The final show of our F1 Digest Bahrain coverage looks at the race in detail, examines how the drivers feel after the event and recaps the results and championship standings.
The Race
Vettel got off to a good start but reliability issues handed the lead to Ferrari. Further back, only one of the new teams saw their drivers get to the end, and the number of retirements was high.
Team by Team
Alonso is very pleased to have picked up his first win for Ferrari, and dedicates it to Luca di Montezemolo. Meanwhile, a lot of drivers struggled with their tyres, whilst hydraulic issues seemed to be the in thing.
The first race of the year means the finishing order is exactly equal to the championship order, and it's the best possible start for Alonso and Massa.
Our first Grand Prix of 2010 is complete and it was all about Ferrari as Vettel fell slowly backwards. The full results are up but relive the entire 49 laps with our Factbyte Factbox replay.
Vettel was leading the way for the majority of the race, but mechanical problems saw him fall slowly backwards, handing the glory to Ferrari who take a dominant 1-2 victory for the first race of the 2010 season.
Saturday got underway in a similar fashion to Friday, relatively quiet, but things soon got going as the drivers tried out their cars in qualifying trim. You can view the full results of the session, but keep reading to relive it step by step.
The end of Saturday Practice was almost as exciting as the push for pole, but it was Alonso who grabbed the morning headlines. Poor Chandhok still couldn't get in the car meaning he will have to make his debut in qualifying. No pressure!
Fantasy Racers is back and this time it's blog-only! We're not going to be talking about it in the show as the rule changes make it just that little bit too wordy for a short podcast section. However, it's taking pride of place on the blog and this is where you come in. I have selected Strategy 2, which is the option to not change your drivers but have a higher starting budget. Therefore, I will run out of things to say about my team very quickly. I want you to tell me about your team, who you're choosing and why. Email your thoughts to christine@sidepodcast.com and I will publish them in the next reminder thread.
For now, though, we have a league this year called Panda Racing 2010. You can get more information on joining up on this post, and please do! We'd love to have you. My team is called Chief Operating Panda, for obvious reasons. As mentioned above, I'm sticking with the same drivers throughout so my choice was important. I've gone with:
Fernando Alonso
Lewis Hamilton
Sebastian Vettel
Lucas di Grassi
I think I've got a good mix of championship potential and deliciousness. Who are you going for?
I had a message from Simon, part of which we read out in the latest debrief and part of it I saved for this post, as it related to his Fantasy Racers. Here are his thoughts:
I went for the 45m version, as my internet access is sporadic at best and therefore may not be able to change this during the season. My team is: Kamui, Lewis, The Hulk, Rubens, Kubica.
My reasons: I thought Kamui's performances in the last two races in 2009 were outstanding, the most exciting F1 debut since Lewis. Following the yawnfest that was the arrival of Buemi, Bourdais, Speed etc. etc. it was great to see a young driver with almost no F1 testing drive that well. I am delighted that he secured a drive following the demise of Toyota - so he was a must, my first name on the list.
Then Lewis, because it would be churlish to not have the man who will win the world championship in your fantasy team. Next Nico. I have been very impressed with his performances during pre-season testing and I also have a hunch, or is it just a hope (I miss the good old days of Hill etc.), that Williams will be competitive this year.
This left me with 17m to spend. So I had two choices: get one more top driver (would have been Vettel - I couldn't bring myself to pick someone in a red car!) and then have 5m left - not enough to get another, so wasted money, or get two 'best of the rest ' drivers. Rubens, for the Williams reason mentioned above, and because Rubens came to F1 around the same time I did and I have always liked him. Kubica, because well, I definitely think he fits into the category. Not the best but not the worst.
Fab stuff from Simon. Don't forget you can send me your team decisions: christine@sidepodcast.com. I also want to point you in the direction of Lukeh's blog post about his team Amazini Barresistancello. That one is definitely worth a read.
Also, don't forget to take part in the SofaF1 championship this year, as Alex has worked hard on creating a very interactive page for selections. F1 Wolf has a great predictions game going, and check out Pat's post for other worthy games.
F1 Digest is back with your guide to everything you need to know for the 2010 season. In four preview shows, we'll look at teams, the calendar and the regulations, but we're starting with the expanded grid for this season - the drivers.
Class of 2010
It's all change for the upcoming season as the defending champion joins a new team with the champion before that, a popular former champion leaves the sport, and a controversial seven times world champion returns.
Further down the entry list, we have new teams galore, some with familiar faces, some introducing new (and delicious) faces. We even have two drivers who don't have teammates as yet, and are still uncertain as to whether they'll make the grid.
Finally, there are those who are remaining in place - a bit of consistency for both their teams, and for us as viewers. It's going to be a fascinating year from a driver perspective, and I can't wait.
Today is Pedro de la Rosa's birthday, and the Spaniard is turning 39. Hopefully he won't be celebrating too hard and will instead be preparing for the upcoming test in Barcelona. It kicks off on Thursday, so he has a couple of days to eat cake, I suppose. Meanwhile, here are a couple of the things we're talking about:
Ahead of Joe's meetup in London on Friday, we've got a competition for you! We're giving away a signed copy of The Grand Prix Saboteurs, and there's just a simple question (and a little luck) standing between you and it. You've got a couple of weeks to enter as well, but do it now before you forget!
F1 Big Picture was updated yesterday with a couple of great photos. I am particularly partial to this one, as I do like the shadows, plus it's good to see Alonso and Webber side by side. Let's hope we can get some overtaking action in the races as well as in testing.
Kubica has been talking about the Renault and it looks like he's hoping they have some upgrades before the racing gets underway in Bahrain. He's also keen to point out that there won't be a number on in his team, which I find odd because a) who cares? and b) he then goes on to admit that Petrov hasn't driven in F1 so he would still be learning. Bless teams and drivers always keen to show there's no favouritism.
That should do it for now. Let us know how your week is going, and I will see you in the comments.
New guest writer Brawn2bwild was at the Jerez test yesterday, and on her way home, noticed our call for your stories of F1 events. In this excellent post, she shares her experience of the brand new 2010 cars, close up and first hand.
The hills are alive with the sound of music – or in this case F1 testing – which is music to my ears at least! Although I've been a stalwart fan for more than half my life time, I'm finding this year's off-season harder than usual. For me, 2009 was quite simply fantastic. Having supported the Brackley based team since their inception in '97, as well as JB since his Williams days, I feel that last season was my reward for the years of derision and torment I experienced through the dark (and boring) days of the Ferrari/Schumacher era. Now though the '09 season is sadly over and although Bahrain is in only 21 days it still seems far too far away.
Fortunately I live in the south of Spain at the moment. I chose to live in Seville, not for it’s wonderful culture, great night life or beautiful architecture (though it certainly has all of these) but for it’s proximity to Jerez Circuito de Velocidad.
As I approach the turn off from the motorway I can already see that there is a stream of cars going into the car parks and the police are out directing traffic. I'm beginning to hear snatches of engine noise over my taxi driver’s radio and the sun is (finally) shining - I've definitely made the right choice in coming down here today. As I walk up to the entrance gate with a legion of others, the noise of the cars bounces off the hills and the crowd cheers – Alonso must be on track.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
Based on the angle of his helmet, I reckon he's looking at the crowds in this one.
The Spanish have a reputation for being somewhat laidback and prone to procrastination, especially here in Andalucía. They are not known for their punctuality or customer service either, but if there’s one thing the Spanish do, it’s motorsport! Despite the high volume of Tifosi and other fans, the traffic is flowing, there are no long queues at the ticket booth or gates and gaining entry is a piece of cake. I am a little surprised by how many people are here today as historically Spanish petrol-heads have tended to be of the 2-wheeled variety more than the 4. This is not surprising when, as is the case in Italy, mopeds, scooters and bikes are the preferred mode of transport. But unlike their Latin cousins they don’t have Ferrari.
Now though, on this sunny Saturday afternoon, the car parks are full and there are people everywhere. Even though this is only a test session there is a good atmosphere with packed stands and men, women and children of all ages standing up to wave and cheer for their hero in his brand new shiny red (and sadly white) beast. As I walk up to the nearest fence for a view of the track Alonso obligingly slows down to avoid the Ayrton Senna chicane and instead takes the Alex Criville corner and drives sedately past one of the packed stands, much to the appreciation of the crowd. Standing here I am struck by how varied the crowd is, unlike my previous experiences of motor racing it seems to be roughly 50/50 men and women with all ages and walks of life represented. Next to me some young boys press their faces to the fence for a closer look and a young child is lifted onto his father’s shoulders to enable him to see over the tyre wall.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
The back half of the car doesn't look so bumpy from the side.
I can see now why I've been told that Jerez is a great circuit, from my initial stand point alone, I can see that it has some significant changes in elevation, although it doesn’t look to be as much as Spa. The track itself nestles amongst some small but steep hills, giving many possible view points to the adventurous spectator. Right now there is evidence everywhere of the uncharacteristically wet weather we’ve been having lately, with pools of water and a fair amount of mud lying around. In places the concrete paths connecting different stands have been completely covered over by deep mud slides. But this does not put off the intrepid Alonso fan in his pursuit of the perfect vantage point. Everywhere I look I can see people scrambling over steep muddy embankments in an effort to get to the other side of the track. There are old men with walking sticks and even a guy on crutches battling through the mud.
I also decide to go for a walk about in an attempt to find some interesting camera angles, I realise I don’t even mind messing up my favourite trainers to do so either. I start to climb up and around the track in an anti-clockwise direction and soon wish I had better stamina or was in some way related to Sir Edmund Hillary! It takes a while but I manage to clamber over near to the "Dry Sack Curva" without twisting my ankle or dropping my camera, and find a nice big rock to sit on. It’s pretty hot now the sun is baking down as it should be for this part of the world and my rock is nice and warm. It gives me a great elevated view down onto the turn but over the fence and heads of those in front of me. Unfortunately though there’s not much going on at the moment - only Trulli's Lotus out on track - so I decide to take advantage of the quiet spell and change location again, this time finding a half empty stand quite low down and close to the track at the Angel Nieto and Peluqui corners. I spend quite a bit of time here playing with the settings on my camera and end up taking what I think will turn out to be my favourite photograph of the day. It’s of Jenson going round the corner all slightly out of focus except his front left suspension. I take a lot of photos from here and get to see all of today’s drivers and cars except Glock's Virgin which has not been seen since just after I arrived around midday.
Credit: Brawn2bwild
The Renault is amazingly bright to the naked eye, it's hard to explain just how strange it looks based on photos alone.
The only downside to being here and not in front of a computer screen is that despite the size of the crowd, there are no screens or timing boards up and without an internet capable phone, I've no idea of the times the drivers are getting. I do notice that Lotus and Sauber seem to be putting a lot of laps in while, sadly for the crowds, Alonso’s Ferrari hasn’t been seen much at all since I first got here. Happily for me though, I get some good shots of the Red Bull, Williams and McLaren. I'm excited to see JB putting a lot of laps in but manage to restrain myself from cheering him – I stand out enough here as it is. It turns out he’s been top of the time sheets for much of the day.
Eventually I summon up the energy to return across the wet, sticky mud of the landslide back towards the entrance. I've managed to walk approximately half of the circuit and I've taken photos from 7 different places along the way. I've also met some cool and interesting characters too. There are a few Brits dotted about here and there and the odd German too, I saw a cute little girl in a McLaren race suit and an incredibly old man in a wheelchair halfway up a hill with his Ferrari hat on, a big flag attached to his chair and a huge grin on his face.
Right now though the clouds are starting to come back over and I fear it might rain again (more than likely as I've not brought my umbrella) so it may be time for me to think about how I'm going to get home. I can get a train from Jerez station, only problem is the track is out in the countryside and there’s no bus route out here or taxi rank. I could call a taxi but it’s gonna cost me an arm and a leg as I’d be paying for both directions. What I really need is to hitch a lift. (This is where being a blonde woman in Spain finally pays off) So I head out to the car parks, where there is still a steady stream of people coming and going from the track, and I strike up a conversation with a friendly looking guy walking out with a couple of kids. I'm in luck as he’s going my way and it turns out the children go to a school that I used to teach at. It works out well; his kids get 20 minutes of private English practice while he takes a short detour into the town of Jerez and drops me near the station – result!
As I write this now from the comfort of the train I realise how exhausted I am as with any race track spectators cover a lot of distance to get about. My feet hurt and my shoulders ache from carrying my camera bag but I've done a helluva lot of walking/hiking today! All in all though I'm very happy. I saw some beautiful cars and some eye-watering ones (boy is that Renault bright!). I met some nice people and watched some of my favourite drivers. In some ways it’s helped with my F1 withdrawal problems but I'm also more excited than ever now for the 2010 season. Bahrain can’t come soon enough!
