Cape Town - As the rain caused a halt in Formula One testing at Silverstone, the Renault F1 team and rivals Force India became involved in some humourous Twitter banter.
It all started with an innocent enough tweet from Renault, detailing their work through the lunch session.
We've been changing the suspension over lunch, and it's wet now so @sirotkin_sergey stays in the garage for now. pic.twitter.com/O39KrSXVa9
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) July 12, 2016
Force India quickly seized their chance to post a quirky reply.
@RenaultSportF1 does the rain cause a suspension of your suspension work? Ah, the suspense.
— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) July 12, 2016
It took some time, but Renault had a reply for their rivals.
We do it in suspenders too. https://t.co/OJZADTHtMl
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) July 12, 2016
Force India fired back a quick reply.
@RenaultSportF1 if it is any consolation, the damp dampened our enthusiasm for testing new dampers. Damn.
— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) July 12, 2016
And then some fans got involved, siding with Force India for their speedy replies.
@ForceIndiaF1 @RenaultSportF1 Like it.. at least you're a quicker thinker than Renault ...you replied much faster ????
— Lynda Polson (@polmack) July 12, 2016
Renault had a reason for their tardiness, however.
@polmack @ForceIndiaF1 we were drinking tea and eating biscuits. We are in England right now. The weather proves it.
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) July 12, 2016
Then it all got a little weird before the weather cleared and the two teams got back to more serious business.
@RenaultSportF1 you have biscuits? Say the word and we'll be there! (The word being "custard cream") ??
— Sahara Force India (@ForceIndiaF1) July 12, 2016
@ForceIndiaF1 custard cream? So 1980s... Pop over in your Ford Cortina for one.
— Renault Sport F1 (@RenaultSportF1) July 12, 2016
Needless to say, the the fans really enjoyed it.
@RenaultSportF1 @ForceIndiaF1 Next Season we need a Twitter account formula one championship. Voting is after each race :D have fun!
— Fiete (@xXFIETEXx) July 12, 2016
For the record, Fernando Alonso of McLaren posted the fastest time during testing.