FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[LewEngBridewell]

Wow! Just watched duel of the silver arrows... Review of the season and the chapunship battle. LOVED IT! Will have to watch that again, and again, and again, and again and again.......

Saw that too, on the BBC. Great little review.

[sagi58]

, Ben Anderson and Scott Mitchell wrote:">F1: Horner salutes "incredible" Mercedes

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes what Formula 1 rival Mercedes achieved in 2014 was "truly incredible."

The run of four straight drivers' and constructors' titles for Horner's squad was ended in emphatic fashion by Mercedes last season, with world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg winning a record 16 races between them.

Horner believes Mercedes deserves credit for leading from the front in F1's new era of hybrid turbocharged V6 engines, though it admitted it was braced for its own engine supplier Renault to lag behind the Silver Arrows.

"I think the difference to Mercedes was far bigger than we expected it would be," he said. "We feared that there was going to be a deficit, but nowhere near the scale we saw. I think first we need to congratulate Mercedes, who have done a truly incredible job with their power unit.

"I think we were in the worst of all situations with Renault in that we were uncompetitive with an unreliable engine. But credit to them for sorting the reliability out on the engine.It's now the performance deficit that we really need to focus on."

Red Bull bounced back from a calamitous pre-season testing program to win three races in 2014, though all came from new driver Daniel Ricciardo as quadruple champion Sebastian Vettel suffered his first winless campaign since his F1 debut half-season in 2007.

Though Vettel has now left for Ferrari, Horner believes Renault's restructuring and Red Bull's new works team status means the engine battle should be closer this year.

"I think Mercedes invested more strategically than Renault," he added. "It was something we were aware of and something we pushed Renault on, but unfortunately their management changes came too late to make an impact into this year. Hopefully they will make a big influence in the next few seasons.

"I think the philosophy to embrace Red Bull as the works team and to work as a partner as opposed to a customer was what needed changing, because the power unit needs to be fully integrated."

[racechick]

I find the words of Horner hollow and false. And I wonder how wise it is turn on your engine supplier in public.

[Hammer278]

I find the words of Horner hollow and false. And I wonder how wise it is turn on your engine supplier in public.

Looks more like another opportunity to knock Renault for Redbulls failures rather than giving credit to Merc, to me.

[CookinFlat6]

I find the words of Horner hollow and false. And I wonder how wise it is turn on your engine supplier in public.

Only spice girls groupies really take him at face value, funny how he has not commented at all on the massive result his propaganda achieved

This is what Renault say about Red Bull

The CEO Cyril Abiteboul admits shortcomings of its advanced V6 but the intransigence and trust measured as Red Bull Racing Renault door.
Cyril Abiteboul, appears somewhat critical of Red Bull Racing, with whom the French engine dominated the Formula 1 2010 and 2013. While acknowledging that the thermal V6 Viry-Chatillon " is not in the ter above suspicion , "the managing director of Renault Sport F1 believes that this finding may also be addressed to the chassis designed by Red Bull this season. " Sure.

Does it have the best frame? "asks the French manager in the columns of the magazine Auto Hebdo, published Wednesday . " It is said very sensitive to adjustments, unbalanced, a delicate operation of tires. Well, it is true that with more power, you can put more downforce and with more downforce, the chassis gaining in stability and keeping tires. This is why we must get out of this reciprocal permanent indictment to better work together and achieve the best performance in turn, more than the best engine power. " "As soon as we want to enter into a closer relationship, it is very complicated" Asked how he felt about the union with Red Bull Racing, Cyril Abiteboul does not really show satisfied. " Let's be clear, this is not good , he considers . We are unable to take our partnership to the level where I would like it to be: in terms of technology, marketing, respect, trust, transparency, positioning ... But I know well and I have a huge respect for what they do and what they built.

The problem is probably in this success and in the method. They operate either in the role of the absolute control of what they produce or in that of absolute customer waiting for the supply of finished product delivered, performance and optimal reliability and, if possible cheap. As soon as the we want to enter into a closer relationship, it's very complicated. " " Some couples may very well live well and others less well. For me it is a real disappointment. It is one of the goals I had set my roadmap back in Viry-Châtillon. Certainly, there are progress, but it is marginal , "he concludes.

And groupie spice himself, admits what will become apparent next year when he has no excuse for whinging about being held back

“I think Mercedes invested more strategically than Renault. It was something we were aware of and something we pushed Renault on, but unfortunately their management changes came too late to make an impact into this year, but hopefully they will make a big influence in the next few seasons.I think the philosophy to embrace Red Bull as the works team and to work as a partner as opposed to a customer was what needed changing, because the power unit needs to be fully integrated.”

aww hard cheese diedre, did you just work out that a drinks company is not in the same league as a real racing car manufacturer? But the bad rap they gave to Renault earlier in the season might not have helped them become a bigger influence in the next few seasons, maybe he needs to watch boiuler at mcLaren for lessons on how to big up your engine maker and make life easier for them....err hold on.......

[What's Burning?]

[youtube]mKDhllqWGCk[/youtube]

[racechick]

Mercedes on the trial and tribulations of staying ahead of the pack. Also a mention of the extra pressure brought about by providing absolute parity of equipment for the drivers.
http://www.racer.com/f1/item/112470-ana ... edes-faces

[racechick]

Because Mercedes did well, they've got to pay 5 mil to enter F1 in 2015

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... 015-season

[RyRy]

Because Mercedes did well, they've got to pay 5 mil to enter F1 in 2015

http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... 015-season

I didn't realise it was because they did so well, pretty weird I would have thought from an equality aspect they'd all pay the same

[racechick]

It goes on points scored, and Merceds scored a lot so they have to pay a lot. It is a weird way of going about business. Like you RyRy, I would have thought an entry fee is an entry fee, but this is the FIA.

[sagi58]

It's all pretty relative, isn't it? That $5M is about 5% of the prize money,
I'm sure Mercedes won't be missing it overly much!

[racechick]

I'm sure they won't, it's the principal of it rather than the 5 mil.

[sagi58]

Is it a new rule?

[racechick]

It changed from a flat rate fairly recently and I think the proportions you pay per points scored has just gone up.

[sagi58]

Thought I should look it up, just to clarify!

Apparently, the rules changed in 2013, so that the WCC team pays a flat rate ($500 000 USD) and an additional fee per point ($6 000 USD) and the other teams pay the same basic fee and a little less ("only" $5 000 USD) per point. That flat rate is up about $100 000 USD, with the per point fee being new since 2013.

Not surprisingly, there was an increase in the rates for 2015.