Formula 1 2010 Season Preview Part 4

In the final part of my 2010 season preview, I will look at the twelve teams in closer details, as well as minor details on the regulation changes and race calendar for the coming season ahead.

McLaren

McLaren start the 2010 season as the team to beat with many pundits.  Testing suggests they have some work to do, but if their race simulation pace is anything to go by, don’t be surprised to expect the Woking-based team topping the podium on a regular basis in 2010.  With the last two world champions together, both British in Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton, it will be very interesting to see who comes out on top in that game of cat-and-mouse.  Both Button and Hamilton have new engineers, whilst Anthony Hamilton has spilt from his son as manager and Lewis has also had relationship distractions to deal with going to Bahrain.  They may not win the early races, but after their strong development improvements from last season are anything to go by, there can be no question that McLaren come into the final reckoning as serious contenders.

Mercedes GP

The Brawn GP fairytale is something unlikely to be seen in Grand Prix racing again for generations to come.  Now the team has been taken over again, this time by German manufacturer Mercedes.  Frustrated at McLaren’s results, plus numerous run-ins with the FIA, Norbert Haug has jumped ship and bought a 75% stake in the team, even though Ross Brawn will still run the team and have his name firmly on the door as ‘the boss.’  Bringing back Michael Schumacher is an ace move, which can only be seen as a winner and rekindle the old magic between Brawn and Schumacher from the Ferrari days.  For Nico Rosberg, he must show his mettle this season if his stay with the company turns into long-term security.  The car doesn’t look a winning combination for the flyaway races, but by Silverstone, expect Schumi to be a race winner again and Mercedes to a have a huge say in the destination of both championships.

Red Bull

Red Bull is the only one of the top four teams to have carried into 2010 stability and continuity.  Adrian Newey’s car was the crème of the crop in 2009, only weakened by a poor engine from Renault, strategy errors from the team and the catching-up process from the double diffuser scandal at the start of last campaign.  In Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, the Milton Keynes team has all the ingredients and the pedigree to become double world champions in 2010, and could well be the tip for many to deliver on its huge potential.

Ferrari

2009 was a season to forget for the Scuderia.  No poles and a solitary win for the now departed Kimi Raikkonen at Spa saw the team’s worst campaign since 1995.  Felipe Massa’s life-threatening crash in Hungary last summer only made things worse, as did Luca Badoer and Giancarlo Fisichella’s inability to score points in the sister car.  Things must be different in 2010; otherwise heads and changes will role in the management department.  The Tifosi expect too, and 2009 will have hurt them as much as it did for the employees.  On paper, Massa and Fernando Alonso is the strongest driver line-up and I firmly expect them to be constructors champions for the umpteenth time in 2010.  They start as narrow favourites, but must use teamwork and unity if they are going to deliver big time in the season ahead.

Williams

Williams has not won a race since Juan Pablo Montoya’s swansong drive for the team at the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix.  For Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head, this is far too long to have had such a barren run and anything other than winning to them is seen as a failure.  Last season saw a lot of potential in the car, but the results were not good enough, without a single podium finish.  Nico Rosberg and the hopelessly inadequate Kazuki Nakajima have been replaced by veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and hot rookie, Nico Hulkenberg.  Cosworth units will power the cars, replacing the underpowered Toyota engines, so its changes all around.  This combination has the potential to cause a load of stirring upsets and bring Williams its first triumph in five years.  If not, what will?

Sauber

Reluctantly after three years away, Peter Sauber has come out of retirement and bought back his team that he sold to BMW in 2005.  Already, Peter is looking for investment which suggests he isn’t in this for the long-term, but his determination for his team not to fall flat on its face, which is what it looked like last summer is great to see.  With a lack of sponsorship on the car, that will worry a few, but the driver line-up of Pedro de la Rosa and Kamur Kobayashi is the perfect blend of experience and youth.  Testing has been encouraging, Sauber could well be the dark horses of 2010.

Renault

Last year was annus horribus for the French team.  Nelson Piquet was sacked, then lost all creditability, the ‘Crashgate’ scandal saw many sponsors withdraw, Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds disgraced and quit, Fernando Alonso left for Ferrari and Romain Grosjean did even worse than Piquet.  Eighth place in the final table was a fully-merited result, with just one podium finish.  Renault has gone back to square one and Robert Kubica’s signing is a very astute one.   Vitaly Petrov brings much-needed cash and sponsorship, even if his driven talents must be questioned and under new management, the team surely can only go forward.  Actually, I think they may go backwards, but something less controversial than 2009 would be a massive relief to everyone at Enstone and in France.

Force India

In 2009, Force India made a stunning breakthrough with Fisichella’s amazing pole position and 2^nd place at Spa, backed up by a front-row and 4^th place race finish at the next race for Adrian Sutil.  Development came at a alarmingly high rate last season, but the next step is now to be consistent points finishers and regular podium visitors.  Both drivers, Sutil and Vitantonio Liuzzi are talking up the chances of the car and the spirit of the team will drive them even further forward.  The loss of technical director James Key to Sauber will hurt them, but I’m expecting big things from Force India in 2010, to show last year wasn’t a flash in the pan.

Toro Rosso

After four years of customer and technical support from Red Bull, Scuderia Toro Rosso has been forced to go their own way and build their own racing car.  Although this meant that more staff is now employed, it could be a tough season for the team, probably more under threat from the new teams, than challenging the established runners.  Keeping Sebastian Buemi is a major coup, as his stock continues to rise.  Jaime Alguesuari will do well to see out the season, stability is the goal if they want to move forwards, not backwards.  Sebastian Vettel’s Monza win in 2008 must seem a century ago.

Lotus

For the first time in sixteen years, the famous, historical name of Lotus returns to Formula 1.  The car looks beautiful and fairly reliable too.  With Mike Gascoigne onboard to guide the team, plus the experience of Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen, Lotus have got to consider themselves as the best of the new teams.  However, the car looks painfully slow in testing, so there is a lot of work for them to do, if they want to trouble the serious point’s scorers in 2010.

Virgin Racing

After minimal backing into the Brawn GP effort of 2009, Richard Branson has put his money into F1 by setting up Virgin Racing, formerly Manor GP.  John Booth is the team manager, a motorsport man through and through and Nick Wirth’s ambitious design which has seen this car to be the first ever to go green and not use a wind tunnel must be praised.  Timo Glock can guide the team forward to great things, but reliability looks like it could be a big hindrance, especially in its early stages.  They look quicker than Lotus, but have more problems to deal with.  Seeing out the season will be an achievement in itself and I’m confident they will be able to do that.

Hispania F1

For a team to not have turned a wheel in anger before Bahrain is nothing short of ridiculous.  Even Super Aguri did minimal testing when it made its F1 bow in the desert, back in 2006.  True, Geoff Willis is onboard as technical director and Daniele Audetto as team manager, but for a team to have had so much uncertainty in the build-up doesn’t bode well for the future.  It could well be a very frustrating experience for drivers Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna and quite honestly, I would be massively surprised if Hispania F1 remained on the grid by the second half of the season.

Calendar and Rules

Like in 2006, Bahrain has been given the season opener, as it is more likely to attract huge European television audiences.  The 19-race calendar means it is set to equal the busiest championship ever in its 60-year history, equalling the feat set back in 2005.  After four flyaway races, Barcelona will open the European season in the middle of May and will probably bring the first major set of development changes.  There is a welcome return to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix in June, after a one-year sabbatical, whilst the car-park event in Valencia moves to June on a new six-year contract.  Finally, the British Grand Prix has a stable future, secure at Silverstone for the next 17 years.  The 2010 event will take place on July 11^th, the same day as the 2010 FIFA World Cup Final.  Once again, Monza finishes the European season in the middle of September, with five flyaway races to conclude the championship, culminating in a November 14^th finish in the twilight of Abu Dhabi.  Watch out for the South Korean Grand Prix, with the inaugural event pencilled in for October 24^th.  Work is underway, as the organisers face a race in time to be ready for its debut event.

Though not as raft in 2009, there are some major regulation changes for the sport and the fans to get to grips with.  The points scoring system has been changed, with more reward for the winner.  The top ten will now score points in the 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1 format.  Qualifying is now a true battle for pole position, with low fuel qualifying now for all three knockout sessions.  Due to the new team’s entry, seven cars will now be eliminated from the first two sessions, with as ever, ten scrapping it out in the final pole position shootout.  However, drivers who qualify in the top ten must start the race on the same set of tyres they qualified with.  KERS has been banned by FOTA, after its failure to produce the overtaking it promised in 2009, whilst all teams will be using the controversial double diffuser (due for banning in 2011.)  Wheel spinners have been banned on the grounds of safety and lapped cars can now not overtake under the Safety Car.

The biggest change though is the banning of refuelling for 2010.  For the first time since 1993, all cars will run on full tanks of petrol for the race, only pitting for tyres during the event.  Expect pitstops to be around only 3.0seconds long for stationery time, with Riccardo Patrese’s record of 2.8secs for a pitstop at the 1993 Belgian GP now under severe jeopardy.  Tyre management, fuel and engine consumption will now be a major factor in the races.  Of the current field only Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello have experience of racing F1 cars on full tanks, having both competed in the 1993 season.