MotoGP 2011 review - A season to forget for many

THE 2011 MotoGP season came to a conclusion in Valencia during last weekend and for many, it will be a season to forget.  Casey Stoner’s sensational domination will be remembered, as will the surprising struggles of Valentino Rossi at Ducati, but it was tragedy that will sadly be the overriding memory of the season.

LOST: The life of Marco Simoncelli will not be forgotten

       Marco Simoncelli’s death at the penultimate race in Malaysia brought worldwide shock to the paddock and the whole of motorsport.  His accident was a freakish one and it is a sight that no-one will want to see again for a long time.  The Italian was a flamboyant rider, a charismatic man who was full of flair and nothing was the ordinary for him.  He was coming into his prime within the sport, putting together a string of consistent finishes.  Let’s be honest, he didn’t do quiet.  His first podium in Brno was one of the highlights of the season and his ride to second place in Phillip Island a week before the fateful events in Malaysia underlined his quality.  The early season madness of Jerez, Estoril and Silverstone was nothing more than a distant memory.  The sport has been denied one of its greatest talents, but Marco’s legacy will remain for a long time.  Ciao Marco!

     However, sport moves on and a broken Gresini team have gone onto name Alvaro Bautista as Simoncelli’s replacement for next season.  Bautista has ended a two year stint at Suzuki, which was plagued by far too many injuries and accidents.  When he stayed on the bike, he showed his potential as a young talent coming through, underlined by a fifth place finish at Silverstone, but he made too many rash mistakes this campaign.  Bautista wasn’t the only rider to end up disappointing this campaign.  The Premac Ducati team had a nightmare season, with Randy de Puniet often finishing in the gravel and Loris Capirossi sadly soldering on through his final season in motorcycling.  At times, Hector Barbera outperformed the works Ducati’s with some excellent qualifying performances, but at other occasions, he disappeared into thin air.  Ultimately, his campaign will have to go down as a major disappointment.

     To be honest, Ducati had a miserable season altogether.  The team only managed two podiums all season.  Nicky Hayden came a fortunate third in the rain-affected Jerez event, whilst Valentino Rossi benefited from a controversial clash between Dani Pedrosa and Simoncelli in Le Mans to also net a third place result.  Their season ended miserably; both riders in the gravel in turn one in Valencia and Hayden missing the final season test through a fractured wrist.  Hayden’s season was a struggle, but he outqualified Rossi more often than not and got the bulk of Ducati’s strongest results, as third in Jerez and fourth at Silverstone would underline.  I was very surprised by Rossi’s struggles this season.  The Ducati is a very hard machine to set up and riders such as Marco Melandri and Hayden have struggled in the past, but Rossi really couldn’t seem to adapt as much as I thought he would.  Taking Stoner down in Jerez was one of the most dramatic moments of the season, but showed the issues he had with the frontend of the bike.  Plus, similar incidents later in the season would point that fact out.  Seventh place in the final standings is his worst performance since 2000 and The Doctor has a lot of soul searching to do over the course of the winter.

     Rossi’s replacement at Yamaha was the American, Ben Spies.  Spies produced a dominant performance in Assen to register his first MotoGP victory.  He also was a fine third at his home event in Indianapolis and nearly recorded another triumph in the final event at the weekend, but for poor traction off the final corner.  However, he will be glad for the break, having been battered and bruised throughout.  Spies crashed out in Portugal, Silverstone and Jerez and practice accidents ruled him out of the Australian and Malaysian events.  On his day, he proved his worth as a top rider, but was missing the consistency that Yamaha required.  Defending champion Jorge Lorenzo put up a brave fight throughout the season, on a bike that was nowhere near the fastest.  He won three times in 2011 and although he inherited the Jerez win, when Stoner and Simoncelli crashed, he put in some memorable performances to win against the odds, most notably in Mugello, on a Honda powered circuit.  However, his crash in the rain of Silverstone saw him lose the early advantage he built up in the championship and he would never regain it.  A nasty crash in warm-up for the Australian event saw Lorenzo’s finger needing surgery to prevent amputation and ended his charge three races early.  His class in 2011 did show through, and he will be keeping his remaining fingers crossed that Yamaha produce a better package for him next season.  On the customer Tech-3 bikes, Colin Edwards claimed a memorable podium at Silverstone, only eight days after breaking his collarbone in a practice accident for the Catalunya round.  Sadly, he was involved in the accident that claimed Simoncelli’s life and only time will tell next season to see how the Texan Tornado has been affected.  Rookie Cal Crutchlow was another rider to have his fair share of spills, but raced brilliantly at the final event in Valencia to secure fourth place, his best finish of a solid year, even if his promise was at times, unfulfilled.

     This leaves us with the Repsol Honda riders.  Dani Pedrosa suffered another injury-hit season and mysteriously disappeared from the action when he tangled with Simoncelli at Le Mans.  He broke his collarbone, but seemed to take longer than what was needed to return to racing.  Then, it was the same old story from Pedrosa, producing some stunning performances which brought victories in Portugal and Germany, along with times where he didn’t look interested such as Australia.  Although he didn’t win a round, Andrea Dovizioso produced a very consistent season, with many podiums and very few accidents.  He might have been the slowest of the works Honda riders, but fully deserved third place in the championship.  He has been dropped for 2012, but Honda’s loss will be Tech-3 Yamaha’s gain and Crutchlow will know that he must raise his game against the talented Dovizioso next season.

     However, the final word belongs to the dominant champion.  Casey Stoner left Ducati behind, as he was convinced that they didn’t have the necessary equipment to fulfil his needs.  The way Rossi has struggled to handle the bike suggests that the Australian must have been doing minor miracles in recent seasons.  On a Honda, he looked totally at ease and incredibly formidable.  From the moment he cruised to victory in the Qatar season opener, there was never any doubt he was going to end up as the no.1 at the end of the season.  When he could win, he would win and when the points were needed, he took the points such as second in Assen and third places in both Mugello and Portugal.  He is a deserved champion and a brilliant rider and the rest have a lot to do if they are to match him in 2012.

FINAL POINTS

Casey Stoner - The 2011 MotoGP world champion

Casey Stoner 350, Jorge Lorenzo 260, Andrea Dovizioso 228, Dani Pedrosa 219, Ben Spies 176, Marco Simoncelli 139, Valentino Rossi 139, Nicky Hayden 132, Colin Edwards 109, Hiroshi Aoyama 98, Hector Barbera 82, Cal Crutchlow 70, Alvaro Bautista 67, Karel Abraham 64, Toni Elias 61, Randy de Puniet 49, Loris Capirossi 43, Katsuzuki Nakasunga 10, Josh Hayes 9, Kousake Akiyoshi 7, John Hopkins 6, Shinchi Ito 3

MotoGP shock as Simoncelli dies in Malaysia

LESS than a week after the tragic crash in IndyCars that claimed the life of British racing driver Dan Wheldon, motorcycling has its own shock to deal with.  Promising Italian rider Marco Simoncelli died from injuries sustained in a crash during the penultimate round of the championship this morning in Malaysia.

Marco Simoncelli: 20 January 1987 - 23 October 2011

     Simoncelli, 24, was riding for the Gresini Honda team when he came off his bike on the second lap.  The incident happened on turn 11 of the Sepang International Circuit.  He bounced back onto the road, only to be collected by two other riders; Yamaha’s Colin Edwards and the Ducati of Valentino Rossi.  Edwards also tumbled into the gravel and fractured his shoulder, whilst Rossi nursed his machine back to the Ducati pit.  The impact with the other bikes saw Simoncelli’s helmet ripped off and it soon became clear that this was a serious incident.  The race was stopped.

      Paramedics got the scene quickly to attend to the Italian, who is thought to have been in cardiac arrest when the medics got to the crash scene.  It soon became clear that the race was going to be abandoned.  Recently crowned champion Casey Stoner told the BBC of his fears when seeing the crash back on the world feed;

     “As soon as I saw the footage of it, it just makes you sick inside.  Whenever the helmet comes off, that’s not a good sign.” 

      When announcement of the decision to abandon the race came through, the crowd reacted with frustration and annoyance, although the organiser’s decision to postpone the event was hailed by many insiders within the paddock.  Simoncelli succumbed to his injuries around an hour later.  His fatality is the first in MotoGP since Japanese rider Dajiro Kato died at an event in Suzuka in 2003.

     Tributes have poured in from around the racing world to the charismatic Italian; MotoGP fan and Red Bull Racing F1 driver Mark Webber tweeted; “RIP Marco.  A special talent that will be missed.  Thinking of your loved ones and all the MotoGP paddock.”  Honda’s Dani Pedrosa, who was on pole position for the shortened event had a publicised run-in with Simoncelli earlier this season in France; an incident that fractured the Spaniard’s collarbone.  However, he also was in severe shock at what happened to his colleague;

    “Many times, we ourselves forget how dangerous this sport can be and, when you lose people on the way, nothing has any meaning.  It’s clear we all do what we like, what we love, but on days like today, nothing matters.”

     Marco Simoncelli was one of the brightest stars in motorcycle racing, who seemed destined for great things.  He won the 250cc championship in 2008, claiming the title in of all places, Malaysia.  He joined the premier class of motorcycling in 2010 and had already achieved success this season; lying sixth in the standings before this event.  Marco took a pole position in Catalunya and two podium results.  That included a career best second place finish in the Australian round only last weekend.  He had just signed with the Gresini team again for next season in a factory deal and was expected to launch a severe championship assault to the likes of Stoner, the absent Jorge Lorenzo and Pedrosa in 2012.  Despite some criticism for his riding style from his fellow riders this season, Simoncelli had put aside the errors of judgement he made in Jerez, Estoril and Silverstone and was putting together a string of consistent points finishes. 

      At just 24 years of age, Marco Simoncelli had everything going for him.  The world of motorsport has lost another colourful and flamboyant figure for the second Sunday running and MotoGP will be a poorer place without the flair and style he brought to the class. 

Thoughts go out to his family and everyone in the MotoGP paddock.

Marco Simoncelli – 20 January 1987 – 23 October 2011, RIP

The Finishing Straight - Malaysia (by HappyDude88)

THE second weekend of the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship took the teams and drivers to the heat and humidity of Malaysia.  Melbourne had left a lot of questions unanswered, rather than answers being given.  In Sepang, we got a taste of the exciting season we are set to have, and optimism that Red Bull aren’t going to have it all their own way, despite Sebastian Vettel’s formidable start.

     Sure, Vettel won the race and he had enough in reserve if he came under severe pressure I felt.  However, the KERS issues that the team have seem to be a plaguing matter.  It definitely seems that Adrian Newey hates the device and doesn’t want it around.  However, if Red Bull doesn’t run it, then they will be at the mercy of others by nearly half a second a lap.  I personally think KERS is an expensive failure and always have that belief.  McLaren were the only team to make it work in 2009 and I honestly don’t see any benefit this year, except the environmental impact it is supposed to have.  The reliability of the device has been questioned by some, and it is clear this is a problem that needs sorting out for Red Bull.  With the device not working, Mark Webber was made to look like a granny pushing a supermarket trolley around Sainsbury’s at the start!  True, he did bog down off the line, but through little fault of his own, the Aussie was down to tenth from third on the grid by the end of lap one.  Midway through the race, Vettel’s race engineer gave him a message which stated ‘DO NOT USE KERS!’  Although the system restored itself and Sebastian could partially use it in the closing stages, Newey and his designers need to get on top of KERS.  It will certainly cause some problems for them in Shanghai this weekend, especially with the longest straight on the Grand Prix calendar to contend with.

     The other main talking point to come out of Malaysia was the contentious clash between arch rivals Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.  The flashpoint moment of an action-packed race came with ten laps to go.  Hamilton was struggling on his harder compound Pirelli tyres and the Ferrari was faster.  Allegedly, Hamilton used aggressive defending tactics to keep Alonso behind, although the evidence doesn’t seem to support this.  Out of turn three and Alonso got too close to the back of the McLaren and ploughed into the back of Lewis.  The damage to Alonso’s car (a new front wing required) wrecked his chances of getting on the podium.  However, the Spaniard was his own enemy in this, as he completely misread and misjudged the situation, probably more surprised with Hamilton’s lack of speed off turn two.  It had echoes of an incident between the pair in Bahrain in 2008 and Ferrari clearly had feelings, although they didn’t express them publicly, that Hamilton had brake-tested their no.1.  The stewards, advised by former Benetton and Dallara driver and multiple Le Mans winner Emmanuelle Pirro elected to give Alonso and Hamilton both 20 second penalties after the race.  The penalties are totally unjustified and unnecessary and it disappointed me that such action was taken.  Maybe Pirro and the stewards had evidence, like telemetry traces etc that suggested such a penalty was required.  However, to the viewer’s naked eye, it was no more than a racing incident and at worst, Alonso should have received a reprimand.  To make matters worse, Hamilton loses a place, but Alonso kept his sixth place.  Why was Hamilton exactly penalised boggles my mind totally!

     After an unsuccessful start in Australia, the DRS system, which is such a horrible word by the way to describe the movable rear wing, came into its own in Malaysia.  We saw some tremendous battles down the field, and enough overtaking opportunities to last a season.  What pleases me is that DRS will allow drivers the chance to pass, without making it a simple overtake.  With the KERS effect, we do see some easy overtaking, but that can’t be helped, especially if a faster car is miles quicker than a backmarker for example.  The Pirelli tyres also played their part in Malaysia.  Hamilton and Webber both had to make four stops and everyone else had to make at least three visits for tyres.  The tyres are doing the job required and it is making the racing far more exciting.

FLYING: Petrov auditioned to be a Red Bull driver, but he failed!

     He had a frankly embarrassing start in Melbourne, but Nick Heidfeld came to form in Malaysia and recorded a fine podium finish for the Lotus Renault team.  Off the back of Vitaly Petrov’s successful podium in Australia, this proves that the team have overtaken Mercedes GP to be the fourth fastest team in F1.  In fact, some would argue that they are quicker than Ferrari too at the moment.  The starts of Heidfeld and Petrov were simply fantastic.  Whilst the McLaren’s and Ferrari’s diced on the inside of turn one, the Renault’s flew past the lot of them on the outside line.  Heidfeld showed some feisty aggression against Hamilton in the first corner, which was pleasing to see.  Nick is a very consistent driver, but has been criticised for not having ‘that’ cutting edge in the past.  In Malaysia, he showed a lot of grit, determination and panache in his driving.  He deserved his podium and it must make Robert Kubica partially sick.  Of course, Kubica, who still must be in such intense physical pain, will be delighted to see Renault doing so well, but I bet he’s wishing he would be there getting the results for himself.  Saying that, Lotus Renault still need to put together an error-strewn weekend for both drivers.  Petrov had a tough race and made a dramatic exit with four laps to go.  The Russian ran wide in Turn 8, hit the grass, then rather stupidly kept his foot firmly on the accelerator pedal, which led to his car going airborne spectacularly.  To add to this, the impact was so severe that it snapped his steering column.  Petrov has already a lot more maturity this season, but he does need to cut out the basic elementary errors such as this and it was a clumsy error to say the least.

     Hispania Racing were a total disgrace in Australia, but I was pleased to see them race creditably in Malaysia.  There is still a load of work to do and both cars failed to finish, but Vitantonio Liuzzi kept in sight of the two Virgin cars, which shows they can actually build a proper racing car.  However, Narain Karthikeyan looks terrible.  He is simply out of his depth in the sport and is simply there at Hispania to pay the bills.  Considering no team found him employable for five years after his Jordan excursions in 2005, it feels odd to see Colin Kolles pick him over the likes of Christian Klien and Bruno Senna amongst others.  In fact, I think Sakon Yamamoto could do a better job than Karthikeyan!

ROLLING: Mercedes seems to be going backwards, not forwards

     Heads will be rolling very soon at Mercedes GP after another dire weekend.  Michael Schumacher did muster a couple of championship points together, but even Schumacher is struggling to cope with the chassis he has on his hands.  Mercedes GP produced a poor car last year, and stopped developing mid-season.  How have they managed to produce an even worse car this time around!  To see drivers like Schumacher and Nico Rosberg struggle around in a terrible car is a sorry sight.  If anyone can turn it around, it is Ross Brawn for sure.  However, the board at Mercedes will not accept this underachievement again, and managerial changes may have to be made, to make sure that they don’t go down the route of other underachievers, Honda and Toyota in recent years.  At least Williams are independent and don’t have to worry about this, but a Morris Minor seems to have more chance to finish a Grand Prix at the moment than a Williams.  Rubens Barrichello’s body language says it all.  Of course, he will work extremely hard to turn around this depressing situation, but 15^th and 18^th on the grid was not what the team were expecting, especially after a very strong pre-season.  Barrichello picked up an early puncture and then retired with a hydraulics failure.  Pastor Maldonado is lacking race distance and only managed eight laps in Malaysia before an engine problem forced the rookie onto the sidelines.  Perhaps the money problems Williams are suffering is starting to harm their on track performance and reliability.

CLASSY: Vettel was Mr. Cool in Malaysia

    My driver of the weekend in Sepang was the winner, Sebastian Vettel.  Nick Heidfeld, Paul di Resta and Jenson Button all put in very notable performances, whilst Webber’s race effort, considering he was being hampered by no KERS and a four stop race was pretty impressive.  However, Vettel was once again in a class of one.  In qualifying, the pressure was on, especially against a fired-up Hamilton.  Once again, he produced the perfect lap to snatch pole position in a dramatic and nail-biting qualifying session.  In the race, he did brilliantly to handle the issues he had with KERS and the degrading tyres to handle Button and Hamilton from a fairly safe distance.  With 50 points out of 50 in the bag, Sebastian Vettel has already set the solid foundations down for a world class season.  He looks so relaxed and calm and it will take a lot to beat him this season.  Can the opposition respond positively in China?  I hope so, but Vettel turns up as the formidable favourite.

2011 Malaysian Grand Prix - Champ Vettel continues perfect start

SUCCESSION: Sebastian Vettel can't be beaten in 2011 so far

SEBASTIAN Vettel overcame KERS problems and degrading tyres to win the Malaysian Grand Prix today.  The world champion led for most of the race from the pole position in Sepang to make it two wins from two in 2011, and earn his fourth successive victory.  Britain’s Jenson Button finished an excellent second, but it was a day to forget for Lewis Hamilton, who wound up in the stewards room after another clash with arch enemy Fernando Alonso.

     Vettel led from the outset, but Red Bull’s advantage from the Australian Grand Prix wasn’t as clear-cut in Kuala Lumpur.  They had KERS fitted on their cars for the first time ever and both cars had problems.  Without the extra horsepower, Mark Webber was a sitting duck on the startline and got bundled down to tenth from third on the grid.  At half-distance, Vettel was told by his race engineer to not use KERS anymore.  At this stage, Hamilton had the potential to win the race, but his tyres wilted and the young German started to pick up the pace in another awesome drive.  Although Button was a late threat, Sebastian always had enough in hand against the 2009 champion to cruise across the line and achieve his second straight win in Malaysia. 

CLASH: The moment when Alonso's wing disappears

     Button and Hamilton were the closest challengers, but both lacked the pace when required to make the killer blow.  Hamilton was held up by the fast-starting Nick Heidfeld for the first stint, which gave Vettel a ten second head start.  When that gap closed, Lewis went for the harder of the two Pirelli compounds earlier than expected and the gamble backfired.  On lap 43 and 44, he got entangled in a battle with his bitter rival Alonso, which ultimately ended in tears.  After some clean and exciting driving, Fernando misjudged the McLaren’s speed exiting Turn 3 and ran into the back of Lewis.  The result saw the Ferrari limping back to the pits with a damaged front wing, which cost Alonso a certain podium.  Hamilton was already in trouble before the collision, and a fourth trip to the pits in the closing stages finished his race totally.  After the pair crossed the line sixth and seventh, they were hauled up to see the race stewards afterwards to explain the crash.  Both were giving 20 second time penalties, which kept Alonso in sixth, but pushed Hamilton back to eighth in the final classification.  Fernando got his penalty for causing the crash, whilst Hamilton received his for aggressive defending driving against the Spaniard on the previous lap.  Hamilton’s poor body language afterwards suggested some serious questions would be raised in a tense McLaren debrief afterwards.  Button made a slow start and struggled to find a consistent rhythm in the early stages.  He was passed brilliantly by a fired-up Alonso after the first stops and although he handled his tyres better than others around him, had lost too much time to Vettel by the time he started setting quicker lap times.

POINT: Heidfeld made his, to secure his third career Sepang rostrum

    After his abysmal start, Webber did well to fightback to fourth, considering he had a malfunctioning DRS system, no KERS all race and four pitstops to contend with.  He finished on the tail of Heidfeld, who sealed a second successive podium for the Lotus Renault team.  Heidfeld qualified sixth and made one of the best starts of his career, on a weekend when he proved he was a very adequate stand-in for the injured Robert Kubica.  His pace was consistent throughout; wrapping up his third podium in Sepang in the process.  Team-mate Vitaly Petrov made the most spectacular exit of the race.  The Russian was running a solid seventh, when he ran wide onto the grass at Turn 8, kept his foot on the throttle and was launched airborne in a spectacular incident with just four laps to go.

     Felipe Massa produced a solid drive to finish fifth.  Massa beat Alonso, which will go down well for his confidence and only a poor first pitstop cost the Brazilian the chance to fight it out with Heidfeld and Webber for the final podium position.  Kamur Kobayashi was promoted to seventh by Hamilton’s penalty.  The Japanese driver won an entertaining scrap with Michael Schumacher, which seemed to last all race.  Schumacher made a superb start to split the Ferrari’s on the first lap, but fell back rapidly afterwards, with a car that simply isn’t up to standard.  Michael still wound up ninth for the team’s first points of the season.  Already though, it looks like being another tough campaign ahead for the seven-time champion.  At least he beat Nico Rosberg, who was a dismal 12^th and didn’t look interested all afternoon.  The final point for the second consecutive race went to Paul di Resta, who had a consistent afternoon and once again, beat his highly-rated team-mate Adrian Sutil.  Amongst the retirements were both Hispania cars, which competed solidly in their first start of the season and both Williams.  Pastor Maldonado has only managed 18 laps in two races this season and Rubens Barrichello’s day was ruined by an early collision with Sutil which left the Brazilian limping back to the pits on three wheels.  With lack of pace and reliability simply non-existent, these are very tough times for Williams.

    It isn’t long for the next race, with the Chinese Grand Prix only seven short days away.  The challengers saw chinks in Red Bull’s armour, which is encouraging for the season ahead.  So too was the DRS system, which provided the epic racing that Melbourne simply failed to deliver and the degradation of the Pirelli tyres, which came into their own in Sepang.  However, Sebastian Vettel is building up a healthy lead already, and it seems like it will take a lot to stop him in 2011.

F1 classic races - Malaysia

IN A new series, I will be looking back at six classic races every weekend from the country about to stage an event in the 2011 FIA Formula One World Championship.  This is my selection, of races in Malaysia between 1999 and 2010.  Enjoy the archive!

1999

WINNER: Eddie Irvine (Ferrari), 2^nd: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 3rd: Mika Hakkinen (McLaren Mercedes)

THE first trip to Sepang was for the penultimate round of the 1999 championship.  Ferrari looked on the ropes after a shambolic performance at the previous event at the Nurburgring, but played their wild card to great effect.  Michael Schumacher made his comeback here after breaking his leg at the British Grand Prix and destroyed the competition in Malaysia.  He took pole position by a full second, and insisted he would help Eddie Irvine’s bid to become Ferrari’s first world champion since 1979.  On raceday, Schumacher pulled over to let Irvine through early on, but David Coulthard bravely found a way past the German’s defences and set after Irvine.  Alternator problems put paid to DC’s hopes and Schumacher spent the rest of the day going as slow as possible to help out Irvine and harm Mika Hakkinen’s hopes of a second consecutive title.  After pitstops, Schumacher was ahead again and once again, did his duty for Irvine to claim the maximum points.  Hakkinen finished an exhausted third, but was champion hours later when both Ferrari’s were thrown out for illegal barge boards.  The Scuderia appealed in Paris and the FIA overturned the decision made by the race stewards in Malaysia to take the title showdown all the way down to Suzuka.  Michael Schumacher was well and truly back! 

2001

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 3rd: David Coulthard (McLaren Mercedes)

SYNCHRONISED: Gravel trips from Ferrari couldn't stop them in 2001

When the results show a Ferrari 1-2, it suggests this was a boring race.  Far from it!  A typical Malaysian monsoon hit the track three laps into the event.  Combined with oil from Olivier Panis BAR Honda engine, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello both skated into the gravel in synchronised style.  After a chaotic pitstop, which saw Barrichello in the pits for over a minute, the Ferrari’s went on intermediate tyres.  It was a masterstroke, which left the rest of the opposition look like complete fools.  Barrichello and Schumacher went from 10^th and 11^th to 1^st and 2^nd in less than ten laps, and the rest they say is history.  David Coulthard was best of the rest.

2003

WINNER: Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren Mercedes), 2^nd: Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari), 3^rd: Fernando Alonso (Renault)

This will go down as the weekend when the young guns truly burst onto the Grand Prix scene.  At 21 years of age, Fernando Alonso took a stunning pole position in his only his second start for Renault, becoming the youngest ever driver to do so in the process.  On Sunday, 23-year old Kimi Raikkonen finally fulfilled his raw talent by recording his first career victory, and left Ron Dennis in tears.  David Coulthard was denied a shot at victory by engine failure, whilst Michael Schumacher made a meal of the first lap and smashed into the side of Jarno Trulli, causing chaos and ending Juan Pablo Montoya’s chances of serious points, as his rear wing was assaulted by Antonio Pizzonia.  Trulli and Schumacher wound up fifth and sixth, behind Barrichello and Alonso, who became the first Spaniard on a Grand Prix podium for the first time since 1956.

2004

WINNER: Michael Schumacher (Ferrari), 2^nd: Juan Pablo Montoya (Williams BMW), 3^rd: Jenson Button (BAR Honda)

Michael Schumacher may have made it two wins from two in 2004, but the day belonged to Jenson Button.  The Brit has suffered rotten luck in Malaysia in the previous two years, having been overtaken by Schumacher on the last lap himself.  This time, he managed a late engine issue to beat Rubens Barrichello across the line and join the elite of stepping onto the podium for the first time.  Juan Pablo Montoya pushed Schumacher all the way, but had to settle for second; unhappy with Barrichello holding him up just after his final stop.  Sadly, Mark Webber couldn’t convert his outstanding front row grid spot for Jaguar.  He had clutch problems at the start, a drive-through for speeding in the pits, a clash with Ralf Schumacher which punctured one of his tyres and eventually, his shambolic race ended in the kitty litter.

2005

WINNER: Fernando Alonso (Renault), 2^nd: Jarno Trulli (Toyota), 3^rd: Nick Heidfeld (Williams BMW)

PACKED: The midfield in 2005 was tough to separate

Two years after he truly made a name for himself in Malaysia, Fernando Alonso began his charge to his first ever championship with a dominant victory in Kuala Lumpur.  He started from the front and led every lap to beat Jarno Trulli, his former team-mate at Renault.  Trulli’s second place finish was Toyota’s first podium in Formula One.  Winner of the opening race Giancarlo Fisichella had a tangle with Australian Mark Webber, which ended both of their races.  This opened the door for Nick Heidfeld to register the final rostrum spot in the sister Williams.  Michael Schumacher was a very distant 7^th, Kimi Raikkonen finished out of the points following a puncture and neither BAR completed three laps, due to engine woes!

2009

WINNER: Jenson Button (Brawn Mercedes), 2^nd: Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber), 3^rd: Timo Glock (Toyota)

Only half points were awarded in the 2009 race, as fading light and a tropical rainstorm halted the event after just 31 laps.  However, in the racing laps that took place, there was plenty of excitement.  Jenson Button had pole position, but dropped to fourth on the first corner, as Nico Rosberg charged into the lead.  The early exchanges saw Fernando Alonso battle bravely with a Renault that simply wasn’t up to the front running pace.  Despite his best efforts, he dropped from third to seventh in the first ten laps.  Button used the pitstops to leapfrog both Rosberg and Jarno Trulli and began to pull away at the front.  His only main threat came from the other Toyota of Timo Glock.  Glock had put intermediates on when the rain began to fell, and quickly passed a load of cars that had trundled around on the extreme wets.  The German even led the race for a lap, but was passed by Button and Nick Heidfeld, who had deployed a similar tactic to his countryman.  Mark Webber, Rosberg, Trulli, Lewis Hamilton and Rubens Barrichello were involved in a frenzied battle for fourth place, eventually won by Trulli.  The race ended as Sebastian Buemi, Sebastian Vettel and Giancarlo Fisichella all flew into the gravel trap in undriveable conditions.  It was another miserable day for Ferrari, with Felipe Massa out of the points and Kimi Raikkonen put onto wets on a bone dry track!  The Finn eventually retired with a KERS related issue.  Button had set his stall out to dominate the 2009 season, and the early season races were all about him and Brawn GP. 

F1 2010 (The Computer Game Review)

BY JASON WRIGHT

Although the support of Formula 1 has grown in recent times, for several years now, its place in the gaming market has been very much in the doldrums.  The axing of EA Sports’ take on the series in 2003 meant the titles became PlayStation exclusive as they were made by Sony.   Though these games still were massive bestsellers, Sony hardly developed and improved the format and with the titles became boring and repetitive, finally having its contract terminated in 2007.

It wasn’t until March 2008 when the FOM decided to award a new contract.  Codemasters was given the rights to restore F1 to its former glory in the games world.  The decision was soon taken to only release a 2009 version of the game on the PSP and Nintendo Wii, intending to put all its effort into 2010 for it to really attract the likes of Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, the former of which has never had an F1 game until now.

Utilising their self-titled ‘EGO’ games engine, which has made the Race Driver and Colin McRae DIRT titles such a success, the task was simple but as always, complicated.  To not only give the player the experience of racing in F1 but to live the life off the track as well.

As expected, the game is mainly built around the career mode.  Unlike in the Sony versions, the player jumps straight into the championship, without having to go through the daunting task of earning a super license, compete in a shoot-out for a race seat or take part in pre-season testing.  Starting with one of the three new teams on the grid for this season, Hispania Racing F1 Team, Virgin Racing or Lotus Racing, it’s the player’s ultimate task to be successful, rise through the ranks to the point that they are eventually racing for a championship challenger like McLaren-Mercedes, Ferrari or Red Bull Racing.  The player has the choice of stopping after their third of fifth season in the sport but after having done seven seasons (in this case, the year 2016), that’s it, they will have to retire.

It is what’s off the grid that adds excitement to the game.  Never before has the player been able to talk to media, which varies from whatever language the game is in, (the English version allows you to speak to BBC Radio 5 Live’s David Croft and Holly Samos.)  These interviews can seem innocent but players have to watch out, just the small word of criticism spoken can land the player in hot water with their team.  Performances in races also matter, out-race your more experienced team-mate and you can get first call in technical upgrades on the car.  You also get an agent, named Gabriella, who sounds Italian, who will handle contract negotiations and transfers to a new team.

Sony’s ultimate letdown in recent years was its tedious AI (Artificial Intelligence) system which usually had the cars racing around in a straight line with no action, changes in order only happened in pit-stops.  Codemasters has been extremely careful not to repeat this mistake and bases each circuit and weather condition on deciding whose best in those particular environments.  Good examples are that Felipe Massa may be the one to beat in Turkey as he’s won three times in the last five years there and Lewis Hamilton could be the one to watch out for in wet weather because of his strong drives in these conditions in real life.  It actually also has cars crashing into one another at any time.  Players have to also watch out for hazards such as bits of bodywork on the track or a stranded car on the racing line.  This does though have a downside that this game does not have any mechanical failures or a Safety Car.  Codemasters has had the decency to admit this before its release and has already confirmed it will work to bring back mechanical retirements for the 2011 game, although whether the safety car will also return remains to be seen.

Advanced technology in games has allowed the opportunity to provide the best wet weather racing yet.  Skill and nerve is what’s required now, just like in real life, in order to master the tricky conditions.  The dynamic weather setting will allow to automatically selecting the most common conditions for each circuit.  Malaysia, Belgium and Japan are perhaps prime examples of where it is most likely to rain.

Other missing features include no race commentary, instead receiving constant feedback from your race engineer via team radio.  Some players though might consider this as a good thing as in-race commentary could distract their progress in trying to listen to it.  After all, who wants to listen to the tedious Jonathan Legard!  It is also not possible to watch live footage of either practice or qualifying when in the garage, instead relying on just the live timing page.  Also, there is no World Championship mode this year though the grand prix weekend mode allows up to all 19 races on the F1 calendar to be contested at any one time, auto saving in between, so players can race the full championship calendar, or for the first time ever, ability to mix up the order of the races (e.g. you could possibly want to go to Singapore first and have Britain as the season finale).

In conclusion, the gamble that Codemasters in rushing through 2009 and fully committing to 2010 has well and truly paid off.  As long as they make significant improvements year after year, this completely heralds a new dawn for F1 games.

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix - The Conclusions

In this piece, I will be assessing ten key features from each Grand Prix weekend from the 2010 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.  Onto round three, as the 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix is examined more in-depth.  Following the classic of a race that Melbourne provided us, Sepang bought the unpredictability from the weather and a jumbled-up grid which meant Sunday’s racing was not going to be dire at all.  So, this is the round-up of the weekend three of 2010 as Formula 1 tackled the energy zapping heat and humidity of Kuala Lumpur.

Red Bull Racing: Finally Get The Job Done, Are They Back On Track?

Well it took a while, but finally Red Bull Racing managed to produce the goods on a Sunday afternoon.  On Saturday, it was Mark Webber’s day, as he took the brave risk to put on intermediate tyres on a wet track and he reaped the rewards.  Sebastian Vettel opted to play cautious and wound up off the front row of the grid for the first time since Brazil last season.  However, Vettel produced a dominant drive on Sunday, leading from the first corner, practically from start-to-finish.  Webber will be annoyed with himself for leaving the door wide open at the first corner and Sebastian was never going to say no to such an invitation.  It soon turned into a demonstration battle, as Red Bull highlighted at last the speed and reliability combined together.  The question is have they got back on track, quite possibly so.  They are back in the race, no doubt about us.

Wet Weather Qualifying – Ferrari & McLaren Show Their Idiocy!

When it rains in Malaysia, it pours in biblical proportions and it made complete chumps of some of the best engineers in the business.  Whilst the midfield and rear-end teams put in a banker lap in the early stages, Ferrari and McLaren waited in their garages, convinced that their high-spec technology would pay off and they could go out later in the session when the rain stopped.  Big mistake, as humans could have called it better over technology.  Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa were left high and dry in the pits and out of first qualifying, whilst Melbourne winner Jenson Button scraped into Q2, but aquaplaned off the track into the kitty litter, leaving him down in 17^th.  On race day, the two main teams did their best, but it was only really Hamilton who showed his overtaking capabilities.  From 20^th, he forced his way through to 6^th, where he got stuck behind Adrian Sutil and that was that.  Button was hindered by an early tyre stop, which left his prime tyres shot to pieces by the end.  Massa was very tentative, but 7^th place did inherit him the championship lead, whilst Alonso’s gearbox broke on the formation lap, had a sticky downchange to cope with throughout, then his engine exploded two laps from home.  For Ferrari and McLaren, this was a weekend to forget.  Elementary errors gave Red Bull an open goal, which they successfully converted.

The Malaysian Weather – Always Expect the Unexpected

Whenever the F1 teams turn up in Sepang, they must expect the rain, which can turn a race on its forehead quite literally.  It made qualifying one of the best spectacles seen for many a year, and soon, the question on everyone’s lips was when, not if it would rain on Sunday.  Once again, the weather gods played chicken with us, and in the end, we ended up with a bone-dry race, despite all the earlier forecasters.  This was a weekend where everyone had to expect the unexpected.

Sauber – Winter Testing Must Seem a Distant Memory

BMW handed over the reins last November, and now will be thinking, ‘Phew! We definitely made the right call.’  Winter testing must seem like a distant memory for the Sauber team, when they were one of the consistent pacesetters around.  Now, they have a lack of speed, lack of direction, no sponsors and almost zilch reliability.  For an experienced team to have an engine blow up on the way to the dummy grid is inexcusable, not what Pedro de la Rosa would have had in mind for an early bath.  Team-mate Kamur Kobayashi’s engine didn’t last much longer, only nine laps before he had to park his car too.  These are testing times ahead for the Swiss team, if they don’t buck their ideas up, it could well be a long, trying season.  Technical director Willy Rampf is retiring from the sport after the Chinese Grand Prix, and he is probably wanted that exit to come sooner rather than later.

Nico Rosberg – Quietly Getting the Results

F1 2010 might be all about the likes of Vettel, Alonso, Button, Hamilton and co, but Nico Rosberg is quietly going about his business with minimum fuss, which will be delighting Mercedes team Principal Ross Brawn and the senior German board members.  Rosberg had another strong weekend in Kuala Lumpur, registering his first ever front row in qualifying, then producing a lonely, solid drive to 3^rd spot, the team’s first podium finish.  His consistency sees himself just four points off the top of the drivers’ championship.  Not bad for someone who has hardly been mentioned of so far in 2010.

Alguesuari and Hulkenberg Get Their Just Rewards

Many congratulations to Jaime Alguesuari and Nico Hulkenberg, who both registered their first F1 points, finishes in Malaysia.  Toro Rosso’s Alguesuari was very aggressive and his new found form truly worked, with top class overtakes on Hulkenberg and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov.  He deserved his two points and outpaced his most highly-rated team-mate Sebastian Buemi.  For once, Toro Rosso’s faith may well just pay off.  Hulkenberg, a winner in Sepang before in A1GP was a Saturday star, poaching his Williams through to fifth on the grid.  On Sunday, the lack of race pace with the Williams was well-documented, but Hulkenberg kept his head down, beat Rubens Barrichello and benefited from Alonso’s late DNF to register a noteworthy point.  Just rewards for the pair of them.

The Failing of Michael Schumacher – It Is Not Going To Plan!

When Michael Schumacher ended up deciding to return to Formula 1, I don’t think even he could have imagined to be struggling this bad.  Once again, he was outperformed all weekend by Rosberg and in qualifying, conditions which would be really suited to his likeability, he struggled to break the top ten, then burnt out his rear tyres in Q3 and ended up being the weakest of the five Germans in the final shootout.  Despite an excellent start, Schumacher was falling into the clutches of the scrapping Hulkenberg and Vitantonio Liuzzi when a wheel nut came loose, forcing his premature departure from the race.  Nine points from three races, the comeback is not going to plan and the pressure therefore in increasing on Michael the Great to deliver.

Lotus Racing – A Sweet & Sour Home Weekend

It was Lotus home weekend, with the high-profile Malaysian sponsorship, but it turned into a sweet and sour weekend.  Heikki Kovalainen took full advantage of Ferrari and McLaren’s idiocy to make Q2, so winding up 15^th was like a celebration to Lotus.  Sadly, he made a dogs dinner of the start, spent much of the race stuck behind Lucas di Grassi, then made a horlicks of an overtaking pass on the Brazilian, picked up a puncture, then retired with a hydraulic problem.  Team-mate Jarno Trulli received a clobbering from his former team-mate Timo Glock early on, then limped on to the finish, also with hydraulic problems.  This was Lotus worst weekend so far, but there is no need to panic yet, as still look the crème of the crop out of the new teams.

Virgin See the Chequered Flag – It’s A Miracle!

Miraculously, despite not having a big enough fuel tank, Virgin Racing saw the chequered flag for the first time, in the hands of Lucas di Grassi.  Despite ending up with fumes before the end, di Grassi did enough to bring his car home in 14^th place, giving the team a much-needed boost after a trying start.  Timo Glock has yet to see the chequered flag this season, like Petrov and Kobayashi.  He hit Trulli early on with an over-ambitious overtaking attempt and ended in the gravel.  Nevertheless, this is very encouraging for Virgin.  Also of note, both Hispania cars of Karun Chandok and Bruno Senna made the finish, so the new teams are now all beginning to pull their act together.

Reintroducing KERS – The pros and cons

Finally, the members of FOTA held a meeting to thrash out early proposals in how to ‘spice up the racing.’  FOTA chairman Martin Whitmarsh insists that it’s too early to draw conclusions, but reintroducing KERS was a major debating point.  KERS (Kinetic Energy System Recovery) was introduced in 2009, but only McLaren and Ferrari made their systems work to any substantial use.  BMW and Renault abandoned their development early on and the other teams saw no use to it.  I can’t honestly see what pros there would be in reintroducing KERS, except for the environmental issue.  It was one of the biggest expensive mistakes that Formula 1 made, so going back there would be considered as totally crazy.

2010 Malaysian Grand Prix - Super Sebastian Sizzles At Searing Sepang

Sebastian Vettel produced a dominant drive this morning, in the heat of Kuala Lumpur to finally claim a long awaited first victory of the season.  He led home team-mate Mark Webber in the searing conditions, as Red Bull Racing finally overcame their bugging reliability issues to claim a processional 1-2 finish.  Vettel’s win moved him to equal third in the championship standings, as the Milton Keynes based team took full advantage of Ferrari and McLaren’s technology blunders yesterday in qualifying, which left them fighting a losing battle from the rear of the grid.

Starting third, Sebastian made the best start in Malaysia, charging past Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes, then taking the initiative at Turn 1, as pole man Webber left the door wide open for the canny German to inherit the lead and control of the race.  The Aussie stayed right on the tail of his team-mate until the pitstops, when a sticky wheel gun cost him vital time and with it, the final chance to leapfrog his dominant team-mate.  Rosberg had a rather lonely race, but did what he needed to, registering Mercedes first rostrum of the season.  Once again, he had the measure of his team-mate Michael Schumacher all weekend, as the seven-time world champion’s nightmare comeback continued, retiring early on with a wheel nut issue.

Schumacher wasn’t the only main driver failing to finish, as previous world championship leader Fernando Alonso parked his Ferrari on the grass with two laps to go, having suffered a dramatic engine failure.  Alonso struggled all day, with a problematic downshift issue and the failure occurred when he tried an ambitious pass on Jenson Button for a lowly eighth place.  Felipe Massa inherited the championship lead with a seventh place finish, one place ahead of Button and one place behind Lewis Hamilton.  For both Ferrari and McLaren, their race was managed by high levels of tyre wear and if they don’t invest in better technology in reading the weather and upgrading their car, Red Bull will wipe the floor with them this season.

Although the expected rain threatened to fall, it never materialised, meaning we saw a true form of the lack of overtaking once the race settled into a normal pattern.  Renault’s Robert Kubica produced another sterling effort, to bring his underpowered chassis home in fourth spot, whilst Adrian Sutil kept out of trouble to record a fifth place result, his first points of the season.  There were also breakthrough results for the feisty Jaime Alguesuari and Nico Hulkenberg, both finishing in the points with ninth and tenth respectively, their first in their career.  Finally, both Hispania’s finished and there was also a first finish against the odds for Virgin Racing, in the hands of Brazilian Lucas di Grassi, who bought his car home in a safe and secure fourteenth place. 

With three winners in three races, F1 2010 is proving to be as competitive as initially predicted, but finally Red Bull Racing proved their do have speed and reliability.  Sebastian Vettel has laid down his marker and the others must keep up in the development race to stop them from taking firm control in the coming races.