Tiny Analysis of the Australian GP

A great race, Button drove well and made good choices, with some good fortune thrown in, Hamiltons second stop was a team call covering off the options that Webber and Rosberg may be a big threat, a smart move by the team, to maximise their chance of winning they had the leading one stop car and the leading two stop car. If Hamilton felt so strongly he shold have argued to stay out, it's easy to moan after the event. Red Bull fast but fragile, Vettel I would say is hard on the car as well so will always be prone to breaking it more than others, it's all part of the game, roll on next week. Is Vettel the new Kimi?

USF1 to quit F1

The USF1 team is reportedly on the verge of quitting Formula One - and before they had even started.
After reading Windsor's nauseating articles in F1 Racing, in which he seems to believe he can do everyone's job far better than they can, part of me is taking great delight in seeing what a total mess he's making of running an F1 team. A question to those who know about NASCAR (I know nothing). Do the NASCAR teams spend more or less than the F1 teams to go racing?

I really cant get my head around the FIA's decision on the new teams. Prodrive/Aston Martin were a proven team with finance and infrastructure already in place. What were the FIA thinking when they selected the new entries? I hope that Prodrive get a place next year and make a good job of rubbing it in the FIA's face.

Everyone outside of the FIA thought that Prodrive/Aston Martin would be the first new team to be accepted to race in F1, however Bernie and the FIA chose Miky Mouse outfits that would have difficulty in getting a car to the grid let alone be competetive. I don't think they like Dave Richards very much. They've made a rod for their own backs now and there is no way out. How can it be that these teams are being allowed to race creating a dangerous situation by being 5 to 10 seconds a lap slower than all the other teams? Perhaps the FIA want to have several moving chicains on the track to try and improve the lack of overtaking? I also hope that Stephan GP are not allowed to compete with last years Toyota, that would be a real joke!

Perhaps next year we can get back to normality and get Prodrive accepted onto the grid. With MAX now out of the picture, Richards stands a better chance of entering a team.

McLarens strange aero device

Image courtesy f1fanatic.co.uk
At this stage of testing, if anyone can definitively say that McLaren is working on a major problem, they are better at reading tea leaves than me. This is an interesting device which obviously takes some effort to provide for use on the car out on a track. Since they have deeper pockets than most, I would not disbelieve their explanation in trying to provide some real-world data to compare with wind tunnel and virtual test data for use later in the season. Time will tell if they really have an issue or not... my guess is that they don't, as their Valencia tests were probably done with more fuel than the others and they may have been easing into the cars' performance since the design is different than last seasons'. Fast will only be an issue once every top team is running the same configuration or it is announced by a team that they are running with a full tank or less. The fuel issue is the gorilla in the room at this stage... every team has to account for it and then also allowances for lower weights (aerodynamics, ride height, wheel loading, acceleration and braking differences, etc)
I suppose that it's just "part of the deal" that none of us comletely believe any statement made by any of the teams in F1. They certainly have earned our distrust!!! With all of the lying and politics that reign supreme in our sport, it's amazing that any cars actually manage to get to the grid for any given race...But, there may be some truth to what McLaren released to the press. The aero testing on track is similar BUT NOT the same as in the wind tunnel or on a computer generated wind flow chart. So, if their car was a dog early last year, they may very well be making sure that this year's car hits the first track in top form. If Hamilton had had a good car for the first few races of 2009 he may very well have been champion instead of Jenson.
With an unreasonable limit to testing teams have got to maximise the information they get. It makes life harder for the drivers as they become test drivers instead of getting used to rhe car. This is all right for experienced drivers, but other for new teams with rookie drivers it is a disadvantage. Limited full course testing should be allowed during the season. It would negate the advantage the teasm with a better car from the start of the season have and improve the competition as the season progresses.

Day 3 - Test Assessment

Times
1 Alonso Ferrari 1:11.470 127 laps
2 de la Rosa Sauber 1:12.094 80 laps
3 Schumacher Mercedes 1:12.438 82 laps
4 Alguersuari Toro Rosso 1:12.576 97 laps
5 Button McLaren 1:12.951 82 laps
6 Petrov Renault 1:13.097 75 laps
7 Hulkenberg Williams 1:13.669 126 laps

Highlights of the day was Alonso beating Massas time, and Button finishing the day 5th fastest. But on the 2nd Feb 2010 the track temperature barely made it above freezing whereas on the 3rd Feb it was around the 18 degree mark, makes a big difference and therefore Alonso bettering Massa's time relatively quickly is irrelevant given the conditions were much better. Even on the same day, unless 2 drivers set their best lap time at similar times of day (which is often not the case) and using similar amounts of fuel (which we won't know) its impossible to judge accurately. If Ferrari are consistently at the front though it would be most likely that they are the true pace-setters.
Generally speaking drivers' comments are as good an indicator as any at this stage. Remember last year? Everyone was adamant Brawn were running light at Barcelona yet you only had to see Jenson's smile and listen to Rubens giddy like a kid at Christmas to realise the car must be good. Therefore Felipe, Alonso and Lewis all saying good stuff about their cars is telling. Lewis is usually in Mclaren PR mode so to use phrases like 'night and day' is particularly telling for me. Still, no-one really knows anything for sure yet. The Fezza does seem quick though.
Qualifying 1, Sat 13th March at Bahrain. That is when we will find out for real how the teams compare when they ALL have the same fuel on board and are driving purely to go as fast as they can. Until then the testing times are interesting to try and interpret and read about in the F1 gossip columns, but that's all.

Day 1 - Test Assessment

Provisional times
01. F Massa Ferrari 1:12.574 102 laps
02. P de las Rosa BMW Sauber 1:12.784 74 laps
03. M Schumacher Mercedes GP 1:12.947 40 laps
04. N Rosberg Mercedes GP 1:13.543 39 laps
05. G Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1:13.846 86 laps
06. R Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:14.449 75 laps
07. S Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:14.762 18 laps
08. R Kubica Renault 1:15.000 69 laps

You don’t know what the fuel loads are (there is going to be a huge variation in lap time based on fuel load this year). A tank full of fuel will be atleast 2 seconds or more than the average time clocked. Having said that I am converned for Renault though, their time is way off the pace.
You don’t know what tyres are being used and the amount of laps they have done.
You don’t know what they are doing in their testing program.
You don’t know how the track temp and wind has changed. it was windy to begin with. I saw that in some video on YouTube.
It’s natural that through the day you improve your set-up.
I’m expecting Schumacher to beat Rosberg and to be on good form this year, but it’s all to soon to say that he has destroyed Rosberg or anything like that.

More rule changes in F1

Everybody seems to think that the removal of refuelling will take away all the strategic excitement. Well what's been exciting about virtually every race being won or lost in the pitlane for the past 16 years? Surely this returns a real demand to pass on the track as there will be fewer alternatives. It will be a shame if it all gets absorbed into some artificial tyre strategy simply creating the same effect as with refueling. Why for instance insist that the teams use multiple compounds? Let them have a completely free tyre choice. It's going to be almost impossible to achieve but imagine a set up that enables a car to go the whole race on a single set, especially if one of the compounds was formulated with that in mind.
I'm not sure about this top ten proposal. Surely all of the top ten would select the hard tyre - no point going for glory and pole and then ruining things by stopping early because the heavy weight has destroyed the tyres in the first few laps. Therefore what is the point. It might spice things up for the guys immediately outside the top ten though - if someone in front does go down the softer tyre option.
So the poor bloke in P10 will wish he was back in P11 or 12... again. The only difference is that it's a tyre advantage now, not a fuel one, which is arguably much worse for the unlucky driver in P10. I believe Tracks should have at least a couple of spots for overtaking opportunities. No refueling = good, especially for saftey sake. Regulating tire use to cause pitstops and now to penalize success = not sure!
Regulations should be there for safety and fairness, not to create a false sense of equality among the competition. Stop over-regulating and let the car builders, the teams and the drivers provide the excitement.

Team Orders and Conflicts at Brawn?

So, let me get this straight: the FIA allowed Merc to change Schumie's number, allowed Brawn GP to change to Mercedes, allowed Toyota to exit after singing the Concorde Agreement, yet they publish a team named "BMW-Sauber Ferrari". Is that ridiculous or what? Why won't the FIA allow the change? As for Michael getting preferential treatment at Merc, that would be silly to make the old guy number 1 when they have a young driver with potential to make them a good team for the long term.
I wonder how many other special 'concessions' the FIA will allow Mercedes GP and Schumacher this year? On the one hand Todt is doing well eradicating the smell of Max but on the other he's creating his own stink by showing special treatment to his old buddy Brawn and his pseudo lovechild. Let's hope Merc don't become the new Ferrari, protected under the FIAs wing.

A while back Merc has said "Brawn can manage the drivers how he wants to" and now they're saying not quite the opposite, but certainly something more than just little bit adjacent to it! I, for one, doubt that Schumacher would entertain a contract that doesn't favour him over Nico 2, sorry, Number 2. But hey, I'm only going on the facts of the past, so what do I know?
There are some major egos in this team and it is going to be interesting to see which ones emerge on top and if the internal battles that are sure to happen will disrupt their efforts. They sure are talking the talk right now. Let's see how they walk!"

More on what to expect in 2010

So continuing on what to expect from the teams during the season, I think there are some unknows and some constant factors which we can take into consideration.
The only thing we know is that none of us actually know what’s going to happen. The first Tests will give us an insight. Brawn dominated early last season due to having a vastly superior car, they were quite ordinary at the end of the season by the time the likes of Macca, Red bull and Ferrari had caught up. Unless they come up with another vastly superior car, the season is open. My prediction is that one of the drivers in F1 will the championship and one of the teams will win the constructors."
The scope of 2010 season according to the way I see is as follows
1. There are no dramatical changes to the cars, so teams are going to take the development of 2009 into 2010. Then find a way to squeeze in the 2010 rules.
3. The Hamilton issue on tire usage, which he kills his tires, partially true, but he gets the best out of the tires and pulls the gap, something Schumacher was a master of during his 02 to 04 season. I i think Lewis has matured as a diver this year, and his drive in Brazil 09 puts things in perspective. He was able to do about 30+ laps on his tires, and he was clocking consistent times right through. Surprisingly Hamilton's driving style didn't hurt him in GP2 where tyre management was crucial. So he probably just took a bit of time it seems to get warmed up to the tyre management thinge in F1. Similarly, almost every time the rules change people say Button's "smooth" driving style will be a benefit and we've yet to see that either. In fact one could argue that Button's smooth driving style will be a problem as he won't be able to get heat into the harder compound tyres.
Finally it’s the car that determines who wins the championship, and the driver does the rest, as we saw it last year.

Ferrari will be my last team - Alonso

So Alonso has continued with his tradition of adding a personal emotional twist to the team he joins eh? For once I think he is right, and as long as he remains in the good books of the top bosses, which I dont see a problem with, he would be on top of his game. His and Hamiltons recent comments show that they are back to their childish games and it makes reading the press so interesting.
During his tenure at McLaren, having the team boss against him, in 2007, he produced mega drives. Spa was surely one of his best drives when the spy gate was at his worst and the entire team was all against him. In every single session he beated the wonderboy on a men's circuit where you needed bravery and a big heart. One can argue that Alonso would have clinched the title had McLaren given him the advantage, but the argument hold true for Hamilton as well.
Alonso to me is the true blue Ferrari driver. Thinker, aggressive and brillant even with dog of a car. He can keep the Tofosi happy even when the team comes up with a dud for a car and when he is on a song, there is no one in the paddock who can hold a candle to him, with the exception of Hamilton and Vettel.
I hope he finds his feet at Ferrari soon and we have a great 2010 season.

Factors Affecting Schumachers Performance

Schumi behind the wheel is an unknown combination... especially with Schumi at age 41. Massa is not a known talent at this time due to the accident. And, Button is known to be good with a fast car but we don't know how the McLaren will shape up and how Button will fit in with the team. This leaves the real challengers, in my guess at the WDC order, to the championship being the following (IF the cars they drive fast and reliable cars with solid teams behind them): Hamilton (truly one of the best talents to ever sit in an F1 car), Alonso (IF he can get his ego act together), Vettel (great driver with incredible potential and a good team), followed by whomever from the "questionables" above. While the actual tech rules for the cars have changed a bit, it is a possible safe bet that those who excelled at the end of 2009 will be the ones to watch for 2010. Each team may or may not have a completely new car from the ground up, but with the new fuel load rule, all bets (even my guess for the WDC order) are off due to any modified aero or wheel/suspension loading due to the new fuel load rules. Certainly, strategies will be drastically different than ever before. It will be an interesting season to watch, with Todt and the FIA being an additional unknown factor... favoritism continuing to rear its ugly head (ala' Max), hands off, or consistent rulings? No one really knows. Testing may give some clues, but will they be only showing teams experimenting or we see accurate representations of the real thing?

Although the tyre issue may be important this year, we still don't know how much. This is no 2005, when drivers couldn't change tyres in a GP and Schumacher had a lot of really bad races by still doing the kind of thing he has always done on previous years (fast tyre-thrashing laps before a nicely timed pit stop to be back on track in front of the competitors). It's all about the kind of tyres that Bridgestone will deliver. If they're hard enough so that drivers won't do much damage to them even when they carry a ton of fuel, than it won't make any difference. And we know that, since Bridgestone became the sole tyre provider, tyres are much harder than in previous years, so the odds are still favouring those which are not very kind on their tyres. I just hope it happens otherwise, it would be fun to see some competition at McLaren and Mercedes... Also, that would mean that the guys which are hard on tyres may have a worse first stint than the others, and perhaps their performance would be reversed at the later stages. Which could mean more overtaking moves, at last.

Jaques Villeneuve's probable comeback and a Sr Racing Series

Jaques Villeneuve's only mistake was getting tied up with BAR. He was an awesome driver with wasted talent, who could have gone a lot farther with a better car. I still think he would have some pretty quick laps left in him, and wouldn't be counting him out. He is the type of driver that prefers driving the car and not having to rely on drivers aids as much. This years ban on the re-fuelling would suit his seat of the pants driving style, as he is able to adapt well to the changing in handling as the fuel load decreases. I think every one is too eager to criticize, looking at results only. Look at the whole picture. The guy didn't have a fair shake from BAR, his cars sucked, Pollock screwed him, Bla, Bla, Bla... Sure he lost some motivation. Give him a break. He still won a world title fair and square, and deserves some respect! The only racing some guys do is probably to the fridge for another beer!

Here are two good reasons he may get a seat:
1- Villeneuve's experience would be good for one of the newer teams.
2- If he doesn't get good results, it would be easy to blame the old driver instead of the car or the team. But if he does get a seat, I will cheer for him.
I love underdogs.

On another note I always thought that they should have a race on Saturday afternoon for old stars. Each team could run a third car (which would be the spare car for Sunday) with a star driver from the past. Say a 1 hour race that starts at 2pm Saturday. Ferrari could have run Schumi, McLaren Mika, Williams Hill or Mansell, Renault JV etc. I bet it would have been a crowd pleaser and the teams could have used the data for testing. If Bernie wanted to expand the race they could use a second car with a young driver.

On Eddie Ervines recent comments on Buttons McLaren Move

Eddit Ervine has recently commented that "Jenson has entered the lion's den. It was madness of him to move. He thinks he's going to be able to eat his steak, and that's not going to be the case - I think he's going to get murdered!"
This is all coming from the man how couldn't win the WDC even with the full support of Ferrari and Schumacher! Irvine's career is weak, and his comments are just as weak. Yes Jenson might lose the war but he'll win some battles along the way."
Eddie Irvine has always been a loud mouth and isn't qualified to comment on Jenson Button. Here's the man who had the 99 DWC within his grasp, his dominant teammate out of action, driving the best car in F1 and still he lost it to Hakkinen (although I have always wondered whether Ferrari actually wanted him to win their first title in 20 years seeing as they were paying Schumacher a kings ransom to do it!) Anyway, I suspect that Buttons decision to join McLaren was fuelled by certain criteria. Usually when a driver wins the title the team are pretty quick to re-sign him. This didnt happen in Brawn. Also its no secret that when Schumacher was flagged up as a possible Massa replacement, Brawn was quietly talking to him as long ago as Abu Dhabi about him racing once more. There's the possibility that JB or his management suspected areturn by MS to F1 with Brawn GP firmly in the mix and coupled with a rumoured Mercedes buy out, I think Jenson felt he had to take the opportunity whilst it was there and nab the vacant McLaren drive. Especially as Brawn were still prevaricating about his contract. And what if he hadnt have won the DWC - I think he'd have been dropped in favour of Schumacher anyway. So, whatever the back room circumstances were, Jenson now has a fresh challenge,the biggest of his career and he certainly is not going to get murdered by Hamilton. He'll rise to it Irvine, so get back to your cars, boat, girls and partying and leave F1 to those worthy of it.

US GP - What a track

I really like the US GP. It has a fantastic atmosphere and the banking makes it so much special.
The GP layout at Indy was absolutely perfect. I know the teams hated it, but too bad. They couldn't find the right set-up for a track with two opposite personalities. They're the experts, and the challenge is the same for every team, so I say deal with it. Plus, motor racing in the US is all about boring ovals with banked turns. Indy in GP form provided just the right amount of that while remaining F1. Plus Indy is the hallowed home of USA motor racing. Alas, I know from an international perspective, it's in the middle of nowhere, like Watkins Glen, or Magny-Cours. Bernie wants a glamorous international destination in the US, and he wants one that can assemble a facility/circuit overnight. Please, Bernie, enough of the downtown street circuits. We need real road courses, like Road America in Wisconsin. But now you're really in the middle of nowhere. I'm utterly shocked that FOM hasn't convinced Las Vegas to build a proper circuit. Glamorous, International, Money is already there, it's in the desert (a modern-day prerequisite) and the people who live there are used to 24-hr noise, unlike Belgium. Las Vegas could throw together a dedicated F1 circuit fast enough.
Then again, maybe Bernie was talking about Manhattan, Kansas, for its central location.

FIA Formula1 Test Schedule 2010

Test Schedule

01 February Circuito Ricardo Tormo

02 February Circuito Ricardo Tormo

03 February Circuito Ricardo Tormo

10 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

11 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

12 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

13 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

17 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

18 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

19 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

20 February Circuito Permanente de Jerez

25 February Circuit de Catalunya

26 February Circuit de Catalunya

27 February Circuit de Catalunya

28 February Circuit de Catalunya

My assertion is that Red Bull will be quick out of the box followed closely by Williams (which will fade off) and possibly Sauber.

I am keen on seeing how Force India Performs.

I am hoping that McLaren starts the season strongly. That hasent happened since 07.

Flavio Briatore wins lifetime ban appeal

Former Renault team boss Flavio Briatore has won his appeal against his lifetime ban from motorsport.
So its official then! Cheating is permitted or cheating is not actually cheating as such, even if you get caught (What was you just doing there? NOTHING!!! Ah, that's alright then, get on with it).We should be in for an extra special season this season now its a "no holds barred" competition (is competition the right word to use if you can use any trick in the book?).What a farce this "sport" has become.
Flavio's got no dignity. He's still guilty of cheating so shouldn't be gloating about this just because the FIA screwed it up as usual. I think his lifetime ban was too much as it had other implications but he is still a lying, cheating, dishonest individual that needs to be punished. I'm surprised there haven't been cases brought against him by the bookies yet.
This ridiculous saga ruined the end of the 2009 season now its threatening to dominate the winter break. When will these people learn that fans don’t want to hear about a bunch of old men having a battle over egos?