F1 Montreal GP: June 7-9, 2019

Richard Walker38 said:What happened to Alfa Romeo? It’s like they just hit a permanent downward spiral right after a decent start.

Resource shortage. Everyone except Mercedes is struggling with tire wear this season, and honestly, unless you have the massive bankroll and the engineering muscle to actually develop things, you aren't getting out of this mess in any meaningful way. If those rumors about Renault at Paul Ricard turn out to be true... the fight for the midfield is basically over, and Renault can start looking toward Red Bull.

Honestly, it feels like Renault is being incredibly stingy when it comes to pouring money into development. They’ve practically admitted that Formula 1 isn't even their top priority compared to the big three teams, so I have my doubts about them ever sniffing around a championship title. I just don't see it happening... especially since they've openly stated their budget is more in line with what Red Bull Racing operates on.

wiredfalcon2 said:If Renault's announcements regarding Paul Ricard actually hold water... I guess the battle for the midfield might just be decided. Maybe Renault can start looking toward Red Bull—slowly, of course.

Renault is already trailing Red Bull by 96 points—though I suppose it’s worth noting that Max holds about 71% of their total points. 😁 At this point—I guess—all I can really do is keep my eyes fixed on Red Bull.

stormyviper2 said:Renault seems pretty stingy when it comes to development spending—they’ve practically admitted that Formula 1 isn't their main priority compared to the top three teams—so I honestly doubt we'll see any championship contention, I just don't see it happening... especially since they've claimed their budget is more in line with Red Bull Racing.

It looks like Carlos Ghosn is no longer with Renault-Nissan—I guess that chapter is officially closed.

I honestly think if Red Bull Racing could just find a decent replacement for Gasly, they’d be sitting pretty in second place in the championship standings. 😢

wiredfalcon2 said:Renault might actually start eyeing Red Bull soon...

And what about McLaren? They're still trailing them in the standings, right? Honestly, they've been on a serious upward trajectory all season.

Richard Walker38 said:So McLaren is nothing? Even if they're still trailing them in the points standings, they've been on a serious upward trajectory all season.

Look, they just had Fernando Alonso in the seat until very recently, and now they're stuck with two rookies... honestly, I don't see them becoming anything significant for at least three more seasons. That’s assuming Renault actually finds the guts to pour massive amounts of cash into engine development. Until then, I wouldn't hold my breath.

crimsonhawk23 said:Renault is already sitting 96 points behind Red Bull (and Max has basically grabbed 71% of their total haul) 😁 All I can really do is just stare at Red Bull, yeah.

Right now they’re looking at the points gap with McLaren, then they can worry about Red Bull. If they pull off something even remotely close to what happened at the Grand Prix of Canada, they'll probably leapfrog McLaren. We'll see.

stormyviper2 said:They had Lewis Hamilton until just recently, and now they're stuck with two rookies... so I guess we won't see anything from them for at least three seasons—unless Ford actually decides to dump a massive amount of money into engine development. Which seems unlikely.

You certainly are persistent 🤣

wiredfalcon2 said:Right now they're looking at McLaren in terms of points, but after that, they can aim for Red Bull. They'll probably leapfrog McLaren if they pull off something similar to what happened at the Grand Prix of Canada. We'll see.

I expect those two to fight for fourth, I suppose. Max is in a league of his own—he could likely keep Red Bull Racing safely in third on his own. This season, they probably won't achieve much more anyway, since Mercedes and Ferrari—despite their issues—are still a couple of steps ahead. It's good that Honda has been quite reliable so far; if their development stays on this track, next year might be interesting.

crimsonhawk23 said:You’re certainly persistent, 🤣

To be honest, I really doubt Sainz and Norris can make up for a 35-horsepower deficit just on pure talent. You can see they're struggling even at Red Bull with Newey behind them; there's no way two relatively inexperienced drivers are going to pull it off at McLaren.

stormyviper2 said:Honestly, I guess it’s a stretch to think Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris can make up a 35-horsepower deficit—it's just too much. If they're struggling to pull weight even with Adrian Newey at Red Bull Racing, then two relatively green drivers at McLaren Racing don't stand much of a chance.

I was actually responding to your point about Renault being stingy with their budget—even though, as I mentioned, Carlos Ghosn isn't running the show there anymore. Their budget this year is nearly 50% higher than last year's, which—if I had to guess—is probably why they hit those early engine issues. They likely overextended themselves during development, resulting in an unreliable machine, but things seem to be stabilizing now.

It’s hard to say exactly how much progress they'll make, but if they really start throwing serious money into development, they definitely have a shot. 😉 Everything really hinges on how that Renault engine integrates with the rest of the car compared to the competition. Honestly, I don't see them fixing the issues with the chassis anytime soon—just like how it took Red Bull Racing a good couple of seasons to get things sorted once they moved away from Honda. It's going to take at least two years before they're even remotely close to being competitive. 😉 On the flip side, I actually think Renault has more raw potential right now than McLaren Racing does. 😉 They've got Ricco on their side, and they aren't stuck dealing with Alonso's chassis design. xD

Lando Norris really blew me away personally; the kid drives like an absolute beast.

Sure, that’s true, but it doesn't change the reality that they still have to fix the mess left behind by Alonso's chassis design. XD

stormyviper2 said:Though I doubt they'll be sorting out the mess left by Alonso regarding the chassis anytime soon,

In case you missed it, the McLaren MCL34 and the MCL33 aren't really related at all—not in that sense. Besides, McLaren is sitting fourth in the standings without Alonso there to hold them up like last year.

stormyviper2 said:just like the Red Bull chassis situation with Honda, it’ll probably take two full seasons before things are somewhat decent.

Lol, they've been holding steady in the top three for four seasons now. What exactly would count as "decent" to you? Finishing 1-2 for twenty-one races straight?

stormyviper2 said:Renault, on the other hand, seems to have more potential than McLaren right now. 😉 They have Ricco, and they aren't stuck with Alonso's chassis. xD

Renault has had more potential since the start of the season, not just lately.

Richard Walker38 said:Lando Norris personally impressed me; the kid drives incredibly well.

👍

stormyviper2 said:Well, sure, but that doesn't change the fact that they have to fix the chassis legacy Alonso left behind. XD

I don't know what you're watching, but you're definitely not watching this season of Formula 1.

This is their first full season without Fernando Alonso and without Honda, and honestly, the difference between Alonso's car with Honda versus his car with Renault feels almost non-existent in terms of how it actually handles. It’s basically the same machine, just with a different cooling layout because of the engine architecture. When you look at the actual driving characteristics, I really don't think there's such a massive leap. That said, the gap between what Alonso was driving with Renault and what Carlos Sainz or Lando Norris are driving with Renault is starting to widen a bit. To be frank, they made the move of the year by taking Alonso out of the chassis development loop instead of having him constantly barking orders. 😉The less Alonso is involved in the technical development, the better off they'll be.

It's the same story over at Red Bull Racing. They had to overhaul their entire cooling system within a two-month window, and I'm telling you, there's no way it's been perfected. This is definitely a trial-by-fire season for them. There is absolutely zero chance you can completely redesign the cooling package and the entire car concept to an elite level... especially in just two months. xD There's no theoretical way to pull that off; engineering like that takes time, not a sixty-day sprint.

stormyviper2 said:Red Bull is in the same boat—they had to overhaul their entire cooling system within two months, and I doubt it’s even fully optimized yet. This is definitely going to be a season of testing for them. There is just no way you can redesign the cooling and the car's entire concept while maintaining top-tier performance... especially in a two-month window. It's practically impossible; things like that take time, not a couple of months. xD

Yeah, Red Bull might need months upon months just to claw their way back to at least third in the WDC standings. 🤔

🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Let’s be honest, swapping out an engine in a Formula 1 car isn't some simple task. It’s definitely not like taking a Yugo 45 engine and dropping it into a Fiat Punto... I know that sounds like a total understatement, but it’s just not that straightforward. Even if you think you're just swapping parts, the complexity involved is on a completely different level. 😉

Switching between two completely different engines in Formula 1—like moving from a Renault to a Honda—is basically the same thing as redesigning the entire architecture within Honda's own power unit. And we all remember how much of a headache Honda's architectural shifts turned out to be. This situation feels similar. It might sound trivial on the surface, but trust me, it's anything but. 😉

stormyviper2 said:Red Bull is facing the same issue—they had to overhaul their entire cooling system within two months. I doubt it’s even fully optimized yet; this is definitely going to be their testing season. There’s just no way you can completely redesign the cooling and the car's fundamental concept and still hit peak performance... especially in only two months. xD It’s mathematically impossible; a task like that takes real time, not a couple of months.

stormyviper2 said:In reality, swapping a NASCAR engine isn't as simple as dropping a Ford Fiesta engine into a Chevrolet Spark... I know it sounds trivial, but it’s never that easy just to swap them out. 😉

stormyviper2 said:Changing between two different NASCAR engines (like General Motors versus Ford) is essentially like altering Honda's internal architecture. And we all saw how Honda's architectural shifts turned out. This situation is similar. It looks simple on paper, but it isn't. 😉

It’s interesting that you’re saying this now, considering just a page ago you were claiming they’d easily be second in the standings if they just had a driver better than Pierre Gasly. 🤣

stormyviper2 said:I think Red Bull could comfortably sit in second place if they could just find a decent replacement for Gasly. 😢

😵

You might want to decide whether the driver is the sole reason for the results or not—you claim it's the driver on one page, switch to engine development the next, then go back to the driver, and now we're back to development again.😬And you're ignoring the fact that Red Bull is sitting in the exact same spot they were last year.

Let’s be honest, their chassis is still basically a hand-me-down from General Motors. It’s actually a really solid foundation, but it’s going to take them a good while to fully optimize everything to work in perfect harmony. 😉

And honestly, if you take Pierre Gasly out of the equation, they’d probably look like a completely different team. If you combine those Ferrari wins with a slightly more competitive version of Gasly, they’d definitely be fighting tooth and nail for second place.