Will the words ‘Red Wash’ be spoken this year given the Ferraris performance in Bahrain?

The Ferraris put on a good show in Bahrain, they we’re surprised to see Sebastien Vettel take pole and I suspect that they may have had a little more to give had they thought he could put the Red Bull there. In the race they were reeling in the Red Bull before he had his problem and it seems that they were so much faster once released, it may have been a matter of time until they passed anyway, given that no one else seemed close could we have seen the first race of another so called ‘Red Wash’ season?
I think from the second that Ferrari chose to give up on the 2009 car there has been the distinct possibility that 2010 would be a Ferrari year, they have poured more time and effort into the 2010 car than anyone else on the grid and given their technical capability that [...]

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 [...]

F1 2010 is about to start!

With the first practice session of 2010 about to start everyone is on edge to see if they have done enough work over the winter and HRT Cosworth will see how their car runs for the first time. The drivers will all be hoping that they’ve made the right moves and that they can succeed at what ever goals they’ve set themselves this year – be that winning the championship or getting a better driver.
The weather forecast for Bahrain is sunshine – was if ever going to be anything else? – and the track is clear so everything is set. Expect the teams to make full use of the practice sessions to try and workout tyre wear and fuel consumption so that they can optimise their race strategy. They’ll also want to try the new layout here at Bahrain with the new section it makes the track a little more [...]

Driver movements for 2010, the ongoing merry-go-round

2010 sees the most changed grid in a long while and whereas the new teams and drivers receive a lot of press there are also a good few drivers who’ve changed teams over the winter. Some of them for the better and some for worse.

Jenson Button – Brawn to McLaren
Rubens Barrichello – Brawn to Williams
Nico Rosberg – Williams to Mercedes
Fernando Alonso – Renault to Ferrari
Timo Glock – Toyota to Virgin
Jarno Trulli – Toyota to Lotus
Heikki Kovalainen – McLaren to Lotus
Robert Kubica – BMW Sauber to Renault

Some of the moves were forced such as Timo Glock, Jarno Trulli and to some extent Robert Kubica because of the demise of the team though in Kubica’s case Sauber re-emerged later on. Glocks move sees him end up at Virgin and Trulli’s at Lotus – two of the new teams – only time will tell whether these moves make sense and a lot of [...]