Archive

Some of the older blog entries i’ve done on other forums will be posted here:

He’s got the brains and the brawn – March 08, 2009

by James
So with 20 days to go to the season starts, 20 cars have been confirmed for Formula One 2009. Ross Brawn has official bought the ex-Honda team. This is great news for any F1 fan, because the grid would’ve looked a little bare. 20 cars is what most fans have grown accustomed to since Super Aguri pulled out at the start of last year.

And yes, I know the title for this blog entry is possibly the most overused line when talking about this man, but you’ve got to respect him for what he’s done since it was announced that Honda would pull out of F1 with immediate effect the back end of last year.

Brawn and Fry especially have worked tirelessly to find a buyer for the team and most importantly, save many jobs that were out on the line. That is what is important about this, not just getting 20 cars out on the grid, but saving jobs. The drivers earn a lot of money, Jenson Button especially, so again, the main concern for him was the jobs of the people he had got to know so well. Jenson helped out himself by taking a pay cut. I couldn’t see many other drivers doing that for the soul purpose of saving people’s jobs. Some drivers would have just gone looking for another driver, and Jenson being Jenson, I can’t imagine many teams would deny him a ride if he was interested enough.

But let’s back track and see how this happened. The main point that caused much controversy was the announcement of Honda pulling out of F1, and suddenly the team turned to team saving mode. With the current economic climate that has had a big affect on motorsport on the whole, it seemed very unlikely that a buyer would be found. But nevertheless, the staff continued to develop their 2009 car so it was a more attractive package to any future buyers.

Many people, most notably Richard Branson, were linked to be buying the team, but only seemingly showed interested for yet more media exposure. Like he didn’t have enough. Soon, Honda in Japan were reporting that they couldn’t see a buyer and it looked increasingly unlikely that we would have 20 cars on the grid for Melbourne. At this time, Brawn and Fry stopped looking for buyers and started to adjust to “Plan B” a management buyout. This had been rumoured since the start, but no one really expected it.

So when the Brawn GP team was unveiled at a cold but sunny Silverstone, it was a nice surprise for everyone. For the team, the mechanics keeping their jobs, Rubens and Jenson both getting drives when it looked increasingly unlikely towards the end of last year and good news for F1. Another British team with a British driver will surely continue to boost viewing figures in the UK if nowhere else.

And Brawn and Fry know what they are doing. Both have been in F1 a long time and have a lot of experience. Brawn was one of the key men that helped pioneer the Ferrari domination years. He helped Michael win races and championships with some inspired race choices. The doubters can doubt all they like in Ross’s mind, they’ve already accomplished their hardest task. They will be on the grid for Melbourne and that’s an achievement in itself and something that previous new teams have failed to do. I doubt that the team can win the championship in their debut season, or for that matter win races. Points are a definite target for them however, and with the experienced team members onboard and very capable drivers, I can’t see why they won’t. And one thing can be assured, when it comes to Melbourne, a lot of people will be rooting for them. They are quickly turning into a very likeable team, the next Super Aguri in that respect.

And if nothing else, they won’t have Honda crapping it up this year, and a lot of people in the team will be relived about that.

So once again, post your thoughts below and check back next week.

The best driver – March 01, 2009

by James
Okay, this week’s topic is: Who out of the current crop of F1 drivers is the best? As you can tell from this week’s motorsport chat, it’s something I feel very strongly on. It’s discussed in pubs at weekends, and all people can seem to do is agree to disagree.

I’m pretty confident not everyone will agree with me on this on, so feel free to post comments below stating who you think is best.

So, starting with Lewis Hamilton. I personally can’t stand him, but as a driver he is good. Although in my views I think that he’s just jumped into the right team at the right time and used an ounce of his potential to get wins. Think about it, rather than seeing him cruise to an easy victory in arguably the strongest car, wouldn’t you like to see him truly fighting to get all the potential available out of the car, like Alonso at Renault? To be recognised as a true great, I think that he needs to go to a lesser team and turn them around like Schumacher did with Ferrari. Otherwise to most people, he’s just going to be seen as a good driver who drove a good car.

Next up, Raikkonen. Many people think he’s past his prime. I don’t, he just got galatically unlucky last season with a car that suited Massa more than Kimi. He struggled to get heat into the tyres, and this affected him most in qualifying where he would end up quite far down on the grid, and then get held up for most of the first stint. This led to rumours of Kimi no longer “being committed” especially by the British press. If you need an indication of his speed, just look at how many fastest laps he set last season. I expect him to be a lot better this season.

What about Massa? One thing that does certainly annoy me is the rubbish that “Felipe can’t drive in the wet”. As I said in motorsport chat this weekend, he can do, and some. At Silverstone Ferrari made bad choices of tyres which affected both Kimi and Felipe, and Felipe also had issues with the brakes I seem to remember as well. But, for the stupid arrogant pricks at ITV, they seemed to ignore the facts “Oh, is that ANOTHER spin by Massa?! Well, I’ve lost count now.” Another thing people seem to forget is who hit the wall at Monaco? Hamilton. Massa didn’t hit the wall once despite going up the escape road at turn one once. He was later compromised by a heavy fuel choice which effectively killed his chance of a win. More proof that he can in fact drive in the wet is his Interlagos drive. Very difficult conditions with numerous people spinning out, but Massa kept his head down and completed a dominant victory.

Autosport put Robert Kubica as there number one drive in the end of year special, with the given reason that he was quick and didn’t make mistakes. I am not jumping on the bandwagon Autosport are leading here on Robert being the best driver since the creation of brown bread. He’s a quick guy and certainly talented, but I don’t think he’s as good as Autosport are making him out to be. If he was that good, he would have stamped his foot at BMW and said “Look, I’m a contender for this title, just believe in me. Develop this car towards my driving style and I’ll bring you back the championship.” He’s a certainly outspoken guy challenging the team’s decision at Monaco last year, but that is what is needed from a driver. Time will tell this year as to whether he is a championship contender. As for people saying he’s won the same amount of races as Button, well he’s been in F1 a lot longer than Button, is less experienced, but has been on the podium about as many times as Button has.

Talking of Jenson, I personally think he’s over rated. He’s been out performed consistently by “over the hill” Rubens Barrichello. If I was head of the team, I’d think twice about keeping Jenson and getting rid of Rubens. He’s become one of the biggest disappointments of British F1 driver history. So much promise but not a lot more. Sure, he’s got talent, his podiums during the B.A.R heydays showed that, but he has rather shot himself through the foot by staying with a bad team for the past few seasons. Even he has admitted his time is running out to become a world champion.

So, rookie sensation Sebastian Vettel. Of course it’s premature to say that he is the best driver in F1 at the moment, as he’s only had a couple of seasons in it, but the kid’s got serious talent. I rate him. I don’t know if he will become the next “wunderkid” Michael Schumacher. That’s a big claim to put on a 21 year old. But he’s on a massive upwards curve, he showed that in the second half of the season and put Toro Rosso on the map, so much so they beat the bigger team (and that he’s driving for in 2009), Redbull, in the constructors title. Another win was possible if it wasn’t for a dodgy tyre call in the pits. He’s already shown immense pace in pre season testing, so expect fireworks from him this season.

You may have noticed I’ve missed out one driver so far. And that guy is who I think, currently, is the best F1 driver, pound for pound. Fernando Alonso. Sure he has flaws, a massive personality deficit in 2007 with his fall out with the entire McLaren team. But in this day and age it’s so easy to criticize. Put yourself in his boots that year. The team favours a rookie driver over you, a two times world champion, so much so they develop the car towards that rookie. You try your best and at the end can only match that guy’s point and come under criticism by not being able to beat a rookie. Sure sometimes, Lewis was generally quicker, but not always. But other times Fernando reminds us why he is so good. He picked up the pieces of the first corner mayhem at Japan, and considerably outpaced Robert Kubica to the win. He was the driving force behind the team that made the car quicker as the season went on. In the last few rounds of the season, he scored the most points of any driver. He’s also one of the best drivers in the current crop of F1 drivers that can actually set the car up well and give relevant information back to the team, and lots of it, during a race. He’s full committed all the time. That’s why I think he is currently the best driver in F1. I’m going to follow that bold comment up with another one, I predict Fernando to be the 2009 world champion when the season ends at Abu Dhabi. Many people I know will disagree with this, especially the ever rowing Lewis and Fernando fans. But love him or hate him (For the most part in Britain its hate) you cannot fail to admit that he is one hell of a driver.

So, post your thoughts below, and remember to check back again next week.

34 days – February 22, 2009

by James
It’s that time again. Anyway, despite there not really being any news this week, I thought I’d share my views on what could be the closest F1 season for many years. There is also a topic on the forum about it if anyone wants to discuss it there.

So, just 34 days remain until most of us have to get up at a very early hour in the morning and watch the opening round of the 2009 Formula One championship. In this week’s blog entry I’m going to sum up the testing and predict how the teams will do in the upcoming season.

Already it looks like this season will put 2008 to rest in terms of how close the cars are. At most tracks last year only 1 second covered the entire 20 car grid. Now, in early testing it’s only tenths that cover the field.

Normally in pre season testing, there is a few surprises here and there, like Williams’s testing performance last year that came to nothing during the season. Teams will either go really quickly, blitzing everyone else by 2 second on a qualifying run, or they’ll do set-up work, being 2 seconds slower than everyone. But at both Bahrain and Jerez cars have been covered by mere tenths than seconds.

To some people it may look like STR has dominated the testing. And in a way they have. STR are not yet using a 2009 spec car, and the 2009 cars that have been testing are not yet up to speed with the 2008 cars. But behind them it has been a mixed test with many different teams being quicker on different days.

Another plus side for this season is that no-one has really had an advantage in terms of on track testing. The weather, on both sides of the globe, has been against the teams. Sandstorms in Bahrain and heavy rain in Jerez and Algarve. Whilst teams in Europe have had something to do in terms of get a good understanding of how the new cars cope in the wet, in Bahrain it has been wait and do nothing until it has passed. How much this will have hurt Ferrari, BMW and Toyota in terms of track time remains to be seen, and we’ll only really see this at the first big group test at Barcelona, a couple of weeks before the season opener.

So, I did this a little while ago on the forum shortly after Ferrari’s F60 was revealed, but here is an updated break down of how I feel the teams will go in the season. You can make your own decisions as to whether I am right or not. Starting with:

• Ferrari- Have shown good form in testing, especially at Bahrain, but haven’t been running away with it as much as some people think. Have been satisfied with the development of KERS, but yet to make a decision on whether it will be used at Melbourne. Expect them to be near the front as normal.
• McLaren- Like Ferrari, have shown good form in pre-season testing with both drivers looking strong. Ron Dennis hinted at the fact that they won’t use KERS for the opening round. Have not used the 2009 spec rear wing much either, so the hot rumours is that they may have designed it wrong or the desired effect was not met so is being redesigned. Again, expect another classic fight with Ferrari for both championships.
• BMW- Shown good speed in testing, topping the time sheets at Bahrain on several occasions. Have had a few mechanical gremlins to deal with whilst testing KERS, and the team have admitted that despite the team’s insistence for others to use KERS, the unit will not be ready for Melbourne. Should put up a good fight for the championship with both drivers looking strong.
• Renault- Have achieved what Honda failed at for the last two seasons. Turning a bad car into a good one just in testing alone. The team admitted that the car wasn’t on the pace to start with, but is now up to speed. One of the teams to struggle with KERS, don’t expect to see it in the early part of the season. Alonso, however, remains a favourite amongst the press to take a third title. Whether the dominance of 2005-2006 can be repeated remains to be seen, but the car should be near the front of the grid.
• Toyota- One of two teams to be surrounded by controversy already with the radical diffuser design. The car has shown good testing performance at the hands of both drivers and has been challenging Ferrari in testing. The KERS system is “95% done” but won’t be used for Melbourne. Toyota could surprise some teams this season with the capable drivers of Trulli and Glock. This really is make or break season for Toyota though.
• Williams- They second team to have had complaints against. The car has shown some very promising performances in testing, and as already acknowledged by the team, this is the last big chance for Williams. The car should challenge for wins and could surprise a few people. Lead driver Nico Rosberg should be the main man to lead the team to success this year if the car is good, but Nakajima will score points wherever possible. Won’t use KERS for Melbourne.
• Redbull- A very radically designed car, has looked promising in testing, being not far off the pace at all. The team should challenge for wins with arguably one of the best driver line-ups in the field this year. The RB5 will be one of the last cars Adrian Newey designs, let’s see if it can bring him and the team success in Newey’s F1 swansong and the teams 5th year in F1. Been all quiet in the KERS system however.

Can’t really say anything on Toro Rosso’s or Force India’s chances yet as they have yet to unveil their 2009 challengers. So, hope you liked this week’s entry and I hope there will be more motorsport news coming out this coming week. Check back normal place, normal time for another entry.

How F1 needs to change – February 15, 2009

by James
Regardless of me being on holiday this week, this is my second blog entry. Hope you enjoy it, and remember to check out all the other parts of the site and of course, the forums.

So this week is on how I think F1 should change. Not just rules and regulations, but tracks and race weekend set-up. Agree or disagree? Post your thoughts below in the comments box.

Well, I’m going to sound old before my age here, but this is what I think. F1 was better during the 90’s and early 2000’s. Sure, the driving quality may not have been as big, as Schumacher dominated pretty much every year. But the duels that Hakkinen and Schumacher had bring back memories. One of the most memorable moments is when Schumacher and Hakkinen went either side of a back marker at Spa on the long straight after “Eau Rouge”. It is hailed by many fans as the greatest overtake in F1 history.

The cars also sounded and looked a lot better. V10s were still very much in their prime, chucking out around 1000bhp. Phenomenal pieces of engineering that marked an era of brilliant F1 design that I can confidently predict will be looked upon as great years as much as 50 years from now. Sure, for 2009, the cars have been smartened up, no aero devices sprouting off the cars like they have for many years. But there’s still something missing that stops them from being great cars. Innovation.

And that’s my next point. Innovation is a dying thing in F1. The rules don’t allow innovation at all. Sure, you’ve got KERS, but that’s not really obvious from the outside of the car or to the causal observer. But in terms of aerodynamic innovation, we haven’t seen any in ages. Sure we had shark fins, and “dumbo” wings last year, but they really weren’t that innovative, as nearly everyone on the grid bar McLaren ended up using the shark fins. What would the likes of Colin Chapman, who led the Lotus team to success, think to the current restrictive rules?

Even Adrian Newey, classic F1 designer, who has built championship winning cars for Williams and Mclaren and now works for Redbull believes that he won’t be in F1 much longer. I can guess where he may end up going. Sportscars. There innovation is smiled upon, unlike F1. Seriously guys, it’s time to wake up and smell the cocoa. Bring back ground effects, anything, for innovation to live on. The cars are so safe now that I couldn’t see safety being a problem, in fact there wasn’t a fatality in F1 during ground effects. Ground effects saw some brilliantly designed cars.

Other then innovation, what else can be improved in F1? Well, for starters, more track time, not only at races, but during tests. Many people I have talked to who’ve been to an F1 weekend have felt dissatisfied with the lack of F1 on track action. Maybe another practise session on Friday, or Saturday, and even bring back pre-race warm-up on Sunday so the fans don’t feel like they are being ripped off. I personally find the testing ban ridiculous. Sure, it may save money, but it reduces the chance of new fresh young talent having a go in F1 cars to try and get a seat. Also, if the teams don’t fine tune their cars for Melbourne, KERS could be a major head ache with reliability issues and possibly 10 cars or less will see the finish of each race. Again, the fans won’t be seeing much of a spectacle.

Tracks are also something that needs to be looked at. Instead of granting a race straight away, spend more time at the desired facility, look at the track design for a while, and then make a decision. Don’t get me wrong, Herman Tilke, who has designed most of the tracks F1 races at, is fantastic at his job. But many people have complained how most tracks are somewhere in a dessert with massive run-off areas. Places like Monaco, Spa and Monza have become as famous as they are because they do not feature massive run off areas. It’s full commitment all the time, otherwise, bang! You’re in a wall and out the race. In Bahrain, for example, drivers don’t even worry about that. There are miles of run off area, so no worries. That’s not how F1 should be. It should be more one mistake and you’re out.

The last point I’m going to make is something F1 is already taking a step towards in 2009. More chance for the fans to meet the drivers. It’s been one of the fore points that has made BTCC as successful as it is today. Free access to the pits at lunch to meet the drivers, and free access to the paddock at any time. Sure, it puts more stress on an F1 driver, but if they don’t like all the attention they get, they shouldn’t be in F1. But this is one of the rare points that would create a problem. Massive crowds would surely mean crushes in a relatively small pitlane. As cruel as it may be to the fans, they would have to only allow a certain number of people into the pits at any one time. That, or have numerous sessions over the weekend. Like one on the Friday, one on the Saturday, and one a few hours before the race on Sunday. Hopefully that would reduce the number of people wanting to get in the pits at any one time.

So that’s my views. Hope you enjoyed reading it, and remember to check back here next week not only for another blog entry, but motorsport chat that will happen between me, Rodger and Neil on Saturday.

Welcome! – February 8, 2009

by James
Hi, and welcome to the Craner Curves. First thing, I’m James, one of the staff members at our forum. Check it out!

So, what is The Craner Curves? This is my blog that will be update weekly with a close up look of what is happening in European Motorsport.

To kick things off, 2 topics. First thing, the recent news of an American team hoping to enter F1 by 2010. Then, my thoughts on Toro Rosso at last confirming their second driver for 2009.

So, on hearing the news of USF1, I was excited, then disappointed, then excited again.

My first part of excitement was, well, a new F1 team! F1 is in a bit of a mess at the moment, really struggling to find its feet this season for the first time since the dreadful Imola 1994 weekend. With Honda pulling out, the grid looks somewhat bare with only 18 confirmed cars (as I type this) for the new season. I thought “A new team for 2009! Someone’s bought Honda? Fantastic!”

Then reading the article I became disappointed. The team hopes to enter by 2010. Still 18 cars confirmed for 2009 then. What amazes me is that the teams and the FIA have agreed that they should be allowed to enter. If I was in charge of the FIA, I would focus more on getting a new team for 2009 than someone who may not even race in 2010. The “Team 48” syndrome appears to be happening again. Like Team 48 in BTCC, they come out with a flashy logo, say what they hope to achieve, etc, etc. Then a few weeks before the season starts, they say that they’ve suddenly realised they don’t have the budget to compete and everybody gets disappointed. I could see a similar thing happening to USF1. Then you still have 18 cars on the grid and nothing, apart from disappointment has been created.

But then my last point of excitement. If, and this is a big if, they race, don’t expect them to be the next Force India, named after a nation and stone dead last at every race. The people who wish to run this team sound like a lot of experienced people. Well one of them does. Peter Windsor was former Williams manager. That’s got to count for something. What is exciting is a possibility of a new, American driver on the grid. There seems to be a lot of single seater talent over there with the likes of Alex Rossi coming to Europe to continue his bid to ultimately get to F1. Another wild rumour going around is that Danica Patrick may be in contention. Of course this is pure rumours and speculation, so don’t get your hopes up. The other option is that there is a lot of driver unsigned and waiting for an F1 drive after Honda dropped out. Bruno Senna, Jenson Button and Takuma Sato are all contenders. Maybe even forgotten Brit Anthony Davidson.

Of course, we’ve got to get through the 2009 season first. And these leads me conveniently on to my next point. Sebastian Bourdais has been resigned for Toro Rosso after Takuma Sato didn’t want to change his name to Sebastian Sato. As successful as Bourdais has been in the states, I don’t think his 08 performance warrants a 2009 drive. He was comprehensibly beaten by Sebastian Vettel, who now has gone up to the big Redbull team. And don’t put across the point that Toro Rosso car couldn’t win. ‘cause it could. Monza anyone? A superb drive by Vettel to become F1’s youngest ever winner and a superstar straight away. And it wasn’t a flash-in-the-pan victory, as towards the end of the season, he simply got better and better. He could have even won (or at least got a podium) at Interlagos if it wasn’t for a strategic blunder by the team. He was the guy who almost lost Hamilton the championship.

But anyway, back to Bourdais. Sure he got unlucky a couple of times. His car breaking on the grid whilst on the second row of the grid at Monza was not his fault, and the weather turned against him at Spa on the last lap while in contention for a podium finish, but other than those two, show me a race last season where he outclassed Vettel. Because I don’t see one. Senna or Sato would have been a better choice in my opinion.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the first addition of Craner Curves, and be sure to check here again next Saturday to see my next entry. Also remember to check out the many other features that are going online all the time on the main page, and to check out the forums as well. Bye for now!