My Motorsport Blog

“APPALLING” is what Eddie Jordan said about Ferrari and McLaren’s decision to sit in the pits and wait for better weather and track conditions. I say they received their just deserve by Jenson starting 17th, Alonso 19th and Hamilton and Massa in 20th and 21st respectively. This will ensure that fans see some very interesting and exiting opening laps, and, I hope they can stay out of trouble in the first few corners or we will have  a major change to the Championship point standings by the end of Sunday. Hopefully all the teams will take note of the risk they run by not getting a “Banker lap time”  as Eddie Jordan described it.

In the past teams have been on the receiving end of similar set backs in qualifying due to accidents or mechanical failures. If predictions that have been made in the past come true the fight for the drivers World Championship position will be a serious contest between Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. I am not a great supporter of Webber but he has been phenomenal on the track. If Mark could only realise that he needs to stay calm and not take silly risks he will be breathing down Sebastian Vettels neck all the time. I would love to put my money on Sebastian Vettel but the Red Bull just does not have the reliability at the moment. The Red Bull cars have the best opportunity to get serious points before the rest of the field catch up or their opportunities will fade away. Ross Brawn and Mercedes GP will be contesting pole and the podium positions soon and time is running out for Ferrari and Red Bull.  

If we have a wet race tomorrow as predicted Ferrari and McLaren will rue the descision to stay in the pits when they could have been putting in qualifying times in the first outing. Nico Hulkenberg, Robert Kubica and Kamui Kobayashi will not be intimidated by the world champions in this formula and will ensure that each point will be hard fought for. I am thus sure that we will see Red Bull in a podium position but will we have Adrian Sutil making things difficult for the front runners?

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.

The circuit is 5.543Km or 3.444 miles in length, 10 right hand corners and 5 left. The lap record is held by Juan Pablo Montoya with a time lap time of 1:34,223. The Ferrari’s had a one-two position on the grid in 2008 and Kimi Räikkönen won the race with Robert Kubica and Heikki Kovalainen second and third respectively.

The circuit is of course Sepang, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia and at this stage we could be in for a storm……NO!!!! I actually do mean a storm. The weather forecasts for Saturday and Sunday show thunder showers so this link will help you monitor the situation. However, we have a new team and they do not seem interested in the weather or taking prisoners and want to win. I am referring to Brawn GP and they could repeat their Australian performance in Sepang if the car handles well in the wet.

I do not really want to speculate about this because the cars are completely different from last year but we know that Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams have an advantage with their respective aero-packages. I am however tempted to say that Brawn GP will feature in the top 5 this weekend. Looking at the results of 2008 in which Räikkönen won, followed by Robert Kubica, Kovalainen, Trulli, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Webber and Alonso. To these I would gladly add the names of Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello and Felipe Massa as potential front runners.

Nick Heidfeld still holds the fastest lap at this circuit but he will have to make sure he qualifies well. It would have been great to see Sebastian Vettel in this pack but with the penalty he received in Australia it will be a hard day’s work in the “office” for the young man. Looking at this picture of Nick and Robert I do wonder what it is with F1 drivers and the “fluff” on their faces? We really need Wilkinson to add some sponsorship to this formula.

Looking at comments made by team and driver previews on the official F1 site it would appear that they have not looked at the weather forecast and this includes Hirohide Hamashima, Bridgestone director of motorsport tyre development because they are all concerned about the heat in Sepang. Granted Hirohide did mention the later start time and rain.

I believe the decision to start later at these circuits were wrong as the changes in track temperature and the setting sun were commented on in Australia by several drivers. It does make the race more exiting though.

As a F1 fan I am never nervous before the start of a Grand Prix because it is time the beer and snacks are seen to and my domain (the lounge and TV) secured against intrusion. I must add that this Sunday was no exception but I did feel a tinge of nerves (and no beer) and a wish for the Brawn GP Team to finish on the podium. Just to prove all the “Experts” wrong. You see I hoped for one of the new Brawn GP cars to cross the line in any of the first three places. I did hope that the Fairy Tale (not tail) would come true and Brawn GP takes 1st and 2nd.

This wish was shattered when Rubens Barrichello had such a bad start and then used his new car in a destruction derby on the first lap. To my amazement the car did not disintegrate as expected but kept going and did quite well. With confidence regained I had another glimmer hope but in the dying stages of the race Robert Kubica with his BMW became a threat and I did think a second or third place would be the end result for Jenson Button . But then Robert Kubica and Sebastian Vettel decided to have a little business meeting on the track while discussing the second position that they were contesting.

Not wishing others harm but I did have a smile. Rubens and the other Brawn GP car inherited second place. The lottery escaped me but the Fairy Tale ended as this writer had hoped.

On the 4th July 1954 Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One racing with a one-two win at the French Grand Prix with the Mercedes -Benz W196. Since 1954 no other team achieved this but on the 29th March 2009 Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello repeated history and a new team with a new car had a one-two finish in a Formula One Grand Prix.

Now just for some fun are you a F1 driver…..check your reaction times against what Shell recons it should be. After that, can you refuel your car like this?