Pre-Season Winter testing : 2014 Season

[Greenlantern101]

I have a feeling Pastor is the next Eddie Irvine / Jacques Villeneuve, spouting gob shite for decades to come to a privately hired mouth piece that flogs his verbal diarrhea to anyone that will publish it in the cheapest red tops in a vane attempt to elongate his cheap fame as a 'bit shit' driver clinging to F1 like a used piece of toilet paper hanging out the bottom of a slappers skirt lying a puddle of sick outside a night club frequented by Danny Dyer and Dean Gaffney.

 

[FB]

Crofty said on Sky that Sauber (I think) had calculated at top speed of 330pkh on the straight - that's 205 mph in old money.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Greenlantern101 Double like Actually, make it a triple.

 

[Il_leone]

sushifiesta
Kobayashi has already said Renault can't compete with the other engine builders as in they are down on power already

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When Renault interpreted the engine freeze back in 2007 - they thought it meant no work done on the engines and essentially left it untouched which allowed Ferrari and Mercedes to get ahead by somehow finding improvements in power delivery which is what Pat is talking about. Renault did pay the penalty for it by losing out on some 40-50bhp in the process...and we keep hearing the Horner whinge about how they had a weaker engine and needed to allow time to catch up even when Red Bull were winning with the DRS and EBD's

- Renault did seem to bear the brunt of when Red Bull were not winning criticism

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As for how Renault are not getting it right now - it is a combination of things - resources, money and the right structure to make best use of the people who design the engine

Now this year is the biggest change in engine use and clearly the other manufacturers have studied and invested in a lot more time more adequately into designing their engines

The problem with Renault - the performance suggests that it is a problem with their engine in testing since all the teams were affected and it is only now its genuinely obvious as Red Bull - the de facto No 1are struggling at testing

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Renault will get it right - it is just a matter of when though. No one took a punt on turbos back in the late 70's until Renault saw the rule was there and they took a chance in developing turbo powered cars and it took them 5 years to get it right and this is sort of repeated with their successes at Williams and then Renault

 

[Il_leone]

I remember the disastrous and radical 111 degree engine which kept popping in 2001 but they did eventually get there before scrapping it for a more conventional 72 degree engine
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It should be noted that Renault are the most expensive engines on the grid costing $23m US dollars

 

[Il_leone]

the fact that Renault have signed up with Lotus until 2018 ( assuming the team is still in F1) shows their long term commitment to F1 with both Red Bull and Toro Rosso also on long contracts when previously they did plan to only have 2 teams supplied

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The interesting note in all this is since Renault have agreed with Lotus until 2018 that means effectively Honda are pretty much going to be sole engine supplier to Mclaren for the next 3 years

 

[Titch]

Greenlantern101 a bit extreme, but I get your point.

 

[Slyboogy]

Got a feeling it's going to be a Mercedes walkover, by Mercedes, I mean the team itself rather than the engine.

 

[RasputinLives]

I guess then we get to see whether Rosberg really can challenge Hamilton when it matters!

I'm not ruling Mclaren out just yet though. If your Kevin Magnursen you have to be punching the air in delight at seemingly being in the right place at the right time don't you?

Despite all this Merc talk I do have to say it speaks volumes how quiet Alonso is being in the media at the moment. Usually at this point he's started his mind games and is declaring someone his 'biggest rival' in order to physce out the drivers he really thinks are his biggest rivals or he's declaring the Ferrari the 8th best car in the field or something. It could be his silence means he realise he has a good car this time round and he's keeping stum.

 

[LifeW12]

Surely Honda won't be as bad as Renault.

After all, they had the most successful car/engine combination of all time last time they had turbos.

 

[sushifiesta]

Rosberg has now closed to within a second of his 2013 pole time, which would have been good enough for 9th on the grid last year. Seriously impressive considering how much has changed.

 

[Wombcat]

I guess then we get to see whether Rosberg really can challenge Hamilton when it matters!

Didn't he already do that several times last year?

 

[sushifiesta]

Guess the driver:

"So I'm glad that all these bugs are coming. I want to find more and more. I want to damage the car and break it as much as possible so they can fix it before the races."

 

[Andyoak]

it should be pastor but suspect its the finger...

 

[sushifiesta]

Neither. Not a Red Bull or Lotus driver.

 

[Andyoak]

well max is too slow to break anything and the Williams is looking pretty tough this year.

 

[Bushi]

Can't help but wonder if there is some way around the engine freeze.

Like for instance, Renault has an alliance with Nissan. So can't they continue the development of the engine as a whole and just call it Nissan in 2015 and call it Renault again in 2016? That way they are not bound to the rules cause it's a "new" entrant each year. Maybe Ferrari can use Fiat? Or maybe they can't do that, because they are from the same group?

What are the rules exactly in the engine department considering new manufacturers?

 

[The Artist.....]

Neither. Not a Red Bull or Lotus driver.

Merc driver? Rosberg or Hamilton?

 

[sushifiesta]

It was indeed Hamilton The Artist..... The mood in the Mercedes camp is so positive that even bad news is good news!

 

[RasputinLives]

Didn't he already do that several times last year?

I meant when it mattered for a championship. We see many drivers being able to challenge when its not for the big prize but not able to recapture that form when the stakes are higher. If it turns out to be a Merc lead year we'll get to see if Rosberg can seriously challenge Lewis consistantly and when it matters.