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Winter Testing 2014 (Part 2) - Bahrain
- Thread starter Hun200kmh
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MagpieRacer
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- Wymondham, Norfolk
- Seagull_Racer
Renault was never part of the team name. Infiniti are a title sponsor, like Sahara Force India, they are Sahara Force India F1 Team, not Sahara Force India Mercedes F1 Team. Infiniti are part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance, Renault have a 43% stake in Nissan, and Nissan have a 15% stake in Renault. Putting Renault much more in the power seat than Infiniti.
In 2011 it was said that the engines would be rebranded but the sponsorship deal did not extend to that. They became the title sponsor in 2013 with a possible open door in the future to brand the engines as Infiniti. Renault, are Red Bulls engine supplier, will be until at least 2016 when the contract is signed to, and have never had Renault as part of the team name since switching to them in 2007.
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- TenEightyOne
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That's what I was trying to get at; the team name themselves as constructor (eg Infiniti Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Marlboro Ferrari) and in the classifications the engine constructor (a separate part of the team entry) is also named (eg Infiniti Red Bull Racing Renault). A works team doesn't have the name re-appended (eg Mercedes).
Renault, as @MildAshers says, was never part of the team's name and the engines continue to be badged as Renault and attended to by Renault-uniformed engineers (as we saw today).
- 33,155
- Hammerhead Garage
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- Murica
- BasedAckbar
I'd rather Infiniti make more interesting cars.
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- TenEightyOne
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It attributes the "scoop" to Bild, but there's no similar article on their Formula 1 page?
EDIT: I forgot Sport Bild is a dedicated sub-publication... but I can't find anything there either.
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And Bild is essentially a tabloid, like The Daily Mail.
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- TenEightyOne
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Definitely, normally the greatest gains are always found in the honeymoon period of new regulations. By the end of the year the teams will have gained the lion's share of the performance available from this year's cars; next year's will optimise that even further and they'll start getting into the 0.05s game.
As an aside; Pat Symonds' comments about the down-sizing of the Renault engine factory at Viry and the potential effect of that on their post-V8 development programme are interesting. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26279300
- 7,177
- Lisboa
- FLAT_TWELVE
Yes, of course, but not long ago many were saying 2014 cars would be significantly slower than 2013. As it stands now it seems likely that they may even be faster, and this possibly since their first race. If they'll finish it however is a whole different matter ...
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Not long ago many were saying 2014 cars would be significantly slower than 2013...they may even be faster...if they'll finish it however is a whole different matter ...
We'll have to wait for Australia to know for sure that the cars are doing race-fuel runs, but you'd expect that some of them are, especially with the amount of hard running that some of them are doing.
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This from Aunty; ""A bit of detail on the state of play with the Renault engines at the moment. They are not being able to run the full mapping and are about 100-150bhp down on the Mercedes and Ferrari. Teams are not being allowed to do any functionality testing - just running round in circles at a lot less power than everyone else. They have improved massively in a short space of time but there is still a long way to go."
IBR's afternoon's been spoilt by a "mechanical fault" they found during the lunch break that's led to them dismantling the car.
IBR's afternoon's been spoilt by a "mechanical fault" they found during the lunch break that's led to them dismantling the car.
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- Murica
- BasedAckbar
I'd have to say that Mclaren have definitely returned to form according to the testing. But we have to see if this form can carry over for the entirety of a season.
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Interesting theory that I heard this morning: Renault knew early on that these issues would cone up, and put pressure on Bernie and the FIA to introduce double points in Abu Dhabi so that their teams had a better chance of competing.
After all, the most extreme predictions suggest Renault will not be able to fully resolve their issues until Silverstone.
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That's one of those "yeah, right" rumours... until you think it through. Bernie knows the big companies need to keep being interested in F1 as "relevant" technology - it really does make you wonder.
If true you might say it shed some light on Vettel's fairly regular "Enjoy it now, remember this moment"-themed radio calls. Certainly RB knew the engine was going to be over the predicted weight by the middle of last year when we saw the driver-height discussions starting.
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Nah, if the problems Red Bull are as bad as they seem, septuple points in the finale won't help the Renault teams - assuming they win the race at all.
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Supposedly the Bernster is pushing for the double-points across the last three races. That's one away from that heptularity... let's see :\
I actually thought the double-points thing was one of those stupid Bernie ideas that he throws in (like medals) to kick the teams up the diffuser when they can't decide on other things. I'm aghast that they've implemented it so if they increase it to cover the final three races I'll be, well, aghaster.
I actually thought the double-points thing was one of those stupid Bernie ideas that he throws in (like medals) to kick the teams up the diffuser when they can't decide on other things. I'm aghast that they've implemented it so if they increase it to cover the final three races I'll be, well, aghaster.
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Three races would be better than one because it would give a driver who has a bad double-points race a chance to bounce back.
I suspect the idea is actually coming from broadcasters who, faced with declining audiences, are trying to get their money's worth by forcing the title fight to last longer.
I suspect the idea is actually coming from broadcasters who, faced with declining audiences, are trying to get their money's worth by forcing the title fight to last longer.
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That's a reasonable theory I'd say, you might be right.
Just read this from the Beeb feed; ""I'm out on the track watching at Turn Eight, a slow right-hand hairpin. There's no doubt the new engines are different from the old V8s we had become used to. While the V8s were ear-splitting, with the new turbos you can still hold a conversation even when a few cars come around together. The engines have a really guttural sound - a bit like a spin cycle on a washing machine! - as all the energy-recovery systems do their work. But on the straight they sound like jet fighters. And we can hear birds tweeting overhead. It's quite serene, really.".
They sound like a washing machine? Must be placeholder sounds
Just read this from the Beeb feed; ""I'm out on the track watching at Turn Eight, a slow right-hand hairpin. There's no doubt the new engines are different from the old V8s we had become used to. While the V8s were ear-splitting, with the new turbos you can still hold a conversation even when a few cars come around together. The engines have a really guttural sound - a bit like a spin cycle on a washing machine! - as all the energy-recovery systems do their work. But on the straight they sound like jet fighters. And we can hear birds tweeting overhead. It's quite serene, really.".
They sound like a washing machine? Must be placeholder sounds
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I disregarded the news as well, but then I read my fresh from the press issue of Motortrend which mentioned a rumour about Eau Rouge concept going into production with a Merc engine.
So I did some google fu and found out that I apparently had no idea that Infiniti-Nissan-Renault had a partnership with Daimler since 2010 as well and quiet a few of Infinities use Merc engines, and more than that I found this particular bit of news http://www.autonews.com/article/201...ing-with-daimler-on-platform-for-four-models#
Infiniti Mercedes Benz 2015?
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IBR have packed up and gone home, the car only managed 15 laps today.
Fastest Renault time so far is Pastor Maldonado, 5s off the top pace of the day though.
Fastest Renault time so far is Pastor Maldonado, 5s off the top pace of the day though.
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Raikkonnen just crashed the Ferrari, no images yet so I've no idea if he's pottered into the barrier or really stuffed it. Only about five minutes of green left once they clear it, so that's the day done.
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- neljack
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- FLAT_TWELVE
I know it's early testing, and everything we watched so far is inconclusive BUT it can't be denied that:
a) Rosberg´s laptime from today was VERY IMPRESSIVE. I just checked last year's qualifying figures and a 1.33,283 lap would put him into Q3 and if made in Q3 it would put him 9th on the grid. So ... it's a great laptime for a new car, with new rules regarding all things mechanical power.
b) Mercedes is so much ahead of everyone else - be it in testing mileage or in one lap pace - it gets worrying.
c) Behind Mercedes all is debatable but McLaren appears to be the ones more close to their state of readiness (to race and win full on Grand Prix weekends, comprising FP1, FP2, FP3, Quali and Race)
d) I wouldn't risk writing off Ferrari, because if they're not on top they're usually close to it, but I'm not even sure they can be classified in 3rd. Both Force India and Williams have impressed. And not only because they also use Mercedes power, but because they have done many laps, gathered lots of data and experience with their cars, and their pace wasn't nothing to be ashamed of.
e) Sauber hit serious trouble today so it's unclear where they stand,
f) The RENAULT - powered big teams (RBR and LOTUS) are nowhere. Few laps, poor pace, as it stands now I really doubt they would be able to finish a GP. And that's being kind, I'm not sure their cars would make it to sunday and the actual race.
g) Same goes to STR
h) The little teams are a bit of an odd affair. The Renault powered one (Caterham) did decent testing so far, with a respectable number of laps, but apparently all for the benefit of Renault since they were the only Renault team to acchieve longer running distances. Marussia, although powered by Ferrari, has hit serious trouble and did very litle running (day one - 3 laps; day two - 17 laps; day three - 4 laps; day four - 2 laps). VERY worrying for them.
This said, just a couple more quick thoughts:
- 2014 cars are apparently dangerous to handle, great precautions are put in place to avoid people (crews) getting fried (by an electrical discharge) when attending to their own cars.
- This has two consequences:
1 - the track marshals can't touch the cars before the team crew arrives to the scene.
2 - The team crew, as can be seen from the picture above of Kimi's wrecked car, is not only fully gloved to be protected, but they still carry with them (from the pits I presume) a couple more fire extinguishers.
- I find this a bit worrying TBH. I still remember that BMW engineer accident when KERS was still in its early development phase. And although I know the FIA doesn't usually disregard safety issues, I do hope that during the season, if a crash happens, medical and track crews may attend to accidented drivers and cars with no worries.
After all that has been achieved to avoid the once common fuel spill and fire, now it is time to care for the electrical storage issues so cars don't become lethal after a crash.
On a lighter note, by re-reading this post prior to publishing I came to realize that if the stars align properly, Caterham could well this year, at least in the first few rounds, do a "Onyx", get some points and even reach a podium. They're still slow but they did respectable mileage, maybe they last a GP's distance and that's all that's needed in the first few rounds of the 2014 F1 Championship!
a) Rosberg´s laptime from today was VERY IMPRESSIVE. I just checked last year's qualifying figures and a 1.33,283 lap would put him into Q3 and if made in Q3 it would put him 9th on the grid. So ... it's a great laptime for a new car, with new rules regarding all things mechanical power.
b) Mercedes is so much ahead of everyone else - be it in testing mileage or in one lap pace - it gets worrying.
c) Behind Mercedes all is debatable but McLaren appears to be the ones more close to their state of readiness (to race and win full on Grand Prix weekends, comprising FP1, FP2, FP3, Quali and Race)
d) I wouldn't risk writing off Ferrari, because if they're not on top they're usually close to it, but I'm not even sure they can be classified in 3rd. Both Force India and Williams have impressed. And not only because they also use Mercedes power, but because they have done many laps, gathered lots of data and experience with their cars, and their pace wasn't nothing to be ashamed of.
e) Sauber hit serious trouble today so it's unclear where they stand,
f) The RENAULT - powered big teams (RBR and LOTUS) are nowhere. Few laps, poor pace, as it stands now I really doubt they would be able to finish a GP. And that's being kind, I'm not sure their cars would make it to sunday and the actual race.
g) Same goes to STR
h) The little teams are a bit of an odd affair. The Renault powered one (Caterham) did decent testing so far, with a respectable number of laps, but apparently all for the benefit of Renault since they were the only Renault team to acchieve longer running distances. Marussia, although powered by Ferrari, has hit serious trouble and did very litle running (day one - 3 laps; day two - 17 laps; day three - 4 laps; day four - 2 laps). VERY worrying for them.
This said, just a couple more quick thoughts:
- 2014 cars are apparently dangerous to handle, great precautions are put in place to avoid people (crews) getting fried (by an electrical discharge) when attending to their own cars.
- This has two consequences:
1 - the track marshals can't touch the cars before the team crew arrives to the scene.
2 - The team crew, as can be seen from the picture above of Kimi's wrecked car, is not only fully gloved to be protected, but they still carry with them (from the pits I presume) a couple more fire extinguishers.
- I find this a bit worrying TBH. I still remember that BMW engineer accident when KERS was still in its early development phase. And although I know the FIA doesn't usually disregard safety issues, I do hope that during the season, if a crash happens, medical and track crews may attend to accidented drivers and cars with no worries.
After all that has been achieved to avoid the once common fuel spill and fire, now it is time to care for the electrical storage issues so cars don't become lethal after a crash.
On a lighter note, by re-reading this post prior to publishing I came to realize that if the stars align properly, Caterham could well this year, at least in the first few rounds, do a "Onyx", get some points and even reach a podium. They're still slow but they did respectable mileage, maybe they last a GP's distance and that's all that's needed in the first few rounds of the 2014 F1 Championship!
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