Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Spanish GP Preview: Big 4 face the Brawn Test

Spanish GP will be the start of the European leg of the FIA world championship calendar and it is very interesting to see teams like Brawn GP, Red Bull Racing and Toyota dominate the first 4 races of the season. The usual suspects Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Renault have all got major updates coming in and they would be hoping that it would help not only catch up Brawn but also have enough pace to beat them from now on to have any realistic chance of challenging them for the title.

The only man who seems capable of challenging Jenson Button and his Brawn for the championship is Sebastian Vettel and based on his performance in the last few races and with a few upgrades coming in, all he needs is a perfect strategy to take the win in Barcelona. Add in the rain factor and we can see a repeat of China where RBR had a dream one-two finish. Red Bull would be the only team praying for rain as they seem to be way ahead of all their rivals in the wet weather.

The home hero Alonso will definitely not be challenging for a race win but Renault has been working very hard and the next few races is highly crucial for both Alonso and Renault as if they not have the pace to match the top runners then he is surely headed for Ferrari the next year and the team itself without Alonso at helm may even pull out of F1 with the current global recession going in full swing.

The traditional power houses Ferrari and McLaren will be hoping for podium finishes as both have a lot of upgrades coming in while McLaren may still take a few more races to match the pace of Brawn and RBR but Ferrari is confident of having a car which can challenge for a win this weekend at Catalunya.

It is a make or break race for BMW who has abandoned their KERS for the time being and is having loads of changes to make the car competitive after their disastrous last race. BMW atleast did manage to score some lucky points but they need some sort of miracle to put a performance like what they did during the last season.

Toyota is really quick and will be hoping for its first win this season as the team has been very consistent and scoring points on a regular basis but then with a little luck they may score a win too. Also the team is confident they have enough resource to match the big teams to sustain the momentum and the development for the whole season.

Williams must be thinking about the missed opportunities during the first few races but for Rosberg how the team goes on from now on will be very important as if the team after showing early promise goes downhill from now on, he will leave the team for sure and there are enough options available for him.

STR and Force India will make up the numbers but STR may once again score points as their car is very similar to the sister teams RB5 and with a Ferrari engine, they do have a decent package to provide some sort of inspired challenge.

Traditionally Ferrari has dominate this race but this season that could very well change and also there has been rumours of rain dances happening in Milton Keynes but expect a blockbuster of the race with Jenson Button and Sebastian Vettel being the favourites to win the race but do not rule out Massa and Kimi to pull off something.

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