In the round-up: Renault technical director Nick Chester says the team has put a lot of money into reviving its Formula 1 operation but there’s a limit to how quickly they can grow.
What they say
The team’s still building up really. I think we’ve been quite lucky because over the last two to three years since Renault took ownership of the team they’ve pumped an awful lot of money into capital investment. You can see that all around the factory. We’ve got a paint facility we didn’t used to have, we’ve got new buildings for machining chassis and machining centres, a new front of house of the whole building. We’ve changed a lot of the departments around.
There’s been loads of investment. It’s just that you can only build up a certain rate. We’ve now built up a lot, we’re thinking about the next step now, what we need to do towards 2021. But Renault are very supportive. They’re looking at what we need to do to make the next big step.
I don’t think there’s ever a blank cheque unfortunately. You have to justify what you want to do so show the value you’re going to get from how you want to expand. And you have to show that you’ve been credible along the journey. Which I think we’re doing now, we’re showing that we’ve been coming up the last two years and so a mixture of that progression and having a good plan of where we want to get to will help secure the next step.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
This Friday I welcome @Anto_Giovinazzi in his first appearance as FP1 driver with the team this year, as also communicated on the team website. I'm back in the car for FP2 looking forward to a good weekend! #ME9 #GermanGP #F12018
— Marcus Ericsson (@Ericsson_Marcus) July 18, 2018
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Coulthard feels for McLaren F1 ‘scapegoat’ Boullier (Crash)
"You’ve got to feel somewhat for Eric Boullier because I didn’t see him design the car, I didn’t see him build the car, I didn’t see him drive the car but yet he’s stood down because someone has to be the scapegoat."
Remembering Morris Nunn, 1938-2018 (Racer)
"Nunn, who died Wednesday morning in his home at Tucson at age 79 from Parkinson’s Disease, became a mainstay in Formula 1 as a privateer and then headed to America to engineer Indy 500 winners and CART champions before starting his own IndyCar team."
Red Bull won't 'sacrifice' Toro Rosso's F1 season for Honda gains (Autosport)
"I don't think we'll be pushing them to sacrifice Toro Rosso."
Has Germany fallen out of love with Formula One? (The Times- registration required)
"Germany’s fanbase may have wavered in recent years, but it is still a lot stronger than some circuits that F1 visits."
Moss wins British Grand Prix - archive, 1955 (The Guardian)
"Fangio drew alongside him as they approached the checked flag for the finish, and then, it seemed, hung back to let Moss cross the line first. It was a sporting gesture, and fair."
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Comment of the day
@GeeMac on Force India’s divisive team principal:
It is easy to make ad hominem attacks in respect of Mallya because he is such a Marmite personality. The reasons why I fear for Force India have nothing to do with him as a man, they relate to how he does business and they are two fold:
(a) When Kingfisher Airlines failed, the manner in which his staff were treated left a lot to be desired. I won’t go into it here, but the reports of staff not being paid wages for months on end are voluminous. If he feels so little for his airline staff I see no reason for him to care for his racing team’s staff.
(b) In my professional capacity I had to deal with the aftermath of the collapse of Kingfisher (I used to work for one of the companies that leased them A330 aircraft) and the state the aircraft (eventually) returned to us was appalling. The airline had cannibalised parts from our aircraft to place on other aircraft in breach of our lease. If he thinks that is an appropriate way to conduct business I do worry for people who have to deal with him.
@GeeMac
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Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
19th July 2018, 0:10
I think Red Bull SHOULD sacrifice Toro Rosso’s season… it’d benefit them both next year if Honda is able to test new things this year while on track, specially given the limited testing we have.
Sure it’d be unfair on Hartley, maybe, because he’s having a hard time and Red Bull is said to be looking for a replacement already, but everyone else, even Gasly, are going to have another chance next year, and the more they can do now, the better prepared they will be!
Ricky Johnson (@bamboo)
19th July 2018, 0:37
Hartleys seat was secured for 2018 the moment Red Bull went with Honda.
Personally, I’d go as far as keeping him for 2019 also, in light of how much testing experience has has in WEC. Of the 30 test sessions this year Hartley has done the most laps in 15 of them. I’ve found his feedback over the radio this year to be stand out, regularly stating what he does have (whether good or bad) as opposed to some emotional outburst about what he doesn’t have.
Whats more important, Ticktums ascendancy or Red Bull winning titles? Unless Red Bull think they are going to win the titles next year I’d be holding onto Hartley.
Sauber (@mumito)
19th July 2018, 1:00
Does anyone believe Red Bull? Isn’t enough lies already? It’s OK. You can afford to crash Toro Rosso’s season (nothing brilliant but Gasly 4th). Rules are rules.
I don’t know if Renault is crying or complaining. RedBull with a second tier engine is doing really good. Even a crappy Mc Laren has the same points (give or take) than Renault. So I dont think they are doing “great”. Yes, it helped that last Lotus year was a dissaster. But for the amount of money pumped….Haas is winning the championship right now.
anon
19th July 2018, 7:40
@mumito, I think that many would argue that Force India is doing the best job when it comes to maximising their resources, given that Haas have more resources and is only marginally ahead of them.
ColdFly (@)
19th July 2018, 8:25
The guy running that team must be admired by all RaceFansfans ;-)
BMF66
19th July 2018, 2:43
Oh dear, I thought STR were already being used by Red Bull and Honda. So Honda really are still just crap.
Niefer (@niefer)
19th July 2018, 4:03
I wish Renault gives a decent car for Hulkenberg next season. And get Ocon, if Sainz leaves and Mercedes miss the chance.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th July 2018, 9:48
@niefer Same here.
rsp123 (@rsp123)
19th July 2018, 14:05
Agreed. Nothing would please me more than to see the Hulk win a race.
BlackJackFan
19th July 2018, 4:28
So Coulthard didn’t see Boullier doing anything…??
Perhaps that was part of the problem, and not a scapegoat at all… Hmm…
Would it not have been better if Coulthard had pointed out some of the good things Boullier HAD done.
Just a thought
ColdFly (@)
19th July 2018, 8:35
Very fair point.
The problem might be that Boullier is not seen by many as a star in what he does; he was not doing too well at Lotus either (including not paying staff – see COTD). He is very low on my list of sharp tools/bright lights in F1.
But having said that, I don’t think he is primarily to blame for the disastrous performance at McLaren.
Neither do I think it is the staff themselves; but rather the way they are being managed/prioritised.
After almost 2 years Zak Brown should have been able to at least demonstrate that he can create some light at the end of the tunnel. But it seems that he has decided to keep the boys in the cave and simply wait until the monsoon season is over.
There might not be enough oxygen for the team to wait that long.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
19th July 2018, 8:53
@coldfly – why the sudden trip to Thailand at the end? You feeling Musky? :-)
ColdFly (@)
19th July 2018, 14:17
If I give a Musky style pedo response I will get bl0cked :P
@phylyp
Phylyp (@phylyp)
19th July 2018, 14:19
@coldfly – LOL :-)
Zim
20th July 2018, 8:49
Haha poor Musky
Phylyp (@phylyp)
19th July 2018, 4:50
Maybe DC needs to be reminded of the concept of accountability of leaders – you needn’t do the thing you’re held responsible for; by virtue of being a leader, it just needs to happen on your watch.
It does lead to the other question that has been asked about this saga, in that isn’t Zak as a leader also responsible for this situation? In the debate around whether Boullier’s departure was of his own accord or not (i.e. the eternal “did he jump or was he pushed?” question), I’ve leaned to the opinion that Zak wanted Boullier’s exit to safeguard himself, but now the onus is on Zak to make things work.
Patrick (@anunaki)
19th July 2018, 7:24
Hockenheim is close to Holland so I think a lot of Dutch fans will be there.
Jere (@jerejj)
19th July 2018, 9:49
@anunaki Spa as well, of course.
Unicron (@unicron2002)
19th July 2018, 7:41
Very sad to hear about Mo Nunn. The only way for me to follow CART in the late 90s was to read Autosport and there were two people that I would read about the most: a driver (Zanardi) and his engineer (Mo Nunn).
When Zanardi had his bad experience at Williams in ’99, Mo Nunn tempted Zanardi back to CART with the offer of driving for his new team in 2001. Slow start for them, but then they hit the front for the first time of the year at Lausitzring… and then that terrible accident. Tragic end to their partnership.
ColdFly (@)
19th July 2018, 8:45
I think most countries (maybe except the UK/Italy) will fall out of love with F1 (even just a tiny bit) if it’s an annual circus visiting your village. The Olympics and World Cup Footsoccer would not be the same if held ever year!
With making F1 a bigger spectacle, rather than just a money grab for the old guy, it might also be time to rotate F1 races between countries: Spain/Portugal, Austria/Hungary, Germany/Netherlands, Denmark/Finland (ice racing), Bahrain/Abu Dhabi, etc.
It will make investing in circuits a bit more difficult, but they can award longer contract to offset that.