Only two races left then…

Posted: 5th October 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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And then there was two! Can you believe the 2009 Formula One season has nearly finished? Where has the year gone?

Well done to Sebastian Vettel for his win in Japan. We like the German and think his huge smile and cheeky comments always brighten up the paddock.

That said though we would still love Jenson Button to win this years championship simply because we think he’s been the better driver over the full season – look at his dominant wins at the start of the season – that was the driving of a champion. Sure his qualifying and race performances haven’t been putting him on the top step of the podium since the Turkish Grand Prix but is that a driver or car problem? Besides nothing could probably compare to the pressure that Jenson is under right now and even though drivers say they’re soaking it up you have to think that this might not be entirely true – look at Lewis Hamilton’s final races in 2007 and 2008 for proof of that.

We’ve been following Jenson on his official Twitter and the feedback from that is that he’s very relaxed and knows what he’s got to do to win the championship. So hopefully it’s only a matter of time for the Brit and after numerous years in Formula One he’s finally going to realise his ultimate dream of winning the championship – and in a car that wasn’t even going to be on the grid in February last year – what a great story…

As for Sebastian – well you have feel he’ll win the championship sooner rather than later if not this year – the guy has got a fantastic natural driving ability and all the makings of one of F1′s all time greats.

So it’s onto Brazil in two weeks time and we can’t wait. Looking back at previous years we can’t remember a Brazilian Grand Prix which didn’t provide superb action packed racing – just the way we like it.

Bring it on.

The Japanese Grand Prix

Posted: 3rd October 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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Welcome back Suzuka! Quite why F1 hasn’t been here for two years is a complete mystery as it’s simply one of the best circuits in the world. Nothing against the guys at Fuji but their track is no comparison and won’t be missed this year!

If the race is anything like qualifying then we really will have a spectacle to behold. We’re really really happy that none of the drivers were seriously injured after their various shunts and hats off to the FIA safety team who really have improved the driver protection aspects of Formula One cars over the last few years.

After a long and extremely welcome lack of activity the dubious, and suspiciously timed, FIA grid penalties are back and leaving, not only the teams, but the fans in a state of total confusion as to where their drivers actually start the race tomorrow.

We’re told that the final grid positions will be announced / decided by the FIA on race day morning which leaves you wondering – what was the point of watching today’s qualifying sessions if the results were only going to be manipulated and changed anyway?

So let’s become fortune tellers then: Vettel wins at Suzuka , Barrichello has a great race and scores good points and, would you believe it, Jenson doesn’t score any – two races to go and three drivers can now all win the championship – but hey you’ll have to wait until the last lap of the last race to find out which one it is – Oh no – that was last years storyline wasn’t it!!

Sorry for the sarcasm folks but cmon!!

Only three races left then!

Posted: 30th September 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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Hard to believe that’s the F1 season nearly finished for this year isn’t it. It seems like no time at all since Brawn GP stormed onto the race track to take the rest of the paddock by complete surprise in Australia!

As we’ve also said several times this year – what a strange season it’s been! Just about every team, at some point or another, has had huge performance gains at one track and then residing at the rear of the pack the next. You’d have to assume the massive changes to this years cars and lack of in season testing has played a big part in this – teams are still finding loads of improvements for their cars, due to the new design regulations,  but simply just don’t have the track time to test and fine tune these parts and components quick enough.

Think about it. Who would have thought Force India would be challenging for a race win in Belgium or that, after seeing the McLaren’s pace at the start of the season, they would be pulling off not one but two race wins in a car that, according to some very knowledgeable people in Formula One, just wasn’t capable of winning races.

So Jenson Button still remains at the top of the championship and now appears to be depending on other people’s misfortunes rather than getting stuck in and showing us his incredible racing skills as he did at the start of the season.

Cmon Jenson – Don’t freeze now mate. The biggest pressure you’re receiving is from yourself – just remember that 15 months ago there wasn’t even a Brawn GP team and YOU weren’t going to have a drive for 2009. Things changed – the team was saved and at the start of the season you were driving like a man who didn’t care about anything or anybody else because you’d received a lifeline – you were able to do what you love most in the world and go racing in F1 again – take yourself back to that mindset and the rest will take care of itself.

So a quick catch up on who’s where:

1 Jenson Button Brawn-Mercedes 84
2 Rubens Barrichello Brawn-Mercedes 69
3 Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 59
4 Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 51.5
5 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari 40

And who’s been on the podium this year so far?

Jenson Button: 1st Place – Australia | 1st Place – Malaysia | 3rd Place – China | 1st Place – Bahrain | 1st Place – Spain | 1st Place – Monaco | 1st Place – Turkey | 2nd Place – Italy

Rubens Barrichello: 2nd Place – Australia | 2nd Place – Spain | 2nd Place – Monaco | 3rd Place – Great Britain | 1st Place – Valencia | 1st Place – Italy

Sebastian Vettel: 1st Place – China | 2nd Place – Bahrain | 3rd Place – Turkey | 1st Place – Great Britain | 2nd Place – Germany | 3rd Place – Belgium

Mark Webber: 2nd Place – China | 3rd Place – Spain | 2nd Place – Turkey | 2nd Place – Great Britain | 1st Place – Germany | 3rd Place – Hungary

Kimi Raikonnen: 3rd Place – Monaco | 2nd Place – Hungary | 3rd Place – Valencia | 1st Place – Belgium | 3rd Place – Italy

Lewis Hamilton: 1st Place – Hungary | 2nd Place – Valencia | 1st Place – Singapore

Fernando Alonso: 3rd Place – Singapore

Timo Glock: 3rd Place – Malaysia | 2nd Place – Singapore

Jarno Trulli: 3rd Place – Australia | 3rd Place – Bahrain

Felipe Massa: 3rd Place – Germany

Nick Heidfeld: 2nd Place – Malaysia

Giancarlo Fisichella: – 2nd Place – Belgium

On the driver front rumour has it that: Alonso is heading to Ferrari for 5 years, Raikonnen is heading back to McLaren,  Rosberg is heading to Brawn GP and Robert Kubica is heading to either Renault or Williams. We’re sure most  of these changes will occur but you have to love the silly season don’t you – when everyone wants to be the first one to break the news and are more interested in reporting the future rather than simply enjoy the now!!!

So it’s Japan this weekend and we’re really chuffed the race is back at Suzuka. In our mind F1 should never have moved to Fuji in the first place – it couldn’t tie Suzuka’s boots. Bring it on.

The Singapore Grand Prix

Posted: 25th September 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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We love this circuit!

Yep it’s Singapore time again and although the circuit doesn’t provide any great memorable corners, like Eau Rouge in Belgium, it still looks totally awesome at night time and there’s still something oddly alien about watching an F1 car driving around a floodlit circuit.

As to who’s going to win the race this weekend we reckon it’s a bit like Monza – we haven’t a clue! Red Bull certainly look on the pace but maybe have to resort to running with lowered revs to protect their engines (or face a five place grid penalty for using up their 2009 engine allocation if they have a failure). You also have to expect McLaren to be extremely competitive this weekend – a Mercedes engine, superb mechanical grip and a fully functioning KERS system. Lewis will also be determined to make up for his crash in Italy so if you’re a betting person then you could do a lot worse than putting your money on the Brit for a win this weekend.

Over at Brawn GP you’ve got an interesting situation with the drivers title now more or less between Rubens and Jenson. The latter seems to have found his racing mojo again and the Brazilian seems to have shaken the paranoia monkey off his back! The Brawn car should certainly be on the pace this weekend but will it be a race winner? If not then qualifying is going to be more important than ever and, yes we’ve read the stories about how clean the championship fight will be for the remainder of the season, but you still have to wonder – we’ve already seen Rubens lose the plot once this year!

Enjoy the race. It’s sure to be another cracking floodlit event.

Well done to Rubens & Jenson

Posted: 13th September 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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What a great race the Italian Grand Prix was! Well done to Rubens Barrichello. It seems that Brawn are back on the pace and a one two finish was really pleasing to see after their recent problems in the last few races. Let’s remember that there wasn’t even a Brawn GP team this time last year and the fact that they managed to design a race winning chassis, integrate a Mercedes Engine into it and find funding to go racing for a year was, to say the least, astonishing! So people may say it’s boring for Brawn GP to be winning all the races but we don’t think so at all. More like a great feel good “rags to riches” fairytale that proves anything is possible when you’re determined to succeed. Fingers crossed that it’s Jenson in first place next time!

You had to feel for Lewis Hamilton after his last minute accident didn’t you? Still at least he confirmed he’s still a 100% real racer and that third place would have been nice – but second place would have been nicer. Well done Lewis at least you gave it your all.

A huge well done also must go out to the Force India team for another great weekend on the pace. So it’s off to Singapore next and the unique night time racing – Oh and controversy if you own blue F1 cars built in France…

The Italian Grand Prix

Posted: 12th September 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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So it’s Lewis Hamilton on Pole Position in Italy. Who would have thought we’d be saying that four months ago!

Maybe it’s no coincidence that six of the seven cars at the front of this weekends grid are powered by Mercedes engines – at Monza pure engine power probably shows more than anywhere else so I think we can safely say that having the German engine in the back of your motorcar certainly doesn’t do any harm! I’m sure Red Bull can’t wait to get their supply of Mercedes engines in 2010 – oh how things change.

What a strange season 2009 has turned out to be though – teams who were nowhere in Melbourne are now regular front runners and the front runners, no matter how much they develop their car, appear to be going backwards!

So we genuinely can’t predict who’s going to win the Italian Grand Prix. All we can say is don’t count out the Brawn cars this weekend – 5th and 6th maybe – but they’ve got loads of fuel and one stopping when most of the others teams will have opted for a two stopper. Of course this all depends if everyone makes it round the first and second corners on the opening lap.

Elsewhere we’ve got a beauty of a story brewing with regards to Renault and the “did they or didn’t they cheat” escapade. The F1 spin doctors have been busier than usual this year and the storyline leading to the ultimate demise of Renault should keep F1 in the press and media for a good few months – far better to get maximum publicity than Renault simply quitting F1 as some respected journalists have already hinted at. One thing’s for sure you’ll not read about it here – we’re only here for the racing.

So it’s good luck to Jenson for the race. He seems to be more relaxed and focused than recent race weekends and appears to be back on the pace. Wouldn’t it be amazing if he managed to pull of the World Championship against all the odds – Now that WOULD be a story to make media headlines.

The Belgian Grand Prix

Posted: 30th August 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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What a strange race weekend. Force India, Toyota and BMW at the front of the grid after qualifying in normal, dry track conditions – That’s not right is it?

Well actually yes it was and, in Force India’s case, they came within a half second of a race win on pure performance alone!  Tyre use has apparently played a big part in the massive performance leap that Force India have taken but also new car updates, which didn’t really shine through at the stop and start Valencia track, have also played their part in fine tuning the aero package. You have to remember that Force India have a technical arrangement with McLaren to assist with chassis design and also a Mercedes engine deal that supplies them with, what is rumoured to be, the best engine on the grid this year. With these resources maybe it isn’t too much of a suprise that Force India have managed to get their car into point scoring mode – but can they continue this pace for the remaining races of the season or was this a flash in the pan? Time will tell.

Elsewhere the true cost of introducing rookies into F1, when they clearly haven’t had any real race experience in these cars, clearly showed when Brits Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were both shunted out of the race by Grosjean and Alguersuari respectively – who’re they you might ask? and this proves our point exactly! This trend of throwing young inexperienced drivers into F1 cars is something that needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency before someone REALLY gets hurt.

Well done to Kimi Raikonnen on his race win – heck that should increase your payoff from Ferrari by a couple of million for next year. Damn it’s starting to get very expensive for the Italians to place Alonso into one of their cars for 2010 :-)

Well done Rubens…

Posted: 23rd August 2009 by Kevin in General
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At long last Rubens puts in a drive to claim his first win of the season. You had to feel it was long overdue and yes Lewis’s problems probably made it a little easier for the Brazilian but credit where credit is due – he put the laps in when it counted and kept it on the black stuff so well done Rubens – hopefully this has got the monkey off your back and you can start believing that the team are 100% behind you.

Other than that it would have to be said that the Valencia Grand Prix was, as expected, another boring affair and we really can’t believe that the circuit has been signed up for another five years! Why would you put your drivers and fans through another half decade of boredom? Not good.

Roll on Spa for some real racing.

The European Grand Prix

Posted: 18th August 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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Valencia it is then! We’re trying not to prejudge but hoping that the race isn’t as boring as last year or the Hungarian Grand Prix may lose it’s “king of the snores” title. Apparently there have been some circuit tweeks at Valencia, to promote overtaking, so fingers crossed it delivers another nail biting race.

Sebastian Vettel & Michael Schumacher

...and I thought there was a Superman cape under there thought young Sebastian

McLaren, Red Bull, Brawn GP or Ferrari? We’d like to put our money on Lewis Hamilton’s shiny silver car this weekend, especially as he’s got lots of new bits on it. All things taken into account we really have to go with Jenson for the win this weekend – he’s had a couple of bad races to let Red Bull catch up but now it’s time to get back to his winning ways.

And a new blog feature for this Grand Prix is the DCM “add your comment to the photograph” competition. Now what do you REALLY think Sebastian is saying to Michael? Go on give us a laugh with your suggestions – ahem but keep them clean!

Summer Holidays!

Posted: 3rd August 2009 by Kevin in Formula One
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Yay it’s summer holiday time and a chance to reflect on the first half of the season. I’m sure you’ve read similar blogs elsewhere so here’s the quick version of the half term report: Well done Brawn GP but must do better with car improvements, Amazing work Red Bull and great use of resources to develop your car into the fastest on the grid, previous championship winning experience shining through and managing to pull itself up to third place in a car that hasn’t always looked the greatest at Ferrari, Fantastic start to the season at Toyota but fading fast as the season progresses, The turn around of the season at McLaren where a complete dog of a car has been transformed into a race winner – very impressive, No justice at Williams where the pace of the car has not been realised on race days – keeping up with car development but need to review pit strategy, Congratulations to Renault for officially building the ugliest car in F1 – poor show with driver support and the management team appear to be carrying way to much ballast,  Biggest disappointment of the season at BMW where not only have they built the second ugliest car in F1 but they’ve lost the momentum from the 2007 and 2008 seasons – time to spit out the dummy and leave F1 I think (Wait a minute they already have haven’t they!), Keep the chin up at Torro Rosso you’ll get the best bits for the car once Red Bull have got the championship in the bag – can’t have another embaressment like last year in Monza, Time will tell at Force India – you’re using a race winning Mercedes engine and the car is starting to respond well to the changes you’re introducing.

That’s how we see it – What do you think of the 2009 so far?

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