In the round-up: Esteban Ocon says it was important for him to get two days of testing in the Renault because of the reduction in pre-season testing next year.
What they say
Ocon, who will return to F1 next season following a year out, drove for Renault in both days of the post-season test at Yas Marina:
That’s crucial and definitely is going to help me massively because you arrive to testing in February with an advantage because you have your position fixed, you have things that you’ve verified on track, which is great to have the chance for that.
For me, I didn’t get much driving time this year, and to have even less days in February it’s a big problem. So to have those two days here, basically a counter for the days we are lacking in February,
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
A pleasure to have @ArrowMcLarenSP's @PatricioOWard & @Oliver_Askew with us at McLaren HQ today.
Both drivers enjoyed their meeting with Johnny Rutherford's 1974 Indy500 winning car. 🙌 🏁 pic.twitter.com/1tCQrJCfhX
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 17, 2019
Access all areas with the team as we complete the final test of the year at the Yas Marina Circuit. Here's an exclusive look into the work that goes on beyond what you see. 🛠#RSspirit pic.twitter.com/Tvmnm3CZzv
— BWT Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) December 17, 2019
We can't get enough of this 🔥🔥🔥 drone footage!#LH44VR46 @MonsterEnergy pic.twitter.com/UrXTpmh3uP
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) December 17, 2019
The Grand Prix Tea Towel is officially back in stock!
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— Adam @BoxBoxBoxCo (@BoxBoxBoxCo) December 12, 2019
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Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Logan Sargeant joins Prema Racing for 2020 F3 Championship (Prema)
"For the first time in his career, he will not be a rookie in 2020, and we think his insight will be highly beneficial for him and for the whole operation."
Big gains becoming difficult to find – Honda (Racer)
"I think it’s harder than previous years. We need to be precise in every single area, in terms of hardware, also software and then trackside management as well."
Chester linked to senior Williams technical role (Autosport)
"We've always said, since the departure of Paddy, that we wanted to make the right decisions for Williams. And if that takes us time, then that takes us time."
Formula E to introduce lighter, quicker 'Gen 3' cars for 2022 (E-racing365)
"Two of the key criteria from the Invitations to Tender (ITT) detail dimensional requirements and weight-saving, which include a target weight of 284kg for the 'Gen 3' battery. The current battery which is supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies comes in at 385kg."
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Comment of the day
Is it possible to rate George Russell’s efforts this year compared to his rivals given how un-competitive his car was??
I think he should just be in a new position called ‘unrankable’ – it’s completely impossible to know how well he did. We’re really basing his performances off of last year in F2 when he was better than Norris and Albon.
I fear that next year will be another resounding victory over Latifi, and again, somewhat difficult to know how good he actually was.
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Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
18th December 2019, 0:29
Is Nick Cester about ruin his good name by joining Williams? As one of their stalwarts, I am surprised he left Renault. With bill and that to pay, I know everyone needs a job, but going to Williams in its current state is a bit a risky gamble. I mean, they’ve pretty much demonstrated with Paddy that they aren’t afraid to throw their Technical Director under the bus.
Rob Smedley probably saw this $@itstorm on the horizon..
Ross
18th December 2019, 2:07
Given Renault’s employee drive of late, I doubt it was his decision to leave. To be honest Williams can’t go any further down, there’s great gains to be made. It’s a good move for someone who believes they can make a difference. Move to Mercedes at the moment and the only place they can go is stay on a plateau or go down…
The Dolphins
18th December 2019, 3:10
Ross, I totally agree. If he moves to Williams and brings them up he looks the hero but if Williams stays on the back row and they drop him he can say it’s the broken system within the team and point to other smart engineers before him. I wish him all the best and hope he’s successful.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
18th December 2019, 6:08
Fair points from the both of you.
I hope I’m wrong, but I really doubt Williams will turn things around in a big way next year. They were so far back this year, with rules being steady for 2020, it’s highly unlikely. if NC does go there, he will be entirely focused on 2021, at least I hope he will be. Williams should more or less write off 2020.
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
18th December 2019, 9:00
Why not, @jaymenon10, the rest of us already have. ;-)
David Goure
20th December 2019, 1:01
Didn’t get to read the article but I’d assume there’s mandatory gardening leave that means he won’t start until around when James Key did at the earliest. At that point it’s virtually impossible for him to influence the 2020 car.
rsp123 (@rsp123)
18th December 2019, 17:21
Paddy Lowe is a very clever man, but he’s no leader. I think he got himself in way too deep. He couldn’t operate without the resources he was used to at Mercedes.
This is a pivotal time for Williams – they have to find cash for the 2020 car and develop the 2021 car before the cap comes in. It must be hail Mary time at Grove.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
18th December 2019, 4:48
Interesting comment from Ocon.
I’d think the testing cut would be even more disadvantageous for the lower end teams as well – there’s nothing like track time to iron out issues. It’ll be interesting to see whether some teams will be in complete disarray come Melbourne.
hobo (@hobo)
18th December 2019, 14:56
I think there are pros and cons to testing cuts for small teams. Fewer days = less money spent. While it does reduce the chance to find/iron out issues, small teams don’t always have the ability to rapidly respond to needed changes either.
Like most things, big teams tend to benefit from more of something (testing, or anything else). And big teams will make the most of less testing, too.
Balue (@balue)
18th December 2019, 5:53
Nice Renault video and interesting glimpse into the unsung world of the mechanics.
Jere (@jerejj)
18th December 2019, 7:20
I doubt having six days of testing before the season would make that huge difference to having eight days. There’s only a difference of two days after all, so not exactly a significant decrease.
BTW, I like the Renault-tweet and how it shows the sunset and the subsequent twilight-phases.
I thoroughly agree with the COTD. Very difficult to precisely rank him given the competitiveness of the machinery at his disposal.
Adrian Hancox (@ahxshades)
18th December 2019, 8:48
@jerejj I am with you on testing – 6 days to 8 days – not much difference. BUT – since there will be budget caps soon – would that not be a good time to end the testing restriction, let teams test as much as they like as long as it is covered in the cost cap.
Just a thought
anon
18th December 2019, 11:39
@jerejj, The smaller the amount of test days you have, the more critical it becomes if you have even a minor issue during testing – losing one day would mean losing one sixth of your pre-season allocation, making it much harder to recoup any lost mileage over the remaining five days (compared to having seven days to catch up over in previous years).
Furthermore, let us say that a team will want to cover the equivalent of about a race distance – say, 70 laps per day – with each driver: that was, at the very least, the sort of testing mileage that Ferrari and Mercedes averaged, with most other teams averaging about 50-60 laps per driver per day (i.e. not far off a full race distance per day for each driver).
That means drivers would be losing roughly 100-140 laps worth of running – for most drivers in 2019, that would be a minimum reduction of 20-25% of their total testing mileage for the pre-season. For a driver like Norris, who was hit by a few more issues and only managed about 400 laps in the two pre-season tests this year, that would have taken 30% of his mileage away – hardly ideal preparation if you are a rookie driver trying to learn a car for the first time.
Reducing from eight to six days might only be a two day reduction, but percentage wise that is a 25% reduction in pre-season testing time – when you look at it in percentage terms, it’s a major cut.
ColdFly (@)
18th December 2019, 8:15
re. COTD
I don’t see the need to have a special classification for Russell.
In the end, there are 10 different cars and still we compare Max with Lewis and Ricciardo with Vettel.
With less video evidence of overtaking and defending it is more difficult to judge Russell vs the front runners. But overall I feel comfortable to place him (and Kubica) somewhere in the pack and know that to my judgement I’m roughly right.
If you want perfection you should not enter in ranking the drivers or stick with 10 rankings; one for each car (or 11 if you want to believe some of the rumours about Williams).
Webbo (@webbo82)
18th December 2019, 9:29
We NEED that drone footage in F1, even if they don’t fly over the track itself for safety, just round the run-offs. Sooo much better than the helicopter and trackside statics!
RB13
18th December 2019, 15:40
@webbo82 agreed. Shots like the last one where he boots it into the horizon would win far more new fans than Take Me Out titles and snazzy orchestral theme music!
MEGATRON M12 (@megatron)
18th December 2019, 12:36
Regarding cord, we already know that from fastest to slowest, over 1 lap, the drivers would barely be spread over 1s, so we can easily tell that the best way to rank them is by fewer major mistakes compared to more.
Russell, even with the most difficult car in the field, barely made any mistakes, especially compared to his more experienced teammate, who crashed the car once in preseason testing and then 3 more times in Australia(and then went on to complain vociferously about the lack of spare parts).
Russell also tested very well when given the opportunity by the factory Merc team.
There is always room for improvement, but it is clear to anyone paying attention that Russell had a fantastic 2019, very similar to Alonso’s first F1 season at Minardi.
Paul Jennings
18th December 2019, 21:26
I wonder if teams will copy Ferrari’s plan and run two cars in testing?
Mileage before Melbourne is key, Ocon for a few races will say that he’s rusty.