Red Bull Poised For Alternator Switch Prior To US GP

Red Bull will be forced to switch to Renault’s newer alternators prior to next month’s penultimate United States Grand Prix, after the reigning Constructors’ Champions reverted to the 2011 alternator spec following on from Sebastian Vettel’s double alternator failure at the Italian Grand Prix.

This is due to the fact that there is limited availability of the 2011-spec system which the Milton Keynes-based outfit have fallen back on, a fact which will therefore force the team to return to using the current Renault specification. Despite suffering alternator issues at the European and Italian Grands Prix, Renault have reassured Red Bull that the alternators have been revised so that the gremlins of the past do not return.

“The alternator has been changed and modified,” confirmed Renault’s head of track operations, Remi Taffin, to AutoSport. “We had a new version we tested in Singapore, and another one in Suzuka. We ran that one again in Korea – and will do so here in India as well. As well as that, we were running it on the dyno and that will become the specification that we will introduce this year when we need it. But we also have other specifications that are coming from R&D that are focused on 2013.”

With Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel currently locked in a grueling Championship battle with the likes of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, a switch away from a reliable component to one that has previously stunted their progress could well be a worrying prospect for the outfit. After leading every single lap since Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox failure in Singapore, Red Bull will be praying such gremlins do not return as this highly entertaining season enters its final races.

Picture Copyright © Pirelli

Senna Replaces Heidfeld Official

       

It has been officially been announced today that Bruno Senna, nephew of the late great Ayrton Senna, has replaced German driver Nick Heidfeld for the rest of the season at Renault. When Senna was announced as a replacement just before the start of the Belgian Grand Prix weekend, Heidfeld was heard to be planning to take the Renault team to the Courts as he believed they were contractually obliged to keep him on for the whole season. However much to the disappointment of Heidfeld, the courts ruled that Renault were completely within their rights replacing him for Senna.

When I first heard of Nick Heidfeld in 2000, and when I first saw him race for Prost in 2000, I thought we were looking at very high potential. Although he failed to finish 10 of the 17 races in 2000, he did finish 9th after starting 16th in his first race at the 2000 Australian Grand Prix. He then finished 8th at his first Monaco Grand Prix of the same year, and when he signed for Sauber in 2001, finished in the top six seven times! Including one 3rd place at the 2001 Brazilian Grand Prix. He continued this consistency throughout 2002 and 2003 with a highest finish of 4th at the 2002 Spanish Grand Prix and 5th at the 2003 American Grand Prix. It was 2004 when things changed, and he signed for the slowly fading Jordan team. With a highest finish of 8th at the crazy 2004 Monaco Grand Prix, things looked like they were over for any chance of Nick Heidfeld winning an F1 race.

Then he signed for Williams in 2005, and the hunt for that illusive Grand Prix win was back on! Second time out for the team he scored only his second ever podium with 3rd at Malaysia, and then got one better with 2nd at both the Monaco and European Grands Prix plus taking his one and only pole-position at the European Grand Prix. Things were looking up, until he was injured in a testing accident and had to miss both the Belgian and Italian Grands Prix. He was scheduled to return for the Brazilian Grand Prix but was hit by a motorbike whilst out cycling and had to sit out the rest of the season.

In 2006 he signed for BMW Sauber, and had two very consistent years with Sauber with every other race ending with him finishing in the points. But he never won a race, and I think that a huge disappointment. I like Heidfeld immensely but when you race for teams such as Williams and even qualify on pole-position for the team, you must surely convert it to at least one race win.

That was why I was both shocked and concerned when Renault announced Heidfeld as the replacement for the injured Robert Kubica. Renault ended the 2010 season strongly, and it was common knowledge amongst the F1 fraternity that the Renault/Kubica partnership were very likely to produce a race victory in the near future. But when Kubica was injured, I thought one of two options were to be taken.

1) They were going to use one of their many reserve drivers and call on Petrov to become Driver No. 1.

2) They were going to find a retired race winner that would lead the team until Kubica’s return.

Now I know Heidfeld has potential as I have previously stated, but he has never won a race in the 11 seasons he’s been in F1! Surely Renault could’ve persuaded Ferrari to let them have Giancarlo Fisichella for the season. At least Fisichella has won races and raced with a World Championship winning team. Or even persuade Jacques Villeneuve back from America! Villeneuve has been hinting at returning, and there was the door open very wide for him. But instead they chose Heidfeld who admittedly finished 3rd at this years Malaysian Grand Prix, but since then, like all the other seasons he’s race in, has not produced anything other than that.

As I have stated I really do like Heidfeld, and still think that with the right team and the right type of MotorSport he’ll blossom and become a champion. Which is why I wish him luck in whatever he decides to race in next. Maybe DTM might suit him, or even NASCAR or IndyCar in America. I just wish Renault could’ve seen the signs and prevented all this negativity.

Anyway, fingers crossed Kubica can return next season and put the team to right. If not, then I hope they’ll stick with Senna and give him the top flight chance he needs and deserves!