1
Dr Helmut Marko said he is hopeful changes at Renault will help Red Bull to charge back towards the front in F1. The energy drink company tried to dump Renault and switch to an alternative supplier for 2016, but instead will simply re-brand its French units as 'Tag Heuer'. "Tag Heuer is the engine?" Mercedes' F1 chairman Niki Lauda laughed at fellow Austrian Marko on Servus TV this week. "So when they fail now, will they say that the watch has stopped?" he beamed.
Lauda said he thinks Ferrari will be Mercedes' biggest competitor in 2016, but he noted that Renault has upped its commitment. Marko agrees: "Thankfully there are changes at Renault with extra manpower and a more concentrated effort. We hope that we will be closer." He is angry, however, that Mercedes, Ferrari and even Honda conspired against Red Bull to refuse them access to a different engine. "It is not acceptable that manufacturers manipulate who gets an engine," said Marko.
Lauda agrees that it is "reasonable that from 2018 all manufacturers will make available to customers a cheaper engine". But he said Bernie Ecclestone's plan to install an independent supplier with different rules is wrong. "It cannot be that Red Bull has an engine connected to him (Ecclestone) which he (Marko) then turns up and beats us with. That is manipulation."
Lauda also backed Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg amid their feuding, arguing that "Our success lies in the fact that they are pushing". But Marko hit back: "Niki overlooks the fact that no one is coming close to their car." "Would you suggest that we go slower?" Lauda retorted. "Much easier," answered Marko, "would have been to give us an engine."
But also refusing to give Red Bull an engine was Ferrari, whose president Sergio Marchionne on Monday slammed the energy drink stable. "I find it offensive that somebody (Red Bull) considered it normal and rightful to have a good engine. Nobody has the right to such an engine," he said. Marchionne was referring to Red Bull's constant criticism of its existing engine partner Renault. "Is a team strong with a chassis if it has no engine?" he wondered. (GMM)
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
Bahrain
Spain
Italy
Italy
Italy
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
456,154 comments on Mercedes
64 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Lewis Hamilton
588,631 comments on Mercedes 54 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about Mercedes
G. Zhou
Replies (1)
Login to replykhasmir
Posts: 893
Oh yeah, flex those muscles ;)