In the round-up: Fernando Alonso admits McLaren’s planned upgrade for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix could be negated by rivals’ developments.
What they say
Alonso is wary many of McLaren’s rivals will have upgrades this weekend:
Obviously in Barcelona there is a new aerodynamic package coming but I think 95% of the package is bringing a new aero package to Barcelona so maybe the gap just remain as it is, or we just recover a little bit, or just lose a little bit more ground. Who knows. It’s up to us to make that package work and deliver expectations and hopefully some others don’t deliver.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
36 years after – Gilles still in our hearts. #GillesVilleneuve pic.twitter.com/ehn1ovPGWA
— Scuderia Ferrari (@ScuderiaFerrari) May 8, 2018
Remember it well as worked for CSS Promotions who did the deal with Halfords to sponsor it and ran the media centre. It was certainly different. We were hit by the tail end of hurricane Charlie and washed out in year. We had all sorts of fun 😂 https://t.co/JJkgpCYVlq
— Ann Bradshaw (@AnnieBWansford) May 8, 2018
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Renault explains where it is lacking compared to F1's big three (ESPN)
"We are still massively behind in terms of production and I was touching briefly before on the fact that we are still not great over the winter in developing a car that is immediately in the level of our expectations. One of the reasons for that is the fact that we are still much weaker than the other teams in terms of production facility, we are much slower."
Button on Alonso challenge and McLaren's season (Sky)
"He's not just quick. He's a very clever driver, he's got the experience and he is always there. If you have a great day, you might out-qualify him and you might have a great race but he will always be on your heels. He very rarely has a bad race, which is tough when you're team mates with him."
'Exposed' Renault starts Sainz contract talks (Autosport)
"If we want to seduce drivers like Ricciardo - maybe Ricciardo, but maybe other drivers - the first thing that we need to do is to to get our stuff right."
Casting an eye over the F1 media landscape (F1 Broadcasting)
"Very few (newspapers) have someone dedicated to F1 like in yesteryear. As one might expect, the expense of sending someone on site outweighs the amount of readers likely to view or read the following article."
Black Book Motor Sport Forum (2018)
This year's key speakers will include F1 commercial managing director Sean Bratches, IMG motorsports global head Paul Bellamy and others.
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Comment of the day
Williams’ request for hearings on five incidents which took place in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix provoked much criticism:
If they were serious, why challenge so many decisions in this way? This ludicrous political move has just made the stewards rightly throw the whole thing out as it comes across as undermining. A one off appeal on the matter that directly impacts the team may have been taken a tad more seriously or at least in better spirits.
Roth Man (@Rdotquestionmark)
From the forum
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On this day in F1
- 20 years ago today Juan Pablo Montoya got his Formula 3000 title bid on track by winning round three at the Circuit de Catalunya
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
9th May 2018, 0:33
Renault has finally signalled that it’s going to make a play for Dan Ricciardo with its “we’ll start talking about Sainz but we really want Ricciardo”
At the same time they admit they’re way behind….. going to have to be some big promises made to Dan to even get his interest.
That being said, I don’t see either Ferrari or Mercedes having or needing to offer him anything so Renault may be his only option if he wants out of RBR (and he should).
Is it possible we could end up with Alonso & Ricciardo at Renault with Renault at the top around 2020/2021?
MB (@muralibhats)
9th May 2018, 1:37
Blink Blink…
Why will he go and struggle 2 years in Renault when he can do better in RBR and then move?
Jere (@jerejj)
9th May 2018, 3:20
@muralibhats Yeah, but at present, it isn’t guaranteed that he’d struggle at Renault if he were to move there, i.e., Renault could very well be at least on par if not ahead of RBR next season. Too early to jump to definite conclusions about Renault’s competitiveness next season.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
9th May 2018, 5:35
I guess the question would be why would he bother continuing with RBR who at this stage seem unlikely to be WDC contenders again this year and will either continue as a “customer” PU team or as a manufacturer one with Honda which would suggest they have little chance for the next 2 years anyway.
And then there’s Max….
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
10th May 2018, 11:00
Imagine that, RedBull will be stuck with Max AND Honda next year. Good grief.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
9th May 2018, 10:59
@muralibhats
Imagine Mercedes taking up HUL and maybe BHULbecoming 2x WDC and ROS 2x.
avl0
9th May 2018, 21:36
Same reason ham went to merc. If you’re not looking like winning anytime soon in the team you’re in it can be worthwhile to take a gamble on a manufacturer who is willing to throw the resources behind a determined bid for victory. Having said that rb are in better shape than 2012 mclaren and renault currently dont have the funding to attract ric, i actually dont see him going anywhere this year, much to his and im sure sainz’ chagrin.
kpcart
9th May 2018, 2:18
Ricciardo will go to ferrari for a 2 year deal as vettels teammate.
Martijn (@)
9th May 2018, 12:58
I think he will drive both Ferrari’s next year
Patrickl (@patrickl)
9th May 2018, 9:15
Yeah, that Hulkenberg is pulling even further ahead compared to Sainz than he was last season must be worrying Renault. Sainz clearly isn’t the top driver they hoped he might be.
Michal Kalinowski
9th May 2018, 0:48
I think the FIA should ban car redesigns. Im not a McLaren fan (Ferrari fan) I believe that outside aero upgrades you shouldn’t be allowed to bring a completely redesigned car to a race (yes I know the rear of the McLaren is staying the same but still am not a fan of this being OK)
anon
9th May 2018, 7:54
Why not? Why do you want to impose such a massive restriction on car development?
Sviat
9th May 2018, 8:54
Because he is a Ferrari fan[atic], and currently Ferrari is the fastest car.
Sonny Crocket
9th May 2018, 8:51
That’s crazy talk!
F1 testing is now so limited that the real test now comes once the cars are racing.
If teams can’t redesign their cars then the team that has benefited from coupling a particular manufacturer’s engine with their car for the longest is almost always going to have a huge advantage.
F1 is about innovation and making bold decisions. Teams should be encouraged to keep pushing the design envelope. That way we get to enjoy better racing and the sport will remain at the forefront of world motorsport.
digitalrurouni
9th May 2018, 13:17
I could not disagree any more even if I tried with this post. Goes totally against the spirit of F1!
MaddMe (@)
9th May 2018, 19:01
In 2014 there was no PU development allowed at all within the season and highly restricted until 2017 and it seriously messed up F1, allowing the manufacturer who got the most reliable and powerful PU to walk away with the championships.
If the design was restricted it would do exactly the same thing again…
Ju88sy (@)
10th May 2018, 13:14
I assume this is a joke post!
Duncan Snowden
9th May 2018, 1:28
“[T]he expense of sending someone on site outweighs the amount of readers likely to view or read the following article.”
So good luck finding hordes of people to pay to watch the sport itself. I’ve said it often, there’s a good reason F1 was one of the pioneers of commercial sponsorship in sport, and why it became unimaginably rich on the back of it: it’s a model that works for it. Few people will go out of their way (i.e. pay) for it*, but quite a large audience will happily watch if it’s made available to them. It’s a market perfectly suited to being maintained by advertising and sponsorship.
That said, as I noted when it was announced, Liberty have set their own OTT subscription at a surprisingly reasonable level. It sounds like they’re aware of the dangers and difficulties.
*And I think there are good reasons for that, too: the lack (indeed the near-impossibility, given that there are only between ten and fifteen at any one time) of local teams that fans can follow from week to week, the difficulty of travelling to events, etc., means that the strong sense of attachment that fans of other sports have isn’t there to the same extent. (I’m not sure I’d want it either, with all the idiotic tribalism that tends to go with it, but that’s another argument.)
lee1
9th May 2018, 12:33
I agree. You do not attract new fans by putting it behind a paywall…
Existing fanatics will follow the sport behind a paywall but everyday fans and potential new fans will be kept away.
A bigger audience means higher profile and more sponsorship overall a more sustainable sport.
Mach1 (@mach1)
9th May 2018, 2:19
GP2 Chassis, GP2 Chassis!!!!!!!
Sorry, could not help it……
It will be interesting to see what step up Mclaren make. If they were that far behind due to the testing issues, and they effectively still have their “testing aero” one may expect their step up to be proportionally greater than those around them. While it will not put them on par with the top three, if does improve them, hopefully we will see them as regulars in top 10 quali.
Todfod (@todfod)
9th May 2018, 7:55
I was a little excited when they said they were launching a b spec in Barcelona, and Boullier went on to say that this was the car they should have launched the season with. They went on to say that their season will actually start in Barcelona, so my spirits were up…. but then my enthusiasm died once they said that there might not be much of a a performance gain straight away. Enthusiasm died further when Alonso makes statements like he needs other to drop the ball for McLaren to catch up.
So, I’m not expecting much from them in Barcelona now. As long as they can start making it in to Q3, I think it should be positive start for them.
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
9th May 2018, 9:17
Potentially just a sandbagging statement by Alonso.
Does Alonso have a history of saying the political line? /sarcasm
@todfod @mach1
Robbie (@robbie)
9th May 2018, 14:07
@todfod I think you should remain enthusiastic. That they will have a B-spec car is exciting. That they will need time to learn about what they have created is natural and normal in F1. And FA did not say he ‘needs’ others to drop the ball for them to catch up. He doesn’t word it that way. What he is saying is also perfectly natural and understandable. They’re all bringing upgrades. He expects theirs to be an improvement. If others improve just as much then their improvements will only keep them on par with some teams. He’s just stating the obvious, but not making a negative statement about their own efforts. Personally I think they, being a well resourced team, and coming out with a B car, have a much better chance of making a ‘leap’ than other teams that are not bringing such a big change, nor have so much room to improve that they’ll make a leap.
I’m excited for Mac not just for Spain but for the rest of the season as they work with something that will now have more potential for further development and improvement throughout the season.
Forgetting what remains to be seen anyway, and remembering that what others do is out of their control, I expect at least some gains right off the bat from what they had, and given what FA has already done so far, then yes, this is going to be great to watch. There’s what others may have done as well to improve, but then there’s the fact that they won’t have FA behind the wheel.
Jere (@jerejj)
9th May 2018, 3:23
”but I think 95% of the package is bringing a new aero package to Barcelona”
– More like ‘95% of the teams,’ LOL.
– I wholeheartedly agree with the COTD. It was after all nothing but a useless and desperate attempt from Williams.
Captain Pie (@captainpie)
9th May 2018, 9:20
@jerejj
But there must be a reason they submitted it. If they honestly felt wronged then they were very naive or stupid to do it in this manner.
I would imagine it is a sign of intent from them, maybe that any incident involving their cars even slightly is going to be comprehensively analysed and contested?
They just didn’t do it in the most graceful way though.
ColdFly (@)
9th May 2018, 9:30
95% of teams means 9.5 teams.
Which driver will be stuck with the old package then, @jerejj? ;-)
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
9th May 2018, 11:01
@coldfly Maylander :p
Urvaksh (@thedoctor03)
9th May 2018, 4:08
Quick question @keithcollantine – when do the Predictions Championship results come out for the last race? Is it just before the next race?
ColdFly (@)
9th May 2018, 9:27
What do you get when clicking on the link?
I was expecting some 20 thousand articles, but instead it says: Nothing Found
Thanks for the hard work Keith, it doesn’t matter if it’s your first or 20,000th article.
dusty (@dusty)
9th May 2018, 15:19
There is so much “package” in that quote from Alonso I got confused.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
9th May 2018, 15:52
Please Mclaren bring something other than excuses, my fingers have been crossed so long they’re stuck that way.
MaddMe (@)
9th May 2018, 19:03
Villenueve’s fatal crash is the first of the fatalities I clearly remember seeing. Sadly it wasn’t the last one either that season…