He started 17th on the grid behind fellow ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who’s in his third year in the German touring car series.

Schumacher finished tenth in the season-opener at the Hockenheimring behind another former F1 driver, Markus Winkelhock, also in an Audi.

McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, the 2005 DTM champion, won from pole position for Mercedes after early leader Martin Tomczyk spun.

Paul di Resta, Force India’s third driver, finished fourth behind Bruno Spengler and Jamie Green as Mercedes drivers filled the top four places.

I would seriously consider an interesting and attractive offer to drive in a competitive Formula One team.
Ralf Schumacher

Sibling rivalry, eh? Whatever one of them gets, the other has to have one too. But there doesn’t seem to be much chance of a double-Schumacher comeback happening.

All of last year’s race-winning teams have filled their berths for 2010. And his definition of ‘competitive’ probably won’t include Renault, who finished eighth in last year’s world championship, or the born-again Sauber outfit.

Since quietly leaving F1 at the end of 2007 the younger Schumacher has had a distinctly disappointing two seasons in the DTM, finishing 14th and 11th.

Is Ralf Schumacher an under-appreciated talent who left F1 too soon with much yet to accomplish? I doubt it.

Read more

• Ralf Schumacher
• 2010 F1 drivers and teams

Cristiano da Matta and Olivier Panis led the British GP for Toyota in 2003

With the first signs of the silly season getting started for 2010, I thought it would be a good time to start a new series of Friday debates on the subject of team driver pairings.

Starting today, we’ll look at each of the teams and ask at which point in their history did they have their strongest driver line-up?

First up, one of Formula 1’s youngest teams: Toyota.

Toyota’s driver line-ups, 2002-2009

These are the drivers Toyota had at the start of each season they contested:

2002 – Mika Salo, Allan McNish
2003-2004 – Olivier Panis, Cristiano da Matta
2005-2007 – Ralf Schumacher, Jarno Trulli
2008-2009 – Jarno Trulli, Timo Glock

Toyota also changed its line-up late in 2004, when Ricardo Zonta briefly joined the team and Jarno Trulli arrived early ahead of his 2005 signing.

But when did they have their strongest driver pairing?

Which was the best?

There was widespread surprise late in 2002 when Toyota ditched the partnership of long-time F1 driver Mika Salo and sportscar ace Allan McNish. Both have continued to have successful careers in sportscars.

Their replacements, Olivier Panis and CART champion Cristiano da Matta, achieved little besides briefly leading the 2003 British Grand Prix. The team paid huge money to partner Jarno Trulli with Ralf Schumacher – prompting some to jokingly asked if they’d realised which Schumacher they were getting for their money.

However it did prove their most enduring partnership and – on paper at least – their most successful. But how much was that down to Toyota producing one of their race decent F1 cars in 2005?

Trulli is now in his fifth season with the team and paired with the ever-improving Timo Glock. It’s been a strange season for the pair: locking out the front row at Bahrain, bringing up the rear at Monaco.

My pick

I thought the Salo-McNish pairing had great potential and was disappointed to see them dropped. Trulli and Ralf Schumacher were both somewhat mercurial talents and neither consistently had the upper hand over the other season to season or, often, race to race.

Toyota’s current line-up has potential to be even better. Glock has potential – he shone in the wet at Sepang this year and took an excellent second at the Hungaroring in 2008.

Right now, I’d plump for Trulli-Schumacher as my top pick, but in a few races’ time I might have a very different opinion.

Which do you think was Toyota’s best driver line-up?

Victory at Melbourne last year got Hamilton's title bid off to a strong start

F1 Fanatic guest writer Journeyer concludes his look at the history of the Australian Grand Prix.

Albert Park in Melbourne is a very different place from Adelaide’s streets.

Where Adelaide had long straights and mostly 90-degree turns, Albert Park has more varied corners. But it still provided plenty of action, as we shall see in the second part of the Australian Grand Prix’s history.

1996: The young rookie was rather lucky; he was about to drive his first F1 race in a front-running team. Just to make things better, he passes his much-touted team mate at the start – to the shock and delight of the crowd!

Yes, Jacques Villeneuve’s debut had much in common with another driver’s 11 years later. Villeneuve nearly won his first race – if it hadn’t been for some typical Villenueve over-exuberance. Even so, Villeneuve would trouble his team mate all year long.

1997: It was a new era for F1 and British TV – BBC was out, and ITV was in. The first race with Murray and Martin in the booth was quite a thriller – with Villeneuve and Eddie Irvine out early, and Michael Schumacher challenging David Coulthard all the way to the flag. Coulthard took the win – McLaren’s first since Senna in Adelaide four years earlier. McLaren’s new silver livery won first time out.

This is the first of a series of videos covering the race in its entirety.

1998: This race had McLaren stamped all over it. It was a race of utter domination for the team.

But what’s this – Coulthard letting Mika Hakkinen through? Yes, it did happen. Inevitably speculation followed that team orders had played a role, but it later emerged the pair had a agreement they had that whoever who got to the first corner first would be the race winner. That was scuppered when Hakkinen came into the pits when he didn’t need to because of a radio fault. To fulfill their agreement, Coulthard let Hakkinen through.

It was the second race in succession where he had let Hakkinen past (the first being Jerez at the end of 1997). Since then, Coulthard never really got to beat Hakkinen consistently until 2001.

1999: This was a race of multiple twists. Hakkinen’s car stalled, which startled Schumacher, causing his car to stall. Hakkinen managed to keep pole, but Schumacher lost his P3 on the grid. Both kept running into problems – Hakkinen with the throttle, Schumacher with his electronics and a puncture. Coulthard too had a hydraulics problem, causing him to drop out.

Enter Eddie Irvine, who duly picked up his first career win, in what would turn out to be the best year of his career.

2000: Here’s Hakkinen’s pole lap from that year. Again, Hakkinen and McLaren were dominant on Saturday. But their cars didn’t last the distance when it mattered. By the end of the weekend, it was Ferrari 16, McLaren 0; Schumacher 10, Hakkinen 0. At long last, there was light at the end of Ferrari’s 21-year tunnel.

2001: This was a sad race. Ralf Schumacher and Villeneuve had a heavy collision, sending debris flying. Tragically, marshal Graham Beveridge was struck by a flying tyre and died from his injuries. The wheel managed to pass through an aperture in the catch fencing which was scarcely any bigger than a tyre, designed to make it easier for marshals to get to the track in an emergency.

It overshadowed a strong win by Michael Schumacher, who, along with second placed man Coulthard and the other directors of the GPDA, pushed hard for increased safety. Fortunately, as of this writing, this has been the last fatality at an F1 race weekend.

WARNING: This video shows a fatal incident; viewer discretion is advised.

2002: This was easily the craziest race of the year. Everyone has a favourite moment – it could be the opening pile-up, or the restart that saw Coulthard go off and Juan Pablo Montoya pass a surprised Michael Schumacher. It could also be Schumacher’s pass to retake the lead, or Montoya’s battle for second against Kimi Raikkonen.

My personal favorite was local hero Mark Webber in the Minardi, finishing fifth in his first Grand Prix by holding back the Toyota of Mika Salo.

2002 Australian Grand Prix

2003: This was the first race where we saw a raft of new rules, seen by many as an attempt by the FIA to curb Ferrari’s dominance. But it was the Michelin tyres on the McLarens and Williams cars that stopped Ferrari – as well as a dangling barge board…

2004: Just when everyone thought they had Ferrari where they wanted them, Ferrari trounced them again. The red team won by a mile, and there was nothing anyone could do about it all season long.

2005: Just like 2003, the FIA instituted another round of rule changes to curb Ferrari’s dominance. And just like 2003, it was the Michelin tyres (this time on the Renaults and McLarens) that ended Ferrari’s dominance. Schumacher collided with countryman Nick Heidfeld, putting both out of the race.

2005 Australian Grand Prix

2006: For once, Australia didn’t host the season opener – they gave that honor to Bahrain after hosting the Commonwealth Games that year.

Not that it made the race any less exciting. With Schumi and Montoya both falling foul of the final turn, it was left to Fernando Alonso to take the win. The last corner also saw something rather more spectacular – a Honda engine failure.

2006 Australian Grand Prix

2007: Kimi Raikkonen and Ferrari – how would it work? The first race without Michael Schumacher, the first race with Lewis Hamilton. There were so many storylines in this race. As it turned out, Kimi won easily, with Lewis an excellent third. But then, the other teams had issues with Ferrari’s floor. The controversial part was gone before the next race.

2007 Australian Grand Prix

2008: Last year’s race was a brilliant start to what was to become a brilliant season. Everyone seemed to have some problem or other as the weekend progressed.

Amidst the chaos, though, Hamilton reigned supreme to take his first win of the year. But as we found out, it wasn’t always going to be that easy for him.

2008 Australian Grand Prix

So here we are, just days away from the beginning of the season. The new rules will surely shake up the running order, but who will step up and challenge for the title? This season is set to be an absolutely brilliant one.

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Rubens Barrichello scored his last win at Shanghai in 2004

David Coulthard and Rubens Barrichello, who scored their first wins in 1995 and 2000 respectively, are the first active drivers in this series looking at F1′s 100 race winners.

Plus two famous one-hit wonder of the mid-90s: Jean Alesi and Olivier Panis.

81. Jean Alesi

First win: 1995 Canadian Grand Prix, Montreal
Total wins: 1
Nationality: French

When Alesi burst onto the scene with Tyrrell in 1989, scoring fourth on his debut, he was tipped as a future world champion.

A full season with Tyrrell in 1990 brought mixed results but he was still in demand among the top teams. Faced with the choice of joining Williams or Ferrari he picked the latter – which turned out to be a mistake.

Ferrari failed to win at all between 1991 and 1993 – something which seems difficult to believe given their recent levels of success – but began to recover after the arrival f Jean Todt as team principal.

Alesi came close to wins on several occasions but things finally went his way at Montreal in 1995 and he scored an emotional first win – and the last for a Ferrari carrying number 27, which had been associated with Gilles Villeneuve since his death 13 years earlier.

But he found himself squeezed out of the team as Todt brought in Michael Schumacher and Eddie Irvine. Alesi failed to win with reigning champions Benetton in 1996, switched to Sauber in 1998, then Prost in 2000. Alesi retired at the end of 2001, having substituted for Heinz-Harald Frentzen at Jordan, the team for whom he had won the Formula 3000 championship back when his career seemed to hold so much promise.

Read more about Jean Alesi: Jean Alesi biography

82. Johnny Herbert

First win: 1995 British Grand Prix
Total wins: 3
Nationality: British

Herbert was one of the bright young things of F3000 but he broke his legs very badly in a huge crash at Brands Hatch in 1988. Nonetheless he made his F1 debut for Benetton in 1989 and scored points in his first race, despite still in severe pain from his injuries.

He was dropped by the team mid-way through the year as he struggled to get up to full fitness. After driving for Lotus he returned to Benetton at the end of 1994 ahead of a full season in 1995.

On two occasions that year team mate Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill would collide and Herbert was handily placed to scoop up the wins – at Silverstone and Monza. But he was out of the team at the end of the season.

Herbert moved to Sauber for 1996 which offered him no more than occasional points and podium finishes. Joining the improving Stewart team in 1999 he took advantage of mixed weather conditions in the European Grand Prix to give the team its first win – and his last. Stewart became Jaguar over the winter and Herbert suffered a frustrating year as the team declined in form. He left F1 at the end of the year.

83. David Coulthard

David Coulthard joined Red Bull after leaving McLaren

First win: 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix, Estoril
Total wins: 13
Nationality: British

The first active driver in this series, almost 13 years have passed since Coulthard scored his maiden win for Williams in the Portuguese Grand Prix. He had driven intermittently for the team in 1994 following Ayrton Senna’s death, then got a full-time seat for 1995.

Coulthard joined McLaren in 1996 and would stay there for nine years, spending six alongside Mika Hakkinen. In 1997 he ended the team’s four-year winless streak at Melbourne and gave the McLaren-Mercedes partnership its first of many wins.

However the final round at Jerez was a sign of things to come as Coulthard was asked to make way so Hakkinen could score his maiden win. Coulthard voluntarily gave up the lead in the season-opener at Melbourne in 1998, this time after Hakkinen had accidentally made an unnecessary pit stop. It set the tone for the next three seasons and Hakkinen usually held the upper hand, Coulthard only occasionally having the beating of his team mate.

In 2000 Coulthard was fortunate to escape with his life after a light aircraft accident which killed the plane’s pilots. At France that year he was in top form and passed Michael Schumacher to win. He did the same at Interlagos in 2001 and briefly challenged Schumacher for the championship, but couldn’t keep pace with the F2001 over the course of the season.

Paired with Kimi Raikkonen for 2002 Coulthard took an excellent win at Monte-Carlo but otherwise the season was one to forget. So it was in 2003 as well when, despite winning at Melbourne once more, it was Raikkonen who took the championship battle to the finale instead of Coulthard. He toiled through 2004 with the uncompetitive MP4/19 before being dropped for Juan Pablo Montoya.

Many expected him to retire but instead he switched to Red Bull. He gave the team its first podium finish in 2006 but at Silverstone this year announced he will retire at the end of the year.

Read more about David Coulthard: David Coulthard biography

84. Jacques Villeneuve

Jacques Villeneuve in his final race at the Hockenheimring in 2006

First win: 1996 European Grand Prix
Total wins: 11
Nationality: Canadian

Son of Ferrari hero Gilles Villeneuve, Jacques caused a storm by beating Williams team mate Damon Hill to pole position on his debut at Melbourne. But for a broken oil line, probably incurred while bouncing across the grass while defending his lead from Hill, Villeneuve surely would have won.

He didn’t have to wait long though and scored his first win by the fourth round, and chased Hill for the title all year. An excellent win at Estoril, achieved by passing Michael Schumacher around the outside of the Parabolica corner, set up a championship decider at Suzuka, but a lost wheel thwarted Villeneuve’s hopes.

The following year, with Hill replaced by Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Villeneuve won the championship. The last race was infamous as Schumacher hit Villeneuve while trying to keep the Williams behind, but Villeneuve hung on to take the title.

Williams slumped in 1998 as they had lost their works Renault engines. So Villeneuve embarked on an ambitious new project headed by manager Craig Pollock to form a new team, BAR. It got off to a disastrous start, Villeneuve failing to score all year.

Arguably he wasted the beat years of his career on the BAR project. It was only when Pollock was ousted and David Richards installed as a replacement that the team started to come good. But Villeneuve and Richards didn’t get on and the Canadian driver left the team on the eve of the 2003 season finale.

Villeneuve made a brief return with Renault at the end of 2004 before joining Sauber in 2005. He had an indifferent season alongside Felipe Massa but stayed with the team as it became BMW in 2006. But halfway through the season he was dropped for Robert Kubica.

Read more about Jacques Villeneuve: Jacques Villeneuve biography

85. Olivier Panis

First win: 1996 Monaco Grand Prix, Monte-Carlo
Total wins: 1
Nationality: French

Panis was the last driver to score a victory for the Ligier team and the last Frenchman to win a Grand Prix, triumphing at a damp Monaco in 1996. He was aided by the retirements of Damon Hill and Jean Alesi but he used a mixture of patience and belligerence to move up through thr field early in the race.

He would never repeat that win though he looked on course to do so during 1997, after the team had become Prost. But he crashed badly at Montreal, breaking his legs, and although he was back in the car by the end of the year he seemed to have lost his edge.

Prost quickly dropped down the order so Panis took a gamble on becoming a McLaren test driver in 2000 before returning to race action with BAR in 2001. He moved on to Toyota in 2003 and left F1 late in 2004.

86. Heinz-Harald Frentzen

First win: 1997 San Marino Grand Prix, Imola
Total wins: 3
Nationality: German

Frentzen was favourably compared to Michael Schumacher during their junior teams and arrived in F1 with Sauber, the team that had run both drivers in sports cars. After a string of impressive drives he was picked up by Williams but largely struggled in 1997, despite winning at Imola.

He fared better in 1998 but was dropped and joined Jordan where he reminded everyone of his earlier promise by winning twice and putting the team in the hunt for the championship.

In 2000 the car’s pace and reliability were less good and Frentzen found himself under pressure from team mate Jarno Trulli. He was dropped by Jordan halfway through 2001 and moved to Prost. Frentzen began 2002 with Arrows but the team collapsed halfway through the year. After a final season with Sauber he left F1.

87. Mika Hakkinen

First win: 1997 European Grand Prix, Jerez
Total wins: 20
Nationality: Finnish

Hakkinen became a McLaren tesst driver after racing for Lotus and got his break late in 1993 when Michael Andretti left the team. Hakkinen impressed by out-qualifying Ayrton Senna on his first race for the team but the following years would be a slog as McLaren went through a series of engine partners.

He finally had a winning car under him in 1997 but suffered a pair if failures while leading at Silverstone and the Nürburgring. His first win finally came at the end of the year and he went into 1998 on a high.

With the rapid MP4/13 at his disposal he won eight times and beat Schumacher to the championship. Despite a few wobbles he made it back-to-back titles in 1999.

In 2000 McLaren and Ferrari were neck-and-neck for pace and Hakkinen and Schumacher fought it out for the championship once again. Hakkinen scored the best win of his career at Spa-Francorchamps, passing Schumacher in a thrilling three-wide move at Les Combes to win. But Schumacher pipped him to the title.

In 2001 the fight seemed to have gone out of Hakkinen and a crash in the season-opener at Melbourne brought back memories of his near-fatal shunt six years earlier. It put retirement on his mind and although he suggested he might take a sabbatical in 2002 he never returned to F1 racing. However he did drive a McLaren in a post-season test in November 2006.

Read more about Mika Hakkinen: Mika Hakkinen biography

88. Eddie Irvine

First win: 1999 Australian Grand Prix, Melbourne
Total wins: 4
Nationality: British

Irvine was making a decent living racing in Japan when he was picked up by Jordan to race in Suzuka in 1993. He famously un-lapped himself from Ayrton Senna and was punched by the former champion when the pair argued about it afterwards.

After two more years with Jordan he was picked up by Ferrari to become Michael Schumacher’s team mate. He lagged behind Schumacher at first but in 1999 he won an attrition-hit season opener at Melbourne and became more outspoken about his desire to be allowed to compete with Schumacher.

When Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone Irvine took over the role of team leader. He took wins at Austria, Hockenheim and Sepang – the latter pair handed to him by Mika Salo and a returning Schumacher respectively. When it came to the deciding race at Suzuka Irvine could do nothing to stop Hakkinen winning the title again.

With that he was off to Join Jaguar but the team made little progress in three years and he was dropped.

Read more about Eddie Irvine: Eddie Irvine biography

89. Rubens Barrichello

First win: 2000 German Grand Prix, Hockenheimring
Total wins: 9
Nationality: Brazilian

Now F1’s longest-serving driver, Barrichello made his first Grand Prix start in 1993 with Jordan, and stayed with the team for five years. After that he joined Stewart and scored an emotional second place for the team at Monte-Carlo in 1997.

The 1998 season was without such highs but the 1999 car proved very competitive and Barrichello was in the running for victory at Interlagos before retiring. He missed out on scoring the team’s first win – Herbert winning it instead – but took Irvine’s seat at Ferrari for 2000.

Although he rarely got on terms with Michael Schumacher he scored his first win at the Hockenheimring partly thanks to a safety car intervention and partly thanks to a brave gamble to stay on track on dry-weather tyres as rain started to fall.

He didn’t win again until 2002 – he should have been first at Austria that year but he handed the win to Schumacher on Jean Todt’s instructions. After winning for himself at the Nürburgring he was handed victory at Indianapolis and it was hard to avoid the impression that some of his wins in 2004 came the same way.

But that was not true of his two wins in 2003, which must rate among his best. He out-raced Kimi Raikkonen to win at Silverstone that year and ran away with victory at Suzuka.

In 2005 his number two status to Schumacher finally started to rankle and he left the team at the end of the year. It proved poor timing as Schumacher himself left at the end of 2006 and Barrichello might have had the chance to succeed him at the team.

Instead he joined Honda where he generally trailed Jenson Button in 2006 and 2007 but has beaten Button several times this year – and took a fine third in the rain at Silverstone.

Read more about Rubens Barrichello: Rubens Barrichello biography

90. Ralf Schumacher

Ralf Schumacher scored six wins to his brother's 91

First win: 2001 San Marino Grand Prix, Imola
Total wins: 6
Nationality: German

The younger brother of Michael Schumacher, Ralf found it hard to shake of suggestions that his surname got him into F1 – even after he started winning races.

He spent his first two years with Jordan, scoring an early podium in 1997 at Argentina though only after running into team mate Giancarlo Fisichella. He left the team to join Williams in 1999 and easily out-paced Alessandro Zanardi but the following year Jenson Button got too close for comfort on more than one occasion.

In 2001 he had another new team mate – Juan Pablo Montoya – and although rumours quickly spread that they didn’t get on they remained team mates until 2004. Ralf broke his duck at Imola and further wins followed at Montreal and Hockenheim. The new Williams wasn’t fast enough to contend for the title in 2002 but he won once more, at Sepang.

The following year he and Montoya had a competitive Williams and Ralf won at the Nürburgring and Magny-Cours. But a crash in practice for the Italian Grand Prix spoiled his end to the season.

He suffered another heavy impact at Indianapolis the following year and had to miss six races. After then he never seemed quite as quick as he had been although he scored consistent points throughout 2005, now with Toyota.

The team fell off the pace in 2006 and 2007 and Schumacher’s motivation seemed to vanish along with it. He left F1 at the end of 2007.

Read more about Ralf Schumacher: Ralf Schumacher biography

Six races into his first DTM season and six-times F1 Grand Prix winner Ralf Schumacher is struggling to make an impression:

He’s only made one appearance in the top ten in qualifying or the race all year.

Yes, he’s in a year-old Mercedes but he’s not the only one. At Zandvoort last weekend he qualified last and 0.8s slower than Gary Paffett who had the same equipment.

Perhaps it’s too soon to judge how the younger Schumacher is doing in the DTM.

But you expect a certain level of performance from a multiple Grand Prix winner and being stuck at the back of the field in a touring car race isn’t it. What’s going wrong for him?

Thanks to D Winn and David Watkins who sent in further analysis of how each team’s drivers compare against each other in each part of qualifying, in response to yesterday’s comparison of team mates so far this year.

If you want to contribute an article to F1Fanatic, have a look at the guest post section.

Here’s how the drivers stack up so far in 2008 and how they did last year as well:

Ferrari

Qualifying 3 Kimi Raikkonen 1 – 3 Felipe Massa
Qualifying 2 Kimi Raikkonen 1 – 3 Felipe Massa
Qualifying 1 Kimi Raikkonen 1 – 3 Felipe Massa

BMW

Qualifying 3 Nick Heidfeld 0 – 4 Robert Kubica
Qualifying 2 Nick Heidfeld 1 – 3 Robert Kubica
Qualifying 1 Nick Heidfeld 2 – 2 Robert Kubica

McLaren

Qualifying 3 Lewis Hamilton 3 – 1 Heikki Kovalainen
Qualifying 2 Lewis Hamilton 2 – 2 Heikki Kovalainen
Qualifying 1 Lewis Hamilton 2 – 2 Heikki Kovalainen

Williams

Qualifying 3 Nico Rosberg 2 – 0 Kazuki Nakajima
Qualifying 2 Nico Rosberg 3 – 1 Kazuki Nakajima
Qualifying 1 Nico Rosberg 4 – 0 Kazuki Nakajima

Toyota

Qualifying 3 Jarno Trulli 4 – 0 Timo Glock
Qualifying 2 Jarno Trulli 4 – 0 Timo Glock
Qualifying 1 Jarno Trulli 4 – 0 Timo Glock

Red Bull

Qualifying 3 David Coulthard 1 – 2 Mark Webber
Qualifying 2 David Coulthard 1 – 3 Mark Webber
Qualifying 1 David Coulthard 1 – 3 Mark Webber

Renault

Qualifying 3 Fernando Alonso 3 – 0 Nelson Piquet Jnr
Qualifying 2 Fernando Alonso 4 – 0 Nelson Piquet Jnr
Qualifying 1 Fernando Alonso 4 – 0 Nelson Piquet Jnr

Honda

Qualifying 3 Jenson Button 1 – 0 Rubens Barrichello
Qualifying 2 Jenson Button 2 – 2 Rubens Barrichello
Qualifying 1 Jenson Button 2 – 2 Rubens Barrichello

Toro Rosso

Qualifying 3 Sebastian Vettel 1 – 0 Sebastien Bourdais
Qualifying 2 Sebastian Vettel 2 – 2 Sebastien Bourdais
Qualifying 1 Sebastian Vettel 3 – 1 Sebastien Bourdais

Force India

Qualifying 3 Giancarlo Fisichella 0 – 0 Adrian Sutil
Qualifying 2 Giancarlo Fisichella 0 – 0 Adrian Sutil
Qualifying 1 Giancarlo Fisichella 4 – 0 Adrian Sutil

Super Aguri

Qualifying 3 Takuma Sato 0 – 0 Anthony Davidson
Qualifying 2 Takuma Sato 0 – 0 Anthony Davidson
Qualifying 1 Takuma Sato 2 – 2 Anthony Davidson

2007 team mate qualifying statistics

Here’s David’s data on 2007. He explains: “I did the qualifying break-down session by session for the 2007 season. I only scored points when both drivers set a time in the same session and that time counted regardless of engine changes/penalties that affected grid position.”

Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen 22-24 Felipe Massa

McLaren

Fernando Alonso 27-23 Lewis Hamilton

BMW-Sauber

Nick Heidfeld 23.5-24.5 Robert Kubica
Nick Heidfeld 3-0 Sebastian Vettel

Renault

Giancarlo Fisichella 15-21 Heikki Kovaleinen

Red Bull

David Coulthard 8-22 Mark Webber

Toyota

Jarno Trulli 23-10 Ralf Schumacher

Williams

Nico Rosberg 22-2 Alexander Wurz
Nico Rosberg 1-0 Kazuki Nakajima

Honda

Jenson Button 11-16 Rubens Barrichello

Super Aguri

Takuma Sato 8-11 Anthony Davidson

Toro Rosso

Vitantonio Liuzzi 5-6 Scott Speed
Vitantonio Liuzzi 5-5 Sebastian Vettel

Spyker

Adrian Sutil 6-2 Christijan Albers
Adrian Sutil 1-0 Markus Winkelhock
Adrian Sutil 6-0 Sakon Yamamoto

Read more team mate comparisons for 2008 so far

Sebastien Bourdais had a big crash in testing at Barcelona on Wednesday. Happily he was unhurt but he may have dealt a blow to his standing in the team if the damage to the new STR3 forces the team to delay its introduction.

Major crashes can affect F1 drivers in different ways. Even though drivers regularly walk away from even the most shocking crashes these days, the effect it has on their state of mind can be a lot harder to judge.

Bourdais in 2008, Hamilton in 2007

Lewis Hamilton found himself in a similar situation to Bourdais when he crashed his McLaren MP4/22 in pre-season testing last year, leaving McLaren short one of their new chassis in the run-up to the new season. Test driver Pedro de la Rosa said:

It’s been a setback because it slows us down right in the middle of the off-season. We have lost several days and we have to get them back quickly.

Hamilton bounced back but Bourdais’ situation is a little trickier, especially if the team are no longer able to ready the new car in time for its planned début at the Turkish Grand Prix. The team is up for sale, and Bourdais will want the new owners to consider him an asset to the team rather than a liability.

Career deviations

The consequences for Bourdais may be no more than political but there are plenty of examples of F1 drivers whose career paths changed for the worst after major crashes in which they were injured.

JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger both returned to the cockpit after big accidents in 1994 – Lehto suffering neck injuries twice, and Wendlinger going into a coma – but their F1 careers did not last much longer.

Olivier Panis was challenging for wins in his Prost early in 1997 before breaking his legs in a crash at Montreal. How much of his subsequent dip in form was down to that crash, and how much was down to the inferior machinery he had at his disposal, is difficult to separate – but likely it was a little of each.

Ralf Schumacher suffered back injuries in 2003 and 2004 forcing him to miss races – the latter at Indianapolis (above). He stopped winning races and his career slipped into a downward trajectory.

Recent shunts

Formula 1 cars have become so strong in recent years that seeing drivers injured in any way is thankfully becoming a rarer sight. Michael Schumacher walked away from a gigantic crash in testing at Monza in 2004 which could well have been around the time he first considered retiring.

Last year’s biggest accident by far was Robert Kubica’s at Montreal.

The Pole was completely uninjured and given that I thought it strange at the time that he didn’t race in the following event at Indianapolis. The explanation given was that if he suffered another severe crash within such a short space of time it could have a particularly adverse affect on him.

It certainly didn’t seem to have affected Kubica once he got back in the cockpit. He matched his best qualifying result of the season at Magny-Cours next time out…

Three new names have been confirmed for this year’s DTM championship.

The headline grabber is F1 refugee Ralf Schumacher, who will drive a one year-old Mercedes C-Class.

Oliver Jarvis (pictured above with team mates Legge and Markus Wikelhock) joins Audi in a one year-old A4, which really disappoints me. Jarvis has had some excellent results in Formula Three – second in the British series in 2006, third in Japan last year after suffering mechanical failure in the final round, and winner of the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.

He’s also raced in A1 Grand Prix and scored the first win for the British team. He’s a cracking single-seater racer, and I can’t imagine he would have picked touring cars if he’d been able to get a budget to go into GP2 or World Series by Renault.

One can only assume that it’s the usual story of an excellent British driver not being able to find sponsorship, which is particularly disappointing at a time when F1 is commanding a massively increased television audience in Britain thanks to the exploits of Lewis Hamilton.

Joining Jarvis at Audi is Katherine Legge. Legge has been racing in Champ Car for the last two seasons with some fair results and one enormous accident in her début season. Last year was something of a nightmare for her as she switched to the uncompetitive Dale Coyne team.

Although she’ll only have a two year-old car at her disposal I think she has a far better chance of shaking off the ‘token female driver’ label that was stuck to her underwhelming predecessor Vanina Ickx.

Plus Ralf Schumacher comes clean about his claims of having an F1 seat for 2008, Kimi Raikkonen hints at his eventual retirement, and Bahrain International Circuit takes a swipe at the Spanish Grand Prix organisers.

Fernando Alonso’s Renault return discussed last March – Alonso first spoke to Flavio Briatore about returning to Renault in March last year as the 2007 F1 season was getting started.

Kimi to quit when fun stops – World champion Kimi Raikkonen promises to stop racing when he stops enjoying it. He also admitted to being ‘shy’.

Lewis Hamilton: Bahrain F1 is the best – Bahrain International Circuit are quick to use the F1 racism row to promote their race, saying: “[Hamilton] will certainly get a warmer welcome in Bahrain than he did in Spain. Spectators made abusive gestures and banners as well as shouting racist abuse at Hamilton when he moved between the McLaren motor home and the team’s garage at the Montmelo circuit.”

Ralf made up future F1 claims – Ralf Schumacher reveals he lied last year when he told journalists he had a deal for 2008. He also reacted to brother Michael Schumacher’s warning about racing in the DTM.

Damon Hill’s son to hit the tracks – Josh to follow in the footsteps of father Damon, 1996 world champion, and his father Graham, champion in 1962 and 1968.

Fuji to limit attendance for 2008 GP – But still no roof.

Brands boss rules out F1 return – Brands Hatch owner and former F1 driver and commentator Jonathan Palmer says Formula 1 will not come back to the track. The circuit is plagued by nearby residents’ complaints about the noise caused by racing which have forced him to revise his planned calendar of events for 2008.

Nelsinho’s first target is Alonso – Nelson Piquet Jnr talks openly about the deficiencies in his driving style and how he plans to work on them.

Lew took Swiss out of tax man – The Sun reports that Lewis Hamilton has moved to Switzerland to avoid paying British taxes – didn’t he admit to this months ago?

Heikki joins the exodus – Hamilton’s new team mate Heikki Kovalainen is joining him, Michael Schumacher, Alonso and Raikkonen in Switzerland.

McLaren sponsors dominate F1 exposure – Vodafone take over from Marlboro as the most visible sponsor in F1. I assume it helps there aren’t laws against putting the word ‘Vodafone’ on your car in some countries?

Keke Rosberg takes commentary role – 1982 world champion and father of Nico to attend every round.

Max Mosley still in driving seat – FIA president may stay in office beyond October 2009. See Max Mosley is an F1 blogs fan for more on this.

Formula 1 steers towards emerging markets – F1′s new owners CVC look at ways of making more money from the sport, which could be bad news for the British, French and Canadian Grands Prix.

Villeneuve out of work - 1997 champion dropped by NASCAR team.

Stepney calm after meeting Italian magistrate – Italian investigation into the 2007 spying affair gets under way.

Hamilton wins Laureus gong – Lewis Hamilton won the Breakthrough of the Year trophy but Kimi Raikkonen failed to win World Sportsman of the Year.

The 50 greatest sporting movies – “Le Mans” and “Grand Prix” are the two motor racing appearances.

Walter Totsching – The Toro Rosso logistics manager has died.

GP Week – New F1 ‘virtual magazine’ launched.