The most anticipated F1 season ever started at Bahrain two weeks back but it turned out to be a very boring encounter with virtually qualifying, the first corner and a faulty Renault engine deciding the outcome of the race rather than some real wheel to wheel action which was badly missing. Though there may not be drastic changes at Albert Park but with some predictions of rain, it may throw a surprise result with Schumacher and Vettel arguably two of the best wet track drivers fighting it out but all depends on the success of the rain dance crew organized by the Red Bull team.
Ferrari had the perfect start with Alonso and Massa coming 1-2 with Alonso making a perfect Ferrari debut by winning his first race for the team while Massa showed no signs of rustiness made a very good comeback after a horrific accident last season. Though Massa might have been ok to let Alonso go to the finish line without a challenge at Bahrain but at Albert Park if he is not far behind he would not hesitate to fight with Alonso to challenge for a win.
The Red Bulls may have the best car on the grid but their Renault engine has once again let them down and if the engine is not consistent expect another season of near miss for the team as Vettel has a very good chance of becoming the youngest world champion this season while teammate Webber can be the most unexpected winner of the championship since Keke Rosberg.
McLaren and Hamilton will be thanking their lucky stars for a podium finish but if they need to score podium again they need to up their game to challenge Ferrari and Red Bull while they also need to keep a close eye on the Mercedes team as they are expected to perform well this weekend and already both Rosberg and Schumacher finished ahead of the reigning champion Button at Bahrain.
Force India has high hopes for this season and the way the car performed so far this season has given all indication that they do have a realistic chance of finishing 5th ahead of their immediate rivals like Williams, Renault and Sauber. They have already scored points and if they manage to outpace a top 4 team don’t be too surprised while Williams did have a decent start but they need to something extra special to match the top 4 teams as finishing ahead of the mid pack is not a great achievement for Williams who used to be a top team in the 80’s and the 90’s.
Renault may be the dark horse of the season and as the season progress they should be catching up with the bigger teams while Kubica may even get a few podium places towards the 2nd half of the season while Petrov who had a decent debut would want to prove a point that he deserves his place on the grid.
Sauber and Toro Rosso both would have been disappointed with the results in Bahrain and Sauber just cannot have 2 cars retiring for a team which has been racing for the better part of the last 2 decades while Toro Rosso need to up their game to score points. Right now they yet do not have the pace of Renault, Williams and Force India but if updates they can catch up with them very soon.
Among the new comers Lotus impressed the most and though they did finish the race this season could be the one for them where they will go through a whole season without scoring but it should be good for them as they should be more focussed on 2011 rather than this season. Virgin Racing proved that CFD can be a thing to look at for underfunded teams while HRT racing getting away with putting two rookies without any F1 experience in an untested F1 is something where the whole community should be happy as there were no incidents.
Hope it rains in Albert Park and this could turn the race into a very exciting contest which all F1 fans do deserve given the hype this season has had.
Australian GP Top 10 Predictions
1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Mark Webber
4. Felipe Massa
5. Michael Schumacher
6. Nico Rosberg
7. Lewis Hamilton
8. Jenson Button
9. Robert Kubica
10. Nico Hulkenberg
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Sunday, March 14, 2010
2010 Bahrain GP Review: Normal Service Resumes with Ferrari One-Two
The 2010 season finally started off in what can turn out to be the most unpredictable season ever but though Alonso made his Ferrari debut in grand style by finishing 1st while Massa making a comeback after a very serious injury followed him to the 2nd place in what was a Ferrari one-two after nearly 2 years. The last time was during the now defunct 2008 French GP and though usually a Ferrari one-two means total domination by the team but this season there are 3 other teams which could be challenging it and these includes Red Bull, McLaren and Mercedes.
Sebastian Vettel will be the most disappointed man on the grid and though he was set to win the race after a stunning qualifying pace but the RBR turned out to be fragile with Vettel just managing 4th place. His teammate Mark Webber after a first corner error managed to finish only 8th and RBR will be disappointed with these results but RBR has proved that it is really a top team and they will be a major threat throughout the season.
Hamilton and McLaren will be happy with their lucky 3rd position which was largely thanks to Vettel’s mechanical issues while Button managed only a 7th place on his McLaren debut and already Hamilton is proving that he is way ahead of Button. McLaren will be happy to score more points than Mercedes their former owners but they need to have a significant updates in order to match the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull.
Mercedes went into the race saying that they are still slightly off pace and they should be very happy with the way things have turned out for them. Michael Schumacher making his comeback after 3 years showed no sign of rust as he managed a 6th place and crucially finished ahead of the reigning World Champion Button but he still needs to up his pace during qualifying as Rosberg though may have finished ahead of Schumacher it was still not a convincing performance but it is still early days and the fight between these 2 should be interesting.
Force India proved that their days as back markers are over and they could be well be the surprise team among the mid-field teams and could bring back the team to its past heights when it was Jordan Racing. Vitantonio Liuzzi managed a well deserved 9th place while Sutil managed to finish 12th. Williams unless they become a works team once again should be getting used to its status as a mid-field team and though Rubens Barrichello did score the final points for the team, if they managed to finish ahead of Renault, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso then they should be very happy with the results and Nico Hulkenberg making his F1 debut did nothing wrong and managed to finish the race 14th.
Renault though did seem to have the pace early on but after Kubica’s spin they lost the plot and they just did nothing significance during the race while they did have a very shoddy pit-stop for Vitaly Petrov which was not the perfect start for Russia’s 1st F1 driver. Sauber said to be the dark horses for the season had to retire both the cars with hydraulics issues while Toro Rosso looked decent and they should only improve as the season goes on.
The historic name Lotus was back in F1 and they proved to the best among the 3 new teams which was making its debut and it was an impressive effort by the team which had just 4 months to build the car and its experienced drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli though were way off the pace still managed to finish the race distance. Virgin cars were plagued by gear box problems with Glock lasting 17 laps while di Grassi managed only 2 laps. Hispanic Racing were the worst of the lot with their car running for the 1st time ended up having one of the worst debuts ever with Bruno Senna managing 18 laps while Karun Chandhok who had no business on being in the grid managing to crash out at the first lap itself.
The Bahrain GP may not have been the most exciting grand prix but it did show signs of a very unpredictable season which is what 2010 is going to be all about. In the end though Ferrari won, there were 3 teams behind it while the middle pack looks unpredictable. The next race is at Melbourne in 2 weeks time and it should once again throw in a lot of surprises.
Sebastian Vettel will be the most disappointed man on the grid and though he was set to win the race after a stunning qualifying pace but the RBR turned out to be fragile with Vettel just managing 4th place. His teammate Mark Webber after a first corner error managed to finish only 8th and RBR will be disappointed with these results but RBR has proved that it is really a top team and they will be a major threat throughout the season.
Hamilton and McLaren will be happy with their lucky 3rd position which was largely thanks to Vettel’s mechanical issues while Button managed only a 7th place on his McLaren debut and already Hamilton is proving that he is way ahead of Button. McLaren will be happy to score more points than Mercedes their former owners but they need to have a significant updates in order to match the pace of Ferrari and Red Bull.
Mercedes went into the race saying that they are still slightly off pace and they should be very happy with the way things have turned out for them. Michael Schumacher making his comeback after 3 years showed no sign of rust as he managed a 6th place and crucially finished ahead of the reigning World Champion Button but he still needs to up his pace during qualifying as Rosberg though may have finished ahead of Schumacher it was still not a convincing performance but it is still early days and the fight between these 2 should be interesting.
Force India proved that their days as back markers are over and they could be well be the surprise team among the mid-field teams and could bring back the team to its past heights when it was Jordan Racing. Vitantonio Liuzzi managed a well deserved 9th place while Sutil managed to finish 12th. Williams unless they become a works team once again should be getting used to its status as a mid-field team and though Rubens Barrichello did score the final points for the team, if they managed to finish ahead of Renault, Force India, Sauber and Toro Rosso then they should be very happy with the results and Nico Hulkenberg making his F1 debut did nothing wrong and managed to finish the race 14th.
Renault though did seem to have the pace early on but after Kubica’s spin they lost the plot and they just did nothing significance during the race while they did have a very shoddy pit-stop for Vitaly Petrov which was not the perfect start for Russia’s 1st F1 driver. Sauber said to be the dark horses for the season had to retire both the cars with hydraulics issues while Toro Rosso looked decent and they should only improve as the season goes on.
The historic name Lotus was back in F1 and they proved to the best among the 3 new teams which was making its debut and it was an impressive effort by the team which had just 4 months to build the car and its experienced drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli though were way off the pace still managed to finish the race distance. Virgin cars were plagued by gear box problems with Glock lasting 17 laps while di Grassi managed only 2 laps. Hispanic Racing were the worst of the lot with their car running for the 1st time ended up having one of the worst debuts ever with Bruno Senna managing 18 laps while Karun Chandhok who had no business on being in the grid managing to crash out at the first lap itself.
The Bahrain GP may not have been the most exciting grand prix but it did show signs of a very unpredictable season which is what 2010 is going to be all about. In the end though Ferrari won, there were 3 teams behind it while the middle pack looks unpredictable. The next race is at Melbourne in 2 weeks time and it should once again throw in a lot of surprises.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
2010 Bahrain GP Preview: A Brave New Era Begins
This weekend the 2010 Formula One World Championship begins and for the first time in the history of the sport, there will be four teams going into the season with nearly six drivers favorites to win the driver’s championship. The traditional power teams like Ferrari and McLaren will be joined by Red Bull and the rebirth of the Mercedes Grand Prix team will lead to the most unpredictable season ever.
Mercedes is not the only iconic name which is returning to the sport but the greatest driver of our era and maybe the sport as well is returning but not with Ferrari but Michael Schumacher will make his dramatic comeback with the Silver Arrow Mercedes team where he will team up with Ross Brawn once again and this was the combination which resulted him all of his seven Championships, five with Ferrari and two with Benetton.
Names like Schumacher and Mercedes will overshadow others but then Cosworth is back after a disastrous 2006 season while the Senna names returns to the grid in the form of Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna a former three-team World Champion who died in a crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Though the Lotus name returns, this outfit has no connection to the Colin Chapman led outfit. The only connection is that the group which owns the current Lotus team also owns Lotus Cars.
Though last season Brawn surprised everyone and won the Championship largely due to a loophole in the regulations and had it not been for the double diffuser, then Red Bull may have won it but this season Brawn which is Mercedes now will face a very stiff challenge from Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
Mercedes may not go into the season as hot favorites, and though the team does not expect to win right away and would take time, but if Schumacher comes out of retirement, then he is in for wins only.
Though publicly the team may deny it will take time, Mercedes and Schumacher could be on track for wins right from the first race while teammate Rosberg after polishing his skills in the under-powered and under-funded Williams, he finally can prove his potential and show that he can win races.
Red Bull last season’s runner-up is tipped to have the fastest car and with Vettel & Webber behind the wheel, they the only top team to have the same lineup and Vettel is tipped for greater things while Webber who is 33 now may have him last chance at going for the Championship and he could be the dark horse for this season.
Ferrari after a disastrous 2009 did stop work on their 2009 car and started work on their 2010 car before everyone else and with Alonso joining the team, the Latin era begins for Ferrari with Massa coming back after his injuries, this season if both Alonso and Massa can work as a team, Ferrari will be challenging for the titles this season right from the first race.
McLaren has a British super team with Hamilton and Button but with what happened when Hamilton teamed up with Alonso, things may not be as smooth as it seems as Button will take sometime getting used to the car and crew while by then Hamilton will have a good enough lead over him to relegate Button to the No. 2 driver status. Also the ruling on the wing will play a part at their campaign early on this season.
Williams has a strong lineup with the experienced Barrichello along with the GP2 Champion Hulkenberg and with Cosworth proving to be consistent maybe not be far off behind the top four while Sauber after taking buying back the team from BMW may not pull off a Brawn but could be the surprise package of the season as they have a car which has the best tire management so far.
Renault will be led by the mercurial Kubica who given the right car can go wheel to wheel with anyone while Vitaly Petrov has to prove that he is in more for his talent rather then the money he brings with him. Force India is looking forward to 2010 as the break through season for the team while Toro Rosso building a car for the first time on their own since the Minardi days may provide the biggest surprise of this lot.
Though Lotus and Virgin managed to run the car on the tracks but Hispanic will be running the car for the first time during the race weekend and if the car is slow it may prove to be dangerous for all the other teams who are not far off from each other in terms of speed.
The Bahrain Grand Prix will be the first of many exciting races we will have this season and the return of marquee names will provide more excitement to the season.
Bahrain GP Top 10 Predictions
1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Mark Webber
4. Felipe Massa
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Jenson Button
9. Kamui Kobayashi
10. Nico Hulkenberg
Mercedes is not the only iconic name which is returning to the sport but the greatest driver of our era and maybe the sport as well is returning but not with Ferrari but Michael Schumacher will make his dramatic comeback with the Silver Arrow Mercedes team where he will team up with Ross Brawn once again and this was the combination which resulted him all of his seven Championships, five with Ferrari and two with Benetton.
Names like Schumacher and Mercedes will overshadow others but then Cosworth is back after a disastrous 2006 season while the Senna names returns to the grid in the form of Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary Ayrton Senna a former three-team World Champion who died in a crash during the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
Though the Lotus name returns, this outfit has no connection to the Colin Chapman led outfit. The only connection is that the group which owns the current Lotus team also owns Lotus Cars.
Though last season Brawn surprised everyone and won the Championship largely due to a loophole in the regulations and had it not been for the double diffuser, then Red Bull may have won it but this season Brawn which is Mercedes now will face a very stiff challenge from Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren.
Mercedes may not go into the season as hot favorites, and though the team does not expect to win right away and would take time, but if Schumacher comes out of retirement, then he is in for wins only.
Though publicly the team may deny it will take time, Mercedes and Schumacher could be on track for wins right from the first race while teammate Rosberg after polishing his skills in the under-powered and under-funded Williams, he finally can prove his potential and show that he can win races.
Red Bull last season’s runner-up is tipped to have the fastest car and with Vettel & Webber behind the wheel, they the only top team to have the same lineup and Vettel is tipped for greater things while Webber who is 33 now may have him last chance at going for the Championship and he could be the dark horse for this season.
Ferrari after a disastrous 2009 did stop work on their 2009 car and started work on their 2010 car before everyone else and with Alonso joining the team, the Latin era begins for Ferrari with Massa coming back after his injuries, this season if both Alonso and Massa can work as a team, Ferrari will be challenging for the titles this season right from the first race.
McLaren has a British super team with Hamilton and Button but with what happened when Hamilton teamed up with Alonso, things may not be as smooth as it seems as Button will take sometime getting used to the car and crew while by then Hamilton will have a good enough lead over him to relegate Button to the No. 2 driver status. Also the ruling on the wing will play a part at their campaign early on this season.
Williams has a strong lineup with the experienced Barrichello along with the GP2 Champion Hulkenberg and with Cosworth proving to be consistent maybe not be far off behind the top four while Sauber after taking buying back the team from BMW may not pull off a Brawn but could be the surprise package of the season as they have a car which has the best tire management so far.
Renault will be led by the mercurial Kubica who given the right car can go wheel to wheel with anyone while Vitaly Petrov has to prove that he is in more for his talent rather then the money he brings with him. Force India is looking forward to 2010 as the break through season for the team while Toro Rosso building a car for the first time on their own since the Minardi days may provide the biggest surprise of this lot.
Though Lotus and Virgin managed to run the car on the tracks but Hispanic will be running the car for the first time during the race weekend and if the car is slow it may prove to be dangerous for all the other teams who are not far off from each other in terms of speed.
The Bahrain Grand Prix will be the first of many exciting races we will have this season and the return of marquee names will provide more excitement to the season.
Bahrain GP Top 10 Predictions
1. Sebastien Vettel
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Mark Webber
4. Felipe Massa
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Michael Schumacher
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Jenson Button
9. Kamui Kobayashi
10. Nico Hulkenberg
Friday, March 5, 2010
The New Era of Pay Driver’s!
The one real thing which happened in the 90’s was that though the entry of manufacturers insanely hiked the budgets of various teams but with the likes of Mercedes, BMW, Honda, Toyota, Renault and Ford all either started teams or closely aligned with constructors and the likes of Jordan, Sauber and Minardi were the last set of independent teams and apart from Sauber who after taken over by BMW is once again back as an independent team this year while Williams after a bad marriage with BMW which finally ended in 2005 was at one stage the only independent team in the grid.
With the global financial downturn, big names like BMW, Honda and Toyota have all left the sport while Renault only exists in its name while teams like Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India are financed by billionaire entrepreneurs. Also the FIA had such a dicey selection process where known names like Prodrive and Lola missed out while teams like Manor, Campos & USF1 made the grid. Off the 3, manor due to Virgin’s backing did not have any problem launching while Campos is now taken over by Jose Ramon Carabante and renamed the team Hispania Racing F1 Team while USF1 has shut shop.
The influx of new teams and the high cost of the sport have forced even established teams Sauber and Renault to look for drivers with some money as otherwise Nick Heidfeld would have still made it to the grid. The issue with under funded team entering the sport is a huge risk as their cars are 5 seconds slower than most of the grid and Hispania Racing is going to start the grid in Bahrain with 2 rookie drivers with no testing. The teams would not have any qualms about overtaking a slow car but then a car which can potentially drop parts is highly dangerous and looking at what happen to Massa, this will be a concern for all the teams.
There are five new boys: Nico Hulkenberg, Vitaly Petrov, Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi. Of the lot, Nico Hulkenberg has proved himself at all the previous levels of racing while Lucas di Grassi has been a test driver with Renault and does deserve a spot on the grid. Vitaly Petrov is a decent driver who did finish runner-up to Hulkenberg in GP2 but without his money he may not have made it to the grid. Bruno Senna is decently talented but got his break due to his last name while Chandhok is purely in because of the money he managed to bring in for the team.
There is an argument that GP2 or any other lower formulas is an indication on the talent as we had Kimi who came through after just a handful races at open wheel racing while Kamui Kobayashi did not exactly set the world on fire in GP2 but have shown that he is an extremely quick driver and with a fast car can go wheel to wheel with anyone. Though guys like Hamilton, Rosberg, Kubica and Vettel who have come through the ranks of lower formula have all done consistently well at those levels and of course for every Hamilton you will have a Nelson Piquet who despite good credentials at junior formulas failing at the highest level.
F1 is an expensive sport where but the era of pay drivers is something which should be avoided as guys like Chandhok who apart from a few wins in GP2 in 3 years has not exactly set the world on fire but him racing ahead of a talented youngster like Paul di Resta or a veteran like Heidfeld is just bringing the standard of the grid down. 2010 is having one of the strongest grids ever with the likes of Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Massa and Webber all eying for the championship along with the likes of proven drivers like Rosberg, Barrichello, Kubica, Sutil, Trulli & Glock along with exciting youngsters like Kobayashi and Hulkenberg is just amazing for the sport. You will always have the likes of failed drivers like Heikki Kovalainen and guys making comeback like Vitantonio Liuzzi but the grid should not be weakened by the era of drivers coming in due to their money.
These names will come and go but as with the case of established teams like even Jordan and Sauber at times due to financial constraints have to employee pay drivers as a one off basis and this should not become the norm like how Minardi used to run it but then Minardi also gave us the likes of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber from time to time. It would be great if the new teams can provide talented drivers a start in F1 but then giving it to the guys with the most money is just not the right thing to do. Off the rookies, the most likely to impress will be Nico Hulkenberg while Vitaly Petrov may just prove everyone wrong and prove that he too deserves his seat.
With the global financial downturn, big names like BMW, Honda and Toyota have all left the sport while Renault only exists in its name while teams like Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Force India are financed by billionaire entrepreneurs. Also the FIA had such a dicey selection process where known names like Prodrive and Lola missed out while teams like Manor, Campos & USF1 made the grid. Off the 3, manor due to Virgin’s backing did not have any problem launching while Campos is now taken over by Jose Ramon Carabante and renamed the team Hispania Racing F1 Team while USF1 has shut shop.
The influx of new teams and the high cost of the sport have forced even established teams Sauber and Renault to look for drivers with some money as otherwise Nick Heidfeld would have still made it to the grid. The issue with under funded team entering the sport is a huge risk as their cars are 5 seconds slower than most of the grid and Hispania Racing is going to start the grid in Bahrain with 2 rookie drivers with no testing. The teams would not have any qualms about overtaking a slow car but then a car which can potentially drop parts is highly dangerous and looking at what happen to Massa, this will be a concern for all the teams.
There are five new boys: Nico Hulkenberg, Vitaly Petrov, Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Lucas di Grassi. Of the lot, Nico Hulkenberg has proved himself at all the previous levels of racing while Lucas di Grassi has been a test driver with Renault and does deserve a spot on the grid. Vitaly Petrov is a decent driver who did finish runner-up to Hulkenberg in GP2 but without his money he may not have made it to the grid. Bruno Senna is decently talented but got his break due to his last name while Chandhok is purely in because of the money he managed to bring in for the team.
There is an argument that GP2 or any other lower formulas is an indication on the talent as we had Kimi who came through after just a handful races at open wheel racing while Kamui Kobayashi did not exactly set the world on fire in GP2 but have shown that he is an extremely quick driver and with a fast car can go wheel to wheel with anyone. Though guys like Hamilton, Rosberg, Kubica and Vettel who have come through the ranks of lower formula have all done consistently well at those levels and of course for every Hamilton you will have a Nelson Piquet who despite good credentials at junior formulas failing at the highest level.
F1 is an expensive sport where but the era of pay drivers is something which should be avoided as guys like Chandhok who apart from a few wins in GP2 in 3 years has not exactly set the world on fire but him racing ahead of a talented youngster like Paul di Resta or a veteran like Heidfeld is just bringing the standard of the grid down. 2010 is having one of the strongest grids ever with the likes of Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Button, Vettel, Massa and Webber all eying for the championship along with the likes of proven drivers like Rosberg, Barrichello, Kubica, Sutil, Trulli & Glock along with exciting youngsters like Kobayashi and Hulkenberg is just amazing for the sport. You will always have the likes of failed drivers like Heikki Kovalainen and guys making comeback like Vitantonio Liuzzi but the grid should not be weakened by the era of drivers coming in due to their money.
These names will come and go but as with the case of established teams like even Jordan and Sauber at times due to financial constraints have to employee pay drivers as a one off basis and this should not become the norm like how Minardi used to run it but then Minardi also gave us the likes of Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber from time to time. It would be great if the new teams can provide talented drivers a start in F1 but then giving it to the guys with the most money is just not the right thing to do. Off the rookies, the most likely to impress will be Nico Hulkenberg while Vitaly Petrov may just prove everyone wrong and prove that he too deserves his seat.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
2010 Season Preview: Chaos reigns supreme
The season officially begins only on 14th March but already the 2010 season has garnered so much attention and this could be the most awaited and excited season in the history of the sport. Just 2 days into the first testing for the season in Valencia, Michael Schumacher has already created ripples by being one of the fastest men on track and has outpaced teammate Nico Rosberg. The irony of all this is that Rosberg was supposed to be an equal match to Schumacher given his potential but Schumacher getting behind a wheel of a F1 care after 3 years is able to outpace his teammate who is 16 odd years his junior. Maybe Barrichello was right when he joked that Rosberg should get out of Mercedes when Schumacher is also in the team.
Another return was that of Massa who was returning to the sport after the terrifying accident which made him sit most part of the 2009 campaign. Massa showed no signs of rustiness as he topped the timing for both the days of the practice and though it is too early to predict anything, Ferrari will pose a more formidable challenge this season and Alonso should be wary of Massa but then racing on empty tracks is different from the race itself and come Bahrain we will know if Massa has lost speed or is still the same.
Though the return of Schumacher and Massa has been on top of everyone’s mind, another drive made his F1 return and it is longtime McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa who will be making his debut for the BMW Sauber team during the 2010 season. He was also pretty quick and the Sauber can was impressive but the weird thing is that the team is yet to change the name as BMW is out of the sport and now the official name is BMW Sauber Ferrari which is really stupid and I don’t see why Ferrari is still quiet about it. Sauber has said for legal and commercial reasons he needs to change but if Brawn can become Mercedes, then FIA and FOM should have no problem with BMW Sauber dropping the BMW tag from its name.
A few more technical changes though minor will be enforced this season but the biggest change will be the new points system which will ensure 10 drivers score points while the driver who wins will get a big share of the points. This will make races more interesting and will make drivers challenge for places and go for the wins rather than just drive to score points consistently which along with a few races will make a driver win Championships without taking much risks.
This is a bit early for predictions but this should hold good for most of the season:
Ferrari – As a team after a disastrous 2009 the team will be going in strong for 2010 going after both the Championships. They have Alonso, who beat Schumacher twice to the title when he was at Renault while he will be joined by Massa who based on the testing so far is as good as he was before the accident. Ferrari is in a good position to win the titles provided Massa and Alonso have the sort of balance which Massa had with Kimi. Early on Massa may be the quicker of the duo but as the season progress Alonso should be very strong.
McLaren – The team had a very poor start to 2009 but they were stronger than Brawn towards the end of the season. They have the championship pair of Button and Hamilton, arguably one of the strongest line-up ever fielded by the team since the days of Senna and Prost. If McLaren produces even a car which is as good as a Ferrari, then Hamilton will be one of the favorites for the title while the mid-fueling ban could favor Button but it is still early days but one thing is certain and that is McLaren would challenge for the title in 2010.
Mercedes – Mercedes pulled off a coup of sorts towards the end of the season by 1st taking over Brawn and then bringing Schumacher from retirement to join Rosberg in an all German super team. Though Rosberg is yet to win a race and Schumacher has not raced in 3 years and is 41, based on what happened during the 1st 2 days of testing, normal service will resume and Schumacher would challenge for the title and would also outpace Rosberg. The young German will be more than happy to win his 1st race and anything more than that from him for the season may just be too much.
Red Bull – Though the team has delayed its launch by 15 days, Red Bull may pull off something this season after a phenomenal 2009 where both Vettel and Webber for challenging Brawn for both the titles. Vettel has really matured as a drive and it won’t be too long that he may be racing for either Mercedes or Ferrari but he is all likely to win a title with Red Bull while Webber will be very consistent and help challenge Red Bull for the constructor championship.
Williams – The team will have an all new driver line-up with the vastly experience Barrichello joining the highly rated German rookie Nico Hulkenberg who is managed by Wili Weber, who also managed Schumacher. Though Williams has promised a radical design, they may well be behind the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull but the chances of even Sauber being quicker than Williams is pretty high. Hulkenberg like Rosberg before him would want to use this chance to impress the big teams and Weber already is plotting Hulkenberg’s future by predicting a Ferrari drive for him within 3 seasons.
Sauber – Sauber may have never made it to the grid if at all for Toyota’s withdrawal in the end but the team not long ago under the BMW moniker was challenging Ferrari and McLaren for the title and the team which worked on the car is the same. Sauber may not pull off a Brawn but expect the team to be best of the rest and even challenge the big teams at times. Kamui Kobayashi is highly rated while he is joined by experienced test driver Pedro de la Rosa who with his years of experience will be highly useful for his skills in car development.
Renault- Though the team has Robert Kubica driving for them and has gone back to its roots with the livery but the team is not totally under control of Renault and though the team is not going to challenge the top teams it would want to be the best of the rest with Williams and Sauber expected to challenge Renault for that glory. Kubica will be joined by Russia’s 1st F1 driver in Vitaly Petrov who apart from bringing in good sponsorship money is also a very decent driver as he finished runner-up to Hulkenberg in the 2009 GP2 championship.
Force India – Last season Force India pulled off a very strong performance by being one of the fastest cars on the grid during a few races and even challenging for a win at Spa but with Sutil and Liuzzi have both the experience and the talent to challenge the mid-field pack on the grid. Force India will be hoping to move away from the back end of the grid with the influx of four new teams and challenge the likes of Williams, Sauber and Renault for a mid-field position. In all likelihood Force India should be faster than STR during the 1st half of the season.
Toro Rosso – It will be the first time the team will be building its own chassis and though the 2010 design will not be radical, it will be more of an extension of the 2010 design and in Buemi along with Alguersuari, the team has a pretty good young line-up which will finish well ahead of the new teams while it will be hoping to finish ahead of its immediate rival Force India.
Lotus – The iconic name is back on the grid but this team has no links to the Chapman led Lotus team. Among the new teams this team looks the best and it could be the 1st to score points. Having Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen in the line-up makes it a pretty decent outfit and by the middle of the season, Lotus would want to emerge from the new team pack.
Virgin Racing – Richard Branson has branded the Manor outfit as Virgin and last year he spent the least among sponsors but got the most visibility due to Brawn’s Cinderella season while this season looking for a new challenge he is backing Manor GP which is designing the 1st car in F1 history without the use of wind tunnel. The drivers will be former Toyota driver Timo Glock and joining him will be Renault test driver Lucas Di Grassi who has been very consistent in GP2. Unlike last season, this season Virgin will be happy if the team managed to just score points.
Campos – Campos was considered to be the strongest among the new teams a few months back but now the team is cash strapped and it would be something for the team just to be on the grid at Bahrain. Bruno Senna is the only announced driver while the 2nd driver is bound to be a driver who can bring in a lot of sponsorship along with him and as of now Andy Soucek, the Spanish driver who won the FIA F2 Championship along with Pastor Maldonado are the favorites to get a drive.
USF1 – The team again like Campos is struggling to be on the grid but USF1 was the first to announce its intentions of joining the grid and though some of the top open wheel drivers in US like Danica Patrick, Ryan Briscoe, Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti have all been linked to the team along with some F1 veterans like Alexander Wurz and Jacques Villeneuve. Though the team has confirmed José María López, the identity of the other driver is unknown and like López, the team may surprise once again.
2010 Constructor Championship Predictions:
1. Ferrari
2. Red Bull
3. Mercedes
4. McLaren
5. Sauber
6. Williams
7. Renault
8. Toro Rosso
9. Force India
10. Lotus
2010 Driver’s Championship Predictions:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Felipe Massa
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Jenson Button
7. Mark Webber
8. Nico Rosberg
9. Kamui Kobayashi
10. Nico Hulkenberg
Another return was that of Massa who was returning to the sport after the terrifying accident which made him sit most part of the 2009 campaign. Massa showed no signs of rustiness as he topped the timing for both the days of the practice and though it is too early to predict anything, Ferrari will pose a more formidable challenge this season and Alonso should be wary of Massa but then racing on empty tracks is different from the race itself and come Bahrain we will know if Massa has lost speed or is still the same.
Though the return of Schumacher and Massa has been on top of everyone’s mind, another drive made his F1 return and it is longtime McLaren reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa who will be making his debut for the BMW Sauber team during the 2010 season. He was also pretty quick and the Sauber can was impressive but the weird thing is that the team is yet to change the name as BMW is out of the sport and now the official name is BMW Sauber Ferrari which is really stupid and I don’t see why Ferrari is still quiet about it. Sauber has said for legal and commercial reasons he needs to change but if Brawn can become Mercedes, then FIA and FOM should have no problem with BMW Sauber dropping the BMW tag from its name.
A few more technical changes though minor will be enforced this season but the biggest change will be the new points system which will ensure 10 drivers score points while the driver who wins will get a big share of the points. This will make races more interesting and will make drivers challenge for places and go for the wins rather than just drive to score points consistently which along with a few races will make a driver win Championships without taking much risks.
This is a bit early for predictions but this should hold good for most of the season:
Ferrari – As a team after a disastrous 2009 the team will be going in strong for 2010 going after both the Championships. They have Alonso, who beat Schumacher twice to the title when he was at Renault while he will be joined by Massa who based on the testing so far is as good as he was before the accident. Ferrari is in a good position to win the titles provided Massa and Alonso have the sort of balance which Massa had with Kimi. Early on Massa may be the quicker of the duo but as the season progress Alonso should be very strong.
McLaren – The team had a very poor start to 2009 but they were stronger than Brawn towards the end of the season. They have the championship pair of Button and Hamilton, arguably one of the strongest line-up ever fielded by the team since the days of Senna and Prost. If McLaren produces even a car which is as good as a Ferrari, then Hamilton will be one of the favorites for the title while the mid-fueling ban could favor Button but it is still early days but one thing is certain and that is McLaren would challenge for the title in 2010.
Mercedes – Mercedes pulled off a coup of sorts towards the end of the season by 1st taking over Brawn and then bringing Schumacher from retirement to join Rosberg in an all German super team. Though Rosberg is yet to win a race and Schumacher has not raced in 3 years and is 41, based on what happened during the 1st 2 days of testing, normal service will resume and Schumacher would challenge for the title and would also outpace Rosberg. The young German will be more than happy to win his 1st race and anything more than that from him for the season may just be too much.
Red Bull – Though the team has delayed its launch by 15 days, Red Bull may pull off something this season after a phenomenal 2009 where both Vettel and Webber for challenging Brawn for both the titles. Vettel has really matured as a drive and it won’t be too long that he may be racing for either Mercedes or Ferrari but he is all likely to win a title with Red Bull while Webber will be very consistent and help challenge Red Bull for the constructor championship.
Williams – The team will have an all new driver line-up with the vastly experience Barrichello joining the highly rated German rookie Nico Hulkenberg who is managed by Wili Weber, who also managed Schumacher. Though Williams has promised a radical design, they may well be behind the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull but the chances of even Sauber being quicker than Williams is pretty high. Hulkenberg like Rosberg before him would want to use this chance to impress the big teams and Weber already is plotting Hulkenberg’s future by predicting a Ferrari drive for him within 3 seasons.
Sauber – Sauber may have never made it to the grid if at all for Toyota’s withdrawal in the end but the team not long ago under the BMW moniker was challenging Ferrari and McLaren for the title and the team which worked on the car is the same. Sauber may not pull off a Brawn but expect the team to be best of the rest and even challenge the big teams at times. Kamui Kobayashi is highly rated while he is joined by experienced test driver Pedro de la Rosa who with his years of experience will be highly useful for his skills in car development.
Renault- Though the team has Robert Kubica driving for them and has gone back to its roots with the livery but the team is not totally under control of Renault and though the team is not going to challenge the top teams it would want to be the best of the rest with Williams and Sauber expected to challenge Renault for that glory. Kubica will be joined by Russia’s 1st F1 driver in Vitaly Petrov who apart from bringing in good sponsorship money is also a very decent driver as he finished runner-up to Hulkenberg in the 2009 GP2 championship.
Force India – Last season Force India pulled off a very strong performance by being one of the fastest cars on the grid during a few races and even challenging for a win at Spa but with Sutil and Liuzzi have both the experience and the talent to challenge the mid-field pack on the grid. Force India will be hoping to move away from the back end of the grid with the influx of four new teams and challenge the likes of Williams, Sauber and Renault for a mid-field position. In all likelihood Force India should be faster than STR during the 1st half of the season.
Toro Rosso – It will be the first time the team will be building its own chassis and though the 2010 design will not be radical, it will be more of an extension of the 2010 design and in Buemi along with Alguersuari, the team has a pretty good young line-up which will finish well ahead of the new teams while it will be hoping to finish ahead of its immediate rival Force India.
Lotus – The iconic name is back on the grid but this team has no links to the Chapman led Lotus team. Among the new teams this team looks the best and it could be the 1st to score points. Having Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen in the line-up makes it a pretty decent outfit and by the middle of the season, Lotus would want to emerge from the new team pack.
Virgin Racing – Richard Branson has branded the Manor outfit as Virgin and last year he spent the least among sponsors but got the most visibility due to Brawn’s Cinderella season while this season looking for a new challenge he is backing Manor GP which is designing the 1st car in F1 history without the use of wind tunnel. The drivers will be former Toyota driver Timo Glock and joining him will be Renault test driver Lucas Di Grassi who has been very consistent in GP2. Unlike last season, this season Virgin will be happy if the team managed to just score points.
Campos – Campos was considered to be the strongest among the new teams a few months back but now the team is cash strapped and it would be something for the team just to be on the grid at Bahrain. Bruno Senna is the only announced driver while the 2nd driver is bound to be a driver who can bring in a lot of sponsorship along with him and as of now Andy Soucek, the Spanish driver who won the FIA F2 Championship along with Pastor Maldonado are the favorites to get a drive.
USF1 – The team again like Campos is struggling to be on the grid but USF1 was the first to announce its intentions of joining the grid and though some of the top open wheel drivers in US like Danica Patrick, Ryan Briscoe, Graham Rahal and Marco Andretti have all been linked to the team along with some F1 veterans like Alexander Wurz and Jacques Villeneuve. Though the team has confirmed José María López, the identity of the other driver is unknown and like López, the team may surprise once again.
2010 Constructor Championship Predictions:
1. Ferrari
2. Red Bull
3. Mercedes
4. McLaren
5. Sauber
6. Williams
7. Renault
8. Toro Rosso
9. Force India
10. Lotus
2010 Driver’s Championship Predictions:
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Fernando Alonso
4. Felipe Massa
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Jenson Button
7. Mark Webber
8. Nico Rosberg
9. Kamui Kobayashi
10. Nico Hulkenberg
Monday, January 18, 2010
2010 Season: The New Era Begins!
The year 2010 should be the most exciting year for Formula One as the sport will see one of the strongest grids it has seen since the start of the 90s. There will be as many as 4 World Champions on the grid and ofcourse the return of 7 times Champion Michael Schumacher after a span of 3 years at the age of 41 is one of the biggest comebacks in all of sports. He will be joined by the man who beat him twice on route to the World Championship, Fernando Alonso who now will be driving for Schumacher’s old team Ferrari while McLaren will field the all British World Championship team of Lewis Hamilton and the reigning Champion Jenson Button.
They will be joined on the grid by drivers of immense calibre like Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Mark Webber. All given a right car have the potential to win World Championships while the oldest man on the grid for the 2009 season Rubens Barrichello will no longer be the oldest man as he was superseded by his onetime team Schumacher will be joined by a mix of veterans, youngsters and first-timers on the grid for the coming season.
Schumacher is not the name which is making a comeback, Mercedes though through Sauber first and then McLaren has been involved in the sport for a long-time now as an engine supplier will be returning as a factory run team after more than 50 years. Mercedes by taking over the Brawn team has brought back the Silver Arrow once again to the sport. Apart from these 2 names, Cosworth the most successful engine manufacturer after Ferrari is back while though apart from the name, the team has no connection to the Colin Chapman led Lotus team, the name is back while the Senna name is also back due to Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary driver late Ayrton Senna.
The season will also see some new rules and regulations with the ban on refuelling during the race being the biggest while KERS which was such a disappointment during the 2009 season has been scrapped for this year by FOTA. There are other various technical changes while the engine freeze continues to remain. The points system will see changes and it is expected to benefit the driver who wins the most rather than a driver who is consistently on the podium.
Formula One over the last few seasons have been very exciting with Ferrari and McLaren slugging it out for the championships and taking it down to the wire during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while in 2009, Brawn GP had a Cinderella story with Button winning his first championship and though it was not as close as it was the previous 2 seasons, it was nice to see Brawn slug it out with Red Bull another independent team while the well funded teams failed to match the pace of these 2 teams.
Though 13 teams are expected to be on the grid for the Bahrain GP, only 11 are in a real position to enter and off the new teams, Lotus & Virgin Racing are well equipped to start the season while there are doubts hovering around the possibility of USF1 & Campos actually starting the season on time.
Though 2010 a lot of new things can be expected but some things will never change and don’t be too surprised to see Ferrari and McLaren fighting it out for the title while the all German team of Schumacher and Rosberg led Mercedes may take the fight to the Big 2 of the sport while Red Bull remains a dark horse and in Vettel they have a driver who can upset the established order. It is a season where as many as 4 teams will be in the running for the Championships while among the drivers as many as 6 of them do have a chance for the Championship.
Among the drivers expecting their first victory, Nico Rosberg is and could be the only one with a realistic chance of making it happen while fellow German Nick Heidfeld will be lucky to make it to the grid leave alone a win.
With the exit of Honda, Toyota, BMW and the sell-out of a major stake by Renault, F1 has only 2 manufacturer backed teams in Ferrari and Mercedes and it has gone back to its roots with a lot of independent teams led by the experienced due of McLaren and Williams. It was only a few years back that Williams was the only true independent team but now a host of other teams have followed them.
2010 is a new era for the sport and the season could be the most unpredictable for the sport. The return of Schumacher would do a great deal of good for the sport but then with a very talented gird which is a mix of seasoned professionals joined by some exciting rookies bodes well for the sport which truly is the pinnacle of motorsports.
They will be joined on the grid by drivers of immense calibre like Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and Mark Webber. All given a right car have the potential to win World Championships while the oldest man on the grid for the 2009 season Rubens Barrichello will no longer be the oldest man as he was superseded by his onetime team Schumacher will be joined by a mix of veterans, youngsters and first-timers on the grid for the coming season.
Schumacher is not the name which is making a comeback, Mercedes though through Sauber first and then McLaren has been involved in the sport for a long-time now as an engine supplier will be returning as a factory run team after more than 50 years. Mercedes by taking over the Brawn team has brought back the Silver Arrow once again to the sport. Apart from these 2 names, Cosworth the most successful engine manufacturer after Ferrari is back while though apart from the name, the team has no connection to the Colin Chapman led Lotus team, the name is back while the Senna name is also back due to Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary driver late Ayrton Senna.
The season will also see some new rules and regulations with the ban on refuelling during the race being the biggest while KERS which was such a disappointment during the 2009 season has been scrapped for this year by FOTA. There are other various technical changes while the engine freeze continues to remain. The points system will see changes and it is expected to benefit the driver who wins the most rather than a driver who is consistently on the podium.
Formula One over the last few seasons have been very exciting with Ferrari and McLaren slugging it out for the championships and taking it down to the wire during the 2007 and 2008 seasons while in 2009, Brawn GP had a Cinderella story with Button winning his first championship and though it was not as close as it was the previous 2 seasons, it was nice to see Brawn slug it out with Red Bull another independent team while the well funded teams failed to match the pace of these 2 teams.
Though 13 teams are expected to be on the grid for the Bahrain GP, only 11 are in a real position to enter and off the new teams, Lotus & Virgin Racing are well equipped to start the season while there are doubts hovering around the possibility of USF1 & Campos actually starting the season on time.
Though 2010 a lot of new things can be expected but some things will never change and don’t be too surprised to see Ferrari and McLaren fighting it out for the title while the all German team of Schumacher and Rosberg led Mercedes may take the fight to the Big 2 of the sport while Red Bull remains a dark horse and in Vettel they have a driver who can upset the established order. It is a season where as many as 4 teams will be in the running for the Championships while among the drivers as many as 6 of them do have a chance for the Championship.
Among the drivers expecting their first victory, Nico Rosberg is and could be the only one with a realistic chance of making it happen while fellow German Nick Heidfeld will be lucky to make it to the grid leave alone a win.
With the exit of Honda, Toyota, BMW and the sell-out of a major stake by Renault, F1 has only 2 manufacturer backed teams in Ferrari and Mercedes and it has gone back to its roots with a lot of independent teams led by the experienced due of McLaren and Williams. It was only a few years back that Williams was the only true independent team but now a host of other teams have followed them.
2010 is a new era for the sport and the season could be the most unpredictable for the sport. The return of Schumacher would do a great deal of good for the sport but then with a very talented gird which is a mix of seasoned professionals joined by some exciting rookies bodes well for the sport which truly is the pinnacle of motorsports.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
2009 Season Review: Jenson Button & Brawn’s Cinderella story
F1 has seen an on track resurgence in the last few years. Both 2007 & 2008’s titles were decided at the last race while 2009 was an year though it was dominated mostly by off track news, it was an year where the regular order crumbled and a new order in the sport was created. Who would have imagined the likes of Ferrari, McLaren, BMW Sauber & Renault were nowhere near the title picture but Brawn & Red Bull not only were better than the established teams, but they dominated the season so much that barring a few races, none of the big teams could match the pace of these two teams.
Brawn GP truly had a Cinderella year as if Honda had remained patient for a few more months, all the money they have put in their F1 program would have finally raked in the benefits it deserved and they would not have pulled off F1. Instead, Ross Brawn took over the team and the team was not even sure if they would be on track at the Australian GP but once they were on, they dominated the 1st half of the season and though Red Bull did put up a stiff challenge, in the end Brawn managed to win both the titles without any major chaos.
Their title rivals Red Bull and its drivers had a breakthrough year and they managed to challenge the Brawn team till in the end. Vettel proved that he is the real deal and at one stage had all the big teams running for his contract but in the end he did decide to extend his deal with Red Bull which seem to be a very wise move as of now while teammate Webber won his 1st race and proved that given a good car, he can challenge for the title. 2010 will be an important year for the year and if Renault could provide them with stable engines, the team can once again emerge as an early favourite for the titles.
Ferrari and McLaren had a very poor season by their standards while though McLaren in the end managed to salvage something and pulled the coup of the year by signing the reigning world champion Jenson Button and to form a British super team with the 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton. They could pose a very serious threat for the 2010 season while Ferrari had its moments during the season but with an injury to Massa, it was Ferrari which inspired Schumacher about the real possibilities of a comeback and in the end he signed for the Mercedes GP team. Kimi has taken a sabbatical from the sport for 2010 but no one will be too shocked of he failed to return again while Alonso finally did sign for the Ferrari team and his partnership with Massa would be a real threat for any team for the coming season.
Williams and Toyota both had a disappointing season as both were early title contenders but as the season progressed Williams had Rosberg scoring points consistently but then lack of podiums did it for the team while Toyota finally pulled out of F1 after spending close to 2 billion dollars and failing to even win a race during its tenure in the sport. Toyota ideally should have made Williams its works team but then their decision to form their own team in the end was one of the worst moves in the companies’ corporate history.
BMW Sauber after being at title contender for 2008 pulled off all of a sudden and it left the team in a disarray after the failed Quadback takeover but then they finally managed to get a spot on the grid thanks to Toyota’s pull-out and Sauber will be once again be there on the grid as an independent team.
Renault had a season to forget and the off track situation nearly made the team leave the sport in disgrace but then the team can still continue as an engine supplier due to Red Bull’s success and the phased pull out of the team with it selling a major stake of the F1 team to a investment group will still see Renault team on the grid for the next 2 years but beyond that it will be highly doubtful if we will see the Renault name as an constructor.
The year was also good for Force India as it not only managed to convincingly outpace fellow backmarker Toro Rosso but also at different times managed to be faster than the likes of McLaren, Williams, Renault, BMW Sauber and Toyota. It was one of the best ever seasons for the former Jordan team and with four new teams coming in for the 2010 season; Force India can relive Jordan’s midfield status for the next few years.
It was a remarkable year for F1 but 2010 should be even better as Schumacher makes a comeback with the Mercedes GP team and for the first time since the early nineties we will see four World Champions on the grid. As many as four teams and 6 drivers have a realistic chance of going for the driver’s championship. We can also see the likes of gun drivers like Hamilton, Vettel & Rosberg going head to head with the greatest living driver Schumacher and though he may not win the title, but even a few wins would be the most remarkable comeback in the history of the sport.
Brawn GP truly had a Cinderella year as if Honda had remained patient for a few more months, all the money they have put in their F1 program would have finally raked in the benefits it deserved and they would not have pulled off F1. Instead, Ross Brawn took over the team and the team was not even sure if they would be on track at the Australian GP but once they were on, they dominated the 1st half of the season and though Red Bull did put up a stiff challenge, in the end Brawn managed to win both the titles without any major chaos.
Their title rivals Red Bull and its drivers had a breakthrough year and they managed to challenge the Brawn team till in the end. Vettel proved that he is the real deal and at one stage had all the big teams running for his contract but in the end he did decide to extend his deal with Red Bull which seem to be a very wise move as of now while teammate Webber won his 1st race and proved that given a good car, he can challenge for the title. 2010 will be an important year for the year and if Renault could provide them with stable engines, the team can once again emerge as an early favourite for the titles.
Ferrari and McLaren had a very poor season by their standards while though McLaren in the end managed to salvage something and pulled the coup of the year by signing the reigning world champion Jenson Button and to form a British super team with the 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton. They could pose a very serious threat for the 2010 season while Ferrari had its moments during the season but with an injury to Massa, it was Ferrari which inspired Schumacher about the real possibilities of a comeback and in the end he signed for the Mercedes GP team. Kimi has taken a sabbatical from the sport for 2010 but no one will be too shocked of he failed to return again while Alonso finally did sign for the Ferrari team and his partnership with Massa would be a real threat for any team for the coming season.
Williams and Toyota both had a disappointing season as both were early title contenders but as the season progressed Williams had Rosberg scoring points consistently but then lack of podiums did it for the team while Toyota finally pulled out of F1 after spending close to 2 billion dollars and failing to even win a race during its tenure in the sport. Toyota ideally should have made Williams its works team but then their decision to form their own team in the end was one of the worst moves in the companies’ corporate history.
BMW Sauber after being at title contender for 2008 pulled off all of a sudden and it left the team in a disarray after the failed Quadback takeover but then they finally managed to get a spot on the grid thanks to Toyota’s pull-out and Sauber will be once again be there on the grid as an independent team.
Renault had a season to forget and the off track situation nearly made the team leave the sport in disgrace but then the team can still continue as an engine supplier due to Red Bull’s success and the phased pull out of the team with it selling a major stake of the F1 team to a investment group will still see Renault team on the grid for the next 2 years but beyond that it will be highly doubtful if we will see the Renault name as an constructor.
The year was also good for Force India as it not only managed to convincingly outpace fellow backmarker Toro Rosso but also at different times managed to be faster than the likes of McLaren, Williams, Renault, BMW Sauber and Toyota. It was one of the best ever seasons for the former Jordan team and with four new teams coming in for the 2010 season; Force India can relive Jordan’s midfield status for the next few years.
It was a remarkable year for F1 but 2010 should be even better as Schumacher makes a comeback with the Mercedes GP team and for the first time since the early nineties we will see four World Champions on the grid. As many as four teams and 6 drivers have a realistic chance of going for the driver’s championship. We can also see the likes of gun drivers like Hamilton, Vettel & Rosberg going head to head with the greatest living driver Schumacher and though he may not win the title, but even a few wins would be the most remarkable comeback in the history of the sport.
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