Carlos Sainz Jnr says the Azerbaijan Grand Prix showed Renault’s rivals still have a straight-line speed advantage.
Renault brought a special medium downforce package for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to ensure they would be competitive on the track’s long straights. This meant running slimmer rear wing angles than their rivals and sacrificing performance in the corners.
“You see the Williams and the Force India with huge rear wings and we, together with Red Bull, are running a very small rear wing,” said Sainz. “It’s no secret that they are very strong in engine performance and it’s allowing them to carry more downforce in their cars.”“That’s why they come back [to the front of the field] in this sort of track.”
Sainz is optimistic Renault will reduce the deficit to their rivals.
“There’s still a gap, we’re still working on it, there’s development to come to close the gap. But it still exposes that there is a bit of work to do.
“I’m not worried at all because it’s something Renault is looking at, it’s something we are working at. The gap is smaller than what it was in 2015, 2014. So that’s why we were also able to get into Q3 here and Red Bull is also strong.”
Sainz’s team mate Nico Hulkenberg pointed out it isn’t just Mercedes who are leading the way in power unit development.
“The Mercedes power unit definitely helps here. Obviously it’s not a Mercedes power unit on pole but we know Ferrari’s very good too. I think Williams also stronger than in previous events that shows power unit does have an effect here.
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
Azerbasijan Grand Prix qualifying speed trap
| Pos | Driver | Car | Engine | Speed (kph/mph) | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Esteban Ocon | Force India | Mercedes | 329.0 (204.4) | |
| 2 | Sergey Sirotkin | Williams | Mercedes | 320.0 (198.8) | -9.0 |
| 3 | Kevin Magnussen | Haas | Ferrari | 319.8 (198.7) | -9.2 |
| 4 | Carlos Sainz Jnr | Renault | Renault | 319.2 (198.3) | -9.8 |
| 5 | Lance Stroll | Williams | Mercedes | 318.4 (197.8) | -10.6 |
| 6 | Lewis Hamilton | Mercedes | Mercedes | 318.0 (197.6) | -11.0 |
| 7 | Sergio Perez | Force India | Mercedes | 316.7 (196.8) | -12.3 |
| 8 | Daniel Ricciardo | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 316.6 (196.7) | -12.4 |
| 9 | Valtteri Bottas | Mercedes | Mercedes | 315.7 (196.2) | -13.3 |
| 10 | Max Verstappen | Red Bull | TAG Heuer | 315.4 (196.0) | -13.6 |
| 11 | Charles Leclerc | Sauber | Ferrari | 313.9 (195.0) | -15.1 |
| 12 | Stoffel Vandoorne | McLaren | Renault | 312.5 (194.2) | -16.5 |
| 13 | Nico Hulkenberg | Renault | Renault | 312.1 (193.9) | -16.9 |
| 14 | Fernando Alonso | McLaren | Renault | 309.9 (192.6) | -19.1 |
| 15 | Sebastian Vettel | Ferrari | Ferrari | 309.4 (192.3) | -19.6 |
| 16 | Kimi Raikkonen | Ferrari | Ferrari | 309.3 (192.2) | -19.7 |
| 17 | Marcus Ericsson | Sauber | Ferrari | 307.6 (191.1) | -21.4 |
| 18 | Pierre Gasly | Toro Rosso | Honda | 304.3 (189.1) | -24.7 |
| 19 | Brendon Hartley | Toro Rosso | Honda | 300.0 (186.4) | -29.0 |
| 20 | Romain Grosjean | Haas | Ferrari | 299.0 (185.8) | -30.0 |
Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and
2018 F1 season
- Honda’s jet division helped F1 engineers solve power unit problem
- McLaren Racing losses rise after Honda split
- Ricciardo: Baku “s***show” was Red Bull’s fault
- “Drive to Survive Episode 1: All to Play For” reviewed
- F1’s television and social media audiences rose last year
Damon (@damon)
4th May 2018, 11:53
I just realized – there are only 4 engine manufacturers in F1.
There are:
– Mercedes – 6 cars
– Ferrari – 6 cars
– Renault – 4 cars
– Honda – 2 cars
Once Torro Rosso are fed up with Honda, there will be only 3: two top engines and the weaker Renault.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th May 2018, 12:17
it only took you 4 year more and less? And we started the hybrid era with 3. Also there are 6 cars with Renault engines
On a serious note, Toro Rosso won’t be fed up with Honda, and most likely they will be with RBR also
next yera this could be
Mercedes – 6 cars
Ferrari – 6 cars
Renault – 4 cars
Honda – 4 cars
Damon (@damon)
4th May 2018, 20:00
Yup, corrected:
– Mercedes – 6 cars
– Ferrari – 6 cars
– Renault – 6 cars
– Honda – 2 cars
Indeed, only now have I realized it. Shows you how much I care about that. Everybody should have a Mercedes power unit, or whatever you call it these days.
formevic
4th May 2018, 13:30
You ‘d realize u’r missing MCL here.. Renault actually supply 6 cars not 4.
formevic
4th May 2018, 13:35
*supplies
Cronies
4th May 2018, 12:10
Looks like Ocon found the party mode switch….
Nitzo (@webtel)
4th May 2018, 12:11
Very much surprised to see Ferrari and co way down at the bottom of the speed trap chart.
Wonder why.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th May 2018, 12:19
down-force, a lot of it, that what that car generates, which results in lower top speeds
Nitzo (@webtel)
4th May 2018, 12:32
@johnmilk
I understand that.
Isnt downforce a “car” thing ? it needs to be in a balanced with the power output as well.
But its not just one team, we also see Haas and Sauber there.
Nevertheless, Vettel and Kimi are 20ks down–that looks like a massive trade-off then. Dont think it affected them too much in the race though.
Joao (@johnmilk)
4th May 2018, 12:43
@webtel that’s setup related, most likely they have choose to run more wing than others.
We have to be careful with this data, you see one of the Haas at the bottom and the other in 3rd, so how many of this were measured while cars were in the slipstream, and how many didn’t have that benefit?
Alich
4th May 2018, 18:47
Read this and you’ll understand it :)
https://www.f1technical.net/news/21610
MG1982 (@mg1982)
4th May 2018, 12:28
Maybe more downforce in their set-up. 1 Haas and 1 Sauber weren’t that bad, so it’s not the engine. I think Ferrari and their customers (Haas and Sauber) not only share data but also follow mostly the same “approach” each GP. I’ve noticed Ferrari, Haas and Sauber have the same tyre allocation every GP. More than sure it’s not a coincidence.
Nitzo (@webtel)
4th May 2018, 12:36
@mg1982
I have noticed that too. Makes sense.
Especially when you car is just Ferrari parts covered with a carbon fibre body that reads “Haas”.
anon
4th May 2018, 17:54
@webtel, it was a deliberate decision to run a higher downforce package for this weekend so the team could maximise the performance of the car in the middle sector, even if they gave away a bit in the first and last sectors. At quite a few of the previous races Ferrari have tended to be topping the speed traps and comparisons between them and Mercedes have shown Ferrari seeming to gain time relative to Mercedes on the straights, so it seems to be a set up configuration specific to this venue.
Jere (@jerejj)
4th May 2018, 13:27
Why isn’t the speed trap located at the end of the S/F straight (approximately slightly before the start of the braking zone for turn 1)? In Brazil, the distance between the S/F line (which also gives speed data as well as the sector timing points) and turn 1 is more or less the same as in Baku, and yet there the speed trap indeed is located shortly before turn 1, so why not in Baku as well?
Alonso (@alonshow)
4th May 2018, 21:57
As far as I know top speeds are meaningless when it comes to assessin engine performance. Car A can have an engine 100 hp more powerful than car B and still be slower in the straights because it uses a setup with more downforce. Actually, I don’t think there is any way at all of knowing which F1 engine is more powerful, I think the best we can have are the educated guesses of some engineers.
plonk
4th May 2018, 22:34
Obviously speeds were random and with/without a tow. No way those engines have that much difference.
Nunu
5th May 2018, 9:07
Those speedtraps er faulty..it was blowing more than 30 m/s in gusts