F1-Blog

2010 – A New Season

The 2010 season is upon us, with the Bahrain GP this weekend, so lets take a few moments to have a look at the state of the teams, drivers and rules, and what we think might happen.

The Rule Changes

Many of the rules stay the same this year, however there are a few big changes that we need to be aware of.

Fuel – This year brings a ban on race refuelling, and with it most of the other changes. The cars now have to be larger to accommodate the extra fuel, and we will be back to extremely quick pit stops (3ish seconds) as fuel will not need to be added.

Qualifying – The qualifying sessions have changed because of the fuel rules. The format will be similar to last year with 7 drivers knocked out in each of the first 2 sessions, however Q3 will be back to low weight, high speed qualifying as the teams can run any fuel strategy they like in Q3. The kicker comes in the form of the driver having to start the race on the tyres that he set his fastest lap in Q3.

Tyres – The size of the front wheels has become narrower, and there will be less sets of tyres for each car to use over the weekend.

Points – The point system has changed to be more like the MotoGP system, this means gone are the 10 for a win system, and we now have the following points awarded all the way down to 10th place :- 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

 

McLaren

The McLaren team will bounce back strong this season, a good set of testing sessions, and good speed with the Bahrain spec aero package when it was tested at Barcelona. There has been a lot of speculation about exactly what’s going on under the skin of the new MP4-25, and I’m sure we probably have not heard the last of ‘Blown Rear Slots’ which McLaren look to have taken to the next step this season.

Drivers – Jenson seems to have settled into the team fairly well, Lewis as always will know what to expect, and how to shape the team. We must also remember that this is a 3 English Driver line-up in McLaren this year, as not only do the team have the last 2 World Champions (Both Brits) but also the much liked Gary Paffett as the third driver. The Engineering teams have been joined together this year too, so in theory the engineers are not assigned to a car/driver and this may help the crossfeed of information in the team, we will see how that works going forward.

Mercedes

The old Brawn team has been bought and rebranded by Mercedes Benz this year. The car has not been the last word in pace at test’s, however they were one of the teams that decided not to run the Bahrain aero configuration in testing, and with teasing words coming out of the team that there is a radical ‘package’ available for the first GP of the year, we will have to wait and see. Let’s remember that the W01 was started earlier last year than the team expected to be able to, so Ross must have something to bring to the car.

Drivers – Nico Rosberg must have got a shock when he found out he would be teaming up with the mighty Michael Schumacher in the car. However he should use it as a learning experience, after all it never hurt Felipe Massa to be shown how to drive by the big man. However it still remains to be seen how quick Michael will be after being out of the cars for 3 years. It will be like returning home for him though, with Ross being the man in charge.

Red Bull

The new Adrian Newey Red Bull RB6 looks a lot like the RB5 that went before, and that’s not a bad thing as that was a quick car. However because the team were working hard on getting the package all together they missed a lot of testing time. So this car is yet to be seen how quick it is. I’m quite sure the car will have changed a fair bit from what we have seen in testing when it’s finally unveiled in Bahrain. The major differences on this car though are the larger wheelbase because of the larger fuel tank, and a properly designed diffuser, rather than the ‘hacked on’ one they ran last year.

Drivers – Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel return as the pilots again this year, so stability reigns at Red Bull. Sebastian Vettel was quick last year, especially towards the end of the season so lets hope he picks up where he left off. Webber needs to do well this season, as he needs to get his contract extended (ends at the end of the season), and Red Bull now have Kimi in their stable, even if it is in the Rally part of the team.

Ferrari

The F10 Ferrari has rolled out of the garage and looked quick from day one. Which after the struggles last season is exactly what the team needed. The team have been so happy with the car that they have concentrated on long runs, doing more testing mileage than any other team.

Drivers – This is where it will become sticky for Ferrari. Felipe Massa returns to the cockpit of the car, and is looking as good as ever, the team know and trust him, as he has shown great courage to come back and take the driver seat again. However he finds himself lined up with perhaps one of the spikyest drivers of modern times. Fernando Alonso is without a doubt a great driver, it remains to be seen though if he will jell with Ferrari work ethics and mannerisms, and if he will work well alongside Massa.

Renault

The Renault team start this year on the back of one of it’s worst seasons for a long time. They have lost their top driver, their sponsors and a lot of respect inside the F1 camp. However having said all that they seem to have kept their heads down and done a the best they could on the 2010 car. That however does not seem to have gone all that well. The car has looked off the pace in testing, however the team did bring new parts to the R30 during testing, with new nose and rear wing (nicknamed the W wing) being the easiest to spot. The car is however very short in comparison to the rest of the 2010 cars, which may be down to work done on the engine to make it very efficient on fuel. So what they lack in outright pace at test, they may make up for in heavy running during races.

Drivers – A completely new driver pairing for the team this year. Robert Kubica joins as team leader, taking over from Alonso, and he is joined by new F1 boy Vitaly Petrov. Petrov has got the drive by being a ‘pay driver’ something that we have not seen all that much in F1 for a few years. Saying that though, Petrov was quick in GP2, and we all know that Robert on his day is one of the fastest drivers on the grid. With a little more time, perhaps the team can get the car’s pace to where it needs to be. Although since Michelin left F1 the team have struggled to get to grips with the Bridgestone tyres.

Williams

Williams come to the 2010 season with a lot to prove. They have taken the bold decision to throw away the 2009 design and start again. The out with the old, in with the new mantra also goes for engine supplier. Toyota are gone, and replaced by the Cosworth control engine. A lot of Williams success this year will be down to how powerful and reliable the new engine will be, although the team have had success in the past using Cosworth lumps.

The team did have initial reliability worries in testing, although it seems that they worked these out, as besides Ferrari, Williams covered more testing distance than anyone else.

Drivers – Williams have an old and new linup this year in the car. The elder statesman is the likable Rubens Barichello, and as we know he can dice it with the best when he is given the chance. He is joined by Nico Hülkenberg, who is no slouch himself, with championship victories in both GP2 and F3 Euroseries. Nico would do himself no harm if he got on with Rubens, and had him explain the ways of F1

Toro Rosso

The STR5 is a development of the STR4 (RB5) and can be clearly seen. However the team cannot now just borrow the Red Bull car when it’s a little more mature as the team are now a full blown constructor on it’s own. Testing has shown the car to be reliable (as it should be) and relatively on pace with where we expect the team to be. It remains to be seen how much development will be done on the car over the year, now that they cannot just inherit all the Red Bull technology.

Drivers – Sebastien Buemi is back for the team, and as he showed last year, he can be quick. The team should have enough data on this car to allow him some advantage at the beginning of the season, as they seemed to get to grips with setting the STR4 up towards the end of the season. Joining him will be Jaime Alguersuari, who showed he could hold his head above the demanding F1 water when he was dropped in last season.

Force India

The VMJ02 was a decent car towards the end of the 09 season, and the VMJ03 is hoping to improve on that cars abilities at low drag events. The team keep the powerful Mercedes drivetrain and have looked pacey in testing, although mostly on low fuel runs, so it’s still to be seen how well they do on a heavier load.

Drivers – Adrian Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi keep their seats in the car. Adrian needs to show a little more restraint this year, as he is exciting to watch, but usually ends up paying for his wheel to wheel antics with a DNF. Liuzzi has shown moments of speed, and is a decent driver, so lets hope the team can bring it all together and start worrying the guys ahead of them more often.

Lotus

The new T127 may not be the most extreme of designs, and in many ways looks very traditional by some of it’s competitors. However Mike Gascoyne has regularly started with a known base, and then introduced updates in rather large chunks, so keep an eye out for those. The team says it’s struggling for downforce at the moment on the car, but I’m sure that’s something that can be addressed over the season.

Drivers – Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen take the reigns at the new team. Trulli is widely regarded as a good setup/test driver and Heikki certainly knows his way around a development program, so the drivers will be good for the new team. They also bring experience, which may help the team keep the expensive chassis out of harms way to try keep costs manageable for the new team. A new start for Heikki may be exactly what he needs, he was certainly outshone at McLaren by Lewis, and now is his turn to show what he is capable of.

HRT (Campos)

Hespania Racing (F1) Team have taken the reigns from the Campos team after a late swap of owner. We have seen the car, but not yet on track so have no ideas to it’s pace. We do know it’s a Dallara designed chassis, with Cosworth power.

Drivers – Bruno Senna get’s the call upto the F1 playground, as does the Indian driver Karun Chandhok. Senna has shown ability in GP2, although it’s yet to be seen if he inhereted his uncle’s natural gene’s for speed. Karun’s name has been thrown about inside F1 for a while, being linked to Force India. He knows Bruno well (both raced at iSport) but has yet to show if he is a capable driver or not.

Sauber

The C29 is essentially a re-worked F1.09. However the Sauber team have brought over some of the newer trends from last year to the new car. The high nose made famous by the 09 Red Bull cars makes an appearance, as does the Shark Fin and cutaway air intake that’s become popular to most teams this year.

The F1.09 started life badly, but by the end of the 09 season the team had got it to a competitive place, with Kubica finishing second at Interlargos. It’s too early to say that BMW canned it’s F1 program too early, but the C29 has shown good speed and reliability in testing, and integrating the new Ferrari sourced engine has not seemed to detriment what the F1.09 had that worked.

Drivers – Unfortunately because the team did not look like it would be competing, all of it’s drivers found other places to go. Therefore the team has had to do the best it could with it’s lineup. Pedro de la Rossa joins the team after being McLaren’s third driver for many years, and we will have to see how good he is when back in the hustle of real racing, he does however bring a wealth of testing and development experience to the team. Alongside him is Kamui Kobayashi, an extremely exciting driver to watch, he excelled when dropped into the Toyota last year, and Peter Sauber will hope it’s another of his good/off the wall driver choices, after all the team is known to be a great place for up and coming drivers of the future to mature.

Virgin (Manor)

The VR01 was actually one of the first 2010 cars we glimpsed runnin on the track. The car is unique in that it’s completely designed using CFD by Wirth Research. This will no doubt be a cheaper way of designing the car, as wind tunnels are expensive to build and run, but will it be enough to make the car competitive. The team started off life as Manor GP, but Virgin have taken over the sponsorship and team. The team were the first to run, and also the first to have issues, with hydraulics and component failures blighting their sessions. The team say there are fixes in place for both the problems, but we will see at the Bahrain GP if that is indeed the case. The car does however look good in those colours.

Drivers – Timo Glock has joined the team, alongside GP2 veteran Lucas di Grassi. Timo is back to full health, and has shown he can drive quickly given a good car, as for Lucas, he was always overshadowed by a faster person in GP2, with Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Sutil both getting the better of him in the F1 feeder series. Although he has been sitting on the edge of an F1 seat for a few years now, with his name being tied to Renault for the most part.

The first race of the season is upon us, and it’s been an exciting wait for the first GP. So let’s hope its a great race.