Della Sartre, Sauber, Honda discussed on The Autosport Podcast
Automatic TRANSCRIPT
Perhaps you'd expect a driver being paid handsomely to defend their team to the hills, but you know, if you look at McLaren three, four years ago, you say, well, the reason they can't win is because a wind tunnel is an up to spec. So that's why they're getting their brand new shyly one online for 2024. But we know that him will facility at Sauber is amazing, all those LMP1 cars at a designer and then go on to blitz circuit Della Sartre and all of that, it's a cracked facility, but they're not, yeah, and as you mentioned they're not operating at the cost cap. So some of that means they're slow with parts so they can design something pretty mega but then can't construct it, can't get it on both cars. But also if you're not operating at cost cap, you know, this is why the arguments for breaking the cost cap with the allegations at Red Bull are so strong because there is performance to be gained there. So if you think Alfred have taken it or sailboats, we should probably start referring to taking that decent step forward. They're now midfield contenders, which is no mean feat, considering that car would not do two or three laps without going bang in pre season testing, but now a bona FIDE midfield contender with some more investment with the more loving playing field of the cost cap. So again, if they keep on investing, they would expect them to start to begin to catch up. So if I could use a poor analogy, I'm an Aston Villa fan Martin and we've just signed a new manager in Unai Emery, and it's not about going and winning the Premier League in the next three seasons. It's about being the best of the rest, which I think is the next target for that Sauber operation that we did sign of the chassis. And then it's about what they can do when they're running well. They probably the Audi side is probably been through a couple of team leaders to find the right one and then you start investing together to build incremental gains with the engine and whatever. And then in their words, take on or be the best German manufacturer in what was that awful they did something like the rings of the new stars or something which basically means move over Mercedes. And I think when they probably put that out what they're anticipating is beating Mercedes at the top rather than thinking Mercedes have regressed to where they are now. Okay, look, let's take a quick break and when we come back we'll talk about how it might work from a team versus engine perspective, many teams do split those two bases and successfully in some cases and will have a look to what they could be doing over the next three years to ensure that they have the best drivers from 2026 to take on that three year plan of getting to the front of the grid. Those are stories are on the way. Okay, let's talk a little bit about Matt, your opinion on how it might work. Audi have their obviously their base in Germany, their motor sport base. But as you've mentioned already, actually, the henville facility, the wind tunnel there, which has been around a long time now, but I gather has been updated and is still used very much as a source of revenue. As a business line to rent out. And it's still very if not cutting edge is still very, very good. One of the best in the world. Many teams do split. So the world champions, Honda and Red Bull, Red Bull powertrains based here in the UK and Milton Keynes. And then some of the, I think the stuff that Honda are very, very good at. They would say the combustion engine side is still done in Japan. Also split, Renault, Alpine. If you like France and perhaps less successfully, you could say lots of teams split engine and team and some have it all under one roof. I know the Christian Horner recently has been using that phrase that Red Bull power trains and Red Bull is able to build a car and an engine under one roof. I think it was an interview with Fred. A Ted sorry when he went to his house over the break and he was talking a lot about Red Bull powertrains. It was interesting that he was making that and sort of before the re loving with Honda. I guess, but what's your opinion on how it could shake out? Because it's not like Audi are going to buy their way into Sauber. Close down their base, which is not the biggest, but nothing to be ashamed of and move it all to Germany. So they're going to have to split it, not a million miles apart physically. How do you think it's going to shake out? Well, the one Barrett that would be the enormous cost and two if in rising does retain this small percentage. He'll say that that doesn't happen. But I think it's an interesting discussion, isn't it? Because then where do you draw the line? So, you know, like you talk about Red Bull being based in the UK and Honda in Japan. But what about Mercedes with the engine being done at brixworth and end up being an hour's drive to the chassis in brackley? What about even Red Bull when they go with their Red Bull powertrains online? Well, they're still separated by a factory rule in Adrian newey. It might be masterminding the design of the car, but he's not over same engine. Look at auto sport, we have the distinct magazine and the website. Has that necessarily changed from when we always used to be in the office together to now us communicating on Zoom and Microsoft Teams and other online software since pandemic not necessarily. So I don't really buy that as a barrier. I can see why it might be a handy excuse or whatever, you know, you think of maybe a better way to look at it rather than sort of the physical locations getting bogged down and that is the philosophy to use a really grandiose term. The concept that the approach, but that's why the McLaren Honda partnerships fell apart so much because one was had Mercedes sorry, because McLaren had designed this what it thought was a class leading better than anyway. I was size zero Coke bottle shaped package. The Honda engine barely could fit in. And so because it was basically crowbar in there, it was getting too hot and kept going bang all the time. So you can add these two class leading organizations, but unless they integrate well, it's not going to happen. So that's when you would say Sauber is still Sauber engineer is and there will still have this minority ownership and stuff. But effectively, if they're all using Audi headed letter paper, you'd expect them to run with the same approach and therefore they can integrate well and be harmonious. So I don't see it being a major issue. And in terms of Audi, bigwigs or the marketing department with the ideally wanting all in Germany, yeah, I get that, but does it really matter? I mean, it is the same way so I was speaking to someone and I'm sure people can take an educated potshot who it was, but someone very high up in the Porsche 9 one 9 program. I said, well,