F1 2009: The Half-Way Point

OK, so it’s actually just after half-way through the season! But F1 2009 has been like a reset for the series with new regulations causing a massive change to the cars and mid-season testing banned. In the UK there’s also been a new broadcaster for the sport. But how has it been, here’s my view on the season so far!

The Regulations

One of the biggest changes in the sports history. This year the FIA brought in new specifications for the cars to help them follow each other more closely. They also had an ambiguous one about diffusers, meaning that some teams (such as the almighty Brawn GP) had a massive advantage at the start of the season.

It also ensured that the cars looked very different. This I wasn’t sure of at first. I switched on the first practice of the season and thought they were all toy cars. Even now I think they have a strangely ‘cheap’ look about them, something to do with the larger front wing and smaller rear wing. But I have got used to them and at the end of the day looks aren’t everything.

But have they actually improved the racing. I remember the first few races if the season had a large amount of overtaking making it seem that the regs were a huge improvement. But as the season has gone on, the overtaking has become less and less. I think the quality of the racing really is still down to the drivers, the new regulations make following easier, but overtaking just as difficult as before.

KERS

Another controversial addition this year has been the ‘Kinetic Energy Recovery System’ allowing drivers to get a boost at certain points in the race. Now, I was a supporter of this idea at the start of the season, but have completely u-turned as the season has gone on. I think the idea can work, but it has to be on every single car. Having the system optional has ruined the whole point. It makes no sense for cars without a boost to be up against ones that have it.

I initially liked the idea as it added an extra element of strategy… when to use the boost, but if the FIA want to keep it (which it looks like they don’t) they’ll have to make it compulsory for all cars.

The Racing

Surely the most important part of the sport. In my opinion this year has seen some of the best racing in the sport for a long time. We started off with a real shock at the start of the season when we discovered that Brawn GP really were as good as they looked. It was a great success story and one which the whole industry needed.

Jenson Button has been a revelation this year, not just because of the success of the Brawn car either. Overtaking at the end of the first lap has become a trademark of the Brit. It’s shown that all Jenson has ever needed has been a decent car because now he is driving and acting like a champion.

But f course it hasn’t all been plain sailing for Brawn as Red Bull have more than caught up with them. BothVettel and Webber have performed very well this year and are real challengers for the title.

And just recently the action’s got even closer with Ferrari and McLaren getting their act together. I do think we’re in for a very entertaining end to the season.

The Controversy

Arguably the second biggest part of the sport! wherever there’s F1 there’s controversy and this years been no different. It all started off after the first race when Lewis Hamilton was disqualified. It was later found out that the McLaren team had been lying about an overtaking move on Trulli. This led to a variety of things happening, the biggest being Ron Dennis’ departure from the team. It was amazing to see how a team so high had fallen so low.

But the far bigger controversy this year has been the threat of a breakaway series. The FIA are changing things again next year including axing refuelling stops and limiting the budget for teams. This angered the majority who said they wouldn’t sign.

Things conspired and got worse and worse until the whole paddock (excluding Force India and Williams) hated Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosely and refused to sign up to F1 2010. It all came to a head at Silverstone when FOTA said they would split F1 into two series. Mosely acted like a complete wally and called all those disagreeing with him loonies and the circus continued!

Only recently has an agreement been made, but it’s on the condition that Mosely leaves, perhaps then this stupid controversy can all end!

Schumacher To Return?

Only a couple of weeks ago at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Ferrari’s Felipe had the worst accident seen in the sport for many years. A spring from fellow countryman Rubens Barrichello’s car, hit his head knocking him unconscious and damaging his eye. There was doubt that he’d ever race again. Luckily the Brazillian has done well in hospital and is likely to return, but not for a while.

Therefore, someone else had to fill his boots, leading to a very exciting announcement. Michael Schumacher was to return to F1.

Now, I had planned to wrote loads of exciting stuff about Schumi’s return on this post, but sadly thats not going to happen. On Tuesday it was revealed that Schumacher would not be returning as he was not fit enough. This I feel has been a massive blow to F1 as having Michael back (whatever you may think of him) would really have boosted the speed shows popularity. Oh well, maybe next year Michael!

The Coverage

Here in the UK, we’ve been viewing the F1 a bit differently. For the first time in over 10 years, the BBC are screening the racing again. Personally I was worried as to how well they would do, it has been a while and I was expecting a shaky start. But i think the coverage has been very good this year and an improvement over ITV. Jake Humphrey has proved to be more competent a presenter than Steve Ryder (apart from when he nearly got himself run over). Eddie Jordan and David Coulthard have been surprisingly entertaining. I think this may be down to their more recent connection with the sport.

If anythings a weakpoint, it’s possibly the commentary. Jonathon Legard knows the sport, but doesn’t have the charisma and passion that former commentators in the top role have had. Equally,  Martin Brundle, although a very engaging speaker, is starting to make stupid mistakes which is making the coverage confusing and almost pointless…

But overall I feel the BBC have done a great job, especially interactive (it’s now all on iPlayer, there’s coverage of practice on the red button and highlights are at a much better time on BBC 3).

And as for the sport, I think 2009 has been a very encouraging year. New winners, closer racing and an overall more entertaining season. I just hope it goes all the way down to the wire in Abu Dhabi.

F1 2009: What A Weekend!

Never before have I seen a sport so rejuvenated in such a short amount of time than I witnessed this weekend. The 2009 Australian Grand Prix has set a new high standard for a motorsport that was becomming very dull and tiring.

The plans for the 2009 season started late last year. Many tech specs and aerodynamic systems were thrown out of the window. Slick tyres were re introduced for the first time in many years. And a new KERS system introduced to provide a ‘boost’ system for drivers. All were introduced to shift focus away from how good the cars are and back to the skill of the drivers.

But there was one more thing that was about to mix everything up… Brawn GP. Forged out of the remains of the failed Honda F1 team, Ross Brawn (former Ferrari technical director) created his own F1 team. It was all organised literally 2 weeks before the season. At the time I thought it was great we were getting an extra team, but lets face it, they weren’t going to get anywhere.

How wrong I was. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing when Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello took the front row. And the highest Ferrari? 6th. And the highest McLaren? 12th. Am I watching Formula One?

It was all set for a fantastic first race and it truly was. The first few laps were unmissable. The amount of overtaking was incredible. It reminded me of why I actually watch this sport. Suddenly we were back in the 90’s when this sport was spectacular! We also had a few incidents with Barrichello managing to knock everyone out but himself!

Later on Nakajima became the first big crash victim of the season when he lost it on a high speed bend. What happened next for me was very disorganised and confusing. The safety car should have been deployed immediately. I’m not sure why Charlie Whiteing and co (nice to see them by the way) took so long to make the decision, but it was ridiculous and something they need to look into.

As the safety car was finally deployed, Giancarlo Fisichella made a most unusual mistake, missing his pit box. Not quite sue how he managed that, but it kept the entertainment up.

After this segment, I felt the race calmed down a little, which wasn’t bad at all. I like it when the race ‘calms down’ because things are still happening. It wasn’t a dull period, just a time to take stock which was great.

The race started speeding towards its climax and became clear that both Kubica and Vettel provided quite a threat to Button’s lead. They were about a second away from the Brawn GP car. But the one thing they didn’t account for was each other!

Inevitably, they crashed into each other, quite spectacularly actually! They were obviously determined that if they were going out, they were gonna do it in style! In my opinion, the accident was purely that, a racing incident. Vettel was being ambitious on the inside and Kubica was being harsh on the outside. It was a shame that it did end in incident as it would’ve been interesting to see what would have happened with Button.

But this incident gifted Brawn GP the race, Button a well deserved victory and Barrichello a long overdue 2nd place. Something that I don’t think anyone would’ve believed. It’s fantastic that this sport has become so open again that anyone can genuinely win a race, its the way any sport should always be. Hamilton (somehow!) made it up to third place after Trulli was disqualified for overtaking under the safety car.

This was a brilliant race and it proved that the new ideas worked. The reduction of aerodynamic aids has stumped some teams and drivers (especially Raikkonen who made a dramatic error into the wall!). The reintroduction of slick tyres seems to be helping cars follow whilst also becoming unpredictable. And KERS looks like a great idea (although I do think everyone should carry it, not just some.

Another shout has to go to the BBC this weekend who’s coverage I feel has been great. For the first time ever we’ve had all three practices on TV, theres been extra chat programmes on the red button and re-runs of the race continuing now (I’m watching it as I write this!). Jonathon Legard seems to be a good commentator, Brundle is of course great, jake Humphrey looks promising and heck, even Ted Kravitz doesn’t seem annoying anymore. So well done BBC, heres to more great F1 coverage this year.

This has been the best start to a season I can remember and I’m traditionally a Ferrari fan! I feel even if you didn’t like the result, you can’t deny how entertaining this grand prix was. The whole of the 2008 season was rolled into one race and it gives me hope that this could be a great year for formula one. Lets hope it all continues next week in Malaysia!