Although last season wasn’t such a good one for Renault, at least it was more peaceful that it is now. Heikki Kovalainen was driving ok and was doing what he could to help the team improve. Giancarlo Fisichella was also doing the same but with limited years left in him. The R27 took a big step backward and they knew it, but complaints and driver issues were kept to a minimum.

With the availability of Alonso in the off season, Renault’s future looked bright and they sunk all their cards into signing him. Nelson Piquet Jr had brought fairly impressive stats with him to F1 and Renault grabbed him too. Heikki gone, Giancarlo gone and both quite surprised with Giancarlo pretty upset about it. So where did all this get Renault?

The R28 is a little better, but not much. Alonso clearly makes the car look better than it is and for the most part is driving very well. But….

From day one of the season after actually driving the R28, Alonso hasn’t been impressed and has brought on new rumors about his future with Renault. He has not played the ‘cool the media’ game by squashing any rumors, but has instead almost led the media on with his comments.

In the other garage you have Nelson Piquet Jr who has struggled all season, has been under pressure by Renault to improve and now seems to have a serious confidence issue. Rumors and speculation about his career with Renault and even F1 have not helped and he may be in a downward spiral he can’t recover from at least with Renault.

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It’s not very often that I get down on one particular driver for long stretches of time. Now however I am. The object of my discontent is Nelson Piquet Jr. Yes I use the ‘jr’ because he simply isn’t his father. Piquet Jr. has been dreadful this his rookie season and I don’t see it getting any better. Rumors are flying around the paddock as everyone tries to get a feel for what Renault is going to do about him.

Forget the fact that his team mate is Fernando Alonso who will out drive him on any given day. Forget the fact that the Renault isn’t up to the pace of the lead teams. There are other rookies in F1 this year much better than Piquet Jr, Nakajima for example who continues to improve and does it without any frills, unlike Piquet Jr.

Shortly after he was signed to Renault, his attitude changed to what is usually reserved for those who’ve earned it. He dropped his father as an ‘adviser’ and also dropped the Jr from his name. He also proclaimed that he intends to become an F1 legend like his father (that was in 2005 actually). Add these together and I got an unsettling feeling about him. I said to myself, you need to be a rookie and leave the ‘fluff’ behind.

To date Piquet Jr. hasn’t really done anything in F1 for Renault and now he’s clearly losing confidence and the pressure is on from Flavio Briatore and so it should. Briatore wants to win as in the past and needs to have drivers who can get the most out of the car as it is. He has a top 10 car at best and top 10 points for Renault are achievable for Alonso at least, but for Piquet Jr., there is no points.

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It was almost a tear jerker of a moment when Fernando Alonso jumped back into the arms of Flavio Briatore just a few short months ago. Briatore was tooting his horn with a smile on his face saying we have a faster car and now we have our Fernando back. Oh, what a difference now.

The Renault camp for sure isn’t a happy one these days. The car that was suppose to start the road back to success in F1 has so far fallen even shorter than in 2007. Fernando Alonso who was suppose to be able to give front runners some sort of a challenge with the R28 has had to re-learn how to drive from the middle and back of the field. Not only that, but he is driving that car better than it really is. Now we are at the first test session since pre-season and Renault have to come up with something to improve the car and if they haven’t, it may be a long season.

Just to illustrate the difference from 2007 after 3 races to now in 2008 after the first 2 races, the charts below show how poor the start of this season really is.

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[tag]Renault[/tag] are finding themselves in a difficult position this year after what would be called a very poor outing in 2007. They officially finished third in the [tag]constructors championship[/tag] in 2007, but without the disqualification of [tag]McLaren[/tag], they were a lower fourth.

This year [tag]Fernando Alonso[/tag] returned and has brought with him some renewed energy elevating the team’s confidence. Alonso doesn’t like Renault’s chances of even making it to the final qualifying round, but I consider at least him to be there. It is worth noting that as I looked through test times, not once did a Renault R28 record a fastest lap time, even when conducting simulated qualifying. A podium at the [tag]Australian Grand Prix[/tag] isn’t something I’d bet on though.

One thing Renault will be counting heavily on is Alonso’s expertise in car setup and drive to push the team hard. He will be the number one driver this year with [tag]Nelson Piquet Jr[/tag]. essentially learning the ropes behind Fernando.

Both Renault and [tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] have been accused of ‘sandbagging‘ a little throughout the test season and if so, true race pace is hard to figure out.

I give Renault a 7 out of 10 whereas I would have given them an 6 out of 10 last season. Points and podiums will come, but not until later in the season.

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Ok, now that testing is just about over, I can make my [tag]F1 drivers championship predictions[/tag]. Testing has been pretty informative, a little surprising, but not too surprising.

Originally I had thought [tag]Honda[/tag] would show better, but they haven’t given me any reason to keep that prediction. [tag]Red Bull[/tag] and [tag]Toro Rosso[/tag] are just about the same as last year, but [tag]Williams[/tag] have improved like I thought they would. I’ve been more than impressed with [tag]Force India[/tag], but the learning curve is pretty steep so the rear of the train in front of [tag]Super Aguri[/tag] is where I place them.

I’m not sure [tag]Ferrari[/tag] is really in front of [tag]McLaren[/tag] as much as testing has shown. They have been quick out of the box, but McLaren have tweaked their car enough for me to put them right up there. I anticipate a good battle there.

[tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] has had issues with their car that certainly weren’t expected and despite what Fernando Alonso says, I don’t believe they are as close to McLaren as he suggests they are, but I will go out and put them ahead of [tag]Renault[/tag]. I think there will be a pretty good battle between Renault and BMW-Sauber with Williams in there too.

Originally I would have put [tag]Toyota[/tag] up a place, but after erratic testing, NOT.

1. Ferrari
2. McLaren
3. BMW-Sauber
4. Renault
5. Williams
6. Red Bull
7. Toyota
8. Honda
9. Toro Rosso
10. Force India
11. Super Aguri (if they show up)

My predictions are not that far off many others I’ve seen. I would like to see Honda in 6th position and Force India in 9th position, but that isn’t a prediction.
I do think there will be a great battle between Ferrari and McLaren, and a good battle between BMW-Sauber and Renault.

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Who do you believe, or do you believe anyone. [tag]Fernando Alonso[/tag] is speaking out on his team’s chances at the [tag]Australian Grand Prix[/tag] and says they’re not good. Not only that, but he is suggesting [tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] are actually much better than they appear on testing time sheets.

“Where are we? Quite a long way behind.”

“We are not in a position to do anything about [tag]McLaren[/tag], [tag]Ferrari[/tag] or BMW.”

“Just two or three weeks ago BMW was a little further back, we were near them. Now they are quite close to McLaren.”

“They are very fast.” “They always use full tanks and record very good times.”

BMW-Suaber from [tag]Mario Theissen[/tag] on down to [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] and [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] have continuously said that they are not as happy with the [tag]F1.08[/tag] as they hoped they were at this time of year. They started with a balance problem that took a long time to rectify and have not shown as well on the time sheets as fans anticipated . Time sheets in testing are of course often misleading as teams are running on low fuel, testing different components, etc., but Alonso’s statements are a little surprising.

Alonso even suggested it will be a tough job to make it into Q3 in Australia.

This when he also suggests that [tag]Renault[/tag] will shortly test some improvements to the front of the R28 that should yield “one or two tenths” per lap.

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3 posts in one day is a little off for me, but today, well…it happened.

Another good weather day at [tag]Jerez[/tag] except for the wind. 16 driver were out today and some because of wind ended their day early not expecting to get the data they needed. [tag]Lewis Hamilton[/tag] was one of them, quiting early at 15:00.

Even though wind was a factor, [tag]Mark Webber[/tag] in the [tag]Red Bull[/tag] came out on top with a 1:18.628 in 72 laps and had both [tag]Williams[/tag] right behind. Fuel loads were probably pretty good to achieve those times and clearly Williams has solved their wing mounting problem. [tag]Honda[/tag] continue to struggle with not much difference in their time from yesterday, but at least they weren’t last.
[tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] with [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] and [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] piled on the laps today, but initially had long runs scheduled, but again, wind prevented any clear results and they abandoned that idea.

A few incidents on trace disrupted things a little. Coulthard parked unexpectedly on track and Nelson Piquet jr. copied later with an engine failure, and then Sebastien Bourdais caused a stoppage right near the end of the session.

1. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1min 18.628secs 72 laps
2. Nico Rosberg Williams-Toyota 1min 19.091secs 98 laps
3. Kazuki Nakajima Williams-Toyota 1min 19.215secs 91 laps
4. Fernando Alonso Renault 1min 19.710secs 104 laps
5. Robert Kubica BMW-Sauber 1min 19.829secs 116 laps
6. Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1min 19.857secs 68 laps
7. David Coulthard Red Bull-Renault 1min 19.883secs 97 laps
8. Sebastian Vettel Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 19.889secs 114 laps
9. Nelson Piquet Renault 1min 20.014secs 110 laps
10. Heikki Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes 1min 20.152secs 84 laps
11. Nick Heidfeld BMW-Sauber 1min 20.201secs 109 laps
12. Sebastien Bourdais Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1min 20.536secs 76 laps
13. Jenson Button Honda 1min 21.147secs 85 laps
14. Takuma Sato Super Aguri-Honda 1min 21.376secs 101 laps
15. Rubens Barrichello Honda 1min 21.710secs 58 laps
16. Adrian Sutil Force India-Ferrari 1min 22.244secs 86 laps

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I guess a 100m dollar fine and banishment from last years constructors championship was enough punishment for [tag]McLaren[/tag] and they don’t have to move in to the last and smallest pit garage in pit-lane. This is an indignity I’m sure McLaren didn’t want to endure all season.

The regulations state that by finishing last in the constructors points, you get the last pit box all year. However, [tag]Bernie Ecclestone[/tag] has (what is reported) managed to get them the 5th pit box.

What we hear is that Ecclestone ordered [tag]McLaren into the 5th pit box[/tag], the spot originally reserved for Red Bull. After all penalties given to McLaren, it is believed this is to allow McLaren access to the better facilities.

In discussions about this, Ecclestone originally wanted to give the 3rd pit garage to McLaren, but that one is reserved for Renault and they obviously objected. The first 3 pit boxes have much better facilities for team members and special guests.

Although not a major issue, it could cause a problem or 2. Instead of having a clear path in front of them when leaving pit lane, they could get caught up in traffic. The other is that they might end up having to pass back markers they were stuck behind in pit lane.

So I’ve taken this opportunity to include the latest photo taken in Bahrain of the Ferrari pit garage.

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Day 2 at Jerez is over and the times all in.

[tag]McLaren[/tag] are continuing to improve and are an easy 2nd behind Ferrari. It would have been cool to see Ferrari today so we could see what kind of gaps are left for Mclaren.

I see [tag]BMW-Sauber[/tag] are finally coming to grips (literally) with their car and now posting some respectable times. [tag]Robert Kubica[/tag] up in 3rd, off 4 10ths, that’s 4 10ths behind Lewis in the McLaren, not Ferrari. [tag]Nick Heidfeld[/tag] quite a bit slower than Kubica.

[tag]Renault[/tag] not far off. A great fight is shaping up between BMW-Sauber and Renault.
[tag]Force India[/tag] behind [tag]Super Aguri[/tag]? They did evaluate a number of chassis set-ups in the SA07B interim car. I still expect more from Liuzzi.

[tag]Honda[/tag] Honda Honda, what is happening there. Ross Brawn must be tearing his hair out. Alex Wurz only pulling out a 1:21.950 in 86 laps.

Nick Fry:

“I’m very much enjoying myself, and going home with a sense of achievement as opposed to going home with a sense of frustration that no matter how hard we tried, progress was slow.”

Jenson Button

“The RA108 is completely new which means we are starting from zero in terms of developing the set-up,” he told the official Formula One website. “We are also working on driveability as we adapt to the new ECU.

“These challenges were reflected in our speed at our debut test in Barcelona, especially on single fast laps, but our long-run consistency improved. We have a good basic car with new opportunities for aerodynamics and other areas and a clear plan for addressing any issues in the coming tests.”

Basic car? Honda has so much experience in F1 it’s amazing they can’t come up better by now.

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So where’s Renault headed. Buoyed by the return of Fernando Alonso, Renault have placed a slightly better car on the track and are now eclipsing BMW-Sauber fairly consistently in times. Alonso, always looking to be in the fight isn’t satisfied yet and desperately wants another few 10ths out of the car.

“To close the gap, and to be behind them (Ferrari and McLaren) two or three tenths is not such a big problem. But to be one second or eight tenths, like we are at the moment, is a little bit too much.”

Fairly uneventful for Toyota, and despite continuous ‘positive’ reports from the team, times continue to be over a second off the pace. I haven’t seen any real progress in Toyota so far except for a brief period in the top 10 with Trulli seventh at 1’12.109 and Glock tenth at 1’12.705. Everyday seems to be the same thing with no real improvement seen.
Bahrain so far hasn’t proved any different. I don’t see a particularly great start to the season for Toyota.

Force India? Not bad. There is no doubt Giancarlo Fisichella’s presence at Force India is paying off. Aside from a few mechanical problems including the clutch, Fisichella managed to post the 4th fastest time on Friday. Adrian Sutil, not so lucky. for a revamped team, I’d have to say I’m impressed. Toro Rosso is now their ‘carrot’ on the road.

Fisichella:

“I’m very happy as we’re showing the potential we have now.”

I want to see what Force India has by Australia. I’m impressed with this team already and although back markers they are, it will be fun to watch the development of this team.

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