The Spanish Grand Prix 2010
It was a Red Bull 1 – 2 for qualifying and all bets were on a Red Bull 1 – 2 for the finish of the race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya. It shoulda, woulda, coulda, but was not meant to be and Red Bull had to settle for a 1 – 3 finish. Mark Webber had no problems taking his lead from start to checkered flag without incident. But once again, his teammate, Sebastian Vettel, suffered from unreliability issues with his RB6. Vettel had to wait for traffic to clear during his pit stop which put him behind the McLaren of Lewis Hamilton. To make matters even worse, he then suffered a brake failure. Vettel was then forced to limp his car around the track for the remaining 12 laps. Luckily the gap between Vettel and fifth place Schumacher was a substantial one and he was able to maintain his position. A delaminated brake disc turned out to be the culprit.
Lewis Hamilton experienced the largest set-back of the race. Lewis suffered a deflation in his left front tire during his penultimate lap which sent him sailing into the tire wall, ending his race. Had Hamilton finished the race he would have been just one point shy of his teammate, Jenson Button, in the championship points standing. With Hamilton out, Alonso was able to capture second place to a cheering Spanish crowd. Sebastian Vettel managed a podium finish in third.
It was a frustrating race for Jenson Button. His pit stop was slowed due to a dragging clutch which sent him back onto the track behind Michael Schumacher. Even though Button was in a faster car, Schumi didn’t give the Brit any opportunity to get by. Michael Schumacher finished the race in fourth, his best result thus far for the season and Jenson Button claimed fifth.
With five races now completed, the top three contenders for the championship title are Jenson Button with 70 points, followed by Fernando Alonso with 67 and Sebastian Vettel with 60 points. However, with 14 races still to be had, a clear cut winner has yet to be determined. It’s still anyone’s race.
Formula 1 Heads to Europe
It will have been three weeks by the time the next Formula 1 race gets underway in Barcelona, Spain. This will be the home country race for Fernando Alonso, Jaime Alguersuari, and newcomer, Pedro de la Rosa. For Fernando Alonso it will be his first Spanish Grand Prix driving for Ferrari. This alone should make the Spanish F1 fans happy. And the fact that Alonso and Hamilton are currently tied with 49 championship points apiece should make for an exciting duel from the former Mclaren rivals. It is also the first race at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya for Jaime Alguersuari who started mid season last year. Alguersuari scored his first Formula 1 points in Malaysia by coming in ninth place ahead of countryman Fernado Alonso who finished 13th. The race in Barcelona will also be the first for Pedro de la Rosa driving for Sauber. De la Rosa has yet to score any championship points. His best finish thus far has been 12th position in Melbourne. The Melbourne race was also the first race he successfully completed, beating out his teammate, Kamui Kobayashi, who has yet to finish a race with an intact race car.
The news has been rather quiet during this lull in racing. Most of the news centered around the F1 personnel battling the ash of Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano. Ross Brawn was among one of the few lucky souls who managed to get out of Shanghai immediately and relatively painlessly. Mark Webber, on the other hand, spent 44 hours traveling by various modes of transportation and managed to lose his passport along the way. The Virgin Racing team was so delayed in getting their equipment back to home base that they were only able to fit one of their cars, that of Timo Glock, with a new chassis.
Teams usually use this lengthy period in between races to add new bits onto the cars and make major adjustments. One driver who will be the beneficiary of a major overhaul is Michael Schumacher. Mercedes have increased the car’s wheelbase in an attempt to improve weight distribution. Ferrari will be trying out their new F-duct system in Spain and Fisichella has been out on the track testing the new aerodynamics. Red Bull’s Mark Webber has stated in an interview that Red Bull will not have the F-duct or J-switch available to them for the Spanish Grand Prix, while the Sauber team has also been testing out theirs. Most of the other teams have also made upgrades to their aero packages that they will be unveiling in Spain.
Bahrain Friday Free Practice
Friday’s free practice sessions were quite interesting to watch. It was the first time to view the cars going around the track. Due to the ban on refueling the cars are much longer than they were last year and, quite frankly, look a bit squirrelly on the track. It appears that most, if not all, of the teams are struggling with setting the ride heights. This was most obvious as cars were going around turn #6 where there is a bit of a bump on the track. All of the cars have been having problems with bottoming out at that section. Getting the ride height correct will definitely prove to be a challenge as cars will be much heavier at the start of the race with full tanks of fuel than they will be towards the end of the race. Apparently, Red Bull may have some sort of on-board height adjustment that the drivers can initiate, but I haven’t been able to verify this information as of yet.
Tire wear was also an issue for some of the teams. Under full fuel the rear tires have been going much quicker than expected. The tire allotment has been decreased this season, so drivers who can take care of their tires will definitely have an advantage. Although, the same can be said about fuel consumption; the drivers with the most finesse will most likely be the ones at the head of the pack. Lewis Hamilton, for instance, likes to throw that McLaren around the track and is a fairly aggressive driver. He was also one of the drivers pulling into the pit complaining of severe tire wear.
Sunday’s race in Bahrain will be tough for the engineers to get right since there is no historical data available for the new section of track that has been added this year. There is a good chance of having a car or two actually run out of fuel during the race. The rules also require that each car finish with at least 1 litre of fuel still on board for testing.
And, as I stated in my last post, Formula 1 racing is not without its controversies. Last year was the season of the “Double Diffusers” which can now be seen on all of the cars. This year is starting off to be the season of the “McLaren Left-Knee Vent”. The engineers at McLaren have added a vent on the nose close to the driver that allows air to flow into the cockpit and out through the floor of the car. There is a lever located by the driver’s left knee that allows the driver to open and close this vent. When closed the turbulent air created by this vent can actually stall out the rear wing, decreasing the amount of down-force on the car. Whether or not this will give the cars any speed advantage remains to be seen and, admittedly, it does not appear to be as large of a controversy as the diffusers were. We will most likely have to wait till the end of Sunday’s race to find out if any other teams will be filing complaints to the race officials. Renault appears to be the loudest objector so far. Red Bull’s Christian Horner brought up the vent a few weeks ago and has stated that they would most likely not be protesting McLaren’s vent. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Red Bulls sporting a similar gadget by race four or five.
Nico Rosberg managed the fastest lap time in his Mercedes by the end of Friday’s second free practice. There definitely wasn’t a runaway leader and it was impossible to know what fuel loads other cars were running. The true test will be during qualifying. I would also like to send a shout out to the Hispania Racing Team. They were able to do what USF1 could not; from story board to the grid in Bahrain in 6 months. Everyone loves an underdog and it would be marvelous to see both cars cross the finish line on Sunday.
Gentlemen, Start Your Engines!
The kick-off for the 2010 Formula 1 season officially began today with Friday practice on the Sakhir Circuit in Bahrain. Qualifying will be on Saturday and the season’s first race on Sunday.
Live coverage will once again be provided by the BBC with commentators Jake Humphrey, David Coulthard, Eddie Jordan, Jonathan Legard, and (my favorite) Martin Brundle. Being an avid fan of Formula 1 racing in the states does require a bit of creativity in order to watch the races. Thankfully, the Internets is a wonderful provider and, although the races are no longer live when I am able to watch them, I can still enjoy the excellent coverage provided by the BBC.
Three new teams have made it onto the grid; Virgin Racing, Lotus, and Hispania Racing. Hispania Racing was saved at the last minute and this Friday’s practice will be the first time that the team and its two rookie drivers will have the opportunity of testing out their new car. There has been a little grumbling from some of the more established teams in regards to all of the new drivers and the lack of proper preparation of the new teams. There are concerns that the pace of these cars may become a hindrance. In fact, the new teams are so far off the pace of the other cars that Lotus, Virgin and HRT could end up being little more than moving chicanes.
An interesting side note for this year:
Richard Branson (of Virgin Racing and Virgin Airlines fame) has a bet with Tony Fernandes (Lotus and AirAsia). The two have agreed that the loser of this season’s racing will don a stewardess uniform and work on the winner’s airline for one full day.
What has become of USF1? Citing financial difficulties, Peter Windsor and Ken Anderson have pulled out of Formula 1 racing this season. They had petitioned the FIA to keep their slot open for the 2011 season, however, this request has been denied. It is also possible that USF1 may receive a penalty for not holding up their end of the bargain. Meanwhile, Stefan GP, the Serbian backed team who bought up Toyota, has also been denied entrance onto the grid.
Formula 1 is not without its politics, controversies and surprises. With the ban on refueling, the reappearance of Michael Schumacher, and no runaway leader, this season should be an exciting one.
Formula 1 2010 Driver Lineup (Updated)
I thought that I had waited long enough before posting the 2010 season driver lineup. One of the new teams, Hispania Racing, has “miracled” their way onto the grid. Also, Sauber’s team has been finalized. So, here is take two for the driver lineup:
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Mclaren: Jensen Button – #1 Lewis Hamilton – #2 |
Mercedes GP: Michael Schumacher – #3 Nico Rosberg – #4 |
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Red Bull: Sebastian Vettel – #5 Mark Webber – #6 |
Ferrari: Felipe Massa – #7 Fernando Alonso – #8 |
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Williams: Rubens Barrichello – #9 Nico Hulkenberg – #10 |
Renault: Robert Kubica – #11 Vitaly Petrov – #12 |
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Force India: Adrian Sutil – #13 Vitantonio Liuzzi – #14 |
Toro Rosso: Sebastien Buemi – #15 Jaime Alguersuari – #17 |
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Lotus: Heikki Kovalainen – #18 Jarno Trulli – #19 |
Hispania Racing: Karun Chandhok – #20 Bruno Senna – #21 |
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BMW Sauber: Pedro de la Rosa – #22 Kamui Kobayashi – #23 |
Virgin: Timo Glock – #24 Lucas di Grassi – #25 |
2010 F1 Schedule
Date Location Mar. 14 
Sakhir - Bahrain Mar. 28 
Melbourne - Australia Apr. 04 
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia Apr. 18 
Shanghai - China May 09 
Barcelona - Spain May 16 
Monaco May 30 
Istanbul - Turkey Jun. 13 
Montreal - Canada Jun. 27 Valencia - Spain Jul. 11 
Silverstone - Great Britain Jul. 25 
Hockenheim - Germany Aug. 01 
Budapest - Hungary Aug. 29 
Spa-Francorchamps - Belgium Sep. 12 
Monza - Italy Sep. 26 
Singapore Oct. 10 
Suzuka - Japan Oct. 24 
South Korea Nov. 07 
Sao Paulo - Brazil Nov. 14 
Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates -
