2019 Renault F1 Team

[garygph]

I am concerned for Ricciardo and his relationship within the Renault team, particularly with Abiteboul. Cyril has said some things to the media re Ric that I do not think was the right thing to do first thing in the season. Was this because he felt Ric was behaving like a prema donna and needed to be pulled down a peg or two? Or is it because there is a personality clash between them? Has Ric been surprised as to just how quick Hulk actually is?

However those are all the obvious questions but I do wonder if actually the problem is Abiteboul putting massive pressure to justify his cost in every way, making sure he is going to get every drop of blood out of this investment. This could be he pushed hard to for the budget to get Ric or he was made to take Ricat the cost of those funds going elsewhere. Now his car/engine is not that quick and he is under massive pressure. Ric could be the guy he is releasing his pressure on.

[Jambier]

I think we may have a hope of Abiteboul finally fired from RF1 this year.

I hope RIC can keep a bit of motivation, but he will realize soon that the only hope for Renault is 2022 and budget cap.
It's in a very long time. Until that he may not be able to even get a podium

[Manoah2u]

the only hope for Renault is kicking Abiteboul out all the way to the moon so he doesn't come back to f1 again.

[Mclarensenna]

I am concerned for Ricciardo and his relationship within the Renault team, particularly with Abiteboul. Cyril has said some things to the media re Ric that I do not think was the right thing to do first thing in the season. Was this because he felt Ric was behaving like a prema donna and needed to be pulled down a peg or two? Or is it because there is a personality clash between them? Has Ric been surprised as to just how quick Hulk actually is?

However those are all the obvious questions but I do wonder if actually the problem is Abiteboul putting massive pressure to justify his cost in every way, making sure he is going to get every drop of blood out of this investment. This could be he pushed hard to for the budget to get Ric or he was made to take Ricat the cost of those funds going elsewhere. Now his car/engine is not that quick and he is under massive pressure. Ric could be the guy he is releasing his pressure on.

Cyril should have been replaced years ago. To even slightly bash Ric after 1 race shows how much class Cyril he has which is nothing new from him. I have seen 100s of cars go on the grass but never seen a drain cause this much damage. The fault lies on the FIA or Australian track for having such a massive bump in the drain cause so much damage and not smooth it out somehow. That drain was a safety hazard.

In the interview Ric stated he hit the bump and did not realise the front wing came off as F1 drivers cannot see the front wing. Ric only realised when he started braking for the corner that something was actually wrong. I do not think i have ever seen a driver lose a front wing and try and brake and not lock up and go 30+ metres deeper as you lose so much front downforce and braking force. Yet Ric managed to stop the car as if the front wing was not even missing, something I have never seen before. No driver on the grid would have stopped that car under those circumstances. I am pretty sure most drivers would have taken out quite a few cars braking for that first corner in that situation. Ric is the best late braker I have ever seen and this further proved it. So no blame goes to Ric at all from what i can tell for Australia.

Cyril needs to go. He is not a leader who will inspire confidence in his drivers or engineers or workers. The Renault so far was nowhere in qualifying or race pace. It was 2 seconds slower than Bottas in race pace. Not even Alonso can do anything with a car so slow and we saw this 4 years in a row.
Renault has made no inroads at all as the race pace gap is same as last year. Maybe Bahrain they will show better pace but so far Renault and Cyril are a complete disaster.

[Enstone]

the only hope for Renault is kicking Abiteboul out all the way to the moon so he doesn't come back to f1 again.

+1 i think we're all agree with that !

They need a Wolff (not the animal) or a Horner at the head, someone with some ba... like Briatore during the winning era !

[carisi2k]

Daniel was only 8/1000ths behind nico in qualifying 2 in a car that nico knows really well and Dan never looked comfortable in at all during the weekend with seatbelt issues and traffic every time he was on it. The new car is not much different from the old car outside of the sidepod entry area and hopefully some updates will come to make them at least the fourth best team because that is the best they can hope for this year because the Red Bull is not coming back to the mid pack.

The other big worry is that fire in the back of Sainz's car. Is that a Mclaren problem or are Renault using a faulty MGU-K again.

Cyril should not have said what he said and kept it internal instead and together they learn a lesson and move on.

[Morteza]

the only hope for Renault is kicking Abiteboul out all the way to the moon so he doesn't come back to f1 again.

+1 i think we're all agree with that !

They need a Wolff (not the animal) or a Horner at the head, someone with some ba... like Briatore during the winning era !

They had Frédéric Vasseur whom I rate very highly. It was wrong to let him go and keep Cyril IMHO.

[Phil]

Daniel was only 8/1000ths behind nico in qualifying 2 in a car that nico knows really well and Dan never looked comfortable in at all during the weekend with seatbelt issues and traffic every time he was on it.

Dan was 8/1000ths behind Nicos first run on an evolving track, while Nico was sat in the garage and couldnt have a go.

[carisi2k]

Daniel was only 8/1000ths behind nico in qualifying 2 in a car that nico knows really well and Dan never looked comfortable in at all during the weekend with seatbelt issues and traffic every time he was on it.

Dan was 8/1000ths behind Nicos first run on an evolving track, while Nico was sat in the garage and couldnt have a go.

I think you had better check your facts as both Renault's went out for a second run again in Q2. Even the top 5 cars went back out again because of track evolution which is not normal. Nico didn't improve on his second run and he was definitely out there again. They just saw what happened to Gasly when he didn't go back out and so why would they keep nico in the pits. I think waiting for Bahrain and China is the best course of action.

[Capharol]

Daniel was only 8/1000ths behind nico in qualifying 2 in a car that nico knows really well and Dan never looked comfortable in at all during the weekend with seatbelt issues and traffic every time he was on it.

Dan was 8/1000ths behind Nicos first run on an evolving track, while Nico was sat in the garage and couldnt have a go.

I think you had better check your facts as both Renault's went out for a second run again in Q2. Even the top 5 cars went back out again because of track evolution which is not normal. Nico didn't improve on his second run and he was definitely out there again. They just saw what happened to Gasly when he didn't go back out and so why would they keep nico in the pits. I think waiting for Bahrain and China is the best course of action.

FYI ....
Phil was right...


1 min. later


(sorry that the pic is a bit blurry)

but it's clear Hulkenberg broke off that 2nd attempt and Ricciaiardo improved on his last attempt to a 1.22.570

[Raleigh]

First run was close, Nico on a 1:22:562 and Daniel on a 1:22:593. 2nd run Nico hit traffic at a bad point and aborted, Daniel improved slightly to a 1:22:570 but was unhappy with the lap and said he made errors.

Which checks out because the Renaults were 7/8 after first runs but fell to 11/12 after second runs where other cars improved. Magnussen for example gained 0.298 on his second run, Daniel only gained 0.023.

Either way very close between Daniel and Nico, both of them could have very easily been in Q3 on pace.

[Arunas]

IIRC Nico was over 0.3s in green on his second attempt before finding traffic in last turns.

[carisi2k]

Both of them struggled putting laps together throughout the weekend due to running in to traffic every turn they took. Nico's P1 issues and then Daniels P2 issues with his seatbelt didn't help either.

Just wait for Bahrain and China for a much better guide to where Renault stands.

[factory_p]

I am concerned for Ricciardo and his relationship within the Renault team, particularly with Abiteboul. Cyril has said some things to the media re Ric that I do not think was the right thing to do first thing in the season. Was this because he felt Ric was behaving like a prema donna and needed to be pulled down a peg or two? Or is it because there is a personality clash between them? Has Ric been surprised as to just how quick Hulk actually is?

However those are all the obvious questions but I do wonder if actually the problem is Abiteboul putting massive pressure to justify his cost in every way, making sure he is going to get every drop of blood out of this investment. This could be he pushed hard to for the budget to get Ric or he was made to take Ricat the cost of those funds going elsewhere. Now his car/engine is not that quick and he is under massive pressure. Ric could be the guy he is releasing his pressure on.

Cyril should have been replaced years ago. To even slightly bash Ric after 1 race shows how much class Cyril he has which is nothing new from him. I have seen 100s of cars go on the grass but never seen a drain cause this much damage. The fault lies on the FIA or Australian track for having such a massive bump in the drain cause so much damage and not smooth it out somehow. That drain was a safety hazard.

In the interview Ric stated he hit the bump and did not realise the front wing came off as F1 drivers cannot see the front wing. Ric only realised when he started braking for the corner that something was actually wrong. I do not think i have ever seen a driver lose a front wing and try and brake and not lock up and go 30+ metres deeper as you lose so much front downforce and braking force. Yet Ric managed to stop the car as if the front wing was not even missing, something I have never seen before. No driver on the grid would have stopped that car under those circumstances. I am pretty sure most drivers would have taken out quite a few cars braking for that first corner in that situation. Ric is the best late braker I have ever seen and this further proved it. So no blame goes to Ric at all from what i can tell for Australia.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't believe Abiteboul is an asset to RSF1, but I wonder if some of his comments have been taken out of context to create some drama in the press - just like we've seen Ricciardo's comment regarding his media commitments before the grand prix have been exaggerated.

I have only seen quotes in written articles. If there was an actual inteview where Cyril commented on Ricciardo's first weekend with the team I'd really like to hear it and have his comments in context. Because at the moment, it seems very stupid even by his standards...

[Mclarensenna]

I am concerned for Ricciardo and his relationship within the Renault team, particularly with Abiteboul. Cyril has said some things to the media re Ric that I do not think was the right thing to do first thing in the season. Was this because he felt Ric was behaving like a prema donna and needed to be pulled down a peg or two? Or is it because there is a personality clash between them? Has Ric been surprised as to just how quick Hulk actually is?

However those are all the obvious questions but I do wonder if actually the problem is Abiteboul putting massive pressure to justify his cost in every way, making sure he is going to get every drop of blood out of this investment. This could be he pushed hard to for the budget to get Ric or he was made to take Ricat the cost of those funds going elsewhere. Now his car/engine is not that quick and he is under massive pressure. Ric could be the guy he is releasing his pressure on.

Cyril should have been replaced years ago. To even slightly bash Ric after 1 race shows how much class Cyril he has which is nothing new from him. I have seen 100s of cars go on the grass but never seen a drain cause this much damage. The fault lies on the FIA or Australian track for having such a massive bump in the drain cause so much damage and not smooth it out somehow. That drain was a safety hazard.

In the interview Ric stated he hit the bump and did not realise the front wing came off as F1 drivers cannot see the front wing. Ric only realised when he started braking for the corner that something was actually wrong. I do not think i have ever seen a driver lose a front wing and try and brake and not lock up and go 30+ metres deeper as you lose so much front downforce and braking force. Yet Ric managed to stop the car as if the front wing was not even missing, something I have never seen before. No driver on the grid would have stopped that car under those circumstances. I am pretty sure most drivers would have taken out quite a few cars braking for that first corner in that situation. Ric is the best late braker I have ever seen and this further proved it. So no blame goes to Ric at all from what i can tell for Australia.

Don't get me wrong, I really don't believe Abiteboul is an asset to RSF1, but I wonder if some of his comments have been taken out of context to create some drama in the press - just like we've seen Ricciardo's comment regarding his media commitments before the grand prix have been exaggerated.

I have only seen quotes in written articles. If there was an actual inteview where Cyril commented on Ricciardo's first weekend with the team I'd really like to hear it and have his comments in context. Because at the moment, it seems very stupid even by his standards...

Cyril is a useless leader. Top leaders find solutions, weak leaders like Cyril blame the rules and want them changed to help them. Like Renault before threatened to quit if engines did not go hybrid. Then Mercedes hits it out of the park taking advantage of new rules and Renault just winges and complains again when it was their idea and they failed.

Renault has to increase budget big time if they ever want to compete. Get a title sponsor on the rear wing like Mercedes did with petronas and a few other good sponsors which nets Mercedes approx additional 50 million or so to spend on the car. Then get Renault board to contribute another 150 million but at the end of the day they will get it back. How?
Same way Redbull ends up costing Mateschitz less than Torro Rosso. Bigger sponsors, bigger prize money, and more importantly more advertising. Mercedes estimated they got 2 billion in free advertising after winning in 2014.

Its a win win. Renault would actually get a much better return and cost them less at the end of the day spending 500 million a year instead of 300 million. But Cyril still doesn't realise this. Instead of going to the FIA complaining to change rules again he should be going to the Renault board and tell them his plan that will actually save Renault money and win them a championship.