MOTORSPORT: Some Swiss precision for Ricciardo

After dropping from third to eighth in Formula 1’s driver standings in a year, Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo may be a man to watch again next season.

Behind him in his Red Bull RB12, Ricciardo will have a power unit with greater input from Swiss engineer Mario Illien and carrying the badge of Swiss luxury watch maker TAG Heuer.

It will still be a Renault, but with the prospect that it will be considerably better than those of the past two seasons.

Red Bull Racing, the world champion team of 2010-2013 but winless this year after Ricciardo’s three grand prix victories last year, finally confirmed at the weekend its engine arrangements for next season.

Having failed to strike an alternative deal with any of the other three makers of F1’s 1-6-litre V6 hybrids – Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda – it will be a 10th season together for French car maker Renault and the team owned by the Austrian energy drinks company.

RBR has severed one contract with Renault a year before its expiry date after much acrimony on both sides, but – amid considerable face-saving efforts on both sides – has negotiated a new one under which Illien’s Illmor Engineering will work as a contractor to Renault Sport F1.

This year Illmor has been simply a consultant to RBR on the Renault power units, without scope to do any more than make suggestions for improvements.
Illien and RBR’s technical chief and aerodynamics genius Adrian Newey collaborated in the creation of the McLaren-Mercedes cars in which Finnish driver Mika Hakkinen outgunned Michael Schumacher and Ferrari in 1998 and ’99.

RBR team principal Christian Horner said Illmor’s greater and more direct involvement with Renault now “gives us confidence” of finding the necessary improvement to compete with Mercedes and Ferrari and stay ahead of the Honda-engined McLarens.

TAG Heuer has switched its F1 sponsorship from McLaren after 30 years to RBR and its money will help foot a hefty bill for the Renault power units that previously came either free to RBR or close to it.

The 2016 units will be the same in Renault’s “reborn” works team, following its takeover of the struggling Lotus outfit, and the Red Bull cars of Ricciardo and his Russian teammate Daniil Kyvat.

The only difference will be the TAG Heuer badging on those of RBR.

It is a name that previously appeared on turbocharged Porsche engines in McLaren F1 cars of the mid-1980s, winning three consecutive world titles.

“TAG Heuer has been an icon in the world of F1 for many years and we’re delighted that they’ve chosen to continue their association with the sport by teaming up with us,” Horner said.

“TAG Heuer and Red Bull are two transcendent brands which have both a passion for racing and a drive to do things differently.

“Our shared values of innovation and a desire to stand out from the crowd make this one of the most exciting partnerships in F1.”

TAG Heuer has been part of the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy (LVMH) international conglomerate for more than 15 years, since splitting from previous parent TAG (Techniques d’Avant Garde) of long-time McLaren shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, who also is in the process of exiting that team.

TAG Heuer chief executive Jean-Claude Biver said F1 was deeply-rooted in his company’s DNA and, in what has been seen as a swipe at McLaren, that “Red Bull Racing is a young, dynamic and driven team, which perfectly fits with our marketing strategy”.

“It will give TAG Heuer great visibility and allow us to make our partnership exciting, different and innovative,” Biver said.

“Our motto #DontCrackUnderPressure will be the guiding principle behind all our actions with the support of RBR and its highly contagious enthusiasm.”

While McLaren has lost TAG Heuer, after the exit of Vodafone and Hugo Boss in recent years, it recently signed another LVMH brand, Chandon, as its major sponsor.

McLaren chief Ron Dennis has said that deal is “multiples more valuable than TAG Heuer”.

Although McLaren slipped to ninth of the 10 teams in the constructors’ world championship this year, Dennis insisted his outfit was in good financial shape despite the “challenging” sports sponsorship environment.

“We’re very strong financially,” he said. “The equity value of our [total] organisation is now well over £1 billion (A$2.06 billion). All of our businesses are profitable, and we will [continue to] be profitable. We’re a strong organisation.”

March target for testing of Toyota’s WRC Yaris
Rally legend Tommi Makinen has vowed that Toyota’s project to return to the World Rally Championship in 2017 with its Yaris is on track.

Makinen has said that the car is being designed “right now” and that testing will start in March.

It will be built in his native Finland, but the engine will come from Toyota’s long-established motorsport base in Cologne, Germany.

“This project may have seemed difficult to pull off, but our team of engineers and designers, along with our suppliers, have worked tirelessly to meet the schedule and develop a car that could be a winner,” Makinen said.

“Assembly of the Yaris WRC will begin very soon.”

Northern Irishman Kris Meeke, who scored his breakthrough WRC win in Argentina this year but is at a loose end now with Citroen pulling out of next year’s championship to prepare for the new regulations in 2017, is being linked to the Toyota project.

And Makinen admitted: “Kris is somebody we could imagine having in our team.”