4312 replies to this topic

[rccrazy]

Hi, could it be true what I hear from a very well informed formula 1 commentator in my country (he is also a heart surgeon) that Red Bull is pressuring Renault not to give the new V6 2014 engine to Lotus?.

[BigCHrome]

Hi, could it be true what I hear from a very well informed formula 1 commentator in my country (he is also a heart surgeon) that Red Bull is pressuring Renault not to give the new V6 2014 engine to Lotus?.

Wow, that is big news. Seems like Red Bull is scared of the mighty Enstone-KIMI combo.

[GlenP]

I doubt that would even be legal. I also think that the deal is probably already done. Sounds like crap to me.

[Vesuvius]

Hi, could it be true what I hear from a very well informed formula 1 commentator in my country (he is also a heart surgeon) that Red Bull is pressuring Renault not to give the new V6 2014 engine to Lotus?.

Doubt it.

[eronrules]

i think it's BS. lotusF1 is de facto second factory team for renault sport with 30% reduction in engine price. also they have technological collaboration like KERS system. and what good will it do to RBR???

one thought is that maybe RBR wants renault to supply STR with a V6 TC engine , in which case they may have to drop one existing partner. in that case why not Caterham??? why would REnault wanna drop race winning team?? makes no sense.

[barneygumble]

Dieter Rencken wrote in his column a few weeks ago, that Renault is considering supplying Toro Rosso next year, and likely dropping supplying Lotus.

[eronrules]

i think it all may come down to the price. we know lotus isn't the most wealthiest team in the paddock. i was reading an article by jose saward and this piece caught my eyes (from feb '13)

What was just as interesting was a quiet remark from Jalinier that at the moment Renault has no deals with any teams for 2014 and beyond. Clearly there are talks going on with the current customers: Red Bull Racing, Lotus F1, Williams and Caterham and Jalinier added that there is no agreement over the maximum number of engine supplies per manufacturer, and said that probably with three engine suppliers there would be some kind of agreement to have four teams apiece, to ensure that everyone has a deal. However he did admit that five teams might be an option as a maximum number. The 2014 engine package will cost around $26 million per team per year, compared to the current figure of around $20 million, when KERS and engineering support have been added to the basic price tag

so perhaps if the negotiations between Genii and Renaultsport doesn't go according to plan ... hmmm ... interesting


but , i think namewise, lotus only go with renault, imagine AMG Lotus mercedes or Scuderia Lotus Ferrari


P.S RBR has extended engine deal up until 2016

Edited by eronrules, 21 March 2013 - 17:29.

[Jimisgod]

A Lotus-Ferrari? Oh my, think of the history between those teams.

Only good thing might be Bianchi in a Lotus... maybe...

[SRK]

Hi, could it be true what I hear from a very well informed formula 1 commentator in my country (he is also a heart surgeon) that Red Bull is pressuring Renault not to give the new V6 2014 engine to Lotus?.

This commentator name sounds... some german? Completely accidentally ofcourse like "Gruener" or "Rencken" ?

EDIT

Dieter Rencken wrote in his column a few weeks ago, that Renault is considering supplying Toro Rosso next year, and likely dropping supplying Lotus.

What a suprise!

Edited by SRK, 21 March 2013 - 17:33.

[SpaMaster]

Red Bull would of course love to do that. But do they really have that sort of control on Renault? Don't think so. What would Red Bull do if Renault does not agree? Leave Renault, and ask Ferrari and Mercedes for their engines? You know the answer. Red Bull does not really have as much power as some of us think they do. Nothing will happen. Lotus and Renault would be associated for a long long time. Renault is also a 10% sponsor of the team.

Edited by SpaMaster, 21 March 2013 - 17:32.

[artista]

Dieter Rencken wrote in his column a few weeks ago, that Renault is considering supplying Toro Rosso next year, and likely dropping supplying Lotus.

What I understood is that, he didn't really know which team is the one Renault is thinking about dropping, and that he just speculated it could be Lotus, because Caterham has don't know which technical partnership with Renault and Williams has also something (no idea what it was).

Anyway, I have read today somewhere (HELP! I don't remember where, I don't even remember if it was in Spanish, German or English) that Caterham might be thinking changing to Ferrari and Williams to Honda, which would make for the reduction in the numbers of teams Renault was hoping without affecting Lotus.

PS. If somebody knows where on earth I read it today, pretty please, post the link. I know myself, and I won't be able to take it out of my mind until I find it. Thank you.

[SRK]

I suggest something tangible
http://www.autocar.c...t-enough-out-f1

He also admitted that alliance partner Infiniti’s branding deal with Red Bull lessened Renault’s benefit from powering the team to success, but intimated that closer ties with existing partners Williams, Lotus and Caterham could be used to get more publicity.

“The relationship with all our teams is warm, emotional even,” said Tavares. “Frank Williams himself is highly respected within Renault, not just for the championships and races we have won in the past together, but also for his humility and personality.”

“Lotus we have historic ties with, through the Enstone operation, while Caterham is our joint venture partner on the Alpine sports car project. All three of these teams have a specific link back to Renault, and that counts. Perhaps one day we can reach the same point with Red Bull.”

Edited by SRK, 21 March 2013 - 17:41.

[artista]

This commentator name sounds... some german? Completely accidentally ofcourse like "Gruener" or "Rencken" ?

EDIT


What a suprise!

Tobi is an absolutely sweet-heart, really nice, and a very good journalist, but I really can't imagine him turning into a commentator and talking non-stop. It's like Räikkönen working as commentator... all about silences

[byronbolscher]

Lotus Honda then

[DrF]

Lotus Honda would rule!

[yoyogetfunky]

Only saw the tunnel for the first time today! Did they have that in pre-season testing too?

[eronrules]

Only saw the tunnel for the first time today! Did they have that in pre-season testing too?

yes.

[RaikkonenZn]

Lotus Honda would rule!

It does sound pretty cool but I would much prefer another team to be the guinea pig for the 1st year ;)

I think that its very important for the sport if Lotus continues being a top team - with their budget I don't think they can afford to experiment with new engines as they could fall into obscurity like Williams did with the Cosworth engines!

Let Macca mess around with Honda first, they can do so!

[Diderlo]

Again new FW on Romain's car, new bodywork on Kimi's car in the first session.
Second session is to understand the tyres and make them work as well as in Australia.
Edit: Source is Allison on Sky Sports.

Edited by Diderlo, 22 March 2013 - 01:54.

[JamesHunt]

Again new FW on Romain's car, new bodywork on Kimi's car in the first session.
Second session is to understand the tyres and make them work as well as in Australia.
Edit: Source is Allison on Sky Sports.

Im glad Im wrong

[Diderlo]

Im glad Im wrong

Wrong thread?

[JamesHunt]

Wrong thread?

Oh my... 4am here

[Alburaq]

Both cars had the new FW on at the end of the session
https://pbs.twimg.co...AgRq_.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.co...AoChb.jpg:large

Didn't watch FP1 though. how were their times on the long runs ?

Edited by Alburaq, 22 March 2013 - 03:54.

[Diderlo]

Both cars had the new FW on at the end of the session
https://pbs.twimg.co...AgRq_.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.co...AoChb.jpg:large

Didn't watch FP1 though. how were their times on the long runs ?

Times were brilliant. Kimi was fast and consistent. Grosjean was also quite good after some setup tweaks (first half of the stint was bad, but tweaking seemed to help).
Long run pace was very good, Force India had same kind of consistency.

Edited by Diderlo, 22 March 2013 - 04:04.

[Alburaq]

Thanks

[intelligentsia]

Lotus looks decent so far, Kimi is never that high in FP. I got the feeling that Lotus was running with less fuel then some of the others on their long runs. Well if they weren't running with less fuel, then Lotus was super fast. But I think they had less fuel. It seems like tyre degradation will again play a huge role here.

But Lotus still needs to work on their reliability, once again Kers issues for Kimi and some other issues.

[SamH123]

If all the stints at the end of fp1 were done on similar fuel loads Lotus are on another planet

It's unlikely but I actually wouldn't rule it out

[Shiroo]

someone can ppost a picutre of bodywork?

How does Lotus form look like? can we expect points this weekend? and how about one lap pace, is it a bit better than last week? and long pace.

had a sleep cuz of work soon and couldn' watch


and why the hell Gro is 1sec behind Kimi...

Edited by Shiroo, 22 March 2013 - 05:22.

[intelligentsia]

someone can ppost a picutre of bodywork?

How does Lotus form look like? can we expect points this weekend? and how about one lap pace, is it a bit better than last week? and long pace.

had a sleep cuz of work soon and couldn' watch


and why the hell Gro is 1sec behind Kimi...

Grosjean set his time much early then Kimi. One lap pace looks alright. It is still to early to say anything about long runs.

[Msaman]

someone can ppost a picutre of bodywork?

How does Lotus form look like? can we expect points this weekend? and how about one lap pace, is it a bit better than last week? and long pace.

had a sleep cuz of work soon and couldn' watch

Kimi was on top of his game again.Small KERS failure for the 1st part of the session.
He has the 3rd highest top speed .
One lap pace is quite good even though we are loosing time in S2 which is all about aero.Maybe we are running less wing but we will have better picture after FP2.
Also tyre degradation is good.There were some bits coming of the tyres but no like Vettel's ones
I do want dry weekend : )))
The goal is higher

Edited by Msaman, 22 March 2013 - 05:28.

[Zava]

could it be that I heard on sky that lotus is running a sort of reactive ride height thing on the E21?

edit: and just as I typed that, Ted started to explain it. works like last year's would work, but that was triggered when braking = activated by the driver (pushing the brake pedal) this one is a hydraulic system working on its own.

Edited by Zava, 22 March 2013 - 06:21.

[Shiroo]

Maybe that would explain bottoming with low fuel in aus

[Vesuvius]

could it be that I heard on sky that lotus is running a sort of reactive ride height thing on the E21?

edit: and just as I typed that, Ted started to explain it. works like last year's would work, but that was triggered when braking = activated by the driver (pushing the brake pedal) this one is a hydraulic system working on its own.

but it was forbidden from them before last season started, how they could have got the permission now?

edit: so the system is different and would made it legal? interesting if true. lot of sparks did happend at abu dhabi last year as well..

Edited by Vesuvius, 22 March 2013 - 06:24.

[Shiroo]

but it was forbidden from them before last season started, how they could have got the permission now?

maybe changed so it would be ok now xd

[Zava]

but it was forbidden from them before last season started, how they could have got the permission now?

Ted's explanation: last year's counted as driver operated (working when the driver hits the brake pedals), this year's doesn't (operated by load sensors or whatever), I'm sure we'll see a tech explanaton from Scarbs or Somers pretty soon.

[Vesuvius]

Ted's explanation: last year's counted as driver operated (working when the driver hits the brake pedals), this year's doesn't (operated by load sensors or whatever), I'm sure we'll see a tech explanaton from Scarbs or Somers pretty soon.

hopefully it wont get banned when others will try to work it out

[Zava]

Lotus F1 Team ‏@Lotus_F1Team 7m
Tech update: both cars on new front wing, #Kimi's on the newer, shinier exhaust outlet #SepangSundae

looking forward to seeing pictures. only picture I could find about the supposed new bodywork is this one:

not sure, could be the angle is fooling with my eyes, but the bridge seems steeper.
only similar angle I could find of the old one:
http://www.gpupdate....218446/#/218446


Kimi p1

[Jovanotti]

PLEASE let this be a dry weekend! Pace is there on high and low fuel.

[pryanjack]

http://www.autosport...php/id/13313682

check out this picture on autosport - isn't this the new exhaust configuration - note the deep undercut, not sure if that was there before, if it was - I hadn't noticed

[F.M.]

Not the best screenshot, but the ramp seems much steeper/shorter. More towards like the current Red Bell version.

Edited by F.M., 22 March 2013 - 06:54.

[Vesuvius]

PLEASE let this be a dry weekend! Pace is there on high and low fuel.

Kimi hasn't tried with heavy fuel...(I think) because times should be around 1,,41-1,43 and not 1,38-1,40 like he did at one point....either he is gonna dominate if dry...but surely it will rain every day at least a little

Edited by Vesuvius, 22 March 2013 - 06:51.

[Shiroo]

Kimi set his best time on med or hard

[Msaman]

Kimi set his best time on med or hard

option tyres
We are still losing big time in S2

Edited by Msaman, 22 March 2013 - 06:55.

[Shiroo]

And vet, massa and mark set their times on?

[F.M.]

option tyres
We are still losing big time in S2

As long as we gain big time in S1 and S3, I see no problem Lotus is just going slower in S2 to save the tires.

Edited by F.M., 22 March 2013 - 06:57.

[Zava]

http://www.autosport...php/id/13313682

check out this picture on autosport - isn't this the new exhaust configuration - note the deep undercut, not sure if that was there before, if it was - I hadn't noticed

I think it is not it, just saw Kimi and he has a chrome exhaust. judging by F.M.'s pic and that quick look at the car on the stream, it indeed seems like the bridge is shorter, and/or the 'flat bulge' at the back end of it is less pronounced/gone.

[Diderlo]

http://www.autosport...php/id/13313682

check out this picture on autosport - isn't this the new exhaust configuration - note the deep undercut, not sure if that was there before, if it was - I hadn't noticed

The undercut has been there? Atleast it is in the Romain's car. Also I think that is the old exhaust, because the new is SHINY(?)

[Vesuvius]

And vet, massa and mark set their times on?

ald did their times with mediums, Alonso and Grosjean as well.

[hello86]

Also on mediums! But a few minutes earlier (dunno whether this has much to say).

Did RoGro use mediums! I am a litte bit confused (also coz we have no live timing).

Anyway as the rain is threatening the whole weekend I would just take a chill pill. Kimi´s times are looking good but we dunno anything about the fuel load.
Hope that the rain wont **** up our chances like it did last year

[Msaman]

As long as we gain big time in S1 and S3, I see no problem Lotus is just going slower in S2 to save the tires.

Yeah I didn't think of that lol
It's great to see Gro up there as well.
He had some traffic so he should be closer.
Can't wait for Q and Sunday