Flying Lap!!! – By Chetan Narula.
A Heady Mix…
Never has the winter testing by F1 teams created so much interest and curiosity among the millions of fans world wide. Call it effectively the “last Schumacher effect” if you may. In leaving the sport too, the man has only made it more appealing. Bernie Eccelstone could not have asked for more.
The reason that Schumacher is no more on the starting grid means that a certain number of races will now be open for other drivers, which otherwise he would have won. But his leaving the sport has more far reaching consequences than that. The most important one, being the arrival of Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari and the debate of the number one driver being sparked again in the scuderia pits. But before we get into that, there is the whole matter of testing times to discuss. And that for a change has nothing to do with one Michael Schumacher.
The most important test of the season at the Sakhir circuit, Bahrain got over this weekend and it is now very clear that we have an impending face off for the championship between Ferrari and Mclaren-Mercedes. The Woking based outfit have evolved their season strategy around Fernando Alonso and at Barcelona before this test, they were awesomely quick. Even the young Lewis Hamilton blew away the competition at the Spanish track which included two burning Ferraris.
But then Mclaren’s persistent problem of consistency caught up with them as soon as they started testing their race specs. And when Ferrari did exactly that at the desert circuit, they appeared the team to beat for the rest of the year. This was expected as they are still on the Bridgestones where as all the other front runners have to cope up. So much so that this could be the difference between Kimi being the number 1 or 2 at Ferrari this season.
Yes that is exactly what the whole world must be thinking ever since Fellipe Massa broke the track record at the Bahrain tests this past week. The fact that he has been with Ferrari for ages given that he used to test for them previously while Kimi has practically driven all his life on the Michelins, it is no surprise that they have been at most been separated by a second. What else do you put this down to, in testing, when there is no race or fuel strategy and the drivers are more or less trying to achieve only good test mileage at the end of the day.
Mas
sa has also spent a year with Schumacher, watching the way he worked with the mechanics and took part in the setting up of the car, how he was as much a part of the pit crew as all others. Kimi all through his career has been alien to this concept. Another point which could be the difference in performance ever since his arrival there. Make no mistake Massa might actually make this season his own.
A Heady Mix…
Never has the winter testing by F1 teams created so much interest and curiosity among the millions of fans world wide. Call it effectively the “last Schumacher effect” if you may. In leaving the sport too, the man has only made it more appealing. Bernie Eccelstone could not have asked for more.
The reason that Schumacher is no more on the starting grid means that a certain number of races will now be open for other drivers, which otherwise he would have won. But his leaving the sport has more far reaching consequences than that. The most important one, being the arrival of Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari and the debate of the number one driver being sparked again in the scuderia pits. But before we get into that, there is the whole matter of testing times to discuss. And that for a change has nothing to do with one Michael Schumacher.
The most important test of the season at the Sakhir circuit, Bahrain got over this weekend and it is now very clear that we have an impending face off for the championship between Ferrari and Mclaren-Mercedes. The Woking based outfit have evolved their season strategy around Fernando Alonso and at Barcelona before this test, they were awesomely quick. Even the young Lewis Hamilton blew away the competition at the Spanish track which included two burning Ferraris.
But then Mclaren’s persistent problem of consistency caught up with them as soon as they started testing their race specs. And when Ferrari did exactly that at the desert circuit, they appeared the team to beat for the rest of the year. This was expected as they are still on the Bridgestones where as all the other front runners have to cope up. So much so that this could be the difference between Kimi being the number 1 or 2 at Ferrari this season.
Yes that is exactly what the whole world must be thinking ever since Fellipe Massa broke the track record at the Bahrain tests this past week. The fact that he has been with Ferrari for ages given that he used to test for them previously while Kimi has practically driven all his life on the Michelins, it is no surprise that they have been at most been separated by a second. What else do you put this down to, in testing, when there is no race or fuel strategy and the drivers are more or less trying to achieve only good test mileage at the end of the day.
Mas
sa has also spent a year with Schumacher, watching the way he worked with the mechanics and took part in the setting up of the car, how he was as much a part of the pit crew as all others. Kimi all through his career has been alien to this concept. Another point which could be the difference in performance ever since his arrival there. Make no mistake Massa might actually make this season his own. So where does that leave Fernando Alonso? The current world champion is the third favourite to win the title? Well as preposterous as the thought might be, it is true. Many reasons are doing the rounds for this belief. Ferrari’s pace and Mclaren’s consistency are the foremost. Testing is one thing but it’s the race weekends when the engines have to last. The signs are good but with Mclaren-Mercedes you never know. And this is where the third point, probably the most important one, emerges from.
All these years at Mclaren, have given Kimi his most potent weapon. His unpredictability. Be it qualifying last and finishing first in 2005, or driving an incompetent Mclaren last
year superbly, the Flying Finn never ceases to astonish. His move to Ferrari is the only one in his career which anybody could have predicted. So we can safely presume that while the constructor’s championship is a two way race, it will still largely depend on the race to the driver’s crown which will, without doubt face a three pronged charge as of now. Throw in an exciting young number 2 driver at Mclaren and you will find quite a twist in this tale.
Can’t presumably end this without talking about the rest of them. Renault are struggling for pace and a race winning driver, Toyota for consistency, Williams for good quality consistent engines, BMW again for consistency, Red Bull for lack of good designing (ironically, their design engineer is the highest paid in the business), while the back benchers, i.e. Super Aguri, Torro Rosso and Spyker from a lack of testing mileage.
And oh, did I mention Honda? Well they too are struggling to find form be it pace or consistency. But unlike the rest they are doing nothing about it. Just fooling around in a “green Google earth” livery. The Honda circus is complete.
All these years at Mclaren, have given Kimi his most potent weapon. His unpredictability. Be it qualifying last and finishing first in 2005, or driving an incompetent Mclaren last
year superbly, the Flying Finn never ceases to astonish. His move to Ferrari is the only one in his career which anybody could have predicted. So we can safely presume that while the constructor’s championship is a two way race, it will still largely depend on the race to the driver’s crown which will, without doubt face a three pronged charge as of now. Throw in an exciting young number 2 driver at Mclaren and you will find quite a twist in this tale.Can’t presumably end this without talking about the rest of them. Renault are struggling for pace and a race winning driver, Toyota for consistency, Williams for good quality consistent engines, BMW again for consistency, Red Bull for lack of good designing (ironically, their design engineer is the highest paid in the business), while the back benchers, i.e. Super Aguri, Torro Rosso and Spyker from a lack of testing mileage.
And oh, did I mention Honda? Well they too are struggling to find form be it pace or consistency. But unlike the rest they are doing nothing about it. Just fooling around in a “green Google earth” livery. The Honda circus is complete.
No comments:
Post a Comment