29/03/2009
NEWS STORY
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If nothing else, the FIA's new rules have taken some of the guess work out of today's race. After all, the publication of the car's weights tells us quite clearly that yesterday's performance by the two Brawns was no fluke. Far from running on fumes, as some might have thought, it appears the Brawns were among the heaviest cars out there, which suggests that today they will leave the opposition for dead.
Sadly, although the tyre rules gave been changed, the difference between the two compounds still appears to be minimal, especially as all the teams are restricted to the same compounds, therefore taking out the lottery element.
Therefore, looking ahead, few would bet against a Brawn whitewash today, indeed some are already predicting a Brawn whitewash this season.
F1 wouldn't be F1 without the politics, and therefore it came as no surprise that yesterday, instead of celebrating the fact that the eight cars behind the Brawns were covered by just 0.416s, we were left watching as the Toyota's were excluded from the (qualifying) results and Williams protested the legality of the Ferrari and Red Bull cars. This, of course, is in addition to the appeal hearing we already face following the appeal against the legality of the diffusers on the Williams, Toyota and Brawn.
The good news is that in the case of the diffusers row whatever happens in Paris on April 14, today's result stands. That said, we have the feeling that with the field matched so closely there will be further protests throughout the season. And with certain parties determined to split up the cosy relationship between the teams that is FOTA we can be sure of plenty of fun and games in the months ahead.
Looking ahead to today's race however, and ignoring the obvious superiority of the Brawns, both Red Bulls look good, especially with Webber running heavier than his teammate. While BMW has its drivers on different strategies in terms of KERS, it also appears to have them on a different fuel strategy, with Heidfeld running heavier than Kubica. Rosberg is looking good in the Williams, while both Ferraris are on similar fuel loads, and Alonso should never be written off.
Courtesy of the Race Stewards, who ruled that the rear wings on the Toyotas were too flexible, we can pretty much rule out the Japanese cars today, certainly in terms of taking on the Brawns.
However, they are both obviously quick - courtesy of those diffusers? - and should be up there battling for points.
For McLaren it will be about damage limitation, while Force India and Toro Rosso clearly still have work to do.
While we can expect a tight race for those positions behind the Brawns let's not forget those monstrous wings on the front of the cars this year. We already know that over enthusiasm and front wings don't mix, however, this year we can expect a lot more mishaps. Being the first race of the season, and with a notorious couple of first corners, to boot, we wouldn't be surprised to see several cars out or damaged within seconds of the start, indeed, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Safety Car make an appearance.
Now normally this would merely add to 'the mix', however, with the race starting at 17.00 local time, courtesy of Bernie Ecclestone and his pursuit of quality entertainment for European fans - any major incidents could lead to the latter stages of the races taking part at dusk with the sun rapidly setting. With a sport forever beating its breast in its search for improved safety (not forgetting reduced costs), this decision, together with the introduction of KERS, makes little sense.
On the subject of KERS, an issue which appears to have the drivers, and fans, divided, the FIA needs to come up with a way of informing the public what cars are running it (and when) and also making the difference between the two tyre compound more obvious, the thin green band currently being used simply not visible enough.
With half-an-hour before the race gets underway, the sun is shining as the cars leave the pits and make their way to the grid. The big news being that both Toyotas will start from the pitlane, which means they will no doubt be filled to the brim as the Japanese team attempts to make the best of a bad situation. Lewis Hamilton, having qualified fifteenth, was subsequently relegated to the back of the grid when his team opted to change the gearbox in his MP4-24. That said, when the Toyotas were excluded the 2008 champion was promoted to eighteenth.
As we look ahead to today's race, we at Pitpass know from our stats that this is one of the most eagerly anticipated seasons for years, let's just hope that the racing lives up to expectations and that events off track don't overshadow the sport's raison d'etre, the racing.
The raft of new rules are aimed at improving the spectacle, with particular regards to overtaking, and despite the scepticism of some of the drivers let's hope that they do make a difference.
The two tyre compounds available today are super-soft and medium, which we will refer to soft and medium. While the softs are quick, so too are the mediums, as proven by Nico Rosberg in most of the practice sessions.
As the cars head off on the parade lap, the air temperature is 21 degrees, while the track temperature is 32 degrees. It's also quite windy.
To remind you, the top ten on the grid are: Button, Barrichello, Vettel, Kubica, Rosberg, Massa, Raikkonen, Webber, Heidfeld and Alonso.
Most drivers are on the medium compound, the big exception being Ferrari where both drivers are on soft, as are Kubica and Hamilton.
The lights on the overhead gantry go out and the 2009 season is underway.
Barrichello barely gets way, unlike his teammate who leads the field into Turn 1. There's a slight coming together at the first corner and Barrichello is involved though it isn't too serious.
As Button streaks into the distance, Vettel leads Massa, Kubica, Kubica, Raikkonen and Rosberg.
Heidfeld and Sutil both pit, clearly involved in that first corner incident, while Kovalainen and Webber also pit. Heidfeld has a puncture, while Webber and Sutil get new front wings.
At the end of lap 1, Button leads by 4.5s, Hamilton is up to eleventh and Trulli up to fourteenth. Kovalainen's race is over, the McLaren is pushed back into its garage.
After three laps, Button leads Vettel by 4.4s, with Massa a further 1.3s behind. Behind Piquet, who is running ninth, there is a train of seven cars, with Hamilton leading the way.
On lap 4, Vettel goes quickest, however Button goes quickest in the first sector of the next lap. Elsewhere, Hamilton is all over Piquet, however, the Renault driver stands his ground.
Button posts a new fastest lap (28.78) on lap 5, as Massa closes within 2.4s of Vettel. As Hamilton continues to harry Piquet, Buemi closes in on the McLaren driver, the Swiss driver doing a great job.
Button and Vettel trade fastest laps, as Massa falls 5.6s behind the Toro Rosso. Kubica is 1.9s behind the Ferrari with Raikkonen a further 1.8s behind. Behind the Finn, Rosberg is under pressure from Barrichello.
As Raikkonen loses ground to Kubica he falls into the clutch of Rosberg, who has his mirrors full of Brawn.
Rosberg nails Raikkonen, more a mistake from the Finn than anything else, and shortly afterwards Barrichello makes short work of the Ferrari, which appears to be struggling.
Raikkonen pits at the end of lap 10, as teammate Massa finds himself under pressure from Kubica and Rosberg. Trulli has also pitted.
As Rosberg and Kubica fight, Barrichello closes in, the Brawns looking remarkable thus far. Had it not been for the poor start and subsequent incident, they'd be running 1-2.
Massa pits at the end of lap 11, as does Hamilton. Both drivers clearly keen to be shot of the soft tyres, having realised this was not the tyre with which to start the race.
Kubica pits at the end of lap 12, thereby promoting Rosberg to third and Barrichello fourth. Nakajima is up to fifth, 1.2s behind the second Brawn, with Piquet almost 10s down the road. Buemi is running right behind the Renault, ahead of Fisichella, Alonso and Glock.
After 15 laps, Button leads Vettel by .1s with Rosberg 27.5s down the road.
Next time around, Vettel pits, as does Rosberg. It's a bad stop for the Williams driver costing him vital time. He rejoins behind Raikkonen and immediately begins scrapping with the Finn.
On la p17, Button posts a new fastest lap (28.020), which rekindles memories of Ross Brawn's time at Ferrari and his relationship with Michael Schumacher.
Nakajima crashes at Turn 3, leaving debris on the track. As the Japanese driver climbs from his car, Barrichello pits, taking on a new nose. Buemi and Glock also pit. Replay shows Nakajima lost the back end of his Williams coming out of the corner, hard to tell if it was a technical failure or driver error. A nasty little crash but he's fine.
With no sign of the Safety Car, despite the debris, Button pits, as does Heidfeld. As the Brawn heads down the pitlane the Safety Car is finally deployed, but why leave it so long? Piquet, Fisichella and Alonso all pit, however, the Italian makes a hash of it totally missing his pit slot.
Some of the drivers appear unsure whether they are allowed to pass the safety car or not, Massa runs alongside the Mercedes clearly asking for guidance.
Behind the Safety Car, Button leads Vettel, Massa, Kubica, Raikkonen, Rosberg, Piquet, Trulli, Buemi and Barrichello. Having built a great lead, the Englishman now has it all to do again, though his teammate has clearly gained from the situation. Webber has also managed to make up some ground, though he remains last.
"You're in P10," Barrichello is told, "but it's a good car remember." As if he needed reminding.
After 21 laps, they are still behind the Safety Car, with some casting anxious eyes to the setting sun.
As Sutil pits, Hamilton tells his crew that it's "hard to keep the temperature in these tyres".
Twice, Massa locks up whilst running behind the safety car, something for which his tyres will not thank him. He's told to get as much heat into his tyres and possible and use KERS at the launch.
At the end of lap 24, the Safety Car pulls off and Piquet slides off into the gravel at Turn 1, after a bit of wheel to wheel with Rosberg, he is the only driver to fall off at a time when grip is minimal.
Hamilton makes a bold move on Glock, as Alonso passes the Toyota moments later. Two World Champions eager to be a little bit nearer the front of the field.
Button now leads Vettel by 2s with Massa a further 1.3s down the road. Kubica heads Raikkonen, Trulli, Barrichello, Buemi, Rosberg and Hamilton. Strong drives from Trulli, Buemi and Rosberg.
Buemi is under pressure from Rosberg, which allows Hamilton to close in, however the Englishman is in the sights of Alonso.
The Force Indias are enjoying a great scrap, which almost ends in tears, the two fighting for thirteenth place.
Out front, while he enjoys a 3.1s lead, Button must be aware that he still faces a stint on the uncompetitive soft tyres, unlike Massa, who has got that phase out of the way.
At the end of lap 31, Massa makes his second stop, rejoining in fourteenth behind the Force India of Sutil. "We have to do the maximum," Rob Smedley tells the Brazilian over the radio.
Behind Massa, Bourdais leads Heidfeld who is now under pressure from a charged-up Webber.
Trulli pits at the end of lap 33, rejoining in thirteenth behind Fisichella but ahead of Massa.
Kubica posts a new fastest lap (27.989) on lap 34, as Sutil makes his third stop of the afternoon. Webber pits a lap later.
Glock is all over the back of Alonso, who is now 1.9s behind Hamilton, who is last of the current point winners.
Another fastest lap from Kubica (27.988), who is showing no sign of missing out on KERS.
The BMW crew assembles in the pitlane but Kubica continues on his way, just 1.5s behind Vettel, who is 5.1s down on Button. Behind the Pole, it's Raikkonen, Barrichello, Buemi, Rosberg, Hamilton, Alonso and Glock.
At the end of lap 39, Kubica and Raikkonen both pit. They rejoin the race with two cars - Alonso and Glock - separating them. However, Glock spins and Raikkonen takes full advantage, setting off after Alonso. The German was attempting to make a move on the two-time World Champion but came to grief.
Buemi pits at the end of lap 41. Can he still score some points on his F1 debut?
At the end of lap 43, Hamilton and Raikkonen both pit, the Englishman rejoins ahead of Massa who is under enormous pressure from Buemi.
Raikkonen goes wide and appears to scrape the wall, as Vettel makes his final stop of the afternoon. He rejoins ahead of Barrichello, who tries to nail the German but fails. Elsewhere, Raikkonen is still running but down in sixteenth.
On lap 47, Massa appears to slow, and the scene in the Ferrari garage, indicates it could all be over for the Brazilian.
At the end of lap 36, Button pits, however, it isn't a great stop, There's a problem with the fuel hose while one of the wheels is a bit slow in being changed. The Englishman rejoins ahead of Vettel, but there is a question mark as to whether he took enough fuel on board. Elsewhere, Massa drives straight into his garage, his race over.
With 10 laps remaining, Button leads Vettel, with Barrichello in third, ahead of Kubica, Alonso, Glock, Rosberg, Fisichella, Trulli and Hamilton. However, Barrichello, Alonso, Glock and Fisichella all have to stop again.
Rosberg posts a new fastest lap (27.706) on lap 48, as he closes to within 5.1s of sixth placed Glock. Elsewhere, Fisichella pits.
Hamilton is all over Trulli as they fight for eighth, however, all eyes are on Kubica who is maintaining the pressure on Vettel.
Glock pits at the end of lap 50, rejoining right behind Buemi. The German driver immediately sets about the Swiss and is soon past him, thanks in no small part to the Toro Rosso driver's inexperience.
At the end of lap 51, Barrichello pits, as does Alonso. The Brazilian rejoins in fifth right behind Rosberg as Vettel closes to within 1.6s of Button. Indeed, the top three, let's not forget Kubica, is covered by just 2.5s
Barrichello makes a move on Rosberg and there is little the German can do, however, all attention is on the leading trio.
Trulli makes a great move on Rosberg, who is struggling, as Hamilton closes in on the Williams. The 2008 champion makes short work of Rosberg, who is unable to stave off the inevitable.
Vettel is now 2.5s down on Button, however, he has his hands full of BMW, with Kubica on a real charge.
Vettel makes a mistake and runs wide allowing Kubica to close right in, however, there's worse to come, a few corners later they clash and both drivers are out. The Safety Car is deployed and with two laps remaining Brawn has a 1-2.
"I'm very, very sorry," Vettel tells his crew. The replay shows it to be six of one, half a dozen of the other. Vettel made the initial mistake but the Pole made a hash of taking advantage.
Button leads Barrichello with Hamilton a surprise third, ahead of Trulli, Glock, Alonso, Vettel, who is still running with one wheel hanging off, and Rosberg.
Barrichello gets a bollocking over the radio, "slow down Rubens, slow down," thunders team boss Ross Brawn.
The timing sheets show that Trulli has passed Hamilton, however, with the Safety Car on track it's unclear how this could have happened. Meanwhile, Vettel has finally called it quits.
The final lap is more like a parade lap with the field lined up behind the Safety Car, however, a win is a win as Button and the rest of the Brackley outfit will be delighted to tell you.
Hard to believe that just a couple of weeks ago this team didn't exist, indeed, the Brackley outfit was just a couple of days away from becoming history, joining the likes of Lotus and Brabham in volume marked 'where are they now'. Who would have believed that at the season opener, we would see Ross Brawn climb on to the Melbourne podium to celebrate a 1-2 as McLaren, Ferrari, BMW and Renault could only look on from the sidelines.
Surely nobody would begrudge Jenson, Rubens or Ross this moment, this fairy tale come true.
Behind the Brawn duo, Jarno Trulli takes a well deserved third place, benefiting from the Vettel/Kubica madness, while Lewis Hamilton must surely feel that fourth is a lot better than he really expected here today.
Timo Glock takes fifth, to make an ideal start to Toyota's season, while Fernando Alonso and Renault have to be content with sixth… like McLaren, this was about damage limitation.
While Nico Rosberg will be wondering where it all went wrong, surely going into this race expecting more than seventh, Sebastien Buemi will be delighted to have scored a point on his F1 debut, and well deserved it was too.
All in all, a great start to the season, and while some teams will be leaving here with their heads well and truly down we can be sure that they are already planning for Malaysia and beyond, this season is far from over, whatever the pessimists and sceptics might tell you.
For once, the FIA appears to have got it right, there was some great racing, including overtaking, and the field is tight, with no obvious domination, other than the Brawns.
In Malaysia, because of the fact that the two races are just a week apart, we can probably expect much of the same, however, no doubt the Ferrari, McLaren, Renault and BMWE factories are already working flat-out as they develop new parts - including diffusers - for China and beyond.
In the meantime, let's forget FOTA and FOA, let's put politics and protests to one side and revel in the fact that F1 is back with a bang, and that the old order is no longer having things its own way.
F1 is dead, long live F1.