Renault

F1 Features: The Formula 1 Turbo Era – Part 1

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Brought to you by TJ13 Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: James Parker 2014 will mark a brand-new era in Formula 1. For 24 years the sport has enjoyed a tenure of naturally aspirated engines, which produce some of the most iconic sounds in Motorsport history. But from next season onward, Formula 1 will once again flirt with … Read more

Daily F1 News and Comment: Thursday 16th May 2013

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@McLarenF1 Whitmarsh announces partnership at Honda HQ in Tokyo McLaren Honda 2015 becomes reality Finally. One TJ13 reader @patrick23dingen tweeted this morning, “Formula 1 is not a village – it’s a street” and he’s right. Rumours of this developments suggesting this new partnership have been regularly written here on TJ13 since Lewis signed for Mercedes. The … Read more

Daily News and Comment: Saturday 27th April 2013

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Ron Dennis responds Predictably, Ron Dennis has clarified the position at McLaren. “A little over three years ago I signed a five-year contract with the company against the background that both then and now I am the joint second largest shareholder in the group with 25% – and I own 15% of automotive. My position … Read more

China GP 2013: Off Track post race review

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Thankfully after the past couple of weeks, the ‘off the track’ post race report I write will be considerably shorter than some of my recent reviews. Firstly, lets clear up the matter of 8 drivers under investigation for use of DRS under yellow flag conditions. All 8 escape sanction and the stewards note the following. … Read more

Breaking News: Monday 11th March 2013

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This page will be updated throughout the day as news stories break. Follow @thejudge13 on twitter as each new story will be tweeted when posted.

Wolff appeals to shareholders

TJ13 reported recently that Daimler Benz has received heavy criticism from a number of its institutional investors for running a team in Formula 1. They object to racing in certain countries where human rights are not respected and further at the cost they see as diminishing shareholder value.

Toto Wolff speaks out in defence of the Stuttgart board. Whilst recognising that the views of shareholders should be considered he argues from a cost/value benefit the global car manufacturer will eventually benefit.

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Breaking News: Thursday 7th March 2013

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This page will be updated throughout the day as news is released. Click on the tab above for the latest updated version. If you follow @thejudge13 on twitter you will see when I tweet a new headline and know the post has been updated.

Quick Question: Did anyone notice the make of Lewis Hamilton’s motor home in the paddock in Barcelona?

Renault lobbying FIA

In my article “Evidence mounts that the Renault engine mapping fiasco is hurting Red Bull and Lotus” James Alison attempts to persuade us that the engine mapping set back suffered by Renault is of no importance to them. “We were experimenting in testing, on the last day of the last test [Barca 1], with an engine map and we explained to the FIA what we were doing. But having run it on the track we found it did not work very well anyway. We learned from the FIA that they were not so happy with what we proposed, so we are not doing it.”

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Breaking News: Wednesday 6th march 2013

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This page will be updated throughout the day. Click on the tab above for the latest updated version. If you follow @thejudge13 on twitter you will see when I tweet a new headline and know the post has been updated.

Maldonado’s Sponsor dies

Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez has lost his two-year battle with cancer, it was announced today. Chavez spent the bulk of his final months in Cuba, undergoing medical treatment and returned to Venezuela only last week.

untitledNews of Chavez’ death was confirmed by Venezuelan vice president – and chosen successor – Nicolas Maduro. In his remarks, Maduro alleged that Chavez’ cancer had been the result of a plot by the controversial South American leader’s enemies.

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Evidence mounts that the Renault engine mapping fiasco is hurting Red Bull and Lotus

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A Quick look at how much each team managed to extract from 2013 pre-season testing

Team Total Testing Laps

1. Sauber 1161 laps
2. Mercedes 1095 laps
3. Ferrari 1068 laps
4. Red Bull Racing 1008 laps
5. McLaren 1008 laps
6. Caterham 985 laps
7. Sahara Force India 980 laps
8. Toro Rosso 960 laps
9. Marussia 798 laps
10. Lotus 770 laps
11. Williams – FW35 666 laps
12. Williams – FW34 305 laps

Driver Total Testing Laps

1. Esteban Gutierrez Mexico Sauber-Ferrari 607 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Germany Mercedes-Mercedes 572 laps
3. Nico Hulkenberg Germany Sauber-Ferrari 554 laps
4. Paul di Resta Britain Force India-Mercedes 553 laps
5. Sergio Perez Mexico McLaren-Mercedes 553 laps 
6. Max Chilton Britain Marussia-Cosworth 550 laps
7. Jean-Eric Vergne France Toro Rosso-Ferrari 536 laps
8. Lewis Hamilton Britain Mercedes-Mercedes 523 laps
9. Charles Pic France Caterham-Renault 516 laps
10. Valtteri Bottas Finland Williams-Renault 513 laps
11. Sebastian Vettel Germany Red Bull-Renault 513 laps
12. Felipe Massa Brazil Ferrari-Ferrari 513 laps
13. Fernando Alonso Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 505 laps
14. Mark Webber Australia Red Bull-Renault 495 laps
15. Romain Grosjean France Lotus-Renault 495 laps
16. Giedo van der Garde Holland Caterham-Renault 469 laps
17. Pastor Maldonado Venezuela Williams-Renault 458 laps
18. Jenson Button Britain McLaren-Mercedes 455 laps
19. Daniel Ricciardo Australia Toro Rosso-Ferrari 424 laps
20. Kimi Raikkonen Finland Lotus-Renault 259 laps
21. Jules Bianchi France Marussia-Cosworth 253 laps *
22. Adrian Sutil Germany Force India-Mercedes 249 laps
23. Luiz Razia Brazil Marussia-Cosworth 112 laps
24. James Rossiter Britain Force India-Mercedes 61 laps
25. Pedro de la Rosa Spain Ferrari-Ferrari 50 laps
26. Davide Valsecchi Italy Lotus-Renault 16 laps

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Renault do a huge U-turn

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A bizarre mentality

thejudge13 reported on October 9th what I considered a rather strange story emanating from Renault. Here’s an excerpt from that day;

“Apparently Renault has said it will not provide any more teams with engines as it has 3 customers already. So Marussia and HRT needn’t bother knocking on the door of the Renault Chateau huh? The reason given by Jean-Francois Caubet, Managing Director of Renault Sport is that – (paraphrased) these 2 teams are rubbish and its bad for Renault’s image.

He tells Ferrari and Mercedes they need to do their fair share and supply 4 teams like Renault does now. This Gallic thinking is seriously flawed, because one would imagine the research and development costs are so high, building a few extra units for a couple more teams would share the cost around better for everyone”.

I then made a few disparaging comments about Jean-Francois and his possible drinking habits. Of course on November 6th, we then reported the ‘retirement’ of Jean-Francois Caubet and the appointment of his successor, Renault Sport’s president Jean-Michel Jalinier. However, Jean-Francois’ departure was overshadowed by the same day appointment of Renault Sport protoge Cyril Abiteboul as Tony Fernandes replacement at Caterham.

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What now for Lauda? Ecclestone fraud charges still loom, Kart won’t listed to Vettel’s s*^t, Alguersuari suggests Vettel will be spooked, RB will use new spec alternator in Brazil

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The end of Lauda Watch? This could be it folks, maybe Lauda watch will be no more. Today Reuters report that Damiler-Benz has severed all ties with Aabar investments who sponsor Lauda’s cap at $500,000 a year. Not only have they acquired Aabar’s 40% of the F1 team but also the 9% holding the Abu Dhabi sovereign fund had invested in Damiler-Benz the global car manufacturer.

Aabar have lost over $2bn by trying to be clever and underpin the Daimler-Benz acquisition with a derivatives deal which went wrong. They have in effect lost their shirt and the banks that funded the deal have retained the stock, which by the way is worth double the price Aabar paid for it.

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