In the round-up: Daniel Ricciardo and Esteban Ocon give a positive verdict on the upgraded Renault engine they tested yesterday.
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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Daniel Ricciardo impressed by Renault engine upgrade (ESPN)
"The progress is definitely there. Now to make that next step will be...that is the last little step I think we are after to try to really get on Mercedes, but we are getting closer, and that is obviously exciting."
Renault B-spec engine will surprise - Ocon (F1i)
"You’ll be surprised. It’s really good, really good... I can tell it will be quicker for sure."
Red Bull not a threat to Ferrari - Vettel (Autosport)
"If we get Saturday right, they (Red Bull) shouldn't be too much of a threat."
Symonds hints at second halo device in pipeline (Crash)
"There is now a second halo device which is a bit different to what Ferrari ran in the test."
F1 set to announce huge new sponsorship deal with Heineken (The Guardian)
Bernie Ecclestone: "Apparently it leaked on a website in Holland. Heineken told me they were very, very sorry and that they were pissed off."
Sauber/Force India send letter to FIA over engine rules (Motorsport)
"The sports complaints or enquiries have been put into one division. Because it's been moved, it has to go through process again - in other words, people have to get up to speed and so on. Once they are ready, they will advise us."
Kevin Eason: Mercedes pick worst moment to fluff lines (The Times - subscription required)
"Formula One’s chief executive could not put it quite so bluntly, but the theme of his message to Mercedes was: 'Any chance you could stop winning?'"
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Comment of the day
Some thoughts on the team’s tyre allocations for Monaco:
With the expected strategy be a one-stopper ultra-soft/super-soft, it’s surprising to see some teams choosing more than 1 Softs.
Maybe they’re concerned that a ultra-soft/super-soft strategy wouldn’t make it to the end, or are thinking about pitting super early to “undercut” their opponents on a struggling ultra-softs, bolt on the softs, and use the nature of the Monaco track to defend themselves against cars with faster tyres.
So I think one softs for data collection in practice sessions and one for the race is what on the minds of Ferrari and Williams right now, but three softs for Toro Rossos and Force Indias are just too many.
Duc Pham (@Ducpham2708)
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dam00r (@dam00r)
18th May 2016, 0:23
Why are Heineken allowed to sponsor and have their name on things and not Martini?
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th May 2016, 0:35
@dam00r bah, really? are you seriously asking that? :P
Because Bernie! Simple! He gets the monies, he does the trick!
Selbbin (@selbbin)
18th May 2016, 3:35
I must be missing something. I thought they did. It’s across the Williams back wing in giant letters. Or do you mean beyond the Williams branding? Obviously in some countries that have a ban on alcohol ads brands like Martini and Chandon are removed, as will Heineken. Was there a broader deal that was crushed? I do remember a backlash against alcohol branding in general, but thought we got past that to allow Williams to accept Martini.
zimkazimka (@zimkazimka)
18th May 2016, 4:18
Force India with Whyte and Mackay, United Breweries Group, and Smirnoff?
Fudge Ahmed (@)
18th May 2016, 9:45
Apart from being the title sponsor of Williams with their colours, name and logo all over 2 cars which get fairly decent airtime? Not seeing your point @dam00r ?
mike
18th May 2016, 10:23
I think just a misunderstanding, the alcohol sponsorship only does down for Abu Dhabi (I think). Maybe Bahrain? Not sure tbh.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th May 2016, 0:38
Considering Ferrari has missed the two biggest opportunities they had to win races this year, and Red Bull’s usual sharpness in terms of strategy, fast pit stops along with the fact that they are a very strong team in terms of engineering and drivers, I’d be more than worried if I was Ferrari/Vettel to see those Renault upgrades coming and the small point gap between the two after 5 races.
Red Bull with a proper engine can be lethal to the championship aspirations of Ferrari… At least they managed to keep Toro Rosso behind with those old engines they supply them, otherwise it’d be a double headache!
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
18th May 2016, 2:55
@fer-no65 YEp.
Cotd I said the same thing today. I think some teams are trying to be too clever.
Tristan
18th May 2016, 7:29
>Red Bull’s usual sharpness in terms of strategy
Tell that to Ricciardo…
Mike (@mike)
18th May 2016, 10:36
Yeah, I still can’t get my head around it. Surely the third stop should have been the lap after Vettel pitted.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th May 2016, 19:13
@mike today’s article reflected on that :P They still won the race anyway!
PorscheF1 (@xtwl)
18th May 2016, 7:32
@fer-no65 I think the gap in points is a bit misleading. Ferrari are still and truely ahead, if they can do so on saturday I don’t see how Red Bull would be ahead on sunday.
Ferrari missed out on the below points (worst case scenario): Total 44 points
Kimi – 12 points in Melbourne
Vettel – 15 points in Bahrein
Kimi – 5 points in China (scored 10 points by finishing 5th)
Vettel – 12 points in Sochi
Red Bull missed out on below points (worst case scenario): Total 20 points
Kvyat – Started 16th, posibly a point or two?
Ricciardo had his puncture but Kvyat gained from it right away, would he have finished higher than fourth?
Ricciardo and Kvyat would’ve scored higher in Sochi for sure, but not finish within top 4. So let’s say 18 points
JCost (@jcost)
18th May 2016, 11:18
I think their engine is already decent. It will get better though.
mickey18 (@mickey18)
18th May 2016, 0:59
Yay Renault, perhaps some progress. They really are starting to get their act together. So good for the sport. In Brazil last year Ricciardo didn’t hold back saying there wasn’t progress so this gives me hope.
Also it’s my birthday too today Keith! Would love a shout out haha.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
18th May 2016, 3:32
@mickey18 Happy Birthday!
Night Fury (@toothless)
18th May 2016, 6:35
Happy Birthday…
BasCB (@bascb)
18th May 2016, 6:37
happy birthday @mickey18!
mickey18 (@mickey18)
18th May 2016, 9:28
Ta everyone :)
Armchair Expert (@foreverred)
18th May 2016, 2:07
Word has it that Ferrari are trying to block a potential demotion to 3rd best or grid position 5 and 6. PRAY FOR FERRARI.
Todfod (@todfod)
18th May 2016, 4:22
Ferrari will now have Vettel starting in the favourite grid position… P5.
Janet54321
18th May 2016, 11:31
I’ve wondered if Vettel has been given 5 yrs to get Ferrari to the top. If no go, Hamilton’s turn.
josh
18th May 2016, 21:13
Haha man I hope so
markp
18th May 2016, 22:08
I’d have both for 2 years the winner stays.
Todfod (@todfod)
19th May 2016, 4:26
I think it’s the other way around Vettel has given 5 years to Ferrari to get to the top, just like Alonso did. After that, it’s abandon ship
verstappen (@verstappen)
18th May 2016, 6:18
I’ve been reading about Heineken for I think more then a week now, on English websites. Can’t place Bernie’s comment.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th May 2016, 10:00
Yes, using Google it does appear quite a few websites were carrying the story on the 11th May. I found one website that had a story associating F1 with Heineken on the 1st of May:
http://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view/203953/Heineken_and_Spyker_open_first_Formula_1_sports_bar_in_the_Netherlands/
Adrian HX
18th May 2016, 14:45
The Spyker story is from 2007 – I did wonder for a minute if there was a Dutch renaissance in the works when I saw your comment.
Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
18th May 2016, 18:09
Doh! Most humble apologies.
Pyon (@pyon)
18th May 2016, 7:33
If Renault can deliver the expected 0.4 that will be a great help for RB to reduce the gap with Ferrari and Mercedes. But for Renault that will be a huge difference at the back of the field where racing is fierce. They can expect to be in the points more often than now.
WilliamB (@william-brierty)
18th May 2016, 8:22
Check out my thoughts on some of the best driving performances from the weekend: https://opinionatedmotorsportfan.com/2016/05/17/driver-of-the-week-max-verstappen/
Robbie (@robbie)
19th May 2016, 1:01
Great stuff.
Boomerang
18th May 2016, 9:46
“Red Bull not a threat to Ferrari” – Why most of the people have irresistible urge to contradict the obvious?
MarkM
18th May 2016, 15:36
What’s obvious is that you didn’t read the article…
Mike (@mike)
18th May 2016, 10:34
This is great, I hope Red Bull can take the fight to Ferrari and maybe even Merc. Certainly they have the drivers to do it!
lockup (@)
18th May 2016, 10:44
Yeah @mike, Red Bull can already trim some drag off and still compete on downforce. 30 bhp and Max will have a galvanising effect to say the least.
Janet54321
18th May 2016, 11:36
I hope, for Ricciardo’s sake, that a certain Dr Marko doesn’t ensure another Australian is held back so his protege can win. We’ll see.
markp
18th May 2016, 22:11
Never happened before no team holds someone back if they are the fastest driver. They may make a team mate number 2 to maximise their best drivers chances and the teams. Webber was far below Vettel and in LMP1 is the weakest driver in his team.
lockup (@)
18th May 2016, 12:07
Anybody else seeing Merc suddenly arranging a comparison between Rosberg and Wehrlein?
I don’t think I’m quite convinced about the team discovering ‘they need a race-experienced driver’ at the last minute, or that Ocon would be taking secrets back to Renault.
josh
18th May 2016, 21:16
They should compare him with Hamilton. He’s the guy with 3 titles to Rosbergs 0…maybe 1 this year.
lockup (@)
18th May 2016, 22:10
I was thinking of the timing @josh, that a couple of days after the LH+NR partnership was such a disaster, they changed the programme to have Wehrlein in the car. Even though that now means they can’t use a race driver in the July test.
Robbie (@robbie)
19th May 2016, 3:45
@lockup Oh tabloid master. Ok I’ll play. Disaster? Surely it doesn’t feel like it does it? Compare Wehrlien? By suddenly having him doing a seat fitting at night for the next day? Would that be fair to him? Changed the program? No, they didn’t finish the program so they needed the ‘experience’ for continuity. And so far you could look at the ‘evidence’ and say that Wehrlien only managed to go a second faster in the Merc than in his Manor. Nico was a second faster, and that’s reliable because it was a comparison test, not a testing program, right?
Besides, we better all hope it’s still Nico next year, or if lightning strikes, Alonso, because LH would demolish Wehrlien and we’d be robbed of a great storyline.
I would think too, that any unproven-driver evaluations going on now by those needing drivers, will have to consider how they’ll fare with cars presumably harder to drive. At least we can hope the 2017’s do a bit better job of seperating the men from the boys. Modern-day, pre-’98 style cars. The last 2 WDC’s in those cars were sons of F1 icons. Go Nico Go :)
lockup (@)
19th May 2016, 7:05
It’s hard to know @robbie but the impression I’ve been getting is that Rosberg hasn’t been exactly contrite. In fact he seems to be projecting a tough-guy mindset that he’ll keep doing it until Lewis stops being horrid to him. But he doesn’t have the judgement to go with it.
43 points is a disaster, normally. It’s the same as losing quite a lot of pace in the second car.
Now we have this coincidence of the last minute change, and what they did was just aero rake and long runs. It’s hard not to wonder if they’re validating the sim delta between them, and doing the math, doncha think?
Robbie (@robbie)
19th May 2016, 12:55
@lockup No I think you are over reaching again. Nico has nothing to be contrite for. He’ll keep doing it? What, racing? I sure hope so. If the shoes were reversed LH would be being applauded for his take-no-prisoners WDC level determination, Nico slammed for taking LH out as some intentional tactic to keep his WDC lead.
The 43 points won’t matter in the end. Seems to me the team is willing to accept nobody was to blame as indicated by the racing incident judgement by the stewards, and they’ll carry on with 1-2’s most likely.
Validating the sim data? Yes that is exactly what they would be doing. It is how they confirm data and the direction changes they are trying take them. It is exactly why they wanted someone with a little more experience. But the comparison has to do with changes they are trying, whereas you want to colour this as a driver comparison only, by trying to slough off just ‘aero rake and long runs.’
Nope not buying your soap opera for a second. Your same storyline that goes back to 2014 that would have had Nico off the team and maybe even out of F1 well before now. Certainly at least still ‘on probation’ going back to comments of yours from only weeks ago. From your standpoint how can you even stand the fact that Mercedes hasn’t taken this weekend’s incident as the final straw that has given them all they were looking for in terms of justification to drum the wretch out of F1 for good? :) I mean, haven’t they had enough by now? All that winning when LH couldn’t be there to take the top spot on the podium? The horror…the horror! ;)
lockup (@)
19th May 2016, 14:00
Well who knows yet @robbie, whether or not that was the final straw? We’re not going to take Toto’s noncommittal word are we, when he hasn’t put pen to paper.
I still think Alonso wouldn’t have made that wild, risky defence and I reckon there’s a fair chance the team think so too. Any fool can be aggressive after all, it’s the judgment to do it without contact, or to not do it, that’s gold. Rosberg knew there would be a big speed difference, and I suspect the more the team think about it the more they’ll come to see him as choosing to risk everything.
So Barca can only have increased Wehrlein’s appeal and made the team more interested in exactly how his pace compares with Rosberg’s. That was the one thing that changed between Ocon doing the test day, and Wehrlein. Ocon had driven F1 all the day before, and surely he was well able to go round and round consistently at a moderate pace.
lockup (@)
19th May 2016, 14:33
Well who knows yet @robbie, whether or not that was the final straw? We’re not going to take Toto’s noncommittal word are we, when he hasn’t put pen to paper.
I still think Alonso wouldn’t have made that wild, risky defence and I reckon there’s a fair chance the team think so too. Anyone can be aggressive after all, it’s the judgment to do it without contact, or to not do it, that’s gold. Rosberg knew there would be a big speed difference, and I suspect the more the team think about it the more they’ll come to see him as choosing to risk everything.
So Barca can only have increased Wehrlein’s appeal and made the team more interested in exactly how his pace compares with Rosberg’s. That was the one thing that changed between Ocon doing the test day, and Wehrlein. Ocon had driven F1 all the day before, and surely he was well able to go round and round consistently at a moderate pace.
Robbie (@robbie)
20th May 2016, 22:32
@lockup Interesting take from Keith and Ben on their podcast. One says LH went for an opening that was never going to be there, the other says good on Nico for making such a firm move of Champion caliber. They say LH came upon the new NR only to find he’s no lay-down, not anymore.
lockup (@)
20th May 2016, 23:13
Yeah amazing @robbie, but at least JV understood :)
petebaldwin (@)
18th May 2016, 15:10
Just saw the Motorsport Manager news that a new management game is coming to PC, Mac and Linux in September! Having played the app version and having seen the new trailer, this could FINALLY be the first decent F1 management game since Grand Prix Manager 2!
I’ll have to make sure I get out and do lots of nice things this summer because come Autumn, I’m going to be locked away in a dark room managing Baldwin GP to the Constructors Title! :D
TdM (@tdm)
18th May 2016, 19:59
Hang on! I think Daniel is confused! Surely Red Bull aren’t using Renault engines? They are powered by a million Swiss watches!
Strontium (@strontium)
18th May 2016, 21:00
@tdm +1!
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
19th May 2016, 7:58
He managed to praise the new engine without using the word Renault!