Germany and the Ferrari farce

The German GP was a good one apart from a single corner that has overshadowed the whole weekend. Qualifying showed that the Ferraris are back on form and that it’s a six car race each time out. Hopefully that also means that the championship will stay tight at the front as Red Bull seem insistent on throwing away all the advantages that they get. McLaren also need Ferrari to take these points away from Red Bull at a point in the season when their challenge has faded a little. With the top few in title so close and all in competitive cars it should be a great run in.
The race itself was won (more on that later) in the first corner, Vettel was too concerned with Alonso that Massa drove clean past them both and with that distraction Alonso took second place too. The Ferraris also had the form of [...]

With three races down – is the new points system working if Felipe Massa is leading?

With three races completed, Bahrain, Australia and Malaysia there have been three winners so far, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button and Sebastien Vettel but it’s Felipe Massa who leads the Championship. It may be by only 2 points but it seems strange that a points system that was designed to give winning races more emphasis is being led by a driver who hasn’t won yet.
The table itself is very close with 9pts covering the first 7 drivers:

1. Felipe Massa
Ferrari
39

2. Fernando Alonso
Ferrari
37

3. Sebastian Vettel
Red Bull Racing
37

4. Jenson Button
McLaren
35

5. Nico Rosberg
Mercedes GP
35

6. Lewis Hamilton
McLaren
31

7. Robert Kubica
Renault
30

Though I doubt this will hold all season it does mean that you can hold onto the people who are winning even if you don’t manage it yourself. I’m sure that Felipe Massa will be wanting to win and justify that position at the top but with all the different people who seem to be in with [...]

Did the new refuelling rules for F1 work in Bahrain?

This years Bahrain GP saw the introduction of a new rule, that the teams can’t refuel the car once it has left the pit lane for the race. This means that the cars must carry enough fuel for the entire race from the start. This means extra weight in the car for the whole distance and the end of the short sprints between pit stops.
When the rule was announced it was unclear what it would achieve in terms of improving the action but it seems the goal was to get rid of the sometimes confusing middle section of the race where different drivers are on different strategies and aren’t really racing each other. The teams are still required to run both tyre compounds during the race so the cars have to stop at least once but that stop can happen at any point in the GP now as the window [...]

McLaren’s rear wing and the prospect of provisional results

The rear wing of the the McLaren – or rather the mechanism that can affect the effectiveness of the rear wing at high speed on the McLaren has been questioned by the other teams ahead of Sundays race. The stewards have passed it as legal and the FIA have backed them up on this, but with the propect that one of the other teams could appeal or lodge a protest then the race result may end up being provisional.
The issue centres around the device on the McLaren which allows the driver to change the airflow over the rear wing. Normally the device will be shut and won’t effect the airflow at all but at high speed the driver can open the flap which will then let the air pass through the chassis and exit over the rear wing which has the effect of stalling it, reducing drag and therefore increasing [...]