Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms vettle to leave ferrari

Very Likely Ricardo has seen some internal correspondence or chat that gives the view that Renault may not continue -- very sensible to move now - particularly as McLaren get a Mercedes engine next year!

Ricardo...... Patrese ??????????? No, Ricciardo Daniel !

I don't believe that Renault would have beaten McLaren this year based on the form they showed last year. McLaren have shown a real turn around in 2018/19. I am guessing that they got him on board on a promise that they were finally going to give it the whole punch and fiscal backing. Once again they have not delivered which I am sad to say has been a bit of a story around Renault in F1. I am guessing that Mr Ricciardo had a clause that gives him an out if they don't hit the promised levels and this year has probably left all contracts up in the air in both directions. I always thought it odd that he joined them.

Well, despite all the adverse comments, you are all well aware of my dyed in the wool love of all things Ferrari and, although I can see the sense in Seb leaving at the end of the season ( wife and family are more important ) I for one will miss him. He is a great talent and a proper Anglophile but time moves on so the new paring ( the youngest for a very long time at Ferrari ) will see some really good racing next year. I just hope he isn't tempted into a lesser team so as to continue in the sport, although a season or two alongside "The Rapper" at MB could be interesting.
Seb is the third most successful driver for the Scuderia behind the great Sir Michael, then the hallowed Niki so it will be very interesting how the new boys work within what is the most politically disorganised team in F1. So many times they have managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory but they are still the beating heart of F1 and always add a tremendous amount of interest and excitement.

I am married to an Italian woman.
I had a good chunk of the F1 teams as customers at one point.
I grew up in a Williams supporting home.
I had a staggering moment when I met Senna.

All that leaves me is conflicted but a fan forever despite the silly season of the last couple of years!

Oh and extraordinarily lucky on all fronts in life for which I say a little prayer.

Alistair,

Don't leave me in suspenders, please share more into re your involvement with F1 teams, it sounds really interesting.

Nothing serious just some happy opportunities.

West Surrey Racing ran a successful Touring Car team as well as a very successful Formula Three team which raised some great drivers. https://www.wsr-racing.com/ Hakkinen, Coultard, Senna, and others. At that time I was pretending to race a Dolomite Sprint in a junior league and they were tuning it for me. I met a really nice guy when I was there one day and he was an F3 driver in their team. I got an invite to his house one weekend to fix his computer, he was called Maurício Gugelmin, at the time I had no idea. Anyway I went to the place he was renting and sorted out the computer and we had a chat. Next thing I know Ayrton came running into the room and announced he wanted to go for Christmas. I am not printing what happened next. They were friends for some time and were sharing the house. I went back a couple of times. He was a huge character, when they talk about having an aura I could almost feel and cut it. The day he passed really hit me.

Professionally it started when I worked at Sun Microsystems in the Professional Services arm just pre 2000. Sun was a sponsor of McLaren when it was on the up. The logo was on the back of each mirror. The rumour was a £1m a mirror and all the hardware and software it could eat. They was a LOT of equipment. I did some of the plumbing to join it up. This led me to meet some of the people which is how the rest of it started.

One thing I do remember was the attitude of the different teams. Williams felt like a family in some ways, still so polished you could see everything in the reflection but a little more calm and gentle than others. At the time Buzzin Hornets was quite troubled but working with them was a real pleasure. I supported them as I could see what they were achieving with the level of funding through skilled hard work. Everyone thought they were the most important (I did not have Ferrari so clearly did not have THE most important team 8) and demanded the best price allowing us to say they were a customer as a result. Buzzin Hornets got the best deal!

At one point in my role in Computerthingys I was involved in the wave of Enterprise WiFi and worked for a US startup which did high end security focused WiFi stuff. I got into a couple of the teams and also FIA/FOM - the TV studio system that did the work at all the circuits based in Biggin Hill. We introduced a new feature which listened for other wifi things and if it found them it would actively interfere with associations and connections to suppress it. It was for a certain customer but we did not hide it in the menu. One of the teams did an upgrade, found the switch and thought it was cool so turned it on. The entire pit lane borked and one of the other teams with our kit phoned in a state of panic, then another etc. We worked out what had happened and told them all to turn it off. It also happens to be illegal to do this which was a bit of a bind. A new release fixed this by removing it from the menu. If you knew what to type you could still cause a lot of trouble.

I bought a beautiful W216 CL600 coupe pre-owned and it looked seriously posh. I turned up to the AMG Petronas team in Brackley and as I was approaching the gate it swung up and they directed me straight to one of the VIP slots on the front door! They did not have enough meeting roms so we held our IT meeting in Ross Brawns office just above reception in the circular goldfish bowl. Half way through the meeting Ross comes strolling in on the phone asking security who parked the "effing panzer in his slot" which made me laugh (very quietly, inside) . It was just after AMG had bought the business and the guard could be heard saying he thought I was from HQ!

More recently I was involved in the MDM market (software that manages iPads/iPhones etc) and our software was used by a team I will not mention. One of the IT engineers kept ducking the training and we got worried as he tended to lick the sticky bit of the envelope. Anyway he was trying to "adjust" something and wiped all of their devices in one hit. We had a term "the flash to bang time" in terms of how long it takes from the flash of the explosion to the bang of the blast as everyone panics and calls support. Fastest I have ever seen, that team was hardwired to its devices!

Alistair,

thanks for the potted history. Wonderful read and you have had a great career...so far!

+1 - we know where to come for invites to the GP's!

Oh Brian if only....I never got a single ticket or even a t-shirt during all that time. I didn't have the nerve to ask Senna for an autograph either.