It’d be great to see this car win some races…

Caterham CT03.

Ferrari F138.

Force India VJM06.

Lotus E21.

Marussia MR02.

Mclaren MP4-28.

Mercedes F1W04.

Red Bull RB9.

Sauber C32.

Toro Rosso STR8.

Williams FW35.

Marussia MR02.

Caterham CT03.
 
The first day of testing today. Both Sky and BBC are covering it:
 
Sky – http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1/news/25460/8471121/Jerez-Day-One-Live
 
BBC – http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/21312942.

The Mercedes F1W04.

Toro Rosso STR8.

Red Bull launched their new car today.

And Sauber launched theirs yesterday.

“The engines will also deliver much more torque – especially on the exit of the corners. Cars with more power than grip coming out of the corners – that is something that we all enjoy.”
Andy Cowell, managing director of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. Source: Autosport – http://bit.ly/RJXhIX

 
Former Marussia test driver María de Villota, has joined the Supreme Council of the Royal Spanish Automobile Federation. She is currently recovering from her accident when testing the Marussia. (http://bit.ly/WXh7Og – Crash)
 
A report has stated that the Turkish Grand Prix will not be confirmed for the 2013 season. The FIA have not yet confirmed the calendar for this year. (http://es.pn/WWwYN7 – ESPN)
 

“We probably were a bit conservative in the last two seasons and we will change that certainly for this year,” he said. “But always within the realms of creating that sporting spectacle.”
Paul Hembery, talking to F1 Fanatic – http://bit.ly/XpK7QM

 
Mclaren Applied Technologies has launched a Performance Academy for young drivers. It will run between 21.02 – 22.02, for a small group of young drivers between the ages of thirteen and seventeen. (http://bit.ly/RJFSAd – Pit Pass)
 
Marc Gené has extended his contract with Ferrari for 2013. He will continue to be a test driver for them. (http://bit.ly/ZLFF3g – GP Update)
 
Force India are selling some used F1 car parts. A nose cone will cost you £2010.00, bargain. (http://bit.ly/WJhwTO – Memento Exclusives)
 
Image from www.autosport.com.

Pirelli are said to be keen to stay in the sport, their contract ends after the 2013 season. It is believed that they have already purchased track-side advertising for 2014. I hope they stay, they have done a great job so far! (http://bit.ly/V7LCEB – Pit Pass)

“The quality of the drivers; the speed of Grosjean; the development push, which meant that we arrived at the last race in our best shape; the confirmation that for the second year in a row we were able to build a competitive car. If we can optimise these four things we’ll be at 100%.” Gerard Lopez, Lotus F1
(http://bit.ly/RBBvHq – James Allen’s blog)

 
Helmut Marko has been talking to the press (http://bit.ly/11bnEfc – Pit Pass), telling us about the season for Red Bull, how great Vettel is, and a little about his own career. He makes some good points.

“…That’s what cost me the nickname ‘first lap nutcase’ last year, but even that must be taken in context. Mark said it straight out of the car in Japan, with all the adrenaline of the race still inside him. I apologised which is the most I can do. I am not crazy, I am aware of the risks and I have worked hard to correct my mistakes. Over the last five races, I didn’t have any other problems and there is no reason to believe that I will have any more.” Romain Grosjean
(http://es.pn/ZDLlfz – ESPN)

 
With the correct regulations, Marussia think they can stay in F1 for 2014 – (http://bit.ly/XHR1ET – Autosport)

GP Today are reporting that Nüburgring is poised to be confirmed on the 2013 calendar. There is space available for the weekend 05.07 – 07.07 – (http://bit.ly/XJXtLL – GP Today)

Perhaps you could write about your favourite team, favourite driver, a rule that annoys you, or what you think will happen in 2013.

If you are interested in writting for F1 Faff, please Contact Us, and let us know a summary of your first post’s subject.

Listen to the podcast using the audio player above, or by Downloading The File.

2012: The Season So Far

Red Bull

Both Red Bull drivers, especially the reigning world champion were expected to deliver big things in 2012 after sheer dominance in 2011. But it hasn’t quite worked out the way they had planned. With an ordinary start in Australia and Malaysia we expected them to run and hide after Sebastian’s first win in Bahrain, but it really hasn’t worked out like that at all. Interestingly both drivers have been pushing each other hard and it’s Mark Webber who has got the highest number of wins and points, a big turn around to the last few years. Webber has really raised his game since his lights to flag victory in Monaco and with Vettel leagues ahead of the competition in Valencia only to retire due to engine failure it’s the current world champion who has got a fight on his hands, which I think is brilliant to see. With three wins to their name and a two drivers in decent form and leading the constructors championship, Red Bull are just about starting to align their championship push.

Ferrari

With talks of a radial redesign before a wheel was turned in anger, Ferrari have been the story of consistency. Well certainly at the hands of Fernando Alonso. It is admirable how he has managed to deliver such consistent results with what has not been the quickest car on the grid in early 2012. His win in Malaysia was lucky, but he seems to be in the right place at the right time far too often to call it luck. He is leading the drivers championship and was the first person to win two grand prix, and could have quite easily have won four. As for Felipe Massa, I think he’s had a hard time of it. He really struggled in the early part of the year, but since Monte Carlo has made some significant steps, although they won’t be enough to keep him with the Scuderia in 2013 I feel. With Pat Fry finally understanding the 2012 challenger, the Marinello outfit will be strong in this second half of the season and the favourites to win the championship with Fernando.

McLaren

Well if Ferrari have collecting the good points with a mediocre car, McLaren have collected mediocre points with a good car. They started off with the quickest car and did not bag the points on offer. With Hamilton taking a series of early pole positions, he wasn’t able to win a race until Canada. Pit stops and race strategy being their downfall, I imagine the Woking outfit will be rueing their early mistakes. At this point it looks as if Michael Andretti has taken over from Jenson Button with the 2009 World Champion all at sea, if he was anyone else people would be questioning his position at McLaren but Jenson seems to be safe, for now. As for Lewis Hamilton he has been driving brilliantly with only one blotch on the copybook being that coming together with Maldonado in Valencia, but even that was a case of avoiding the unpredictable Venezuelan rather than outright novice driving. McLaren need to improve the car and understand the tyres if they have any chance of mounting a serious championship challenge in the second half of the year, and even at this stage they would be wiser to put their eggs in to Hamilton’s basket as Jenson simply doesn’t stand a chance.

Lotus

Lotus have been the surprise package of 2012, and I’m still staggered they have yet to win a race. They arguably should have won in Bahrain and perhaps could have won in Valencia, but as it stands it looks like the once written off Frenchman Romain Grosjean holding is own and impressing with 2007 world champion, Kimi Raikkonen. I think it’s just a matter of time before that first win comes, and with a strong showing in 2012 I feel they are a real prospect for 2013 with even the likes of Lewis Hamilton being linked to the team.

Mercedes

A similar season to 2011 where the Silver Arrows have showed themselves to be unpredictable at best. With a stunning start to the season with Nico Rosberg claiming his maiden win in China, they have simply gone off the boil. Since returning to Europe however, Michael Schumacher has picked his socks up and has even earned a podium. I think the battle between themselves and Lotus could be an interesting one, they might even get tangled with McLaren the way they are going.

The teams have already visited Barcelona this year, for testing in March.  The fastest time set was 1:22.030 by Kimi Raikkonen.  We can’t read too much in to this – however it is worth noting that the teams are used to the track and this weekend will be the first time (this season) that we will know which car is truly the quickest.

There has been a testing session in Mugello and we can expect to see many new developments on the cars.  Pressure is mounting on Ferrari to come up with something new, and they are focusing on their exhaust system.  HRT are running a major upgrade in practice tomorrow and Mclaren are going to be using a new front nose.

If you watch the Sky coverage, you may be interested to hear that both Herbert and Villeneuve will be providing expert analysis on the channel this weekend.

Vettel won in Spain last year with Hamilton second and Button third.  Alonso will want to repeat last year’s start in front of his home crowd, but this time in a car that gives him a win.

I predict that we will see Lotus perform with the Mclaren’s closely behind.  But then, the races this year have been far from predictable!

At the start of the season I never thought I’d be writing how much of  a surprise it was to see Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull on pole! But in Bahrain, that was the case.

Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull all showed very good pace in the early stages of the weekend continuing the ongoing theme of unpredictability in this 2012 season. The wise money would have been on Rosberg for pole after Mercedes’ dominant display at Shanghai and lockout of Free Practice 2 and 3 but an over eager lap denied Rosberg of a second pole position in a week. Instead, the young double world champion refreshed our memories by putting the Red Bull on pole. Hamilton and Button both showed solid pace by qualifying 2nd and 4th with Webber 3rd and Rosberg ending up 5th. The drive and surprise of the day was a superb P6 by the young Australian, Daniel Ricciardo, surely a potential Mark Weber replacement in 2013/14.

Come race day, there was to be quite a few things out of the ordinary. It all started with a few spots of rain in the Bahraini desert and it continued with another exciting grand prix. After the initial surprise of Vettel’s pole the start was vintage Seb, he streamed away from the lights and wasn’t bothered throughout the first stint.

As Seb was stamping his authority in the desert, yet another team was coming to the fore. This time it wasn’t a Ferrari, McLaren or a Mercedes but a Lotus! (Now, just to set you straight, you won’t hear me banging out the romantic connections between Clarke, Chapman, Senna et al on here, instead what you will hear me say is that this team is the double world championship winning team of 2005 and 2006, because that’s who they are!) It’s great to see the Enstone outfit back at the top, but even better is seeing Kimi Raikkonen back at the top in a race he could have, should have won. The Lotus’ started off with scintillating speed, Grosjean showing his promise by quickly making his way passed Webber and Hamilton on the same fuel loads and tyres. Kimi’s story was a bit different, he had to make his way from P11 where he qualified, but the Finn didn’t hang about, he quickly made his way passed the rest to trail his team mate in 3rd position. After the first stop Raikkonen was running different tyres and was clearly the quicker than his team mate and duly made his way passed. Now the race was now on! Raikkonen vs Vettel. Kimi was catching at a quick rate of knots. To all those familiar with the script of 2011, this was a treat, we had a proper race on our hands! At one stage I though it was surely only a matter of time? The Lotus made its way in the DRS zone of the Red Bull but it just wasn’t to be. Vettel did a great job of holding off the charge despite a move that should have been converted on the inside into turn one. The speed differential was incredible, but the Finn thought better of it, and that’s how they finished. But despite not winning the race Raikkonen announced his return in style, and surely a win in 2012 is a question of when, not if.

If Lotus’s day was sweet, then McLaren’s day was one to forget. All signs in Sakhir all pointed towards a worrying trend for McLaren. The one saving grace was the qualifying speed was good, with both cars getting into the top two rows, but that all quickly disappeared during the race in dramatic fashion. Hamilton followed Vettel in to the first corner and with most of the F1 world expecting a renewed edition of Vettel vs Hamilton, but in reality Lewis couldn’t hold a candle to Sebastian.

Up until the first round of pitstops, Hamilton did quite a good job of holding off Webber in the early stages but he didn’t stand a chance against Grosjean. The pace simply wasn’t there from the start and it was clear to see the McLaren had issues with demolishing its rear tyres. Button unlike Hamilton really cannot live with under performing tyres, hence his rather subdued race pace. All of these woes were compounded during the pitstops, where the rear-left tyre failed to attach due to a fault with the wheel gun costing Hamilton several seconds, this happened not once, but twice. Unacceptable at this level of motorsport – even the third stop was well over five seconds. And if that wasn’t bad enough, Button suffered a puncture with five laps to go, and then they had a nail duly nailed into their coffin with the 2009 world champion suffering an engine failure. All in all, it was a weekend to forget for the Woking men, but also a weekend that has surely sent home some strong messages. Firstly, their chassis devours tyres, which in the modern age of Formula One is a huge handicap and if they have desires to win the championship must be resolved. And secondly the pit work is absolutely crucial to collecting points, even more so in a year that is proving to be so close.

What Formula One racing learnt this weekend was that with four winners from four races all in different cars, the onus is now on consistency. It seems this championship is not going to be won by a dominant driver in a dominant car, but by a driver and team that can be intelligent and sensible that can collect as many points at every opportunity. Don’t forget, this championship has SIXTEEN rounds remaining and we won’t be at the final Grand Prix for another seven months. Let’s just hope the next sixteen races live up to the first four.

Sat in front of the telly watching Formula one at my parents house with a bacon sandwich, continuous supply of tea from my Mum…and Schumacher on the front row.  A familiar set-up in the 90s and Naughts, but as I spend the weekend with my family, Michael Schumacher is sat on the front row of an F1 grid for the 115th occasion.

He has been racing in F1 (on and off) since I started watching the sport in the early 90s.  An incredible achievement that hasn’t yet been given enough credit.  His achievements are incomprehensible, even to his peers.

The Mercedes Silver Arrows locked the front row, Rosberg on pole having set one of the most perfect qualifying laps that I have seen.  He then went to win the race without too much trouble.  I don’t think that anyone has highlighted enough how important the win is for the team, the sport and the fans.  It means that Mercedes will be able to keep funding the team without facing criticism back home.  The sport (therefore) will keep one of the remaining manufacturers, an important one at that.  And the win means that the season is open – fans of the sport have an interesting season ahead.

For me, that was what made the race special.  But there was some brilliant racing as well, between VET and WEB in particular.  When anticipating the Chinese Grand Prix, we know that we will see great racing – one of the best additions to the calendar.

Written by Simon, further reaction to the race on the F1 Faff podcast.

Vettel Domination

What We Thought: All eyes were on that lone finger pre-season. Will it rear its ugly head every other weekend again this year? It looked likely that a similar situation to last year would continue. Although it seemed clear that the pack had closed itself up, Vettel still looked on form and many predicted he would win the opener in Melbourne.

What’s happened: He’s struggling. Not just him, Red Bull are struggling to find their wings in the same way they did last year. It’s still early days of course but early signals suggest that it’s going to be a long season for Vettel. Some of his manoeuvres show that he is every bit the class act that we saw last season, but in China the car struggled with straight line speed and then with grip from the tyres towards the end. I think that Red Bull are hard at work on a system similar to the Mercedes F-duct and we will see that sooner rather than later. I don’t think it will be too long before we hear the crazy frog once more.

Hamilton Growing Up

What we thought: This year was going to be Hamilton’s redemption. After a string of mistakes and grumpy faces last year, we were promised a new Hamilton, ready to take the championship again.

What’s happened: Well, right now he’s leading the championship. It really has been a turnaround for Hamilton from what we can see. After the race in Melbourne, that quiet grumpy Hamilton was present in the post-race interviews but after the second race, with a second consecutive third place in the bag, his mind set seemed to change. Now he is talking about consistency. Maybe something has clicked, but I predict that Hamilton will concentrate on staying on the track this year. Maybe now he realises that keeping all four tyres on the tarmac is all he needs to unlock his undoubted skill.

Ferrari Struggle

What we thought: From pre-season testing it seemed that everyone was talking about how much Ferrari were struggling with their new car. I thought this was all relative and that in reality, they would still be in the top three or four teams come race day.

What’s happened: Struggling is an understatement. What Alonso is doing with that Ferrari just shows the quality of his driving. Massa is by no means a bad driver, but the car is simply not drivable. I really hope Ferrari can sort out the car but I have a feeling that it won’t be until after the half way mark of the season if at all this year.

6 world champions

What we thought: One of the main reasons I could not wait for the first set of lights to go out in Melbourne was so that everyone would stop talking about the six world champions on the grid. I thought it would make little to no difference to the racing, it was merely a selling point for the season.

What’s happened: While reflecting on the past three races, I really feel as though it has made a difference. I feel like everyone’s game has been upped this year. Some of this is down to the levelling off the capabilities of each car, but I really do feel as though the six champions on the grid have spurred everyone to do better. Schumacher is an undoubted influence on Mercedes as a whole. The return of Kimmi Raikonnen has not only spurred on his team mate to a new level, but has put the cat amongst the championship pigeons. The three way battle between him, Hamilton and Webber in China was a treat.  The calibre of the champions only serves to highlight the bright future the likes of Perez have in the sport.

To sum up…

This season has surpassed all expectations already. Now that we’ve got the nerves out of the way, and everyone has shown their cards, it’s time to go racing. Only in the coming few races will we really know how the championship will level out. Once the teams are used to the new regulations, the new tyres and so on, maybe it will be business as usual. I did say maybe though!

Post written by Gareth.

Listen to the podcast using the audio player above, or by Downloading The File.

Since three new teams entered the sport, the blue flag rule has been a talking point.  And the Malaysian Grand Prix highlighted the importance of the rule.  In Malaysia, the HRT cars set fastest lap times that were over five seconds slower than the fastest lap set by Raikkonen.

The FIA International sporting code states:
The flag should normally be shown to a car about to be lapped and, when shown, the driver concerned must allow the following car to pass at the earliest opportunity.
Appendix H to the International Sporting Code, article 2.4.5.1 (d)

And www.formula1.com further explains the flag use:
[The blue flag] Warns a driver that he is about to be lapped and to let the faster car overtake. Pass three blue flags without complying and the driver risks being penalised. Blue lights are also displayed at the end of the pit lane when the pit exit is open and a car on track is approaching.

It has been mentioned that it may be healthy for the sport to refrain from adhering to the blue flag rule.  I disagree with this proposal, although for the new teams it must be difficult to concentrate on their race while concentrating on the blue flags.  There is a balance to strike, how much effort should the slower car make in getting out of the way?  Should they even need to leave the racing line?  Some notable examples of this rule in action below:

1985: Keke Rosberg v Ayrton Senna.

1988: Jean Louis Schlesser v Ayrton Senna.

1990: Satoru Nakajima v Ayrton Senna.

1997: Norberto Fontana holding up Jacques Villeneuve, allegedly conducted by Ferrari.

2012: Vettel v Karthikeyan.

I think that as these drivers are the best in the world, there should not be a problem with this rule.  Vettel made a mistake in Malaysia by driving too close to the HRT, and ultimately it was more costly for the German.  His reaction afterwards was foolish, as he may need the help of a HRT car in future races.  The rule is needed as otherwise it would be boring to watch the world’s fastest cars being held-up in traffic.  The examples above of cars being held up, would have been frustrating to watch.  I also think that the cars should wait until a straight to complete the overtake.  What do you think?  And do you know of any other notable examples?

Round 2 – Malaysian Grand Prix

The Malaysian Grand Prix had a lot to live up to after last weekend’s race at Albert Park. The weekend started off very much as expected, when in dry running the McLarens look quick with Mercedes and Red Bull pushing them hard.

Qualifying

Similar to Australia, this weekend’s qualifying was full excitement for all the right reasons. In each of the three qualifying sessions a different driver from a different constructor topped the session (Mercedes, Lotus and McLaren). Lewis Hamilton secured pole position for the second week in a row, but his lap was a tad scruffier than that of a week ago. Hamilton could have easily improved his lap by two-tenths of a second, had he not locked up and run wide on the approach to the last corner. Overall the things we learned were, McLaren are the car to beat over one lap, Mercedes can challenge, Red Bull are in a similar position to McLaren last year, where they’re struggling to get the car to work in qualifying. Ferrari were also a staggering 1.3s off the pole position pace in Q3.

The Race

The race weekend was tipped on its head when rain started to fall with ten minutes to go before the start of the race. All cars started on intermediate tyres with some opting to change to full wets before the first lap was over. One of whom was Sergio Perez.

The start was an absolute breeze for McLaren with Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton having at least three car lengths between them and their nearest rivals heading in to turn one. Despite his quick start, Lewis Hamilton showed maturity going into the first corner, he opted for the tight line into turn one, allowing Jenson to take the outside line and with little grip, Jenson had no chance but to yield. In the early stages McLaren seemed as if they would canter away from the field, but it was not be.

The rain started falling a lot harder, which forced most of the teams to pit for full wets, which was the only sensible decision at that point during the race. The McLarens held the lead until the red flag postponed the race after 9 laps.

After a 50 minute delay the race was restarted, and this was when the fun started. Jenson Button uncharacteristically slid in to the HRT of Narain Karthikeyan ripping off one side of his front wing, he pitted for a new nose and never recovered. The HRT wasn’t finished however, when Sebastien Vettel attempted to lap the back marker with a few laps to go, the German swiped back over to take the racing line while snatching his rear left tyre on the Indian’s front wing, a dramatic puncture was to follow which cost Vettel a chance of World Championship points.

The main story however, was the arrival of a twenty-one year old Mexican, Sergio Perez. He made an inspired decision after the end of the first lap to pit in for full wet tyres which lofted him up in to third position during the red flag period. Many felt it would be a flash in the pan and would be caught and passed with 45 odd laps remaining. He did anything but! He drove a superb race to challenge Fernando Alonso for the lead, who had inherited it when McLaren botched a couple of pit stops pushing Hamilton down in to third.

Their scrap for the lead was heating up brilliantly before they decided to stop for slicks with 15 laps to go. Perez pitted a lap later than Fernando, which ultimately cost him the top step of the podium. There was a tasty battle brewing when Perez was catching Fernando by almost a second a lap at one point and clearly had the measure of the Spaniard. He quickly caught the Ferrari but when he was it his closest he ran wide and scuppered his chance of the win. After that point, Alonso was not to be beaten.

Alonso, however, has shown again that he can out-drive the capabilities of the car he is in. A brilliant drive for a struggling Ferrari team. I’m sure they enjoyed the taste of the champagne, but it’s not a feeling they should get to accustom to in 2012, on current performance levels at least.

Overall the race was a good one. The main championship winners in this round have to be Lewis Hamilton and Mark Webber who scored very valuable points for their campaign, compared to the fruitless drives of that of their respective team mates.

It’s now just a huge shame we have to wait three weeks until Chinese Grand Prix.  2012 is proving to be a classic.

Pos  Driver        Team                       Time

1.  Alonso        Ferrari                    2h44:51.812

2.  Perez         Sauber-Ferrari             +     2.263

3.  Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes           +    14.591

4.  Webber        Red Bull-Renault           +    17.688

5.  Raikkonen     Lotus-Renault              +    29.456

6.  Senna         Williams-Renault           +    37.667

7.  Di Resta      Force India-Mercedes       +    44.412

8.  Vergne        Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +    46.985

9.  Hulkenberg    Force India-Mercedes       +    47.892

10.  Schumacher    Mercedes                   +    49.996

11.  Vettel        Red Bull-Renault           +  1:15.527

12.  Ricciardo     Toro Rosso-Ferrari         +  1:16.826

13.  Rosberg       Mercedes                   +  1:18.593

14.  Button        McLaren-Mercedes           +  1:19.719

15.  Massa         Ferrari                    +  1:37.319

16.  Petrov        Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap

17.  Glock         Marussia-Cosworth          +     1 lap

18.  Kovalainen    Caterham-Renault           +     1 lap

19.  Maldonado     Williams-Renault           +    2 laps

20.  Pic           Marussia-Cosworth          +    2 laps

21.  Karthikeyan   HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

22.  De la Rosa    HRT-Cosworth               +    2 laps

Fastest lap: Raikkonen, 1:40.722

The waiting and speculation for the new season was over last Friday as the new cars took to the track.  Was the new F1 channel on Sky going to be any good?  Would Red Bull dominate another season?  How would Kimi cope in his new Lotus and would there be any stand out rookies?

BBC vs Sky

I think it is fair to say that BBC had the upper hand this weekend.  They are more experienced in providing an F1 show, they have the momentum in providing an award winning service.  But the Sky channel has shown some excellence – and whenever I can’t find anything on TV (which is often) I’ll switch over to 408 and watch some classic GP’s.  I’m looking forward to see the Sky coverage progress throughout the season.. They have the potential and budget to make this a great time to be an F1 viewer!

The early start

The annual dilemma of managing my time and sleep over the Australia GP weekend was made even more difficult this weekend – it was the weekend that Wales won the Grand Slam!  I’m ashamed to say that I watched the GP on record (there I’ve said it!), I woke up with a hangover and I couldn’t manage it.  But I watched the highlights on BBC then over the last few days, watched the full version from Sky.  To be honest, I’ve never been very good with the Australian GP.  It’s a special race as it’s the first, but I always think that the season only really starts in Europe..

A classic

Having said that, this was a classic Australian GP.  We saw crashes, reliability problems, new gadgets which cause teams to moan, and a new team dominating.  Mclaren have done a great job, and in particular Button.  He is driving brilliantly and (in my opinion) has put Hamilton to shame.. Vettel should win this year, but it isn’t going to be easy!
The midfield are catching; Mercedes and Ferrari will need to pull their finger out in order to beat Lotus, Williams, Sauber and Force India..

Of course, I’m looking forward to the next race.  I don’t feel much clearer on who has the best car just yet and I’m excited to watch the midfield battle…

Sky’s new F1 channel seems to be the most talked about subject in F1 at the moment. From the announcement last summer to the launch of the dedicated channel last Friday, people have been asking how can Sky better the already excellent coverage offered by the BBC?

This is how I see it:

Since Sky launched the dedicated Formula One channel they have poached Martin Brundle, Ted Kravitz, David Croft and Anthony Davidson. It has to be said of all the personnel from BBC to poach, I would have chosen two of those four; Martin Brundle and Anthony Davidson.

Martin Brundle has time and again proved himself with ITV and BBC to be THE must have accessory in Formula One broadcasting. His insight, knowledge and ability to simplify technical issues is simply excellent and unrivalled. Ted Kravitz, although quite likeable seems to have quite a basic knowledge and level of insight although he does seem to be improving year on year. David Croft has worked brilliantly on BBC Radio 5 Live, his passion and commentary skills are clear to see, but he does tend to get rather cliché-happy at times .  Again, Anthony Davidson, like Martin Brundle has the brilliant ability to make F1 easy to understand and for that he deserved to be in the Race comm box, not just for the Practice sessions.  The rest of the line up consists of Simon Lazenby, ex Sky Rugby Club anchorman who I feel will be solid and quite likeable, Natalie Pinkham who moved along with David Croft and Anthony Davidson from Five Live will be the Louise Goodman/Lee McKenzie character and be the first to offer the drivers her sympathies for retiring from the race. Damon Hill is also in the frame and he feel he can offer a lot in terms of what it’s like to actually win a championship, after all he will be the only champion in either of the two channels.

However, BBC have snapped up some pretty significant names themselves. Ben Edwards, Gary Anderson, James Allen and Jaime Alguesuari, now you have to say that seems to be quite the replacement! Despite the loss of Martin Brundle and inclusion of Eddie Jordan, I feel BBC has the best broadcast team by a whisker. Ben Edwards has been highly rated since his spell as F1 commentator on Eurosport not to mention F1 Digital+ and FIA F1 season reviews and I think he should have been on F1 Comms since Murray retired in 2001. Gary Anderson is a race winning designer and engineer and will bring unbelievable technical insight which Sky will find tough to match and hopefully won’t be dumbed down too much. James Allen although extremely annoying at ITV , I genuinely feel his character, insight and obvious passion for the sport will be perfect for Radio along with Jaime Alguesuari. Needless to say the dream team of Jake, DC and EJ will be the glue in this BBC coverage this year, and with the extra time available to them due to delayed transmission, they should be able to bring a different spin on the race after it has happened.

So overall, I feel Sky will be able to bring the viewer a comprehensive view of the Formula One picture, but I feel with the likes of Jake, DC, Ben Edwards and Gary Anderson the terrestrial viewer will not be missing out on much besides live races of course!!

Images courtesy of Sky F1/BBC

Keep a keen eye for latest opinion pieces, blogs, reports and best of all regular podcasts. You can also follow our live race weekend twitter feed @F1Faff.

Will McLaren be forced back to the drawing office, or have they found a new F-Duct? The gamesmanship has already began and a car hasn’t turned a corner yet in 2012! It’s what F1 is all about….

Time will certainly tell, but for the mean time it is going to take a lot of getting used to.

After a disappointing 2011 campaign from Ferrari, their president Luca Di Montezemolo has promised to deliver the tifosi a return to winning ways in 2012. However, after a controversial suspension innovation was earlier banned by the FIA in January, will that make a dent on their early form and pace? Despite the rumour mill running in full flow in 2011 Felipe Massa will team up with an ever-hungry Fernando Alonso for another championship campaign.

Force India promotes Nico Hulkenberg from a reserve driver role in 2011 to a full race seat in 2012, he will partner the rising star that is Paul Di Resta. This change in personnel has cost Formula One one of its brightest stars in my opinion. Adrian Sutil has been axed by the Silverstone outfit to accommodate Di Resta and Hulkenberg and due to a increasingly tight driver market (mainly due to financial constraints on the smaller teams) he has missed the opportunity to move to another team in 2012. Sutil was very highly regarded earlier in his career where he was touted to take Fernando Alonso’s vacant seat in McLaren after his disastrous year in 2007. I hope that one of the “Big Four” can snap him up as a reserve driver which will increase the chances of him returning to a top team in 2013. Force India managed a consistent run in the top 10 last year and a few Q3 appearance will hopefully wet their appetite for more of the same come March.

Launch Dates

Ferrari February 3

Force India February 3

Lotus February 5

Red Bull February 6

Sauber February 6

Toro Rosso February 7

Williams February 7

Mercedes February 21

Marussia???

HRT???

So, what’s my point? I suppose the point I’m trying to make is, if McLaren can actually manage to get a satisfactory performance from the moment they roll out on track then Red Bull, Ferrari et al should all worry. As mentioned above both in 2009 and 2011 where McLaren suffered a serious performance issue, by the time they arrived in Europe they were back in the game picking up podiums and ultimately wins. They have a knack of making what they’ve got quick, doing the best with the cards their dealt so to speak. So it just stands to reason, if they can start off on an even keel or even slightly behind in Jerez and Barcelona, McLaren have to be favourites.

Time and Adrian Newey’s ability will tell.