Safety Car rule sorted (at last)

Finally, the safety car rules have been changed for the upcoming Formula One season.

The outgoing rules were nothing short of farcical. Designed to ‘slow’ people down from racing back to the pits; it caused more harm than good. Many a good race for a driver was ruined by having to come to the pits while it was ‘closed’. The penalty for which was another trip down pit-lane under race conditions.

Not that it actually stopped mayhem from happening on track. Canada and Singapore still live in the mind for pit-road antics that happened while under the safety car period.

The new rules for safety cars state that once the safety car is deployed, drivers will be warned. Depending on track position and the area of the accident, drivers will be given a maximum speed that they can maintain back to the pits. The pit-lane will remain open.

Goodbye to a farcical rule. While well intentioned, it was clearly not thought out. It is a shame that it took this long to implement. After Melbourne, we all saw the problem. Eleven months later, the solution is found.

Contender to the Throne?

BMW showed off their 2009 challenger – a car which has a weighty expectation to carry.

The car is missing the now familiar Credit Suisse sponsor on the engine cover. The long-time Sauber sponsor has left its role as sponsor, given the much used ‘restructuring’ reasoning.

Towards the end of last year, Robert Kubica voiced his concerns on a number of occasions about the team giving up on the 2008 campaign. Given the amount of time spend on the development bed; there shouldn’t be any excuse for a lack of competitively from the Anglo-German team.

Of course, we have all heard this before. Remember Renault over the last few years? Early development didn’t see them return to form.

Despite championing the controversial KERS system, even BMW have stated they are unsure if they will run with it for the start of the year. A number of teams have taking pot shots at BMW for pushing for KERS to implemented in 2009. Of course, what did anyone expect?! Having spent so much time (and money), they were hardly going to roll over and say ‘sure, let’s delay it!’

The KERS system, which involves the transfer of kinetic energy that can be used as a power boost, has courted controversy since its early development. Everything from high development costs to mechanics getting shocked has happened over the last year with the system.

A standard system is in the pipelines for 2010, making many teams question the waste of money in developing a system to be used for one year only. Despite this, everyone is still following the developmental pied piper – unwilling to let one team get any sort of advantage, even if it costs a shed load of money.

Pictures of the 2009 BMW-Sauber challenger can be found here at Autosports website.

Conflicting Reports

Over the last few days there has been some conflicting reports about when Ron Dennis informed Hamilton of his decision to step down.

Autosport have run an article on their site claiming that Hamilton knew before Christmas of the plan. Other sites, such as Crash.net and ITV-F1.com have run with a different take on it, stating that Hamilton only knew ‘minutes’ before it was publically announced.

In my opinion, there can only be one realistic answer – the one offered by Autosport. This isn’t a slight against ITV-F1, who I’ve long poked at the inadequate coverage of, but just simple common sense.

Ron Dennis was a father-like figure during the career of Lewis Hamilton. He has nurtured him from aspiring go-kart racer to Formula One world champion. Over the past two years, Dennis has staunchly stood by his driver no matter what, even against some vicious media criticisms.

Now you want us to believe that Ron Dennis, just ‘minutes’ before publically announcing he was stepping down, decided to tell Hamilton.

Not a chance!

Having watched over the career of Hamilton, Ron Dennis would not risk putting a few bumps in his young chargers mental state as he prepares for his title defence. Between the new rules, coping with being a champion and the massive expectation that Hamilton has on his shoulders, there is no way that Dennis would just add another burden to him.

That is why I would side with the facts offered by the Autosport article. I would be highly surprised to find out if down the line, we hear more facts stating that the other articles were on the money. While I’m not discounting such an occurrence, I find it highly improbable.

Colour Blindness

When Renault showed off their new ING colours two years ago, I honestly thought the colour scheme could not get worse.

I was wrong.

Their 2009 challenger will be easily spotted in the paddock, but for the wrong reasons. A ghastly colour palette makes the car look more like a neon sign suited more to Las Vegas than the race track.

From a creativity point of view, I think the biggest issue with the recent Renault schemes has been the desire to retain the classic Renault yellow on the car. I think the car would have looked fine if left in the white and orange of ING. But mixing the yellow in was just asking for an eyesore of the car.

This year has seen the dark navy stripe replaced with orange. The colourations match up in places to produce that of the Spanish national flag, making me wonder if this scheme is more suited to A1GP than Formula One. Topping it off is the red wing-ends for new sponsor Total.

As for the actual car shape, the car features a wider front nose that we have seen on the more recent car launches. It reminds me of the slightly chubby nose found on the Ferrari a few years back. One thing is for sure, we won’t miss this car on the grid.

Williams also launched their 2009 challenger, although will be running in an interim scheme, like last year, until their actual racing scheme will be unveiled at a later date.

Toyota launched their new racer in between that of the Ferrari and the McLaren. I just haven't had the chance to write a longer article about them.

Images of the new Renault, Williams and Toyota can be found on Autosports website. Just click on the names to link you there.

Dennis to step down as McLaren launch

Ron Dennis has announced he is stepping down from the position of team principal of McLaren, as the team launched their 2009 contender. Dennis will focus on other projects within the McLaren group, handing the reigns over to his right-hand man, Martin Whitmarsh.

I try to be as impartial as possible when I am writing this blog. I don’t believe in writing for one side only. There is too much of that in the media as it is in this day and age. Even to those that I am not a genuine fan of, over the past few years I have given the fair crack of the whip when writing here.

But for Ron Dennis, I find that very hard. Ever since I first started watching this sport, he has always rubbed me the wrong way. I think he is probably the single greatest reason I never found myself pulling for a McLaren to win, even when they had drivers that I supported.

Most of memories of him are is excuses. It’s his fault, it’s their fault. That is all I can remember him saying whenever McLaren lost a race. There was always an excuse, never a ‘we got beaten by the better man’. From the interviews I have seen of him, he has always seemed too smug, cocky, and arrogant. It actually came to the point where if he was to be interviewed, I would just change the channel, rather than listen to the stories he would concoct.

The decision has been a long time coming. After the Spy-gate scandal, it was rumoured that he would step down. These rumours persisted right up until the first grand prix of the year. A number of media outlets suggested that the reason McLaren were bumped around in the pit-lane order was due to an ‘agreement’ that would have seen him step down.

Towards the end of the season, he hinted that if Hamilton won the title, he would step the wayside. Such a decision made perfect sense. Dennis has been a father-like figure to the world champion. He has seen him going from karting protégé to Formula One world champion. Leaving on a high is always the way someone would like to end a chapter of their life.

Pictures of the new McLaren can be found on Autosport here.

You're Out! Wait, You're In!

Apparently, Elliott Sadler will still be driving the #19 Dodge for GEM-cum-whatever-the-new-title-is team. From what I gather on the articles published about the topic, it was a case of misunderstanding and crossing of the cables.

I wonder just how true that is. There was plenty of talk about how sponsors were threatening to pull out and legal action – both financial consuming problems to the situation. In this economy, that is a serious faux pas right now.

The news was announced at the same time as the merger between GEM and Petty was completed. On a day that should have been momentous for the team, they are left with egg on their face. That fresh start look already looking a bit shabby.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d hate to see anyone in the dole queue with their P45 in hand. But can you blame GEM for wanting to replace him. While Sadler appears to be an extremely likeable character in front of the camera, his results do not match up on the track – and drivers get paid for the business on the track more so than off it. By the same token, GEM shouldn’t have given a driver a new contract if there were any doubts.

The real loser in all this has to be AJ Allmendinger. Again he is back into a place of insecurity. He is bumped over to the #10, which is placed outside the top-35 points. That will require AJ to qualify on speed for the first five races of the year – not that such a feat is beyond him. He was stuck in a similar circumstance at the tail end of last year when he drove the car.

At this stage, the car is only slated to run eight races. After that, they are lacking sponsorship to fund the car any further. If the situation stays the same, once more the promising talent will be left high and dry.

Up Goes The Curtain

Today saw the first of the new look F1 racers officially launched. Ferrari launched their challenger, the F60, at Mugello.

Maybe old age has softened me up. I remember years ago looking forward in anticipation to what the cars would look like. Everything from basic design to what scheme it would have. These days, it doesn’t have that same kick, even with the major changes in the visual aspect of the racers this year.

By the same token, either the new Ferrari is actually decent looking, or I have adjusted to the radical new aerodynamics package that we have this year. None of those ‘what the hell’ thoughts were carried over from the first time I saw the BMW, which ran late last year.

The launch of the Ferrari kicks off a busy few weeks where we will see a number of others unveil their contenders. The new regulations promise much for 2009 and we all need something elevate the doom and gloom.

Images of the new Ferrari are over on Autosport – follow the link here.

Movers, Mergers and Turf-outs

The turn of the New Year is often an opportunity to wipe the slate clean and start anew. I’m sure many in the motorsport world were looking for a change in fortune, given the current economic conditions.

Unfortunately, we have seen more of what happened in the tail end of last year. In MotoGP, Kawasaki is on the verge of pulling factory support from the series. While no official word from the Japanese firm has been forthcoming, it seems to be nothing more than forgone conclusion given the way people are talking about it.

Speaking about MotoGP, something that completely escaped my radar was that Eurosport has lost its coverage of the series to the BBC. While I am in full support in a changing of the guard on the F1 front, the decision to take it away from Eurosport is baffling. You would be hard pushed to find a better coverage for the sport. Hopefully the BBC recognizes that, as they did with the talents of Martin Brundle, and sign up Toby Moody and Juilan Ryder to front their coverage.

Across the pond, the news hasn’t been much better for Nascar. Petty Enterprises are currently in merger talks with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. While I am not as well versed in the historical elements of Nascar as I would like, it isn’t too hard to see the symbolic and historical significance of the Petty team.

The family venture is to Nascar what Ferrari is to Formula One, in my opinion. I’m sure many thought that despite falling on hard times as of late, they would still survive. The team has a known brand that is sellable to sponsors. An impending merger will be a reminder that nobody is safe in today’s world.

Staying with GEM, the team is also going to have to battle an impending lawsuit regarding Elliot Sadler. Despite signing a new deal earlier in the year, Sadler has been turfed out in favour of AJ Allmendinger. After impressing in GEM’s third card towards the end of the season, it isn’t a surprise to see him in a full time ride.

Sadler is claiming breach of contract, having said to have received the news from a sponsor. How this all plays out is anyone’s guess. If the merger with Petty plays out as expected, the removal of Sadler asks a question of how many cars GEM plan to run this year. Currently the team run the #9, #10 and #19 – add to this the expected arrival of the #43. Either they plan to only run three cars or have someone else lined up for the fourth seat.