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TRACKSIDE SUPERYACHT F1 EXPERIENCE 82nd MONACO GRAND PRIX MAY 23-25, 2025 MyYachtGroup.comInfo@MyYachtGroup.com SECURE YOUR PLACE ABOARD! BOOK NOW TO LOCK IN 2024 PRICING! ® ® CONNECTING THE WORLD'S MOST INTERESTING PEOPLE THEBusinessF1 3 TM REGULAR FEATURES Credits 4 • Letters to the Editor 4 • People Index 6 • Paddock Patter 7 • News 8 - 21 • Premature Facts 22 • Notes & Observations 24 • Lewis Webster 26 • Letter From America 28 • Motor Matters 29 • Jottings 98 COVER STORY American driver and team owner, Parnelli Jones has died at the age of 90. He will be remembered for his track exploits, but not for his autobiography called As a Matter of Fact, I am Parnelli Jones. It is arguably the worst biography of a driver ever published and does not reflect particularly well on its subject portraying him as a superficial man, which as this tribute shows, he most certainly wasn’t. A tribute to Parnelli Jones 40 INSIGHT FEATURE Energy drinks face uncertain future 32 Experts believe an advertising and sponsorship ban is on the way for high caffeine energy drinks that also contain taurine, just as happened to tobacco products 20 years ago. It could mean that Red Bull GmbH will have to sell Red Bull Racing and its sister team RB Visa Cash App inside the next five years. Susie Wolff and Fabiana Ecclestone have already quietly begun their campaigns to be the next president of the Federation Internationale de L’Automobile when President Ben Sulayem retires at the end of 2029, although neither will admit it publicly. But for sure they will be the only two candidates in 2029 such is the very powerful support already building up around them. Fabiana is the insider’s choice and Susie the outsider’s preference. Either could win, but who will? Peter Collins: The star maker Peter Collins, the veteran team manger, team principal and latterly driver manager and publisher, has finally retired from Formula One as he approaches his mid seventies, after a long career, that has seen some extreme highs and equally extreme lows. Collins is an original petrolhead who can trade Formula One statistics with the best of them. This is his sign off. Ferrari is a machine that mints money 36 Last month Ferrari relaunched Ferrari Classiche with a bunch of new services and signed Hewlett Packard, now known as HP, as its new title sponsor in a deal worth $100 million a year. John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna have turned Ferrari into a money minting machine and net margins this year may exceed 45 percent. John Elkann summed it up saying: “Everything we do at Ferrari is driven by a continuous will to progress.” Ocon looks to his future 30 Esteban Ocon, France’s best Formula One driver, is at a crossroads by driving for a French F1 team that isn’t the best. Now he is looking to the future with commercial deals to capitalise on his nice guy and trusted status. But has be been undone by Bruno Famin? OBITUARY 54 86 The next president? 62 The British Grand Prix has been held 74 times at three circuits: Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch. It has been settled at Silverstone since 1987 and all being well, it will remain its home forever, as there is a long contract into the future. The event is now the second most important race of the year after Monaco and also one of the best attended. It is important because for seven out of the 10 Formula One teams it is their home race. The homes of the British Grand Prix Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch circuits have a rich history of hosting Formula One Grands Prix Who will be the FIA’s first ‘Madame President?’ RETROSPECTIVE4 BusinessF1 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Tom Rubython CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Thomas Gibson, Oliver Edwards, Jo Maxwell, Lewis Webster CHIEF CREATIVE DESIGNER & PHOTOGRAPHER Alexander L. Sargent PHOTOGRAPHERS Darren Price, Jeff Custard WEB EDITOR Brad Dias CHIEF STATISTICIAN David Hayhoe VICE PRESIDENT - LOGISTICS David Peett EDITORS AT LARGE George Roberts, Andrew Frankl, Stefan Johansson GLOBAL AMBASSADOR Maprang Suwanbubpa SUBSCRIPTIONS CO-ORDINATORS Daisy Macedward, Roger Smith BusinessF1 Magazine is published by BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd, Billing Wharf, The Causeway, Cogenhoe, Northampton NN7 1NH, United Kingdom Tel: 00 44 (0) 1604 698881/2 Email: editor@businessf1magazine.com Website: www.businessf1magazine.com July 2024 Volume 9 (Issue 07) BusinessF1 is published on the first Monday of every month. Title is copyright of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. F1 element is a recognised trademark of Formula One Licensing BV. Printed in Europe NEXT PUBLICATION DATE: The August 2024 issue of BusinessF1 Magazine is published on 26 th July 2024. SUBSCRIPTIONS: Available for 12 months (12 issues) at a cost of US$280, UK£220 and €260 delivered anywhere in the world at no extra charge. Subscriptions can be ordered at www.businessf1magazine.com EDITORIAL COPYRIGHT:The contents of this magazine, both words and statistics, are strictly copyright and the intellectual property of BusinessF1 Magazine Ltd. Copying or reproduction may only be carried out with the written permission of the Publishers, which will normally not be withheld on payment of an agreed fee. ARTICLE REPRINTS: Many articles published in BusinessF1 Magazine are available as reprints by prior arrangement with the Publishers. Nor- mal minimum run for reprints is 100 but smaller quantities can be accommodated. Please contact David Peett - Vice President of Logistics. The great British NHS Dear Tom, I totally agree with you (Paddock Patter BusinessF1 June 2024 Vol 9 No 6). I’ve had an incredibly successful experience with the National Health Service (NHS) ever since I was paralysed. They continue to prove everything you read in the media, apart from your article, completely wrong. I can never understand why people don’t say good things about this wonderful thing we have in Great Britain. Make sure you take time to get better. Yours, Jason Courage, Old Swan Wharf, 116 Battersea Church Road, London, SW11 3NA United Kingdom The editor replies: Thank you to Jason and for all the other good wishes from readers. Jason’s experiences reinforce everything I wrote about the great NHS in Britain. Shocking news Dear Tom, I received the June issue ( BusinessF1 Vol 9 No 6 ) and would never have realised that the issue was one week late until I read your shocking apology in Paddock Patter. I am very late to the party as a subscriber to BusinessF1 but am always thrilled when the latest issue drops as they say. As an architect with a medium sized practice in Oxfordshire, I have had a number of bumps and grazes on projects associated with the Formula One world and your magazine resonates greatly with my experience. It sounds like you had a myocardial infarction (as I did in 2020) and, like you, I have a great admiration for the critical care and cardiac teams at the National Health Service (NHS). The cocktail of pills and potions are marvellous and my advice is to stick to them like glue and all will be well. Keep up the marvellous work and get well soon, Nigel Spawton, 1 Restharrow Mend, Bicester, Oxon, OX26 3AF United Kingdom The editor’s reply: As it was, I had a couple of oesophageal ulcers which started to cause all sorts of complications which led to 14 hours lying inert on a kitchen floor, when no help was at hand and I was incapable of seeking help for myself, a combination of circumstances that had an almost one in a 100,000 chances of occurring. I did feel I had gone over the other side three times during those 14 hours. But life is very fragile as Dr Michael Mosley found out last month. We are about the same age and I was a lot luckier than him as the outcome reveals. Breaking the Newey news Dear Tom, Congratulations on breaking the news we’ve all been waiting for regarding Adrian Newey, well done (BusinessF1 June Vol 9 No 6). I wish you well during your enforced rest. Yours, Adrian Lang Via email: langadrian@hotmail.com The editor replies: Adrian and his new manager, Eddie Jordan have been playing a canny game. And of course Adrian has been using his so-called availability to be able to have a good nose around the facilities of Aston Martin Racing and McLaren Racing where we know he has been and goodness knows how many others. When he was at Red Bull Racing there is no way he would have been let into these facilities. There’s plenty of other reasons why Adrian would never go to work at Aston Martin Racing and that is that Dan Fallows would immediately leave. There was plenty of bad blood between the two men at Red Bull in Milton Keynes back in 2021 and they haven’t spoken since. The rift is apparently irreparable. The 2024 Formula One calendar once again contains 24 races, much to the chagrin of virtually every team boss in the paddock. The FIA made a bid to wrestle the calendar from the control of Formula 1 Group (F1G) 18 months ago but backed off for reasons unexplained. F1G needs to bite the bullet and revert the calendar to 22 races. How can that be achieved? By making some races bi-annual. The Saudi Arabian, Qatar, Chinese, Emillia Romagna and the Azerbaijan Grands Prix are all candidates to be made bi-annual. F1G and the teams would have to sacrifice some revenue, but sanity needs to be returned to the calendar. It is as simple as that. But simple is never simple in Formula One. The FIA’s 120th anniversary Dear Tom, The FIA’s annual conference and general assembly in Samarkand, Uzbekistan (10-14 June) celebrated our 120th anniversary. It was a very well structured conference and very well supported - a large vote of confidence in the President. The hotels were of a remarkably high standard in every regard. But many of the FIA staff are now having to deal with 24 Grands Prix and some travel to them all all so their work load has increased a great deal in recent years with fatigue from lots of travelling as Liberty Media push for more races and thus more income. They are not interested in the human cost at all. For those who travel it is a punishing schedule. Yours David McLaughlin President Bahamas Motor Sports Association Nassau The Bahamas Via email david@forcegrandprix.com The editor replies: David makes a very good point that is troubling many people in Formula One. 24 races is two too many and those that are having to travel to all 24 are at breaking point. In fact, 24 races is unsustainable (see Premature Facts inside this issue on page 22). The answer is to make some races bi-annual and the Saudi Arabian, Qatar, Chinese, Emillia Romagna and the Azerbaijan Grands Prix have been suggested as bi-annual candidates. More on the clown Dear Tom I write with regard to Lewis Webster’s column on Guenther Steiner last month (BusinessF1 June 2024 Vol 9 No 6). I recently stumbled on an excellent book while in the U.S.A. called Racing with Rich Energy and I want to make other readers aware of its existence. Alanis King and Elizabeth Blackstock, authors of this forensically researched, and well written book, delved remorselessly into Rich Energy’s founder, William Storey’s background while carefully dissecting the Haas F1 team and Rich Energy’s relationship. It was seemingly a company with no products and this 292-page softback book uncovers this fascinating and often wacky tale. Motor racing attracts a glamorous aura together with some dubious characters. Some that spring to mind include Sidney Miller, one of several aliases of Southern Organs fame who sponsored anything that moved in national motor racing during the mid-1970’s including a singleton Surtees Formula One entry at Silverstone. Then there was charismatic David Thieme of Essex Petroleum, with trademark goatee beard, square shades, and black Fedora hat, who sponsored the Lotus team in 1980 and 1981 before being arrested and charged with fraud. But more bizarre than those is the tale of Rich Energy and the American F1 team Haas, who announced the unknown energy drink company as their title sponsor during a lavish reception at the RAC Club in London’s Pall Mall in February 2019. The founder was William Storey, who became multimillion-dollar F1 sponsor after records showed Rich Energy held $770 in its bank account. Storey publicly mocked any doubters and even the Haas team itself for its lacklustre on-track performance. He also goaded his nemesis, the championship winning Red Bull Racing team. Made famous by Netflix, Guenther Steiner sarcastically described Storey’s relentless Rich Energy news Tweets: “I’m getting sick of answering these stupid f*****g questions on a race weekend. I’ve never seen any f*****g thing like this.” The truth was, no one else had either. Did Haas ever receive any Rich Energy money before the deal ended after the 2019 British Grand Prix? We will never find out as Storey and Haas declined to cooperate with the authors of the book. Perhaps in Haas’s case they were embarrassed for failing to exercise due diligence on an unknown sponsor. Yours, Ken Davies Castle Combe Racing Club, Chippenham, Wiltshire , SN14 7EY United Kingdom The editor replies: Thank you Ken for this analysis. Haas certainly failed to exercise “due diligence on an unknown sponsor” that is something of an understatement. No one understands why Gene Haas had anything to do with Guenther Steiner in the first place. In fact, more or less anyone who has had any dealings with Guenther Steiner in the past must be wondering what on earth were they were thinking. Many of the scenes in Netflix’s Drive to Survive television series were rehearsed and acted out and Steiner was a willing participant in that which undeniably made entertaining television. No one can deny it has been good for Formula One. Steiner is a clown and always has been. The Rich Energy fiasco at Haas was simply unbelievable. The second it was announced I knew it was ridiculous as was the Rokit deal with Williams in 2019, another fiasco. Surprisingly both Rich Energy and Rokit are still being taken seriously as sponsors in bike racing and touring cars. That is completely unfathomable. Separately, morale and performance at the Haas team has improved immeasurably since Steiner was booted out. Ayao Komatsu has done a surprisingly good job at the team. Ayao Komatsu is the most impressive of the new breed of team principals in Formula One. He quietly gets on with the job with no ‘rubbish talking’ which has become so prevalent in Formula One, particularly from James Vowles whom frankly Komatsu has shown how to do it. As I write this Haas has scored seven points and Williams two in the 2024 Constructors Championship table, with a less capable lead driver and a less powerful engine. Separately again, thanks to Ken for reminding us of the story of Sidney Miller and Southern Organs, a real memory blast from the past. Also, I am not sure that David Thieme was a fraudster. He was a guy who made a lot of money very quickly, mostly by serendipity, trading oil in a period when frankly any idiot, with enough nerve, who traded in the right direction would have made money. And Thieme made a lot of it very quickly and had little idea of how to handle himself afterwards. He certainly got Colin Chapman out of a tight hole in 1980. And, at that time, Thieme did have the many millions of dollars in the bank to back up his ambitions as a Formula One sponsor. Unlike William Storey who, as Ken points out, had $770 in the bank. He’s coming home Dear Tom, After many years away I am returning to Switzerland in the coming weeks and leaving Florida after many happy years here. So stop sending my BusinessF1 subscription to the Florida address and redirect to my Swiss home. It will probably save you some money as well. Separately get better soon Tom. I’ve been reading your publications longer than I care to remember starting with BusinessAge if my memory serves me. I have enjoyed every issue. Yours, Andrew Craig The Craig Company LLC Spissenstrasse 10, CH 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland The editor replies: Andrew has been a very valuable member of the motorsport community for nearly 35 years ever since he was at ISL. I think we first met when he ran IndyCar and we have bumped into each other many times over the years. A more gracious and polite individual does not exist in the sport and his record shows it has served him very well. Andrew would always be my go-to-man with a tricky motor sport marketing problem to solve. And that is what he has spent most of his working life doing – solving other people’s problems and he does it so well. I for one, am delighted that Andrew is not thinking of retiring any time soon. BusinessF1 5A Adamich, Andrea de71 Agajanian, Joshua55, 56, 57 Alboreto, Michele74 Alesi, Jean77 Alexander, Tyler 14 Almeida, Mário31 Alonso, Fernando68, 79, 80, 81 Amati, Giovanna82 Amon, Chris70 Amorim, Vitor45, 46 Andretti, Mario54, 58-61, 73 Angelli, Gianni36 Archer, Jeffrey43 Arnoux, René73, 74 Ascari, Alberto64, 66, 67 Assumpção, Betise98 Atkinson, Robbie16 Azevedo, Davi45 B Balestre, Jean-Marie53, 75 Barrichello, Rubens65, 78, 79, 80 Behra, Jean67 Benetton, Luciano90 Ben Sulayem24 Berger, Gerhard76, 77 Borrok, Andrew17 Bottas, Valtteri82, 83 Bourcier, Bones54, 59, 61 Boutsen, Thierry75, 76 Brabham, Jack56, 64, 68, 69, 71 Brask, Lars-Christian96 Briatore, Flavio90, 92 Brooks, Tony64, 67 Brown, Creighton14 Brown, Zak51 Brundle, Martin76 Bryan, Mr Justice48 Bueb, Ivor68 Button, Jenson78, 80 C Capelli, Ivan76 Chapman, Clive91 Chapman, Colin56, 58, 59, 60, 86, 88, 91, 96 Chapman, Hazel91 Chapmanm, Colin87, 88 Chou, Silus96 Clark, Jim56, 64, 68- 70, 86 Clarkson, Tom86 Cindric, Tim16, 17 Collins, Jeff31 Collins, Peter59, 64, 67, 68, 86, 88-97 Collins, Samantha97 Costin, Mike70 Coulthard, David65, 77-79 D Debar, Dr Safia34 Dilamarter, Jimmy59, 61 Dodds, Jeff26 Domenicali, Stefan50, 51 Donohue, Mark59, 60 Driver, Adam37 Drugovich, Felipe12 Duckworth, Keith70 E Ecclestone, Alexander Charles46 Ecclestone, Bernie7, 40, 42-47, 51, 68, 92 Ecclestone, Fabiana40, 4 2-45, 47, 53 Ecclestone, Slavica44 Economaki, Chris60 Edwards, Guy92, 93, 94, 95 Ekberg, Anita29 Elkann, John21, 26, 36 F Fairman, Jack68 Famin, Bruno30 Fangio, Juan Manuel64, 66, 67 Faria, Jorge Eurico da Silva 45, 46 Farina, Nino66 Fengler, Harlan56 Ferrari, Enzo36-38, 58, 66 Ferrari, Piero38 Ferrer, Matteo90, 97 Fittipaldi, Emerson43, 64, 71, 72 Flosi, Fabiana44 Flosi, Fernanda45 Foulston, John63 Foulston, Nicola64 Fultz, Darren17 Frankl, Andrew29 Frentzen, Heinz-Harald78 Fries, Mike26 G Gachot, Bertrand96 Gandolfi, Paul21 Gasly, Pierre30 Geoghegan, Maurice65 Ginther, Richie68 Giorgetti, Lorenzo21 González, José Froilán64, 66, 67 Granatelli, Andy57, 58 Grosjean, Romain81 Guanyu, Zhou84 Gurney, Dan56, 69, 86 H Hakkinen, Mika77, 78, 86, 88, 89, 92, 94, 97 Hall, Peter91, 94 Hallmark, Adrian18 Hamilton, Lewis26, 65, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84 Hammond, Peter75 Hawthorn, Mike67 Head, Patrick89, 98 Heidfeld, Nick80 Herbert, Johnny65, 77, 89, 92, 95, 97 Hill, Damon65, 76, 77, 78, 95 Hill, Graham58, 69, 70 Hill, Phill68 Hirashima, Takeo61 Horner, Christian24, 26, 44, 51 Horner, Geri51 Hulme, Denny70, 71 Hunt, David96 Hunt, James64, 72, 73, 96 I Ickx, Jacky70, 72 Ireland, Innes68 Irvine, Eddie78, 95 J Jarier, Jean-Pierre73 Johansson, Stefan74, 75 Jones, Alan64, 73 Jones, Parnelli54, 55, 56, 57, 59, 60, 61 K Kelleher, Cameron24 King George VI65 Krack, Mike12 Knight, Charles47 Kolby, Ellen7 Kubica, Robert80 Kvyat, Daniil82 L Laffite, Jacques73, 74, 75 Lake, Amelia34 Larini, Nicola75 Lauda, Niki64, 72, 73, 74 Leclerc, Charles83 Leonard, Joe58 Lewis, Damien29 Liuzzi, Tonio86, 92, 96, 97 Lord, Bradley52 Lynn, William62 Lyons, Sir William39 M Maffei, Greg26, 51 Mallya, Vijay31 Malone, John26 Mansell, Nigel14, 64, 65, 75, 76, 79, 86, 88, 96 Marimón, Onofre67 Marko, Dr Helmut24 Markussen, Michael92 Marshal, Rob7 Mason, Luke Massa, Felipe80, 81, 82 Mastroianni, Marcello29 Mateschitz, Dietrich34 Mazepin, Dmitry26 Mazepin, Nikita26 McEvoy, Jonathan50, 53 McLaren, Bruce68, 69, 70 McLaughlin, Scott16 Meo, Luca de24 Meyer, Teddy14 Michel, Bruno50 Miletich, Vel55, 56, 57, 58, 61 Mintzlaff, Oliver33 Montoya, Juan Pablo65, 79, 80 Moody, Tony94 Mosley, Max7, 16 Moss, Stirling62, 64, 67, 68 Murphy, Chris93 Musso, Luigi67 N Nannini, Alessandro75 Newey, Adrian7, 20, 76 Newey, Harry20 Newgarden, Joseph17 Newman, Paul42 Nilson, Gunner72 Norris, Lando84 O Ocon, Esteban30, 31 Oliver, Jamie34 P Pace, Carlos72 Palmer, Andy18 Palmer, Jonathan64 Pantano, Giorgio86, 93, 96 Parker, Liam52, 53 Parnell, Reg66 Patrese, Riccardo74, 76 Penske, Roger16, 17, 21, 59 Pérez, Sergio24, 26, 31 Peterson, Ronnie71, 73 Philippe, Maurice59, 60 Piccini, Marco14 Piquet, Nelson73, 74, 75 Pironi, Didier74, 83 Pironi, Gilles83 Pitt, Brad84 Portago, Alfonso de67 Price, Tom29 Prost, Alain64, 65, 74, 75, 76 Pruett, Marshall17 Pryce, Tom72 Q Queen Elizabeth II50 R Radcliffe, Sir Jim18, 20 Räikkönen, Kimi65, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 86, 91, 96, 97 Regazzoni, Clay64, 72, 73 Rencken, Dieter52 Reutemann, Carlos64, 73 Revson, Peter59, 64, 71 Ricciardo, Daniel81, 82, 83 Rindt, Jochen64, 70, 71 Robertson, David91, 96 Rohonyi, Tamas43, 46 Rosberg, Keke74, 89, 92, 94 Rosberg, Nico65, 81, 82 Ruttman, Troy55 Ruzewski, Ron16 S Sachs, Eddie57 Sachs, Scott58 Sainz, Carlos26, 29, 65, 82, 84 Sanchez, David7 Scheckter, Jody17, 64, 72 Schmidt, Gunther89 Schumacher, Michael65, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81 Schumacher, Ralf77, 78 Schumer, Chuck34, 35 Schunck, Aparecida45 Schwarz, Claudia17 Seidl, Andreas26 Seng, Ong Beng47 Senna, Ayrton29, 43, 65, 74, 75, 76, 98 Siffert, Jo63, 64, 70 Slim jnr, Carlos26 Slutter, Larry61 Southern, Laura34, 35 Starmer, Sir Keir33 Stella, Andrea26 Stewart, Jackie58, 64, 70, 71, 76 Stoddart, John48 Stoddart, Paul79 Stoddart, Sally48 Stoddart, Susie48, 98 Stoker, Graham42, 53 Stroll, Lance31 Stroll, Lawrence7, 18, 19, 93, 96 Stroll, Raquel51 Sulayem, Mohamed Ben7, 40, 42, 46, 50, 51, 52, 53 Surtees, John68, 69 T Tambay, Patrick74 Taruffi, Piero66 Tauranac, Ron56, 70, 87 Tavares, Raposo45 Todt, Jean42 Topham, Mirabel62 Trips, Wolfgang Von64, 68 V Verstappen, Max31, 35, 65, 82, 83, 84 Vettel, Sebastian65, 80-83 Vigna, Benedetto36, 39 Villeneuve, Jacques65, 77, 80 Von Platen, Detlev19, 20 Vowles, James26, 29 W Walker, Rob68, 70 Walkinshaw, Tom16, 94, 96 Walton, John79 Warr, Peter88, 89, 90, 91 Warwick, Derek74 Watson, John64, 72, 73 Watzlawick, Franz33 Webber, Mark80, 81 Webb, John63 White, Rob24 Whiting, Charlie83 Whitmarsh, Martin7, 98 Williams, Claire98 Williams, Sir Frank89, 98 Williams, Ginny98 Windsor, Peter86 Winkelmann, Stephan29 Wolff, Susie40, 42, 43, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 82 Wolff, Toto40, 42, 43, 48, 50, 51, 52, 98 Wolf, Walter98 Wright, Peter90, 93 Wurz, Alexander77 Z Zanardi, Alex86, 93, 95 6 BusinessF1 PeopleIndex The August issue is published on Friday 26 th July 2024Tom Rubython Editor-in-Chief Editor’s Letter 7 BusinessF1 I n a different sort of way, the arrival of Rob Marshall at McLaren has had a similar one-man transformative effect on that team. Marshall left Red Bull officially at the end of May 2023 and joined McLaren officially on 1st January 2024, after seven months gardening leave (ha-ha). Marshall’s arrival at McLaren, even sitting in his garden (again ha-ha) had an instant effect on McLaren’s performance. It’s no secret that there was a technology transfer from Red Bull to McLaren at about this time, it was even reported openly in these pages last year. The transfer now appears to be all the data that was inside Marshall’s head when he left Red Bull early last year. As Adrian Newey has often said, data that remains inside a Formula One technical person’s head belongs to nobody. Did Rob Marshall also have copies of every technical drawing that Adrian has produced over the past 18 years? We couldn’t possibly comment. How often do Rob Marshall and Adrian Newey talk on the telephone – again we couldn’t possibly comment. F ormula One teams nowadays employ between 800 and 1,200 people to get their two cars to 24 races around the globe. Yet at the end of the day, it is often only one of those people that makes the difference between winning and losing. Team principals make a big hoo-ha about the technical side of Formula One in the 21st century being a team effort, where a strong bench is essential to success. But really that is so much baloney. Two examples immediately spring to mind. Adrian Newey effectively left Red Bull Racing on 30th April and his access to the Red Bull Cloud was cut off. Almost immediately Red Bull’s competitive edge disappeared. The RB20 car was still fastest, just not as fast. Half of the reason for that was Adrian’s contribution at races. He is not only the best race car designer in history, he is also the best race engineer. Without Newey effectively race engineering its cars, Red Bull lost its edge. The reverse happened at Alpine when David Sanchez joined at the end of April. From the moment Sanchez arrived, Alpine began its march up the grid, from scoring no points to scoring points in every race and even qualifying both cars in the top ten at Barcelona. I nside this issue you will read about the two candidates expected to be on the ballot for the presidency of the Federation Internationale de Automobile (FIA). Not in 2025 as you might expect, but in 2029. President Ben Sulayem will be re-elected at the 2025 elections, possibly unopposed. Although his presidency has not been without its blemishes, he is arguably the most popular president in the history of the Federation. That was shown by the massive outpouring of support for him earlier this year when an unprecedented number of the Presidents of national clubs signed letters in his support. That support came after a bruising encounter with Formula 1 Group, when he was ridiculously accused of trying to fix a race result and hinder the Las Vegas Grand Prix build up. That has now been shown to be the work of the dirty tricks department of Formula 1 Group which has been actively trying to undermine the credibility of the President ever since he was appointed. Of course, in Formula One, all is fair in love and war and Max Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone were all capable of their own dirty tricks (often on each other) when they ran their respective organisations. A drian Newey has had a lovely time since he left Red Bull Racing at the end of April. He has been invited to view the factory facilities of almost all of his competitors. We know he has been shown around Aston Martin Racing and now knows all of its secrets, especially the internals of its new state of the art wind tunnel. He has also been given a tour of McLaren’s upgraded facilities at Woking. It is possible, albeit unlikely, that he has also been to Mercedes-AMG as well, although they are much better at keeping secrets and we will never know. But it was really dumb of Lawrence Stroll and Martin Whitmarsh to let Newey in to see Aston Martin’s new facility. It is something that would and could never have happened whilst Newey worked at Red Bull Racing. Even stranger as everyone knows, is that Newey has signed for Ferrari, has bought a house in Italy and is actively looking forward to a taste of the dolce vita lifestyle. Clearly Whitmarsh didn’t know and anyone who has read Newey’s autobiography knows he would never work for Martin Whitmarsh again after what happened at McLaren. For those who don’t know, see BusinessF1’s previous issue, at the top of page 73, but it’s worth repeating here: “Martin Whitmarsh rounded up four of his biggest security men and ordered them to go to Newey’s office. When they got there, they told Newey he was “leaving.” He asked “when” and they said “now.” And they meant “now.” They picked him up, with his briefcase, and took the long way out of the building so as many of the McLaren staff as possible could see what was happening. The hapless Newey was suspended with fresh air between him and the ground, seemingly floating towards the exit. He was then dumped down in the car park and told never to return and not to get in touch with any former colleagues. The four security men stood outside the building in a line, arms crossed and stared at him until he left. Later McLaren’s Ellen Kolby issued a press release describing Newey’s exit as “amicable and mutual”. See what I mean.First signs of dissent in Las Vegas Las Vegas GP gets extraordinary warning from Commissioner about future L iberty Media, the promoters of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, have been delivered an extraordinary rebuke from the Clark County Commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick who has warned that “The Las Vegas Grand Prix needs to improve in its sophomore (2nd) year or there won’t be a third time.” Kirkpatrick has long been speaking about the difficult logistical challenges of holding a race on the streets of Las Vegas and the difficulties of keeping the pedestrian and the road traffic flow going. In her extraordinary latest attack, she said: “We don’t have a choice but to do better than last time. That includes everybody and visitors being able to move around. That’s our constituents who have to work on the strip to get around. There’s an expectation, at least from me, that there’s going to be a lot more buy-in from the community. There’s got to be an expectation that our employees will be able to get to and from very easily. There’s an expectation that businesses can survive and stay open and know how to navigate. What I will tell you is, yes, we do have the traffic plan, it is under review. Already, I think that it looks much better. It takes a little while longer to go through it because we want to be thorough on our first review so we can get comments back. I’m hopeful.” Liberty Media has a three- year deal with Clark County to hold the race on public roads and crucially, a longer deal to be able to close down the Las Vegas strip for racing hours. It is known there was a lot of problems after the race but these have largely been kept out of the public domain and a strong PR campaign has been going on after a report, by Clark County, showed the city as a whole, received an economic benefit worth $1.5 billion of extra business because of the Grand Prix. Kirkpatrick’s “or else” threat that “there won’t be a third time” is probably an empty one as there is a firm contract in place for the race which would be difficult for ether side to break. However, a new contract may face difficulties and the race cannot be guaranteed to take place in 2026. The previous Las Vegas Grand Prix at Caesars Palace lasted for only two years between 1981 and 1982. It was held on a temporary circuit in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace Hotel (see boxed copy). Meanwhile Kirkpatrick has been speaking a lot about the race at various events. There has also been a lot less what she calls “buy-in from the community” than she expected. Local residents of Las Vegas are thought to be split 50-50, ‘in favour’ and ‘not in favour’ of the race and there is by no means universal support for it. It is a problem faced by all street Clark County Commissioner Mar- ilyn Kirkpatrick has warned that there may not be “a third time.” The last Formula One race was in Las Vegas in 1982. The two Renaults of Alain Prost and René Arnoux qualified on the front row. News BusinessF1 8There was an attempt to establish a permanent Grand Prix in Las Vegas in the eighties. It was called the Caesars Palace Grand Prix, held in 1981 and 1982. It featured a 2.27 mile (3.65 kms) 14 corner track on a temporary circuit in the parking lot of the Caesars Palace Hotel. The race came about when the traditional US Grand Prix at Watkins Glen went off the Grand Prix calendar after 1980. The Las Vegas Cae- sars Palace circuit was not popular among the drivers because of its repetitive nature and the scruffy parking-lot loca- tion. One driver described it as “the worst circuit Formula One has ever visited.” The race was commer- cially unsuccessful and Bernie Ecclestone pulled the plug after two years. After the Grand Prix failed, IndyCar took over the race on a shorter cir- cuit for two years but also couldn’t make a go of it. circuits and it is thought that even in Monaco, if residents were given a vote, they would vote to end the Grand Prix which they find extremely disruptive. Many Monaco residents vacate and shut up their apartments during the race period. There have also been many grumbles during circuit construction which caused traffic congestion in the build-up to the event. Some local businesses have taken legal action against the Clark County Commission, the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA), and Formula 1 Group. Kirkpatrick has commissioned an internal report to try and ensure the same issues do not happen again. When pushed, Kirkpatrick admits that the Las Vegas Grand Prix was “worth it” but then says “the jury’s still out for me”. She said in another statement: “The Commission has been very clear, ‘you will do it a certain way, or there won’t be a third time’ so I think that Formula 1 Group is actually working hard.” She also admitted that the first year of any event in no real guide to the future: “We’ve endured a lot of events, and they’re always tough the first year.” She admitted the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix was the biggest challenge the Commission has ever faced. It has also been a huge investment for Liberty Media which bought a site and constructed a brand- new pits and paddock and hospitality building. Liberty is thought to have invested up to $500 million cash into the event and has so far only got $100 million of that back. For Liberty Media, the stakes are high as the race has been designed to become the crown jewel of Formula One, possibly one day replacing the Monaco Grand Prix which Liberty Media boss, Greg Maffei does not like because it effectively does not pay a fee to host the race. Maffei is heartened by Kirkpatrick’s words: “We know what’s best, so trust us, we want to help make it better.” An insider has cast another light on the problems and called it a “clash of egos” without offering any further explanation. He said: “ultimately, if egos can be put to the side, then the race can only go from strength to strength in the coming years.” Team performance has been turned around by shotgun appointment Sanchez arrival boosts Alpine’s fortunes A lthough he has barely been in place for three months, 44-year-old, David Sanchez, Alpine’s new French technical director, has completely turned around the team’s fortunes. A shotgun appointment, after he abruptly left McLaren Racing at the end of March, Sanchez has sprinkled magic dust on Alpine’s technical department. From being virtually dead last when he arrived, the team is now qualifying and racing in the top ten again. Sanchez is reporting directly to team principal Bruno Famin in his new role and is overseeing the new three-pillar technical structure implemented at the Enstone team. The technical directors of the three pillars, Ciaron Pilbeam (performance), Joe Burnell (engineering) and David Wheater (aero) are all reporting to Sanchez. Sanchez was sacked from McLaren Racing at the end of March after an unsatisfactory three months in the job, albeit not the job he was hired for. The team principal Andrea Stella did not like him, and he was not required to work out any gardening leave when he left McLaren, having already spent eight months on gardening leave in 2023 when he left Scuderia Ferrari. Bruno Famin said: “I am delighted to welcome David back to Enstone, where he started his career back in 2005. This is a key appointment to ensure we are optimising everything we do as a team and focusing on the right performance areas. It is clear that the performance of the car and development path has not moved at a sufficient pace relative to our ambitions as a team. We look forward to working hard together to achieve the ultimate success.” Sanchez graduated from the famous college, École nationale supérieure de mécanique et d'aérotechnique in Poitiers, France and started his motorsport career working as junior aerodynamicist for Renault in 2005. He moved to McLaren Racing in 2007 as a senior aerodynamicist before progressing onto becoming an aerodynamics team leader at Ferrari. In 2021 he was promoted again to Chief Engineer, Vehicle Concept leading the design and development of the 2022 Ferrari car. In 2023, he was lured to McLaren as technical director of car concept and performance, replacing James Key.But his job was redundant by the time he arrived and he became disgruntled. The official reason given for departure was “that he was not aligned with the reality of the position.” David Sanchez has quickly transformed Alpine Racing’s prospects in F1. News BusinessF1 9Next >