The biggest change in the rules for the 2010 season has to be the ban on in-race refuelling. Many commentators have mentioned various implications of this, such as faster pitstops and increased tyre wear. However, there is one further implication that I have not seen discussed anywhere.
For the full story, check out the new website at www.nealonf1.com
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Final Classification |
||||
|
Pos/Driver |
Team |
Q1 Time |
Q2 Time |
Q3 Time |
|
1. Felipe Massa |
Ferrari |
1:44.519 |
1:44.014 |
1:44.801 |
|
2. Lewis Hamilton |
McLaren-Mercedes |
1:44.501 |
1:44.932 |
1:45.465 |
|
3. Kimi Raikkonen |
Ferrari |
1:44.282 |
1:44.232 |
1:45.617 |
|
4. Robert Kubica |
BMW-Sauber |
1:44.740 |
1:44.519 |
1:45.779 |
|
5. Heikki Kovalainen |
McLaren-Mercedes |
1:44.311 |
1:44.207 |
1:45.873 |
|
6. Nick Heidfeld |
BMW-Sauber |
1:45.548 |
1:44.520 |
1:45.964 |
|
7. Sebastien Vettel |
Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
1:45.042 |
1:44.261 |
1:46.244 |
|
8. Timo Glock |
Toyota |
1:45.184 |
1:44.441 |
1:46.328 |
|
9. Nico Rosberg |
Williams-Toyota |
1:45.103 |
1:44.429 |
1:46.611 |
|
10. Kazuki Nakajima |
Williams-Toyota |
1:45.127 |
1:44.826 |
1:47.547 |
|
Eliminated After Q2 |
||||
|
11. Jarno Trulli |
Toyota |
1:45.642 |
1:45.038 |
|
|
12. Jenson Button |
Honda |
1:45.660 |
1:45.133 |
|
|
13. Mark Webber |
Red Bull-Renault |
1:45.493 |
1:45.212 |
|
|
14. David Coulthard |
Red Bull-Renault |
1:46.028 |
1:45.298 |
|
|
15. Fernando Alonso |
Renault |
1:44.971 |
No Time |
|
|
Eliminated After Q1 |
||||
|
16. Nelson Piquet Jnr. |
Renault |
1:46.037 |
|
|
|
17. Sebastian Bourdais |
Scuderia Toro Rosso-Ferrari |
1:46.389 |
|
|
|
18. Rubens Barrichello |
Honda |
1:46.583 |
|
|
|
19. Adrian Sutil |
Force India-Ferrari |
1:47.940 |
|
|
|
20. Giancarlo Fisichella |
Force India-Ferrari |
No Time |
|
|
Felipe Massa:
“What happened is that he took an advantage by cutting the chicane.
“You can ask drivers how many overtaking moves you see there.
“None between the last corner and the first corner, because there is such a small straight there. That is my opinion and it doesn’t change.”
Sebastian Bourdais:
“I think it is very clear, the rules are clear. Maybe the penalty is very hard but he has made the same mistake twice, he did in Magny-Cours and he did it in Spa.
“I don’t really understand why there is such a mess around it, there is a rule book and everyone has to obey the same thing. The penalty is rough but it is up to you to give the position back.”
Nico Rosberg:
“He did have an advantage because he would not be so close if he had not cut the chicane but the penalty was a bit harsh as it did not have a big result in the end result. But it won’t stop us from trying to attack definitely.”
Jarno Trulli:
“I agree the penalty was quite big but I am not a steward. But it is also clear he got an advantage.
“The rules are very clear, if you cut the chicane you get the advantage you have to drop it and lose advantage, in Lewis’ case he should not attack in the first corner that is it.
“This last chicane, they have a lot of run off area they give you more chance to attack because in case of mistake you won’t end up in wall or gravel. We have more chance to overtake.”
Giancarlo Fisichella:
“I just seen pictures so difficult for me to say if it is right or not what happened. For sure maybe he took a small advantage that is why he had the possibility to overtake him again in braking for Turn One, but obviously 25 seconds penalty was quite a strong penalty.”
STR3: Ferrari Powered
Italian Scuderia Toro Rosso’s team chief announced that the Faenza-based team will continue to use Ferrari’s customer engines. With the team’s STR3 chassis performing so well at present, and the senior Red Bull team comparatively struggling with their inferior Renault power, despite using a nearly identical car, it had been rumoured that Renault-powered Red Bull Racing might attempt to take over STR’s Ferrari contract. Ferrari handed the engine deal to STR at the start of 2007 in order to take the Renault deal.
Japanese driver Takuma Sato’s forthcoming test, meanwhile, stirred speculation that Toro Rosso might be considering using Honda engines.
In a statement, Franz Tost confirmed that Ferrari’s 2.4 litre V8 is the main reason behind the team’s strong showings of late.
“We are very happy with our arrangement with Maranello, which indeed is why we have recently extended our supply agreement with them.”
Tost also said the team is happy with its current driver lineup, including Sebastien Bourdais, whose future on the grid is in doubt, despite a strong showing in the Belgian Grand Prix.
“We are happy with both of them.”
“As for Bourdais, after a difficult period, he too has stepped up a gear in the past few weeks, as could be seen from the fact that, until the very last lap in Belgium, he had out-performed his teammate.”
Neal’s View: Ferrari push the limitations of the regulations to the absolute limit, so the Ferrari engine will always be strong.
As the 2008 Formula One season heads towards an exciting climax, speculation increases around those seats yet to be confirmed for 2009.
Toro Rosso driver Sebastian Bourdais has put in some strong performances recently, notably at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. Yet some Italian tabloids report that this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix at Monza could be his last, with the Faenza-based squad trying out Takuma Sato, Sebastien Buemi, and Bruno Senna for the last four Grands Prix.
Over at Renault, Brazilian Nelson Piquet Jnr. also finds his seat under threat. Swiss reports suggest that test driver Lucas di Grassi is set to test on all three days at the upcoming Jerez test. An evaluation ahead of 2009?
With recent reports suggesting Nick Heidfeld could lose his BMW-Sauber seat to Fernando Alonso next year, rumours in the paddock are linking the German with Alonso’s Renault seat.
Indy: Home of the last US Grand Prix
Formula One Blog has learned that several Formula One team chiefs have asked F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone to reinstate the race in the United States from 2010.
The last US Grand Prix was held at Indianapolis last year, but was dropped after circuit boss Tony George failed to agree a new contract with Ecclestone.
Prospects of securing a deal for 2009 are microscopic, but the team leaders want to see the event return – however, Indianapolis, home of the Indy 500, is not a favoured venue.
A number of teams, in particular the carmakers, have made it clear to Ecclestone that the American market is too important for them to ignore.
Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry told autosport.com:
“The American GP is key for two reasons. Firstly, this is supposed to be a world championship and a large part of it is made up of North America, so we should be going back there.
“Secondly, the North American market is absolutely vital to us, and for all the luxury car makers especially it is key. It is a market Honda is successful in, with Honda and Acura, and we would like to get back there as soon as possible.”
BMW motorsport director Mario Theissen added:
“It is important for BMW as a manufacturer but also for our sponsors. The USA is still the biggest market for BMW and we should be there. But we should be there successfully, so we have to find the right venue, the right setting and the right approach in order to make a point over there.
“If I look at where we sell our cars it is certainly on the east coast and the west coast, so from that perspective it (Indy) is not the ideal venue.
“I know Bernie is negotiating with several regions or cities in the US but apparently there is nothing confirmed or nothing ready to be announced.”
Williams-Toyota boss Sir Frank Williams said the event was vital even for independent teams like his.
“We all want it. Many of our sponsors are very active in the US – and several American ones, like Thomson Reuters, AT&T, are looking to expand – Philips too.”
Honda boss Nick Fry agreed with Mario Theissen’s sentiment that a race located on either the Pacific (West) or Atlantic (East) coasts would be ideal. Ecclestone has long been known to favour a race in Las Vegas.
“Ideally we would like a site on either coast, which is a key market for non-American brands. And from our point of view, the sooner the better.
“Bernie is very good at understanding the market and what the manufacturers want. He does realise the importance of this and we know he is doing his best to fix the problem, and we will give him all the support we can. We are all aligned on the importance of America.”
However, Indianapolis Motor Speedway spokesman Fred Nation said recently that his track was confident a deal could be put in place for them to return to the schedule.
“We are very optimistic for 2010.”
Neal’s View: It seems all teams want a race in the US, although the calender seems to be tightly packed as it is. The calender is set to expand to 19 races for 2010, but the US Grand Prix would make this 20 – surely the maximum possible. Although I would have thought an American driver being successful in the sport would be of more help. What chance of Marco Andretti? Honda seem to have given up on him.
As a sidenote, I do wonder how many fans four-times ChampCar Champion Sebastian Bourdais has brought with him?
Vettel (l), Bourdais (r): Star Spa Performers
STR-Ferrari’s French driver Sebastian Bourdais can feel hard-done by the weather at today’s Belgian Grand Prix. With a few laps left to run, the weather changed as rain arrived at the circuit, and Bourdais started his final lap in third position, meaning a podium was barely four miles away. However, Bourdais followed Hamilton’s, and Massa’s lead by opting not to pit for intermediate tyres, and this proved costly. In the final lap, Bourdais dropped from third, to seventh, with Renault’s Fernando Alonso the main beneficiary, climbing up to fourth.
“On the last lap it was a lottery with the car getting away from you with every turn of the wheel. It’s a horrible situation, as everything had been under control up until then. But I am not in a situation where I can risk everything and at the end of the race I didn’t even know where I finished.
“It was so close to being a great result I felt I could almost touch it and so it was a very frustrating way to finish what was a great weekend up to that point. Such a shame, but nevertheless a very strong result for the team.”
Neal’s View: Bourdais drove a strong race, and STR-Ferrari will be happy with the results – but it could have been better. The pressure is still on Bourdais, but more performances like this and he should keep his seat for 2009.
Formula One Blog likes to test it’s knowledge by predicting the outcomes of qualifying and races, so here are our thoughts on today’s race. Unfortunately, time is limited so we will only cover the points positions.
1st: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes)
2nd Felipe Massa (Ferrari)
3rd Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari)
4th Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes)
5th Mark Webber (Red Bull-Renault)
6th Fernando Alonso (Renault)
7th Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari)
8th Sebastian Bourdais (STR-Ferrari)
Check back later to see how close we were.
Pole-sitter: Lewis Hamilton
Following a thrilling qualifying session that saw a fantastic lap from McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton, and both STRs in the top 10, Formula One Blog has issued a new poll.
Click on the link in the top right corner of the page to vote on who you think will win tomorrow’s Belgian Grand Prix!
As some of you may have seen, we at Formula One Blog earlier put our neck on the block and tried to predict the results from today’s qualifying. Our predictions can be seen here.
So how did we do?
We got the front row correct, albeit in the wrong order as Lewis Hamilton beat Felipe Massa for pole.
Our prediction of the second row was spot on, with Heikki Kovalainen outqualifying Kimi Raikkonen.
The third row saw Nick Heidfeld qualify 5th (we thought it would be Jarno Trulli), but we were correct in Fernando Alonso qualifying 6th.
We also got the fourth row correct, unfortunately in the wrong order, as Mark Webber took 7th, and Robert Kubica grabbed 8th.
The fifth row was a surprise STR-Ferrari lockout, as Sebastian Bourdais (9th) outqualified his teammate Sebastian Vettel (10th). We thought it would be Nick Heidfeld in 9th and Timo Glock in 10th.
We thought that Jenson Button (Honda), Nelson Piquet Jnr. (Renault), David Coulthard (Red Bull-Renault), Sebastian Vettel (STR-Ferrari), and Nico Rosberg (Williams-Toyota) would drop out in second qualifying period, however we were only correct with Piquet, Coulthard, and Rosberg. Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, also, did not make the top-ten shootout.
Finally, we thought the first to go would be Adrian Sutil (Force India), Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), Kazuki Nakajima (Williams-Toyota), Sebastian Bourdais (STR-Ferrari), Rubens Barrichello (Honda). Swap the surprising Bourdais for Jenson Button, and we would have been spot-on.
Neal’s View: All in all, we predicted the grid quite accurately. Qualifying was not what you could call wet, so surprises should have been few and far between. Did anyone predict Sebastian Bourdais getting into the final session?
The Pitstraight 