GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: Wizzo on May 28, 2007, 04:53:59 PM
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Champions Renault cannot expect to win titles every year but neither will they stay in F1 long-term as mere participants, chief executive Carlos Ghosn said on Sunday.
"What is important for me is the trend," he told reporters at the Monaco Grand Prix, won by Renault last year with Fernando Alonso before the Spaniard left for McLaren.
"If I am in a situation where we are number four or number five and we have no hope to do better, be part of the show or win again, then I say why are we participating?"
"We are not going to be here to say 'me too, I am also in Formula One'. We don't want to do that. But ups and downs, we are used to it."
Alonso secured pole again this year but Renault are struggling, fourth overall and without a podium finish in four races that have brought them just 11 points compared to McLaren's 58.
Renault's best result has been Italian Giancarlo Fisichella's fifth in Australia in the March season-opener after the team won eight times in 2006.
"I am very confident that the team is going to do a much better second half of the season than the first. And again we want to continue to be part of the show at the best level," continued Ghosn.
Difficult Start
"We are here to win. To perform. But I cannot reasonably ask (team boss) Flavio (Briatore) to win every year. I am asking him but at the same time, I cannot expect that every single year the team is going to be number one."
"But you have to be always part of the show. You have to be always part of the two or three teams that can make it for the year. That is very important."
Renault have suffered after switching from Michelin to Bridgestone tyres, following the former's withdrawal, and Ghosn said he knew the start of the season would be difficult as a result.
"There is another reason," he added. "We put all our resources to decide the championship last year. We won, we prevailed. The small price to pay is maybe we did not dedicate as much attention to the next season."
Briatore said last year's 'mass damper' controversy, with Renault forced to ditch their performance-enhancing suspension system at a key point in the season, played a part in the drop-off.
"Renault is the only (top) team with one wind tunnel," he declared. "Last year, to make races more interesting there was some handicap for Renault with the mass damper."
"With this handicap we needed to develop the car right to the last race. We didn't want to lose the 2006 championship. So we compromised," said Briatore.
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So much for if at first you don't succeed try try again
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This is my biggest worry with manufacturer owned teams - if they don't like it, for whatever reason, they just walk away and when one goes the others either rub their hands together, or start to question their own participation, usually from a marketing point of view!
Bring back privately owned teams I say!
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That's right. McLaren, Williams and the like don't have any other agenda other than racing for the sake of racing. The Manufacturers treat it like an advertising campain: milk it for what it's worth then move on.
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If formula one does not act, car manufacturers could quit and the very existence of motor sport could be under threat.
That is the belief of FIA president Max Mosley, who in an interview with the newspaper Welt am Sonntag justified his tough stance on modernising the rules for the future.
Talks with the carmakers have already begun about revolutionising the rulebook for 2011, with things like biofuel-powered V6 engines on the table.
The last carmaker to pull out of F1 was Ford at the end of 2004, but Mosley insisted: "We must continue to cut the costs."
"My experience is that if one manufacturer decides it has become too expensive, another one could also say goodbye very quickly. We have to remember that the people sitting on these companies' executive boards are not necessarily F1 fans."
He admits that recent rule changes like longer-life engines and the new 'engine freeze' in 2007 had not dramatically altered the manufacturers' willingness to spend money.
"Only two of them have actually reduced their budgets," Mosley said.
"Instead of enjoying the cost savings they have continued to spend exactly the same sums, to develop maybe three or four more horse power -- and that's crazy."
Along with cost, Mosley is also desperate to make the rules of the future more road-relevant and environmentally friendly, particularly when he fears a looming world oil crisis.
Denying reports that he is considering introducing 'standard cars', Mosley did admit that the chassis rules will be changed.
He asked rhetorically: "Do you know how much carbon dioxide is blown into the air when top teams run two wind-tunnels 24 hours a day, day after day?"
"We are talking about thousands of tons, and then at the end of the day the races are boring."
"And cars that use 75 litres of fuel to go 100 kilometres are no longer acceptable."
Mosley warned: "If we do not act, the very existence of formula one will be under threat. We do not live on another planet so we have to face reality."