And it has started ! The engines fired up this morning in Melbourne, the new season is officially here !

I overslept a bit and arrived about half hour late to the track. And the first thing I saw, my first Formula 1 picture of the 2008 season is the blown engine of David Coulthard . As this was the first photo, the quality is not too good, it took me a while to get used to the very bright sun … More photos from Melbourne coming up later …

The weather during first practice session was very hot, the air temperature was 37 degrees. Surprisingly the track temperature was only about 40 … Most of the cars ran on the harder tyres saving the soft ones for later.

The drivers may say that the removal of driver aids does not make much difference to them, but the difference is very obvious on the track. The cars slide in the corners, many drivers were loosing their rears. I haven’t seen that many off the track excursions an any of the races I went to in past few years …

The cars do sound better, the ugly traction control cracking sounds are gone .

The second practice brought some surprising names higher up the order - Webber, Coulthard, Fisichella. This however has to be taken with caution. The teams were experimenting with tyres, running longer runs, carrying heavier fuel. So far I am not any smarter than I was yesterday. Ferrari and McLaren are clearly quick. Toyta seems to be quicker than people thought. Button is higher than perhaps expected. Red Bull, Williams, Renault, BMW all strong as predicted. But for clear indication of the form at the start of the 2008 seasn we have to wait till tomorrow’s qualifying …

From the reports from the pit lane during the session, it looks like the softer tyres deteriorated very quickly in todays conditions. But one has to remember that the actual race will start at 3:30pm - that is the time today’s sessions ended. By that time the temperatures were already much cooler.

Here are the Friday times from Melbourne:

Read the rest of this entry »

F1Wolf

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It took a while, but I made it. I landed in Melbourne this morning. The program at Albert Park started today with several support races practice sessions. But I took a day off from Formula 1 and everything and spent it doing nothing in Melbourne .

Here are some F1 related observations from today:

1) It is extremely hot here. I do not carry thermometer on me but I can tell that Sepang has a very serious competition for the 2008 Hottest F1 Race title.

2) There is very little around the town that suggests the F1 is here this weekend. What is on the photos in this article is all that I have seen. Of course if I do not count the immediate vicinity of Albert Park. I landed at the airport this morning - no sign of F1 at all, except for few appopriately dressed Ferrari fans. In the city few flags here and there,

tents with official F1 Merchandise at 2 places in the city (full of 2007 or older merchandise)

and some ads on public transport (but these are placed there by Bridgestone and Vodafone).

If there is more, than they managed to hide it pretty well… Basicaly if person that has no idea about F1 race being in town will only realize there is something going on when security kicks him/her away from Albert Park entrance . But there is one positive as well - unlike in some other F1 cities, here in Melbourne they sell the F1 program brochures in the newstands not only on the track.

3) Nando is everywhere though, but this may have nothing to do with guy who won the title twice and returned to Renault this year

4) Birds are all over the place

5) And another significant positive - This must be the easiest to get to F1 track on calendar (not counting the flight time). You hop on tram at one end of the city, and within 10-15 minutes you are disembarking at the F1 track. Even in the tiny Monaco getting to my seat was pain in the butt with all the roads and walkways closed and locked.

The F1 cars will be in action tomorrow from 10am local time in Melbourne. I will be there with my camera.

F1Wolf

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Night Formula 1 races - the latest obsession of Mr. Ecclestone. Singapore will host one later on this year, the organizers in Australia are under massive pressure from the F1 supremo to hold their race in the night if they want to keep the Formula 1 Down Under beyond 2010. The lighting companies are getting ready, developing and testing night race lighting systems. Is it all worth the effort and money ?

I am going to disregard the environmental issues as I consider those just a populist talk. Yes, it may not go in line with the green message the F1 is trying to send out. But there is much more energy used (or wasted ?) every day by lighting up football stadiums, airconditioning various indoor arenas, freezing the ice for skating or ice hockey… No one complains about that, no one sends skaters to skate on frozen lakes …

After this weekend I however do question the need to force the organizers, will it be in Australia or anywhere else, to spend wast amounts of money to set up the lighting systems. Why ? Because I watched the MotoGP night race from Qatar. If that is supposed to be what the TV viewers get for all the money spent by organizers, then I do not think it is worth it.

First the overall experience - Either there were no spectators (would not surprise me) or the “wall” created by lighting eliminated them from the picture. It did feel very weird. All one could see around the track were the run off areas and hundres of lamps.

The TV picture was far from good. All the lights around the track were pretty disturbing, the picture was not very clear. There were also parts of the track with strong light reflection - and that was on a dry track … Now imagine places like Malaysia and Singapore, where the chances of rain are higher than chances of sunshine …

It might have been great experience for those on the track, it was far from great on TV … But isn’t the TV the main reason behind the night races idea ?

It may not be that bad on the street track in Singapore. The city backdrop, tighter space, spectators closer to the track may be the factors that will make that night race a great TV event. But should the night race happen in Sepang on the track, I am afraid the TV experience will be similar to Qatar MotoGP race…

I may be wrong, F1 might have hired better people to set up the lighting for Formula 1 races and there will be no problems at all. All may be perfect. But would not it be wiser to wait for at least the first night race in Singapore to happen and evaluate the pros and cons, before pushing and forcing people elsewhere to commit to huge investments just to keep one guy happy ?

F1Wolf

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Super Aguri confirmed their 2008 drivers line up just in time to make the final chapter of the 2008 F1 Team Mates series. So at least early on in the season we will again see both Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson racing for the freshly sold team.

Takuma Sato - Japan
Born: 28 January 1977
In F1 since 2002 - Jordan, 2003 - 2005 BAR Honda, 2006 - 2008 Super Aguri
Best Result: 8th (2004)
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Podium Finishes: 1

Sato is the reason this team exists and so it is no surprise Super Aguri keeps him for another season. Unless he decides to leave himself I can’t imagine him not racing for Super Aguri, as long as it remains Super Aguri. He had rather good season last year. He scored the first points for the tiny Japanese team. His overtaking maneuvre on Fernando Alonso in Canada was one of the highlights of the 2007 season. Sato did perform some interesting racing stunts during his F1 career even with traction control and other electronics. It will be interesting to watch him without the driver aids especially with so little winter testing.

Anthony Davidson - Great Britain
Born:18 April 1979
In F1 since 2002 - Minardi, 2005 - BAR Honda (1 race), 2007 - 2008 Super Aguri (he tested for BAR and Honda from 2001 to 2006)
Best result: 23th (2007)
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Best race finish: 11th

After several years as Honda test driver Anthony Davidson finally graduated to F1 racing seat last year. His F1 race debut came in 2002 for Minardi, when he took over from not exactly quick Alex Yoong for 2 races. His next chance came when Sato called in sick in Sepang in 2005 but Davidson’s race lasted only for about 2 laps. While a test driver he was always quick during the Friday free practice sessions back in the days when team could run 3 drivers on Friday, regularly topping the time sheets. He did not do too bad in his first full racing season. He had few decent qualfying sessions. He even had a good chance to score some points in the mad race in Canada until his car hit some small animal crossing the track. Last year his goal were some points, this year his only realistic target will be beating Sato.

F1Wolf’s prediction for Super Aguri drivers in 2008:
Sato and Davidson will be pretty evenly matched and no team orders will be tying them up while fighting for 21st and 22nd place. Sato’s stats will be a bit better at the end of the season, but none of these drivers will score points in 2008. This all of course only in case Sato and Davidson remain with the team for the entire season.

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toyota
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Honda
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toro Rosso
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Force India

F1Wolf

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The Force India vacant seat alongside Adrian Sutil was the target of several drivers. I was not too surprised when they decided to hire Giancarlo Fisichella.

Giancarlo Fisichella - Italy
Born: 14 January 1973
In F1 since 1996 - Minardi, 1997 - Jordan, 1998 - 2001 Benetton, 2002 - 2003 Jordan, 2004 Sauber, 2005 - 2007 Renault, 2008 Force India
Best Result: 4th in 2006
Career wins: 3
Pole positions: 3
Podium Finishes: 18

After departure of Fernando Alonso from Renault to McLaren, Fisichella probably thought his chance to fight for the has finally come. Unfortunately for him Renault did not have the best of seasons in 2007 and at the end Fisi finished the season even behind his rookie team mate Heikki Kovalainen. Few were surprised Renault did not retain him for 2008 season. The move to Force India may look as a step back for Fisichella. He is returning to a team he raced for twice already while it was still known as Jordan. He may now forget about his dream to win the F1 title. He however seems to be enjoying his time in the Indian team. He was quite impressive during winter tests, clearly faster than both Sutil and Liuzzi (the 3rd driver). He is out to prove his critics wrong and his selection by Vijay Mallya right.

Adrian Sutil - Germany
Born: 11 January 1983
In F1 since 2007 - Spyker, 2008 Force India (tested for Midland/Spyker in 2006)
Best result: 4th in 2006
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Best finish: 8th

Adrian Sutil has been mentioned often in connection with the vacant seat in McLaren, but frankly speaking, I somehow do not see why. He was not bad, but he also was not exactly spectacular during 2007 season. Yes, he was the fastest guy in Saturday practice in Monaco, but it was cold windy and wet and who knows who was testing what time. He has a talent but he will definitely benefit from another season with former Spyker now Force India. That is however if he does get too humiliated by Giancarlo Fisichella. If many around the F1 paddock consider Fisi to be a spent force, what would they thing about a young talent who can’t beat Fisichella… And Liuzzi is around and waiting for his chance …

F1Wolf’s prediction for Force India drivers in 2008:
Unfortunately for Sutil I expect Fisichella to dominate here. Liuzzi may get his chance…

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toyota
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Honda
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toro Rosso

F1Wolf

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Toro Rosso fields one of the least experienced driver line ups of 2008 season - Sebastian Vettel with just 8 races to his name, and Formula 1 rookie, Sebastien Bourdais.

Sebastian Vettel - Germany
Born: 3 July 1987
In F1 since 2007 BMW Sauber, Toro Rosso (he tested for Williams in 2005 and BMW Sauber in 2006)
Best Result: 14th in 2007
Career wins: 0
Pole positions: 0
Podium finishes: 0
Point finishes: 2
Best result: 4th place, Chinese GP 2007

Sebastian Vettel debut F1 race was 2007 US GP, where he replaced Robert Kubica (following his Montreal crash). He drove solid but not exactly spectacular race. But he brought the car home in 7th place, scoring 2 points in first Formula 1 race. It was more difficult after he took over from Scott Speed at Toro Rosso. The STR02 was no BMW and further points did not look very likely. Then the wet races came. In Japan Vettel even lead the race for 3 laps and looked set for an amazing podium finish. A lapse in concentration behind the safety car ruined his and Webber’s race and all that was left were tears. But another wet weekend followed in China. Vettel ran pretty much perfect race and scored sensational 4th place for the Toro Rosso team. His half season of racing experience may come handy early on in 2008, especially when the team will start the season with the old (updated) car. The STR02 looked rather competitive during the winter tests and I would not bet against Vettel finishing in the points here and there.

Sebastien Bourdais - France
Born: 28 February 1979
F1 rookie (tested with Arrows in 2002 and Renault in 2003)
2002 F3000 Champion
2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Champ Car Champion

It will be interesting to see how will Sebastien Bourdais handle his switch to Formula 1. It took some time, but finally, after winning the Champ Car series in the U.S. four times in a row, he got his Formula 1 break. It will not be easy for him though. He himself expects early season difficulties in qualifying and starting low in F1 seldom results in point finishes. He will have to get used to mid to back of the field battles, quite a different story from his Champ Car dominance. Most of the recent arrivals from North American racing struggled in F1 and that is what I expect from Bourdais too … I do however wish him well and I hope that I am just too pesimistic in his case.

F1Wolf’s prediction for Toro Rosso drivers in 2008:
Sebastian Vettel will emerge as Toro Rosso number 1 driver early on in the season and will score the teams first points of 2008 season. Bourdais will have tough time.

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toyota
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Honda

F1Wolf

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The time goes fast. I still remember the final race of the 2007 season back in October. Bunch of us who played the game for the entire season (or bigger part of it) happened to be in Hong Kong that time (pure coincidence but it was probably meant to be ). We had a blast of an late evening, beer destroyed one laptop, Hamilton destroyed his chances for title, fatfish walked away with a bottle of MUMM, rest of us left with major headache.

Now it is time to begin again. The game actually started back in December with 2008 Driver Champion predictions. It is not too late to join, the cut off date is March 13, 2008.

You can join the game anytime after that as well by simply predicting the results of any race. But remember that the correct title winner prediction ads 25 points to the final points tally at the end of the season. So if you haven’t done so yet, make your prediction for the 2008 Formula 1 Driver Champion click here. If you have made your prediction but changed your mind, you can make a new one anytime on or before the cut off date March 13, 2008.

To see the game rules click here. Here is a quick summary of the rules:

- Latest on Thursday before every race there will be sticky post for the current round of the game.
- Make your prediction in the comments below that post anytime before start of the qualifying session on Saturday
- Predict the Pole position, Top eight in the race (in order you think they will finish the race) and the fastest lap
- And then enjoy the race

What are we playing for ?

First, there is the iPod nano that nobody qualified for yet. If nobody qualifies by March 13, then I will give it to the the winner of stage 1 - leader of the game after race 6.

The winner of the Australian GP round will receive a 2008 cap of the race winner (if it will be available in Melbourne). In case the winning driver’s cap will not be on sale in Melbourne yet, I will choose some other driver’s cap .

When it comes to the overall winner, I will stay with the MUMM tradition and reward the winner with 3 bottles of MUMM champagne. At the end, it is just the game and we play for fun, not for prizes right ? I should be able to deliver the champagne to most places where I see the entries coming from. Just in case the delivery will prove to be impossible for whatever reason, I will drink the MUMM myself and work out suitable alternative prize with the winner .

I will however add few more prizes for winners of selected rounds of the game during the course of the 2008 season.

Do not miss out on the fun, join now. And remember - the biggest change in the rules from last year - the predictions must be made BEFORE THE QUALIFYING not before the race as last year.

F1Wolf

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The waiting is over. Super Aguri team announced today they concluded acquisition talks with the Magma Group. At the same time the team confirmed Takuma Sato and Anthony Davidson as their race drivers for the 2008 season.

Aguri Suzuki, team principal:

“I am pleased to announce our new partner and drivers finally at this late stage. I am looking forward to a successful and long lasting collaboration with Magma Group. About Drivers, as I have wanted them to continue their work in our team, I was not worried at all about our drivers for 2008. It will be a big advantage for us that we can continue working with them this year. For Anthony, as this season will be his second as a racing driver, I am expecting him to achieve some points. For Takuma, I would like him to repeat the excellent work he did last season. It will be an interesting season and we will try our best to help them achieve these goals.”

Well, securing the finances is one thing, but scoring points with only 3 days of winter testing may only happen in their dreams… But hey, they are still around and that counts at the moment.

F1Wolf

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Honda team is setting their sights on season 2009, but before that they have to survive the season 2008, and if possible, not as the weakest team … They might not have the best car at the moment, but they do have 2 good drivers - Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello.

Jenson Button - Great Britain
Born: 19 January 1980
In F1 since 2000 Williams, 2001 Benetton, 2002 Renault, 2003 - 2008 Honda (BAR)
Best Result: 3rd in 2004
Career wins: 1
Pole positions: 3
Podium Finishes: 15

Jenson Button starts his 6th year with the Honda team, after joining them in 2003 while the team still raced as BAR. His best ever season came in 2004, when he was a regular on podium. He was kind of unlucky that the best car the team built in their history came in the season that so dominated by Ferrari. Third place overall was the best he could hope for. In 2006 he went to win his first and so far the only race in the wet conditions in Hungary. He was kind of right to expect better things to come. Instead the horrible 2006 RA107 appeared and the RA108 does not look to be any better so far. He has to pin his hopes on some wet races when many of the differences between cars are erased and drivers skills count more. Some of Button’s best results came in rain - the race win in Hungary in 2006, 5th place in China last year. His smooth driving style may also come handy in the new era without the traction control and other driver aids.

Rubens Barrichello - Brazil
Born: 23 May 1972
In F1 since 1993, 1993 - 1996 Jordan, 1997 - 1999 Stewart, 2000 - 2005 Ferrari, 2006 - 2008 Honda
Best Result: 2nd in 2002, 2004
Career wins: 9
Pole positions: 13
Podium Finishes: 61

Looking back 2 years it seems like Rubens Barrichello did not pick the right moment to leave Ferrari. A year after Barrichelo had left Schumacher retired. In the first post Schumacher year Ferrari won both titles while Barrichello in Honda failed to score a single point. He can’t expect much better showing this year so the only realistic goal for Barrichello in 2008 is to break the F1 longevity record of 256 races set by Riccardo Patrese. But if he plans to keep racing in F1 beyond 2008, he will need to raise his game. There were voices coming from inside the Honda camp after 2007 season questioning Barrichello’s form and racing attitude. His future with the team did not seem to be that sure. Only after arrival of Ross Brawn did the team make it clear they will retain Barrichello for 2008.

F1Wolf’s prediction for Honda drivers in 2008:
There will not be number 1 and number 2 driver in this team as it does not make much sense that far down the grid. But expect Button to outperform Barrichello. If the team finds some speed later on during the season and they fight for points, it will Button who bring them home. Barrichello may end up again with no points to his name and this may be his last season in Formula 1.

2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Ferrari
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - McLaren
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - BMW Sauber
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Renault
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Williams
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Red Bull
2008 F1 Season - Team Mates - Toyota

F1Wolf

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I thought I won’t be able to get this edition of Spotted by the Wolf together due to my travels, but here it is:

We complain about official Formula 1 site not realizing we have been living in 21st for quite a while. Well, they do have mobile services you can subscribe to now. But as usual, the pricing is out of touch with the reality. People over at FOM, wake up, think of your regular fans, not the guys with yachts …

Mercedes Benz introduced the 2008 Formula 1 safety cars, Car Zi has the pictures and story.

F1Fanatic celebrated 3rd birthday, and did that with a redesign.

The Automoblog has pictures from Geneva - two Honda F1 cars side by side - 2008 (RA108) and 1967 (RA300)

And Singapore GP organizers mean business when it comes to promoting the race. The ads are all over the web, you can’t miss them. But the promo is not limited to online media. Yesterday I took the express train from Hong Kong airport to the city, and here is how it looks. It is over 6 months to go and Hong Kong is 3 1/2 hours flying time away from Singapore. There was never such promo for Chinese GP around here… I apologize for this not F1Wolf like quality of photos, but all I had with me was my Nokia phone.

(more photos in the article) Read the rest of this entry »

F1Wolf

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