The 2014 Calendar - and a special annoucement

Greetings Internet

Before things get started with the primary point of this latest contribution to the internet there is the matter of that announcement. A long time ago (in this galaxy) in the inaugural season of coverage coming out from the depths of Blog HQ - there was an acquisition of sorts. Upon the weekend of the Singaporean GP of 2011, through the extreme skill of throwing a ping pong ball into an empty jam jar, Blog HQ was gifted an aquatic mascot. It was on that day that Blog 'Happy' Fish moved in, and against all odds that fish remains alive and possibly happy - but that cannot be verified. The fish may no longer have any fins left after they all parted company in 2012, but this weekend past represents the second anniversary of his/her adoption - the actual date was the 26th of September and this post was supposed to be written earlier but I forgot. So back then is was happy-first-time-in-relocated-captivity... day and if I was a one for celebrations they would be have been immense, but seeing as I'm not it was a typically subdued occasion.

Once that important event has been covered, it is time to move on to the purpose of today's post, and that is that a provisional 2014 calendar has been released - normally this is merely a formality for the powers that be, but this one is a little different. Because we have a plethora of new entries to take a look at, pushing the number of races up to 22, which is going to be very hectic - including three races in three weeks in the middle of the season. Of course this only a provisional calendar with some venues hanging onto their place with the very edge of their fingertips so by the time things roll out again next season, that number may have been trimmed ever so slightly.

The Calendar 

This is the list of proposed races and dates for the 2014 season, all the races from this season are present with the exception of India which is on a sabbatical - and may not make a comeback in 2015 considering how packed the schedule is at the moment. Three completely new circuits join the list as well as one returning venue from several years ago - the most challenging span logistically is the one from Monaco to Montreal. Normally a two week gap is conventional between the two, but fitting a long haul flight to New Jersey in the middle is going to be really difficult and expensive.

16/03 Australia
30/03 Malaysia
06/04 Bahrain
20/04 China
27/04 Korea (provisional)
11/05 Spain
25/05 Monaco
01/06 America, New Jersey (provisional*)
08/06 Canada
22/06 Austria
06/07 Britain
20/07 Germany
27/07 Hungary
24/08 Belgium
07/09 Italy
21/09 Singapore
05/10 Russia
12/10 Japan
26/10 Abu Dhabi
09/11 USA, Austin
16/11 Mexico (provisional*)
30/11 Brazil

The New Entries

Several new venues have appeared on this potential calendar, some have been floating around for a while and others just turned up within weeks of the calendar being launched - while other names like Thailand and South Africa remain only distant rumours. But is time to examine exactly what these new additions have in store for 2014

New Jersey 

This track was originally planned to début this season, which is why we've ended up with a lot of strange scheduling and odd breaks between races - there was a last minute effort to find a replacement, candidates included Istanbul and the Algarve Circuit in Portugal. New Jersey was unable to fill the place due to financial difficulties leading to delays in construction and preparation - not helped by Hurricane Sandy disrupting things.

Just looking at the layout it doesn't seem all that grand, almost as if it was thrown together just to compete with Austin's race. But an rFactor simulation video that's been floating around makes it seem a little better than that - unfortunately the model isn't up for public release or I'd have had a go myself. It doesn't seem like a typical US street circuit - like Long Beach or St Petersberg, all full of angles and sharp corners. There is a bit of that here, mainly surrounding the main straight but the majority of it looks quite fast. I'd like to see it happen simply for curiosity's sake but of the four is holds the most tenuous position and might not be ready again for 2014.

Austria

With F1 looking for new and ever more exotic places to hold an event it might seem odd that a little country back here in Europe would make a return - especially after the track, the A1 Ring fell into disrepair and was no longer fit for usage. But the track was resurrected and renamed as the Red Bull Ring... and it all starts to make sense a home race for the most successful team in the recent years. Having seen some footage from other categories that have used the track since the rebuild and it looks identical to how it once was - almost nostalgic - with the exception of pit lane updates of course.

The A1 (or Red Bull) Ring also contravenes the majority of present circuit design concepts, the idea of cramming as many corners into as little space as possible didn't reach Austria - the track has 9 corners and is very simply in it's configuration. Yet it is such a good track, turn one is a medium speed uphill kink leading into a mountainous with a hairpin at the peak. The middle sector is four sweeping corners and the final sector is made of two virtually blind apexed downhill corners which entice you to go a little bit faster every time. It may only be back because Red Bull are taking over everything but I'm not going to complain.

Russia

Because Russia is becoming ever more influential in the sport, starting with Vitaly Petrov as their first driver and now with Marussia as a team and the incoming prospect of Sirotkin at Sauber - it stands to reason they make their mark on the calendar too. It has been a long time coming as rumours of a Russian GP have been around for a while but is it finally here - or it will be once it is finished. Just like South Korea the plans for the circuit look very ambitious, and because of what didn't happen in Korea it is natural to be a little sceptical as to how it's actually going to turn out. But unlike Korea, Russia has an ace up it's sleeve because the F1 event is going to be set in Sochi - which is also hosting the 2014 winter Olympics. Meaning all the infrastructure and building work is going to happen because it needs to be there for the winter games.

This makes the track a pseudo-street event - like Korea was supposed to be but never happened - built around the Olympic park, a similar idea was suggested when considering the fate of the London Olympic park. The concept has been done before, in Australia the Sydney Olympic park is now home to the finale of the V8 Supercar season, and that is brilliant - but is it a street track not a purpose built facility like this plans to be. It is a very enthralling prospect, and has some interesting corners on the track maps released.

Mexico 

A trip to Mexico is an example of F1 travelling to new emerging markets and the product of Perez and now Gutierrez's local popularity. Fortunately instead of building a new sanitised track out of the Tilke mass production design office, they plan to use the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Like Austria's A1 Ring, the Autodromo has been on the F1 calendar before - just many, many years ago - since then it has been used to host Champcar events and for a brief while NASCAR nationwide events (or Busch series as it was called then). It is a very traditional racetrack with a lot of history to it, most of which created before my existence, which is much nicer to see on the schedule than another monolithic sculpture in the desert.

But, and it is a big but, the track does need a lot of repairs to bring it up to standard having been out of circulation for a while - since champ car went bankrupt there has been very little international attention on the venue. So instead of a bit of paint here and some safer barriers there, Mr Tilke was sent out to make some changes to accommodate better pit facilities and safety requirements. Which leads to one major problem - the Peraltada, the final corner of the lap which is at massive speeds with only a concrete wall for run off, exacerbated by the huge corner entry speeds off the back straight. It is a wonderful turn, but does raise safety questions and has done for years. Champ car refused to take the final corner at full speed and opted for a horrible temporary chicane to slow the pace down, in another year the track was re-routed through the baseball stadium inside the corner to bypass half of the turn. Unfortunately the concrete wall can't be moved because there is a major motorway on the other side of it, forcing these solutions. But it's Tilke's job now to come up with something... a thought which is rather disturbing, here's hoping that this isn't another circuit that is neutered to make officially onto the calendar.

Are Korea's days numbered...

In the remodelled calendar the Korean GP has been moved much further forward, it currently occupies a next weekend, well practice in a couple of days, but no more - it is set to be race five in 2014 which is an ominous sign. Turkey and Valencia were moved further forward and then they went missing, permanently, however China and Malaysia survived the trip forwards. But here is the problem Korea has delivered nothing it has set out to do - plans to build a whole tourist metropolis surrounding the track failed to appear - instead there are fields and the occasional marsh... This has made it difficult for fans to get to the very isolated track, and therefore attendance figures have been very small, something that has also called the chinese GP into question and finished off the Turkish GP. With a calendar so crammed and essentially overpopulated venues like Korea may be on the way out. This weekend we may see an announcement as to the future of the Korean GP, but it is hanging onto it's place very tenuously indeed.

For example India - they had some attendance issues, mostly due to high entry fees in a country where the population cannot afford them, having to rely on the rich and outside tourists isn't enough to support the race. Which is why there were so many protests at the time the race was launched in 2011, a race which ignored the actual residents of India and look what happened. It too has gone missing, allegedly for only a season off, but it could be the first step to a permanent relegation from the championship, because if it came back in 2015 we'd be looking at 23 races, and people are complaining with the current calendar. I think it is a shame really, because India is one of the few Tilke tracks that is actually enjoyable - perhaps the straights are a little excessive but otherwise the corner combinations are pretty decent.

Overall 2014 does look fun, the teams might not think so - going from Monaco to New Jersey with cars, personnel and equipment in three days is challenging to say the least, but for us, the people at home sitting on the sofa it is wonderful. Because who doesn't want more racing adding some new interesting venues in Russia and New Jersey, but for once actually welcoming back some of the old traditional tracks that have been missing from the championship in a long while. So bring it on I say.

Interesting times at Ferrari

Greetings Internet,

There have been some fairly monumental changes at the front of the grid in terms of driver changes, firstly last week it was confirmed that Ricciardo would take over Webber's car. Thus unveiling potentially the worst kept secret of the season, a decision that everyone saw coming. Then there was what took place over the past few days at Ferrari - a process that started with an announcement from the team that actually contained and announcement. A different press line than their releases over the Italian GP weekend - where they made an announcement announcing that they had no announcement to make... Finally out of all that we had some clarity, Ferrari are relieving Massa of his services - which Alonso is not too pleased about because he liked working with the Brazilian, because he was a helpful team-mate and friend.

So who else could fill the role that Felipe had done so well, albeit a little off the pace and with a spate of inexplicable accidents, as it so happens they decided to secure the services of a certain Mr Raikkonen. Now that is a dangerous decision, of all the drivers whose name had been suggested if Massa was sent on his holidays - Hulkenberg, Di Resta, Kobayashi - Kimi is the least likely to play the number two role to Alonso. You'd have to think that initially Fernando would have the upper hand and may be faster on ultimate race pace as seen in so many recovery drives from dodgy qualifying sessions. So that would make Raikkonen on paper the number two driver, since equality hasn't really been invented at Ferrari - years of Irvine and Barrichello supporting Schumacher and latterly Massa too. A couple of anomalous seasons when Raikkonen and Massa were team-mates things were slightly more level - almost winning Massa the 2008 title had Glock not handed it to Hamilton in the final corner of the season. So this does open the door for a potentially quite fractious power struggle - which could either push the team forward and finally beat that German Bloke...or it could implode in a cloud of animosity and carbon fibre.

Then there is the other point Kimi was himself sent on his holidays to the WRC and a slightly odd visit to the NASCAR truck series, as a result of falling out with Luca Di Montezemelo. It is strange that the announcement was made after Alonso himself had been displeasing the don of Ferrari by justifiably complaining about the quality of the car. The train of thought is that Stefano Dominicali wanted Raikkonen in and had to persuade Luca to allow it to happen, because Stefano is slightly less traditional and wants the strongest line up possible - and it is an exceptionally powerful pair... if the car works well enough in 2014 to allow it to shine through.

How does this impact everyone else

Of course this decision unleashes several ripples down the field, affecting teams that might have anticipated to have an empty space that needed filling, or those now short of a driver, combined with the fact that the earlier confirmation of Red Bull's decision opens up a place as well.

First off there is Toro Rosso - since Ricciardo has now been promoted into the fastest car grid - not bad for some - the junior team does have an opening... or two if Vergne also ends up on holiday. Of all the repercussions from high interest moves, this one remains very localised, because the Red Bull program is a closed system. They feed new drivers in through lower formula, some reach Toro Rosso - most of which are then fired over time and the tiniest fraction of that subset will be sitting in the Red Bull team in 2014. So all the Toro Rosso team have to do is stick the metaphorical net in their junior driver pool and fish out the next hopeful. All the signs point towards Antonio Felix Da Costa taking the seat, while other rumours orchestrated just to meddle things up suggest GP2 driver Felipe Nasr might have a chance. That decision could go anywhere and no-one is really safe.

Secondly Lotus find themselves with an empty seat now Raikkonen has set up camp elsewhere, there is a slight indication that Lotus are not monumentally pleased about losing their star driver but need to seek a replacement. Because this is more recent decision the list of drivers linked to the seat is massive, we have existing drivers like Hulkenberg and Maldonado with his Venezuelan oil money helping out.  Then there is the set of drivers Lotus/Renault have used before - Bruno Senna, Vitaly Petrov, Heikki Kovalainen and Jerome D'ambrosio who replaced Grosjean when he was having a time out. On top of that there are a list of potential rookie drivers including DTM driver Robert Wickens and GP2 champion Davide Valsecchi from the same team Grosjean graduated from. But wait, there's more Massa presently doesn't have a drive, Button has no official 2014 contract and Kobayashi is mentioned for a comeback drive. It's almost names in a hat time down at Lotus and picking one out of that lot is very complicated, and to make matters worse Grosjean isn't confirmed to stay on at the team either...

Another team that will be affected by Ferrari decision to go for Kimi is Sauber, a large proportion of the internet and defecting commentator Martin Brundle anticipated Massa's departure but expected Hulkenberg to be alongside Alonso. So this causes a problem for Monisha at the little Swiss team because abnormally for a lower mid-field team they have an excess of drivers connected with the potential race seats. At the core of this is the fact their two present race drivers are important in different respects to the team - Hulkenberg is rather good at what he does - putting that car in the top five last time was immense. While Gutierrez has money and Sauber really need some of that, which makes up for his often questionable performance. This is complicated by Sergey Sirotkin, the team are trying to shoehorn him into a race seat for 2014 because Russia may be more likely to invest in the team. The process has already cost Robin Frijns a connection with Sauber and potentially eliminates him from contention, but then there is Bianchi - tipped to be the replacement for Hulkenberg when he moved to Ferrari. Because that move didn't happen the problem cascades down to Marussia but I don't think they'll mind hanging onto Jules - though that depends on money as well.

A final issue with Sauber is that Massa is now floating about, and Sauber have had a good relationship with Felipe having employed the Brazilian before Ferrari bought him up - Sauber have been used as a Ferrari training ground hence why Hulkenberg was looking promising. It is also why Bianchi has been linked with the team due to his Ferrari connections, but could that channel work both ways and we could see Massa going back home to Sauber.

It is all getting a little crowded at the moment so many people fighting over so few opportunities  - last season we saw Kovalainen, Glock, Petrov and Kobayashi go missing from the grid, all recent GP2 graduates, and all drivers that had potential but have been forced out for the likes of Chilton, Maldonado and Gutierrez. But there is still a lot more to unfold, especially on an announcement for that newly available space at Lotus.

The Increasingly Sillier Silly-Season

Greetings Internet,

Well it is around this time of the year where everyone is trying to secure a drive for the coming season, preferably in a car which is a little faster or more reliable than the one they are currently sitting in... or any car at all. It traditionally only takes one high profile change to start a chain reaction, last season it was Schumacher retiring... again, and Hamilton moving across to fill the seat. Down at the other end of the grid it is more often the case that drivers will be bumped off the grid by a large incoming pile of money - which is why we have Chilton and Gutierrez instead of Glock and Kobayashi, the issues at Sauber and Williams indicate that the need for money vs speed is slowly edging it's way toward the front. There is the slight insinuation that money is why Perez ended up at McLaren, but that is a borderline case as the Mexican is actually decent at what he does - but the call of why not Hulkenberg, or why not Di Resta will likely not go away until that car is up to scratch.

This season's catalyst is obviously Webber leaving to drive Porsche's new LMP1 car, and probably flip it given his record in Le Mans cars and the Mercedes CLK-GTR that spent a lot of time in the air. So I thought it would be a good idea, for Blog HQ to look at the options and have a rough guess at who will be where in 2014, the new era of small turbo-charged V6's and more KERs power.

The Top Division

Conventionally the most stable part of the grid, a realm of big money, big sponsors and much bigger expectations. In theory teams up at this end should be looking to maximise their driver line up to compete for wins and constructor points on both sides of the garage. However that can backfire - the most recent example being the McLaren 2007 pairing of Hamilton and Alonso, two of the quickest drivers managed to lose the title to Raikkonen by annoying each other. Not that Raikkonen cared, and almost unleashed the Kimi happy face.

Red Bull

Firstly Vettel is going nowhere, it would make sense to keep the German Bloke in situ - the combination has worked out rather well so far, constantly showing dominant pace in a car which is at times impossibly quick - three straight titles do not happen by accident. Yet there is an open space in the opposite garage bay, vacated by Webber. The general idea is that Torro Rosso's Ricciardo will move in, making it two drivers in the team that have come through the development ranks into the lead team. More importantly as a developing driver it might mean that Mr Vettel might get his own way more often, and the very top of the organisation might be more receptive of that option.

But... rumours and theories are that Kimi is in the running for that position, which would be a formidable pairing, frighteningly so, but could that result in conflict, because of anyone Kimi isn't too fond of playing the 'company game' and won't bow down to Vettel. Which is why he and Ferrari had a falling out in 2009.

2014 Estimation: Vettel and Ricciardo

Ferrari

It is very unclear what the future holds for Ferrari - it would make sense to hold onto Alonso, but he and the boss - Luca Di Montezemelo have not been the best of friends of late after Fernando criticised the car. The last time Luca was displeased Kimi found himself in a rally car the following season. However there are no real better options for Fernando, and if sense prevails Ferrari will keep the Spaniard.

Then there is Massa, who has been the very picture of inconsistency, which once more starts rumours about his future - a little sense of deja vu to 2012 - those rumours suddenly brought about a miraculous change and Massa was very strong in the final part of the year. Strong enough to take the bonus points title. But can he survive this season, for consistency he should be retained, but for a title challenge in the constructors... the position looks tentative.

So who could replace Massa, well the name being passed back and forth is Hulkenberg, which would be a very good move for the German considering how disappointing Sauber have been - and potentially Nico is a faster driver than Felipe. Importantly Hulkenberg wouldn't threaten Ferrari's default No.1 and No.2 driver policy. Also Raikkonen's name is being put forward with Ferrari as well, Kimi and Alonso is another devastatingly powerful line up but not something Ferrari does. If Raikkonen goes there it will be a straight swap with Alonso to Lotus.

2014 Estimation: Alonso and Massa

Mercedes

Of all the front running teams, Mercedes don't look set to make any changes, they went through that last time when Schumacher left, much to the elation of Sauber, because Schumacher tended to like crashing into them. If it wasn't for Perez being to the inside of Vergne - Michael would have crafted a 100% of assaulting Saubers in Singapore. So Mercedes get to sit back and watch everyone fight over drivers and throwing money around without needing to get involved.

2014 Estimation: Hamilton and Rosberg

Lotus

What happens at Lotus pretty much depends on what Raikkonen does and where he ends up - which may just be a case of who has the best ice cream fridge given how much the Finn does like some ice cream. I reckon that if Lotus can hold on to Raikkonen then I can only assume they will, so far Kimi has been connected with almost everyone in the top half of the grid. If he does head off somewhere then where do they look for a replacement, possibly Valselcchi the GP2 champion, or bring back Petrov or Bruno Senna. Then there is the option of bringing someone forward - hiring Bianchi might appeal to Renault.

Then there is what do we do with Grosjean - he is more than enough pace to stay on with the team, but brings with that a large repair bill from running into everyone and making contact with roughly every barrier in Monaco. But if Raikkonen does leave, than Romain should be retained for consistency. Overall the Raikkonen rumours may just be that, and therefore the line-up will remain unchanged.

2014 Estimation: Raikkonen and Grosjean

McLaren

Despite being at the bottom of the first division McLaren can still be considered as a top team, and both drivers should be safe. However as soon as all this driver discussion started to rear it's head, it was very promptly noted that Jenson does not have a 2014 contract at the team - Button himself has indicated his loyalty to the team every time it is brought up, but also put in a lot of praise for Ferrari, who might have an opening. In the end I don't see Jenson going anywhere this is a good place for him to be if the car gets better that is.

As for Perez, well this is an opening season in a big team with a car that is a million miles off the pace it should be running at. Therefore it would be unfair to boot the Mexican out of the team, because Sergio has been doing a decent job, and has been a match for Jenson at times. But surprise, surprise the only driver that has been linked to taking away one of the seats at the team is Raikkonen, but he's been linked to everyone since Lotus have been working with financial issues.

2014 Estimation: Button and Perez

The Mid-Field

This is where the money starts to take over an influence driver selection and hiring, as usual teams would like to select drivers on ability and pace alone, but that is often no economically viable. But despite that there are teams with greater financial security, and support from bigger friends further up the grid. So the blog investigates where this part of the grid will end up.

Force India

Of all the teams in this part of the grid Force India have been making considerable strides through the field and into the top ten, a world away from their début in 2008 - with Sutil and Fisichella. On the evidence of how the season has been for the team, it would make no sense to change the pairing unless one of the current drivers is called for duties elsewhere. Because that is rather unlikely I see Force India starting 2014 with the same two drivers, despite the amount of whining that Di Resta gets up to.

Sauber

One of the most interesting teams moving into the new season is Sauber, because they are fishing around for that little extra money, which lead them to Russia - which is where the Sirotkin rumour comes into play. Sergey is effectively a child but because of the money involve could find himself on the grid in 2014 - he has already had a seat fitting at the team, but should spend a season only doing free practices before actually being in a race seat. The same principle brought Gutierrez into the team, and he has been a little erratic at best some good weekends but more not so good ones - and it is the same volume of money that could keep the Mexican in place.

Hulkenberg however might be moving on, if Massa is given the boot, and therefore would open the door for another driver to join the team. If this is the case Sirotkin could be fast-tracked into place, which is a risky option - or Sauber's Ferrari connections could see Bianchi adopted. I reckon if a gap opens up somewhere in the middle of the park, then Bianchi would be a decent fit anywhere. Otherwise Sauber might have to look at who has the biggest bank balance if their points scoring threat moves on to bigger and better things.

2014 Estimation: Gutierrez and Hulkenberg

Torro Rosso

With Ricciardo inevitably moving on to Red Bull, one seat will likely open up, but Torro Rosso have a habit of disposing of perfectly good drivers, the likes of Buemi, Alguersuari and even multiple champ-car champion Sebastian Bourdais were shown the door. So no-one is ever truly safe in Red Bull's development program, Vergne's time may be coming to an end as rumours start to circulate about who will replace Ricciardo. It is a list from which Torro Rosso might not just select a single candidate.

Martin Brundle suggested that Felix Da Costa from the World Series by Renault might be making the step up, while German reporters have claimed that Felipe Nasr (yes that will make things immensely confusing) will join the team. On top of that there is the option that former Red Bull supported Canadian Robert Wickens, currently hiding out in DTM might be up for a drive. This is the problem with a very busy development program, there are more drivers going in then there are places to put them all. The likes of Neel Jani, Micheal Ammermuller and Robert Doornbos were all in the program and only scored one practice drive among them. Even then Robert displeased Alonso in his single stint in the Red Bull car in Hungary many years ago.

2014 Estimation: Felipe Nasr and Felix Da Costa

Williams 

Like Force India, things at Willams are likely to remain fairly stable, Maldonado is safe because of the influx of money he brings with him from Venezuela - which is clearly enough money to cover an every growing list of repairs from assaulting other teams. Yet despite ramming the entire Force India team in Belgium, Pastor's car could still finish the race, perhaps Maldonado can bring in some commission from his fort building empire he started in Monaco. There are some similar barriers in Singapore if he wants to develop new fort designs. Bottas is a developing driver and is a strong prospect for the future, and if Williams have a car that could score points then Bottas would be a good talent to keep around until such time he gets poached by someone further up the grid.

The Bottom Tier

Here the driver turnover is more significant, 75% of the seats this year are held by rookie drivers, and the most experienced driver has only completed one season, in world which is not only influenced by highly backed drivers, but dominated by it. If we look at Chilton for example, he and his sponsors have funded positions at top teams all through the development steps en route to F1. But is it also a hunting ground for bigger teams to spot new talented drivers coming from the lower formulae, for example Alonso made his debut for back row team Minardi in 2001, and Webber started in the same team in 2002 and look where they are now.

Caterham

Firstly Pic already has a solid contract for the upcoming season, so his position is safe for the time being at the team which only calls into question whether Van Der Garde will be replaced. Giedo came onto the grid under the air of bad feeling that hangs around 'pay drivers' but over the course of the season the Dutchman has been increasingly impressive. A strong race at Hungary was backed up after the summer break with a very good race at Spa, which should make his position more secure coming into the coming year.

But, Caterham also have an extensive development program, in GP2 there is Sergio Canamassas who would be the definition of a surprise signing... and having him and Maldonado, Perez, Grosjean and Gutierrez would turn the sport into a demolition derby event. However Sergio's team-mate in the Caterham junior team is Alex Rossi who would be a much stronger selection. If a change is to come at Caterham with regards to Van Der Garde, Rossi would take that seat.

2014 Estimation: Pic and Van Der Garde

Marussia

Marussia may have started the season well, with Bianchi being the immediate surprise of the season out performing what the pace of the car should be, but since then Caterham caught and passed them on pace, but Marussia still hold onto that important 10th place in the constructors championship. Bianchi we assume will be picked up by someone if a gap opens up elsewhere, and therefore there is potentially one seat opening up at the team. They also have a junior team, because underneath the layers of ownership and sponsors the team is effectively Manor competition with a heritage in junior formula racing. In that team there is a quick New Zealander named Mitch Evans who has had some strong showings in the class.

But then there is money, and without knowing all the financial details of the drivers involved but something tells me that Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto Jr may have a bigger bank account. If adding Canamassas to the roster was a recipe for destruction, Cecotto would be apocalyptic - but on the plus side he will be in a Marussia so the likelihood of him being close enough to anyone to run into is limited. That said Chilton managed to force Maldonado into his fort building exercise routine, and Cecotto is not slow by any means, just a little aggressive, and takes things a little too far at times. Cecotto has even managed to make it onto the penalty points table for trying to push Sam Bird into a different time zone during qualifying for the GP2 race at Malaysia. In the end Chilton may stay but Bianchi may need replacing.

2014 Estimation: Chilton and Cecotto... be very afraid



These estimations can change very quickly based on a couple of key announcements we are all waiting on, including on where Kimi ends up and whether Massa gets to stay, because that will move Hulkenberg and in turn potentially makes a opening for Bianchi. So things are very tentative right now, the picture should become slightly clearer from one weekend to the next, that is of course if new rumours don't circulate... and what are the chances of that. It is worth noting that Monza is next, Ferrari HQ as it were so perhaps clarity on Massa and the team might be more forthcoming on home soil.

A mid-season review, of how people have been getting on

Greetings Internet,

Well this summer break seems to be going on for ever, and sea of loutish hooliganism that is the football season is going to take over the lives of the approximate seven people who support football. So I thought this was the best time to introduce some common sense and parity to the internet before it all goes to hell for a while. Then again I was watching NASCAR online the other week and the amount of anger and animosity some people had against particular drivers was ludicrous - the chat panel was a wash of 'fans' demanding drivers they dislike to crash out at every corner. I mean I've been displeased about the odd competitor from time to time - Hamilton's completely mental 2011 season comes to mind, but don't recall actively wishing the chap to visit the scenery. Can't we all just get along - it gets worse when this aggression spills onto the track, back to NASCAR, and there has been some almighty accidents simply because of 'payback' or a general stubborn lack of respect for each other's space on track. Yet in this football nonsense that is going to be plaguing us for several months, violence towards one another is a weekly occurrence, and is almost a job requirement, along with deception, racism, greed and almost every other deplorable trait of the species' declining humanity.

On that note, time to lighten things up a bit before this, like so many other posts that came before it turns into a large and increasingly angry rant. Today, a considerable time after everyone else has done a similar thing it is time to look at how our cast of drivers has done so far at the pseudo-halfway point of the year, actual half way would have been the New Jersey GP but that disappeared after Hurricane Sandy and financial problems delayed the event until potentially 2014... if ever. I shall go through the grid in reverse order, based on the bonus points championship - because what better metric is there? I know various other entities are in the table, and to avoid this post being longer than Danica's list of non-supporters I'll stick to the 22 people that have a race seat on a Sunday afternoon.

At the end of the line

2013 hasn't been the best season for some, and fairly torrid for others languishing at this end of the table, while some drivers have been hampered by a diabolically under performing car  and struggling to make any impact on the championship. Furthermore the TV directors this season seem to forget that anyone outside the top 10 exists making it difficult to hand out points for being interesting or entertaining while being invisible. But here are the lowest 6 scorers so far:

22nd place (12pts): Max Chilton
It is no great surprise to see Max in last place, Chilton has made it all the way up the development ladder through substantial backing from the same company that funds his brother Tom and the lead Chevrolet team in the WTCC. For the most part Max has been the very definition of unspectacular - with the only positive of the season is that Chilton has finished all races thus far, albeit last, and did force Maldonado to build a fort at Tabac corner in Monaco

21st place (16pts): Pastor Maldonado
Williams have not had a strong car this season, in fact is has been rather dire indeed if Rosbergs car didn't catch fire in Hungary the entire team would have no points at all this far into the season. As for Maldonado, he has hit far fewer people than normal, likely because everyone else is too fast and the Caterhams and Marussias are miles off the pace of anything. It has been a virtually anonymous season so far, so much that Pastor turned a large accident in Monaco into a spot of fort building DIY - with Chilton's help.

20th place (19pts): Valtteri Bottas
Despite being one of the most impressive rookies on the grid, including a stunning third place grid start in Canada, Valtteri finds himself at the bottom of the table, because the car is useless we barely see the Finn throughout the weekend, but if Williams can improve the car Bottas has more than enough pace and ability to start scoring points - and perhaps instigate the sort of comeback charge that scored Massa the 2012 bonus points title despite being nowhere at this point in time.

19th place (23pts) Esteban Gutierrez 
Esteban has been a terrible replacement for Kamui Kobayashi, spending a lot of time in relegation in Q1 and occasionally a liability on track - which is odd because his GP3 performances were strong. But the Sauber is also not a good car this season, which prevents Gutierrez from being able to shake the stigma of being a generic under-performing pay driver. Despite leading some laps in Spain on strategy, Esteban hasn't really shown too much potential, however it is very early days.

18th place (26pts) Charles Pic
There were high hopes for Caterham this season, perhaps to challenge a team that didn't just come into being in 2010, and Pic was supposed to be the leader of that crusade as the only driver with experience in the bottom four seats. There has been flashes of speed but no spectacular results, but more often than not Pic and Caterham lead the lowest division after a spirited start to 2013 by nearest rivals Marussia.

17th place (36pts) Giedo Van Der Garde
A driver like Chilton we expected to turn up in Australia and have a fairly useless season, but it hasn't turn out that way for Van Der Garde, the Dutchman has been the only driver from the lowest set of teams to make it into Q2 and has had some really strong races, Hungary being a notable example defeating the entire bottom division on pace despite being out-qualified. On the other side Giedo has suffered from some brain-fade moments, getting in the way of everyone in Canada and attacking Maldonado (pre-fort building) in Monaco.

Moving into the mid-field

Some seasons are just average, and so you find yourself in the middle of the field - at least under a conventional scoring system, but the bonus points championship is far from conventional. Here those in the middle of the park have had the odd race or sequence of races doing something worth handing out points for but then faded into the background, or just were boring for a while and fell of the scoreboard at the end of the weekend. So here are the drivers from 16th to 11th.

16th place (36pts) Nico Hulkenberg
Just like Bottas, Hulkenberg is a really quick driver trapped in a difficult car, early in the season the Sauber was nowhere, but unlike Gutierrez Nico has been able to force some results out of a poor vehicle. Hulkenberg is soley responsible for the entire team's points haul (in the FIA standings not this one) and has pretty much dominated proceedings over his rookie team-mate. Nico's name is presently in the mix for a potential upgrade if things move around a lot at the front of the grid.

15th place (43pts) Sergio Perez
Perez is learning that the days of one-stopping and stealing a podium are over, the McLaren isn't as tyre-friendly as the Sauber was, then again neither is the current Sauber... Sergio is trying to make the best of a poor car as so many have had to thus far in the standings, his titanic battle with Jenson in Bahrain was outstanding. But an aggressive driving style has resulted in some accident damage, usually with a rather angry Kimi - in Monaco and China.

14th place (48pts) Jean Eric Vergne
In a replica of 2012, Vergne has amassed the largest amount of points in the Torro Rosso team despite being slower on pace and generally out-qualified, and I have no idea how on earth that happens. Something that Alguersuari was very good at, magically appearing in the points from nowhere on the grid, to make things more confusing Vergne has had the worst reliability record of anyone this season with mechanical and tyre failures.

13th place (48pts) Jules Bianchi
If there was an award for rookie of the season is would certainly go to Bianchi - Alonso did a similar thing in a Minardi in 2001 and look where he is at the moment, so things look good for Jules, so much so even his car got points driving by itself in Germany. Bianchi has got the most out of the Marussia, which sadly still isn't much pace especially since Caterham have moved on a bit, but unlike Chilton Bianchi still can keep up with them and challenge to claim that 10th place in the constructors championship for the team.

12th place (58pts) Daniel Ricciardo
Has demonstrated a lot of qualifying pace in the Torro Rosso and general speed, which has put the Australian in the shop window for Webber's seat in 2014 - yet that pace doesn't always translate into a points position allowing Vergne to sweep in from nowhere and lead the team in the standings. While lacking consistency at times Ricciardo unleashed some spectacular high bonus points scoring performances but not enough to make the top 10.

11th place (60pts) Jenson Button
How the mighty have fallen, Jenson was the first ever bonus points champion in 2011 and things have just gone downhill - mostly due to the fact that the car is not very good, it has become so much of a struggle to make any progress with it. Yet Jenson, like Bianchi in many respects has made the most of the bad situation to secure some strong points finishes in what is quite a weak vehicle.

The top ten, for now

In a season full of tyre complaints and the least secret testing scandal, some drivers have actually don rather well this season and are currently in contention (mathematically Van Der Merwe in 40th place on 0.5pts could still take the title) for that all important accolade of being crowned the bonus points champion of 2013. That said, none of the previous winners have acknowledged their victory tweet at the end of the year, so maybe it isn't quite so important. Anyway, the top ten:

10th place (71pts) Mark Webber
Of all the seasons at Red Bull for the Australian, this one is going least to plan, the German bloke is winning all the time, and the only race Mark was on course to win... Vettel stole that too, so in this departing year things could be a little better. But some trickery behind the safety car in Germany carved one of the comeback drives of the season, so all is not quite lost and the decent down the table might yet be overturned.

9th place (71pts) Sebastien Vettel
Yes the little German has an unnecessary surplus of pace, and has spent races in utter dominant form, lapping so many people in Canada I was expecting blue flags - the chap has been a bit boring again - you don't get many points for being boring, some points for being ridiculously fast and destroying everyone. In the real world this is enough to build a sizeable championship lead, but in the bonus points things are a little different.

8th place (76pts) Fernando Alonso
Strangely, one of the most complete drivers on the grid has been a little inconsistent this season, and so has the Ferrari team as whole. I had to re-check the results to see if Fernando turned up to the race in Monaco, but more often than not Alonso is being Alonso - exceedingly fast but with great precision and accuracy in wheel to wheel combat, even if he is seeing a little less of it this year.

7th place (77.5pts) Felipe Massa
The 2012 bonus points champion has had a massively erratic year, so much so I've no idea where all these points have come from - from Monaco to Germany Massa was all over the place, crashing into things... the same things twice, spinning and being left behind in the races. But somehow has out-qualified Fernando from time to time leads the Spaniard by 1.5 bonus points, the 0.5 scored in the half points qualifying session in Australia.

6th place (81pts) Nico Rosberg
I, you and pretty much everyone else expected Mercedes to be nowhere this season, and even more of us expected Nico to be hammered by Lewis, but it hasn't happened quite like that. Aside from Vettel, Nico has won the most races this season, even though Monaco was won at the slowest possible speed. However the pace is falling away and some average races have cost Nico some valuable bonus points.

5th place (89pts) Lewis Hamilton
They said he was mad, yet the move is paying off especially considering where McLaren are, Hamilton had contributed to a string of Mercedes pole positions, because the car only likes to work on Saturdays, until Hungary that was when a win was added to the list. Consistently gaining performance out of the car where possible and remains rather fast.

4th place (97pts) Adrian Sutil
On a return from making no end of friends in a bar in China Sutil has had a strong return to the series, the early part of the season was blighted by bad luck, ran into by Gutierrez and Massa in China and Malaysia followed by pit problems and reliability. Yet the German lead a lot of the opening race of the season and has scored consistent points in what is a mid-field car - albeit the best mid-field car.

3rd place (109pts) Romain Grosjean
Romain has scored most of these points from being exciting and stringing together some excellent performances. Except Monaco where he crashed into everything and everyone. There is a lot of speed in the Lotus driver, scoring front row grid starts and almost challenging for the win in Germany had the safety car not caused some bother. Displayed some great racing this season - passing Massa on the outside in Hungary was marvellous even thought the powers that be thought it was illegal, just needs to cut down on hitting people. Leading the penalties championship is not an ideal accolade.

2nd place (111pts) Kimi Raikkonen
Almost took the 2012 title before losing it to Massa in the final race, Raikkonen is having another imperiously consistent season, always finishing, always in the points - a run almost cancelled by one of the collisions with Perez. Despite often starting down the order Raikkonen through tyre conservation and spectacular passing is racking up the podiums left right and centre... once, and is presently Vettel's closest challenger.

1st place (111pts) Paul Di Resta
The angry Scotsman who complains to the team about everything and constantly looks for a way out has been doing rather well despite a confusing demeanour. Paul has suffered a string of qualifying disasters but on each occasion (barring Hungary) has powered through the field and has passed more cars than anyone else this season. That is what the bonus points championship is all about, people who do exciting things, passing round the outside of St Devote is mental and then to do it twice, including on a Ferrari that is magnetically atraccted to crashing there sums up the season Di Resta has had. But the change in tyre construction has harmed team pace, so that championship lead is looking a little tenuous right now.

2012 Updates:Touring Car madness, Penalty Points and Magic Wings

Greetings Internet,

I know things have been a little quiet here at Blog HQ but been a little busy of late with other things, going on mainly arguing with CAD and then giving up before catching up with a lot of different racing series. As I sit here in while a most unusual weather system has taken control outside, after an interesting bout of high temperatures it is now snowing sideways and has been for several hours now. Weather which is making a right mess of the satellite signal, well there is no signal at all. There also has been an amusing concentration of emergency vehicles pottering about in the Arctic blizzard waging out there. Life is anything but dull outside Blog HQ, perhaps not hospitable but not dull either.

Rubens in his Indycar over the weekend (F1Fanatic.co.uk)

Following on from a weekend which was a feast of motor-racing from the Australian V8s at Symmond's Plain to the Indycar Series from Birmingham Alabama - featuring what is hoped to be a future blogmobile, even though they don't look too much faster than the original. It may look more eccentric, which is in the spirit of the way of life here at Blog HQ, so for now there is the trusty PS05. There was a completely mad BTCC race event at Brands Hatch on the Sunday, where each race seemed to be in competition with the previous one to create the longest race stoppage. Starting with BTCC race two, where one of the BMW drivers - Nick Foster - managed to roll the car out of Druids bend. Not to be beaten the Clio Cup opted for quantity and initiated an eight car pile-up on the back straight, resulting in a queue forming outside the medical centre for precautionary checks.

The next contender was the following Ginetta GT Supercup when contact between the two leading cars on the front straight cause mayhem. As two cars further back made contact with each other while trying avoid the accident, firing one substantially into the outside wall - the single biggest impact of the day.

But the award for the longest stoppage and the only red flag of the event handed the victory back to the main series in BTCC race three. Ford driver Matt Jackson ran wide in Paddock Hill bend and ruptured an oil line or something rather important - coating the track in a Mario Kart oil slick in the breaking zone to Druids. A slick rapidly converted the gravel trap into an expensive car park, as car after car slid off the track. Seven remained trapped and the race had to be suspended to remove them all. You just don't get that flavour of lunacy in F1, if there was - my posts would go on for centuries and the bonus points would take forever to sort out.

But this is only a short update following on from the rain soaked Malaysian GP, and one incident in particular  which has brought a degree of conflict. Where Vettel made contact with the front wheel of Narain Karthekeyan, causing a rear puncture for the German Bloke. On the surface appearing like a racing incident, apportioning 50/50 blame to both parties - Narain slid off the corner, while Vettel left the HRT no room. However that's not how things were perceived in the driving seat of the Red Bull machine. Sebastien was most displeased indeed, referring to the Indian as an idiot, which frankly is a little harsh and over the top. Narain is driving a car which is majorly off the pace and I'd imagine has all the downforce of a bookcase. Combine that with the fact that the incident wasn't Narain's fault - and certainly can't be considered idiotic. In fact Vettel's initial response of chasing the HRT on three wheels effectively just to wave and gesticulate widely at Narain.

So it is on this basis, although outside normal convention of only assigning points during the course of a weekend, I am going to assign one penalty point to the German Bloke for his antics even though a truce has been effectively called between the two drivers since the outburst following the race.

Image from BBC F1

The second order of business on today's schedule regards the innovative device that Mercedes have installed in the rear wing of their car. A device which allows them to stall the air around the front wing whenever the DRS is opened, this gives them the advantage they have in qualifying and why they fall back during the race. The system was cleared by the FIA during the Australia/Malaysia GP weekends, therefore being declared legal within the current regulations which has been tough on driver controlled movable aerodynamic devices. But the teams are not entirely satisfied with that decision and have been applying more pressure on the FIA - seemingly very determined to get it banned into oblivion. Seems a little overkill really considering the Mercedes device only works in qualifying and the team have been slipping quite far back during the races anyway. Probably a first where the grid are campaigning to get a system that only puts the team a little out of position on a Saturday afternoon.

This pretty much sums up the contribution for today so until next time for probably a more traditional post.

Winter Updates 6

Greetings Internet,

Well after a more than slight delay I have returned once more, there was a more pressing matter of a performance to take care of it certainly went well. Although I think people who write reviews are naturally angry people with a malicious mind, three stars my bottom - not that I got a mention. Those were very noteworthy 30s of stage presence, in an actual theatre with seats that actually contained an audience - quite a miraculous sight really.

Alas I digress once more, stage is all to often a distraction, addictively at times - but time to bring things back now to the actual purpose of this little corner of the internet considering the world of racing is starting to warm up once more. Over in America the mad world of NASCAR had it's first race mid-week in preparation for the Daytona 500 at the weekend - and already one car ended up upside down with Jeff Gordon at the wheel. Likely a pattern for the rest of the superspeedway events of the season. Also the much more entertaining Australian V8 supercar season isn't too far away on the streets of Adelaide in a very entertaining and often manic event.

Now back to the main game, and everything now is set in place, all the cars are ready and all the drivers have been selected with a slight change at Caterham racing and HRT finishing their line up. However before I get onto that time to catch up on the other car releases that have taken place in the down-time the blog has taken in the past fortnight.

The Grid Part 2


Last time out we saw a lot of cars being released with unusual forehead shaped protrusions leaping out of the front nose section. developed as a result regulations governing the low height of the end of the nosecone. Almost all of the cars revealed here on the blog have incorporated this feature, with the only degree of sanity and normalcy coming from McLaren developing a normal nose section. However would they be alone, well lets have a belated look back at the other competitors

First up the newest release from Sauber and despite seeing a large amount of these new odd looking cars this doesn't look any better. In fact this looks rather awful, though the dull grey finish to the nose might be accentuating the disfigurement. Where the front half of the chassis looks a little angular and reminiscent of lego brick design Sauber have, along with Caterham brought the sharpest of these noses to the grid, almost pointy enough to be contained in a serial killers dismemberment kit.

After seeing the Sauber we move on now to their mid-field rivals from Torro Rosso - existing as a separate entity from the all dominant partner team of Red Bull the team have had to produce their own machine in recent years rather than RBR spare parts. So here is their contender for the current season .

The nose may not be visible so much in this shot but the forehead present on all the other cars remains something like the one on the Force India car. But was is worth looking at are the unusual sidepods that have been exaggerated in this edition. Seemingly more undercut than normal exposing more of the floor of the car. A design which is slimmer than a lot of the other cars with thinner side pod sections. When the car is stationary the car seems elongated in the second half of the car, but in motion the effect may be reduced.

From the smaller sub-team to the main championship winning offensively dominant Red Bull racing team, looking to see what the beat designers have come up with, looking for some validation that this odd nose ramp forehead thing would end up on the front car. Well Adrian Newey clearly thought it was a good idea...

It seems like the title contending car is an accumulation of several components of other cars looking to achieve the best of all worlds. The forehead and nose structure echo that of Ferrari mixed with Lotus yet the sidepods are part Torro Rosso and part McLaren. Not the traditional interpretation of a hybrid but follows the general format of all the other cars on the grid for the upcoming season. However there is likely lots of clever things going on underneath the carbon fibre uniform.

Next up we have one of the season regulars and traditional entrants in the form of Williams, often languishing just in front of the newer teams towards the back of the grid. At the tail end of division two struggling to compete with the mid-field and retaining the services of pay drivers to fund the team, and this is their 2012 entry.

Surprise, surprise another weird looking nose going on here with the addition of a platypus beak attachment. In contrast to the more refined shapes at the front of the grid from Ferrari and Red Bull. One thing worth noting about this car is that it seems to be one of the only vehicles still using a fin on the back of the engine covers. Lots of the cars so far have had rounded edge on the cover without the thin spinal section of bodywork extending out over the rear suspension and gearbox area.


Moving a little further up the grid now, just as Sky Tv plays another of their commercials marking their theft of half of 2012 from the BBC and a lot of fans - curse them. Anyway next up we have Mercedes and their entry, which was released a lot later than the cars so far, after the opening test in Jerez.

Looking at the photo, the forehead on the Mercedes seems more extreme than some of the others. Also the beak section is more rounded, and certainly narrower than some, especially the Williams one above. The wing supports on the Mercedes are more refined and less linear than the others. With the exception of the seemingly oversized elevation change at the front, this looks like one of the better forehead cars. All of them falling behind the regular sloping design of the McLaren.


That leaves two cars left to unveil, both from the newer teams HRT and Marussia - however both these teams are currently testing in Barcelona with their 2011 spec vehicles as the updates haven't been released. More than likely the HRT car won't be seen until the actual race in Australia and will be built out of paper mache - the same thing that is holding the Lotus team's chassis together at the moment as they encounter de-laminating problems. As for Marussia, not entirely sure - reckon there is a date around here somewhere but haven't really looked for it, however as it will be designed through CFD the outcome will be interesting.

Driver updates


Couple of changes to add to the roster one I was expecting to be announced considering the space remained empty and one surprising change to the grid. First up the last spot in the HRT line up will be taken by Indian driver Narain Karthekeyan - one of the drivers who was shuffled around in the 2010 and the 2011 seasons in Hispania's musical chairs system of driver placings. Sadly of course Narain doesn't have a proper car yet and will be made of duct tape when it finally does arrive, as the prototype failed the crash tests - not a good sign really. We saw the 2011 car crash in Monaco and the rear of it disintegrated as if it were a reject from blue peter.

Still in the same division, but at the other end of proceedings - changes are afoot for Caterham racing where their pairing of experience in the form of Kovalainen and Trulli has been altered a little. Considering Heikki's dominance of the team and finding speed that the car probably shouldn't have even making Q2 at some of the events of the season, his seat was safe. Jarno's position however, was less so and he has been ejected in favour of Renault Squadron escapee Wing-Commander Petrov. Which at least means some of the renaming convention can be carried over from that team, although I liked the idea of Renault-Squadron but a new season shall bring forth new naming conventions I expect.

Looking a little outside the realm of F1 to an extent - Rubens Barrichello formerly of Williams has paid a visit to America and performed some pre-season tests in the Indycar season with KV racing - the team running the legendary Takuma Sato and series veteran Tony Kanaan. Rubens is currently looking for sponsorship to get drive in the series, in a car I am still hoping will be developed by a modding team somewhere and be used as the new blogmobile for 2012. But no-one seems to have produced one yet, but it is early days.



Speaking of the 2012 blog progression here in blog HQ, this year I have a full compliment of tracks for the season including India and the new track in Texas - if it goes ahead. Also I have updated the on screen graphics for the lap videos with DRS (not sure if the DRS plugin will work on the current blogmobile as it is a 2007 champcar). So until the next update, this is farewell for now.

Winter Updates 5

Greetings Internet,

Well here I am again, typing away in the darkened corner of blog HQ with an empty mug where tea should be, but such things are bereft from this part of the universe. But here in the little microcosm things have been a little busy hence why these posts have been delayed, a small matter of additional rehearsals has taken over a lot of the time. As I have managed to gain entry into a production featured in DDF 2012, it may only be a few lines with a vastly superior cast but still lines are always a good thing - and a new stage and audience is an exciting concept, even with my cynical disposition.

 However all is not lost I bring more updates from that expensive world of motor-racing, there may be no news on who will be dealt the final seat on the grid in the HRT but progress has been made. Upon the last update, I revealed that the 2012 Caterham car had been completed and presented, and it had sprouted a forehead for some reason. Well now many of the teams have officially released their competitors for the upcoming season and there is only one way of summing up the general synopsis of what has been developed and that is... oh dear oh dear.

The grid so far pt 1

Caterham CT01

The first of the cars we saw was this rather odd machine, the addition of a forehead on the top of the nose came as somewhat of a surprise. A stark contrast to the conventional designs we've seen with the current set of aerodynamic regulations. The rest of it however looks more reasonable, with the thinner tapering sidepods than the 2011 Lotus configuration




Then there was more, after the initial release of the CT01 the world was bombarded with new releases as most of the grid's entries poured out from the dark secretive testing and design facilities after being locked away over the winter. Next up the McLaren, after the shock of the Caterham approach a fine dose of normality was what the world needed

Gone is the crazed forehead pinned onto the nose cone, exhibiting a traditional smooth sloping version instead. McLaren have also added some additional normality to the grid, moving away from the rather unusual sidepods. This time going for something which almost looks sensible, something that looks roughly like what you expect a current generation racing car to look like.


So at this point things were looking fairly decent, the eccentric design the the team formerly known as lotus seemed like an unusual effort to claim back some position on the grid. With the dose of sanity from a division one team, some hope was restored. Hope that was soon rolled up and launched out the nearest window. Presenting the Force India 2012 contender...

It seems like sanity has gone off into the distance once more, and here is another car with this odd forehead feature sprouting above the front suspension. The problem seems to be accentuated here on the Force India by the flatness of the nose-cone, looking a little like a platypus At least Caterham will no longer feel lonely being the only car with this tumorous growth. The side of the Force India is longer then the McLaren but on a par with the Caterham.


Now one starts to wonder a little, McLaren being the odd one out so far, normality it seems turns not to be the ideal design, does this mean that the team that took the bonus points title with Jenson have done something rather wrong. But the next release would be from another of the division one teams, where we would seen if at the front of the grid sanity would prevail... As is turns out, apparently not. Introducing Ferrari.

The Jeremy Clarkson generic comment of 'oh my god' would fit rather nicely here. At least these other 'lumps' that have been infecting the grid have tried to be aerodynamically designed. Ferrari have just stapled a ramp onto the nose and then headed off to the pub. However the curvature of the sidepods and exhaust outlets are interesting and a distinct feature that looks quite good.

So the decision back in Brackley is starting to seem strangely against the convention of the field, who'd have thought making a normal, sensible racing entry would be the odd one out, even among the top runners. But with the Adrian Newey designed contender from Red Bull unreleased at this point, the world was waiting to see what the 2011 champions would produce. But in the mean-time the team formerly known as Renault-Squadron now running as Lotus presented their car.

And the nose lump is back, yet another car with what can only be described as the beak and forehead combination. However on the Lotus it doesn't seem too bad, almost acceptable. The curvature of the slope seems much smoother than the others, especially the ramp of the Ferrari. But a long way from the smooth slope of the McLaren. The results from the opening test seem to show the Lotus solution to be working with Kimi Raikkonen fastest. Not that too much relevance can be placed on those times at the moment, Sauber were looking this quick last year and look how that played out.

There are four more cars that have been unveiled but this has gone on for quite a while now, and think it is time for a break. The second half of the presentations will be conducted on another day. When I have gaps in between rehearsals and other complex things that happen in and around blog HQ. So until then farewell for now

Winter Updates 4

Greetings Internet,

Here I am once more with another batch of details from that little corner of the universe where people drive around really quickly in expensive machines - none of that sort of thing happens here in blog HQ, life is at a much slower pace here. This edition comes a week after the team of theatrical folk who somehow manage to put up with me release that should thoroughly crush anything that the rivals can up with. If the bonus points tally was still in operation when that show aired then Jenson Button would have been usurped from the title because they did a bloody good job and it was an honour to share the stage with them all. Made even more impressive by the how the rehearsals were going on before hand - so from me here at blog HQ major congratulations are in order and immense praise for a job well done.

Now that's taken care of back to the more relevant business of what this part of the internet is actually aimed at, and since the last time out there have been some changes in the driver line ups for the approaching season leaving only one remaining seat yet to be claimed at the very back of the grid. This week also saw the release of the first new car of the season and while progress is being made, elsewhere misfortune is never too far away and made a little comeback this month (I know updates have been a little sparse but the show was the main priority - have to make sure the other teams in the area know who is best, nothing wrong with a little bit of megalomania competition).

F1 Total SP3 at Monza in rFactor.

One spot remaining 


Today I shall start proceedings looking at the fluctuation in the driver market - as another seat was claimed, when two spaces rapidly dissolved into one. The penultimate drive to be confirmed was the second seat at Williams, the one formerly occupied by Rubens Barrichello a veteran of 19 seasons will now be filled by a second Brazilian. This time in the form of escapee from the team formerly known as Renault Squadron Bruno Senna, a throwback almost to the early nineties when anther man by the name of Senna - lets hope this time things work out a lot better.

So there is only one space left now in the back row HRT machine to partner another of the field's older participants Pedro De La Rosa. The previous holder of the seat Vitantonio Liuzzi has stated there is a chance the place he used to call home may be taken by a pay driver - someone brought in because of the sponsorship money they bring to the team rather than any ability. That's how the world of formula one still has Maldonado when Buemi, Alquersuari, Sutil and Petrov have no race seat for the season. At a team like HRT sponsorship money is very well needed to cover the funding deficit a smaller team has.

In other driver signing news Ferrari's development driver Jules Bianchi has been given a reserve driver role within the Force India team which does possible start the ball rolling for another major team line-up decision at the end of the season where three strong drivers won't fit into two race positions. The same situation which saw Adrian Sutil left without a racing seat so far.

Dun Da Dada Da - (well writing a drumroll doesn't work)


The first of the 2012 contenders has been unveiled as the picture of what we expect to see on the starting line in Melbourne - for those who have Sky anyway but I'll not go down that route for fear of unleashing profanities. The opening challenger to be revealed is the team formerly known as Lotus but now known as Caterham Racing and their new machine - having already seem this image I can officially warn you before focussing on the green machine pictured below.

From F1 racing magazine

Here you can see the problem the nose of the car has gained a forehead... not entirely sure if that's a good look for a racing car to be honest. I know when we first saw the odd angled sidepods of the McLaren last year they took some getting used to but this just looks wrong. Of course this is just one image, the others that the team released on the internet are more dignified, looking from the side of the car. Those shots do make it look more of what we expect from an F1 entry in under the current technical regulations, with the tapering sidepods and the wide flat front wing. 

Only time will tell if the other teams will be as eccentric as this with their concepts, and features like the wings and the engine cover are subject to development during the season, even development before the season in terms of the official test days. But despite all those component changes I still think the Team Caterham forehead will be with us until Brazil in November. 

Broken laws and bones

Away from the development race rushing to get the new cars up and running, and away from the constant scramble to fill that final HRT position, life has become a lot slower for our absent driver Robert Kubica. The Pole, famous for being really quick in uncompetitive cars and for managing to rapidly convert a BMW Sauber into a million shards of shattered carbon fibre in Canada, has has a little setback. While being in recovery for another major accident in a rally in the pre-season, Robert has fallen over. One of the fastest drivers in the world felled by a patch of ice, probably the same one that wiped me out last Friday, when I only lost some skin one one hand, (which was then further damaged by an incident with a giant yellow duck named Quackers) Kubica on the other hand suffered a suspected fractured tibia in his right leg. This pushes his recover process further away now - and with both seats in Renault (now Lotus) filled there is nowhere for him to return to. Even though there are still rumours of him ending up in a Ferrari at the expense of Felipe Massa at some point.

A long time ago, back around the time of the Chinese GP, Adrian Sutil was involved in some form of violence in a nightclub - the specific details remain a mystery. Perhaps if I did some googling more answers may pop up but there is a chocolate cake staring at me right now and I'm hungry. But the case and it's enigmatic specifics is scheduled to go on trial at the beginning of next week, on the 30th and 31st of January. However this is when things get a little more complex, because Lewis Hamilton has been called as witness, either on account of being there at the time or as a character witness as Sutil's friend, and Hamilton is contracted to work with McLaren on those trial dates prior to their car release. So of course the trial will either continue, without Lewis as a witness or be postponed until all parties are available, where the prosecution is hoping for a year suspended sentence. How it will actually play out is anyone's guess, and how many of those details will end up in the public eye would be more difficult to predict.

From broken laws and broken rules we head on now to broken schedules, once more taking place down in the off pace world of HRT. A scenario we saw unfold in the last season where the car was only released and performed it's first laps in the practice sessions for the first race of the season, cursed with a lack of speed comparable to continental drift. This time around the team say they have encountered a critical delay in their preparations, to the point where the team will be taking part in the opening test sessions with the 2011 car rather than the new version. Despite the shadows of the last season sliding back into focus - HRT claim that a 2012 car will be completed in time to run the second test in early March. How those ideas actually turn out will only be revealed in due course. 

With a fortnight rife with new car releases from Mclaren, Ferrari, Force India, Lotus-Renault, Mercedes and Red Bull from the 1st to the 6th of February, there is plenty more of updates on the horizon before the flag drops in Australia. So until the next time, this is farewell for now. 

Winter Updates 3

Greetings Internet,

Here I am once more, after what has been a challenging week and before what promises to be an even more difficult one ahead, so it's a good time to release another update before the madness of the coming seven days turns me insane. At this rate the preseason posts will be provided from a padded cell in a lunatic facility, and typing in a straight jacket would be a major challenge, but persevere I shall. Which brings me nicely on to my purpose here typing out more things onto the internet, and clogging up cyberspace with my ramblings, and this time it is to bring you the third of the winter update packages from the empty void that is the off-season.

Last time out the blog was taking on the internet rather unsuccessfully in an online racing competition - for which the highlights video has amassed a grand total of one view on my youtube channel, which is a positive sign of how this little corner of the internet it progressing. Then again the youtube side of things along with the twitter expansion haven't exactly taken off quite yet, and I'm not entirely sure if embedded views count on the actual channel page so perhaps I'm being unduly sceptical. But once more I digress, as the blog (now back in blog HQ after the Christmas tree was moved back into storage) is taking on the internet, in a rather different perspective. This time in the social media shorty awards - on account of the twitter extension of the blog anyway, so far I have one vote (wooo) but for some reason not showing up in the listings for the category. Not that it really matters I guess, winning would be a little out of reach somehow, considering the leaders have more votes than this little corner has had audience members... over the course of it's entire existance but never mind.

F1 Total SP3 at Rockingham in rFactor

Now back to the real world, beyond the developments here at blog HQ, of lack of developments - more online races were planned but other circumstances have arisen - apparently I am required artistically, if they saw my actual school work then the promotion would seem even more laughable. But that does kind of some things up really, anyway since not too much has happened over the winter these updates have been a little few and far between, combined with the other developments.

Driver updates

Well despite two seats reamining on the grid, and a flotilla of drivers currently without a race seat heading into the new season there has been no further announcements on who is going to end up in the final places at HRT and Williams. However we can check a couple of names off the list in the recent weeks who we now know will not be in the cars when they line up in Albert Park in March,

Firstly Sebastien Buemi has maintained his allegience with the Red Bull brand despite being booted out of the Torro Rosso line up in favour of Daniel Ricciardo. Buemi will spend 2012 in a reserve driver role for the main Red Bull team, perhaps in some devious effort to replace Vettel and take over the world, well perhaps not - after all he is Swiss and those guys are kind of neutral when it comes to world domination. Then the plot thickened somewhat when the team that gave him the sack at the end of 2011,  announced he would also be their reserve driver too - so effectively Buemi is now the back up driver for all four of the Red Bull backed cars on the grid. So if either Jean Eric-Vergne or Ricciardo fail to deliver for Torro Rosso then Buemi is in the prime position to get back on the grid, and STR are not to bothered about dumping drivers after they got rid of Sebastien Bourdais. Agreed the frenchman did whine on a lot, and still does back in America - but there wasn't really any grounds for the dissmissal, neither was former Squadron Leader Heidfeld's ejection from Renault but F1 moves in mysterious way sometimes.

The second driver to knock of the checklist is also a refugee from the Torro Rosso reshuffling, Jaime El-Incognito - a strong contender in the second half of the 2011 bonus points championship. He has announced that he will not be driving for HRT in the coming season, claiming that it would be a step backwards in his career. Being a spanish driver the suddenly disowned from the Red Bull family, an automatic connection was inevitably made between him and the spanish team to parner Pedro De La Rosa. However Jaime has indicated he is hoping for an oppoirtunity with a bigger team a little further up the grid, although almost anything is further up the grid then the HRT cars. The problem then lies in where that spot might be, only Williams have an open race seat further forward, and with Red Bull selecting Buemi as their overall reserve driver the opportunies are limited for Alquersuari. It's all well and good having ambitions of roles within the division one teams but, as with life here in blog HQ you rarely get what you want and have to settle for less than preferable scenarios or end up with nothing we shall see how this develops.

Calendar Issues

While the 2012 calendar has been announced for some time now (there was going to be a post about it but once more other things occurred, mainly laziness followed by gaming) but now things are a looking a little less certain then they were when the details were released. Throughout the back end of the 2011 season there were many concerns regarding the progression of the newest addition to the season - the U.S.A. GP to be hosted in a new facility in Texas. With construction pace seeming a little slow for Bernies liking, the position on the calendar was under threat, a problem which was then exacerbated by a second racing event to be added on US soil. The Grand Prix of the Americas to be set in New Jersey overlooking New York was rumoured to detract funding and attention from the race in Texas and therefore compromise the rate of progress.

Now, I like the idea of a race in the US - there are plenty of good racing circuits already in place, Laguna Seca, Road Atlanta and Sears Point being some examples and the Texan track is quite good (even though it isn't built yet a simulation version exists) but there is something somewhat gimicky surrounding the New Jersey event. I think there should be a race in the States but two, possibly not, pulling that many Americans away from NASCAR might be hard.

Then there is the issue of Bahrain, dropped from the calendar last year due to the unrest and violence in the country, it's position this year also seems to be under threat once more as stability in the gulf state is far from ideal. Personally I find the Sakhir track rather boring, and the 2010 layout was a crime against motor-racing, but it was the first middle-eastern venue to host an F1 GP and does possess some redeeming features, as a sporting event however it won't be missed if cancelled once more. In the event of Bahrain being unable to host the race this season rumour has it that the place will be filled with the Turkish GP which is waiting in the wings for it's cue to go on. If it was a contest the Instanbul circuit wins hands down as the race I'd rather see on the calendar.

All of that might sound fairly unstable and uncertain - primarily because it is - but it isn't the worst of it... the french are coming back. Claiming they will be back on the calendar in 2013. This may not sound like a bad thing, especially considering the venue won't be Magny-cours, as the thought of fighting an understeering blogmobile through the infuriating Estoril corner is enough to give you nightmares. The selected venue is the Paul-Ricard circuit which is a labryinth of different layouts for different formula so which route the GP will use is unknown, it has featured as the home of the French GP before doesn't have an 'Estoril corner'. Of course I can sit here and paint a nice pretty picture of the track and the south of France, making it all seem fine, but there is a problem, a rather big one, a problem so big it makes the current economic apocalupse seem like a minor niggle. The French, in order to gain a spot on a very compact schedule, want to run alternate seasons oposite the Belgian GP....

Yes, all those horrified gasps were justified, this means there will be seasons without a visit to the iconic Spa-francorchamps track. No wonder the French get a bad reputation, effectively neutering the season with their race, I'm not going to dismiss the French GP as a poor event - if it wasn't for one corner I'd like Magny-Cours but it is no competition for the Beligan GP, why can't it alternate with something else, like the Spanish or Hungarian GPs as long as we get to get the epic that is spa on the calendar. The last time it went missing from the season I was so mad, I dedicated one of my homework excercises in english to ranting at the FIA for dropping the race.

On a lighter note, trouble is also afoot for the Korean and Valencia races, both venues have requested a lower race hosting fee from Bernie as it costs a too much to host the events. I noted this in this bottom section of lighter notes because Valencia is a rather poor circuit, even more boring than Bahrain in terms of layout - yes there is a nice final sector  but the rest of it is dire - a bunch of lifeless straights and dull concrete barriers. The place has all the interest of Stanley front street, and is about as popular so it wouldn't be too much of a loss to the calendar. As for Korea - the track there isn't too bad but it is a far cry from the vast picturesque resort complex the designs have illustrated, and the turn 4-6 section is enough to condemn the track to the darkest bowels of hell for being as almost as evil as the estoril corner at magny-cours. But Bernie is likely not to reduce their fees because with the season already at max capacity already and Russia, New Jersey and now France wanting to get in on the act the weakest races will be weeded.

And so concludes this update of all the going on beyond my little corner of the internet as the season slows creeps forwards a little too slowly for my liking - but there are other more pressing matters are at hand at the moment and have been stealing the energy these things require. Future posts should be a little more energetic but these things happen, so until next time farewell for now.