Renault thinks it is a solid bet to head the F1 midfield in 2017. The French works team had a bad 2016 in the wake of the Lotus takeover, but technical boss Alan Permane said at the end of Barcelona testing: "Together with Toro Rosso, we are slightly ahead of Force India and Haas."
Indeed, it is believed that Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull top the pecking order, Williams is alone in fourth place followed by a gaggle of midfielders. Permane added: "I do not believe that Toro Rosso, Haas and Force India will be able to keep up with our development pace."
Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost told Speed Week: "We are well placed in the midfleld. I see Mercedes in front, then Ferrari and Red Bull with a gap to (Felipe) Massa in the Williams. Force India seems to be faster than us, with Renault in our league and question marks about McLaren and Haas." (GMM)
Renault thinks it could head midfield in 2017
- Published on 13 Mar 2017 13:16
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- By: Rob Veenstra
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Replies (5)
Login to replyPosts: 1,027
Hopefully a lot of these predictors will eat crow.
Posts: 16
Yep my thoughts exactly!its the usual from Renault and TR! I would never underestimate at little but transparent team like HAAS!but i see McLaren suffer again this year!
Posts: 1,027
Mclaren is powered sashimi, everything will turn out alright. Lubricants will be wasabi
Posts: 1,172
Being a works team, they should be able to end the season better than customer teams now that the token system is gone, and given their development budget. I guess with Red Bull being the exception. It's got to be a bittersweet victory seeing their engine in a car that is running ahead of them.
Posts: 8,527
Im certain that Williams opinion differ quite alot from this, and I doubt Toro Rosso will do their best to deny Renault this pleasure.