F1 1986 - Season Over - Vote for ROTY!

[FortiWinks]

I’m interested in joining your series Gertrand, I’ll take Ligier if you’re okay with that

Sure, welcome aboard!

Thank you! now to get to work, I’ll vote for keeping engine formula and spending four tokens on the ‘87 car

Ligier signs new team manager

Ligier has today announced the signing of a new team manager, 42-year-old Frenchman Pierre Lefevre.

“I am delighted to get involved with an F1 team of the quality of Ligier” Lefevre said “I’ve been an F1 fan for many years with one of my first memories being Matra winning the WCC with Jackie Stewart”.

And he has set a big target for the team “we aim to be World Champions by the end of the decade” A big call for a team who haven’t won a Grand Prix in nearly five years, will it pay off?

Ligier’s history is long including... You are out of views this month, subscribe to Autosport+ for only £178

[Bandon23]

Osella announces Caffi as a replacement for Fabi next race

After a race in Germany, things came from bad to worse as Teo Fabi has been awarded with a race ban for causing multiple collisions at the race start and reckless driving, forcing Osella to seek a driver replacement for Fabi to race at Hungary.

Osella have announced that Alex Caffi, the Italian driver, will replace Teo Fabi for the Hungarian GP for one round only before he comes back for Austria.

Osella boss Antonio Tomaini said Teo Fabi the point scorer of Osella this season had a nightmare race so far in Germany which cost him a valuable chance of a good result, but he backs him to come back strong.

"It's a bit shame Teo hadn't got to a very good start and it went all wrong to him. Sometimes the drivers make mistakes and that's game over if you get punished a race ban." said Antonio.

"I hope he comes back at Austria in a good matter. He is learning but he still scored points this season which is very important."

[Collieafc]

Further Improvements:

Manufacturer: Williams (Honda)

Improvements
Engine Power: 1 Pts
Qualifying Mode: 0 Pts
Reliability: 2 Pts

[Gertrand Bachot]

Upgrades After Round 10

Ligier

Code: Select all

-1 Handling for 1987 car. Cost was £500,000.
+112 Downforce for 1987 car. Cost was £1,200,000.
+88 Mechanical Grip for 1987 car. Cost was £700,000.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Also, if any team wishes to nominate a test/reserve driver, then they are free to do so.

[FortiWinks]

Also, if any team wishes to nominate a test/reserve driver, then they are free to do so.

If payment isn’t necessary I would like to nominate Didier Pironi as test driver

[Gertrand Bachot]

Qualifying


Race


DOTR: Gerhard Berger, who survived the first lap pileup and managed to finish 4th.
ROTR: Christian Danner. That was terrible.

Standings

[FortiWinks]

I’ve got a lot of work to do here at Ligier haven’t I?

Anyway seeing as we’ve got a couple of high speed tracks coming up I’ll take one drag upgrade and one on CFP

[Bandon23]

Hmm, seems like Caffi tried enough, but failed to impress. It was 'thanks for coming' for him.

[Iso Masa]

Manufacturer: Zakspeed

Improvements
Engine Power: 3 Pts
Qualifying Mode: 0 Pts
Reliability: 0 Pts

[Collieafc]

Further Improvements:

Manufacturer: Williams (Honda)

Improvements
Engine Power: 3 Pts
Qualifying Mode: 0 Pts
Reliability: 0 Pts

[Gertrand Bachot]

Yeah, it's been 5 months since I last did anything, but I was bored, so I decided to run a race.

Qualifying


Race


Nigel Mansell took his 7th pole position of the season at the Österreichring, with Ayrton Senna just pipping the other Williams of Alain Prost to finish off the front row. Both Minardis failed to utilise their Honda engines, with both De Cesaris and Nakajima failing to qualify at the high-speed circuit. The M186 is really dead in the water then. At the start had a pileup a bit like the real '87 race, with 5 cars being taken out off of the start line, those being Johansson, Piquet, Ghinzani, Thackwell and Perez-Sala. At about lap 15 Prost came up to lap Giacomelli, but the Italian blocked the reigning world champion and took them both out of the Grand Prix, causing Prost to lose valuable ground in the championship to his teammate. A few laps later Teo Fabi's Hart engine exploded, the small British provider having announced their withdrawal from F1 in 1987 a few days prior to the event. The race looked like it would stabilise after that, but Philippe Alliot had other ideas. The Frenchman was battling with Alessandro Nannini for 7th place, before he made an extremely rash and clumsy move at the ultra-fast Turn 2 that took them both out of the race and left lots of debris everywhere. Both were taken to the medical centre for checking but they were both thankfully cleared. A few more retirements happened, notably Keke Rosberg's Alfa Romeo engine failing just 2 laps from the end while in a strong 4th place, but Mansell took a dominant victory, with the McLaren duo of Senna and Warwick taking a double podium, the Brit's first since his win at Jerez 10 races previously. Alan Jones finished 4th for Benetton, Gerhard Berger finished 5th in his Ferrari, and René Arnoux finished 6th for Ligier, somewhat redeeming his teammate's stupidity.

Steward's report: Bruno Giacomelli has been issued a warning over his collision with Alain Prost. He will face harsher consequences if he does a similar move again.

Philippe Alliot has been reprimanded and handed a suspended race ban for his collision with Alessandro Nannini. If he makes any dirty moves in the future then he will be banned.

DOTR: McLaren. Return to form for them, although still a fair way behind Williams.
ROTR: Philippe Alliot, for reasons explained above.

Standings

[FortiWinks]

Oh Alliot, what are you doing

Ligier will stand down Philippe for the Italian GP as we feel like a break might help him get back in the right mindset to be racing at the highest level.

We will welcome Didier Pironi back to Formula 1 with a one-off drive and will offer £120,000 for his appearance. We are prepared to up the wage if we continue with him for the remainder of the season.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Budgets have been updated to include the Austrian GP race results.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Qualifying


Race


Alain Prost took pole position at the Monza circuit, his first of this season actually, with teammate Mansell behind him on the front row. Senna was 3rd, with the 2 Pirelli-tyred Arrows cars directly behind him. A real surprise was Teo Fabi, who put in a phenomenal lap to drag his Osella onto 10th place on the grid, clearly trying to redeem himself after being banned from the Hungarian Grand Prix. And Didier Pironi made his return to Formula One with the Ligier team, replacing Philippe Alliot temporarily, for now at least, after 4 years away following his crash in 1982. He qualified 19th, a respectable half a second behind Arnoux. At the start of the race however, both McLarens had a swift getaway and went into a 1-2 position. Meanwhile, several collisions took out Gerhard Berger, Rene Arnoux, Bruno Giacomelli, Christian Danner, and tragically Teo Fabi. What could have been a great opportunity for the Osella team became a bitter disappointment, as Fabi walked away from his car miserably. Piercarlo Ghinzani was battling with Stefan Johansson and Elio De Angelis, seeming to try and achieve what Fabi couldn't, but his Hart engine failed on Lap 10 from 12th place. The small Italian team had put on a good performance at their home race, and have absolutely nothing to show for it. After both Brabhams embarrassingly retired in quick succession of one another, another shock came, as Alain Prost's Honda engine failed, leading him to lose even more ground over his teammate in the championship. At the front however, Senna was starting to pull a gap, with Warwick in tow, before Mansell leapfrogged him in the first pitstop round and quickly headed off after Senna. The Brazilian however refused to give in quite so easily - having yet to stand on the top step of the podium this year - was holding the Brit back for several laps, before the Williams got ahead in the 2nd pitstop phase. After this there was nothing that Senna could do, Mansell simply having a superior car and was able to race ahead. Several cars dropped out from mechanical failures, apart from Alan Jones, who spun out at the first chicane and beached his car on the gravel. Oops. At the end, Mansell won with Senna 2nd. The main beneficiary of the high attrition was Arrows, who managed to finish 3rd and 4th, with Rosberg ahead of Nannini. Piquet came 5th, with Lotus's first points since Paul Ricard, and amazingly Didier Pironi managed to take the final point in his first race back. And Alan Jones set the fastest lap of the race.

DOTR: Didier Pironi. Don't need to explain really.
ROTR: Alan Jones. Took out Berger at the start, and then spun off of his own accord despite setting FLap.

Everything is open as usual.

Standings

[Iso Masa]

A tweet from Erich Zakowski:

All right, that's a boot for Patrese! If danish star John Nielsen is able to bring a little $$$, he's in... #DriverChange #TwatPatrese

Meanwhile:
Manufacturer: Zakspeed

Improvements
Engine Power: 3 Pts
Qualifying Mode: 0 Pts
Reliability: 0 Pts

[Gertrand Bachot]

A tweet from Erich Zakowski:

All right, that's a boot for Patrese! If danish star John Nielsen is able to bring a little $$$, he's in... #DriverChange #TwatPatrese

Meanwhile:
Manufacturer: Zakspeed

Improvements
Engine Power: 3 Pts
Qualifying Mode: 0 Pts
Reliability: 0 Pts

RNG: John Nielsen
1-90 Accepts
91-100 Finishes the International F3000 season
37
Nielsen accepts the drive. He can bring £200,000 if you want to keep him. But note this if you want to drop Patrese:

- If you fire a regular driver, he/she will demand a payment of £500,000. If you feel the driver has underperformed or performed in any other way to justify the termination of the contract, you may contest this payment and the dispute will go to court. A driver may decide to settle out of court for a lower sum. However, be warned - you may lose the case, and the driver can demand a greater payment than £500,000.

[Iso Masa]

Zakowski believes, that he has a strong case against Patrese, because:
1. Rookie Capelli has been miles ahead of former GP winner in qualifyings.
2. Lack of race performance.

So, Patrese gets sacked and we go to court!

[FortiWinks]

Yes Didier! Welcome back mate! Haven’t lost any of that speed have you!

We will offer Pironi four more races and will be happy to negotiate wages with him.

Plus also chuck another two tokens on the ‘87 car too please

[Gertrand Bachot]

Yes Didier! Welcome back mate! Haven’t lost any of that speed have you!

We will offer Pironi four more races and will be happy to negotiate wages with him.

Plus also chuck another two tokens on the ‘87 car too please

To start off, how much would you like to pay Didier for the rest of the season?

Zakowski believes, that he has a strong case against Patrese, because:
1. Rookie Capelli has been miles ahead of former GP winner in qualifyings.
2. Lack of race performance.

So, Patrese gets sacked and we go to court!

Alright, court proceedings will take place. Depending on your position, it could be quickly over, or it could stretch past the Portugese Grand Prix. Depends on how it goes.

Patrese believes that it is not fair that Zakspeed are firing him as he has been saddled with poor equipment (in his belief) and has scored points for them which will be very valuable, as well as the fact that he has a contract to the end of the year. He does not believe that he should be fired, but if he is, then he demands his full wage paid (£350,000) plus £250,000 for the points he has scored, and £100,000 in compensation. Would Zakspeed like to counter this, and if so how?

[Iso Masa]

He does not believe that he should be fired, but if he is, then he demands his full wage paid (£350,000) plus £250,000 for the points he has scored, and £100,000 in compensation. Would Zakspeed like to counter this, and if so how?

£50.000 in hush money.

[FortiWinks]

Let’s go with a round £200,000 for Pironi shall we? What do you say Didier?

[Gertrand Bachot]

Let’s go with a round £200,000 for Pironi shall we? What do you say Didier?

Pironi is willing to accept this offer. However, as Alliot was employed as a pay driver, you will have to forfeit the money you would otherwise have kept from him for the races of the season where he didn’t/won’t race (Italy-Australia). I’ll calculate this at some point soon.

He does not believe that he should be fired, but if he is, then he demands his full wage paid (£350,000) plus £250,000 for the points he has scored, and £100,000 in compensation. Would Zakspeed like to counter this, and if so how?

£50.000 in hush money.

Patrese rejects the offer, and his previous demands remain. Would Zakspeed like to put in a speech against Patrese or not?

[FortiWinks]

Let’s go with a round £200,000 for Pironi shall we? What do you say Didier?

Pironi is willing to accept this offer. However, as Alliot was employed as a pay driver, you will have to forfeit the money you would otherwise have kept from him for the races of the season where he didn’t/won’t race (Italy-Australia). I’ll calculate this at some point soon.

Yeah I know that Alliot is a pay driver (admittedly this is why I am willing to get rid of him so easy but don’t tell Philippe! )

[Iso Masa]

Patrese rejects the offer, and his previous demands remain. Would Zakspeed like to put in a speech against Patrese or not?

Certainly.
Main reason to fire Patrese is his complete lack of speed. His performance is way under what we expect as team's no. 1 driver.
-Qualifying:
Rookie Capelli has outqualified his experienced teammate 7 to 6. Last 5 qualifyings, Patrese has been faster only once. So his performance has gone downhill as season has progressed.
-Races:
-Sure, Patrese has finished fifth, whereas Capelli's best result is sixth. But San Marino GP, where Patrese "shined", saw only three fast cars finishing. So he managed to beat only a soapbox called Minardi. Worse yet, he was beated by an aerodynamic soapbox called Osella.

In every other GP, Capelli has matched Patrese's speed judging by race results.

So, once more: Patrese hasn't performed as team's unquestonnabe no. 1 driver should. He rather lost speed as season passed halfway point.

Machinery: Patrese knew, that Zakspeed isn't the fastest car on the grid. But still, one guy you need to beat with any car, is your teammate. Zakspeed has given Patrese and Capelli equal cars, and Capelli has been simply faster.

Motivation: Patrese was dropped from mid-season test in favour of local driver, but we didn't hear any complains... Meaning his motivation to give all for the team just isn't there.

We hope, that court agrees with us, and decides, that Zakspeed has enough reason to terminate Patrese's contract, without compensation. We wish him all good on the future... But just stay away from Zakspeed!

[Gertrand Bachot]

The court has come to a conclusion. Based on the evidence, Zakspeed need only pay Patrese a token £10,000 for the termination of Patrese’s contract. Zakspeed are free to employ John Nielsen, or any other driver from the Portuguese Grand Prix onwards.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Qualifying

Qualifying saw Mansell line up on pole again, ahead of Prost. McLaren occupied the second row, with Alboreto and de Angelis behind them. At the other end, Minardi again failed to qualify both of their cars, their appalling chassis unable to come close to utilising the Honda engine in the back.

Race

At the start the 2 Williams got ahead of the field, with the rest of the field staying in about the same order. A few cars would drop out, René Arnoux spun out at the exit of Turn 4 at Lap 15, and Alan Jones took out Thierry Boutsen at the first corner on Lap 36. The stewards will not be taking this lightly, especially considering he took out Gerhard Berger at the beginning at the previous Italian Grand Prix. Anyways, there were 16 finishers, the most in a while, and it was a Williams 1-2, and a McLaren 3-4. 5th was Michele Alboreto, finally scoring his first points of the season, and 6th was Nelson Piquet.

Stewards Report
Alan Jones has been handed a race ban effective immediately at the following Grand Prix, the Mexican Grand Prix. The Benetton team, and their manager Dexter249, MUST name their replacement before Friday 24th May 2019 18:00 BST, OR Car #19 will be removed from the entry list, and they will only field Car #20, currently driven by Christian Danner.

DOTR: Michele Alboreto. Points have been a long time coming, especially since his teammate has a victory to his name.
ROTR: Alan Jones. See above.

Everything is open as usual. (Although it's so late into the season that I doubt there's much point in upgrading your '86 car now.)

Standings

[Gertrand Bachot]

South African race throws up controversy again
When, at the beginning of the season, despite what happened last year, the FIA announced that the South African Grand Prix would be on the calendar in 1986, several people started to show concern. Later on, that concern grew. Now, after the last race of the European season at Estoril, that concern has become impossible to ignore.

The main root of the concern is the fact that South Africa still has the apartheid laws, which give white citizens more rights than the blacks and other coloured peoples living there, which the international community has been trying to get rid of. Several sanctions have been already put in place, with other sponsors threatening to withdraw. Last year, Beatrice forced the Haas team to withdraw from the race, and they have reinstated that they will do the same this year, and the French government will again prevent their teams, Ligier and AGS, from entering the South African Grand Prix, and that all French drivers in other teams are banned from competing in the race as well, including Alain Prost. The Brazilian government has said that they will do the same, with Ayrton Senna and Nelson Piquet being banned from competing as well, and the Finnish and Swedish governments have banned Keke Rosberg and Stefan Johansson from racing respectively. Other teams will be able to choose, with FOCA opposing the race going ahead, and with wide scale backlash being risked as well, Formula One faces a tough time ahead.

So, to clarify, Ligier and AGS are not allowed to participate in the South African Grand Prix, and Alain Prost, Ayrton Senna, Nelson Piquet Keke Rosberg and Stefan Johansson will also not be able to compete.

Other teams will be able to choose whether or not to enter the race. Note that if you do, you do so entirely at your own risk, and you will lose your standings with your current and any future sponsors (this will become more important in 1987 as you will find out). You have 2 weeks from today to decide whether or not to do this.

[CaptainGetz12]

Will there be any new teams for 1987? I may be interested in running one of the new teams or if someone drops out for 1987.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Will there be any new teams for 1987? I may be interested in running one of the new teams or if someone drops out for 1987.

Yes. March, Larrousse and Coloni will be joining the grid in 1987, although at the minute McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Ferrari currently don't have a manager (but Haas will be gone by the end of this season).

[Aislabie]

Yes. March, Larrousse and Coloni will be joining the grid in 1987, although at the minute McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Ferrari currently don't have a manager (but Haas will be gone by the end of this season).

I've never managed Ferrari in any series. Now that I've finished my degree I could most definitely make time for that

[Gertrand Bachot]

Yes. March, Larrousse and Coloni will be joining the grid in 1987, although at the minute McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Ferrari currently don't have a manager (but Haas will be gone by the end of this season).

I've never managed Ferrari in any series. Now that I've finished my degree I could most definitely make time for that

You can take over them if you want to.

[Aislabie]

Yes. March, Larrousse and Coloni will be joining the grid in 1987, although at the minute McLaren, Haas, Minardi and Ferrari currently don't have a manager (but Haas will be gone by the end of this season).

I've never managed Ferrari in any series. Now that I've finished my degree I could most definitely make time for that

You can take over them if you want to.

Please!

[FortiWinks]

Ligier will respect the decision from the French government and agree that apartheid is a massive issue but we will ask the government for compensation for not being able to race and potentially losing positions in the WCC which could cost us a fair sum in prize money.

[CaptainGetz12]

I'll wait until the 1987 season then, see what comes up.

[Gertrand Bachot]

Please!

Sure, welcome aboard! Feel free to ask questions if you want to, and have a bit of a look around.

Ligier will respect the decision from the French government and agree that apartheid is a massive issue but we will ask the government for compensation for not being able to race and potentially losing positions in the WCC which could cost us a fair sum in prize money.

Of course. The French government will send £2,000,000 in compensation for both Ligier and AGS due to them not being allowed to race in South Africa.

I'll wait until the 1987 season then, see what comes up.

That's fine (you may get some better options if people don't return, which I presume influenced your decision).

[Gertrand Bachot]

I should probably mention at this point that Williams have now won the constructor's championship, as they now cannot be surpassed by anyone else in points. Congratulations!

[Bleu]

Tyrrell is not planning to go to South Africa. The team allows Jonathan Palmer and Mike Thackwell for one-off race in other team, granted that the team pays half of its prize money to Tyrrell, if Palmer or Thackwell is their lead driver in the race results.

[FortiWinks]

Of course. The French government will send £2,000,000 in compensation for both Ligier and AGS due to them not being allowed to race in South Africa.

Ligier thanks the French government for being so generous and with the money we will build a new wind tunnel for our F1 cars and microcars.

We also will officially confirm that the team will withdraw from the South African Grand Prix

[SeedStriker]

Brabham won't go to South Africa either. We won't support racism of any class, no matter the consequences.