Cinderella Story

With the first weekend of Formula One racing wrapped up, I still find myself needing to question ‘did it really happen.’

This weekend has been surreal. I honestly don’t remember such a game changing moment as we witnessed. Pre-season testing has been more or less spot on, something that doesn’t always carry forward into the season.

Brawn’s one-two is nothing short of a fairytale. The whole story is sort of thing that you expect from a Hollywood blockbuster, not Formula One. It just isn’t supposed to happen, barring an intervention from Mother Nature.

Fortune as well as skill was on their side. I was surprised how long it took for the safety car to be pulled out after Nakajima found the wall. That being said, Jenson Button drove superbly; with only a slight hiccup in the pits his only blotch on his copybook. Barrichello had an eventful day but still came home second. Even watching, you can sense that feel good buzz that is around the team right now.

On the podium, we saw real emotion between the two. Not the fake stuff we often see between team-mates up there. Both were genuinely happy for each other. And why not! Up to a few weeks ago, both were written off. Button criticised for not exploring other options, Barrichello considered ‘past it’. Now they are the toast of Formula One.

It was great to see that the paddock is happy for them. I can’t remember a time where we say cars applauded down pitlane as they headed up to their parking slots. It was a wonderful gesture from the teams in a day and age where people are more likely to snipe at each other rather than pat them on the back.

As for the pre-season championship contenders, Ferrari looked strong at times. At the time of writing, we are still waiting to find out what happened to Massa. Somehow, I’m not surprised to see Raikkonen fight the wall. His race drew too many similarities to those he raced last year - quick when he wants to be, but also quick to find the wall.

Lewis Hamilton is another who deserves a pat on the back. In an inferior car and assisted by retirements, he drove the sort of race that a world champion should. He picked up valuable points that will aid his fight to retain the title down the line.

Alonso was steady if unimpressive. Kubica was the only one of the five who looked an actual threat, until he stuck it up the inside of Vettel and the two of them took each out. That isn’t the way to win championships.

As for KERS, I definitely find myself on the fence about it. To me, the way it was explained and how it affects the weight would concern me that it would alienate certain types of drivers – for example Mark Webber and Robert Kubica, because of their stature.

That been said, in the race, you could see where those using KERS could use it to their advantage. It’s definitely something to watch over the coming races. Much the same can be said about the new aero-packages.

Qualifying was brilliant. I haven’t enjoyed a quail session like that in years. It was fantastic with the field so close that not even the perceived front runners could play it safe. If the gaps stay like that for the rest of the year, it will definitely make Saturday watching mandatory!

Malaysia is next weekend, at the wonderful starting time of 9am GMT. Got to love the lie in!

F109 Countdown: Williams

Williams Fact File:
2008 Results
Best Finish: 2nd (Nico Rosberg at the Singapore Grand Prix)
Points Scored: 26
Championship Position: 8th
2009 Drivers: Nico Rosberg & Kazuki Nakajima

Depending on how you look at the 2009 campaign for Williams, it can be classed a hit and miss year for the independent team. Compared to their ’08 season, they picked up an additional podium and finished five points shy of the previous year’s total. Yet, they find themselves eight the constructor’s championship, down from fourth.

The year was a perfect example of every team around them making a leap in one direction, while Williams only took a step.

Pre-season buzz was massive for the team last year and after Rosberg’s podium, people thought more of the same and even a win was on the cards. From there, the season fell away despite another podium for Rosberg in the action packed Singapore Grand Prix.

The car plainly wasn’t quick. That is evident from the fact that both drivers had two retirements each last year. It wasn’t a case like others, such as Red Bull, where positions were lost due to mechanical issues.

It was an easy decision for them to give up early and start work on this year’s car. But is it enough? According to reports after the cost cutting, it was claimed that Williams may not have survived without the cuts. The basis is still there for a good team. Even with manufacturer support, they outclassed Toyota in 2008, which they had an engine deal with.

Even with the cuts, the future is no less clear for the team. Major sponsor RBS will be pulling the plug as the banks exit Formula One. Fortunately for the team, they will honour the contract until the end of next year, giving them find to a replacement.

Like Force India, no doubt the team will be looking for those early races to set the marker down and capitalise on the mistakes of others. It will be interesting to see how well the team has adapted to the new regulations and whether a sustained season long competitively is possible for Williams.

Like many teams, they retain both drivers. Unless there is a change in fortune, I’d expect this to be Rosberg’s last with the team. I have to give credit to him sticking it out this year to learn his trade. He has shown a lot of loyalty to the team, whereas as lesser person might have jumped ship at the first opportunity. I only hope that he hasn’t missed the boat as they say and we don’t get to see what he has learned. I still rate Rosberg as a massive talent for the future.

Team-mate Nakajima has gone a long way to shaking off that ‘pay-driver’ tag that he was given on his arrival. Granted, he holds the tags for a different reason compared to the likes of Pedro Diniz or Tarso Marques did. Nakajima didn’t bring sponsorship, just lowered the engine bill.

Similar to fellow countryman, Takuma Sato, Nakajima showed some great pace with some silly errors through his first full season. Unlike Sato, it looked like Nakajima learned from it. By the end of the season, I felt like he earned his place in Formula One. He was deserving of a second year, even if it was already a certainty given his Toyota connections. He scored just short of half of the total that Rosberg did. By all accounts, not a bad first season for the Japanese.

Masterclass And Mishap

Hamilton provided another masterful drive whilst his rivals spent time dancing in the puddles.

Take nothing away from Lewis, it was fantastic drive. There was a bit of luck involved with the Ferrari strategy, but in the second half of the race, his pace was relentless. He is quickly developing the knack of been a rain-master on track. The result takes him tied top of the tables with both Ferrari drivers.

Behind him, the Ferrari strategy was nothing short of abysmal. With Raikkonen catching Lewis hand over fist, all they had to do was match him to stay in contention. I don’t know what their weather report said, but it was obviously was dodgy. The decision not to take tires ruined the Finn’s race, backed up with the decision not to bring him in when he was losing time hand over fist.
Massa was the driver of old. Every time we saw him he was going around in circles. It was a pathetic weekend for Ferrari. Not since the Schumacher era have they made a good strategic call. A head should roll for this, because the last two years the choice of race strategy has been as plain as dried bread. Not good enough.

Heidfeld got one up on team-mate Kubica. Quick Nick got his qualifying right and produced his traditional strong race. He kept his head whilst the rest around him lost theirs to pick up his second podium of the year. Rubens Barrichello benefitted from the Ross Brawn book of tactical genius to come home third. It could have been so much more if the fuel rig worked. On the extreme wets, Barrichello was light years ahead of anyone else.

Raikkonen made the best of a bad day with fourth. Kovalainen will be disappointed with fifth, on a day where to be fair, he was all over the place. Alonso provided a gutsy drive to come home in sixth, followed by Trulli and Nakajima.

Driver of the Day: Lewis Hamilton. Rubens get’s an honourable mention but it was Lewis who drove fantastic today. After the Ferrari’s decided to screw themselves over, he could have taken it easy. Instead he pushed on and despite an off track excursion, obliterated the field.

Singing In The Rain

Lewis Hamilton added another win under abnormal conditions today with a stunning drive at Monaco.

The skies opened before the race which led to a lottery on the track. Hamilton touched the barrier causing a puncture early on. Luck would be with the McLaren driver as this moved him to an alternative strategy – one that allowed him to win the race. By running longer, he was better placed to make his last stop at the point where returning to dry tires was optional.
In racing you not only have to be good, but you need luck. Hamilton had both today and came home a deserved winner.

Despite looking good early on, both Ferrari’s enduring a trying day. The pair emulated former Ferrari leader Schumacher with a trip up St. Devote, although neither could take to the streets like the Ferrari legend. Massa’s day was effectively ruined with a decision to fuel him to the flag. His mid-race pace was terrible, coupled with Hamilton’s stunning pace left the Brazilian out of contention. The late decision to change to slicks saw him nipped by Kubica.
Raikkonen was nowhere all day. He was off the pace, broke a wing, a drive through penalty and finally ended up ploughing into the back of Sutil after hitting a rain patch. Force India’s claim to have him suspended is laughable and out of emotion. Shit happens. Nobody called for Hamilton to be banned after he smashed into the back of Alonso, or Coulthard into the back of Schumacher in 98. Collisions happen, it’s part of racing.

I have to feel for Sutil though. An awesome day that should’ve rewarded the German with points. His year has been full of disappointments and his luck doesn’t look like changing. The youngster will have to take a page out of Vettel’s book and rebound after the heartbreak.

Kubica picked up a fine second place, but BMW will no doubt be worried as they haven’t been on the pace as of late. Webber continued his fine run as best of the rest with fourth. Vettel put all his bad luck behind him to come home to a quite fifth. Barrichello scored his first points since 2006 followed by Nakajima and Kovalainen

It was such an action packed race that the points could have been filled by any. Alonso was racy until he ended up collecting Heidfeld. The BMW driver had a torrid day, finishing four laps down. A second safety car, for the crash of Rosberg, brought the field back in. I’m struggling to figure out why Heidfeld or Heikki waited so long behind the safety car. It just delayed things. I wonder if it was a Ferrari back there would James Allen be saying it was team delay tactics. Wouldn’t be the first time. Strange how things like that are mentioned at Melbourne but not here for something that would be so obvious.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Lewis Hamilton. Could it be anyone but? Survived an early scare and once more like Canada and Japan last year showed an air of maturity to drive around all the problems. The Ferrari’s bungled around and he now goes into the track which gave him his first win on top of the standings. Honourable mention to Adrian Sutil who drove superbly until his day ended in tatters.

Checkbook Drivers? No Thanks!

Toro Rosso boss Gerhard Berger signalled that he would not turn to pay drivers in 2009.

The future of STR is shrouded in doubt with Red Bull supremo, Dietrich Mateschitz, planning to sell his half of the team. Mateschitz plans to pull Red Bull’s involvement with its junior team due to end of the customer cars ‘era’. I use the term ‘era’ lightly, given that it has only lasted a couple of years.

Red Bull have no intention of trying to finance too teams. Although, they have gone about it in a much better way than Honda did with Super Aguri. That leaves co-owner and former race winner Berger looking to stabilize the teams future. So far there hasn’t been much talk about an investor. On-track results have hardly helped the situation either.

I have to say, I have a load of respect for Berger in his desire not to touch pay drivers. The idea of people paying their way into Formula One has always gotten underneath my skin. It just isn’t right. Formula One is the pinnacle of single-seater racing. That means we should have the best drivers in the world. Why should someone be able to buy in to that?

Minnow teams have been filled with this sort. Luckily, the past few years have seen this breed of driver die out. Not in its entirety of course. Nakajima to an extent is a pay driver, helping to shave numbers off the Toyota engine bill at Williams. Sakon Yamamoto is another example of a driver who somehow found his way back onto the grid last year with Spyker after a year with Super Aguri. Did he get there because of his brilliant driving talents or the size of his wallet? Pretty much a no brainer there!

In the cut-throat world where money seems to be everything, Berger’s stance is something to be admired. Hopefully come the end of the year he doesn’t find himself having to change his mind.

Raikkonen Wins In Spain

Qualifying set the trend for today’s race, with both Ferrari’s jumping to the front and never looked in trouble.

Of course, the race was anything but simple on a day where we say two safety car periods. The first after Sutil made an over ambitious move that saw him collect Coulthard and knock out Vettel. Sutil is a man under pressure with Fisichella resoundingly trumping the highly rated German.

The second came after a massive shunt for Kovalainen. The McLaren according to reports got a loose stone inside the rim which caused the tire to deflate sending the Finn flying into the barriers. Thankfully Heikki is okay and should make the Turkish race. Accidents like this and those of Hamilton and Kubica last year give a testament to today’s Formula One cars.

The safety cars made for a close finish, something i believe wouldn’t have been the case. Hamilton got the jump on Kubica but I wouldn’t be surprised if Ferrari had the extra gear if needed. The McLaren driver could push the car to the limit with his engine on its second race – the Ferrari pair conserved their engines with Turkey in mind. The British star drove a great race behind the Ferraris and his car looked allot better than over the entire weekend. I was surprised to see them last as long as they did on fuel.

Kubica was fantastic today and stayed close to Hamilton all day long. The ultimate race pace of the BMW was impressive today and only goes to show that the opportunity for victory is just around the corner. Jenson Button brought home Honda’s first points of the year in sixth after jumping ahead of Trulli and Nakajima at the pits.

When I read that Briatore saw Renault as being near the BMW’s I thought it was ambitious. Today proved that wasn’t entirely the case. Alonso may have been running lighter but he wasn’t as light as people gave credit for. Renault have jumped ahead of the midfield pack while Toyota and Williams have fallen back. Red Bull have come out winners in that midfield battle with Webber coming up to yet another solid points finish for the team.

One thing that badly needs to change is that safety car rule. It’s already cost Barrichello points in Melbourne and today it cost Heidfeld badly. I know the idea is to stop people piling into the pits when the safety car comes out but I don’t see what is wrong with that? We haven’t had an accident in pit-lane when we have a mad dash to the pits. To be honest, I would fancy a US-style pit race. Now that it has cost a championship runner I would expect to see this sorted sooner rather than later.

PC’s Driver of the Day: Kimi Raikkonen. The world champion was on the pace all weekend. He did the hard work yesterday with pole and never looked like he would relinquish top spot today. The momentum is with him in the team going into one of Massa’s strongest circuits.

2008 Season Preview - Part II

Renault

Will the return of the prodigal son returns the French team to victory lane?
It should, even if pre-season testing and words coming out of the camp say otherwise. Renault has no real excuses. They abandoned the development of their '07 car to focus work on this year’s challenger after the half way mark. The idea that they haven’t been able to put together a car that will be in some way decent would be a massive failure for the team. They could be sandbagging during testing to lull teams into a false sense of security. If they truly are five tenths off the top then someone surely will have their head rolled.

Of course if the car is the five tenths off the top, then Alonso will be asked to provide those tenths that he claimed he brought to McLaren last year. After a torrid year in McLaren he takes the step back into his comfort zone. I mirror it to moving out of home, not having it work and coming back to live with your parents. Not the best move, but the best of a bad situation. His reputation is tarnished and needs to get his head down and do what he is good at – racing. Last year is in the past and he would do well to just get on with it.

Nelson Piquet Junior – well I told you he was going to be here last year and I was spot on! It could be a case of déjà vu for Alonso because Piquet is by no means a slouchier. This is the man who finished second to Hamilton in the GP2 series. Flavio can talk all he wants about having team hierarchy but the son of the former world champion is hardly going to pass up an opportunity to highlight the show. If he can get off to good start there is no stopping him making the same sort of impact that Kovalainen produced last year. A year out of competitive racing may hamper him at the start of the year similar to Heikki but I would expect him to give Alonso a couple of scares during the year.

Williams

High expectations but can they deliver?
I’m sure that’s what Williams’s fans are thinking going into this season. People tend to forget that twelve months ago they were coming off the back of a terrible season and now people are predicting them to fight for podiums! That’s a pretty big step to take and I’m sure they would be happy to just improve on last year. Led by Frank Williams and Patrick Head there was never any doubt in my mind that Williams would eventually turn the boat around. Their biggest enemy this year will be the aforementioned high expectations of the outfit. To the media, anything short of scoring a few podiums is going to be considered a failure for the team.

Getting Rosberg to sign a new contract is probably the signing of the year for me. With McLaren flying like vultures looking for a replacement for Alonso it would’ve been easy for Rosberg to up sticks and move to the Woking outfit. His decision to stick it out with Williams and continue to work on a project he started with them two years ago shows class to me. Sure some people are saying he might have blown his chances but for me, this is a fantastic education for Rosberg for the time when he will be in a top car. There are no ‘ifs’ or ‘buts’ about that fact. He matured greatly last year and with the aid of the experienced Wurz alongside him, looked like a more accomplished driver. This year he will be the out and out team leader in terms of experience as well as talent.

Nakajima had a whacky début at Brazil at the end of last season. The latest export from Japan showed raw pace marred by youthful exuberance. His pre-season testing has shown he is not to be taken lightly so far. Then again, it is only pre-season so his current runs have to be taken with a pinch of salt. When the lights go out and the real racing begins is when we will see what Nakajima is really like. Much like Sato he appears to be a rough diamond and there are few better teams than Williams to help hone his skill. He will have to show his worth if he is to shed the tag that he is simply there on Toyota’s request in an attempt to keep engine costs down at the privateer team.

Red Bull

Will this be the year that Red Bull finally gets their wiings?
Last year’s Red Bull showed great pace at times however their season was undone by poor reliability. As the old adage ‘to finish first, first you must finish’ or in Red Bull’s eyes to ‘finish at all, build a car capable of finishing!’ Towards the end of 2007 they were mixing it up regularly for points and if they can solve the problems any Adrian Newey designed car is going to be competitive. Red Bull have been moving forward each year but the aim this year has to be score points more regularly and pick up a few podiums.

David Coulthard is the grand daddy of the grid and shows no signs of stopping. Always there or thereabouts he’s the perfect driver to help build what still is a growing team. He’s seen off a number of team-mates in the course of his Red Bull career.

I’ve never been a fan of Mark Webber. Often he’s had a mouth bigger than his talents. Many pundits talk him up but the results show that he isn’t really all that. He was pretty even with Coulthard last year and his pokes at Williams for been on the downturn left him red faced as Williams are on the up since his departure. In my books he’s yet to justify the hype surrounding him and I doubt we’ll ever see him achieve anything more than point’s finishes and the odd podium.

Toyota

A new year and a raft of new promises. Haven’t we heard all this before?
Toyota continues to spend big and deliver zero. No wonder the Toyota head chiefs are considering change at the highest level or even abandoning the failed Formula One project. Their main problem is that they believe they can apply the exact same method that works in other sports to F1. The team seems to be run by a committee as opposed to have one man in charge as is seen in most F1 teams. I could rattle off nearly every Formula One boss, except for the Toyota boss. One would think after years of shovelling money into the team and hoping for the best that a lesson would be learned. According to reports the management team has only a few years to turn it around although many people read that statement as one of Toyota’s desire to pull the plug on this money draining operation.

Unless Trulli overcomes his career long problem of switching off during races, I would expect this to be his last year. His saving grace for the seat this year is similar to Fisichella last year at Renault. Having two new young drivers isn’t ideal in a team trying to push forward. So they have gone for the tried and trusted rookie-experienced line-up. If Toyota could just have Jarno qualify the car he would be great. However points aren’t awarded for qualifying and his inability to throw together consistent race pace has always been his downfall. I honestly don’t expect him to step up to the plate his late in his career. He will achieve point’s finishes but nothing more before he heads off into the sunset like Ralf Schumacher did this winter.

Timo Glock has endured a meandering path to his full time Formula One drive. He’s already had his debut with Jordan in 2004. He then headed stateside to race in Champ Cars before a return to Europe and the GP2 series which accumulated with him winning the championship last season. A tug of war between BMW and Toyota ended up in front of the Contracts Recognition Board before he was cleared to sign for Toyota. Over the past few years the GP2 drivers making the step up have shown that they can handle the top level. His ability to shine this year will depend on what sort of car Toyota gives him. Give him half a season to adapt proper and during the second part of the season I would expect him to be putting Trulli to bed if he wants to ensure he’ll be around long term. Similar to Sutil at Force India, failure to beat a team-mate that many consider washed up and past their prime will bring the curtain down early on his Formula One career.

Quick Weekly Digest

So much has gone on in the last week and I’m finally back after graduation exploits (codename for hangover!) So here is the digest of what’s gone on since I last posted.

Schumacher is back – with a bang! Like anyone, I was chomping at the bit to see how Schumacher would be lap time wise against the rest one year after the last driving an F1 car in anger. The result – fastest laps on both days so far and back where he belongs. Ahh the nostalgia.

Hamilton’s decision to move, as with anything in British tabloids have people talking. So what if he is joining the cadre of sports people in Switzerland for avoiding the public eye and tax reasons. He earned every penny this year and like everyone wants to protect what he earned! There are very few drivers these days that live in their own country so why is there a need to jump on his back for it when so many do the same?

Renault are up on spy charges. Ever get the feeling that the floodgates on such accusations have opened up and we are in for a witch-hunt? Be interesting to see how it plays out or better yet if there is consistency in the FIA ruling. I would say this whole issue is likely to be the reason Alonso hasn’t signed yet either, maybe fearing a reduced budget to develop the car for next year.

Nakajima has secured the second Williams seat. A bit of a surprise as many expected Luizzi to be in the running or Piquet Junior if the Renault musical chairs saw him been left out in the cold. The Japanese did a decent job at Brazil and obviously shows potential aside from the one-off to warrant a drive – or is it a slash in the cost of Toyota engines that maybe swayed the team in the end.

Honda have scored a sizeable coup by signing Ross Brawn especially when it seemed a dead cert he would be back with Ferrari. It could turn out to be a fruitful relationship (yes excuse the bad pun). It would seem Button wasn’t even in the know given his quit ultimatum a day before the announcement.

Finally the final race of the NASCAR season is this weekend with Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon going head to head for the Nextel Cup. Of course with no way to watch it I’ll be following it online as best as possible – no way to watch a race that! One would have to feel bad if Gordon doesn’t win the title given his massive 400 odd point gap he had before going into the Chase format. If he loses the title it could lead to changes to offer someone who gets in that sort of position gets a bonus, similar to that offered to drivers who win a race before the Chase begins.

Till next time and hopefully a bit more active now!