Red Bull not looking for new engine supplier

F1 Fanatic Round-up

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In the round-up: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says the team are not looking for alternatives to engine supplier Renault following their unsuccessful start to the season.

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Horner: No Renault split (Sky)

“We’ve got a multi-year agreement with Renault, but as with any agreement there’s always performance criteria associated with that. But we’re not considering any alternatives at this point in time.”

Bernie Ecclestone interview: No chequered flag in sight for the ageing ringmaster of F1 (The Independent)

“We can’t and we shouldn’t change any regulations that would damage Mercedes. They have built an engine to the regulations. The regulations were wrong.”

Rosberg to study data to beat Hamilton (ESPN)

“I’m going to do a lot of digging on the computer this evening and it’s early days so I’m still confident of finding it.”

When there are awkward moments, Lewis Hamilton and I discuss them and then we move on… (Daily Mail)

“The running order during qualifying is taken in turns between myself and Lewis at each weekend – one weekend I choose whether I run first or second on the road, the next weekend it’s Lewis. In Monaco, it was actually my engineer who made the call because I didn’t answer when he asked me. So he took the decision, determined what was best for us and so I went out first.”

Lewis Hamilton issues mea culpa but tensions with Nico Rosberg remain (The Telegraph)

“I think you always have experiences where you look back and think maybe I could have done this better, maybe I could have said that better. It’s all about learning. The majority of the things I said that weekend were in the heat of the moment.”

Raikkonen engineer line-up bolstered (Autosport)

“With more work to do to overcome Raikkonen’s issues, Ferrari has decided to bring back its test team engineer David Lloyd to a racing role to help Raikkonen from this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.”

Alex Zanardi: Racing Again (BBC)

Interview with Alex Zanardi (thanks Dennis Wynes for the tip).

Why F1 is still experiencing a viewer decline – even with VOD included (The F1 Broadcasting Blog)

“Whilst there is changing viewing habits, you cannot escape the fact that there are fans no longer watching the sport and are not being replaced by new fans at the same rate, whether it is due to the on-track action changing (DRS, Pirellis, turbos), those in charge of the sport running into a power-trip with no direction thanks to rules nobody wishes to see (double points), fans feeling distant from the sport (expensive ticket prices) or because Formula One is moving to a pay TV model, thus pricing people out of the sport – Moto GP fans know what that feels like.”

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Comment of the day

A plan to halve the amount of track action on Fridays did not go down well yesterday:

I’m not a fan of this idea but let’s not kid ourselves, ticket prices are not that high on Friday and Saturday, it’s the race day itself on Sunday which costs the most. So I’m sure ticket prices, even weekend passes will become cheaper but not by a whole lot, and it’s right there the shoe stinks.

It basically means you get a discount which isn’t a discount at all, you will in fact pay too much for what you will get. Which is probably already the situation today.

Get real, I’m all for cutting costs but cut them where it benefits the teams and not where it hurts the fans.

I still can’t believe that after reading all those comments on twitter where easily more then half of the fans where against the idea, both [Sky commentator] David Croft and Damon Hill continued on on how this was – according to them – a great idea.
@Force-Maikel

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On this day in F1

Jenson Button’s sixth win in seven races for Brawn five years ago today put him on course to win the drivers’ championship – though he failed to win another race that year.

Sebastian Vettel led at the beginning but went off, allowing Button into the lead. The Red Bull driver had to settle for third after being told to hold position behind team mate Mark Webber. Similar instructions to the same two drivers in later races were not always obeyed so readily

Image © Red Bull/Getty

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Keith Collantine
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24 comments on “Red Bull not looking for new engine supplier”

  1. Nico can do all the digging around in the data to try and find HAM’s weakness, however, ultimately, at some point, he is going to have to realise, that he is going to have to beat him on track by being consistently faster than him. Either that, or keep tensions up in the team because, well, lets face it, it affects HAM more than it does ROS.
    I just had an interesting thought, if ROS wins the championship this year because HAM self destructs around issues off the track that may or may not exist, should we applaud ROS for his ability to push HAM into making errors on track?

    1. Yes, definitely.
      There are different kinds of world champions. We have witnessed hard, head down and floor it drivers. We have seen planners, psychological bullies, drivers with surgical precision, drivers with magic when it matters, chess-players, wait-and-pounce style driving, or simply drivers who, when all the smoke had cleared, were the ones left holding the prize.
      We have been given Clark, Prost, Senna, Schumacher, Lauda, Piquet etc. etc. All so different from one another and we should marvel at them and applaud them all.

    2. If Nico win the championship is because he deserves it. The thing about Hamilton, is whenever he’s a REAL contender the others don’t win champioships, it’s lewis that looses them, for me it’s a really wrong statement. Hamilton is a good driver, Nico also, and both have a shot, it’s all about the details, whoever done his homework better will take it…

    3. Also remember that telemetry and computers don’t show the complete picture, I’m sure Hamilton himself couldn’t explain why he’s consistently a tenth faster than Rosberg.

      So like you said, Nico can study the numbers all he wants but he can’t just depend on that to beat Lewis every time.

      1. I’m sure LH pours over NR’s data too, whenever NR is faster than him at a certain corner or in a certain sector.

    4. Just to point out: so far we have no proof off the track incidents have affected Hamilton’s results on track. The frustration of Rosberg’s sudden inability to drive a car around a corner in Monaco qualifying was that there was no way for him to respond at Monaco, except during one little window during pit stops, which the SC prevented. We haven’t yet seen the effect.

      Also I don’t think Hamilton will be rattled by what Rosberg does or says, but how the Mercedes team responds to any infighting. As with Alonso and Hamilton at McLaren in 2007, the effects can be negative on both sides, though it might be something where Rosberg can take advantage like Button versus Hamilton at McLaren, due to closer garage relations.

      1. I don’t think LH need be, nor will be, negatively affected by Monaco since NR didn’t do anything wrong other than to overcook it in qualifying. LH lost out due to that but that’s racing and they’ve put it past them…not to say a healthy rivalry is not still present of course. And I don’t think a comparison can be made to LH/FA or LH/JB because this is a new era, they’re running away from the field, they’re so close in performance and are both utilizing the great package they have, and they on fact are friends with a great history together and can chat it out and put things behind them.

        Yes of course one wrong move, one mistake, might bring up some heat of the moment stuff again…that’s what comes with a great rivalry and without that ‘risk’ the rivalry wouldn’t be as potent or enthralling. Just as at Monaco the walls dictate how one races withing those parameters, if a track was surrounded by paved runoff areas and no walls within miles, that would dictate a different type of all-out racing where practically all mistakes would be forgiven and go unpunished. I hope the parameters on the team now are about no more slights here and there with cranking boost without team permission etc etc and just pour over each others’s data, push each other, then go do your best on the track. And feel over the moon that you are both in this elite position.

        1. I mostly agree, like I said, there’s no evidence the Rosberg Incident will have any real effect, beyond the point advantage gained at Monaco. But the original post was about this kind of tension being Rosberg’s only real hope of beating Hamilton, putting aside technical problems with Hamilton’s car etc. I just meant that even then, it would really require deeper problems within the Mercedes team to get at him. I don’t see that as likely either, though strange things happen.

    5. Lewis knows that Rosberg will examine his data so won’t he keep something back like he usually does until end of Q3? Especially at Canada.

      1. Rosberg knows that Hamilton will examine his data, so he will be trying to do the same thing. They will have both, by the time of their last hot runs in Q3, poured over the data and will know where each is picking up or losing to their teammate.

  2. The running order during qualifying is taken in turns between myself and Lewis at each weekend – one weekend I choose whether I run first or second on the road, the next weekend it’s Lewis. In Monaco, it was actually my engineer who made the call because I didn’t answer when he asked me. So he took the decision, determined what was best for us and so I went out first.

    Wow, it just proves what a cheat Nico is, he had it all planned for weeks!
    (or not)

    1. Even Lewis has left behind this issue, why cant you also do the same. :)

      1. Why can’t the reporter do the same @mjf1fan

        1. @davidnotcoulthard

          That article was written by Nico himself, no reporter went to him and asked such questions.

          And even if some reporter has asked him such questions, (there has been many cases of stupid journalism around- not just in this case but in other cases as well) is it necessary for us to pay any heed to it? If there is some feud between two people and then they work it out and move on from that situation, is it necessary for us to again make conspiracy theories?

          1. @mjf1fan Ah, my bad (it says NICO-ROSBERG-COLUMN in the address). Well, there’s always that chance (tiny or otherwise) that whoever had him write the column wanted him to write about it…….

  3. Relating to the TV figures article, I’ve said in the past that I know a few people who used to be big F1 fanatics & we all used to attend the Montreal Gp every year since about 1988 but that we no longer attend that race because of what DRS has done to the racing there.
    I’ve said before how we always used to sit at the hairpin & how we always got to see loads of action there, However in 2011 & 2012 nothing happened at the hairpin because nobody wanted to even try an overtake there knowing that DRS was just afterwards & that DRS was super powerful at Montreal. Therefore pretty much all of the passing occurred where no fans could see it (No grandstands down the long straght).

    Several of those friends/family who have followed F1 for decades & attended many races no longer even watch F1 because they don’t like the DRS & they thought the idea of tires intentionally designed to degrade fast are a joke. They watched for a bit of the DRS/Pirelli-era, Didn’t like what they saw so now no longer watch.

    I still watch but my interest did fall off a cliff the last 3 years, Ironically in a way the 2014 rules which have turned some off have actually rekindled my interest & if I wasn’t busy with work this weekend I may well have gone back to Montreal to see things for myself.

    1. PeterG, you should have a chat with Bernie so he can explain to you how you totally misunderstand yourself.

  4. I don’t understand all the talk about Raikkonen’s struggles this year. I mean, sure he’s had difficulties and has struggled, but a lot of the bad results have been down to bad luck;

    At Melbourne he was right behind Alonso before mechanical problems.
    Malaysia, right behind Alonso before Magnussen hit him and ruined his race.
    In Spain he lead Alonso for most of the race and ultimately lost, because of a worse strategy.
    And in Monaco he had a podium position before he and Chilton collided and he had to pit again.

    I agree Alonso’s been better, there’s no denying that, but it’s not like Raikkonen hasn’t done anything right this season.

    1. Raikkonen didn’t have mechanical problems in Melbourne late in the race. He had them early in the race but so did Alonso simultaneously.

      1. But that doesn’t change the big picture. The truth is Kimi is right there behind Alonso despite having difficulties with the car. When Kimi will feel himself comfortable in a car he will beat Alonso.

  5. I honestly wonder how much it actually is Red Bull not looking for a new engine supplier, as the other engine suppliers don’t want to supply Red Bull. Ferrari can’t reasonably supply engines to the team that beat them in 2010 and 2012, not to mention dominated them in 2011 and 2013. Mercedes’ works team will probably feel the same way, and Honda is going to be exclusive to McLaren and probably wants to be the prominent force in the team (Honda Marlboro McLaren, anyone?).

    I do hope the new engine regs start to attract even more suppliers, because to be honest, I miss the days where smaller teams managed to get exclusive works deals. It did wonders for Stewart in 1999 and wrecked havoc with anyone in bed with Peugeot.

    1. It’s probably worth remembering that Red Bull has ties to Infiniti through Renault. They probably wouldn’t want to leave that behind their new supplier could offer more support than merely engines. Neither Ferrari or Mercedes can do that. Honda probably won’t either, as their McLaren partnership will presumably last a while. So, the rumoured VW entrance?

  6. I don’t think Raikkonen will endure much luck this weekend either. Conditions are good but in recent history Canada is their worst track after Bahrain. In the middle of the melee in Canada with walls everywhere and faster cars around, good luck for anyone driving Renault and in particular Ferrari.

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