Formula 1 | seasonal f1 moan

My lifetime passion

Spa

Saturday, 29 August 2009 ‡ 14:03

Cannot believe how much difference a high speed track has suited the performance of some of the other cars and the biggest shock was Fisi on pole in his Force India. Could it be a very low fuel strategy? We find out later today. Could it be the rumour that Ferrari want an Italian to drive their car at the Italian Grand Prix? I think i would love to see Fisi drive for Ferrari. Heidfeld did well to get 3rd spot and Kimi looks good in 6th, could he win this race? I would expect Kimi to take the lead at some point in the race and probably win. Alonso is starting from 13th with Hamilton in front and Button behind. It will be an interesting start and an interesting race. Well Fisi is not as light as Ruben's, but the short sprint to the tight first corner will not be much of an advantage, it will be the race in and out of Eau Rouge to Les Combes. Spa is one of my favourite tracks and I love watching this race, can't wait.

Labels: Fisichella, force india, India

(0) comments

Valencia

Saturday, 22 August 2009 ‡ 14:07

Unfortunately Schumacher will be unable to drive in place of Massa, so Ferrari decided to take on Badoer, their test driver. Surprisingly, they had a few options, i think i may have given one of the sacked drivers a chance, maybe behind a Ferrari, they may have performed better, maybe Gene or even Bruno Senna, it was an opportunity which i feel they have wasted on their test driver for the past 10 years, who had he been fast enough would have stepped into a race probably 8 years ago.

Nothing too eventful during qualifying, except McLaren are continuing on their progress to deliver Hamilton a race winning car, who had taken pole from the inconsistent Kovalainen, who may have lost it to Lewis on the final corner of Q3 due to minor wobble due to grabbing the white line into the final corner.

Mclaren's both off the line well, Barrichello does well with a heavy car to slot in behind them with Kimi and Webber following. Button drops a couple of places due to hard charging Vettel. Button never really recovers and to me it seems as though he has lost the will to fight, as if he has resigned to losing the championship. His team mate however has decided he will be fighting all the way and it showed today with an impressive and very calculated drive. Following Kovalainen until the first pitstop allowed the Brazilian to put in some quick laps in order to get ahead after his first stop, which he duly delivered. He was now to set his sights on Hamilton. Exactly the same tactic, follow until the McLaren pitted, put in some quick laps and take him on the out lap... made easier for the Brawn since McLaren were not ready with tyres for Hamilton and this must have cost him an extra 3 to 4 seconds in the pits. Rubens was then on his way to his first win for Brawn.

Nothing else really happened during the race, Nakajima blew a rear but managed to get back to the pits, Vettel's engine blew and Badoer cruised home, but not without a few detours on the way. Ferrari must reconsider their choice when a driver is 3 seconds off the pace, going into Spa.

Ruben's win takes him second in the championship and he could now suggest he really does have a chance at the championship, but mathematically it requires Button to finish at least 2 places behind Ruben's in the remaining six races. Button needs to decide if he wants this championship, since he only needs to secure podiums or stay 1 place behind Rubens, even win one more race and points in 5 races.

(0) comments

Hungary

Saturday, 25 July 2009 ‡ 14:25

Firstly i have to express what an amazingly bizarre set of events, whereby a piece of suspension breaks off Rubens car during his qualifying session, which appears to bounce for such a long time to strike Massa's helmet as he followed several seconds behind! It has been unconfirmed, but apparently Massa is not badly hurt, though a tough smack in the head by a metal bar as you travel toward it at some hundred mile per hour is going to hurt, but gladly it is not serious.

Another twist is at the moment we do not know the first 10 starting positions due to all the timing devices failing, but unconfirmed is that Alonso is on pole with a 1m21.5s, Vettel and Webber follow, Hamilton on 1m21.8s and Button on 1m22.5s. Nakakima is driving well and his team-mate Rosberg is up front somewhere!

As race day opens with good news about Massa, it brings the attention to last week's bad news about Henry Surtees, son of John Surtees, killed by a freak accident not so dissimilar to the bouncing spring off the Brawn, expect in this case it was a wheel off Jack Clarke's car.

Alonso makes an excellent start off the line, with the two McLaren's charging up to the front with Vettel, Webber and Kimi alongside each other into the first corner, amazingly everyone managed it round without to much incident. Vettel's slow start meant Kimi was up alongside, with McLaren's having to find space to avoid him.

As the first lap settled, Alonso was flying off into the lead, with Hamilton and Kimi following. It appeared from the early stages the Brawns would be struggling to keep up with the Red Bull's and did not consider the McLarens too much of a threat. With one Ferrari in the race, Kimi seemed to have a very lonely race. Alonso only made it as far as the first pit stop, with one of the wheel men not finishing his task of tightening the front wheel, as the lollipop man release Alonso, who had to return with 3 wheels and severe suspension damage on the next lap.

Hamilton drove a faultless race, with not too much excitement behind him, on a difficult track, overtaking near impossible and a car breaker, only a few retired. New boy Jaime Alguersuari managed to finish, which is an amazing achievement on such a difficult and tiring circuit.

Labels: Hungary, Massa

(0) comments

Germany

Saturday, 11 July 2009 ‡ 15:31

An amazing Q2 session with and without rain, constant battle on track and in pit lane. Finally, Webber must have been so relieved, securing his first ever Pole Position ahead of Barrichello, Button, team-mate Vettel. Sutil did well to qualify fourth and beating the Mclaren's and Ferrari's.

If the rain stops starts during the race tomorrow, any of the front runners have a good chance of winning the race, but a dry day will ensure the Brawn's are ahead, with the Red Bull's following closely, we wait and see!

Flying start for Hamilton, but all that effort wasted when Webber's Red Bull front wing end plate appears to have had the very small touch of the McLaren's rear tyre causing a puncture and forcing Hamilton to pit and spend the rest of the afternoon getting out of the way of the leaders.

Stewards IMO were very harsh with Webber, giving him a drive through penalty for "Causing a collision", which was only a bump between his front wheel and Brawn GP's side pod, with no visible damage and plenty of room for Rubens to move away from, plus there fact they both made it around the first corner without any problems and obviously continued into the race!

Dry and hot suited the Red Bull's better than the Brawn's who did have an issue with tyre wear. Webber still managed first driving a super fast race lap after lap leaving his team mate behind, with the only Ferrari finish, Massa in third. Rosberg did well in fourth and Button finally managed to get ahead of Rubens during the final pitstop and the very fast charging Alonso, had he another few laps would have surely taken both Brawns due to severe tyre wear.

Labels: australian, first win, german, Webber

(0) comments

Silverstone

Saturday, 20 June 2009 ‡ 14:57

Has Moseley got personal reasons for calling the F1 team principles "Looney"? I could not believe the President of FIA could just openly air his true feelings about the whole situation and get away with it. Bernie did not seem to be so bothered, about the president's remarks!!! This all seems so pathetic and school playground childish. Eddie Jordan cornered Bernie and asked why Bernie has not banged a few heads together and got them to sort things out, "like he used to do". It just seems to have gone from bad to worse and i wish i could do something, it is so frustrating.

Qualifying had a little surprise in the shape of Nakajima managing a career best 5th. No other surprises though, Hamilton out in the first session, though some may have felt he may have made it had the session not have been red flagged due to Sutil's crash due to brakes related failure. Kovalainen faired little better but then only got to 13th. As usual we had Trulli, Webber, Vettal and Button battling all the way, but this time for the first time, Button appeared to not have the superior car. Vettel secured another pole position, ahead of Barrichello in 2nd, Webber 3rd and Trulli 4th, Button starts from 6th but if he maximises from this race it could make the difference if other teams begin to catch up and start taking wins away from Brawn and Button. Ferrari's start 9th and 11th.

Vettel pulled away from Barrichello and Webber by 1 second per lap for every lap until the first set of pitstops. Alonso and Hamilton were having their own battle at the back of the grid, some exciting wheel to wheel moves on each other. Alonso appeared to be driving fairly erratically until a few laps later he did manage to settle down. Hamilton drove well but complained about mechanical grip and thus struggled. Hamilton had a massive slide in Becketts, a close battle with alonso through Maggotts and he also made a mistake, taking a small spin at club, finishing 16th with Alonso 14th.

Button also complaining about his car not allowing him to push, frustrated he made no mistakes and managed to close the gap toward the end of the race, but only managed 6th, surprisingly behind Rubens who finished in 3rd. Vettel managed another win with Webber 2nd. Bourdais collided with the swerving Kovalainen, who where the only DNF's of the race. Nakajima managed 11th and Massa 4th ahead of Kimi in 8th.

Labels: british, button, force india, vettel

(0) comments

Turkey

Saturday, 6 June 2009 ‡ 10:53

Lots of news regarding the teams who will be or not be racing next year. I think its a huge shame about these teams having to make these types of comments this year, surely has a massive distraction on their 2009 task.

It seems this race has already been awarded to Massa, since he has 3 wins in a row at this track, but i don't feel Ferrari, let alone Massa will be anywhere near the front during qualifying or the race. As the first session of qualifying is over, Hamilton again will be starting at the tail end of the pack, 16th. McLaren's Kovalainen only managed 14th at the end of the second session, with no other surprises. The final session, Webber as usual does very well in qualifying with a 4th spot, with Barrichello and Button in front and Vettel on pole. I don't feel Kimi in 6th and Massa in 7th will be too much of a threat to the Red Bull and Brawn cars as long as no major incidents occur.

Vettel takes off from pole closely followed by Button and as Barrichello drops it on the start, he allows Trulli and Webber to jump up with half the rest of the pack, as Rubens drops to mid field. Vettel then makes a mistake half way around allowing Button to lead, from which Vettel never recovered and Button never faltered. Apart from Barrichello really trying hard to fight his way back up, nothing really exciting happened from then on. Red Bull should have switched from their three stop to a two stop after this but they didn't which i reckon lost Vettel the chance of regaining the lead in the race.

As predicted the Ferrari's where nowhere and McLaren's didn't really threaten anyone. Toyota's and William's did well, unfortunately Nakajima had wheel problems during his pit stop which dropped him right down the field. Barrichello retired and faces a massive 26 point gap in second place, with Vettel in third, 32 points behind Button, its up to Button to just collect as many points as possible after Nurburgring the second half of the season and surely secure the drivers championship by Monza, but then i don't think Barrichello could take points off Jenson.

Labels: ferrari, Turkey

(0) comments

Monaco

Saturday, 23 May 2009 ‡ 14:14

With the threat of limiting the teams to $40m budget furious discussions have taken place without any real outcome. It would be a shame if Ferrari and Renault bailed on F1.

Hamilton's mistake disallowed him to continue in the session leaving him 15th with both BMW's and Toyota's out in the first session. The second session continues with the usual suspects at the front, with an impressive Nakajima managing to stay in for the final session. Battling out at the front, pole sitters switching from Rosberg, Vettel, Massa, Barrichello and in the final seconds, Button takes in his Senna like style.

Amazingly the first corner and even the first lap was incident free, expecting cars to be flying over each other. The Brawn's stretch out a lead with a hard charging Massa trying to take Vettel, but manages to brake too late for the chicane coming out the tunnel and cutting across in front of Vettel. Massa forced to yield his position back to Vettel, also allowed Rosberg through too, in a very close wheel to wheel slice around the swimming pool complex. Vettel later losing traction due to worn rears and pitting, to which soon afterwards he later smacks his car into retirement.

Rubens settled for 2nd as he was more agressive on his tyres, allowing Jenson to maintain a slight lead. Kimi managed his first podium this season, driving a solid race, keeping out of trouble to finish 3rd, with the other two ex-World Champions, Alonso finishing 7th and Lewis finishing 12th. Massa brings home the other Ferrari behind Kimi, Webber with a solid 5th and Rosberg managing 6th.

Labels: monaco, senna

(0) comments

Spain

Saturday, 9 May 2009 ‡ 15:01

An exciting finish to the end of the qualifying session with Button just managing to start his final flying lap 2 seconds before the end - securing another pole position start this season. Vettel just lost out to Button and so did Barrichello. An amazing set of laps with less than 1 second separating the top 8 starters. Again Ferrari have such a relaxed attitude with Kimi (probably) sucking on ice lollies when he decided that his 1m21.2 would easily take him into the next qualifying session and didn't. Absolutely pathetic decision from whoever made it and worse decision from Stefano Domenicali allow it. If Ferrari and Kimi have decided to give up the fact that they have no chance this season of winning the WDC title, they may as well not attend any races this season, save money, work on developing next year's car and come back in March 2010.

The first corner was like a ten pin bowling alley, with Sutil and Trulli coming together on the track after both had left it for different reasons, causing both Toro Rosso's to collide. Debris all over the track we had a 5 lap safety car stint with Barrichello leading from Button, Massa, Vettel and Webber.

As the race began on lap 6 Rubens continued with the formation behind him unchanged until the first set of pit stops. Kimi having hydraulic problems with his Ferrari was out on lap 17. Apart from a close encounter with Alonso coming out of the pits, Hamilton drove a lonely race to finish just out of the points. With Buttons fourth win and finishing comfortably over 13s ahead of team mate Rubens in second and Webber in third, he must feel he has a chance to win the 2009 drivers championship. McLaren having trouble and Ferrari's not really on the ball, Buttons nearest rival, apart from his team mate is Vettel 18 points adrift.

Rubens i feel does not have the aggression to challenge Button, he's too nice. Vettel and Webber will be chasing Button hard but i think the Brawn will have the advantage on most tracks. It has been good to see different cars up front and i think Button is showing that he does have what it takes to be champion.

Labels: brawn, button, ferrari, mclaren, vettel

(0) comments

Bahrain

Saturday, 25 April 2009 ‡ 13:40

Very interesting qualifying session with many teams at the top with different drivers, not knowing who will make it to pole until the very last car had made it across the line after the end of final session. Trulli looked strong through out the day, i did suspect it would be either a Brawn or Red Bull at the top, but i am glad it isn't, since this will hopefully make way for a very entertaining race, with hopefully plenty of battles, especially at the front.

The first lap was almost like a BTCC race, with cars side by side into corners, showing signs of being an exciting race, with a "normal" state of play; no rain, no safety car. Glock managed to take Trulli from the start and Hamilton managed to get up to third from fifth, Button and Vettel following, the lead pack settling down with everyone else fighting every corner for position behind them for a few laps, impressive Webber up from eighteenth to eleventh by lap 4. The BMW's and Williams not performing too well, McLaren, Ferrari and Renault following along ok, nothing too impressive. The first set of pitstops juggled the leading driver, but by the end of these, Button emerged at the front where he more or less remained for the remainder of the race. Vettel drove well, as did Hamilton and Trulli. I thought we may have been on for a well deserved battle between Hamilton in his McLaren and Trulli in his Toyota, which would have been great to see, but never happened.

Labels: bahrain, button, trulli, vettel

(0) comments

China

Sunday, 19 April 2009 ‡ 07:10

The double decker diffuser has been ruled legal and therefore confirms Button's lead in the driver standings and Brawn GP lead in the constructors this season.

Fuel adjusted makes Barrichello fastest, but its Vettel's second career pole (Italy 2008 was his first) and Red Bull's first pole, Webber directly behind in 3rd, double world champion along side in 2nd, experienced Barrichello in 4th and Button starting 5th. Ferrari's and McLaren's at the tail end of the lead group. Kimi has suggested he will not be challenging for the drivers world championship this season! McLaren will quickly adapted to the legal double decker diffuser, whereas Ferrari will not have one until mid-season Spanish grand prix.

I expect Alonso will take the lead off the start, Trulli is also a dynamite starter with Barrichello and Button struggling to keep up with heavily fuelled cars.

Out goes my prediction for the start due to wet start behind the safety car. If it continues to rain I think the result of this race will be a combination of fearless driving and pot luck. After 8 laps the safety car withdrew. The Reb Bull's pulled away with Button taking Barrichello. Not long later Kubica tried to use Trulli's Toyota as a ramp, removing most of the Toyota's rear leading to another safety car stint. Hamilton made progress, then slipped off the road, then fought back, then flew off the road and then gained back the places and fell off the road, again, but still managed to finish sixth. Timo Glock used his car as a dogem several times, getting away with minor damage to finish seventh. There were places gained during the pits and places lost due to the tricky conditions, but overall most drivers did well. The Red Bull's stole the show with Button taking the third step.

Labels: chinese, red bull, vettel

(0) comments

Malaysia

Sunday, 5 April 2009 ‡ 11:59

If Lewis has put the Australian GP issue to the back of his mind during qualifying, McLaren were definitely off the pace. Surprisingly Ferrari's over confidence leaves Massa at the back with Kimi just managing to secure a 7th spot. Trulli displayed some excellent pace in his Toyota but could not keep Button off his 2nd pole this season.

Button falls back behind Rosberg and Trulli at the start, but inherits the lead during the leaders pitstops. Brilliant battle between Glock and Alonso during the early part of the race, with Glock winning the position after several hard attempts. Amazingly Ferrari's Raikkonen gambled with fitting extreme wets while the track was bone dry several laps before it actually began raining, which i thought was too early, but timing would have been perfect had it been a few laps later. It really never did rain as hard as i expected.

Another brilliant battle between Hamilton and Webber during the earlier slippery rain period. I want to believe the rule changes really have made a difference, allowing more overtaking opportunities.

Glock, Hamilton and Rosberg are first to change on to Inters, with the rest of the grid following suit, probably finding their Extremes not giving them enough traction since it has not rained as heavy as expected. Moments later massive lightening and heavy rain negates the drivers choice for Inters a few laps earlier. Button visited the pits for Inters and then back in a lap later for Extremes. With about 25 laps to the end, the safety car is out due to Vittel spinning off and heavy rain, then a lap later red flagged with Button first, followed by the other points finsihers Heidfeld, Glock, Trulli, Barrichello, Webber, Hamilton and Rosberg.

Labels: brawn, button, malaysian, virgin

(0) comments

Australia

Sunday, 29 March 2009 ‡ 15:08

I was surprised to hear Honda were leaving F1 this season, but then glad to hear Ross Brawn had bought the team to continue with what he started back in 2007.

I was up 5am Saturday morning to watch the first qualifying session of the season and i was impressed, not only with the pace of the smaller teams, but how close the times were. I hope this is not just a result of the learning curve everyone is on with the new rules.

Rubens on second spot did well to finish 2nd considering he dropped like a lead balloon at the start. Jenson drove a faultless race to finish 1st and due to the fact the Trulli overtook during the safety car, promoted Lewis' impressive 4th place finish to 3rd.

Updated information regarding the Trulli incident has found Hamilton disqualified and Trulli re-instated to 3rd place, due to "withheld information" regarding the overtaking during safety car incident. It appears that during the safety car Trulli slide off the track and Lewis passed, but then Lewis slowed and Trulli regained his 3rd. It seems Lewis (in communication with his team at the time) decided to report Trulli for passing under safety car, omitting to inform the stewards of Trulli's excursion. It now appears all has been settled, McLaren are due a severe beating from the FIA and have also rejected the option to appeal this decision. This is not the kind of behaviour i expect from McLaren, i am very disappointed.

Labels: australia, button, hamilton, safety car

(0) comments