The first race of a Formula 1 season is usually very exciting due to regulation changes. Usually. It’s not enough to just label a season as the most exciting prospect in recent memory, you have to cite reasons for such billing. The opportunity to see two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in a potentially championship winning team would allow us to witness again what a supreme driver can do in a supreme car. Add to that the chance to finally compare champions like Button and Hamilton to each other, and more importantly to the legendary benchmark that is Michael Schumacher. The lack of refuelling for 2010 means that a driver’s ability to effectively manage pace, tyre life as well as other systems will be of particular significance and reduce the need for multiple pit stops. Pre-season testing suggested that many cars would be close together on pace with a few surprises, and the new teams well out of the equation. So exactly how much of the above was really expected to create a scintillating spectacle of overtaking and high drama?
With a few small exceptions, qualifying ensured that the fastest drivers in the fastest cars were ahead of the slightly-less faster drivers in similar or slower machines. Without KERS-tastic rockets, a more traditional F1 start meant no big surprises on the run down to turn 1. Sebastian Vettel got away well from pole while Alonso hung around the outside of Massa in turn 1, giving him the inside and 2nd place for turn 2. Rosberg passed Hamilton for 4th shortly after Lewis was given the squeeze by Massa leading up to turn 3. Mark Webber’s Red Bull emitted thick plumes of smoke from the back resulting in Schumacher passing him for 6th. Webber’s race would have been further compromised had Robert Kubica and Adrian Sutil not touched and spun, probably as a result of reduced visibility.
Vettel generally extended the gap to Alonso, while Fernando did the same to Massa. Not a great deal else happened up front until the pit stops around lap 14 to 16. In previous years, due to a lighter fuel load at the end of a stint, it had been more effective for cars to pit later than those around them. Conversely, this year the earlier stoppers have the advantage due to an ever-decreasing fuel load and fresh tyres at the start of a stint. With some slick pit work, the McLaren team had Hamilton stationary for just 4.5 seconds and therefore he jumped Nico Rosberg who stopped a lap later, for 4th. Similarly, Jenson Button who had been following Schumacher and Webber at a conservative distance managed to jump Webber for 7th in the pits. Mark will be rueing another weekend where Vettel’s performance hinted at the chasm between their destinies as Red Bull drivers, having had his average qualifying and bad start compounded by being held up by Schumacher, then Button jumping him in the stops. Button himself later lamented not pushing harder on his softer tyres having tried too hard to preserve them leading up to his pit stop.
On the harder tyres, the Ferraris and especially Alonso, seemed to have more for Vettel. At one stage Alonso took nearly a second out of Vettel after a gentle reeling, but due to the high track temperatures, tyre wear and dirty air, Alonso was staying out of Vettel’s slipstream to preserve his machinery. It was as if he rebounded off a protective field around the leading car and fell into Massa’s grasp briefly, a worrying omen for 2010. On lap 30 it became obvious that Vettel’s Red Bull was ailing having shed a piece of exhaust, and consequently power, at an alarming rate. He was summarily swallowed up by Alonso, then Massa. While there were laps where Alonso closed on the leading Red Bull, and despite Fernando stating he was preparing and preserving his car for an all-out attack on Vettel in the last 10 laps, he had to admit it would have been “Difficult” to catch and pass the incredible German. Subsequently, Lewis Hamilton also passed the slowing Red Bull after a period of great pace that saw him leave Rosberg’s Mercedes behind. According to Rosberg, Vettel’s Red Bull had such good levels of downforce that he couldn’t make any time on him in the closing stages through the new twisty middle sector of the Sakhir track. Rosberg had no doubt taken some significant life out of his tyres catching Vettel.
So it was that Fernando Alonso, like Kimi Raikkonen in 2007, endeared himself to the Tifosi and his new team by closing out his debut GP for Ferrari with some very fast laps, stretching the gap to Massa into double figures. Unlike Raikkonen though, Alonso didn’t need a wake up call from his crew on the radio to prevent him falling asleep in the lead. Massa himself claimed he was asked to look after his car, reporting high temperatures. Hamilton completed the podium with Vettel holding off Rosberg for 4th. Would it not be damning for the current crop of drivers and teams to have Michael Schumacher, 41 years old and 3 years away from racing, to step back in and waltz to the front of the pack? A sixth place finish for Schumi is a more than acceptable and worthy return given what he is up against, the nature of the regulations and competition ensuring he didn’t get any higher (or lower) than 6th place once the stops were done. He will only get better and closer to Rosberg and the rest.
The new teams had the kind of day that you would expect, the experienced drivers staying out of trouble for the most part in young and fragile cars, while mechanical gremlins claimed a good proportion of the newcomers. Glock was probably the fastest of the new teams’ drivers, but Lotus managed to get both Trulli and Kovalainen to the finish. Nico Hulkenburg and Vitaly Petrov had a predictably hard time, but at least Petrov had a great start to run 11th early on and Kubica proved the Renault does have decent pace. Rubens Barrichello brought his late-stopping Williams home in 10th place for a point, just behind Liuzzi who had a solid run in a Force India that will be a thorn in the side of any misfiring top team. Sauber will justifiably be disappointed in how the season has opened for them, their pace from testing promised much but delivered little, both Kobayashi and De La Rosa retiring from the race having never threatened the points scorers. Jaime Alguersuari showed that he was closer to Buemi at Toro Rosso than last year, and that will undoubtedly be an interesting story to follow as the season wears on.
And interesting stories appear to be the main theme of the 2010 season opener, not thrilling on-track action. The level of excitement and satisfaction viewers derived from Sunday’s opening GP will be directly proportionate to what their expectations were. As mentioned previously, opening races are usually exciting, but more often than not that is a result of them being held at Albert Park. Last time Bahrain played host to the inaugural race of the season in 2006, Fernando Alonso came out of his second pit stop mere centimetres ahead of Michael Schumacher and held on through turn 1 to secure first place and a subsequent victory. That was it, a flash of excitement in the closing stages of, Rosberg’s debut aside, an otherwise mostly unremarkable race at the front. The worry is that this year, without the introduction of a mandatory second pit stop or more variation in the tyre compounds, the flash of excitement will occur only at the start leaving viewers praying for rain and failures. Expect a few changes to have been set in motion by the time we reach Australia in a fortnight’s time.
2010 Season Preview (Part 3) - 15/03/10
Toro Rosso
This is the first season where Scuderia Toro Rosso can be considered a proper constructor, no longer using the same chassis as Red Bull Racing. Naturally their 2010 offering can be seen to be an evolution of last year’s Adrian Newey design, but how much longer will Dietrich Mateschitz be able to justify the expense of the second team? Much of that will be down to how Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari build on their 2009 campaigns. If either of those two prove capable of breaking into the points and performing above the other midfield runners, thereby staking a claim to a Red Bull Racing seat alongside Vettel for next year, the Toro Rosso project will still hold relevance. As for this season, a strong Ferrari engine will hopefully hold its own against the Cosworth teams who may experience some teething troubles with their package early on, allowing STR to break free.
Buemi started 2009 strongly, and ended the year with flashes of promise while not quite shining throughout. This year he will have to pick up where the last one left off, minus collisions with teammates, minus decorating vital parts of the track with debris and ruining qualifying for championship challengers. Buemi could be one of the rare breed of F1 drivers who never quite excelled in lower formulae, but on his day can outperform the car. A consistent run of results at that level will see him prolong his career. Alguersuari on the other hand was the youngest ever winner of the British F3 title and the youngest ever driver of an F1 car. Thrown in at the deep end, last year’s Japanese GP saw him sink a little beneath the surface with multiple big shunts. A winter break and a proper pre-season testing opportunity should allow Alguersuari to demonstrate the talent he has this year compared to his teammate.
Lotus
Norfolk’s finest make a return to F1 in 2010 sixteen years after pulling out, but this is definitely no longer Colin Chapman’s team. Tony Fernandes, Air Asia supremo, is the force behind this return and has already shown us glimpses of what to expect by taking jibes about “Proton F1” in his stride, as well as publicly accepting a wager with Virgin’s Richard Branson where the losing team owner will dress up as a female flight attendant. This sense of humour may well come in useful as Lotus have struggled to get their car ready in time for pre-season testing and will undoubtedly play catch-up from day one. Mike Gascoyne will be leading the technical effort and will be hoping to repeat his former successes with start-up operations and low budget racing. The T127 will be running a Cosworth engine, yet there will be question marks surrounding overall reliability and performance. Lotus will be hoping to snap at the heels of midfield regulars at best.
As for the driver line-up, of the new teams Lotus clearly have the most desirable pairing in Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Both have driven for huge teams and won one race apiece, both are considered experienced and without a doubt a major catch for a new team. Neither Trulli nor Kovalainen have demonstrated the consistency to challenge for a title or even maintain top form for any sustained period of time, but Mike Gascoyne retains faith in the drivers he has previously worked with. He will be hoping the sporadic flashes of brilliance from both drivers over their careers so far can be melded into a productive series of results for a team whose name and heritage attract as much support as it does pressure.
Virgin
Having successfully backed the right horse for his first foray into F1 in 2009, Richard Branson and his Virgin empire have transferred their backing from Brawn GP to what was Manor GP for 2010, creating Virgin Racing. To assume that Branson and co are bringing huge funding to the table is a mistake though, as Virgin are clearly more interested in succeeding on a budget. To that end, the use of a windtunnel has been completely forsaken by Virgin racing and chief designer, Nick Wirth. Virgin are focusing purely on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the design and development of their cars. This is a first for F1 and Virgin will be hoping that their progress will justify the 100% CFD route, casting doubt on the need for 24 hour windtunnel usage by the established F1 teams.
The driving duties fall to Toyota refugee Timo Glock and multiple GP2 race winner Lucas di Grassi. Glock’s quality and drive are unquestioned, having impressed in just about every formula he’s participated in. The chance to be team leader and de facto #1 at a team is of course appealing, but this is clearly a step backwards for Glock who was a genuine podium challenger over the last two years. Di Grassi is the unknown quantity despite race wins and championship tilts in GP2 as well as spending time as Renault F1 test driver. Di Grassi finished second in the GP2 championship to Timo Glock in 2007, where Glock already looked the better driver if a little more prone to incidents. The Toyota F1 experience will no doubt mean that Glock will comfortably outperform Di Grassi this year. One just hopes that when the Virgin drivers radio the pits citing technical issues they are not redirected to a Mumbai call centre where they are promised an engineer will be sent out a week on Wednesday.
Hispania
Campos Meta 1, now Hispania Racing Team, could not have left it later to arrive on the 2010 grid. Dallara chassis and Cosworth engine, a complete lack of testing for the drivers and the team mean that they are almost guaranteed to be the weakest of the new teams, at least initially. Jose Ramon Carabante’s purchase of the squad helped place HRT on the grid in place of USF1. Team principal of HRT, Colin Kolles, will undoubtedly bring some much needed F1 experience to the outfit having progressed beyond the days of being labelled ‘Chavski’ at Midland F1.
Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok renew a driving partnership first conceived at GP2 championship winning team i-Sport in 2008. Neither Senna nor Chandhok won the GP2 title, but Senna did come very close eventually being pipped by Giorgio Pantano, the only GP2 champion not to make it into F1 after being crowned. The return of the Senna name to F1, stirring as it is, is far more low key than the Brawn GP 2009 deal that never happened. It is a given that Bruno will have many fans and well-wishers throughout the season, but this is the stage that his career has fired him towards. It is also the stage where final judgement will be passed on his merits as a driver with a famous name. As for Chandhok, one really wonders how much preparation he has had for the Bahrain opener. Will Vijay Mallya be keeping a close eye on his progress as a future replacement for Liuzzi at Force India? Neither driver will be short of support, but the rest of the F1 fraternity will not welcome a team whose very first run of the car will be during first practice at Sakhir.
This is the first season where Scuderia Toro Rosso can be considered a proper constructor, no longer using the same chassis as Red Bull Racing. Naturally their 2010 offering can be seen to be an evolution of last year’s Adrian Newey design, but how much longer will Dietrich Mateschitz be able to justify the expense of the second team? Much of that will be down to how Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari build on their 2009 campaigns. If either of those two prove capable of breaking into the points and performing above the other midfield runners, thereby staking a claim to a Red Bull Racing seat alongside Vettel for next year, the Toro Rosso project will still hold relevance. As for this season, a strong Ferrari engine will hopefully hold its own against the Cosworth teams who may experience some teething troubles with their package early on, allowing STR to break free.
Buemi started 2009 strongly, and ended the year with flashes of promise while not quite shining throughout. This year he will have to pick up where the last one left off, minus collisions with teammates, minus decorating vital parts of the track with debris and ruining qualifying for championship challengers. Buemi could be one of the rare breed of F1 drivers who never quite excelled in lower formulae, but on his day can outperform the car. A consistent run of results at that level will see him prolong his career. Alguersuari on the other hand was the youngest ever winner of the British F3 title and the youngest ever driver of an F1 car. Thrown in at the deep end, last year’s Japanese GP saw him sink a little beneath the surface with multiple big shunts. A winter break and a proper pre-season testing opportunity should allow Alguersuari to demonstrate the talent he has this year compared to his teammate.
Lotus
Norfolk’s finest make a return to F1 in 2010 sixteen years after pulling out, but this is definitely no longer Colin Chapman’s team. Tony Fernandes, Air Asia supremo, is the force behind this return and has already shown us glimpses of what to expect by taking jibes about “Proton F1” in his stride, as well as publicly accepting a wager with Virgin’s Richard Branson where the losing team owner will dress up as a female flight attendant. This sense of humour may well come in useful as Lotus have struggled to get their car ready in time for pre-season testing and will undoubtedly play catch-up from day one. Mike Gascoyne will be leading the technical effort and will be hoping to repeat his former successes with start-up operations and low budget racing. The T127 will be running a Cosworth engine, yet there will be question marks surrounding overall reliability and performance. Lotus will be hoping to snap at the heels of midfield regulars at best.
As for the driver line-up, of the new teams Lotus clearly have the most desirable pairing in Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen. Both have driven for huge teams and won one race apiece, both are considered experienced and without a doubt a major catch for a new team. Neither Trulli nor Kovalainen have demonstrated the consistency to challenge for a title or even maintain top form for any sustained period of time, but Mike Gascoyne retains faith in the drivers he has previously worked with. He will be hoping the sporadic flashes of brilliance from both drivers over their careers so far can be melded into a productive series of results for a team whose name and heritage attract as much support as it does pressure.
Virgin
Having successfully backed the right horse for his first foray into F1 in 2009, Richard Branson and his Virgin empire have transferred their backing from Brawn GP to what was Manor GP for 2010, creating Virgin Racing. To assume that Branson and co are bringing huge funding to the table is a mistake though, as Virgin are clearly more interested in succeeding on a budget. To that end, the use of a windtunnel has been completely forsaken by Virgin racing and chief designer, Nick Wirth. Virgin are focusing purely on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) for the design and development of their cars. This is a first for F1 and Virgin will be hoping that their progress will justify the 100% CFD route, casting doubt on the need for 24 hour windtunnel usage by the established F1 teams.
The driving duties fall to Toyota refugee Timo Glock and multiple GP2 race winner Lucas di Grassi. Glock’s quality and drive are unquestioned, having impressed in just about every formula he’s participated in. The chance to be team leader and de facto #1 at a team is of course appealing, but this is clearly a step backwards for Glock who was a genuine podium challenger over the last two years. Di Grassi is the unknown quantity despite race wins and championship tilts in GP2 as well as spending time as Renault F1 test driver. Di Grassi finished second in the GP2 championship to Timo Glock in 2007, where Glock already looked the better driver if a little more prone to incidents. The Toyota F1 experience will no doubt mean that Glock will comfortably outperform Di Grassi this year. One just hopes that when the Virgin drivers radio the pits citing technical issues they are not redirected to a Mumbai call centre where they are promised an engineer will be sent out a week on Wednesday.
Hispania
Campos Meta 1, now Hispania Racing Team, could not have left it later to arrive on the 2010 grid. Dallara chassis and Cosworth engine, a complete lack of testing for the drivers and the team mean that they are almost guaranteed to be the weakest of the new teams, at least initially. Jose Ramon Carabante’s purchase of the squad helped place HRT on the grid in place of USF1. Team principal of HRT, Colin Kolles, will undoubtedly bring some much needed F1 experience to the outfit having progressed beyond the days of being labelled ‘Chavski’ at Midland F1.
Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok renew a driving partnership first conceived at GP2 championship winning team i-Sport in 2008. Neither Senna nor Chandhok won the GP2 title, but Senna did come very close eventually being pipped by Giorgio Pantano, the only GP2 champion not to make it into F1 after being crowned. The return of the Senna name to F1, stirring as it is, is far more low key than the Brawn GP 2009 deal that never happened. It is a given that Bruno will have many fans and well-wishers throughout the season, but this is the stage that his career has fired him towards. It is also the stage where final judgement will be passed on his merits as a driver with a famous name. As for Chandhok, one really wonders how much preparation he has had for the Bahrain opener. Will Vijay Mallya be keeping a close eye on his progress as a future replacement for Liuzzi at Force India? Neither driver will be short of support, but the rest of the F1 fraternity will not welcome a team whose very first run of the car will be during first practice at Sakhir.
2010 Season Preview (Part 2) - 27/02/10
Renault
With Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Fernando Alonso all having left Renault during the last year for obvious reasons, it is impossible to believe that those giants of past Renault success will not be sorely missed. The implications of Crashgate on corporate sponsorship are also evident in this year’s Renault livery. The team will be hoping that the lack of KERS complications and compromises will make for a season far better than 2009’s sole podium and devastating scandal was able to provide.
The capture of Robert Kubica is a major positive for Renault, and should be celebrated by fans of the team as tremendously positive. No longer shackled by his perceived lack of title and winning ambition from BMW-Sauber, coupled with a team that knows how to win championships, Kubica is expected to mature and flourish into a proper team leader. The speed is not in doubt, one hopes Renault can provide the rest despite all of the above legacies. Whether Kubica will stay at Renault if it proves a difficult year is another matter. The second Renault belongs to Vitaly Petrov, the first Russian F1 driver in history. While Petrov is bringing finance to the team, Renault have been quick to suggest it is a fraction of the seasonal budget for the team. Petrov was the 2009 GP2 runner up, but Romain Grosjean and Nelson Piquet Jr have already shown that GP2 success does not immediately translate to F1 success.
Williams
Williams F1 have passed through another short period of manufacturer engine supply to team up with Cosworth again for 2010, Toyota’s withdrawal from F1 and the dropping of Kazuki Nakajima being contributors to this decision. There is a worry from Williams that the same costly unreliability that plagued their early 2006 performance advantage with Cosworth will return for the start of 2010, however without the performance advantage.
Rubens Barrichello brings his considerable F1 experience to Williams as championship runner up and off the back of one of his most glittering seasons. Barrichello will probably struggle to match the highs of last season unless Williams have produced their best car in years, and if they have, Rubens has demonstrated that he still has the capacity to win races and put up a fight. While Rubens may finally enjoy unofficial number one status at Williams, the team will be grateful for his renowned ability to set a car up considering the fact that his teammate is German prodigy Nico Hulkenburg. The young rookie has a marvellous record in feeder formula series, boasting a GP2 championship, a Euro F3 championship, a dominant A1GP title and even exclusion from Formula BMW finals for questionable driving. There was never a doubt about his F1 trajectory, he has enough talent and testing experience to make a real impact this year.
BMW Sauber
While the name remains, the manufacturer does not. Peter Sauber has bought back his old team in order to ensure their position on the 2010 grid. After a thoroughly disappointing season for BMW in which they were expected to blossom as genuine title contenders, the board decided that F1 was no longer a justified activity and they withdrew. That withdrawal means Ferrari will be supplying the engines for the C29 with apparently little objection to the BMW name still being in evidence for the time being.
Sauber have hired long-time McLaren tester Pedro De La Rosa as lead driver for his technical knowledge and vast experience. From winter testing it seems that the C29 has a very strong baseline upon which to build which is good news for De La Rosa. Luca Badoer’s, and less recently Alex Wurz’s, experience in an F1 race seat have clearly not worried Peter Sauber who has faith in De La Rosa’s ability to help develop a car. This may well be due to the fact that in the other car Sauber has employed the eye-catching late-season debutant Kamui Kobayashi. Star performances at Interlagos and Abu Dhabi put Kobayashi firmly on the map, and the withdrawal of Toyota made him (and their 2010 grid slot) available. Kamui is the first Japanese driver for a while who is hired on the basis of his ability and promise alone, instead of as the by-product of an engine deal or a country’s desire to start a team for their national hero. Sauber may well be hoping that De La Rosa, 39, is able to fine tune an already promising car into a competitive machine for the racy, aggressive and fearless Kobayashi.
Force India
Is this the year that everyone really takes Vijay Mallya and Force India seriously? Podiums, points and front row starts in 2009 which were certainly no fluke have added greatly to Force India’s credibility. This season their launch was earlier as was their testing debut leading to a feeling in the team that 2010 will start positively and that points will be a regular possibility on all types of circuit. Having incorporated the double diffuser from birth, the VJM03 should build on the improvements of late 2009.
Both Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi have been retained for this year, the continuity of which will do Force India no harm at all. Considering what was possible at Spa and Monza for Force India in 2009, if this year’s car allows Sutil and Liuzzi to mix it with the points scorers more often, it really is the last chance make or break season for these guys. As the team grow stronger by the year, their ability to attract the fastest drivers will increase, so Sutil and Liuzzi really must show that their own game has risen to the point that potential opportunities are closed out with points and podiums whenever possible. Sutil will probably have the edge over Liuzzi, but episodes like Singapore will have to disappear from Adrian’s equation if his career is to take the next step. Newly-appointed reserve driver Paul Di Resta is a real talent with a fantastic record in Euro F3 and DTM, limited testing will mean he has little opportunity to stake his claim for a race seat, but the extra pressure on Liuzzi and Sutil is there already.
With Flavio Briatore, Pat Symonds and Fernando Alonso all having left Renault during the last year for obvious reasons, it is impossible to believe that those giants of past Renault success will not be sorely missed. The implications of Crashgate on corporate sponsorship are also evident in this year’s Renault livery. The team will be hoping that the lack of KERS complications and compromises will make for a season far better than 2009’s sole podium and devastating scandal was able to provide.
The capture of Robert Kubica is a major positive for Renault, and should be celebrated by fans of the team as tremendously positive. No longer shackled by his perceived lack of title and winning ambition from BMW-Sauber, coupled with a team that knows how to win championships, Kubica is expected to mature and flourish into a proper team leader. The speed is not in doubt, one hopes Renault can provide the rest despite all of the above legacies. Whether Kubica will stay at Renault if it proves a difficult year is another matter. The second Renault belongs to Vitaly Petrov, the first Russian F1 driver in history. While Petrov is bringing finance to the team, Renault have been quick to suggest it is a fraction of the seasonal budget for the team. Petrov was the 2009 GP2 runner up, but Romain Grosjean and Nelson Piquet Jr have already shown that GP2 success does not immediately translate to F1 success.
Williams
Williams F1 have passed through another short period of manufacturer engine supply to team up with Cosworth again for 2010, Toyota’s withdrawal from F1 and the dropping of Kazuki Nakajima being contributors to this decision. There is a worry from Williams that the same costly unreliability that plagued their early 2006 performance advantage with Cosworth will return for the start of 2010, however without the performance advantage.
Rubens Barrichello brings his considerable F1 experience to Williams as championship runner up and off the back of one of his most glittering seasons. Barrichello will probably struggle to match the highs of last season unless Williams have produced their best car in years, and if they have, Rubens has demonstrated that he still has the capacity to win races and put up a fight. While Rubens may finally enjoy unofficial number one status at Williams, the team will be grateful for his renowned ability to set a car up considering the fact that his teammate is German prodigy Nico Hulkenburg. The young rookie has a marvellous record in feeder formula series, boasting a GP2 championship, a Euro F3 championship, a dominant A1GP title and even exclusion from Formula BMW finals for questionable driving. There was never a doubt about his F1 trajectory, he has enough talent and testing experience to make a real impact this year.
BMW Sauber
While the name remains, the manufacturer does not. Peter Sauber has bought back his old team in order to ensure their position on the 2010 grid. After a thoroughly disappointing season for BMW in which they were expected to blossom as genuine title contenders, the board decided that F1 was no longer a justified activity and they withdrew. That withdrawal means Ferrari will be supplying the engines for the C29 with apparently little objection to the BMW name still being in evidence for the time being.
Sauber have hired long-time McLaren tester Pedro De La Rosa as lead driver for his technical knowledge and vast experience. From winter testing it seems that the C29 has a very strong baseline upon which to build which is good news for De La Rosa. Luca Badoer’s, and less recently Alex Wurz’s, experience in an F1 race seat have clearly not worried Peter Sauber who has faith in De La Rosa’s ability to help develop a car. This may well be due to the fact that in the other car Sauber has employed the eye-catching late-season debutant Kamui Kobayashi. Star performances at Interlagos and Abu Dhabi put Kobayashi firmly on the map, and the withdrawal of Toyota made him (and their 2010 grid slot) available. Kamui is the first Japanese driver for a while who is hired on the basis of his ability and promise alone, instead of as the by-product of an engine deal or a country’s desire to start a team for their national hero. Sauber may well be hoping that De La Rosa, 39, is able to fine tune an already promising car into a competitive machine for the racy, aggressive and fearless Kobayashi.
Force India
Is this the year that everyone really takes Vijay Mallya and Force India seriously? Podiums, points and front row starts in 2009 which were certainly no fluke have added greatly to Force India’s credibility. This season their launch was earlier as was their testing debut leading to a feeling in the team that 2010 will start positively and that points will be a regular possibility on all types of circuit. Having incorporated the double diffuser from birth, the VJM03 should build on the improvements of late 2009.
Both Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi have been retained for this year, the continuity of which will do Force India no harm at all. Considering what was possible at Spa and Monza for Force India in 2009, if this year’s car allows Sutil and Liuzzi to mix it with the points scorers more often, it really is the last chance make or break season for these guys. As the team grow stronger by the year, their ability to attract the fastest drivers will increase, so Sutil and Liuzzi really must show that their own game has risen to the point that potential opportunities are closed out with points and podiums whenever possible. Sutil will probably have the edge over Liuzzi, but episodes like Singapore will have to disappear from Adrian’s equation if his career is to take the next step. Newly-appointed reserve driver Paul Di Resta is a real talent with a fantastic record in Euro F3 and DTM, limited testing will mean he has little opportunity to stake his claim for a race seat, but the extra pressure on Liuzzi and Sutil is there already.
2010 Season Preview (Part 1) - 25/02/10
Mercedes GP
The Deutsche Dream Team, the reigning constructors’ champions Brawn GP have sold a majority stake holding to Mercedes and have successfully drawn 7-times world champion Michael Schumacher out of retirement, complete with a healthy neck. For first signing Nico Rosberg, this move was always going to be the defining of his career and legacy, either he would be current champion Button’s teammate, former champion Raikkonen’s partner or legend Schumacher’s fellow Merc driver. Despite Barrichello’s open statement of warning to Rosberg, one fails to see how Felipe Massa has suffered from his time as Schumacher’s teammate. However, whether Nico forms a similar bond with a newer, hungrier, recharged Schumi and endears himself to the Brackley squad, this key moment and period in Rosberg’s career could be the beginning of the end of it. Rosberg will be hoping to steal a march on his teammate as Schumacher gets up to speed, this is a real opportunity for Nico and must be taken advantage of.
This team last year started off with the best equipment and were still capable of race wins by the end of 2009 despite a relatively tame pace of development, a credit to the racing nous of Ross Brawn and his men. If their 2010 offering has had anything like the input of the BGP-001, and Mercedes have contributed healthily to the budget, there is true potential here. Although it should be remembered that one of the main reasons Mercedes bought into Brawn GP was their ability to succeed on a tighter budget than McLaren.
Red Bull Racing
Having tasted the sweetness of a championship battle as a constructor, having had Adrian Newey’s modern and ambitious design philosophy vindicated, having a blistering talent such as Sebastian Vettel mature into a serious and intense championship prospect and multiple race winner, having Mark Webber returning to full fitness and fresh with race winning confidence, Red Bull have just had the season BMW-Sauber dreamed of. However, with the shifting of expectations and the transitory nature of F1’s hierarchy, RBR can only be aiming to have a season that Brawn GP enjoyed in 2009.
Another season consisting of race victories may be the Promised Land for most of the grid, but Dietrich Mateschitz will expect a serious championship challenge unhampered by unreliability and costly mistakes on the racetrack. There is no reason to believe that Red Bull should not be able to build another superb car, without the need to incorporate a double diffuser mid-season resulting in compromised packaging or design. Without the car advantage RBR enjoyed last year over most teams, Mark Webber may find it hard to win races this season but Vettel is now an accepted title challenger and most likely will be for years to come.
Ferrari
In the Latin corner, weighing in mere milligrams above the (non-vetoed) regulation minimum weight, Ferrari poise themselves for what could be a serious title fight. Double world champion Fernando Alonso joins his third team in four years in a bid to add to his drivers’ titles. Once again Alonso is joining a huge team where his teammate has already firmly established roots. Fernando will be hoping the leadership, speed, focused desire and consistency of top form for which he has become renowned will swing Maranello favour in his direction. The Tifosi will take to him with ease and he will be expected to deliver immediately. If the Ferrari F10 is born a winner, Alonso’s unquestionable duty is to make it a champion.
It will be Felipe Massa’s job to stop him. The new era of no team orders at Ferrari means the boy from Brazil will be given every opportunity to use his team knowledge and hard-earned status within Maranello to give Alonso a repeat of 2007. There appear to be no lasting effects from Massa’s Hungaroring horror, but maybe that can only truly be assessed throughout a Grand Prix weekend. If indeed he is fully recovered and Ferrari have delivered a gem, then this is a huge year for Felipe. Once again partnering a multiple world champion, Massa has enough on his side, and no excuse behind which to hide.
McLaren
Once again McLaren will carry the #1 on their car, this time as a result of hiring current world champion Jenson Button to drive alongside the team talisman, Lewis Hamilton. The creation of this British F1 super-team allowed Mercedes to form Team Germany GP with Schumacher, in the process making McLaren a customer instead of a partner. Like Ferrari, it is expected that the removal of KERS systems on the McLaren will allow for a much less compromised design and rediscovered form, even though McLaren were at the sharp end again towards the latter part of 2009.
Much has been made of Jenson Button’s move to McLaren with just about every nuance of its conception drawing criticism. He’s moved for more money, but Ross Brawn would have paid him more. He’s stupid to take on Hamilton in his own back yard, but Button has said it was time for a new challenge. Unlike the situation in 2007 where Alonso partnered Hamilton, Lewis will be expected to beat Jenson convincingly this year, such is the predominant opinion on their respective talents. Button however has a marvellous opportunity to augment his reputation as a world champion who lucked into a brilliant car. If he doesn’t match Hamilton everywhere, he will have the excuse of new surroundings. If he beats Hamilton as much as he gets beaten, his stock will rise even further. Jenson’s kindness to tyres is expected to serve him well in a season where cars will run the whole race without refuelling. Lewis is expected to step up from a character-building year and use more of his newfound maturity to become world champion again.
The Deutsche Dream Team, the reigning constructors’ champions Brawn GP have sold a majority stake holding to Mercedes and have successfully drawn 7-times world champion Michael Schumacher out of retirement, complete with a healthy neck. For first signing Nico Rosberg, this move was always going to be the defining of his career and legacy, either he would be current champion Button’s teammate, former champion Raikkonen’s partner or legend Schumacher’s fellow Merc driver. Despite Barrichello’s open statement of warning to Rosberg, one fails to see how Felipe Massa has suffered from his time as Schumacher’s teammate. However, whether Nico forms a similar bond with a newer, hungrier, recharged Schumi and endears himself to the Brackley squad, this key moment and period in Rosberg’s career could be the beginning of the end of it. Rosberg will be hoping to steal a march on his teammate as Schumacher gets up to speed, this is a real opportunity for Nico and must be taken advantage of.
This team last year started off with the best equipment and were still capable of race wins by the end of 2009 despite a relatively tame pace of development, a credit to the racing nous of Ross Brawn and his men. If their 2010 offering has had anything like the input of the BGP-001, and Mercedes have contributed healthily to the budget, there is true potential here. Although it should be remembered that one of the main reasons Mercedes bought into Brawn GP was their ability to succeed on a tighter budget than McLaren.
Red Bull Racing
Having tasted the sweetness of a championship battle as a constructor, having had Adrian Newey’s modern and ambitious design philosophy vindicated, having a blistering talent such as Sebastian Vettel mature into a serious and intense championship prospect and multiple race winner, having Mark Webber returning to full fitness and fresh with race winning confidence, Red Bull have just had the season BMW-Sauber dreamed of. However, with the shifting of expectations and the transitory nature of F1’s hierarchy, RBR can only be aiming to have a season that Brawn GP enjoyed in 2009.
Another season consisting of race victories may be the Promised Land for most of the grid, but Dietrich Mateschitz will expect a serious championship challenge unhampered by unreliability and costly mistakes on the racetrack. There is no reason to believe that Red Bull should not be able to build another superb car, without the need to incorporate a double diffuser mid-season resulting in compromised packaging or design. Without the car advantage RBR enjoyed last year over most teams, Mark Webber may find it hard to win races this season but Vettel is now an accepted title challenger and most likely will be for years to come.
Ferrari
In the Latin corner, weighing in mere milligrams above the (non-vetoed) regulation minimum weight, Ferrari poise themselves for what could be a serious title fight. Double world champion Fernando Alonso joins his third team in four years in a bid to add to his drivers’ titles. Once again Alonso is joining a huge team where his teammate has already firmly established roots. Fernando will be hoping the leadership, speed, focused desire and consistency of top form for which he has become renowned will swing Maranello favour in his direction. The Tifosi will take to him with ease and he will be expected to deliver immediately. If the Ferrari F10 is born a winner, Alonso’s unquestionable duty is to make it a champion.
It will be Felipe Massa’s job to stop him. The new era of no team orders at Ferrari means the boy from Brazil will be given every opportunity to use his team knowledge and hard-earned status within Maranello to give Alonso a repeat of 2007. There appear to be no lasting effects from Massa’s Hungaroring horror, but maybe that can only truly be assessed throughout a Grand Prix weekend. If indeed he is fully recovered and Ferrari have delivered a gem, then this is a huge year for Felipe. Once again partnering a multiple world champion, Massa has enough on his side, and no excuse behind which to hide.
McLaren
Once again McLaren will carry the #1 on their car, this time as a result of hiring current world champion Jenson Button to drive alongside the team talisman, Lewis Hamilton. The creation of this British F1 super-team allowed Mercedes to form Team Germany GP with Schumacher, in the process making McLaren a customer instead of a partner. Like Ferrari, it is expected that the removal of KERS systems on the McLaren will allow for a much less compromised design and rediscovered form, even though McLaren were at the sharp end again towards the latter part of 2009.
Much has been made of Jenson Button’s move to McLaren with just about every nuance of its conception drawing criticism. He’s moved for more money, but Ross Brawn would have paid him more. He’s stupid to take on Hamilton in his own back yard, but Button has said it was time for a new challenge. Unlike the situation in 2007 where Alonso partnered Hamilton, Lewis will be expected to beat Jenson convincingly this year, such is the predominant opinion on their respective talents. Button however has a marvellous opportunity to augment his reputation as a world champion who lucked into a brilliant car. If he doesn’t match Hamilton everywhere, he will have the excuse of new surroundings. If he beats Hamilton as much as he gets beaten, his stock will rise even further. Jenson’s kindness to tyres is expected to serve him well in a season where cars will run the whole race without refuelling. Lewis is expected to step up from a character-building year and use more of his newfound maturity to become world champion again.
Brazilian Grand Prix 2009 Part 2- 27/10/09
With the celebrations in full swing at Interlagos, and Jenson Button having been on fire as opposed to his ‘08 Honda, it was easy to forget what else transpired in Brazil. Excluding Michael Schumacher’s memorable charge through the Interlagos field during his 2006 swansong, the last time we saw such an impressive aggressive scalpel cut through the field was Nico Rosberg on his Bahrain debut in the same year. On the way to setting the fastest lap of the race, we were afforded a glimpse of a future champion, or so we thought. But is it fair to have expected Nico to have achieved more in the three and a half years since then?
This season has predictably been a case of horses for courses, and Williams’s constant early season chart-topping practice performances flattered to deceive. Having said that, Rosberg has produced a consistent string of good points finishes just short of a podium during a season where many teams have had flashes of frontrunning competitiveness. What is not in question is that having been fastest in Q2 and running in a podium position, Williams and Rosberg should have left Brazil with more than one broken gearbox and Nakajima’s crushed FW31.
Nakajima was helped into race and possibly career retirement by Toyota debutant Kamui Kobayashi, who despite that ‘racing incident’ had a promising weekend. His positive exposure was of course helped awfully by the fact that his most noteworthy battle was with the world champion elect, but Kamui didn’t disappoint. He fought Button without a hint of appearing out of his depth, not to mention having qualified in an accomplished 11th place. Toyota will have been eager to have Glock back in the car for Abu Dhabi as it will be the sort of track that suits his abilities. As Kobayashi remains in the Toyota, his undoubtedly impressed employers will ask for more care and courtesy in braking zones, Kamui has already made his point and his claim. It should not however be forgotten that Nakajima himself made an interesting debut at Interlagos not so long ago, and is now staring an F1 exit full in the face. Longevity and success in Formula 1 is about much more than a memorable debut, something Nico Rosberg knows all too well.
The second Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil’s Force India were involved in another quite spectacular ‘racing incident’ very early on that also accounted for Fernando Alonso’s Renault. The resulting safety car rescued Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen’s afternoon. Hamilton was able to use a stop under safety car conditions to effectively eliminate the weaker tyre stage and move onto a strong one stop strategy. Starting 17th, finishing 3rd and passing a desperate Rubens Barrichello was also worthy of being called a champion’s drive. It’s a shame that Lewis’s pass on Rubens resulted in a puncture for the home favourite, effectively handing the title to Button. On the podium, it seemed that Hamilton was bereft of any joy amidst the realisation that he was no longer the world champion, no longer driver of car number 1.
Aside from world championships, big screen debuts, massive crashes and pitlane flash fires, someone actually won the race. Mark Webber qualified his Red Bull second with a strategic fuel load, allowed Rubens to lead the first stint and passed him during the pitstops while the entertainment unfolded behind him. Webber’s whole weekend and race victory was massive for him, but as events transpired, somewhat inconsequential in the closing context of 2009. This is a shame because as all eyes were elsewhere, he was quietly achieving what people had placed far above him throughout his career. Presumably, with a fully healed leg and race victories now under his belt, an improved 2010 Red Bull (Cosworth?) will be Webber’s last chance at a championship. One feels however that if the next Adrian Newey creation is a reliable frontrunner, it will be championed by Sebastian Vettel, who has silently transformed from a Little Britain-quoting darling of the paddock to a very serious and intense Formula 1 driver, worthy of all the fear and respect the others can afford.
This season has predictably been a case of horses for courses, and Williams’s constant early season chart-topping practice performances flattered to deceive. Having said that, Rosberg has produced a consistent string of good points finishes just short of a podium during a season where many teams have had flashes of frontrunning competitiveness. What is not in question is that having been fastest in Q2 and running in a podium position, Williams and Rosberg should have left Brazil with more than one broken gearbox and Nakajima’s crushed FW31.
Nakajima was helped into race and possibly career retirement by Toyota debutant Kamui Kobayashi, who despite that ‘racing incident’ had a promising weekend. His positive exposure was of course helped awfully by the fact that his most noteworthy battle was with the world champion elect, but Kamui didn’t disappoint. He fought Button without a hint of appearing out of his depth, not to mention having qualified in an accomplished 11th place. Toyota will have been eager to have Glock back in the car for Abu Dhabi as it will be the sort of track that suits his abilities. As Kobayashi remains in the Toyota, his undoubtedly impressed employers will ask for more care and courtesy in braking zones, Kamui has already made his point and his claim. It should not however be forgotten that Nakajima himself made an interesting debut at Interlagos not so long ago, and is now staring an F1 exit full in the face. Longevity and success in Formula 1 is about much more than a memorable debut, something Nico Rosberg knows all too well.
The second Toyota of Jarno Trulli and Adrian Sutil’s Force India were involved in another quite spectacular ‘racing incident’ very early on that also accounted for Fernando Alonso’s Renault. The resulting safety car rescued Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen’s afternoon. Hamilton was able to use a stop under safety car conditions to effectively eliminate the weaker tyre stage and move onto a strong one stop strategy. Starting 17th, finishing 3rd and passing a desperate Rubens Barrichello was also worthy of being called a champion’s drive. It’s a shame that Lewis’s pass on Rubens resulted in a puncture for the home favourite, effectively handing the title to Button. On the podium, it seemed that Hamilton was bereft of any joy amidst the realisation that he was no longer the world champion, no longer driver of car number 1.
Aside from world championships, big screen debuts, massive crashes and pitlane flash fires, someone actually won the race. Mark Webber qualified his Red Bull second with a strategic fuel load, allowed Rubens to lead the first stint and passed him during the pitstops while the entertainment unfolded behind him. Webber’s whole weekend and race victory was massive for him, but as events transpired, somewhat inconsequential in the closing context of 2009. This is a shame because as all eyes were elsewhere, he was quietly achieving what people had placed far above him throughout his career. Presumably, with a fully healed leg and race victories now under his belt, an improved 2010 Red Bull (Cosworth?) will be Webber’s last chance at a championship. One feels however that if the next Adrian Newey creation is a reliable frontrunner, it will be championed by Sebastian Vettel, who has silently transformed from a Little Britain-quoting darling of the paddock to a very serious and intense Formula 1 driver, worthy of all the fear and respect the others can afford.
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