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[myownalias]

A lot of assumptions being made there WB; Ferrari could be sandbagging and the Renault engine is fine with KERS, it's Adrian Newey's insistence on having a smaller than normal KERS unit that has caused most of the issues, I don't recall any issues with KERS on other Renault powered teams.

[geetface9]

We already know Ferrari is struggling with their power plant, and given the history of Renault engines and KERS, I highly doubt they'll be able to produce anything better, or even equal to the Mercedes unit on the grid.

I'd even say that when Honda shows up, they'd likely have the second best powerplant on the grid having had access to the Merc unit for the previous year.

Can you cite ferrari struggling with the power plant? Just curious since I haven't seen anything about it really

[What's Burning?]

A lot of assumptions being made there WB; Ferrari could be sandbagging and the Renault engine is fine with KERS, it's Adrian Newey's insistence on having a smaller than normal KERS unit that has caused most of the issues, I don't recall any issues with KERS on other Renault powered teams.

Not so, Renault suffered just the same, remember the issue with the Magnetti Merelli recovery motors burning out on both the Red Bull and the Lotus in the same race? Forgot when it was... Barcelona this year?

Ferrari has resisted the move to the new engine specs tooth an nail at every opportunity so I doubt seriously there's anything other than the truth when it comes to them and these engines.

We're WAY beyond KERS here with these things being a "power unit" not an engine and having four different energy recovery channels, this is not something they'll be able to play much with if at all for a couple of years.

So given that, I think the safe assumption to make is that Mercedes will have the best out of the box experience.

Perhaps Honda will be in a good position to out of the box surpass both Ferrari and Renault which will massively help McLaren at least short term.

[myownalias]

We'll have to wait and see; in reality there will probably be very little difference between powerplants from 2014 onwards, I am willing to bet that it'll be less that 2% performance difference!

Anyway, back on topic, JB for WDC in 2014

[geetface9]

A lot of assumptions being made there WB; Ferrari could be sandbagging and the Renault engine is fine with KERS, it's Adrian Newey's insistence on having a smaller than normal KERS unit that has caused most of the issues, I don't recall any issues with KERS on other Renault powered teams.

Not so, Renault suffered just the same, remember the issue with the Magnetti Merelli recovery motors burning out on both the Red Bull and the Lotus in the same race? Forgot when it was... Barcelona this year?

Valencia 2012

[CookinFlat6]

If Merc don't have the best engine, they will soon after, just like they caught up with the current one

If McLaren build a monster or even a chassis that beats Mercs with the in house engine I will eat my left rear Pirelli pzero

It's not like Mclaren just had one bad year, they are no longer able to match the top teams in anything and it's a pattern that will continue for at least 2 years maybe more

No one, except the factory teams next year has a chance of lucking into a 2009, it's all gonna be engine, reliability, packaging and ofcourse the ers delivering as advertised

[Hammer278]

If Merc don't have the best engine, they will soon after, just like they caught up with the current one

If McLaren build a monster or even a chassis that beats Mercs with the in house engine I will eat my left rear Pirelli pzero

It's not like Mclaren just had one bad year, they are no longer able to match the top teams in anything and it's a pattern that will continue for at least 2 years maybe more

No one, except the factory teams next year has a chance of lucking into a 2009, it's all gonna be engine, reliability, packaging and ofcourse the ers delivering as advertised

Yep, the engine suppliers who also run their own teams already have a massive head start into 2014. Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault (with Redbull probably) have the liberty to start working not only on their 2014 but also 2015 machines since they might have good estimates of the engine dimensions etc....the others are only going to be on 'wait and see' mode while working with rough estimates and its a bit like shooting an arrow in bad light.

Everyone will be playing catch up on these 3 teams, and almost none of them have the resources to catch up anyway. Lotus I think will be playing second fiddle to Redbull, unless Renault are fair with both teams and keep them updated every step of the way. Which I hope is what happens!

[Hammer278]

Button has no 2014 contract


Jenson Button has revealed he doesn't have a contract for 2014 signed but would like to stay at McLaren.

Having been with the team since 2010, Button is now its only world champion driver after Lewis Hamilton was replaced by Sergio Perez. However, with a vacancy at Red Bull and a potential seat at Ferrari, Button was asked about his own future and admitted he didn't have a deal signed with McLaren yet.

"I think I have a contract for next year but I don't think it has a signature on it yet!" Button said. "I really want to be here next year. You might think 'Wow, that's strange after this season', but I think this season has been good for us in a way. I think this will be a much stronger team next year so I want to be here next year. But - as you say - you haven't heard the confirmation of that yet from the team. I think you have to wait for that."

Asked about the seats that could be available, Button said Ferrari was the main opportunity for drivers.

"I think Red Bull is done. I think the Ferrari seat is a great opportunity for any driver in F1. To get the opportunity to race for a team like Ferrari is very exciting; what they've achieved, the passion within the team, the culture is very interesting, so I think it's a great opportunity and hopefully somebody who deserves it will get the drive."

Focusing on the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend, Button added that he was still optimistic that McLaren could fight for a top three finish at Spa.

"I think we have to be optimistic, and I am. I don't know where we are going to end up but I feel we should be aiming to fight for a podium. If we finish fifth and five seconds behind third I think I would be reasonably happy, but I don't want to be fifth or sixth and 30 seconds behind third. That's something that we would say we haven't made an improvement.

"So I think we should aim to fight for a podium, yes. I don't see any reason why not. I think we should put pressure on ourselves; we need it I think and I think we work well under it so I have no issue in saying that."

________________________________________

[LRW]

...."I think the Ferrari seat is a great opportunity for any driver in F1. To get the opportunity to race for a team like Ferrari is very exciting; what they've achieved, the passion within the team, the culture is very interesting, so I think it's a great opportunity and hopefully somebody who deserves it will get the drive.".....

Is he starting to lay the groundwork for his retirement-fund drive....?

[CookinFlat6]

"So I think we should aim to fight for a podium, yes. I don't see any reason why not. I think we should put pressure on ourselves; we need it I think and I think we work well under it so I have no issue in saying that."

Someone suddenly sounds like Alonso last year when he was galvanising and rallying the team.

Time to start talking to Marrussia methinks

[racechick]

Martin says they want to keep Button, does the usual Jenson is great routine , but then says "we need to sit down and talk about a few things" hmmm I wonder what? Just seems a strange interview to me.
https://twitter.com/skysportsf1/status/ ... 6346938368

[andrew]

Sounds like the standard team principle comments regarding contract renewals to me. Neither side will want to give anything away.

[What's Burning?]

Martin says they want to keep Button, does the usual Jenson is great routine , but then says "we need to sit down and talk about a few things" hmmm I wonder what? Just seems a strange interview to me.
https://twitter.com/skysportsf1/status/ ... 6346938368

They're going to offer him more money than they offered Lewis just to piss off Lewis fans.

[CookinFlat6]

Martin says they want to keep Button, does the usual Jenson is great routine , but then says "we need to sit down and talk about a few things" hmmm I wonder what? Just seems a strange interview to me.
https://twitter.com/skysportsf1/status/ ... 6346938368

Its about parity with Sergio on the pay front

MW 'because, you know Jenson, i really love you n all, but i cannot keep my job as well as yours, the Bharainis are asking questions and there is a certain 15 year old crown prince who had a good day at the go kart track recently. Now if i was to suggest cutting your wage more in line with errr, our, em, your points compared to Sergios, then you would actually have to pay to keep the seat. Sorry mate but its your salary or mine'
JB 'promise when Honda come along you will pay me more than Sergio, please, Martin, you still there?'

[myownalias]

You know what I find most amusing about this thread... the fact that most of the posts are made by the JB haters...

Please DD; can you make this a private thread that only RC, Hammer and Cookin can see?