2016 Renault Sport F1 Team - Renault

[stefan_]

Please dear God, make the KMag rumours real.

[ScottB]

Kevin Magnussen set to replace Maldonado for 2016. Thank god.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/122625

- Weird decision, especially with Palmer as the second driver. It would be interesting to know who made it.
- So when Tombazis or even Fry are available they're not interested because they're too busy building a line up out of a rookie and Magnussen who had one year break after one mediocre season and was ditched by McL?

- someone should tell Ghosn that in F1 no money will buy back half a year they lost stalling
- they should pray '17 changes will be limited, postponed or both,

I'm guessing Palmer's contract is secure, can't see them wanting to pay up to get out of it, even if they wanted to. Pastor's money has stopped turning up, so there's no reason to keep him! Magnussen is available, brings some money (£7million, apparently) and is likely to be a solid enough choice. I'm not sure who else is available and cheap / brings money. He did fairly well against Button though!

It's going to be a few years to build the team up, there's not much point paying out for drivers yet...

[RicME85]

Someone I know on another forum posted this:

Lotus were my customer in 2014, I used to have lots of good chats with them. Told me that the team would fold without his money, and everyone was expecting him to crash every weekend but they needed him. Unfortunately the crash bills got so high that they couldn't afford to pay their invoices so I binned them off

Found it interesting as lots of people said the PDVSA money was worth it despite all the crashes...clearly that isn't the case.

[steve12345]

He was still driving in 2015? Probably was the case.

[Gerhardsa]

Finally some sanity in F1 to push Crashtor out of the sport. I really do hope it happens. KMag deserves a seat in F1

[superdowg316]

But....but......who will we laugh at now? Who will we have to thank for spicing up a boring race by crashing for the millionth time?

[skoop]

But....but......who will we laugh at now? Who will we have to thank for spicing up a boring race by crashing for the millionth time?

it was really intense when some driver you like had to overtake or lap him. i prayed everytime

[turbof1]

But....but......who will we laugh at now? Who will we have to thank for spicing up a boring race by crashing for the millionth time?

Damn, I'll miss the silly buns! For his regular crashes:



Scoring hat tricks:

http://wtf1.co.uk/maldonado-hungary-penalties/

F1 car breakdancing:



F1 mortal combat:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xkrtpi ... shortfilms

[F1NAC]

Still this guy has a GP victory which many of today drivers havent achieved yet

[f1316]

And was gp2 champ, in all fairness, had some great qualis in 2012 too.

Still, enough's enough. I suddenly find the Renault driver lineup intriguing: k-mag got a podium on first time out but had few other major opportunities; if we contrast his showing against button with Alonso's/Hamilton's then he doesn't look bad (same could be said for Perez, of course) so you'd expect him to comfortably beat a rookie if he's worthy of being in the bracket with world champions.

Palmer, on the other hand, will prove his worth if he can beat k-mag, because of the button yardstick.

[superdowg316]

Still this guy has a GP victory which many of today drivers havent achieved yet

Which is the infuriating part. Not because he's a bad driver, because he clearly can drive, but because unlike Grosjean he hasn't improved himself at all. Grosjean after 2012 was a completely different driver, more calm and more successful because of it. Hell, he had the pace to win the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013. I know Pastor post 2012 hasn't had the car to replicate that, but Grosjean scored a podium this year in the exact same car.

Money may get you into F1, but it's the results that keep you there. Pastor did score a win, but he's not been anywhere since, and that's now showing and now that the funds aren't coming, Renault doesn't have any reason at all to keep him. Kinda reminds me of Kovalainen in a way.

[Juzh]

Hell, he had the pace to win the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013.

Sorry to be nitpicking here, but how did he have the pace to win if he didn't win it?

[superdowg316]

Hell, he had the pace to win the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013.

Sorry to be nitpicking here, but how did he have the pace to win if he didn't win it?

Did a quick Google, Grosjean jumped Webber and Vettel at the start and lead for a bit before 2013VettelWinsLol was engaged and he slipped behind Webber as well. It was close between all three all race from memory as well. I'm Aussie so I remember Webber catching Vettel at some point hoping he would get his revenge by winning the race. Fair to say it didn't happen.

[OneAlex]

Someone I know on another forum posted this:

Lotus were my customer in 2014, I used to have lots of good chats with them. Told me that the team would fold without his money, and everyone was expecting him to crash every weekend but they needed him. Unfortunately the crash bills got so high that they couldn't afford to pay their invoices so I binned them off

Found it interesting as lots of people said the PDVSA money was worth it despite all the crashes...clearly that isn't the case.

Didn't a member on here do some maths near the end of the last season that showed the amount of crash damage Pastor had accumulated and potential lost points' prize money (compared to RG's) outstripped his PDVSA money by quite a bit?

Lotus may have needed the money at the beginning of the year just to make the grid but by the end of the year they'd have lost out in total. Like a bad loan shark deal.

Although I'll be fair to Maldonado, he did seem like he was finally improving and crashing less. It may have been interesting to see if he would have finally settled down and raced in 2016.

K-Mag is still a better option in my eyes though. And at this stage a lot more marketable for Renault. The world is biased, F1's biggest market is Europe, so a young fresh faced blond Dane previously dumped by McLaren on his birthday will probably sell Renault better than a pay-driver with a history of inter-team bad blood and crashing.

[Juzh]

Hell, he had the pace to win the Japanese Grand Prix in 2013.

Sorry to be nitpicking here, but how did he have the pace to win if he didn't win it?

Did a quick Google, Grosjean jumped Webber and Vettel at the start and lead for a bit before 2013VettelWinsLol was engaged and he slipped behind Webber as well. It was close between all three all race from memory as well. I'm Aussie so I remember Webber catching Vettel at some point hoping he would get his revenge by winning the race. Fair to say it didn't happen.

RB was far superior and it was clear Grosjean was in the lead on borrowed time. It was fairly obvious how much RBs were being held back after Vettel got into the lead.