Good point, but Infiniti seem pretty deep in with Red Bull and being Nissan and all I don't think Honda will be an option.
This. They're tied in pretty tightly together. And I think long term Red Bull would rather be Renault's works team than McLaren's bitch as Honda customers.
Parts of Nico's race run. [video=youtube;yJWHr9N4IvQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJWHr9N4IvQ#t=117[/video]
Rob White, deputy managing director of Renault sport: “We now know that the differences between dyno and car are bigger than we expected, with the consequence that our initial impressions were incomplete and imperfect. “Our intention was to run the car; we are very frustrated to face this litany of issues that we should have ironed out on the dyno and which have deprived us of a precious learning opportunity.” “We have not run enough laps, and when we have they have not been run at an acceptable performance level,” “The underlying causes are not straightforward,” White explained. “There isn’t a single component or system that has caused particular trouble.” “A number of related things have been troublesome, principally concerning the control and operation of the various sub-systems of the power unit within the car. “For example on the first run day, we had problems with a sub-system within the energy store that did not directly concern either the battery nor the operation of the battery – it is an electronic part that was in the same housing as the energy store. “We subsequently had problems with turbocharger and boost control systems with knock-on effects on the associated engine management systems, subsequently provoking mechanical failures. Renault have made several attempts to solve the problems, with varying degrees of success. “Between days one and two with the help of Red Bull, we implemented a later level of hardware for the rest of the test to address the problem within the energy store. This ran for the remaining days.” “In parallel to running in Jerez, the team at Viry has run dyno test programs to investigate the trackside problems and to propose solutions. “We identified the probable root cause of our main turbo control issues, implemented some workarounds that were first seen at the end of day three and deployed in the three cars for day four. This established a very minimalist baseline from which we could build.” “We recognise that when the cars have run, they are not running at an acceptable level,” White added. “We are a long way from the type of operation we had planned and prepared for – largely as a result of the workarounds we have implemented – but all the information is useful. “In dealing with the issues we have moved further away from the configuration we were comfortable with, which has resulted in the relatively slow times, but the running has given us a vastly greater understanding of the issues we face. “We absolutely expect to have a more definitive solution in place for the next session in Bahrain.” Fun times ahead for Renault, I believe these quotes have been posted before in this thread, but I think it was a reduced version?
Videos from testing: [NSFW] [video=youtube;5ch6nF69vl4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ch6nF69vl4[/video] [video=youtube;SgxWJ2Tnb70]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgxWJ2Tnb70[/video] [video=youtube;U1cODMLKAL0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1cODMLKAL0[/video] [video=youtube;IGWRP7WASLE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGWRP7WASLE[/video] [video=youtube;RcUWaECf9Wo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcUWaECf9Wo[/video] [video=youtube;lOsneQvRRXs]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOsneQvRRXs[/video] [video=youtube;fbyNi3foQwk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbyNi3foQwk[/video] [video=youtube;yiLcFYmxUDk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiLcFYmxUDk[/video][/NSFW]
With regards to the body language with the final day: Mercedes: Both drivers calm and confident with what they're doing, nothing else stands out. Williams: Massa seemed excited to progress with the car and looks up for a good fight to the start to the season, was almost boasting with his head movement being raised when openly talking about the rest of the field which is a sign of confidence. Was slightly irritated by the wet weather though. Sauber: Lip biting so signs of anxiety and worry from Sutil with the car, looks like some of it might be sorted come Bahrain though and seemed calmer about the progress. RBR: Daniel had confidence in the car being sorted quickly, was pretty hard to read anything significant to point out here. Would probably be best to see Seb's reactions as he is far more 'emotional'. Maybe their is a construction flaw with the Renault that can be easily fixed which might be the silver bullet RBR needs, but the 15-20 week problem could be if it's the worse case rather than what Renault is hoping not to happen.
I know, how is a photographer meant to make a living from one angle of a Red Bull halfway out of it's own box? But on a serious note I doubt it would effect them for long, if anything it would encourage them even more to crush Alonso's dreams come the end of the season just like the last 4 years running and then we will see if they're laughing come November. This is Red Bull, not Williams or Sauber. P.S could you imagine Vettel winning the WDC with the double points system over the last 3 races? Would love to hear the Spanish fans then be more tears than laughter. So if you REALLY! hate Vettel and Red Bull, it might be best if you wait until the end of the season to bang the drums rather than at the warm up lap when it really means nothing. The heat of Bahrain is going to reveal how tough those Mercedes and Ferrari engines are as well in more standard F1 heat 25c + so problems for other teams still might happen considering how easy it happend to Red Bull and Renault.
In a funny sort of way even though I can't help having very deep feelings of glee about what is happening at Red Bull I would prefer it of their car wasn't such a dud that they couldn't even run it properly. I would rather that it was reliable, but maybe the third or fourth best car so we can have a season where the other teams at last get a crack of the whip but where the Red Bull isn't so bad that it's meaningless. I'd love to see Vettel have to fight hard to even get a podium, I think we would really see how good he is or isn't. I do think it would take something away from the championship as a whole to make him have to compete in some sort of clown car. Having said that, I love the idea of Merc/McLaren/Ferrari/Williams having a good ding dong battle this season. How refreshing that would be.
Lewis' 09 season seems the right comparison, just won the WDC, still young in F1, has the best development team on the grid + new regulations and the car is dog **** which will take months to sort out.
I just want something where all the top drivers are in the mix again. Probably not going to get it though.
Dietrich trying to calm things down with Vettel perhaps? "A deficit at the beginning of the season does not automatically mean that the world title is lost," he said. "Even if you come from behind, you still have a chance."
