Alonso Fan wrote: ↑11 Apr 2018, 01:56
Edax wrote: ↑10 Apr 2018, 22:51
sandrosm wrote: ↑10 Apr 2018, 19:19
Toro Rosso is only gaining personality. Everyone says they like Toro Rosso but it's almost no one's favourite because it's only seen as a development team/young drivers school living in the shadow of RB. Everyone thinks of them as a "nice" team, so to say.
At least now they are being talked about and are expressing their feelings while getting TV and media coverage in general! Plus it's in their interest to defend their "business" partner..
I am not a TR fan, but I think TR is one of the if not the most undervalued team on the grid. Sure they had the best pick in drivers via RB, and they had help developing their car. But if you look at it they have been able to perform near miracles on a limited budget and recources. Like in 2016 when they were driving with a year old engine.
They didn’t complain about their engine but made their chassis to work with it best they could, even revising their wheelbase and aero philosophy to fit the engine. I guess they are doing the same with Honda now.
And in that respect they are fully entitled to take a jab ad McLaren with their “we have the best chassis”. You cannot make a chassis and force the engine in compliance.
No one forced the engine into compliance. This conspiracy has been debunked several times. Honda agreed to size zero and thought that they could make a good, fast engine that small. Clearly they were wrong
A works partnership is exactly that, a partnership. This act of pressuring the other party to try to comply with your goals (how successful this act is, is irrelevant) happens all the time. Mercedes have said themselves that their aero department had to pressure the engine department to try to slim down and rearrange the components to cater for their new slim rear end this year. It really isn't something new.
It's correct to say that McLaren didn't force size zero on them. However, it's important to note that when Honda rejoined F1, they took a lot of guidance from McLaren since the formula was entirely new to them. Honda didn't have the experience to say "making an engine this small will be very problematic". McLaren had too much hope on their chassis and decided to take the gamble anyway. A gamble that Ferrari lost in 2014, I might add. The signs were there, and McLaren should have known. Honda couldn't have known, so they relied on McLaren.
Now we see the parallel with Toro Rosso. Honda has been requesting changes, like adding 3cm to the rear of the engine, and Toro Rosso has been very accomodating. I'm wary of calling it too soon, but I hope that Bahrain's results are an example of how this mutual trust along with a few years of experience is paying off.