Firstly, I'd like to welcome you all back to my blog for what promises to be another captivating Formula One season. Check back regularly for qualifying reports, race reports, previews, historical articles and random ramblings about the world of our most cherished sport.
There may have been few driver changes for the new season, but even so there is as much intrigue as ever, particularly after last year's titanic five-way tussle for glory. Can Vettel do it again? Can Alonso bounce back? Is the new McLaren too radical? Will the new Renault be as quick as testing suggests? Will Schumacher be able to prove he still has it? All of these questions and more will be answered as the season unfurls.
All nineteen venues from 2010 were meant to return for this year, although the Bahrain Grand Prix has been cancelled due to force majeure. It is unclear at this stage whether or not Bahrain will be given another date later in the year, but even if it doesn't we still have the prospect of nineteen fascinating Grand Prix to look forward to. We have a new addition to the calendar in the form of the inaugural Indian Grand Prix, which will slot between Korea and Abu Dhabi as part of the end-of-season flyaway block. Also, the Brazilian Grand Prix, the scene of memorable championship wins for Alonso, Hamilton and Button, has usurped Abu Dhabi to take its place as the season finale once again.
Several technical changes have been made in an effort to spice up the racing. First of all, the new tyre supplier, Pirelli, has produced tyres that wear at a far quicker rate than the outgoing Bridgestone variety. This means that the processional one-stoppers of last year will be a thing of the past, and tyre strategy and management will become a far bigger deciding factor in races than last year. KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) is making a comeback after one year's absence too. Though optional, none of the top teams will want to be without the device which gives every driver an extra 80bhp available for several seconds per lap – perfect for overtaking as Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen demonstrated in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix when he sauntered past Giancarlo Fisichella's faster Force India after holding down the KERS button.
The 'F-duct' device which performed a similar role in 2010 (although with unlimited usage) is banned for 2011. In its place comes an adjustable rear wing which will allow drivers following another car closely to reduce their rear wing angle to help them get past. It will only be useable in a particular 600m zone at the end of the longest straight, which will be clearly marked on the track. The concept has been negatively received so far by fans and teams who are worried overtaking may become artificial and contrived. As such, the FIA is open to dropping or adjusting the system after a few races if it continues to prove unpopular or ineffective. Double diffusers, pioneered primarily by Brawn GP in 2009, are also banned for 2011 in an attempt to reduce downforce.
So, bearing all that in mind, here is a run-down of all the drivers and teams for 2011 along with my predictions for what the drivers and constructors points tables will look like in eight months time.
Red Bull Racing
Drivers – Sebastian Vettel (D), Mark Webber (AU)
Reserve Driver – Daniel Ricciardo (AU)
As last year's near-perennial pacesetters, the Anglo-Austrian team will begin 2011 as the popular favourite to deliver both crowns. In testing, the Adrian Newey-designed Red Bull RB7 has been consistently fast and with an unchanged driving strength from last year, there appears to be little reason to doubt Red Bull's title credentials. Sebastian Vettel's confidence will be sky-high coming off the back of his maiden success, and a second consecutive title is certainly within reach. As for his teammate, Mark Webber, 2011 is probably last chance saloon: he turns 35 this year, making him the fourth-eldest driver on the grid behind Schumacher, Barrichello and Trulli. Nevertheless, he claims to be as fired up as ever, and it will be intriguing to see whether the Aussie can have a genuine crack at his younger teammate in what looks to be this season's fastest mount once again.
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes
Drivers – Lewis Hamilton (GB), Jenson Button (GB)
Reserve Driver – Pedro De La Rosa (E)
The history of McLaren, whilst largely glittering, is strangely potted with the odd year where the team just simply underperforms. Think back to 2009, where the Woking-based outfit found itself languishing 6th in the constructors table, almost 100 points behind Brawn, by the mid-stage of the season. Granted, several update packages allowed the team to salvage third in the standings come Abu Dhabi, but the damage had been done. Whilst this year probably won't be as severe as two years ago, reliability and more importantly, speed issues have dogged the team's radically-designed MP4-26 all through testing, and their pace seems to be a far cry from their rivals at Red Bull and Ferrari. Bearing that in mind, the title prospects for both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button appear fairly grim. Don't exclude either of the duo from the possibility of race wins later in the season, though, if the team can overcome their early teething troubles.
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
Drivers – Fernando Alonso (E), Felipe Massa (BR)
Reserve Driver – Giancarlo Fisichella (I)
After some legal wrangling with Ford, Ferrari have finally re-christened their contender for the 2011 season the 'F150˚ Italia' from the original name of the 'F150', which should ensure nobody thinks Ferrari was planning to campaign a pick-up truck in this year's championship. As for their testing pace though, the famed Italian squad have every reason to smile, with their car seeming to be more than a match for the Red Bull over longer race distances. Fernando Alonso will be more determined than ever to add a third crown to his name after last year's disappointment, and the car should enable him to take the fight once again to the Red Bulls. Meanwhile, Felipe Massa will be eager to prove a point that he isn't just a sidekick to his more illustrious teammate. Yet the Brazilian has scarcely looked the same driver who came within a whisker of winning the 2008 crown as of late, and with several big names being linked to the second Ferrari seat, Massa has to seize the opportunity to prove himself rapidly or else risk being brushed aside at Maranello for 2012.
Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team
Drivers – Michael Schumacher (D), Nico Rosberg (D)
Reserve Driver – TBA
If 2010 was something of a disappointment for the German car giant, then 2011 may not be much better. The car at first was hopelessly off the pace during testing, although significant revisions to the MGP W02 have given a more promising performance at the final pre-season test at Barcelona. That will give Michael Schumacher some hope of an improvement to his so-far underwhelming comeback, and he can take comfort in the fact this year's car will have been designed with his unique driving style in mind, a luxury he didn't have in 2010. Theoretically, that should help him come to terms with his teammate and countryman Nico Rosberg, who very much had the measure of the 7-time champ last season. Still, race wins are probably going to remain out of reach for at least another year for both drivers, but we could well witness Schumacher rack up podium finish number 155 at some stage during the course of the season.
Lotus Renault GP
Drivers – Nick Heidfeld (D), Vitaly Petrov (RU)
Reserve Driver – Bruno Senna (BR)
The good news for Renault is that their new R31, in testing at least, appears to be as fast as it is good-looking in the JPS-inspired black-and-gold livery that has come courtesy of a tie-up with Lotus Cars (not to be confused with Team Lotus, but more on that later). The bad news however, is that they will have to make do for at least a considerable portion of the season without arguably its greatest asset: Robert Kubica. The Pole's horrific accident in an Andorran rally and the subsequent injuries he sustained has rendered him sadly unable to compete for the time being. But, luckily for the Enstone-based team, they've secured the best available replacement in Nick Heidfeld. His vast experience and ability to develop a car will prove invaluable, and what's more the undeniably talented German has been handed a chance to re-vitalise his stalled career. If the testing form carries over into the first few rounds, Renault could well find themselves ahead of McLaren to be third in the pecking order, at least to begin with, and Heidfeld may have his best ever opportunity to finally chalk his first Grand Prix victory. Petrov's goal should be to establish himself as a regular points-scorer, with a possible view to snatching a podium if the right circumstances arise.
AT&T Williams
Drivers – Rubens Barrichello (BR), Pastor Maldonado (YV)
Reserve Driver – Valtteri Bottas (SF)
In many respects, Williams is a modern-day Tyrrell. The glory days of the 1990s must feel like a long time ago now (even if this year's livery does bear something of a resemblance to their iconic Rothmans livery of that era) and Frank Williams' squad has just come off the back of its sixth consecutive barren season. Although testing has been promising, the progress made by some of their rivals could make 2011 another trying year for Williams. The ultra-experienced Rubens Barrichello remains the team leader for a second season, but his 2010 partner Nico Hulkenberg has been forced to step aside for reigning GP2 champion Pastor Maldonado, who brings with him hefty sums of Venezuelan oil money. But make no mistake – Maldonado is certainly not a pay-driver in the mould of Sakon Yamamoto, for example. You don't win the GP2 championship by accident, so it would be little surprise to see the newcomer do as good a job as Hulkenberg did in 2010, or perhaps even better.
Force India F1 Team
Drivers – Adrian Sutil (D), Paul Di Resta (GB)
Reserve Driver – Nico Hulkenberg (D)
The last two seasons have both represented solid progress for the team that used to be a regular fixture at the very rear of the grid. Now a respectable and fully-fledged F1 team, Vijay Mallya will certainly be eyeing further progress up the field. But, compared to its rivals, Force India doesn't appear to have made up so much ground. This will come as disheartening news to Adrian Sutil, who is embarking on his fifth straight season with the team. Arguably the team isn't doing enough to allow him to realise his potential, and one wonders how long he'll want to stay if the team's progress begins to stagnate. As for Paul Di Resta, the British newcomer who is fresh from winning the DTM (German Touring Car Championship) for Mercedes will likely be vying for unofficial 'Rookie of the Year' honours with Maldonado and Perez. Only time will tell if he'll be able to emulate his fellow Brits Hamilton and Button to become world champion one day.
Sauber F1 Team
Drivers – Kamui Kobayashi (J), Sergio Perez (MEX)
Reserve Driver – Esteban Gutierrez (MEX)
Peter Sauber has a knack for spotting young talent, having plucked Kimi Raikkonen, Felipe Massa and most recently Kamui Kobayashi from relative obscurity to drive his eponymous cars. Sergio Perez will not only become the latest rookie to be given a berth by the Swiss, but also the first Mexican F1 driver since Hector Rebaque drove for Brabham in 1981. In a similar vein to Maldonado, don't let the myriad of new sponsors Perez is bringing to Sauber fool you – he finished runner-up in the GP2 championship last season, and so could well upset his more established teammate, Kamui Kobayashi. The Japanese hotshot is heading into only his second full season at this level, charged with leading the team and the development of the C30. It will be interesting to see whether Peter Sauber's decision to eschew experience in favour of youth pays off as the season unwinds.
Scuderia Toro Rosso
Drivers – Sebastien Buemi (CH), Jaime Alguersauri (E)
Reserve Driver – Daniel Ricciardo (AU)
If testing is anything to go by, Toro Rosso could be in for its strongest season since 2008, where Vettel nabbed an unlikely victory in adverse weather conditions at Monza. The STR6 has looked consistently impressive throughout testing, which no doubt means both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersauri will be hoping for their strongest seasons yet. Both men were fairly evenly matched during last season, and so both will be eager to quickly assert themselves over the other, not least because of rumours that a certain Daniel Ricciardo could be replacing one of them mid-season. After all, Toro Rosso has something of a history of replacing drivers before the season is out, with Scott Speed moving aside for Vettel in late 2007, and Alguersauri joining the Faenza-based team at Sebastien Bourdais' expense mid-way through 2009. That spectre will hopefully spur both men on to up their games for the new season, possibly towards becoming genuine future prospects.
Team Lotus
Drivers – Heikki Kovalainen (SF), Jarno Trulli (I)
Reserve Driver – Karun Chandhok (IND)
'Team Lotus', or '1Malaysia Racing' as I prefer to call it, found itself rather embroiled over the off-season with Lotus Cars (who are sponsoring Renault this year) as to who indeed has the right to name themselves after Colin Chapman's legendary team. Until the dispute is finally resolved, we are stuck with two teams known as 'Lotus-Renault' thanks to an engine-supply deal between Tony Fernandes' team and the famous French manufacturer. The team would appear to have made some considerable progress for the new season, but even with the experienced line-up of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, I can't quite picture the team shading any of the more-established runners to reach 9th place in the constructors just yet. What I can picture, however, is the team amassing its first points and consolidating its superiority over their rivals at Hispania and Virgin Racing.
Hispania F1 Team
Drivers – Vitantonio Liuzzi (I), Narain Karthikeyan (IND)
Reserve Driver – TBA
It would be fair to say that the only way in 2011 is up for this fledging Spanish team who were last year's perennial backmarkers. In spite of the continued absence of a major sponsor and a virtually non-existant testing programme, Hispania have two aces up their sleeve. The first is the experienced Geoff Willis, who has helped designed the new F111 which looks to be a step forward in comparison to the hopelessly outpaced Dallara design of 2010. The second is Vitantonio Liuzzi, who has been unceremoniously dumped by Force India in favour of Paul Di Resta. This marks the first time during Hispania's extremely brief history that a driver will be able to bring experience to the team which will prove vital in moving the outfit up the grid. The Italian is joined by Narain Karthikeyan, returning after just one season with Jordan in 2005, who should become the first Indian to participate in his home Grand Prix later this year, provided his Tata money hasn't dried up by then.
Marussia Virgin Racing
Drivers – Timo Glock (D), Jerome D'Ambrosio (B)
Reserve Driver – Sakon Yamamoto (J)
With its small budget, continued abstinence from wind-tunnel testing in favour of CFD and rather anonymous form in testing, there seems to be little to suggest a major leap up the grid for Virgin Racing. Experienced German Timo Glock finds himself in the unfortunate position of having his considerable skill wasted by uncompetitive machinery. Owing to his impressive Friday practice performances last year, Jerome D'Ambrosio replaces Lucas Di Grassi as Glock's teammate for the new season. He becomes Belgium's first full-time F1 driver since Thierry Boutsen, though his GP2 results don't particularly allude to any world-beating potential. Along with Hispania, any chance of scoring points for Virgin Racing would seem improbable.
Drivers' Championship Predictions
1. Alonso, 2. Vettel, 3. Webber, 4. Hamilton, 5. Massa, 6. Button, 7. Heidfeld, 8. Rosberg, 9. Schumacher, 10. Barrichello, 11. Petrov, 12. Buemi, 13. Maldonado, 14. Alguersauri, 15. Kobayashi, 16. Sutil, 17. Di Resta, 18. Perez, 19. Kovalainen, 20. Trulli, 21. Glock, 22. Liuzzi, 23. D'Ambrosio, 24. Karthikeyan
Constructors' Championship Predictions
1. Red Bull-Renault, 2. Ferrari, 3. McLaren-Mercedes, 4. Renault, 5. Mercedes, 6. Williams-Cosworth, 7. STR-Ferrari, 8. Sauber-Ferrari, 9. Force India-Mercedes, 10. Lotus-Renault, 11. Virgin-Cosworth, 12. HRT-Cosworth
Those are my predictions, but what about yours? Don't hesitate to leave a comment in the form below. Thanks very much for reading, and be sure to check back next Sunday for a look back at the exciting seasons of 10, 20 and 30 years ago.
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