All posts by Adam Tate

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The previously unthinkable has come to pass, Ron Dennis has stepped down from his role as Chairman and Chief Executive at McLaren. The news comes after much speculation since the team’s troubled performance and lack of results in Formula One. Dennis had planned to buyout fellow shareholders Mansour Ojjeh, and the Bahraini Sovereign Wealth Fund in order to take full control over the company. In his attempts to do so he tried and failed at luring tech giant Apple into a potential buyout or investment dealRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor US based Liberty Media’s $8 billion buyout plan of Formula One is set to face its first regulatory hurdle as the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) may mount an investigation into the plan to ensure that the deal doesn’t violate antitrust and anti-competition laws. The CMA released the following statement on the matter. “The CMA is considering whether it is or may be the case that this transaction has resulted in the creation of a relevant merger situation under the merger provisions of the Enterprise ActRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor After much speculation Williams has finally announced that European F3 Champion Lance Stroll will join Valtteri Bottas for the 2017 Formula One season, replacing retiring veteran Felipe Massa. Stroll, who turned 18 last Saturday, has followed in the path of Max Verstappen, by showing incredible promise in the junior series. In further assistance to Williams and its battle to stay at the sharp end of the grid is Lawrence Stroll, his billionaire father, an investor and fashion magnate in their native Canada, who also happens toRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ross Brawn, the legendary former team principal and technical director who oversaw massive success at Benetton, Ferrari, Brawn, and Mercedes is set to return to the Formula One paddock in 2017. But it won’t be in the familiar role of working with a team, instead he will take up the role of Sporting Director. The news, broken by esteemed journalist James Allen is very interesting; Brawn will not replace Bernie Ecclestone, nor have any dealings with the commercial aspect of the sport. He will mainly actRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The intense speculation and fear for Circuit of the Americas and the United States Grand Prix’s future after 2015’s torrential floods killed attendance and morale are history because the US GP is well and truly back. Attendance figures for last weekend’s event came to a fantastic 269,889 people for the three day event. Whether it was due to Taylor Swift’s massive Saturday night concert, the perfect weather, Haas F1, or a combination of factors, the numbers topped even the attendance of the inaugural race in AustinRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor If reports from the Telegraph and others are to be believed, longtime McLaren Group Chairman and CEO Ron Dennis will vacate his role at the helm of the Woking-based firm when his contract runs out at the end of the year. The impetus for such a huge change is the result of an unsuccessful bid by Dennis to buyout his business partners. Dennis currently owns 25% of the company as does his long time business partner Mansour Ojjeh. The remaining 50% is owned by the Bahraini sovereignRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The FIA has confirmed a number of rule changes for the 2017 season today. With new cars substantially different and faster than the current machines, the sport’s governing body has had to issue rule changes out piecemeal style, but we can glean some important information from today’s announcement. Power Units The power units themselves aren’t changing for the 2017 season, but how they are to be regulated will. Currently teams have been able to change multiple parts of the power units and incur grid penalties forRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Nico Hulkenberg has reportedly signed a 2017 race contract that will see him move from his long time home of Sahara Force India, to the bright yellow cars of Renault. The much speculated move has finally come into the light as both Hulkenberg and Renault seek to build a partnership that will move them up the Formula One grid and into championship contention in several seasons’ time. Hulkenberg’s contract is good through 2018, with an option for 2019 that will likely be taken up, as theRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Highly respected UK newspaper, The Financial Times, has just reported that tech giant Apple is in talks to buy the McLaren Technology Group, parent company of the famed F1 team and car manufacturer in a deal that may be worth up to $2 billion. McLaren has quickly moved to deny the reports, but The Financial Times said it had three sources corroborate the report that talks were indeed in place between the two companies. McLaren is currently owned by three entities: F1 Principal Ron Dennis, company chairmanRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Colorado based company Liberty Media has confirmed it will undertake a buyout of Formula One from current majority stakeholders CVC Capital Partners, who have owned the majority stake in F1 for a decade. Liberty has already purchased a stake of 18.7% for $746 million. The plan calls for them to purchase the rest of CVC’s shares, at which point the company will be aptly renamed from the Liberty Media Group to the Formula One Group. Despite some changes behind the scenes, few immediate changes will happen.Read More