It is me once more, been quite a lot of activity on this little corner of the internet over the past few days, all in preparation for the coming nine months of motor-racing. From Australia in a very short weeks time all the way to Brazil in November at the end of the year where the new Bonus Points Champion will be revealed. Jenson Button, enters the season as the worlds first and only reigning Blog Bonus Points Champion - although the accolade may be one of great immensity - Jenson didn't seem to respond to being tweeted of his success. Then again neither did Lewis or Michael when informed of their not as impressive titles, seems none of the folk of the real world actually pay attention to what goes on here. Ah well me and my little audience shall plow on regardless of what the world thinks. But here's hoping that this year will be different, that our champion will be crowned whether they like it or not...
Anyway this is time welcome the new season here on the blog, and what better way to declare the proceedings open than a nice new video all filmed in the visually very impressive DX9, although it works perfectly fine when running the simulation; recording it does have FPS issues. So when it comes to running the lap guides in the coming races - may have to turn down the visuals in order to ensure I don't end up in the barriers and actually complete a lap.
So what are we expecting here at blog HQ, well not too much can be gleamed from the pre-season testing because all the teams will be concealing their true pace from the competition. From the results it would appear Williams and Sauber will be competing for the title alongside division one. Additionally it would appear that the returning Raikkonen is going to be impossibly fast - after turning up to the first testing session and topping the time sheets. Taking that into consideration we have to take a more general look at things, accepting that the testing data exists but choosing to disregard most of them - somehow I doubt if there is going to be only 1.3s separating Raikkonen in front and that Vettel would be the car in last place. On balance I think those numbers can be cast aside.
Now a more realistic look a the plausible outcomes in Australia only a week away, firstly it can be presumed the division structure that formed in 2011 will once more dominate the hierarchy of the grid this time around. Divisions that will probably go as follows:
Division 1:
At the very front of the grid we can expect to find the usual suspects, with Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren being the ultimate competitors - the order of those teams could be anyone's guess, yet it is a safe guess that Red Bull will be pretty difficult to beat. While both the their main rivals will be looking to make a much stronger start to the season than they made in 2012.
Yet they may not be alone in the first division, a small matter of a rather speedy Finn in a car which does seem to have some decent speed can't be completely ignored, indeed the testing results are about as water-tight as the titanic... after it sank but there may be a small hint of truth in them. Lotus could make the same start that former Renault Squadron made this time last year with a clever exhaust system. Now those technologies have been abandoned they may not get swamped by the grid this season.
Then there is the team in perpetual no-mans land, not quite division one, but ahead of division two, of course this is Mercedes locked in racing limbo. Will this year be any different, for the Germans - testing puts them ahead of Red Bull - so I can assume that those results are nonsense at this point in time.
Division 2:
With the possibility of Lotus moving into the next division upwards this group of the grid could be a little thinned out this time round, but will that make it a little less competitive - will it hell. With Sauber and Williams performing 'well' in testing the cars could perceivably even closer than they were before placing all eight cars on a very similar pace which bodes well for some very exciting racing. Unleashing that degree of competition onto the parkland track in Melbourne sounds immensely entertaining.
Yet looking at the teams in this category I can imagine that Force India would be the ones at the top of the tree by thousandths of a second and probably quite close to Mercedes and their division 1.5 position. It is anyone's guess of who will be their closest competitor as Torro Rosso, Sauber, and Williams could easily rise to the surface and it will be enthralling seeing that battle develop.
Division 3:
Out of the three teams running down here in the final division there is likely to only be one victor - in the form of Caterham Racing, based on their complete dominance of the division over the previous years. Combined with the progress both HRT and Marussia have made during the winter, it is a patten likely to continue. Neither of the latter teams have taken part in current pre-season testing sessions on account of failing to pass the crash tests.
Similar to the process HRT encountered last year, running their testing in actual practice sessions in Australia even with the extra delay brought on by the cancellation of Bahrain. However we have been assured that the preparations have been much smoother this time - and the car does look more developed. Not what we can say for Marussia however - binning the CFD approach after certain flaws like not having a fuel tank big enough to finish a race creeped in to the car, look less accomplished. As the pre season update posts showed the MVR 01 appears a little too basic. Perhaps HRT may enjoy a new life one row off the back this season, but only time will tell.
The Blog in 2012
As you, the people of the internet, will no doubt be aware of, the evil folks at Sky have acquired coverage of the season, leaving the BBC with only half the races, replacing the missing events with 'Highlights'. Based on the highlights I was forced to endure for the Indian GP I can only hope things are more comprehensive this time. The schedule does say two hours is the allotted time for the highlights show so perhaps a little more promising, additionally the channel do seem to be covering qualifying highlights as well, which is a relief as this means I can continue to deliver points on the Saturdays.
It probably bodes well for you lot, however few of you there are out there who read these things, as it may mean that these posts could be shorter with less material to go on, yet for the more traditionally timetabled races in the afternoon, there may be an alternative solution to bring into play.
The bonus points will be delivered as normal, except this time using the current F1 Scoring system, placing a greater importance on the race, and to allow more teams and drivers and other objects to make it onto the table. In 2011 over 60 entities scored points and we hope to improve that this time around. Also in terms of the qualifying scoring that will be scored on a decreasing points scale using the old points system where the top 6 drivers scored points from the good old days.
Now things are all ready, filming is already being mentally plotted for the Australia video, it may be stolen by the folk in the sky building but it doesn't stop the anticipation - even though I may have to highlight that too, so until next time farewell from me here at blog HQ.
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