F1-Blog

The Spanish GP turned out to be a bit of an interesting beast. Yes the racing was not amazing (as it rarely is at the Circuit de Catalunya), but from a technical and strategy standpoint it was a very interesting mix.

The first European GP of the year is always where strange things turn up, not only in the car designs, but in the changes to where the teams perceived performance.

This year is no different, going into the race everyone was saying that the Ferrari’s with their new nose design would run off and hide all weekend, this was shock number one, they didn’t, in fact the other teams where a lot closer than we thought they would be.

The Renault’s were the next shock, looking pacey all weekend, then Fernando getting second spot on the grid. Everyone dismissed this, saying Fernando was doing a glory run on low fuel for his fans, it turned out he was not as light as people thought, pitting only two laps ahead of the Ferrari’s.

Then we have McLaren, everyone thought they were going to be playing catch up all weekend, but after working out fuel differences it seems that they were not far off the Ferrari qualifying pace, if at all, and it seems they just misjudged the amount of fuel the other teams would run in Q3 as they went the longest of the front running teams in the first stint. The cars did not look as planted as the Ferrari’s, but then Lewis like his car setup to be loose, so not really a big issue.

Almost all teams however brought changes to their cars, Honda being the most visible with the dumbo wings nose design, reminiscent to what we got a glimpse of last year.

So with the off track stuff dealt with, let’s get onto the race.

It started well for the Ferrari’s, with Massa getting the jump on Alonso’s Renault, and went into the first corner in second spot. It was also a good start for Lewis Hamilton, jumping ahead of Robert Kubicca up the inside into turn one, giving him fourth spot behind the Renault and two Ferrari’s.

Everyone seemed to squeeze through turn one unscathed, but the carnage did not hold up for long, Adrian Sutil caused a short stint for the safety car when he tried an adventurous undertake at turn four touching David Coulthard’s car and spinning out, Sebastian Vettel was the unlucky driver to collect Sutil, destroying both drivers chances.

After the race resumed it seemed to be a rather status quo affair, with nobody seeming to be able to get better than 2 seconds behind the car in front. This is a problem at this track, as the high levels of downforce required completely hinder close quarters running.

There were a few scraps up and down the field, with Nelson Piquet having an off in his Renault, putting him back to 18th spot. He then went and added insult to injury, when trying to overtake Sebastien Bourdais with a run up the inside of the French driver he managed to take both cars out of the race. It seems Bourdais just did not see him coming, and the result was two more cars retiring. The earlier off from Piquet also took Anthony Davidson out of the race, as the gravel that was brought back onto the track managed to get through the Super Aguri’s radiator protection, and cause a leak that ended the Brit’s race.

The front runner Pitstops started on lap 16, when Fernando brought his Renault in for it’s first stop, later than a lot of people had predicted, it seems he was not running quite as light as some expected, as Felipe Massa only lasted another three laps, then we had Kimi coming in on lap 22, with Lewis on Lap 23, showing that the McLaren should have been further up the grid if it had run a more aggressive strategy in Q3.

While all the stop were happening, Heikki was leading the race, and before he could make his stop for fuel, he suffered a massive accident at turn nine, when his front left wheel failed on entry to the 140mph corner. The wheel failure allowed the tyre to instantly deflate, and Heikki had no chance to slow the car down before skipping through the gravel and hitting the tyre barrier. The worrying thing was that the McLaren had managed to go underneath the tyre wall, the modern ‘conveyor belt’ design is supposed to stop the cars going underneath.

The marshals did a fine job pulling Heikki’s car out, and getting him to the medical centre quickly. But the damage to the car was very telling, with the car picked up to be carted off, you could actually see the floor underneath the drivers cell from above. Heikki is ok though, some bruising and concussion, but nothing broken.

However, as this all happened during most of the midfield teams scheduled pit stop sessions, there was carnage, with Nick Heidfeld having to pit whilst the pit lane was closed, giving him a 10 second drive through penalty when the safety car session was over. Rubens Barichelo also had another pit lane incident, he seemed to catch the nose of the Honda when he left his pit garage, and had to tour a complete lap with the nose wing stuck under the floor of the nose, damaging many of the aero parts in that section of the car. This forced the Honda out of the race, as it was deemed too damaged to continue by the team.

The race continued through all the teams second stops, with only retirements to be interested in. Fernando’s Renault lump let go on him in a big way, forcing him to retire from his home GP.

The Toyota lump in Nico Rosberg’s Williams also let go on the pit straight, forcing him to retire as well.

David Coulthard was again the target of another driver, Timo Glock tried a manoeuvre on the Brit, and was far too fast, clipping the rear wheel of the Red Bull, this caused a deflation of the tyre and forced both cars to pit for repairs. A stewards investigation deemed it a racing incident, but it ruined the race for both drivers.

All the retirements and accidents did mean that drivers who have not yet scored managed to get of the mark this race. Most notably Honda’s Jenson Button who finished sixth.

The race was all but over at the start though, as the track is notoriously difficult to overtake at, and with Kimi winning it made it eight in a row for pole starters winning. Hopefully the new aero and slicks next year will negate this a bit.

OK, so where did Renault come from? Alonso is the talk of the Qualy session without a shadow of a doubt. Yes Kimi took a pole position, and Massa took third, but it’s certain that all talk will be about Fernando, who was pleased as punch coming over the line after setting the pole position time.

The new Renault is obviously a decent step up from what they started the season with, but the question is how much fuel does Alonso have on board.

The BMW of Robert Kubica sit’s behind Massa’s Ferrari in fourth spot, with the two McLarens on the third row of the grid, with Hamilton ahead of Kovalainen.

Behind the McLarens is Webber and Trulli, showing that the Red Bull and Toyota’s are still in the hunt, even if it’s not for the race win.

Heidfeld and Piquet get the last two spot’s in the top 10, showing that their team mates did a decent job, even if they are light on fuel.

The other big shock is that the Ferrari that every one thought would run and hide, just have not done it. The Ferrari is the car with the most obvious aero changes, and Kimi seemed to struggle on his first run in the Q3 session, this was rectified by a couple of turns of wing on the front.

The race will certainly be one to watch, with some jokers in the pack, it could certainly be a fight to the end.

Right back to doing something on the site, after sorting out our ‘technical problems’ (note to self, don’t annoy the FOM), let’s get back to race news and issues.

The Spanish GP is the first of two proposed Grand Prix’s in Spain this year, however the Valencia GP has bumped into some issues of late.

So with that all dealt with, what are we looking at this weekend?

It might be a little more hazey this weekend, as almost all of the teams tested at the track earlier this week and last week, so the teams should have an idea of the settings they will use over the weekend. It’s not however completly clear cut, as rain is forcast, as well as the track getting rubbered in differently.

With that said, it will be the same names at the front, with McLaren playing catchup to the Ferrari and BMW’s. The cars will almost all have new aero parts on them this weekend, and even some that were not shown off last week in testing, with the Ferrari ‘nostrils’ probably being the most visible change to the big teams.

The 4.655 km track is suited to well balanced cars, and cars that look after their tyres well, so the Ferrari’s should certainly be quick here this weekend. That will suite Filipe as he was fastest all weekend last year, and took the top spot, he just has to make sure that he makes no mistakes this weekend, and he will be in with a good chance of repeating the results.

Kimi will not make it easy for him though, and will want to show his dominance over his team mate with another win this weekend.

Lewis should be trying to show that his lackluster 2008 start is just a blip in the radar, he came in second last year, and will certainly want to go one better this year, that is if his McLaren will let him compete. But the McLaren team are in bigger trouble if their car is not competitive, as the Ferrari will certainly have moved on a step.

BMW are probably going to be there or thereabouts again, they are certain to have found some more performance in the car, and their drivers are looking strong and reliable. It’s only a matter of time now before they win their first race.

Further back, I still see it close between the Williams, Toyota and Red Bull teams, so the mid field will again be an interesting watch. It will be good to see how much development work all three of those teams have done, and how much performance they have found.

Honda are steadily improving as well, so let’s hope Jenson and Rubens see some battle action this weekend. The team deserve to get a decent result.

Further back it’s not good news for Super Aguri, Honda seem to have bailed them out again, but that will not continue for much longer. Let’s hope the new deal they are doing comes through for them this time.

Force India are fighting above their weight, and it will be interesting to see if they have managed to move the car along enough to get out of the back of the pack, and into the midfield. Toro Rosso have been testing their new car, and as it’s a clone of the Red Bull for all intense and purpose, but with a Ferrari lump it should be at least as competitive, if not more so.

So this will be an interesting weekend, lets see who has got the development right, and who made a mess.

Google Earth View of Circuit de Catalunya / Windows Live View

Stats :

Fastest Lap : 1:15.641 (Giancarlo Fisichella, Renault, 2005)
Pole Time : 1:21.421 - Filipe Massa
Most Wins : 6 by Michael Schumacher

Link to ITV Web Simulcast for the GP and Practice/Qualifying sessions.

Broadcast Times for Spain in UK time

First practice Friday 09:00
Second practice Friday 13:00
Qualifying Saturday 13:00
Race Sunday 13:00