Testing is not about quickest
SAINZ PLEADS INNOCENCE AND RED BULL MAKES THREATS AGAIN ‘Maybe a guy with more experience would have left me enough space.’
The teams finally said goodbye to Bahrain last week after the Grand Prix and two days of in season testing, which appeared to go well for all. Even McLaren finally managed a few good laps.
I can never understand the obsession by some of the media about who has been quickest during the testing.
Day one it was the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and day two his team-mate Valtteri Bottas, but take a look at the final times and you will find there is no relevance in who is setting the pace.
If there were any significance in these times we could expect to see a McLaren racing in the top five, after Stoffel Vandoorne finished fourth fastest on the second day.
This is testing, to ensure problems can be eliminated and to evaluate the myriad tweaks they have up their sleeves.
A true reflection of the testing will only be seen during race weekends, starting at Sochi on Friday.
I was surprised to read a release from Carlos Sainz Jnr regarding his incident during the Bahrain event.
Sainz left the pit lane after a tyre change and attempted to keep his Toro Rosso ahead of Lance Stroll but instead T-boned the Canadian, ending the young Williams driver’s race.
It was obvious from the replays that the Spaniard was to blame and the race stewards handed him a three grid penalty for the next race.
Sainz believes he was the innocent party and said: “Lance simply didn’t see me – maybe a guy with more experience would have left me enough space on the corner.”
Carlos, the fact that you were exiting the pit lane puts the onus on your shoulders. No one on his line into the corner has to give way for a car returning to the track.
It looks as though Helmut Marko of Red Bull is rattling his sabre once again as he discussed the matter of independent engine supply.
In an interview with the official F1 magazine he was quoted as saying: “The latest must be 2021 that an independent engine supplier comes into F1. The engine has to be simple, noisy and cost less than $10 million. 010 492-5281
Edited by André de Kock motoring@citizen.co.za
“We are talking about a much less sophisticated engine to what we have now, a simple racing engine. If that doesn’t happen our stay in F1 is not secured.”
Whether anyone will take notice of yet another veiled threat from Red Bull that they will pull out of F1 is another matter. The nonsense that surrounded the team’s previous divorce from Renault and vitriolic exchanges between the two did nothing to encourage anyone to supply the Milton Keynes operation.
The thought of a further bout of histrionics from the team and the cry that unless they get their way they are not going to play sounds like a load of “Bull” to me.