Hours on its debut. It has fallen on leaner times on the track during the last decade, although under its current racing chief executive, Zak Brown, its fortunes have begun to revive. The sale of a minority shareholding will provide sufficient funds to assist Mr Brown's ambition of seeing McLaren compete again for F1 drivers' and constructors' titles in the coming years. Mr Brown is understood to have committed his long-term future to the team as part of the capital injection. An annual budget cap will be introduced in F1 from next year, starting at $145m (£110m) for each team, falling in the ensuing years to $135m (£102m). By bringing in the new investors, McLaren should be able to operate at the level of the cost cap on a sustainable basis. It is the latest F1 team to offload a significant stake, and follows the recent takeover of Williams Grand Prix Holdings by Dorilton Capital in a deal which ended the eponymous family's decades-long connection with the company. McLaren's on-track operations account for roughly 20% of the group's annual revenues. It has sponsorship deals with companies including Darktrace, the cybersecurity software provider, and Dell Technologies, the computing giant. The capital-raising for its racing arm forms part of a broader attempt to refinance the company, even as its automotive arm continues its recovery from the pandemic. McLaren Group is in talks with several bidders for its spectacular Surrey headquarters, a deal that could raise about £180m as part of a sale-and-leaseback deal. Earlier this year, the company cut 1,200 jobs across its operations as part of a restructuring plan affecting more than a quarter of its workforce. McLaren is owned by investors led by Mumtalakat, Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund, which injected £300m into the company in March. It also secured a £150m loan from the National Bank of Bahrain, and is expected to raise a further £400m of equity next year, although reports this week suggesting that it may do so through a public listing of its shares were dismissed as "completely wide of the mark". McLaren is a major British exporter, directly employing about 3,000 people and supporting thousands of jobs across the UK supply chain. The blizzard of new funding arrangements comes nine months after McLaren parachuted in Paul Walsh, the heavyweight former boss of Diageo, as executive chairman. McLaren's road-car division, which was previously a semi-independent company called McLaren Automotive, makes some of the world's most expensive cars, with models including the Senna - named after the legendary former F1 driver. The unit, which is run by Mike Flewitt, represents the majority of the group's sales. The British company saw its separate divisions reunited following the departure in 2017 of Ron Dennis, the veteran McLaren boss who had steered its F1 team through the most successful period in its history. He became one of Britain's best-known businessmen, expanding McLaren's technology ventures into a wide range of other industries through lucrative commercial partnerships. Mr Dennis offloaded his stake in a £275m deal following a bitter dispute with fellow shareholders. He had presented to McLaren's board a £1.65bn takeover bid from a consortium of Chinese investors, but did not attract support for it from boardroom colleagues. McLaren declined to comment on Saturday evening. 5 minutes ago, Chris2K said: Max on pole, pit straight at Silverstone now known as the Hamilton straight, but the only thing anyone seems to be talking about is Fernando driving the Renault R25 around after qualifying, particularly how loud the engine is and how everyone misses the noise. I agree with all of these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 You can always rely on Yas Marina to end the season with a meh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 So Raikkonen was best Ferrari again. That kid’s got potential. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUKIE Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 Stroll needed to step up at that race. And he flopped again. Gasly got past him and then Vettel in quick concession and he was just stuck behind Vettel causing that huge train. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Tsunoda confirmed for Alpha Tauri with Gasly, meaning we will have the first driver born in the 21st century on the grid next year. Yeah, we're old, aren't we? Also, this is lovely: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted December 18, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Checo widely expected to be named as a Red Bull driver today Looks likely to me that Ineos will take over the Mercedes F1 team after 2023 season. Which will probably see Hamilton retire and the team go in a new direction. Mercedes will be an engine supplier to the sport from then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gazz Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Toto making bank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Lineker Posted December 18, 2020 Author Admin Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Albon becomes test/reserve driver, focussed on 2022. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Excellent news! Checo deserved a drive and to get a promotion after being dropped by Racing Point is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUKIE Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 FUCKING YES! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris2K Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 Really glad for Sergio, kicked out of one team and signed to a better one, and it's fully deserved. It'll be interesting to see if this is only a year as expected, or if he does enough to carry on further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist Posted December 18, 2020 Report Share Posted December 18, 2020 3 hours ago, Chris2K said: Really glad for Sergio, kicked out of one team and signed to a better one, and it's fully deserved. It'll be interesting to see if this is only a year as expected, or if he does enough to carry on further. I think given that Alex will be doing all the 2022 testing that he’ll end up back in the seat. And Checo will end up wherever this 2022 seat he’s talked about previously is. Possibly Williams if Russell steps up to Merc. Is Bottas signed for 2022? Im sure Williams wouldn’t mind that sponsor money that comes with Checo. I think he’d have to beat Max in the driver standings to have a chance of staying on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LUKIE Posted December 20, 2020 Report Share Posted December 20, 2020 Max is in it for the long-haul. Perez would have to win the entire thing to take Verstappen's drive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twist Posted December 20, 2020 Report Share Posted December 20, 2020 I meant more for Checo to keep Alex’s seat. The only way he takes Max’s seat is if Max somehow ends up at Mercedes and I’m expecting Lewis to ride out the 3 years with Toto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METALMAN Posted December 20, 2020 Report Share Posted December 20, 2020 I hope it's a one off. I don't particularly like Perez - his behaviour with Ocon at Force India was extremely distasteful and that's heavily coloured my perceptions of him since. Whereas Albon seems like a nice lad, albeit not quite in Perez's class on the track. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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