Word on the beat

One of the more intriguing rumours around F1 at the moment is that of Ron Dennis working on a BMW mega-deal to include a road car link-up and an F1 programme. McLaren at any given time is in open-ended discussions with many automotive companies and we understand that any BMW discussion is in the very early stages. But in many ways it would be a perfect fit. Each could benefit greatly from a partnership with the other. The current Honda F1 partnership is in place for a further five years beyond this one at least. That’s assuming it runs its course. 

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Sauber’s technical director Mark Smith – who joined only in August – left again in March. All not well in Hinwil.-

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Although Aston Martin has been confirmed as a branding partner with Red Bull – essentially filling the role formerly taken by Infiniti – it has led some to assume there could be an Aston-badged Mercedes engine in the Red Bulls at some future date (Mercedes owns five per cent of Aston and will be supplying it with engines in the future). Much as Red Bull would love this to happen, it’s likely to reach exactly the same stumbling block – Mercedes supplying a key F1 competitor – as it did last year. 

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Manor to become a Mercedes B-team in future? Look out for the McLaren wind tunnel deal not being renewed and being replaced by a Mercedes tunnel deal. Should that happen, expect further integration to follow – as a strategic move for post-2020 bargaining power in who controls the championship. 

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Marketing expert Zak Brown is again being touted as Bernie Ecclestone’s successor, following stories of a meeting of F1’s key shareholders about what the post-Bernie strategy should be. 

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The Pirelli supply deal announced on the grid at Sochi last year has still not been inked. The commercial deal with FOM has, but the supply deal with FIA has not. Backdrop to that is the letter that was being prepared by the FIA to frame exactly what is required from the 2017 tyres. Should Pirelli say it cannot meet those demands, what happens next? 

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Ferrari-Red Bull niggle apparent in the FIA press conference at Melbourne? Asked his view on the new Haas team, Maurizio Arrivabene said: “I have to congratulate people like him who want to invest in F1.
They want to take this sport seriously and not as a kind of speculation.”