renault vs mclaren

the back-to-back races at magny-cours and silverstone brought about almost a carbon copy of each other. great races for renault and mclaren, but overall the f1 season is becoming a bore.

first of all, magny-cours presented a straightforward start to end lead for alonso, no thanks to trulli who bundled up a train behind him. at silverstone, trulli again blocked more cars behind him, this time with montoya winning from start to finish. secondly, kimi had an engine change yet again, and had to charge back to podium from mid-grid. we all wonder what it'd be like if kimi didn't need to change the engine. thirdly, fisichella amazingly stalled at the pit, a repeat of what he did at magny-cours. finally, ferrari and williams are horrendously slow, the camera didn't even bothered showing them at silverstone.

the main topic though, is the fight between renault and mclaren. there's nothing much in between these two teams. both teams have been performing exceptionally well in terms of raw speed. both teams have taken advantage of the new regulations to come up with fantastic aerodynamic packages to work the michelin. and both teams have very capable drivers in all cars who can deliver when it matters.

so which team and driver will come up top at the end of the season?

i can't really say, and i wouldn't want to put my money on either team just yet. things do change drastically at f1 from week to week. if i'm forced to choose at the moment, renault is looking really good, for several reasons. firstly, alonso is in the lead. secondly, renault is extremely reliable and mclaren not so. thirdly, renault is matching the speed that mclaren is throwing. finally, montoya can outrace kimi, but fisichella can't outrace alonso. so it seems like alonso and renault are going to win 2005.

i can't wait to get this season out and over with. there are so many things wrong with this season it's making the show very disgusting. let's not even talk about f1 politics here. instead it is the problem with rules and regulations that is making the show so inconsistent.

there are more bads than goods with the single tyre rule. that has just got to change, by making it one tyre company for all teams. this solves politics, cost, tyre safety, and reliability issues. i'm not sure about this, but maybe a seasonal rotation between tyre companies could make it interesting.

next, the efficiency of aerodynamic is a main cause of no overtaking. turbulence caused by the car in front makes it very difficult for cars to close in, what more overtake. no overtaking equals boring races.

then we have the horrible horrible qualifying woes. how many times have we changed the qualifying since 2002? none has worked wonders like the old format. i have no idea why they changed that in the first place. i'm still clueless. bring the old format back!

although there are eight more races to go, i wonder how 2006 will be like.



previous posts:
magny-cours: absolute beauty
indianapolis: michelin farce
indianapolis: indianapolis motor speedway
montreal: post-montreal notes
montreal: canadian gp preview
montreal: lopsided mirrors?
nurburgring: ferrari to make or break
monaco: f1 and star wars don't mix
barcelona: the era is all over
imola: from zero to hero
imola: f1 aero upgrades
bahrain: what a joke
sepang: bring out the new car!!
sepang: toyota f1 rev party
sepang: klcc sauber f1 street demo
melbourne: the wait is over!
pre-season: the viking
pre-season: nose job
pre-season: b.a.r. unveiled a goose
pre-season: sweet sauber
pre-season: evolution not revolution
pre-season: sauber ain't coming




[tagged: ferrari, formula 1]