skip to main |
skip to sidebar
The annual Macau Grand Prix is traditionally the biggest showcase of young driving talent in the world, bringing together mostly what is know as the 3 biggest Formula 3 series in the world (F3 Euroseries, Britain & Japan) to discover which drivers are up for being the next big thing in single seater racing, it's an event dominated in recent years by the Japanese TOM'S squad, the reigning champions after last years win by the little known Japanese driver Keisuke Kunimoto, and they were favourites again this year to win it as they possessed in their ranks a hot new property in Swedish youngster Marcus Ericsson, the reigning Japanese F3 champion and race winner in selected outings in British F3, and seeing as he's only 19, he is set for a bright future. Other favourites for victory included the ART squad who fielded cars for the new European champion, Jules Bianchi of France and Valeri Bottas of Finland, Carlin brought the British champion, Australia's Daniel Ricciardo and Kiwi driver Brendon Hartley. There was a strong British challenge too including the likes of Sam Bird, Max Chilton, Wayne Boyd and McLaren Autosport award winner Alexander Sims.
But rising above everyone to take toe top prize was 22 year old Edoardo Mortara from Italy after a superb drive to hold off his teammate Jean Karl Vernay
QUALIFYING RACE
In a unique format, there are 2 qualifying sessions and a short qualifying race to set the final grid, the winner getting the opportunity to start the main race from Pole position, the short sprint was won by Vernay ahead of Ericsson, Mortara, Bottas and the Belgian driver Laurens Vanthoor, Sam Bird was the best of the Brits in 7th. The big suprise though was Bianchi who struggled in the race after starting 7th and ended up being down in 21st on the grid. Only one driver (Kevin Chen from Taiwan) failed to qualify for the final after being disqualifyed for being potentially a danger to others after crashing in every session.
FINAL GRID
ROW 1: 1st Jean-Karl Vernay (Signature Volkswagen), 2n. Marcus Ericsson (TOM'S Toyota)
ROW 2: 3rd Edoardo Mortara (Signature Volkswagen), 4th Valtteri Bottas (ART Mercedes)
ROW 3: 5th Laurens Vanthoor (Signature Volkswagen), 6t. Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin Volkswagen)
ROW 4: 7th Sam Bird (ART Mercedes), 8th Takuto Iguchi (TOM'S Toyota)
ROW 5: 9th Roberto Merhi (Manor Mercedes), 10th Mika Maki (Hitech Volkswagen)
ROW 6: 11th Renger Van Der Zande (Raikkonen/Robertson Mercedes), 12th Yuji Kunimoto (NOW Motorsports Toyota)
ROW 7: 13th Alexander Sims (Raikkonen/Robertson Mercedes), 14th Victor Garcia (Fortec Mercedes)
ROW 8: 15th Max Chilton (Carlin Volkswagen), 16th Kei Cozzolino (Toda Honda)
ROW 9: 17th Stef Dusseldorp (Kolles & Heinz Volkswagen), 18th Koki Saga (Le Beausset Toyota)
ROW 10: 19th Carlos Huertas (Manor Mercedes), 20th Daniel Zampieri (Prema Powerteam Mercedes)
ROW 11: 21st Jules Bianchi (ART Mercedes), 22nd Stefano Coletti (Prema Powerteam Mercedes)
ROW 12: 23rd Alexandre Imperatori (Kolles & Heinz Volkswagen), 24th Brendon Hartley (Carlin Volkswagen)
ROW 13: 25th Daniel McKenzie (Fortec Mercedes), 26th Michael Ho (CHAMP Mercedes)
ROW 14: 27th Wayne Boyd (Hitech Volkswagen), 28th Henry Arundel (Carlin Volkswagen)
ROW 15: 29th Jake Rosenzweig (Fortec Mercedes)
DID NOT QUALIFY: Kevin Chen (CHAMP Mercedes)
GRAND PRIX RACE
From the start, Vernay raced clear ahead of Ericsson and Mortara, unfortunately for him though, the race was red flagged for a multi car pileup behind caused by Daniel Ricciardo, this eliminated no less than 9 cars including nearly all of the Carlin team (only Arundel reamined).
From the restart, the vastly reduced grid of 20 cars got away without incicent, Mortara blasted clear of Ericsson but could'nt beat Vernay to the first corner. Then as both the Signature teammates broke clear of Ericsson (who had also fallen behind Bottas), the scene was set for a titanic battle for the lead between both men, Mortara just could not get close enough due to Vernay giving a wonderful display of late braking and cornering allowing him to pull out enough of a gap going into the main straight therefore preventing his teammate a slipstream into the 1st corner...
...until that is on lap 11 out of 15 when Vernayran wide in the hairpin at the end of the lap, this was the bit of luck Mortara needed as his constant harrying of Vernay finally paid off as he got his slipstream and made his move to take the lead on lap 12. A lead Mortara would never relinquish as the GP2 race winner (he won the GP2 season opener) went on to take an emotional win.
Behind him though, the man of the race was Britain's Sam Bird, who battled from 7th on the grid to catch and then pass pre-race favourite Ericsson and also Bottas (who got into mechanical trouble late on) to claim the final step on the podium, albeit 14 seconds behind the top 2, showing how the 2 Signature team-mates dominated.
RACE RESULT - TOP 10
1. EDOARDO MORTARA (Signature Volkswagen) ................ 15 Laps in 53m 07.769
2. JEAN KARL VERNAY (Signature Volkswagen) ................ + 1.146
3. SAM BIRD (ART Mercedes) ................ + 10.892
4. MARCUS ERICSSON (TOM'S Toyota) ................ + 14.988
5. VALERI BOTTAS (ART Mercedes) ................ + 19.188
6. TAKUTO IGUCHI (TOM'S Toyota) ................ + 21.406
7. RENGER VAN DER ZANDE (Raikkonen/Robertson Mercedes) ................ + 22.059
8. MIKA MAKI (Hitech Volkswagen) ................ + 29.005
9. YUJI KUNIMOTO (NOW Motorsports Toyota) ................ + 33.348
10. JULES BIANCHI (ART Mercedes) ................ + 35.761
9 months ago, this was a team on their knees after the withdrawal of Honda, that was until Ross Brawn led a management buyout and transformed the team into world champions overnight, and now to complete the fairytale, they have now been bought out by one of the greatest names in the sport, Mercedes, who after this buyout will make a return as an F1 constructor for the first time in 55 years. In addition, they have all but confirmed Nico Rosberg as one of their drivers for 2010 with Nick Heidfeld favourite to land the 2nd seat if a deal with Jenson Button cannot be agreed.
Despite their long absence as a constructor, they have a tremendous racing pedigree. In the 1930, they famously battld with German rivals Auto Union (Audi) for Grand Prix supremacy under the eyes of a proud Adolf Hitler who used the success of both manufacturers to portray Nazi Germany as a world superpower. But then the war came, and it was'nt until 1954 that Mercedes returned as a constructor and won the world championship 2 years on the trot in 1954 and 55, both thanks to the legenday Juan Manuel Fangio. But the tragic accident at Le Mans in 1955 that killed driver Pierre Levegh and over 80 spectators caused Alfred Neubauer (the Mercedes team boss) to pull out. After flirting with Le Mans in the late 1980's with Peter Sauber's sportscar operation, they decided to return in 1993 as an engine supplier supporting Sauber's foray into F1, after which they switched allegiance to McLaren in 1995 and never looked back, the partnership with the Woking team delivering 60 Grand Prix wins, 3 drivers world championships (1998,1999, 2008) and 1 constructors title (1998).
But why now, why jump ship and become an entrant rather than a supplier? Well it has been an ambition of theirs for a long time, ever since they powered McLaren to both championships in 1998, they held a 40% shareholding in the McLaren Group and long wanted to increase that shareholding to a majority and therefore attempt a full takeover. McLaren though had long resisted Mercedes's desires and with plans of their own to enter the commerical sportscar market in 2011, it made sense for McLaren and Mercedes to go their separate ways, especially with Brawn GP trouncing them with customer Merc engines in 2009 and their availability was too much of a temptation for Mercedes to reisist, in return, Mercedes will sell back their 40% stake to the McLaren Group and Ron Dennis and give them a contract of a free engine supply for the next 6 years.
The biggest winner out of all of this though has to be Ross Brawn, in 9 months, he has earned a huge return on his investment 9 months ago, a gamble that has paid off hugely, plus the very fabric of Brawn GP will remain, the only difference being the cars pained silver and Norbert Haug taking a place alongside Ross Brawn and Nick Fry on the pit wall.
But what about Jenson Button, suddenly it looks like the new world champion has been left out in the wilderness without a drive if Mercedes continue their drive for an all German lineup. Apparently he is still in negotiations with Mercedes but Haug is seemingly unwilling to give in to Button's financial demands. Something a certain team down the road from the old Brawn factory in Brackley can comfortably offer him, that being of couse McLaren. And with rumours of Button visiting the McLaren factory over the weekend, put 2 and 2 together and you get the mouth-watering prospect of an all British dream team of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton.
Sorry its been a while since my last update, i'll try and upload more articles in the future including completion of both my Top 20 British drivers list and top 5 worst cars list
2009 is now over and done with and Jenson Button has walked off with a championship win youi would never have expected 12 months ago, now though thoughts turn to the 2010 season, the dawn of a new decade and it promises to be one of the most exciting seasons in years added to that the intrigue of seeing at least four new teams coming in and a grid of 26 cars, something that has not been seen since the Monaco Grand Prix of 1995/ The photo is that of the windtunnel mock-up of the new Lotus F1 car which is currently now in the building phase, all 4 new teams hope to begin testing their new cars in the new year, in the meantime though, each team has their driver pairings to think about, below i have taken each team and put in what i think will be their drivers in each seat, drivers that have been confirmed are designated in Red, so here we go
BRAWN GP
1. Jenson Button
2. Nico Rosberg
Supposedly only slow negotiations in his contract are preventing Jenson Button from signing on in 2010 with the Brawn team, he is expected though to eventually tie up a new deal and be partnered by Nico Rosberg who left Williams after the final race of 2009 after a 4 year stay. One factor that could speed up the negotiations is an imminent deal with Mercedes in terms of a partial buy-out of the team, this could affect the German marque's relationship with McLaren though
RED BULL
3. Sebastian Vettel
4. Mark Webber
Red Bull announced their pairing months in advance, opting for continuity in 2010, Vettel and Webber, both race winners in 2010 will continue an already strong alliance.
McLAREN MERCEDES
5. Lewis Hamilton
6. Kimi Raikkonen
A poor season overall by McLaren's standards but they will go into the winter very optuimistic after a strong 2nd half of the season in which they won 2 races and snatched 3rd place in the constructors championship at the death. Lewis Hamilton stays as he is in the middle of a lucrative 5 year contract and he is expected to partnered by Kimi Raikkonen, who could return to the team after being sacked by Ferrari to make way for Fernando Alonso.
FERRARI
7. Fernanro Alonso
8. Felipe Massa
Felipe Massa stays with the Maranello squad after what was their worst season in F1 for 16 years, he will be joined by Fernando Alonso, providing the team can produce a car that matches the ambitions of both drivers unlike in 2009, then they should be the clear favourites for the major honours.
QADBAK / SAUBER
11. Nick Heidfeld
12. Heikki Kovalainen
BMW announced in the summer that they were pulling out after they had failed to sign the concorde agreement, they then managed to sell the team to Qadbak, an arab investment company but this was after the bidding for their spot on the grid was completed (a bidding campaign which was won by Lotus) but the FIA gave them what was called the "14th spot" meaning that they would get priority choosing to be let back in if any team pulled out, and after Toyota withdrew from the sport shortly after the end of the season, (pending an announcement from the FIA) Qadbak are back on the grid. If they are let back in, i expect them go go with an experieced lineup of Nick Heidfeld and McLaren refugee Heikki Kovalainen.
WILLIAMS
14. Rubens Barrichello
15. Niko Hulkenberg
It'll be all new at Williams in 2010, a return to the Cosworth engines they last used in 2006 and what powered them to their first world championship in 1980 and an all new driver line-up containing the perfect mix of experience and youth. Rubens Barrichello comes in from Brawn as the experienced head, his technical expertise and set-up knowledge will be invaluable for his teammate, the rookie Niko Hulkenberg from Germany, who is quite possibly, the strongest rookie to come into F1 in many years having already won a multitude of championships including the A1 Grand Prix title with Germany in 2006-07.
RENAULT
16. Robert Kubica
17. Timo Glock
No Briatore, No Symonds and quite possibly, no team at all in 2010 if Renault's recent emergency board meeting recently was anything to go by. Such speculation comes with merit after what has been an appalling season for the Renault team, an unusual and blocky car design coupled with an unreliable package and unrest within the team played their parts in a run to just 8th place in the constructors championship, simply not good enough for a manufacturer with a championship pedigree as Renault possesses. Should they be on the grid in 2010, then Robert Kubica will be their lead driver, defecting from the now defunct BMW squad, he would be expected to be partnered by Timo Glock, defecting from the now defunct Toyota squad.
FORCE INDIA
18. Adrian Sutil
19. Vitantonio Liuzzi
Finally, Vijay Mallya's team scored their first points and pipped Toro Rosso to 9th in the constructors ensuring they did not get the wooden spoon, the car was a great package especially on circuits requiring low-downforce setup, that helped enable Giancarlo Fisichella to claim the team's first podium in its current guise with 2nd place in Belgium and its first overall since Tiago Monteiro finished 3rd in that controversial US Grand Prix in 2005. Force India as a result are likely to go into next season with last years driver lineup, the erratic but quick Adrian Sutil as lead driver alongside Vitantonio Liuzzi who displayed good pace in his short end of season stint.
TORO ROSSO
20. Sebastien Buemi
21. Jaime Alguersuari or Brendon Hartley
Overall it was a quiet season for the Red Bull sister team, but that was expected since Vettel left to join the main squad. Despite that though, Sebastien Buemi scored 6 of the team's 8 points, not bad for your first season and enough to make him the rookie of the year. Who will partner him though is up for debate. Jaime Alguersuari tis the favourite to pick up the drive.
CAMPOS META
22. Bruno Senna
23. Pedro de la Rosa or Vitaly Petrov
Of the 4 new teams, Campos were the first to formally announce a driver, that will be Bruno Senna, the nephew of the legendary 3 time world champion Ayrton, also the team were to announce that they were the first to successfully complete the mandatory FIA crash tests, crucial in the cosntruction of their race car. The question with this team now though is who will partner Senna in his rookie season. Pedro de la Rosa is the favourite as Campos would prefer a Spanish driver in their lineup and he would also bring vast experience as a former driver with Arrows and Jaguar as well as a McLaren Tester. Vitaly Petrov is the other driver int he frame due to the Russian's links with the team in lower formulae and his sponsorship potential from the oil rich former Soviet country.
VIRGIN F1 / MANOR
24. Anthony Davidson
25. Adam Carroll
Manor,(another of the new teams) seem to be the least prepared to enter, then again, they are the only new team that have not said much in their press releases apart from former Simtek and Benetton designer Nick Wirth coming in as technical director and announcing a first that the car will be the first ever to be designed using CFD computer software, the same system that propelled Acura to dominance in this year's American Le Mans Series. Also it si expected that they will be announcing a major sponsorship deal with Virgin that could include renaming the team. As for drivers, dont be suprised to see them be all patriotic and go for an all British/Irish lineup. Anthony Davidson is the favurite to be the lead driver despte little racing experience in F1 but despite that, there have been plenty of people saying that he deserves a proper chance in the sport and Manor could provide that for him. The favourite to partner him could be Irishman Adam Carroll, the reigning A1 Grand Prix champion and who could be the first driver from the Irish republic in F1 since Derek Daly drove for Williams in 1982.
USF1
26. Alexander Wurz or Takuma Sato or Jacques Villeneuve
27. JR Hildebrand or Jonathan Summerton
The new USF1 squad have talked a lot about their high ambitions including setting up a european base at Motorland Aragon near the town of Alcaniz in North-east Spain as well as their american base near Charlotte, North Carolina. Team owner Peter Windsor set up the team to try and increase intrest and the profile of F1 in North America so it will be natural for him to want at least 1 American driver in his team, the early favourites to be that driver being Jonathan Summerton and JR Hildebrabd, both successful in lower formulae in the states. The lead seat though is different, an experienced head may be useful in their plans with both Alexander Wurz and former world champion Jacques Villeneuve being names that heve been mentioned, also dont rule out a return for Takuma Sato.
LOTUS
28. Jarno Trulli
29. Fairuz Fauzy
Tony Fernandes's fortune and his links with Proton paved the way for them to win the bidding for the 13th spot on the grid in 2010 and also marking the return of one of the sport's most iconic marques, Lotus. who were 6 times world drivers champions under the legendary stewardship of the late Colin Chapman. Now with the fortune of the Malaysian airline owner and Proton (who own Lotus) they are set to make a return into the field and are already constructing their new car. Fairuz Fauzy is favourite to land one of the seats seeing that they will probably want a Malaysian driver in there with the experienced Jarno Trulli (now available after the withdrawal of Toyota) favourite to take the lead seat.
