0:08 - Mercedes Claim Ferrari Are Sandbagging 1:04 - Ricciardo Open To Leaving Renault But Would Prefer to Stay
2:43 - Fast Feed
Mercedes Claim Ferrari Are Sandbagging
Ferrari topping the timing sheets during testing had become the norm in past years but they have been somewhat underwhelming in this year's testing. Many believe that this is a case of sandbagging and Ferrari hiding their true pace.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff is one of them and pointed out the performances of Ferrari's customer teams as an indicator of Ferrari's true potential.
"You can see what the Ferrari engine is able to do at Alfa Romeo and Haas. Ferrari's top speed is far from that. There's probably a second in there."
However, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto vehemently denied any such pace advantage
"That is not a correct comment. They [Mercedes] seem to know pretty well what we are doing, but that is not the case."
“We believe that we are not the fastest car at the moment, so I think on lap time we will be behind at the start of the season."
Only Melbourne will reveal where the truth actually lies.
Ricciardo Open To Leaving Renault But Would Prefer to Stay
There are some drivers who are highly valued in the driver market and many see Renault driver Daniel Ricciardo as one of them.
It is, therefore, imperative for Renault to make the prospect of staying at the team attractive post-2020 when Ricciardo's contract with the team will expire.
4-time F1 champion Alain Prost explained what Renault need to do to get Ricciardo to re-sign with them
"First of all we need to make 2020 much better than 2019, in terms of reliability of the car and the engine, which I think should be much, much better.”
"In terms of development, we need to show what we are going to get on the car in Melbourne, Vietnam and Holland are going to be there. Last year we brought a lot of different things, especially middle of the season, that didn't work well."
He also seemed confident that Ricciardo already knows the effort Renault are putting behind their car
"If you see the performance of the car, you are happy, you are confident, so we need to show that."
"And he knows much more of what we are doing for next season on the chassis side and the engine also because we have a completely new engine."
Daniel Ricciardo had his own candid take on the matter. While he will keep his options open, he wants thinks to work out with the French team.
"I will answer calls, for sure. But I most importantly want this to work."
"I don't want it to feel like I've just come to Renault, got away from Red Bull and then I'm just looking for the next best thing. I really want to make this happen and make it work.”
And is hopeful that the partnership continues beyond this year, and feels that it is too early to think about other options just yet.
"Hopefully [we] get enough out of it that the journey continues beyond my two-year contract. That's the ideal scenario. To talk about other what-ifs, and the future, it's still too early, you don't want to rock the boat."
Fast Feed
- "The F1 race in Hanoi in 2020 will take place as planned" as per the CEO of the Vietnam Grand Prix Corporation
- The 2020 Racing Point car has the potential to ‘be the most solid package in my career’ as revealed by the team's driver Sergio Perez
- Williams driver George Russell is of the opinion that Mercedes have other things on their 2020 car "that are similar to DAS, which can't be seen "with the naked eye."
- He also had some positive things to say about his own car which is "more consistent and nicer to drive"
- Red Bull driver Alex Albon has revealed that the team "had a small issue with the suspension and lost a bit of time" as testing continued but is confident that they are "still on a good footing and haven't really fallen behind"
- Alfa Romeo's test driver Robert Kubica has reported that the "car felt better compared to last week" after setting the fastest time during the second test's first day.
- Mercedes technical director James Allison has said that the team were able to test their car at a level that would be “near-impossible once the first race of the Formula calendar in Melbourne begins"
- Honda Racing F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe confirmed that they are "in a phase of fine tuning" their 2020 engine
- The Zandvoort circuit which will be returning to the F1 calendar this year has been described as a racetrack that "would be really formidable to drive" and one "that has no equal at any other racetracks"
- Renault's former test driver Sergey Sirotkin doubts that Esteban Ocon will ”be better" than former driver Nico Hulkenberg was
- Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey has indicated that “there’s been positive steps" regarding a race in Miami and the focus is still "on trying to get things in place for 2021"
0 Comments