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Sebastian Vettel has been tipped to take out the 2016 title for Ferrari. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton were dominant in 2014 and 2015, but Ferrari improved markedly this year.
When asked to name the likely 2016 champion, Ferrari reserve and 2016 Haas racer Esteban Gutierrez told Spain's AS newspaper unhesitatingly: "Vettel."
And 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve told Italian website Diariodelweb.it: "They (Ferrari) can catch Mercedes.
"Thanks to their resources, they can often work better than Mercedes. The atmosphere among their drivers and engineers is good, so they have a bright future ahead."
Also impressed with Ferrari and German Vettel is Angelo Sticchi Damiani, the boss of the Monza-linked automobile club of Italy (Aci).
"The recovery of the reds compared to 2014 was very important," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport, "and Vettel impressed not just in his results, but with how quickly he became comfortable with the team and with Italy, becoming very popular.
"Now the hope for 2016 is that it is the year of the Cavallino (Prancing Horse)," Sticchi Damiani added.
He was also asked about the current stoush for power between the big manufacturers like Ferrari and F1 authorities, who want to cut costs for the small teams.
"The change of regulations is a sensitive issue," Sticchi Damiani admitted.
"There is the problem of engines for the small teams, but also the problem of having to adequately award the work done upstream for the production of these engines. It is a complex situation and not easily solved," he added.
Grand Prix of Belgium
C. Sainz jr
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Login to replydr002
Posts: 141
“adequately award the work done upstream for the production of the[se] engines” - by creating an additional two championships.
The factory teams are effectively competing against themselves anyway, because they won’t provide the latest spec engines to the smaller teams, so create a ‘FACTORY TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP’ (3 cars/team) and a separate ‘CONSTRUCTOR TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP’ (2 cars/team) for non-factory teams only. Then, by making each engine manufacturer supply one factory team and two constructor teams, an ENGINE CHAMPIONSHIP could be created, in that such engine supply requirements would enable the engine championship to be based upon an equitable allocation of points to each engine manufacturer for every car that finishes a race.
THE PODIUM
The podium could therefore comprise:
1. A presentation to the team representative for the first Factory Team across the line.
2. A presentation to the driver and team representative for the first Constructor Team across the line (or to the team representative only if a Constructor Team places 1st, 2nd or 3rd.
3. A presentation to the representative of the winning engine manufacturer, based upon the total points accumulated in the race.
4. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place drivers would then arrive on the podium with a continuation of the existing presentation format.
Having a structure with 4 Championships, would: place 28 cars on the grid; provide greater recognition to the engine manufacturers; motivate the engine manufacturers to keep their offerings competitive; provide additional motivation for the engine manufacturers to supply their latest spec engines to the constructor teams; and give the small teams a championship that they can strive to win, which at the moment is simply not possible as the engine manufacturers want their factory cars to be superior to the independent teams that they supply.
A 5th Development Engine Manufacturer (DEM) could also be on the grid each year by being able to bid at the beginning of each season to field a Factory Team of 3 cars to compete in the Factory Team Championship and Driver’s Championship only. If at the end of the year the development manufacturer places 4th or better, the team would then enter the competition in the subsequent year as a ‘competing’ engine manufacturer, whilst the team coming 5th would be given an option, or first right of refusal, to continue as a DEM before having to bid alongside other potential engine manufacturers for a place on the grid as a DEM in subsequent years.
The format of having 4 engine manufacturers supplying a Factory Team and 2 Constructor Teams would also enable a 5th competition, in the form of a Tyre Championship, which could comprise 3 tyre manufacturers each supplying one of each of the engine manufacturer’s 3 teams, the appointment for which would be negotiated prior to commencement of the championship and locked in throughout the season. Points would be awarded to each tyre manufacturer based upon the finishing place for each of the 28 cars on the grid (if a DOM was on the grid, each tyre manufacturer would supply one of the DOM’s three cars).