Thursday April 17, 2008

Super Aguri - the end of the road?

The Magma financial group have pulled out of the deal to buy out the Super Aguri team which will lead to their demise I fear. Finances have been tough for this team over the winter and with Honda loosing interest keen to put all their efforts towards improving their team things looked doubtful for their appearance at the opening Grand Prix. The team was initially created to find a place for Sato who was kicked out of the Honda A team and until next year Aguri and Torro Rosso could use hand me downs from their more illustrious principal teams. That changes in 2009. I agree with Frank Williams - Formula one teams are constructors and should design and construct their own cars. But over the years many teams have fallen off the back of the grid as a result of no support from the teams at the front. The shame for this team is the spirit they have showed over their time on the grid and their ability to punch above their lowley status and embarrass better funded teams including Honda's own - especially last year.

Sunday April 06, 2008

Pole on pole

Well Kubica put it on pole yesterday . It will be interesting to see how he does in the race. It will not be long before he and BMW win their race together. good to see Jenson getting P9 as well.

Thursday March 20, 2008

Formula 1'a back!

After ten years of passable coverage of Grand Prix Racing on ITV F1 is heading back to the BBC. For me the two spoilers to the coverage have been:

James Allen - possibly the worlds worse TV motorsport presenter - if you want to sign the petition to get him off our screens before 2009 sign here

The adverts.

Thank you Bernie - I hope your decision was based upon the coverage and not the money you are getting from this deal....

Monday March 10, 2008

A mistake they made..

To: autosport.letters@haymarket.com

I am sure this will not be the only email you get regarding the 'top ten rainmasters' article but surely someone made a mistake during the editing of that article in the March 6th edition of Autosport.

In the first section where you describe the skills needed to drive in wet and changeable conditions you have a picture of Jenson Button in the recalcitrant Honda RA107 with the words "Jenson Button knows how to make the most of the wet".

The second section where you rate ten drivers who "made the most of these conditions" has the sentence "and there is no place here for those who rode their luck on one grey, soggy day, men such as ... and Jenson Button"

This must be a mistake. Agreed Jenson rode his luck at Hungary where his win was gifted to him after Alonso had problems but he has shown his wet weather skill on unumerable times - the one that stands out for me was at Indy where he went onto slicks and was instantly much faster than other drivers - some of whom went on slicks and fell of the track.

Paul.

( Mar 10 2008, 01:36:30 AM PDT ) Permalink

Thursday February 21, 2008

2008 F1 season review

A quick review of this years season. Ahead of mega rule changes in 2009, there are several for 2008: gearbox lifetime enforced, removal of traction control and standard ECU's are the main ones of interest.

Ferrari have to be the team to beat. They started testing their new car almost before anyone else and despite complaints about having to use their rivals ECU they have set blistering pace both on single lap and race distances.

Mclaren appear to be on the back foot having undertaken self imposed development restrictions on potential Ferrari based innovations that would have appeared on this years car. In testing they appear to be the second fastest team out there.

BMW Sauber have designs on race wins this year - I think they will be lucky to get one. They admit to be trying to understand and find the sweet spot of their new car and have even stuck on antlers on the front of the car to improve its aero. Guys it is not a reindeer pulling Santa's sleigh..

The surprise package could be the William's car. Embarrassing their engine supplier was the norm in 2007 and this year they are not far behind the top three.

Renault had a torrid year last year and if Alonso shows his true grit he ought to be able to put them on the front row if he is a good as he claims. The problem he has is another rookie teammate who was faster than Lewis on certain GP2 weekends, so he will need to watch our for that.. Lets hope Flav has put strong hinges on the of team Redgie's motorhomes..

Red Bull have the potential to do well but they need reliability. Their sister team should do ok with the same chassis ( but with different engines) with the two Sebs driving for them but their long term future is unclear if car cloning is stopped.

Honda hand over their miserable effort of a car (2007) to Super Aguri who have tried delaying its arrival and who are also struggling financially. Honda themselves with Ross Brawn should move forward up the grid but at the moment the car is not fast. It is predictable and there are rumours the tea might head for respectability for 2008 and tried and make a big step forward for the 2009 season when the big changes come in.

Force India the latest paint and owner change for the old Jordan team might well punch above the other F1 minnows but that will take time. Having Renault Renegade Fisi was a good decision and benchmark for their second driver.

Toyota - well the least said about them the better. At least they had the decency to sack their overpaid driver and employ one who will try and make some effort to score points. With no changes in personal or strategy I think they will remain where they are..

Monday February 12, 2007

2007 Grand Prix review

So only a few weeks before the first race. so who will be at the shape end of the grid and who will be at the tail? Two things are different this year - the first being the fact the engine designs are frozen and the engines are now restricted to 19K. For some teams this restriction means running the engine as it ended the 2006 season - for others they will have to tweak their engines down to the max permitted revs. Of course only one tyre company is on the grid Bridgestone and for each race two out of four compounds are already chosen to be used by each team. In the race the driver must use both compounds which means the setup he uses on his car will have to be compromised to handle both types. A lot of teams are also now catching up with others by introducing quick shift The teams..

Renault. One would be expect them to be leading the pack during testing but having been so close to Michelin you would expect them to suffer a bit more than other teams. Kovalainen should be able to bury Fisi's career once and for all. During testing the team have been running second fiddle to Mclaren

Ferrari. It is of no surprise that this team has adjusted to the new tyres easiest of all the teams. However with their team leader having left them and Kimi unable to drive for them until January you might think they are on the back foot. but Massa and their test drivers have taken up the slack and been pounding out the miles with good results. The team are also going radical and have moved to a zero keel design from the single keel one. Kimi is said to be the roughest driver on his car so lets hope this years car is built like a tank.

Mclaren. Alonso was allowed to do a one day test before the new year and the team did have close links to Bridgestone before. Last years car although unstable was always kind on its tyres something this years compounds appreciate. The car has some amazing curves and shapes on its rear bodywork. Alonso has been posting some impressive testing times leading the pack.

Honda. Their defacto team leader having cracked a few ribs was unable to test prior to Xmas but the team racked up the most number of miles at the end of 2006 end of season testing. However Button's first outing in the car resulted in it not even completing a lap...The new tyres works well when driven smoothly so expect Button to do well and beat Rubens bit time again. However testing times have not been impressive. I think the team will also miss their excellent test driver Anthony Davidson.

Toyota. First to announce their new car and doing a lot of private tests at Paul Ricard. That is an unusual stance on testing. I don't expect much from this team or its drivers.

BMW Sauber. The surprise package of 2006 and expect them to climb up the grid in 2007. Kubica deserves his seat but he needs to relax a bit and not overdrive the car. Testing times have been good. He has also said the new harder tyres don't suit his driving style so he will have to adapt.

Red Bull. Grateful to pension off the RB2 car at last and get the Newey RB3 on the road with its Renault engine. Fast but fragile? Webber has been faster than DC at a lot of the tests. The car looks sleek and has been described by some as a stunner but has an odd Duck billed Platypus front nose.

Williams. Anything should be better than last year and now with Toyota engines. A major regrouping exercise is needed and Rosberg needs to show his early form in 2006.

Toro Rosso. With neither driver confirmed for 2007 the pressure is on both to do well in testing. The Cosworth V10 is gone and they have inherited the Ferrari V8 and the RB2 chassis from their senior test. Will they be allowed to use that chassis ? Lets hope it gets some serious modifications else the other backmarker teams will put them to the back of the grid.

Super Aguri. Like STR hoping they can use the RA106 chassis from their senior team. Davidson needs to give Sato a hiding to show he is worthy of the seat.

Spyker. Likely to be at the back of the grid and new Senior Tech man Gasgoige has already written 2007 off despite having Ferrari engines. It never did team Prost any good either.

Tuesday November 07, 2006

F1 2006 review

Now the 2006 season is Trulli [sic] over here are my thoughts on the teams and drivers performance this season. I have done this in order of the final team championship standings.

Renault. At the start of the season they were very strong and made sure they bagged as many points as they could before their rivals caught them up. Alonso blew Fisi away and managed to keep the faith except at the US GP where Fisi outperformed him big time. The team had some unexpected reliability problems that made Alonso's job harder than it should be and they also lost out when their mass damper was banned.

Dumb moment: Tyre choice for Alonso in China.

Ferrari. This year more than any other the technical depth of this team shone through. Schumi's swansong year had an unusual amount of errors from him, technical problems and of course the farce at Monaco. Massa was prone to errors of his own in the early season but by the end he seemd close to Schumi but I doubt he could have driven the race Schumi did at Brazil.

Dumb moment: The Monaco incident.

Mclaren. Their first winless year for many years and a very lacklustre year from them. The team can't even blame as they did last year the move to the new HQ - they just really were not on the pace. There were too many retirements as well. The Monster leaving allowed De La Rosa a chance to shine but he was never really up to Kimi's commitment.

Dumb moment: Hanging onto the Monster for as long as they did.

Honda. A miserable start to the season for Rubens who after too many years in a Ferrari could not get used to the Honda. He was comprehensively beaten by Button but although they finished together in the final standings - there was twenty six points between them. Mid season their qualifying pace was dreadful - remember Silverstone but to their credit they turned the season around and Button was the highest point scorer in the last few races of this season. Their highlight must have been their first win since returning to F1.

Dumb moment - any ideas ?

BMW-Sauber. Shock result for them they had a target to beat Team Willy but fifth is pretty good for their first year. Like Mclaren they pensioned off a past his sell date driver JV but brought in a newcomer who got a podium in no time at all. Kubica is a star of the future but has a few rough edges that need smoothing off. Heidfeld was faster after the arrival of him teammate and the team must be looking to moving forward for next year.

Dumb moment: Twin tower aero package on the nose of the car - swiftly banned by the FIA.

Toyota. A meagre season interspersed with a few points finishes here and there. Neither driver really impressed and a good place on the grid usually meant they were light on fuel.

Dumb moment: Re-signing Trulli.

Red Bull. Expecting more with Ferrari power but failed to deliver. Will their sister team want the 2006 car for next year I wonder? All development stopped on it soon in the season to allow Newey to build a brand new 2007 vehicle to be powered by Renault engine. Sacked Klein before the end of the season who was not doing a bad job.

Dumb moment: Stopping development of the 2006 car.

Williams. A torrid year for the team. The Cosworth might have been the fastest reving V8 on the grid but its power was squandered with all sorts of bizarre reliability issues.

Dumb moment: Both drivers colliding and taking each other out in Brazil.

Toro Rosso. A very dodgy decision to use last years V10 restricted which was allowed when they were Minardi for cost grounds. Despite this and last years Red Bull car one point was all they achieved. If these two drivers are Red Bull's future driver line up they need to look further for talent - there is plenty of drivers out there much better than these two.

Dumb moment: A very dodgy driver pairing.

Midland [nee Spyker]. There was no six car race this year where the team could bag a load of points. Little or no investment as the old owner prepared to sell the team to Spyker for a large profit consigned them to also rans. Both drivers tried hard with the cars they had.

Dumb moment: Can't think of one.

Super-Aguri. Indeed a performance worthy of a point or two one would have thought. Sato crossed the line at Brazil ahead of the Spyker and Toro Rosso cards. There were to many mistakes from the first second driver Ide until he was pulled off the track to be replaced by Montagny then Yamamoto.

Dumb moment: Keeping the faith with Ide for as long as they did...

So an excellent season where both championships went to the wire. It is clear that just having a powerful engine is not enough; you need a good car to maximise its benefit. Both tyre teams did an excellent job of trying to beat each other and Michelin will be pleased to come away winning. Roll on 2007.

Monday October 23, 2006

The Brazilian GP

Mclaren have released Paffett to persue a full time drive but saying if he finds nothing he can resume testing for them in 2007. He is being linked to the second Spyker seat. However Monteiro is claiming he has all but signed up for 2007. Hill has warned Alonso, Schumi has not really given up on the championship remember- 1994 and.. It also seems likely that Davidson will drive for Super Aguri. Heidfeld/Kubica are confirmed for 2007. Williams have signed AT T as their title sponsor which should top up their piggy bank, next year they will be known as AT T WilliamsF1 Team

A few rules changes for 2007; the two-race engine regulations will now only apply to the second day of practice and the day of the race. When the Safety Car is deployed no car will be permitted to enter the pits until all are bunched up behind the Safety Car. This is to remove all incentive for cars to be driven quickly back to the pits for refuelling when the Safety Car is deployed. Teams may only use two cars in any one practice session. A nominated third driver or either race driver can use these cars in the session. The two free practice sessions on the first day of practice have been extended from one hour to ninety minutes each.

For the qualifying ITV decided not to bump Ant and Dec off the TV screens to show it live; I do not know why they did not use on of their other channels ITV2-4. Schumi and Massa dominated the final practice with Button in P3. However in the qualifying round Button had car problems that put him near the end of the grid and Schumi did not set a time in Qualifying three, so is in P10. If he has to change his engine before the race he is at the back of the grid.

 1.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'10"680  219.474 Km/h  
 2.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'11"299  217.568 Km/h  
 3.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B   1'11"328  217.480 Km/h  
 4.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'11"567  216.754 Km/h  
 5. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   1'11"619  216.596 Km/h  
 6.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'11"629  216.566 Km/h  
 7.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   1'11"695  216.367 Km/h 
 8. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   1'11"882  215.804 Km/h 

Before the race Schumi was presented with a trophy by Pelle. All the drivers were in attendance except Kimi who was interviewed just afterwards. Where had he been? I took a s$%^ man he replied! The start was a clean one and Schumi breezes past the squabling BMW's. The William's drivers tangle and Webber is out after loosing his rear wing. Schumi soon passes his brother for seventh. Rosberg spins off the track possibly after damage after his tangle with his teammate. With both those cars out William's torrid 2006 comes to an end. The Safety car is deployed to pick up the bits off the track.

With 66 laps to go the SC comes in and the race restarts. Fisi is keeping the fast charging Schumi behind for now but with 63 to go Schumi gets past him but soon slows - he has picked up a puncture. He gets back to the pits before the flailing rubber damages his car. Soon afterwards both Toyotas retire with the suspension problems. Button has got himself up to P6. 59 to go and Massa is seven seconds ahead of Kimi. Schumi is running last. DC then retires. 51 to go Rubens, Fisi pit and nearly bang wheels on the pit exit. A Super Aguri is running in P12! 48 to go Massa pits ad two laps later Button does so - he has leapfrogged Rubens and Fisi. Alonso pits on the next lap. He is now ahead of Kimi.

43 to go Button passes Kimi and now starts hauling Alonso in. 41 to go Kubica and Speed tangle meaning Kubica has to come in for a new nose. 37 to go Schumi is in P10 on a one stop strategy. De Rosa is holding a train of cars up behind him. 35 to go Schumi passes Heidfeld for P9 which becomes a new P8 after someone else stops. He then passes Kubica for seventh. He then goes wide and looses the place but retakes it soon afterwards. Button is right up with Alonso but cannot find a way past him. Schumi despite just pitting starts posting fastest laps he has amazing confidence in his car. He soon finds his way past Rubens.

18 to go Schumi is now behind Fisi who unlike the other drivers puts up some kind of defence but goes wide on the grass and Schumi is past him. 4 to go and Schumi is behind Kimi who defends his place well until Schumi squeezes past him. The race finishes and Massa is the first Brazilian since Senna to win this race.

 1.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1h31'53"751  199.732 Km/h  
 2.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'18"658  199.058 Km/h  
 3. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'19"394  199.032 Km/h  
 4.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   +  0'24"094  198.863 Km/h  
 5.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'28"503  198.705 Km/h  
 6.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'30"287  198.641 Km/h  
 7. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   +  0'40"294  198.283 Km/h  
 8.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'52"068  197.863 Km/h

So Alonso takes the first F1 record off Schumi the youngest driver to win back to back championships. Schumi gets to keep the car he drove on his last F1 race. I think most people would agree that Schumi showed off his sublime talent on Sunday and his tenacious never give up attitude. He could so nearly have won it. If Button/Alonso had tangled and took each other off Massa would have done the slowest lap ever to let his teammate past and grab his eighth championship.

Monday October 09, 2006

The Japanese GP

After the result of the last race Alonso is angry with Renault. He claims some of the team do not want him to win the championship and then take the coveted number one to Mclaren. I was wondering what would happen to the number one sticker if Schumi wins the championship ? Who then gets to put the one on their car? The other point to mention now is the engines design being used cannot be changed again for future seasons and all will be cranked down to 19,000 revs next year I think.

Qualifying again ITV showed it after the event and as we had friends around I was not able to watch it. In the final free practice Schumi is very fast and bizarelly of all the Toyotas are also doing well.

Qualifying one, the usual suspects of Super Aguri are elinated but also the Red Bull cars are out of the qualifying. Luizzi and Albers sneak in to make it into Q2.

Qualifying two, the Mclarens are eliminated leaving them in P11 and P13 and Kubica is also elininated.

Final Qualifying, Massa grabs pole with Schumi alongside him. Perhaps the Toyotas are running light on fuel but they make it to P3/P4. Next Renault and they are not looking good at this point in P5/P6. Honda claim the fourth row in P7/P8. Alonso has a lot of work to do on Sunday.

 1.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'29"599  233.320 Km/h  
 2.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'29"711  233.028 Km/h  
 3.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   1'29"989  232.308 Km/h  
 4.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B   1'30"039  232.179 Km/h  
 5.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'30"371  231.326 Km/h  
 6.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'30"599  230.744 Km/h  
 7. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'30"992  229.748 Km/h  
 8. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   1'31"478  228.527 Km/h 

The race, a crucial start for Alonso he needs to be past the Toyotas in his fast starting Renault. There are 130,000 spectators here at the last race at Susuka for a while. Alonso does make it past one Toyota and Button gets past Fisi ,Massa is ahead of Schumi. Rubens has a damaged front wing and has to pit. 51 to go Massa lets Schumi past him Kubica in P10 has a train of cars behind him. 48 to go unseen by us Fisi repasses Button. 44 to go Alonso goes wide and nearly looses his place to Trulli. 42 to go Alonso has recovered and is on the back of Ralph's car. Toyota pit Trulli and Alonso breezes past Ralph . 38 to go EM>Alonso pits and crucially comes out ahead of Massa who is behind Heidfeld. 37 to go Button pits, Schumi a lap later.

33 to go Albers has a really nasty incident after he reported vibration in his car the drive shaft comes off the car destroying the rear of the Spyker. 31 to go Kimi pits and the Schumi/Alonso gap is five seconds. 24 to go Speed has a big off but recovers the car out of the kitty litter. All the four Red Bull cars are in their own train. The gap between Schumi/Alonso had come down to four seconds but after Alonso has made it through traffic it is back to five. Kubica has a big off but manages to avoid the tyre barrier. A marshall bravely has run out and retrieved Alber's drive shaft. A present to show the grandchildren perhaps. Both the Toyotas have now pitted and are running three seconds slower than the leaders. 20 to go Fisi pits. A lap later Alonso does so and Schumi another lap after that.

17 to go Schumi's engine blows he is out of the race Alonso now leads. Unseen Button's last pit stop has him ahead of the Toyotas who are fighting each other for position. 13 to go Webber has a big off and wrecks the side of his car. DC is also out of the race. 12 to go Kimi pits and like Button is now ahead of the Toyotas. 9 to go Button is under pressure from a charging Kimi. The BMW's are also battling each other and Alonso is safe with Massa fifteen seconds behind him. He then goes on to win a very dramatic race.

 1.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1h23'53"413  219.983 Km/h  
 2.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   +  0'16"102  219.281 Km/h  
 3.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'23"903  218.943 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'34"104  218.502 Km/h  
 5.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'43"505  218.097 Km/h  
 6.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B   +  0'46"706  217.960 Km/h  
 7.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   +  0'48"807  217.870 Km/h  
 8. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   +  1'16"000  216.710 Km/h 

In two weeks time the last race is in Brazil. Whatever Schumi does if there is a any points finish for Alonso that will mean he wins the championship. But if Alonso has a DNF and Schumi wins Schumi will win the championship by virtue of his greater number of wins during 2006

Monday October 02, 2006

The Chinese GP

During F1's three week break before this race there has been quite a lot happening.. Red Bull's test and reserve driver Robert Doornbos will contest the last three races of the season for the team, alongside David Coulthard. He replaces Klein. The final details about engine deals is still up in the air but it looks like a Renault engine will be in the back of one of the Red Bull team's cars. I imagine Newey would like to re-establish his relationship with them... Spyker MF1 Racing is the new new for the old Midland team with the cars sporting new livery. They have also signed for Ferrari engines too. Mike Gascoigne has been taken on as their new Technical Director The Imola race is back on the calendar provisionally with work to be started to improve the pits and paddock complex. saved, Turkey has only been fined for the podium behavior and keeps its place for next year. Lewis Hamilton had his first run in a F1 car and was faster than Pedro. There will be only one German race for the next few years with both this years circuits taking turns to host the race.

Qualifying. Massa had an engine blow up in free qualifying so would be sent back ten places from his final grid slot. Annoyingly depsite the qualifying being on at the start of our day ITV elected to not show it live but broadcast it in the mid afternoon.

Qualifying one, wet conditions - these would worsen throughout the session favouring early runners. Michelin are clearly the tyre to be on their inters working well as they did in Hungary. Renault are at the front in times and Mclaren also doing well. There is a red flag three minutes before the end then Toyota are out of further qualifying - so much for their theory they would go better here. Toro Rosso have made it through to Q2. Schumi was three seconds slower than his rival Alonso.

Qualifying two. In the early laps both the Toro Rossos spin and Button is initially fastest on inters following the slighly dryer line where cars before him had been. Soon Alonso picks up the pace after going wide with Schumi in danger of not making it into the final qualifying. However he just manages to squeeze in, Williams and Toro Rosso are eliminated.

Final qualifying - it now seems to be drying slightly. The usual fuel burn off starts and with a few minutes to go Alonso is easily the fastest. Button has an unscheduled pit stop after a wing mirror of another car hits his own car on its front wing. The only Bridgestone runner in this session is Schumi but he is 1.3 seconds off the pace. At the end Fisi hauls himself up the grid to be in P2 and both Hondas do exactly the same time to lock out the second row. Schumi manages to get into P6 - an amazing achievement given the lack of grip he was suffering from. It looks like the race may well be wet...

 1.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'44"360  188.038 Km/h  
 2.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'44"992  186.906 Km/h  
 3. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   1'45"503  186.000 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'45"503  186.000 Km/h  
 5.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'45"754  185.559 Km/h  
 6.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'45"775  185.522 Km/h  
 7.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   1'45"877  185.343 Km/h  
 8. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   1'46"206  184.769 Km/h

The race was to start in wet conditions but it was not raining. At the start Kimi passes Rubens and Button grabs P3. Soon after though Kimi gets past Button and goes chasing after the Renaults. 53 to go and Alonso is flying at least six seconds ahead of his teammate. DC looks like a sitting duck as Kubica then Webber waltz past him. Soon after this Schumi gets past Rubens and on lap 45 he is faster than Button and catching him fast. Massa is also making progress up through the field so the track is now suiting the Ferraris. 43 to go and Schumi passes Button and Kimi passes Fisi.

41 to go and Button pits and his rear tyres are worn out his car having been setup for rainy conditions. Kimi pits a lap later then so does Rubens. Schumi is twenty seconds behind Alonso who must be praying for rain. Kimi then stops a mechanical failure of some kind. 36 to go Kubica is doing well and passes Pedro and Schumi pits only changing his front tyres. The BMW's are in P4/P5. Fisi pits and comes out ahead of Schumi, Alonso rear gunner intact. Kubica pits and puts dries on. This is clearly a mistake made worse by the fact he tip toes around the track loosing heat in the tyres which soon have him off. He pits and goes back to inters. Alonso is now very slow he changed his front tyres and Fisi did not and clearly this was a mistake. Later Fisi has no option but to pass him and get away from Schumi and try and make sure he does not bag the ten points.

21 to go Alonso pits and has problems with his one rear tyre that delays him terribly. Schumi is close to Fisi and with 17 to go Schumi pits. Fisi does so a lap later comes out ahead of Schumi but Schumi soon gets past him for P1. 13 to go Alonso is charging up to the back of his teammate his car now working well for him. Button is behind his teammate looking for a way past. Massa has an incident with DC and retires. 9 to go Alonso passes Fisi 13 seconds up the road is Schumi. Button goes wide and looses his place to Pedro. 4 to go Alonso has not given up; not to be satisfied with P2. He should remember that engine needs to do the next race in a week. 2 to go Button goes past Pedro and soon gets back behind his teammate. It is raining again. In a complex incident where Sato was eliminated from the race afterwards Heidfeld is blocked by the Japanese driver and in the last lap Button gets past his teammate and Heidfeld to grab back P4 his grid starting position. Very good race.

 1.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1h37'32"747  187.645 Km/h  
 2.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'03"121  187.545 Km/h  
 3.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'44"197  186.238 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  1'12"056  185.363 Km/h  
 5.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   +  1'17"137  185.204 Km/h  
 6. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   +  1'19"131  185.142 Km/h  
 7. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   +  1'31"979  184.742 Km/h  
 8.  9  WEBBER       Williams Cosworth B   +  1'43"588  184.381 Km/h  

So another wet race that had plenty of overtaking. Schumi leads the championship not by points but by the fact he has won one more race than Alonso. Renault however claim back the lead in the constructors championship. Without the botched pit stop Alonso would have won the race but thats F1. Suzuka , Japan next week.

Monday September 11, 2006

The Italian GP

At last the pieces start to fall into place regarding the driver line ups for 2007. Renault promote their test driver to a race drive for 2007 with Heikki Kovalainen taking Alonso's seat. Their team manager Briatore is also staying working for the team for two more years. After the race in Italy Ferrari were to annuonce their driver line up for 2007 with Kimi was expected to join them. Wether Schumi is to stay on - we would have to wait. As I was away on holiday I missed the qualifying but the post qualifying news was that Alonso already down on the grid after technical problems was to be pushed further down to P10 after alledgedly baulked Massa on the track. Everyone will be pointing their fingers at the Italian stewards with the championship so delicately balenced but this won't be the last time this sort of thing happens in F1. Kimi grabbed pole off Schumi with Heidfeld a surprise P3.

 1.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'21"484  255.937 Km/h  
 2.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'21"486  255.931 Km/h  
 3. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   1'21"653  255.408 Km/h  
 4.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'21"704  255.248 Km/h  
 5. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'22"011  254.293 Km/h  
 6. 17  KUBICA       BMW Sauber        M   1'22"258  253.529 Km/h  

Alonso is back in P10 alongside his teammate.

The race; as luck would have it the DVD recorder failed in its efforts to record the race so I was left watching the final nineteen laps live. With those laps to go Schumi was in the lead followed by Kimi then Kubica. He was being caught by Massa, Alonso. With fifteen to go the final pit stops started with Kimi first to blink. Schumi then pitted and retained his lead followed on the next lap by his teammate. Twelve to go and Alonso, Kubica pit and Alonso sneaks ahead after a run out of the pits side by side. He is also ahead of Massa - P3 would minimise Schumi's ten points today. Nine to go and Massa has a big off blinded by smoke out of the back of a terminally damaged Renault. Alonso's race is over. This meant after Massa got back on track that he had a damaged tyre and an extra pit stop meant he was back in P9. Schumi goes on to win and Kubica gets his first podium after three starts.

 1.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1h14'51"975  245.814 Km/h  
 2.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'08"046  245.375 Km/h  
 3. 17  KUBICA       BMW Sauber        M   +  0'26"414  244.377 Km/h  
 4.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'32"045  244.073 Km/h  
 5. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'32"685  244.039 Km/h  
 6. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   +  0'42"409  243.515 Km/h  
 7.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B   +  0'44"662  243.394 Km/h  
 8. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   +  0'45"309  243.360 Km/h 

Any hope I would have of seeing some highlights during the rest of ITV's broadcast were dented with the news that Schumi had told Ferrari he would retire on the slow down lap after he won the race. Meanwhile the championship is 108 for Alonso, Schumi 106. Ferrari have overhauled Renault in the constructors championship. This was the ninteeth race win for Schumi his seventy first for Ferrari. During the race questionaire Schumi said he was going to retire. He clearly was very emotional. Later as expected Kimi would be announced as his replacement on a three year deal. With China, Japan, Brazil left this is potentially going to be a very tight championship and traditionally that has brought the worst out in Schumi. He might also remember he has never gone well in China.

Tuesday August 29, 2006

Turkish GP

Even though F1 has been enjoying its summer holidays plenty has been going on. Webber as expected has signed for his old Jaguar team now of course called Red Bull. He will drive alonside DC with Klein being sidelined. JV will not be completing his year with BMW Sauber. Meanwhile Mosley's drive to make F1 green and cut costs has meant he has brought forward the date for a freeze on engine development to this years Chinese race. Next year the engines will be restricted to 19,000 RPM as well. That is a year and two races earlier than had originally been planned. The logistics guys in F1 teams call the Turkey race a floataway race as most of the journey to there is done by sea. Finally Renault have lost the case to use their Mass damper device in the remaining five races - they said it was worth .3 seconds a lap...

I missed the qualifying as we were out enjoying the Bedfordshire countryside ( see tomorrow's weblog) but the grid ended up like this. was demoted ten places as he had an engine change )

 1.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'26"907  221.119 Km/h  
 2.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'27"284  220.164 Km/h  
 3.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'27"321  220.071 Km/h  
 4.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'27"564  219.460 Km/h  
 5.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   1'27"569  219.448 Km/h  
 6. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   1'27"785  218.908 Km/h  
 7. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'27"790  218.895 Km/h  
 8.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'27"866  218.706 Km/h 

The race had a chaotic start with Fisi spinning or being tapped with both he and Heidfeld coming in for a new nose. Alonso nearly made a move on Schumi stick. The Williams cars started well Webber to P4 Rosberg to P6. Kimi was caught up in the chaos getting a puncture and eventually retiring. 55 to go Button has got past Webber for P4. De La Rosa, Trulli are also making their way through the pack. 51 to go Kubica is hussling Webber. 45 to go Luizzi has spun and his car is in a dangerous position so the safety car is deployed. The front runners pit for fuel and Alonso gets past Schumi in the pits as he had to wait for Massa to be serviced first. 41 to go the safety car is in and Kubica makes a great move on Webber and Fisi follows him through. Soon after Fisi has a duel with the Pole and comes out ahead of him. De La Rosa is up to P6. Rosberg is told over the radio to return to the pits - loss of water pressure. 30 to go Schumi goes wide on turn 8 and treads carefully until he can rejoin the track without damaging his car.

25 to go De La Rosa is fueled to the end and Button must make sure has has enough time to make his last stop and still be ahead of him. The top four drivers are all posting fastest laps it looks like their last stops will be soon. Albers is in P9 in the Midland an amazing performance from him today. 20 to go and Rubens is told to use the overtake button and gets past Webber for P6. Massa, Alonso, Button all pis and Schumi stays out hoping to make up seven seconds to Alonso. He later pits but although closer to his rival is still behind him. Alonso himself seems to be struggling under breaking and there is only .4 seconds between the two drivers. Albers retires, great shame for him and his team. 7 to go Alonso makes a mistake Schumi tries but does not get past him. He knows Alonso won't mind if they both get taken out by a racing incident. Schumi then has a big moment in turn 8 and falls back - Alonso is given another breathing space. Behind them there are great battles between the drivers in P5 and P6 and P7 and P8, Button is well clear in P4. On the last lap Schumi and Alonso are really close and both cross the finish line almost at the same time Alonso keeps P2 by a half car distance. A great race at this track. Massa wins his first GP. The gaps between the two rivals has now grown by two points with four races to go.

 1.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1h28'51"082  208.903 Km/h  
 2.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'05"575  208.685 Km/h  
 3.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   +  0'05"656  208.682 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'12"334  208.421 Km/h  
 5.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'45"908  207.120 Km/h  
 6.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'46"594  207.093 Km/h  
 7.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   +  0'59"337  206.604 Km/h  
 8. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   +  1'00"034  206.577 Km/h  

Monza is in two weeks.

( Aug 29 2006, 12:00:01 AM PDT ) Permalink

Wednesday August 09, 2006

What was wrong with the Hungarian GP?

Don't get me wrong I was mighty pleased to see Button get his first race win - long overdue. Someone asked me if this will help him win more race - well maybe , he now knows what he has to do know to win. So what was wrong with this happy event?

Having James Allen screaming over the TV in an ear splitting racket ruined the final run to the finish line. I did not want a Gordon Ramsey "Hungary, Button, win Job done" a bit of enthusiam was needed but not what we were subjected too.

The fact that Alonso retired and Button did not have to overtake him as surely as he would have liked to.

That we need conditions like this to make a race worthy of the millions spent on F1.

That Geoff Willis was not there to see his car win a race. Even though he is no longer with the team it was his car that took Button to victory. Next year - well we will see...

I await this weeks Autosport magazibe where I hope a bit of interest will be shown in Button's first win. I know there is a lot of bad things going on but it would have been nice to see the TV stations being a little more interested.

Buttons eyes in Parc Ferme. He also looked like he had taken a hit of an illegal drug Very strange but he was happy so why not..

Last but not least Nick Fry clearly pleased with the result but then saying "Hopefully this will mean more race wins and successes in the future". It should have been "This will lead us on to more race wins and successes in the future".

( Aug 09 2006, 12:00:02 AM PDT ) Permalink

Monday August 07, 2006

Hungarian GP

A week is a long time in F1. At this race Kubica replaces JV due to an accident that the 35-year-old had in the German GP last week. There are rumours that JV will not be returning to the race berth. Webber will be replaced by test driver Wurz at Williams in 2007. Nico Rosberg is confirmed at William for 2007 as well. The latest gossip is that Red Bull and BMW might be options for him, but stronger speculation is that Webber could fill the plum vacancies at Renault or the McLaren squad. I think the latter is not going to happen as they have said either Paffet, De La Rosa or Hamilton will get that drive. Ferrari have played down rumours that their technical director Ross Brawn is to take a sabbatical next year. Their driver line-up will be announced at the Italian Grand Prix next month

Before Saturday qualifying Alonso was given two one second penalties for brake testing another driver after that driver blocked him during Friday testing and then for overtaking under yellow flags. Conspiracy theories were then spreading like crazy on the basis the FIA were fixing things to make a tighter battle for the championship. If Schumi was to have an advantage he threw it away on Saturday when overtaking three cars including Alonso's when the session was red flagged after Button's engine blew in dramatic fashion. He recieved a two second penalty too. For both drivers in each of the qualifying sessions two seconds would be added to their fastest times. Neither were expected to get past qualifying one.

Qualifying on the dusty track is tough as each session carries on the track offers more grip as more rubber is put down. You cannot rely on a banker lap. Q1. Mclarens going well and Massa also surprisngly smooth on the track - the Ferrari well hooked up. The two championship contenders however post times that get them into Q2. Rosberg is eliminated however, Monteiro makes it into Q2 unusual for a Midland car. Q2 session; lots of cars wait until the lat few minutes to post laps Alonso does not really seem to be trying and appears to be scrubbing in new tyres. Schumi posts some blinding laps. The Honda's are also doing really well. Kubica is also fast and at the end survives into Q3. The Red Bull's are eliminated as are the championship contenders. Q3; the usual fuel burn off makes a boring start but things soon hot up when people start their qualifying runs. It is also looking dark overhead with the chance of rain perhaps. Massa is initially fastest but the Honda's are up their and the sole William's. In the dying seconds of the session Kimi grabs pole off Massa with Rubens P3 and his teammate P4 but who will be demoted ten places.

 1.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'19"599  198.138 Km/h  
 2.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'19"886  197.426 Km/h  
 3. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   1'20"085  196.936 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'20"092  196.919 Km/h  
 5.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   1'20"117  196.857 Km/h  
 6.  9  WEBBER       Williams Cosworth B   1'20"266  196.492 Km/h  
 7.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   1'20"759  195.292 Km/h  
 8.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'20"924  194.894 Km/h  

Kubica an excellent tenth, Schumi P11, Alonso P15 and Button is back in P14. Pity we were to be denied a race between the two Honda's.

The race. Rain overnight and just before the start meant a lot of unpredictable conditions for the drivers. Schumi and Rubens were to start on full wets. Kimi pulls away cleanly and Massa looses P2 to Rubens. Schumi steams up to P4 past him teammate with Alonso just behind. Webber goes backward to P17. Kubica has the first of two spins a real baptism of fire for him. 68 to go Alonso is past his teammate Webber retires. Button gets past DC for eighth. Kimi stays ahead of Rubens and now with the track drying full wets are much slower and not a good choice to be on. Rubens pits and changes to inters. 64 to go Button passes Massa for P5 the Bridgestones inters are also not enjoying these conditions. Button then passes Schumi. Klein falls off the track and Massa spins but recovers.

61 to go Button fastest on track, Massa goes wide and looses another place. 60 to go Alonso up and close to De la Rosa also closer to Kimi. Alonso is running two seconds a lap faster than Schumi. 53 to go Schumi now on inters having had a tangle with Fisi and a new nose job. 51 to go Alonso is in the lead the Mclarens having pitted he will have been heavier on fuel than them. He is ahead of those cars by twenty three seconds. 49 to go Rosberg stops and is craned off the track himself still in his stricken Williams. 45 to go Alonso laps Schumi who does not make it easy for him risking further penalties. 43 to go Kimi has a smash with Luizzi while trying to lap him. Several pit under the safety car. 40 to go and the SC is in this lap. There is a clear dry line on the track now. 37 to go several drivers are moving off the dry line to keep their inters cool. There is five seconds between Button and Alonso. Rubens is baulked by several back markers much to his fist waving annoyance. Heavy rain is predicted soon but clearly on this track the Bridgestone runners are fast now, the track coming to them. The lead to Alonso is now three seconds.

27 to go Button is 0.8 of asecond behind Alonso Schumi is behind Rubens for P4. Button stops but keeps his inters on treating them like semi slicks. Schumi pits and does the same. Alonso pits and seconds later drive shaft failure has him retire. 16 to go Button stops again this time for slicks. One lap later Heidfeld does the same releasing Schumi. 11 to go eighteen seconds between Button and Schumi ( who is still on his now very tyred [sic] inters. De la Rosa catches Schumi, gets past him at a corner but Schumi cuts the chicane to retain the place. Schumi should now give way to Rosa or get a penalty. Before he makes his mind to do so up he is overtaken again by for P2. Heidfeld is now after Schumi and a little tap between them deals Schumi's car a fateful blow. He retires. At the finish Button wins his first race - a popular winner. it has been the longest time (63 races) since we had a British winner. Kubica in his first race was to get two points but his car was 2KG underweight so he was excluded. This meant Schumi even though he did not finish got one point.

 1. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1h52'20"941  163.773 Km/h  
 2.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'30"837  163.028 Km/h  
 3. 16  HEIDFELD     BMW Sauber        M   +  0'43"822  162.716 Km/h  
 4. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   +  0'45"205  162.682 Km/h  
 5. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Ferrari   M      1 lap(s)                
 6.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B      1 lap(s)                
 7.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B      1 lap(s)          
 8.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B      3 lap(s)

There is now a holiday for F1 to recover from their post Button race winnner hangovers before they return to Turkey. The net effect of the race means the two championship contenders are now one point closer to each other. Schumi will remember his first championship was one by one point...

Monday July 31, 2006

The German GP

The silly season has now moved over to Schumi with stories of him moving the BMW for a final year in F1. All sorts of merchandising could result in him getting a billion US for his one year efforts. Also in the silly season Alonso is getting cold feet on his move to Team Macca - which he denies of course. Willaims as expected will use Toyota engines in 2007. Trulli has signed a multi year deal with Toyota. The ugly twin towers on the Sauber have been banned on the basis of reducing driver visibility. Super Aguri had their first GP weekend with their new car, but it still uses the old tub from the defunct Arrows team. Finally Renault and a few other teams had the so called mass damper system banned from this race too.

Qualifying.

Trulli and Albers will both be demoted down the grid as both needed their Toyota engines changing - worryingly. Qual 1 - Early in the session Speed runs wide and ends up banging into a wall - his qualifying over. The session is red flagged for the mess to be cleared up. On the resumption of the session Red Bull are fast. Renault come out late and are clearly not as fast as Mclaren or Ferrari, with those guys on P1 and P2. The usual suspects ( not Honda) are then elimated for Qual 2. When this session starts it is clear the track is a lot faster or people have turned up the wick. Again Red Bull are doing well and Button is well up with the fastest times. But Ferrari come out and blitz their way to the front. At the end Williams, BMW, Klein and Trulli are eliminated. Final qualifying. Pedro De La Rosa turns in on a corner and his rear tyre is clobbered by Ralph's car. Pedro De La Rosa comes in for a tyre change but Ralphs stop is longer to change the suspension. Schumi is seen having a moment and decides to pit at the same time as Massa he cheekily exits the pits in front of Alonso causing consternation from the him - " did you see what Michael did to me " he screams over the pit radio. Five minutes to go and the real qualifying starts. Kimi does a blinder which is not beaten. Alonso is down in P7 not a good birthday present. Ferrari get P2, P3 and Button a respectable fourth. "What has changed " he is asked? " Well I have not shaved for several weeks" he says sporting a new beard.

 1.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   1'14"070  222.309 Km/h  
 2.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1'14"205  221.904 Km/h  
 3.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   1'14"569  220.821 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   1'14"862  219.957 Km/h  
 5.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   1'14"894  219.863 Km/h  
 6. 11  BARRICHELLO  Honda             M   1'14"934  219.745 Km/h  
 7.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   1'15"282  218.730 Km/h  
 8.  7  R.SCHUMACHER Toyota            B   1'15"923  216.883 Km/h  
 9.  4  DE LA ROSA   McLaren Mercedes  M   1'15"936  216.846 Km/h  
10. 14  COULTHARD    RedBull Ferrari   M   1'16"326  215.738 Km/h

The race, a fairly clean start with both Honda's starting badly Button overtaken by the Renaults but within a lap he got past both of them to regain fourth. Rosberg overcooks it and ends up in the gravel. DC is launched into the air by Ralph and both come into the pits for repairs. 65 to go and De La rosa stops on the track some kind of car failure. 60 to go and EM>Kimi leads Schumi by three seconds but expected to pit much earlier. He does so with 58 to go on a three stopper and has problems with his rear tyre which holds him up. Heidfeld retires after his team decide his car is too dangerous to continue.

53 to go Alonso is lapping a second slower than Fisi who is ahead of him on the track. Kimi rejoins in eighth behind Rubens who overtakes Webber. 51 to go and Button pits comes out behind Kimi. Rubens is closing in on Alonso. 49 to go and Ferrari ready for a stop first Massa and we see Rubens retire his car on fire. Button has passed Kimi unseen by us. 47 to go Schumi pits, Alonso then does returns in ninth. Webber is on a long first stint in an excellent third. 35 to go and JV has a major off on a corner that is clearly some kind of car failure. The car is all but destroyed but he gets out without a scratch.

At this stage it looks like Ferrari are slowing their pace a second between the teammates. 31 to go Ralph's terrible weekend continues with a drive through penalty for speeding in the pits. 28 to go and Webber overtakes Fisi for fourth place, Kimi is three seconds beind the Renaults. 26 to go Button pits he is battling Kimi, Webber for the final podium. Montero has a drive through for holding Button up under blue flags. Both the Super Aguri cars have now retired - first outing for the new car.

23 to go Alonso pits and comes out ahead of his teammate and Massa also pits. 22 to go Klein is overtaken by Trulli for sixth. Speed is seen going wide and rattles through the kitty litter on his way back to the track. ( its the black stuff you want to stay on Scott). 20 to go Webber is ten seconds ahead of Button but he has to stop as does Kimi. 19 to go Webber stops returns back on the track in sixth. 13 to go Ferrari protecting their cars and several back markers are unlapping themselves. Kimi makes a splash and dash stop comes out side by side with Webber and claims P4 - great driving by both drivers. Button is only a few seconds ahead of Kimi and it is not long before he is overtaken for the final podium by the Finish driver. Webber is then overtaken by Alonso his car sounds very sick and he retires. Six to go Alonso falls of the track but recovers ahead of his teammate who is acting as rear gunner for him to keep Trulli at bay. The result:

 1.  5  M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari           B   1h27'51"693  209.278 Km/h  
 2.  6  MASSA        Ferrari           B   +  0'00"720  209.249 Km/h  
 3.  3  RAIKKONEN    McLaren Mercedes  M   +  0'13"206  208.755 Km/h  
 4. 12  BUTTON       Honda             M   +  0'18"898  208.530 Km/h  
 5.  1  ALONSO       Renault           M   +  0'23"707  208.341 Km/h  
 6.  2  FISICHELLA   Renault           M   +  0'24"814  208.297 Km/h  
 7.  8  TRULLI       Toyota            B   +  0'26"544  208.229 Km/h  
 8. 15  KLIEN        RedBull Ferrari   M   +  0'48"131  207.384 Km/h 

The gap between Schumi and Alonso is now eleven points with sixty available. Renault have been told they can use the mass damper device in Hungary next week - was the temporary baning deliberate to close the gap between the two championship contenders ? Ferrari have given Bridgestone their 100th the victory in F1.