F1 Today – 30/07/2015
Renault future near decision
Renault is close to making a decision over there future in Formula One. The French manufacturer is currently debating whether to stay how they are, buy a team or leave the sport all together.
Renault’s relationship with their works team Red Bull has become strained over the last eighteenth months. The manufacturer is expected to make a announcement by the end of the year. Cyril Abiteboul told ESPN “Nothing is done as of yet, but we are much further down the road and we are much closer to a conclusion and a decision”
He added Renault “are clear also on the conditions that are required to have a successful involvement in Formula One and what we want to do and what we don’t want to do. So, a lot clearer internally, but nothing to express.”
He says that Renault will have some news about post 2016 but plans for next year are fixed. Berine Ecclestone has added that Renault would benefit from additional payments should they return as a manufacturer team.
Mustn’t believe in regular wins – Arrivabene
Maruzio Arrivabene says Ferrari must not believe that there win at the Hungarian Grand Prix means the team are able to beat Mercedes on a regular basis.
Sebastian Vettel gained his second win for the team after he made a brilliant start in the race from the second row of the grid. Arrivabene still believes that Ferrari’s form will continue to go up and down for the rest of the season. He believes that Mercedes dip in form was a one off.
He thinks it wrong suggest Mercedes has fallen back, or that the gap between the teams has been cut. He told Motorsport.com “At the beginning of the season it [the gap to Mercedes] was quite big.”
Adding “Then we were able to nearly catch up. We continued our development but they also developed their car, so they also fly away again. This story of the season is going to be this one.”
However he believes the team does have potential for more success at some events.
Hamilton most popular
A survey by Autosport says world champion Lewis Hamilton has edged out Kimi Raikkonen as Formula One’s most popular driver. The result contradicts a similar survey by the GPDA and motorsport.com found Ferrari’s Raikkonen to be number one ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button.
However found Ferrari to be the most popular team. The survey carried out by the magazine had a smaller sample size of 35,000 compared to 217,756 who contributed to the GPDA-supported one.
91% were against any return of double points for the final race of the season but 61% wanted to bring back refuelling. Most responses did not approve of new venues and 91.2% wanted to ensure historic races such as Monaco, Italy, Britain, Belgium and Germany were protected.
McLaren season started
Honda believes that McLaren’s double-points finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix has signalled the real start to the alliance’s Formula 1 season. Honda and McLaren have had a difficult first half of 2015.
But there reliability has begun to improve in recent races with Fernand Alonso and Jenson Button taking a double points score in Hungary. Honda motosport chief Yasuhisa Arai “We’ve got two cars in the points for the first time this season, so our season has now really started.”
Arai says he is pleased with how the team performed last weekend wit the only problem was Alonso’s electrical problem for Alonso in qualifying.
He says Honda will be pushing to boost the performance of its engine over the summer break.
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