Sebastian, seriously?

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Fri May 15, 2020 10:25 am

I am ruling them out, for as long as they are a customer team.

They will have successes, but they will not be a contender for regular wins, or even podiums, unless one of the RB, Ferrari or Merc have a bad patch. Therefore Dan will not be having a crack at a WDC any time soon.

However, Merc are rumoured to be reconsidering their works F1 effort. If they close the team, and retain the engine supply, someone is going to have to put their hand up to run as the works team. The favourite would have to be the orange cars. Demote Key to aero chief, bring in Allison and a few key people, and bingo you have a phantom Merc team. In that scenario Hammy and Bottas would be paid out and their contracts cancelled. Hamilton would probably retire, having won his 7th title in 2020, Bottas would be scrambling. I'd back Ric in that contest should Bottas go to McLaren. Ric and Hamilton would be a dream team, and maybe a great contest too.

Maybe Dan is sniffing the wind, and it is about the long term future more than simply getting out of the shambles that is Renault F1?

:mrgreen:

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Fri May 15, 2020 6:01 pm

More chatter, saying Dan was talking to McLaren before Seb jumped, and that his (alleged) lukewarm interest in the red team stemmed from gossip about their future competitiveness, apparently sourced from ... wait for it ... Bernie!!

The first bit I predicted in an earlier post, based on what seems to have been fairly detailed and pretty advanced negotiations two years ago, and the fact that the deal was done so fast. Add to that Sainz was released from the option McLaren had on him for 2021, suggests that McLaren had something up their sleeve. Maybe Sainz had got the word early that the option might not be exercised, and had been putting himself out there, that might also explain why Ferrari were able to act so quickly to fill Seb's seat, they had been talking to him on a 'just in case' basis, and then it got real.

I'll pass on the Bernie stuff, but a lot of this seems to be coming from/via Mark Webber, who is still pretty well connected. I will say the Ferrari didn't set the world on fire in Barcelona ...

Ahhh, we might be locked up, but the silly season has kicked off with a bang - two of then in fact! Let's see who gets the Renault seat (if they don't pull out), and what further ripples will bring in the way of surprises.

:mrgreen:

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Mon May 18, 2020 9:11 am

RenaultF1's response to Daniel's departure at the end of the year?

Within the unprecedented context of the 2020 season, discussions held with Daniel Ricciardo concerning a renewal of his contract beyond the end of 2020 have not been successful.

Cyril Abiteboul: “In our sport, and particularly within the current extraordinary situation, reciprocated confidence, unity and commitment are, more than ever, critical values for a works team. I am confident that the 2020 season will allow us to accomplish even more together. Our ambitions and the strategy of Renault DP World F1 Team remain unchanged.”
press release

Pretty weak really, no 'thanks for your contribution' or 'sorry to lose him', not the sort of leadership you expect in high-performance teams. Toto would never be so petty.

:mrgreen:

Mr Morlock · Postby **Mr Morlock** » Mon May 18, 2020 11:39 am

Yes I agree that was a stock dry unemotional response and I wonder if the clause 'reciprocated confidence, unity and commitment are, more than ever, critical values for a works team' can be read as Dan not being part of the unity and commitment. Dan wins points for for generosity and thanks in his response to not renewing .Would be good if Dan and the team can do something before the stuttering season recommences. Overall it sounds to me that Dan made a good move in not going with Ferrari - a pointer had to be Vettel's bail out.

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Wed May 27, 2020 9:14 pm

Couple of developments of interest:

McLaren are shedding 1200 (20%) employees, 70 from the race team. The race team numbers are being reduced to fit inside the cost cap, just a bit early. The rest are due to the crash of exxy supercar sales.

Press reports are seemingly confidently reporting Dan's salary at 10m euros, near enough to AUD$20m pa, plus substantial bonuses for points, and 1m euros for a win. The points bonus 400,000e per point should be a winner for him, 54 points last year, that's $4m, and he will be hoping that the McLaren will deliver better than that. The race win is a long shot over the next two years, but never say never ...

:mrgreen:

Red_Bullet · Postby **Red_Bullet** » Thu May 28, 2020 10:07 am

That's good motivation to achieve KPIs.

greenMachine · Postby **greenMachine** » Thu May 28, 2020 10:39 am

Yes. Back in the dark ages, Nelson Piquet had a contract like that, all results based, after a couple of lacklustre seasons. He made a LOT of money ...

One of the things about these sort of discussions is how accurate the financial info is. We won't know until his autobiography comes out, and maybe not even then. But the commentary is often informed by leaks from one side or the other, sometimes contradicted by the other party. In this case McLaren will be at pains to down play the numbers, and Dan's side keen to downplay any suggestion that he had to take a paycut to get a seat. Commonsense tells us that, in the middle of a pandemic with economic activity plummeting, the numbers are going to be lower this time around. But the incentive payments muddy the waters. They also tell us that Dan is a risk taker (who knew?!), has faith in his driving ability, has faith that McLaren can give him a good car, and that he can perform.

The other side of the equation is that the F1 team is remunerated on performance - a significant part of their income is funding from Liberty based on WCC (same as WDC) points. The more points Dan scores, the more the team gets, and the more they can 'afford' to pay him - profit sharing if you like.

The other aspect of this signing that hasn't got a lot of attention is the personality fit. I doubt that Ron Dennis would have signed Dan, the 'shoey' thing is not a good fit with Ron's image of McLaren - but Ron is long gone. One thing is for sure, they knew exactly what they were getting, so we can only hope that it will work out and that the culture has changed, or is capable of changing, to accept his extroverted, somewhat irreverent personality.

:mrgreen:

bruce · Postby **bruce** » Thu May 28, 2020 2:09 pm

They would never disclose the true salary they receive primarily for taxation reasons. They're of course citizens of Monaco (or other low tax countries) but still would want to reduce their tax bill by receiving benefits in other tax minimisation ways.