GT2 is the answer.

FIA GT as we now know it will be completely changed at the end of the year, with ring leader Stephane Ratel planning to build a GT1 “world series”. Ratel’s plans are to get a completely new class of GT1 cars racing around the word, trying to revive the slowly dying category. Recently in America, GT1 disappeared completely from the ALMS, or American Le Mans Series, and it seems likely that Europe will quickly follow suit, the current class of GT1 looking to be abolished from the LMS and also the historic Le Mans 24 hours race in France.

The new brand of GT cars needs at least 6 makes to be approved as a world series, and already Ratel has had many problems in convincing doubters that this is the way forward. Car manufacturers such as Porsche and Ferrari have been quick to critisize the idea after Ratel announced that the GT2 class would not race alongside the GT1 cars at the end of 2009, and that the blue-ribband event in the series’ calendar, the Spa 24 hours, would be shortened. Ratel claimed that this was partly to do with the economic climate and that is simply getting too expensive for many teams to run these cars at the current budget, but many still believe that getting rid of the 24 hours is a mistake. I agree.

Clearly in 2010 the championship won’t be as Ratel initially planned it. Only Nissan have truly committed to the new rules with a race version of their GT-R, and Lamborghini only have an updated version of their Murcialago, hardly a new car. Such is the lack of interest currently that older cars such as the Aston Martin DBR9, Corvette C6-R and Maserati MC12, old cars in GT1 terms, have been “de-tuned” so they can compete in the series, at least for a year albeit without manufacturer support. Aston and Corvette, the two previous top dogs when it came to GT1 have indeed moved on. Aston to LMP1 and GT1 and Corvette also in GT2.

In my mind, even in 2011 or 2012, it is unlikely we’ll see this new brand of GT1 cars that Ratel has promised. 2011 just so happens to be the year when the brand new set of rules will govern the prototype classes, and with more manufacturers than ever looking to switch to LMP1/LMP2 (maybe even some from F1!) it seems like the thundering, fire breathing days of GT1, in whatever format, are over.

For me, in the long term, GT2 is the way forward. You look at it now and it is quickly becoming one of the most popular and competitive of the 4 classes involved in Le Mans racing. In the not too distant past, it was a case of Ferrari and Porsche domination, and in a sense it still sort of is. But new manufacturers are coming to test the mettel of those 2 great brands. BMW’s M3 has been one of the latest cars to enter the class, Aston Martin are using their Vantage, Corvette with a de-tuned version of their successful C6-R. In the future it is arguable that Audi may come to play with the R8, Spyker are slowly getting more competitive and in the ALMS, RocketSports are developing a Jaguar XKR that will soon be racing.

These brands competing head to head, some of the most iconic and recognisable brands out of car makers on the planet are making GT2 the place to be at the moment. Of course, it isn’t cheap, but with the rising car counts in GT2 and the feeble car counts of recent times in GT1 in either side of the Atlantic make it clear to me.

If any series is to be stand alone and to become a world series, it’s GT2. For every reasons, bigger interest, new cars entering the class on a monthly basis almost, car manufacturers prefer it as does pretty much ever Le Mans fan right now.

The problem is then if a repeat of GT1’s failure occurs to GT2, meaning that interest just…..stops. New cars stop coming in to the class, interest dries up and soon I’ll be writing that GT3 is the way forward……and then GT4. So how can this be stopped? Well, there is no way to fight what happens in the long term, but I have an idea.

How about merging GT2 and GT3 together? Then you’d had the best of both worlds, more new cars, big grid counts and a big chance for up and coming drivers to get into reasonably priced machinery. Of course, you’d have to offer performance breaks if it did happen, to stop the GT2 cars dominating of vice versa. The combined class could then run alongside LMS/ALMS or as a completely separate “GT World Championship” and at Le Mans, they could be split up into 2 classes and cars could go for class honours meaning we would have 4 classes again.

Of course my plan isn’t perfect, I’m sure there would be issues somewhere down the line, but the whole of GT racing needs a kick up the back side. Look at the British GT championship for an example of this, at some races this year only 9 cars have raced. A series shouldn’t be struggling along like that.

Please ACO and the SRO, do it in the good memory of GT1.

The stepping stones

Imagine the scene. You are a young driver with goals to get to F1 very soon. But there is a problem; a raging river blocks your path. A river which has knocked many a talented drivers into its murky depths, for their talent to go un-noticed. Across from the river is the Formula One paddock and you see two different paths on which to cross. There is a well trodden and short path that keeps to the shallow parts of the river, but everybody wants to take that path, it is hard to get noticed and you may find yourself being pushed off by a fellow driver.

There is a much quieter path down the river, but it is slippier and longer and it potentially takes you far way from the F1 paddock, but it also could reward you much more than the other path if you are good and don’t fall.. So you are faced with a dilemma. Which path do you take to reach your ultimate goal?

I am of course referring to the battle of the stepping stone series, the junior formulae that currently make most the headlines in the world of motorsport. But if you are a young driver and have excelled in F3 and the other junior championships, where do you go, GP2 or Formula 2? Let’s start with GP2:

GP2 has long been the chosen path to success in F1 and many of the current crop of F1 drivers have come from GP2, Lewis Hamilton, Timo Glock, Heikki Kovalainen and Nico Rosberg to name a few. And it looks like it will continue to carry on this way for as long as the series runs. Already would-be champion, Nico Hulkenberg, is looking ominous for a Williams seat.

Of course, there are problems; GP2 is incredibly expensive, within expense of 1 million Euros for just one season, and that might be with one of the lesser teams. In this age where motorsport should be looking to save costs, you here too often of young drivers having to pull out of a series because they simply don’t have the funds available to them. But then, GP2 is incredibly popular and incredibly close. GP2 can quite often be the highlight of a Grand Prix weekend with plenty off on track action and young drivers 100% un-afraid to run wheel to wheel in a desperate attempt to please the F1 team bosses who can be found watching from the pit wall, raising an eyebrow in surprise of such a bold overtake or shaking their heads in despair at such a rookie error. Such is the nature of GP2, you need to win to impress, it’s the survival of the fittest and you’ve got to show that you’ve got what it takes to handle F1, not just on track but off track too.

Then we come to the quieter path that has been rebuilt for 2009. Formula 2 makes a return to the motorsport world after quite a few years away from the action. It couldn’t be more different from the old format though, with this series completely designed on saving money and offering drivers a chance to shine at a lower cost. It is a great initiative for young drivers, because at the end of the season the top 3 drivers get a super license needed in order to race in F1 and as an extra perk, something that isn’t part of GP2. A test driver with the Williams team. It’s no secret that GP2 doesn’t always work, and you just need to look at last year for an example of this. Only one driver made the step-up to F1 (Sebastian Buemi) and Giorgio Pantano was the first GP2 champion not to get signed by an F1 team. Current FIA president, Max Mosley, is also know to favour Formula 2 as opposed to the mostly Bernie Ecclestone supported GP2.

But Formula 2 also has its weaknesses. Not being a part of the F1 support package, F2 knew it was always going to struggle to get recognised as a series, especially in its first year. The quick announcement of the series meant a less than stellar grid in terms of a start line-up. Many drivers in Formula 2 are only in their first or second full season of car racing, thus making it a variation throughout the field of talented drivers who have potential such as Canada’s Rob Wickens and the mix of other drivers even the biggest of motorsport fans would not have heard of.

Formula 2 is also in mourning. After the recent loss of Henry Surtees at Brand Hatch, many have been quick to criticize the safety of the series even though it was a freak accident.

Being in a situation where many young drivers have got hopelessly lost in the woods of motorsport, where do I think is the best place to go? Well, I hate to kick F2 while it’s down, especially after the tragic loss of Surtees, but for me, GP2 is the one and only creditable way to get into F1, it has been since 2005 and it will continue to develop some of the hottest young talents in the motorsport world.

You here the occasional snide comment of “Oh well, there isn’t any overtaking in GP2”, but to be honest, when I was at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix weekend, that couldn’t have been further than the truth. Cars running 2 and 3 wide and battling through the fearsome Copse, Maggots and Becketts section was superb. There was more than 1 person in the Grand Stands when you looked around that looked surprised to say the least about the amount of action both GP2 races showed. If you were to rank the races simply in terms of on track action, I’d actually rate the GP2 races over the F1 race.

In 2009, potentially we could have more GP2 drivers stepping up to F1 than other years gone past. Romain Grosjean looks likely to retain his Renault seat for 2010, with Nico Hulkenberg expected to go to Williams and the likes of Alvaro Parente, Vitaly Petrov, Sergio Perez and more jockeying for places in the new AND established teams.

The cars are fast, resemble F1 cars closer than F2 does and the races are excellent. In a way it’s how F1 should be modelling itself…..

……Avoiding the spec series route, of course!

Spa race review (Team mate wars episode 12)

Just a week after the unbearably hot conditions of Valencia, F1 returned to proper racing tracks once again with Spa, perhaps the most famous circuit on the F1 calendar, if not the world. Corners such as Eau Rouge, Pouhon and Blanchimont still offering the same and extremely difficult challenge to drivers today as they did 50 years ago. Many made the pilgrimage to deep in the Ardennes forest on this bank holiday weekend, all wanting to see a special result.

And they got one. Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari took the win, but it was Fisichella and Force India who took the plaudits with a fantastic drive by the Italian to never lose sight of the red car throughout the entire race. In fact, many say that if it wasn’t for Raikkonen’s KERS, Force India could have been on for their maiden win. Some will leave Spa happy, Ferrari and Force India included, but others such as Renault, McLaren, Brawn, BMW and Toyota will feel they have really missed an opportunity.

Ferrari

5-Raikkonen-7-Massa-0-Badoer

It was episode 2, and perhaps the finale, of Luca Badoer’s fascinating Ferrari career. Once again, it was a disappointing performance with Badoer stone last throughout much of the race, and the excuse of not knowing the track (at Valencia) has gone out the window now. It seems like after 10 years away from a race environment, you really cannot get that spark back, and as frustrations grew between Rob Smedley and Badoer throughout the course of the window, many were already turning their attention to who his replacement will be. Some are reporting that Fisichella will be the driver from Monza onwards after his great Spa performance, but people in Force India have been quick to say that it is untrue. It will be interesting to see the announcement in due course, and of course Ferrari’s 2010 driver line up announcement as well, many expecting Monza to be the weekend where Alonso will be confirmed as Raikkonen’s successor. Perhaps spurred on by this though, Raikkonen also drove a great race being aggressive at the start of the race and using the advantage of his KERS button to just keep ahead of Fisichella. It’s his 3^rd podium in 3 races, and his first win since Spain 2008. Without doubt he gets the point.

Summary: The Spa master showed the field the way home once again, but only just.

McLaren

7-Hamilton-5-Kovalainen

A disappointing weekend for McLaren on all respects, with both cars not even making it past Q2. After the success in Hungary and Valencia, Spa was back to the bad times for McLaren, especially for the out of luck Lewis Hamilton who only made it to the end of the Kemmel straight before being clobbered by Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari into retirement. But it was always going to be difficult for Hamilton who made a bad start and then got squeezed into La Source hairpin. Monza could be another place where Hamilton will face troubles, with nobody forgetting last year’s wash-out. As for Kovalainen however, he made it by the melee that Hamilton was caught in and drove a solid race to 6^th place, perhaps the best result McLaren could have got out of this weekend. But McLaren as a team will be looking to bounce back at Monza, where in 2007 they dominated proceedings.

Summary: A disappointing weekend McLaren after recent success.

BMW

6-Kubica-6-Heidfeld

After the progress made at Valencia one week ago, BMW came to force at Spa with their strongest race of the 2009 campaign. With Heidfeld 3^rd on the grid, it look a possibility that BMW could be contenders for their second win of the F1 career, yet at the start, team mate Kubica made the better start into La Source, briefly being in second place before Raikkonen passed him along Kemmel. Sadly, Kubica then ran into the back of Kimi, damaging his front wing and reducing his down force levels that would hamper him throughout much of the race. Hedifeld was also briefly involved in this incident and had to take to the escape road to avoid hitting anybody. Later in the race the BMW’s dropped back, but Heidfeld remained one of the fastest men on track. BMW may like Spa was a missed opportunity for them, but they scored a double points finish and the best result of the season thus far. If their performance at Spa is anything to go on, their may be plenty more races for BMW to perhaps claim a victory.

Summary: Promising result for the doomed team.

Renault

11-Alonso-1-Piquet-0-Grosjean

It’s fair to say that Renault really struggle from the get go at Spa, and like Valencia, after impressive practice form, the team failed to get a good result with Grosjean sharing the back row of the grid with Badoer and Alonso not making it out of Q2. Yet in the race, things got no better. Grosjean, only in his second race, managed to take 3 other cars out of the race at Les Combes, including championship leader Button and defending champion Hamilton. It was put down to a rookie error and simply out-braking himself, but it could have been a lot worse for Button’s championship. Alonso, meanwhile, was on an aggressive 1 stop strategy, but was clobbered by the spinning Sutil at La Source, damaging his wheel and spinner, which meant by the time he had to make his one and only stop, the wheel was too damaged for the mechanic to put the new spinner in place. Many seconds were lost, and having to avoid a repeat of Hungary, a slow lap was needed for Alonso to recover to the pit and retire. Renault must surely be looking at these spinners now, as potentially they have lost the team 2 points finishes in 3 races. Something that the double world champion with doubtless have reminded them of.

Summary: 2 DNFs was not what was planned for Renault on a track where a handful of points were targetable.

Red Bull

6-Vettel-6-Webber

Red Bull had to bounce back from the disappointment of Valencia at a track they were widely regarded to dominate prior to the race. And after just a few seconds of the race, it seemed like it would indeed be Red Bull’s day in terms of having the upper hand once again in the championship, Barrichello way down the order and Button out. Webber had made the better of the 2 drivers, with Vettel being jumped by Rosberg for once again being too tentative at the start. However, Webber’s day was about to turn very sour at the first round of pit stops as Red Bull were deemed to have unsafely released their driver with Heidfeld already coming down the pit lane. A subsequent drive through was ordered, but even after he failed to get back up to pace and for the second race in a row, finished out side the points in 9 place. Vettel meanwhile, had a solid drive to 3^rd, after consistently trading fastest lap times with Nick Heidfeld towards the end of the race. If he hadn’t been held up in the first stint, maybe he could have been on for more, but Vettel was the biggest of the championship gainers, once again lead-frogging Webber in the points and seems to be controlling the pressure of the championship the best out of all 4 drivers. But with one less race to make a big challenge on Button’s lead, can Red Bull realistically still be involved in the championship battle? I’m not so sure.

Summary: A solid result for Vettel, but once again red Bull are not making as bigger inroads into the championship as they should be.

Toyota

6-Trulli-6-Glock

Toyota’s rocky roller coaster of a season continues after Spa, where a week a go Toyota were really struggling once again at the street circuit characteristics of Valencia, they once again showed how good they could be, especially in qualifying, where in Q1 it looked like maybe a repeat of Bahrain in a Toyota front row. It wasn’t to be, but Trulli would share the front row with fellow countryman, Giancarlo Fisichella, and on a heavier fuel load than the pole man, really felt as if he had a chance to get Toyota’s maiden win. Again, it wasn’t to be, as in the first lap melee, Trulli hit Heidfeld who have jumped him at the start and damaged his front wing, requiring a new nose under safety car conditions. Trulli then struggled to pass Badoer and later retired due to damage sustained on that first lap. Glock also suffered difficulties in the race, with a fuel hose problem meaning a very slow first pit stop for him, putting him out of the picture. My point goes to Trulli though this weekend, just for the advantage in pure pace he held over his team mate.

Summary: With Toyota’s future in doubt, a first win can’t come soon enough.

Williams

12-Rosberg-0-Nakajima

For whatever reason, Williams really struggle from the first practice session at Spa, failing to get a good set-up on either car, which amazed the team seeing as this year’s Williams has been a solid performer at every track on the calendar so far, but with the unusual results Spa threw up, it is perhaps to be expected. Nico Rosberg once again showed what a solid performer he is this year, bagging a point for Williams at the expense of Mark Webber as they continue in vain to keep up with the likes of McLaren and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship, yet again, with only Rosberg finishing in the points, which seems like mission impossible for them. Kazuki Nakajima struggled all weekend, failing to get out of the first part of qualifying, set stayed clear of the accident at Les Combes only to turn into a mobile chicane for the rest of the race with cars overtaking him left and right on the Kemmel straight. Clearly some head scratching at Williams to be done before the next race at Monza.

Summary: Williams will leave Spa with some head scratching to be done.

Brawn GP

8-Button-4-Barrichello

On a high from the previous race at Valencia, Rubens Barrichello aimed to make even bigger inroads into Jenson Button’s championship lead at Spa. But as feared, tyre heat troubles really affected Brawn throughout the weekend, Button fairing much worse, not making it out of Q2 for the first time this season and he would start way back in 14^th place. Barrichello however, seemed to be making the best of a bad lot once again, and qualified 4^th, but when the fuel corrected times came out; it showed just how much Brawn seemed to be struggling at Spa. Jenson wouldn’t have to suffer too long though. After a solid start, he was pinballed by Romain Grosjean at Les Combes, meaning he could only watch on nervously from the sidelines. Once again though, Barrichello suffered the anti-stall problem that has plagued him at the Australian and Turkish Grand Prix so far which meant he was the last away from the grid. However, he then drove a solid race to 7^th, 2 important world championship points, despite visible smoke pouring from his car in the last few laps, and promptly bursting into flames as he entered the pit lane. But what has happened to Jenson Button? It really seems like he’s been spooked by leading a championship for the first time, and visible errors are starting to occur in his bid for championship. The gap is slowly coming down, but thankfully for him, there is not a consistent challenger to his title as it differs from race to race. At Hungary, it was Webber’s weekend. Valencia was Rubens, and now Spa was Vettel’s. With fewer races to go and no consistent challenger, Button now has one hand on the title.

Summary: Another bad weekend for Button, but thankfully for him not a great race for Barrichello either.

Toro Rosso

7-Buemi-3-Bourdais-0-Alguersuari

A bad weekend on many respects for the Italian team. Losing Alguersuari in the race so early on, a potential points finish for Buemi seemingly slipping away as the race progressed, as chief rivals Force India score highly, their first points to date meaning they leap frog Toro Rosso in the constructors’ table. Such seems the bad luck at this small Italian tam that even both cars seeing the chequered flag is a celebration within itself, although not one that they would like for a team that prides itself on having beaten it’s bigger sister of a team, Red Bull, in 2008. Yet it shows just what a good job Vettel was able to do in that team taking them to victory almost a year ago, and since his departure the team has never really had a driver of his calibre to threaten the points at any round. Sebastian Buemi slowly seems to be improving, but as I said in Valencia, what Toro Rosso really needs is an experienced lead driver alongside one of their younger guys. Of course it’ll be interesting to see how Sebastian Loeb will do at Abu Dhabi, and see if he can bring the team good fortune. Back to Spa however, and Buemi of course gets the point after his team mate only lasted 4 corners.

Summary: The team still visibly missing Sebastian Vettel as their struggles continue.

Force India

9-Fisichella-3-Sutil

Force India came to the forefront of F1 at Spa with a result even the most experienced of pundits would never have expected. After a solid pace in the practice sessions, Fisichella showed Force India’s hand for the first time in Q1, going fastest. He then when 4^th fastest in Q2, and incidentally, Sutil would manage 11^th, the furthest up both Force India’s have managed with the small team often struggling to get out of Q1. But then in Q3 came the big shock. Fisi blitz the field managing pole position over countryman Jarno Trulli in his Toyota. Many, myself included, didn’t reckon a Force India would be able to keep with the leading pace, but even after Kimi used his KERS power boost to overtake him in the restart, Fisichella never let Kimi relax and was often within under a second close to the Ferrari. Spa was a wake up call to everyone, and it is very often to look down on a driver’s performance due to how bad their equipment may be. But Giancarlo Fisichella reminded us all once again what a top class driver he is and how he deserves to retain his seat next year. If I was Force India I’d be getting him to sign a new contract straight away, and Vijay Mallya seems very keen to stop Ferrari getting hold of him for Monza. Of course, with his outstanding performance, Fisi gets the point.

Summary: A fantastic result for the entire team, surely more of the same to come now?

So, race review for Spa?

So, what have we learnt? Well just how unpredictable Formula One can be. As Murray Walker says, “Anything can happen in Formula One, and it usually does.” A great story for Formula One, the minnows taking on the likes of Ferrari. And it was great to be back to a proper race track in the shape of spa, after the great big no-over taking zone that is the Valencia street circuit.

Driver of the day? Well, I think the topic on the Ten Tenths forum sums it up pretty well. On the driver of the day poll there, at the time of writing Fisichella has 101 votes, to Kimi Raikkonen’s (the nearest other driver) 13. I am no exception and have to applaud what a brilliant job Fisichella did, perhaps the drive of the season so far, no question about it. Nobody else really caught my eye at Spa, Kimi drove a very solid race, but Fisichella was the star.

Race rating? 3 stars out of 5. By no means a classic, but miles better than Valencia with lots of overtaking, action and drama that kept everybody on the edge of their seat right to the chequered flag. What a good job it is that we’re going to another great track, Monza, in 2 weeks time.

Scores to be settled: Even at this late stage in the season, there are still numerous battles going on in Team Mate wars. Fernando Alonso, Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Buemi are the champions of their representive teams, as well as Giancarlo Fisichella with his latest point making it impossible for team mate Sutil to even level the scores with 5 races left.

However, battles still rage in McLaren, BMW, Red Bull and Toyota and it is still mathematically possible for Barrichello to become the champion of Brawn for 2009, although he needs to score every team mate point in these last races.

Spa qualifying reaction

Sometimes something happens in F1 that even the most experienced pundits, team bosses and drivers won’t expect. Something that never comes out in those endless simulations teams such as McLaren does back at base.

We saw it at Monza last year, with Sebastian Vettel taking his and Toro Rosso’s first ever pole position. Today was another qualifying session that you had to see to believe, and those who did see it will never forget it. Italian, Giancarlo Fisichella, seemingly did the impossible to get his first pole in countless seasons and Force India’s first ever pole after 2 years of trying.

But there were many other shock stories that came out of a dramatic hour long qualifying, with Formula One back to proper tracks, this time out at the fearsome Spa-Francorchamps. As Mark Webber put it, it was like moving from a supermarket car park to a proper race track again. Maybe harsh on Valencia perhaps, but many people would agree with his statement.

The other shock stories to come out of qualifying are great, alongside Force India’s pole of course, the seemingly improved Toyotas and BMWs, all 4 cars who will challenge Fisi in the race. The good news stories run out, as Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso all dropped out in Q2, the first time it has happened to the championship leader this season, leaving Brawn with much head scratching to do.

However, now the weights are out it seems like things are worse than expected for Brawn, with Rubens Barrichello on a lighter fuel load than Fisichella, yet he lines up in 4^th. However, he had the best afternoon of the championship contenders, with Red Bull also struggling on a track they were predicted to dominate. They are, however, the 2 heaviest cars in the top 10 and should be contenders for big points if they don’t suffer a repeat of the nightmare that occurred at Valencia.

So who do I expect to do well tomorrow?

Well, there are many variables that we need to know before this, such as what the classic Spa weather will do. Like for the German round a few races ago, the weather can change at Spa any minute and because the Belgian track is so long, it can be raining at the far side of the track, whilst being bone dry on the start finish straight. This has been the undoing of many teams and drivers, many falling foul trying to second guess the weather whilst others have made huge grounds in the race thanks to good pit lane calls.

If you need any example of this, just look at the classic race last year where it started to spit with rain towards the end and drivers such as Heidfeld and Alonso made huge gains on the last lap as they passed people as if they were stationary, both of them gambling on wet weather tyres. By all means, a race at Spa can be won or lost in the pit lane, more so than any other races of the calendar so far.

But if the race is a straight forward dry start to finish race, then you’d expect to have an easier time predicting a winner. Well, not so.

Fisichella did a great job to claim pole, and is slightly lighter than the 2 cars behind him of Trulli and Heidfeld and both Toyota and BMW’s pace was evident throughout the session. For me, even though Force India has made big gains, I doubt as to whether Giancarlo can stay with the leading pace throughout the race. I’d very much like to see him win as it would be a great story, all though I don’t believe it is possible. A podium or just some solid points can be the goal for Force India though if they play their cards right and don’t get hit by any Ferraris!

Jarno Trulli looks to be in very good form, but as ever, his race craft tends not to be as strong as his qualifying performance, but nevertheless, with Toyota’s future in F1 uncertain, a maiden win would be very welcome indeed. Nick Heidfeld also will want to aim for his first and BMW’s second win as BMW bring more and more updates to the car before they take a bow and step away from F1 at the end of the year.

And of course, there is Rubens Barrichello, as I have said; the best placed of the championship contenders. He has a real chance to narrow the gap to his team made to just 8 points if he wins and Jenson scores lowly, if at all. Brawn still seems to be struggling to be heat into their tyres, so Barrichello will be crossing everything physically crossable for a warm, sunny race tomorrow. But what has happened to Jenson Button? Is the tyre heat problem really the main issue for him or has he lost the plot? I’ll look at this in more detail for Spa’s episode of Team Mate wars.

So, time to put my money where my mouth is. I predict the top 3 to be like this:

1. Rubens Barrichello
2. Nick Heidfeld
3. Sebastian Vettel

Of course I have been known to get it wrong before!

F1 has never been closer than before. F1 has never been more exciting than before. And lastly, F1 has never been so unpredictable than before. All of which means we should have a brilliant Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow. Make sure you tune in, or else you’ll regret it.

Valencia race review (Team mate wars episode 11)

After a long 4 week break between races, the Formula One circus was back at the scorching hot European Grand Prix. Many teams had different objectives, with Brawn wanting to find their impressive early season form, Red Bull wanting to carry on eating into their championship and McLaren just wanting to improve further after their win at Hungary last time out.

But indeed, it was a familiar team that headed the pack, but not the normal driver you’d expect. Rubens Barrichello finally won again after a 5 year wait, whilst team mate Button salvaged a couple of points after a disappointing race. But the championship has slipped again, with Barrichello now Button’s main title challenger after both Red Bulls suffered a nightmare of a weekend and it’s looking like mission impossible for either driver to clinch the title.

Ferrari

4-Raikkonen-7-Massa-0-Badoer

It’s been a whirlwind for Ferrari in the 4 weeks leading up to Valencia. With Massa’s freak and horrible accident forcing him to the sidelines momentarily, 7 times champion Michael Schumacher to announce his shock return, and after a few days afterwards, pull out again, himself sidelined with an injury. Ferrari was left with no choice but to put loyal test driver Luca Badoer in the car and it was a huge struggle for the Italian all weekend. Last in every practice session and also in qualifying meant he had a lot to do, and after a great start, aided by KERS, he slowly slipped down the order, finishing last but one because of Williams’ Kazuki Nakajima having a puncture. His weekend was summed up in parc ferme, damaging his and Adrian Sutil’s cars after running into the later. It seems unlikely that based on his disappointing performance he’ll be in the car longer than Spa. Raikkonen, on the other hand, under pressure to perform, secured his second podium in as many races after a seemingly un-noticed performance to 3^rd. With Ferrari’s current troubles, it’s unlikely they’ll have as good a weekend for Kimi at Spa, although Raikkonen is a Spa master and nobody will forget last year’s phenomenal race.

Summary: Ferrari left with few options for the second car whilst Raikkonen continues solid form.

McLaren

7-Hamilton-4-Kovalainen

After qualifying, it looked like the European Grand Prix was McLaren’s to lose after they locked out the front row, Hamilton heading Kovalainen, but pole could have so easily been Kovalainen’s had he at made a mistake at the last corner. But in the race, McLaren did lose it, yet another missed opportunity. After leading for most the race, Hamilton came in for his last pit stop to find that his tyres weren’t ready, and valuable seconds were lost in this costly blunder. The mistake cost them so much that the very rapid Barrichello easily jumped him. It would be un-McLaren-like to admit to an operational error, and indeed they didn’t disappoint with team boss Martin Whitmarsh putting the lost race down to a lack of pace. But Anthony Hamilton’s face said it all, everybody could see that it was a clear mistake by McLaren, and without it, they could have got their second win in a row. Kovalainen, also under pressure to retain his McLaren seat in 2010 also dropped back in the race after being jumped by Barrichello at the first stops, the same then happened with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen managing to get by him to get the last podium slot.

Summary: A costly mistake by McLaren with the team downplaying their chances for Spa.

BMW

5-Kubica-6-Heidfeld

Shortly after Hungary, BMW announced it’s withdrawal from the sport, claiming that it hasn’t met its goals for this year. Indeed, before the season started, their ultimate goal was to win the championship. But this announcement leaves the team looking for a buyer and drivers Heidfeld and Kubica looking for drivers. Perhaps spurred on by this, Kubica had a very solid weekend, BMW obviously having made some progress forwards, with Kubica setting good pace in the practice sessions and qualifying as well, getting in to the top 10, something that hasn’t happened too often so far this season. Nick Heidfeld qualified 11^th once again and must be slowly getting frustrated he can’t make any progress. My point this weekend for BMW goes to Robert Kubica then, with his 8^th place getting into the points from his 10^th place starting spot. It’ll be interesting to see if BMW does make any more progress as we can expect more developments coming in the team’s last season of F1 racing.

Summary: A solid weekend rewarded by a point for the beleaguered team.

Renault

10-Alonso-1-Piquet-0-Grosjean

Unfortunately after showing great pace in practice, my pick for the weekend, Fernando Alonso, obviously didn’t find it as easy as he had in Hungary, gaining pole position that time out. But in fact, Fernando and the whole Renault team must have been thinking that they were very fortunate with their successful appeal which meant the home star could race in front of his fans. New boy at Renault, fresh from GP2, Romain Grosjean, had a solid, if unspectacular start to his F1 career, but many agreed that he matched in his first time out on how Nelson Piquet would perform. Obviously, Romain is a start for the future, but sadly went back one position from his starting place whilst Alonso, avoiding a bonsai manoeuvre from Button on the first lap, gained two positions. Nevertheless, on a weekend where McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh confirmed that he would be going to Ferrari next year, he’ll be hoping for better luck at Spa, where he always seems to go well.

Summary: There is speed in that Renault, but it seems to differ from round to round.

Red Bull

5-Vettel-6-Webber

This was supposed to be another weekend where Red Bull ate into Brawn’s championship lead, but indeed, it was the team’s worst outcome since the season opener at Melbourne. No points were scored for either driver, as Sebastian Vettel suffered an absolute nightmare of a weekend, blowing 2 Renault engine units in practice and then the race. Mark Webber meanwhile, after briefly fighting with Jenson Button struggle with a lack of pace, the Red Bull not working well in the conditions of Valencia meaning that things stayed as they were coming into the race. Should Red Bull start backing Mark Webber now for the championship or are both drivers’ championship aspirations for 2009 over? It’s hard to say with Spa expected to suit the Red Bulls and it seems like the ebb and flow of the championship. However, I think that if both drivers don’t have a good points haul from this coming weekend, Red Bull will have to aim at getting the constructors’ title for this year if nothing else. However returning to Valencia, Vettel for me got the point having a solid race right up until his pit stop drama and eventual retirement.

Summary: Should Red Bull start to back Webber or is the championship over for the Austrian team?

Toyota

5-Trulli-6-Glock

It was Monaco all over again for Toyota, although thankfully, Ferrari’s Badoer made it impossible for them to repeat their disappointing feat of back row of the grid at The Principality. But Toyota suffered once again with street track woes, not being able to get enough temperature into the tyres and this was evident from the first practice session. In the race though, it was better than Monaco but issues weren’t helped when Glock stamped on a Toro Rosso’s front wing at turn 2. Trulli progressed from 18^th to 13^th, an amazing feat considering that passing is few and far between at Valencia. Glock meanwhile fell one place from the earlier incident, but set the fastest lap towards the end of the race on his way to 14^th place. But with the Japanese giant’s future in F1 unconfirmed, dark times could be on the horizon for the Toyota team.

Summary: It was a case of Déjà Vu for Toyota as they hit more street track problems.

Williams

11-Rosberg-0-Nakajima

Nico Rosberg continued an impressive streak of points finishes at Valencia with 5^th place, more valuable points for the team as they continue to battle Ferrari, McLaren and Toyota in the Constructors’ title. It wasn’t a solid a weekend as with previous races with it never seemingly likely that Rosberg would be able to get a podium place at the European GP, but that could be more down to the nature of the track than anything else. Kazuki Nakajima’s bad luck continued, failing to get out of Q3 due to a reliability issue that left him stranded on the track as the session progressed and them a puncture to add insult to injury, suffering a puncture in the race leaving him last. However it seems unlikely that with Rosberg seeming the only consistent point’s scorer for the Williams team that they will be able to keep up the heat in the constructors’ battle. Maybe they should get GP2 star and Williams Protégé, Nico Hulkenberg in the second car for the remaining races? If Romain Grosjean’s performance was anything to go by, he could go well.

Summary: Can Williams take the heat in the constructors’ title as the season nears its end?

Brawn GP

8-Button-3-Barrichello

Valencia was a crucial weekend for this team as they aimed to put their championship bid back on track. But even despite the 4 week break, Jenson Button still seemed very nervy and this was evident at the start, backing out whilst alongside Vettel within a few seconds of the race and then taking to the escape road a few turns later. Rubens Barrichello, perhaps spurred on by the emotion of what had happened to his friend Felipe Massa, put together a weekend that was almost Button like at the start of the season with a good qualifying performance and fantastic race pace which meant he could leap frog Heikki Kovalainen first and then Lewis Hamilton. With neither of the other 3 championship contenders scoring highly, if at all, Barrichello was able to take the biggest haul of points and well and truly put himself back in the championship fight, once again finding himself back in the second place spot.

Summary: Mixed fortunes for both Brawn GP drivers, but not in the way you’d expect.

Toro Rosso

6-Buemi-3-Bourdais-1-Alguersuari

Another difficult for the Italian team of which had high hopes coming into the European Grand Prix. But maybe it is to be expected at this time when both drivers are still so inexperienced to F1 and Buemi, no doubt, will be finding his team leader role very different to before. It is in this time that the team would regret getting rid of an experienced driver, somebody who is fast and knows how to work in the team. But that was by no means Frenchman Bourdais who seems to be on a fast plane back to Indycar. Or to USF1. But in Valencia, Alguersuari got the point for me who once again put on a creditable performance at his home Grand Prix, and remember, this was only his second race in a Formula One car. Buemi’s race was very disappointing, losing his front wing on the first lap and then having a break failure some laps to the end. At least he had more chance to cool down in the scorching conditions, but maybe that wasn’t an issue for the Bahrain based Swiss.

Summary: Another race, another disappointing weekend.

Force India

8-Fisichella-3-Sutil

Force India, believe it or not, are quickly becoming my nomination for team of the year. After starting the first few races from the back of the grid, the team seemed to have followed the lead of McLaren, turning the car around to be at least competitive. Now by no means is this car a race winning car yet, but as I reported in my last Team Mate wars episode, they are becoming more and more involved in the intense mid-field scrap. Valencia was a clear view of this with respectable finishes of 10th and 12^th for Sutil and Fisichella respectively. The team have claimed that they’ve found 0.7 of a second since the start of the season which is a massive amount in F1 terms. But in Valencia, after the disappointments of Germany and Hungary, Adrian Sutil gets the point from me after a very solid weekend beginning right at the start in practice 1. Surely it is only a few races at this rate before we start to see both cars in Q2.

Summary: A very solid weekend for the Indian team as they make strides forward.

So, race review for Valencia?

So, what have we learned? Pretty much as the same as 2008. Valencia has stunning scenery and is a very beautiful part of the world, but then there is a but. And a big but. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, in the past 2 years this track has just failed to produce a good race and the place is left with a distinct lack of atmosphere. Its Monaco dumbed down, and this place has a lot to do to prolong its stay on the F1 calendar.

Driver of the day? For me there is no question about it, but it has to be Rubens Barrichello. He showed that, despite being one of the oldest drivers on the grid, he still has the raw pace and raw talent to win races, not through freak instances, but on merit. Rubens is certainly a factor and Button should be worried. What is the saying? “Beware the enemy within.” Spurred on by emotion, Barrichello took a commanding, and extremely popular win. You’d be stupid to bet against other wins this season.

Race rating? 2 stars out of 5. Like many, I’d much rather see action on the track rather than passing happening due to what is happening in the pits.

Valencia preview and paddock rumours

For the first time in what feels like an age, F1 is back, and seemingly, back with a bang. After a 4 week break, the teams and drivers arrive at the beautiful harbour of Valencia for the European Grand Prix. Despite being located in a picturesque area of Spain, due to the demands of this tricky street race, it is unlikely that we will see much on track action if the form of last year is to go by.

But after two busy practice sessions today in baking heat of 33 degrees Celsius, what can we expect from this race and who should we look out for? Will there be a different winner again in 2009 following Lewis Hamilton’s quite brilliant victory at Hungary.

One guy we won’t be able to look out for is Michael Schumacher. After the shock announcement of his come back, the 7 times champion has been forced to watch from the side lines once again, for now at least, as a neck injury still plagues his upper body strength. For this race, Luca Badoer, Ferrari’s loyal test driver will get the chance, for the first time in 10 years, but based on his disappointing practice sessions it seems like that race rust is yet to heal with critics getting ever louder on his race craft. It seems unlikely that he’ll remain in the car for Spa.

But there’s quite a few leading candidates for the victory, so it will certainly be interesting to see qualifying at least, let’s hope it doesn’t decent into a farce like last time when the timing blacked out and driver were left unsure of their starting positions.

Of course you’d be stupid to bet against either of the current top two teams in Brawn and Red Bull. Both suffered disappointing races by their high standards. Jenson Button has recently urged his team to find the form that led them to 6 victories early on in the season and Valencia will be crucial for them to get a good performance. With the scorching temperatures, if Brawn doesn’t do well here many will ask what the real problem is behind Brawn at the moment.

Red Bull equally will want to capitalize on the inroads they have made in both championships with both drivers still very much in the hunt for the driver’s championship. With Vettel’s DNF at Hungary, he’ll have renewed pressure on him with Webber seemingly on a role currently after his German GP victory. Early practice form suggests that Red Bull seem very comfortable with their current set-up, but they’ll be keeping everything crossed that the huge tyre grain problems they suffered at Monaco will not happen again here.

The other 2 candidates for me come from Renault and McLaren respectively. Fernando Alonso will be hoping to be able to win on home ground after the disappointments of Hungary, and indeed, he must be fortunate that he has even got to race at Valencia after that successful appeal lodged by his Renault team. Despite a clash with Heidfeld in second practice that sent the latter skywards, Alonso had good pace in both sessions, toping the second session after a nose change.

McLaren and Lewis Hamilton will be riding a crest of a wave after their victory at the Hungarian GP, and indeed, the signs were impressive in first practice with both Lewis and his under-pressure team mate Kovalainen going well, but Lewis only lasted 3 laps in the second session before crunching the team’s new front wing, the only one currently in existence, meaning he had an early end to the day. This must have put them behind slightly as term of track time.

F1’s two new boys also had solid afternoons with Jaime Alguersuari going 13th in the first session with Piquet Jnr’s replacement, Frenchman Romain Grosjean came 17^th. He would improve to 13^th place in the afternoon session, sold progress by the talented youngster.

But F1’s rumour mill had also taken a break from the spotlight after Hungary and, as I said at the start of the entry, 4 weeks in F1 terms is an age. So here’s a run down of the latest news of the 2010 driver market and who might be going where:

McLaren test driver, Pedro De La Rosa has been reported to be driving alongside Russian up and coming star and current Barwa GP2 driver, Vitaly Petrov at Spanish team Campos. It has also been reported the main sponsors will come as Telefonica and BBVA.

Internet video site YouTube has been confirmed as Team USF1’s main sponsor in the past week. It is still uncertain as to who will drive for the team, but speculation is that Austrian Alex Wurz will be partnered with a young American star as planned. American journalist Robin Miller has recently reported that the team has indeed signed an American driver and it will not be Marco Andretti.

Nico Rosberg has renewed speculation he will move to McLaren at the end of the season. This comes as McLaren has told current driver, Heikki Kovalainen that he needs to up his game to secure a seat next year. Team boss, Martin Whitmarsh told the BBC that they have not been talking to any drivers currently, however they are in no rush to sign up a second driver.

Kazuki Nakajima could lose his seat at Williams in 2010, moving to a test driver role at Toyota. Nakajima who is yet to score a point so far this season, is expected to be replaced by GP2 sensation Nico Hulkenberg with the second seat up for grabs with Kovalainen, Heidfeld and Jacques Villenueve apparently the leading contenders.

Poland’s Robert Kubica looks to be moving to Renault next year should Fernando Alonso move to Ferrari. Kubica, who was originally part of Renault’s Young Driver Development program before becoming BMW’s test driver and later race driver, has stated his desire to race for the French team alongside Romain Grosjean but insists his options remain open.

Lastly, and perhaps most interestingly, after weeks of speculation, it seems that 2 times champion Fernando Alonso will indeed move to Ferrari alongside Felipe Massa, subject to the latter’s health. Martin Whitmarsh told the BBC he expects Fernando to go to Ferrari which would cause a “ripple” effect on other driver changes. Ferrari has once again rubbished the rumour, but it is expected to be announced at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza.

Still no word on Manor then? I’m not at all surprised, but apparently a deal with Richard Branson’s Virgin Company is expected to be announced soon.

But the thing about Fernando is very interesting. Martin Whitmarsh should have his finger on the pulse with what is happening come the 2010 driver market, and I doubt very much he’d make that up. And why would he?

Fernando would be the driver I’d want to sign up, behind Sebastian Vettel. But he’s still a very quick driver and has proven ability and could help the struggling Ferrari team get back up to speed.

It seems certainly that Formula One, in every aspect, is hotting up this year and you’d be foolish to miss a minute of it.

Innovation versus entertainment

We live in an age of fast moving motorsport, on track and off track as well with rules and regulations seemingly changing all the time. But it is easy to forget what motorsport was originally for, the fastest, most challenging and most competitive sport on the planet.

In some levels of motorsport, it has resorted so much to having to make endless rule changes to compensate for the fact that cars have become too developed and aren’t able to pass each other easily. The most obvious example of this is Formula One. So where should the rule makers draw a line in the sand and go back to basics? It is an argument that has raged in motorsport for the past 10 years, being should innovation be the way forwards for the sport or simply more on track action and back to basics car design.

Obviously both benefit the sport in some way as newer, more complex technological advancements are being made all the time in F1, and the rest of motorsport and many people do not realise that these advancements, such as KERS, could be used in all means of transport and road cars in the near future. KERS, the hybrid system that was introduced for this year was meant to be used as a push-to-pass concept that would, hopefully, allow cars to be able to pass more often.

Of course, we know now, more than half way through this season that it has been a failure. Few teams have used the system due to the massive costs needed to develop such an item and also the added weight to the cars that means some drivers, such as Poland’s Robert Kubica, simply wouldn’t be able to use it as effectively as his team mate Nick Heidfeld did.

But I personally don’t believe these two reasons were the downfall of KERS. No.

Even with the reduced aero in 2009 thanks to the re-profiled front and rear wings, cars are still struggling to get through the “dirty air” a car in front creates. This is when air is worked hard though the car and passes out of the back, this hot air creating an invisible force field that is very hard to break through. The cars, even in this simple form, are creating too much aero waste.

Of course it hasn’t always been like this. In the “good old days” as some will call them, cars could run nose to tail, frequently and overtake even around places such Monaco. The cars have become bigger and more complicated in design such as advancements in the aero department over the past few years.

I personally believe on track action is better than innovation. As much as it was interesting to see in the late 80’s it was interesting to see the different engine sizes brought to the table, a combination of V12s and V10s, with cars producing close to over 1000bhp, but I don’t see why we need to bring that back to Formula One. We have that in the likes of LMS and ALMS, both of which work very well with many different combinations of chassis and engine sizes available producing phenomenal racing.

The criticism from fans in recent years that has been repeated many times is that people just want to see more on track action. Innovation is nice, but if left to grow too much it could once again compromise the racing which would be a terrible shame.

Car design needs to go back to the basics. Even this year you see new parts that are being brought to each race that are slowly undoing to good work of the new rules. Now, by no means do I want to see F1 go to a spec series, but lessons can be learned from other series.

BTCC, whilst a complete different level of motorsport to Formula One is really how it should be done in this age. Fans get to meet the drivers and the ticket prices are low and the racing is fantastic without avoiding being a spec series….for now at least. But there are many variables at stake such as the BMW’s rear-wheel driver advantage at the start, the front wheel drive cars being good at the start but then their tyres wearing towards the end and the differing straight line speeds of cars. It is no wonder that this form of racing is so popular, not just in Britain, but also in Europe and has a slowly gaining interest in America.

Back to Formula One, and wings need to be tidied up even more, diffusers made cleaner and easier for the public to understand and of course, further developments need to be made in safety and technological advancements such as unlimited KERS units. Something like that alone would make for the fact that all engines would remain as V8s.

Lets hope, for everyone’s sake that whoever gets elected as FIA president, Jean Todt or Ari Vatanen, does the thing that every F1 fan wants to see no matter where they are, F1 brought back to the basics and it’s best, especially as F1 is entering a golden era.

A three car Formula.

Today for anyone who has seen the latest motorsport news will have seen the president of Ferrari, Luca di Montezemolo hinting at the fact that Ferrari and trying to fight for the option for teams to run a third car in Formula One in 2010, thus allowing Schumacher another chance should his neck injury have healed by then.

This has annoyed me somewhat, the idea of teams running a third car in the sport we love. I find it a stupid idea for many reasons. Firstly is the cost, we are in an era of wanting to save money in Formula One as protect future teams that are competing in Formula One. The soaring costs have partly played a factor in both Honda and BMW’s withdrawals from the sport and it seems stupid to ask smaller teams to stretch their resources even further to accommodate a third car in the team. It is quite possible that privateers such as Brawn, Williams, Force India and the three new teams wishing to compete next year could ultimately be forced out of Formula One due to this, simply not having the money or the resources to run a third car. Some smaller teams are even struggling to survive running two cars, so a third car makes no sense.

The flipside to this argument is “Well, make it an option then, the smaller teams don’t have to run a third car.” Well, now we come on to the meat of the argument. If the smaller teams want to be successful and compete near the front as Williams and Brawn are currently, then they would need to run a third car to simply compete with the bigger, manufacturer backed teams. The likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Renault could simply monopolise the championship for many reasons.

Having three cars means more chance for their cars to be in the points at each race, and if you look at other series in which teams with 3 cars compete against teams with just 2 or one cars means team tactics could plague the sport, for example 2 of the team’s cars pulling over to let the third car take the most points as they aim for the championship. In a weekend it is clear that if you want a quick way to find a good set-up for the team, you’d be beneficial with three cars, meaning more track time and a bigger chance to find a good set-up that would put the team in a good position for the race.

The constructors’ championship could just be dominated by the teams running 3 cars meaning a bigger chance to score points. It is therefore plausible that you could open the season with the smaller two-car teams knowing they wouldn’t have a chance of winning the championship. Of course, I’m not saying that this year Force India got to Melbourne with a realistic chance of winning the WCC, but everybody was on a level playing field, which wouldn’t be the case if you had three car teams competing against 2 car teams. Again, you could apply a touring car rule, meaning that only 2 cars would be eligible to score WCC points in a weekend, but that still doesn’t fix the problem of the bigger teams having more track time over a weekend.

It’s not like Formula One NEEDS 3 car teams. Next year in Melbourne at worst we will still have 12 teams, 24 cars which is a 4 car improvement on this year.

I find it ironic how the bigger teams such as Ferrari, McLaren and Renault complained loudly to the idea of next year’s new teams perhaps having a technical advantage or helping hand, claiming that Formula One would then be a “two-tier” championship, not being on a level playing field, thus being against the spirit of Formula One. Yet I feel the same way to the idea of bigger teams having 3 cars. They would have the advantage, with the smaller, privateer teams struggling to score points, under performing due to the fact that the big teams have money and they want to show it.

If you are serious about winning the championship and you have the budget and resources to do so, teams will always want to run 3, 4 or 5 cars (in the case of some touring car series) to maximise their chance of winning the races and the championship.

Of course, there are some good points to having 3 car teams such as younger drivers have a good chance to get into Formula One. Yet this could easily be solved anyway if the in-season testing ban was abolished.

As the leading FOTA teams said earlier this year whilst stamping their foot down, Formula One should remain a level playing field. Indeed it should, I completely agree. So to me three car teams make no sense, unless of course every team was to have 3 cars. And that for many teams is an impossibility now and for the foreseeable future. Many teams are set-up around being a 2 car team.

The funny thing is, I don’t see any smaller teams throwing their toys out of the pram over this like some of the FOTA team did earlier this season. Oh well, I guess there is still time for that!

The best teams in the world?

21st century Formula One. A sport that has building blocks made of space age materials with sci-fi production techniques, where measurements are down to the last nanometre and timing down to the last nanosecond. The factories are in pristine condition, with the cleverest engineers working day and night to unlock that last tenth of a second in their car. Developments on the cars are made using the most high-tech product lines.

In the cars there is incredibly complicated and clever technologies, some of which may just end up in your road car a few years down the line. It is a sport where less than one second covers the entire grid and the drivers arguably rank as some of the fittest guys on the planet.

The sport has some evocative names such as Ferrari and McLaren, fighting year upon year, tooth and nail to the echo to try and win the elusive championship. Mistakes are rare and when they happen, are frowned upon. Ferrari, the most loyal marquee to the championship since its creation, the team that has inspired so many young drivers to rise up through the junior ranks of motorsport in an ultimate dream to race for the Scuderia and win the championship driving the blood red cars. It’s the same with McLaren, now a household name after famous founder Bruce set up the famous team all those years ago that is now probably the best equipped team on the grid.

We have been extremely fortunate with how close Formula One has been for the past 5 years or so. But this could be about to change. Yes, with BMW’s recent pull-out from the sport at the end of the year, my fears are growing larger by the day for the 2010 season.

Already we know that 3 new teams, USF1, Manor Grand Prix and Campos will join the field next year, and they are now likely to be joined by a 4^th new team thanks to BMW. There is no word currently on who could be the 4^th new team, but the rumour mill has been whirring with Spanish sportscar team Epsilon Euskadi and Aston Martin being mentioned the most. But these teams have little or no experience in Formula One racing in the 21^st century, and many find it a big shock as to how fast paced F1 is at the moment. That is of course if they even make it to the starting grid in time for Melbourne with the sceptics saying they won’t be.

All of a sudden 2 seconds could cover the entire field. Now to many casual observers that doesn’t sound like much, but it means a less competitive field with the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull fighting it out way at the front with the new boys struggling to keep on the same lap. This is not because the driver quality is low, no, but that simply these teams are not well resourced or equipped enough to be able to put together a solid Formula One racing team. The days of the perennially un-lucky Minardi team are long gone, yet these 4 new teams could herald the new dawn of back markers in Formula One.

After all in this day and age, it is so easy to get it very, very wrong, whether you are privateer or a manufacturer. If any indication is needed of this, just look at the 2009 form book. Ferrari and McLaren have, until recently, been having a terrible season, whilst two new star teams have been born in the shape of Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing. Of course whilst many will argue that it may be possible to have another “Brawn” tale in the shape of what was BMW, it is easy to forget that Brawn was funded on Honda money and the car was long in development with Honda’s support. It is unlikely that a new team will find it all that easy.

In 21^st century Formula One though, the pendulum has certainly swung back in favour of privateers, in numbers and perhaps succession rate, especially this year with the previously named top teams winning races and Williams also putting in good performances with Nico Rosberg. It seems then that F1 doesn’t need manufacturers to survive, but it perhaps does need them for Formula One to remain close and competitive as it has been in the last few years. The fans have warmed to privateers as well, with many enjoying the “never give-up, never say die” attitude that Brawn GP has shown this season with a huge battle even to get to the grid in Melbourne.

Of course, I won’t mind if the racing is brilliant. That is after all what every F1 fan wants to see, great racing. As many have said before and will say again, it is the racing that makes the sport what it is, neither the teams nor their big sponsors.

This article has also appeared on Ferrari Fans forum.

Onwards from Felipe’s accident

Upon the day of 18 year old Henry Surtees being tragically killed at Brands Hatch, I wrote how safety needs to be improved in even these freak accidents to stop something like this happening again. A few days on, at the Hungarian Grand Prix in the second knock-out phase of qualifying, an eerily similar freak accident took place where Felipe Massa, travelling at speeds of 162mph, was hit on the head by an 800g damper spring from Rubens Barrichello’s car.

This accident, combined with the after shock of Surtees’ death, shocked the sporting world to its very core. Some pointed to Imola 1994, with present day being another one of those black weekends where safety was improved there after, but only after the expense of a driver. Felipe and his family were swamped my messages from throughout the world, from people who didn’t even watch F1 at a deep level but were concerned for a great character in the F1 paddock.

10 years ago, maybe even less than that, we might have been coming to terms with Felipe’s death. Such is the improvements in safety, not just to the cars, but also to the driver’s helmets in recent memory. Maybe the sport had got complacent with safety recently, seeing as we hadn’t had a life threatening crash for some years that we’d all taken safety in F1 for granted. With those two unfortunate events in the space of a couple of days, that seems to have been put in sharp focus, some pundits even demanding for changes to be made before the next Formula One race in Valencia.

As much as I dislike seeing drivers get injured in an accident, I personally don’t believe that a knee-jerk reaction should be taken. It is something to look into, but until this accident becomes much more frequent, I believe nothing should be done in the short term.

This, sadly, like Henry Surtees’ fatal accident a few days prior, was just one of those extremely rare accidents, as Bernie Ecclestone said, you would have more chance winning the lottery than seeing an accident that was like Felipe’s, with the same consequences in the next race. It could be unlikely to see it happen again maybe even as much as 5, 10 or 15 years in the future.

Therefore, I don’t believe with the idea of the drivers being in a cock-pit. This could in fact compromise driver safety than improve it, if say a car was to roll or catch fire, there could be problems getting a driver out the car in those circumstances. A deflector-shield would be a better outcome, but then again, this is open-cockpit racing, the dangers exist.

This is motorsport, the dangers exists.

The way to solve this problem, this risk even in my view is to investigate HOW that damper spring came to falling off Rubens Barrichello’s Brawn car and why. Then we can learn on how to stop this happening, doing precautionary checks maybe before a session. That is the simplest and easiest way to stop something like this happening again.

But for now, we should be thankful in Formula One at least. Thanks to the FIA, who have improved car safety from over 15 years ago when we lost Ayrton Senna at Imola 1994, and that we haven’t had a driver fatality in F1 since then. We must be thankful of the new extremely strong carbon fibre helmets that were introduced in 2004 and have drastically reduced the possibility of a driver having serious head injuries, or worse, being killed due to head injuries in F1.

And lastly and perhaps most importantly, let’s be thankful that Felipe Massa is still with us and continues to recover from his nasty looking accident in qualifying. Such is testament to how Formula One has improved as a unit over the past few years.

Thanks again for reading this most recent of entries. Also, I have a big announcement. Thanks to the guys at Ferrari Fans forum (the link is in the blogroll) I will be writing articles and reports or the main page of their site. These articles will mostly be to do with the Ferrari F1 team, but there will be some different F1 entries. Please do go and check it out, even if you are not a Ferrari fan, as it will help me (I hope) to get into motorsport journalism.

With this new announcement, I have created a page, “Ferrari Fans” where I will post these articles. I am keeping these articles separate from the main page, because as I have said, these will mostly be about the Ferrari Formula One team. The first entry should be there, and on the main page of Ferrari Fans forum very soon. Thanks again!