F1 2019 SEASON: NEWS - RUMOURS

I think the fact that , IMHO , RBR have nailed their colours to the mast with Max , left DR not wanting to be a Mark Webber MK2 .

He will be top dog at Renault I would imagine , and surely , he must have some assurances that Renault will become a force ?

He's rolled the dice , time will tell which way they land …..

 

I think you are right. rbr have put all their lolly into keeping max. ok he's now top dog by a mile at Renault but he won't have a car that can compete.

how long has it taken Ferraris resources to catch Merc?

 

Oh I agree , hell of a risk , but if the assurances he's been given come true , it's the right move .

If it's all we HOPE to achieve is ..who knows .

Also thinking about it , IIRC , the top man at Renault Carlos Ghosn , is no fan of Motor racing .

IF they don't start to deliver , he may well pull the plug .

 

ricciardo passing cars is the one bright spot out there.

if he is stuck.midfield and has no chance of forward progression ..... and worse max did we go has a car with honda thst can actually compete it's a disaster.

I was hoping maybe he would go elsewhere.

ok it's a step down but there was only one seat available and Kim is seat isn't easy to get from ferrari

 

Looks like Kimi may be keeping that seat since SM's passing .

I really think Leclerc should get the drive .

 

That's the end of Ricciardo winning another F1 race. It's a backwards career move just like Alonso did when he went to McLaren. Ricciardo should have offered to blow Lauda and Wolff for the second Merc seat. He's a better driver than Bottas and would have enhanced the team.

 

If Ferrari had wanted to replace Raikonnen with Ricciado then it would have happened. Maybe the first season without blown exhausts showed Vettel how much of a threat Ricciardo actually is to him and probably didn't want him in the team. Hamilton for all his faults I don't would be bothered who his team mate is. His arrogance in his own ability, like all world champions, means he thinks he's better than everyone else anyway.

 

I don't think he'd get one at RBR, from Renault to Honda power is not going to bring in a championship in the next few years, and if they did get on level with Merc & Ferrari DR & MV would be taking points off each other. I think he had to move, and Renault were the best of a bad bunch once the Ferrari and mercedes doors were shut for a few years.

 

I agree to some extent. However, Vettel will block him at Ferrari whereas Hamilton, who would relish a battle with a true racer like Dan Ric, unfortunately has Wolf as boss, who a) wants a good second driver who won’t upset the apple cart, and b) used to be Bottas agent?

So I think sadly it was out of his control.

Sadly we have Raikkonen and Bottas who both aren’t top top drivers (Kimi was, about a decade ago) hogging two seats whilst the likes of Alonso and Ricciardo hope for the goldmine to appear at McLaren or Renault, aiming to escape what is effectively the second tier of F1 at the moment.

 

Why? because he says he would? Seems to me he did a lot of crying when Rosberg was his team-mate, and Rosberg is nowhere near RIcciardo.
Words are cheap

 

I actually think Rosberg was much better than he’ll ever get credit for. Rosberg pushed Hamilton very hard.

I know what you mean- don’t get me wrong- but I just think when you look at Hamilton having team mates of Alonso, Button, Rosberg, that stacks up quite well?

Lewis is like Senna, if he’s not winning the world is against him in his mind so he does some whining.

Hamilton’s not my favourite driver by a long shot, but I think he’s the best of his generation for pure speed.

 

I still think Bottas is better than most give him credit for .

Just because he is quiet , actually seems to go against him IMHO .

They named the wrong FIN the " Ice man " ...

 

Ice man or wingman?

 

Ice on the wing man.

 

Neither !

 

The problem for Merc and Ferrari is that hiring Ricciardo would make it very difficult for them to win the drivers title as they'd be splitting a lot of points. Renault was about the only option really.

I do wonder if RBR have backed the wrong horse...

 

Max is 9 years younger than Daniel. He has 4 wins, Daniel has 7 wins. RBR are right to back Max. Daniel should have stayed and let his driving do the talking.

Regarding engines, what is the main difference between the engine the Mercedes engine the Mercedes team use and the one that Mercedes supply to say Williams? What do Mercedes restrict on an engine supplied to another team over the one they use?

 

Well... F1 isn't quite the young man's sport it's been in recent years. Many of the best drivers are getting a little long in the tooth... plus there's no guaranteeing he'll stay with RBR long term. Ricciardo really is a pretty complete racer. I'd be backing him all the way!

Need Renault to produce a good car now.... If they do then they've got a cracking lead driver there!

 

In theory there is no difference, all engines should be identical. I think even the software has to be provided now?

I think the main advantage comes from the fact the constructor teams can design their whole car ground-up around the engine, and will know much more about it in the design process. I think the customer teams basically just get dimensions and cooling requirements until a lot later?

 

When Lewis went to Mercedes people questioned his decision, but it proved right. Renault delivered an engine that won RBR 4 world Championships.
Renault are capable of PU development. It is chassis that Renault have lacked and maybe a real top driver. Renault do not lack ambition, they are in the sport to win, undoubtedly investing in Daniel shows their intent. I don't see Newey following suit unless he is offered something amazing but Merc did it without Newey. I think, given the options, Daniel has made the right choice. Also, this is not necessarily about the next two years but also to be seen as the top driver of a team when a space does come up at Merc, or Ferrari if Renault haven't delivered by then.

It is brave of Daniel but it was brave of Lewis.

Good luck to a good guy.