During these times of hardship, affecting the greater proportion of the world’s population, the sharks never miss a beat! With Covid 19 reaking havoc for the past 2+years, you would think that there would have been all hands to the lifeboat. Indeed, it did look like that at first. But, as time passed, it appears the sharks are still operating in their comfort zones, and are now circling like vultures, and not looking likely to be taking prisoners. Of course, the words “sharks” and “vultures” I refer to are not fish and birds. The sharks and vultures that I refer to are the greedy, selfish minority of the world’s population, who feather their own nests at the expense of other less affluent beings, and don’t give a damn about the hardship they cause.

Motorists have seen the price of fuel more that double in The UK, where the government rakes-in a fair proportion of the sale price. But what really annoys me is the profit made by the energy companies, in this case Shell and BP. Shell have announced a 3 month profit of £6.9 billion:

BP has revealed second-quarter profits more than trebled to a 14-year high as it joined Shell in reaping the benefits of soaring oil and gas prices.

The oil giant reported underlying replacement cost profits – its preferred measure – jumping to a far better-than-expected 8.5 billion US dollars (£6.9 billion) for the three months to June 30, up from 2.8 billion US dollars (£2.3 billion) a year ago.

BP delivered cheer to investors, with a 10% rise in the dividend shareholder payout and by ramping up its share buyback plan with another 3.5 billion US dollars (£2.9 billion) due before the end of September.

Not to be outdone, Shell have announced an even bigger profit of £9.5 billion for the same period:

Shell reported that it would return billions of dollars to its shareholders as it continued to profit from massive energy price hikes following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The business said it would buy back six billion dollars (£4.9 billion) worth of shares from its investors, as earnings beat expectations.

Adjusted earnings hit nearly 11.5 billion dollars (£9.5 billion) for the second quarter of the year, compared with the less than 11 billion (£9 billion) that analysts had forecast.

BP and Shell might well be lining the pockets of shareholders, but the point is that with the profits they have shown doesn’t warrant the price rise of fuel to such a high, that only the wealthy proportion of the population can afford to buy the fuel.

But it’s not just fuel prices. Centrica, owner of British Gas, has announced a profit of £1.3 billion over the first 6 months of this year:

The energy giant said its upstream business, which includes its North Sea operations, saw adjusted operating profit reach £1.3 billion in the first six months of the year – an increase of more than 1,100%.

According to Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea, he’s very conscious of the fact that “people are having a tough time”. But then, he says that Centrica are expecting to pay a windfall tax of over £600 million in the next couple of years, a lot going back into society:

Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea said: “I know it’s difficult to see the word profits, or dividends, or similar words when people are having a tough time. I’m very conscious of this.

“Bear in mind, over the next couple of years we are expecting to pay a windfall tax of probably well over £600 million on our UK gas business off the back of the profits that we’re seeing, so a lot of this is going back into society.”

But it’s not going back into society, it’s going to the government.

At the end of the day, the population is screwed, like they always have been, at the hands of the self-serving politicians. Being a politician is a job, like any other. Instead of having expensive lunches, chauffeur-driven cars, travelling expenses, and spending half a day in the constituency office, take a packed-lunch, get the bus, buy your own travel tickets and put-in more time in the constituency office to help people with their problems. And, if you must attend the House of Commons, don’t fall-asleep (and miss your bus home).

Best Regards

Rantattack

Whatever you perceive F1 to be, whichever team you support, whoever your favourite driver is, one thing is for sure, the final race of 2021 in Abu Dhabi is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Liberty Media has transformed a once enjoyable spectator sport loved by millions, to a controversial, mismanaged farce.

When it was announced Liberty Media had agreed to acquire Formula One back in September 2016, there was a concern among purists that the American mass media conglomerate would alienate the fan base and destroy the sport in its attempt to maximize revenues.

Well, the purists, mentioned above, certainly got that right; viewing figures in America increased 36% in the 2019-2020 season alone. Of course, viewing figures are vitally important to ensure those in the Liberty Media hierarchy food chain get their end-of-year bonuses.

The introduction of sprint races was controversial, and increased the workload on pit crews, drivers, stewards and marshals, and even allowed the possibility that a driver securing pole position in qualifying could actually be starting at the back of the grid in the main race. Penalty decisions have not been consistent, with further increased controversy this year, as we all know. The bottom line is that this year’s championship wasn’t won by Max Verstappen, it was given to him on a silver platter; saying that, I take nothing away from his ability to be a world champion, he’s a very talented driver, but let’s be honest, the race win was taken away from Lewis Hamilton by unbelievable decisions, and those decisions land on Michael Masi’s desk.

To comment further on what happened in Abu Dhabi would be pointless because everybody is entitled to their own opinion. But, the bottom line is that the Formular 1 race held at Abu Dhabi on Sunday, December 12, 2021, will go down in history as the beginning of the end of Formular 1, as it has been loved by all those millions for the past 71 years.

Whether I’ll watch Formular 1 next year remains to be seen, but I’ll certainly not be rushing home to switch on the tv.

Best regards

Rantattack

Well, who would have thought the season would have finished like that!

Let’s look at the facts :

The safety car was deployed after Latifi crashed with 5 laps to go. It seemed at that time that the race would be finished behind the safety car; with only 5 laps remaining, it didn’t seem possible that the track would be cleared in time: but, isn’t it amazing how these obstacles can be overcome. I would question whether all the debris was cleared, although that’s not the issue here. Horner was on the radio to Michael Masi, and was heard to say, “We only need 1 race lap”. The next minute, Masi announced that lapped cars would not be allowed to pass the safety car. Horner, again onto Masi, asking why the lapped cars would not be allowed to pass. And so, without any further time wasted, the lapped cars were told to overtake the safety car. I’ll leave you to think about those last 4 sentences! However, only those lapped cars that were between Hamilton and Verstappen passed. Then with what seemed like a blink of an eye, the safety car was ordered in, leaving only a very short time before the Hamilton crossed the start line to begin the last lap, and because the lapped cars between Hamilton and Verstappen were out of the way, it left Verstappen, on fresh soft tyres, right behind Hamilton. From that point, it was a forgone conclusion that Vertappen would win the race.

I don’t begrudge Verstappen the race win, he’s a very talented driver. However, had the rules been applied properly by Massi, there was no doubt that Hamilton would have won the race. It’s hard not to think there was some collusion between Horner and Masi, nor it’s possible for them to belong to the same lodge.

The bottom line is that Verstappen didn’t win the race, he was given it on a silver platter by race director Masi.

Perhaps the FIA should think about replacing their race director because the current one has clearly lost the plot.

Best regards

Rantattack

I’ve been quiet on a Formular 1 rant lately, but the last few races have left me boiling inside; not because of the racing itself, but the constant dribble coming from the dynamic duo at Red Bull. Horner and Marko have turned a great sport into a pantomime, worthy of the worst critics’ reviews of the decade.

As Toto Wolff has already said, “Horner is just a windbag”. That is the truest statement I have ever heard; if he doesn’t complain about one thing, he complains about another. Horner can’t even get through a sentence without the er, um, er, er, um, er! It’s pretty obvious that he’s making it up as he goes along! He’s not even a pantomime dame in the making; he’s surpassed that level a long time ago.

As for Marko, I think I’d run out of derogatory adjectives, So I’ll leave that there. But at least he’s learnt how to wear his covid mask properly.

Then we have Max Verstappen! His antics on track these last few races have ruined his street cred. Such a talented driver, steering himself down a dead-end road. He’s an accident waiting to happen! If he wants to be world champion, he needs to do it by sheer talent, the same way Hamilton has done. Jos Verstappen has reported that he taught Max to overtake in places that are difficult; all very well and good, but he obviously hasn’t taught him to respect other drivers. Max, setting his sights on the world championship is not a bad thing, but he needs to learn that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Next year, there’s no reason that he can’t become world champion, apart from his current shit-or-bust attitude.

I’ve noticed that the Red Bull pit crew are constantly looking into the Mercedes garage to see what’s going on; that is par for the course, but lately they seem to be taking more notice of what’s happening there than their own garage. Mercedes doesn’t attempt to hide anything. But yesterday, the Red Bull pit crew were forming a shield to cover what was going on with the rear wing of Verstappens car. So, the question must be, “What are they hiding?”. I also noticed, during FP3, Verstappens DRS flap closing, leaving a small gap at the bottom; I could quite easily see daylight through the gap.

You might have guessed that I’m a Hamilton fan. Yes, I’m British, and will always support a British competitor in any sport. I’m not a fan of Hamilton outside of F1, but that’s none of my business, and comments on that have no place here. The fact is that he’s a great driver and deserves the credit for his achievement of 7 world championships, as do all the other drivers who have achieved world championships.

Three races are left; let’s hope all 20 drivers in all 3 races are a credit to their profession.

Best regards

Rantattack

Red Bull’s Horner’s at it again1 He just can’t leave it alone!

After venting his spleen at Silverstone, and slagging-off Mercedes at every opportunity since then, he’s still bleeting about the cost cap, and suggesting that crash damage should be accounted for now both teams face big repair bills and grid penalties because of accidents caused by other drivers. All this because Red Bull are now behind in the championship race due to having a couple of bad weeks racing.

Red Bull estimated Max Verstappen’s big Copse crash after being hit by Lewis Hamilton in the British grand Prix caused $1.8million, and at the next race in Hungary both Red Bulls sustained damage in a multi-car first-corner collision caused by Valtteri Bottas.

After each race, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner lamented the strain that puts the team under financially.

Horner’s argument is that Red Bull, having already lost serious ground in the championship with both incidents, also have to bear a financial burden that has a knock-on impact on the rest of its spending given teams now have a $145m limit.

Horner has now dragged Ferrari team principal, Mattia Binotto, into the argument, although he and Horner are not quite in full agreement.

“There is value for discussions in the near future with the other team principals, FIA and F1,” said Binotto.

“Obviously if you’re not guilty, having such damage in the budget cap is even more of a consequence now.

“Should we add exemptions? I’m not sure that’s the solution. It may be very difficult to be policed.

“But I think that what we may consider is that if a driver is at fault, the team of the driver should pay at least to the other teams for the damages and repairs.

“That will make the drivers more responsible.”

You can read the full article here:

https://the-race.com/formula-1/red-bull-and-ferraris-flawed-calls-for-damage-cost-talks/

I said in an earlier rant that any respect I had for Horner had done a bunk. After this, his latest outburst, I think he’s sunk to a new level, namely – lower that a snake’s belly. He needs to have a couple of beers, chill-out and get a hobby.

Perhaps Horner can track-down the elusive Red Bull heir, Vorayuth Yoovidhya, nickname – Boss, and tap him up for a loan; just a thought.

Best regards

Rantattack