F1 2023 stuff not worthy of it's own thread

[erwin greven]

Bottom post of the previous page:

No problem. Its a news fact of which is not always clear where to post it. @Everso Biggyballies

[Everso Biggyballies]

Monza renames Parabolica in honour of Michele Alboreto

The famed Parabolica corner at Monza will be named in honour of the late Michele Alboreto.

As of next weekend, the final corner at the Italian Grand Prix venue will be known as Curva Alboreto.

Alboreto’s Formula 1 career spanned 1981 to 1994, taking in 215 events and five grand prix victories.

After chalking up two wins with Tyrrell during his first three seasons in the sport, the Italian joined Ferrari for 1984.

During a five-year tenure at the Scuderia he took three more wins, and finished second to Alain Prost in the 1985 world championship.
It would prove to be the highlight of his career, joining a series of less successful operations after leaving Ferrari for Tyrrell in 1989.

Following his F1 retirement, Alboreto moved into sportscar racing, enjoying success with Audi in the late 1990s and early 2000s, only to lose his life during a testing crash in 2001 at the age of 44.

A ceremony to rename the corner will be held on Saturday, and will be attended by his widow, Nadia, and other family members.

F1 boss Stefano Domenicali will also be present alongside a host of other dignitaries.

So, with the Italian GP a week away, by the time race day comes around they will no longer be finishing the lap coming out of the iconically named Parabolica, instead it will be Curva Alboreto.

I have to be honest Im not a great fan of corners named after drivers, particularly when the corner name was previously one of such historical significance, and with respect to Alboreto he was no multiple WDC. Although I guess he was Italian, indeed a local Milanesi, and he did win races with Ferrari.

Having said that I dont believe Parabolica was part of the original circuit configurations, being introduced when the "Speedring" was incorporated, which I believe was mid 1950's.

[Ruslan]

Monza renames Parabolica in honour of Michele Alboreto

The famed Parabolica corner at Monza will be named in honour of the late Michele Alboreto.

I was always a big fan of Michele Albereto... but... they need to keep Parabolica as Parabolica. Find another corner (is there one?)

[erwin greven]

Having said that I dont believe Parabolica was part of the original circuit configurations, being introduced when the "Speedring" was incorporated, which I believe was mid 1950's.

The Parabolica was indeed configured in 1955. Before that the track had the Vedano configuration.

[PTRACER]

To rename a corner as iconic as Parabolica after Alboreto is a serious honour.

[Michkov]

Having said that I dont believe Parabolica was part of the original circuit configurations, being introduced when the "Speedring" was incorporated, which I believe was mid 1950's.

The last corner is probably the most modified part of the track. You start out with an 180° constant radius corner, slightly banked as I recently found out, (red) in 1922, that gets replaced by the two 90° Porphyry curves in 38 (green) bits of which remain till today. And then in 55 (blue) you get the iconic steep banked oval and Parabolica as we know it.

[MonteCristo]

What's with the colour of Ferrari's rear wing at Sochi (and maybe earlier races)?

Dark as anything. Can't see the sponsorship. Very odd.

[Michkov]

It's the same as all yearlong, maybe the overcast light brings out the darker colours differently. At times I think they must be loosing oil it looks so dirty but its just the odd livery choice of theirs.

[MonteCristo]

It's the same as all yearlong, maybe the overcast light brings out the darker colours differently. At times I think they must be loosing oil it looks so dirty but its just the odd livery choice of theirs.

Ah ok.

The back of the rear wing is fine to read. It's just muck at the front!

[Michkov]

Probably some subliminal messaging about the benefits of smoking.

[Everso Biggyballies]

What's with the colour of Ferrari's rear wing at Sochi (and maybe earlier races)?

Dark as anything. Can't see the sponsorship. Very odd.

I wonder if it is deliberately to minimise the readability of Mission Winnow, a PMI initiative which was seen to have underlying promotional intent for ciggy / tobacco distribution. They had to redesign their logo as it was clearly a lookalike to some ciggy roducts allegedly when introduced and it has been under scrutiny ever since.PMI IIRC rewrote their mission statement to minimise tobacco association. That is all I can think it might be, unless Ferrari feel it might camouflage secret aero things. I cant really see that being the case because all the teams hire spy photographers to record everything others are doing in minute detail.

Tobacco Sponsorship of F1 Criticised and Investigated
In February 2019, the European Union’s Health, Food Safety and Energy Union department started investigating sponsorship deals between tobacco companies and F1 teams, and the use of new corporate statements on cars and uniforms.2627 Eight out of the 21 Grand Prix races were scheduled to be held in European countries that year.28

When issuing its statement one month later, just before the Australian Grand Prix, the WHO pointed out that the FCTC Article 13 ban covers “activities with the effect or likely effect of promoting a tobacco product or tobacco use either directly or indirectly”. They criticised BAT for previously stating that its partnership with McLaren would give it a “global platform to drive greater resonance of certain products, including glo, a heated tobacco product”.11 The WHO said this indicated that “the company’s intent is to promote tobacco use”.11 They also noted that PMI had registered the ‘Mission Winnow’ logo as a trademark “including for use with respect to tobacco products”.11 Although PMI later revised the trademark, it remained active in respect of heated tobacco products (HTPs).2930 (See below for BAT’s 2020 registration).

The WHO emphasised that the ban included “hosting or receiving broadcasts of Formula 1 and MotoGP events” with “preventative action” potentially including preventing the screening of events.11 The President of the FIA, the governing body of F1, backed the WHO’s position saying that the two organisations were “aligned very closely” in relation to tobacco advertising.31 This followed an earlier statement that, since 2006, the FIA had “strongly opposed the presence of any advertising or sponsorship for cigarettes or tobacco products in connection with its championships and nothing has changed to that approach.”32. However they did not agree to reconsider sponsorship of teams by tobacco companies.33

In May 2019, media reports stated that F1 was in talks with Morocco with a view to holding a Grand Prix race in the country.3435 This would be the first race to be held in Morroco since 1958, and the first in Africa since 1993 (when the Johannesburg Grand Prix was held in South Africa). In June 2020, it was reported that well-known Mercedes team driver Lewis Hamilton was “really pushing” F1 for the race to be held in Africa.36 Were this push to succeed, it would represent a significant marketing opportunity for tobacco companies in Africa.

In spring 2019, there was widespread criticism of tobacco companies for their flouting of advertising rules, and for Formula One for allowing this activity to continue.373839 However, governments also need to act to tighten legislation.

In Australia, the health minister in the state of Victoria, home to the Melbourne Grand Prix, announced in August 2019 that it would close a loophole in its legislation to prevent the “sneaky tactics” used by tobacco companies to circumvent existing laws.4041 The amendment was passed into law in October 2019.42

A lot more about it all here: https://tobaccotactics.org/wiki/motorsport-sponsorship/

[PTRACER]

What's with the colour of Ferrari's rear wing at Sochi (and maybe earlier races)?

Dark as anything. Can't see the sponsorship. Very odd.

I wonder if it is deliberately to minimise the readability of Mission Winnow, a PMI initiative which was seen to have underlying promotional intent for ciggy / tobacco distribution.

Subliminal message: "It's okay to smoke kids, so long as you hide it from your parents"?

[White six]

Who's seen the Betfair odds? I'd make hammy fav again after turkey. Or at least pretty much evens

[DoubleFart]

Hamilton has this in the bag. If Bottas can win, it's clear the Merc is faster.

[MonteCristo]

Hamilton has this in the bag. If Bottas can win, it's clear the Merc is faster.

Yep, it's going to take genuine bad luck on Hamilton's part.

[White six]

150/1 to win sports personality again. Better value than to win the title seeing as Abu Dhabs is the same day

Won't win but probably lay at 30/1 or so