It's Wednesday and that means we are about halfway through the week already. I had to break open the F1 Happy Place yesterday, but the good news is that it mostly worked, and I do feel a bit happier about F1. It's still rubbish, but at least there are good times to remember! Anyway, here are some other things we're talking about:
I missed this when it was posted, because it was hectic busy at Sidepodcast Towers, but I love this idea from RG, comparing the new teams in a championship all of their very own. The premise is simple - the drivers in the new teams get points based on the order they finish, no matter where they are in the overall result itself. Interesting idea and I'm curious to see what will happen at the next race.
I don't quite understand why Button is having to defend himself already. Fair enough, Lewis got on the podium but it wasn't exactly looking likely to begin with and the word lucky springs to mind. If his confidence was seriously dented after just one race, then he would be in for a really long season.
Bernie Ecclestone has jumped to the defense of F1, saying we shouldn't jump to conclusions, submit to knee-jerk reactions, and make any rash changes. He thinks that teams will get the hang of racing under these new regulations and maybe just some tweaks to the tyre rules would help. Ahh, all about the tyres as per usual!
It's St Patrick's Day today, and I believe there is meant to be a Sidepodmeetup in our capital city today, although I don't know if it's still on. Sadly, we can't be there, but we will be in the comments, as always.
We heard Jenson Button would be teaming up with Walkers Crisps to film some adverts, and the tabloids have been full of sneak peeks at Jenson in a tailor-made cab. I even referenced one particular picture for Christine's Rankings this week - marking JB down for the corny cab name.
With perfect timing, Walkers posted the first video to their YouTube channel.
Initial thoughts range from amusement at watching Button in action, confusion over the lack of Walkers branding, and bemusement over McLaren's use of taxis in a viral F1 video yet again. Are marketing departments that unoriginal?
Let us know what you think of the ad, of cabbie Jenson, and if it makes you hungry for a potato chip or two and thanks to Maverick for the heads-up.
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.
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!
We're known for being a cynical lot here at Sidepodcast, so it's down to guest writer Lukeh to provide us with his view of the upcoming season, with a well needed reminder that things are looking up.
Credit: Glenn Dunbar/LAT Photographic
Rubens surveys the scene from the Williams garage.
It’s nearly upon us once again. The worldwide travelling circus of merry men known as the collective of Formula 1 once again begins taking our attention in just a few weeks and there can’t be any denial, surely, that 2010 is going to be a huge year. Excitement isn’t anywhere near the feeling that the start of the season conjures up inside me. Everyone will have their own reasons why they’re looking forward to the new season – perhaps the return of Schumacher is the fuel to your fire, or the fact that the grid this year is jam-packed full of world champions, and also possibly Jacques Villeneuve. Maybe the new teams and their friendly feud, namely Lotus and Virgin, are adding that extra dimension of rivalry that makes the sport even spicier. It could even be just Formula 1 returning after a long winter that gets that excitement flowing! Whatever the reason, with testing already underway and most of the cars unveiled, F1 is returning very soon. For me, I have my own reason why I’m really looking forward to the 2010 season though.
Rubens Barrichello being at Williams is a hugely happy thought
Predictably, if you know me, the thought of Rubens Barrichello being at Williams is a hugely happy thought. This is a pretty odd statement considering if you asked me in October I would have said quite the opposite. As times change though so can feelings and as time has moved on since his Brawn departure, the closer we’ve gotten to the new season, the more I’ve been anticipating his first race in Frank Williams’ greatest venture. We all know of the success of 2009 for the Brazilian – it was a huge year for his career and I think, as a driver, it gave a more deserved view towards the man. It would be hard to deny that times have been frustrating over the years for Rubens. Upon his arrival into the sport, he soon lost the driver he looked up to, and more importantly his friend, in Ayrton Senna. Whilst he took the chance to prove himself at Jordan and Stewart, his move to Ferrari provided far less than he deserved. Many knew that Barrichello had the ability but, when you’re stuck under Michael Schumacher’s rule at Ferrari, favouritism is going to be a big issue. Rubens had to prove himself.
The Ferrari debacle, however, has one good side to it. Whilst he found the victories and performances when needed, Rubens never got the attention that Michael did and whilst it’s arguable if he’s a better driver or not (7 world championships don’t happen just on luck), Rubens had to prove himself at Ferrari. He had to prove himself as a newbie in the Jordan, he had to prove himself in Jackie Stewart’s lineup for Stewart Racing, he had to prove that moving from Ferrari to Honda was a move worth making, and he had to prove that the faith Ross Brawn had instilled in him in 2009 was worth paying off for. Rubens Barrichello is a driver that maybe doesn’t have the necessary assets to be a world champion, but he’s a passionate driver. He wants to race. In 2010 he will be proving once again, at the age of 37 and after 288 Grand Prix, why he still has the ability to be in Formula 1 and be just as good as any world champion alongside him, as well as joining a team that he has so long desired to be a part of because of his hero’s past. Now he has it, and it’s time once again to prove why the move to Williams after leaving Brawn was a decision worth making.
There are a few admissions from my own point of view though regarding a few issues. When it seemed that the Team-Formerly-Known-As-Honda were indeed going to make it to the grid, I did not expect Rubens to be part of the team that went on to be Brawn GP. Whilst Barrichello had experience, it seemed that the sponsorship and name of Bruno Senna would prevail as Jenson Button’s teammate. Ross Brawn went for experience, and my dream team of Button and Barrichello carried on for another year. What a year it was. Furthermore, in the previous decade Williams became very much a team that faded into anonymity for me as a fan. They attracted drivers with no huge star power and saw the performance of the car fade in comparison to decades before it. The initial announcement of Barrichello’s move to Williams was met with a great deal of dismay from myself. As I previously stated though, as time goes on feelings can change and studying this team in greater detail, I can admit I was very much wrong to ignore them.
The introduction of such teams as Lotus, with their striking livery, and Virgin add new layers of unexpectedness
So this is mostly for me why I’m looking so much towards the upcoming season. Sure, the car won’t be what Brawn was in 2009, but it’s another new chapter in the story of a grand prix driver who drives with a smile on his face. Schumacher's return is huge for the sport, and it’ll be interesting to see how he performs at Mercedes. The introduction of such teams as Lotus, with their striking livery, and Virgin add new layers of unexpectedness to the grid. The titanic partnerships, like Hamilton and Button or Alonso and Massa, are going to be worth keeping an eye on. As I say, for me this new chapter in Rubens’ career is one I greet with much excitement and anticipation. We all have reasons for why we want the sport to return, but as the excitement gradually builds up and as the length to the first race shortens, the feeling of knowing that first race weekend is just around the corner is one that typed words can’t describe. It’s nearly here.
As a Formula 1 fan, I say to you all - let us not enter this new season with the typical pessimism of a Ferrari tweet but of a mood that shouts out optimism and sanguinity for the sport we all love so much. Let us be assured that no matter what may happen, that we should enjoy the sport for what happens on that track with a grid full of passionate racers. Yes, the sport finds ways to annoy us from time to time, and yes, there are changes to things far too often, but in a few weeks time we will find ourselves waking up at silly o’clock, perhaps with a beverage in hand or a duvet hugging us close in the early hours, with our eyes grabbed to the souls that make up the world of Formula 1, with those fortnightly Sunday afternoons seeming a mile apart because we want each race to hurry up. A new era has begun under Jean Todt’s presidency, and a new decade of Formula 1 soon begins with that. Formula 1 is coming back, and I for one am beaming with excitement.
For this week's Friday Fun, Steven Roy has tracked down an internet meme that we can turn into an F1 related game. I can't wait to see what you come up with this week.
There is a meme which has taken over the internet in the last couple of years which I have only just heard about. A quick search for the phrase "6 Word Memoir" proves that everyone on the net except me seems to be aware of it. The idea is simply that people should write a memoir of their life in 6 words. Some of them are funny, some are incredibly moving but for our 6 word memoirs you have to write from the point of view of someone connected to F1 - be they drivers, engineers, politicians, broadcasters or someone who has been associated with the sport in the past.
An example of a 6 word memoir for Michael Schumacher would be “Leaving Ferrari, pain in the neck” or for Nico Rosberg “Button gone yay, you signed who?”
There are literally millions on the net if you are stuck for inspiration but I am sure you can come up with some crackers.
Fresh from delving into the new cars and their technical prowess, KerbRider is back to cast his eye over another - just as important - element of a successful team.
I want to attempt a psycho analysis of this years major driver pairings. The ones we will all be watching.
Ferrari
This for me will be one of the most intense and exciting battles of the year, and years to come. Alonso and Massa have a history. Remember the Nurburgring in 2007?
There was some rather close racing which eventually ended up in some argy bargy on and off the track.
Fernando was much quicker and trying to get past Felipe on a drying track. They had a moment at turn 5 with some banging of wheels, and the post race weigh in, and press conference, was a lot of fun to watch.
We have two Latino temperaments in the most emotionally charged outfit in the pit lane. Expect the sky at Maranello to rain fire. Gazetta de la Sport shares would be a great investment this year, as their readership will quadruple.
Fernando is a quiet genius in my eyes, and easily the best driver out there.
Fernando is a quiet genius in my eyes, and easily the best driver out there. Although the return of Voldemort will certainly make that more arguable. Lewis still has plenty of room to grow, as brilliant as he is already.
Felipe has been very impressive the past two years, and has grown enormously as a competitor with the benefit of Voldemort as a mentor. Unsurprisingly enough, this didn’t occur until the 7 time WC retired.
We should expect to see plenty of fireworks between FA and FM coming into the last half of the year. They will be media savvy and play it all down until it is obvious their despise for one another cannot be played down anymore.
Both are fiercely competitive and Massa will be territorial as Alonso will be intruding on Massa's home. Fernando wont get the measure of Massa consistently until probably 2011 as the first year with a new team is usually testing the waters. This was evident with Fernando's stint at McLaren. Besides, Massa won't allow Alonso to get the best of him.
Last year's accident is in the past, and I don’t think it will affect his overall approach to a race weekend. He certainly wont be frightened of driving the car, and he wont be slower as a result of the accident. Neither will win the title.
McLaren
McLaren have utilised the press superbly with the fact they have the two reigning WCs in their cars. It makes me wonder if that was a major factor in them hiring Button in the first place.
Lets make no mistake though, Button is quick. Well duh! I hear you say, and rightly so. But let me retort and say that there are still some question marks over Button's ability. Mainly due to the fact that he was not able to optimise his performances relative to Rubens in the latter half of 2009.
He may have been playing it safe, he may not have been as comfortable in the car as he was in the first 7 races of the year. Either way, it tarnished his championship victory.
Jenson is on the record as saying he moved to McLaren to prove he can race against the best, and there is no reason to not believe that, as he would be well aware of his reputation in the F1 community due to his tail off in performance post Turkey.
I think as people, Lewis and Jenson will get along as team mates more than friends. The reason being is that there is a slight age gap, which subsequently makes both have differing interests outside of F1.
Overall, I don’t think the team dynamic will ruffle too many feathers as both are gentlemen, but again fiercely competitive. The anger will be on track, rather than in the garage.
I expect Lewis to win the year for several reasons. One being is that Lewis is ultimately quicker in an ill handling car, and copes when the car doesn’t suit him better than Jenson does. 2009 proves that resoundingly. And with heavy cars and low(ish) grip tyres, this should fit into Lewis's domain more than Jensons.
Also Lewis will qualify consistently better, and create his own luck whereas Jenson will require the luck to fall upon him. Another reason is that Lewis is part of the McLaren furniture, and Jenson was in the right place at the right time. Again!
Red Bull
Sebby V in his third full year of F1 will push hard for the championship. I'd expect him to be top 3 at minimum. Where does that leave Mark? He surprised a bit last year with how close he pushed Sebastian. Especially once the circus got back to Europe, and the leg was healing better.
If it wasn’t for a string of 5 unlucky races for Mark from Valencia to Singapore, the end result might have been quite different. A mistake from the pit crew in Spa cost him a podium. The car was not suited to both Monza and Valencia. Vettel only scored 1 point from these two races. In Singapore he had brake fade, which was probably his own causing, and Japan he made a critical mistake in practice which cost him a Q3 run. He set the fastest lap.
Sebastian created his own bad luck last year which cost him a chance to win the championship
Sebastian created his own bad luck last year which I think cost him a chance to win the championship in Abu Dhabi. He lost 6 points in Australia, which I saw up close and personal. That led to a bad qualifying position in Malaysia. He made a big error of judgement in Monaco with tyres, which he will have no doubt learned from for this year.
This pairing will be the one to watch for purely sporting reasons I think. RBR will stick to their equal opportunity philosophy until the last minute, as will McLaren. Ferrari will have no choice.
Sebastian is driven to win. He has a genuine need to win like Schumacher does. It bodes well for a future champion. Whereas Mark, has more of a point to prove. He is as determined as anyone out there, and his fitness is unquestionable. Tony Purnell once commented that he was amazed that Ferrari were not looking to Mark to replace Schumacher once he retired. A big rap, I believe.
Sebastian may be more prone to errors than Mark, but Mark, as is his nature, will be more prone to catching bad luck. So again I expect a close battle between the two, but ultimately, Sebastian should end up on top in what again will be the car of the year.
Mercedes
Voldemort V Rosberg. This will be interesting to see how this dynamic reacts to the media bewilderment. Will it be a master and apprentice situation like Schumacher and Massa? Or will Schumacher do what he always has done, and hide his telemetry from his internal rival. I, for one, hope he doesn’t. I, for one, hope Ross doesn’t allow it.
His testing point of view alone should see Mercedes develop a strong car. It remains to be seen whether it will be up the pecking order in Bahrain.
Make no mistake, Schuey will be quick, and the pressure is really on Nico now to deliver. I hope he does, because I think he has matured well under Williams and last year he had some impressive races. Singapore was one until he blew it exiting the pit lane.
I'm predicting Schumacher to win this battle, but I cant wait to be proven wrong. This could ruin Nico's career. I don’t think either way it will propel him to superstardom. He lacks the charisma and personality. Fernando, Lewis and Sebby V have it all in spades. Nico has the Finnish persona that Kimi carries so well.
The questions at this point pre-season will be, if Nico beats Schumacher, will he fulfil the three year term at Mercedes. If Schumacher beats Nico, will he go the way of Heidfeld as an also ran that never reached a peak anyone noticed?
This is the team that will define careers. Schumacher could go the way of Alan Jones as a former world champion that never got back in the game, or he could launch an even greater legend in f1 folklore. I doubt he will go the way of Alan Jones.
Nico could be made to be a great number 2, or the man who beat the statistically greatest driver F1 will ever see, and create his own legend.
Today is Saint Valentine's Day, which is traditionally a time for celebrating love and stuff. As the Sidepodcast Daily Post is well into its second year, it means last years random act of kindness has come back to haunt me in the shape of "an annual tradition". So here I am writing another one.
According to the official Sidepodcast Calendar, today is also Milkybar Day. A day when I offer the gift of Milkybar in place of anything requiring much more thought, effort or expense. I'm a nice guy like that.
While I nip out to buy one, here are some things that have caught my eye this weekend.
Yesterday we spent the evening watching the very lovely Danica Patrick take part in her first NASCAR Nationwide Cup race. Unfortunately the poor girl managed just 69 laps before getting caught up in another racing incident ahead of her, and that saw the end of her day's running. It also marked the end of our interest in the race. Did I mention how lovely she is?
In Jerez on Saturday afternoon, Claire Williams said goodbye to the Twitter masses, as she boarded a plane for England. Boo for less tweeting next week, but at least she'll be able to poke the people running the teams website into action. Did I mention how lovely she is?
Jenson Button's girlfriend Jessica Michibata appears to be dropping our favourite World Champion a hint or three with this tweet yesterday. She points out that "a guy has to ask a girl what she wants and be willing to give it to her". Clearly Jessica's got her sights set on a Milkybar too. Did I mention how lovely she is?
I think tradition states at this point in the daily post, I say I'll see you in the comments. Unless there was anything else?
I guess I should mention Christine too.
Of course, I cannot pass up the opportunity to show my love for Ms. Christine Blachford. I get to spend heaps of my free time, day in day out, working closely with her on all sorts of fun projects, including this one, and she is a fantastic girl to be around. I cannot imagine writing or recording or working on things alone ever again, because everything we do and have done for the past three (and a bit) years has been a joint effort in every way and the results really do speak for themselves.
Everything that Sidepodcast has become is a direct result of Christine's amazing personality, she is gorgeous, and fabulous and brilliant all at once, and I really hope she understands that nothing I buy her today can show just how important she is to me - so a 49p chocolate bar will just have to do. I still have no idea why she agreed to marry me, but I'm so very glad she did. Did I mention how lovely she is?
Journeyer asked the question this week, and it's fallen to me to answer it on behalf of Sidepodcast. The question revolves around a dream F1 team, which drivers would be the ideal choice to make the best team, assuming money is unlimited, and everyone is available.
Well.
Hands up who thinks I'm going to say Franck?
Actually, I've been giving it some serious thought, and although a good looking, rather speedy French driver would be an asset to the team, I'm not going to go with Mr Montagny. He has unfinished work to do in Le Mans, and I'd rather he concentrated on that for now.
My wish list is actually quite a simple one - I only want drivers in my team who are on Twitter, and use it a lot. The added communication, the contact with the fans, the feeling of inclusion in events is something that is extremely valuable to a team. Just ask Mr C how he feels about Claire Williams after watching her Twitter feed all week.
So, drivers that tweet on a regular basis are few and far between at the moment, although it seems to be a growing trend, which is good. I've had a good look through our new Twitter page and decided that the drivers who have tweeted the most get my spare race seats.
Barrichello has been microblogging an awful lot and racked up a whopping 18,000 tweets, which is more than I can even comprehend. I'm slightly concerned that he'll be so busy on his mobile phone that he won't actually get any work done, but if it works for Williams, it works for me. Next up is Lucas di Grassi, which means I do get a delicious driver in my team, even if it's not Franck. He has just broken the 1,000 tweet mark which means he has a way to go to match Rubens but is still ahead of the rest.
Oddly, the next most prolific driver is Jenson Button, which lands him directly in my test seat. That means the defending World Champion can't actually keep his hands on his title, unless something happens to either of my main drivers. That's entirely possible, of course, they might get repetitive strain injury in their thumbs, so perhaps Button would get the call up sooner than he might think.
That's my team - three excellent drivers, with three fabulous Twitter accounts. We'll be called Team140, and due to cost-cutting measures, we have to restrict the number of employees to 140. Everyone else in the team will have to tweet too, and together, we could take over the micro-blogging world.
It's all change at Circuit Ricardo Tormo today, not one single driver who was lapping the circuit on Tuesday is expected to take part in today's action. Michael Schumacher will return to the cockpit of the W01, Jenson Button get's his first taste of McLaren machinery while local hero Fernando Alonso will make himself comfortable at Ferrari.
Credit: F1Photos.org (creative commons)
Fernando Alonso takes to the track for his first test in the red and white Ferrari F10.
Other things to look out for are Vitaly Petrov making his debut with Renault and Nico Hulkenberg at the controls of the FW32. The fans eyes though will be firmly fixed on Fernando.
On track action begins at 10am CET (9am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.051km
Corners: 14
Lap record (unofficial): 1:08.544 (Anthony Davidson, Honda, 2006)
The Circuit Ricardo Tormo circuit is located to the East of Spain, not far from Valencia.
Drivers and Teams Attending
We are expecting to see the following drivers and teams in action today:
Driver
Team
Chassis
Michael Schumacher
Mercedes Grand Prix
W01
Jenson Button
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
MP4-25
Fernando Alonso
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
F10
Vitaly Petrov
Renault F1 Team
R30
Nico Hülkenberg
AT&T Williams
FW32
Pedro de la Rosa
BMW Sauber
C29
Jaime Alguersuari
Scuderia Toro Rosso
STR5
Credit: F1Photos.org (creative commons)
Jenson Button test the McLaren MP4-25 for the first time.
