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Originally posted by 220-9er:

Ford must be a little edgy right now.

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Originally posted by Ripley:
^^^^
That's why I thought the mention of Porsche odd. FWIW They have more cachet to lose than VW or Audi, it's doubtful any of them would walk into F1 and be a force.

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Permane replaces Mekies as Racing Bulls team principal
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Racing Bulls has announced Alan Permane will replace the Red Bull-bound Laurent Mekies as team principal with immediate effect, following Christian Horner’s firing.

Horner was relieved of his duties at Red Bull on Wednesday morning, with Mekies promoted to the role of CEO or Red Bull Racing in his place. As a result of that move, Permane (pictured at left, above, with Mekies) steps up from sporting director to take over Mekies’ responsibilities as team principal at Racing Bulls, working alongside CEO Peter Bayer for the Faenza-based team.

“I feel very honored to take on the role as team principal and would like to thank Oliver [Mintzlaff,Red Bull managing director] and Helmut [Marko, team advisor] for the trust they have shown in me,” Permane said. “I am looking forward to working with Peter to continue the good work that both him and Laurent have done in taking this team forward. This is a new challenge for me, but I know that I can count on the support of everyone within them.”

Permane only joined Racing Bulls at the start of the 2024 season, joining as racing director having worked at Enstone – under the team names of Benetton, Renault, Lotus and Alpine – for more than 30 years. He takes over from Mekies, who says Permane is ideally suited to succeed him as the Frenchman heads to Red Bull.

“The last year and a half has been an absolute privilege to lead the team with Peter,” Mekies said. “It has been an amazing adventure to contribute to the birth of Racing Bulls together with all our talented people. The spirit of the whole team is incredible, and I strongly believe that this is just the beginning. Alan is the perfect man to take over now and continue our path. He knows the team inside out and has always been an important pillar of our early successes.”

Racing Bulls slipped to seventh in the constructors’ championship after a double DNF at Silverstone on Sunday, but has long been the proving ground for young Red Bull drivers, with Max Verstappen starting his career with the team under a previous guise of Toro Rosso. Yuki Tsunoda was promoted to partner Verstappen in the senior team in place of Liam Lawson earlier this year.

The change of team principal at Red Bull and Racing Bulls means only Mercedes' Toto Wolff has been in such a role for more than two full seasons, with Andrea Stella at McLaren, Fred Vasseur at Ferrari and James Vowles at Williams all taking on their positions ahead of the 2023 season.

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Originally posted by ChuckFinley:
Red Bull's performance next year, in the new cars, will be one of the most hotly anticipated elements to see.

Saw a video that Hulk disobeyed and changed team orders 4x in Silverstone, any one of which would have cost him the podium had he done what his engineer/team wanted him to do.

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Apple and ESPN leading race for F1’s U.S. TV rights
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Apple and ESPN are two of the leading contenders amid wider interest for the broadcast rights to Formula 1 in the United States, RACER understands.

As reported back in February, Netflix and Amazon are also parties that have held negotiations with F1, with sources close to the matter still including the streaming giants in the mix as they turn their attentions to sports rights as part of their offerings. But ESPN was always set to retain a strong interest as the existing broadcast partner, having held the rights since 2018.

While the sport could remain on ESPN in the United States, with the network boasting an average of 1.3 million viewers per race – a seven percent season-on-season increase in viewership – this year, the interest from Apple has only been strengthened by the success of the F1 movie that was released at the end of last month.

The film – from director Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and starring Brad Pitt – was an Apple Original Films project, and has grossed over $300 million worldwide to date.

Apple currently has a portion of live sports rights for the MLB – offering Friday Night Baseball – while it holds complete coverage of the MLS regular season and playoffs.

ESPN remained in the race to extend its deal despite an exclusivity period ending without an agreement earlier this year, and has seen growing audience figures again this season across race broadcasts on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2, even prior to the release of the F1 movie.

The many interested parties involved were keen to see the impact of the film’s release on audience demographics and awareness of the sport, prior to further advancing discussions. The current rights deal expires at the end of the current year, meaning there are still over five months for an agreement to be finalized ahead of the 2026 campaign.

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Originally posted by P250UA5:
Makes me glad I have F1TV.
Otherwise, I'd be missing out, not interested in adding Apple