In the round-up: Nico Hulkenberg believes Renault could have got a car into Q3 despite the difficulties they’ve had with their car in Austria.
What they say
Given the struggle that we had since lap one [on Friday] here I was satisfied with what I got in quali because we had really explored all the envelope of set-up changes and possibilities that we had to our availability. We’ve tried everything to make the car go faster and to help the balance. We’ve not really managed to fix the problems, we’ve shifted around things a little bit but for quali we put our best guess and best set-up together and I think we recovered a little bit of pace. Maybe not quite enough to put us in the normal position where we are but I think we probably lost out on a Q3 spot which actually was possible I feel.
Quotes: Dieter Rencken
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Social media
Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Have you spotted any driver moves in F1 2019 yet? Here's a few starting with @alex_albon at @HaasF1Team… pic.twitter.com/Jmww5kKwMs
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) June 29, 2019
Huge disappointment for both cars! Only upside: @SchumacherMick had extremely good pace in line if not faster than the leading cars. Such a shame he suffered from a technical issue with the steering wheel at the start 😢
— PREMA (@PREMA_Team) June 29, 2019
Catching sight of P10 like 👀 Clutch issue cost us pretty badly, went to the back when we should’ve been moving forwards… But fought back to grab that final point 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/0K1TESr7Pm
— Jack Aitken – 한세용 (@JaitkenRacer) June 29, 2019
Bernie and me in Front of one if the 40 Lauda pictures in the gallery from Spielberg 🏁👍🌷😪 pic.twitter.com/TDdNczKVip
— roger benoit (@roger_benoit) June 29, 2019
The 'fun facts' being shown under each driver's name opposite the media centre at the Red Bull Ring are hilarious.
Lance Stroll's – 'Qualified 4th, Italy 2017'
— Nate Saunders (@natesaundersF1) June 29, 2019
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Links
More motor racing links of interest:
Australian GP qualifying (Williams)
"During my final run I was warming my tyres up and there was a bunch of cars ahead doing the same. Daniil was on a flying lap and he closed quicker than expected due to the queue ahead. I tried to stay to the inside but the next thing I knew, he was driving around the outside of the track. It is a bit frustrating but just one of those things unfortunately. I apologise to Daniil as it was nothing intentional."
"All weekend the car has felt competitive and also from the engine side we have worked really well with Honda to extract a little more power."
A fraction shy in Austria quali (Racing Point)
"The long run simulations on Friday suggest we can match the strong race pace we showed recently and target points with both cars."
Maini diqualified from Austrian feature race (Formula 2)
"Campos Racing’s Arjun Maini has been disqualified from this afternoon’s F2 Feature Race results at the Red Bull Ring after it was discovered that his tyres had been fitted incorrectly to the car prior to the start."
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Comment of the day
How long will Red Bull tolerate Pierre Gasly’s under-performance:
He really needs to step up big time and rather quickly. This is just getting embarrassing that he struggles even to beat some of the more regular midfielders while his teammate competes for the same positions with the Ferrari and Mercedes-drivers occasionally or at least remain relatively close to them.
The struggles at the beginning of the season were more understandable, but not so much now anymore since he already had started to get better and better both pace and results-wise from the third race in China onwards, but then from Canada, he suddenly returned to his early-season slump.
He can’t forever keep on taking time to get used to the car. I don’t hold too much hope for his prospects for tomorrow either, but hopefully, he’d surprise me (and others) big time by driving the race of his life or something.
@Jerejj
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to Rhys and Mike-E!
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
30th June 2019, 0:09
Congrats on the CotD, @jerejj, and fully agree about Gasly.
Nothing beats Ricciardo’s brutal put-down of Gasly from last weekend: “Nothing against [Pierre] Gasly but he wasn’t in our battle at all and then he kind of steals the point. It’s like, I didn’t think that justified it.”
In all honestly, Gasly is a dead man walking. Once Dr. Marko and Horner decide if they have a replacement driver and identify said driver, Gasly is likely out. They might as well get the new guy acquainted with the car and the team sooner rather than later.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
30th June 2019, 7:17
@phylyp: the thing is that RedBull doesnt have a star driver in the making. Kviat has been to the big team already and is a known quantity by now, he’s got decent speed but he’s prone errors. Albon is still too inexperienced and doesn’t seem to be as good as the new kids on the block (Leclerc, Norris, Russel) to warrant an early promotion.
Also, at the RB Academy no one interesting is coming now that Dan Ticktum has been let go.
Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
30th June 2019, 1:01
Williams…oh dear:
Still apologizing for the first race of the season.
Jammie Coulee
30th June 2019, 1:14
No one is really taking about how Hamilton stabbed Bottas in the back, doing what he could to refuse him the tow he had the right to?
Tristan (@skipgamer)
30th June 2019, 2:52
Yeah I find that quite surprising, Ricciardo kind of got murdered in the press about his similar complaints about not getting the tow when it wasn’t his turn last year, yet Hamilton is getting away with the behavior hardly being noted.
Gabriel (@rethla)
30th June 2019, 2:57
Maybe because hes driving with a robot teammate?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
30th June 2019, 6:24
about the tow I don’t think that was the case but he whinged as he does whenever he’s not dominating.
Patrick (@anunaki)
30th June 2019, 7:44
Why should you give your nr 2 driver a tow?
bob (@riptide)
30th June 2019, 9:49
‘You should compromise your own qualification to tow your teammate.’ It’s known as the Hamilton rule.
Although I’m not sure how this ‘not giving a tow’ that people speak about works. I would have thought that all you have to do to get a tow was to ‘go’ when the guy in front of you goes.
James Coulee
1st July 2019, 0:49
At Mercedes it’s instituted that at one GP one driver tows the other and at the next they do it the other way around. They follow the rule and don’t do shennanigans so that when it’s not your turn you mess the other driver’s right for the tow.
Unless your name is Hamilton. Then you’re intitled to get tows but not return the favor.
Travis (@)
30th June 2019, 2:01
While I don’t think Gasly is driving that great, on paper he isn’t doing that bad a job.
Sixth in the driver’s championship, behind Leclerc and then Verstappen… (then Vettel and the Mercedes).
There are only 14 points between him and next in line (Sainz), however currently I wouldn’t have thought there would be too much he could do to be further up the line than the Ferrari infront of him.
Gabriel (@rethla)
30th June 2019, 3:03
Even on the paper hes doing a terrible job, only having one driver is costing Red Bull the 2nd place in the constructor championship at the moment.
nase
30th June 2019, 3:41
@travis
Erm, what? This only makes sense if you ignore the fact that he’s in one of the top three cars that are so far ahead of everyone else that they’re hardly competing with each other.
Here’s a hard fact for you: Gasly has 37 points. Verstappen has 100. Combine that with the fact that his car alone should guarantee him a top 6 finish in every single race he finishes, and you’ll get an idea of why a few people might be inclined to think that his performances are inexcusable.
Travis (@)
30th June 2019, 7:54
I never said he was a good driver, and part of what you’re saying is the reason for my point. He’s in the third best team but is at least ahead of the driver’s in the teams below. If he was lower than 6th in the standings then there would be a huge problem.
anon
30th June 2019, 8:32
@travis, the thing is, at no point this season has it looked like Gasly will pose any sort of threat to any of the other drivers in the top three teams, given how far back he has been from them.
In that sense, Gasly’s poor form is a real problem – by never being anywhere near the other drivers in the top teams, he is guaranteeing that Red Bull will be uncompetitive in the WCC because he’s never going to be taking points away from any of their rivals (although some cynics would argue that does also help Red Bull ensure that he’s not going to be taking any points away from Verstappen).
Besides, that 6th place in the WDC and those 37 points are not really much to shout about – allowing for his one DNF due to mechanical issues, seven 6th place finishes, which is the minimum you’d expect from him, means he really should be on 56 points. Even on that front, Gasly is performing badly – he should have a gap closer to 30 points, rather than just 11 points, between him and the next driver in the WDC given the car he has available to him.
nase
30th June 2019, 16:11
Thanks anon, you’ve nailed it. Considering the car he has, staying ahead of a McLaren driver in the WDC simply isn’t a meaningful reference. 50 points, give or take, that’d be the bare minimum for an RB driver for him to be considered average. In that respect, saying “at least he’s 6th in the WDC, a few points ahead of Sainz” is a lot like saying “at least he doesn’t break his leg every time he climbs into his car”. It’s lowering the bar to a downright grotesque extent.
Tristan (@skipgamer)
30th June 2019, 3:00
Codemasters did so much right, then riddle the game with microtransactions for the new customization feature rather than just including it in the already high price for the game…
What a shame, if they keep going down this route it won’t take long before the game is as revered as NBA2k
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
30th June 2019, 10:08
Fifa, NBA2k, and others generate 25-35% extra revenue on top of retail sales with microtransactions. Even if the consumer base hates it, and it might cost them a bit in total retail sales, it still makes a lot of sense to keep doing it from a business standpoint. Not just sportsgames, but the entire gaming industry moves in this direction.
In fact, retail sales will eventually disappear entirely as the gaming industry is moving towards subscription-based (netflix/spotify-style) gaming. That will allow developers to invest less in wholesale changes to the fundamental game and cut out the middle-man at the same time. Those yearly fees will be relatively low and the business model is extremely suited for paid DLC and microtransactions to re-coupe that.
Ericglo
30th June 2019, 4:58
It would have never happened, but if Alonso was in the RB then they might be second in the championship. Same with Ocon.
GechiChan (@gechichan)
30th June 2019, 7:23
Max and Ocon as teammates? Remember Brasil 2018? They would hardly bring any points the way they navigate each other…
Jeffrey (@jeffreyj)
30th June 2019, 10:10
They hate eachother ever since Ocon whooped Verstappens behind in F3.
Oconomo
30th June 2019, 11:19
@jeffreyj
That F3 season where Ocon was driving the Mercedes equivalent, Max was driving the Racing Point equivalent and Max still got more wins than Ocon and only missed out on the title due to technical failures and an extremely dubious decision by the stewards?
You only got to watch the Spa weekend to see who whooped ass, and who didn’t.
Tell me again: What’s Esteban, the whooper, doing at the moment?
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
30th June 2019, 6:28
Hulk’s f1 career is always like this. He has clearly held the upper hand on Ricciardo, especially on race pace, but on paper he’s been blown away, he has more glitches more mechanicals and either gets unlucky or blows his better chances.
someone said he was good to replace gasly, hulk derails.
HR
30th June 2019, 7:24
When you blow your better chances, that suggests you don’t have the upper hand over your teammate.
Jere (@jerejj)
30th June 2019, 7:46
Yes, Q3 indeed might’ve been possible had Magnussen and Norris not unnecessarily impeded both Renault-drivers during their final Q2-runs especially Ricciardo’s. On a side note, thanks for the COTD, although you could’ve taken into account my other corrected typo as well, but anyway.