The Chequeredflag Motorsports Blog

This blog has been moved

2010-08-11T22:50:00.002+01:00

I have moved this blog to my new website, www.stephenenglish.ie. I developed the new site to allow me to showcase my published work as well as continue blogging.

Sorry for any inconvenience

Hungarian Grand Prix Preview

2010-07-28T19:49:00.000+01:00

Ferrari will look to move on from the negative reaction to last weekend’s German Grand Prix with another strong showing in Hungary. The team has progress over the last six weeks and will be keen to capitalise on a dominant performance in Germany where they were never headed.

Felipe Massa returns to the scene of his terrifying accident of last season that not only threatened his career but also his life. The Brazilian was struck on the head from a stray spring from Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn during qualifying but last weekend he showed that he still has the ability to perform at a high level. This weekend though will be very trying as he deals with returning to the Hungaroring as well as the inevitable backlash from his team’s decision to force Massa to let Alonso through.

Alonso though will no doubt have been buoyed by winning in Germany, his first win since the season opener in Bahrain, and returns to where he achieved his maiden victory driving for Renault in 2003. That race was remembered as being one where an unfamiliar sight took place-Michael Schumacher being lapped; this though is becoming increasingly familiar and somewhat expected at times.

Ferrari will no doubt be confident of continuing their good form and their car has shown promise recently on low grip surfaces. Their car also has good high downforce characteristics that the team hope will allow them to allow Alonso to close the gap at the head of the title chase.

To do so he must beat McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, something he couldn’t do in 2007 when his relationship with his then team unravelled. During qualifying Alonso blocked the pitlane and ensured that Hamilton was unable to set another lap to challenge his teammate. The stewards all agreed that Alonso needed to be punished and he lost five grid places, this though was only a slight punishment compared to the decision of McLaren to end their dealings with Alonso at season’s end.

Hamilton has a superb track record at Hungary with two wins and two pole positions and last year’s win was the product of an incredible turnaround in fortunes for his McLaren team as they had been struggling two seconds off the pace in the season’s early races. Jenson Button has also been victorious in Hungary. In 2006 the then Honda driver finally won his first Grand Prix. It would take until the season opener last season before he won again. This year he arrives in Hungary as the reigning world champion and Lewis Hamilton’s closest challenger.

McLaren has won the last three Hungarian Grand Prix with Heikki Kovalainen winning in 2008. The team are confident of another strong showing but with the MP4-25 still showing some problems in high downforce configuration the team might have to rely on guile once more instead of outright pace to challenge for the win.

Red Bull have made a habit of shooting themselves in the foot this season so it would not be surprising to see the team share a wry smile at the coverage Ferrari received this season. That the incident took place so soon after Red Bull’s own intra team situation came sharply into light at Silverstone would only have pleased them more. The team have shown an inability to execute on race days and with the season now firmly counting down to Abu Dhabi they must hope that it isn’t too late to challenge. The team will know that with races at Spa and Monza upcoming that they will be firmly on the back foot to McLaren and its fully functioning F-Duct, Red Bull has one but not on a similar level to their Woking counterparts.

Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel will arrive in Budapest knowing that the RB6 has consistently shown itself to have the best high downforce characteristics in Formula 1 but they will also know that they need to win this weekend because their high drag car might struggle at the low downforce and high speed Belgian and Italian races. Webber finished third last year, setting the fastest lap, and the Australian will be as committed as ever but will face a tough struggle against his teammate.

Vettel was shocked at the public reaction to the team’s decision at Silverstone to give him the new wing but his pole lap in Germany showed that he has lost none of his commitment. Finishing third at home was undoubtedly a disappointment but he showed that he has moved on from Silverstone.

The Circuit

The Hungaroring is situated just outside Budapest and offers the teams a unique challenge. The dusty confines of this tight circuit require a car that changes direction and rides bumps well. The challenge for engineers is to get the car stiffly sprung to rapidly change direction but soft enough to be unsettled over the many bumps. Teams will need a high downforce configuration and the first turn is the only realistic overtaking position.

With overtaking so difficult qualifying takes on enormous importance and with the dusty nature of the circuit drivers need to be on the racing line to have confidence off the line.

The weather for this weekend’s race

Clear blue skies and high temperatures await teams and drivers this weekend with 31C expected for Saturday and Sunday.

A look ahead to the German Grand Prix

2010-07-21T16:36:00.000+01:00

In one of the most controversial and incident filled seasons in recent memory Red Bull will look to put their British Grand Prix saga behind them during this weekend’s German Grand Prix from Hockenheim.

Last time out at Silverstone the Milton Keynes based team was once more the centre of attention when Mark Webber had a new front wing removed from his car and given to teammate Sebastian Vettel. With the Australian now fully aware of his place within the hierarchy of his team he proceeded to dominate the race after giving no quarter to his teammate at the first turn. Vettel ended the first lap in the pits with a puncture as Webber led the field for the rest of the day with only the safety car heading him, ironically this gave Vettel the chance to salvage his day and secure six points with a seventh place finish.

Red Bull ended the weekend with 31 points, only one point more than McLaren, from a race that the team should have delivered a crushing one-two such was their superiority. The team have consistently shot themselves in the foot this season and with the summer break ever closer the team know that the next two weekends are crucial with back to back races.

McLaren brought an extensive aerodynamic upgrade to Silverstone that ran only on Friday and while results did not meet expectations Red Bull must be aware that their opponents are exceptionally well placed should the upgrade work either at Hockenheim or the Hungaroring next weekend.

The Hockenheimring Circuit

Lewis Hamilton was the victor at the last race Hockenheim hosted the German Grand Prix. Hamilton dominated en route to winning the title in 2008 even when severely handicapped by a tactical blunder by his McLaren team. Then Toyota driver Timo Glock had a massive crash coming out of the last corner that caused a safety car to be deployed and while the majority of the field pitted Hamilton stayed out. With Nelson Piquet in second Hamilton was spared his blushes by the Brazilian holding up compatriot Felipe Massa and allowing Hamilton to make his pitstop 16 laps from the end and maintain track position before coasting to the finish to win by 5 seconds.

Hockenheim was redeveloped in 2002 with a circuit that lost the vast majority of its former character. Whereas in the past the circuit was one of the fastest and most fearsome visited during the near the current configuration is much slower and more technical. The new layout though has seen some exciting races throughout the field but generally races are dominated by one driver as was the case in 2003 when Juan Pablo Montoya would have lapped the entire field had he not slowed down for the last few laps before winning by over a minute.

Can we expect the unexpected this weekend?

This weekend’s race though promises to be very exciting with poor weather expected for practice and qualifying before cool race day temperatures. There is the possibility of a race weekend similar to Canada with drivers struggling with tyre issues. To illustrate the issue that Bridgestone expect to encounter with tyres they will bring the super soft and the hard compound tyres. If the weekend follows a similar pattern to Canada it should be expected that everyone will qualify on the softer rubber, Red Bull showed in the Montreal race that it is impossible to avoid mass tyre wear on high fuel and the hard tyre. While most races have been single stoppers this year the tyre wear and short pitlane, expected total pitstop times is 18-19 seconds, mean this race could be a two stopper for the majority of the field.

Since the redevelopment this race has not been won from outside the top three on the grid with the pole sitter winning four of the six races. Qualifying is obviously crucially important but if the tyre issue does materialise the race could be won by any of the leading drivers but the favourites will once more be the Red Bull’s, McLaren’s and Alonso.

The home crowd will have a lot of compatriots to cheer on with Germans Sebastian Vettel, Michael Schumacher, Nico Rosberg, Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock and Nico Hülkenberg all competing this weekend. Vettel will obviously be keen to move on from Silverstone but at Mercedes Schumacher will be keen just to show some progress. The seven times champion has struggled on his return to Formula 1 and has been outpaced by teammate Rosberg but a return home could invigorate Schumacher. He still remains the only German to win the world title but those days are becoming a fast fading memory with Schumi just a shadow of his former self. He has struggled all season with slow and medium speed corners and Hockenheim is filled with these so the chances of seeing a fight back are slim but with the team expecting more from recent developments he could challenge for a decent haul of points. Rosberg on the other hand will be keen to add to a promising British race when he finished in third.

Heading into this weekend the top four drivers are separated by 24 points in the title chase so theoretically any of them could leave as title leader but with 25 points for a win changes can rapidly occur and with poor weather for Friday and Saturday expected a “green” race track on Sunday could lead to an exciting race with leading drivers out of position and chasing back through the field.

Rossi shines on return to action

2010-07-16T16:37:00.002+01:00

Just 41 days after suffering a broken leg Valentino Rossi was back on track yesterday during first practice for tomorrows German Moto Grand Prix.

The Italian was the centre of attention as he took to the track within seconds of the start of practice and he ended the day in seventh after an encouraging session where he was consistently on the pace of the leaders.

The nine times world champion said after the session, “I have some pain in the leg and ankle but it's not too bad, I was able to do some laps in a row and I was quite fast so things seem okay. Now we will have to wait until tomorrow morning to see how the leg is and whether it has swelled overnight or developed any problems."

Honda’s Dani Pedrosa dominated the day with a series of fast laps that no one else came close to matching. The Spaniard knows that he needs to win this weekend and halt Jorge Lorenzo’s run of three straight victories. Lorenzo leads the title chase by 52 points but with his teammate Rossi back it will be interesting to see if Lorenzo can continue his current form. Lorenzo ended the day in sixth just ahead of Rossi.

For the first time this season neither Rossi nor Lorenzo was the fastest Yamaha with American Ben Spies ending the day in fourth as the rookie continues to showcase the speed that makes him a favourite of the Japanese factory. The reigning World Superbike champion has had an impressive start to his Grand Prix career and will be looking to add to his British GP podium in the coming races.

The Ducati’s were the closest riders to Pedrosa with 2007 world champion Casey Stoner ahead of teammate Nicky Hayden, the 2006 title winner. It has been a trying season for Stoner but the Australian has been on the podium for the last two races and with the recent announcement that he will ride for Honda next season it would not be surprising to see him relaxed and competitive for the remainder of the season.

Rossi’s return sends a shockwave through the MotoGP paddock

2010-07-16T16:36:00.004+01:00

Jorge Lorenzo may have a commanding lead at the top of the MotoGP championship but teammate Valentino Rossi will steal the headlines this weekend when the Italian makes his return to racing just six weeks after breaking his leg.

Rossi was expected to be absent until the Czech Grand Prix in August but after testing a World Superbike last week in Misano rumours started to fly that the nine times world champion was considering making a comeback. After testing at Brno on Monday it seemed all but certain that the Sachsenring would see his racing return with only this weekend’s local medical officer in a position to halt his return.

Rossi is clearly impatient to return to racing with the Italian saying, “I'm really excited that my doctors think I can ride this weekend. I will see the medical officer and then we will have the final decision. I am really looking forward to seeing everyone and being back in the paddock; I was tired of being at home!”

With Rossi’s departure to Ducati set to be officially announced in the coming weeks the question that Lorenzo and Yamaha must be asking themselves has to be, will Rossi be willing to assist his teammate to win the title?

Lorenzo has been imperious this season with five wins from seven races and is riding a wave of confidence after winning the last three races. The Spaniard has been exceptional this season and has shown a maturity that was missing since moving into the MotoGP class and the confidence that he consistently showcased en route to two 250cc world titles is now on full display in the premier class. Last season he was beaten by Rossi in this race by just 0.099 seconds after a race long battle at the front of the field. Lorenzo though will start the race as favourite this year and even though he is yet to win in Germany anything less than a victory would surely disappoint the 23 year old.

Lorenzo’s compatriot Dani Pedrosa is best placed to stop the championship leaders run of form. Pedrosa, riding for Honda, has an enviable record in Germany having won three times in the past and has always been impressive on the contrasting slow and high speed sections that make up this track and the triple world champion will know that if he is to challenge for a first premier class title he needs to start clawing back to Lorenzo.

2007 world champion Casey Stoner had his first ever rostrum in the 2003 German 125cc Grand Prix and the former world champion is a former pole sitter and race winner in the MotoGP class. His form is improving once more after a trying start to the year that included crashes in Qatar and France and the Australian comes to the Sachsenring on the back of podiums at Assen and Barcelona. Another podium is probably the best that Stoner can expect this weekend.

Frenchman Randy de Puniet has been the surprise package of the season thus far with impressive pace in qualifying, including front row starts for the last three races. This weekend sees his satellite LCR Honda fitted with factory parts as he tries to translate his undoubted speed into a first podium of the season.

This weekend is sure to see sparks flying on track and the return of Rossi is sure to galvanise the paddock but once more the onus will be on Stoner and Pedrosa to stop Lorenzo’s dominance.

A look ahead to the British Grand Prix

2010-07-07T12:24:00.001+01:00

This weekend’s British Grand Prix marks the midpoint of the 2010 Formula 1 season.

The race will take place on the heavily redesigned Silverstone circuit that should prove to be one of the seasons fastest and most challenging races. Silverstone is, like most British circuits, built on the site of a Second World War airfield and straddles two shires-Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire.

Silverstone underwent the mass redevelopment after gaining the long term rights for both Formula 1 and MotoGP, the new circuit is approximately 800 metres longer than the previous layout and features the new reprofiled Abbey Curve which drivers will take almost flat out in sixth gear and which promises to be even faster than Copse Corner.

Last time out in Valencia saw contrasting fortunes for the Red Bull drivers with Sebastian Vettel winning for the first time since April and the previously inform Mark Webber taking all the attention after his crash into the back of Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen resulted in the Red Bull somersaulting along the race track.

The weekend looks prime to be filled with excitement and with only 29 points separating the top five, all of whom have won this season, in the title chase it looks set to be the launch pad of an exciting second half of the season.

The Circuit

The new layout retains the thrilling opening half of the lap with Copse Corner starting the lap with a 185mph entry speed and just a lift of the throttle to take drivers through and onto the start of one of the seasons most thrilling series of corners-Maggots, Beckets and Chapel. This series are entered in top gear at 190mph and sees drivers flick the car left-right-left-right-left in the blink of an eye before they enter the longest straight of the lap. The Hanger straight measures 800m and leads into Stowe corner, where Michael Schumacher crashed in ’99 resulting in a broken leg.

Once drivers exit Stowe they are brought into the new section. Instead of braking down to first gear for the Abbey chicane they now face the right handed Abbey Curve that they will take at 185mph in sixth. This then leads into the Arena section of the lap with the Arrowhead corner and Village developed to offer overtaking opportunities. This however will likely only occur if the lead driver makes a mistake, in the recent MotoGP races here there was little overtaking through this section.

Once released from Village the drivers are then onto the national circuit straight, renamed the Wellington straight which will again see speeds in excess of 180 mph. Brooklands has been opened up by using the Wellington Straight and Luffield is unchanged as drivers exit it and cross the line to start another lap of the fantastic Silverstone circuit.

The weather

The weather is expected to continue to be warm and sunny for the weekend with forecasters expecting a slim 10% chance of rain affecting Sunday’s race.

Facts and figures ahead of the British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix is one of only three that has been ever present on the Formula 1 schedule and hosted the first ever Formula 1 Grand Prix in 1950 when Alfa Romeo’s Giuseppe Farina emerged victorious. The race has been held at three circuits-Brands Hatch, Aintree and this weekend will mark the 44th time that Silverstone plays host.

Twelve British drivers have won this race in the past ranging from Stirling Moss in the 50’s to Jim Clark and Jackie Stewart in the 60’s to James Hunt in the 70’s to Nigel Mansell in the 80’s to Damon Hill in the 90’s and the most recent being Lewis Hamilton in the rain sodden 2008 race. Reigning world champion Jenson Button has yet to win at home but will be confident of a good performance this weekend as McLaren bring an updated car to its home race.

Recent British Grand Prix

The British Grand Prix has seen some true classics down the years with some of the most memorable moments occurring at Silverstone. Each corner has been steeped in history in a manner as only a circuit that has hosted so many races can achieve.

Last season’s race was dominated by the Red Bull’s with Vettel leading home Webber ahead of Barrichello. The German was able to pull away from the Brawn driver at a rate of a second a lap at stages of the race and had a very comfortable win. The 2008 race was held in wet weather and saw Lewis Hamilton emerge from the gloom with one of the greatest drives in the sports history as the McLaren drivers dominated in awful conditions en route to his world title. That race also saw Rubens Barrichello finish second, Honda’s final podium in Formula 1.

2007 saw Kimi Raikkonen win for Ferrari after the Finn’s better fuel strategy had allowed him to emerge after his second pitstop just ahead of the earlier stopping Fernando Alonso and win by just over two seconds. Alonso had won the previous year’s race ahead of Michael Schumacher.

2003 is perhaps the best remembered of recent races but it is remembered for the wrong reasons as Neil Horan entered into Formula 1 folklore when he staged a protest on the circuit. The priest ran along the Hanger straight with banners imploring people to read the bible. Barrichello won that race ahead of Montoya and Raikkonen.

2000 saw the race take place in April. Unsurprisingly it was wet, in fact it was so wet that spectators were unable to park in the car parks and Saturday was closed to fans except those able to walk to the track. The race day did not fare much better with only an estimated 35000 present to see David Coultard win his home race again after battling with Barrichello before the Brazilian suffered a hydraulic failure.

The 1998 race will be remembered for being the first to see a race won by a car in the pitlane as Schumacher took a ten second penalty at the end of the race for overtaking under a yellow flag. 97 should have seen Mika Hakkinen end his long wait for a first win but the Finn suffered a heart breaking engine failure with seven laps remaining as he challenged Jacques Villeneuve for the win.

1992 saw Nigel Mansell famously overtake Nelson Piquet down the Hanger Straight before comfortably winning for Williams. The race is also remembered for Ayrton Senna running out of fuel and “hitching” a lift back to the pits with the victorious Mansell.

This weekend’s race promises to continue the excitement of the current season where after the opening race of the season there was a fear for processional racing. With half the season gone the next three weeks before the summer break could be imperative to the outcome of the championship with McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari all aggressive in recent developments and keen to add to their victory tallies thus far.

Lorenzo keen for his dominance to continue

2010-07-02T11:17:00.000+01:00

This weekend Barcelona plays host to the Catalan Grand Prix with championship leader Jorge Lorenzo keen to extend his winning streak.

Lorenzo has won the last two Grand Prix and has taken the flag in four of the six races so far this season. Last season in Barcelona he finished second to Valentino Rossi after the Italian’s audacious overtaking manoeuvre on the final corner of the race. This season though Lorenzo will be looking to go one better and add the MotoGP race win to his 2007 250cc victory at this circuit.

Lorenzo may be leading the championship charge but the home crowd will be cheering loudest for Barcelona born Dani Pedrosa. Since 2002 Pedrosa has finished on the podium here in all but two races, including winning three times. Pedrosa’s style of riding suits the fast and flowing Catalan circuit with the diminutive Spaniard capable of maintaining incredible corner speed through the incredibly fast turn 9 and the final two corners on the lap.

Former world champion Casey Stoner comes to Spain on the back of finally breaking his 2010 podium duck by finishing third in Assen behind Lorenzo and Pedrosa. Stoner has finished third here the last two years and was victorious in 2007 en route to his sole world title. The Australian has struggled this season after a spate of accidents but his form has improved in recent weeks with the podium in Assen the culmination of the work done by the team to make the current Ducati more suited to Stoners aggressive style of riding.

As usual beyond the big three it is difficult to forecast any rider challenging for the podium unless trouble besets the favourites. Pedrosa’s teammate Andrea Dovizioso has ridden well this season and currently lies in third in the title chase. The Italian has been consistent this season but knows that if he is to realistically challenge for the title he has to add to his sole premier class win in last season’s rain sodden British Grand Prix at Donnington. The 2004 125cc world champion has been fourth in Barcelona in both of his MotoGP starts at the circuit and has one win, in 2006, and three other podiums to back up his current consistency.

Randy de Puniet has been in great form recently and returns to the scene of his first ever Grand Prix victory looking to step onto the podium for the first time since the middle of last year. The Frenchman has qualified his satellite Honda on the front two rows of the grid at each race this season and after finishing in sixth place from second on the grid the last two weekends he will know that it is time for him to start converting his undoubted pace into stronger race performances. The LCR rider is well placed to do that in Barcelona and add another podium to his brace of 250cc victories at the circuit.

The MotoGP class may be the premier class of motorcycle racing but the Moto2 and 125cc classes are incredibly competitive and allow younger riders the chance to hone their craft before moving to the larger capacity bikes.

The Moto2 class features the most competitive racing in the world. The recent Italian Grand Prix was an example of just how intense this class is with the top 12 riders home all having won at least one Grand Prix.

The class is led by the Catalan Toni Elias who has failed to finish in Barcelona since finishing third in 2003. The Gresini rider has won twice this season and comes to Barcelona on the back of a runner up finish at the Dutch TT. Elias though will know that one of his main rivals will be the winner in Holland, Andrea Iannone. The Italian has won twice this season and each time he has shown that he is the only man right now capable of opening a large lead if he is left unchecked during a race. The 20 year old has won two races this season in the ultra competitive Moto2 class at a canter and his rivals know that if they are to deny Iannone the chance to add to his victory in Catalonia last season that he will need to be kept in check throughout the race.

Swiss rider Thomas Luthi came to prominence in the 2003 125cc race with his first Grand Prix podium and the former world champion has had a solid season thus far with three podiums to lie third in the title chase. This weekend though could be a struggle for Luthi after it was revealed that he needed surgery on a fractured collarbone that he had raced with for both podiums at Silverstone and Assen.

Shoya Tomizawa won the opening race of the season and followed it up with a podium at the Spanish Grand Prix but the young Japanese rider has been solid in recent races rather than spectacular as he was initially. Last season this race marked his best qualifying performance and this weekend could be a great opportunity for the Suter chassis shod rider to regain some of his early season momentum.

Julian Simon is the reigning 125cc world champion and has shown that even with the change to the larger capacity the Spaniard has lost none of his flair or speed. He has not stood on the rostrum in Barcelona before but with the increased confidence that he has shown since changing chassis manufacturer to the Suter it would not be surprising to see him add to his brace of podiums so far this year.

The 125cc class may be home to the smallest bikes in the paddock but it is also home to some of the talented and committed riders in the world. The home crowd are almost certain to see the Spanish flag above the winners step on the podium but their loyalties will be toward Pol Espargaro. Espargaro is as local as it is possible to be to the circuit having grown up just a stone throw away from the front gates and the Derbi rider will be keen to erase the memory of a disappointing race in Holland and retake the championship lead from compatriot Nico Terol.

Both riders though will be chasing another Spaniard, Marc Marquez. The young Derbi rider had not won a race until the start of June and has since emerged victorious at the Italian, British and Dutch races. Momentum is king in 125cc racing and the diminutive Marquez will know that with momentum on his side he needs to continue to close the gap on his countrymen at the top of the championship table.

European Grand Prix Preview

2010-06-25T00:15:00.004+01:00

After the excitement of the Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 returns to its heartland with the European Grand Prix from the streets of the Spanish port of Valencia.

This will be the third race hosted by Valencia of a Grand Prix that has moved throughout Europe since its inaugural race in 1983 at Brands Hatch. In 1997, as the final race of the season, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve went to Jerez fighting it out for the world title. During the race Schumacher famously attempted to win the title by turning into Villeneuve, this time though Schumacher came off worst and his Canadian rival finished the race behind the McLarens and took his sole championship. That race also saw future double world champion Mika Hakkinen take his first victory after David Coultard pulled aside for his teammate.

Donnington Park in 1993 saw Ayrton Senna win for McLaren in what has long been called one of the Brazilians best races. In exceptionally wet conditions Senna leapt to the front of the field on the first lap and was not seen again by the field. The conditions were so difficult that Alain Prost stopped on no less than seven occasions. The Nurburgring has played host to the most European Grand Prix with 1984 its first race. The German circuit had to wait until 95 for another race but it was worth the wait with local hero Schumacher taking the win. He had to battle it out with Ferrari’s Jean Alesi after the Frenchman started the race on slick tyres in the wet, the track dried quite quickly and he was best placed and led the race comfortably until three laps from the end when he was passed by Schumacher.

2003 saw then McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen robbed of the win by his only mechanical failure of the year while leading comfortably. The Finn ended up losing the title to Michael Schumacher at the last race of the season and cursing his luck at this race. Raikkonen also missed out on victory in 2005 as a tyre failure on the last lap cost him victory. A regulation of that season was that drivers had to use the same tyre for the duration of the race and as a result Raikkonen felt that he needed to stay on track, the Finn cruised at the front of the field until the failure but was left disconsolate after being so close to another win that was cruelly taken from his crasp.

Neither of the two races at Valencia has provided classics with the first race exceptionally poor. Last year’s edition though was a marked improvement and was won by Rubens Barrichello for Brawn after the Brazilian craftily used fuel strategy to his advantage to beat the then reigning world champion to the flag. Barrichello used this result as a springboard for his title tilt but he had already begun talks with his current team, Williams, that weekend and with the poor performance of the car this will be a very difficult race for the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history.

This is Formula 1’s second visit to Spain this season and Red Bull will be looking to repeat their success of Barcelona where Mark Webber emerged victorious. The Milton Keynes based team though has lost the advantage that it held at that point in the season and the gap to their rivals has shrunk to the point that the team that has dominated qualifying all season do not start the weekend as favourites. The changes that the FIA mandated to the exhaust system of the Red Bull has clearly taken away some of its advantage but McLaren’s rate of development has clearly outpaced the Adrian Newey led technical staff of Red Bull.

This weekend’s race should be illuminating as to how the rest of the season will unfold. Red Bull know that it crucial for them to reassert themselves at the front of the field but McLaren, with a fully optimised ‘f-duct’ system, will be able to run a higher downforce configuration on this street circuit and thus should theoretically have greater grip as a result. The Woking squad struggled for grip on slow speed corners at the start of the season and their recent successes in Turkey and Canada have both been on circuits where top speed can give a significant advantage. If the silver cars are faster than Red Bull this weekend it will have been clear that McLaren has become the pace setters, and that is before their significant upgrade package arrives at Silverstone.

Ferrari bring their own significant upgrade to Valencia and with the performance of the Prancing Horse on low grip circuits such as Bahrain and Canada this season home town favourite Fernando Alonso will be very confident of battling it out at the front of the field. The upgrade of the Ferrari is quite extensive with the use of a Red Bull style exhaust is central to the teams hopes of success. The system sees the exhaust gases exit through the diffuser and significantly improves the available downforce for the driver. The team has also changed its blown rear wing and are confident that the system now will show a much greater performance benefit. The team admitted that it had lost its way with their attempt to copy McLaren’s F-duct and overestimated the benefit of the system, even so it is clear that there are straight line speed advantages of the system so Ferrari know it is imperative to have the system working satisfactory for the remainder of the season.

The Valencia Street Circuit

The first race held here in 2008 was notable for the fact that it featured no overtaking moves on the track, with only pitstops allowing drivers to overtake one another. Last year’s race featured a tactical battle at the front and was an improvement on the inaugural race but if this year’s edition is to provide excitement it is likely to rest on the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.

Bridgestone will take the same compounds to Valencia that led to such an exciting Canadian race. The Montreal circuit features some similar characteristics to Valencia with low grip surface and a lack of running throughout the season. This could lead to issues arising with tyre life once more this weekend but with high temperature expected it is likely that the chemical makeup of the tyre should be able to operate sufficiently and it would be surprising to see any more than a single pit stop this weekend for the leaders.

Weather for this weekend’s Grand Prix

This weekend should see clear skies and high temperatures with only Saturday expected to see any cloud cover. Temperatures are forecast to be in the region of 30C during the race.

What can we expect from this weekend?

Only a month ago Mark Webber was the form man of Formula 1 after back to back wins. His chances of a victory in Canada were hampered by a pre race gear box change and after clashing with teammate Sebastian Vettel in Turkey the Australian knows that he needs another strong showing this weekend if he is to continue his run of strong performances since the first Spanish race of the season. Vettel knows that the focus of the media is still on the team and the rivalry that has developed between the teams drivers since the Turkey clash and the young German knows that he needs a win to draw a line underneath the clash. He has driven well here in the past, most notably qualifying inside the top eight for Tora Rosso in 2008.

Mercedes are expected to bring an upgrade to Valencia that includes a blown exhaust system and the team know that it is crucial for them to gain some momentum as Renault and Robert Kubica challenge the team for fourth in the title chase. The team struggled in Canada with Michael Schumacher criticised for his driving standards after clashing with both Kubica and former teammate Massa. The German races in Valencia for the first after his hopes of a comeback for Ferrari were scuppered after Massa’s Hungarian crash.

Massa won the first race held at Valencia and will race knowing that he has the comfort of a contract extension. The Brazilian needs to challenge his teammate Alonso this weekend and with the major upgrade expected to bring the red cars to the front of the field the expectation is that the Brazilian could challenge for a podium. This though is dependent on Massa being able to maximise the Bridgestone tyres. He has been unable to do so this season but with the blown diffuser and greater levels of downforce he could challenge at the sharp end.

The past races in Valencia mean that a classic cannot be expected but this season is shaping to be one to be long remembered so hopefully Valencia can provide another thrilling Grand Prix.

European Grand Prix Preview

2010-06-25T00:14:00.000+01:00

After the excitement of the Canadian Grand Prix Formula 1 returns to its heartland with the European Grand Prix from the streets of the Spanish port of Valencia.

This will be the third race hosted by Valencia of a Grand Prix that has moved throughout Europe since its inaugural race in 1983 at Brands Hatch. In 1997, as the final race of the season, Michael Schumacher and Jacques Villeneuve went to Jerez fighting it out for the world title. During the race Schumacher famously attempted to win the title by turning into Villeneuve, this time though Schumacher came off worst and his Canadian rival finished the race behind the McLarens and took his sole championship. That race also saw future double world champion Mika Hakkinen take his first victory after David Coultard pulled aside for his teammate.

Donnington Park in 1993 saw Ayrton Senna win for McLaren in what has long been called one of the Brazilians best races. In exceptionally wet conditions Senna leapt to the front of the field on the first lap and was not seen again by the field. The conditions were so difficult that Alain Prost stopped on no less than seven occasions. The Nurburgring has played host to the most European Grand Prix with 1984 its first race. The German circuit had to wait until 95 for another race but it was worth the wait with local hero Schumacher taking the win. He had to battle it out with Ferrari’s Jean Alesi after the Frenchman started the race on slick tyres in the wet, the track dried quite quickly and he was best placed and led the race comfortably until three laps from the end when he was passed by Schumacher.

2003 saw then McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen robbed of the win by his only mechanical failure of the year while leading comfortably. The Finn ended up losing the title to Michael Schumacher at the last race of the season and cursing his luck at this race. Raikkonen also missed out on victory in 2005 as a tyre failure on the last lap cost him victory. A regulation of that season was that drivers had to use the same tyre for the duration of the race and as a result Raikkonen felt that he needed to stay on track, the Finn cruised at the front of the field until the failure but was left disconsolate after being so close to another win that was cruelly taken from his crasp.

Neither of the two races at Valencia has provided classics with the first race exceptionally poor. Last year’s edition though was a marked improvement and was won by Rubens Barrichello for Brawn after the Brazilian craftily used fuel strategy to his advantage to beat the then reigning world champion to the flag. Barrichello used this result as a springboard for his title tilt but he had already begun talks with his current team, Williams, that weekend and with the poor performance of the car this will be a very difficult race for the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history.

This is Formula 1’s second visit to Spain this season and Red Bull will be looking to repeat their success of Barcelona where Mark Webber emerged victorious. The Milton Keynes based team though has lost the advantage that it held at that point in the season and the gap to their rivals has shrunk to the point that the team that has dominated qualifying all season do not start the weekend as favourites. The changes that the FIA mandated to the exhaust system of the Red Bull has clearly taken away some of its advantage but McLaren’s rate of development has clearly outpaced the Adrian Newey led technical staff of Red Bull.

This weekend’s race should be illuminating as to how the rest of the season will unfold. Red Bull know that it crucial for them to reassert themselves at the front of the field but McLaren, with a fully optimised ‘f-duct’ system, will be able to run a higher downforce configuration on this street circuit and thus should theoretically have greater grip as a result. The Woking squad struggled for grip on slow speed corners at the start of the season and their recent successes in Turkey and Canada have both been on circuits where top speed can give a significant advantage. If the silver cars are faster than Red Bull this weekend it will have been clear that McLaren has become the pace setters, and that is before their significant upgrade package arrives at Silverstone.

Ferrari bring their own significant upgrade to Valencia and with the performance of the Prancing Horse on low grip circuits such as Bahrain and Canada this season home town favourite Fernando Alonso will be very confident of battling it out at the front of the field. The upgrade of the Ferrari is quite extensive with the use of a Red Bull style exhaust is central to the teams hopes of success. The system sees the exhaust gases exit through the diffuser and significantly improves the available downforce for the driver. The team has also changed its blown rear wing and are confident that the system now will show a much greater performance benefit. The team admitted that it had lost its way with their attempt to copy McLaren’s F-duct and overestimated the benefit of the system, even so it is clear that there are straight line speed advantages of the system so Ferrari know it is imperative to have the system working satisfactory for the remainder of the season.

The Valencia Street Circuit

Utilising roads around the port of Valencia this weekend’s race will be run on the 5.419 km Valencia Street Circuit which features 25 corners. Unlike most street circuits top speed is important here with cars reaching speeds in excess of 320 km p/h on the back straight. As a result of this speed requirement teams with an effective blown rear wing will have an advantage so during practice sessions it should be expected for Red Bull to once more test their version of the system.

The first race held here in 2008 was notable for the fact that it featured no overtaking moves on the track, with only pitstops allowing drivers to overtake one another. Last year’s race featured a tactical battle at the front and was an improvement on the inaugural race but if this year’s edition is to provide excitement it is likely to rest on the performance of the Bridgestone tyres.

Bridgestone will take the same compounds to Valencia that led to such an exciting Canadian race. The Montreal circuit features some similar characteristics to Valencia with low grip surface and a lack of running throughout the season. This could lead to issues arising with tyre life once more this weekend but with high temperature expected it is likely that the chemical makeup of the tyre should be able to operate sufficiently and it would be surprising to see any more than a single pit stop this weekend for the leaders.

Weather for this weekend’s Grand Prix

This weekend should see clear skies and high temperatures with only Saturday expected to see any cloud cover. Temperatures are forecast to be in the region of 30C during the race.

What can we expect from this weekend?

Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button have led McLaren to the top of both championships in recent races with the Woking based team winning three of the last five races. Hamilton has finished second in both races at Valencia but with the McLaren expected to set the pace this weekend the former title holder knows that there is an opportunity to go one better this weekend. Button was thoroughly outperformed by Hamilton in Canada and knows that this weekend he has to reassert himself in terms of his place within the team otherwise he could face a long summer, especially if the McLaren Silverstone upgrade is more suited to his teammate.

Only a month ago Mark Webber was the form man of Formula 1 after back to back wins. His chances of a victory in Canada were hampered by a pre race gear box change and after clashing with teammate Sebastian Vettel in Turkey the Australian knows that he needs another strong showing this weekend if he is to continue his run of strong performances since the first Spanish race of the season. Vettel knows that the focus of the media is still on the team and the rivalry that has developed between the teams drivers since the Turkey clash and the young German knows that he needs a win to draw a line underneath the clash. He has driven well here in the past, most notably qualifying inside the top eight for Tora Rosso in 2008.

Mercedes are expected to bring an upgrade to Valencia that includes a blown exhaust system and the team know that it is crucial for them to gain some momentum as Renault and Robert Kubica challenge the team for fourth in the title chase. The team struggled in Canada with Michael Schumacher criticised for his driving standards after clashing with both Kubica and former teammate Massa. The German races in Valencia for the first after his hopes of a comeback for Ferrari were scuppered after Massa’s Hungarian crash.

Massa won the first race held at Valencia and will race knowing that he has the comfort of a contract extension. The Brazilian needs to challenge his teammate Alonso this weekend and with the major upgrade expected to bring the red cars to the front of the field the expectation is that the Brazilian could challenge for a podium. This though is dependent on Massa being able to maximise the Bridgestone tyres. He has been unable to do so this season but with the blown diffuser and greater levels of downforce he could challenge at the sharp end.

The past races in Valencia mean that a classic cannot be expected but this season is shaping to be one to be long remembered so hopefully Valencia can provide another thrilling Grand Prix.

Dutch TT Preview

2010-06-24T11:26:00.001+01:00

After a late start to the year MotoGP is now in full swing for 2010 with Saturday’s Dutch TT following on from last weekend’s British GP and the Catalan GP next weekend.

This three race period will be crucial in determining the championship and with Jorge Lorenzo fresh from his dominant performance at Silverstone the Spaniard will start as a red hot favourite this weekend. Lorenzo is a three time winner Dutch TT winner in the smaller classes and will look to win in the premier class for the first time.

As usual the most likely pursuers of Lorenzo will be Dani Pedrosa and Casey Stoner. The 2002 125cc race marked Pedrosa’s first ever GP victory as he dominated the race from pole position in beating then reigning world champion Manuel Poggiali. He has since added another four podiums at the circuit as well as numerous front row starts.

Stoner has had four podiums at Assen including a victory in 2007 when he led home Valentino Rossi for the win. The Ducati rider has been on each step of the podium the last years at Assen and will be looking to put to bed his poor start to the year on this circuit where a rider can overcome the shortfalls of his bike.

The Circuit

“The Cathedral” has long been viewed as the home of traditional Grand Prix motorcycle racing. It has been a venue for MotoGP since the inception of the championship in 1949 and still maintains the character of a road venue even though it is now closed course.

Assen is the greatest challenge that a rider faces all year in MotoGP. With numerous off camber corner, high speed straights and the challenging fast sweeping bends that end the lap riders love this circuit. Assen is unlike any other on the calendar and every rider wants to be able to put on their CV as Dutch TT winner.

Historic moments that are long etched into the memory of fans have occurred at numerous places throughout the circuit but one of the most recent was during last season’s 250cc race when Alvaro Bautista and Hiroshi Aoyama clashed at the final turn. Aoyama managed to crawl across the line for the victory ahead of Hector Barbara.

Other notable moments from the past included Barry Sheene taking his first GP victory in the 1975 500cc race. In 1977 Giacomo Agostini gave MV Augusta its final victory in the 350cc class. The 1985 edition also saw the last time that a machine with less than four cylinders won a premier class race, Randy Mamola won the 500cc race on a Honda triple.

1992 will long be remembered for Australian Mick Doohan’s crash that almost left the future five times world champion as an amputee. Future world champion Alex Criville gave Spain its first ever premier class victory in that year’s race.

Marco Malandri became the youngest ever GP winner in 1998 when he beat Kazuto Sakato by just 0.028 seconds in the 125cc race. The Italian held the record until current Moto2 rider Scott Redding won the British GP in 2008. Last year’s race saw Valentino Rossi win his 100^th Grand Prix and the ever charismatic Italian displayed a banner with each an image of his victories displayed.

Who will be the contenders for MotoGP?

Championship leader Jorge Lorenzo will start as a clear favourite but Stoner and Pedrosa are sure to challenge. Andrea Dovizioso is second in the title race but the Italian has struggled at Assen in the past with only a solitary podium and a brace of front row starts to his name.

Randy de Puniet was undoubtedly one of the surprises of Silverstone and the LCR Honda rider will be looking to add to that this weekend. The Frenchman has qualified well here in the past but his race performances are average.

Former world champion Nicky Hayden won at Assen during his championship year of 2006. Hayden’s victory will be remembered as the 200^th premier class victory for Honda and the dramatic fall of Colin Edwards at the last corner. Hayden has been impressive this season matching Casey Stoner’s pace in practice and racing well with four fourth positions to his name thus far. This could be the weekend where Hayden springs a surprise and manages to finish on the podium.

Who will be the challengers in the smaller class?

The Moto2 class boasts four previous winners of Dutch TT’s with past 125cc winners Toni Elias in 2001, Mattia Pasini in 2007 and double winner Gabor Talmaschi in 2005 and 2008. The 2008 race was stopped after it started raining and Talmaschi won the five lap restarted race by .0128 seconds. The only 250cc winner still racing outside of MotoGP is Anthony West, winner of a rain sodden 2003 race.

It’s unlikely that West, Talmaschi or Pasini will be present at the front of the field this weekend but the beauty of Moto2 is that on any day any rider can compete at the front of the field. Elias struggled at Silverstone but still holds a commanding 15 point lead in the title chase and the Spaniard is sure to be invigorated by returning to the scene of his first GP victory. The Gresini rider knows that he will have to be on form this weekend though otherwise by next weekend’s Catalan GP he could be under pressure in both the title chase and also from the home fans.

Aspar rider Julian Simon followed home Sergio Gadea in last year’s 125cc race and the two riders are well placed in the Moto2 championship to close the gap on Elias this weekend with strong showings. Simon, the reigning 125cc title holder is in fourth and Gadea in sixth as they enter this weekend’s race.

British GP winner Jules Cluzel has never scored at point at Assen but the Frenchman will be very dangerous this weekend as he looks to build on his Silverstone success. Cluzel has showed a lot of promise in the last year and his first ever GP success is sure to give him confidence with which he will look to build a tilt on the title around.

Simone Corsi will look to put his crash at Silverstone behind him and build on a run of form at Assen that has seen him qualify well in recent years and finish on the podium in 2008. Javier Simeon will race again this weekend and the youngster has been very impressive for the Holiday Gym team. Switzerland’s Thomas Luthi has raced well this year and finds himself in third in the championship, the former 125cc world champion has shown good form at Assen and his second place in 2008 was his best GP result in the 250cc class but the change to Moto2 has clearly helped him and after finishing as runner up at Silverstone the Swiss rider will look to go one better this weekend.

In the 125cc class Marc Marques became the youngest ever back to back winner in GP history as the 17 year old Spaniard closed in on compatriots Pol Espargaro and Nico Terol at the head of the championship. Marquez knows that the straight-line speed advantage that his Derbi has will be crucial this weekend.

The 125cc class has been home to some of the best racing seen in years with the battles for victory exceptionally close at each race, including Silverstone where Espargaro and Marquez clashed three times on the final lap. Assen always produces close racing and the expectation will be for just that in this year’s 125 race. Last year’s vice champion was Bradley Smith and in Italy and Britain he showed that he can still compete at the front of the field. This weekend will be crucial if he is to have any chance of catching the Spaniards in the title chase.

2010-06-17T18:41:00.005+01:00

The British Grand Prix returns to Silverstone for the first time since 1986 when Australia’s Wayne Gardner won the 500cc race for the Rothmans-Honda team.

This race will see one of the first international races to be held one Silverstone’s new Arena circuit layout. The new track has been praised by all who have sampled it including the Rizla Suzuki riders Loris Capirossi and Alvaro Bautista. The expectation is that this will be one of the fastest and most spectacular races of the season with numerous potential overtaking positions.

The home fans have no one to follow in the top class but with Bradley Smith showing a return to form in recent weeks in the 125cc class the expectation is that the 19 year old from Oxford could compete for a third career victory. It has been a challenging start to the year for the young Briton due to reliability issues as well as a lack of top speed at Mugello but racing before his home crowd has brought out the best in him in the past with pole position last year at Donnington a prime example.

The Circuit

Like most circuits in Britain Silverstone is located on what was during the Second World War an RAF airfield. As a result the land is mostly flat but it is also incredibly fast. The new layout features many of the previous corners that have helped make Silverstone a favourite for racing drivers as well as motorcyclists. Opening the lap with the fearsome Copse corner riders are then pressed into action with Beckets and Maggots before taking a breather down Hanger straight. All this is identical to the old layout of the track but once riders exit the slightly reprofiled Club corner they enter the new section.

Whereas in the past the Abbey chicane was a slow left-right chicane it is now one of the seasons most fearsome challenges with riders facing a very fast right hander that leads into the Arena section that is quite technical and sure to challenge the setup of the bike with the rear wheel constantly losing traction.

Once the Arena is tackled the riders are then onto the back straight which leads into the ever tightening Brooklands before Luffield and the fabled Woodcote curve take the riders back to the start of the lap.

Who will be the contenders for MotoGP victory on Silverstone’s return to the calendar?

With the injury enforced absence of MotoGP’s biggest star, Valentino Rossi, there is one less front runner to worry championship leader Jorge Lorenzo. The Yamaha rider will start as the clear favourite but Ducati’s Casey Stoner is always strong on fast circuit such as the new Silverstone and the 2007 world champion will be looking to put his miserable start to the year behind him. As a former British Championship racer Stoner feels at home in England and perhaps crucially is the only rider to have raced at Silverstone in the past.

The main challenger to Lorenzo though should come from Mugello winner Dani Pedrosa. Pedrosa clearly has the Honda dialled in more to his liking after struggling with the bike at Qatar. With his slight frame and powerful Pedrosa should dominate the top speed charts and with so many fast corners the triple world champion will be confident of closing the gap to Lorenzo at the top of the title table.

It’s unlikely that anyone else could challenge for victory in the dry against Lorenzo, Pedrosa and Stoner but in the wet of Donnington last season Andrea Dovizioso emerged victorious to take his first premier class win. The Italian has shown good form this season and knows that with the paddock increasingly certain that Stoner will be a Honda rider next season the next five races before the summer break are crucial if the Italian hopes to keep his ride for next year.

Who will be the challengers in the smaller class?

Outside of the top class the battle for victory is difficult to predict. The last Moto2 race featured the first dominant victory in the new class with Andrea Iannone dominating at Mugello. It is difficult to see a repeat performance this weekend. The difference between a lap that gets a rider to the front of the field and one where he is left in the midfield is tiny and the one thing that this year has shown so far is that anyone can challenge for the honours on any given weekend.

Even so it is tough to overlook the form of Toni Elias this year and with reigning world 125cc champion, Julian Simon, gaining increasing confidence in his new bike it would not be unexpected for them to battle it out at the front. The hometown hero will be Scott Redding in this race with the young Englishman performing before an expectant home crowd. The youngest ever winner of a GP has struggled since taking the flag at Donnington in 2008 but he has the ability to challenge at the front once more and the fact that he is at home again makes him impossible to underestimate. It has been a trying start to the year for Redding but he has the ability to turn his season around, starting this weekend.

In the 125cc class Smith will be one of the favourite but the Derbi riders will be very tough to be beaten. Even though the Derbi and Aprilia bike are now all but identical in each race Derbi has been shown to have the fastest bike in terms of top speed. This is due to a different exhaust configuration on the Spanish bikes and Marc Marquez will be confident of adding to his first career win from Mugello with another great result at Silverstone.

His teammate Pol Espargaro has shown that when all things are equal he is the outright fastest rider in the class and with the new found maturity in his riding the tough Spaniard will be looking to take the title lead away from Nico Terol, winner of the opening race in Qatar.

Canada left fans breathless but Hamilton left his rivals "tyred"

2010-06-17T18:40:00.001+01:00

Montreal played host to the Canadian Grand Prix and the most exciting race of the season thus far. Lewis Hamilton and McLaren emerged victorious once again and retook the lead in both championships.

When the year opened in Bahrain with a processional race the expectation was the Formula 1 was in for a dangerously poor season and one that would see millions of fans switch off their televisions and search for a new form of excitement on a Sunday afternoon. This expectation has been proven very wrong with each race since Bahrain proving thrilling for various reasons; this race though was the best of the year so far.

Tyres prove crucial to the outcome of this race

There were numerous factors that led to this race proving to be classic but the primary reason was that the tyres were on a knife-edge throughout the weekend. Drivers were unable to make their tyres last for a substantial number of laps. In Formula 1 the regulations state that drivers must use both compounds of tyre throughout a race, most races have seen the best strategy being a single pit stop as early as possible that would allow a driver to gain or maintain track position over rivals until the flag.

In Montreal the soft tyre was barely able to last for 15 laps and the harder was not able to last more than 30 laps so it was clear that drivers would need to make multiple pit stops for tyres. With this being the case teams needed to decide how best to tackle the strategy of the race and when to use the softer tyre.

McLaren and Ferrari both decided that their best option was to use the soft tyre at the start. They did this to minimise what they felt was their weakest segment of the race and to get this part of the race over as early as possible. Red Bull started the race on the harder compound because they expected to be able to go until around lap 20 but with the conditions on race day hotter than at any other time during the weekend Webber and Vettel were forced to stop on laps 13 and 14 respectively, experiencing issues with the harder tyre. Both drivers expected that the opening stint would put them out of reach of the McLarens and Ferrari’s Alonso but by being forced into a shorter stint the team negated their potential advantage and ended up finishing in fourth and fifth.

When the chequered flag fell Lewis Hamilton was first past the line ahead of his teammate Jenson Button as McLaren achieved a second consecutive one-two. This victory was very different to Hamilton’s opening win of the year in Turkey which was overshadowed by the controversial clash of the Red Bull drivers. This race showcased the quality of this season’s racing with the leading five drivers all challenging for the win at various stages of the race.

Ferrari was in the hunt for this win; Fernando Alonso challenged for the lead on various occasions. The Spaniard actually led prior to his second pit stop and were it not for trouble lapping backmarkers Alonso could have repeated his 2006 victory, as it was the time lost in traffic gave his former teammate Hamilton the opportunity needed to emerge victorious at the scene of his first win in Formula 1.

A month ago it seemed unlikely that anyone would catch the Red Bulls, which had a clear advantage of over half a second per lap, but after the pace of development shown by McLaren the pressure has now turned on Red Bull to recapture their pervious standing as pacesetter. So far this season Red Bull has failed to maximise their potential for what has been the fastest car in Formula 1. The teams now embark on a summer in Europe and Red Bull’s shortcomings have opened the door to their rivals.

Ferrari will bring a major aerodynamic upgrade to the Valencian race and with their form on low grip surfaces strong they will be confident of challenging for victory. As it is, the form of Hamilton and McLaren is exceptionally strong and the pace of development by the team shows no sign of letting up with their mid season upgrade expected for the British Grand Prix in July. The McLaren is yet to usurp Red Bull as the fastest car on the grid but the team has shown itself able to win races through better reliability and strategy and the different strengths of the leading teams looks set to guarantee a summer of excitement in F1 that could not have been predicated after Bahrain.

Canadian Grand Prix Preview

2010-06-09T22:09:00.000+01:00

The Canadian Grand Prix returns to the Formula 1 calendar this weekend with the return of the Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve. Montreal has a rich tradition of F1 and the races hosted here have tended to be some of each season's best.

The Circuit

The circuit has a well earned reputation as a car breaker and when you look at the layout of the circuit is quite easy to see why-high speed straights leading into slow first and second gear corners. Brakes and gearboxes take a pounding and failures are common, a classic example being Heinz-Harold Frentzen's Jordan failing on the second last lap of the '99 race that led to that Grand Prix ended behind the safety car with double world champion Mika Hakkinen leading the field over the line in his McLaren.

Recent Canadian Grand Prix

Michael Schumacher is the most successful driver in the history of this race with seven victories but it is unlikely that we will be seeing number eight this weekend with the Mercedes slower than the pace of the leading Red Bull and McLaren teams. As it is Mercedes have moved ahead of Ferrari in recent races.

The Italian team is the most successful team in the history of this race with thirteen race wins but the red cars are clearly lacking right now. Felipe Massa signed a new two year contract with Ferrari and he will look to maintain the form he showed in Turkey, where he out qualified teammate Alonso, but he will need to buck the trend of his past results here if he is to beat his teammate again. Alonso is a past winner here while Massa has never stood on the podium here and has a best finish of two fifth places combined with a disqualification in 2007 for failing to stop at the red light in pitlane.

During the next years Grand Prix a somewhat similar incident occurred with the red light at the end of pitlane switched on and Raikonnen sitting at the end of pitlane waiting to reenter the race only for Lewis Hamilton to drive straight into the back of the then reigning world champion's Ferrari.

In 2007 as a rookie Hamilton claimed his first career win in Canada and then backed it up with a win at Indy the week after. The Englishman showed that he was sure to be a championship contender as he dominated a race blighted by safety cars, the most significant of these was as a result of a massive shunt involving BMW's Robert Kubica. The Polish driver crashed at the hairpin and was forced to sit out the next race which led to the arrival on the Formula 1 grid of a certain Sebastian Vettel.

Kubica returned to the scene of the biggest accident of his career in 2008 to deliver BMW their one and only Grand Prix win as a full works Formula 1 team. He led home his teammate Nick Heidfeld after his team gave him the benefit of a stronger strategy relative to his teammate. The win placed Kubica firmly into championship contention and the Pole spoke after the race of a need to continue to press hard and win more races that season to challenge for the title right until the end of the season. Of course with hindsight we know that BMW did not take his advice but with the form that Kubica finds himself in right now it is quite clear that Renault would not make the mistake maintain his current form.

Apart from the recent races there have been numerous talking points and interesting events throughout past runnings of this race, one of the most memorable was in 1991 when Nigel Mansell waved to the crowd on the last lap and his Williams ground to a halt leaving a bemused Englishman to stand trackside and watch Piquet take the chequered flag.

Weather for this weekend

The weather for this weekend is quite promising with temperatures expected to be in the range of 20 and 24 degrees with no rain forecast on Friday or Saturday. Raceday though has thunderstorms forecast but these are set to arrive after the flag has dropped. Rain has played a part in some Canadian Grand Prix but the safety car has been much more prevalent in the past and it is this that we should expect to see on Sunday rather than rain.

Previewing Mugello 2010

2010-06-03T17:44:00.001+01:00

This weekend sees the Italian MotoGP round and the Tuscan circuit will look to continue its long run of producing classic racing.

Each year races at this venue leave fan awe struck as races invariably produce exteptionally close races. An example of this would be the 2006 125cc Grand Prix which was the closest race in GP history with a 0.001 second victory margin and only 0.050 separating the podium places.

Indeed the small classes has traditionally been the race that is most closely contested with riders unable to break away from each other due to the slipstreaming battles on the long home straight.

Italian fans are always incredibly passionate at their races and the atmosphere they create at Mugello is just what anyone would expect. Fan clubs line the circuit to lend support to their chosen rider and on the formation laps of races the air around the circuit is filled with the coloured smoke from flares and one can only imagine how distracting this must be for the riders!

The Circuit

Originally Mugello was home to one of Italy’s largest road races through local towns. The road race circuit was 66 km long but in 1974 the shortened current circuit was first conceived and then updated by Ferrari in the late 80s after they purchased it to use for testing of road and race cars.

The current configuration of Mugello measures just over 5 km and with a 1141 metre home straight each year we see tremendous slipstreaming battles as riders exit the final corner and battle with one another all the way to San Donato, a downhill second gear corner where riders can choose from numerous lines.

The circuit is characterised by the lie of the land with the track following the natural contours of the Tuscany countryside. This sees riders flow from one apex to another and also sees a lack of slow chicanes with riders instead tackling fast left than right sequences that require a bike that can easily change direction. One of the prime overtaking places is at turn six and seven, Casanova and Savelli. One of the most atmospheric areas on any race track in the world, this sequence sees many fan clubs camping out in the hope of getting as close to their heroes as possible. With downhill braking the riders face a challenge in getting the bike stopped for the apex and keeping their pursuers at bay.

The final corner is one of the most difficult on the circuit because riders know any mistake will be punished heavily on the home straight. Bucine is a long left hander that leads all the way downhill to the start finish line.

Who will be the contenders at Mugello for MotoGP victory?

Mugello is an exceptionally fast and flowing circuit and favours a rider with exceptional feel for the front end of their bike. Certain riders consistently are at the front of the field at this track but no one has anything like the record of Valentino Rossi. A nine time winner of this race, Rossi consistently has saved his very best for the display of his compatriots. Last year saw the end of Rossi’s unbeaten run at Mugello when he followed home Casey Stoner and Jorge Lorenzo.

Lorenzo leads the world championship after a stellar start to the year with two wins and a podium placing the Majorcan ahead of his teammate Rossi. Lorenzo has had mixed results here in the past but won in 2006 from pole in the 250cc race. Indeed qualifying has not been an issue for the Spaniard as he has started from the head of the field three times including last year. This year though Lorenzo has shown that he has added a lot of maturity to his already formidable speed and he will relish taking the fight to Rossi in Italy.

Stoner loves this circuit with an enviable qualifying record clearly displaying the speed that the 2007 world champion has consistently displayed here. In seven years he has only started outside the front row twice and in 2003’s 125cc Grand Prix marking the first pole position of his career but the race ended in disappointment for the Australian as he finished the race in 18th after being taken out from behind on the last lap after running in fifth. In recent years though Stoner's star has shined underneath the Tuscan sun with top four positions the last three years including a win and a runner up spot. After the disappointment of the start to the year Stoner will be keen to show the world that he has put his recent crashes behind him.

Last year was the first time that Honda’s Dani Pedrosa failed to finish in Italy and with the exception of his first race in 2001 the Spanaird has consistently finished inside the top four including five podiums. Qualifying though has been a struggle for Pedrosa with only three front row starts, but with such a long straight Pedrosa has consistently been able to use his small frame to his advantage by hiding behind the fairing and rocketing past his rivals over the start finish line.

Who will be the challengers in the support classes

Outside of the top class the battle for victory is difficult to predict. The Moto2 class has consistently seen some of the closest fields ever with Toni Elias leading the title chase and expecting to challenge for a third victory in a row but the Spanish rider has never finished on the podium at Mugello in the past.

Aspar’s Julian Simon showed at Le Mans that the change to Suter chassis was successful and the reigning 125 champion will be expecting to add to his podium finish last year. Former 125 title winner Thomas Luthi has finished on the podium twice but has consistently finished inside the top five and will look to regain his form from the opening two races.

The main challenge to Elias is expected to come from former MotoGP teammate Alex Deangelis who finished in the top three for three consecutive years from 2005 in the 250cc class. The San Marinese rider has struggled this year and will look to rebound from his frightening crash last time out when he was struck by a crashing motorcycle.

In the 125cc class Bradley Smith knows that if he is to challenge for a world title this year but the Britain won this Grand Prix last year so should be full of confidence ahead of this weekend’s race. This race will be telling in how the internal dynamics of the Aspar team with Nico Terol battling for the title chase and challenging for race wins this year. It will be interesting to see how the team deals with Smith if he cannot get on a par with his Spanish teammate.

Pol Espagaro showed at Le Mans that he has a new found maturity to go with his undoubted speed and the Derbi showed in Qatar that it was the fastest bike down the long front straight so their riders will expect to challenge for the victory. Marc Marquez and Efran Vasquez are both searching for their first ever win in Grand Prix and the Derbi should be able to allow them to showcase their obvious talents.

Red Bull drivers lock horns and show teams frailties

2010-05-30T16:11:00.000+01:00

The Turkish Grand Prix illustrated one of the greatest challenges in motorsport: what should a team do when they have two drivers challenging for race wins and the world championship.

Prior to this weekend Red Bull had enjoyed superiority over all its rivals and had showed itself to be considerably faster on various types of tracks. In Turkey though McLaren showed they are developing their car as well as anyone and challenged throughout the weekend.

During the race the cars of both teams pulled away from the field and lapped comfortably quicker than the opposition until the incident that became the main talking point of the race with the leading Red Bull’s clashing as they battled for the lead.

Who was to blame for the clash between the Red Bulls?

Sebastian Vettel was in second at the time and had been lapping faster than Mark Webber and tried to make his move for the lead down the back straight into a tight hairpin. Vettel used all the track, with Webber giving his teammate a cars width, but still Vettel tried to push across the road and creat more space for himself. He closed on Webber who would not budge from his line, the Australian was racing hard but fair as Vettel still had enough room to attempt to make the move.

It was at this point that they clashed, Vettel coming off worse and retiring. Webber eventually finished in third but as the Australian took to the podium and the after race press conferences it was clear who he felt was to blame.

Vettel has clearly been under pressure and sought to show his team that he was still their best hope for the title but by causing this accident it will be interesting to see what way the team starts developing the car from this point forward. Webber has clearly gained the upper hand in the last number of races but this incident could lead to momentum shifting further from Vettel’s side of the garage.

McLaren though were not faultless as far as the spectrum of allowing their drivers to race throughout a Grand Prix. As the race drew to a close and light rain began to fall Jenson Button closed dramatically on his teammate Lewis Hamilton and passed his teammate. Ironically this move occurred at the same corner where Red Bull’s hopes for winning were dashed.

The move by Button was a clean overtaking manoeuvre but into the first turn Hamilton retook the lead. On a greasy race track it is very easy to snatch a brake and slide wide; as it was the McLaren’s did contact slightly with one another but managed to get away without damage. It would have very easy for both McLaren drivers’ races to end at that point and for the team not to take advantage of the mistakes made by Red Bull.

Teams need to look at the larger picture and ensure wins

Team principals need to make the decision as to when to allow drivers to race and when to make sure they hold station and bring home points. By allowing its drivers to race hard throughout Red Bull cost itself the chance of maximum points. It will be interesting to see if the team allow such a situation to occur again in future.

Team orders are officially banned in Formula 1 after incidents in the past saw drivers hand victories to their teammates. At present, teams need to be creative in how to inform their drivers of how they are expected to race. McLaren showed how this charade has to occur by radioing orders for their drivers to slow down and hold station by saying they were short on fuel. This though only occurred after their drivers near miss.

Winning a world title is exceptionally difficult but it is even more challenging when you create avoidable issues for yourself. Obviously for fans it is exciting to see incidents like the Red Bull clash but the team needs to recognise that the most important thing is to win the title. In the past teams have allowed their drivers to race until after the pit stops and then the drivers hold station until the flag. This may not be as exciting as a hard fought race but for a team the only thing that matters should be winning races and winning the title.

Island braces itself for an invasion

2010-05-28T15:14:00.001+01:00

The two week festival that is the Isle of Man TT begins on Saturday with the opening practice sessions.

The races on the Manx island are time trailed with riders setting off at intervals and racing against the clock.

This is the 91^st running of what has become the most respected road race of them all. Taking place on closed roads throughout the island, the course measures 37.7 miles and is one of the greatest challenges any rider will ever face. The course runs from the capital Douglas westwards towards Peel before heading north to Ramsey and then heads back to Douglas once more. It is from Ramsey to Douglas that riders tackle what is simply one of the most spectacular stretches of road anywhere in the world-the mountain.

The Mountain circuit is an unbelievable challenge for any rider and one of the toughest circuits on the planet. It is not only the sheer length of the track that causes difficulty, there is changes in altitude to take into account; at its highest point riders are 1400 feet above sea level and reach speeds of upwards of 200 mph. The engine runs easier at this altitude and in the past two-stroke riders needed to change the engine mixture to account for the atmospheric changes. The main difficulty faced by riders is the street furniture such as signposts, telegraph poles, manhole covers, roadside curbs and any number of other obstacles. Even with all of these challenges the lap record is currently held by John McGuiness at an average speed of over 130 mph.

While the TT has maintained its position as the “road racing capital of the world” it lost its position as the British Grand Prix in the mid seventies as riders eventually tired of facing such immense dangers. 15 times world champion Giacomo Agostini declared in 1972 that he would never race on the island again after seeing numerous competitors killed riding at the track. This was to prove a death keel for the race as a full grand prix event but unbelievably the two week festival of speed is as big as ever.

The Irish have always gone well on the island and there are many riders who will look to emulate some of their forerunners as winners of a TT. The main interest surround three former winners of races on the island with Ryan Farquhar expected to challenge for honours on his Kawasaki. The 34 year old Dungannon man has been in sparkling form over the last year and will look to add to the two races wins on the island that he has already achieved. Last season he won an incredible 61 races but was unable to convert that form into success at the TT. His best results were 6^th and 7^th last year, but two years ago he showed his true colours with top sixes in all races. This year, riding for his own team, he expects to be at the front in all five races.

Adrian Archibald may be one of the elder statesmen of Irish road racing but the 40 year old has three wins on the mountain course and last year went faster than any Irishman in history lapping at 129 mph. He once more rides for his own team and while a win may be expecting too much from him, he will look to add to his previous haul of eight podiums.

Dunlop is a name that reverberates around the roads of the Isle of Man and this year there is expectancy of the Dunlop family adding more wins to their account. Michael and William, sons of fives time winner Robert, are expected to add yet more victories. The younger of the Ballymoney brothers, Michael, already has his name etched onto the winner’s trophies after winning a Supersport race last year. Amazingly this was the only race he finished as mechanical problems ended his other four races. Michael emerges fresh from a convincing North West 200 where he added impressive performances in the premier class of Superbikes to his already burgeoning reputation on the smaller classes of machinery.

William may be elder of the Dunlop brothers but the 24 year old has been left in the shadow cast by his sibling. Last year marked his return to the island after a two year absence and he defined it with consistent performances as he put his ever increasing confidence and experience to good use, finishing a career high ninth in the Supersport race. This year he will feel that if conditions are favourable a podium could be on the cards. With the family reputation forged by their father and uncle Joey the weight of expectation on their shoulders is immense, but both riders are growing in confidence and now are looked upon as true contenders in races due to their own talents.

Englishman John McGuiness has made the Mountain his own and will start the festival as favourite. Fresh from a win at the North West the Honda rider will be looking to add to his 15 TT wins as he chases down Joey Dunlop’s record of 26 victories. He is sure to be a contender but the expectation is that he will have a greater challenge than ever this season with the likes of local man Connor Cummins and past winners Ian Hutchinson and Bruce Anstey expected to compete along with the Irishmen at the forefront.

A small island in the Irish Sea is about to once again become the centre of the road racing universe and with the popularity of the event increasing every year there is a guarantee of one of greatest spectacles in sport producing yet another unforgettable festival.

Formula 1 looks to put Monaco controversy behind it in Turkey

2010-05-26T11:41:00.001+01:00

Turkish Grand Prix Preview

This weekend sees the Turkish Grand Prix and gives Formula 1 a chance to move on from the controversial end to the Monaco Grand Prix. Mercedes have drawn a line under the incident after assurances that from the FIA that the safety car procedures will be looked into at the next World Council meeting so now it is up the action on track to remind fans of why they love this sport. It is not for protracted legal techncalicalities but rather because of the enjoyment everyone gets from seeing a full blooded racing car in action on a challenging circuit. It is quite fitting than that the Turkish Grand Prix is next up on the calander.

The Istanbul Park Circuit

Designed, as per usual, by German circuit architect Herman Tilke this fast and flowing track just outside of Istanbul is different to any of his other other creations. While many of the “Tilkedrome” circuits are bland and relativily feature less Istanbul is a great circuit with undulations and fast sweeping bends. Indeed while most of Tilke’s creations have left a lot to be desired as far as ultimate challenge to the drivers this one has what is now regarded as Formula 1’s most difficult corner. The triple apex Turn 8 is an immense test of a drivers precision, nerve and ability.

With the cars spending in the region of six seconds in the Turn 8 complex per lap it is clear that this is an area where there is lots of time to be gained or lost. In the race though it is not that simple as Lewis Hamilton has found out countless times. The tyres face maximum load through here and as a result if a driver pushes too hard the tyres wear at an exceptional rate. Even with the current super hard tyres that drivers have consistently managed to nurse through races-Alonso completed all but one lap in Monaco on a single set-this section could be one of the few faced this year that causes serious wear problems for teams and drivers.

Apart from Turn 8 there are a series of off camber turns throughout the lap with Turn 1 consistently causing havoak in races and Turn 4 also having the ability to catch unwary drivers out on cold tyres at the start of races. The ending section of the lap is quite tight and twisty and stunts some of the flow created from the majority of the lap but it is here that pole position will be sorted and this section is therefore crucial for the results of Sunday’s race. Drivers brake into Turn 12 from the region of 200 mph and then have to shuffle the cars through the last two turns where consistently we see good laps fall apart in qualifying.

Weather for this weekend’s Grand Prix

While changeable weather has been the norm this season, with the threat of rain hanging over almost every race weekend so far there are no such worries ahead of this weekend. Clear skies are expected on Saturday and Sunday with temperatures in the high twenties. Friday is expected to cloud over ahead of the afternoon session but even so temperatures should be quite high. The wind can be a factor through Turn 8 with gusts affecting the aerodynamic balance but wind speeds are expected to be quite low and the overall the weather will be very favourable for the performance of the cars.

Statistics ahead of the Turkish Grand Prix

This circuit has been dominated in the past by Felipe Massa who has taken three wins from pole position. The Brazilian will need to recapture that form if he is to stave off the rumours of him losing his drive. His team have cooled on him considerably this season with rumours of Mark Webber or Robert Kubica linked to replacing him. Massa has said that he is not comfortable in the car right now and has been solidly beaten by his teammate Alonso throughout the season but did show some signs of life in Monaco. With this being one of the circuits that he has traditionally excelled it will be of crucial importance that he can beat his teammate if he is to end rumours of his departure from the red team.

This race was first run in 2005 and won by then McLaren driver Kimi Raikkonen from pole position. Last year was the first race not won from pole, Jenson Button beating Sebastian Vettel en route to his world title. Historically Turkey has had a high finishing rate with over 85% of starters seeing the chequered flag and close racing has been the norm with an average winning margin of seven seconds.

What can we expect from this weekend?

The expectation is once more for Red Bull to stretch away at the front of the field. Webber has dominated the last two weekends with pole positions and race wins so the main question ahead of this weekend’s race is whether his teammate Vettel can get his performances on a par. The team claim he was hampered by a damaged chassis in Spain and Monaco so this race will give us an understanding of just how much that issue affected the young German.

Top speed has generally been rewarded by fast lap times and strong finishes around this track so this should be a great opportunity for McLaren and Ferrari to utilise their F-ducts and hopefully bring the fight to the Red Bull team. Outside of the main contenders Force India have historically been very fast down the straights so this could be another race weekend where Adrian Sutil performs well.

Last season Brawn GP left Turkey knowing that they no longer had the fastest car on the grid as Red Bull moved past and started to show their true potential. It is only now that the Milton Keyes based team have shown just how good they can be and there is little to suggest that they will be caught anytime soon. It would be brave to bet against another Red Bull win and with Mark Webber in such strong form if would be tough to bet against the Australian making it a hat trick of victories.

Webber needs to capitilise his new found position

2010-05-23T17:39:00.000+01:00

It may have taken Red Bull six races to take the lead in both championships but with momentum on the team’s side it seems unlikely they will fall behind any time soon.

Mark Webber has delivered back to back wins to quench all talk of the team looking elsewhere for a front running driver to partner Sebastian Vettel; in fact the Australian may have taken on the mantle as the man to beat after dominating in Spain and Monaco.

Vettel needs to take the ascendency back within his own team before he can contemplate challenging for the title. Red Bull announced during the week that they found a fault in the German’s chassis so it will be very interesting to see how his performance relative to his teammate in the last two races was affected by this problem. If Webber can continue his rich vein of form in Turkey a momentum shift within the team could occur and put all of the pressure on Vettel’s shoulders.

Webber showed in Monaco that he really is at the top of his game, regardless of issues that may have affected his teammate. His pole lap around the streets was impressive but his race pace was superb as he pulled away from Vettel at will. The German was unable to stay with Webber and was losing 0.4 seconds a lap at times to his teammate. Vettel was only spared a crushing defeat by four safety car periods closing the pack back up.

Webber was under considerable pressure heading into the last two races from both within the Red Bull team and the media. His performances will have done al lot to silence his critics but much more importantly they will also have illustrated to the management of his team that he deserves a new contract.

A crucial career step upcoming

As a direct result of having a short season, and generally two weeks between races, perceptions are formed easily and momentum is everything in motorsport. Webber, for the first time in his career, is on the crest of a wave. After years as a nearly man on the cusp he now has the chance to be the dominant driver at the pinnacle of the sport. It is quite a change in fortunes for him but now he needs to capitalise on this form and make sure he can turn it into a top line drive for next season.

Ferrari has been linked to the Australian recently but a move to Maranello would be filled with danger for Webber with Fernando Alonso already moulding the team around him; as shown by Felipe Massa’s performances and the apparent cooling of his relationship with the team.

The next few weeks are crucial for Webber and any move away from Red Bull would be ill advised. He has the potential to become a world champion this year and with Adrian Newey designing the team’s cars the team should develop a string of great cars for the next few years that would allow Webber to challenge for multiple titles. While the lure of racing the red cars would undoubtedly be strong, Red Bull have the performance capabilities that Ferrari have been lacking recently

A flawed regulation comes sharply into focus

2010-05-17T19:13:00.000+01:00

After the race much of the attention centred on Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso and an overtaking move that will be hotly debated before the next Grand Prix in Turkey. Due to the advent of new safety car regulations, which do not appear to be fully defined for all possible eventualities, confusion reigned supreme after the race.

Four laps from the end the safety car was deployed after Jarno Trulli clashed with Karun Chandhok in an ill advised and opportunistic overtaking attempt that blocked the track. In Formula 1 the safety car does not take the chequered flag before the winning driver so on the final lap it peeled off into the pitlane in readiness for Webber to win the race. In the past drivers were not allowed to overtake until the start/finish line so when the safety car pulled in drivers would slowly take the flag and end the race.

A new regulation for 2010 allows drivers to race once they have passed the safety car line before the start line. From this point the track is ‘live’ once again. However under Formula 1’s sporting regulations "if the race ends whilst the safety car is deployed it will enter the pitlane at the end of the last lap and the cars will take the chequered flag as normal without overtaking." This is a direct contradiction of the new general safety car rules above and when the car pulled in Schumacher overtook Alonso after the safety car line believing he had made a legitimate overtaking manoeuvre. However the stewards disagreed and Schumacher was penalised twenty seconds which cost him a points scoring position, Mercedes will appeal this decision.

The confusion surrounding this incident was caused by the marshals waving green flags and thus signalling that the drivers were free to race again. In previous years, such as Australia last year the track was still under caution without the safety car as yellow flags were still waved at all marshal posts and the SC boards were still shown. When Schumacher saw the green flags he immediatly saw that the track was live once more and began looking for a chance to take sixth, Alonso made a mistake and Schumacher pounced into the final corner.

By having a rule for one period of the race and another for the final lap the FIA left the opportunity for an incident like this to occur and this regulation needs to be tightened for future races.

The immediate reaction of the racing fraternity was that Schumacher had made a successful manoeuvre. If paddock insiders fail to understand the regulations fully then how can the average punter be expected to understand, and accept such inherently flawed regulations.

Alonso leads the way in Monaco

2010-05-13T11:19:00.004+01:00

Fernando Alonso was fastest after the first practice session ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix.


The Spaniard hustled his Ferrari through the streets to the fasest time just ahead of Vettel’s Red Bull and Kubica’s Renault. Only 0.089 seconds seperated the top three. They were followed by Vettel’s teammate Mark Webber in fourth. The Australian who dominated in Barcelona steadily improved throughout the session and set his fast times during a thirteen lap stint to end his session.


The expectation ahead of this weekend was for traffic to play a massive part during practice and qualifying with the slower new teams expected to be mobile chicanes. First practice did very little to allay those fear as drivers tripped over one another consistently. The best example was Mark Webber exiting the chicane and staring into Bruno Senna’s gearbox. At the end of the lap Webber tried to open a gap in front for a flying lap and nearly clashed with Sebastian Buemi’s Toro Rosso in the last corner as the Swiss driver came upon the cruising Red Bull.


Michael Schumacher added to a positive Spanish GP with the sixth fastest time ahead of Lewis Hamilton. The German looked confident in attacking the slower corners which proved to be his bane in the Chinese Grand Prix. He clearly has alot more confidence in the car now and will look to turn that confidence into a good weekend.


It wasn’t so rosy on the other side of the Mercedes garage with Nico Rosberg struggling with a car problems and having to spend half the session getting work done to solve mechanical problems. Rosberg knows that this is the most important weekend of his season, if he is beaten by Schumacher again the momentum of the team could continue to slide in the seven times world champions direction. Team principal Ross Brawn has said this will not be the case but Schumacher knows how to mould a team around him and it would not be the first time that he became Brawn’s lead driver.


Only two drivers, Karun Chandhok and Komai Kobayashi ended their sessions in the barriers. All the drivers know that any time lost in Monaco is impossible to catch up on and history shows that once you lose track time it severely hinders your pace for the rest of the weekend.

Pos  Driver         Team                   Time

1. Alonso Ferrari 1:15.927

2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1:16.000 + 0.073

3. Kubica Renault 1:16.016 + 0.089

4. Webber Red Bull-Renault 1:16.382 + 0.455

5. Massa Ferrari 1:16.517 + 0.590

6. Schumacher Mercedes 1:16.589 + 0.662

7. Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.647 + 0.720

8. Button McLaren-Mercedes 1:16.692 + 0.765

9. Sutil Force India-Mercedes 1:16.805 + 0.878

10. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:16.857 + 0.930

11. Rosberg Mercedes 1:17.149 + 1.222

12. Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 1:17.331 + 1.404

13. Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 1:17.704 + 1.777

14. Petrov Renault 1:17.718 + 1.791

15. Alguersuari Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:17.991 + 2.064

16. Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 1:18.397 + 2.470

17. de la Rosa Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.434 + 2.507

18. Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1:18.547 + 2.620

19. Glock Virgin-Cosworth 1:19.527 + 3.600

20. Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.606 + 3.679

21. Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 1:19.902 + 3.975

22. di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 1:20.566 + 4.639

23. Senna HRT-Cosworth 1:21.688 + 5.761

24. Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1:21.853 + 5.926

Hondas lead the way in preperation for the NW200

2010-05-12T15:23:00.000+01:00

John McGuiness ended the day second ahead of Saturdays NW 200

HM Plant Honda rider Steve Plater ended the first day of practice as the man to beat on the Triangle as he lapped at 118.45 mph in Tuesday evenings Superbike practice session for this weekend’s North West 200.

The Englishman has won eight times on this circuit, between the towns of Portrush, Port Stewart and Coleraine, and looked very comfortable on his bike throughout the sessions. His teammate John McGuiness backed him up in second at 117.42 mph and looked to have the better of Plater for most of the session as the riders bedded themselves into the track ahead of Thursday’s sessions. The weather is expected to close in for Thursday and rain is expected so riders knew it was important to set fast times in this session.

One rider that was showing a great turn of speed was Stuart Easton on the Swan Honda. He was clocked at 204.1 mph through the speed trap into University on his out lap and went even faster later in the session when he became the first man past 205 mph. Easton couldn’t match his fellow Honda riders throughout the rest of the lap and ended the day in third.

The first Irishman was Michael Dunlop in fourth at 116.87 mph. The local hero was as aggressive as ever on the roads and could spring a surprise on raceday. His brother William dominated the 125 session finishing it 1.5 mph ahead of Chris Palmer.

Superbike first practice times
1 Steve Plater (Honda) 118.45
2 John McGuinness (Honda) 117.42
3 Stuart Easton (Honda) 117.09
4 Michael Dunlop (Honda) 116.87
5 Conor Cummins (Kawasaki) 116.39
6 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki) 116.09

Supersport
1 Bruce Anstey (Suzuki) 114.00
2 William Dunlop (Yamaha) 113.76
3 Keith Amor (Honda) 113.36
4 Ryan Farquhar (Kawasaki) 113.32
5 Guy Martin (Honda) 113.18
6 Michael Dunlop (Yamaha) 113.06

125cc
1 William Dunlop (Honda) 96.73
2 Chris Palmer (Honda) 95.31
3 Renzo van der Donckt (Honda) 94.34

A look ahead to the Monaco Grand Prix

2010-05-12T10:41:00.000+01:00

This weekend sees the jewel of Formula 1’s crown, the Monaco Grand Prix, take centre stage as the race around the streets of the tiny principality form the most famous track on the Formula 1 calendar.

There is no greater challenge for a driver than racing on the tight and twisting public roads that are lined with barriers waiting to punish any mistake by the drivers with each corner littered with a history of past accidents by some of the greatest drivers of all time, whether it is Senna crashing going into the tunnel in ’88 or Schumacher at Porter in ’96 each corner has a history of epic proportions.

Monaco has historically been a car breaker with half of all cars finishing the race that have started. This has improved in recent years but even so only an average of 13 cars has finished in the last decade. This race will be exceptionally tough on the components of the cars and with the lack of in race refuelling it can be expected that teams will place a greater emphasis on durability rather than outright speed.

The Circuit

With its tight and twisting nature Monaco places a greater requirement on mechanical grip than almost any other circuit Formula 1 visits throughout the year. Melbourne places a similar requirement on the cars and Red Bull was the class of the field in the dry in Australia so the team will look to replicate that form this weekend. They will once more take the fastest car in the field to Monaco but will face stiff competition as there are five different previous winners challenging Webber and Vettel for victory. The past winners are Button, Alonso, Trulli, Hamilton and Michael Schumacher, long renowned as a ‘Monaco Master.’

Weather for the Monaco Grand Prix

Changeable weather is forecast for this weekend’s race but it is expected that most of the rain will pass the Rivera by the time cars roll out for practice tomorrow. The expectation if for it to be cloudy but there is only a 15% chance of rain according to local stations.

Statistics

Obviously enough with the tight track configuration it is necessary to qualify at the front of the field to have a successful Grand Prix; the winner generally comes from the first three on the grid. Olivier Panis is the lowest qualified driver to emerge victorious having won the wet 1996 edition from 14^th on the grid. This race coincidently was the second most mechanically challenging race ever with only 7 of 22 cars finishing. The 1990 race won by Senna was slightly more taxing on cars and drivers (7 of 26.)

Monaco was one of the races that formed the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship but due to financial issues the race was not restaged until 1955, since then it has had an uninterrupted presence in the championship.

Senna is the most successful driver to grace the principality with six wins ahead of Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher with five apiece.

What can we expect from this weekend?

The Red Bull’s will once more be expected to arrive in Monaco with the fastest car but the one thing that Monaco has always been able to provide is a shock result. This is one of the last circuits on the calendar that can allow the driver to make a massive difference and as a result it is generally more beneficial to look at past Monaco Grand Prix rather than this seasons race weekends to find the potential form for this weekend.

Lewis Hamilton will once more look to showcase his abilities on the streets where he won in 2008, but with Michael Schumacher looking more confident in the Mercedes from Barcelona he could be primed to spring a surprise this weekend. The raw pace of the updated Mercedes wasn’t all that impressive in Spain but the fact that Schumacher looked confident in how it would react and handle could make him a legitimate contender on Sunday.

Webber gets off the Mark in Spain

2010-05-09T19:17:00.002+01:00

Mark Webber became the first driver to convert a pole position into a race win in Formula 1 this season as Red Bull’s Australian driver dominated the first Grand Prix of the European season.

Matadors were not required to wave a red flag in front of the car to make the Red Bull’s charge in Barcelona as the team showed once again that they have the fastest car on the grid. It was not all plain sailing for the Milton Keynes based team however. Sebastian Vettel started alongside his teammate on the front row, but near the end of the race had fallen to fourth with brake problems. He eventually finished on the bottom step of the podium in third after Lewis Hamilton retired with two laps to go.

Vettel’s race once more illustrated that while Red Bull has easily the fastest car, it is not the dominant car that it should be. The team has been plagued with failures this season and have consistently found a way to hamper their own title challenge thus far.

This race was not a thriller by any stretch but it has helped to show a clearer picture of what to expect this year. Red Bull is still the car to beat with McLaren and Ferrari considerably further back in terms of sheer pace. Mercedes have made a large step forward in making Michael Schumacher more confident in the car and he outpaced his teammate for the first time. In the early races Schumacher was unable to hustle the car around the circuit as he did in his heyday but in Barcelona he finally had the confidence to push the car and dictate how he wants to drive the Mercedes.

Barcelona traditionally is a circuit that showcases the car’s performance at the expense of the driver; that is the reason why the grid in Spain can resemble Noah’s Ark-with each team’s cars lining up two by two, and that is how the Red Bulls entered turn one with Webber in front.

It stayed like that until the pitstops when Lewis Hamilton managed to get past Vettel after battling with each other as Hamilton exited the pits. They have Lucas di Grasi to contend with as well and it was three abreast into the turn. Vettel had two options, try and hang it out around the outside and get by Hamilton or run wide onto the Astroturf and concede the position. He took the easier latter option and gave up the position and didn’t challenge the Briton for the remainder of the race.

World champion Jenson Button had a trying day as he struggled with a car ill suited to his requirements to such an extent that he had snap oversteer at times. He fought it out with Mercedes’ Michael Schumacher, with the German emerging ahead. Button lost track position after his pitstop and while he was clearly faster he could not find a way past a revitalised Schumacher.

The seven times world champion outpaced his teammate, Nico Rosberg, all weekend and was in the top eight all weekend. Schumacher defended his position brilliantly from Button even if the Briton failed to see it that way afterwards, “I didn't really know where Michael was on the outside of me, he turned in and if I didn't back out of it we would have crashed. So he didn't really give me a lot of room there. There you go, you'd think with his experience he would know. It wasn't really the right move.” It’s tough to see why Button was incensed as Schumacher only defended the position as any other driver would, it may just be that Button is attempting to get inside Scumacher’s head and unsettle the German. It is highly unlikely such tactics will be successful.

The main action away from the front was with Jamie Algusuari’s Toro Rosso. The Spaniard managed to collect a point after finishing in tenth after an exciting race. He made a great start and was running well before a poor pitstop put him back in the pack, it was here that when lapping Karun Chandhok that he clashed with the Indian after turning into the Hispania driver. The stewards gave him a drive through penalty so a finish in the points should satisfy the increasingly impressive youngster.

Vettel began to suffer from brake issues as the race neared its conclusion and had to make a precautionary pitstop to change his tyres allowing Fernando Alonso through. Vettel was in trouble now though and had to do his best to limit the forces placed on his car, as the race winded down he was in fourth.

Then with two laps to go Hamilton suffered a left front wheel failure that left him as a passenger through turn one heading straight to the scene of his accident. The former world champion finished another promising race without the points haul it deserved. To the hometown crowds delight Alonso was now in second and even with his problems at the end Vettel was able to make it two Red Bulls on the podium as he finished in third.

Webber had a lonely race at the front and won comfortably to put himself firmly in contention for the title after a trying start to the year.

Optimism abounds as Formula 1 heads back to Europe

2010-05-04T14:06:00.003+01:00

Formula 1 returns after a three week break this weekend, with the Circuit de Catalonya hosting the Spanish Grand Prix.

Traditionally this race has tended to be pivotal to the outcome of the world championship as teams debut major developments on their cars. Ross Brawn, team manager for Mercedes, illustrates the optimism of the teams. “The start of the European season is the first opportunity to make significant changes to the car and the Spanish Grand Prix will see the first step in our development programme. We look forward to evaluating the impact on our pace whilst remaining conscious that this is very much a first step in improving our competitiveness.”

Each team will have major aerodynamic upgrades on their cars and a true picture of the form for the remainder of the season will begin to take shape. Red Bull has dominated qualifying this season with its one lap pace leading to pole position at every race thus far. The team however has struggled in races to turn their low fuel speed advantage into victories. Speculation has been rife as to the reasons for their low fuel pace, most linking the team to ride height control systems, but it will be interesting to see if they can maintain the advantage now that their opposition will bring new development parts to each race weekend.

The Circuit

As a result of the new packages this has the potential to be a very telling race as to what to expect for the rest of the year. No circuit places a greater level of importance in aerodynamics than Barcelona. With a mixture of fast corners, slow corners and a 1km straight where cars can reach speeds of 200mph teams face great challenges to achieve the required balance in their cars. Drivers need to have as little aerodynamic drag as possible; drag is the limiting factor in the top speed achievable by a car. However they also need to allow the driver to have sufficient grip in the corners to have the confidence to push the car as hard as possible.

Weather for the Spanish Grand Prix:

The other factor that teams need to concern themselves with is the weather. While the conditions are generally very pleasant in Spain at this time of year with clear skies and high temperatures making this a great race for spectators it can create issues for the team with their cars. The high temperatures make tyre degradation an issue for the drivers. Barcelona loads up the left front tyre for prolonged period of the lap and also has quite an abrasive surface. When this is mixed with high temperatures drivers can have problems nursing their tyres to the finish and require additional pitstops to the one stop race expected. For each stop a driver will need a window of 20 seconds to their rival.

This season the Red Bull has had a tendency to wear their tyres out faster than rival teams and this could be the chink in the armour for Ferrari and McLaren to exploit. The Ferrari’s have been very kind on its tyres and with Fernando Alonso racing in front of his home fans he should be supremely motivated to add to his season opening victory in Bahrain. Championship leader Jenson Button has also shown the ability to nurse his tyres efficiently and this could set him in good stead for this weekend.

Statistics for this race:

Qualifying is even more crucial here than at other venues, the driver on pole position has gone on to win 15 times since 1991 and has been the victor for each of the last nine years. Only Michael Schumacher in the wet of 1996 has won from off the front of the grid, and even then he qualified third on the grid. As a result it is pivotal for a driver to qualify at the sharp end of the field if they are to challenge for victory.

What to expect:

The expectation will be for Red Bull to once more have the fastest car over a single qualifying lap but with the team possibly marginal on tyre wear an intriguing fight for victory could ensue if a Ferrari or McLaren can qualify alongside one of the Red Bulls on the front row of the grid. This race will tell us exactly where each team stands, and also what work they will need to do over the summer.

The ground war begins

2010-04-20T21:29:00.004+01:00

The Chinese Grand Prix marked fourth Grand Prix of the Formula 1 season and also the end of the fly away races. It was another opportunity for Formula 1's drivers to showcase just how talented they are. In a race of changing conditions it was Jenson Button who emerged victorious but the Britain did not have an easy day at the front of the field.

Button started from the third row of the grid but after Liuzzi crashed into Koybiousi and Buemi at the start the safety car was deployed. With light rain falling, and an expectation for heavier rain the majority of the field pitted for Bridgestone's intermediate tyres. In the past the intermediates have offered an exceptionally large operating window, from near monsoon conditions to a near dry line the intermediate was suitable for both. The tyre was hard enough to withstand the strain of a drying line but could lift enough water off a very wet track to make it desirable in any conditions. The tyre effectively made the full wet tyre redundant.

For this season Bridgestone changed the construction of the intermediate, and it is now considerably softer and less durable. This came startlingly into light in the early stages of this race with Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg and Button leading the way ahead of intermediate shod cars that had a considerable advantage for the opening lap after the safety car pulled in but they overheated their tyres due to heat build up on an already drying line.

All the intermediate shod cars had to pit again for slicks. This left runners such as the jump starting Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and the Red Bull front row starters Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber all down the field and at one point over 50 seconds behind the race leaders. Hamilton put in a spirited drive with some stunning overtakes, particularly against Vettel but when the 2008 world champion came up behind Michael Schumacher he seemed star struck and spent a few laps before making his move against the German clearly slowed with an ill handling car.

This was the latest in a string of poor performances from Schumacher. He has been beaten by Rosberg in every qualifying session and race this season and must be starting to reconsider his comeback. In conditions in which he used to excel and was the master of the German seemed tentative and struggled to feel his way around the track. He had very little traction out of second and third gear corners and was a sitting duck on the back straight when Hamilton eventually passed him. Schumacher will have a major upgrade on the Mercedes in time for the Spanish Grand Prix and it cannot come soon enough. Even though he seems satisfied in interviews about how things are going in his comeback performances he did not return to what had previously been HIS domain to make up the numbers and support a faster team-mate. The seven times world champion is too competitive an animal to accept such short comings for too much longer and with the ground war now starting he will look to move forward through the field.

The ground war begins in Barcelona with all the teams bringing in the first of their major developments. After four fly-away races where teams basically had to keep the packages they had at the start of the season the first race in Formula 1's European heartland should see some major changes to cars. Teams will have major aerodynamic upgrades on their cars when the action starts in Spain and it will be interesting to see if Red Bull can maintain its position as the grids fastest car.

The Austrian owned team based in Milton Keynes has had pole position in all four Grand Prix this season but has only been able to convert them into one win. In Formula 1 you need to 'strike when the iron is hot' and capitalise on your strong performances. Red Bull has failed to do this through the season, and while the team will state that wet weather upended the form book the championship table at this point just shows that the team has failed to convert the fastest car on the grid into strong results. With the development race in full flight teams will close the gap to the RB6 and Red Bull could well be left to rue only having won the Malaysian Grand Prix.

McLaren will be very satisfied with the start to their season. After four races the Woking team has won two races with Jenson Button who leads the championship. The reigning world champion was criticised by many for choosing to leave the Mercedes, nee Brawn, team where he was firmly established as the team leader and join McLaren where Lewis Hamilton has been ensconced for many years. So far though Button has acquitted himself very well; out qualifying his team-mate three times and winning twice. The fact that Button won both races in changeable conditions should not be discounted. On both days Button judged the conditions perfectly and adjusted his strategy to take account for the weather. He reaped the rewards of a risky strategy in Melbourne by changing to slicks earlier than everyone else, after those new Bridgestone inters had overheated, and comfortably won. In China he stayed on slicks longer than his rivals and took advantage of Nico Rosberg making a mistake to take the lead and was not headed again.

Rosberg has been the surprise of the season for many. The young German has long been held as a talented driver but due to the constraints of poor Williams’ cars he never got to really shine in his first four years on the grid. He has achieved Mercedes first two podiums of their new incarnation as a Formula 1 team and has been exceptionally impressive in dealing with the pressure of Michael Schumacher returning to the sport. Rosberg has been undaunted by his compatriot and has been faster in each meaningful session of the season. It will be interesting to see which driver the team will support in developing the car. Rosberg is second in the championship but Schumacher has long been able to bend engineers to his way of thinking and with Ross Brawn having experience of how successful Michael can be when he is happy and confident in a car the team will have a difficult decision to make in relation to the development path that the car and team needs to take.

This year has seen a change in the race stewards and how they deal with issues during a race. An experienced ex-driver joins the panel at each race and helps give a drivers perspective on incidents. In theory this should work well and a more balanced system should ensue but there has been inconsistency from one race to another and in China a dangerous precedent was set with Hamilton and Vettel only receiving reprimands for dangerous driving in the pit lane. The duo raced along the length of the pit lane side by side close to air guns and mechanics. Vettel actually tried to cut down the pit lane and force Hamilton into ceding the lane. Hamilton refused and was pushed towards the garages. Thankfully no mechanics were working on cars but Hamilton should have fed in behind Vettel after he had lost the high ground to the German. Both should have received grid place penalties in Spain for their actions but instead get away with a slap on the wrist. It's worth remembering that Hamilton received the same penalty for weaving during the Malaysian Grand Prix as well, so the question needs to be asked of how many times you can be reprimanded before getting a penalty?

There were also incidents with drivers overtaking each other on their way into the pit lane. The pit lane entry is still part of the race track, until the speed limit line, and so these overtaking moves should be deemed perfectly acceptable. The only thing of note was when Alonso passed team-mate Massa prior to both making a stop. Ferrari had expected Massa to be in first and were prepared to change his tyres, which are bar coded and tagged to each driver prior to the race, and yet Alonso came in first. If the correct tyres went onto Alonso's car the team did a magnificent job on the Spaniard's car.

Alonso has been impressive this season for Ferrari and has made himself their team leader after outperforming Massa for most of the season. The Brazilian has been hit and miss this season, not helped by the changeable weather conditions which have always proved a challenge to him. Alonso has had two engine failures already though so will have to curtail his practice laps through the rest of the season as he seeks to maintain a championship challenge, it was engine problems and lacking running that arguably curtailed Vettel last year. The team are confident that they have the weaponry in their arsenal to challenge Red Bull over the course of the year. Tyre wear is one of their strengths and with some very abrasive tracks upcoming there is potential for more victories to follow on from the Bahraini season opening success.

One of those abrasive tracks is the next Grand Prix in Barcelona. Ferrari will be very confident heading to this race in Alonso's home country. Barcelona is a track that needs a very good aerodynamic package and a car that is soft on its tyres. The Ferrari has both of these qualities and whereas the Red Bull is still the fastest and most efficient car on the grid it struggles with tyre wear in comparison to the Ferrari car and this could be crucial as to who can win in Spain. If Ferrari can win, the pressure will really be on Red Bull for the summer as they seek to win their first title.