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The Formula 1 World Championship will still be theirs going into 2021.

So nothing new since late 2017 when you have every International Highlights race.

And the only live race is the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in Victoria.

It will only happen for one weekend every year during the middle of March.

But not from earlier this year due to COVID.

Even the season resumed in July; Ten cannot change the contract.

Every highlights race, including last night from Algarve in Portugal, is on 10 Bold.

It is at 10.30 pm tonight if you have yet to watch one.

Ten will always have the support races in the lead up before the main event.

I thought that particular Supercars round would not be on their menu.

But Ten is still obliged to cover Supercars as part of the Australian GP weekend.

Just not every other race outside Albert Park as it is dealt with by Supercars.

And not Formula 1/Australian Grand Prix management.

For example, Seven broadcasts Test & Big Bash Matches covered by Cricket Australia.

But they cannot air the 50 Over & T20 World Cup held by Channel 9.

That is because Nine tied up under a different organizing body.

Beyond the Australian Grand Prix, Ten still has the MotoGP.

I did recall once after 2018 that they have renewed this contract until 2021.

It is their last year having seen the recent management change with Viacom.

We might see MotoGP go to Seven or Kayo’s free service in 2022.

Formula 1 should follow suit not long after Ten’s contract expires before 2023.

That is over 20 years since Ten first televised the No.1 open-wheel sport.

A bit longer than what Channel 9 aired Formula 1 between 1985-2002.

And they will not quit on the Melbourne Cup Carnival until after 2023.

The big horse racing carnival in Victoria begins this Saturday.

Then we look forward to next Tuesday for the race that stops the nation.

On that note, I did phone Channel 10 last Monday about having RPM back for 2021.

A representative said that they are currently talking about it.

But I do not think this show will come back ever.

It is because they lost Supercars & sports may no longer suit their business model.

So sorry not to get their hopes up if I am wrong about having the Big Bash back.

Image Reference: Wikipedia

Network 10 may not be the only guys leaving Supercars after their last race last weekend with the Bathurst 1000.

Ten will hand over the Free TV baton back to Channel 7 from early February over the next five years.

But Team Penske chose to join Ten on the leave bandwagon from 2021.

They will take Scott McLaughlin with them full-time to America.

That means they have sold their portion of control to Ryan Story.

Hence, the name reverted to Dick Johnson Racing.

We look at how the upcoming change will affect both Penske, its drivers, and DJR.

Foundations

Penske made their way into this scene when Marcos Ambrose returned from NASCAR in late 2014-early 2015.

But Marcos only made the two first races without the desire to drive more.

And it reduced his workload to only endurance events.

Then Marcos largely disappeared from public life ever since.

Scott Pye spent the next two seasons with one P3 during Race 2 at Phillip Island.

The consistency may not be outstanding during their foundations in drivers points:

• P19, 2015
• P15, 2016

But he built a great base to put DJR back on the front row like the old glory days.

Scott P also scored their first pole during Race 1 of the 2016 Clipsal 500.

Plus two podiums along the way:

• P3 during Race 7 of the 2016 Phillip Island SuperSprint.
• P2 during Race 26 at the 2016 ITM Auckland SuperSprint.

Scott McLaughlin

Then they replaced Pye with Scott McLaughlin over the next four seasons.

And that move became much successful this time around:

• 3 x Drivers Championship with Scott McLaughlin between 2018-2020
• 1 x 2019 Bathurst 1000 with Scott McLaughlin & Alex Premat

Roger made countless claims about his admiration for Scott at the same time.

He considered IndyCar or NASCAR as his best fit to continue this relationship.

The decision eventually played into the world of open-wheelers at IndyCar.

His IndyCar debut will come Monday at 5.30 am AEDT time at the Grand Prix of St. Pete, FL.

Scott M will then take over the Penske 4th full-time IndyCar seat from 2021.

NASCAR also would be an excellent fit, but Scott entered that late at age 27-28.

He has to get used to turning left all the time, which is the first step.

Then Scott can go to the Xfinity level and try to win races before moving to Cup.

Fabian Coulthard

Fabian Coulthard also joined DJR Penske in 2016 in the 2nd seat.

He continued to experience some great success at the helm:

• Eight wins
• 30 podiums
• He Finished 3 x Top 6 in the Drivers Championship in 2017 (P3), 2019 (P4) & 2020 (P6).

The credit mainly comes from fellow Kiwi Scotty M.

They worked together to put them back on the front row with three Teams titles:

• 2017
• 2019
• 2020

Fabian is happy to see Scott M go on and make IndyCar a successful hunting ground.

But he also reflected on his time as Scott M’s team-mate.

He is age 38 right now, with not knowing where his 2021 ride will land?

It could be staying on at DJR & follow Scott M footsteps.

That would be the Bathurst 1000 & Drivers Championship.

If not, he will consider all the other options that are best for him.

Verdict

I am sure Roger Penske loves our great country & should continue to come here on occasion.

Just not right now due to the worldwide travel ban from COVID.

The Supercars venture may not be around as long as it likes.

But the Penske brand will stay here regarding their truck rental business.

I am sure Scott M’s replacement will continue racing its proud DJR brand.

Who knows?

We might see them race in America, such as IndyCar or NASCAR one day.

For now, I wish Scott M his IndyCar debut on Monday morning.

And his full-time ride in the hope of winning the Indy 500 & the main title.

First of all, congratulations to Channel 7 on getting the deal done to return another decent product that they’ve treated so well since 1963-1996, 2007-2014.

This comes after a 2-3 months ago that Network 10 chose not to renew the contract following a six-year stint in their 2nd term having previously aired in 1997-2006 that will expire after this year’s Bathurst 1000 in three weeks.

I hoped that Seven would get a better deal than Ten to show just beyond the six marquee events with every other Sunday round LIVE in this new free to air portion.

Having seen Seven pay just $4 million a year, it seems that the limited free access to watch Supercars will go on for another five seasons.

And unfortunately, the return of Seven will follow what Network 10 exactly did in 2015-2020. 

The only upside about this announcement today is that Seven will have streaming access via 7Plus for the big event live races plus the other rounds shove to encore/highlight within the same race day.  

It’s something Ten didn’t have that advantage as they instead throw in marathon re-runs of some random show on 10 Play while the big event went on air.

So if you’re a traditionalist wanting to watch every race live on Free TV as it used to be, then I’m sorry to say it upset you once again.

But it’s how sports tv coverage is like these days in the modern 21st century, and the only way to do that is subscribed to Kayo Sports steaming product for $25 per month/$300 a year.

Overall, it’s another low-cost deal for Seven to return its national motorsport series on their turf.

I’d say it’s great to have the Free TV product improve its steaming viewing for those sports fanatics wanting to watch on the go.

But we’ll just have to wait & see what the next TV deal would look like in 2026-2030 as the limited-access package is not going anywhere, anytime soon.

With Ten losing Supercars, they only have the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix LIVE plus highlights overseas, and every LIVE MotoGP race, which is something Seven or Nine Network would want their hands-on when it expires in 2021-2022.

Regarding the makeup of the on-aid team, we know Mark Beretta is excited, so he will definitely in there as the anchor.

So would the likes of some other analysts that also appear on Seven’s additional Motorsport coverage.

Who will be commentating on the races on Seven?

I’m hoping it will be Richard Craill alongside Jack Perkins calling upstairs with Mark Beretta in pit lane during the big races.

That way, like cricket, Seven can have their commentary that is different from Fox Sports.

Otherwise, since Supercars Media is still producing the races and Seven paying a cheaper deal, it’ll just be a straight grab from Neil Crompton & Mark Skaife.

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It’s just not the day Fernando Alonso wanted during yesterday’s Indy 500.

He started from 26th and made some improvements on track position as high as P15 thanks to a series of full course yellows.

The machine behind his No.66 Chevy for Arrow McLaren SP worked against Alonso, unfortunately, thanks to a clutch issue that saw him end up in P21.

But participation-wise, it’s great to see Alonso reunite with McLaren once more, having denied a Honda affiliate outfit ride earlier this year based on his comments about their turbulent F1 engine at the time a few years ago.

If he wants to compete again at the greatest spectacle of racing in Indianapolis, then he’ll have to wait until at least 2023 by the time at age 41/42.

For now, his next project will be guiding the Renault F1 Team back to its former glory with young gun Esteban Ocon.

He will bring Championship-winning pedigree to that organization where he won two straight World titles in 2005 & 2006 as well as Ocon learning from the great man’s instinct.

Renault’s return as a fully-fledged Formula One since 2016 isn’t exactly a big success just yet.

At times, they have shown some glimpses of success in the midfield with regular Top 10 plus occasional Top 5 finishes.

But they’ve yet to taste a podium finish yet apart from their best finish of 4th thanks to Aussie Daniel Riccardo in Italy last year and Britain earlier this month.

I may personally not followed a lot of Formula 1 these days.

But Ricciardo’s chance to jump at a rejuvenated McLaren side suits him better in line with their return of the Mercedes power next year.

It hurts Renault, right?

But salary demands and opportunities that have a better chance to crack regular podiums are challenging for Riccardo to say no.

With the Renault F1 Team only running themselves as the exclusive engine supplier in 2021, it looked to be a perfect place for Alonso to help bridge this team towards the regular front row targets.

And if Alonso can be the man to finally gift Renault a podium place since the 2011 Malaysian Grand Prix in P3 from Nick Heidfeld, then we may begin to see a la Denny Hamlin or Kevin Harvick racer in Formula 1 who can still dominate the field in his prime that consists some experienced rivals and prospective youngsters.

I would like to see Alonso competing another Indy 500 next year and do something special.

But the Renault chiefs wouldn’t let him distract their current project.

For now, I wish Alonso the success he craves on his return to Formula One and hopefully comes back to the Indy 500 soon with one last hurrah!

And if any other free agent Formula 1 racer who has a championship pedigree like Alonso before, then I hope Sebastian Vettel would be the next man to crack the Triple Crown & try to win the Indy 500 as long as a competitive organization like Andretti, Penske, Ganassi & Rahal gives him that opportunity.