Say hello to Wednesday as we reach the middle of the week. Who is getting unbelievably excited for Free Practice on Friday then? Yesterday we were discussing whether it was acceptable to leave a wedding early so you can watch qualifying. I say yes, how about you? Meanwhile, here are the other things we're talking about:
The Factbyte Factbox had a radical overhaul yesterday and finally completed the goal we had in mind for it since it debuted a year ago - live updates. There's more information about what we're trying to achieve, and what happened during the brief test last night on this post. Don't worry if you missed it, though, it'll be back plenty of times during the season!
It was a day for refreshing websites yesterday, as McLaren launched their new site, Williams had a fresh lick of paint, and Autosport introduced a new 2010 Season Guide. The new season preview edition of Grand Prix Plus emerged yesterday as well, so make sure you check that out if you haven't already. All good stuff that should keep you busy for a little while!
Whilst doing a bit of admin for F1 Big Picture, it occurred to us that we'd fallen into our trap of introducing concepts and not really telling anyone about them, so we decided that for 2010 we'd try and be a bit more transparent - or at least plug things more. This post over on F1 minute explains the pattern our Big Pictures take ahead of each race.
That should do it for now. There's more good stuff to come today, so we'll be keeping busy, but I will see you in the comments.
In this second preview edition of F1 Digest we take a look through the entry list, focusing on the teams and their new cars. How have they performed in testing? What features are on the new machines? Who has a strong lineup? All that and more will get you ready for the season to come.
The Teams
From the non-existant teams such as US F1 and Campos to those who are determined to challenge for another championship - Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes. In some teams, the drivers overshadow the cars, but we spend plenty of time discussing front wings, sidepods and shark fin engine covers.
There are new liveries to discuss, and how the teams managed their launches, plus the relationship between teammates - those who have new faces to get to know, and those who are continuing with their fellow driver from 2009.
We also take a quick look at the battle between Virgin Racing and Lotus, from testing, reliability issues, air stewardess outfits and launches. Everything is going to be different this year, and it's going to be great.
The third day in Barcelona gets underway and Williams will be coming off the back of good headlines yesterday, thanks to Hülkenberg. Rain is expected to mix up proceedings at the circuit, when teams desperately need a clear day of running on this penultimate pre-season test of 2010.
Up and down the pitlane, plenty of race simulation work was covered yesterday, and that's likely to continue into the weekend. Will anyone run some light and fast qualifying simulations?
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.655km
Corners: 16
Lap record: 1:21.670 (Kimi Räikkönen, Ferrari, 2008)
You'll find Circuit de Catalunya located in the North East corner of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Sunday has arrived, and with it brings a live show... but not from us. Giggles Radio is scheduled to begin at 4pm today, so I hope you will join Alex as he brings us some excellent music with added chatter to go with it. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're keeping an eye on:
Mr C has been making some more tweaks, this time the Sidepodcast Feed. If you subscribe to keep up with the blog posts, you should know find an added bit at the bottom of each entry so you can check the ratings, click through to comments and find related posts directly from your chosen feed reader.
If you've been struggling to keep up with everything from testing in Jerez, then F1 Minute is here for you! Yesterday I posted a special episode to catch up with the final day, but there is 60 second coverage for each day of testing, including who was fastest, who was slowest, weather updates, and of course, who was causing all the red flags.
It was a day of guest posts yesterday as firstly Lewis discussed two separate events at Silverstone and how they compare and contrast, and then Lukeh told us why he's looking forward to the upcoming season and why we should too. It's a great insight into the mind of a Rubens fan, obviously, but there is also plenty of optimism to go round.
That should do it for now. We should have a podcast along either later today or some time tomorrow, and as ever, I will see you in the comments.
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.
Whilst Mr C and I have settled for discussing the launches briefly in the podcast, and scoring them out of 10, new guest writer KerbRider has taken a more detailed look at the teams we've seen so far.
2010 has promised to be a great year for F1 since Sebby V took the chequered flag in Abu Dhabi. The off season has now ensured this will be the case.
A lot of people have gotten excited over the game of musical chairs the drivers like to play every few years. Some even more so because a certain driver, I like to call Voldemort, decided he wanted to play again.
Although all these changes have been great to see, and have whet my appetite for what is promising to be a great season, the real excitement for me is launch season.
I love the smell of Duco in the morning!
The reason I love launch season is because I'm a 'details' man. I will study photos of the new cars for hours on end to see their subtleties and nuances, and speculate as to why they did this, or that, and then formulate how I think a particular design philosophy might work.
Different strokes for different folk I guess.
I'll start with the fundamentals of design philosophy, and I'll thank Mr Codling for his insightful article in this months F1 Racing. Cant wait to get the book.
The way I see it, the fundamental concept of designing a quick car is to have the air under the car moving a lot quicker than the air on top. This is basic aeronautics. What an F1 designer must try to achieve is to have four separate airflows to make a car work effectively. Underneath, above, and the two sides of the car.
The idea is to keep these "chunks" of air as independent of each other as possible. So in other words, we don’t want air flowing from the side of the car bleeding into the air flowing over or under the car. As there are four big black squares on a car, the philosophy is to minimise this "bleeding" as much as possible.
It all about compromise.
So on to the cars that have been launched to date.
Ferrari
Ferrari seem to have a simple and sleek design. Quite an attractive car I think, and it hurts me to say that. Love the lighter red colour, and the white wings are bearable for sponsorship purposes. Not a bad deal for Ferrari to get Alonso basically for free, when Santander are obviously footing the bill for him. So can we now class Fernando as a pay driver!
Average height for the nose. Not as high as others and about even with Mercedes. The all important front wing is clearly not as detailed as Mclaren, Red Bull and Sauber, but maybe it doesn’t need to be because the rest of the car deflects the air where needed. Fat, and weighty sidepods are well streamlined, and have the bulk purely for side impact crash testing. A feature most cars have this season.
Where I think Ferrari have excelled is the rear end. Although they haven't chosen to go the "sharkfin" path, there is so much free space at the back for clear airflow over the rear wing. Of course the "sharkfin" is subject to crosswind buffeting that can affect pitch and yaw mid-corner, and more importantly, under braking. What might let them down is the lack of cover over the rear suspension. This may cause turbulent air affecting the air that exits above the diffuser.
McLaren
For one, I am glad McLaren kept their silver and red livery. Its effective, sexy, and unique. Even if the Mercedes has tried to replicate without copying.
McLaren have boldly copied the splitter/divider underneath the nose that Williams had last year but strangely decided to opt against this year.
If we look at a front on view on the MP4-25, it is clear that this device will divide the air to flow more cleanly through the suspension arms and steering column, and swiftly into the sidepods. It will have the effect of forcing more air faster into the sidepods, which explains in a fashion as to why they are so small compared to other teams.
"The front wing is, in layman's terms, off its face!"
The front wing is, in layman's terms, off its face! Incredibly detailed, and obviously Mclarens' philosophy this year was to not be caught out by last year's mistakes. They learned a lot last year as a design team. Although they seemingly have "borrowed" ideas from RBR and Brawn, they have made them uniquely Mclaren. The Sharkfin is high, and long, and a bit fatter at the bottom. This is to accommodate the exhaust exits that, again unique to Mclaren, exit horizontally, rather than vertically like the rest of the grid. It will be interesting to see what benefit this has. The MP4-25 is vastly different in appearance to anything else this year which means that this year Mclaren will go either one of two ways - that is poor, or win the lot.
Mercedes
My overall view is that I'm largely unimpressed by Mercedes. I was expecting big changes in this year's car. The Mercedes livery is average, and hopefully will be updated next year.
They have gone with a higher nose than the Brawn, and the design remains largely unchanged. Of course as Ross alluded to last year, the nose has the air channelling veins. This seems to be a large talking point, although I think its effectiveness is overrated. I can only assume the concept was born out of a need to direct airflow away from the drivers helmet, which is a rather large obstacle.
The most noticeable change is the air box. Low and broad with a splitter. There is a semi-sharkfin, and I expected tighter packaging at the rear considering they have had a year with the engine and drive train. All this being said, I still believe they will be a top four team.
Sauber
This one gets me excited. BMW obviously did a lot of work before the withdrawal. A great looking front wing that should be successful in diverting airflow around the front wheels and into the rear sculpted body work. A high nose to increase the amount of air flowing underneath the car, and unique sidepods that have the idea of moulding airflow back inward toward the rear wing.
A large and bulky sharkfin as per Mclaren, but inspiringly sculpted sidepods and tight rear packaging. All in the name of rear stability and front end grip. I believe the Sauber should have great traction with the low sitting rear, and as F1 is mainly made up of slow to medium speed corners, this will be a great advantage over the course of 19 races. I think they will be the surprise of the year. Kubica left too early. Which leads me to...
Renault
U-G-L-Y they aint got no alibi, its ugly!! For a team that pulled out as late as they did officially, I think they must have pulled out mentally beforehand as this year's car will be the joke of 2010. My heart sinks for Kubica, it really does. Ugly cars rarely do well in F1, and I don’t think this year will be any exception.
Of course I'm saying this under the impression that this is the car that will actually race.
It looks quite uninspiring, and a bit too bulky at the sides. Like a driver, the car needs to be fit, and trim the fat. It looks shorter than the rest, as does the RBR at first glance. Go Renault engine efficiency!!
"I expect design changes early on in the year"
The rear wing is left of field, and might suit their own philosophy, but I expect design changes early on in the year, if not before Bahrain. The front wing endplates are also a tad bland, and are the least detailed of the already established teams.
Let's not expect much unfortunately.
Williams
I always hold high hopes for Williams. Shouldn't everyone? Real racers, battlers and sadly of late, the perennial underachievers. This all stems from their brief encounter with a walrus, and they have never recovered fully from that.
I'm a bit befuddled as to why they went with a clean sheet, as last year's car was quite decent, and an evolution of that may have pushed them up the grid. I hope it works for them, but as strange as it sounds, the car seem too clean to be a top performer.
It seems as of late, to find real performance and aero gains, a car needs to look messy. But I guess the 2009 Brawn put that to rest too. Nose is high, which in the past meant high centre of gravity, but with the double diffuser malarkey, this is necessary to maximise air flow underneath the car. I suspect that with this year's cars most performance will be found from the floor, and suspension geometry.
Interesting to note the Williams front wing sits backward from the mounting pillars, whereas the other teams have their mounting pillars attached closer to the front of the front wing main plane. There are some interesting components on the end fences that look successful in dispersing airflow around the tyres.
Toro Rosso
Nothing to see here folks! Keep moving. Seriously, not much change from last years RBR. Not expecting great feats from the driver pairing, although Buemi has some potential. I expect them to be toughing it out with Williams and or Renault at best, Virgin and Lotus at worst.
Virgin Racing
There will be some bad headlines printed about this team this year. My impressions of the car are that it might surprise. Well packaged at the rear, and sidepods of a Mclaren nature. The real sticking point will be suspension geometry and heating the tyres in unison. The front wing looks large, and dual channel end plates look as though they will get the desired result there. Except for one fine point. Sure the CFD would have calculated big downforce levels, but as our friend Mr Saward mentioned in a podcast last year, how will it go in turbulent air? There are no intricate details that suggest it will cope well in traffic, and there is a massive space behind the front wing that has no details to direct air straight toward the floor splitter and onward and downward toward the diffuser.
The car itself looks fantastic. I love the livery, the addition of the Yorkshire rose is just brilliant. I'm Australian, and it means nothing to me, but it’s a beautiful design. For me it harks back to the first Jordan in '91. Clean and unpretentious (even though it is a Branson baby). I think they will score points for sure, but not more than 10 unless they get lucky in the wet.
Red Bull
The one we were all waiting for. The thread for the launch was full of negative comments which surprised me. Sure it looks like last year's car, but they were the quickest last year, so the only thing they had to concentrate on was the rear end because they missed the double diffuser boat. Additionally if RBR can get Total to incorporate into blue, why did Renault insist on that hideous red?
"The rear end is even more tightly packaged than last year"
Firstly the front wing. Equal in development man hours of the Mclaren I would imagine, and running in turbulence was an issue for them last year until they introduced the stepped top wing. The nose is almost round once we get past the yellow tip, and the airflow channels on top are more pronounced and sharper at the front than other teams who have copied the idea. The rear end is even more tightly packaged than last year and it looks low thanks to the pull rod suspension geometry. This will assist with traction out of the slower corners, as last year, the RBR was an oversteer car compared to the understeering Brawn.
The sharkfin has now been filled in underneath the rear wing, and comprises the rear wing support post. It should be quick, but will it be the quickest?
Force India
With the Mclaren association, I am expecting big things from this team this year. The front wing is nicely detailed and there is plenty of space under the high nose to get lots of under the car and into that diffuser. High chunky sidepods like the Ferrari, and the rear packaging looks too high. First impressions are that it has a higher centre of gravity than the others as the exhaust exits sit high in the bodywork.
No change in livery, which is fine by me. Its effective, if not attractive. I'm also expecting over the course of the season for Liuzzi to beat Sutil resoundingly.
It really is all up in the air this year, and anyone who thinks they know who will win at this stage is kidding themselves. There will be some good guesses only in prediction land, and I for one am predicting a Lewis WDC and a Red Bull WCC.
Thursday sees the second day of testing in Jerez get underway. Teams, drivers and fans alike will almost certainly be hoping for better weather than day one produced. There's very little change on the driver front to look out for, with only Michael Schumacher and Robert Kubica the new faces in the crowd.
Yesterday saw the surprise introduction of the Williams live timing system. First day gremlins saw the site struggle to keep up with demand, but when it works it is rather fantastic. Williams weren't the only ones experiencing first days blues either, Virgin Racing managed just 5 laps on their F1 testing debut. Fingers crossed for a better run today.
Petrov had been scheduled to drive the Renault today, but good weather prompted the team to run the more experienced Kubica instead.
On track action begins at 9am CET (8am GMT).
Circuit Information
Track length: 4.428km
Corners: 13
Lap record: 1:23.135 (Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Williams, 1997)
You'll find Circuito de Jerez located in South of Spain.
Drivers and Teams Attending
The following teams and drivers are confirmed for testing on Wednesday
Coming up this week, we discuss bridges, aerodynamics, Twitter, videos, testing, surveys, domains, previews, jokes and rankings.
Intro
Back to back shows! We're getting the new year off to a good start.
Good Week / Bad Week
It's been a good week for Toro Rosso who now have a full line up for 2010, and for Button, who is getting a bridge named after him. It's been a bad week for Alan Donnelly, who isn't involved in F1 anymore, and for Lotus, as Trulli thinks they have less potential than Toyota. Oh dear.
News and Views
We start with the new stuff for the upcoming season, including Sauber's new driver. We were sure it was going to be Heidfeld, but Pedro de la Rosa gets the nod. We briefly discuss Williams' plans for a brand new design, plus some great tweeting from them, and we cover the Barcelona test for Rossi and Massa.
The Castrol Driver Rankings are back for another week, with some interesting feedback after the last show. We read through some of the comments received, in the interest of balance, and then also take a look at the F1 Racing Fan Survey that will open soon.
Feedback
Two great voicemails this week - Mark has an idea to improve racing just using some paint, whilst Cody has a request for a refresher course.
A few fabulous emails too - Rolando has some domains and ponders what he should do with them, Marc stuns us with some serious maths, and Michael Parker has a request for some jokes.
Marc's maths:
According to Wiki, the largest 747 holds about 243,000 litres. An F1 car, during race, goes about 1.3 km per litre. Silverstone is 5.1 kms. It takes nearly 4 litres to lap Silverstone. The GP has 60 laps. So 240 litres per car, multiplied by 20 cars, equals about 4,800 litres, multiplied by practices, qualifiers, etc, let's say multiplied by 3, that's about 14,400 litres of fuel to race Silverstone. Let's round it 15,000 litres. There are about 20 races, so 300,000 litres to race an entire season.
That's more than the largest 747 holds; about 243,000 litres.
Housekeeping
There's plenty of launches and testing action coming soon, and we are keeping on top of it all with our brand new Google Calendar.
We have reached Friday once again, and according to my super duper calendar, Massa is getting behind the wheel of the F2008 with GP2 tyres on, so look out for some pictures of him getting some Barcelona track time. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:
James Allen has written about the Schumacher number business, which is pretty much old news by now, but I thought it was worth linking to. Lukeh's first comment on that item sums up the whole thing!
Whilst Williams team principal Sam Michael has been half complimenting his new driver lineup, Rubens himself is fired up for the year ahead. He's been visiting the factory, learning everyone's name, and says he is still massively hungry for success. This is good news for the team, now they just have to provide a decent car.
Pedro de la Rosa has been speaking out about any criticism's against him. Whilst he won't come out and say he's going to be brilliant this year (he's modest like that), he has said that he expects to surprise people and he's hoping that testing will get him up to speed. He's glad there's plenty of it.
That should do it for now, let us know what you've got planned for the weekend. Gavin's going skiing! I'll see you in the comments.
Today it is the birthday of one Mr Sam Bird, sometime test driver for Williams, who is currently racing in the GP2 Asia series. That series confuses me greatly because it is a feature and sprint race, but only at two circuits, just a couple of events, and quite far apart. Still, it keeps the drivers busy over the winter months, I suppose. Meanwhile, here are some of the things we're talking about:
Bernie has been busy, as per usual, launching a bid to buy Saab with the major shareholders of Renault, Genii Capital. Goodness knows what he would do with it if they were successful - would they become an F1 team? It all seems a bit too cozy. Anyway, we have a breakout thread on such matters, so head on over and share your thoughts!
Meanwhile, US F1 have become the FIA's new best friend after being given special allowances to test over in the US, before joining everyone else in Europe. We put up an F1 Big Picture of the Barber Motorsports Park they have in mind. It looks very... simple.
Whilst we're on the subject of F1 Minute, don't forget to keep your eye on the videos as they are released. We know they are behind at the moment, but we're catching up all the time. We'll be blogging about our thoughts and findings very soon, but for now, just sit back and enjoy F1 sixty seconds at a time.
That should do it for now. Let us know what you're up to this weekend, if you are able to do anything due to the weather. Personally, I'm voting for sitting next to a radiator all day long, and while I do that, I'll see you in the comments.
