The problem is more with Renault than Red Bull. They wanted the test moved back and the other Renault powered teams are struggling too, I'm guessing Boullier was expecting them all to pull out when he said Lotus wouldn't be the only team missing. Red Bull's packaging is clearly exacerbating the problem, but fundamentally it's Renault's problem. There shouldn't be any overheating problems in Jerez in January. Especially as they're driving miles beneath the limit, they're 20 seconds off the pace and still unreliable. The Renault also looks by far the bulkiest unit and still seems to be packaged too tightly.
If Newey has packaged it in a way that was not suggested by Renault, then RBR have themselves to blame. Whilst Renault have admitted they have other issues as well, it looks like a severe redesign of RBR's back end may be required to sort out the cooling problems. As no Renualt car has actuall done any more than a handful of laps at a time, what other issues may lurk to do with heat build up over a longer distance?
I'm more amazed how they could spend 4 years making an engine which is unreliable that it can't even last 1 sector in a Red Bull
Renault would have consulted heavily with RBR throughout the design phase of the engine so all these issues must have been known. The days when a manufacturer builds an engine and just delivers it to the factory and says 'there you go boys, stick it in the car' are long gone.
So, 3 days in and most cars are lapping around 6-7 sec slower than last year. Is this around the pace of this years cars, or are they all sandbagging and just making sure they keep close to their rivals times without really showing what they've got?
Wow the Renault engine sounds awful in the Toro Rosso. Can't believe they've not delivered a functional unit.
That's Red Bull trying to buy out the competition, they want an engine which only they and Toro Rosso can use.
Just heard the Caterham and STR on Sky, it's unbelievable how bad they sound, stuttering, misfiring. This is disastrous. I wonder what the FIA will do if this continues, they supply over a third of the grid and they're not going to be able to qualify at this rate.
They have been trying to ditch them for years, the FIA vetoed Red Bull making their own engines because they said they were not going to be shared over the grid with the lower teams.
They'll have it sorted by the first race so it runs properly as its all electronics related, the cooling may be the bigger problem that would take longer to solve
I think it is pretty evident that none of the cars are being pushed to anywhere near the limit, obvious by the fact that cars are not spinning off or burning up their rubber. When we see them really leaning on them and constantly at full chat (even if only for a quali simulation) then we will have an idea of their outright pace. JB suspects that they will be circa 2-3 seconds off the pace (taking into account the different spec tyres, additional weight etc..) which I think is pretty good for a new formula that isnt running at full optimistaion. I think they will be as quick or quicker in quali trim but will be affected by the fuel restrictions in race trim. The team/engine that can optimise performance within the fuel tolerances will win - that goes without saying - but I think it will happen sooner rather than later.
Paolo Filisetti ‏@paolofilise 15m #F1Jerez Red Bull problem is a packaging problem. Battery and ERS elements are too close to heat sources and suffer quick overheating
I think the cars will make it, can you believe the nuclear fallout if they didn't? It's part of testing really, some get off to a bad start and some don't, I think in this case it is more extreme.
Probably not a quick fix. Imagine there will be a very compromised solution before the next test but Newey will not be happy about it. RBR may as well go back to the factory unless they can gaffer tape around the issue to get some track time tomorrow.
