25/03/2015
NEWS STORY
Friday's FIA press conference promises to be interesting as Red Bull and Renault bosses are scheduled to appear.
With anticipation for Thursday's press conference, where Fernando Alonso is one of the invited drivers, already building, there is the promise of further fun and games on Friday when Red Bull's Christian Horner and Renault's Cyril Abiteboul are scheduled to appear.
McLaren has already made it clear that tomorrow's press conference is the one time it will allow Alonso to be questioned on his Barcelona accident and all that followed, warning that any such questions after then will be "politely declined".
However, Alonso's appearance could be overshadowed by Friday's press conference in the wake of recent comments by Abiteboul, who was himself reacting to claims made by Red Bull.
Following Adrian Newey's claim that the problem with the RB11's performance rests entirely with the power unit, Abiteboul has called him a liar, telling France's Auto Hebdo: "It's difficult to have a partner who lies. Adrian is a charming man and an engineer without parallel, but he's spent his life criticising engine partners. He's too old to change his ways."
To add to the fun, the pair are joined by Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost, whose team also uses the French engines but, certainly based on pre-season and Melbourne form, appears to have done a better job, and certainly a lot less 'toy throwing'.
Fact is, with Mercedes having scored a 1-2 here last year, and with an eye on their Melbourne form, this could be the highlight of the weekend.
Also due to appear on Friday are Lotus Matthew Carter, Force India's Robert Fernley (always good for a moan) and Pirelli's Paul Hembery, whilst Daniil Kvyat, Felipe Nasr, Kimi Raikkonen, Nico Rosberg and Carlos Sainz join Alonso on Thursday.
Clearly anticipating an interesting weekend, Abiteboul subsequently tweeted: "Packing up to Malaysia. Race (round?) 2", along with a picture of a pair of boxing gloves.