Niels Wittich "Steps Down" As Race Director & Dan Fallows Is... Demoted? // Tommo's Race Chinwag

[@adamcollingburn430]

Knew Fallows wouldn’t take Newey joining well - he’s been in his shadows for a decade and went there to prove himself and now back in the position he was in. Even if Newey hasn’t even lifted a finger, credit will go to him if anything improves at Aston now.

[@TommoMcCluskey]

Very fair point that.

[@Azeazel.]

Yes but a year and a half of no progress fits the bill for demotion or redundancy. He brought over ideas from red bull for 2023 and no wonder they did amazing. Upgrades show your understanding of the car and as of AstonMartin; their upgrades are absolutely woeful and made the car worse in respective to other teams every single time. I’m an Aston fan and I’ve lost all hope in fallows as the lead. I believe Newey is not the magic bullet but the duo worked brilliantly at RedBull so I hope for the same.

[@danellis-jones1591]

​@Azeazel. All true, but they also have a poor driver holding them back too. Daddy needs to stop bad business decisions.

[@Azeazel.]

@@danellis-jones1591 I Absolutely agree with you that stroll is holding the team back, in 2023 if there were two drivers of the same caliber in the team Aston would’ve held P3 in the constructors championship. But pressures on Stroll when the team’s doing good. So far he’s barely skating by as not the worst pay driver on the grid. 2025 I’m hoping there’s massive pressure in the midfield for him to clearly lose his seat. 🤞

[@seashackf1]

⁠@@danellis-jones1591Stroll isn’t hurting them as far as car dev from driver fed back goes. Alonso is one of the best and all they need. This falls on what Fallows and his team are giving them.

[@mattfantastic9969]

The FIA can do the funniest thing ever right now. Return of the King 👑

[@TommoMcCluskey]

[@extremegrieferbible]

Agreed. Bernie Ecclestone for Race Director NOW!

[@Tom-rt2]

@@extremegrieferbibleGet ready for the surprise sprinklers 👀

[@andresmartinezramos7513]

@@Tom-rt2 Las vegas, in the middle of the Nevada Dessert its 40ºC in the shade everyone is ready for a normal race. Suddenly it's pissing water like this was Sao Paulo or Sepang.

[@BwInNewJersey]

@@andresmartinezramos7513 Las Vegas is not 40°c in November. It averages 1°c in November at night

[@jamiehabjan6915]

In my honest opinion I reckon Vettel would be a great steward/race director. Also if they’re so focused on the sustainability side to the sport then why don’t they finally organise the calendar properly.

[@tomhutchins7495]

Vettel as race director would be awesome. I would love to hear him telling the drivers to f off when they complain about him.

[@EmeraldCDoha]

@@tomhutchins7495it would certainly be interesting to see cause he’d be going from a director-esque role in the GPDA, so like fully on the drivers side, to a steward of the sport who has no loyalty to the drivers and is there to simply enforce rules

[@climberkitty6683]

yes why don't they do all the Middle Eastern races then all the us ones then etc etc

[@TommoMcCluskey]

10000%

[@jamiehabjan6915]

They could do Australasia -> North and South America -> Europe -> Middle East. I know there are many factors that restrict this like weather and seasons etc but wouldn’t that make it more exciting?

[@rohanpatel7472]

If this F1 launch is a success I can see them doing it at different major cities each year

[@TommoMcCluskey]

That's a pretty cool idea - especially if it's in territories without F1 races. Could gauge interest at venues who are proposing grand prix for the future.

[@Redlingstein]

😂😂😂😂 oh so great for the environment 😂😂😂😂 to travel to yet another destination with all cars and crews… I hope they WONT DO THAT. Its ludicrous. Its just livery reveals. Nothing more.

[@rohanpatel7472]

@@Redlingstein considering how they structure the f1 calendars I sadly think they don’t care 😅

[@Tom-rt2]

@@Redlingsteinhonestly, is it worse environmentally than having 10 separate events? I don't think so. And the teams clearly won't be flying their entire crews for this.

[@seekhearts]

It’s like what MotoGP are going to do in Thailand start of next year with a launch in Bangkok before going to Chang International for the preseason test and first race. It’s a great idea, I guess we should never put it past liberty to try to entertain

[@racernumber39]

Regarding the liveries: why don't you design all 10 cars with this year's sponsors but the way you'd like them to look like. Then post one video per day (order of this year's constructors) 10 days before the event and then live stream the event (if possible) and compare. That would be pretty cool if you ask me and you'd get zero inspiration from the actual liveries and just work your imagination.

[@derosiflo6524]

Good idea. Go wild with knowing the 2025 liveries

[@fallenshallrise]

Watching some other videos about this news a LOT of fans seem to be confused about what the Stewards do and what the Marshalls and the Race Director does.

[@Redlingstein]

😂😂😂 most ppl …DTS VIEWERS…have no clue 😂😂

[@JC-lu4se]

Indeed. Race Director puts out a safety car, and the DTS peasantry start screaming "Johnny Herbert British Bias".

[@vincentleedy2933]

Not all DTS fans are like this. DTS introduced me to F1, but I learned the differences between the race director, the stewards, and the marshals (a broad group that has its own specializations).

[@nickwoodbridge6291]

41:42 "if Prost had started a team in brazil" that would be such a power move by him to set up shop in his biggest rivals home country

[@KrisRogos]

A good thing about a combined launch is that we usually have to sit through an hour of corporate sales talk for 5 minutes of car reveal. However, with all 10 teams in one event, they are not going to do more than 10-15 minutes per team, so the ratio of sponsor shoutouts to car showcases will be better. I wonder how quickly the tickets will sell out, I don't care enough to log in the moment they go live, but if there are still some during the weekend, maybe it's still cheaper than going to any race. And as for Wittich, that was a very sudden thing. I would have expected him to see out the season or if he had to go now for it to be announced a few weeks early. The immediate effect a week before the final triple-header suggests a big falling out.

[@Max_Flashheart]

Both Red Bull and Mercedes changed their racing licence to Austria and Germany for the Constructors national anthem. Bruce McLaren died at Goodwood

[@Kira-29]

Always great to catch you live Tommo :) Imo I think the F1 launch event is badly timed (1 week before testing). It should be 1 month earlier as a livery launch event. Than the teams can do own "tech-launch events" afterwards for the technical details (like McL did this season). Now all the teams cant show a thing up to the event and then the focus goes directly to the test, so most probably we will see no car in detail up to Bahrain, which is crazy. It will be extra hard to create your redesigns as well as you mentioned. But honestly, I would not mind, if you delay some of them a bit, that you can have some time for yourself and that you dont have to compromise the quality of them :)

[@TommoMcCluskey]

Hmm that's a fair point, I guess the teams may be less precious about their cars leaking because we're getting close to the end of the reg cycle. I still think there's a lot to be said for the teams launching themselves.

[@Redlingstein]

Its ALWAYS ONLY A LIVERY LAUNCH. None of the teams show their real car at those events. They talk generally abt ‘what they changed’ but it’s NEVER THE REAL DESIGN.

[@Kira-29]

@@Redlingstein That is just not true. Of course teams are always trying to hide the crucial parts, but there are a lot of technical details that are revealed at launches like suspension layout, main bodywork (like the "RB shoulders") and so on. Just "rewatch" this launch season and you know what I mean.

[@DirtyJokesFan]

Fallow would have been the default underling with Newey coming to AM, and it wouldn’t be surprising that AM moved Fallows to the side due to the drop off in performance after the initial boost. On a side note, Crofty is still yelling like we’re still in the V10 era.😑

[@danilonikolic4188]

There is only one man good enough for the job, the Massive. The 2021 F1 champion

[@Redlingstein]

I’m guessing Wittich has enough of Bens influence and how he handles FIA and F1. I can imagine that the open letter by the drivers abt Ben and the FIA might have been the catalyst for Wittich to stop as F1 race director. He has always been a very well liked, capable, popular race director for WEC races!! I’m guessing he will be going to races like that again and not 24 race weekends on F1….with all the FIA mayhem around F1…and especially around Ben….. he never planned to be the only race director for F1 after Masi left. At first he shared the F1 season with that other guy, can remember his name. But that guy stopped and he had to do all 24 races on his own. I can imagine that he didn’t want to anymore…

[@Inzersdorf93]

Wittlich says that he was fired and didnt resign

[@flopre9213]

eduardo freitas

[@frankw8772]

I hope on the launch day, we get a free video program of all cars been released ( KZbin) or on a Tv channel. And when revealed we get reports from the drivers about the design on all cars (there’s and opponents). I hope Williams stay with the special designs from the last two races….. Blue with yellow

[@waiora_wf]

If the launch thing is well received, Next time the ticket price will be 1000, and 100 for a bottle of water

[@Hunter-ww9rd]

For the livery thing. You could do something with the other graphics designs who do motorsport designs. Maybe 2 designers per car and the fans can vote on which they prefer.

[@minimead368]

As a car company, Alpine are going fully electric so they don’t need an engine R&D wing to filter down or help sell their road cars so why not save money as a company an buy an engine rather than develop one

[@ras_732]

Long term, Alpine already teased a plan to join Formula E and WEC back in 2021. Since they've already competed in WEC, the stars are aligning towards developing EV cars. Once they've experimented EV road cars perhaps a few years time, whose to say that Alpine could potentially join Formula E too...

[@notliquid1448]

​@@ras_732 They would only join if Nissan pull out

[@underbite471]

Tommo's Newswag sounds like new swag lol

[@ChristianRThomas]

My guess for him staying in the group is that he goes to AML to work on the cars. An F1 designer there could be useful.

[@LuisoEsElSrLobo]

Can't believe you gave a shout out to my boy Victor Abad!! 🇪🇸🇪🇸🇪🇸

[@cozyflannel]

I think the livery launch event is a fine idea. It just makes the individuality of each team feel a little less special, which is too bad. But it’ll be more convenient as a fan, not needing to track every separate event.

[@collieman]

Do the Alpine road cars come with a merc engine upgrade?

[@DipsJ]

Its highly unlikely as Renault is still making road cars and engines.

[@mike.tag.autosport]

Imagine the A110 with the M139...👀

[@notliquid1448]

The national anthem that is played is simply the national anthem of where the parent company is based. Red Bull is an Austrian company, Alpine is a French company and McLaren is a British company. The natuinality of the owner or founder doesn't matter at the end of the day.

[@matthewgordon8759]

Live watch along with live redesign! No pressure

[@Pluckaiy]

Honestly people blew the massi thing way out of proportion just because he decided to not let all lapped cars pass like usual. Now were stuck with this mess.

[@PanBami2023]

Wittich deserves to be sacked. The leniency on safety issues like deploying the VSC too late (which he can do any second of the race) is unacceptable. He also had sustainable evidence against him (timings of flags and sc's) that he was favoring one team more than another. The combination of the two is enough to get sacked. Masi never screwed up this much, say about Abu Dhabi 2021 whatever you want but safety was never compromised in that race for spectacle. Wittich did just that in the last few races.

[@wtfisinstagram]

The inconsistency I’ve noticed in VSC/SC timings I’ve seen this year has been ridiculous. I’m glad this happened before another year end race director fiasco. I’m curious about the favoritism to other teams, haven’t really noticed that too much.

[@Redlingstein]

Freitas and Wittich shared the F1 race director duties together at the start of 2022

[@danielmetcalf]

Update Chinwag? Breaking Chinwag? And a new section called Minton's Minute?

[@climberkitty6683]

Minton needs his own podcast

[@florisbackx1744]

'Remains with the group' is another way to say he stays on the payrole without having any significant role.

[@kushagraN]

My stewards panel would be - 1 ex f1 driver - Kimi or vettel or Rosberg 1 ex team boss - Steiner 1 ex engineer/TD - any competent person will suffice 1 fan/youtuber - Rocketpoweredmohawk

[@bjarulez]

Dan Fallows will be Lance's next target as front jack man

[@ShadowWolfe]

I have mixed views on the F1 livery launch event. Why pay 60 quid when you could watch from home? What are they going to offer in-person that the at-home viewers couldn't get? If it's all to watch them potentially do nothing but talk for 10-15 minutes, reveal the car for 2 minutes, then repeat 9 times? Could've stayed home. Maybe one team will actually have a full on redesign but, I don't really have high hopes.

[@derosiflo6524]

Red Bull GmbH is based in Austria, Fuschl am See. Mercedes Benz is based in Germany. Mclaren automobiles are based in the UK. There's not really a discussion to be had here tbh

[@bjs7442]

Its obvious that Dan Fallows is being moved into the car division and out of F1.

[@NicotineRosberg]

Dan ‘Follows’

[@koalasquadron530]

Spot on Tommo... playing the NZ anthem when MacLaren win a GP would be fitting respect for one of F1's greats.

[@mutleyeng]

spelling his name correctly may have given your point a tad more credibility

[@motelghost477]

So you get to wear a hat but the pup doesn't? Are you trying to give him an inferiority complex?😀 "DOGS IN HATS" I say.

[@Ltdo007]

McLaren is a British company, that's why they play the British anthem. Red Bull is an Austrian company, that's why they play the Austrian anthem. Mercedes is a German company, that's why they play the German anthem. It's not because of where the team is based but rather where the parent company is

[@selder_7]

What’s interesting about the live event is the teams will have less control of the crowd. More likely to get boo’d

[@Redlingstein]

They have buttons and crowd noises to cover that, don’t worry

[@crazygamer56]

My crack takes away 99% of my daily tasks too, every time I sit on it

[@camf7522]

Interesting that not one team seemed to miss Niels Wittich..does this indicate that the majority of the teams are quietly glad he has gone?

[@DarioDarrow]

Micky's coming back 🙌

[@nomar5spaulding]

I like the idea of doing the livery thing as one big event. The launches have been pretty eh. I don't like people trying to stay excited about something that's basically meh for like a month. Let's just do all the meh all at once.

[@callumjppower6424]

A headline review episode?

[@dfpelletier]

I am sure that it is all related to the mess of the aborted start at Interlagos.

[@JWvanderWal]

Epic Mega Tommo 75 redesign live-stream incoming... 10 cars, one youtuber...🎉

[@zlm001]

You need professional stewards with continuous training and who could lose their jobs if they don’t follow procedures or act in accordance with well defined standards.

[@Boetbar]

They should have promoted Herbert to Race Director

[@crazychimp1324]

Love the vids

[@jkliao6486]

Michael Masi wasn't so bad after all :)

[@sergiomarotta408]

In my opinion, Dan Fallows might find success not as Technical Director, but as Chief Designer. And who knows, maybe I'll find him in this role at Ferrari alongside Löic Serra (although, I'll be honest, given the new rules, I'd prefer Mike Elliott)...

[@KestrelTown]

Alpine are not selling the team. I think Tommo is putting 2 + 2 together and getting Rhubarb. There’s a value to being in F1 and having all the attention on you. Haas knows this, Gene didn’t sell his team even after the Mazepin debacle. There is no master plan to sell the team. Maybe the reason they’re switching to the best engine on the grid is because they want to actually do well for once? All road going Alpines will be electric anyway.

[@zlm001]

Perfect! I just got a keyboard for my iPad so I can save myself a lot of my own time each day. I guess I can’t blame my errors on touch typing anymore. Anyways, it takes forever to shout into the void and type out comments on all of the scandals, incidents, and incompetence that the president of the FIA, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, is involved with each day. He is an incompetent nincompoop and a raging buffoon. His ineptitude, self obsession, maliciousness, anger, abusive nature, enthusiasm for crossing lines, thirst for revenge, and fragile ego have ruined and setback the both FIA and F1 tremendously. The worst part is that he is still doing damage daily. I’m curious to see if the race director’s replacement comes with a changing structure for race stewarding. Knowing how awful Mohammed Ben Sulayem is at his job, I won’t get my hopes up. I also think that the President of the FIA may be feeling the heat now (which is mostly generated needlessly by his own behavior) so he is lashing out and deflecting blame and responsibility. Whatever the course of action should be, he just goes hard in the opposite direction, so I expect this will only get worse. I think he is trying to buy time and trying to appear proactive by firing someone else. I hope that’s the case, because he needs to be fired himself. It’s blatantly obvious that Ben Sulayem can do whatever he wants without getting fired. If he feels like that it is changing then there may be hope. Personally, I think he needs to be officially investigated by multiple entities. Nobody wants an investigation, though. Anyways, may the blatant, raging BS that spews from that man’s mouth be spewed back on him a billion times over if there is any justice in this world!

[@camf7522]

F1 want to be able to say he Stepped Down so they don’t have to say why he was sacked.

[@Redlingstein]

Its Ben wanting to make a statement after being criticized himself abt his own behavior and way of speaking to the drivers by the drivers in that open letter…..

[@8tonystark8]

You can't with the word "mega" It's actually used every day in german, I like it What I can't stand is MATE (and bro)

[@seekhearts]

The kiwi national anthem is an alternate version of god save the king/queen anyway (I think the kiwi is better lol) but means brits can still get their kicks

[@crazychimp1324]

Dan fallows is probably , not what they’re looking for , to be f1 TD but to good to give away

[@SDRaygon]

Maybe Dan will be responsible for either WEC or GT3

[@br3atht4ker]

Tommo's News Waffle

[@vjollila96]

Masi The giga Chad is coming back!

[@Alexander.73]

Think the stewards would also need a lawyer. Like what similar cases/incidets were in the past, how they were handeled etc.

[@ManOfPillowDoom]

That dog has definitely done some war crimes...

[@Max_Flashheart]

Tommo's F1 emotional support update?

[@nateb6038]

From a viewing perspective, bunching all the launches into one will have a few negative implications. One, it’s going to be a long continuous event that not everyone will have the attention span to dial into. Two, each team is going to have the same boring PR copy/paste questions, which is going to feel especially jarring after the first 2-3 launches

[@Tom-rt2]

But most launches are already long events that few people have the attention for, rightfully so as they are incredibly boring. There's usually like an hour of yapping and 5 mins of showing the car. I don't think this will be any worse.

[@nateb6038]

@ yeah I totally agree. I guess I’m just worried that we’re taking the worst part of each launch and putting them all together lol. And that’s ignoring the fact that most cars are probably gonna look the exact same as this year 😂

[@lyricsc24]

Fallows back to Red Bull

[@mike.tag.autosport]

He wants no parts of #AD24...🤷🏾‍♂️

[@Cyrustalkfone]

🔥🔥🔥🏎️🎙️

[@cyan_oxy6734]

With EVs it's really about climate change not other pollution. While the Cobalt is an issue it's manageable compared with climate change.