1/43 Model Review: 2019 Renault RS19 (Minichamps)

2019 is now over, and Hulkenberg is a former F1 driver after a pretty anonymous year, but that was probably more down to Renault's dip in form compared to the previous year when Nico was a constant best of the rest. Ricciardo showed more highlights, becoming more confident in wheel to wheel battles, but he still doesn't look as comfortable on the brakes as his Red Bull days.

The team were disqualified from the Japanese GP for their automatic brake balance management system.

The team finished in fifth place, with their best finish at the Italian GP when Ricciardo lead Hulkenberg to a 4 - 5 finish. The disappointing season lead to a change in the leadership of the design team.

Minichamps have released a limited edition run of Ricciardo's car from the Bahrain GP.

Minichamps 447190003

I think this is a brilliant little model, I prefer it to the Spark model. I think the Spark model if you inspect its separate elements looks nice, but when you bring it altogether, just ever so slightly looks disjointed. I think the airbox on the Minichamps model looks slightly bulkier which I think is more accurate to the car.

I think the car looked particularly good on the dark track under the floodlights, and I think this is a lovely model.
Score: 8/10

Minichamps 417190003

Minichamps 417190027

1/43 Model Review: 2006 World Champion Fernando Alonso (Renault R26)

Background

After a Championship winning 2005 season, the 2006 challenger would prove equally effective, taking 8 wins and both Drivers' and Constructors' Championships. The team were put under pressure by the Ferrari of Michael Schumacher, his final season with the Italian marquee, but Alonso and the team were able to secure both titles in the final round at Interlagos, Brazil. This was a defining moment for the Spaniard who proved to be the most complete driver in the current field after securing his back-to-back titles.

Minichamps

Minichamps 400060001

The standard Renault had Team Spirit as tobacco sponsorship disappeared from the sport part way through the season. Minichamps have provided another strong model, though I was never really a fan of the helmets in this era of Minichamps. The car itself has good proportions and growing complexity that is nicely modelled. 

Minichamps 400060101

The British GP livery is one of my favourites from the season as Renault did many various one-off livery alternatives to the Team Spirit version.

Minichamps 400060201

The French GP features a shark. It also comes with the sidepod fin, which is not on the early season versions. It's a shame we only get two of the special liveries, but it's good we have some.

Minichamps 436060001

Unlike the World Champion collection version of the 2005 R25, this is a much better update. I much prefer this helmet, which is a little larger than the original and is a much more accurate shape. There's not much significant updates that I can see. 

Score: 7/10

Norev

Norev

I'm struggling to find too much about this car, but Norev have created a nice alternative to the Minichamps car, and though the finish and refinement is not as mature as Minichamps, it's hard to pick any significant areas where it is inferior to the Minichamps model.
Score: 7/10

Tameo

Tameo SLK037 - Brazilian GP

Tameo SLK037 - Japanese GP

Tameo - Canadian GP

As you can see, there are a few different versions of the Tameo kit model. This is another beautiful triumph from Tameo. There is better detail in the chimney, the exhaust with its grills behind, the holes in the rear wing slots and a much more detailed cockpit marks the Tameo models out from the others above. 

Score: 9/10

1/43 Model Review: 2019 Renault RS19 (Spark)

Renault came into 2019 having made a big statement in signing Daniel Ricciardo, that they were putting the resources in to be successful, their intent was serious. Having just missed out on fourth in the Championship in 2018, Renault's goals were to establish themselves ahead of the midfield and start to make inroads towards the top three.

The car clearly is a quick car, but not at every track. Though they are generally near the top end of the midfield, they are struggling with qualifying which makes extracting their race pace difficult. They have also continued to struggle with reliability, when in Bahrain, both cars retired at the same corner on the same lap due to car failures.

The battle between Ricciardo and Hulkenberg has generally been quite close, but Ricciardo has the upper hand in qualifying, whilst the two are often found together during races.

Hulkenberg crashed out of his best race of the season at the German GP where a podium finish was on the cards, but he slid off and into the barriers. It would be a shame for the German if Renault choose to replace him at the end of the season, he deserves a crack in a top end car.

The team's main rivals are customers McLaren, who have looking more and more secure for that fourth placed finish, so Renault have their work cut out to improve and consistently finish 'best of the rest' if they are to salvage their scrappy season.

Spark S6076

Spark S6075

I'm personally partial to a black car with yellow trim, but last season's car had too much yellow for me. The yellow has scaled back in 2019, and I think it's a great livery, more from the side than from the front though. One of the clever things on the Renault is that the main planes of the rear wing don't join straight onto the endplate, but there's a series of small multi-element winglets that are perhaps millimeters wide. It was never possible to include that onto a 1/43 scale model, but the curve in the endplate is also shaped as a mini aerofoil, which is nicely modelled on this car.

I still don't understand how Renault can run such a bulky engine cover and have it be aerodynamically efficient as other smoother versions of their opposition. Spark have done a great job on the proportions of the model, and their detail is pretty good too. You get the vented mirrors, and a complicated bargeboard set up, the rear wing as mentioned above and diffuser region are all very nicely done. The driver helmet is better with a dark visor.

So overall, another good car from Spark, both based on the Australian GP.
Score: 8/10

1/43 Model Review: 2005 World Champion: Fernando Alonso (Renault R25)

Background

This was the first of Fernando Alonso's double Drivers' World Championship crowns, and sadly only Championships. After years of domination by Ferrari, it was refreshing to see the reliable and consistent Renaults battling with the quick but fragile McLaren. They also benefitted from the introduction of Michelin tyres, as they took victory in the first four races, one to Fisichella and the others by Alonso. Alonso would gain 7 wins over the season, earning the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships for the team.

Minichamps

Minichamps 400050005

The standard version comes with the usual Minichamps quality, good proportions and an increasing amount of detail and refinement. I'm not a big fan of their helmet shape, and the modelling of the HANS device seems to get in the way of the driver figure sitting in the cockpit properly. The grills at the rear of the sidepod are in 3D to a degree, but I think they could have done with a small black line just to bring them out. The rear wing is nicely done, with Renault's unique integration with the endplate on the main plane.

Minichamps 400050205

Minichamps have done a French GP livery which  is a bit more imaginative than the 'Team Spirit' logos. Minichamps have done a nice job in putting that on the model. 

Minichamps 403050025

There are a couple of special boxes, this being one of them sold in Japan, but all of them featuring the standard model.

Score: 7/10

Minichamps 436050005

The R25 got the World Champions treatment and an update. Sadly the issue with where the driver sat in the cockpit is even worse on this model. Personally, I prefer the original paint and decal job. Because of my disappointment that this re-release is actually worse than the original, I'll have to knock it down a grade.
Score: 6/10

Formula 1 Car Collection / Ixo

First thing I noticed was how high the nose is, or how low the front wing is, either way, the wing supports are way too tall. The bargeboards don't have the finesse as the Minichamps version. The rolloever bar and the sidepods aren't bad, the grills being a little more muted than the Minichamps car. The rear wing is pretty basic. It's not a triumph, but it's not a disaster either.
Score: 6/10

Tameo (SilverLine)

Tameo SLK021

There are a couple of versions by Tameo, the first being from the San Marino GP.

Tameo SLK023

This is the Chinese GP version of the R25. The model is nice, as you expect from Tameo. The nose is perfect along with the front wing, I think it's captured very nicely indeed. There's lovely detailing on the bargeboards and in the cockpit. The rollover bar has nice definition into the thin fin at the trailing edge, and the grills look nice and pronounced. A nice rear wing caps off a fantastic model, I can't find any fault with it.
Score: 10/10

1/43 Model Review: 2009 Renault R29

Background

With the new 2009 rules and very different looking cars to the rest of the decade, Renault produced one of the ugliest cars of this era. Alonso was once again joined by Nelson Piquet Jnr, with Alonso being the most competitive during the season, scoring all the teams' 26 points including a podium at Singapore. Piquet struggled with pace all year, and was eventually dropped by the team in favour of Romain Grosjean, who faired little better. Piquet, annoyed by the situation, revealed the story of crashgate at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, having been asked to bring out a safety car by deliberately crashing and helping team-mate Alonso to victory, on the proviso that he would retain his seat for 2009 - which he thought was the whole season. Various sponsors, including title sponsor ING, pulled their support and removed their logos immediately.

Minichamps

Minichamps 400090008

Neither Minichamps car had the drivers name on the cardboard overlay, but thankfully the driver helmets were present and correct. Correction, Romain Grosjean got a limited run of models and his name is presented. Minichamps have created a nice diecast car, the proportions are nicely done, and the lack of complexity on the real car makes for an easier model to create.
Score: 7/10

Norev

Norev 518952

I've seen that Norev have made a couple of Renault F1 cars, and here is their R29. The model is based on the launch car which didn't have the sidepod vanes and the rear of the sidepods the bulbous shape. It was used during pre-season testing, but I don't think it made it to a race, I could be wrong. The main shape is of similar quality and proportions to the Minichamps models, but where it gets to some of the detail, it's a little blocky and thick. The driver body is not too bad. It's not a bad alternative to the Minichamps, it's a little cheaper, so you don't get quite as good detail.

Score: 6/10

Provence Moulage

Provence Moulage PM0044

I'd never come across this brand before, but they make some F1 model kits. Again, this car is based on the launch car. I'd say it's lacking a bit of detail, but there were no real details to get excited about on the launch car, so it's pretty accurate then! Actually, this is a resin car, so the details on this are pretty nice, the aerial and pitot tube for example is the best one I've seen. The mirrors are nicely defined too. No driver figure for this car. It's just a shame they didn't base this on the race car.

Score: 8/10

Where are they now?

Renault and Romain Grosjean are about to enter the 2019, though Grosjean will be driving for Haas. Fernando Alonso has only just retired from F1, seeking to win the triple crown as well as other prestigious racing categories. 

Nelson Piquet Jnr has burned his bridges with F1, and has competed in a host of other series, including endurance, Brazilian stock car, NASCAR and rallycross, but perhaps most famously winning the first Formula E Championship, where he still competes. 

Winners of the 1st Race vs Champions (1990 - 2019)

We just witnessed a reinvigorated Valterri Bottas dominate the Australian Grand Prix. He was close to Hamilton in qualifying, but snatched the lead convincingly at the start and drove away to win by over 20 seconds. Granted that Hamilton's car was damaged, it was still an impressive margin of victory. Verstappen had to overtake cars in front of him to finish where his pace deserved and Ferrari's pace had vanished this weekend having to settle for 4th and 5th, unable to find a good set up and use the tyres properly.

But, as they all say, this is Australia, and it throws up some odd results and can give false readings as to how the season will pan out. Melbourne has hosted the opening round of the F1 World Championship since 1996, though Bahrain opened the season a couple of times in 2006 & 2010. There used to be a trend where the winner of the first Grand Prix usually goes on to win the World Championship. I've gone back and looked through race winners compared to champions from 1990 through to today to see how true it is.

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1990s

Only twice in the 90's did non-champions win the first race.

1997 David Coulthard

Minichamps 530974390

Here is Coulthard's McLaren in pre-season testing livery. Coulthard would win another Grand Prix that year, as McLaren and Mercedes were starting to become more competitive, but they weren't title contenders. That would come in 1998, but it would be Hakkinen who would win the Championships.
Villeneuve was taken out by Eddie Irvine's Ferrari on the first corner of the season and retired, opening up the opportunity for McLaren to take their first victory since Senna won in Adelaide in 1993.

1999 Eddie Irvine

Hot Wheels 24626

1999 was meant to be the season that Michael Schumacher finally won the title in a Ferrari, but a broken leg half way through the season put an end to his challenge. So Ferrari rallied behind Irvine, kind of, to take the challenge to Hakkinen and McLaren. Hakkinen should have ran away with the title that year but mistakes from him and the team made it much more difficult. And Ferrari? Well I think they'd rather wait a year than break their duck with Irvine to be honest. Hakkinen retired from the first race with throttle problems, whilst Schumacher had issues before the start of the race that meant he started at the back of the grid and finished outside the points.

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2000s

Similarly in the noughties, only twice did the race winner not go on to win the title.

2003 David Coulthard

Minichamps 530034305

Coulthard makes the list again in 2003. Ferrari were so dominant by now that they started the season with the previous years car and were still competitive. Having said that, McLaren did the same for 2003 and ran the updated car for the whole year. Schumacher damaged his car whilst battling with Raikkonen, whilst Montoya spun out of the lead, leaving Coulthard to pick up the pieces and win the race.

2005 Giancarlo Fisichella

Minichamps 400050006

Remember F1 went through a phase of single shot qualifying, where drivers took one turn each to set a qualifying time? It comes unstuck if the weather changes half way through, which it did in Australia 2005. Alonso qualified in 14th position whilst team mate Fisichella took pole. Fisichella showed the potential of the Renault car by taking victory at the opening round. But it would be his team-mate who would take the title, whilst Fisichella faded into the number 2 driver role.

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2010s

However, when you enter the last decade, 6 times, more than half of the winners of the first race has not gone on to win the World Championship. Before we delve into why that is, let's have a look at the each case first.

2010 Fernando Alonso

Mattel Elite T6289

Alonso's debut with Ferrari ended with victory at the Bahrain Grand Prix. The car wasn't that quick, but a late season charge meant that he was in contention for the championship going into the final round, but a strategy error cost him the title to Vettel. 

Minichamps 530104311

Australia was the 2nd race that year and Jenson Button justified his decision to leave the team whom he won the Championship with, to go to Hamilton's team and prove himself. Button took an opportunistic victory at Melbourne, making the best strategy calls in a race with changeable conditions. But over the course of the season, Button was not able to mount enough of a challenge to defend his title.

2012 Jenson Button

Minichamps 537124303

Button won in Australia again in 2012, but the first half of 2012 was about the teams trying to get their heads around the new Pirelli tyres, which saw seven different winners in the first seven races. It wasn't until mid-season when Vettel gained the upper hand on the Championship despite a plucky challenge from Alonso in a much slower Ferrari.

2013 Kimi Raikkonen

Minichamps 410130107

Kimi Raikkonen started off the 2013 season with a win, having won at the tail end of the 2012 season as well. Whilst the car showed flashes of pace, it was not quick enough to mount a serious title challenge.

2014 Nico Rosberg

Minichamps 413140644

Mercedes were miles ahead when the 2014 season started in the new turbo hybrid era, but it was Rosberg, not Hamilton who would take the first victory of 2014. Hamilton was on pole, but engine issues meant he was third in the first corner and fifth at the end of the first lap before retiring. The battle between the two teammates ran to the final Grand Prix where Hamilton was triumphant.

2017 Sebastian Vettel

Looksmart LSF107

With a major change in regulations, Ferrari built a competitive car, though it wasn't quite on par with the Mercedes, but Vettel made good use of it, leading the championship for more than half the season - not the important half though. After mid-season, mistakes and misjudgments were costly and their challenge fizzled out. At the Australian Grand Prix, again Hamilton took pole position, but Vettel remained close in 2nd. When Hamilton pitted early, he was held up by Verstappen who was yet to stop, allowing Vettel to come back out ahead of Hamilton after his stop.

2018 Sebastian Vettel

Bburago 18-36808V

2018 started so promisingly for Ferrari. Though Hamilton aced qualifying, an opportunistic pitstop by Ferrari under Virtual Safety Car propelled the German to first place. By half way through the season, Vettel was leading the championship, and in a strange case of deja-vu, Vettel's challenge faded in much the same way it did in 2017.

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So what can we conclude? Formula 1 is a lot less predictable than it used to be and whilst it's not as competitive as we'd like, it's still in a better place than it was. We still moan that it's only ever going to be one of two, possibly three, teams who can win the title, but there were seasons in the past where one driver dominated for much of the season.

Is Bottas going to win the title, challenge for the title, or was this a one off? Time will tell, but all the predictions for Melbourne turned out to be wrong, as Ferrari were slow and Mercedes were well ahead. Nobody gave Bottas a chance, but the reality is, if the Mercedes can be competitive throughout the season, Bottas has all the tools to challenge. But his team-mate is five-times World Champion, Lewis Hamilton, and when he was on it, he was unstoppable last season. However we haven't seen that kind of form throughout an entire season yet, and he has been beaten before, but that took Rosberg using everything at his disposal to throw Lewis off his game, personally, I can't see Bottas doing that this season. Hamilton has been on pole 8 times in his career, and has won 4 of the last Championships, but has only won this race twice and only one of those times in a Mercedes.

2019 Preview: Historic Team Names

They say its easier to buy an existing company than start up your own. Only a handful of teams are Ferrari, McLaren, Haas and Williams (though you could argue it is Williams version 2.0 (version 1.0 being bought out by Wolf (not Toto Wolff (though he did own a bit of Williams V2 at one stage) but Walter Wolf)) phew!).

Two teams have changed hands once Toro Rosso used to be Minardi, and Alfa Romeo used to be Sauber (with a few years as BMW, but they still retained the Sauber name).

However there are four teams that have a more colourful history.

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Team Silverstone

Jordan

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Jordan started the team from 1991 having run various lower formulae teams. When a contract dispute with Vodafone didn't go his way and Honda deciding to pair with BAR, the team quickly ran into money problems and went to the back of the grid. 2005 was the final season under the Jordan name.

Midland F1

In 2006, for the most part, it competed as Midland F1. Except they didn't make it all the way through the season.

Spyker

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Spyker quickly reliveried the car from the Italian GP, but thankfully we had a much toned down version in 2007.

Force India

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From 2008, Vijay Mallya bought the team and it was then known as Force India right through to 2018, well the middle of 2018 when it became...

Racing Point

So apparently the point is a full stop. With the title sponsor, the team is then "SportPesa Racing ."
It's like a joke that you have to explain isn't funny, I get its trying to be clever but I suppose I preferred they didn't revive the Lola name when they had nothing to do with them. The best 'pound-for-pound' team will receive a cash boost with this latest change of ownership and they will be looking to regain 4th in the Constructors' Championship.

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Team Enstone

Toleman

Toleman competed between 1981 through to 1985. I only had two Tolemans in my collection, this one with Senna driving.

Benetton

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The clothing company, Benetton, bought the team and introduced its bright colours to the grid. Winning two championships with Schumacher in the mid-90s, the team would eventually sell up in 2001 to Renault.

Renault

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Renault also won two championships with Fernando Alonso. Renault left the sport at the end of 2010, with the team being bought by Genii capital.

Lotus

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They called the team Lotus, even though there was another team called Lotus because they correctly bought the rights, but Proton who owned actual Lotus wanted this team to be called Lotus. Lotus (the other team) became Caterham and Renault transitioned from Lotus Renault to Lotus...

Renault

... and back to Renault again when the manufacturer saved the team from a dire financial situation towards the end of the 2015 season. Renault will be looking to catch the leading three teams in the coming couple of years. This season they will want to be a clear 4th, but that seems like it is not going to be an easy task.

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Team Braxley

Tyrrell

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Ken Tyrrell ran Matra cars from 1968, before making his own cars and entering as Tyrrell in 1970. The team were successful in the early 70s, but their competitiveness began to wane, until they were eventually sold to British American Tobacco when they had sunk to the back of the grid in 1998.

BAR

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BAR told us they would win their first Grand Prix. They didn't even score a point all 1999. They wanted to run two seperate liveries, but ended up with the two sides of the car in different liveries. So I'm posting a picture of their much better testing livery. Consistent podium finishes in 2004 saw the team bought by Honda in 2005.

Honda

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The team became Honda in 2006, but the team slipped backwards in competitiveness. It wasn't until 2009 that they would produce a competitive car, but Honda were suffering in the recession and pulled out of the sport at the end of 2008.

Brawn GP

For one glorious season, we had Brawn GP. From the brinks of closing down, this team won it all in 2009 before being bought out by Mercedes.

Mercedes

In 2010, with Rosberg and Schumacher at the wheel, Mercedes began their F1 come-back which has so far seen them win 5 Championships in a row to date. Will they make it a sixth straight year? It looks like they have their biggest fight yet going into 2019.

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Team Milton Keynes

Stewart

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Jackie and son Paul Stewart entered a Fords works backed team in 1997. They made good progress, producing a quick but slightly fragile car in 1999. They won their first Grand Prix that season, by which time Ford wanted to buy him out. 

Jaguar

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And Ford called the team Jaguar and brought a welcome green livery back to F1. Unfortunately the team never enjoyed any success and Ford sold out to a drinks company. 

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull made slow initial progress, and the arrival of Adrian Newey did not see much of a boost initially. But with new regulations in 2009, Newey and his team worked with Renault to produce some competitive cars, winning four straight championships. In 2019, a new era with Honda engines promises a return to the front in the near future. How soon can they start competing for championships again is the big question.