We expect some big changes in the look of the Formula 1 cars in 2009 but as the season progresses the cars change even without new rules. Let’s have a look how the 2008 F1 cars looked in Melbourne and compare them with their look in Brazil:

Ferrari - Melbourne

Ferrari - Brazil

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F1Wolf

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Timo Glock, the title decider ?

It is funny how the actions of the almost rookie driver became the topic of heated debates following the final race of 2008 season. But how did Glock actually end up in that position ?

Well on the Brazilian GP race day it was combination of his tactics and the weather. He was well behind Hamilton before the rain, and without the rain he would not even be ahead of Hamilton in those final stages. There would be no drama and no premature celebrations in Ferrari garage. Unless of course all the cars ahead of him planned one more splash and dash stop even without rain.

That was the race day. But how come neither Massa nor Hamilton were able to lock title earlier ? How come we even had to talk about Timo Glock ? They both had their opportunities… (read on)

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F1Wolf

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Formula One without Ferrari ?

It has been Mosley’s way of dealing with things for quite a while. Come out with some ridiculous ideas, force them on the teams only to settle on some “compromise” that he planned from the very beginning. But I am not sure what he actually intends to achieve now with his “standard engine” idea.

I do understand the need to cut down the cost of running the F1 teams. The current state of global markets does show clearly what the excesses and living beyond means can result in. F1 lost several independent teams in the recent years. They either went bust or were taken over by manufacturers. Those takeovers look like a good thing and well may be. But the side effect is the amount of money being spent in F1 these days. The excesses that the remaining independents simply can’t afford or do not want to match. So, here comes the need to stop the wasteful spending no matter if there is or is not any financial crisis.

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F1Wolf

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Last year Jarno Trulli painted his helmet with sakura flowers for the Japanese Grand Prix. This year the Toyota driver went for another Japanese trade mark - Fuji Mountain. Here is the helmet he will be sporting on his team’s home circuit:

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F1Wolf

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The shark fins spread like a virus. Only Williams and BMW Sauber haven’t tried them yet. McLaren are the only team who tested them but does not run them in the races. All the other seven Formula 1 teams are sporting this rather weird looking structure.

The shark fin fashion was brought to us by Red Bull Racing, probably courtesy of their design guru Adrian Newey. The aero benefits are not very clear. Some teams running the fin say it helps to clean up the air flow over the rear wing, some others say it helps the balance of the car, some say it does not bring as much benefit as some other not that visible updates. One thing most people agree on however is that the fin shaped engine cover provides nice advertising space. Let’s have a look at the fins and how the ad space is used by the teams (you can enlarge the photos by clicking on the thumbnail):

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F1Wolf

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My prediction for 2009 drivers line up does not expect many changes except some shuffle in Red Bull / Toro Rosso following Coulthard’s retirement and Vettel’s move to Red Bull proper and perhaps some refreshment over in Force India.

After McLaren confirmed Heikki Kovalainen last week Toyota guys also seem to agree with me . Following Timo Glock’s maiden podium the team has announced they intend to keep both their drivers for 2009 season. This does not come as a big surprise. This move by Toyota would very likely also mean that Kazuki Nakajima will continue at Williams.

It however looks like Honda and Renault may be out to spoil my 2009 drivers prediction. Honda are either desperate to get Alonso on board no matter what or confident that their 2009 package will be so good that Alonso will stop dreaming his 2010 Ferrari dream. Ross Brawn gave Honda’s intentions revealing answer to Autosport when asked about the Alonso situation:

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F1Wolf

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Rumour described as “strong” suggests that David Coulthard may announce his retirement from F1 during the upcoming British GP that may be his last home Formula 1 race. No one suggests that this would be his last race however. He made recently several remarks that would not any “retirement” annoucement from Coulthard shocking, including his speach after Canadian podium. It would also make some sense out of Vettel’s claim that he knows a little bit of the internal situation and is very confident about his future. I would however also not be suprised if we hear Coulthard coming out soon rubbishing all the retirement talks.

Last year Red Bull ran a special Faces for Charity livery at Silverstone, in 2005 again Red Bull had The Force with them and special Star Wars livery on their cars. This year we are about the see the Batmobile and special Batman livery on - suprise surprise - the usually most boring team with most boring livery - Toyota … Can’t wait to see that one .

Kimi Raikkonen will very likely make use of one penalty free unscheduled engine change ahead of 2008 British GP following the troubles he faced for half of the Magny Cours race 2 weekends back.

And Toro Rosso have been promised stability for 2009 by Dietrich Mateschitz, they should only expect uncertainty from 2010 onwards …

F1Wolf

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With all the attention focused on the June 3 Mosley vote the other FIA related news went almost unnoticed. According to Autosport it looks like FIA told the teams that the popular bridge wings mus be secured to the nose or a support must now be fitted to stop it from flexing (as seen on the above photo of Renault taken in Monaco GP). Renault seem to have fixed their wings in Monaco, McLaren, Toyota, Williams, Red Bull and Toro Rosso will have to follow the suit in Montreal.

Whether flexing of these wings have made any difference in performance that I do not know. But the flexing front wings have been obviously visible on TV and this was often mentioned also during some of the live blogs. FIA seems to have brought an end to it now as they did with flexing rear wings back in 2006.

Photos: Renault / LAT, Red Bull / GEPA

F1Wolf

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Almost exactly 2 years ago it looked like we will have full grid of 12 teams and 24 cars from 2008 season. On April 28, 2006 Prodrive were given the F1 entry. Max Mosley commented that “Prodrive have the best combination of financial backing, technical capability and motorsport experience.”

Almost exactly a year later, May 13, 2007, the new boys, Super Aguri, scored their first ever championship point after only 1 season and 4 races in Formula 1. Few months later, in August 2007, the news came out that the team’s title sponsor, SS United, does not pay. From then it was all downhill for Super Aguri …

In late November 2007, it became clear that we will not see 24 cars F1 grid in 2008. Prodrive have announced they will not enter Formula 1.

By the end of January 2008 Max Mosley expressed his doubts we will end the 2008 season with 11 teams. There were doubts whether Super Aguri will even make it for Australian GP. They just about made it to Melbourne for the season opener, but only 2 days later Dietrich Mateschitz announced he is putting his share in Toro Rosso up for sale …

Then came May 6, 2008 and the withdrawal of Super Aguri from Formula 1. This is all like the 2002 deja vu. Expectations of full grid for 2002 season thanks to Toyota’s entry to Formula only to see first Prost and then Arrows to disapear. The grid went from 11 teams down to 10 instead of up to 12 before the 2002 season was over …

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After Part 1 it is time for part 2 - Sebastien Bourdais and Jarno Trulli

Rookie no 2 - Sebastien Bourdais

Bourdais may be a F1 rookie but he ain’t no rookie driver. The F3000 title (2002), 4 consecutive Champ Car titles (2004 - 2007) is probably the best he could achieve in open wheel racing outside Formula 1. Few people can understand why it took so long for someone in F1 to bring him in…He himself was quite confident before the season about his racing abilities but expressed worries about qualifying form. The first couple of races pretty much confirmed that. He was outqualified by Vettel in Melbourne and in Malaysia. In Melbourne however his smooth drive, keeping out of trouble and great thinking (his and his pitwall crew) during the final safety car period elevated him as high up as 4th. Only a late engine failure meant DNF, but still 2 points for 7th place. Bahrain saw him for the first time to outqualify his team mate Sebastain Vettel. The new Toro Rosso car is due to arrive in Turkey and if it is as quick as the current Red Bull we may see some more points next to Bourdais’ name before the season comes to a close. Bourdais seems to be the quiet achiever next to a highly rated team mate … I did not know what to expect from Bourdais this season but I must say he has been quite impressive so far …

Veteran no 2 - Jarno Trulli

Jarno Trulli is one of the few drivers with no contract for 2009. His performances this season may well determine whether we will see him on the grid next year or not.

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F1Wolf

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