[Tournament] Formula One 2009 World Championship

It's that time again! After an epic 2008 season, which saw Felipe Massa lose the drivers title to Lewis Hamilton in the final race's last turn (and by a single point!), the 2009 championship is kicking off this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, Melbourne.

Even though the drivers line-up has remained the same for the most part (Sebastian Vettel moved over to Red Bull to replace veteran David Coulthard, and was replaced at Toro Rosso by Swiss rookie Sebastien Buemi), odds are this season will be different from the last few years in a lot of ways. In an attempt to make overtaking easier and to help cut the costs, the FIA has introduced dramatic regulation changes, among which:
- slick tyres
- less downforce (wider and driver-adjustable front wings)
- the possibility to use a Kinetic Energy Recovering System (KERS)

What the 2009 races will look like under these new regulations is anyone's guess at this point. However, based on the times from winter testing and the first two practise sessions at Albert Park circuit, it seems that last year's strongest title contenders (Ferrari, BMW and especially McLaren) are struggling to catch up while teams such as Williams, Brawn GP (formerly Honda) and Toyota surprisingly have hogged the top of the timesheets. But we'll only know for sure after tomorrow's qualifying session.



So, is anyone as excited as I am? Will you guys be following this championship? Who do you expect will win? And who will you be cheering for?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

What an exciting first race! As the practise sessions had foreshadowed, Melbourne saw big guns struggle to score points while outsiders set the pace.

So it's a one-two for Brawn GP on their first Grand Prix (Button first, Barrichello second). It was to be expected after they dominated the qualifying session, but remained highly uncertain until four laps to the end, when Vettel (2nd at the time) and a faster and impatient Kubica collided and subsequently crashed and retired.

3rd place goes to an outstanding Jarno Trulli, who started the race from the pits in 20th position! World champion Hamilton, despite McLaren's obvious performance shortfall, had a great race and scored some significant points finishing 4th. And Timo Glock, 5th, who had also started from the back, confirmed Toyota's top form. Alonso 6th, Rosberg 7th, and a very promising Sebastien Buemi for 8th, scoring a point after a very consistent first formula one race.


As for the new regulations, it does seem to even out. Vettel and Kubica were able to keep Button's pace for most of the race without the controversial rear wing diffuser, and Hamilton and Alonso were apparently able to put their KERS to a good use.

As for the tyres however, it seems that the difference between soft and hard tyres is going to play a very important part in race strategy from now on (you have to use both types at least once during each race). The soft tyres are fast but really don't hold for more than 8-10 laps, and become an enormous handicap after that (you lose up to 5 seconds a lap to someone using harder tyres). From today's results it seems that the two options are either to begin the race with them and pit very early, or to use them on your last stint, praying to God that they'll hold until the end.

Also, I didn't even think that was possible, but the safety car regulations seem to suck even more than ever before. I understand the plan was to make it fair, but it's all become very intricate and, ironically enough, rather unsafe. Oh well.


EDIT: after a bit of confusion regarding what went on between Trulli and Hamilton behind the Safety Car, Trulli was given a penalty which was later cancelled when it turned out McLaren and Hamilton had lied to the stewards during the post-race investigations. Trulli was subsequently confirmed as 3rd, and Hamilton was disqualified from the race.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Nobody cares but, once again, what a Grand Prix at Sepang last Sunday! Amidst much confusion, polesitter Jenson Button clinched his second victory in a row when the red flag came out on lap 32. Up to that point, the race had been little short of breathtaking, with numerous and splendid overtaking maneuvers, weather going from best to worst in a matter of minutes and tremendous pit stop action.

This is the final ranking:

1. Button
2. Heidfeld
3. Glock
4. Trulli
5. Barrichello
6. Webber
7. Hamilton
8. Rosberg

Since less than 75% of the race distance was covered, only half points were awarded. Nonetheless, these results confirmed what we saw at Albert Park: this year's most competitive teams are Brawn, Toyota, BMW and Red Bull, and McLaren, Ferrari and Renault are struggling for pace. This might change depending on how the diffuser controversy will be settled, but it will definitely be interesting to see how the big guns will attempt to breach the gap in the next races. In any case we have a very unique and open championship to look forward to.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Somehow I doubt it made a big difference to the German F1 enthusiasts.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I'm not sure I see your point here. Which specific part of the new regulations do you think makes F1 racing more dangerous than it used to be?

It seemed to me that the first two races were rather calm, as far as accidents go. What made them exciting was that every team was running brand new cars with a brand new set of regulations, and that last year's leaders apparently didn't adapt as well as Brawn or Toyota. Also the weather in Sepang, but you can't really put the blame for that on the new rules.

However I'm not sure I agree with starting the Asian races later in the afternoon so that Western audiences catch them more easily. As we have seen in Malaysia, bad weather at that time means early nightfall and horrendous visibility. As I've said before, the new Safety Car rules also suck.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Just a quick note: after much controversy, the rear-wing diffusers used by Brawn, Toyota and Williams have been ruled legal by the FIA. As they are believed to be worth as much as half a second per lap, it is likely that the other teams will follow suit as soon as they can.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Anybody got the chance to watch today's race? Vettel and Webber seem to have clinched an epic maiden one-two for Red Bull, outpacing the Brawn cars in the wet without KERS or a fancy diffuser, and I missed that.

McLaren seem to be doing better (5th and 6th for Kovalainen and Hamilton) but Ferrari's still out of the loop (electronical problem for Massa and just plain performance shortfall for Raikkonen). Not a great weekend for BMW or Renault either.

FELIPE NO

The Brawn cars aren't unbeatable any longer! After Red Bull's phenomenal one-two in the wet last weekend, Toyota managed to hog the front row of the Bahrain GP's starting grid, with Trulli in pole position and Glock second. Vettel's 3rd, and the Brawn cars only 4th and 6th! Looks like we have another interesting and unpredictable race to look forward to.

The big teams are still playing catch-up, by the way. Hamilton 5th, Alonso 7th, the Ferraris 8th and 10th, and Kovalainen, the BMWs and Piquet not even making it past Q2.

How ya doing, buddy?

Well the race today was a bit of a letdown. The start and first few laps were very exciting, with a lot of tension and some bold overtaking maneuvers, but it soon turned into a fuel/tyre strategy race which saw most position changes happen in the pits.

Still, kudos to Button for yet another flawless win and to Vettel for his 2nd place finish. A disappointing race for the Toyota team, with Trulli 3rd and Glock only 7th, when both of them started from the front row. Hamilton managed a splendid 4th, and Räikkönen scored the season's first points for Ferrari finishing 6th. As for BMW, yet another weekend to forget, with Kubica 18th and Heidfeld 19th!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well I think the first few races of the season have shown that Button actually happens to be a great driver, since someone as experienced as Barrichello (275 grand prix starts, nine victories) can't match his pace on the same car. It should be interesting to see how he and Hamilton compare when McLaren are up to the Brawn cars' speed.

As for Ferrari, they also lost Jean Todt. Little was left of the Scuderia's former glory when he was recruited as team principal back in 1993; with him came race wins and, eventually, seven constructor's titles and six driver's titles. It will be a while before Stefano Domenicali can say as much.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

So it's just a country thing. Figures, you silly brits.

Meanwhile, France is still waiting for their next Prost. Bourdais's just pulling the tough luck card at every occasion, and I honestly doubt anybody can beat Panis or Alesi at that game.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

So we had yet another mostly uneventful race in Barcelona yesterday. Button wins, followed by Barrichello and the two Red Bull cars. Ferrari fucked up big time (what's new) on their fuel strategy, which caused Massa to head home sixth when he could have taken fourth place; McLaren just weren't fast enough to fight for points.

Most of the race saw Massa hold up an evidently faster Vettel, mostly thanks to KERS. Wasn't the system supposed to help make overtaking easier? :/ Oh well.

Can't wait for Monaco. At least that one's always eventful.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I used to think massive crashes were fun back when I was a kid, and didn't realize people get hurt and hours of hard work get blown to bits. These days I feel sorry more than anything else (especially since it always happens in the back of the field, and often strikes teams that struggle to even stay in F1).

These days I watch for the competition, mostly. I watch for the rare pleasure of seeing an underdog stick it to the big guns and get a good result against all odds. And I couldn't be happier, since that's exactly how the season has begun; but now that the Brawn cars are dominating the pack, someone else needs to put up a fight.

I was speaking idiomatically.

This just in: Schumacher Cans F1 Return

Quote:

"Yesterday evening, I had to inform Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo and Team Principal Stefano Domenicali that unfortunately I'm not able to step in for Felipe,” Schumacher stated on his personal website. “I really tried everything to make that temporary comeback possible, however, much to my regret it didn't work out.

“Unfortunately we did not manage to get a grip on the pain in the neck which occurred after the private F1-day in Mugello, even if medically or therapeutically we tried everything possible.
”

So much for the hype, eh?

I wonder who Ferrari are going to find now. Sure, with Marc Gené and Luca Badoer they've got some fine test drivers with Grand Prix experience (albeit old), but with the ban on testing during the season, they probably haven't gotten to drive the 2009 car around much. On the other hand, both Nelson Piquet Jr. and Sébastien Bourdais have been fired by their respective teams, so that's two available 2009 drivers (not top choices, though). It's also rumoured that Alonso might be joining Ferrari next year and therefore might consider leaving Renault early, but frankly I don't see him dealing such a blow to the team that helped him clinch two world championships.

Additional Spam:
And Badoer it is!

How ya doing, buddy?

Fisichella on pole at Spa! Who saw that coming?

FELIPE NO