Bahrain GP 2016

Bahrain GP 20165 in a row for Rosberg

Nico Rosberg scored his 5th consecutive win at the Bahrain GP to maintain his perfect start to 2016. Kimi Raikkonen came home 2nd, breaking the record for podium finishes at the same race, whilst Lewis Hamilton had to recover yet another race to finish 3rd. It was another solid 4th for Daniel Ricciardo and Romain Grosjean went one better than he did in Australia, bringing his Haas home in 5th. Max Verstappen was 6th for Toro Rosso, with the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas coming in 7th and 8th. Dani Kvyat was 9th after starting 18th and Stoffel Vandoorne was 10th on his McLaren debut, deputising for the injured Fernando Alonso. It was a day to forget for Sebastian Vettel however as his engine starting smoking on the formation lap and didn't make it to the start.

This failure for Vettel was one of a few incidents that robbed the fans of a potential fascinating battle for the victory, which Rosberg took comfortably in the end. At the start, Rosberg once again got the jump on Hamilton, whilst Raikkonen was almost static and fell back. In the run down to turn one, the fast starting Williams’ were right up there with the Mercedes’, and Bottas tried to go up the inside of Hamilton before with him, causing the Mercedes body damage. The result of this saw Hamilton fall back down the field and another damage limitations drive was needed for the World Champion. Bottas also received a drive through penalty for causing a collision, something I believe was harsh simply because there was definitely a gap for Bottas to try and go for. This, along with Raikkonen's poor start, allowed Rosberg to control the race from the front again and win comfortably. Had Vettel started, Hamilton avoided contact, and Raikkonen started well, it could have been an absolute cracker up front. A significant thing with this victory is the number five. No driver has ever won five races in a row and not won the World Championship. A sign perhaps?

After another shocking qualifying session, the racing again was exciting to watch, albeit not at the front where everyone wants it. Easily from 4th down to last place, cars were going up the inside, around the outside, any possible way just to make up one place, even if it was just for 11th, 12th or 13th. Pascal Wehrlein was a superb example of this throughout the race, eventually finishing in 13th place and showing the progress the Manor team are making with the Mercedes engines. Amongst all the overtaking, bits of front wing and everything else seemed to be flying all over the place. By the end of lap 1 Hamilton was missing bits of car, as was Bottas and Ricciardo. Sergio Perez also had a collision resulting in a new front wing. Formula 1 had turned into a demolition derby for a few laps at least.

Reliability an Issue for Ferrari

Sebastian Vettel's failure on the formation lap at the Bahrain GP is the second reliability issue the team has had this season. In Australia, Kimi Raikkonen had some kind of engine issue which saw flames shoot out from the overhead air duct. Vettel also had issues in practise that looked like engine or gearbox but turned out to be a loose wheel. Even the fact that a loose wheel was the culprit, it still shows that Ferrari have issues. A problem with the wheel gun and the wheel nut was the issue in Bahrain. The most concerning however would definitely be the engine issues that seem to be plaguing the team. They have clearly made progress with the power unit and closed the gap to Mercedes.

The fact that they seem unwilling to run the car to full capacity with regards to the engine shows that the team are aware of this, even if they don't want to openly admit it. Sebastian Vettel has came out and said that the team are surprised by their reliability issues. These engine troubles could also have ramifications for Sauber and Haas who both run 2016 Ferrari engines. For their season to have a real title push, they really need to sort this out fast, or risk losing more ground to Mercedes.

Haas F1 Fallout?

After the Bahrain GP I posted a question on twitter asking should the likes of Williams, Force India and Sauber feel aggrieved by the fantastic start the team have made to F1 life? It prompted many different responses ranging from definitely yes, to absolutely not. Personally I don't think they should. What the Haas team has done should be the new blueprint for any team wanting to compete in Formula 1. In 2010 when Caterham (Team Lotus), HRT and Virgin Racing came to the grid with no proper financial backing or plan it was a disaster waiting to happen. HRT and Caterham failed to score a single point in Formula 1 during their short tenures in the sport. Virgin Racing have had two name changes, now running under the Manor name and have scored just two solitary points in this their 7th season. Haas in just two races have scored 18 points. The idea of planning out the team and setting it up the way Gene Haas has should be applauded. Essentially they are a Ferrari B team with the amount of Ferrari equipment that has been used and using former Ferrari test driver Esteban Gutierrez as one of its drivers. Williams have been vocal in their opposition to the way Haas have entered F1 but fail to mention that they started in very similar fashion. I can see the point of view of Force India and Sauber a bit more as they have been completely independent since joining F1, and never made a secret of the financial difficulties they've encountered. It was even rumoured at Bahrain that the next race in China could be one too many for the Sauber team, something I pray is not true. But what's done is done now, and it is up to these teams to play catch up or maybe try and strike similar deals elsewhere. 

Australian GP 2016

Ferrari Ruin Vettel's Chances of Victory

The 2016 Formula 1 season kicked off at the traditional curtain raiser in Australia, and saw Nico Rosberg continue where he left off in 2015 securing his fourth consecutive win. Team mate Lewis Hamilton finished in 2nd with Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel finishing 3^rd. But how different the story could have been… After the farce that was qualifying on Saturday, the race certainly made up for it as there was action throughout up and down the grid. From the lights going out there was action. The Mercedes pair were sluggish off the line, which allowed Vettel, who made a superb start, to breeze past them like they were not there. His team mate, Kimi Raikkonen also got past both silver arrows. By turn three, Rosberg was 3rd and Hamilton was 6th, behind the Williams of Felipe Massa. Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz occupied 4th and 5th as the race settled down. Hamilton made ground but struggled against the two stubborn Toro Rosso drivers who held their own brilliantly. Vettel was comfortable out front, until a turning point in the race occurred on lap 17. At turn 3, Esteban Gutierrez moved slightly left on Fernando Alonso, which saw the double World Champion plough into the back of the Haas driver, which caused the car to flip and fly through the air. The car was a total wreck but Alonso got out and thankfully walked away unharmed. The incident was so huge the red flag had to be brought out and the race was suspended while the marshals cleaned up the track. Just prior to this accident, pit stops were being made, or just about to be made. Hamilton switched to the medium tyre, whereas most others stayed on the super-softs or the softs. During the red flag, teams are allowed to work on the car, change tyres, whatever they please. Many teams decided to change to the medium tyre here, which would allow them to go to the end of the race. Ferrari opted not to put Vettel on these tyres, instead keeping him on the super-softs. When the race restarted, it was clear almost immediately that the two Mercedes would have the advantage. Rosberg would keep pace with Vettel whilst Hamilton, once in clear air, would hunt down his team mate. Vettel pitted and came out behind the Mercedes pair but was left with too much to do and could only finish third. What started out as a fantastic race ended in disappointment for the German. Had they mirrored the Mercedes pair, I am positive that Vettel would have went on to win comfortably.  

Behind all of this, home favourite Daniel Ricciardo finished a brilliant 4th for Red Bull with Felipe Massa finishing 5th. Story of the day though was Romain Grosjean scoring points on the Haas team's debut with a brilliant drive to 6th. He held off Nico Hulkenberg's Force India and Williams' Valtteri Bottas, who finished 7th and 8th, ahead of the Toro Rosso pair of Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen who were 9th and 10th. Jolyon Palmer had a solid debut for Renault on their return as a constructor to finish 11th, with team mate Kevin Magnusson behind him in 12th. Sergio Perez, Jenson Button, Felipe Nasr and Pascal Wehrlein rounded off the classified drivers.

Toys Out of the Pram at Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso were considered dark horses coming into the Australian GP after having an impressive pre-season in Barcelona. This pace was seen throughout the weekend, despite the team running a 2015 Ferrari spec engine. Verstappen qualified 5th with Sainz 7th, showing how impressive that new car really is. From the off, both drivers showed their talent and the potential of the car with Verstappen running 4th and Sainz keeping Hamilton behind him for a long period of time. After the red flag, both drivers found themselves outside the points due to pitting before the flag came out. The result of this was toys out of the pram from Verstappen. Verstappen was stuck behind his team mate and behind Palmers Renault, which angered the young Dutchman. Sainz's inability to move saw Verstappen use some colourful language over the radio to vent his anger. For me this was unnecessary and showed Verstappen's inexperience. We saw last season how good Verstappen was with regards to overtaking and he showed have applied this during the race. I believe this is an area that the team need to work on with Max to help his development so this incident is not repeated, although I can see repeated incidents occurring in the future.        

Haas with a Cracking Debut

It was a debut to remember for the new Haas F1 team as Romain Grosjean scored a brilliant 6th place. His team mate Esteban Gutierrez was not as fortunate as his tangle with Alonso saw him retire, but Grosjean stood out with his points finish. During testing the team looked like it had a decent outfit but technical issues were scuppering them. Qualifying did not look promising either, as both drivers qualified way back in 19th and 20th. However Grosjean showed exactly why he was brought in by Gene Haas as he put in a confident drive to score points on the team’s debut. He was maybe helped by the red flag in which he chose to put on the medium tyres and went until the end. Grosjean took everything in his stride and showed just how good of a driver he is. Haas's result was the best by a new constructor since Brawn in 2009 and the best by a brand new team since Toyota in 2002.

Qualifying Shambles

Formula 1's new elimination style qualifying system was nothing more than a total failure. It was an intriguing concept and one that seemed would work on paper, but when put into practise, it was an absolute shambles. The teams gave off the impression that they didn't understand how the system worked, with a lot of drivers not even having enough time to complete a lap when on the brink of elimination. The cameras would also only focus on the driver that was on the brink of elimination, so the fans were deprived of seeing stunning laps from Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. What was also frustrating for the fans, was the lack of graphics indicating the time left before elimination occurred, although this was rectified during the session. On top of this, we saw drivers exiting cars when the they still involved in the session, but were timed out due to errors by the teams. To top this shambolic start to the season, we had the top eight shoot out finish with four minutes or so remaining! Both Ferraris only ran once and then got their drivers out the car, not posing any more threat to the Mercedes pair, who ran twice and then left the car. Fans were left with no action for the final four minutes of qualifying, which is simply shocking. This new system was meant to shake up a Saturday, to add a bit of spice ready for Sunday. All it has given is an already dwindling audience yet another reason to dwindle. It produced nothing along the lines of excitement, and it was seemingly just like the grid fans and pundits would have predicted before the start of the weekend. Thankfully discussions took place before the race on Sunday and it seems the unanimous decision is that the teams will revert to the old system for Bahrain.     

Abu Dhabi GP 2015

Rosberg Spring Stepping into 2016

Nico Rosberg's stunning end to 2015 was capped off with the first victory hat-trick of his career as he won the Abu Dhabi GP. A habit since winning his third World Championship, Lewis Hamilton came home second behind his team mate. It was another comfortable victory for Rosberg, who has won every race since Hamilton took the title in October. This brilliant run of form at the end of the season has seen Rosberg not only win races, but record six successive pole positions and see his total career wins move onto 14. Most importantly though, his confidence going into 2016 will be high.

Rosberg finished 8.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton, who once again opted for a different strategy to try and find a way past Rosberg, only to fall short again. Rosberg made his second stop on lap 31, which saw Hamilton stay rather than pit a lap later. Hamilton's aim was to try and extend the life of his soft Pirelli tyres, which resulted in an exchange of words between Hamilton and the pitwall over whether or not he could go to the end, not for the first time this season. The resulting decision saw Rosberg close in rapidly, forcing Hamilton to pit for the second time on lap 41. Oddly, Hamilton took on used soft tyres rather than the super-softs, seeing him fall back 12.5 seconds on Rosberg. Hamilton did produce another brief attack on his team mate, but in the end it was for nothing as he finished behind Rosberg again.

Behind the ever dominating Mercedes pair, (scoring a record 12th one-two of the season) Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen finished on the podium for only the third time this season. Brilliantly for Raikkonen, he finished ahead of team mate Sebastian Vettel, who came from 15th on the grid to finish 4th. The Force India pair of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez finished 5th and 7th, with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo between them in 6th. Felipe Massa came home in 8th, after another average race for the Williams team. In his final race for Lotus before a switch to Hass in 2016, Romain Grosjean came from 19th on the grid to score a 9th place finish. Rounding off the top 10 was Daniil Kvyat for Red Bull.

Impressive Race ends Impressive Season for Many

This season, there have been many impressive performances by so many drivers. This trend continued at the final race in Abu Dhabi. Sebastian Vettel's problems in qualifying saw him start down in 15th. He opted for a different strategy of soft-soft-super-soft which saw him tear his way through the field on his way to fourth. This strategy saw him out of sync with his main rivals, but it still got him into fifth place after his second stop before catching Perez's Force India for fourth with ten laps remaining. Vettel's first season with Ferrari has been brilliant, and he will be hoping for more success in 2016.

Sergio Perez is another who ended an impressive season on a high. Starting on the second row, he couldn't quite match the pace of the Ferrari's over a long distance, but he did manage an impressive fifth place to consolidate a best ever ninth position in the Drivers Championship.

Although nothing compared to 2014, Daniel Ricciardo's run to 6th place capped off a solid campaign. Had the engine in his Red Bull been up to scratch over the season, he would have made a big impact in the championship picture.

He was involved in a frantic opening lap in the midfield pack, but couldn't quite get ahead of team mate Kvyat. Ricciardo drove a solid race whereas Kvyat faded out during the course of the race and faded into 10th place.

Starting his final race for Lotus at the back of the grid, Romain Grosjean opted for a similar tyre strategy to Vettel, which managed to get him into contention for points. He made the most of super-softs in the closing stages and passed both Max Verstappen and Kvyat to finish a superb 9th. After all the problems that Lotus have encountered this season, Romain Grosjean's performances are something that have caught the eye. Hass have a very talented driver coming on board for their 2016 debut.

Stars and Flops of 2015

Every year in Formula 1 there are teams, and drivers, who stand head and shoulders above the rest. This year, without a doubt it has to be the Mercedes team and Lewis Hamilton. The team has went from strength to strength following their dominance in 2014, notching up a record 12 one-two finishes and having an almost bullet proof car. The car they produced helped Lewis Hamilton equal Sir Jackie Stewart's three World Championships and produce some outstanding drives. Most notably his drive in Silverstone, where he overcame the Williams pair of Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas and the great British weather to record a famous win.

I could easily pick Sergio Perez and Force India for their fantastic efforts over the season, but Max Verstappen needs a serious mention simply because, at 17 years of age, what he has done this season is nothing short of tremendous. He has driven with the confidence of a multi World Champion and some of the over takes he has performed over the year have been jaw dropping. What sticks out for me is his overtake at Spa at nearly 200mph around the outside of Felipe Massa. A minor blip came at Monaco where he caused an accident on lap 64 with Romain Grosjean at turn 1. Other than that it was a fantastic rookie year. This man will be a World Champion before he is 21, if he is given the proper equipment, whether it is at Red Bull or Ferrari in the years to come.

While there were plenty stars of 2015, there were also flops. None more so than McLaren. I have written so much over this season about how bad that car has been. Tragic would not be an over exaggeration. It has seen Fernando Alonso finish with his lowest ever points tally, and pushed Jenson Button into thinking of retiring. The outrageous notion that the team improved over the season, I think, is ridiculous. At the tracks where engine power was not the defining factor, they faired reasonably well. However too many tracks were engine power focused. This led to many outbursts from Fernando Alonso about the quality of the car even referring to the engine as a "GP2 engine". 2016 surely cannot be any worse? Something has to be done engine wise, or else the team will be further behind. I do not think that Alonso would want to hang around to endure another season like 2015.

Japanese GP 2015

Mercedes Bounce Back From Singapore Slump

Lewis Hamilton consolidated his lead at the top of the drivers' championship after a dominating drive saw him take victory at the Japanese GP. His closest challenger and team mate Nico Rosberg came home in 2^nd with Sebastian Vettel taking the final podium place. For Hamilton and Mercedes, it was back to business in Japan after the horror show of Singapore. A heavy crash in qualifying for Dani Kvyat prevented Hamilton from taking pole position from Romberg, but it didn't take Hamilton long to take the lead. A brilliant start from Hamilton allowed him to get alongside Rosberg into turn 1 and muscle his way into the lead. From then on, it was like a Sunday afternoon drive for Hamilton as he edges closer to a 3^rd World Championship. The result also saw Hamilton equal his hero Ayrton Senna's record of 41 grand prix victories. The joy was evident on Hamilton's face as he received his trophy in front of the thousands of Japanese fans.

Behind the Mercedes pair, the Ferrari pair also enjoyed another strong afternoon, even though they couldn't match the Mercedes for pace. Kimi Raikkonen beat fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas to 4th place, whilst Nico Hulkenberg came from 13th on the grid to finish a brilliant 6th. A stand out result, and possibly the most needed one, was the Lotus double points score with Romain Grosjean finishing 7th ahead of Pastor Maldonado. It was a difficult weekend for the team, whose equipment was late in arriving and were locked out of their hospitality unit all weekend. Things were so bad that Bernie Ecclestone stepped in to feed the team. Hopefully the Renault buy-out of the team will happen very soon. The Toro Rosso pair rounded off the points places, with Max Verstappen 9^th and Carlos Sainz 10^th after starting 17^th and colliding with the pit lane bollard. It was a torrid day for Red Bull, with Dani Kvyat starting from the pit lane after his huge crash in qualifying and finishing a lowly 13^th. Team mate Daniel Ricciardo finished 15^th after starting 7^th, but a collision with Felipe Massa as they went through turn 1 meant he had to pit for repairs.

Rosberg Not Tough Enough

For the second season running, Lewis Hamilton has proven how good he truly is. For the second season running, Nico Rosberg has shown how good he can be but, unfortunately for Rosberg, he is nowhere near Hamilton's level. The difference between Hamilton and Rosberg is that Hamilton is so much more consistent and willing to win at all costs. The aggression that he produced at turn 1 to get past Rosberg is the real difference between the two drivers. Had those roles been reversed, I don't believe Rosberg would have shown the same ruthlessness as Hamilton. Both have the same machinery, but only one has that win-at-all-costs attitude. Rosberg's conservatism has cost him many times this season, and it did so again at the Japanese GP. When Hamilton overtook Rosberg, Rosberg managed to slip to 4^th place behind Sebastian Vettel and Valtteri Bottas, and ultimately cost him any chance of catching and passing Hamilton. He did well to get past Bottas and eventually undercut Vettel at the pit stops, but after that there was nothing he could do to get near Hamilton, let alone pass him. We've seen over the years Hamilton's ability to get quick laps in when they are needed, but in Rosberg's case he hasn't been able to deliver in that respect. Rosberg's body language has a defeated look to it, and he will want this season to end so he can go away over the winter and look at ways to improve himself and come back in 2016 a better driver.

Alonso in New McLaren Outburst

It's fair to say, Fernando Alonso's return to McLaren hasn't went the way the Spaniard would have liked. 11 points scored all season, seriously down on power and reliability issues the length of my arm, you can understand why the double World Champion isn't a happy man. His latest outburst over the team radio at the Japanese GP, Honda's home grand prix, has left many wondering if Alonso will be in F1 at all next year, never mind at McLaren.

Alonso finished a lap down in 11th place after describing his team's performance during the race as very embarrassing. His damning verdict came early in the race whilst he was briefly running in the points, but was passed with ease by Carlos Sainz's Toro Rosso and Marcus Ericcson's Sauber. Both moves were in the DRS zone going into turn 1, with the Honda power unit showing how much power it was lacking. To make matters worse for Alonso and the team, Max Verstappen also overtook Alonso at the same point leading to Alonso calling his engine a GP2 engine. This latest outburst from Alonso did not go down well with Ron Dennis, the McLaren CEO, who came out and said he was unhappy with Alonso's remarks. Alonso is adamant that he will see out his contract with the team, which has another two years to go. However, I can see another early divorce for Alonso and McLaren if the team don't improve next year. If the team struggles in the final 5 races the way they have all season, it may happen even sooner. 

Belgian GP 2015

Hamilton Bounces Back In Style

After a shocking Hungarian GP before the summer break, Lewis Hamilton bounced back to dominate the Belgian GP. It had looked as though team mate Nico Rosberg was going to be the man to beat during the weekend, until Saturday morning practise where Hamilton found his groove. He showed his dominance by gaining a half second gap to team mate Rosberg in qualifying thanks to two utterly fantastic laps. From then, Hamilton never looked back and had the race under control from start to finish. Although Hamilton and Rosberg are in identical machinery, Hamilton's sheer dominance over Rosberg leaves a feeling that the final run in for the title may be a procession. Rosberg has been very open about his team mates superiority, which is slightly unnerving. We have seen over the course of the season that Rosberg can challenge Hamilton on the track, but something seemed to be different over the Spa weekend. Hamilton was in a different race to his team mate and, of course, the rest of the field. Rosberg's pursuit of Hamilton near the end of the race where he was closing in was only due to Hamilton easing off under the instructions of the team. Rosberg has to go away and have a think about how he can beat Hamilton, and actually believe he can beat, him or the title race will be over sooner rather than later.

Pirelli Forces to Defend Tyres

Two huge 190mph tyre blowouts for Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel over the weekend have forced Pirelli to come out and defend their tyres, not for the first time during their spell in F1. During practise, Rosberg's tyre blew spectacularly and he somehow managed to keep it out of the wall. Worryingly, onboard camera shots show Rosberg's tyre starting to tear away near the beginning of the lap, not blowing until near the end. Vettel's tyre blew right near the end of the race where a podium could have been on the cards for the Ferrari driver. This led Vettel to deliver a damning verdict on the tyre supplier. As usual however, Pirelli's attempt to come out and explain themselves hasn't done them any favours. Even if Pirelli are right in what they say, they simply won't win the argument. Pirelli's motorsport director, Paul Hembery, came out and said that they had issued a pre-race warning to the teams indicating that the anticipated life on the medium tyres would be 40 laps, almost the entire race distance. The problem for Pirelli here is that Vettel's medium tyre blew after just 28 laps. Pirelli then issued a press release on the Sunday night stating that in 2013, they had sought it impose a lap limit for their tyres that would have restricted a single stint to 50% of a full race distance. The fact that Pirelli are looking back to the last time nude blowouts were occurring for their excuse is sure to put more scrutiny on the Italian company, who insist they want to stay in F1. After this latest series of blowouts, surely the teams will have concerns heading into the Italian GP where the high speed straights and corners may have a huge effect on tyres once again.

Grosjean Lifts Debt Crippled Lotus

Over the weekend, rumours were circulating that the Lotus F1 cars were to be impounded as the Enstone team's financial problems hit critical point. Even with Pastor Maldonado's Venezuelan oil backing the team, things are really bad at the team. So, for Romain Grosjean to score his and the teams first podium since the American GP in 2013 was something special. The fact the place was secured after Vettel's tyre failure is irrelevant, as Grosjean was nailed on to claim third even after his five place grid penalty. Grosjean was fantastic all race and was constantly there, or thereabouts, all race. It was fitting his podium came at Spa, as this was the track in 2012 where the Frenchman earned himself a race ban after causing a first lap pile up, which also led to Mark Webber labelling him as a "first lap nutcase".

This certainly seemed to be the turning point in Grosjean's F1 career because he has slowly became one of F1's most underrated drivers, who deserves a lot more than he is getting at Lotus at the minute. He openly admits to working with a sporting psychologist since the incident, and it seems to be working an absolute treat for Grosjean. Lotus' trackside chief, Alan Permane revealed that Grosjean's grid penalty was a result of the team only being able to afford three gearbox units for the 2015 season, again showing the crippling financial problems for the team. The car itself is good, and it showed this at the weekend as both drivers qualified in the top 8 in Spa. At the moment, Renault look like Lotus' best and only hope of avoiding administration. I certainly hope that Renault buy out the team as it would be a huge shame to see the famous team vanish from its Enstone base where it has held the team under all of its previous guises.  

Red Bull and Renault Finally Set for Divorce?       

Rumours have been circulating that Red Bull are looking for a different engine supplier for 2016, and frankly, who could blame them? The partnership that delivered four consecutive World Championships has quickly went south, with both sides blaming the other for the poor season that Red Bull have had. Mercedes seemed to warm to the idea of supplying engines to Red Bull, with the stipulation that it wouldn't disrupt any agreement already in place, then Red Bull say they want an early exit from their contract. Coincidence?

The situation that Red Bull find themselves in deserves some sympathy. All season, Red Bull's goal has been to fire up Renault to get them to progress and commit for 2016. What Red Bull don't want is a 2016 season where they are bashing their heads against a wall again. Christian Horner has said he wants to hear what Renault’s plans entail for the future, and has said they will go from there. The spat has not been kept in house at either Red Bull or Renault which has, in my opinion, damaged both outfit’s reputations. Ultimately, Red Bull's frustration boils down to the fact that F1 is now very engine critical. The first victim of this realisation is Red Bull's previous firm stance that they could win in any given race and season through chassis design alone. Unfortunately for them, F1 is all about engine power now, not chassis design.