F1 Column - 2010 German GP Review

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Good reading, can't wait for part 2.
 
I somehow missed all of this, I will be following it this season no doubt. Good write ups, and I couldn't really disagree with any of it. Just bookmarked it, and looking forward to part II.
 
Very good reading, thanks! 👍

Btw, for part 2, don't forget to say Kobayashi is the man every true F1 fan is eager to see racing with a competitive car in 2010 :D
 
Hun200kmh
Very good reading, thanks! 👍

Btw, for part 2, don't forget to say Kobayashi is the man every true F1 fan is eager to see racing with a competitive car in 2010 :D
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Indeed....and dare I say that looks likely?
 
You definitely (and justifiably) dared ! Even Pedro de la Rosa could win races this year! :D

As I see it, at least in testing, Ferraris ('10) are the Brawns ('09), Saubers ('10) are the RBRs ('09)
 
You've got great insight :D 👍
 
Good summaries so far, just one point you perhaps missed with Force India - Di Resta is getting seat time on 1st Friday practice sessions, which is clearly going to put pressure on Sutil and Liuzzi (more pressure than your average test driver!). I reckon its more pressure on Liuzzi as Sutil is already the team's established lead driver now, whereas Liuzzi really has to prove himself this year.
The McLaren/Merecedes connection is clearly pulling some strings there, it will be interesting to see how that relationship will continue in following seasons, will Force India continue to allow such restrictions in exchange for the obvious technical help they are getting or will they decide to ditch Mercedes at a later point in order to hire the drivers they want? Or is Force India going to become a parallel of the "Blue Ferrari" (Sauber).
The funding behind Force India was in question, but the good amount of sponsors on the car and the good results of past seasons should mean they are ok. I'm wondering if Vijay has finally paid off his Ferrari debts yet?
 
Many thanks Ardius, I was actually at the time struggling a little bit with the Force India section. I agree that Liuzzi's seat is far more precarious than Sutil's, and it's unlikely that Tonio will outperform him much this year. Also Di Resta is Merc's driver so it'll have little or nothing to do with McLaren now right? Especially as they are technically a customer team as of this year I guess.

All the best
Maz
 
Thats what I'm not sure about, is it McLarens or Mercedes young driver programme? Is the McLaren-Mercedes link still strong?
Either way, they've clearly parachuted Di Resta in there just like they did with Simon Roberts and its suggests to me that they are helping Force India perhaps to build them as a young driver team like Sauber or Toro Rosso as well as a junior team for team personnel to gain experience (like Roberts).
I'm wondering though if Force India don't start to grow a taste for success which they may be restricted from if they are so linked with McLaren/Mercedes. Its a difficult path indeed for Vijay, if he does decide to go it alone, he risks losing the engine supply as well. But what choice would he have if that is all that is stopping him from attempting to take the title?
I guess we'll get to that when it happens, for now, FI are going to be content with doing what their suppliers say because it benefits them. I bet EJ is wishing he had done such a good job of building a relationship with a top team - though he did manage to nearly get there without them.

They have basically just broken into the midfield and are starting to come across strategic decisions that they didn't need to worry about before. Now we see if Force India can prove they are a "force" and not just also-rans. It also puts teams like Williams and Renault in an interesting position, whereas before those two teams would be expected to beat FI, they are now looking at fighting them head to head. Its going to be an important season for so many teams....in fact, nearly all of the teams need to be somewhere this year.
 
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http://f1column.blogspot.com/

Season preview part 3 AFTER the first race :lol:

Many apologies for the delay, hopefully it was worth it.

All the best
Maz
 
Apologies for the double post, but I thought maybe a completely new article deserved its own post.

2010 Bahrain Grand Prix:
http://f1column.blogspot.com/

👍

All the best
Maz
 
Thanks for the jump start back to your blog. It's always a good read. 👍

I feel some risks on tyre management may have to come into play, for drivers to stop making this season a procession. Qualifying will become a little more risky too, as this will be the most likely way to secure a good points finish.

M.S. was very solid in his return to F1. Not spectacular, but the Benz looked fairly conservative in it's opening race of the season. Ferrari seemed to be sandbagging during the practices, as they showed their hand in qualy, to be right on the pace. maybe they were laden with more fuel than the others.

Looking forward to Albert Park. A reasonably different type of track, with a few more bumps and walls. A fair bit cooler too.
 
New article to fill the void between now and the Australian GP!

"Notable Absentees: Kimi Raikkonen"
http://f1column.blogspot.com/

If any of you guys would like to become a follower of the blog, please feel free to scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on the button "Follow" and also add yourself as a follower on my new F1Column Twitter page http://twitter.com/f1column

Many kind thanks to all of you who have already showed your support and of course to Jordan who gave me a tremendous plug on the GTPlanetNews twitter :cheers: :gtpflag:


zed300
Thanks for the jump start back to your blog. It's always a good read. 👍

I feel some risks on tyre management may have to come into play, for drivers to stop making this season a procession. Qualifying will become a little more risky too, as this will be the most likely way to secure a good points finish.

M.S. was very solid in his return to F1. Not spectacular, but the Benz looked fairly conservative in it's opening race of the season. Ferrari seemed to be sandbagging during the practices, as they showed their hand in qualy, to be right on the pace. maybe they were laden with more fuel than the others.

Looking forward to Albert Park. A reasonably different type of track, with a few more bumps and walls. A fair bit cooler too.
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Thanks for your comments Jeff! I'm definitely of the opinion that Schumi did as much as can be expected of him in such difficult conditions, certainly he didn't warrant any criticism. I also agree that Albert park will be a major factor in the powers that be deciding to mess with the regulations this season.

All the best
Maz
 
I'll think I'd say that Raikkonen has been one of the great shames in F1. Incredibly hyped up in his years with Sauber and McLaren, he always had unreliable cars to blame and the impressive performances did seem to indicate he would be fantastic in a reliable and competitive car and team. However, when he switched to Ferrari, it seemed to all disappear. The impressive performances were still there but he suddenly lacked consistencey through the year, and he started to be beaten or matched by a teammate people originally rated as inferior.
It came to this year and still (until Hungary) Massa was beating or matching Raikkonen. Kimi has never been known as a charismatic person and he's possibly the worst driver for marketing, and I think most teams were willing to overlook this because he was such a brilliant driver on the track. But when Ferrari started to get sick of the mediocre races from Kimi, it left nothing to fall back on. "Why do we hire this driver? He's unreliable AND he's not so sponsor-friendly".
In the end, I think Kimi lost his enthusiasm with F1, partly because he wasn't getting machinery that was much better than the McLaren at times and partly probably because of the intense criticsm he started to gain over the past couple of years. This was the main factor in Kimi leaving. And I think thats the crux of the issue - Kimi left F1, F1 didn't leave Kimi. Would McLaren have taken Kimi over Button? I think so, but I don't think Kimi was interested - typical sales tactic to overcharge when you want to make it clear you aren't interested, but will take the money if they are stupid enough to offer it.

It said a lot when Ferrari have paid for Kimi to not race for them :lol:, how many people get paid not to do something? This is why I think Kimi priced himself out of a drive on purpose - its not like he wasn't going to be earning money as Ferrari already have paid for his 2010 "season". So, if he really wanted a seat at McLaren or Mercedes, I think he would have naturally accepted less. But instead he still asked for an ordinary salary on top of his Ferrari pay, and I don't consider Kimi or his managers stupid enough to think he was worth that much.
 
I think that if Raikkonen actually gave it 10/10ths throughout a season, he'd be the best driver on the grid. But he just really gives off the impression of totally not giving a damn about the sport. Remember Malaysia with the ice cream? They don't call him Ice Man for nothing, I suppose :D
 
SaberFire
I think that if Raikkonen actually gave it 10/10ths throughout a season, he'd be the best driver on the grid after Alonso.
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Fixed that for yah ;)

The only thing I can say is that I much miss the years when Kimi was flying in that silver arrow, when it didn't break down...
 
While we're on the subject, some classic Raikkonen:
 
Ardius
I'll think I'd say that Raikkonen has been one of the great shames in F1. Incredibly hyped up in his years with Sauber and McLaren, he always had unreliable cars to blame and the impressive performances did seem to indicate he would be fantastic in a reliable and competitive car and team. However, when he switched to Ferrari, it seemed to all disappear. The impressive performances were still there but he suddenly lacked consistencey through the year, and he started to be beaten or matched by a teammate people originally rated as inferior.
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I think some of this must have been due to the general underrating of Felipe Massa though, right? The way kimi closed out 2007 was what was expected of a driver of that quality...if you don't consider too much the intra-McLaren own goal ;)

Ardius
It said a lot when Ferrari have paid for Kimi to not race for them :lol:, how many people get paid not to do something? This is why I think Kimi priced himself out of a drive on purpose - its not like he wasn't going to be earning money as Ferrari already have paid for his 2010 "season". So, if he really wanted a seat at McLaren or Mercedes, I think he would have naturally accepted less. But instead he still asked for an ordinary salary on top of his Ferrari pay, and I don't consider Kimi or his managers stupid enough to think he was worth that much.
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👍

SaberFire
I think that if Raikkonen actually gave it 10/10ths throughout a season, he'd be the best driver on the grid. But he just really gives off the impression of totally not giving a damn about the sport. Remember Malaysia with the ice cream? They don't call him Ice Man for nothing, I suppose :D
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I also think a great deal was made of him having that ice cream :lol: Another one that comes to mind is when he walked straight out of the 2006 Monaco GP and onto his boat :D

Ardius
While we're on the subject, some classic Raikkonen:
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Lovely video, thank you 👍

BTW I added a poll to the column and a nice picture at the top, as well as a direct link to the Twitter. You must know the link by now ;)

All the best
Maz
 
Synwraith
I think some of this must have been due to the general underrating of Felipe Massa though, right? The way kimi closed out 2007 was what was expected of a driver of that quality...if you don't consider too much the intra-McLaren own goal ;)
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Partly, though Massa's relative bad reputation was for fair reason, I remember all too well his regular collisions with the Jaguar's which denied them points.
Kimi's 2007 was good, but its after that really that he seemed to lose it a bit. Maybe we could blame it on the banning of traction control, which also saw Massa struggle initially.
Or maybe it was just that the Ferrari's were difficult to drive?
 
Ardius
Partly, though Massa's relative bad reputation was for fair reason, I remember all too well his regular collisions with the Jaguar's which denied them points.
Kimi's 2007 was good, but its after that really that he seemed to lose it a bit.
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That seems to be a big problem for F1 as well, reputations stick like glue and take forever to undo. Massa is well beyond those days, and Raikkonen was never able to shake his lazy image.

I sometimes really wonder about the perceptions we're fed about these guys through magazines like Autosport and F1Racing. For the best part of 2007 and 2008, Peter Windsor and Alan Henry were incredibly anti-Alonso. Since his reputation-rebuilding 2008 and 2009 their tune changed significantly.

Argument for another time I think, off the soapbox :lol:

All the best
Maz
 
I don't think thats particular for F1 though, thats more a comment on the media and human beings in general :p.
And Peter Windsor has always been a 🤬. 👎

I don't think its fair to say that their reputations stuck - Massa is rated very highly by most people these days. At the time, Massa had only been at Ferrari 1 year, and his Sauber years were not so distant. His debut season was almost as bad as Piquet Jr's. Unlike Piquet though, he got his head down and brought in the results. However, he had not been showing the same flashes of speed that Raikkonen did (partly becuase he was only at Sauber), so it was fair to say (and possibly still is) that he isn't as good as Raikkonen.

As for Raikkonen being lazy, well that crept up recently. I don't think anyone called him lazy back in 2006/2007. I don't remember that anyway.
 
It's a fantastic read, thanks! :)

Funny I don't remember anything from Heidfeld (apart from him losing the front wing of the car in a promotional event :lol: ). I guess that may partly explain what has happened to him.
 
Nick Heidfeld, the unsung hero of F1. He is so unbelievably under-rated, I really don't understand why people forget about him.


 
With such a record, how was it that Heidfeld was unable to find a seat on the 2010 grid, whereas Kubica (who Heidfeld beat again) was able to land the lead driver position at Renault?
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Nick Heidfeld was the architect of his own demise. He had his heart set on the #4 Mercedes GP drive alongside Nico Rosberg and wasn't really talking to anyone else. But then Mercedes took Schumacher back, announcing him the day before Christms Eve and - as Peter Windsor documented - Europe shut down for eighteen days. By the time everyone was back from holidays, most of what was available was unappealing: the second Renault, the second Toro Rosso, one Hispania and both USF1 drives. But then USF1 took Jose Maria Lopez and Jaime Alguersuari was apparently lined up to return with Toro Rosso from an early date. By the time Vitaly Petrov emerged as the front-runner for Renault, Heidfeld was well and truly out of the picture. He wasn't screwed over by a team principal (Jenson Button at Benetton-Renault), nor was he shafted in favour of a rookie (as th Spanish will have you believe was the case with Pedro de la Rosa at McLaren in 2007); Nick Heidfeld just didn't do anything when he should have been doing something. It's elementary negotiations: you talk to as many people as possible just in case your first choice doesn't play out. For Heidfeld, he didn't - and Mercedes didn't, either.
 
Thats a lot of stuff you know about Nick's mind their ludes, how on earth do you know he didn't approach Renault?
I'm fairly certain that Nick didn't feel like dragging a backender team around again...which is why he didn't sign with any of the new teams or Toro Rosso. He may have been hoping for the Sauber drive, but in the end the Mercedes drive was safest and it appears Peter didn't want him. He also doesn't bring any money, so pretty much his only choices were new teams with pay drivers or current teams without a lead driver - which if you notice, was a fairly small number.

Its not that Nick was lazy, as you are implying, but more that Nick wants competitive machinery, which he rightly deserves by now. He's had to save his career once already before.
You make it sound like he was not approaching any of the new teams because he couldn't be bothered or because he was pinning all his hopes on one team, which may have been the case - but its not fact like you imply, thats your opinion.
 
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Ardius
Thats a lot of stuff you know about Nick's mind their ludes, how on earth do you know he didn't approach Renault?
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He did - but not until this year.
 
Does anyone think Jacques Villeneuve will ever get another F1 seat?

Or will he be content to drive at Le Mans or Nascar?

Or just sing songs!

Any young Canadians on the horizon?
 
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