I’ll attack the question in two parts. First, with a history of Liberty Media. Liberty, and its Chairman John Malone have had a long, impressive, but extremely confusing journey through the corporate landscape with a series of spring-off corporations and ownership swings. However, as of today Liberty Media owns stakes in many companies, most notably the Atlanta Braves (100% ownership), SiriusXM (65%) , and LiveNation(34%). Aside from these holdings there are smaller stakes in companies such as Viacom, who owns multiple TV brands such as MTV. A portfolio that includes the Braves and Formula One would make it an interesting player in sports media management.

So why would anyone buy Formula One? As a fan, its a no-brainer. As a business manager it looks a lot less intelligent of an investment. For years Bernie Ecclestone has been leaching money out of hosting venues, butting heads with teams on revenue sharing and expanding media rights to the farthest reaches of the globe. He’s opened up pay-per-view services around the globe. How many avenues for revenue are left to return what looks to be a huge investment? As a consumer and a fan I might pay a couple bucks more for an expanded “F1 Access” application but that would only hurt the network carriers like NBC Sports. On top of this, Formula One and FIA government structure seem like a headache.

So what would you do if your bought Formula One? Bring back in-season testing? Get rid of the engine token penalty system? Allow teams to bring back v12’s if they wanted?

That record was set in 2004 by Juan Pablo Montoya, currently racing in Indycar, while driving for Williams. His lap record speed of 162.9 mph still stands after 14 years and is a testament to how powerful and sophisticated the F1 machines of that era were. Enjoy watching this lap, and especially enjoy the delightful banshee scream of a V10 engine, one of the last we’d hear until the v8 engine regulations came in 2006.

By means of comparison, let’s watch Lewis Hamilton’s pole lap from 2015. The engine sounds like a glorified vacuum cleaner and the lap is about 3 seconds slower than Montoya’s.

Last year, Lewis Hamilton won pole position, then continued to school the entire field and eventually won by 25 seconds over his teammate, Nico Rosberg.

“I feel this weekend is the best I’ve ever driven” Lewis Hamilton – 2015 Italian Grand prix

In the current field there’s only 3 previous winners at Monza. Given Lewis’s recent form and the luxury of fresh engines, he should be considered a strong favorite to win this weekend.

Wins from Current Drivers:

1. Lewis Hamilton – 2012, 2014, 2015
2. Sebastian Vettel – 2008, 2011, 2013
3. Fernando Alonso – 2007, 2010

“I’m not going to say: ‘come on through’. But all that happened after Turn 1. If Turn 1 hadn’t happened, I wouldn’t have been so aggressive and pushed Raikkonen out like that.” – Max Verstappen

If someone blames you for aggressive driving,  driving aggressively in retaliation is basically proving their point. Max will grow up, and he’s going to be great when he does. Remember how erratic Lewis Hamilton was in his first year?

Lewis Hamilton now has 3 fresh engines for the rest of the season (link)

While Nico Rosberg did a fantastic job of winning in Belgium, Lewis’s side of the garage did a masterful job of capitalizing on the engine upgrade rules. By taking 3 new Turbo/MGU-H units (45 grid spot penalty) and a new Internal Combustion Engine (5 grid spots) and a new MGU-K unit(5 more grid spots) he essentially is left with 3 brand new power units for the remainder of the season and gives him an advantage for the rest of the season over Nico Rosberg. BBC does a decent job of explaining this in the link above.

“Yeah, I mean, you can always do a better job. But also I think also Nico could have done a better lap” – Max Verstappen

The Ferraris also look fast as well as Spa-specialist Kimi Raikkonen finished only .017 seconds behind Verstappen and his teammate Sebastian Vettel just behind him in 4th. Rounding out the top 5 is other Red Bull of Daniel Ricciardo.

Rosberg was the lone Mercedes in Q3 as Lewis Hamilton choose not to set a fast time due to his massive grid penalty for changing this engine before the race. Lewis will be joined at the back of the path by Fernando Alonso, how also sustained a grid penalty for an engine change.

It was more bad news for Alonso however, as he once again suffered a mechanical failure in Q1. Since he’s suffered a huge penalty anyway it will not be a big deal if he changes out more components, but surely he’s yet to see the planned upgraded power that Jenson Button has been enjoying in his McLaren.

“On the dyno it is better and on Jenson’s side it is delivering the power. On my side too but I had 4 laps today. ” – Fernando Alonso

Full Qualifying Results here

By the Formula One Rules and Regulations, drivers may only use a limited amount of engines components through the season. Due to a string of unreliability early in the season, Lewis has used all 5 of his limit for MGU-H and turbo units. The penalties for using more than the allotted components is a grid spot demotion, dependent on the number of units being switched.

As of today’s press conference, neither Mercedes nor Lewis could confirm the number of components being switched or the resulting penalty.

“As far as I am aware we will be taking a penalty here this weekend, yes… I have no engines left.” – Lewis Hamilton

This should welcome news to the whole grid, but most importantly Nico Rosberg who could use all the help he can get in closing the points gap to Hamilton, his Mercedes teammate. While Lewis has won twice at Spa, Nico Rosberg has never won. However, Spa can be a surprising place and the speed from the rest of the competitors will factor as well.

“it’s still going to be a challenge because if we remember just four weeks ago I finished behind two Red Bulls in the race. So I still need to beat all the opposition – and even Lewis.” – Nico Rosberg

2016 has been a year of ups and downs for Alex Rossi. After living the F1 dream with Manor for 5 races last season, he found himself on the outside looking in when Rio Haryanto took his seat at Manor with a boatload of money. Looking to stay active while that situation sorted itself out, Alex signed a single-year deal to race in Indycar with Andretti-Herta racing . This would prove to be more than just a side trip for his career, as we would unexpectedly win the crown jewel of Indycar – the Indy 500. Suddenly he has become a wanted asset on both sides of the pond, and he is examining his options. In addition to Manor, he references one other team as a possibility:

There have been talks with Manor for a race seat and we’ve also been approached by another F1 team that’s quite interesting.” – Alex Rossi

So who do we think this mystery team is? Alex Rossi in a Haas?

Alonso identifies 2 cars that can win championships, and he’s in one of them

Fernando Alonso is undoubtedly tired of getting asked if he regrets leaving Ferrari, only to see Vettel lead their resurgence in the last 2 seasons. However, he has insisted the entire time that while Ferrari will come close, they would not win him a championship. In 5 seasons with Ferrari, he finished 2nd in the Championship THREE TIMES, but never the title. Can we stop asking him about Ferrari?

Well, this guys did and Alonso’s response was simple – Aside from Mercedes, McLaren Honda is the place to be. He snubs not only Ferrari but Red Bull as well, who has seen a huge resurgence this season in closing the gap to Ferrari.

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/17224860/only-two-teams-capable-giving-third-title-fernando-alonso