Brazilian Grand Prix Preview: The Title Decider

It’s been the longest F1 season of all time, and the driver’s title is going down to the wire. The twentieth race in Brazil will decide whether Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel or Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso becomes world champion for the third time. So what can we expect from the season finale at the brilliant Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo?

Well first of all, expect the unexpected. Interlagos has seen more than its fair share of crazy races in the past, in part due to wet weather which is currently forecast for the coming weekend. Shock winners include Giancarlo Fisichella in a Jordan in 2003, and Juan Pablo Montoya for Williams the following year, a season that was otherwise one of Ferrari domination. Neither of those races were championship deciders, but precipitation intervened to electrify the 2008 race which famously saw Felipe Massa crowned champion for about 30 seconds, until Lewis Hamilton passed Timo Glock’s struggling Toyota to snatch the prize.

Ironically it was Vettel, then driving for Toro Rosso, who almost spoilt Hamilton’s day on that occasion by passing the McLaren driver late on. There’s no doubt Vettel is a fantastic wet weather driver, as his Monza win that season proved. But Alonso too exhibits stunning car control in less than optimal conditions, and the 2012 Ferrari also seems useful in the wet given the combination’s win in Sepang and pole at Silverstone. Rainfall also adds a random element; exactly what Ferrari need if Alonso is to close the thirteen point gap to Vettel.

Realistically, the Spaniard needs Vettel to retire from the race if he is to claim the title – even if Alonso wins, Vettel only needs a fourth place to maintain his lead. With drainage a problem at the creaky Interlagos track, a sudden downpour could easily catch either driver out (as Alonso himself found out to his cost in 2003) and frustrate any attempt from Vettel to play it safe. If it does rain, therefore, expect the mechanics dressed in red to look considerably happier than those in navy attire.

In dry conditions, however, Red Bull have an obvious pace advantage at seemingly all tracks. Interlagos isn’t your typical Tilke clone though – it’s bumpy, undulating, high altitude and anti-clockwise. Gravel traps and walls are in close proximity to the track and the circuit’s relatively short length can mask a car’s (and driver’s) deficiencies, as evidenced by Sakon Yamamoto’s seventh-fastest race lap for Super Aguri in 2006. In seasons past, cars which have struggled throughout the year have shone in Brazil in dry conditions – Montoya’s ‘04 win for Williams and Robert Kubica’s 2009 podium finish in the otherwise disappointing BMW-Sauber F1.09 spring to mind.

While the Red Bull should prove competitive around Interlagos’s fast sweepers, the Ferraris should be well placed to challenge, particularly as any mistakes in qualifying (of which Vettel has made a couple recently) will be punished on such a short lap. I say Ferraris because Felipe Massa’s improved recent form means he should be able to mix it with the championship contenders, particularly on his home circuit where he won convincingly in 2006 and 2008. Stefano Domenicali has acknowledged the potential importance of the Brazilian’s contribution, and his enforced grid penalty in Austin points to Ferrari’s continued willingness to intentionally compromise their number two driver.

Red Bull too have been equally enthusiastic in their support of Vettel in the past though, and with the constructor’s title won Mark Webber will no doubt be called upon to assist his team mate where possible. It’s hard to say how much practical support either team mate can provide however; Alonso needs more drivers than just Massa between him and Vettel in order to take the title, while if Webber is ahead of Alonso in the race, the chances are Vettel will be as well. This is unless, of course, recent Renault alternator woes strike again – Red Bull reverting to a newer spec version after Webber’s retirement in Austin adds another element to this fascinating title decider.

So who’s going to win it? Well the smart money remains on Vettel, with a clear points and car advantage. But if I were the German, I would be somewhat nervous going up against the mercurial Alonso, in a bullet-proof Ferrari, on an unconventional and (possibly) wet circuit, while knowing that one mistake could throw the title wide open again. Whatever the outcome, it’s going to be a tension packed and exhilarating finale to a great year.

A Gross(jean) Miscarriage of Justice?

As Romain Grosjean’s out of control car careered into Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari at the start of last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, I have to say the last thing that came to mind was a race ban for any party. My initial instincts (aside from worrying about a possible injury to Alonso) were that this was a racing incident, and this was confirmed by subsequent replays. Sure, Grosjean moved across the track in front of Lewis Hamilton, but he made only one move and appeared to allow Hamilton a car’s width between the wall and his own car. Admittedly Hamilton had to take to the grass to avoid initial contact, but could have chosen to back out of the contretemps rather than piling into the side of Grosjean’s car.

While I am certainly not blaming Hamilton in any way, it is clear that the crash was not entirely Grosjean’s fault and was largely borne out of a confused start (with Pastor Maldonado setting off very early and Kamui Kobayashi doing the opposite) and exacerbated by the congested grid at the tight Spa circuit. In past years commentators often spoke about a first-corner crash at Spa in inevitable, ‘when not if’ terms, and indeed there was an incident last year when Bruno Senna barged into Jaime Alguersuari’s Toro Rosso, removing it from the race (interestingly only a drive-through penalty was applied to Senna in that case).

So there appears little justification for Grosjean to have been given the draconian sentence of a race ban, always the ultimate punishment for a racing driver – witness Ayrton Senna’s acute distress at being removed from his Toleman seat at Monza in 1984. The stewards gave the justification for the penalty as “an extremely serious breach of the regulations which… eliminated leading championship contenders from the race”.

Frankly this is ridiculous reasoning – it was pure chance that Alonso was wiped out in the crash. Equally, a car other than Hamilton’s McLaren could easily have been alongside Grosjean and acted as a launch pad for the Lotus. And exactly what “regulations” were breached in the incident remains unclear – perhaps the unofficial but widely known clause ‘thou shalt not in any way disadvantage the great and noble Ferrari team’ had something to do with it. But ‘Ferrari International Assistance’ (FIA) has certainly got its way by preventing the hapless Frenchman from repeating the trick on Tifosi home turf.

There’s been a lot of talk that this is the first race ban since Michael Schumacher’s in 1994 for the still-unfathomable act of passing Damon Hill on the parade lap at Silverstone and later ignoring a black flag. Schumacher was indeed the last driver to actually serve a race ban, not counting Jacques Villeneuve’s exclusion from the 1997 Jpanese Grand Prix after racing under appeal, or Yuji Ide who lost his superlicence in 2006 – effectively an indefinite ban. 

But the last incident to lead to a ban actually took place at the following race, the German Grand Prix of 1994. This incident was in many ways similar to Sunday’s – it happened off the start line and front-running drivers (Hill in that case) were involved. Interestingly no action was taken over a separate crash which took out both Minardis, a Sauber and a Lotus – the “championship contenders” clause being invoked again? But Mika Hakkinen was banned from the following race for his part in the ‘main’ incident. 

This was seen at the time as a bit of a knee-jerk reaction only a few races after the awful events of Imola. Interestingly, like Grosjean this season, the talented Finn had also been involved in (and blamed for) a first corner accident in Monaco as well as several other collisions – in Hakkinen’s case the effect of being involved in multiple incidents already that season counted against him and it may well have done in Grosjean’s case. The oft-quoted figure is seven first-lap tangles in twelve races for the Frenchman, but most of them were pretty minor and hardly his fault (particularly Barcelona and Silverstone). At least things worked out for Mika in the end with two world titles - a promising omen.

Incidentally, Michael Schumacher really should have been the last driver to be banned from a race, after his vicious chop on Rubens Barrichello at the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix. And quite how Maldonado (who blatantly took out the innocent Pedro de la Rosa at the start in Monaco this year, amongst his numerous other indiscretions) has escaped a race ban thus far in his chequered F1 career is unclear. The lack of consistency in the punishments handed out to each driver is disappointing in the extreme.

On a related note, one man’s misfortune is another’s opportunity, and Jerome D’Ambrosio steps into the Lotus cockpit this weekend as Grosjean’s stand-in. As it happens, a number of drivers have substituted for others at Monza in recent years with various degrees of success. Marc Gene shone for Williams in 2003, claiming 5th, while Giancarlo Fisichella struggled in 2009 in the Ferrari vacated by Luca Badoer (and initially the injured Felipe Massa), with Tonio Liuzzi in turn filling in for Fisichella at Force India. 

The life of a stand-in is not always a happy one – Gene himself was dropped by Williams during a second stint as a substitute race driver in 2004, Hakkinen’s 1994 replacement Phillippe Alliot didn’t impress, and the less said about Badoer the better. All these drivers, like D’Ambrosio, had only ever driven for tail-end teams prior to their temporary promotions, and found the going tough when put in a top-six worthy car. With limited testing in 2012 D’Ambrosio will inevitably struggle to some extent, but here’s hoping the consistent Belgian can do himself justice. And it's worth remembering that a certain Sebastian Vettel's F1 career started when he took Robert Kubica's place at BMW Sauber for one race in 2007.

All these similarities from different Formula 1 eras invoke the oft-spoken adage (especially in F1 circles) that ‘the more things change, the more they stay the same’. Given the consistencies running through the sport’s history (which often appears to be repeating itself) it surely isn’t too much to ask for the governing body to be consistent when dishing out punishments also…

F1 2012 so far - Part 3

With five different teams and seven different drivers winning races already, the 2012 season has seen an unprecedented level of competition at the very front. Compare that to ten years ago in 2002, when just three different teams won a race and only four even made it to the podium, and it’s clear that the new rules have evened things out and allowed a closer level of competition than ever before. And yet the five teams who have most recently won F1 world championships, namely Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes (previously Brawn) and Lotus (nee Renault), still lead the way.

The most surprising performer of the top teams, in a season full of shocks, has been Lotus. With a new team name and new driver line-up, and having only recently changed owners, they looked awfully like a team in transition. But future aims of a world title challenge are very nearly being achieved this season.

With Kimi Raikkonen on the driving strength, two things were likely – monosyllabic interviews and some feisty performances. Thankfully the latter has happened just as often as the former, despite Nelson Piquet Jr describing Raikkonen as “a little weak”. The championship the rest of us have been watching has seen Raikkonen close to victory (in Bahrain and Hungary especially) and he remains rightly confident of a title shot, although he could do with working on his qualifying performances relative to team mate Romain Grosjean.

The Frenchman has been a revelation, and proof of what can be achieved if a driver is given a second chance at F1 level – something many talented young drivers (Jan Magnussen, Giorgio Pantano, Marco Apicella et al) never had. Grosjean has outperformed Raikkonen at times, and looked particularly good in Valencia before mechanical problems intervened.

Three podiums is a fine return from the first 11 races, especially considering his lack of F1 experience which has contributed to a few offs (but by no means too many, despite Jackie Stewart’s insistence that he could teach Grosjean a thing or two). Lotus remain dark horses for the championship, as their car appears to work on every circuit and they have a new double DRS device in the pipeline which should serve them well in at Spa and Monza. They should certainly at least claim that hitherto elusive race win at some point before the end of the season.

Unlike Lotus, Mercedes have tasted victory this year, but unlike Lotus it’s hard to see them doing so again in the remainder of the season. Nico Rosberg’s long-overdue first triumph in China was a case of all the cards falling into place – a great drive from the German on a track he enjoys, a car with good straight line speed for the Shanghai circuit’s fast sections, and a chassis setup that worked the tyres just hard enough. Mercedes seem to have struggled with the round, black rubber things more than any other team this season, and this goes some way to explaining Rosberg’s erratic performances – he finished as low as 15th at Silverstone.

At least he’s actually finished most of the races – team mate Michael Schumacher has suffered a catalogue of failures, often when running in points positions. The elder German rolled back the years in Monaco with a superb pole, but was pushed back five places on the grid for clumsily running into Bruno Senna in the previous race in Spain. This sums up his season – flashes of speed mixed with some rookie-esque errors.

A slightly fortuitous podium in Valencia represented a long overdue change in luck for Schumacher, who always seemed to get the rub of the green in his ‘first career’. The jury is still out on whether he has done enough to stay on beyond the end of the season, although the decision appears to be in his 43 year old hands. Some signs of progress with the car in the second half of the season would help him make his mind up but, despite a myriad of designers, chassis development seems to have stalled. Mercedes have also suffered five mechanical retirements this season (one more than HRT) which is unforgivable for a top-five team in the modern era.

In contrast the Ferraris have been bullet-proof all year, with not a single mechanical DNF. The main problem to begin with was a lack of pace from the ugly F2012 car, with the team not confident they could even challenge for podiums. They reckoned without the continued genius of Fernando Alonso, who has scored in every race and won as early as Malaysia despite his recalcitrant machinery. The importance of that win in boosting team morale was incalculable, and the car has evolved into being genuinely capable of challenging for wins (at least in Alonso’s hands). His personal highlight was a slightly fortunate win in front of an adoring home crowd in Valencia.

Felipe Massa, by contrast, has had an abysmal year by any measure. Outqualified at every event by Alonso, the Brazilian has scored just 25 points compared to the Spaniard’s 164. Felipe hasn’t stood on the podium since the 2010 Korean GP – in that time, Alonso has been there 17 times. Massa simply hasn’t been good enough to compete, whatever the reason, and even a slight recent improvement has only resulted in a few top six finishes despite the advances made with the Ferrari car.

Everyone wants Massa to do well, but I can’t help feel he needs to leave Ferrari before we see anything like his best again (if ever). The Brazilian’s struggles mean the Constructors championship is out of the question, but Alonso holds a 40 point lead in the drivers’ standings. Don’t bet against him regaining the title after six years of trying, which would be the joint longest gap between title successes since Jack Brabham in the 1960s (and could well open the floodgates, Schumi early 2000s-style).

It’s almost as long since McLaren last tasted championship success – other than Lewis Hamilton’s triumph four years ago, the team hasn’t won a championship since the 1990s (having had the 2007 constructors crown taken off them in the wake of the ‘spygate’ scandal).  Hamilton responsible for so much of the team’s recent success, has re-found his form this season after a difficult 2011 just as the team have managed to produce a car which was competitive from the outset (not something they had achieved in the last few years).

The Briton has driven well at most races, despite bad luck in both Spanish races – in Barcelona he started last after running out of fuel in qualifying and in Valencia he was assaulted by Maldonado. Recent car improvements led to a dominant win in Hungary which sets him up nicely for the rest of the year. In contrast, after an excellent 2011 season Jenson Button has reverted to type. He claimed a good win in Australia but has since struggled with a car and tyres not exactly to his liking, and as a result has consistently been a few tenths slower per lap than Hamilton. Unfortunately, this season the field is so close that he’s often been mired in traffic because of this deficit.

Monaco was Button’s nadir – he was genuinely outpaced by Kovalainen’s Caterham all race. There have been some signs of improvement since, notably a fighting drive in Germany, but it’s far too late for his championship chances and maybe even McLaren’s in the constructors’ race. For the team to win either title they require both drivers to be competitive on a given weekend so that they can take points off their rivals (Alonso in particular). The elegant MP4/27 does seem to be back on the pace which may allow both drivers to do just that in the upcoming races.

So, what of the reigning champions? Well, despite leading the constructor’s race Red Bull haven’t had it all their own way this season and are no longer the dominant force despite another great Adrian Newey car. The fact that Sebastian Vettel is only 42 points off the driver’s championship lead is a minor miracle, given that he’s only been on the podium three times in total (and just once since his only win in Bahrain). That stat in itself is even more incredible, but shows just how hard the competition is in F1 this year.

Vettel was desperately unlucky in Valencia, where he would have won easily but for an engine fault, but has otherwise struggled to assert himself in quite the same way as the last two seasons. The qualifying stats versus Mark Webber (5-5 at present) support the general impression that Sebastian isn’t quite reaching the high standards he set in the last campaign.

Webber himself started the year with a string of four fourth places, and has added another since. His form in the races hasn’t been a lot better than last year in general, but with no one driver dominating his consistent results are enough to put him second in the standings. Unlike last year though, the Australian has been able to win races - his drives in Monaco and Silverstone were pretty dominant and he trounced Vettel on both occasions. To win the title, Webber needs to turn those days where he can’t win into podiums (his two victories are the only two rostrum visits he’s had).

Red Bull as a team look well placed to defend their Constructors’ crown, as they are the only top team (bar Lotus) who have both drivers operating at a similar level at most races. But the flipside of that is that the drivers will inevitably take points off each other, which will harm their pursuit of the driver’s championship and further strengthen Alonso’s grip on the drivers’ prize.

F1 2012 so far - Part 2

Ah, the Formula 1 midfield runners. Persevering without a hope of any significant glory, this plucky bunch of privateer teams keep plugging away against the manufacturers in the face of adversity, with only the odd sniff of a points finish as a reward for their endeavours.

At least during any ‘normal’ season they do – the sight of Pastor Maldonado happily spraying champagne from atop the podium in Barcelona should tell you that this season is far from a normal one. Still, the usual suspects do occupy positions six to nine in the Constructor’s standings – Sauber, Williams, Force India and Toro Rosso.

The best placed team of the bunch, Sauber, are actually knocking on the door of fifth place, which is some achievement for the relatively-underfunded Swiss team but not unprecedented. They produced competitive cars on a few occasions in the pre-BMW years (2001 springs to mind) and, like then, the team are currently reliant on a nascent driver line-up.

Sergio Perez has been one of the drivers of the season thus far, and quite why he’s not a shoe-in to take Felipe Massa’s seat is a question best directed to Ferrari’s management. The Mexican should have won in Malaysia, but instead had to settle for second after a quick off and some typically Swiss, typically Sauber radio messages urging caution as he hunted down Fernando Alonso for the lead. His dry weather podium in Canada was in many ways even more impressive.

His performances have left Kamui Kobayashi, normally one of the most prominent drivers on the grid, in the shade. The Japanese driver has still put in good drives on occasion, such as his fourth place in Germany, but has generally been outclassed. That said, he remains a combative racer and deserves to keep his drive despite rumours linking Heikki Kovalainen with his seat for 2013.

The fact that a race-winning driver (admittedly from a tail-end outfit) is being linked with the team shows just how strong the C31 car is, and if the Mercedes team’s slump in form continues it’s not inconceivable that Sauber could leapfrog the Anglo-German team. Whatever happens during the rest of the season, Sauber have already made a brave and impressive attempt to rid themselves of their ‘perennial midfielder’ tag.

Unlike Sauber, Williams haven’t always been a midfield team. Also unlike Sauber, they actually looked like more of a backmarker at times last season, and it’s hard to believe they only picked up five points. They are my choice for the most improved outfit of the year among a host of contenders, and the main reason is of course Maldonado’s staggering drive in Spain where he simply drove away from the opposition.

That he hasn’t scored a point since is sadly almost entirely down to his own recklessness. He was a tad unfortunate in Valencia, where third place was on (in isolation still an incredible feat) before he collided with Lewis Hamilton in an incident which was largely, but not entirely, his fault. Some of his other incidents have simply been a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time (collisions with Perez in Britain and Paul di Resta in Germany for example) although one wonders how he manages to get it so wrong, so often.

As for Bruno Senna, he has continued to make regular excuses as he did last year – the most recent one appears to be that he'll go better in the second half of the year having not driven a competitive F1 car at the early-season races before. The fact that he has to excuse his performance suggests it hasn’t always been up to scratch, which is pretty much true – in terms of raw pace, he’s generally a little way off Maldonado. But he has been more consistent than the Venezuelan and put in his best performance so far in Hungary, scene of his 2011 Renault free practice debut. Perhaps he has a point about knowing the tracks after all… He certainly has a good car this season and cannot use his equipment as a defence against mediocrity.

Over at Force India they could do with a few excuses of their own, languishing as they do in 8th in the championship. It’s hard to pinpoint what, if anything has gone wrong for the team, but the general trend is for them to qualify well and then slip back in the races – the opposite of Sauber in many respects. The car is a more consistent performer than some others around it, but this also means that the team aren’t capable of achieving the occasional big points finishes of some of its rivals (at least thus far).

Paul di Resta continues to perform well, although he generally looks more good than great. If it wasn’t for his passport I do wonder whether the British media would be tipping him quite so heavily for a grander seat, particularly in the wake of excellent performances from the similarly inexperienced Perez and Grosjean. Nevertheless, he has performed consistently and was an excellent sixth in Bahrain.

Meanwhile Nico Hulkenberg, after a slow start, has started to outpace his Scottish team mate in recent races. His drive to fifth in Valencia was most impressive and he also looked particularly good in the wet at Silverstone in qualifying, harking back to his Brazilian GP pole of a couple of years ago. If Hulkenberg can continue to push di Resta, then the combined efforts of both drivers could allow the Silverstone squad to overtake Williams in the standings which is their current stated aim. Sauber look to be out of reach for the time being though, which given Force India’s excellent 2011 season and the strength of the Mercedes engine must rank as a disappointment.

One traditional midfield runner that has at least maintained the status quo is Toro Rosso. In fact, the Italian team has made a considerable and not unexpected step backwards so far this year. Their relative performance is actually quite reasonable – they are only around a second and a half off the fastest runners in qualifying, which is similar to most of last year. But the closeness of the 2012 field means that this is only good enough to scrape into Q2, rather than Q3, this year. The drop-off in performance is not unexpected because the team has stuck to its raison d’etre and employed two near-rookies (despite Jaime Alguersuari in particular showing good pace last year).

Of the two, Daniel Riccardo has generally looked the more complete package – not surprising given his half-season with HRT in 2011. His 6th place on the grid in Bahrain was outstanding, but his confounding plummet down to 15th in the race was not the best way to build on it. Like Senna, it will be interesting to see how he goes in the second half of the season on tracks which he knows.

If I were a Red Bull bigwig, I would probably consider Vergne the better prospect at this stage though. The Frenchman has struggled in qualifying but had a few standout drives, most notably in Malaysia when he kept his car on track on intermediate tyres in the monsoon to wind up a fine 8th. Notably the prominent performances mentioned above (and indeed all the team’s points) came from the first few races, which tells you all you need to know about car development and the merits of employing two inexperienced drivers. The current uncertainty surrounding the team suggests that things aren’t likely to get better any time soon.

Check back later this week for a rundown of the frontrunners...

F1 2012 so far - Part 1

Given all the excitement at the front of the field (which this season features six to eight different teams fighting for the podium) it’s not entirely surprising that the Formula 1 tail-enders are getting even less coverage than usual in 2012. But how are the most recent additions to Formula 1 (I refuse to call them ‘new’ teams, it’s been two and a half seasons now!) getting on?

Well, perhaps the happiest of the three will be HRT. That sounds odd, given that the Spanish minnows are last in the championship and failed to qualify for the first race, but since then their form and rate of improvement has been impressive. After dire predictions about repeated failures to qualify while getting their car sorted, both drivers have made the grid at each race and Pedro de la Rosa in particular has started to trouble the Marussias recently.

Ironically given their recent improvement, it was the team’s first start in Malaysia which provided the standout moment thus far, Narain Karthikeyan running 10th when the race was red-flagged in appalling conditions. Had the race not restarted (always unlikely but possible), he would have picked up half a precious point. As it was, the Indian driver couldn’t hold off faster cars at the restart, but did make the headlines after collisions with Jenson Button (while battling for position) and Sebastian Vettel (while being lapped).

Other than that Karthikeyan has been almost invisible, and although his qualifying form relative to de la Rosa is improving he hasn’t outqualified the Spaniard yet. De la Rosa himself has been superb at times, putting in great qualifying laps in Monaco and Valencia and many strong races. His motivation seems high despite being mired at the back of the grid, and he is doing exactly what the team hoped by leading them on and off the track. Some evidence of his influence can be seen operationally, as the team’s pit stop times have improved immeasurably and they are even making some good strategic calls (such as starting on wets in anticipation of the aforementioned Malaysian monsoon). Considering their lack of budget and personnel, even compared to the teams around them, HRT are doing a decent job.

Despite being a place higher in the constructor’s standings, Marussia will surely be less happy than their Spanish rivals. In Australia things were looking promising, and a 14th place finish for Timo Glock put the team tenth in the Constructor’s Championship until Monaco where Caterham bettered their result. The team are making positive noises about closing the gap to Caterham, but in truth they are being left behind by the green and yellow cars. Marussia are also coming under increasing pressure from HRT, and at certain tracks de la Rosa has been able to get on terms.

One positive is their rookie driver Charles Pic, who is starting to look like the real deal – he’s outqualified team mate Glock in the last two events, and finished a lap ahead of the more experienced German in Hungary and not far behind Petrov’s Caterham. Glock himself, on the other hand, looks increasingly disinterested and his motivation seems to be up and down, as has been the case for the last season or so. He’s still quick when he wants to be (for example in the opening races of the season), but seems less able or inclined to drive around car problems than his young team mate (and has recently shown his frustration at this state of affairs).

Marussia have made some progress this year, but with McLaren providing technical assistance, Pat Symonds in a consultancy role and a far more stable structure than HRT they really should be further ahead of the back row and closer to Caterham than they are.

As for Caterham, it’s been a bit of a mixed bag really. For the second season in a row the team hasn’t achieved its stated aim of challenging the midfield runners on a consistent basis, although they have developed the car enough to occasionally worry the Toro Rossos (as was the case at the end of 2011).

The team’s general performance has been good, as they are only a couple of seconds a lap off the leaders at most tracks – ten years ago that would have put you solidly in the points at race end. But like Marussia, they are perhaps underachieving given their improving infrastructure, Renault engines and former race-winning lead driver Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn, while not perhaps shining quite as brightly as in 2011, has made his mark again this year. His brilliant performance in Monaco, where he held off Button’s McLaren for most of the race, was one of the drives of the season thus far. Button’s post-race moans only served to underline that fact, and it’s no surprise that there’s talk he could be in line for a grander seat.

Vitaly Petrov, meanwhile, has been just as anonymous as Jarno Trulli was last year but has least maintained a good finishing record, keeping Kovalainen fairly honest and driving particularly well to finish 13th in Valencia. It has to be assumed that he’s also brought commercial benefits, although there has been no discernible increase in the number of sponsors logos (Russian or otherwise) on the car.

Quite where Caterham go from here is unclear – scoring points looks as distant a prospect as ever, at least for the rest of 2012, and if they wind up losing Kovalainen they are more likely to go backwards than forwards.

Next week… the midfield teams.

F1 2012 – The Viewing Experience

It’s been a thrilling start to the 2012 Formula 1 season, but actually witnessing all the action is not as straightforward as was previously the case. Thanks to Sky and the BBC’s joint coverage arrangement, and due to not having Sky myself, I’ve only seen two of the first four races of the season live and in full. Bearing in mind that the last time I missed seeing a full Grand Prix (either live or re-run) was Germany in 1997 and you’ll get some idea of how keen I am on the sport. I therefore expected horrific withdrawal symptoms to have taken hold by now, but actually being Sky-less hasn’t been too bad.

I have (in part) been consoled by how poor the limited amount of Sky coverage I have witnessed thus far has been. I should add that such experience is limited to the Season Preview (thanks to little known available-on-Freeview-Sky-programming-repeater Pick TV) and coverage of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Credit for that goes to a Sky-owning friend who organised an excellent F1 breakfast, with thanks to the Co-operative for the edible meat-based breakfast supplies (they are “good with fudd”, apparently). But this brief taste of mediocrity (the programme, not the sausages) was enough to convince me that Sky’s coverage simply isn’t worth the asking price. For starters, everything has been so completely (and predictably) ‘Americanised’ (or at least ‘football-ised’) –  since when has the off-season been known as the F1 “transfer window”?

In terms of presenters, lead anchor Simon Lazenby came across as professional, if a little dull and vacant. ‘Vacant’ doesn’t even begin to describe Georgie Thompson, who appears to spend her time locked in a shoebox with poor Anthony Davidson and a giant iPad (hence it being called the ‘Skypad’ I suppose). The two of them only appeared on screen once during and after the Malaysian Grand Prix - surely the long red-flag stoppage was as good a time as any to introduce the orange one and her orange-haired accomplice. The only use the giant iPad has is seemingly to allow Davidson to touch the screen to show a replay of the start of the race – wow, cutting edge use of technology there. And as for pit lane reporter Natalie Pinkham, her ineptitude reached new levels after the race when she had to be corrected by Kimi Raikkonen after she told him he had finished where he’d started the race (the Finn having originally qualified, and finished, 5th but actually lining up 10th on the grid after a gearbox change).

The actual race coverage was better, largely because the race is shown in full and commentators David Croft and Martin Brundle are both more than competent. But even those two joined in with the most singularly frustrating aspect of the coverage – the constant self-promotion of Sky’s own features. Every time we went onboard with a driver, we were reminded of the ‘Sky Race Control’ gimmick, whereby we could watch the progress of our favourite driver (or should that be ‘Most Valuable Player’?) from inside their car. Indeed, every time something happened in the race off-camera, the commentators excitedly referred to having ‘seen’ said event using ‘Sky Race Control’, rather than using the myriad of timing screens in the commentary box (which have presumably been made redundant by Sky’s amazing technology). And during every break we were reminded about how to subscribe to Sky Sports F1 HD. Again.

Even the never-ending post-race coverage wasn’t very good. As well as Pinkham’s error, Sky somehow failed to run an interview with Sebastian Vettel – the first time I heard his disparaging comments towards Narain Karthikeyan was on the BBC website. And they saved the very worst for last – having failed to get an interview with man-of-the-moment Peter Sauber (which the BBC managed while he was still on the pit wall at the end of the race), Sky cut short their interview with Sauber CEO Monisha Kaltenborn to bring us (exclusively no doubt) their “Sounds Of The Weekend” – a short sequence featuring such classic race-defining moments as a paddock pass being swiped (and accompanying beep) and Jean-Eric Vergne playing boules. It made ITV’s misguided Beverley Turner-fronted lifestyle features of the mid-2000s look positively inspired.

So that leaves me with the BBC’s coverage. The Australian Grand Prix highlights were fine – while I used to take a masochistic pleasure in waking at 4am to watch the race live, I won’t lie and claim that I wasn’t slightly glad not to do so this year. I watched the Malaysian highlights after witnessing Sky’s live coverage, and must say that hardly anything was missed (bar the red flag period which wasn’t exactly action-packed). The Chinese race was of course live on the BBC, and the programme seemed near-identical to last year’s coverage. But (and it’s a big one), the Bahrain highlights simply weren’t long enough.

After around 75 minutes of highlights for the first two races (easily enough to show all the action) the racing from Sakhir was brutally cut down to just 50 minutes. In any other season this wouldn’t really be a problem, but given the closeness of the field this year it quickly became difficult to follow the action. After every pit stop cars change position and get stuck behind slower runners due to the lack of field spread compared to the past. This in turn made it rather tricky to spot who was running where, and what their ‘real’ position was - it’s much easier to keep track of pit stops when you see the majority of them happen in front of your eyes. The other thing I missed was the little, less significant events that make F1 so interesting to watch, such as the progress of the smaller teams (I don’t remember seeing a Caterham during the Bahrain coverage, and was unaware of Charles Pic’s retirement until he dropped off the running order at the bottom of the screen). Unfortunately, it seems that all European races (which in terms of start time, Bahrain was lumped in with) will have the same shorter highlights. It’s particularly annoying to see pre-race features intrude on coverage of the actual race, but I guess the BBC are contractually bound to only show a certain, limited amount of race footage.

On the presenting front, the loss of Brundle is obviously a blow, but the enthusiastic Ben Edwards has made a good start to life in the commentary box alongside David Coulthard, who also seems to have livened up a bit this year. Eddie Jordan only seems to be attending selected races, which is no bad thing, and his former designer Gary Anderson has improved somewhat after a nervous start. Anderson is hardly a natural in front of the camera but he does have some enlightening things to say, if you can make them out over the noise of the engines when he’s in pit lane (I find his heavy accent slightly difficult to interpret when competing with background noise). Jake Humphrey remains an irritation, but he will be taking time out of his busy schedule of patronising Formula 1 drivers and team bosses alike to present coverage of both Euro 2012 and the Olympics later in the year. This is not so much a blessing in disguise as rapture in an unconvincing wig, but nevertheless indicative of how far F1 has fallen down the BBC’s sporting pecking order given that Humphrey is inexplicably one of their favourite presenting sons. Equally inexplicable was the decision to hire James Allen as Radio Five Live’s commentator, and as expected he’s picked up where he left off at ITV by being utterly awful. Luckily I’ve only sat through his drivel for one practice session this season, and I won’t be doing so again (as a tip, Edwards seems to do the first practice session at each race, so that’s the one to watch/listen to). But Allen’s inclusion does make Five Live’s previously decent race previews and Chequered Flag podcasts almost un-listenable these days.

But, despite all the negatives, I’ll be sticking to the BBC free-to-air coverage for the time being (even though they stole my idea for their MotoGP trailer…). Sky’s corporate, technology-heavy and Americanised coverage cannot compete at present, and as long as the BBC continues to show at least half the races a Sky subscription simply isn’t worth the money (unless you already have one, of course). For the remaining European races on Sky, a trip to the pub may be in order (no bad thing) as a few local establishments are now promising live F1 coverage, a promise which is more likely to be met now the football season is almost over. But failing that (and this is probably the single worst thing about relying on the BBC coverage), I’ll be spending every fourth Sunday trying to avoid the news, and therefore the sodding race result, for a few crucial hours…

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Taking the above into account, it probably wasn’t a good idea for me to join Twitter, but I’ve gone and done it anyway. Expect comments on breaking F1 news and events (at least for those races appearing on the BBC). Why not* follow me @PitsTakeF1?

* Because I’ll probably tweet even less rarely than I update this blog (at least until I get the hang of this new-fangled technology), that's why not…

Australia and Malaysia Round-Up and Driver Ratings

What a fabulous start to the season it’s been. Australia set the tone with a typical Albert Park GP – crashes, overtaking and general mayhem, featuring some excellent performances from Button, Alonso and Maldonado (well, until the last lap anyway). But Malaysia was even better, with a fascinating battle for the lead, surprise podium finishers, and even an attractive arrangement of awnings which resembled the first ever Formula 1 farmer’s market.

Brilliantly, the 2012 form guide remains relatively unwritten given that we haven’t seen a ‘normal’ dry race on a conventional circuit yet. But with nine teams already having scored points, it’s clearly going to be a close season and the performance of individual drivers could be more important than ever. Which leads me nicely on to the driver ratings.

Regular readers of this blog (many of whom are known to me by name…) will know how this works. Basically, after each race each driver gets a rating out of 10 based on their performance across the whole weekend. Yes I know Autosport do something similar, but unlike them I don’t insist on giving all the British drivers at least 6 every race… and mine’s free, so there. Anyway, each rating is then added up at the end of the year to crown a Pits Take Driver of the Season. I’ve added a full chart of last year’s scores to the 2011 Season Review if you fancy revisiting that. So, off we go…

Red Bull

Sebastian Vettel – AUS 8, MAL 6

Mark Webber – AUS 7, MAL 7

It hasn’t really gone the reigning world champion driver or team’s way so far this year. Vettel has been outqualified twice by team mate Webber and appears under pressure to perform, as evidenced by his petty post-Malaysia outburst against a mostly-innocent Narain Karthikeyan. After qualifying only 6th Vettel actually drove very well in the race in Australia, assertively passing Nico Rosberg on his way to a (slightly safety car-assisted) 2nd place. But Malaysia was mildly disastrous – his gamble to qualify on hard tyres was rendered futile by the wet conditions, and after being tagged by Karthikeyan he could only finish 11th. His post-race comments betrayed his frustration at not hitherto being able to run at the very front. Webber has been consistent in finishing 4th in both races so far, and he drove particularly well in the tricky Malaysian rain. The Australian has generally shown better form than in 2011, in spite of running behind Vettel for most of both races and despite the Red Bull not longer being the car to beat.

McLaren

Jenson Button – AUS 9, MAL 5

Lewis Hamilton – AUS 7, MAL 8

Despite the confusing nature of both the Australian and Malaysian races, it’s clear that McLaren have an extremely competitive car. They’re the only team to have mounted the podium more than once and Hamilton and Button are 2nd and 3rd in the championship respectively. Button will probably be the happier of the two men after a great victory in Melbourne which owed much to his continued ability to look after the tyres. Hamilton took pole but then lost out at the start, and from then on never looked like beating his team mate. Another front row lock out in Malaysia boded well, but when the rain came Button’s alleged wet-weather abilities deserted him. A clumsy collision with the seemingly-magnetic HRT of Karthikeyan was one thing, but even after pitting for repairs Button never really looked like a contender, and had to make an extra pit stop after struggling on intermediate tyres. Hamilton’s 3rd place, while useful for the championship, was a little disappointing after another pole, but at least he’s showing much-needed (and apparently intentional) consistency.

Ferrari

Fernando Alonso – AUS 8, MAL 10

Felipe Massa – AUS 3, MAL 4

Pre-season fears that Ferrari would be off the pace have been largely proven correct, with only one Q3 appearance so far this season. And yet Alonso leads the driver’s championship after two quite brilliant performances where he extracted more than seemed possible out of the F2012. The Spaniard admittedly blotted his copybook with an off in qualifying in Melbourne, but his drive in the race was admirable as he fended off faster cars to take an excellent 5th. Felipe Massa meanwhile was a second off his team mate in qualifying (despite Alonso’s spin) and endured one of his worst ever Grand Prix which ended after an unnecessary collision with Bruno Senna. In Malaysia, after the heavens opened, Alonso proved once again that he is the most complete driver on the grid. Massa meanwhile was busy proving he’s not the driver he once was - despite driving reasonably well in the wet he lost nearly a lap to Alonso in around 30 laps of dry running. Sergio Perez’s podium heaps the pressure on the hapless Brazilian.

Mercedes

Michael Schumacher - AUS 9, MAL 7

Nico Rosberg – AUS 5, MAL 4

Mercedes have had a bizarre start to the season; they have arguably the second-best car in terms of one-lap pace but only have a single point to show for it. Michael Schumacher has led the charge, qualifying 4th in Australia and running 3rd before gearbox problems spoiled his day. This at least spared the veteran from the acute tyre wear which afflicted Rosberg, with the younger German holding up a train of cars in the closing stages and then sustaining a puncture after a collision with Perez. Malaysia started well, with Schumacher a second-career best 3rd on the grid, again ahead of Rosberg. An unfortunate collision with Grosjean restricted Schumi to 10th in the race, but Rosberg fared even worse and toiled to 14th. The younger German needs to raise his game, as do the team - the M03 only appears quick in qualifying due to its clever DRS system giving it an advantage against closely-matched rivals. In race conditions, with limited DRS use and tyre management problems, the Mercedes seem destined to always go backwards.

Lotus

Kimi Raikkonen – AUS 8, MAL 8

Romain Grosjean – AUS 8, MAL 5

Lotus have complained that the first two races of the season haven’t allowed them to show their true form. In fact, the 7th and 5th places secured so far probably represent the best results the team can realistically hope for in dry conditions at present. Raikkonen has achieved both finishes, despite the handicap in Melbourne of being knocked out in Q1 and lining up 18th on the grid. It was left to Grosjean to uphold qualifying honour with a fantastic 3rd place, but an aggressive Maldonado pass-cum-nudge put paid to his race hopes. Kimi took a useful 7th place finish though, and followed that up with 5th in qualifying (later relegated to 10th by a gearbox penalty) and in the race in Malaysia. Despite responding in his usual monotone in interviews, Raikkonen has also managed to show he’s enjoying himself though his self-mocking gesture of sending ice creams to journalists in the Sepang paddock. Grosjean made two major mistakes in the Malaysian rain, colliding with Schumacher and then spinning off all on his own. The speed is there if he can iron out the errors.

Force India

Paul Di Resta – AUS 6, MAL 8

Nico Hulkenberg – AUS 7, MAL 7

Despite three points finishes so far, it’s been a slightly underwhelming start to the season for the Silverstone-based squad, who ended last year so well. The team are certainly there or thereabouts relative to the midfield pack, but haven’t yet made the step forward needed to challenge the front runners. Qualifying in Australia provided the first evidence of this, with di Resta failing to progress beyond Q2. Hulkenberg was slightly the quicker driver all weekend and made Q3, but retired early as a result of first-corner contact. Meanwhile, di Resta never looked like scoring until the very last corner, when some smart driving allowed him to catch and pass Vergne’s Toro Rosso. The Malaysian rain served to mask the team’s slight lack of dry pace, with both drivers performing extremely well to finish in the points. In fact, the two drivers have generally been evenly matched so far – this is unsurprising, given that they have similar levels of experience, although it does make some of the hype from British media outlets around di Resta’s debut season look a bit silly.

Sauber

Kamui Kobayashi – AUS 9, MAL 5

Sergio Perez – AUS 9, MAL 10

In my season preview, I accused Sauber of being dull and anonymous, but also referenced their gifted drivers. Well, the sublime talents of Sergio Perez have well and truly catapulted the midfield team into prominence. Melbourne was a good start –despite a poor qualifying showing both drivers finished in the points, with Kobayashi showing his usual fighting spirit to take 6th and Perez hanging on with fading tyres to finish 8th. But of course, Perez’s drive in Malaysia is the one which the team’s whole season will probably be remembered for. The Mexican should really have won but for his late race error, but nevertheless drove brilliantly throughout and catapulted himself into contention for a Ferrari drive next season (or even this season, according to some observers). The team’s Swiss sensibleness was still evident, with a cautious late second pit stop and a radio message to Perez not to throw away the points for second place with an attempt to take the lead, but the car looks good enough for regular points finishes - at least until the inevitable late-season performance drop-off.

Toro Rosso

Daniel Ricciardo – AUS 8, MAL 6

Jean-Eric Vergne – AUS 7, MAL 9

Red Bull will be delighted at the form shown thus far by their latest batch of young guns, after the controversial and oft-discussed decision to remove Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari from their drives at the end of 2011. The new Toro Rosso continued its promising testing form in Melbourne as Ricciardo and Vergne qualified 10th and 11th. The last lap of the race turned into a lottery as a pack of cars jostled behind Rosberg’s hobbled Mercedes, and while Ricciardo profited to steal 9th, Vergne lost out to his team mate and di Resta on the run to the line to finish where he started. The team seemed to take a step back during qualifying in Sepang, but come the wet race Vergne performed magnificently to maintain position on intermediate tyres when the track was at its wettest – a sure sign of a potential star in the making. His eventual 7th place overshadowed a solid drive to 12th by Ricciardo, and the Frenchman has no doubt already caught the eye of the Red Bull hierarchy for all the right reasons.

Williams

Pastor Maldonado – AUS 8, MAL 6

Bruno Senna – AUS 5, MAL 9

Williams have unexpectedly made a massive step forward so far in 2012, and the recent shock departure of CEO Adam Parr (who looked the part and talked the talk but rarely appeared to do anything positive) shouldn’t be too much of an issue in the long term. In Melbourne the FW34 showed great pace but ultimately disappointed, thanks on both counts to Maldonado. His drive up to 6th in the race was at times breathtaking, but so was the loss of concentration that led him to hit the wall on the last lap and spectacularly retire. Senna meanwhile had a difficult weekend, but redeemed himself entirely by performing exceptionally in the wet in Sepang, eventually finishing a magnificent and poetically-just 6th. For his part Maldonado lost another points finish with a late-race engine failure, but remains the faster driver in dry conditions at present. Senna’s result should increase his confidence though and the initiative may well swing between the two drivers for the rest of the year – hopefully the early race collision between them in Malaysia isn’t a portent of things to come...

Caterham

Heikki Kovalainen – AUS 6, MAL 4

Vitaly Petrov – AUS 7, MAL 7

Of all the teams on the grid, perhaps the most disappointed at the moment (Ferrari’s woes notwithstanding) will be the Caterham outfit. While the first two races have been unusual there’s been no real sign that the team have caught up with the midfield, something which they have themselves acknowledged. Indeed, given the relative strength of teams like Toro Rosso and Williams the task for Caterham appears even harder than in 2011. Things haven’t been helped so far by an indifferent couple of races from Kovalainen. In Australia the Finn struggled and later retired with suspension difficulties, while in Sepang he was beaten home by his team mate. Petrov’s solid performances have actually been the team’s highlight so far, and the Russian seems to have settled in well and is already performing at least as capably as Jarno Trulli managed (with some obvious benefits…). The first priority will be to get ahead of Marussia and back to their habitual 10th place in the constructors’ standings; sadly, doing so will likely rely on attrition among the midfielders rather than outright pace.

HRT

Pedro de la Rosa – AUS 7, MAL 6

Narain Karthikeyan – AUS 6, MAL 8

HRT have unsurprisingly had a difficult start to the season. After no testing Melbourne was always going to be a struggle, but while the similarly unprepared Marussias made the grid comfortably, the HRTs missed out by a significant margin. De la Rosa actually deserves some praise for getting within 1.3 seconds of qualification despite hardly any practice laps. Sepang was an improvement in that both cars made the grid, and Karthikeyan amazingly restarted 10th after starting the race on wets. It is to the team’s credit that both cars made it home, despite the team’s novel cooling system which apparently requires it to be raining for the car to continue running. This should be sorted for China, but HRT’s professionalism (or lack thereof) was summed up by the restart in Malaysia – while the other teams sheltered under purpose-built awnings (or a large plastic sheet in Marussia’s case), the Spaniards could only muster a single umbrella to protect each car. And despite the removal of said umbrellas presumably not being a particularly time-consuming job, they still managed to get a penalty for personnel being left on the grid too late…

Marussia

Timo Glock – AUS 9, MAL 7

Charles Pic – AUS 8, MAL 6

Given their lack of pre-season testing, it seemed fanciful to expect Marussia to even finish the opening races. But they have done so with both cars, and despite remaining off the pace of the midfield runners aren’t actually that far away from the Caterhams (and are ahead of them in the championship on countback). Early fears in Melbourne that the cars would struggle to qualify proved unfounded, and Glock drove an excellent race to finish 14th, just one lap down. In Malaysia the German found the wet conditions to his liking, as he often has in the past, and again did extremely well to beat Heikki Kovalainen home. In fact in this early stage of the season Glock is doing a good job of emulating Kovalainen’s 2011 form by regularly outperforming his car. Team mate Pic was also classified in both races and has made a very sensible start to his F1 career. Both men are currently ahead of Felipe Massa in the championship (which says more about Massa’s wretched performances than it does about Marussia) and will hope to continue their relatively good form.

F1 2012 Season Preview

As Steve McQueen asserts in the classic racing film Le Mans, “Life is racing, everything else is just waiting”. Well, the waiting is about to stop, as the 2012 Formula 1 season kicks off this weekend in Albert Park. While I wouldn’t go quite as far as “The King of Cool”, it will be nice to be able to indulge my passion for Formula 1 away from my winter pastimes of playing F1 2011 on the Xbox and staring wistfully for hours on end at a signed postcard of Romain Grosjean (don’t ask…).

So, what has 2012 got in store? Well, it’s shaping up rather nicely indeed with many observers expecting a close championship, in part due to rule changes which have made most of the cars on the grid resemble a large-billed bird of some description. Blown diffusers have also been banned, meaning less downforce on the cars and potentially more exciting racing. And with the return of Kimi Raikkonen, there are six Formula 1 World Champions on the grid. Sadly, the twin gimmicks of KERS and DRS remain, but at least they guarantee some overtaking (although of the rather straightforward ‘blast-past-on-the-straight’ kind).

Of course for British viewers, one of the stories of the year is the split in coverage between the BBC and Sky. I have spent many words on this subject in the past, and do not intend to do so again here (well, not too much). Judging by Sky’s season preview (repeated on Pick TV for those of us, like me, who don’t have Sky) the BBC viewers won’t be missing much, bar Martin Brundle and ten live races of course. But suffice to say that the casual viewer and ultimately the sport is the loser.

Nevertheless, whether you are seeing the whole season live or not, it promises to be a cracker, and is certainly one of the most eagerly anticipated of recent years. Although it’s hard to see past Red Bull and McLaren when assessing potential champions, the quality and depth of the midfield runners should allow for a surprise or two. Mr McQueen would no doubt have been delighted at the prospect…

Red Bull Racing

When Red Bull bought Jaguar in late 2004, no-one imagined the team enjoying the kind of success of recent seasons, particular given the level of domination that Ferrari had at that time. Now it’s Red Bull’s turn to dominate, and despite the cyclical nature of the sport nobody would bet against another triumph this year. Frighteningly, Sebastian Vettel was only 17 when the Jaguar takeover happened – now he’s a double World Champion and on a potential hat trick, something only Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher have ever managed. Mark Webber has the dubious pleasure of lining up alongside the mercurial German again, with the Australian considered very much the number two driver in the team. He looked like it as well for most of 2011, and has to improve this year (while not treading on Vettel’s toes too much…) if he wants to hold off Toro Rosso’s young guns and retain his seat beyond the end of the season. Adrian Newey seems to have designed another effective car, and it features an intriguing slot in the front nose which the designer attributes to ‘driver cooling’ – its real purpose remains a mystery. The fact that the usual accusations of foul play are being banded about suggests that other teams still see Red Bull as the biggest threat, and the only chink in their armour could be reliability, as the car suffered numerous stoppages in recent testing at Barcelona. McLaren may look stronger than last year, but Red Bull remain the clear favourites to ‘three-peat’.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes

In the battle for the aesthetic world championship McLaren are already winners, with their car exhibiting the same smooth curves as last year’s challenger and avoiding the wart-like lump in the front nose that most other teams have adopted. Initial worries that they had therefore missed a trick seem to have frittered away, and the car has shown good form in pre-season testing. With technical continuity, including the powerful Mercedes engine, McLaren look in good shape, and the team’s biggest problem could be on the driving front. That sounds like a bizarre assertion given that McLaren are the only team on the grid to have two former World Champions driving for them, but I have some lingering concerns about Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton despite their undoubted talents. Button was superb for most of 2011, but there are still question marks around his one-lap pace compared to his team mate. And while Hamilton undeniably has the speed, he was woefully inconsistent last year and was involved in numerous incidents. He claims to have sorted his head out in the off-season, but only time will tell. Nonetheless the two British drivers certainly form an amiable and effective pairing, and the team could well claim the constructor’s crown if the car is up to it. The question is, can Button beat Vettel on pace enough times over the course of a season to mount a serious championship challenge, and can Hamilton hold it together often enough on days where things aren’t going his way to pick up the 3rd, 4th and 5th places which can make the difference between becoming champion and not?

Scuderia Ferrari

Ferrari promised revolution rather than evolution for 2012, and their new car is certainly aggressively designed. Sadly it also looks like it’s made out of Lego, especially with the ridiculous stepped nose which somehow looks more severe on the red machine that on any of its competitors. But so far, the opposition aren’t exactly bricking it (sorry) as the F2012 has not shone in pre-season testing. One lap pace seems okay, but the car is reportedly difficult to drive over a longer distance. This is hardly likely to inspire confidence in the much-maligned Felipe Massa, who really needs a strong season in order to justify being retained by the Italian giants, especially with no shortage of decent drivers on the sidelines at present. A hopefully-recovering Robert Kubica has been linked with his seat, and the likes of Adrian Sutil, Sergio Perez or Jules Bianchi would likely be more than happy as Fernando Alonso’s number two. Alonso himself has no such concerns over redundancy after an exemplary performance in 2011, but will be worried at the prospect of another year unable to compete at the very front – not what he would have expected when he first joined Ferrari. The Spaniard remains arguably the most complete driver in the field, but is in danger of losing the best years of his career unless the team are able to get on terms with Red Bull and McLaren. Here’s hoping the red cars can make it a six-way (or at least five-way…) battle for the driver’s title.

Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team

The former Brawn team haven’t managed a win since becoming Mercedes at the end of 2009, and they will be desperate to change that this year. Half the grid’s designers seem to work for Ross Brawn’s squad these days, so it’s hardly surprising that the new car seems an improvement over the 2011 machine despite worries of a ‘too many cooks’ scenario unfolding. The relatively late launch of their new car seems like an astute move, as drivers Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were immediately on the pace in Barcelona. Seven-time champion Schumacher needs no introduction, but what he does need is an improvement in qualifying form which was often woeful last season. Whether he is still able to coax a really quick lap out of his 43 year old brain will be interesting to see. Still only 26, Rosberg has no such issues, but despite generally having the edge on his team mate last season he did struggle to match Schumacher for race pace on occasion. He will also be as keen as the team to end their victory drought, given that his tally currently stands at 108 Grand Prix not won. But can Mercedes make it a ‘big four’ teams at the front of F1? Well the signs are good, and they will certainly be confident of at least getting the better of the Ferraris in the early running given the Italian squad’s problems. Sneaking a win or two may be beyond them, but getting on the podium (which the team didn’t manage in the whole of 2011) looks more than achievable.

Lotus F1 Team

Lotus (nee Renault) enter 2012 full of confidence despite a poor end to 2011 and a significant setback in testing where the car was unable to run for four days in Barcelona due to a mysterious chassis fault. Having disposed of Nick Heidfeld, Bruno Senna and Vitaly Petrov in the last year, the team field two F1 returnees. Of these, Kimi Raikkonen is by far the most illustrious. The 2007 Formula 1 World Champion has agreed to come back after two years rallying (with limited success), and insists that he is fully motivated despite accusations of disinterest in the past. Kimi’s stone-faced demeanour when facing the media is as legendary as his pace, and pre-season testing indicates that both are still intact. Romain Grosjean drives the second Lotus after impressing in a couple of Friday outings at the end of last season. The reigning GP2 champion will want to put any lingering memories of his disastrous stint with the same team in 2009 to bed, and stands a good chance of doing so. He will also benefit from Raikkonen’s experience, assuming he can succeed where many others have failed by getting more than a couple of words out of the Finn. All the ingredients are in place for a successful year – an impressive-looking new car, former World Champion driver and the current World Championship-winning engine. It’s a reflection of the strength of the opposition, however, that repeating the podiums of early 2011 would constitute a major achievement.

Sahara Force India F1 Team

For the first time since Eddie Jordan sold up, the Silverstone-based squad were genuine contenders for points in almost every race in 2011, in part due to the efforts of long-time driver Adrian Sutil. With the German departed (even before his recent conviction for assault) it’s down to two near-rookies to carry the team forward in 2012. Paul di Resta had an outstanding first year at the top level of motorsport, but now has the pressure on his shoulders of leading car development as well as the weight of expectation from the British media (I noted with interest his description as the “Rookie of the Year” on the Sky Sports F1 Season Preview show in the same way they described Vettel as World Champion – I never realised this was an official title!). Nico Hulkenberg fills the second seat, having shown flashes of promise in his 2010 debut with Williams including a fabulous pole in Brazil. But the youngster was frustratingly inconsistent and will need to match di Resta from the get-go to inspire confidence in those around him. The new Force India machine looks competitive in a tightly-packed midfield, but with Lotus and Mercedes also having improved it will be very difficult for the team to better last year’s sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship (though they may well match it). In particular, having the least experienced driver line-up on the grid may hinder car development, and I can’t help feel that dropping Sutil may be a decision that Vijay Mallya lives to regret come season’s end.

Sauber F1 Team

Sauber’s history and form in Formula 1, and seemingly their whole outlook, is summed up by their black and while colour scheme. Never likely to set the world on fire, the team blends in to the paddock more than any other and consistently puts in solid performances with occasional flashes of brilliance. Very professional, very dependable, and very, er, Swiss. Things are unlikely to be any different this season, in part because nothing significant at the team has changed. While designer James Key recently departed, his work on the 2012 car was seemingly complete, and on the driver front there is no revolution either. This is at least an area which guarantees some thrills, with Japan’s Kamui Kobayashi and Mexico’s Sergio Perez both keen to enhance their reputations as exciting, fast drivers. Perez in particular needs to prove that last year’s promise was not a false dawn, especially with a 2013 Ferrari drive potentially in the offing. For his part, Kobayashi was one of the stars early in 2011 before tailing off in the second half of the season, and will be keen to remind the paddock of his overtaking ability and racecraft while also improving his qualifying form against Perez. The car has looked decent in testing, despite a particularly ungainly front end even by this year’s standards. However, team personnel will be hoping to cast another perennial Sauber trait to one side - their inability to develop a car during the season. With Key gone, this may well become even more of an issue than normal.

Scuderia Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso begin the year with two drivers who have just 11 Grand Prix starts between them, having harshly fired both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari in the off-season. Given their role as an ‘early learning centre’ for the Red Bull team it makes sense for the squad to take on two youngsters, but it may harm their form coming into a year where they actually look to have produced a decent car. The Ferrari-engined STR7 is an attractive chassis and has showed well in testing. Daniel Ricciardo is the veteran of the team after driving part of 2011 with HRT, where he was generally reckoned to have done a good job. He needs to impress again this season though – as the more experienced driver he will be expected to lead the team, and interestingly team boss Giorgio Ascanelli felt the Australian drove within himself in Friday outings with Toro Rosso last year. Jean-Eric Vergne is one of three Frenchmen in F1 this year, after several seasons without any, and is highly rated within Red Bull circles. The carrot for both men is the prospect of a seat in the main Red Bull team should Mark Webber move on (or be forcibly moved on) in the next couple of years. Balanced against that is the very real possibility that, should they not perform outstandingly, the same fate as befell Buemi and Alguersuari awaits them. It will be a fascinating intra-team battle and in many ways which driver comes out on top is far more significant than where Toro Rosso eventually end up in the standings.

Williams F1 Team

2011 was a true annus horribilis for the once-great Williams team, and changes in the off-season were inevitable. In fact, wholesale alterations were made midway through last year with Sam Michael leaving and disgraced former McLaren designer Mike Coughlan joining the team, and the significance of these changes will be measured by the pace of the team’s 2012 design. A supply of Renault engines has also been secured, meaning the iconic Williams-Renault name returns to the sport for the first time since 1997. The all-South American driver line-up features another iconic name, with Bruno Senna joining Pastor Maldonado to form a well-heeled but somewhat uninspiring partnership. Senna showed some promise during his partial season at Renault last year, and needs to build on that by regularly outperforming Maldonado. For his part, the Venezuelan certainly improved during 2011 and proved himself worthy of a place in F1 by seasons end, although whether he (or indeed Senna) would be at the team without their significant financial backing is the elephant in the room. Nevertheless, internal competition between the two may drive Williams forward, as both are similarly inexperienced and will be keen to beat each other; one hopes this rivalry won’t manifest itself in the form of numerous accidents and offs. Given the inexperienced men behind the wheel it will be difficult to assess Williams’ performance as a team this year, but improving on last season’s ninth place finish in the constructor’s championship would constitute some progress at least.

Caterham F1 Team

The team formally known as Lotus approach 2012 with optimism after an excellent end to last season, having (just about) clawed their way up to the back of the midfield pack, at least on certain circuits. Caterham were the first outfit to reveal their 2012 design and testing has generally gone well, with the car seeming at least as fast relative to the opposition as at the end of last year and setting times comparable to the likes of Williams and Sauber (albeit with the usual “testing is impossible to judge” note of caution attached). The team will benefit from the continued presence of Heikki Kovalainen, who remains despite some late-2011 speculation linking him with (the ‘new’) Lotus. Jarno Trulli, despite completing a day of testing in the car in Jerez and having a contract for 2012, has been dropped at the eleventh hour in favour of Vitaly Petrov. Frankly, taking on Petrov was by far the more lucrative option due to the Russian’s native backers, even if the team are still paying Trulli’s wages for the season (which they may well be). Petrov has shown flashes of promise in his two years in the sport, and should keep Kovalainen on his toes. The aim will be to beat one of the established teams over the course of the season, and to do that the team will have to score a decent number of points. The fact that they have so far failed to pick up even one shows just how hard a nut F1 is to crack and how hard, therefore, their task remains.

HRT F1 Team

The Spanish squad enter the 2012 season with more pre-season testing under their belt than at any point in their history, after the F112 managed a whole ten (very leisurely) laps during a filming day in Barcelona. The fact they just missed the final day of the last pre-season test pretty much sums the team up – they are a disorganised but hard-trying bunch, and deserve credit for persevering in Formula 1 in the face of adversity. At least they seem to have a long-term plan to progress, branding themselves as a kind of Spanish national team. Unfortunately, this is a bit like the opposite situation that Italian drivers face – just as they will never be able to compete with Ferrari for support, so HRT will forever remain in the shadow of Fernando Alonso. And to illustrate the point, witness just how many Italian drivers are left in F1. The new HRT, while at least seeming to be a mostly-new design, is worryingly bereft of sponsorship logos and the re-signing of Narain Karthikeyan (despite the Indian being dropped last year in favour of Red Bull money and Daniel Ricciardo) smacks of desperation. Lead driver Pedro de la Rosa is highly rated as a test driver, but whether HRT have the required resources and funds to actually develop their car is another matter. Getting the new car up to speed after such limited testing and with mostly new personnel (after Colin Kolles left the team and took his German mechanics with him) will be the first of many challenges this year.

Marussia F1 Team

The former Virgin team are renamed Marussia for this season, after Richard Branson decided he’d much rather own a bank than sponsor and part-own a Formula 1 team. Ownership has therefore transferred to the eponymous (and embryonic) Russian sports car manufacturer. The history of small sports car companies in Formula 1 is not an illustrious one: Venturi scored one whole point in a tie up with Larousse in 1992, while more recently Spyker managed the same tally in 2007 after taking over the former Midland and Jordan (now Force India) team. The prospect of Marussia managing to match this achievement and score a point themselves seems just as distant as in the Virgin days, especially as they haven’t actually managed to test their car properly before the start of the season. This has been a source of much frustration to the talented Timo Glock, who remains the team’s greatest asset despite occasionally complaining about his lot. But the person who really suffers from the lack of running is rookie Charles Pic. Given the fate of Glock’s other team mates after only one season (Lucas di Grassi and Jerome d’Ambrosio were both shown the door), one hopes that the team give the young Frenchman time to find his feet. With an attractive but basic looking design and the Cosworth engine that no-one else wants, it’s unlikely that the team will make much progress this year, although a technical tie-up with McLaren does give some hope for the future of the team and could be enough to see them finish the year ahead of the similarly unprepared HRT outfit.

F1 2012: Pre-Season Round-Up

Williams and HRT go for budgets over brilliance

As rumoured in the Brazilian media as long ago as December, Bruno Senna has claimed the spare Williams seat for the upcoming season over veteran compatriot Rubens Barrichello. It’s nice to see the likeable younger Brazilian given a second (or third) chance at Formula 1, but it also seems strange that a guy who struggled against such luminaries as Karun Chandhok, Christian Klien and even (occasionally) Sakon Yamamoto at HRT in 2010 is now effectively team leader of statistically the third-best team on the grid.

If I worked in the Williams spares department I’d either be delighted by the probable overtime that the two inexperienced South Americans will generate through their, ahem, ‘enthusiasm’, or considering an alternative career due to the likelihood of a stress-related nervous breakdown due to a dramatically increased workload…

It’s also a shame that Barrichello will no longer be on the grid, even given his generally poor form last season. While it’s easy to be wise after the event, it’s now clear that Rubens should have treated Interlagos last year as his F1 swansong so that some kind of celebration could have been organised and his achievements as the most experienced Formula 1 driver of all time recognised.

More bizarrely, HRT have plumped for Narain Karthikeyan to fill their second car. The Indian driver performed adequately for most of last season and admittedly shone at his home Grand Prix, but was still thrashed by team-mate Vitantonio Liuzzi who is left without a drive despite having apparently signed a two-year deal on the eve of last season.

Jaime Alguersuari has admitted some contact with new HRT boss Luiz Perez Sala, so it’s a certainty that the team were courting other drivers. It therefore looks to this observer that HRT went for Karthikeyan simply because no one else was able to bring as much funding (despite the team’s best efforts to find such a driver).

Since the Indian presumably ran out of funds midway through last season (with Red Bull paying for Daniel Ricciardo to take his place), and with well-heeled Spaniard Dani Clos signed as HRT’s reserve, I’d be surprised if Karthekeyan is still on the grid by the end of 2012. Although given that he’s the only current F1 driver I’ve actually met, I’d be quite happy if he is, and he is at least a known quantity for the team.

New cars released – look away now…

Hardly breaking news, but most teams have now launched their 2012 cars and tested them last week at Jerez in Spain. Normally this would be a time spent ogling the new designs for hours on end, but the 2012 machines are so hideous that looking at them for more than five seconds is a genuinely distressing experience.

The problem is the new regulations on nosecone heights, which has led to most cars having a bulbous lump on the front where the low nosecone rises up to a higher cockpit area. This gives the impression that the revised rules on crash tests extend to teams having to have some kind of weight dropped on the top of the nose before being able to leave the pit lane.

The one exception to this is the new McLaren, which retains the curves of its predecessor, instantly leading to talk that the team had missed a trick. However, the team have denied this and the car showed reasonably well in testing, particularly in the hands of a seemingly-refreshed Lewis Hamilton, though as usual it’s hard at this stage to gauge exactly how well each new car is performing.

For example, Ferrari appeared to be struggling (and even admitted as much) but Fernando Alonso then popped in the fastest time of the last day of the test. Force India and Toro Rosso both showed well at times, while Sauber and Williams had a lower key week.

Caterham (formerly Lotus) seem to have made real progress, but it was Lotus (née Renault…) who looked to have made the biggest gains, which Romain Grosjean impressively setting the fastest 2012-car time of the four days. Unsurprisingly though, Red Bull still looked to have the strongest car on long fuel runs and Adrian Newey even seems to have worked out a use for the ungainly lump on the front nose.

The next test starts at Barcelona on February 21st, where Mercedes will unveil their new car for the first time. HRT and Marussia (previously Virgin), prepared as ever, will bring their new machines to the final pre-season test on March 1st (god-willing).

BBC radio line-up foils UK RTL watchers

Normally I wouldn’t care too much about who presents Formula 1 on the radio – it’s not really a sport that translates particularly well to being covered without pictures. But with not all races being shown live on BBC TV (as you may have heard…) radio was starting to look like a viable option to keep up-to-date with live racing.

And some bright sparks had even come up with the idea of watching television coverage on German channel RTL and turning the volume down to enjoy English commentary from BBC Radio Five Live over the top. Well, any chance of enjoying such an experience has been eliminated.

The BBC, fresh from entering my good books by appointing the excellent Ben Edwards as lead TV commentator, have swiftly had their page ripped out after the announcement that James Allen will be joining Radio Five Live as their presenter.

This is the same James Allen that the BBC tried so hard to pretend had never existed when they first took on the Formula 1 coverage in 2009, even going so far as to mute his commentary over their ‘Classic F1’ feature and replace it with a bored-sounding Jonathan Legard. It’s the same James Allen who was subject of an (admittedly slightly harsh) internet campaign (even featuring official T-Shirts) to prevent him from ruining Formula 1.

And yes, the very same man who confused making excitable, guttural and sometimes disturbing noises with displaying a genuine passion for and knowledge of the sport. In terms of a retrograde step, it’s a bit like Williams attempting to revive their fortunes by hiring a now-65 year old Alan Jones as lead driver.

And if Williams were to hire Giovanni Lavaggi as their number two, that would compare with Jennie Gow being made the new Radio Five Live pit lane reporter. Yes, the same Jennie Gow who was deemed surplus to requirements after a single season presenting MotoGP for BBC TV in 2010, such was the appalling hash she made of it.

Time to dig out my German phrasebook methinks…