[Team] Aston Martin Racing in 2023. One of the cars still has Alonso.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i get that his means may afford him the ability to do things differently, but i still dont like the optics of it.

I understand that - and agree with what you are saying.

It has to be remembered though that his most recent test at the time of the flight was negative. The positive test wasn't carried out until after the flight.

[billy bleach]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i get that his means may afford him the ability to do things differently, but i still dont like the optics of it.

So what does he do ? Sit in his hotel until he is all better? He would have jumped in his family Bombardia and flown home. Unless off course the alternative story doing the rounds is true....

[bella]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

i get that his means may afford him the ability to do things differently, but i still dont like the optics of it.

nothing any of the strolls do suggests they give a rat’s bum about optics to be honest.

[Biscuits In A Red Bull]

Originally Posted by cds_uk

As far as i'm concerned Lance will never be more than an average driver, he's into his fourth season now, still regularly gets out qualified by whoever is his team mate, never put's his car higher up the grid than it should be, odd freak result granted. Having said that he doesn't make many mistakes and his dads cash/connections keep the team afloat, he is hardly the first person in F1 with those qualifications. He will never win an F1 title, there is an outside chance he may luck into a win. When all is said and done he is in arguably the third best car on the grid and sits 9th in the championship having missed a round, Perez is 5th having missed two rounds.

Bit harsh. He has the team's best qualifying position, best race finish, and after his 3rd in Monza was sitting 4th in the WDC. Since then he's had 2 DNFs that were not his doing and a similarly unfortunate DNS. He's regularly matched Perez and his drive in Hungary was arguably the finest from an RP driver all season. The guy is more than just an adequate F1 driver to be fair to him, I can envisage race wins in good enough equipment, although a WDC is admittedly unlikely!

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It has to be remembered though that his most recent test at the time of the flight was negative. The positive test wasn't carried out until after the flight.

well thats the bad optics part for me...his prior test was before arriving which is different than having a negative result before traveling...all the more so because he was already showing symptoms before he got on the plane.

basically to me, this sounds like a guy who wanted to make sure he got back home before he risked getting back a positive test which thus allowed him to quarantine in what i can only imagine to be a very nice house and not a motorhome.

honestly, i would have done the same in his place, especially if i had my own plane, so i cant really be mad can i?

im probably a 2 or 3 on the mod flanders scale of outrage!

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by billy bleach

So what does he do ? Sit in his hotel until he is all better? He would have jumped in his family Bombardia and flown home. Unless off course the alternative story doing the rounds is true....

at least he is buying Canadian made planes!

but what is the alternative story?

[chillibowl]

Originally Posted by bella

nothing any of the strolls do suggests they give a rat’s bum about optics to be honest.

right!

but does this story take on a different level had the rebranding already happened? RP isnt a publicly traded company so no one really cares what the boss's kid does with the office stationary. a lot more eyes on Aston Martin so the optics could be different.

last time i say optics for a while lol.

[E.B]

I see Lawrence Stroll (ie Snr.) has also admitted he has tested positive.... he was at home in Switzerland and not at the GP. Not sure if his being at home rather than at the race was Covid related.

What I dont understand about Lance Stroll is why did he not have a test when he was unwell, at a time when he would have, within the F1 system, got an instant result (as did Hulkenberg when he was tested at the gate of the circuit and an hour later sitting tn the car). Instead he waited until he got home to have a test he was not given the result to until Monday. I dont buy the "My Doc told me I did not need one" story.

Plus there are different timings between things said in the team propaganda to what Stroll has said.

It just smacks of being irresponsible and a little selfish.... My Dad owns the team and Ill do as I want.

[wnut]

Why wasn't this level of outrage on display when Perez went back to South America?

[Adam43]

Some did, but most realised there were different circumstances.

For Stroll people aren’t impressed in how he behaved at the circuit, traveling back, when he got the test and when he reported it.

For Perez he did t have those issues and got it while visiting his injured mother. I suspect people cut him a bit of slack about that.

They both used a private plane though, so that’s similar. Oh and they are both F1 drivers.

[S griffin]

No doubt Stroll made a misjudgement not having the COVID test at the circuit, even if the symptoms weren't that obvious.

Anyway the FIA have warned RP over what happened, so let's hope they learn from this. No surprise though that the anti-Stroll brigade a keen to shoot them down over this though

[steve_r]

Originally Posted by wnut

Why wasn't this level of outrage on display when Perez went back to South America?

There was some press reaction that could be described as "outrage" over Perez - but he was showing no symptoms, so the positive test result came as a surprise.

Stroll Jr was showing many Covid symptoms, and yet seemingly travelled around without getting properly tested - or had a phone call with a doctor (?). Or not, depending on what the actual truth is.

I get the impression that Perez was caught out, whereas Stroll should have realized.



Most my recent posts seem to be about Perez for one reason or another. I must point this out next time I say something nice about a British driver and get accused of being a countryman fanboy.

[Adam43]

Location doesn’t check out.

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by Adam43

Location doesn’t check out.

Richard

[wolfhound]

Mercedes is to take a 20% shareholding in Aston Martin becoming its second largest shareholder.



https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/15...ton-investment



Lawrence Stroll seems to have an interesting strategy of building a partnership between Mercedes and Aston Martin in both road cars and motorsport.

[Tourer]

Originally Posted by wolfhound

Lawrence Stroll seems to have an interesting strategy of building a partnership between Mercedes and Aston Martin in both road cars and motorsport.

Let's just hope that the approach used for the race team isn't used for the road cars - prefer Astons to retain their beautiful looks and not become copies of Mercedes road cars.

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by Tourer

Let's just hope that the approach used for the race team isn't used for the road cars - prefer Astons to retain their beautiful looks and not become copies of Mercedes road cars.

With lots of really naff fake chrome inside......

[Adam43]

They are very kitsch inside. Appeals to footballers I guess.

At least recently they’ve had a (Merc) Sat Nav and infotainment system that works.

I don’t think styling will be dictated by this, just a continuation of engines, electronics And maybe some other things.

Although a new design in the range wouldn’t go a miss. Maybe this investment helps with that?

[wnut]

Originally Posted by Adam43

They are very kitsch inside. Appeals to footballers I guess.

At least recently they’ve had a (Merc) Sat Nav and infotainment system that works.

I don’t think styling will be dictated by this, just a continuation of engines, electronics And maybe some other things.

Although a new design in the range wouldn’t go a miss. Maybe this investment helps with that?

In the navigation and entertainment stakes an iPhone does just fine, and does not require a 600 pound upgrade from a Merc Stealership every second service.

[S griffin]

iPhones really do work a treat when it comes to things like navigation, although I’m sure many wouldn’t say no to a Mercedes upgrade knowing how good their technology has been

[Aysedasi]

Originally Posted by S griffin

iPhones really do work a treat when it comes to things like navigation, although I’m sure many wouldn’t say no to a Mercedes upgrade knowing how good their technology has been

Not if you have to pay through the nose for it....

[crmalcolm]

It's interesting that an occasional upgrade to a piece of technology is criticised as being expensive in a car, and an iPhone is put forward as a comparison.
I know it is for a different purpose, but how much does it cost each year to keep an iPhone up to date and operating?

From what I can tell, a new model comes out roughly every 12-18 months, with a monthly subscription on top for Apple services, plus line rental. I'm pretty certain that all amounts to more than keeping the ICE/SatNav updated....

[chillibowl]

Guess that is why car sales are gradually moving towards a subscription model.

They dont want some of your money...they want all of it.

[Akrapovic]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

It's interesting that an occasional upgrade to a piece of technology is criticised as being expensive in a car, and an iPhone is put forward as a comparison.
I know it is for a different purpose, but how much does it cost each year to keep an iPhone up to date and operating?

From what I can tell, a new model comes out roughly every 12-18 months, with a monthly subscription on top for Apple services, plus line rental. I'm pretty certain that all amounts to more than keeping the ICE/SatNav updated....

£0. Software updates for iPhone and Android phones are free. Software functionality is added completely for free. Both Apple and Google provide GPS directions through their own mapping systems, which are updated continuously without the user doing anything (since its cloud based).

You don't need to buy a new phone for the same reason you don't need to buy a new car every year. It still works. Unlike the car though, the phone will get free updates through its life time. The car will not. And even if you do buy a new iPhone, you don't need a flagship phone. The SE is £400 without a contract. Android phones can be much cheaper. And everyone generally has a phone for other use anyway.

[chillibowl]

i thought he was referring to the extra costs/maintenance/user costs post initial purchase price...some of these are of course voluntary add ons, but between your mobile/data plan, cloud storage, music subscription/other subscriptions service then it can become a sizable monthly bill.

if i add up the cost of my gas (i personally dont drive a lot) and regular maintenance, its probably only a couple of hundo more a year then what i pay for my cell.

of course everyone will be in a different situation.

this is actually a great discussion, maybe we should move it over to the road car forum?