The year ahead

So are all the fans of Ferrari who are fans just because of Schumi going to go out and buy Silver Arrows jackets now? Its the Lewis v Schumacher battle I want to see played out.
It is really odd how some fans flit about. Me included I guess. To me its always been a mix of a team (McLaren) and then a favorite driver. Plus I have always had a distaste for Ferrari which I put down to the arrogance of MS when he would not talk to the cameras and also the fact that they have had far too much favourable attention from the stewards/FIA. Lets be honest as well .... Michael has got away with some shocking moves over the years! My biggest problem would be if one of my favorite drivers went to Ferrari ... not sure what I would do.
Somehow though I can see Lewis at Ferrari in the future. Maybe 2022 - Lewis to make comeback from retirement to race for Ferrari? Jenson I have always supported through all the years. Also been a supporter of Williams as I like the way Frank runs the team. They have great heritage and have given so much to the sport. Red Bull is the dark side to me as well as Ferrari. Never been much of a fan of Webber and Vettel let himself down this year with his attitude. He was lining up to be a decent driver/personality. (Probably been around Webber too much!)
So I would support their F1 team over my dead body. Ahh ... the complexities of being an F1 fan!

This will be a very interesting year; only way it could be better would have been for Kimi to land somewhere and then we would have five WDC's (well, maybe 4.5) on the grid. Look for Kimi to come back to F1 at RedBull on 2011. For 2010, this will be a battle between MS and FA - just like 2005 and 2006. Look for Vettel to be close and Massa if he is healthy and for Louie and Butto to provide comic relief. Louie will shred his tires without refueling and Butto is just not Michael Schumacher or Fernando Alonso or Kimi Raikkonen. Great year ahead!

On Max and Flavio

Never a fan of Mosely, but I do respect his position and the bad reputation that will inevitably give him. Flavio, however, I have never worked out what he is doing in F1... A magazine interview with him two years ago was a very revealing and interesting journey into the man's mindset, but it just made the man even more of a fish out of water in the world of F1. He is a businessman, sure enough, and the man obviously likes his sports, so I can see where he comes from, but he has never been F1 team boss material in my eyes. I find it a shame people like him were able to shine whilst people like Paul Stoddart ware forced to fold. Still, what do I know... I do know Max is right on this one and Flavio should fade away, but that's just not his style, is it?!

Nico wont be Schumachers number 2

Nico Rosberg insists that if Michael Schumacher were to join him at Mercedes GP that he would not be the former World Champion's number two.

Like the Button v Hamilton comparison..we don’t know yet!!! my gut feeling though even as neutral is that Nico one of the drivers out there who does show signs of brilliance at times and I believe he will sap Schumi of confidence. I think the Big return is a massive mistake for Michael anyway, The worry for Nico is that Fry lacks any courage and will be easily swayed by the Schumacher team. Fingers crossed that Nico will walk it!!

BUT I Am afraid that sponsors will not side with Nico...nor will the team for that very reason too. Like him or not Schumacher has more media pulling power in his little finger that Nico has; the only way Nico will get a sniff of equality is if he gets a considerable points lead over his colleague early in the season. Then we have the long-standing relationship and success that Ross Brawn has had with Schumacher! And all this if the car is competitive too. Anyway lets wait and see how this rumor develops!

FIA approves new point system

F1's new point system
1-25
2-20
3-15
4-10
5-8
6-6
7-5
8-3
9-2
10-1
The pinnacle of motorsport follows MotoGP. Outstanding hummmm... better to learn the good traits though.
I think that something for Pole (say, 2 points) and perhaps same for fastest lap in the race would be good too - I think this new system will make it much less likely that we have a repeat of 09 where one team an basically rest on its laurels for the second half of the season and still coast to the championship like BrawnGP.
There is going to be a fascinating battle between the 4 new teams however this is likely to take place towards the back of the field. If only 8 teams score points, it is likely that this battle will be decided by freak races where there are a lot of retirements or safety cars etc... In fact, it is still likely that this will be the case with the top 10 scoring but it definitely gives them a better chance. I was very cautious of Jean Todt becoming president of the FIA but so far, he has made several good decisions with very little fuss.
Thank god the medals idea has been consigned to the scrapheap .

Renault's Formula for sale?

Entrepreneur Gerard Lopez has today confirmed his interest in purchasing Renault's Formula One team.
Why would a bunch of venture capitalists want to buy into an F1 team? VC's only ever invest in things they can make a quick profit on or to asset strip and sell off the parts so for those 2 reasons alone it makes no sense. Plus their lack of experience in motorsport should put them firmly at the bottom of the queue. But knowing Renaults reputation for making bad judgements they'll probably get the gig.
"The business opportunities should rely not on making more out of the team, but it should be about making money out of the business platform we have." Says it all really - let a racer take over the team rather than someone just looking to line their pockets

More on McLaren and Driver Equality

What if McLaren really DOES treat each driver equally but it's the skill (or lack thereof) of the driver that makes the difference? Look at Alonso... he was supposed to be the fastest and sometimes was, but there was this young whipper-snapper who was hungry and had the skills to seriously challenge Alonso. Alonso couldn't deal with it as he expected the team to treat him special. With Heikki, it was different. His skills were (and are) good, but not as high as Hamilton's. Looking back to Kimi being paired with Montoya, it was clear that both were equal in skills, with Kimi showing a slight edge. Montoya thought of himself as a prima dona, so he expected more. Did the team treat David differently than either Mika or Kimi? Each driver has been given a car best suited to them, all other things being equal. It is ultimately up to each driver to produce results in their car, after their setups are in-place. If they've made mistakes, they correct and move on to another run, another race. If any team can afford (via engineering costs) to setup an exact car for each driver, it is McLaren.

Silverstone Brawn Mercedes and other news

This is a strange season indeed, probably the strangest since I started watching F1 in the mid nineties. The previous season's frontrunners started the season as back markers and a new team (BrawnGP) was taking the honours and subsequently the championship. The championship team still does not have a second confirmed driver and the jury is out about who it may be. One of the best drivers currently in F1 was not able to get a seat and is off to go rallying next year. Two of the team bosses, Ron Dennis and Flavio Briatore, had to give the FIA their way so that they could save their teams. All the teams, except for one, were planning a breakaway series because of the FIA. Arguably the most important economy in the world, the USA, does not even stage a Grand Prix but there is a Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi, where the economy is falling by the day. And so we can go on. The sport is not in a healthy state!

Then it comes to saving the British GP at Silverstone. For starts I hope the investment is logistic, given the current market scenarios. You can't build or force atmosphere. That is what it's all about. I can't help thinking Bernie is attracted by the bling of the newer circuits and would like to see lots of white marble, stainless steel, led's and glass. But if the truth be told, there might be only an ounce of benefit from the type of architecture that is "en vogue", but anyone could fully appreciate the difference in atmosphere between a Shanghai and a Spa.

The Latest F1 Entry List

1 Jenson BUTTON (GB) VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES
2 Lewis HAMILTON (GB) VODAFONE McLAREN MERCEDES McLAREN MERCEDES

3 Nico ROSBERG (D) BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM BRAWN MERCEDES
4 TBA BRAWN GP FORMULA ONE TEAM BRAWN MERCEDES

5 Sebastian VETTEL (D) RED BULL RACING RED BULL RENAULT
6 Mark WEBBER (AUS) RED BULL RACING RED BULL RENAULT

7 Felipe MASSA (BR) SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI
8 Fernando ALONSO (E) SCUDERIA FERRARI MARLBORO FERRARI

9 Rubens BARRICHELLO (BR) AT&T WILLIAMS WILLIAMS COSWORTH
10 Nico HULKENBERG (D) AT&T WILLIAMS WILLIAMS COSWORTH

11 Robert KUBICA (PL) RENAULT F1 TEAM RENAULT
12 TBA RENAULT F1 TEAM RENAULT

14 Adrian SUTIL (D) FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM FORCE INDIA MERCEDES
15 Vitantonio LIUZZI (I) FORCE INDIA F1 TEAM FORCE INDIA MERCEDES

16 Sebastien BUEMI (CH) SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO STR FERRARI
17 TBA SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO STR FERRARI

18 TBA LOTUS F1 RACING LOTUS COSWORTH
19 TBA LOTUS F1 RACING LOTUS COSWORTH

20 TBA CAMPOS META 1 CAMPOS DALLARA
21 Bruno SENNA (BR) CAMPOS META 1 CAMPOS DALLARA

22 TBA US F1 TEAM US F1 COSWORTH
23 TBA US F1 TEAM US F1 COSWORTH

24 Timo GLOCK (D) VIRGIN RACING VIRGIN COSWORTH
25 TBA VIRGIN RACING VIRGIN COSWORTH

25 TBA Sauber Ferrari (?)
26 TBA Sauber Ferrari (?)

Car 1 goes again to McLaren who inherited last years' world champ; 3 & 4 go to Brawn who won both titles last year; every team after follows last year's constructor points except for the new teams which I believe are in entrant order. McLaren will have had #1 every year in the last 4 save for '08 when RAI backed into his 2007 championship. ALO '06, HAM '08, and BUT '09 ' gave them their other 3, and Hamilton was the only one who actually won while driving a McLaren.

Should Briatore be banned for Life?

One of the problems with the FIA's brand of justice is that it is uneven. 1994 is a good case in point. Formula One was in near meltdown after the deaths at Imola, the sudden dominance of the Grand Prix Drivers Association (who were neutering tracks left, right and centre), the fuel rig fire (Benetton... AGAIN!!) and numerous other strange but true events. The FIA's judgement was therefore coloured by the notion that were there to be too many more problems sponsors might head, en masse, for the door marked 'Exit'. So, Benetton got off lightly. And would you believe it - the title chase, which was led by Schumacher by a country mile, suddenly came down to the last race at Adelaide. Coincidence? I think not. In 2007 there were no such problems when it came to MacLaren/spygate. However, when the Renault stuff came out, the FIA appeared to wake-up to the idea that industrial espionage in F1 was being carried out on an (urm) industrial scale. Renault got off with a bit of a slap - but nothing too public. And it kept it off the front pages. Uneven? I would agree. And totally coloured by the state of F1 at any given time. None of it really about sport or reaching the right,, transparent and balanced judgement. Anyway, I'm still not convinced that F1 needs Briatore.

Whats the deal with McLarens drivers?

I am surprised how everyone is quick to bring up lewis's team mate playing 2nd fiddle all the time. What about the Schumi days of team orders. Wonder how many championships he would of lost because his team mate didnt slow down and let him through. But with Heikki, he never really ever out raced Lewis, he out Qualified him occasionally but then just dropped down the field.
I think JB will give Lewis a more run for his money will be nice to see how these two perform against each other. But then what better way then to be in an equal car with some one with real talent. I personally would do it, what best way to compare against Alonso, Schumi and now Lewis. He proved his worth against the first five races of results and compare to alonso there wasnt much of a difference and he was a total rookie. Course hes not perfect but then name one driver who was?
I cant think of any.