Hypothetically speaking, imagine there were a seven times Formula 1 World Champion, who despite a career marred by controversy, opted to bow out at the top of his game. Imagine also, that in doing so he earned the respect of even his strongest critics, and that during his last appearance managed pull off the move of the race, putting a number on his replacement in the process.
Credit: Mercedes GP Petronas
A bad day at the office for the comeback kid.
Stretching reality to its limit, imagine that such a person would decide after almost three years away from the sport, to replace a sidelined ex-teammate in an awful car. Feigning injury would likely be the only way out of that situation, reputation still intact.
Imagine still, that such a person would then choose to make a season long comeback for the reigning World Champions, and in the first qualifying session of the year, manage only 7th position. Two whole places behind a teammate who nobody in the paddock rates highly and who's yet to achieve anything of note in his four year career. That kind of result could be painful to swallow for someone used to achieving so much.
Mind you, if such a situation had occurred, words could not describe how happy a certain person would be feeling right now.
Morning Practice was fascinating, as we watched a wheel fall of Glock's car, Chandhok have to wait and wait and wait, and Hamilton have to give up before the real qualifying setups began. If qualifying is up to its usual standard, we're in for a good one.
Weather Update
In continuing tradition, the weather will be hot and sunny. The temperatures go up and up, and with qualifying on at the same time as FP2, expect the track to hit the 40s pretty quickly. The humidity is lower today, though, although it seems just as dusty.
One to Watch
I don't know about anyone else, but I am keeping firmly glued to Nico's progress. So far he has outshone Michael in all sessions, and if he outqualifies Schumi, there's going to be a riot down in the Mercedes garage. It looks very likely this might happen, too!
Predictions Please
Who will get the glory of the first pole position of the year? Will Rosberg outqualify Schumi? Will drivers find themselves tripping over those new and slow cars? Will there be any surprises in the top ten?
Circuit Guide
Bahrain Circuit Map
Don't forget that comments automatically update on this post, there is no need to refresh the page this year. You can also follow up-to-the-minute session updates via Sidepodcast's Factbyte Factbox
Friday was a relatively tame day in Free Practice terms, and the lack of tyres available to teams may see that trend continuing. However, we still found plenty to discuss, including the Rosberg vs Schumacher battle, and who would manage to get out of the garage at all.
Weather Update
The weather for Saturday looks to be an exact repeat of Friday, with the sun out and bright, visibility good and humidity high. The temperatures may be slightly cooler, but once the cars hit the track, it will likely heat right up again.
One to Watch
All eyes must be on Chandhok because the HRT driver didn't even manage to get in the car during either practice session yesterday, let alone make it to the track. He needs to participate in this first practice or he won't be allowed to continue in qualifying and the race.
Predictions Please
Will Chandhok make it out and how many laps will he complete? Will anyone fall foul of the dust and meet the barriers? What demands will Schumacher make today?
Circuit Guide
Bahrain Circuit Map
Don't forget that comments automatically update on this post, there is no need to refresh the page this year. You can also follow up-to-the-minute session updates via Sidepodcast's Factbyte Factbox
Free Practice 2 is complete and we still have yet to see Chandhok out on track. Rosberg put Mercedes on top, with Schumacher in third, and Hamilton splitting the pair of them.
It's Friday and at long last the 2010 Season is underway. In just a few short hours we will be up again, ready to watch Free Practice 1 and from then on, it's all about the racing. Well, hopefully. There's lots of good stuff and many threads to come today, so keep your eyes peeled so you don't miss a thing.
Jake has written another great blog post, this time talking about time spent with some of the drivers ahead of the weekend's action. I particularly find the Schumacher/Rosberg stuff fascinating because we've seen visual evidence of their distaste for each other now, and... it's scary stuff!
It's the last day to change your Fantasy Racers teams and whilst there will be a reminder post along later, I thought it was worth mentioning now. Particularly as I want to give a shout out for Pat's fabulous post about the different prediction and fantasy F1 games that are available at the moment. I had no idea there were so many!
All that stuff about McLaren's rear wing is coming to a head now the teams have gathered together, and there is plenty of discussion about the silver car's extra hole. Scarbs has the detail (for Mr C), whilst Autosport put it into English (for me). Ahh, controversy. Is it November yet?
In self-promotion news, Mr C wrote a great introduction to the Force India podcast which makes a triumphant return for 2010. More audio from teams is greatly appreciated. The man also posted a breakout regarding Renault's new sponsor, and he actually managed to create a picture with no red in it. Woohoo!
That'll do it for now. I know you're excited already, so instead, why not tell me how and where you are watching Free Practice, if you are. I'll see you in the comments.
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.
Following a frenetic first day of testing in Spain, Formula 1 teams continue to test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Cheste, Valencia today. Monday brought all forms of excitement from the unveiling of the STR5 to the return of Michael Schumacher in a modern F1 cockpit. Additionally, Mercedes GP finally allowed fans and the media to see this years W01 chassis, while Robert Kubica began his new life as a Renault driver.
Lewis Hamilton arrives today to relieve Gary Paffett of his test driving duties, while Kamui Kobayashi will settle into the C29. Is it possible that Tuesday could be even more chaotic?
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:
The battle for the most interactive F1 launch appears to be well and truly and on. This morning Ferrari announced they will be broadcasting the launch of their 2010 Formula 1 car online on Thursday, while McLaren have created a special microsite for their own announcement later this week.
In the meantime, current multimedia forerunners Mercedes have published a replay of their live streaming launch video. The whole show is almost 22 minutes in length, highlights some slightly dodgy lighting and the first half of the video features a German language soundtrack. If you missed it the first time though, and didn't manage to catch the debut of Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher in their 2010 outfits, this is worth watching.
Let's hope that the remaining F1 teams step up and offer fans a similar service for each of the remaining events.
Journalists are heading to Stuttgart this morning to watch the unveiling of the new Mercedes team colours and livery. Although the new chassis is not expected to be unveiled until next month, Monday will see the official rebranding of last year's championship winning Brawn GP team.
The event is scheduled to start at 11am local time (10am GMT), and will be held at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Updated: The teams new look was officially unveiled under a dazzling array of media lights, making it difficult to pick out the chosen colour scheme. Eventually it became apparent that Mercedes have gone with a silver and turquoise livery, while Mercedes GP's first chassis, which is to be revealed on 1 February, will be named the MGP W01.
Credit: Daimler AG
Ross Brawn, Dr. Dieter Zetsche, Nico Rosberg, Michael Schumacher, Norbert Haug and Nick Fry line-up for the cameras at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
An accompanying press release pointed out that over 600 guests attended the launch, which saw drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher reveal their new race suits and the cars paint scheme.
Speaking at the event, Team Principal, Ross Brawn said:
"It is a privilege to be here at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart today for the official presentation of the Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team. With your first look around the Museum, you realise the fantastic racing heritage of Mercedes-Benz and we hope to be able to contribute to those successes going forward."
Michael Schumacher, who will drive car number three this season, sounded pleased that the 2010 season finally appeared to be getting underway, and was only to happy to be associated with Mercedes once more.
"Driving for Mercedes-Benz again is like the closing of a circle for me as I started my racing driver career with the three-pointed star on my helmet. This is another reason why I cannot wait for the competition to get underway."
Credit: Daimler AG
Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher show off their new racing colours together at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart.
Nico Rosberg can't wait to get in the car and begin testing, he was keen to highlight the international aspects of the team and praise everybody's efforts.
"Since joining the team in November, I have spent a lot of time at the factory in Brackley, at Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth and here in Stuttgart, which has given me the opportunity to settle in and get to know everyone.
"I am looking forward to working with everyone at Mercedes Grand Prix and will give it my all to reward their fantastic efforts with good on-track results this season."
Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, Norbert Haug added:
"The new Formula One season will offer challenges which will be bigger than ever before in over sixty years of the sport’s history. We look forward to the cooperation with our drivers Nico Rosberg who has enormous capabilities and perspectives, and with seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher who is no less motivated than at the time when he began his professional motor racing career with Mercedes-Benz and then made his first step into such a successful Formula One career with our support."
Additionally, prior to today's announcement, Mercedes GP released the following teaser video which seems to show a more metallic looking livery. It might be the lighting, or it may indicate the team made some late changes to the final look.
