Ricciardo positive despite more Red Bull problems

2014 F1 season

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Daniel Ricciardo said his stint in the Red Bull RB10 today was “the best I’ve felt so far” despite more problems limiting him to 39 laps of running.

“The morning was much better for us with a few longer runs,” said Red Bull’s new recruit. “Behind the wheel, that’s the best I’ve felt so far. The package seems to be coming together better.”

Ricciardo’s spell in the car included a lengthy interruption in the afternoon, “but at least when the car was on track it was much more useful running and we made progress in the morning,” he said.

Race engineering co-ordinator Andy Damerum added: “We sent Daniel out for a long-ish run, but we had to abort about five laps in, as we noticed some issues on the sensors.”

“We brought him in, had a look at the car and discovered that we had a problem with the exhaust.

“So we had a long afternoon in the garage, but we did manage to get Daniel back out at the end of the session, which was good. We have some work to do overnight but hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to run in a similar style to this morning.”

Tomorrow will be Ricciardo’s last day in the car before the first race of the year. Sebastian Vettel will take over for the last two days of testing.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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74 comments on “Ricciardo positive despite more Red Bull problems”

  1. These are problems they should have been finding in Jerez! It’s really starting to look like RedBull won’t be in contention for the Melbourne race.

    1. The exhaust isn’t necessarily the one they took to Jerez though.

      1. I’m still curious about what appears to Carbon fibre shrouding around the exhausts, presumably containing insulation to stop the exhaust loseing temperature and therefor volume before entering the turbo-charger, no doubt there is a good theoretical reason for them but neither Ferrari or Mercedes seem to be doing something similar.

        1. Google ‘intercooler’. They want the gas to be cooled before entering the turbo as this makes it denser.

  2. Rosberg admitted that Mercedez has got reliability problems as well

    1. Despite that, they have managed to fix those problems relatively quickly and have racked up quite a number of laps compared to RBR. Every RBR problem is a ‘testing day-ending problem’!

      1. Not only that, but Mercedes’ problems are of the sort that you only start to discover once you can put significant mileage on the car. To discover reliability problems that appear after 50 laps for example, you must first be able to complete 50 laps. Then once you solve that, a problem that may appear around 60 laps of running might rear its ugly head. Red Bull are still dealing with issues that are more fundamental than that, so they will just have to hope and pray that they don’t have major issues at race distances once they’re able to rack up the miles. Given their history with reliability and the start they’re having so far this year though I’m doubtful they’ll be so lucky. They’ll still be working on chasing down reliability demons in Melbourne practice while front runners are optimizing setups and doing race and qualifying sims. The same will likely be true for the other Renault teams as well. My guess is that after a couple of bad races though they’ll start to get on top of it, particularly RBR with their vast resources.

      2. No matter what the problem and how quick it is fixed When a car stop it stop.

  3. The Blade Runner (@)
    27th February 2014, 16:53

    Ted Kravitz of Sky seems to think that Red Bull could struggle to make it out of Q1 in Melbourne. I know they like a sensationalist story over at Sky but he is normally able to tap into the vibe in the garage.

    Could this year’s Red Bull actually be a White Elephant? That would be an unbelievable shock and I still find it hard to imagine.

    1. I won’t even begin to get excited over the prospect of a slower Red Bull than usual until I see what their performance looks like after the first few races and then again after their first major upgrades. If anyone can turn around a slow start it’s that team and I don’t want to get hopes up in the same way I did last year for Mercedes only to see them flattened again by a Red Bull car that gets developed at a much faster rate than everyone else.

      1. GB (@bgp001ruled)
        27th February 2014, 23:56

        imho red bull doesnt have a chance!!!! but only in the first couple of races. they simply havent raced the car enough and thatll show in the races. which each race theyll be gaining some ground, but the first ones they wont have a chance…

    2. RBR has the resources AND leadership to fix these issues. Even if it isn’t until the European races, they’ll come back fighting, at least for top 3 in constructors championship.

  4. I don’t know why but I still expect Red Bull to have won several races by the end of the year…

    1. Red Bull will be ok if the races are reduced to 39 laps…..but why are Renault cars so off the pace??? Lets wait for Vettel to test later this week

      1. Why so far off the pace? They simply haven’t had a chance to crank things up much for fear of breaking something while they do systems checks. They haven’t had a chance to do much in the way of setup work. It’s seems to have all been about getting the infrastructure sound, so they still have a ton of work (and potential) once they can explore actual performance and handling enhancing work. Have they had much chance to learn about this year’s tires, and how they relate to different settings they try? I think probably not. They’ll get there, but I think it is inevitable they will be starting the season on their hind foot. But there is lots of season ahead even after 3 races are in the books, and we don’t even truly know how reliable Mercedes is once they are racing in anger. They may have to realistically crank things way down in order to finish races. Obviously if Mercedes is fast and reliable starting in Melbourne, and Mac and Ferrari are also close in pace and reliablility, I think RBR are screwed and I can only see them being lucky to eventually match Merc or Ferrari this year, but not catch up to them and become so much better than they overcome the points haul that Merc and Ferrari will get early on…crap…just remembere there’s double points, and I just felt myself deflate.

    2. Likewise. Themselves and Renault will get their acts together eventually and I’m sure Vettel will get a few wins, particularly near the end. I see their season being sort of McLaren 2009-esque.

      For Melbourne at least though, I would be very surprised if either of their cars finish the race.

    3. @vettel1 I was also expecting McLaren to won several races last year … And they didn’t have such struggle as RedBull. But I’m just saying, and I still hope everyone makes it in a relatively good shape to have a real race at Melbourne and not a race by pairs.
      And it could be quite interesting if RedBull finds itself in the mix in the beginning of the season, to see what they can do from there.

      1. @jeanrien it does look a fundamentally tidy car aerodynamically at least, whereas the MP4-28 looked a bit cumbersome. But perhaps that is what is hurting it the most, as their persistent reliability issues are almost all cooling related.

    4. @vettel1

      I don’t know why but I still expect Red Bull to have won several races by the end of the year…

      The engine homologation is on Feb 28th, in two days. Unless Renault can beg FIA to give them an extension (both Mercedes and Ferrari would have to agree on this), not even a podium is likely, let alone a win.

      1. @kingshark
        Could you please direct to me to a source regarding engine homologation? The only things I’ve read is that it will start next year but I’ve seen a few people mention the same as you now so I’d really appreciate it if you could point me to the source.

          1. @kingshark
            Thanks, I appreciate it! So what will happen is that they’ll homologate the engines for this season, but they’ll be able to make developments for next season, and each season there will be less parts that they’re allowed to develop for the following one.

        1. i thought same. isn’t it was supposed that this year there will be no restrictions on engines with partial restrictions next year?

      2. I believe reliability can still be developed after homologation @kingshark.
        Renault may be playing the long game, trying to have the most complicated engineering with a potential superior result once they finally get it to work.

      3. As most agree the Renault engine has not been fully cranked up yet, how can they homolgate a engine that may not be fuel efficient enough at race pace??

      4. @kingshark I don’t think that restricts the development: there is a gradually phasing in of the percentage of components by weight which have to be restricted over the next few seasons. For 2014 development remains quite open.

        1. Although reliability improvements have always been allowed I think, even with the V8’s, as long as permission is granted by the FIA. I don’t believe that reliability improvements have to be allowed by all the teams – performance of course would be a different matter entirely.

    5. Including the last 3 no doubt,@vettel1.

      1. Let us just hope that they all don’t end up being double points then @hohum!

  5. I’m wondering: is Sebastian regretting having extended his contract until 2015? :P

    1. My guess is no way. He’s got 4 WDC’s as it is. Up until a month ago he was with the best team, so where would he have gone that would have been better than RBR, at the time he had to sign on the bottom line for an extension. SV did the right thing and the only thing he could do, by extending his contract. He can’t look at it now and say woulda coulda shoulda, especially when they haven’t even raced in anger yet. We don’t even know who will be the team you’d want to be at as a driver, yet. I’m sure RBR is not pleased with how it has gone, but are fully there ready, willing, and able to tackle this challenge. As is SV.

    2. Who’s to say Red Bull won’t be back near the top in 2015? In fact, who’s to say they won’t be at some point in 2014? And say Red Bull have a torrid two years, Vettel will still have four titles to his name, and if he looks to leave he won’t be short of options. I don’t think he’s regretting signing a new contract whatsoever.
      Either way, I expect he’ll move to Ferrari or a new manufacturer (VW or BMW) in either 2016 or 2017.

  6. The first race might be a bit harder for them, but its RBR we’re talking about here. My money is still on them for the WDC.

    1. To my thinking F1 should be about needing to be as close to perfect all season as possible, with little forgiveness other than for a race or two of unreliability or bad luck, but otherwise pretty solid points performances consistently. If the field is close, and the racing is close, I think it could be argued that by starting on their hind foot in Melbourne (presumably) they are already screwed. Sure if it is just one race, and after that they quite quickly are up to everyone else’s level, then they’re ok. But if let’s say one Merc grabs the lions share of the points for the first 3 races, and Ferrari and Mac are right in their too grabbing points, I think SV will be done.

      I’m trying to forget that there are double points in the end that could rob someone of doing a better more consistent job over a season from winning the WDC, and save someone from losing it only because of the lottery of the points and the fact that they needed that help entirely for the win. I think the odds are high that if the season goes to the last race, there’s going to have to be a huge asterisk beside that ‘legends’ WDC title.

      1. I’ve concluded that the double points issue is over and it’s the fans that are afraid of it that keep bringing it up.

        Here’s the thing: The teams are aware of it. They are designing their cars, their engines… they have every capacity to prepare for that last race. I don’t see the logic in choosing that particular race but nobody is short on the knowledge of it.

        So at this point there should NOT be an asterisk. The team and driver that win are the team and driver that win, having been aware of and had plenty of time to prepare for that last race.

        I don’t like it… but a lot of people didn’t like extending the points from 6th. People don’t like point changes in any sport, usually. In 10-20 years if this double points gets reduced to normal points people will complain.

        1. If they do then they’ve lost any inclination of what it means to having a sporting championship.

        2. I don’t think people will complain about its departure anytime soon but I agree with your other points. The more people complain about double points, the worse it is going to feel. The teams know it, the drivers know it, and saying who should be the rightful champion has always been around, maybe not because of stupid rules, but because of bad luck or underperforming cars.

        3. @neiana

          I don’t like it… but a lot of people didn’t like extending the points from 6th. People don’t like point changes in any sport, usually. In 10-20 years if this double points gets reduced to normal points people will complain.

          The difference – and it is a fundamental one – with double points though is that the championship therefore becomes unequal. At least with extending the points from 6th the scores for each round remained consistent, so the credibility of the championship season as a whole remained undiminished.

          That is emphatically not the case with a double points race: it grossly overvalues one solitary event, which could taint the entirety of the season.

          And frankly, it is entirely pointless. The only championship courses it would have altered in recent years are 2008 and 2012, which are regarded as being some of the best in the sport’s history. Double points would only serve to diminish those, particularly the enthralling finales in each. I – nor many others I presume – can’t say I would have enjoyed Brazil 2008 or 2012 more with double points. And it would contribute absolutely nothing to 2011 and 2013 – in fact, Vettel would have extended his championship lead in both due to it if I am not mistaken.

          So essentially what Ecclestone has attempted to do is fix a china vase which is not broken, and in doing so has ended up breaking it. He has evidently failed to recognise that the most exciting championship battles of the past did not materialise because of the points system, but because the teams and drivers were performing at very similar levels. And that cannot be forced, unless of course you gravitate towards a spec series.

          In which case, I think I may suddenly become a devout rugby fan.

        4. @neiana Interesting that you have concluded the issue is over, when there are people who are not going to watch F1 anymore because of it, and when there continues to be a hugh hue and cry about it, and the hope that it gets scrapped before the season begins.

          I think where I disagree with you the most is that all the teams are trying to prepare and win all the races all the time, so there is nothing different about the last race other than the points, and that’s why the huge asterisk. And prep all they want, all it takes is for a key player to get tapped and spun in the first corner of the last race, get sent to the back of the pack through no fault of his own, and therefore pay hugely more for that, just because of the points. Huge asterisks.

          1. @robbie

            It makes those other races more important. How? The last race is double points!! because if the championship is decided by a massively great finish by a non-point leader but a massively unlucky day by the leader, then all those other races just weren’t good enough.

            I’m not an advocate. I don’t like it but the fact is, by increasing the points in the final single race, it puts more pressure on better results throughout the season to act as a buffer. Now you have two distinct championship strategies: win everything you can and hope you come out on top at the end vs. patience, take the points you can get and fly away at the last race.

          2. @neiana That’s actually not a bad way of thinking of it…get more points throughout the season so double points don’t catch you out in the end in a worse case scrnario. However, I still have the same response. The teams are already doing everything they possibly can in every race to maximize their points…that’s the whole point of the game. So there’s nothing more they can do that they haven’t already been doing for years and years, to help protect themselves against double points. If they’re not already putting themselves under 100% pressure at all times throughout the season, then they don’t belong there.

          3. Yeah, that’s a novel but not necessarily correct way of looking at it.

  7. I wouldn’t be surprised if Newey’s RBR ends up like the early-mid 2000s McLaren cars; amazingly quick but continuously threatened by reliability issues.

  8. I know I may come across as an overly pessimistic Cassandra but I really think this season could be the end for Red Bull Racing. So far they have been a team of over-achievers who have only really known success and are now faced with their first really torrid season after being the world champions four years running. They’re not likely to cut and run at the first sign of a downturn but the team and its members will find it difficult to stay the course and I believe they will not return to their previous levels of supremacy. The first strike against them is that Red Bull Racing is not a factory team. The upheaval in the rules and the pressure it has brought to bear on design teams favours integrated engine and chassis manufacturers. For the same reason that high-frequency traders need to be as physically close to stock exchanges as they can be, the physical and communications distances between power unit designers and engineers needs to be as short as possible too. This closeness of integration favours tightly coupled organizations. From what we’ve heard of the troubles Red Bull and other Renault teams have been experiencing, namely they fix one problem and another one appears, it sounds to me that the basic concept of the Renault power unit is flawed. I fear that there isn’t going to be a magic bullet fix and even given homologation, Renault are going to be attempting quite serious modifications of the power unit well into the season. Then there are the team members: Vettel is underpaid compared to the top drivers in other teams; he is willing to take lower pay to be at the championship-winning team. This is no longer the case and as someone who understands that there’s only a relatively short period in your career in which you are at the top he won’t want any interruptions to his reign. True, it will be character-building to have to fight his way back up the ranks but if Red Bull continue to fare badly then the frustration will become unbearable and he’ll be looking for a Mercedes-backed team. For several years now Adrian Newey has said that he will continue as an F1 designer as long as it’s fun and he’s with a winning team. He’s been tempted by America Cup yacht design for several years now; a torrid season may see him finally decide to hand the reins over to someone else. Less visible engineering talent who have career aspirations to think of will also be looking around. Horner is increasingly touted as the new F1 supremo. That position may open as soon as 2 months from now. Finally Red Bull itself isn’t a racing concern, it’s a fizzy drinks company whose major advertising vehicle (no pun) is motor sports. They won’t want to be associated with an also-ran team. F1 is characterised by teams and individuals who are in it for themselves. Given the perfect storm of problems arrayed against Red Bull, I just can’t see them getting to the end of the season with the cohesion they may start it with. A truly torrid first half of the season, the massive stress that the designers and principals are no doubt under (Remy Taffin was recently hospitalized for an appendectomy, no doubt stress-induced) will undoubtedly see Red Bull start to fray, and once that happens I’m afraid that what has made Red Bull dominant these past four years will begin to unravel. Another team will be in the ascendancy and we’ll be in a post-Red Bull era. At this point in the pre-season it obviously looks like we’re going to be in the second Mercedes/Silver Arrows era.

    1. They finished 7th in the 2005 constructors title. Hardly a stellar result, is it?

      1. Unfortunately he started watching F1 in 2010 hence such conclusion! It surprises me people can differentiate between Redbull the drinks company and the racing company.
        Its as if they think its the same people caning the drinks that are working on the car as well!

        1. If you’re referring to me, then no, I’ve been an F1 fan since around 1968.

        2. Red Bull the drinks company pays the money for the motor sports teams they’re involved with. Red Bull makes so much money from selling fizzy drinks in part because it’s associated with winning teams and individuals. This is Red Bull the parent company’s primary motivation, to make more money. They are not Ferrari. There is no Red Bull road car. They are not a car nor a motor sports company, just a large corporation with deep pockets that likes to go racing and gets a world-wide mobile advertising platform. I’m sure you can appreciate that differentiation.

          1. Which doesn’t mean that the people running and working in the team don’t love racing.

      2. They quickly went from a mid-pack team when Red Bull Racing took over Jaguar Racing in 2005. They went from mid-pack also rans to 4-time successive world champions after Vettel arrived in 2009. So no, their entire record isn’t stellar obviously but other than Brawn, what other team has dominated so quickly? And unlike Brawn, the dominance continued. In my book that’s a pretty stellar display. Just as quickly as their dominance was established, so it could disappear. It looks as though the Mercedes team which Brawn morphed into is set to continue the Brawn legacy. That just goes to show that while you can theoretically continue an interrupted dominance, it does take a few years in the relative wilderness to get back on top. The most important thing is that you need the right people. Red Bull have had the right people for the past 5 years (2009-2013 inclusive) but that probably won’t continue if they continue to struggle. F1 is about winning. And after you’ve been a winner it’s hard to go back to zero and start rebuilding. It all depends on what the true state of the Renault power unit is. We’ll find out in just over a couple of weeks.

        1. There record is not stellar what they achieved with Vettel last year and over the last four years no team has ever achieved it, not even Ferrari!
          8th, 2nd, 1st, 1st, 1st, 1st and Vettel winning 9 consecutive races in 1 season.
          They still have the right people when Renault get the PU going they would be right back up there!

          1. Matra/Tyrrell were pretty close in terms of sudden success. They didn’t get 4 consecutive championships, but between the start in 1968 and Stewart leaving after 1973 they did get 3 WDC and 2 WCC.

            what they achieved with Vettel last year and over the last four years no team has ever achieved it, not even Ferrari!

            I assume you mean in terms of coming soon after stating up? Because Ferrari obviously very much achieved this and went further.

    2. OmarR-Pepper (@)
      27th February 2014, 19:00

      @mortyvicar Remember the words Seb said when he finished the Brazilian GP last year? “Remember this. Enjoy this, this moment. A team effort, guys. All year. All year’s hard work. Yes! We did it! This is unbelieveable.”
      What they did is something nobody can take away. It’s history. But I really don’t think they can’t bounce back. Maybe not this year, maybe not in 5 years, but they know they can be champions with hard work.

      1. They can bounce back, if the Renault issues aren’t terminal, and if they don’t have a basically flawed design which is my fear given the reports of incessant problems occurring after others are fixed: that’s indicative of bad design. But it all depends on the team maintaining it’s consistency which I think will be hard to do, particularly given these other exigencies affecting the team: Horner’s potential accession to Bernie’s throne, Newey’s desire to do something new, Vettel’s desire to maintain his string of WDCs, Red Bull’s primary motivation of advertising, and so forth. Vettel may well have been very prescient in what he said when he won the WDC in 2013. He also may have had an understanding of what shape the new chassis and engine were in?

        1. @mortyvicar, as I said several weeks ago, it would appear Renault have tried to be to clever with their electronics, their problems seem to be control issues possibly exacerbated by heat build-up, as long as they are allowed to work on reliability issues they will not be a total failure, I imagine they have a simpler system ready to fall back on if they cannot get the current one working before it is to late.

          1. @hohum, I mostly agree. Renault’s strong suit has not been any kind of recovery system, thanks to Flavio Briatore’s decision to not let RenaultSport develop KERS back in 2009. Renault teams, particularly RBR have not had a good track record with KERS. And now energy recovery is even more fundamental to a successful power unit.
            The fact is that Renault along with the other engine manufacturers has had 2 years to develop this engine. We can extrapolate from the complaints of the drivers that the power unit has significant engineering, if not design issues. All the teams should have been at the stage Mercedes is by now. These 3 test sessions should have just been shake-down tests but obviously Renault are still developing and fixing their power unit and still running into significant problems. I don’t doubt that they will improve but what I fear is that the system is already in need of a redesign. I am expecting the Renault teams to struggle, at least through the first half of the season and/or the engine teams to get special dispensation from the FIA to continue development. Unlike last year where a special dispensation for tyres only helped Pirelli (and all the teams whose tyres were exploding obviously), a special dispensation for one engine manufacturer will help them all and thus Renault will continue to be behind the curve developmentally.

          2. @mortyvicar While I take your point about the things causing the team strife these days, I’m not so convinced that this means the beginning of the end for them. eg. Newey might be looking at this as a fresh challenge rather than an opportunity to go design yachts. This might be just what he needed to revive his enthusiasm if it was waning.

            The fact that they aren’t a factory team hasn’t hurt them before, although granted we do know that things are much more complicated than before. And I’m not sure where SV could go anytime soon since he has extended his contract, and other top seats are taken. And Red Bull does not HAVE to be making a cakewalk of it to get marketing impact from being in F1.

            I think that even if they struggle all season long, which I think will be unlikely, they will have lots of time to prep for 2015 and by then watch out. If their’s and Renault’s problems are so deep, they will be the first ones to stop work on the 2014 car this season and start the 2015 campaign early and perhaps even have the jump on everyone at next year’s pre-season.

    3. David not Coulthard (@)
      28th February 2014, 7:42

      @mortyvicar

      we’re going to be in the second Mercedes/Silver Arrows era.

      Which is the very thing we had before Red Bull’s era?

      anyway, Newey didn’t win a race in 2007 (his first year at Red Bull) – and it wasn’t his employee, de jure, that won with his chassis the year after that. Red Bull’s success actually didn’t start until 2009 (Red bull was started in 2005 from a team that wasn’t so successful – Jaguar), the year they won their first race, and even then they were overshadowed by what we now know as Mercedes.

      1. @davidnotcoulthard the first Silver Arrows era was in the 30s. Mercedes has a long history of motor racing. The point is they have been dominant before and intend to be so again.

        I can read the stats as well as anyone else. But you make my point for me: Red Bull rapidly came to dominance from relative obscurity. The situation could just as easily reverse, particularly given the forces pulling the team apart than keeping them together. It’s stating the bleeding obvious that this is going to be a very tough season for Red Bull and the team that finishes the season could be very different to the one that starts it. Look at Blackberry/RIM for a parallel of what can happen when your sector dominance is tested by a disruptive technology.

  9. I’m reluctant to bet against Newey.

    1. Newey’s made some dogs as well. He’s not Superman. Problem is there’s only so much a physicist can do when it comes to Internal car problems.

      A cars Aero only works when the engine works.

  10. I wouldn’t worry if they do drop the ball and throw their toys out of the pram, we have Fomoco waiting in the wings for just such a moment (it is alleged).

  11. It’s nice to know that Red Bull are quite clearly not going to dominate again, but to see them in the shape they are in is quite disheartening.

    Doesn’t everyone want to see Vettel up there fighting with the big boys where he belongs? Don’t people want to see how good Ricciardo can be?

    I’d rather see 4 teams fighting for a Championship than 2 or 3. Much more entertaining.

  12. Well…we all know this means Pole Position Red Bull Racing! :P

  13. We all know RBR are in trouble this year! The fact that they’ve lost some of there engineers to other teams like mercedes might attribute to that but there main problem seems to b the fact that they’ve underestimated the cooling requirements for the new power units so have got major work to do! Which they will b doing of course but they will and are on the back foot. Just don’t know whether they will b able to make there car better and b able to perform as other teams are already performing at. Will they b able to overtake other teams performance who knows, but lets not forget other teams like merc and ferrari are not simply just going to stop developing their own cars. All I know is this is probably going to be most open and widely contested season of f1 for years! Personally cant wait

    1. It’s not just cooling, with no cooling you can still drive out of the garage.

  14. After almost half a decade of this red energy drink domination, this season is starting to smell like a lot Bull S*#. Well, what can you expect when we have double points and all..

    1. Have to add that to be honest, I really can’t for the first GP, finally the top 10 or even top 20 might be in completely different and unexpected order when they reach the chequered flag in Melbourne. Man can dream right?

      1. David not Coulthard (@)
        28th February 2014, 7:45

        Melbourne 2009..:)

  15. I’m sure they’ll develop the car and win the championship this year.

  16. Apparently most people have fallen into the age old trap of deciding who will win and lose the championship based on 9 days of testing. May as well etch Rosbergs name on the trophy now because nothing could possibly change during the course of the season.

    I have no idea how many of RedBull’s problems are caused by Renault, and vice versa. Lets face it, none of us even know what they are, beyond something is getting too hot occasionally.

    One thing I DO want to see, is the Renault engines getting a decent way through the race. After 4 seasons of domination of course it would be nice to see somebody else win, but 8 cars out after the formation lap, or within the first few race laps is definitely NOT what I want to see.

    All the focus is on RedBull, obviously because of their recent supremacy. But, if all of the cars were rolled out on the grid at Melbourne tomorrow I wonder how many would actually finish? My biggest worry is for the paying fans at the first race or 2 at the moment.

    1. Nobody complained in the past when reliability was a big issue in the early races so I don’t know why the prospect of reliability issues is suddenly some big problem or why paying fans will be put off by it.

      Wasn’t that long ago either really, At the 2008 Australian Gp only 6 cars were running at the end.

  17. All the testing has really done is show who upto now seems to have reliability & who looks like they may not, Its done nothing to show us who has the best car in terms of pace.

    Mercedes & Force India are to date apparently the only 2 teams thats turned the engine upto near full power, Put on a set of Softs/Super-Softs & gone for lap time. Other teams have just been going through there programs largely ignoring the lap times.

    For all we know the Red Bull may actually be the best car in terms of pace when we get to qualifying in Melbourne & the Mercedes could be further down when you have everyone going for lap time.

    If the Red Bull is the fastest or close to fastest car then while early reliability could be a concern, Once thats sorted out we could still be in for a Red Bull/Vettel year. Don’t forget that the past few years ite been the end of the year more than the start where Red Bull have dominated & whats been a big role in them winning championship. Only year where they had the edge right from the start was 2011, The other 3 they had work to do early on to find the edge.

  18. Vettel will once again defy the laws of physics like last year and show everyone he doesn’t need Newey or Pirelli tyres.

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