Ten things to look forward to in 2010
1st March 2010, 10:38 by Keith Collantine 115 Comments »
How will Michael Schumacher fare on his F1 return?
Testing is over and we are less than two weeks away from the start of the hotly-anticipated 2010 season.
With exciting driver line-ups, more teams and a bigger calendar, there’s a lot to look forward to this year. Today we kick off the F1 Fanatic 2010 Season Preview by picking the ten most exciting storylines ahead of the new season.
New teams
Ferrari may not think much of the new crop of teams but for fans of the sport the expansion of the F1 grid is long overdue and entirely welcome.
Even if the new cars spend most of the year fighting at the back between themselves it adds a new storyline to the sport. Plus we’ll have more drivers to watch and that means more interesting racing.
Return to Montreal
It’s a warm welcome back for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve with its fast straights, punishing braking zones and unforgiving walls. Montreal’s F1 circuit is no sanitised Tilkedrome – this a proper track for proper racing,
In the last two visits to this track we saw two first-time winners, Robert Kubica escaping the mother of all shunts and a pile-up in the pits.
As well as being one of the most reliably action-packed races, Canada’s passionate fans fill the stands and make a fitting atmosphere for a Grand Prix.
Refuelling ban
Good riddance to race-fuel qualifying, pit fires and all those tedious and impenetrable strategy and “fuel-adjusted lap time” calculations.
In its place we get a return to classic Grand Prix racing, where drivers have to cope with a car that will weigh around 160kg more at the start of a race than the end of it. It’s going to be fascinating to see which drivers cope best with the return to real racing.
Read more: 14 reasons to love the refuelling ban
The rookies
With so little change in the F1 field last year we saw just one new face at the start of the season – Sebastien Buemi.
This year we have a intriguing crop of rookie talent to compare from the get-go. Nico Hülkenberg dazzled with his GP2 form in 2009, Lucas di Grassi has looked like getting an F1 break for several years and Vitaly Petrov carries the hopes of a nation that has never had an F1 driver before.
Hopefully we might also see Bruno Senna finally bring F1’s most famous name back to the sport, and Jose Maria Lopez may yet get to join in the fun too.
More F1 on Twitter
Almost every week a new driver or team member appears on Twitter, giving us direct, first-hand insight into what’s going on in the sport.
Could we have every F1 driver on Twitter by the end of the year? We’ll add all the new official F1 Twitter accounts to the F1 Twitter Directory as they appear.
Read more: the 2010 F1 grid on Twitter
Inter-team rivalries
The F1 driver merry-go-round has thrown up some fascinating pairings this year.
Lewis Hamilton versus Jenson Button at McLaren not only pits Britain’s two top drivers against each other – but also the two most recent world champions.
At Ferrari, Fernando Alonso faces Felipe Massa, who will certainly be his most challenging team mate since his explosive encounter with Hamilton three years ago.
Nico Rosberg has discovered his graduation to a top team comes with a catch – he has to share it with the most successful driver the sport has ever seen: Michael Schumacher.
Red Bull have opted for stability in their line-up with Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. With Webber only contracted until the end of the year he may need to raise his game to keep his place in the team for 2011.
Better yet, testing has given us the encouraging that these eight drivers should have fairly evenly-matched cars this year. To use that well-worn pre-season phrase, we could be in for a classic year’s racing.
Korea
Some will be eager to pass judgement on the Korean Grand Prix circuit before the F1 cars have even raced on it but we should resist the temptation.
But a new venue and a new audience for F1 to embrace is good news for the sport. I hope they get a fine Grand Prix for their inaugural event.
Read more: 2010 Korean Grand Prix
Proper qualifying
A positive by-product of the refuelling ban is we should get to see drivers setting their qualifying laps with little more than a whiff of petrol vapour in their tanks. Get ready for the return of exciting, hanging-it-all-out battles for pole position.
Yes, it would be more interesting without the rule forcing the top ten qualifiers to start the race on the tyres they set their best lap time with. But it will be a big improvement over the damp squib of ‘race fuel qualifying’.
Return of Schumacher
Love him or loathe him (and most people come down on one side or the other) there’s no doubt the return of Schumacher is big news for the sport and a fascinating story.
Will he pick up where he left off and immediately be fighting for race wins? Will he have to fight for points in the cut-and-thrust of the midfield? How will Nico Rosberg fare alongside him?
Less politics
Jean Todt has got off to a quiet start as Max Mosley’s replacement and after the bitter acrimony of the past few years no-one would mind if it stayed that way.
We’ll continue to keep an eye on Todt’s presidency with out regular Approval Ratings – the third instalment of which will be on the site soon.
Over to you
What else are you looking forward to in F1 this year? Have your say in the comments.
2010 F1 season
David B said on 1st March 2010, 10:48
I’m dreaming and hoping of:
- First career win from Kobayashi and Rosberg, last career win for Rubens.
- Great internal struggle between Alonso and Massa, Button and Hamilton, Webber and Vettel.
- Six different teams with a win at the end of the season (Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes, RedBull, Sauber, Williams)…quite like in the early 80′s when my passion for F1 started.
- Some podium place for Lotus and Virgin (really hard!).
- Constructor championship for Ferrari.
- Driver title for Schumacher.
…and many overtakes!!!
Montreal back, and new Korea also are interesting points. The Jeonnam track seems to me quite interesting.
damonsmedley said on 1st March 2010, 11:01
I too would love to see Rubens get a victory in his final season, but I want him to race on in 2011! He is a great character and when he does eventually retire, I know I will miss his sense of humour and his ability to perform well and beat his much more youthful opponents.
David B said on 1st March 2010, 11:05
Agree with you. We will miss Rubens when he will retire.
Mike said on 1st March 2010, 13:58
Remember him in Silverstone in the wet? I remember that press conference you could hear how much it meant to him. If he wins, It would be amazing…. hope he keeps going next year!
dsob said on 1st March 2010, 16:40
Final season??? No no no. Rubens will race on. Dint Sir Frank give him a 3-yr contract? Rubens will crack 350 GP starts. No one will ever beat that record.
Even still, I too rue the day Rubens retires. He has always been such a positive force in GP racing. He has a certain…character. I think he would have raced well with Nuvolari, Ascari and Fangio.
Macca said on 2nd March 2010, 5:31
I don’t mind at all that the new teams are a bit slow.
In my eyes it’s just a fairytale story waiting to happen. Like Webber scoring points on debut for Minardi or Vettel winning in a Toro Rosso.
Pingguest said on 1st March 2010, 10:52
I disagree that proper qualifying will return. It won’t, because the post-qualifying parc fermé will continue to exist.
gabal said on 1st March 2010, 15:00
What does that have to do with qualifying? Unless you consider 80′s use of special ”3-lap rockets” engines as proper qualifying? I for one welcome the change to no race fuel onboard qualifications. Too bad they messed it up with the unnecessary tyre rule…
epi said on 1st March 2010, 15:54
I think it’s more to do with car setup. Things like the ride height and suspension will have to be a compromise because the cars will also have to race with full fuel with the same setup.
Ideally the cars could be set up for qualification, set a fastest lap possible for the car, then be “re-setup” for the race.
mfDB said on 1st March 2010, 16:14
I think what Pingguest is saying is that ‘proper qualifying’ hasn’t actually returned because the top 10 (?) qualifiers will have to use the tires they qualified on (and then park in parc ferme) an thus, this is not the true return of ‘proper qualifying’.
It would be true qualifying if they could change their tires for the start of the race instead of getting a ‘handicap’ for the race.
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 17:36
Not just the tires. Like epi also says, they aren’t allowed to change the setup.
So they have to start the race with the same setup as used in qualifying.
Which means they have to qualify with a car that’s setup for some compromise between setting a first good stint and setting a fast qualifying lap.
They are basically driving a car on fumes while it needs to be set up to be able to carry 170kg of fuel.
epi said on 1st March 2010, 10:58
It’s a shame that only 2 of the new teams actually have some semblance of being able to race, would have been interesting to have a 4 way Formula 1-B competition.
I’m interested with how the midfield lines up this year…. Torro Rosso look like they might be able to put up respectable pace, and Sauber are looking interesting too. Might be another miserable year for Renault in my opinion.
And Kobayashi is my pick for the “Rookie” championship.
John McGregor said on 1st March 2010, 11:01
A few more
1) Drivers getting confused and messing up with the new safety car rules – penalties as a result and possibly incidents between race cars and the safety car (as safety car can overtake race cars to find the leader)
2)When a wet track is drying, cars going from intermediate to dry tyres too early and crashing as the new intermediates get trashed very quickly on a drying track.
3)teammates lapping together, slipstreaming to save fuel mid race – real team tactics to allow cars to start with less fuel
4) front jackman getting run over by over eager drivers trying a quick pitstop getaway – unless teams don’t have a front jackman by using built-in car jacks.
damonsmedley said on 1st March 2010, 11:04
So you’d like to see some crashes and pit-lane injuries… You aren’t bloodthirsty at all.
Sush Meerkat said on 1st March 2010, 11:08
a sport is only a sport if there is a chance of injury.
I foresee alot of problems this year, with all the rookies and even the veterans getting confused with the new ways their cars handle.
maciek said on 1st March 2010, 11:30
“a sport is only a sport if there is a chance of injury”
I’m pretty sure that’s not everyone’s definition.
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 11:56
Well, think about it, there’s potential for injury in most sports:
Football – bone-crunching tackles
Rugby – even more bone-crunching tackles
Cricket – hit in the head by the occasional bouncer
Horse racing – getting trampled
Ice hockey – not convinced there’s any purpose to the game OTHER than causing injury
Darts – getting poked in the eye
Dangerous stuff.
maciek said on 1st March 2010, 13:50
You forgot at least one:
Golf – getting a sunburn
Keith Collantine said on 1st March 2010, 14:27
That would be quite a throw. Has this ever happened?
K said on 1st March 2010, 19:04
Curling – being swept and then run over very slowly by a heavy stone whilst freezing to death.
Bowls – dying of old age.
maciek said on 1st March 2010, 21:08
@K
Made me me chuckle with the curling.
John McGregor said on 1st March 2010, 11:16
No I don’t want it to happen – I think that some of the rule changes have not been thought through properly
John McGregor said on 1st March 2010, 11:24
In particular
1) the new safety car rules are a recipe for disaster – I do NOT approve of the safety car overtaking race cars to find the leader
From AMG Mercedes Press release on new SLS safety car
“The two centrally positioned green lights in the aerodynamically optimised light bar are illuminated when the Official F1™ Safety Car joins the field and first needs to overtake all the racing cars in front of it. Once the SLS AMG has assumed the leading position, the outer orange flashing lights are switched on to signal to the Formula-1 drivers that no overtaking whatsoever is allowed. ”
2) With refueling last year, the front jackman had plenty of time to get out of the way while fuelling finished. Without refuelling, he is in in the firing line at every pitstop – another recipe for disaster which could have been easily avoided if built in car jacks (as used in Indycar) were made compulsory
Tom said on 1st March 2010, 12:05
surely that’s a typo. how on earth does the safety car pass the racing ones? in australia the safety car slowed down to let all the cars through until jenson was behind it. surely that hasn’t changed??
sato113 said on 1st March 2010, 13:48
the safety car comes out regardless of where the leader is. the leader just has to catch up to it and any lapped cars can overtake the safety car a lap or so later. (to get onto the lead lap)
John McGregor said on 1st March 2010, 14:45
To Tom & Sato (sorry there is no “reply” button next to your posts)
The Safety Car rules have changed for 2010
These are the Sporting Regs
http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/65EE8F15945D0941C12576C7005308AE/$FILE/1-2010%20SPORTING%20REGULATIONS%2010-02-2010.pdf
There are significant changes to Safety Car procedures for 2010, including the removal of “LAPPED CARS MAY NOW OVERTAKE” timing monitor message. However, the new Sporting Regs do not specifically confirm the Mercedes press release about the Safety Car overtaking race cars to find the leader. I will contact Mercedes to seek clarification.
maciek said on 1st March 2010, 11:32
“teammates lapping together, slipstreaming to save fuel mid race – real team tactics to allow cars to start with less fuel”
I’ve never thought about that before, and it probably is not too feasible, but it would be interesting to see an attempt.
joe said on 1st March 2010, 12:31
In some touring series teams slipstream in quali to get the best possible time
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 19:28
Has happened in F1 before, too. When Gilles Villeneuve was driving his Ferrari in Canada one year, his brother Jacques had entered the race in a much slower car. Gilles tried to “tow” his brother to a better lap time in qualifying.
It didn’t work. Jacques Sr. failed to qualify.
maciek said on 1st March 2010, 21:10
Nice one – to my infinite personal shame (having lived as an F1 fan in Montreal for… gulp, 27 years) I’d never heard of that before.
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 22:04
It’s in Gerald Donaldson’s biography of Gilles…an excellent read, by the way.
K said on 1st March 2010, 19:08
It’s not feasible in F1, maybe on an oval. Michael gave Rubens a tow one year at Indianapolis on their last qualifying run if you remember.
Simon said on 1st March 2010, 15:52
I think built-in jacks are prohibited.
CPR said on 1st March 2010, 11:11
Any idea what’ll happen in Q1 if there’s only 11 teams on the grid? Last I remember, after Q1, 18 cars would go through to Q2 – with 22 cars currently set to start Q1, that means only 4 will be eliminated.
I suspect they’ll have to tweak things…
Andrew White said on 1st March 2010, 11:22
They always change it so that 10 are left in Q3, and the amount knocked out in Q1 and Q2 are equal.
David B said on 1st March 2010, 11:14
What the hell are you saying???
Well, Keith, don’t want to waste your site with some arguing with other guests…but watching formula 1 hoping for crashes is definitely so stupid.
These guys are so brave and courageous to drive so fast, for our passion and pleasure. To me they’re quite heroes, wouldn’t ever wish one of them to be hurt!
mfDB said on 1st March 2010, 16:20
hmmm, I didn’t read that as he was hoping to see more crashes (from drying tracks and the jackman). I read it as these will be serious issues for the teams/drivers and it will be interesting to watch who handles them best and possibly gains a huge advantage…..
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 11:20
“Get ready for the return of exciting, hanging-it-all-out battles for pole position.”
Unfortunately we won’t. Apart from having to qualify on the tyres that they will use to race, which you mentioned, they won’t be allowed to change their setup either.
So bot the tyres and the setup will be a compromise where some drivers will choose to concentrate on their (early) race performence while other will go for qualifying position.
So instead of adjusted fuel predictions we will see predictions of who went for a race setup and who went for a qualy setup.
VXR said on 1st March 2010, 13:59
The parc ferme rules have been in place for quite a few seasons now.
So nothing has changed in that respect.
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 14:45
Yeah and?
That doesn’t negate the fact that it’s there and that we still won’t get pure qualifiying as we had it before 1993.
Bot the tyres AND the parc ferme work against that.
The point is we will see cars with “compromised” (unequal) setups go into qualifying.
Mike said on 1st March 2010, 16:23
As much as I agree, parc ferme is quite important,
and if I were smarter I could come up with some really good reasons, but its 3:30 am and my brain doesn’t like me for that.
so forgive me this time.
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 17:38
Well it can be important and it can have it’s advantages for all I care. I’m only saying that (together with the tyres) it will create another random element in qualifying.
K said on 1st March 2010, 20:28
Interesting. So would you like to see a return to qualifying engines and tyres?
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 21:34
Me? No.
I’m just pointing out that there are still two “random” elements still in qualifying which will have a significant impact on qualifying times.
K said on 2nd March 2010, 1:34
OK, was just wondering.
PJA said on 1st March 2010, 11:26
Personally I am not bothered about F1 on Twitter as I don’t use it but I do recognise that F1 should use new media such as this.
Also with the Korean GP, while I won’t slate the track before a race is run, a new GP in a country with no F1 history such as Korea just doesn’t excite me as much as if F1 went back to countries like the US, Argentina, Mexico or South Africa.
LewisC said on 1st March 2010, 15:16
Every country had a ‘first race’ once…
Mike said on 1st March 2010, 16:27
Hopefully this Tilkedrome isn’t quite as sanitised.
Btw Keith! the term Tilkedrome is, the most brilliant thing you’ve ever said! and I reckon your some pretty whiz bang things in the past! Genius! Brilliant! Smashing!
Good work!
Keith Collantine said on 1st March 2010, 20:10
Ah, I don’t think I can claim credit for ‘Tilkedrome’, I’ve seen it in many other places!
Leon said on 1st March 2010, 20:44
Yes they did all once have a first race…..
But the difference between the tracks that we all now revere as ‘classic’ historical, part-of-F1-heritage circuits like Spa, Monza, Silverstone, Montreal etcetera is…that they were never designed with driver/spectator safety as a first priority. In those days exciting racing was the only consideration.
Whereas Tilke, and anybody else trying to design a new track today must adhere to a codified set of rules thicker than the all- London telephone directory.
That’s why we can’t have a track like Laguna Seca any more. FIA doesn’t like the idea of an F1 car taking to the skies like an F16 on afterburners…some would say ‘more’s the pity’ !
Aleksandar Serbia said on 1st March 2010, 11:33
I am looking forward seeing Stefan get the spot since USgp canceled 2010 challenge!
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 11:57
Not. Going. To. Happen.
Guaranteed.
Kate said on 1st March 2010, 13:13
But by saying that you’ve jinxed, so now it definitely will happen! Unless this comment unjinxes your jinx.
Ah, F1. Where the logical never happens, unless someone swears it won’t.
sato113 said on 1st March 2010, 13:49
i’ll unjinx your unjinx by saying- Stephan GP won’t make it. ha.
RandomChimp said on 1st March 2010, 16:22
You are playing with powers you cannot possibly comprehend
dsob said on 1st March 2010, 16:56
Well, don’t hold your breath.
StefanGP withdrew their application last year before the FiA process was complete. StefanGP has no entry to the 2010 season.
There is absolutely nothing in the FiA regulations that would allow StefanGP to be awarded a grid slot.
The only way Zoran could get a team on the grid would be to buy out another team…and the entry would be the other team’s name, not stefanGP…unless all the other teams and FiA agreed to it being changed.
and the chances of Zoran buying out another team are now slim to none. Make that none.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but that’s the reality .
Patrickl said on 1st March 2010, 19:39
Joe Saward had an interview with Jean Todt and he wouldn’t rule out that Stefan GP would get a license.
steph said on 1st March 2010, 19:56
If Stefan GP get a slot I would be amazed…it probably will happen as it’s F1 but logically there are obstacles in the way.
All of Dsob’s reasons and the rest of the teams would have to agree which doesn’t look like it is going to happen.
I’d be surprised if Todt seemed to approve of Stefan GP and perhaps it would be indicative of how he wants to govern. I say this because Mike Coughlan -as far as I know- is still with the Serbian squad and he was implicated in the spy scandal so Ferrari and Todt would be expected to hold a grudge.
K said on 1st March 2010, 20:37
That’s not the reality actually. Apart from buying another team, which is perfectly permissible under FIA regulations, the FIA can also rescind the entries of others (such as USF1) and with the unanimous consent of the other teams they can be awarded to others. Both of these seem unlikely but that doesn’t mean that either of them won’t happen. It definitely helps when Bernie Ecclestone is on your side also.
red bull tastes like crap said on 1st March 2010, 11:48
young drivers, but first of all, the fight between alonso and hamilton. I hope they have evenly matched cars.
Rahim said on 1st March 2010, 11:49
I hope to see Karun Chandhok in Campos
Aleksandar Serbia said on 1st March 2010, 11:59
I think they have a unibrow policy there if u have one cannot compete!
LewisC said on 1st March 2010, 15:19
What, they’re going to sign Alonso?
Stephen Hill said on 1st March 2010, 11:55
I’m looking forward to some Hamilton vs Schumacher battles
sato113 said on 1st March 2010, 11:56
keith is this you on the left?!
http://www.formula1.com/wi/597×478/manual/djm1027fe01.jpg
Keith Collantine said on 1st March 2010, 14:36
No unfortunately the media accreditation area wasn’t open early enough on Saturday for me to get in in time for the Virgin media briefing. You can imagine how happy I was about that.
dsob said on 1st March 2010, 17:05
Keith, you are now a full-time journalist. can you not get a full-time press pass? Most sports have those for recognized journalists. Or is F1 still in the 19th century on that front, as on so many other fronts ?
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 18:01
I think Keith talked about this in his last “Behind the Scenes” article if I remember rightly. You need media accreditation from both the FIA and the circuit. Presumably the FIA accreditation remains in place (being renewed every so often, I suppose), but every time you go to a new circuit you have to be re-appraised (and pick up a new pass!) That’s how I imagine it works anyway.
S Hughes said on 1st March 2010, 12:25
I hope this new brewing “diffuser row” doesn’t ruin things again and give Mercedes a ridiculous advantage like Brawn had last year. It just defeats the object of fairness and excitement in F1. http://www.planet-f1.com/story/0,18954,3213_5996955,00.html
steph said on 1st March 2010, 12:33
I wouldn’t worry; it’s only PlanetF1 and there’s no point speculating yet until we actually see what Merc bring.
Brawn only had the advantage anyway as most other teams didn’t use the loophole and make diffusers so had to play catch up. That situation won’t happen again so even if Merc somehow design some wonder diffuser it probably won’t be as half as significant advantage as last year.
Keith Collantine said on 1st March 2010, 14:36
I second the “it’s only Planet F1″ sentiment.
rampante said on 1st March 2010, 15:19
not familiar with Planet F1 are they the News of the World when it comes to F1?
steph90 said on 1st March 2010, 15:29
I would say so Rampante. It isn’t a site I trust much
Red Andy said on 1st March 2010, 17:58
Put it this way, off the top of my head I can think of at least one site that is More Accurate Than Planet-F1.
MoonWalker said on 2nd March 2010, 10:46
Guys at Planet F1 report everything they can get their hands on… There is a lot of information there, but big chunk of that is pure speculation.
dsob said on 1st March 2010, 16:32
okay, you guys missed the fun part….Fernando Alonso had this to say…
Well, DOH ! Which rock have you had your head under Fernando ? Renault is still there in name and engine only. What a hoser!
Boy! Is he gonna be surprised by Ross’s new diffuser, LOL
MEmo said on 2nd March 2010, 1:51
Let´s hope so! That´ll be so much fun.
FLIG said on 1st March 2010, 12:41
I am particularly interested in how the two old fellas are going to teach their young promising Nicos. You have Barrichello (and Frank Williams) setting up the car and giving wise words and starting their Nico in F1 and you have Schumacher (and Ross Brawn) teaching their Nico how to win championships. Let’s see who will learn more!