Silly season 2016

[PlatinumZealot]

According to Arai those empty promises were not realy promises at all; those were words of encouragement for his team and hope for the fans. He said he could not allow his team to lose morale so early in the battle.

[Sevach]

But now he reeeeally means it... Who's to say he's not doing more motivational speech then?
I'm not betting any money on Honda having a competitive engine.

[Joseki]

But now he reeeeally means it... Who's to say he's not doing more motivational speech then?
I'm not betting any money on Honda having a competitive engine.

It is safe to assume that having hired a few people from Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, having a lot more budget and people and a full year of testing they will improve by a significant margin.

[basti313]

It is safe to assume that having hired a few people from Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, having a lot more budget and people and a full year of testing they will improve by a significant margin.

Yes, they will improve for sure. No one doubts that. But they need 2sec in average to compete for Q3 next year.
I highly doubt that this is only achievable by an engine upgrade: They were not really much better in Monaco or Singapore. And they had gremlins all over the car, starting from the front breaks, over the electronics down to the gearboxes everything seemed to fail on this car.
Even if they come to power, how much is this power worth if they start from the end of the grid every third race as their engine parts need to be exchanged after two or three races?

[Sevach]

But now he reeeeally means it... Who's to say he's not doing more motivational speech then?
I'm not betting any money on Honda having a competitive engine.

It is safe to assume that having hired a few people from Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, having a lot more budget and people and a full year of testing they will improve by a significant margin.

No it's not.
Wasn't it against Honda culture to just hire people, Honda being pretty much dead against it?
And even if they were convinced to hire some guys (if you have some info about guys hired by Honda please share), they still need to be able to make it work within the token system and reasonable time to implement it (gardening leaves are looong these days, just look at the guy getting sued by Mercedes).

[ME4ME]

(gardening leaves are looong these days, just look at the guy getting sued by Mercedes).

It's because the guy tried to steal intellectual property

Also the amount of tokens for the season has increased. In-season development has been allowed and locked development areas have been unlocked. I'm no fan of Mclaren-Honda but it would be foolish to count them out on the back of what was mostly a testing season. As Alonso has stated, it is very clear what the problem is. They know what to do. The resources and the will are there. It's a matter of time.

[Joseki]

But now he reeeeally means it... Who's to say he's not doing more motivational speech then?
I'm not betting any money on Honda having a competitive engine.

It is safe to assume that having hired a few people from Mercedes, Renault and Ferrari, having a lot more budget and people and a full year of testing they will improve by a significant margin.

No it's not.
Wasn't it against Honda culture to just hire people, Honda being pretty much dead against it?
And even if they were convinced to hire some guys (if you have some info about guys hired by Honda please share), they still need to be able to make it work within the token system and reasonable time to implement it (gardening leaves are looong these days, just look at the guy getting sued by Mercedes).

http://www.f1analisitecnica.com/2015/11 ... e.html?m=1

Plus many (now dead) links on Race Staff.

[nokivasara]

I bet Renault will finish higher than Mclaren in the WCC 2016, at least if they get ALO.

But they won't get Alonso, certainly not in 2016.

As for you bet, I think Mclaren will quite easily beat Renault in 2016.

One can always hope

Maldonado had more points than ALO and BUT together last year so I'm not that sure of that. Mclaren Honda is aware of what needs to be done but who knows if they ever get it right, they also "knew" what to do several times throughout the last season but what came out of it? Utter garbage...
Mclaren hasn't been able to make a good car in years, before Honda they had Mercedes engines and that didn't help much.
But enough of that, I still hope for ALO to Renault

[Sevach]

(gardening leaves are looong these days, just look at the guy getting sued by Mercedes).

It's because the guy tried to steal intellectual property

Also the amount of tokens for the season has increased. In-season development has been allowed and locked development areas have been unlocked. I'm no fan of Mclaren-Honda but it would be foolish to count them out on the back of what was mostly a testing season. As Alonso has stated, it is very clear what the problem is. They know what to do. The resources and the will are there. It's a matter of time.

He's being sued for the IP, the gardening leave of 1 year plus has nothing to do with it, it's just standard behaviour in F1.
So unless Honda hired people from Mercedes/Ferrari/Renault before completing their first lap in testing, they won't be getting a lot of influx from them to affect 2016.

I'm not counting them out, but i am very skeptical about those promises of big performance jumps and "we know what the problem is", no matter who makes the claim.

[FrukostScones]

Oh no!

Maldonado in doubt over payment delay...

https://translate.google.de/translate?s ... t=&act=url

[PlatinumZealot]

It is total that is pushing him out I think. Renault wants to have more control over the branding of the car. And Total is a big partner of theirs.

[FrukostScones]

It is total that is pushing him out I think. Renault wants to have more control over the branding of the car. And Total is a big partner of theirs.

are you referring to this?

...But as time progressed, and with the deal to takeover Lotus drawing towards a conclusion, Renault then took stock of the sponsors it wanted to be associated with.

At the time there was still debate as to which sponsors to bring on board, that included Venezuela's state-owned oil and gas giant PDVSA that has supported Maldonado's motorsport career for many years.

Renault felt with significant livery changes to be made to the car - scheduled to be unveiled in early February - affecting the available space on it, that would in turn change the existing contract.
...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122473

strange wording... so maybe does Renault just want Maldonado out? Or just 50 Mio $ but no PDVSA stickers on the car...

so the payment probably is not late (I read they paid 2016 upfront to keep Lotus alive)... and they play a typical dirty game.

also, MAG is overrated ...didn't PER perform mich bette ragainst BUT than MAG did...

really strange wording...

[ScottB]

There's been political changes in Venezulea and with the oil price tanking, I can't imagine it being too big a leap for someone in the new government to question what they are gaining from funding Maldonado's endeavours...

[ME4ME]

also, MAG is overrated ...didn't PER perform mich bette ragainst BUT than MAG did...

You do realize Perez was in his 3rd F1 season and Magnussen in his first, right?

I think Kevin deserves another chance. Not immediately at a top team, but somewhere in the middle of the pack so he can prove his worth. Renault would be a good place for him.

[FrukostScones]

also, MAG is overrated ...didn't PER perform mich bette ragainst BUT than MAG did...

You do realize Perez was in his 3rd F1 season and Magnussen in his first, right?

I think Kevin deserves another chance. Not immediately at a top team, but somewhere in the middle of the pack so he can prove his worth. Renault would be a good place for him.

Golden boys always deliver. MAG is merely silver. or bronze?