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Red Bull boss Christian Horner says he is concerned Formula 1 engine supplier Renault will start the 2018 season in a compromised specification for reliability.
Conscious of the new-for-this-season three-engine limit, Renault F1 managing director Cyril Abiteboul said the firm wants to take a zero risk approach to reliability.
But with Mercedes telling Motorsport.com late last year that it is close to producing a engine that can deliver a power output of 1000bhp, Horner suspects the four-time reigning world champion team could be "mighty".
"It is a concern," when asked by Motorsport.com for his response to Abiteboul's comments.
After overnight snow at the Circuit de Catalunya, the teams are back in very chilly conditions for the second day of testing.
Sebastian Vettel will be getting the first laps under his belt in the Ferrari SF71H, while Max Verstappen is behind the wheel of the RB14 for the first time after team-mate Daniel Ricciardo topped the timesheets and the lap count on the opening day.
Mercedes will be splitting duties again with Lewis Hamilton taking over from Valtteri Bottas this afternoon, which is when we will also see Robert Kubica in action for Williams.
There are also first runs for Esteban Ocon (Force India), Pierre Gasly (Toro Rosso), Kevin Magnussen (Haas), Stoffel Vandoorne (McLaren) and Charles Leclerc (Sauber).
Another team splitting duties once more are Renault, with Carlos Sainz and Nico Hulkenberg getting another four hours of track time each.
"We are not going to hang around forever," Abiteboul said when asked by Motorsport.com. "I know what Christian is referring to when he says that he has options.
"He's absolutely right. Like him I read contracts, and I know the obligation that we have towards the sport.
"There is one thing that is clear, and that is planning. And there will be a deadline for Red Bull Racing to define what they want for the future. It's available, it's in the Sporting Regulations.
"I believe that by the end of May there needs to be some clarity as to who is supplying which team – which supplier is supplying which customer team. As far as we are concerned, that will be the deadline."
Abiteboul confirmed that Red Bull only had to commit to Renault by that date, and not necessarily finalise details of a new contract.
Times
1. Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 98 laps – 1:19.673 (soft)
2. Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 94 laps – 1:19.976 (medium)
3. Stoffel Vandoorne McLaren 37 laps – 1:20.325 (hypersoft)
4. Max Verstappen Red Bull 67 laps – 1:20.326 (medium)
5. Carlos Sainz Renault 65 laps – 1:21.212 (soft)
6. Pierre Gasly Toro Rosso 82 laps – 1:21.318 (soft)
7. Robert Kubica Williams 48 laps – 1:21.495 (soft)
8. Sergey Sirotkin Williams 52 laps – 1:21.822 (soft)
8. Esteban Ocon Force India 79 laps – 1:21.841 (soft)
10. Charles Leclerc Sauber 81 laps – 1:22.721 (soft)
11) Kevin Magnussen Haas 36 laps – 1:22.727 (soft)
It is awesome and I will eventually be buying it. It has one little issue right now though. It will only be available through "desktop and web initially". I assume that means there will be a desktop app you can download or load it through a web interface. I don't want to watch a race on my computer I want to watch it in full HD on my 64in TV. I don't have a computer hooked to my TV at all. Not sure why bringing it to something like Roku, FireTV, Apple TV, and Chromecast wouldn't have been the first choice of release. Until it supports those I guess I am stuck watching whatever ESPN offers.
I find this pretty funny but this is really going to probably make the beginning of the season rather interesting. Has snow like this ever happened during the first set of tests before?
I was actually going to come in here today & see what any other 'cord cutters' were going to do for F1 access this season. We ditched UVerse this month & I guess I'll need to do a streaming service or the ESPN app to watch.
I'm with Colts, I want to watch on my new 65" 4K TV, not on my phone/computer.
I also just thought of something. I wonder how many devices can use the feeds at the same time. I would really like to have to main race feed on my TV and be able to look at driver cam feeds on my tablet. That would be really cool. I don't want to reduce the size of the main feed on my TV to view the other feeds. Plus on a plasma I can't have all those side bars on the screen for a super long time.
I find this pretty funny but this is really going to probably make the beginning of the season rather interesting. Has snow like this ever happened during the first set of tests before?
Wait. Will this F1 OTT mean that I won't be able to watch F1 on ESPN.com?
This is an interesting question I had not thought about. I won't be happy about this if it is the case. I get ESPN on my outdoor TV using the app as I don't have cable to the TV.
My concern is that sometimes if I travel, I might use the app to watch it. But if ESPN has zero streaming rights, then I might not be able to watch the race until I get home.
Didn't Cyril say that Renault was trying to focus on reliability during winter testing this year? So, what's up with Sainz and Nando today during (the last day of) testing?
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier explained the turbo problem which caused another stoppage for the team on the final day of pre-season testing.
“During the servicing last night they found a problem with the turbo so they put the turbo back from Tuesday on this engine last night,” he said.
“We had a turbo issue this morning which was related to the the chassis oil leak we had on Tuesday,” Boullier added. “This is now under investigation. We have changed the [power unit] so the car is running now which was the fastest way to get ready.”
The team has previously been delayed by electrical problems and has completed fewer laps than any of its rivals so far.
Boullier said the team had been “ambitious” with its design but insisted the problems it has had so far have been minor.
“We want to be competitive, we have an ambitious design around the car,” he said. “You can see the car is different from the other Renault-engined cars.”
“So far we have minor issues but I think that was because we didn’t do a good job enough to prepare the car. We were a little bit stretched in terms of lead time and delay but these are our issues. I think very quickly we’re going to get back to normal.”
“We did a race simulation yesterday without any issues. We are running now and there is no issues any more. We have adjusted our cooling and so far it works,” he added.
Meanwhile, about 1 hour left in 2018 winter testing.
Kimi in P1 (lap time of 1m17.221s) on "hyper-softs," Grosjean more than a second back (1m18.412s) in P2 on "ultra-softs," and Bottas in P3 (lap time just under 1m19s) on medium tyres ....
02-25-2018, 10:32 AM
