McLaren Heroes Past And Present

This is a pretty cool video released by McLaren of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton going through an old warehouse looking at all of the McLarens from the past.

McLaren amd Vodafone have been releasing these types of videos for at least a couple of years now the first one I can remember seeing was for the 2008 Singapore GP. When you consider that it is Red Bull that has the reputation of being the really cool F1 team and that McLaren is supposed to have such a serious reputation it sort of turns that theory on its head. (Especially when the videos that Red Bull have released have been so serious!)

In a time where F1 drivers are said to have little personailty and be robot-like it’s good to see this sort of thing.

2009 Turkish Grand Prix results

Firstly I acknowledge that I did not do a preview or qualifying report on the Turkish Grand Prix. I was going to but then again what could I really say? That it was going to be another boring race where Jenson Button in the Brawn Mercedes would dominate? Because that is how predictable F1 has become in 2009. Last night Jenson did it again, whilst Australia’s own Mark Webber took second place. Vettel in third was much quicker throughout the race than Webber but was hampered by a poor three stop strategy and a few mistakes on the opening two laps.

 People are divided as to whether 2009 is an exciting or boring year in F1. I think if Jenson Button was not racing it would be exciting, but otherwise Jenson has dominated this season much like a certain Schumacher (not Ralph) did back in 2002 and 2004. Jenson will be 2009 World Drivers Champion without a doubt. Perhaps the excitement this year is to see who comes in second.

Monaco Results

Last night Jenson Button increased his stranglehold on the World Driver’s Championship with a dominant victory in the streets of Monte Carlo, beating his team mate Rubens Barrichello, with Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen in third.

Race Result After 78 of 78 laps

1. J Button
2. R Barrichello
3. K Raikkonen
4. F Massa
5. M Webber
6. N Rosberg
7. F Alonso
8. S Bourdais

Button holds a commanding 16 point lead over Barrichello, with the very disappointing Sebastian Vettel a further 12 points behind Rubens. 

1. J Button 51
2. R Barrichello 35
3. S Vettel 23
4. M Webber 19.5
5. J Trulli 14.5
6. T Glock 12
7. F Alonso 11
8. K Raikkonen 9
9. L Hamilton 9
10. F Massa 8
11. N Rosberg 7.5
12. N Heidfeld 6

Vettel was extremely disappointing this race. A poor fuel strategy at the start, added to by him ruining his tyres and then topped off by him putting his Red Bull into the barriers. The BMWs and Toyotas both looked extremely slow, which is a major worry as they were quick in testing and at the first GP of the season in Melbourne. Just two races ago in Bahrain it looked like Toyota could have won, but in Monaco they were the slowest of all.

2009 Spanish Grand Prix

Last night Jenson Button won the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona in what was another dominant display by the Brawn Mercedes team. His teammate Rubens Barrichello finished second with Mark Webber third in his Red Bull Renault.

 There were a few interesting talking points that came from a pretty boring race.

 Firstly, Brawn changed Jenson Button from a three pit stop strategy to a two pit stop strategy but neglected to change Rubens to a two stopper. It seems that the two stop race was the optimum strategy so why didn’t Brawn change Barrichello to that strategy as well. Rubens seemed a bit annoyed that he was stuck on a three stopper and that he perhaps could have been able to maintain his lead if he had of.

 Secondly, Ferrari stuffed things up again. Massa was short fuelled at his final pit stop which meant he could not defend his position at the end of the race. He had superbly gotten his Ferrari into fourth place and had held up the much quicker Sebastian Vettel for most of the race, but had to slow dramatically in the last four laps to conserve fuel. He finally finished sixth after a very slow last lap. Kimi Raikkonen failed to finish after yet another Ferrari mechanical failure put him out of the race.

 Finally, what has happened to Sebastian Vettel? He finished fourth but he should have been challenging for a win. Instead he was held up by Massa. Sure, Massa has the advantage of a KERS boost on the straights, but Vettel did not look like challenging Felipe and it seems he was content to sit behind Massa. Contrast this lack of aggression to his teammate who pulled out yet another brilliantly brave overtaking manoeuvre on Fernando Alonso (who also had the advantage of KERS). A lot of experts believe that Vettel is the only man who can challenge Button for the World Driver’s Championship this year but if he is going to do so he needs to be able to overtake someone on the track.

2009 Spanish GP Results

1. Jenson Button
2. Rubens Barrichello
3. Mark Webber
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Felipe Massa
7. Nick Heidfeld
8. Nico Rosberg

It looks increasingly likely that Button will win the World Championship this year. He has won four of five races so far and has a 14 point lead over Barrichello. (If Bernie’s gold medal system was being used the championship could be over after the next four races!)

1. Button – 41 points
2. Barrichello – 27 points
3. Vettel – 23 points
4. Webber – 15.5 points
5. Trulli – 14.5
6. Glock – 12
7. Hamilton – 9
8. Alonso – 9
9. Heidfeld – 6
10. Rosberg – 4.5

Spanish Grand Prix Preview

Qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona has just been completed with Brawn’s Jenson Button stealing pole position at the last possible second from Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

While it is not unusual these days for Brawn and Red Bull to be fighting for the pole, it is good to see some resurgence from Ferrari with Felipe Massa placing his scarlet racer fourth on the grid just behind Brawn’s Rubens Barrichello. Australia’s Mark Webber will start in fifth place.

 Grid for the 2009 Spanish Grand Prix

1. Jenson Button – Brawn
2. Sebastian Vettel – Red Bull
3. Rubens Barrichello – Brawn
4. Felipe Massa – Ferrari
5. Mark Webber – Red Bull
6. Timo Glock – Toyota
7. Jarno Trulli – Toyota
8. Fernando Alonso – Renault
9. Nico Rosberg – Williams
10. Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber
11. Kazuki Nakajima – Williams
12. Nelson Piquet – Renault
13. Nick Heidfeld – BMW Sauber
14. Lewis Hamilton – McLaren
15. Sebastian Buemi – Toro Rosso
16. Kimi Raikkonen – Ferrari
17. Sebastien Bourdais – Toro Rosso
18. Heikki Kovalainen – McLaren
19. Adrian Sutil – Force India
20. Giancarlo Fisichella – Force India

 I have a feeling that this will be another Button benefit with the Brit expected to take yet another race victory, although I’d like Vettel to win. I have a feeling it will be two Brawns followed by two Red Bulls followed by two Toyotas.

 My Predictions

1. Button
2. Barrichello
3. Vettel
4. Webber
5. Trulli
6. Glock
7. Rosberg
8. Alonso

Bahrain Grand Prix Results

Another Grand Prix and another win for the Brawn GP team and their driver Jenson Button. Despite starting from fourth on the grid Button was supreme but his win seemed to be assisted somewhat by Toyota’s poor tyre strategy at the first pit stop, and Sebastian Vettel’s uninspiring drive to second place when his car should have been quicker than Button’s. Vettel seemed content to sit behind Lewis Hamilton until his first pit stop (although Lewis did have the KERS advantage) and then did the same with Jarno Trulli until the second pit stop. I believe that if Vettel had of been able to pass either Hamilton or Trulli on the track (rather than in the pits) he could have been able to challenge Button.

 

Lewis Hamilton had a great drive in his dog of a McLaren. To take fourth place in that car is testimony to his skill as a driver. It was good how he kept Vettel at bay (with his KERS button) before the first pit stop, and afterwards he remained on the tail of both Vettel and Trulli who both have much better cars.

 

Rubens Barrichello took fifth place for Brawn, his hopes dashed by a pit strategy that did not suit, while Kimi Raikkonen scored the Scuderia’s first points with sixth place, and in doing so helped Ferrari avoid having their worst start to a season ever.

 

BMW Sauber had a horrendous race, coming 18^th and 19^th (2^nd and 3^rd last) for Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld. Their season which started with some promise in Melbourne seems to have gone a bit backwards. I expect that they will bounce back now that the F1 circus arrives in Europe, and at the next race in Barcelona they should do much, much better.

2009 Australian Grand Prix Results

The Australian Grand Prix has been run for another year, and the new Brawn GP team has taken first and second places. Jenson Button made things look easy and even though Sebastian Vettel in the Red Bull did not allow him to get away at all during the race, I suspect that Button had a lot of speed up his sleeve and could have gone much faster. Second placed Rubens Barrichello made things look much harder, as he was swamped at the start of the race by Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica, and then had an altercation with Webber and Kovalainen in the first corner which put the Finn into retirement and ruined the Aussie’s race. Rubens carried on with a damaged wing and did not look like getting on the podium until three laps from the end when Vettel and Kubica took each other out.

An unlikely and contriversial third place was taken by Lewis Hamilton after Jarno Trulli was penalised for passing the Brit under the final safety car after he made a mistake which allowed Lewis through. Glock finished fifth after starting in pit lane, and showed that the Toyotas are going to be fast throughout the season. Alonso came sixth even though his Renault ran out of the points for much of the race, seventh placed Nico Rosberg was hampered by a botched pit stop by his Williams team, as he looked like he had a car capable of challenging for a podium. Eighth place was filled by Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi who took a point on debut and outraced his much more experienced team mate.

The Ferraris struggled for pace throughout. They had trouble keeping up with the Red Bull and BMW and then Massa had reliability issues and Raikkonen had an accident.

1. Jenson Button – Brawn Mercedes
2. Rubens Barrichello – Brawn Mercedes
3. Lewis Hamilton – McLaren Mercedes
4. Timo Glock – Toyota
5. Fernando Alonso – Renault
6. Nico Rosberg – Williams Toyota
7. Sebastien Buemi – Toro Rosso Ferrari
8. Sebastian Bourdais – Toro Rosso Ferrari

I feel that next week in Malaysia the Brawns will once again fly, but the pace of Vettel makes me think that Red Bull should be challenging for a podium place with the Toyotas and Rosberg and Kubica. Brawn, Red Bull, Toyota, BMW and Williams look to be the fastest cars this season and the rest of the teams need to do a lot of catching up.

2009 Formula 1 Season Preview

The opening practice session for the first race of the 2009 Formula 1 season is just three days away and I am very excited. There are new aerodynamic and technical rules that will hopefully make this season the most unpredictable ever. Having said that, I am going to do a season preview and try to make some pretty vague predictions.

Lewis Hamilton deservedly won the World Driver’s Championship last year, despite what Ferrari fans tell you, but after looking at their testing form in the pre-season, they have a lot of work to do for Lewis to even be a contender. The new McLaren Mercedes MP4-24 has been one of the slowest cars and has struggled to find rear grip. They have so far been outshone by the other two Mercedes powered teams, Force India and Brawn GP. While I am sure that McLaren will have improved greatly by the time the car hits the Albert Park track, I am not sure that they will have improved enough to challenge for victory.

I expect that by mid-season the McLaren will be amongst the front running teams and Lewis Hamilton will be challenging for wins. He was criticized a lot last year for his unnecessarily aggressive driving and some rookie type mistakes. He should be a more mature driver this year but the team probably will have lost too much ground at the start of 2009 for him to be considering back to back World Driver’s titles.

Heikki Kovalainen was a huge disappointment in 2008. Whilst he did score his maiden victory in Hungary, he was much slower than his team mate. His most disappointing race for me was the Italian Grand Prix where he took second place, but did not even look like challenging the victor Sebastian Vettel in the Toro Rosso.

 

I predict that Ferrari will take the World Driver’s Championship/Constructors Championship double in 2009. In testing they have consistently been in the top three all pre-season, while they have the resources to keep the team up front for the entire season.

 

I’d love to see Felipe Massa win the championship in 2009. He was desperately unlucky last year, let down by his team when he most needed them. Massa showed a great maturity and consistency in 2008, with only a couple of really bad races such as the debacle at Silverstone in the wet, where he spun several times.

 

Kimi Raikkonen had an awful 2008. He looked demotivated for a lot of 2008, making too many uncharacteristic mistakes. 2009 cannot be any worse, but I feel that Massa will outrace the Finn. Last year Kimi took lots of fastest race laps, but often did so when he had no chance of winning the race. He must improve this year.

BMW Sauber had a great 2008, establishing themselves as the third force in F1. I expect them to retain that form this year, and take a few more wins. Robert Kubica was very consistent last year but only took one victory in Canada. Quick Nick Heidfeld did not have the consistency of his Polish team mate, but still had some very good races. Both drivers should take lots of points and a few victories to enable their team to take second place in the Constructors World Championship.  

Renault had a terrible 2007 and were only slightly better in 2008. Fernando Alonso fluked a win in Singapore thanks to his team mate hitting the wall and causing a fortuitous safety car to be deployed. He then won again in Japan, to show that he is still the best driver in F1. His team mate Nelson Piquet endured a horrible season, and showed that he was perhaps not ready for F1. Hopefully for his sake he can do much better this year, otherwise he will be out of a job.

 

Renault’s testing form has been very up and down. When the R29 was first rolled out it lacked pace but by the end of the preseason they were occasionally topping the time sheets. I think they will struggle again this year.

 

Red Bull Renault had an OK year last year. They were very quick initially, but as the season wore on other teams soon surpassed their pace. Sebastian Vettel has joined the team and at the moment is the hottest thing in F1. Mark Webber has proved that he is a great qualifier but there are still a lot of doubts about his race pace. If Vettel thrashes him this year I think his F1 career may be over.

 

Having said all that, I think Red Bull may pinch a win this year. The new car was very fast when it first hit the track, but has struggled to maintain that pace throughout the preseason. I think that they will score a lot of points and podiums.

 

Toyota is the team who I think will be the most improved for 2009. I feel that they will establish themselves just behind Ferrari and BMW as the third force in F1. I feel that Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock will both take at least one win this year and score lots of points. They have had very good, consistent testing form.

 

Williams have had good testing form too, and Nico Rosberg is a great driver, but I am not sure where they will finish this year. Perhaps they will steal a win if the stars align, and they should take a few points, but I don’t think that they will do very well. Rosberg will be looking for a more competitive seat by seasons end.

Brawn have dominated testing this preseason, and are favourites for the Australian Grand Prix. This car has been in development ofr over a year, ever since Honda decided that last season’s car was a dog. Ross Brawn is a genius and may have a car that thrashes the pants off everyone this year, but I am not convinced. I still think that they will be very fast, but am not sure if they will be able to develop the car throughout the season as much as Ferrari, McLaren or BMW. Still, I think Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will shake the grid up a lot, and may take a few wins.

 

Force India and Toro Rosso will score a few points in what should be the most competitive season of F1 ever. However I still feel that they will be the tailenders this year.

 

My Predictions

 

World Driver’s Championship

1. Felipe Massa
2. Kimi Raikkonen
3. Nick Heidfeld
4. Timo Glock
5. Robert Kubica
6. Jenson Button
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Jarno Trulli
9. Fernando Alonso
10. Mark Webber

 

 

Constructors Championship

1. Ferrari
2. BMW Sauber
3. Toyota
4. Brawn
5. McLaren Mercedes
6. Red Bull
7. Williams
8. Renault
9. Toro Rosso
10. Force India

Honda F1 Now Brawn GP

The new Brawn GP team (nee Honda) has hit the track for the first time. It is great that the team has been saved and they will unveil their sponsor when they reach Melbourne.