2010 - The View After Monaco

Well I haven't been posting much here and it was pretty predictable that I would let this blog fall behind.

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Anyway it was interesting to look over my pre season predictions and compare it to where we are now. I seem to have been a fair bit WRONG about many things.

1 - Red Bull Racing & Mark Webber

Wow, so I knew RBR were going to be good but 6 poles from 6 races, 3 fastest laps and 3 wins. Out of the 3 wins, 2 come from Webber, back to back. One of those wins is in Monaco. No chance I would have ever predicted this. One thing I did say is true thou, this is the most important season in Webber's career. He seems to have used that pressure and turned it into some amazing performances! The reason I didn't have Webber in my predictions was the fact that I was sure he wouldn't be able to manage the tires as in the past he has been a very aggressive driver. Well it seems that a combination of Brigestone developing some great tires and the Red Bull car being light on them have worked perfectly for Mark and he is now co-leading the drivers championship. The Red Bull is fast but it seems to handle slower tracks as well so I would expect either Red Bull driver to now be favourite for the drivers championship unless something drastic happens with other teams.

2 - The Dominance of Ferrari, or Not?

Ferrari started the season being outright favourite for the whole thing. Alonso was meant to win the drivers title and Ferrari were considered to dominate the constructors. This is a weird one, the car still shows signs of being exactly what we thought it was going to be but just hasn't showed it since Bahrain. Felipe Massa seems like a shadow of who he used to be. Gone is the outspoken Massa who would always have something to say about every situation. We hardly even see him on television during the races, it's like he doesn't exist? He's still had some solid drives but his presence has completely evaporated with the arrival of Alonso. Fernando started off great, everyone thought Ferrari was back with a vengeance and that the season would end well for them. Alonso and Massa have finished 5th on average all season, yet they have been outclassed by the Red Bulls and on occasion the McLarens. I think they will get it together before not too long and be back up there but it's going to be hard to stop the RBR machine.

3 - Renault, I Mean Kubica, Are Good?

So I totally overlooked Renault. Well they weren't meant to do any good, I mean their team was unprepared and still recovering from the shit storm Flavio left them in. A long time ago I was convinced Robert Kubica was destined for glory or at least had the talent you'd expect from a world champion and it seems this talent has helped Renault stay alive and actually achieve 2 podiums so far! I think it's not just Kubica's talent that has got the results, Renault have obviously built the car around Kubica and for him. It suits him perfectly and the team could do this because their second driver, Petrov aka Russian Bankroll, is only in the team because he bought the cash in. They don't care about him and fair enough really, so they've gone all out to make Robby K and car fit seamlessly. If you minus Bahrain, Kubica hasn't finished less than 8th. Not bad.

4 - Michael Schumacher.

Ouch for Schumi. Looks like I was VERY keen in calling him my 3rd pick for the WDC. So obviously he's not going to win it, I mean anything can happen but I don't think so. I'm very biased when it comes down to God, uh I mean Schumacher, and I still think he has the talent. Obviously at least 7 other drivers have that same talent nowadays thou and competing against them in a car that isn't at the top has proven to be hard for Schumi. I strongly believe that the Mercedes will improve all year and this will help Schumi get better and better results but the fact is that his teammate, Nico Rosberg, has been doing a fair bit better than him. Rosberg is a good driver, he's proven that he can be fast and has 2 podium finishes this year to show for it. Last time Schumacher was on the podium was China 2006, he came 4th in Spain so who knows, maybe the next one is just around the corner?

Lotus do look to be the best of the rest and should hold that position. Niko Hulkenburg hasn't really shown his full potential and I think he'll have a big battle all season but I still think we will see him in a top 6 finish at least once this season.

2010 Preview & Predictions

So that last blog post was all over the place, and it doesn't like like part II is coming any time soon. Sorry to those 1.5 people that have visited the site over the last 2 months but you'll get over it.

Anyways, as I type this the season is about 3 hours and 30 minutes away from beginning in Bahrain so this would be a good time to lay down some predictions for the coming season. I'll name 3 likely picks and then lock in what I think.
You can quote me on these.

MY PICKS:

WORLD DRIVERS CHAMPION

1. Alonso - This is his year to win No. 3. He has moulded into the Ferrari family seamlessly and for the first time since he was at McLaren he has a car that can and should win races. Early testing form shows that he was one of the most switched on drivers and judging from interviews he is supremely confident that he'll be world champ this year. Don't discount Massa for a shot, but when 'Nando wants something and has the chance to get it, I wouldn't bet on anybody else. The fact that tyre management and strategy will be super important this year also helps Alonso as he is one of the most technical drivers on the grid. My choice for World Champion this year!

2. Vettel - Seb has been quiet in the build up to 2010. Red Bull Racing has yet again delivered a very fast car and it seems that in testing no one saw the full potential of this car. No doubt Vettel will be a world champion one day but to do it this season he'll have to knock off his teammate Mark Webber who is in the most important season of his career. Webber HAS to win this year or face the risk of being replaced in 2011 and then disappearing from the headlines forever and with his radical and 'rough' driving style I believe he wont be able to manage the car and tyres efficiently compared to other drivers. Vettel will also have to battle both Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes drivers for the title. If Vettel pulls it off it would be one of the greatest title wins of all time.

3. Schumacher - I'm going to go with Schumi here. Firstly how amazing would it be? But in all seriousness I've left out the McLaren drivers because I'm still not convinced that they have chemistry between them. From what I've known of Button and Hamilton, they are opposites when it comes to driving style which will make car development interesting. All they need is a spark and the team will self implode, but who knows I might be surprised? Schumacher looks like he's keeping up with the other big boys in testing and one he gets a sniff of a win, I imagine that we'll start to see the Schumi of old! The one question is that the Mercedes GP car doesn't look like the fastest car at this point and I have it at 4Th behind Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull at the moment. Knowing Schumi's talent for helping develop a car, don't be surprised if it ends up being the fastest and most stable car by seasons end. If Schumi wins this year...well what can you say. He would simply be re-enforcing that he is the greatest of all time!

WORLD CONSTRUCTORS TITLE:

1. Ferrari - They seem to have the best car at the moment and both Massa and Alonso are capable of bringing home 1-2's all season. I'm saying they are pre season favourites.

2. McLaren - The car design this year has a number of advanced features which other teams will try to copy but McLaren has the head start. 2 Worlds Champions in their team means, like Ferrari, they are capable of 1-2's. The specially designed rear wing apparently gives them a 5 km/h advantage down straight so expect to see them doing well at fast circuits in Asia, the Middle East and especially Monza and Montreal.

3. Red Bull - This one was too close to call. The only reason I'm placing Red Bull above Mercedes is that Nico Rosberg is the least skilled out of any of the drivers for the top 4. But in all honestly calling the Constructors battle at this point is completely impossible!

BEST OF THE REST:

1. Force India - Yeah, that's right. Force India look to be big this season. I'm going to call that they'll finish ahead of Williams and Renault in the final standings. Adrian Sutil will lead the team and he is capable of getting a good result. They still have Mercedes engines and they've designed the car closely on last years which means they'll still be very fast.

2. Williams - Williams look like battling for best of the rest this year and have the drivers to prove it. Rubens in his 18th season of Formula One will be back and as hungry as ever while newcomer Nico 'The Hulk' Hulkenburg looks to be one of the best rookie drivers we've seen in a while. Williams only downfall is that they are using the Cosworth engines, which while they do have a familiarity with them, they don't look to be fast, especially compared to the Renualt, Mercedes or Ferrari.

3. BMW Sauber - Sauber (who have kept the BMW part of their name even thou they are using Ferrari engines) don't look to be much of a threat at this early point of the season but I believe after a slow start they'll be pushing the above two teams for most of the season. They have a veteran in De la Rosa and an exciting young driver in Kobayashi. The Ferrari engines will help and Bridgestone has said that out of all the team the Sauber uses its tyres the best, which could be very handy in 2010.

BEST OF THE NEW TEAMS:

1. Lotus F1 - Out of the three new team Lotus has been on track the most. Their car is designed well, they have 2 experienced drivers and I'm claiming them as my '2nd Team' this season.

2. Virgin Racing - The VR team have made it onto the grid in good time, even with a car designed entirely on computer. Timo Glock should be good for them but the reliability of the car might prove to be their downfall.

3. Hispania Racing Team - This team is a mess, I feel bad for the Senna name. Enough said.

DRIVER TO WATCH:

'The Hulk' - This guy is going to be awesome. He's won everything he's been in before this and his future in the sport is going to be great. Rubens will be a great mentor and I expect him to have a high top 6 finish at least once this season.

DRIVERS NOT TO WATCH:

Karun Chandhok - This guy will be bad, the team will be bad. Enough said.

SO 2 Hours left till the season starts!

Check in soon for post Bahrain observations.

What You'll Be Looking At In 2010 - Part I

So all of the teams have shown us their new liverys and we can expect these to stay the same for the coming season. So let's have a look at whats new with paint jobs and go over some of the more experimental designs, some of the safe ones and grade each car design.

LOTUS F1 - T127



The Lotus F1 car was one of the last to debut (we are still waiting for USF1, Campos and possibly Stefan GP) and has a very basic 'safe' design. It features clean lines, classic style front nose and hardly any 'experimental features. It does look like the front wing has seen a lot of design time thou and is definatly on the level of some of the better teams. Most of the new cars will be similar in design to the Lotus T127 because they haven't had the time to build on a previous chassis and have lower budgets.
The thing that sticks out about this car is the livery. Classic Lotus! It's a stunning looking car that I really hope can be at least the best of the New Class. C+

Virgin Racing - VR-01



Virgin broke away from the old Brawn and created their own team this year in the process becoming the first team to have an F1 car designed entirely using CFD computer simulation technology. The car itself looks spectacular in my opinion. Its stylish and modern looking with a great livery as well. Whats also impressive is the fact that they have picked up on some of the new design ideas that the larger teams have developed. The VR-01 features very high cresents above the front wheel suspension and also a very slim low nose. These feature seem to feature on nearly all of the ajor teams cars and if they provide an advantage I would expect all teams to feature them by the end of the season. B-

BMW Sauber - C29



The Sauber is a mess. The design looks very very basic and the livery is non existant. I imagine by Bahrain we will see some advertising on the car but it will take a alot to make it look good. The front of the car is very standard with a high flat nose and narrow front wing. They have kept the engine cover design that I beleive Red Bull introduced last year but apart from that there is nothing to really talk about here. F

Force India - VJM03



We are pretty much looking at the 2009 Force India with this years model. They have stuck with a 'safe' design and added a 2009 style engine cover that actually connects to the rear wing. This car was built for speed last year and was actually one of the faster cars in a straight line so I imagine they have kept to that design idea and not changed much. The livery stays the same and to be honest I've always liked their color scheme. C


Come back soon for PART II!

2010 Formula One Season

Well it’s about time I started writing this blog again as the 2010 Formula One season is here, well it’s near anyways!

At the moment most of the established teams have had their car launches and I’ll be looking in depth at each of the teams in terms of car designs, driver line-ups and expectations for the coming season.

The 2010 Season has a few major changes compared to previous seasons and these will change the way a race is run. Gone is refuelling. Cars are banned from refuelling during races which means they will need to carry enough fuel to finish the race plus excess in case of unforseen circumstances. This means it’s all about fuel efficiency this year and engines will have been designed to burn the least amount of fuel as possible while still putting out as much power they can. Speaking of engines Mercedes-Benz and Ferrari will both be supplying 3 teams with engines while the 4 new teams and surprisingly Williams will have Cosworth engines. The Cosworth engines look to be the weakest in terms of power and fuel efficiency and F1 insiders are already predicting they will be between two to three seconds per lap off the pace of the frontrunners.

(no more accidents and malfunctions with fuel rigs)

Along with refuelling being banned the wheel covers that Ferrari pioneerd have been banned. These covers would direct air straight into the brake pads to help cool them down and allow for heavier breaking by the drivers. The problems with the covers is that when installed incorrectly during pitstops they can become disloged and even lead to the tires not being fitted correctly.

(no more "pushing the button")

KERS has been banned this year, sort of. All teams have agreed not to use it as its costs and added weight did not end up paying off for most teams and made the racing uneven when cars with KERS stayed ahead of faster cars without it by ‘pushing the button’.

KERS however is still legal under FIA rules and it will be interesting to see if any teams turn their back on FOTA’s agreement and start to use it.

The last major change is the points system. Because of the new teams and larger grid the points system has been expanded to reward the top 10 placed cars instead of 8. The system is now as follows.

1^st 25 points

2^nd 18

3^rd 15

4^th 12

5^th 10

6^th 8

7^th 6

8^th 4

9^th 2

10^th 1

This of course is going to lead to numerous records being broken from this season forward. Michael Schumacher currently holds the record for most points scored in a calendar season at 148 in the 2004 Formula One season. If this current points system were in place for that season he would have finished with 367 points!

Check back soon for specific team previews starting with Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team (they could have had a shorter name, really).

T.P.S (picture) Report - Interlagos

I've been late with this so here is a short pictorial report

Massa waves the flag for the 5th place driver at Brazil and makes him World Champion...deja vu


"F**k my life"


Lewis: "Congrats man, your so cool! Take my team-mates spot next year, please!"
Jenson: "Thanks for the offer mate but the next thing I'll be taking off you is that pussycat slurry!"


Mark Webber celebrates his 2nd career win...with recycled bottle caps

T.P.S Report - Suzuka

After a 2 year stint at Fuji raceway the Japanese Grand Prix returned to Suzuka.

( The new 'Schumi Jump'? )

Many of the drivers had never driven on the famous figure 8 circuit before and during Qualifying we saw plenty of drivers going off the track. Friday was wet and saw hardly any driving time done by the teams as everyone looked to wait for the dry Saturday sessions. This meant teams hadn't set up cars properly for dry running and drivers were used to going much slower than they now could. Most of the incidents on Saturday happened at Degna 1 and 2 with drivers admitting to pushing too hard while Timo Glock had a loss of concentration on the entry to the main straight and hit the tyre barriers. He received a leg injury during this crash and could not compete on race day. So after all we had seen in Qualifying and Practice everyone was expecting a race full of fireworks and incidents.

The race was uneventful in Suzuka standards. The grid was shaken up after cars completed their final Q1 laps under caution flags and Mark Webber continued his trademark bad luck by starting from the pit lane. The drive of the day would have to go to Vettel for absolutely dominating the race and over the entire weekend he seemed to be the one driver that nailed the laps consistently. The Toyota team also did an amazing job getting Jarno into P2 and this has been their 2nd podium finish in a row! Its also been great to hear all the drivers rave about the Suzuka circuit as I be live it's one of the best race tracks in the world. Fuji Raceway is really no comparison to Suzuka and I hope Formula One realizes this with Suzuka becoming the permanent home of the Japanese Grand Prix.

If one good thing can be taken from the race it was that Vettel is still in with a chance to win the WDC. While it might be a long shot all you have to do is look back to Kimi in 2007. Going into the last 2 races that year Kimi was 17 points behind Hamilton, Hamilton was worried about battling his then teammate Alonso for the title but Kimi ended up winning the WDC by a single point in the last race. This year Vettel is 16 points behind Button with 2 races to go and like 2007 the Button's closest challenger is his own teammate Barrichello. Button has been on a bit of a form slump lately and Rubens will be giving it 101% at his home track next race. On top of all of that the last race of year at Abu Dhabi is making its debut and no driver or team has any experience racing there.

The Constructors title will be tied up next race most likely as Red Bull are only still in contention by half a point. The only real battle in the constructors championship will be for 3rd place between Ferrari and McLaren. Based on form it seems McLaren will get there but with Massa possibly making a comeback for the final race it's going to be close.

Silly Season - Suzuka Edition

Guess what! Alonso will be driving a Ferrari next year!



Now that the big announcement is past we can expect to see other driver news come out this weekend at Suzuka. It is highly expected that Brawn will sign Nico Rosberg and Rubens will be going in the opposite direction, Kimi looks like going to McLaren or retiring, Kubica should move to Renault and both Toyota drivers could move anywhere seeing as the team has made it public knowledge that they haven't signed either driver for the 2010 season.

Firstly lets have a look at the Alonso announcement.
Many fans and journalist are confused by this deal, not that it wasn't expected, but no one at Ferrari seems to be able to give a reasonable reason for ending Kimi's contract a year early to bring in Alonso. It was no secret that the Ferrari F60 was not the fastest car on the grid this year yet late in the season Kimi has squeezed results out of it despite Ferrari stopping all development on the car in August. Lets also not forget Kimi won the 2007 WDC bringing Ferrari it's first drivers title since Schumi in 2004. I believe the problem from the start was that Ferrari signed Kimi because he was the best available at the time, not because they actually wanted him. When Jean Todt was still with the team, Felipe Massa was the garage favourite. He had Todt's own son as his manager, Schumi was mentoring him and the mechanics loved his personality. In this way Kimi has always been the outsider. This year huge praise was laid upon Massa by Ferrari bosses after pushing the F60 to a podium yet when Kimi took the car to a race win not a word was said in the press about it.
It seems in the end that the Alonso deal was pushed forward a year because of money. Santandar just signed a major deal with Ferrari while still sponsoring McLaren for the next year. From what I have been reading, the opportunity came up for Ferrari to sign the bank as a sponsor one year in advance but the catch was that they wanted Alonso at the team. Various rumors going around claim Kimi's Ferrari contract next year is being payed off by Santandar and if he moves to McLaren they'll also pay part of his salary there as well, this way they get to advertise 4 of the biggest names currently in Formula One.
Overall I think the deal is great as I've said before, but you have to wonder, if Ferrari's 2010 car is one of the front runners would Kimi have been able to achieve the same results as Alonso could?
My opinion is that he probably could.

The probable Brawn - Williams swap of Rubens for Rosberg is the other talking point at Suzuka.
Rubens has done enough this season to show that with a better start he would very well have been world champion this season. The trigger for this move seems to be that Mercedes Benz want to integrate themselves more the Brawn team. Whispers lately have even mentioned the Mercedes and McLaren are to split soon with Brawn becoming the Mercedes main team. With the German car giant getting more involved in the team they have requested a German driver, Rosberg. This move could be great for Nico if the Brawns are once again leading the pack next year as I beleive the kid has some pace in him. Being mentored by Ross Brawn will also go a long way. Rubens gets the shit end of the stick I'm afraid. Williams has said that they will be dropping their partnership with Toyota in 2010 and have said they're looking into Cosworth engines. Rubens probably only has one more season left in him and unless a miracle happens at Williams I don't think he's going to have a great last season.

Could McLaren survive with Lewis and Kimi?
McLaren have been saying 'yes' but being careful not to confirm anything. Many believe Kimi will move onto McLaren on a 1 year contract. Heikki would then be free to drive for any team with his best bet being one of the new teams as his knowledge from McLaren and experience would be valuable to them. The general consensus is that Kimi and Lewis would work fine and in the long run would help Lewis develop into a better driver. Currently Lewis hasn't been pushed by his team mate at all, apart from the 1 year with Alonso. If Kimi was there he wouldn't just settle to be No.2. Kimi would push Lewis every race and give him that inter-team competition that he needs t develop his skills further. Given a good car they could be lethal on the race track.

Renault are in damage control. At this point it looks as if Kubica will be heading there in 2010 but his teammate remains unconfirmed. I've said this to people before and I still believe it, Kubica could be a world champion one day. This move to Renault wouldn't exactly be his first choice but he really has no other options left. If the team continue to clean house after the Lie-Gate affair, they could easily rebuild their team around Kubica and given a few years he could be back at the top fighting for wins.
The only problem of course is whether Renault will stay in Formula One after next season.

The last team who will see some driver changes in Toyota. At this point they have said that both drivers are available to talk with other teams. I always thought they would let Trulli move on as his best is past him but to be willing to lose Glock is stupid. Timo has great potential and teams will be rushing to talk to him after his Singapore podium. The only thing I can make from this is that Toyota are getting ready to pull out of the sport. It really doesn't make sense to me. On he business side Toyota have had a bad year, as has every other car manufacturer, and the fact that Williams will no longer be buying engines off them hurts as well. I have a feeling we'll have a sense of where this is going after this weekend.

2010 is looking like being one hell of a season. If Ferrari and McLaren can pick up their game and start challenging Brawn and Red Bull we're going to have 8 of the best drivers on the grid going for the world title!

I seriously cannot wait!

But before then we have 3 races still to go, Friday practice is about to start in Suzuka where it's currently raining and is predicted to all weekend. This season still has some mayhem left in it!