I thought he has now another role in the Honda company.
Ah...I would really like to have some 'behind the scenes'-information...if only
- Login or Register
No account yet? Sign up
I think this is really farfetched. He has very little involvement with the design or integration, so dont see how he can contribute. Also no way are we seeing Honda engines on RedBull pre season, maybe mid season if Toro Rosso are up there.
Unless Honda have ditched their entire architecture and cloned the Renault layouts for everything, this is highly improbable! MacLaren themselves confirmed the Renault deal was only just done in time for them to build their '18 Car around the the Renault architecture!
Red Bull may have had no option. As the supplier, Renault would have had all the bargaining power. Particularly so as Red Bull had cancelled their existing contract in 2015.
Test mules and bespoke cars are very different, switching engines this late in the game would require severe compromises to be made.carisi2k wrote: ↑13 Feb 2018, 23:28How about post what I said properly and not leave out the important words.
The Honda went in easily to the STR13 test mule and so the Red Bull would also have a similar ease in moving to Honda. Mclaren's problem is because they have a size zero concept chassis and the Renault is not as small as the Honda. So yeah Mclaren couldn't have left it any later but that is not the case with STR and RBR and the Honda.
My speculation isn't that they are changing this late in the game. My speculation is that this decision was done in late September / early October 2017 once the capability of the Honda was truly understood. Max signed up after visiting Honda and since then Red Bull have not only said nothing about Renault but have been saying nothing but good things about Honda and have an understanding of the failings of Mclaren.djos wrote: ↑14 Feb 2018, 00:16Test mules and bespoke cars are very different, switching engines this late in the game would require severe compromises to be made.carisi2k wrote: ↑13 Feb 2018, 23:28How about post what I said properly and not leave out the important words.
The Honda went in easily to the STR13 test mule and so the Red Bull would also have a similar ease in moving to Honda. Mclaren's problem is because they have a size zero concept chassis and the Renault is not as small as the Honda. So yeah Mclaren couldn't have left it any later but that is not the case with STR and RBR and the Honda.
We are all entitled to speculate but the evidence is not in your favour, Honda would be crowing about it if it were happening in '18. I think RBR will be Honda powered in '19 tho.carisi2k wrote: ↑14 Feb 2018, 03:24My speculation isn't that they are changing this late in the game. My speculation is that this decision was done in late September / early October 2017 once the capability of the Honda was truly understood. Max signed up after visiting Honda and since then Red Bull have not only said nothing about Renault but have been saying nothing but good things about Honda and have an understanding of the failings of Mclaren.
Renault is going to be blind sided for sure but that relationship is dead.
when did redbull ever mention renault very much, to any degree? even during their championship years 2010-13? redbull would be crazy to run the honda on "promising dyno figures" alone, and id be willing to bet that their two drivers would be PO'd as hell. i remember seeing ricciardo crack jokes about the honda PU on more than one occasion. maybe redbull fans are sick of renaults underperforming engines for the last few years, but swapping to honda, after 2017, when PU's are being reduced to 3 in 2018 would be a sure sign that somebody in redbull has lost their mind.carisi2k wrote: ↑13 Feb 2018, 23:01Red bull would never have signed an exclusive agreement with Renault. RB have been waiting for the perfect time to get out of that relationship and so there would be a buyout clause in any agreement they have signed with Renault.
The Honda improvements might just have convinced them that they have found the right engine for them and to forget about wasting a year with a third string Renault engine as early as a month after the September STR agreement. That is plenty of time to have the RB14 re configured for the Honda instead of a Renault.
Mclaren have been flattering Renault all NH winter and there has been almost zero communication between Red Bull and Renault which all points me towards this happening. I have seen only a single piece of info out about Red Bull talking about Renault and that was in a translated german article in this forum.
What we have heard from Red Bull is how Mclaren and Alonso made Honda look bad and how the Honda engine is significantly better then what they were led to believe by Mclaren. How well it fit into the STR chassis.