Tag Archives: new rules

McLaren, Hamilton, Button and Istanbul

Going home from Turkey with a 1-2 would have been McLaren’s dream result, no? Well it would have been had they not battled with each other for the lead 9 laps from the end, after the Red Bull incident it all seemed a little strange that they would be allowed to do so but neither driver showed the hot headed nature that ended Vettels race and they both carried on to finish but there were a few questions to be asked afterwards.
Both drivers had driven a good race up until that point and were heading towards 3rd and 4th, Hamilton had been fighting with the Red Bulls all the way and Button had been staying in touch and biding his time – this was the critical thing for the race as it meant he’d saved some more fuel over Hamilton – though that’s not in the most recent description of [...]

On Webber in Spain and what could have been

The 2010 Spanish GP won’t go down in history as a classic and you could be forgiven for forgetting who won it as Webber just disappeared and was untouchable out front with a flawless drive from beginning to end. All the action went on behind him. It seemed that Michael Schumacher had finally got the better on Nico Rosberg, but then Rosberg had such a poor race it could have just been a bad weekend for him. Problems at pit stops caused issues for Button and Vettel and some dodgy driving put pay to some other’s races.
Sebastien Vettel again showed that Red Bull do have a weakness even if it isn’t speed, unfortunately for the others they don’t seem to have reliability either. Hamilton will also be ruing the lost points and they may cost him later on in the season as Button continues to pick up points. Button himself [...]

Virgin fail to make their fuel tank large enough to last the race distance

Virgin seem to have managed to build themselves a car that doesn’t actually have a big enough fuel tank to last the race distance. That finishes off their chance of completing the next few races then, with them unable to get a new design together and built before the Spanish GP that means that something has to give at the next three races – will they run at half pace for some laps or will they just see how far they get?
It seems strange that they have managed to design themselves into this position, the refueling rules were the big change this year and all the other teams have managed it. It seems that they will have to cut the back off of their chassis and bond a new longer section to the back so that they can add the capacity to the fuel tank. Their application to the FIA [...]

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 [...]