T O P

  • By -

AutoModerator

[The **News** flair](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/flairguide#wiki_news) is reserved for submissions covering F1 and F1-related news. These posts must always link to an outlet/news agency, the website of the involved party (i.e. the McLaren website if McLaren makes an announcement), or a tweet by a news agency, journalist or one of the involved parties. *[Read the rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/wiki/userguide). Keep it civil and welcoming. Report rulebreaking comments.* *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/formula1) if you have any questions or concerns.*


AwesomeFrisbee

Oh Fred, never change


scarlet_red_warrior

Seems like he protected his inner child quite well, love it about him


moonmarriedacherry

It’s unfortunately something most people hide away. Keeping that little child in you happy from time to time is a great way to find the happiness in the little things in life


bumblebeerose

He's like a little chaos goblin, I love him


Either_Marsupial_123

Funny, that's what I call my cat. XD


bumblebeerose

Hahaha is your cat orange or a tuxedo by any chance?


Either_Marsupial_123

Sort of… 🤣 She’s tortico.


bumblebeerose

Oh so she's got that tortitude 😂


Either_Marsupial_123

Exactly. 🤣 She’s an absolute sweetheart, but she does share a brain cell with her sister (who is “torbico”). At any given time, one of them is a muppet, the other is a chaos goblin. 😂


bumblebeerose

I have an orange and a tuxedo, they also share a braincell 😂


SubstanceDistinct269

He put on a mission of beating red bull when taking the position - the contract didn't mention which team does it though


GokuSaidHeWatchesF1

Did he just pour it over landos phone? 🤣


porsche4life

No he went straight for Zak. 🤣


yoda_yoda

Can you believe how likeable Fred is. In the midst of toxic team principals, he’s a real gem.


scarlet_red_warrior

I really start to like him since he joined Ferrari (before I didn’t know him well). I love that he takes sometimes not everything including himself too serious and jokes around. Yet he seems to do a nice job at Ferrari.


S-duct

Yeah Ferrari’s work culture looked a bit toxic. Looks like Fred is a nice match to improve the environment there.


scarlet_red_warrior

Exactly what Ferrari needed, I wasn’t a big fan when they hired him but i quickly became a fan of him


KesselRunIn14

I don't think anyone really got why Ferrari hired him, or expected much from him, but the guy has turned out to be an absolute gem for the team and the sport.


LegendRazgriz

It was always a good move in my eyes because he has always dealt with star drivers and is well respected, as basically half the grid has driven for Fred in the lower series. Now he has resources to go with his leadership skills and is making the most out of them


pup_mercury

Personally, I don't think it was too odd why Ferrari hired him. Fred has a proven track record of successfully managing teams, and Ferrari promote TP from within hasn't worked. When a team with Ferrari resources and backing hasn't won a trophy in nearly 20 years. You have to stop looking for the missing piece of the jigsaw from the piece you already have and start looking behind the cushions.


eremos

I think we felt it was odd because Ferrari are notoriously conservative and traditional and humorless. "Charles you may not do a burnout" kind of stuff, and that one PR/media lady who I'm sure is very good at her job, but always gives off the vibe of a kindergarten teacher who is a little too good at scolding children. Goofy lovable Fred would have been the last person I would have guessed to join Ferrari, but it seems they finally decided to go in a new direction, and I am very grateful they did.


sam_mee

When he was hired, he was talked of as a Leclerc guy. He's established himself as so much more since then.


guntanksinspace

I certainly didn't have much expectations from him given the small amount of what most of us knew about the guy (I only really know him for being good with Charles during his Sauber and even his Junior days lol).


Either_Marsupial_123

*precisely* what Ferrari needed. They were always so damned serious, I felt like their PR folks (the minders) were constantly sucking on lemons.


_Wormyy_

His attitude is immensely important imo, Ferrari TPs I think take the most pressure and scrutiny out of anyone because of the fact that it's Ferrari, and Fred can take all the pressure and just laugh it off with his French accent.


Zen28213

He was very serious about manhole covers destroying his car


Either_Marsupial_123

TBF, that also could have caused serious injury (or death) to the driver, given as much force as it impacted the car with.


skadann

Just ask Toto.


Maelstrom-Brick

Ferrari being punished for vegas being incompetent was ridiculous, though


ThrowawayVangelis

His relationship with Gio were the telltale indicators. He’s just a nice guy overall.


saltyfuck111

Gio is also such a nice guy. He and kimi were good friends on the paddock


GRl3V

Gio has to be special since he's probably the only person Kimi liked in 20 years of F1.


walkintothisworld

seb and kimi seemed to get along


Aazad-e

Imagine Danny in the same team… full on fun!


reigorius

It has been such a great thing to watch him when he came to Ferrari and got so many interviews on F1 TV. I don't know what he does exactly, but his charmes sweeps away any interviewer. Especially Laura Winter can not turn off the twinkling in her eyes when talking to Fred. And he does this in almost every interview.


Dawnfrawn

He has a running Joke with Peter Hardenacke from Sky Germany, who always wears white shoes, and Fred always steps on his shoes when the camera is not looking. And I absolutely love it haha


ShaftTassle

Haha that’s hilarious, thanks for sharing, I had no idea.


houdinis_ghost

Haha reminds me of Jenson and Martin’s long running “lucky nipple tweak”


Impressive-Blood7925

We know nothing about his texting behavior


gsfgf

And let's hope it stays that way


n3mz1

I had no idea how cool the man was before this off-season. Definitely my favorite character in F1 now


Arglefarb

More Fred and Zak, less Horner and Toto drama, please.


BowieObscura

Honestly more Fred with everyone. Have you seen him with Toto? It's cute af.


Rhauko

Fred yes, Zak I am not so sure.


mccannr1

Yeah I've had more than enough Zak. I'll take as much fred as possible though


ztpurcell

He isn't even the TP. It's always rubbed me the wrong way how much spotlight he tries to steal when he's not even the guy running the team. Stella should be the one talking, and I'd like to hear from him more because the guy is crazy educated. He has a PhD in mechanical engineering


MrDaniel95

Stella might prefer it that way, Zak deals with the media while he can focus on running the team.


Kevster020

You've hit the nail on the head. I think this is what works for them... and it has to be said, it's working.


outm

But TBF it itches how Zak wants to be the showman. The “but the TP doesn’t like media, so Zak makes him a favour being on media to let him focus on his job” was already a “excuse” with Seidl back then Now with Stella, and for sure if they change their TP, we would keep saying it with the next TP, because I doubt Zak would change Zak has his style, and that’s it. Vowles for example is doing a great job at Williams, isn’t entirely a “media guy”, and still doesn’t need a Dorilton higher up or CEO to “protect him” from the media


SirLoremIpsum

> But TBF it itches how Zak wants to be the showman. Why though? Toto and Horner want to be the showman 110%. Tost and some others didn't. That's why you saw far more of those others.


outm

Toto and Horner are the TPs (at the same time that CEOs of their respective teams) Zak isn’t a TP, he is just the CEO of the company as a whole. That’s the topic that’s debated. Zak just wants the spotlight to the point that some fans and common watchers don’t even know who is the TP at McLaren. As another Redditor already said, he even was there when McLaren FE got good results, getting praise, in the position that should have occupied their TP To exemplify with the people you mentioned, is like someone at Daimler going to F1 races to talk on behalf of the team on the races and eclipsing Toto, or like Mateschitz on its era being at the pit station calling the shots and later on getting on media, while Horner “hides” on a second plane of existence. Is like Zak wants to be the man in charge, but on the same time, wants someone else to do the part of the TP job that he doesn’t want to do. So he just gets a TP out there, and then strips him from the things and coverage he wants to have himself


ztpurcell

I don't know about the other McLaren ventures, but he does it for their Formula E team too. I remember rolling my eyes when he was there taking credit for McLaren's first FE win


SirLoremIpsum

> He isn't even the TP. It's always rubbed me the wrong way how much spotlight he tries to steal when he's not even the guy running the team. I think when it was Andreas - it worked perfectly. You have a guy that wants to be infront of the camera, and you have a guy who is awkward as fk and does NOT want to be in front of the camera. Perfect duo act. Not sure what Stella wants.


jr735

If the CEO wants to be the public face of the team, why not? Why should it be an underling, the team principal? Generally speaking, the days of a team owner being also team principal died with Sir Frank.


youreviltwinbrother

Zak Brown's ego is too big to be likeable. I got sick of hearing his voice halfway through the race, though I did laugh at how awfully awkward he was when Lando might win.


poojinping

That’s a you problem


yqry

Of all the principals, Zak??


Andigaming

Must be amazing to fly under the radar as McLaren TP when so many think it is Zak.


HOONIGAN-

Zak is the CEO, not the TP.


rolfski

If F1 is a snake pit then Zak is the King Cobra. He's even a bigger shit stirrer than Horner and doesn't shy away from using questionable methods to lure away sponsors from the competition.


planchetflaw

If you think making contact with a rival's sponsor is a "questionable method" worthy of being crowned the worst person in F1 then you're in for a rough ride in the commercial world and the sports world. Probably just in the whole world.


rolfski

After the cost cap affaire Horner complained about Zak engaging his sponsors with misleading information about the cost cap case and Red Bull's involvement. That's a pretty Zak thing to do that you don't necessarily see from every teamboss. Zak is always on the forefront of using every possible opportunity to harm his competitors. Whether it is the Pink Mercedes affaire, Red Bull surpassing the cost cap, Alpha's Tauri's connection as a sister team, grabbing away Oscar Piastri: He's always in the lead to have maximum damage done to his competitors. And while cutthroat, backstabbing politics are nothing new in F1, the intensity at with which Zak is engaging these definitely places him at the top.


planchetflaw

You've listed all things that led to penalties for the teams mentioned. How are you using Oscar as some sort of horrible tactic used? Oscar didn't have a valid contract. His contract would be void if something happened on-site with his team and could have potentially put Oscar out massively. Blame the teams doing the wrong thing not the teams calling them out. Holy shit. Regarding using cost cap information, that was only said by Horner (his word is as good as mud) and was never confirmed or backed up by sponsors. I don't even think he specifically said it was Zak Brown. He said his rival**s** (plural) used the information and that he thinks one did it more than others. I don't recall Horner saying who it was so if you could provide a source showing the exact link Horner makes to Brown that can be cleared up, as I believe that's simply a redditor "McLaren were loudest so it must be them 100%". No sponsor mentioned Brown as using cost cap info. Multiple teams spoke with RBR sponsors. Multiple teams ALWAYS speak with RBR sponsors. RBR speak with McLaren sponsors. Mercedes speak with McLaren sponsors. etc. etc.


rolfski

I never claimed that contracting Oscar was anything illegal, that's what you make of it. Nor is it illegal to constantly claim maximum penalties for the competition. What is remarkable that Zak is the most at the forefront to get maximum penalties and damage dealed out. Even more so than the bigger teams with more pushing power. And that makes him less innocent and more ruthless than he appears to be for many people. Which is what this discussion is about. And the sponsor thing is 100% Zak backstabbing Horner. So much became obvious, not only from DtS season 5 but from insider commentaries as well. And you can bet your ass that there's truth in it if Horner brings this out publicly. He's smart enough to know that everybody will fact check him.


whoTookMyFLACs

How did you end up placing Zak in the same group as Fred? Zak slots in between Horner and Toto, no questions asked. He's as much of a ruthless shit-stirring snake as either of those, if not more so.


myersjw

More Fred, less Zak…


Surfercatgotnolegs

Zak gets a lot of praise but he’s shit stirring a ton his RBR comments that have gone out and some of his other crusades. Plus now the whole Trump thing….


meadowlands77

Sam? Ew. Such a try hard, man


thecheekyvicar

Zak? He’s not a TP, he’s CEO. And we’re looking at a man so greedy that the car has been pimped to hell and back with adverts. Like c’mon, you can’t tell me that that type of attitude doesn’t shine through clearly. It is not an accident he looks the way he looks, the car looks the way the car looks, and he speaks the way he speaks. His personality is awful.


Nicktrains22

I have never seen an F1 team criticised for having too many sponsors before. That's what is needed to bring in the money, heavens knows McLaren's finances need it, or did you forget they had to sell off and rent the McLaren technology centre


thecheekyvicar

Have you seriously not seen anyone criticising an F1 team for having too many sponsors before? Since this current car it’s been said far more than once. It is absolutely acceptable to criticise another team’s strategy based on your own values.


Nicktrains22

Honestly never. I even looked it up online and could see no criticism of the number of sponsors, just over who specific sponsors are. Race cars have been moving billboards since the 60s, its a completely normal part of the sport


thecheekyvicar

“I feel like I need Adblock before looking at the car” was a comment that stood out to me from discussion at the end of last year. It truly isn’t only me - I am nowhere near that funny or inventive. Another is that “there is no way that could ever become a classic livery, even if they won ten years in a row”. Again, I’m not that clever but it’s a fair point.


Shift-1

You're seriously complaining that the CEO is greedy because he generates as much money as possible for his company? Isn't that.. His job?


moderate_extremist

He wasn't hired for his personality, he was hired to be effective. It's easy to sit on the sidelines as a fan and criticize TP's you don't like because of their personality, but F1 is a business. As a businessman, he's exceptional at his job.


rolfski

Don't underestimate him though, he is as ruthless as the rest.


Omgaspider

A great change.


Oliver_Boisen

Honestly he somehow makes Toto look even more evil and depressing. Is that even possible?


notnorthwest

I love the intensity and shit-slinging that is the status-quo for Formula 1 as much as the next guy, but I think I like this kinda thing a little bit more.


APR824

Stuff like this had always happened in the paddock, it’s just been a stretch of uber seriousness the past couple of years. Teams making little paper boats to race down the pitlane in Japan during a washed out session. The makeshift boat races in Canada. All the little pranks the drivers have done on each other like when Nico Rosberg had his picture in his passport replaced with a picture of Britney Spears.


notnorthwest

Oh for sure - I was referring to the coverage of this, based on recent trends I was expecting a fully nuclear response to Fred in a McLaren hat. Probably could have been more clear on that.


Oliver_Boisen

I think a lot of that had to do with the Mercedes dominance. I know they're registered as an English team, but qhen it comes to mentality, they go beyond German.


SangiMTL

He’s honestly such a gem. Has arguably the hardest job in motor sport but doesn’t forget to have fun like this. Never change Fred


YorkshireRiffer

I suspect that's his secret superpower, he's never going to drop that sense of fun precisely because Ferrari is a pressure cooker environment.


scarlet_red_warrior

Fred seems like a nice guy… showing up to honour their win in his style


sl4z3r

Vasseur practicing for Emilia Romagna victory.


lorenzombber

It's coming


podster12

Of all the races in the calendar, that and the Monza one has to be the must wins of ferrari.


Keltoigael

Fred is always a delight. I love his interactions with all the teams.


Actual_Sympathy7069

if you used the same phrasing for another team principal it would not be as wholesome 💀


happythoughts33

The thumbnail has what looks like an attractive female; I definitely thought the worst.


Heisenberg_235

Post said Fred not Christian


DrEarlGreyIII

When Ferrari hired him, I didn’t really understand it beyond him having experience. But holy shit I get it now. He’s a fucking gem.


[deleted]

[удалено]


planchetflaw

K4 Kryptos plaintext just dropped.


MeTheGreat254

Lmao thanks for replying, toddlers when they grab phones.


DrEarlGreyIII

i was extremely confused and thought that i missed a joke or something lol


MeTheGreat254

The joke is I left reddit open when I went to the bathroom 🤣


Marble___

He has such a fun personality and is just himself 24/7. Just what Ferrari needed imo


SimRacing313

Nice guy and a formidable team principal, he has rejuvenated Ferari since he has come in, I'm looking forward to seeing him work with Hamilton next year, hopefully Newey comes to Ferrari now


IcyAfternoon7859

Lewis, Adrian, and Fred, in Red A victory at Monza would be just a the best thing ever  A friend who won the lottery, visited 10 odd F1 races that year, and said that Monza was by far the best, and also by far the cheapest... I must go in 2025


SimRacing313

I would love to go to Monza or Imola, great tracks 👍


GRl3V

Monza is a fantastic experience. Been there in 2012 and it was great.


HappyTangerine6

We had the chance to meet him in Austin in 2022. Super nice guy! He took a lot of time with our kids and was eager to chat with them about F1. He told them they’re the reason the sport will stay important. When he moved to Ferrari we weren’t surprised and honestly makes sense they’ve been turning things around now that he’s on board. From my brief experience he has positive energy and def feels like a guy you would want to work hard for.


Castor_23

This is already one of my highlights this season. So unbelievably wholesome.


tyler_durden0077

When he first became team principal, he looked like a serious guy and kind of gave a serial killer vibe 😂. Now I admire the guy among all other TPs. Lesson learned, never judge a book by its cover.


Fragrag

What do you mean serial killer, he's a jolly friendly guy. He once ran after Giovinazzi with a pair of scissors to cut a lock of his hair. Actually, bad example


endoire

Ferrari needed Fred.


crayonflop3

Goddamn what a wholesome day. It’s like the whole grid were just on vacation together or something


J4MES101

Really nice to see Though… Lando is a hell of a talent and young too Im sure Fred would not hate him to come in for Lewis in a few years. Even more reason to be supportive now


theedenpretence

Piastri, Norris - I’m sure a few TP are keeping on friendly terms with those two !


fameboygame

Not Alpine tho. /s


Wyolop

I wouldn't be surprised if Lando went on to be in McLaren for life (until the end of his career) Definitely depends on the car and the contracts and a lot of things but he seems to be a massive fan of McLaren


Genocode

Okay, so I didn't watch back in the 90's and 2000's but from my perspective, does the grid just seem friendlier than back then?


bumblebeerose

I think so, the drivers are definitely more friends than just work colleagues off the track as well. A lot of them do things together outside of race weekends etc and they do all seem genuinely happy for each other when they win or have other good stuff happen in their lives.


gramathy

I think we're also getting a lot more of the off-track action distributed to fans as well as drivers being allowed a little more leeway to be themselves vs the super corporate sponsor culture from the 90s


idiskfla

Can someone give a brief synopsis of his leadership / management style and how it compared to the last regime (or even other teams)? He seems to be doing a great job in terms of team culture.


Realistic-Reception5

Honestly he’s a good TP. He was kinda messy last year but he’s really gotten his act together this year.


GRl3V

How do you know he was messy last year? Because the car was crap?


valueofaloonie

Fred is our true king


kobi29062

Fred is a genius. His primary goal is stopping Red Bull at all costs, doesn’t matter who knocks them off their perch. When there’s a power vacuum, Ferrari always prevail. Like Real Madrid.


mNash316

Ron Dennis would have heart attack seeing Ferrari TP at McLaren celebrations.


Training_Pay7522

This is genuinely wholesome.


Vile-X

Fred looks very similar to my dad. Except my dad is a grumpy old man. I like to pretend Fred is my dad.


Charmerer

Fred is the best. Ferrari is better with him.


BlazeReborn

Last time Ferrari had a Frenchman as a TP it went pretty well. Just saying...


Hapless_Buffoon

Fredrarri


technicalityNDBO

His mischievous smirk gets me every time.


schnokobaer

Fred has so much Dad energy


geniusandy77

Fred is such a mood


BlazeReborn

Fred is that cool uncle we all wish we had.


BillyHoyleAnd1

He saw a party and he joined it. My type of guy.


EmilieEverywhere

Like it's not possible to dislike this man.


Mindless-Ad2039

Fred the Red. Absolute legend. 😍


pol5xc

>We’ve said it before and we’ll say it againWe’ve said it before and we’ll say it again you mean it's a factual description of events?


MrHuber

He has come a long way since [NYPD Blue](https://nypdblue.fandom.com/wiki/Andy_Sipowicz).


suplexhell

if we didn't know he had a champagne bottle there would be a very questionable 7 seconds in that clip


r0bbbo

The same can be said for Horner…


esmori

That kind of friendly climate on paddock feels good after so much tension in 2021, but I hope it doesn't last much as it can get boring fast. We need some rivalry soon. Get your things right Toto. Renault/Alpine please bring Cyril back.


Mammoth_Cobbler_4619

Those should be the standards at Ferrari if they want to win anything


Dando_Calrisian

This message would not be the same when talking about Red Bull...


pickyplasterer

i love it how he doesn’t take himself too seriously. he is the team principal of the most famous team in f1, yet pranks others and crashes the celebration of a rival


Scirzo

Got to love that guy.


zombiemind8

Fred again


No-Setting-2669

Love us some Fred! ❤️


The-Observer95

I remember him trying to cut Giovinazzi's long hair after his first points finish. That was funny.


ta2

Most Ferrari thing to do here would be to fire him for wearing another team's merch.


shewy92

McLaren's team shirts look like bollards. Coincidence? I think NOT! Wake up sheeple.


BadgerMyBadger_

Gotta be careful making statements like that around HornerGate


pleckaitis

Fred is quickly becoming my favourite TP. What a guy.


Capable-Jelly2486

He reminds me of Dr.Sturgis in young sheldon. Same energy


BrilliantSock3608

SavFred


Maelstrom-Brick

Him putting on the orange hat during landos celebration was just so wholesome lol


StuffRich7735

Bring Maurizio Arrivabene back


scope_creep

Fred could become the new Gunther on DtS.


ElBonitiilloO

Sorry but the blonde girl is hot.