Full Throttle

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, you click on the Renault F1 website and hear a winning, although now obsolete, V10 engine ’singing’ Queen’s We Are The Champions. Unbelieveable! Go ahead click it I dare you! It proves one thing, at least one Frenchman has a sense of humor.

The French marque might have produced the double title winning 3.0 litre unit in 2005, but independent rival Cosworth reckons that - with Red Bull - it had the most reliable. A single failure at Spa aside, Cosworth ‘made no unscheduled engine changes … throughout the 2005 race season,” a boastful statement read.

Even including Renault, Ferrari, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes, some in pitlane reckon Honda’s final V10 actually packed the most power. And they did promise in July to go out with a bang in Shanghai with a one of 1000hp motor.

But engineering director Shuhei Nakamoto expressed disappointment with BAR-Honda’s lowly sixth in the constructors’ chase. ”It is not enough for us just to be here (in F1),” the Japanese said.

”We have to work harder, be smarter. Our goal is to win.”

Finally, McLaren-Mercedes exited season ‘05 with arguably the quickest overall package of all, but Norbert Haug denied that the end of Shanghai triggered a mass holiday.

”There isn’t much time to relax,” Mercedes’ boss said. ”Our rival (Renault) used up all its potential this year, we still have room to improve.” Just a bit of whistling past a dark graveyard on a moonless night there I would say. Norbert is correct in thinking there is room to improve, Kimi’s string of 10 spot penalties lays out the roadmap for development.

And last but not least is the inglorious end to the season for Ferrari and its tire supplier Bridgestone. Ferrari’s fall from grace has been largely blamed on Bridgestone’s bewildering inability to build a tire which would deliver competitive performance over a full race distance under the new rules this season. Pierre Dupasquier, the outgoing motorsport director of rival Michelin says the Japanese firm will be hit with a sales slump due to its on track performance.

“It will not happen the day after the last race of the season,” Dupasquier said. “But the fact is, you establish yourself in this sport to gain credibility and the image of your company. So it’s not the day after. It’s an accumulation. Whether you’re a success or you screw up at this level, it will mean something to the driver of any type of car. It is very important to show that, if there is a problem, you can solve the problem. It goes to credibility.”

Well gee, guess that means both companies will be hurting when you look at the U.S. Grand Prix results and see how “well” Michelin did!

Formula One, Auto Racing, McLaren, Renault