The Sepgang Circuit:

The first Malaysian Grand Prix was held in 1999 and Ferrari romped off with a dominant one two with Eddie Irvine emerging victorious. Previous races have tended to be dominated by one driver with the winning margin generally in the region of 20 seconds which equates at approximately 0.5 seconds per lap during the race. As a result it is unlikely that we will see a great battle for the victory but with the battle between Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren proving to be quite close in terms of race pace there is the potential for a closer battle at the front than what we have seen here in the past.

There are potential overtaking positions on this racetrack with two one kilometre straights to start and finish the lap entering into tight hairpins so there should be opportunities for drivers to challenge one another this weekend. We saw in both Bahrain and Melbourne that even if drivers have a significant advantage in terms of pace that it can still be quite difficult to overtake but we may see an increase in overtaking at the front here due to the wide nature of the track and the variance of lines that are available into the hairpins.

Elsewhere on the track there is a good balance of slow and high speed corners with turns 12 and 13 providing a perfect insight into what makes a Formula 1 car so difficult to drive. Turn 12 is an ultra fast left hander feeding directly in a right hander that needs to taken perfectly as it will dictate the speed a driver can carry down the long back straight and the prime overtaking spot into the final corner.

Setup for the Malaysian Grand Prix:

By its nature this circuit is a compromise in terms of setup. Teams have to balance the need for speed down the long straights with grip in the tight and twisting infield.

Strategy for the Malaysia Grand Prix:

The one thing that has become clear from the opening two grand prix has been that Bridgestone has developed tyres that can comfortably complete nearly the entire distance of a race with very little effort. This will mean that once again we will have a one stop race. Bridgestone will take the soft and the hard compound of tyres to this race.

Weather for the Malaysian Grand Prix

The weather always has the potential to create an exciting race in Malaysia. Formula 1 comes to town during the rainy season and rain showers can come out of nowhere and engulf the circuit in minutes leaving the race track exceptionally perilous for drivers on the wrong set of tyres. For this weekend’s scattered thunder storms are expected for each day of running. The conditions that are faced in Malaysia are generally considered to be the toughest faced by the teams all year, high temperatures and high humidity makes for an uncomfortable workplace. The conditions are so tough for drivers to handle that during pit stops it is not unknown to see a team member pour a bottle of cold water over the driver while he waits for the mechanics to finish their work, but with stops taking in the region of 4 seconds this may be a luxury that drivers have to go without this year.

Austrailian Grand Prix Review

Jenson Button won the rain-dogged Australian Grand Prix on the streets of Melbourne with an inspired decision to change to slicks at the earliest possible time. The decision was quite reminiscent of David Coulthard’s drive in 2003 when he pitted early and availed of the extra speed of dry weather tyres to win that year’s season opener. Button’s gamble did not look like paying off as the world champion misjudged his braking at turn three after changing tyres but he immediately set fastest times in the next two sectors. The leaders knew that they were now on the wrong tyres and pitted en mass to change tyres. In the melee on pit lane Renault’s Robert Kubica managed to get ahead of the pack and fed back into the race in third position behind Button and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel.

The top two drivers in last year’s world championship fought it out at the head of the field with Vettel pulling away. The German though would be foiled by the team’s Achilles heel of the last two years- poor reliability. The team demonstrably had the fastest car in Formula 1 over the most of last year’s championship, but consistently had various issues with reliability. Today it was the brakes, and Vettel’s finally failed at turn 13 and he spun off into the gravel.  Last year it could be argued that he lost the title because he lost points at the start of the year and this year, when he could have won the first two races, he has only 12 points to show for two poles and having led each race comfortably.

Button passed his stricken rival and went on to win comfortably, however his teammate had a contrasting day. Lewis Hamilton struggled in qualifying and started in 11^th place on the grid.  With the race starting in wet conditions it was expected that the Englishman would excel and move towards the front of the field. This duly occurred but after pitting for dry tyres his race started to unravel. Hamilton battled with Mark Webber for most of the race and they had two clashes, the last of which scuppered both their chances of overtaking Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari.

Both Webber and Hamilton needed a second pitstop for tyres after having had marginal wear on their first sets of slicks. Both drivers obviously expected that Ferrari and Renault would have to pit their drivers with whom they were challenging for track position. This turned out to be an incorrect assumption as both Ferrari’s stayed out on track to chase down Kubica and while their tyres were in very bad condition they made it to the flag intact and the now out of synch Hamilton and Webber were unable to overtake. With the current rules banning in race refuelling track position has become king and even though they had significantly more grip from their fresh tyres, and had caught the group ahead of them (at two seconds per lap) Hamilton was unable to overtake Alonso.

His best efforts came with only two laps to go as the McLaren driver had a great run on the Spaniard down the back straight but coming into turn 13 both Hamilton and Alonso braked harder than Webber anticipated and the home crowd’s hero crashed into the rear of Hamilton spinning both into the gravel. They resumed but Hamilton lost a place to Rosberg and Webber needed to pit for a new front wing. The Australian took the blame for the accident afterwards and left his home race disappointed, after a front row qualifying position that ultimately only netted him a lowly ninth position and just two points.

Michael Schumacher had an eventful race but will surely be disappointed that the best he could manage was the final points paying position. The seven times world champion clashed with Alonso at the first turn and needed to change his front wing from damage sustained and from there on in he was stuck in the middle of the field, unable to overtake Jamie Alguersuari for long periods. It is highly doubtful that he expected to come back for performances like this one! Outside of the points scorers both Lotus and Hispania got a car to the finish which is a sign of progress for both teams as they attempt to prove their abilities to be on the grid.

Next weekend brings with it the Malaysian Grand Prix in Sepang and the promise of exceptional heat and the potential for more rain. Formula 1 will have gotten some breathing room from expectant fans after the excitement of Melbourne but the teams will not rest on their laurels with a meeting planned to discuss ways to improve the racing throughout the year. Formula 1 got a great shot in the arm in Australia and now it must carry the momentum of this race onto Malaysia. 

Austrailian Grand Prix Peview

The Albert Park Circuit:

In 1996 Melbourne began its tenure as the host of the Australian Grand Prix after Adelaide hosting the race for 11 years. The Grand Prix is run on the streets of Albert Park but is far from the typical layout associated with a street track with fast sweeping corners and numerous high speed sections.

The circuit lends itself to mechanical and driver errors though with heavy braking from high speeds occurring three times during the lap putting tremendous pressure on the reliability of the brakes, gearboxes and the longevity of the tyres. The first corner has been the scene of numerous incidents in the past, none more spectacular than Ralf Schumacher’s exit at the start of the 2002 race. Turn three is the prime overtaking spot during the race with a slow second gear right hander after a long straight. This has been the sight of daring moves in the past but also moves that went wrong such as Ralf and Villeneuve in 2001.

The middle of the lap is when the cars are at their most spectacular with the high speed left, right at turns 11 and 12 the drivers favourite section of the lap where drivers thread the eye of a needle at 140 mph. This corner can catch even the best drivers out in qualifying as drivers push as hard as possible for their grid positions. From there drivers have a relatively easy time to end the lap with not much to really challenge them until the final corner where exit speeds are crucial as it leads onto the longest straight of the lap.

Setup for the Australian Grand Prix:

By its nature as a tempory cicuit with this weekend the only running for the entire year the teams will be chasing the setup for their car for most of the weekend. As the track gets more use it will ‘rubber in’ as a racing line is developed and the surface will get grippier and faster as the weekend progresses. This posses issues for the engineers as with Park Ferme rules not allowing changes to the car once qualifying is over the drivers will not have ideal setups for either qualifying or the race. Do you set the car up to get as far up the grid as possible or do you look to have better pace during the race? If you are a front running team qualifying will take preference as Bahrain showed overtaking was all but impossible for the cars at the front of the field. But if you are a midfield team it might be prudent to take a more long term view and have the car setup for the race and force overtaking moves-the midfield had some great dices in Bahrain even if the TV producers failed to look into the middle of the pack.

To achieve fast laps in Bahrain drivers need two things-a good front end and good traction coming out of the numerous second gear corners. Understeer will kill lap time around this circuit so drivers and engineers need to find a near perfect front end balance to achieve the required lap times.

Strategy for the Australian Grand Prix:

It would be surprising if drivers at the front raced any strategy other than the one stop that were the norm in Bahrain. The safety car has been quite prevalent in the past in Melbourne (nine times in the past four races there) and its intervention could change the strategy with drivers electing for a ‘free’ pitstop when the race is under caution and running at a slower speed.

The only fly in the ointment could be tyre wear. Last year the super-soft Bridgestone tyres struggled to last for any significant length of time and drivers on the harder compound were in the ascendency. This was quite clear with the performance of Robert Kubica in the BMW as he closed right in on Vettel’s super-soft shod Red Bull. The two crashed after Kubica tried to make his move but the potential for tyre woes could lead to teams having to make an unexpected second stop and shaking up the order considerably. The teams had issues in Bahrain with tyre wear and had to coax through the race so as not to use too much of the performance, Melbourne is considerably harder on tyres than Bahrain so we could see some great excitement at the end if drivers are on different cycles of tyre compounds as the race reaches its conclusion.

Weather for the Australian Grand Prix

There is a good chance of rain disrupting either qualifying or the race with showers expected in the Melbourne area in the evening. This could really shake up the Grand Prix but while rain generally brings excitement to the fans with the potential for the unexpected it is worth remembering that if it does rain as the race reaches its conclusion visibility may become so poor that the race will be red flagged. This could happen as a result of changing the start time of the Grand Prix to late afternoon to suit European fans unwilling to watch the race in the middle of the night.

Bahrain Grand Prix Review

After a winter of heightened expectations the Formula 1 season opened on Sunday with the Bahrain Grand Prix with the promise of exciting racing and a close battle between the top four teams.

However on the basis of the race these expectations may need to modified for the future as the race failed to live up to expectations and disappointed many fans with poor racing and a lack of overtaking. With refuelling banned the hope was that there would a variance in race strategy but as the race unfolded it became clear that the Bridgestone tyres were more than comfortable running long distances in the desert heat and all drivers only had to make a single scheduled pitstop. The action on track was poor with cars unable to make overtaking moves on one another even if they had a faster car as shown with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. Hamilton got bottled behind the Mercedes driver and had to wait for his pitstop before being able to clear the German and when in clear air the 2008 world champion was able to comfortably pull away.

Michael Schumacher made his views perfectly to the BBC clear after the Grand Prix saying, “Overtaking is basically impossible, other than if someone makes a mistake.” The seven times world champion is one of the few drivers whose career is long enough to have spanned to the previous non-refuelling era of Formula 1 and he was clearly unimpressed with the results of the changes as he returns to the sport.

The main crux of the issue is that the tyres are durable enough to last long distances during the race so there was no issue with excessive wear during the race, prior to the start it was speculated that Red Bull would be one of the teams that would have issues with tyre wear but Sebastian Vettel was able to lap comfortably at the head of the pack and keep the Ferrari’s at bay until he lost engine power in a failure attributed to a spark plug issue. Last season’s title runner-up was highly impressive after clinching pole position and leading for the majority of the race until having his mechanical trouble.

This let Fernando Alonso through to romp home to victory ahead of his teammate Felipe Massa in Ferrari’s best start to a season since 2004. The Spaniard, making his Ferrari debut, was unable to match Vettel’s pace on the soft compound in the first stint but once the pitstops were made both Ferrari’s showed tremendous pace to close in on the Red Bull. A great battle was looking set to be raged but then Vettel’s engine problems came to the fore making him easy pickings for the Ferrari’s and later Lewis Hamilton down the pit straights due to his reduced top speed.

Alonso made clear his joy after the race. “Jumping onto the top step of the podium was a special feeling and I hope I have matched the expectations of the whole team.” He clearly has a great car this year that will give him the chance to challenge for the world title for the first time since 2007 but he will face stiff competition from the Red Bulls which justified their tag as the fastest car on the grid even if it became clear that it still suffers from durability concerns in light of Vettel’s failure.

Away from the front of the field the new teams offered an interesting subplot with Lotus the only team to get a car to the finish with Heikki Kovalainen’s solid drive. The team can be pleased with a good debut Grand Prix that they will rightly look at as a solid building block for the future. Hispania on the other hand struggled throughout their debut weekend with Karun Chandhok unable to drive the car until qualifying and retiring after an accident on lap 2. His teammate Bruno Senna fared better running until middle distance before retiring and showing a better turn of speed during the race than expected. The team will look to build on their performance for the next Grand Prix but they face a long road to success.

Virgin Racing had a mixed day with Timo Glock racing the Lotus’ well until retiring with the same hydraulic issues that have curtailed running during testing but the experiment of designing their car without the use of traditional wind tunnels and utilising CFD instead seems to have paid off with Glock the fastest of the new team’s drivers in qualifying. Lucas di Grassi struggled on his debut weekend with mechanical issues blighting his running and only managing a few laps in the race.

The weekend can be one that was generally characterised as one that disappointed. The racing was vastly below expectations and Mercedes and McLaren showed that they have a lot of ground to make up if we are to have the top four teams challenging each other. Current world champion Jenson Button also has cause for disappointment as he was unable to match his teammate Hamilton’s pace in qualifying and the race and he will need to perform significantly better in Melbourne or else a shift of momentum within his team will see Hamilton as the clear leader. Even though Hamilton finished on the podium it seems quite clear that he transcended the car throughout and he will feel development of the car needs to be very aggressive or else the pacesetters will get too far ahead for McLaren to launch a serious title challenge.

Vettel can feel aggrieved after comfortably leading the race before finishing in fourth. The young German’s title challenge was wrecked last year by mechanical issues and accidents. He will do what he can to curtail his mistakes but he will expect the same from his team or else it will be impossible to win the title. Mark Webber made a mistake in qualifying that left him from the sharp end of the grid and he paid the penalty throughout the race unable to overtake Button and he finished in eighth.

The next Grand Prix is in two weeks time on the streets of Melbourne’s Albert Park and a circuit which is one of the most punishing of the season, for Formula 1’s sake it will need to also give thrilling racing and make Bahrain just a blip as the sport looks to capitalise on the return of Schumacher and the positive press of the preseason. But with the durability of the tyres and the lack of performance of McLaren and Mercedes it may well become a race between Ferrari and Red Bull for the foreseeable future until Formula 1 returns to Europe and the development race can truly begin. 

First day of running completed

Nico Rosberg finished his first day of running as a works Mercedes driver with the fastest time ahead of former world champion Lewis Hamilton and his illustrious teammate Michael Schumacher. Schumacher is making his return to the sport after a three year absence and struggled at times during the early running to reacclimatise to the rigours of a Grand Prix weekend. He ended the day 0.5 seconds behind his teammate after struggling with a handling imbalance in the morning session. Rosberg has been in the shadows of his team since Schumacher announced that he was coming out of retirement but shone in the afternoon session with a series of blistering laps before settling down into longer stints to work on his race setup.

Hamilton suffered from severe tyre wear of the harder compound in the afternoon session and this may become an issue for the Englishman during the race which may necessitate an additional pitstop. He can be satisfied though to have outpaced his new teammate and reigning world champion Jenson Button who was fourth fastest after his days running as a McLaren driver. Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel are supposedly the favourites for this seasons championship after finishing as runner ups last season but the German struggled badly with understeer and had numerous off track excursions but managed to set the fifth fastest time. His day was a struggle but one that was better than his teammate Mark Webber who lost all of the afternoon running with a driveshaft failure.

Ferrari concentrated on long stints to get the car setup efficiently for the race and seemed to be very competitive in comparison to competitors when this is taken into account. Felipe Massa showed no ill effects of his crash last season to end the day in seventh one second off the pace. Double world champion Fernando Alonso was a 0.5 seconds further back but the Ferrari’s ran at a similar pace to one another until Massa’s last lap. The race pace of these cars will be a worry for their rivals as the tyre wear that was an issue for Hamilton and Vettel was of concern to the Ferrari’s.

Outside of the main challengers rookies Nico Hülkenberg was a surprising sixth and Vitaly Petrov eighth for Williams and Renault. The other notable additions to the grid are the new teams. Lotus and Virgin managed to get solid running under their belts throughout the day with Heikki Kovalainen the fastest of the new teams runners. Bringing up the year unsurprisingly was the Hispania team whose car hadn’t turned a wheel prior to todays running. They only managed to get one car on track today with Bruno Senna twelve seconds off the pace. His teammate Karun Chandhok will get his first taste of the car tomorrow but he will surely have a baptism of fire with little running before qualifying begins. 

A background to Bahrain

The Bahrain International Circuit:

In 2004 Bahrain became the first Middle Eastern country to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix at the Bahrain International Circuit. For 2010 the circuit has been extended to utilise a longer track configuration increasing the lap to 6.299 km from 5.412 km. Due to the desert heat and the presence of sand on the racetrack the track surface is very slick and will only present a single racing line; overtaking is therefore very difficult with so little offline grip.

If we analyse the extended track we can see that there are 23 corners but only two realistic overtaking opportunities. The prime position for potential overtaking is the start finish straight which is more than 1km long and where cars reach speeds upwards of 300kmph before braking into a tight first gear hairpin taken at 65kmph. The only other real opportunity for overtaking is turn 4 where again there is heavy breaking from high speed. Any other overtaking manoeuvres will require a mistake from the leading driver or a clear performance advantage between the cars.

Setup for the Bahrain International Circuit:

As this will be the first year where Formula 1 cars wills race on the extended circuit it is only possible to surmise the potential setups that will be used. When setting up a car for any given circuit teams have to determine what are the main considerations needed for the track. In Bahrain the main considerations are downforce levels, tyre compounds and race strategy.

Downforce levels dictate the top speed that a car can obtain as well as its grip levels. The lower the downforce the higher the top speed and a higher downforce gives a driver a car that is better when under braking and one that will give greater grip when cornering. In Bahrain teams will have to balance the need for top speed on the four long straights with the handling required on the tight and twisty infield section. In the past the optimum setup was a medium downforce level to balance the need for speed and grip. Now however with the new layout teams will have to increase downforce levels so as to be quick in the infield. If a team uses too much downforce they will be easy prey down the long straights so expect the teams to maintain a similar setup to the past which will mean the cars will be difficult to control in the infield leading to potential mistakes during the race.

Drivers will have the choice of two tyre compounds for use during the weekend. They must use both types during the race so the choice of when to use one over the other is crucial. The softer compound will generally be quicker due to increased grip but this is offset by increased wear on the tyre. Teams need to set their car up so that it can get the tyre to its optimum temperature range as fast as possible yet still be useable for the race.

Strategy for the Bahrain Grand Prix:

Despite the high temperatures and a dusty, slick racetrack there has been a high finishing rate in previous Bahrain Grand Prix which means that it is rare for drivers to come from the back of the field to score high points. Qualifying is exceptionally important for this race as no previous winner has qualified outside of the top four. Teams will start on the softer compound so that they can get as much grip as possible for the start and to try and overtake opponents before turn 1.

Drivers have tended to make two pitstops during the races with only the inaugural winner Michael Schumacher making three stops in 2004. Since then the winning drivers have made their stops between laps 18 and 20 of a 57 lap race. Last year Jenson Button made an earlier stop on lap 15 due to a strategic decision to gain track position on cars that had been ahead of him. Second stops have occurred between laps 37 and 41.

Total pitstop time will be somewhere in the region of 21-22 seconds, this includes the time on pitlane and the time needed to change the tyres. If a driver still intends to make two stops during the race a short first stint on soft compound tyres similar to Button’s last year will be utilised with the driver pitting between laps 14 and 17 of the new 49 lap distance. Second stops for these drivers should occur between laps 30 and 33. Two stopping drivers will need to open a large lead in the early proceedings over drivers intending on a single pitstop who will pit between laps 20 and 22.

This should lead to very exciting duels where drivers on differing strategies have to open gaps of greater than 22 seconds so as to emerge ahead of a driver that will make one stop less during the race. The team with the greatest potential to use differing strategies is McLaren due to the differing styles of its drivers. Lewis Hamilton is a very aggressive driver and his past issues with tyre wear will make it very likely that he will use the two stop approach that should be favoured by many of the drivers. Jenson Button on the other hand is the smoothest driver on the grid and as a result of his style is easier on his tyres. He may attempt to utilise a single stop to try and negate any speed advantage that Hamilton may have over him. We could see a very exciting duel develop between the two McLaren drivers during the race where neither will be fighting together on the track until after the pitstops are completed leaving 15 laps for them to battle to the finish.

Pre season driver expectations

      
·       Jenson Button-McLaren

Button has left the confines of the Brawn team to join McLaren and test himself against Hamilton. It will be a huge challenge for the world champion but he will be closer to Hamilton than many people think.

·         Lewis Hamilton-McLaren

The 2008 world champion endured a difficult title defence last season but has shown that he is the outright fastest driver on the grid and he will relish having Button as his teammate.

·         Michael Schumacher-Mercedes

Can Schumacher return to the form that made him the greatest Grand Prix driver of all time? He clearly still has the desire to race and he will win races this season. The title may be a bridge too far this season but the Schumacher and Ross Brawn tandem is one never to be underestimated.

·         Nico Rosberg-Mercedes

Rosberg has shown moments of brilliance in his career and last year was very impressive but he needs to win a race this season. He must learn from Schumacher how to mould a team around himself to be successful in future.

·         Sebastian Vettel-Red Bull

Vettel finished runner-up last season and has everything at his disposal to go one better this seasonand win the championship but he needs to reduce the errors which last season cost him a lot of early season points last year.

·         Mark Webber-Red Bull

Webber won twice last year and was very competitive relative to his teammate in races but he needs to get the better of Vettel in qualifying if he is to challenge for the championship and keep his drive in 2010

·         Fernando Alonso-Ferrari

The 2005 and 2006 world champion has toiled for the past two years in an uncompetitive Renault but will get the chance with Ferrari to return to the front of the field. Alonso needs to assert himself as Ferrari’s team leader if he is to win this title

·         Felipe Massa-Ferrari

The Brazilian has fully recovered from his injuries sustained in last year’s accident in Hungary and will be looking to surprise people with his performance relative to Alonso

·         Rubens Barrichello-Williams

Barrichello is a very consistent driver who is as adept at setting up his car as anyone in the field. This ability will be a great advantage to him and Williams will look to turn that into consistent points this season.

·         Nico Hülkenberg-Willaims

Hülkenberg comes into Formula 1 as the most touted rookie since Lewis Hamilton and he will have a good yardstick in Barrichello against which to judge his performance. The target has to be to score points and to be a strong qualifier; anything above this depends on the car.

·         Robert Kubica-Renault

Kubica has left BMW after four years service after tiring of their performance and development approach. He is a clear team leader and Renault will need him to develop the car efficiently. If he can qualify in the top ten and get occasionally get on the podium the team will have made considerable progress. 

·         Vitaly Petrov-Renault

PePetrov will be the first Russian F1 driver. He was beaten by Hülkenberg to the GP2 title last year and has a lot of experience after three years in the Formula 1 feeder series. This hiring has as much to do with nationality as talent. If he scores points occasionally the team will be satisfied.

·         Adrian Sutil-Force India

The German has to eliminate errors that have blighted his career so far in Formula if he is to keep his drive with the team

·         Vitantonio Liuzzi-Force India

Liuzzi is a man under pressure; Force India have Paul di Resta contracted as a test driver and if Liuzzi does not meet expectations the team will replace him with the Briton.

·         Sebastian Buemi-Toro Rosso

The Swiss driver did well as a rookie in 2009 and will look to build on last season’s performances when he scored 6 points. Getting into Qualifying 2 consistently will be his target

·         Jamie Alguersuari-Toro Rosso

The youngest man ever to start a Grand Prix showed potential last season but needs to match his teammate this season if he is to have a career in F1

·         Jarno Trulli-Lotus Racing

The former Toyota driver faces a challenge this year. Even such an exceptional qualifier will do well to get this car to challenge the tail end of the established teams.

·         Heikki Kovalainen-Lotus Racing

Kovalainen has to rebuild his career after being soundly beaten by Hamilton in their two years as teammates at McLaren. It is tough to see how he can achieve that with the uncompetitive Lotus

·         Karun Chandhok-Hispania

If Chandhok can match the pace of his teammate this season he will have achieved quite a lot. He has been inconsistent in the past and was comfortably beaten by Senna when they were teammates in GP2

·         Bruno Senna-Hispania

Senna is the nephew of triple world champion Ayrton. The Brazilian has the ability and was successful in GP2, but will need wet weather to fully showcase his ability

·         Pedro de la Rosa-Sauber

De la Rosa has been impressive in testing with good pace during race simulations. He will score points and will look to get on the podium should any of the leaders struggle. 

·         Kamui Kobayashi-Sauber

Kobayashi was unimpressive in junior categories but showed terrific potential deputising for Timo Glock in the last two races of 2008 with Toyota. If he matches the pace of his teammate he will secure his future in Formula 1

·         Timo Glock-Virgin

The Toyota refugee faces a struggle this season but he will relish being a team leader. He has the speed and the mentality to lead this team efficiently.

·         Lucas di Grassi-Virgin

The Brazilian is an exceptionally intelligent driver and after waiting patiently for his opportunity in Formula 1 will be determined to display his ability.

Formula 1 2010-A potentially classic season!

The 2010 Formula 1 season promises to be one of the most exciting seasons ever. Over the past ten years the gap in performance between teams has been consistently closing and this season there the top four teams may be all but impossible to separate. These top teams; Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari will all feel that they have the machinery and expertise to be called the title favourite but with so little between the teams it is very likely that all that will separate them at the end of the season will be who makes the least mistakes. Each team has incredible resources-both financial and technical-at their disposal and they will utilise their entire arsenal to win both the Driver’s and Constructor’s titles.

While it is exceptionally rare to have four teams all capable of challenging for the title it is even more unique to have such a depth of talent of drivers on the grid. This year McLaren have the two most recent World Drivers champions in Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton. Mercedes has the returning seven times world champion Michael Schumacher and the upcoming Nico Rosberg in their cockpits. The Red Bull team finished last season with the strongest car and won the last three races with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber who both return for the team this year. Ferrari abandoned further development of their car early last season to concentrate on this year’s car and with double world champion Fernando Alonso teamed with Felipe Massa they promise to have an exceptional package. Of this group of drivers only Nico Rosberg has failed to win a Grand Prix but that has been largely down to the failings of the cars at his disposal previously.

Outside of this group Renault’s highly rated Polish driver, Robert Kubica, has already won a Grand Prix and was a title challenger in 2008 but this season he will not have a car capable of being a consistent challenger to the front of the field. Last season Rubens Barrichello won twice while driving for Brawn GP and for some time challenged Button and Vettel for the title. The Brazilian will race for the Williams team alongside highly rated rookie Nico Hülkenberg. Lotus makes a very welcome return to the sport after an absence of 16 years and has a driver line-up of past race winners with Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen.

There has never been a time in Formula 1 with so many past winners racing and when this is coupled with so many competitive teams it is clear that this has the potential to be a sensational season.

The driver lineup is now complete for Formula 1 2010

Karun Chandhok has been announched as the teammate to Bruno Senna in the newly renamed Hispania Racing Team. Hispania, formerly Campos, made the announchment at the launch of their first ever Formula 1 car. The Indian has long been a favourate of Bernie Eccelstone due to his ability to tap into the growing Indian markets.

Chandhok has shown flashes of brilliance in the past most notably winning races in GP2 and finishing on the podium in Monaco however he has tempered this with some poor showings in the series also. It will be interesting to see how he compares to Senna this season. Neither driver will have had any driving time prior to the first race but Senna has been integrating himself within the team for months and should have an initial advantage as a result.