Turning a Renault 4 into a Lotus 2

For the second year in a row there isn't much doing in the drivers' market for the front running teams. The 'big four' teams - Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes - won't be changing their race line ups, barring something unusual happening, making 2012 the third season in a row that the familiar faces are occupying those seats.

Instead, we've had to look to the next team up in the constructors' table for our dose of driver market intrigue. It's just as well they've been providing plenty of this all by themselves, enough for the big four teams put together.

Renault have had a four into two conundrum for their 2012 line up (by which time they'll be called Lotus - do keep up at the back) for some time. The drivers in question, all currently on the Renault payroll one way or another, are Robert Kubica, Vitaly Petrov, Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean.

In recent days though something resembling clarity has descended upon the situation. First off: Robert Kubica, who appears to have been ruled out rather than ruled in.

Robert Kubica was mighty for Renault in 2010,
but looks likely not be with them in 2012
Credit: Morio / CC

Of course, in terms of pedigree Kubica is on a different level to the other three potential pilots, and all things being equal he'd be the first pick for a seat. But as is well known, all things aren't equal.

Hungarian GP Report: Jenson rains on Lewis's parade

Jenson Button won today's Hungarian Grand Prix, and it may not surprise you that rain was involved. He put in the sort of performance he seems to have been producing in these sort of conditions since the dawn of time. Smooth, error-free and rapid, accompanied by strategy calls that made you wonder if Jenson has some kind of early warning system of what the weather's about to do and the resultant effect on track conditions (you wonder why in these situations his rivals don't just conclude to do whatever Jenson is doing on the strategy calls?). All sounds terribly familiar, but no less impressive for that.

Jenson Button took another fine win in mixed conditions
Credit: Alex Comerford / CC

For the most part though it looked like Lewis's race to lose, having taken the lead from Vettel in the wet early part of the race and seeming to have not a care in the world as he retained it. But a variety of occurrences upon occurrences from lap 40 through to lap 57 ensured that he did lose it and then some.

First off, Lewis in his third tyre stop put on super softs, when most directly behind him (including Jenson) put on softs with a view to running non-stop to the end. This seemed to ensure Lewis would have to stop once more than those behind him, and it never seemed likely he'd have that sort of pace advantage to retain his lead after the extra stop. It seemed very odd that they should paint themselves into a corner on strategy like that when leading comfortably. Then on lap 47 rain gathered at the back of the circuit, and Lewis hit a wet kerb at the chicane and spun, letting Jenson lead. But worse for him was that in recovery he spun turn to face the right way without heed of Paul di Resta approaching, who had to leave the track to avoid him. This earned Lewis a drive-through penalty, which was just about fair enough in my view as the move risked a side impact collision which would have been very dangerous. Though it's possible that Lewis didn't see him, in his defence. But worst of all for Lewis, as the rain intensified, he made the wrong call to pit for intermediates (or rather someone made the wrong call) only to have to change back to slicks a handful of laps later. He eventually salvaged fourth place, passing Webber in traffic late on in a move reminiscent of Nigel Mansell's pass on Ayrton Senna here in 1989.

British GP Report: Nando's Red Revival

Some things are just meant to be. On the 60th anniversary of Ferrari's first ever F1 win, also at Silverstone, Fernando Alonso brought it home for Ferrari in fine style to win the British Grand Prix today. And this followed on from him, just before the race, doing a demonstration run around Silverstone, that he clearly enjoyed, in the car José Froilán González used to win all those years ago. Alonso was right to call it a 'very special day', for more than one reason.

Fernando Alonso was untouchable at Silverstone
Credit: formulasantander.com / CC

Further, today seemed to represent a genuine red revival for Ferrari, as for the first time in a long time the Red Bulls, including Sebatian Vettel, were left breathless on pace during normal running (I reckon Monza last year was the last time it happened, and that could be explained by Monza being an unusual track). Yes, Alonso's taking of the lead was down to Red Bull botching one of Seb's pit stops, but he almost certainly had him on pure pace anyway. He took over a second out of Vettel lap by lap in the dry conditions in the second half of the race, even when Seb was in clean air, and was twenty seconds up the road on the start of the last lap. And all this at a track that was supposed to be Red Bull country.

Istanbul Qually: Seb makes it four out of four

Sebastian Vettel claimed pole position for tomorrow's Turkish Grand Prix at Istanbul Park. If that sounds rather familiar, that's because it is: it's Seb's fourth pole from four races so far this year, the first time that's been done since 1999 (when Mika Hakkinen did it).

It was comfortable stuff for Seb, as it has been in every qually session this year virtually. Indeed, Seb was content that the time set from his first run in final qually would be sufficient for pole, sitting out while most of those behind him scrapped for the lower places. It was visual testimony to his dominance.

For the first time this year Seb is joined on the front row by team mate Mark Webber, though the Australian will be less content with the four tenths of a second gap between him and the similarly equipped pole man. Both Red Bull pilots saved a set of soft tyres by only running once in the final session, so while the oppostion usually get a bit closer to the Bulls come race day, this factor will make it more difficult for the Bulls to be touched tomorrow.

Shanghai Qually: Predictably comfortable for Seb

Sebastian Vettel took pole position for tomorrow's Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai, by a comfortable seven tenths of a second from his next challenger. Just like in Melbourne. Hey ho.

While the previous round in Malaysia suggested that Seb's challengers may be closing the gap to the front, there were strong mitigating circumstances, with Red Bull having to change their set up fundamentally to preserve their tyres (at the expense on one lap performance). Seb sharply indicated to all that things are back to normal in China, his rivals have a lot of work to do it seems.

It was a rather unusual and bitty qualifying session, interrupted by a lengthy red flag halt (caused by Petrov stopping on the track in session two) and characterised by drivers seeking to preserve as many sets of tyres as possible for tomorrow. But even with this some of the themes of the first two rounds were present. McLaren continued to be best of the rest, and will line up second and third tomorrow, though this time Jenson Button is ahead of the two, continuing the theme of practice wherein he seemed the more comfortable of the Woking pilots. And Seb's team mate Mark Webber continues to have a frustrating time of it. Someone got it seriously wrong in qually one, Webber went out on harder tyres when all his rivals were on softs (and his KERS wasn't working, yet again), and Webber, amazingly, didn't make the cut for the next session, and will start way back in P18 tomorrow. At least him coming through the field will create some entertainment. Heidfeld and Schumi are also starting well down (P16 and P14 respectively).

Sepang Qually: Seb made to work for it

It just goes to show that nobody knows anything. William Goldman famously said it of Hollywood, and it applies to F1 just as aptly.

As a topline, Sebastian Vettel claiming pole for tomorrow's Malaysian GP was as expected, but the parallels with the opening round at Melbourne end there. Seb was really made to work for his pole, going toe to toe with the equally mighty Lewis Hamilton, and pipping the Englishman by a smidgen at the very last of a highly exciting qualifying session.

We're therefore perfectly poised for the race, two champions in evenly matched machinery on the front row, and it's possible that the McLaren looks looks after its tyres better, which could be its trump card. The fact that the two have been needling each other off track for weeks (as have their respective teams), and that there's a strong possibility of rain at some point, only adds spice to the mix.

Like the champions they are, both Seb and Lewis found those vital extra tenths that weren't really there in their final runs. This left their team mates filling the second row, Webber ahead of Button, and each around three tenths down on Seb's pole time.

F1 2011 Season Preview: Renault - Hamlet without the Prince?

Renault was in many ways the revelation of 2010. The team emerged from the littered wreckage post Singapore 'Crashgate', with the understated Eric Boullier replacing the flamboyant and controversial Flavio Briatore, and the Renault company rolling back their involvement. And what do you know, they produce a fine handling machine for 2010 which, alongside their inspired decision to recruit the brilliant Robert Kubica as driver, resulted in three podium finishes and a comfortable fifth in the constructors' table (as well as troubling the top teams regularly along the way). This very much ended three years of Renault going nowhere.

And the momentum appeared to be continuing into 2011. In addition to producing a neat, attractive chassis in the R31, with interesting detail (clearly putting their new wind tunnel and CFD resources to good use), they also showed the confidence to produce the most innovative design concept of the winter: forward-facing exhausts. The idea is that the exhaust gases enter the car's undersides from the front of the sidepods, and thus ensuring a faster airflow under the car and through the diffuser (a development of the exhaust-blown diffusers seen throughout the field last year), thus increasing the downforce. Ross Brawn has gone so far as to say that forward-facing exhausts are the new double-diffuser, a concept that everyone will have to copy.

Thoughts on Bobby K and Renault

Robert Kubica's crash last Sunday while competing in the Ronde di Andora rally is by now well-documented. And despite the encouraging early signs of recovery and his own clear determination, such are his injuries it looks like he'll be out of racing for some months.

This of course is a tragedy on many levels. Most of all it's a tragedy for Robert, who has an almost primal urge to compete and take machinery to its limit. Further, it comes literally days after the evidence from the Valencia test was that Renault could well have made a large performance step at the start of this season, raising the possibility that Kubica would finally get his hands on a car as competitive as he deserves it to be.

It's also a tragedy for F1 - it is the sport's pinnacle and the more top drivers that are in it the better it is for everyone. And make no mistake, Kubica, without hyperbole, can be bracketed among the top of the top. He's spent his time in F1 invariably getting his car into places it has no right to be, including still being in title contention right up to the penultimate race in 2008, while driving a BMW that had barely been developed since mid-season. He's bloody quick, incredibly consistent, highly committed and pushes his team effectively. Moreover, he has a Prost-like ability to avoid driving errors - if you try to think of a time that he has trashed an F1 car it's incredibly difficult to cite an example. It's not for nothing that the likes of Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton really fear the day that Kubica gets his hands on a set of wheels that do justice to his towering talent. As his technical director James Allison said, 'If we can give him a car that's even half capable of getting a championship he'll get one'.

My Top 10 F1 Drivers of 2010: The Rest...

A big draw back with compiling a top 10 of drivers is the arbitrary way you have to draw a line under the tenth driver. In an attempt to redress that, here are my thoughts on the 2010 F1 drivers that didn't make it into the top 10. 

Kamui Kobayashi came oh-so-close to pipping Felipe Massa for tenth place in the list. He started the year with a promising reputation, after two impressive, if wild, drives for Toyota at the end of last season. This year Peter Sauber's reputation for picking out a young driver (see Raikkonen, Massa etc) seemed to be under threat for a time, as Kobayashi struggled to get to grips with the sport and only maintained the 'wild' part of his 'fast and wild' persona. Three first lap accidents in the first eight races pointed to this, as did the fact he was hardly blowing away his team mate. His season gradually turned around though, qualifying in tenth in Spain and finishing tenth in Turkey. But the real watershed was his run in Valencia, running a long stint on the primes (in a way that became fashionable) before a late dash on the options including impressive outbraking maneuvers on Alonso and Buemi. His progress was underlined by being firmly quicker than Nick Heidfeld when he arrived in the team, as well as the faith Peter Sauber has shown by making Kobayashi his lead driver for 2011, guiding the rookie Sergio Perez. If nothing else, his overtakes usually provide a diversion in dull races.

Alongside Kobayashi, Pedro de la Rosa, who was surprisingly brought into a race seat for the first time since 2006, was safe enough as you'd expect, as well as gave his team mate a good run for his money pace-wise. Like Kobayashi, he struggled initially with car unreliability, though as things improved he scored his only points of the year with seventh place in Hungary. However, there had been some signs of tensions within the team and de la Rosa was dumped after the Italian race. His replacement, Nick Heidfeld, while typically keeping his nose clean, seems to have continued his uncanny ability to position himself away from potential drives. Having spent last winter holding out for a Mercedes seat that never came, he didn't really ever completely get on Kobayashi's pace in his five races, and now finds himself without a drive for 2011. A pity, as there's probably none better at bringing the car home, and he's rarely been embarrassed pace-wise by team mates such as Raikkonen, Massa, Kubica and the like. You'd think he'd be perfect for one of the new teams.

Singapore Preview: Vettel's to lose?

So there you have it - looks like the claim from the Red Bull camp that Singapore would see them return to setting the pace wasn't spin after all. On the basis of practice they're the cars to beat, benefiting from their extreme levels of downforce and ability to ride the kerbs.

And even among the Red Bulls Vettel looks hard to stop, consistently being a number of tenths quicker than Webber. It's already looking like Seb's race to lose. Just a guess, but perhaps being the hunter, rather than the hunted is easier psychologically, and allows Seb to throw the car around with abandon (vital at Singapore).

If anyone is going to get close to the Red Bulls it looks like it'll be Alonso and possibly Hamilton. Further rubbering in of the track, after rain (yet again) before practice may bring them closer, but it'll probably require something special even by their standards to get pole. Beating Webber to second may not be out of the question though. Button looked off the pace in practice 3, and cannot afford to lose much ground this weekend.