The Teams' Half-Term Report

We're over halfway through the season now and deep into the summer break, which allows us to look back upon the races we've seen already and what the teams have achieved since testing in February. I've written a little report on how the teams have done. It's written in the order of teams I feel have done the best (not necessarily in championship order). In ascending order, then, here we go...

12. Virgin-Cosworth

When Virgin’s new car was unveiled at the start of this year, many people on F1Fanatic noticed that it looked at lot like Midland, who competed in F1 in 2006, and they have unfortunately taken the same form with the livery - the team that started 2011 ahead of Hispania have now been overtaken by them. With only two retirements out of a possible twenty-one, though, (Timo Glock did not start in China) it would be harsh to say they are completely useless. They do manage to get themselves ahead of Hispania in Qualifying more often than not, yet seem to lose these places in the race.

11. Williams-Cosworth

The rest of 2011 seems to be little more than preparation for next season. Their nine constructors’ titles and seven drivers’ championships are now a distant memory, although their decision to take Renault engines next year should be a step in the right direction. Firing Sam Michael, on the other hand, might turn out to be a mistake - many paddock insiders see him ending up at Force India, and this is most likely. Whilst the easily likeable Rubens Barrichello has taken all four of Williams’ points this year, the most exciting half of their driver line-up is Pastor Maldonado. The Venezuelan was written off by many, myself included, as just another pay driver who would bring finances to a cash-strapped team. In Qualifying, though, he has shown a real turn of speed and is punching above what the car should be capable of. If he can hold is ground in the races, like fellow rookie Paul di Resta can, then he should be able to score some points before the year is out.

10. Hispania-Cosworth

2011 didn’t get off to a fantastic start for HRT. For one reason and another they missed all of pre-season testing yet again, and it was touch-and-go as to whether they would make it to the first round. Falling outside of the 107% at the first race must have dented their confidence, but from then on they have grown faster and faster and are starting to consistently beat Virgin. With the introduction of Daniel Ricciardo, not only will they get a quick driver, but some Red Bull money. It is unclear, however, whether their finances will be enough to build a completely new car next year. If they have to use this year’s chassis once more, then they will appear to go backwards. I can only hope that this does not happen, and that the lovable Spanish minnows are able to get their act together in the second half of this year in readiness for next season.

9.   Toro-Rosso Ferrari

In recent times the ex-Minardi squad has been known as giant killers, particularly after their fantastic win in 2008 at Monza with a certain Sebastian Vettel. 2010 wasn’t a bad year at all, and on that basis the team looked to 2011 with the hope of challenging for bigger points at every round. However, if anything the team has gone backwards and they have more often than not been the ‘fourth team’ who has a driver knocked out in Q1. In the race they have fared a little better, but both drivers need to calm down a little if they are to score more points and eventually win a seat at Red Bull. The introduction of Daniel Ricciardo to Hispania must have focused their minds somewhat. If they can’t deliver after the summer break, then I wouldn’t be surprised to see Ricciardo moving from HRT to the Italian squad next season.

8.   Force India-Mercedes

Whilst Force India may have been a slight disappointment in the first few races (although they consistently took points), it was Paul di Resta’s performance in Hungary that has summed up their first half to the season - the perfect mix of speed, skill and strategy with a sprinkling of luck allowed him to take his best ever result with seventh. Those four factors weren’t necessarily all apparent at certain points in the early season, and the team will be hoping to charge forward through the midfield for their first ever home race later in the season. Whether they keep both of their drivers for 2012 is a question that will need to be answered soon. The few available places for 2012 all rest on who Adrian Sutil, and to a lesser extent Paul di Resta, decide to drive for next season.

7.   Renault

And now to the biggest conundrum of 2011 - what has happened to Renault’s early season pace? After finishing on the podium in the first two races, the team running a ‘retro’ livery has not been able to manage anything close to their early-season form since. The team’s development pace was unheard of last year, as they famously brought a new front wing upgrade to every race of 2010. That must be one privilege both Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld must be hoping for in the second half of the season. In other news, it is unknown if Robert Kubica will be able to return to the car before the end of the season. If he can, however, it will be interesting to see if he still has the blistering pace that he had before his horrific rally crash earlier this year.

6.   Sauber

Martin Brundle summed up the German team’s 2011 strategy perfectly in commentary at Hungary: “I don’t know whether to be impressed with Sauber or not. ‘Right, let’s run a strategy that might sneak us into ninth or tenth.’ Why don’t they turn up with, ‘Let’s run a strategy that might win us this race’?” That ideology has returned some favourable results for Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez, and the Sauber’s ease on its tyres has proved their party piece. Whether they will be able to deliver any top results with that strategy in the run-in to the year will surely be on their mind. A shout-out to Sergio Perez - he has shown both steely determination and maturity in the first nine races of his career. After his mighty Qualifying crash at Monaco, he has won over many of his critics by standing down in Canada for Pedro de la Rosa.

5.   Mercedes GP

If nothing else, Mercedes can surely win the unofficial award for best-looking car this season. The W02, whilst crippled by chronic overheating issues early in the season, looks like a missile out on track. In the hands of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, however, the best result it has been able to salvage has been a lowly fourth from Schumacher in Canada - and even that was with a stroke of luck. Beating up the Brackley-based team, however, will surely do them no favours. Their development team has recently been working on a raft of updates for the car and will surely be going in to overdrive once the enforced two-week break has been completed. Whether they can finish on the podium in the last few races is surely the best they can achieve.

4.   Ferrari

Reading the Maranello squad this year has been notoriously difficult. The team that usually wears its heart on its sleeve has kept its cards very close to its chest this year. After taking only one win in the first eleven races, Fernando Alonso will be looking for more race wins in the second half of the season. He would love to replicate his achievements last year, when he won several races in the final run-in to the title. Felipe Massa, on the other hand is not necessarily hoping for race wins - after beating Alonso in Qualifying in Hungary for the first time in a very long time, Massa will hope that he can continue that form for the rest of the year.

3.   Lotus-Renault

I promised myself when writing this piece that I wouldn’t get bogged down in the court battle between the two Lotus teams that is supposed to now be settled. But Team Lotus have given plenty more to talk about in terms of their speed. They have made it through to Q2 twice in the form of Heikki Kovalainen this year on pure pace alone, and with Jarno Trulli’s power steering issues supposedly fixed now, the green and yellow cars should be going even faster from now on. With small developments coming to the car, it is a question of when, rather than if, the team can get both cars into Q2 and their first points of the year. They are definitely an exciting team and will be one to watch in the second half of 2011 and beyond.

2.   Red Bull-Renault

Despite a recent lack of top-of-the-pile results, the team from Milton Keynes have absolutely blown away the opposition this year. Sebastian Vettel in particular has stormed the first half of the year - he’s finished in either first or second bar one anomaly at his home event when he only just missed out on the podium in fourth. His team-mate on the other hand, hasn’t had quite the season to remember so far. Whilst it was the best start to a season he’s ever had, he’s only finished ahead of Vettel three times out of eleven in Qualifying. Looking at race results it gets even worse - only once has he finished ahead of the reigning World Champion when the chequered flag has fallen. The second half of the season will be critical for Webber, as he appears to have finally got to grips with the Pirelli tyres. We go next to Spa, where he qualified on pole last year and finished second in the race. A repeat of that performance would surely boost his confidence.

1.   McLaren-Mercedes

And the great love-in at McLaren continues. Despite some close racing and a race-ending incident for Hamilton in Canada, McLaren continue to micro-manage their drivers fantastically well. One problem, however, has been their unreliability issues, with Button retiring from two races in succession after two mistakes by the team. Button has admitted himself that those two races without points have probably put an end to his championship challenge. However, Hamilton still feels he could win. If he is to do this, he will need to finish all of the remaining races on, or near, the podium. Not only this, but he will be wishing that Vettel has run out of luck for this season - he needs the German to retire, crash or otherwise retire in order to overhaul his championship lead.

What does the British Grand Prix have in store?

With just over two weeks to go until the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, every British motorsport fan (and a few others) are looking forward to the race at the ex-RAF base. Whilst we can enjoy another race in Valencia before then, it will be at the British round where 'phase two' of the season really begins.

It's unlikely the British Grand Prix will be this wet, but will it rain?

Firstly, it'll be where the FIA's cut on off-throttle blown diffusers will take place. To the more casual fan, that basically means that when the driver is off the throttle (ie. in the middle of a corner) he should have less grip. This will effect all the top teams to an extent, but is rumoured to hit Red Bull and Renault the hardest, and that can only be good news for the chasing pack, including McLaren, who haven't managed to perfect their system yet. Or so you'd think. Currently, the two top Renault-engined teams have to carry 10% more fuel at the start of the race using this strategy, so at Silverstone, how will their race pace shape up against raw speed in Qualifying?

That's one area where Red Bull should dominate - even more than normal - because of their phenomenal speed in the faster corners. As Silverstone plays host to some of the fastest corners of the year, as well as boasting the second-fastest average speed all season, the boys from Milton Keynes should absolutely fly. Many paddock whisperers believe that the Qualifying pace enjoyed by Red Bull is solely down to their ability to open up their rear-wing flap before all of the other teams can - ditching drag and enabling them to go faster. Therefore, their speed in the race is compromised because they can only use this system in one or two certain zones. Pole position at Silverstone will go to the driver who dares to open their DRS first.

Another factor will be KERS - good news for the rivals of the world champions, as they haven't got theirs quite to the high standard they expect yet. Christian Horner revealed that they use a smaller system that is lighter and allows a better-packaged car, to the detriment of cooling and outright power. At the Northamptonshire circuit, with several long straights and one or two important traction zones, the use of this system will also be a key to success.

And lastly, but definitely not least, is the inevitable question of Britain's weather. Will the rain hold off for the Silverstone Wing's debut? Or will we see another downpour like we did in Canada? Part of me wants to see the new pit complex and start line bathed in sunshine; but then again, who would turn down another race like the one we had in Montreal? Only time will tell.

Image (c) Motioncompany, F1Fanatic

Is Vettel-Webber the new Schumacher-Barrichello?

After Sunday's Monaco Grand Prix, Sebastian Vettel has taken 143 out of a possible 150 points, and rather than examining Vettel's high upturn in form, spectators and fans alike have been analysing Webber's relatively poor form in comparison to his young team-mate.

It was all smiles between the Red Bull drivers at the RB7's February launch

But no-one appears to have likened Red Bull's new driver partnership to the highly successful pairing of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello at Ferrari in the early 'Noughties'. Should we be doing? I've crunched the numbers to find out.


One of the main reasons why we should take these numbers with a pinch of salt is context - drivers do better at some tracks in comparison to others, team-mates may not always have equal cars and there could be other factors which damage their speed, such as heavy crashes for them or even other crashes in either practice or qualifying. Add to that the fact that sometimes teams will controversially help one driver over another, the statistics can become difficult to properly read. However, I've done my best to give it a go.


First of all, we should start off with the past - the longest and most successful driver pairing of all time. Barrichello and Schumacher competed in 104 races together as team-mates at Ferrari and it doesn't take a genius to work out the most decorated in that time - Schumacher took five world championships in that time whilst Barrichello took none. However, he did win races - in that 104-race period he won nine races, which works out at 8.65%. Schumacher, on the other hand, took 40 more, with an impressive tally of 49 race wins - 47.12%. Rather than showing up Barrichello as a bad driver, these numbers show that Schumacher was very much dominant in those six seasons (although less dominant than some people might remember) as he won almost half of all the races. If we add the two percentages together, from 2000 to 2005, Ferrari won 55.77% of all the Grands Prix they took part in. If we remove 2005 from the statistics (the longest season of the six yet Ferrari only took one win), the team won an almost unbelievable 67.06% of all the races that took place. However, one thing that must be taken into account is the team's apparent favouritism towards Schumacher in that time - the German normally had a new car or new parts before his Brazilian counterpart, and this will inevitably reflect in their results. But how does this compare with the ongoing partnership of Vettel and Webber?


The two Red Bull drivers, in comparison, have only spent 42 races together at the same team (although this number will increase to 55 or 56 by the end of this season). Whilst this seems quite short compared to Schumacher and Barrichello, it is still a significant enough number to calculate percentages from. Between the first race of 2009 and the most recent race of 2011 (the Monaco Grand Prix), Mark Webber has won six races, giving a percentage of 14.29% which is no mean feat. Vettel, on the other hand, has one exactly a third - 14 of the 42, giving a percentage of 33.33%. That said, Webber's start to 2011 has been his most successful of his entire career, and it only pales in comparison to Vettel's almost superhuman feats. So much so, that if Vettel were a team in his own right, he would currently be second in the constructor's standings, 50 points ahead of Ferrari.


But what does this tell us about Vettel and Webber? In the future, we may look back on Vettel-Webber as a partnership reminiscent of Schumacher-Barrichello. But unlike the other young German before him, Vettel has a much harder team-mate to compete against. In an interview with the BBC in Monaco, Webber said that the main reason why his garage buddy was so much further ahead was because of his quicker adaptation to the new Pirelli tyres. If Webber can get to grips with those (no pun intended) and start to fight Vettel for race wins, we could see a turn in fortune for the Australian when the Formula One circus returns to the place of his first ever win, the Nürburgring, later on in the year. Until then, all these numbers tell us is that Red Bull are becoming almost as dominant as Ferrari used to be. Scary stuff.


Image (c) Red Bull

What can Ferrari and Mercedes achieve in 2011?

Without doubt the two biggest let-downs of the early races have been the Silver Arrows and the Scuderia. But are things about to change come this time next week?

Alonso and Rosberg have been racing each other a little lower down the field than they would have hoped

So why will the Spanish Grand Prix be any different? First of all, Mercedes have been on a upward trend ever since unveiling their car early this year. Such an upturn it has been, that the silver cars lapped the Circuit de Catalunya, home of the Spanish Grand Prix, fastest in pre-season testing. Furthermore, Ross Brawn has said that there will be some important updates ready for the Catalan race; Turkey was all about solving their chronic overheating issues, and Spain will be about doing battle higher up the field. Nico Rosberg, seen by many as the real team leader, has seen some impressive form recently, leading the Chinese Grand Prix at one point. Schumacher has had it a little worse, with a Turkish Grand Prix drive that would have been more suited to a demolition derby. However, paddock insiders say that the Mercedes rear-wing system which opens up on the straights is the best on the grid - and Spain has some very long straights indeed. Look out for them in Qualifying and for some overtaking action in the race.


On the other hand, Ferrari are looking at much more basic problems - Alonso's car ground to a halt with hydraulic issues in practice in Istanbul. Like Eddie Jordan said at the time, the most experienced team in the history of the sport, with over 800 Grands Prix to their name, should be able to create and maintain something as basic as the hydraulics system. But the team say that it was a one off and that they'll be back on the pace in Spain. Indeed, the flashes of pace we've seen from them this year, albeit briefly, were promising. It appears that the old Felipe Massa is back for good, as we've seen from his wheel-to-wheel racing in Oz. It's not like he doesn't like the Spanish track, either; he took pole, the win and fastest lap here in 2007. Alonso, on the other hand, will be desperate to put on a good show for his adoring fans. The circuit is annually decked out in the colours of Alonso's home region on the other side of Spain. The supporters of 'El Nano', as he is known, routinely make the 1000km trip to see their hero race. But will he be able to do good? He'll be homing to step up a place from last year, where he took second after Lewis Hamilton's trip through the gravel.


Only time will tell whether these two teams will be able to do good in Spain - where scorching temperatures are forecast. Will the tyres stand up to the heat? And will we see overtaking at the most notoriously difficult circuit for racing wheel-to-wheel? Let's wait and see.


Image (c) F1Fanatic, Daimler

The Top Five...Street Tracks

As a sport that prides itself on being the pinnacle of motorsport, Formula One provides vastly differing challenges to both the drivers and teams. Just one of these variables are the tracks. In 2011, there are three street tracks on the roster - read on to see if any made my top five...


5. Adelaide
The track that held 11 Australian Grands Prix between 1985 and 1995 comes in at number five. This track witnessed some historic moments in its history - including Nigel Mansell's explosive tyre and the 1994 title decider. Despite its relatively simple layout including public roads and a horse-racing course, it holds a special place in the hearts of many F1 fans, particularly those from Australia. One F1 fan, 'Doance', sums up the track in two sentences: "It went through parklands and into the city. And it was a special event." So special in fact, that many F1 fans want to see it back on the F1 calendar.

Ayrton Senna was one of the many fans of the Adelaide Street Circuit

4. Detroit

It must have been only a matter of time before F1 held a race in 'motor city' itself, Detroit. A city with a famous skyline, it first held an F1 race in 1982. It was popular with fans and drivers alike for being just that little bit unique - its narrow track and close walls resulting in lots of retirements - only five drivers finished the 1984 event, with one of those a lap down. This meant that only four drivers were on the lead lap after just over 160 miles of sunny race action. Detroit still holds some races to this day, but it remains to be seen whether Formula One will ever return to the pavements of Motown. With the addition of Austin from next year, this sadly looks increasingly unlikely.

3. Monaco

Ask anyone to name an F1 track and chances are they'll say Monaco. The cars have long since outgrown the tiny principality's twisty streets, but that doesn't stop the drivers rocketing round an at an average speed of around 100mph - slow for a Grand Prix circuit, but practically unheard of in the slow, wealthy life of a Monegasque resident. The circuit has held many memorable races on its five different variations over the years - the first was held in 1929 by a close friend of the Royal Family, and Prince Albert loves the event - he awards the winner's trophy each year. The track is just over one and a quarter minutes of unbridled terror - let's watch Jenson Button's 2009 pole lap:

2. Montjuich Park

This circuit is widely regarded by Formula One buffs as one of the greatest circuits of all time. That it only held four Grands Prix is somewhat of a travesty, but a fatal accident at the final race meant that Formula One could not continue at the track draped over a mountain in Catalonia, Spain. In fact the speeds were so high here and so dangerous, it was here that wings were first banned in F1, those devices which have become so vital to a car's performance today.

1. Albert Park

Maybe a somewhat controversial choice, but Albert Park has seen some of the best racing in recent years and is a firm favourite with many of the drivers. Although not immediately famous among non-F1 fans (unlike the notoriety held by Monaco and Silverstone), the track has also become well-known due to its feature on F1 racing games, upon which it has become one of the most popular tracks to drive. To make this all the more special, Albert Park is actually a public park for most of the year, teeming with wildlife. If looked up on Google Streetview, you can see that the main straight is used for parking, and much of the last part of the lap takes place in cycle lanes! If indeed the track is lost from the roster, as Bernie Ecclestone keeps making clear, I'm sure it will not only be a loss for the local residents and Australia, but for the sport as a whole. In years to come I'm sure we will look back on this track as one of the best of the contemporary age. Farewell, Albert Park.

The lake around which the Albert Park track runs

A notable mention to both Ned Flanders and Nik for mentioning AVUS, a German track run almost exclusively on German motorway and flanked at both ends by hairpins. The banking at one end of the track had no safety barrier - meaning cars could be launched off at even the smallest mistake, a recipe for disaster. More happily, the track is now an important part of the German Autobahn network.

Now its over to you. What do you think about my choices and what are yours? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

This article is based on a thread started on the F1Fanatic Forum.Be sure to check back there for ThatF1Blog article news and thanks to everyone who took part (sadly I couldn't mention everyone in this article).