Ferrari and McLaren off to a flying start at first F1 test
Ask one of the Formula 1 teams at this week's opening winter test in Valencia how fast their car is compared to their rivals, and the most likely response is: "It's too early to say."
It's fair to say none of the teams are going to know all of the answers after just three days' running their 2010 cars, built to accommodate maximum fuel loads following the banning of in-race refuelling for the first time in 16 years and, in some cases, to atone for last season's disastrous design flaws.
But engineers from all the teams pore over the lap times set by all the cars, and from that mountain of data they were able to extrapolate the first clues to form ahead of Bahrain's opening grand prix on 14 March.
Ferrari's red machines looked consistently impressive and topped the timesheets for three days. That will please the Italian team immensely after they endured their worse start to a season in nearly 30 years in 2009.
New recruit Fernando Alonso clocked the fastest time of the test on its final day as he scorched round Valencia's Ricardo Tormo track in one minute 11.470 seconds, to eclipse Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa's best mark of 1:11.722 by 0.252 seconds.
Alonso's best lap was set during a period when he was running with low fuel levels - but not low enough to take anything away from his pace.
Given the brilliant Spaniard's fiery determination to win a third world championship title now he has finally arrived at Ferrari, his immediate pace looks potentially ominous for those trying to stop him.
Ferrari will also have been encouraged by Massa's performance.
Six months on from his horrific crash at the Hungarian Grand Prix, when he fractured his skull and narrowly avoided permanent damage to his left eye, the Brazilian racked up a massive 226 laps over two days.
On Monday, when the track was still 'green' - dirty and without any rubber laid down to increase grip - Massa strung 10 laps together and nailed 1:13 on every single one, suggesting early on that Ferrari had genuine pace.
Ferrari appeared to be running with average 2009 fuel loads on Monday - as were most teams - so they could gather a baseline of data to compare last season's car with their 2010 version.
Alonso made an impressive debut for Ferrari in Valencia
Things became even more interesting over the last two days when teams began experimenting with the amount of fuel on board in preparation for 2010's rule changes.
The ban on refuelling during races means the teams must learn how to eke out maximum performance from a car loaded to the hilt with fuel at the same time as developing pure pace with light fuel on board for the qualifying shoot-out that defines grid positions - as well as managing the transition between the two during the race.
On Tuesday, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton strung together a 24-lap run and set his fastest lap of 1:12.256 during the middle of that spell.
That is revealing because Hamilton would have needed enough fuel on board to stay out for that distance. So to set a fastest time when he was carrying a not insignificant amount of fuel shows the McLaren, like the Ferrari, is in good shape.
On the face of it, Jenson Button's performance on Wednesday was not one you would expect from the reigning world champion. He finished fifth in the timesheets, 0.695 seconds adrift of team-mate Hamilton's best time - and nearly 1.5secs slower than Alonso.
However, his times suggest the 30-year-old was running within a medium fuel load, making super- fast times less likely, and given he has only had a month with McLaren compared to Hamilton's decade, Button should be satisfied.
Button's former boss, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn, has already admitted that his team are slightly behind Ferrari and McLaren.
"We are reasonable but not as quick as Ferrari," Brawn surmised. "Lewis (Hamilton) looked quick, so it looks like we've got a bit of work to do.
"On full tanks we were the same pace as the Ferraris but on low fuel they were quicker. That's slightly strange but it may be the issues we have with the car, which we can fix for (the next test in) Jerez."
The encouraging news for Mercedes is that their new driver line-up of Nico Rosberg and the returning seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher appears to be settling in nicely.
Schumacher, 41, got up to pace after just 20 laps, which is testament to his natural talent after three years out of the cockpit.
The best time set by Schumacher over his day and a half in the cockpit of 1:12.438 was more than 0.4 seconds faster than Rosberg's best - 1m12.899.
The Mercedes team-mates were running similar programmes in Valencia and, although Schumacher was slightly faster than Rosberg, they were both consistent over long runs.
Overall, Ferrari and McLaren showed early signs of being back to their best in the build-up to 2010 with Mercedes, who hold the constructors' title in their former guise of Brawn, just behind.
With the trio heading the seven-strong field in terms of pace, Sauber and Renault appeared to be early contenders for best of the rest.
Sauber rocketed up the timesheets as between them Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi finished runners-up to Ferrari on all three days of the test.
The Swiss-based team are certainly showing signs of competitiveness but their times are tempered by the fact that they were not set during longer runs on the track, which could mean they had less fuel on board.
Renault, on the other hand, signalled their competitiveness when lead driver Robert Kubica set out on Tuesday for a long run with heavy fuel on board while still managing to bang out consistent times.
Williams also put Rubens Barrichello and Nico Hulkenberg, newly-promoted from reserve driver to the race seat, through their paces by sending them out for lengthy stints on the track.
Remarkably, Barrichello notched up 256 miles on Tuesday. A normal race distance is around 190 miles - no wonder the 37-year-old looked shattered.
The teams will be joined by Red Bull, who ended the 2009 season as the fastest team on the track, for next week's second test in Jerez.
If Valencia is a sign of things to come, the 2010 season could be very close indeed.
People often ask how I came to be the Formula 1 lady for the BBC website. Well, after being dragged around vintage car rallies and auto jumbles by my Dad, motor racing got under my skin. I am now a fully paid-up member of F1's travelling circus after a year on the road as part of the BBC team. I look forward to bringing you more on- and off-track adventures here. You can also follow me on 
© MMX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~32~RS~)
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Why is it that the chosen comment of Sarah's to appear in the actual article as a link should be a negative one about Jenson Button? Todays actual report on BBC's F1 page details the problems Button experienced in getting comfotable in the car and yet a deliberately provocative negative extract is chosen.
What is this need in the media to snipe at somebody in this way? I'm not Button's number 1 fan but this is the earliest of early days in the season. It smacks of a cheap shot.
On a more positive note I have to say the livery of the new Virgin car on its release looked very striking. I do hope the new teams all make the grid and add that bit of extra colour. I guess though, it won't be long before the media is deriding them too. Branson is too easy a target.
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Let's be honest here, brutal, but honest. Had Jenson Button not had a good car at the start of last season he would not be World Champion. Other teams started to catch up later in the season and confirmed that JB's skills are good, but not in the class of Schumacher, Hamilton or Alonso.
This year unless the Ferraris have poor reliability, I believe we will see them romp away with both Drivers and Constructors titles.
A Good Ferrari and Alonso - difficult to beat, unless McLaren step up a gear
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something must be wrong in the text, you wrote Rosbergs time of 1:12.426 is slower then Schumachers 1:12.438 ? Then Rosberg is faster? I thought Rosberg done a 1:12.899 and when both driver used the same setup Schumacher was nearly half a sec. faster then Nico.
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I was at the test in Valencia on Tuesday and Wednesday and I think McLaren and Sauber look very strange (almost too long). Jenson looks like he is sitting too high in the car but still his driving looked and sounded very smooth. Fernando just seemed to be going faster than everyone else, and Michael looked as fast as he used to. The Merc and Ferrari look fantastic. I hope Renault get some sponsors soon as the yellow is just too much. Can't wait for the season to start but I do think that it will be Ferrari that will be in the best shape come March 14th!
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Why did Jenson waste so much time yesterday morning, sorting out his seating position? Surely this wasn't the first time he had ever sat in this car, and couldn't this have been done back at the factory? Or does this suggest that McLaren rushed the launch of the MP4-25?
Also, congratulations to Sauber for a strong start from the ashes of BMW. Looks like the Ferrari engine could be the one to watch this season.
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I think it´s too early to really see where Jenson stands in regards to Lewis. A few more days of testing and hopefuly we´ll see his true potential in the Mclaren!
Ferrari seem fast,although again lets wait and see where they all stand in a few weeks time.
BTW - great summary Sarah. As a Spanish resisent I´m pleased that you now understand that it can get FREEZING cold in the morning (although in the Sun at Midday it really warms up :))
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Surely then that means Rosberg was 0.012 quicker than Schumacher or did you get the times mixed up?
I have a nasty feeling this could be an embarrassing year for Button.
And I don't necessarily think it will be his fault.
I hope I'm wrong.
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ok, i didnt know that Rosberg drove a 1:12:4xx on day 3 or 2. I thought Rosberg drove on day2 1:12.899? and day 3 1:13.xxx I cant see any 1:12.426 from Rosberg in the list.
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Agree with WelcomeHome .. seating position could and should have been sorted at the factory, to not be out on the track is a waste of valuable time .. Button or McLarens fault ? Has the car been made too small to accomodate Button ?
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To RubensSchumacher - I edit the F1 blogs, as you may know. You're absolutely right. There was an error on Rosberg's fastest time. It's actually a 1m12.899, which makes him slightly more than 0.4secs quicker than Rosberg. It's now been amended. Sorry for the slip.
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"he best time set by Schumacher over his day and a half in the cockpit of 1:12.438 was just 0.012 seconds faster than Rosberg's best - 1:12.426."
Rosberg's best for the test was 1:12:899 - almost half a second off Schuey's best of 1:12:438!!!
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That's better! Still, I wouldn't call almost half a second just 'slightly faster' than his teammate!
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Two things Sarah Holt: Button’s fastest time was 0.695 seconds down on Lewis’ fastest time NOT 0.305 seconds. And Alonso got up to speed in a brand new team on his first day, so why shouldn’t Button?
Also, Schumacher got up to pace after years out of the cockpit which, according to you is a testament to his natural talent, so by conclusion, Button can’t have much of that.
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biglewisfan - that's been changed too. Thanks.
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Andrew Benson: it's still showing as 0.305.
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As Sarah herself rightly says in the second line of her blog, it's too early to say, so all this debate is, frankly, a waste of time. The first time we'll really know how competitive each of the cars is will be 12th March; until then I suggest everyone keeps cool and stops jumping to conclusions.
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@ poster 13: Something made no sense to me. You said Alonso got up to speed in a brand new team, why shouldnt Button? Because he didnt, Alonso was quick for his new team and Button wasnt quick in his new team. But we have to wait for next week, my prediction is that Button has no chance against Hamilton, Button won the title in a car so dominating cause of DD
@ 13 Your last argument with Schumachers natural talent is also a bit strange to me because why you put this argument with Schumachers natural talent against Jenson Button?
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For starters i'm firmly in the Hamilton camp.
However i don't think Sarah's comments about Button are unkind in any way she gave the reasons he may hhave been slower and quoted less of a margin than was actually true.
What you need to remember when looking at Button v Hamilton at this test is.
a: The engineers already know how Hamilton likes his car set up, they don't know how to tune perfectly for Button yet
b: Button isn't known for being great at passing info on to engineers in how to improve the car for him
c: McLaren aren't bothered about testing their drivers pace. Just that of the car. Therefore Button and Hamilton prob had completely different test regimes. Different fuel loads, tyre pressures, wing angle, suspension etc.
I fully expect Hamilton to beat Button over the course of the season but they both have their strengths and weaknesses and nothing is proved until they meet on competitive terms at the first race.
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Never in the field of human conflict has so much been said be so many on the basis of so little! :-)
The one fact that we seem to have is that Ferrari is quick, but we don't know just how quick. What we can say about the other teams is minimal.
We heard that the McLaren car is in real trouble and is "no better than last winter" and then we hear that it is actually very quick, but we also hear that it is no match for Ferrari and that they are in for an embarassing season unless they can get their act together (apparently, for some 606ers, there are only two entries for this year's Championship). Most of this analysis seems based on tenuous facts at best.
This season we have a whole new ballgame. New fuel regulations. New tyre regulations. New scoring. New teams. New tactics. New strategy. Winter practice suddenly becomes a vital data-gathering exercise with teams largely completely in the dark beforehand and still wondering how to get the best out of their cars. Several of the teams aren't even in Valencia and others are just trying out different things to see what they find. It is very early to make sweeping judgements!
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@2
It is far too early to say that "Ferrari will romp away" with both titles. We mustn't forget that last year, Ferrari did look very fast in testing, and then went on to have a shocking season.
McLaren on the other hand (last year) DID look awful in testing, and still beat Ferrari overall in the season.
The times are close, Ferrari are by no means going to win at Melbourne, you just wait and watch - - testing is far from over...and McLaren do not give up so easily. Nor will Mercedes.
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@17 oooh, excuses excuses. Funny how Alonso and Schumacher don't need excuses.
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You can only really measure a driver's performance against that of his teammate. Alonso's teammate is Massa who only has half a season's experience with this 'generation' of F1 car, and who has hardly been able to drive an F1 car at all in the last six months. Massa is arguably not at his best right now, while Hamilton seems to keep getting stronger with each passing race, and has the benefit of being intimately familiar both with the car and with his engineering team.
It's not to make excuses - Button probably should have been able to get closer to Hamilton's time. But you shouldn't lose sight of the fact that in these early tests the aim isn't to go out and set the absolute fastest time possible; it's about learning about the car and becoming comfortable with it.
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Button probably won't beat Hamilton this year but it will be purely down to the fact that Mclaren are actually Team Hamilton, the team revolves around Hamilton and sod the other driver.
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Another rule change, I don't care anymore, the sport has destroyed itself and shot itself in the foot so many times. There is no longer romance but the stink of people trying to push air into a dead horse and convince us it's alive and well. I think people will leave in droves.
A grand prix is always a place to be seen for the rich and famous, but TV audiences will start to dwindle.
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There are two groups of drivers in F1:
1. Michael Schumacher
2. Everybody else.
Those who compare the two must be drinking their bathwater!
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Regarding the talk with Button v Hamilton, though I think Hamilton will out qualify his team mate 70% of the time, Hamilton will in all probability be a lot harder on his tyres during racing than Button.
Looking after one's tyres this season is going to be paramount, so I expect to see Mr Button have the steadier and quicker car come 8 or 10 laps to go.
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#23 Don't be silly, you don't believe that do you? When Hamilton was called into the pits 6 laps early in Monaco 2007 were they favouring him then?
Jenson will struggle to match Lewis but that won't because his team are conspiring against him, that would be pointless.
It's early days and lets see what happens in the next test, yes Ferrari are quick but were they putting on a show for the Spanish fans and building the confidence of their returning driver?
Maybe.
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Fred (#25), what do you suggest? Shall we just cancel this season and award him the Championship now? Obviously it's not worth running the races, is it?
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I have read most of the comments posted, and I agree with some of them. What I cannot understand is why some people under rate Jensen Button in his first year as WORLD CHAMPION. The comment by a Mr. C. Sinclair saying that if his car had not been good last year, he would not have made the world championship. This is utter biased rubbish ! Jensen tried to bring his car up to scratch for a lot of last year, then when it was right for him he "blew " every one away including all the so called good cars, ie ferrari etc.
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#25
I think Alonso can be compared with Schumacher seen as he beat him twice and given that Hamilton has proved himself alongside Alonso he can also be ranked alongside.
Schumacher is a great driver but he certainly isn't the only one.
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Sarah, generally, this not too deep analysis, admittedly preliminary, and after all, the press have to create content, is debatably sound.
But the comment, "The encouraging news for Mercedes is that their new driver line-up of Nico Rosberg and the returning seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher appears to be settling in nicely.", does not align with the facts. Things are not all well at Mercedes, as would be expected when a fast rising star collides unexpectedly with a red giant. Whether it was psychological war, or just well-worn experience, Rubens' comment to Nico, to 'get out' was very telling; as was the visible discomfort of Nico over his participation in the test.
True, Nico got the ceremonial first run in the new car, but let's face it, that just means he got to shake it down, so that his partner could go straight into testing proper.
As predicted in your blog before the first test, it will be clear that tehre is a number 1 and number 2 at Mercedes by the first race, despite absurd media spin from Mercedes to the contrary.
Go Nico, go!
Currently, it looks like the best machine/team/human package is going to be Lewis and Alonso, but I continue to hold high hopes for Webber and Vettel; I believe the later start for the Red Bulls is so Mercedes can't copy their solutions even more.
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The early testing cannot and should not be used as an indication of what is to come. Before the first race sop much can happen that these early tests will not be of any use to us.
What I do know is that Ferrari made a monumental error in pursuing Fernando Alsonso and making him know that he is wanted, whatever the cost.
He is a disestablishing factor, as he showed at Mclaren, so it will not be long before he will be on his way....unless Ferrari have too much pride and do not want to admit this was an error.
I am a Shumi fan, ever since the demise of Senna, and I am sure he will amaze us all this season by winning races.
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Judging pace on 3 days practice seems a bit rash but the signs so far do tend to agree with your analysis. Although bear in mind the Ferrari will likely have been better set up to run yesterday than monday or tuesday when Massa had the reins so that could explain some of that advantage. What is ominous is Buttons performance, unless himself and Lewis were running significantly different tyres and fuel strategy he looks way off the pace in comparison. Slower and with an extra days data and tuning is not a good sign for Jenson and confirms what most people thought that he is likely to be playing second fiddle to Lewis all season.
The points announcement today is interesting. It becomes even more important to finish in the points now, potentially giving up 25, 17, heck even 8 points (for 6th? or 7th?) could be crucial so with more points on offer its essential to finish in the top 4 or 5 every race and missing out on those spoils on a regular basis will almost certainly see you fall off the pace.
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For all those doubting Jenson's worthiness as a World Champion, just cast your minds back to the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2009 season. Nothing more needs to be said.
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Agree with WelcomeHome .. seating position could and should have been sorted at the factor
--------
Not that easy, it's not always a case of what is the most comfortable or offers the best view, the dynamics and handling of the car under full speed conditions can have a huge effect and oftena compromise position is needed, they could NOT have tested this properly at the factory. In all likelyhood other drivers had similar issues (I'm sure at least one other said about it on day 1) but nobody asked the question.
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Not sure about the new points system. Fair enough, over two races, you'd get more points for a first and a third than two second-places (which is how it should be), but there's next to no incentive for taking risks if you're lying third and in with a sniff of second.
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It is very early, and drawing conlusions is naive at best. I'm a Ferrari fan and am pleased that we appear to have made a decent car this year, I think that's about all that can be said so far.
As for Ferrari romping away with it, don't forget we haven't even seen the Red Bull yet. They won the last 3 races of 2009, have Adrian Newey as chief designer and have the outstanding young driver in F1 in the form of Vettel who is only growing in experience and reputation. I think the combination of Vettel and Red Bull is a big danger to everyone this season.
Looking forward to an exciting season, roll on Bahrain.
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*37 - I completely agree and from reading these posts I'm a little shocked that Vettel hadn't been mentioned before. He is a formidable driver and one to watch. Red Bull were unbeatable towards the end of last season and Vettel's aggressive and risk-taking style of driving has seen him do well. He will definitely be a World Champion, if not this season then soon.
As far as Button and Hamilton go, only time will tell but it's hard to see how a team who signed Hamilton when he was 13 will suddenly start treating the new boy the same, even if he is World Champion.
Looking forward to the season, not sure on the new points scoring system (surely they can't change everything!!??)
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Alonso beat Schumacher cause he had mass damper system installed, and he beat not only Schumacher, which had the worst car since 1996, he beat the whole field. The Renault was so much quicker even a monkey could have won the title in that car. Schumacher never had a car that quick in his career and once Ferrari got the job done and catched up to the end of the season alonso disappeared like a bubble. Thats what most ppl forget here it seems.
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RubensSchumacher - What rot. In 2002 and 2004 the Ferrari destroyed everyone by a country mile. In 1999, when Schumi broke his leg, Eddie Irvine almost became champion!
Not only did Schumacher spend all of his championship seasons in a highly competitive car (and in 02 and 04 a clearly dominant one - infinitely more so than the 09 Brawn ever was!), he won his first title through driving Hill off the road, and most of the time had a team-mate ordered to finish behind him. And those were the days (unlike 2009) when only 2 teams were usually capable of winning races.
None of which is to deny that Schumacher is a very fast driver, just to put a little perspective on bizarre comments about Schumi never having a belter of a car.
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Hamilton, Button, Massa, Schumaker, Alonso, Vettel, Rosberg, Kubica, ... Just as well the points go down to 10th now, or someone would be unlucky! It really does have all the elements to be quite a season if the best drivers all get decent cars. In reality though, at least one team will be bitterly disappointing despite promising test results and someone's reputation will be pulped by mid-season.
People keep forgetting that half the teams didn't even go to Valencia. Some teams won't even have rolled-out their cars next week. And, for the first 2 or 3 Grand Prix of an increasingly long season many of the teams will be far from their final design. This season is not going to be a sprint; rather it will be a marathon but, as Brawn showed last season, if someone does get a rocket-propelled start, having a highly competitative field thereafter will make it almost impossible to catch them. This season tactics and strategy will be critical and that may throw in some real surprises as slower teams find a way to out-think their rivals. The Championship may well not go to the quickest car or driver!
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34. At 4:41pm on 04 Feb 2010, WelcomeHomeF1 wrote:
"For all those doubting Jenson's worthiness as a World Champion, just cast your minds back to the Brazilian Grand Prix, the penultimate race of the 2009 season."
Ah, you mean the grand prix when Jenson with the 2nd to 3rd best car qualified 13 places behind his teammate without any misfortune, then in the race with the dry setup from Saturday he was 10kph faster than him and half the grid who were sitting ducks down the straight, and still would have finished way behing him had the latter not been hit from behind? That grand prix?
Fine, now let's talk about the other 8 he was outright slower than Rubens.
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Whilst Brawn were dominant in the first third to half of last season, undoubtedly because of the double diffuser design the car's chassis was compromised because of the late change of engine. So once the other teams had integrated their own double diffuser designs, Brawn's advantage had gone and they most probably suffered because of the chassis compromise. Button may well have romped away with the title last year had the chassis been right for the mercedes engine.
As far as making predictions for the season based on the first three days testing... I think I'll pass on that one thanks.
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@ 40 : I must disagree! Schumacher mostly had only 2nd best cars, Williams and McLaren were most of the time stronger. Schumacher compensated it with his speed and talent. His team mates never would have won a title. I repeat Schumacher never had a car like the Renault 2005/06. 2005 they were only 3rd best car, also 96. Alonso never did the trick of winning races with a slow car. What u wrote is really a bit rubbish, im sorry to say that. I can only repeat it, Barrichello wasnt quick enough to match Schumacher so how can they told him to drive slow? It happend only one time and Jean Todt thought it would be safer for the title race to earn this one point but it had absolutely no affect for the title race, in fact Schumacher gifted him all back be letting Rubens win. If u think there was a conspiracy against Rubens then i cant help u anymore, i can say the same for Barrichello-Button or Alonso-Hamilton. Irvine himself admitted that there never was team orders. As if Barrichello got all the bad parts with hair line cracks :) So again his team mates were not orderd to stay behind him, he just dominated them. Irvine would have never won the title in 1999, he never was a champion, he was more playing with the girls. If Schumacher had always a the best car he would be called a 15 times world champion!
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27. At 2:44pm on 04 Feb 2010, Ginger wrote:
"When Hamilton was called into the pits 6 laps early in Monaco 2007 were they favouring him then?"
"DADDY DADDY THEY DIDN'T LET ME WIN"
What happened?
"DADDY THEY PITTED ME EARLIER THAN ALONSO"
Yes my boy that's because this is what teams normally do in street circuits, they split the risk so that if a SC comes out they don't lose both cars. If the race is under control sometimes they pit a couple of laps earlier to get it out of the way because you risk wrecking your race the longer you stay out. You know that now don't you?
"DADDY THEY PITTED ME EARLY NOT HIM"
But this was the only way you could have won the race, you were second not heavy and some way down the road. They gave you the chance and you had nothing to lose. That's exactly what you had agreed in the briefing wasn't it?
"DADDY THEY ARE FAVOURING ALONSO I AM WITH THEM FOR YEARS AND THEY BETRAYED ME"
Yes but you were 2nd and finished 2nd, if a SC came out you'd have won because of that and Alonso would be out of the podium. And if you'd qualified ahead of him this wouldn't be an issue anyway!"
"DADDY I WAS FASTER THAN ALONSO"
Yes but Alonso opened up 8 seconds in 15 laps, he was only losing in traffic, he had you, easy!
"DADDY THEY ALSO TOLD ME FROM THE RADIO TO SLOW DOWN LATE ON. TEAM ORDERS!"
Yes but that's what always happens in the last stint, teams control the situation to get the 1-2 and not throw it away.
"DADDY I WAS CLOSING HIM DOWN"
Yes that's because Alonso slowed down first the team told him to control the situation, this is what happens, you should have slowed down too not go and stick to his tail for 15 laps, this is unprecedented, now look what you've done. What's the point, what if one of you had an off and you tangled god forbid? Ok Ron and Martin will cover us as they do but what will Alonso be thinking now, he may want to put one over us later on.
"DADDY I WAS ABOUT TO OVERTAKE HIM BUT THEY DIDN'T LET ME"
Overtake YOUR TEAMMATE, who is FASTER than you anyway, IN MONACO of all places, ON THE LAST STINT???
"DADDY......"
Oh ok then. "THEY DIDN'T LET MY BOY WIN! BUUUUUUHUHU"
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Rubens, interesting comments but, like Fernando Alonso, he is also well known for ensuring that he has a #2 driver who is no threat to his dominance, which is surprisingly insecure. I'm looking forward to seeing Lewis Hamilton try to fight off Jenson Button. I'm also looking forward to seeing how Fernando Alonso copes with a highly competititive rival in the same team... last time he didn't like it much and he is only accepting it this time because (a) it's his only chance to get a competitive car and (b) he knows that Felipe Massa will probably only be in Ferrari with him for one season. If Nico Rosberg starts to challenge him Michael Schumaker's reactions may be very revealing!
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Re the new points system..and I quote .. 'It is the second change to the points system in as many months, after it was realised that a change to 25 points to a win and 20 for second place did not alter the percentage difference between first and second place.'
These are supposed to be mathematical geniuses (genii..?) Exactly how long has it taken them to realise that blindingly obvious fact!
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"@ 40 : I must disagree! Schumacher mostly had only 2nd best cars, Williams and McLaren were most of the time stronger. Schumacher compensated it with his speed and talent. His team mates never would have won a title. I repeat Schumacher never had a car like the Renault 2005/06. 2005 they were only 3rd best car, also 96."
I'm sorry, but this is a fantasy. Admittedly, in the early part of his career (though notably not including 1995) the Williams and McLaren teams were dominant, but from 2000-2004 the Ferrari was by far the strongest car around. Williams had disappeared, and the McLarens were horribly unreliable. This is why he holds the record for most wins in a season by such a margin, and for that matter why he has seven world championships rather than three or four- not because he was a far more talented driver than Alonso, Raikkonen, et al, but because they were all driving clown cars.
1996 is frankly irrelevant since he didn't even come close to winning.
In fact, all but one of Schumacher's titles came when he clearly did have the best car (the one exception being 1994, when he won by default). If he were as supreme a talent as you suggest, you'd expect him to have picked up championships in years when his car was less competitive.
It's also nonsense to compare the 2005 Ferrari with the 2006 model. The 2006 Ferrari might not have been vintage, but neither was that year's Renault. Massa, in the sister car to Schumi, also performed well across the season compared to Fisichella in the second Renault, suggesting that the Ferrari was a lot better than you give it credit for.
Schumacher was a great driver, I'm not going to dispute that, but he was flattered by the standard of the competition around at the time, and the consistent quality of his car (and support staff) compared to others on the grid. It will be interesting to see him race against drivers who are actually experienced and have competitive cars, because he's come up short against several of them in the past.
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I like this article and I'm just grateful for the coverage - this season is going to be great
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People should not be surprised that Jenson is slower than Hamilton, the only reason he won the World Championship is because at the start of the last season he had the best car, when the other manufacturers became competitive with better drivers, he never won a race.
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Let's face it - it's Alonso.
His primary opposition - the has-been Michael Schumacher and the never-was Lewis Hamilton.
How bad a car would he have to be driving to finish the season behind that pair!
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I HAVE ONE MAIN POINT!
Do any of you know the exact fuel loads every driver was running at any given point over the 3 days of the test?
How do you know driver X who was slower than driver Y wouldn't have been faster had they been on the same fuel loads at the same time (or even on the same day)?
don't be so quick to criticise the collumn without thinking it through - the main point is that we don't really know what fuel everyone's running and what tasks they are carrying out
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Some of the posts on this blog are simply laughable...everyone's an expert all of a sudden having watched a couple of seasons of F1!!! If you've followed the sport for any number of years, and I mean REALLY followed it - every test session, every practice session, every turn of every wheel - then you will know that, for the most part, these times and the debate surrounding them are absolutely meaningless at this stage. Yes, you CAN say that the Ferrari appears to be quick (that is an opinion that I share), but that's not to say that it will continue to appear quick as other teams (and indeed Ferrari) work their way through their respective testing schedules and finalise their car set-up.
Something else that I was really hoping would have died a death by now is all the "Jenson only won because he had the best car..." nonsense - do you people not grasp the very basic concepts of Formula 1??? The teams are competing to build the best/fastest car possible, to propel whoever's driving it to the championship in any given year. So what if it turns out that the Ferrari is as dominant as some people are already saying it will be, does that mean that, if Alonso wins the WDC this yesr, everyone will be saying "Fernando only won because he had the best car..."??? Armchair critics always need to have someone to bash and sadly always have an ignorant opinion to force on the public at large! But hey, I'm one of them and that's just my opinion... ;-)
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I would like to raise a formal complaint with the moderators about post #54 by Mike Barty. His comments were subjective, logical, mature, and therefore completely inappropriate for blog feedback, which should always be biased, puerile and impetuous.
I do hope appropriate action will be taken immediately ;-)
Quips aside, this very point, having a blog to cover testing rather than an actual news report, I feel warrants debate. I would personally prefer Sarah Holt submitted a tight news story getting to the point, rather than a meandering blog. As in my parody above, I find blogs tend to attract pointless childish debate as they are not taken seriously. I would hope a formal news piece would instead garner mature discussion. I think it's worth discussing.
BTW, @#1 inoffapost, Andrew Benson was justified in running the quote on Jenson Button he did. Journalism is to attract, inform and entertain readers. The quote he ran certainly attracted your attention, informed others, and definitely entertained me :-)
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I'd bear in mind, for anyone reading too much into the testing times, just how many times last year Williams managed to top the timesheets in testing. And yet never managed to convert that headline pace into genuine results in the race.
Going out and blasting round the track trying to set the fastest lap time is one thing, but there's a lot more going on in testing, especially the first test session of the year while getting used to new regulations which have significantly altered the balance of the cars. Obviously being fastest can never be a bad sign, but I certainly wouldn't be drawing any conclusions at this point about who is going to be fast and who isn't.
It's a testing session, not qualifying.
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Re comment 34
People say that Jensen's drive in Brazil was the drive of a world champion.
What most people seem to to be ignoring is the fact that Lewis and Vettel both started behind Jensen on the grid that day and both of them finished ahead of him in the final standings.
So who's drive was really that of a world champion?
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Re 58
"So who's drive was really that of a world champion?"
Only one driver finished that race as world champion. That's the definition of a champion's drive. Nothing more, nothing less.
I do think it's a shame that there are a lot of people who are maybe fairly new to watching F1 who don't understand that it's basically a test of a team's ability to build a winning car. The driver maybe adds a small percentage in terms of what the car is capable of, but ultimately F1 has always been about which team can come up with the best car within the rules. Occasionally through circumstance a slower car can win the odd race, but generally through the course of a championship it'll be a question of engineering and tactical skill, while the job of the driver is little more than to not fall off the track and extract the performance from the car.
It's as true for Button, Alonso, Hamilton, and Vettel, as it has been for Scumacher, Prost, Senna, Lauda, Piquet, and so on, all through the whole history of F1.
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Sarah Holt is clueless when it comes to the technical side of F1. Andrew Benson should be writing these blogs
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@ 55: your wrong here! Button won the title because he had the advantage of DD and the whole rest of the field not, simple as that! Later in the season the others catched up and Button dropped in performance, couldnt win anymore. For me the Button title is a bit cheated and i tell u why, FIA advisors were there visiting every team and told them whats within the rules and whats not, and allowed Brawn GP the DD and the others not, for me thats clearly an unfair advantage and Brawn GP used this unfair advantage until they had enough gap, they won the title cause of the gap in points they collected in the beginning. I actually doubt that Ferrari has invented the wheel new like Brawn did last season. You will see that Button will not be stronger then Hamilton, he will be number 2 driver once Hamilton dominates him until mid season.
@ 48: Sorry but i watched all F1 races from 1992 on and in 1996 Schumacher won 3 races with the Ferrari, i will always remember the rain battle of 1996, Schumacher 4 secs a lap faster then the rest. Sorry but how can u even list Raikkonen in this list? Schumacher would have won the title easily in Raikkonens Ferrari, Raikkonen wasnt fired without a reason. Massa performed better then Fisichella because Massa is a better driver, Fisichella could do nothing in the Ferrari last year. Also Schumacher always loved complicated cars to drive. He was every season a title contender exept 1999 and he would have won it too if there wasnt the accident with his leg. How can u say the 2001 Ferrari was the best car? Barrichello won not even one race in it and he was 3rd over all loosing to coulthard. In 2000 Rubens won one race with the car and Mika Hakkinen was by far stronger and the cars were totally even! Barichello ended in 4th place in your so called "best car", the same Barrichello who chased Button towards the end of the season.
I will only accept 2002 Ferrari as beeing dominant but Barrichello still only reached 77 points compared to 144 of Schumacher. 2003 again Barrichello only 4ths in the list in your "best car", managed to win 2 races, maybe cause other drivers DNF. 2003 was a very even season with many different winners i just wanna notice, so no domination at all!
In 2004 i will also accept that the Ferrari was the best car because Barrichello became vice champion :) 2005 MS managed 3rd in the table with such a bad car compared to Rubens 8th rang. 2006 Alonso had the strongest car right from the beginning of the season he drove away with it, Ferrari catched up towards the end of the season and MS was then faster then Alonso, also the Ferrari was not reliable compared to Renualt und an engine blow destroyed MS hopes to win the title.
So MS only had in 2002 and 2004 a really great car. Despite that he would have won 1999 too and in 1997 he managed to fight for the title against the stronger Williams until the last race, until his desperate move against Villeneuve. So for me you look probably to rose tinted british glasses when you say Schumacher had always the best car in his career, its actually almost funny.
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@ #59 mazdachris
I do think it's a shame that there are a lot of people who are maybe fairly new to watching F1 who don't understand that it's basically a test of a team's ability to build a winning car.
Spot on mate!
Teamwork.
Just to give a minor example.
People forget that a driver can come into the boxes for a tyre change, a mechanic can drop a bolt, or leave the fueling rig on a second longer.
The time delay meant him loosing his lead.
But then I guess we dealing with Sun readers...
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61. At 1:11pm on 05 Feb 2010, RubensSchumacher wrote:
@ 55: your wrong here! Button won the title because he had the advantage of DD and the whole rest of the field not, simple as that! Later in the season the others catched up and Button dropped in performance, couldnt win anymore.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
This is just a completely false statement. For one, his team mate driving the same car also had a double diffuser, and also the Williams and Toyota had a double diffuser. So I make that 6 cars out of 20 or a not too small 30% of the grid had a double diffuser.
You should get your facts right otherwise one day your incorrect outbursts will catched up with yourself.
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yeah, this season could be close but Jerez is forcast for rain during the test. Force India and VR will be in the test and Red Bull. Looks like Lotus,USF1,Campos will be in the third test. It might be. But then again Campos are struggling and might not make the grid. Stefan GP could join in 2010 but have the chance to join in 2011.
It makes me wonder how many of the teams we have now, will still be in 2020.
Teams Had Left During In The 00s-
Prost left in early 2002
Benetton- bought by Renault
Arrows-
Jaguar
Minardi
BAR
Jordan
Sauber
Midland F1
Spyker
Super Aguri
Honda
Toyota
Brawn
Any comments about those teams people?
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@ 63 : yes they had DD too and thats why exactly those "slower" could compete for wins in the beginning. Brawn GP took the DD to another level and we all here know or at least the ppl with a bit of F1 knowledge that Ferrari,Mclaren or BMW would have won the title if the FIAs advisor agreed to the DD designs of those teams. Thats why Briatore gone mad about the FIA, for me its a double standard, if you allow it to some teams then you have to allow it to all teams. Its good that DD is banned next year, i already fear for quad Diffusor. Its good that F1 slowly become more even.
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Re 65
I'm not sure you understand what a double diffuser is and how it is allowed within the regulations. 'quad diffusor' doesn't make any sense. Even the concept of a double diffuser only exists as a means of exploiting a loophole. There's nothing more efficient or practically superior about a double diffuser over a traditional one. if they had the option of building single decker diffusers the same height as the double diffuser concept allows, it would generate far more downforce and less turbulence.
What Renault had proposed wasn't the same as the double diffuser concept. If it was, then it would have been allowed. If you understand the rules, then the loophole is very clear. There's no ambiguity whatsoever.
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It's always funny for me to read about the Hamiltonists and the Buttonists going at each other. For the Buttonists, Hamilton is the spoilt baby at McLaren and has the team built around him and thus must have underperformed for the first half of last year.. For the Hamiltonists, Jenson only won the title because his car was better. Now they are team-mates this tittle-tattle point-scoring can only get worse.
If we follow this logic, Lewis won the title because his car was better, everyone who has ever won the title did so because their car was better... But no, it seems the Hamiltonists use the idea of the unlevel playing field of the start of last year, with the Brawns and Red Bulls so far ahead of the others that it wasn't somehow a 'fair' contest and that over the course of the season, Hamilton proved his worth by scoring a few victories which means JB wasn't the worthy winner. Both Webber and Vettel can lay a much greater claim to being the nearly-champions of last year, but both failed for other reasons. This could also apply to 2000-2004 when Ferrari ran wild.
How anyone can make wild predictions as to Ferrari-Alonson running off with it, Nico being cast as a poor second to Schumi already or any other wild guess is beyond me. Not only have we not seen the first race (still miles too early to guess anything) we haven't even seen the runners-up of last year, Red Bull. The old hierarchy of Ferrari-McLaren has been resumed in the eyes of many after the 'lapse' of last year. This doesn't reflect the tremendous progress teams like Brawn and Red Bull made over the last couple of seasons. Let's face it, by the end of the year, with the gap between the 'old' teams and the 'surprise packages' almost negligible, Brawn and Red Bull still managed to outperform Lewis and Kimi on occasion.
Rant out!
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I'm also slightly bemused by the pitiful expectations people seem to have of Rosberg. I fancy him as a race-winner this year, possibly as a bit of a Germanophile. It is very hard to account for his great points-scoring record last year, 11 points finishes unless I'm mistaken, if we do not acknowledge him as a very capable driver. Considering the fact his team mate did nothing all season, nor ever threatened to really, the logical conclusion is that Rosberg had something which stretched the limit of the Williams and got the best out of it.
Certainly for me one of the biggest factors coming in to this year will be whether Adrian Newey can come up with the goods once again. Let's remind ourselves that Red Bull were mighty quick last year even BEFORE they developed the double diffuser.
For me the great shame of this year onwards is that potential champions like Massa, Vettel, Rosberg and others, plus existing champions such as Alonso, Hamilton and Button won't be able to be compared with Prost, Senna, Piquet, Fangio, Clark, Stewart et. al. because of the change to the points system. 'All-Time' rankings prove a very interesting part of being an F1 fan, and this shake-up will rob commentators, fans and pundits alike the chance to argue over who is the best driver, all things considered. There are arguments that each championship historically has altered numbers of rounds contested, some the best X out of X points counted, and so on..
It can also be seen that the shake-up to the qualifying sessions affects the all-time lists as well. The measurement of who is the quickest over one single flying lap is gone out of the window, as drivers were all on different fuel levels and now this year they will have to start with old tyres so this might discourage the purest 'quick' driver.
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Rubensschumi your really not remembering the 2005-6 period correctly at all. in 05 the ferrari was quite poor by normal standards, by 06 it was back up to full speed. schumi was on pole at bahrain and should of won but got out foxed and out battled by renault and alonso.
in 05 the mclaren was the best car, yet fernando won.
the mass damper which had been declared legal until it looked like schumi was going to lose the title was actually made illegal with a good few races to go and yet fernando still won.
taking nothing away from michaels great titles and wins but u got to get real. even the benetton in 95 tho perhaps not as quick on paper as the williams, they had a much better strat team hill would be leading and his pit stops would each take 4secs more than michaels. and no one could beat schumi when your giving away so much time at every stop.
so yeah, michael is and was great. but so are others. you get this with michael and with rossi and its crazy that people believe that if they lose it has to be someone else fault and its BS.
This year with have lewis, fernando, michael, vettel etc all great drivers.
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@ 69, sorry but i have to diaagree. In 2006 the Renault was again fastest and Ferrari catched up only towards the end of the season, the Renault was also the most reliable. In 2005 the Renault was the best car.
No, there is always a driver which is faster then the others! For me this driver should be called the champion but F1 is also a team sport and it happens that the team with the best and fastest driver get only a medicore car. So when the best driver in the field is 0,5 sec a lap faster in any car he will drive that dosnt mean that he will win the title. if lets say Sauber build a car which is 1 sec a lap faster and Ralf Schumacher as a driver :) they will be faster then the natural fastest driver, the true champion in my mind. that is the point that worries me the most and thats why i hope for the futute that all cars are the same. i hope u understand my english, the last bits i remember from tmy schooltime :)
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@RubensSchumacher
By saying that you hope at some point in the future all F1 cars will be the same, you have demonstrated that you do not understand and/or grasp the philosophy of F1 and its place as the pinnacle of motorsport. If you don't like it, plenty of fun can be had watching GP2, Formula 2, Renault World Series etc etc...
Enough said I reckon.
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Can I ask when the BBC and or FOM will introduce television coverage of F1 in HD? Not so interested in 3D at the moment, (even though it seems to be topical right now), but with the movement/action involved in F1, HD would be very much appreciated. The 6 Nations is much more enjoyable on BBC HD (again not so bothered about 3D at the moment) and if we could just have F1 in HD then all would be good with the world! I asked the same question last year and urged the BBC to pressure FOM to get new cameras (I think they can afford them!). Answer from anyone? Sarah, Andrew?
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Michael Schumacher + Mercedes = World Championship. That is my view! I am a huge F1 fan and love following Online sports blogs on www.dozensports.com. Schumacher may be as old as Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton put together, but he is still a legend and quicker than any other driver on the circuit today. Can't wait for the F1 frenzy to start this season promises to be a hot one!
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"Alonso's best lap was set during a period when he was running with low fuel levels - but not low enough to take anything away from his pace."
Sorry? How does having fuel "low enough to take anything away from his pace" work? Surely that would be called "Running out of fuel"! Oh well, at least Sarah doesn't do that annoying dumbing-down BBC thing were apparently a paragraph can not be any longer than one or two sentences because we're all so dumb and our attention span could not possible be held for anything longer than "sound-bite"-esque statements.
Oh. Wait...
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@ 71 Formel 1 can be the pinnacle of motorsport + even cars at the same time and i see its going into the right direction now with budget limits. It should be like GP2 just faster and with the best drivers.
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@ 72 : I have sky and also HD Receiver but im not sure if F1 will be in HD. U said BBC should buy new cameras but i would think that the BBC has nothing to do with it, arent those cameras all from an FIA camera team? I thought the FIA send their own camera guys to the races and film it, it dosnt matter if it is in Bahrain oder Silverstone, we see all the same TV material. I bet they film this with HD cameras already
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HD TV? Do not give Bernie more ideas to try , he'll take some coverage off BBC and sell it to someone. The red button coverage is (rude and expressive word) awesome;Brazil was so good I feel I could say " I was there you know".
Not all race cameras are FOM ( its not FIA) some are run via the host broadcaster. I would rather they spent the money on a few acres of tarmac to widen some of these corners and a few traffic islands ala singapore/malaysia(?) to get some head to head racing in.Perhaps an annual nutter on the track at Silverstone to mix it up!!
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Ah..Aunty Beeb strikes again on REF 49
ok - the amended version..
REF 45
I want to see this as a West End Show...it'll run and run...
Bill Bailey to play the young(er) Hamilton.
On a serious note, Hamilton has suggested in recent interviews that he has had an input in the design of the new car...
So, not only is he not satisfied that he's a world champion but give him a hammer,some springs, a pencil,paper, an ACME box ordered from Wil E. Coyote's favourite supplier and guess what? 500+ mechanics and engineers at McLaren suddenly on Jobseeker's, because they're not needed anymore...Button has no input, neither apparently has Schumacher or Alonso in their respective cars.What has Hamilton added - a stereo? a CD player to listen to the very best of the Pussy Cat Dolls as he's tackling chicanes and straights at 200mph...maybe a coffee cup holder perhaps?
Hamilton is either the F1 equivalent of McGyver - or just a flagrant arrogant so and so.
...and all the talk on testing - who's faster than who...it's so irrelevant at this stage to predict, especially when we haven't seen the Red Bulls perform yet! If we go down this ludicrous path then Pedro De La Rosa in his Sauber looks destined for a top 3 finish in the DWC...off to the bookies to put 50p on it...
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Listen, cant believe im reading these blogs and everyone talking about how amazing alonso is etc, also the comment about good way to measure a good driver is by his number 2 and thus alonso is not up to scratch as massa is his number 2!!!
Massa is the best driver on the field, he should have had 2 drivers championship already if it wasnt CRASHGATE alonso and Toyota slowing down to HAND it to hamilton in Brazil the ciruit massa won! Mark my words the focus is on hamilton scheu and alonso but massa going to be the deserved number 1 at the end of the year and i put my money where my mouth is!! at 9-1 good odds!!
He back with a bang and deserves the respect that on this blog he's currently not getting!!
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Let's not get carried away... the Adrienne Newey designed Red Bull will be the benchmark, so next week's test will give us a better idea of what is going on. As for the new season... well, Schumi, Alonso and Hamilton will all be racing for third behind Vettel and Massa.
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Oh, and yes... Jenson is as quick as anyone but Hamilton's attitude and confidence level is what makes the difference..., (similar to Schumi). I think Hamilton would race all day with a seat that didn't fit, or a gearbox short a gear or with a blistered tyre or a wing that was missing etc... he is a racer and a Champion! Come on Jenson, dig deep!
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
Has Rubens Schumacher ever been to a Grand Prix or even watched a race all the way through on TV?
Please stop filling this blog with inacurate and emotional drivel, JB dominated the championship in a bodged car last season, Massa, Alonso and Hamilton would and could not have brought that car home first in the World Championship. The three of them are all great out and out racers and they have all made numerous, calamitous mistakes, Hamilton threw the World Championship away once through avoidable errors and then damn near did again when he finally did win it, as for Alonso when he raced in the same team as Hamilton.....
Consecutive British World Champions in a British car, I for one hope that we hear God Save The Queen at every race next year.
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In the third paragragh of Sarah's article she writes 'But engineers from all the teams pore over the lap times set by all the cars' I think she meant 'But engineers from all the teams pour over the lap times set by all the cars' So Sarah.it's Pour....not ..pore...........how did you get your job?
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To william, post 87, I edit this blog, and actually you are wrong - and I would ask you to refrain from personal insults in the future, please, as we do not tolerate them.
Look it up in the dictionary and you will see that pore means "to read with steady attention or application"; "to gaze earnestly or steadily" - exactly what Sarah means here. Whereas "pour" means many things, none of which fit into this sentence.
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To jetstream2009, post72. It is entirely FOM's decision whether to broadcast F1 in HD or not.
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I for one am loving the cloak and dagger aspect of F1 testing, and I actually think that knowing from the very start of testing which team is the fastest would spoil the suprise. Can't wait for Bahrain!
Oh and 'William', that was just plain funny... oh dear.
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What a tasty season this one will be. Arguably the World's greatest F1 driver will once again feature and we will see a possible return of form of a once so dominant team - Ferrari.
I think the Brits will unfortunately suffer this season and I don't think the Mclarens will outperform the Ferraris and the Brawn-inspired Mercedes team. Alonso to win the driver's championship, I feel.
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I'd like to ask Andrew Benson if Brawn GP made any comments about the effect on the performance of the car that the late change in engine had. We know they made a late change to the chassis to get the engine to fit but did they have any idea of that change costing them time on the track?
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There seems to be a lot of discussion on the Schumacher, Alonso battle and the fact that Alonso beat Schumacher twice
Great well done does anyone remember the 7 titles to 2 score 3 years Schumacher has been gone and 3 years Alonso has not been World Champ
Does anyone think Schumacher would not have 8 or 9 in the bag if he had stayed
So we have a talented driver with two world championships then we have Schumacher oh and Brawn
Discount that team at your peril I can assure you that none of the teams will
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Why the sniping at Button? He is the world driving champion, period. Dominant car? Sure, but recall that M.S. had some incredible brain fades when he was well clear of the field...in a dominant car. By mid season, J.B. was well ahead in points so why would he risk a series of DNF's? Intelligent driving isn't blindingly fast, but every solid race made catching him less and less likely....which is the point, keep the pressure on and let the other team make the mistake. All we can say for sure is that given a competitive car, Button can deliver. I only hope as the "new boy" he gets full and equal support c.f. Hamilton....and no team orders!
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One positive for Button, which I don't think has been mentioned, is that he is probably the kindest driver on cars out there. With full fuel load his driving style will make a bid difference at times. The downside, is that he doesn't seem to respond particularly well to changes in the car during the race. The other point in Button's favour is that he has a proven ability to overtake cars without taking himself or other drivers out. I still think he will finish 3rd/4th due to consistency.
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There have been a few insightful and interesting comments:
@85 quarryjmiller: while I can't criticize you for your quip directed towards RS (please don't mention his name, it may cause him to have a flare up of drivel), your comments, "... JB dominated the championship in a bodged car last season, Massa, Alonso and Hamilton would and could not have brought that car home first in the World Championship." This is just not respectful of the facts. Clearly, with the double diffuser being accepted by the FIA, the Brawn was far above all of the other cars on the grid; other teams only caught up, because they stopped the development of the 2009 car, because, as the master strategist predicted, they could win with the lead they had already gained.
Which leads me to...
@80 lorenzo: "... the Adrienne Newey designed Red Bull will be the benchmark, so next week's test will give us a better idea of what is going on. As for the new season... well, Schumi, Alonso and Hamilton will all be racing for third behind Vettel and Massa."
I believe you mean 'Adrian Newey' the ace designer; certainly he is very good, and the 2010 Red Bull should be competitive; but saying it will be the benchmark, in a season leading to which both Ferrari and McLaren have had time to re-align and catch up, and after all, the Brawn 2009, the basis of the Mercedes 2010 was the most developed car in formula one history, is a little much at this pre-mature stage of the season.
But I am hoping that they will be strong.
While Massa is certainly a strong driver, I believe that it will not be long before Alonso stamps his authority all over the team; whether the resulting dominance in the points winning will be a result of strictly driving skill or not is academic; I expect Massa will be significantly, but if he's not, good for him, and good for you for backing him.
Vettel, another great talent, no doubt, has yet to really prove himself, and I am very interested in seeing a completely healthy, well-motivated Mark Webber in a competitive car. His smooth driving style may give him an advantage over Vettel, especially in the early races. This year will likely be his best shot at the top; good luck to Mark.
Which leads me to...
The Stephan GP/J. Villeneuve 2010 pairing and entry into the Formula One championship. It seems that USF1 is not going to make it. Stephan GP has the Toyota 2010 machinery and, if the press attention has ANY basis in reality, the money and nerve to get in this year. I am wondering if they can pull the Honda 2008 to Brawn 2009 trick?
Jacques Villeneuve is my favorite driver, for the same reason I like Kimi, all-or-nothing racing ethos; he is a track racer, not a stable and media manager (i.e. MS and FA); I watch F1 for the racing, not to see the results of the off-track politicking and psychological manipulations of, what would be considered by comparison to the average in society, as megalomaniacs. Don't get me wrong, I like Alonso; I think he is one of the top three racers (along with Kimi and Lewis), and I expect that he will be fighting for the championship this year.
But let's see Jacques in unknown equipment, compete against the confirmed drivers. I'd still like to see Kimi in one of the Red Bull seats, (or even a Toro Rosso seat), but nothing is perfect.
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Dean (Cassidy), I have to disagree with you, Seb Vettel was in a car that was faster than the Brawn very early on but he made too many mistakes, Lewis H almost threw it away in the year that he became champion and in the season before he handed it to the incredibly inconsistent Kimi, there is no doubt that Massa can be incredibly fast but I remember just how many spins he managed at Silverstone in 2008.
If Kimi had been in a Brawn I cannot help but think that when the other teams produced faster and faster cars he would not have had a bit of a sulk, Lewis and Felipe would have taken more and more (admittedly spectacular) risks and spun out and Fernando would have rammed his team mate or ruined his qualifying laps.
Jenson had a brilliant start, he outpaced his team mate in an identical car, when the other teams spent more money and built better, faster cars he held his nerve, drove like the talented, smooth driver that he is, he capitalised on his brilliant start to the season and he did not make the silly and often reckless mistakes made by most of the other (admittedly great) drivers so often lauded and often insulted in this column.
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I agree, I think the season will be a close one to call for anyone at this stage, well, at least until we see how the cars perform in Bahrain. I think based on the the first race we can guage the progress of the teams during the break and get a good understanding of where they all are in comparison to each other.
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@97 11:04pm on 18 Feb 2010, quarryjmiller:
Your point is well made. We can agree that it is the bottom line that counts, and Jenson won the F1 championship for 2009; I agree with you that in the end, he had what it took to win, and no matter what anybody else says, that is the most important thing.
But by this logic, I would like to point out to you, that Massa has failed to win; most notably, the 2008 campaign to Hamilton. I'm not against Massa, but he has not proved himself, yet; he should have the machinery to take a good stab at it this year. We'll have to see if he can beat Alonso; my hat would be off to him, if he can.
I think that Kimi is the best driver in the world right now. I applaud his spirit and drive to forsake the ridiculousness of the F1 circus, and do something else. The fact that he did not have a Formula One to team drive this year, is a testament to how messed up the 'sport' is right now. I am hoping he'll go to a top team next year, or even at the last minute for 2010.
Other points of yours in 97:
- Jenson did have a 'brain-fade' in the second half of the season, come on! And it was pretty serious; but he pulled it up, as we have already agreed on, this is the ultimate assessment.
- Even in the second half of the season, the Brawn was better then the Red Bull on hot circuits, since the Brawn was so light on the tires. The Red Bull worked the tires harder, on cold circuits ,it performed better, but faded on hot circuits, where the tires worked too hard.
We can watch and see how Jenson's renowned smooth driving style may or may not give him an advantage over the rougher, more aggressive style of Lewis. My prediction, Jenson will have his greatest comparative advantage at the start of the year, if he can come to grips with the car. Lewis, I believe, is one of the top tier of drivers, which I don't place Jenson into (I put him into the second tier). I believe that this type of talent will adapt quickly to the required changes, and get comparatively stronger over the season, in relation to Jenson.
If I was forced to pick a favourite, based on the so far limited exposure, I would pick the McLaren, for 2010, both current machinery and proven ability to debug and continue to develop the machinery during the season; maybe no other team has the same in-season development capability, and the car out of the box seems one of the best, at least; so Jenson has a great chance to get into my top tier by beating, even if by one point, Lewis. Go Jenson go!
What do you think about my latest Jacques Villeneuve endorsement?
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At 08:41am on 04 Feb 2010, Clive Sinclair wrote:
Let's be honest here, brutal, but honest. Had Jenson Button not had a good car at the start of last season he would not be World Champion. Other teams started to catch up later in the season and confirmed that JB's skills are good, but not in the class of Schumacher, Hamilton or Alonso.
Comments like this really make me laugh, it is clear some people know very little about motor racing! If I recall Alonso only ever won when he had a good car. Ask yourself why he only got 14 Points compared to Buttons 95 (That's just 15%) if he is so much better?
The fact of the matter is that it takes both a great car and a great driver to be World Champion. Jenson has proved he is a very good driver, in fact I would say that Monaco last year showed he was the best driver in the field last year. Lewis, despite having a rubbish car last year, also managed to prove he still has what it takes - Look what he did in the first race before his team screwed it all up for him - He started in last place! As for Michael and Fernando, they have certainly proved they were once great drivers, but 5-7 years is a very long time in this sport and I will be surprised if either SCH or ALO are above BUT, HAM and VET come next autumn. If I was a betting man I would go for one of those three for World Champion next year. That is based on what we currently know about the cars performance. MAS may be in the mix too, I have him as the better of the two Ferrari drivers. I think Fernando is going to really struggle based on current form. Come next week it will all be much clearer and I fear some of ' fans may be in for a bit of a shock.
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