My Motorsport Blog

So Michael has returned to Formula One and joined Ross Brawn in the Mercedes Benz F1 team. Although I am happy about his return and that of Mercedes Benz I have to wonder if he could be a serious contender to this years F1 World Championship. With youngsters like Vettel, Alonso, Massa , Hamilton, Buttons and the rest of a very young and competitive drivers lineup the road to success will not be easy.

I am not being misled by the first days testing in Valencia where Michael outpaced team mate Nico Rosberg and managed get the third best lap time of the days testing, Felipe Massa (Ferrari) and Pedro de la Rosa (Sauber) took the first and second best times respectively. I will wait and see what happens in Bahrain on the 14th March when the cars will be on their first full fuel load and being driven in anger.

In the first race of the 1991 Sports Prototype Season Michael drove a Mercedes in full silver trim at Suzuka but some severe overheating issues hampered him. It will be good to see the “Silberpfeile” back in action with a full compliment of German drivers.

Firstly, well done Rubens! The world of Motorsport can see what your abilities are when you get a car which can perform the same as your team mate and the other top ten runners on the grid.

Having read coverage and other blogs on this I wonder why it is that we have so much dishonesty in the sport revealed recently? It is only with hindsight ( a week break to Paxos does that to you) that I realise that it is not really something new or even recent, we have always had dishonesty, but nobody were caught! As we move forward in the age of technology it appears that we have more and more “Whistle Blowers” in big business and now in motorsport. Wouldn’t you love to see the proof that the Piquet’s produced to achieve this.

The Nelson Piquet debacle really makes me wonder what the two Nelsons (Sounds like a wrestling match) will actually achieve or gain from this. Personally I think they should also be suspended as well as their GP2 Team as they have admitted that they are open for bribery and guilty of this by young Piquet’s action in causing a premeditated crash by his confession.

Let’s face it, they have achieved what Max Moseley had wanted and finally Briatore has left F1. If I were not such a pessimist I would say watch out Ferrari you might be next in certain sights.

For the last couple of months I have found it very depressing looking at the Formula 1 coverage, not because the racing was bad or even boring but because I am tired of the politics surrounding this sport. I am sure I do not stand alone in this and have found that the less said the better. I have to say a big thank you to the BBC coverage of the practice rounds but especially to the commentators trying to keep FIA & FOTA politics away.

It is great to see some regular front runners at the leading edge of the grid although it must be said this happens to be the practise rounds but the McLaren and Toyota teams appear to have become more competitive with some good comments from Robert Kubica about the BMW’s handling yesterday. Let’s hope that they get through to the second round of qualifying tough.  

I am sure Sebastian Vettel and Webber will have something to say during qualifying and prove that they are the force to be reckoned with. Brawn GP certainly have their work cut out for them and we are certain to see some surprises today.

So! Like an undecided widower thinking about having an affair with the next door neighbour, with real concern that the family might think I did this before the demise of my spouse, I have been following the exhibition that Bernie and Max are selling us with anticipation but also with real concern about what is happening in F1.

Rumours of teams leaving does no good for the sport and with Brawn GP having a field day with the SERIOUS teams like Ferrari and McLaren I can see what concerns the “Bean Counters” a.k.a. Accountants have in justifying the cost of the sport to the board of directors.

Will Ferrari and their progress of late review their position? Will BMW develop and listen to their drivers or will we have an early “silly season” and change teams right now. The point I am trying to make is this; teams will reign for periods (even years) but there will always be a new kid on the block that will make you regret your complacency.

The fact remains that teams have circuits where they perform well while others are just pure hell on cars and drivers. I think the shortfall of the new regulations rest in the fact that new drivers have little opportunity to gain experience within a F1 team and this will make managers reluctant to give a “Rookie” a car to bend.

Oh! By the way, I miss the DTM and do not wish to buy another channel just for one formula. What else can I look forward to if I do buy it other than football?

Ferrari Disaster: As if the qualifying strategy for Ferrari were not bad enough, the Prancing Horse Team decided to make a total hash of it with their disastrous decision to bring Kimi in for full wet tyres on a dry track. Even intermediate tyres would have lasted longer and would have made their gamble pay off. Common sense tells me that full wets would only last for about two  laps of serious racing and then turn to jelly. Ferrari will have to get another “Ross Brawn” to help with racing strategy because I do not believe Michael Schumacher’s consultations are paying off, if, that is what he is there for. I might be wrong and Michael’s only responsibility is mentoring Massa, but Ferrari will have to do something to improve this aspect of their racing. Brawn GP is showing their true colours and they are contenders for the driver and constructors championship.

McLaren Chaos; This team really have to get their act together and a reduction in media coverage might not be a bad idea. Lewis is seen as Ron Dennis’s “spoilt brat” and people blaming Dave Ryan’s suspension from the McLaren team on Lewis might not be far from wrong. I am not sure if I agree, but even the excuse that Lewis happens to be a “Young Man” is rubbish. He is the number one driver in a very high profile F1 team and should leave if he can not handle the heat at the moment.

Did Dave Ryan hold a gun to his head when they went to the stewards in Melbourne? I think not. Would he have been fired if he refused to lie in the initial hearings? Again I think not. The investment in Lewis is huge and span over many years and more money than most of us can imagine. Lewis can not claim the innocent young man attitude in a very serious and expensive sport.

Formula One is a “big boys with serious toys” fraternity and Lewis should not just threaten to walk as his camp apparently indicated in a phone call to Max Mosley but do so.  An old proverb says “Strange new experiences will add to your joy of living”, Lewis is certainly not having much of this at the moment.

While we are on turmoil aspects of F1 in 2009 I would like to add that the late start in these countries (Malaysia and Australia) really do not work due to weather and lighting aspects. The quality of the race is being influenced by these aspects and this is unfair to the local fans who attend the race at the circuit. The regulations or the start times will have to be changed to allow for weather and enough daylight conditions when things go wrong as we have seen in Malaysia. Bernie should realise that motorsport fans do have toys like DVD and video recorders, some even have access to that wonderful item called Sky Plus, to record the races. Even though it is risky I do this all the time and make sure I do not listen to the news or any broadcasting media until I have looked at the programme. Stating that he is catering for the European TV viewers must be the worst excuse he could think of. Bernie looks after number one and that would be the money in his back pocket!