Toto Wolff: "2018 is year of truth for Liberty"
- Published on 15 Mar 2018 10:50
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Toto Wolff thinks 2018 is a year of truth for F1's new owner Liberty Media. The Mercedes boss said the sport's new American regime had a "grace period" last year. "It's always easy to criticise the coach from the stands, because making decisions is not always easy," Wolff told Stuttgarter Nachrichten newspaper. "But in my view not all the decisions were positive."
He said banning grid girls is one mistake, and Wolff also questioned whether Liberty can follow through on its promise to introduce exciting new grands prix. "Hopefully we see something like New York, San Francisco, Miami or an attractive European or Asian race," Wolff said. "I hope to see it in the second year. Only then will it be fair to judge Liberty," he added.
Wolff says he misses ousted F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone in some ways. "In his prime, Bernie was brilliant at pulling off a big deal," he said. "If he went to a government and said he dreamed of a Singapore grand prix, that's what happened. The current management has to show that it can do that too."
Wolff said Liberty's efforts to please everyone has also created problems. "Now that Bernie is gone, Liberty is struggling with the problem that suddenly there is a promoters association for the circuits. Everyone wants to renegotiate their deal," he said.
As for what will happen in 2018 from a competitive point of view, Wolff answered: "I'm not good at reading a crystal ball. But from the tests I can only derive that on one lap, there is relatively little between Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull." (GMM)
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Replies (8)
Login to replyRindtchamp
Posts: 304
Removing Grid Girls, adding Grid Kids (ugh no..), Halo, new logo etc etc
All the decisions recently are just WRONG!
FlAsHFlOoD
Posts: 6
No, all the decisions recently are RIGHT! And who cares, i'm here to watch racing....
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Every single decision above are politically correct, and doesnt bring any value to the sport. We could easily call liberty media as phonies, but i will wait till the end of 2018 for that.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Yeaaaaah no. I dont mind the kids, dont mind the halo (as I've said before, Im hot enough for the two of us). The logo is meh at best, and need a rework, mind.
UncleElias
Posts: 5
Imagine kids standing around in the cold, the rain and the heat... F1 didn't need grid girls and doesn't need grid kids. Holding the stanchion with the car number should have been to the teams. Some teams would likely have sold the honor to some sponsor. Many teams are crying for more money, it would have been perfect.
Zjay
Posts: 4
Just for the records some other fans from planet Earth think that the following decisions are RIGHT: removing Grid Girls, Halo, direct streaming to fans (I know it is not available everywhere, but eventually will be and not Liberty's mistake).
Zjay
Posts: 4
One more thing, Toto cut the acting and you don't get to speak since Mercedes is leaving F1 anyway in 2021. Best case scenario is they will stay as an engine supplier, and I doubt that too.
Kean
Posts: 692
I don't mind one bit the decisions made so far by Liberty. Getting rid of Grid Girls; the right thing to do. Adding Grid Kids; a nice touch but really don't care because I'm in it for the racing. Changing the Logo; heaven forbid... Really, I could care less, sure I wouldn't have chosen the one they did but again, I watch F1 because of racing. The Halo, wasn't that the FIA that decided that, either way if it does what it says on the tin then I don't mind it. Sure it's an eye sore and it is a hinderance when building an effective car, but if it saves lives who's to complain.