Silly season 2016

[alexx_88]

Even if it were true, that money is being used now. If they take half of that and redirect it to at least a 2-year engine development program, it's certain other areas of the operation will suffer as they'll become under-funded.

[FW17]

Even if it were true, that money is being used now. If they take half of that and redirect it to at least a 2-year engine development program, it's certain other areas of the operation will suffer as they'll become under-funded.

I did not imply anything on engine development

Just stated that RBR will not have any problem changing the car to fit any engine (Honda, Merc or Ferrari) in short notice considering the vast resources at its disposal.

Yes they could even fund an engine development program with a willing manufacturer.

It has not been mentioned since everyone has been taking about VAG but Toyota is changing to a turbo engine for the LMP1 next year. The same could be an option for RBR to develop certain concepts that would be common between the LMP1 engine and F1 V6

Funny thing is the people of USA might be used to seeing Red Bull and Toyota together

[Racer X]

Redbull and Toyota would be interesting. Totally possible what happened has anything changed with Audi will They join the sport?
I would love to see them in F1 speaking of LMP1...

[skoop]

Even if it were true, that money is being used now. If they take half of that and redirect it to at least a 2-year engine development program, it's certain other areas of the operation will suffer as they'll become under-funded.

I did not imply anything on engine development

Just stated that RBR will not have any problem changing the car to fit any engine (Honda, Merc or Ferrari) in short notice considering the vast resources at its disposal.

as far as i know the mounting points are the same for every engine. so they wont have to change that much at all i sassume

[TAG]

Not sold on the B spec engine idea, from a business standpoint, it's not like a chassis where it's static, you build it and it's done. The engine requires a staff for maintenance, engineering consultants for the teams and additional manufacturing resources. All resources that could be applied towards a 2016 spec engine to increase competitiveness.

More SKUs always means more cost, F1 engine engineers don't grow on trees.

[MadMatt]

Now that Toyota has officially said they will enter WRC, I doubt VERY MUCH they will go to F1 on top of LeMans and other series they are in.

[Schuttelberg]

Now that Toyota has officially said they will enter WRC, I doubt VERY MUCH they will go to F1 on top of LeMans and other series they are in.

I think it will be utter madness for a manufacturer to enter the sport with the engine regulations as they are. Unless Honda can come out competitive next year and win races, none of them will be in a hurry to invest millions for poor press. Add to that you have the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault with a couple of years head start, Honda, a year ahead. Those multi million dollar companies aren't daft. If they haven't cracked this formula in a couple of years, a Toyota isn't suddenly going to do it either.

[TAG]

Even if it were true, that money is being used now. If they take half of that and redirect it to at least a 2-year engine development program, it's certain other areas of the operation will suffer as they'll become under-funded.

I did not imply anything on engine development

Just stated that RBR will not have any problem changing the car to fit any engine (Honda, Merc or Ferrari) in short notice considering the vast resources at its disposal.

as far as i know the mounting points are the same for every engine. so they wont have to change that much at all i sassume

That statement couldn't be further from the truth, did you see the image of the Toro Rosso when the engine cover flew off? Everything has to be re-worked, cooling, intakes, routing of exhaust, heat shielding, even the size or the intakes if they have different cooling requirements. That's if they can make everything fit under the existing lines, they may have to go back to the aerodynamic drawing board if they can't fit it all under there.

[RagingBullx]

Not looking good for Button, you would have thought a deal would have been done by now. Alonso is keeping his cards pretty close describing Button as "quite good",what a withering put down, however Van Doorn or Magnussen would probably force Alonso out of F1...

Fernando Alonso believes it would be "a good thing" if McLaren retained Jenson Button for the 2016 Formula 1 season.

McLaren has an option on the 2009 world champion for next year, and although the team intends to keep him, according to its racing director Eric Boullier, Stoffel Vandoorne and Kevin Magnussen are pushing for the seat alongside Alonso.

Alonso feels he has enjoyed a strong working relationship with Button, and would feel positive if it continued into next year.

"Jenson has been quite good all season," said Alonso. "We've been working together very closely to help the team.

"The experience Jenson has, it been very, very important for the upgrades we have brought to the car, in terms of the power unit and aerodynamics.

"So if Jenson stays I think it's a good thing for the team.

"If they decide they need to change something there will be some advantages and some disadvantages for the team, I guess.

"The only thing I can say, the only thing I know for sure is working with Jenson has been very, very productive for the team and for myself, learning a lot of things.

"Working with the other guys, I cannot tell much.

"But they will make the decision they think is the best for the team and hopefully they do it before Christmas time."

Button had to wait until December last year for McLaren to confirm him alongside Alonso for 2015, and he said after Sunday's Italian Grand Prix he hoped for a decision "either way" in "the next few weeks".

[Cold Fussion]

Now that Toyota has officially said they will enter WRC, I doubt VERY MUCH they will go to F1 on top of LeMans and other series they are in.

And by a lot of accounts their LMP1 budget is quite a bit less than Audi and Porsche.

As far as I'm aware there's only one version of an engine and that's the engine that's homologated at the beginning of the year 2016. This year was an anomaly because of the development loophole.

The token system has been in the rules from the very beginning.

[Jolle]

Just wandering... If Renault do take over the Lotus team (again), would Alonso have a esca built into his contract to leave McLaren again after one year?

[KeiKo403]

I've too been thinking about an escape clause in Alonso's contract, but more so if Vettel clinches 2nd in the WDC this season over Rosberg and Rosberg is getting beaten again next season could we see Merc drop Rosberg if Alonso is about to break out of his contract? I guess that's for Silly Season 2017 though.

[Schuttelberg]

I've too been thinking about an escape clause in Alonso's contract, but more so if Vettel clinches 2nd in the WDC this season over Rosberg and Rosberg is getting beaten again next season could we see Merc drop Rosberg if Alonso is about to break out of his contract? I guess that's for Silly Season 2017 though.

From my point of view, F1 could very well do with an ALO vs HAM at Mercedes-Benz and a VET vs RIC at Ferrari. If those two cars are equally matched, I think I would basically spend all my time after qualifying on Saturday in deep thoughts till the lights went out on Sunday. Well, one can dream.

[TAG]

Now that Toyota has officially said they will enter WRC, I doubt VERY MUCH they will go to F1 on top of LeMans and other series they are in.

And by a lot of accounts their LMP1 budget is quite a bit less than Audi and Porsche.

As far as I'm aware there's only one version of an engine and that's the engine that's homologated at the beginning of the year 2016. This year was an anomaly because of the development loophole.

The token system has been in the rules from the very beginning.

The token system yes, the concept of utilizing those tokens throughout the year, no. Next year we're supposed to return to the engine being homologated in Feb or March just as it was agreed upon originally. Ironically it was Ferrari and Red Bull pushing for in year development and at least thorough Monza they've both spent the least amount of tokens. Go figure.

[ME4ME]

Red Bull Racing has a budget of $700 million ..

Got a source on that? Seen a lot of numbers circulating about this over the last 3 years, but none that high.

Edit: A Dieter Rencken article on Autosport dated 31 of august 2013 (so 2 years old) states £235,5M (about $360M) annual budget. This could have changed, and this source could be wrong, but nevertheless I think 700M is a bit exaggerated
http://forums.autosport.com/topic/18952 ... -finances/

http://www.foxsports.com.au/motor-sport ... 7478894343

Thanks for the link. That's very interesting. Personally I take that with a grain of salt though. Several conflicting numbers doing the rounds, personally I find Autosport more trustworthy but that's for everyone to decide for themselves. Kudos to you for backing up your claim when asked!