Red Bull surprised many by sticking with their pullrod rear suspension

F1 Fanatic’s technical expert John Beamer continues his look at the 2010 F1 car designs.

The 2010 F1 testing schedule seems shorter than ever. With just 15 days of running across four tests it doesn’t take much to upset a team’s tightly packed schedule. Throw in heavy rain and the testing scheme goes out of the window – simulating long runs on the slicks just isn’t possible.

As a result teams will need to use the test in Barcelona to do more aero calibration and long-run simulation. Ferrari or McLaren may bring new aero parts but expect most teams to reserve their upgrades for the season opener in Bahrain.

The last tech instalment focused on the 2010 technical themes and then explored the launch car for the big teams. In this second part we’ll explore the remaining teams: Williams, Sauber, Renault, Red Bull, Lotus, Force India and Virgin. Before we begin it’s worth taking a few minutes out on the emerging trends.

Who’s in the lead?

In short it’s impossible to know, especially given the far greater fuel load variance than in past years. However, my looking at lap times across the longer runs it’s possible to work out who has a nose in front.

More so than previous years outright pace isn’t necessarily the critical performance element. Consistency is important and so is tyre wear. A car that works well on low and high fuel and is easy on its tyres is a better bet than one that can has extraordinary single lap pace.

In terms of consistency Ferrari seems out in front. The Scuderia has had more running that other teams and over long runs the lap times are impressive. McLaren isn’t too far behind the the MP4-25 seems slightly harder on its tyres than the F10. A long run comparison at Valencia showed the two cars equally matched for the first 30 laps or so but then for the last 8 or so laps of the run the Ferrari continue to improve its lap times while the McLaren fell away badly (on the same tyres).

Red Bull seems to be up there too although Mercedes is a few tenths off the pace. Ross Brawn put this down to weight distribution issues. The 2010 car requires weight distribution 1-2% back compared to the 2009 design and the Brawn engineers may have got the initial calculations wrong – although not disastrously so.

Weight distribution – a clarification

Those of you who avidly follow the comments may have noticed a debate between me and a few readers about weight distribution of the 2010 cars. It’s probably worth my clearing up the issue.

Ever since the advent of the Bridgestone control tyres in 2007 teams have had to run a more forward weight bias. The need was compounded in 2009 with the introduction of slick tyres. In essence moving to slicks gave the front tyre more grip relative to the rears. In order to avoid overworking the rear tyres weight had to move forward. The greater grip at the front was also a cause of oversteer, which is why 2009 cars were reputed to ‘suffer from’ excessive oversteer.

The 2010 regulations attempt to address the weight issue by making the front tyres narrower. Also the longer wheelbase helps. A longer wheelbase car results in weight moving back. The other issue with a long wheelbase is that a heavier structure is required so there is less scope for moving weight around.

The net effect of these changes is that teams still face a significant challenge with keeping weight distribution forward. However, the optimum weight distribution is expected to be 1-2% further back than last year.

Sauber

BMW Sauber C29 Pictures

BMW Sauber Ferrari is quite a mouthful, isn’t it. But boy, the car looks sleek.

The 2009 BMW suffered acutely for poor aerodynamics because of the adoption of KERS. The bulky sidepods required for cooling the KERS unit prevented sufficient air getting to the diffuser. This was compounded when the double diffuser became standard issue. Allied to that was a woeful belief in how to best manage airflow around the front wheels as the team persisted with an ugly box-like endplate until the Singapore Grand Prix in September.

By contract the new C29 looks like a solid machine, albeit without any revolutionary design innovation. The vastly reduced budget will likely further hamper aero performance and on-going development.

Head-on the car looks stunning – it is a simple design with a high nose showcasing the tight sidepods with a heavy undercut. The philosophy is to ensure that as much air gets under the nose as possible to feed the floor and diffuser. The heavy undercut in conjunction with the bargeboards help channel air around the sidepods to the double diffuser. The coke bottle zone to the double diffuser is extremely tight, which again reduces drag although being too extreme in this area could lead to airflow separation.

The C29 front wing is suitably developed and is an evolution of the F1.09 from last year. At its core the team does have a very strong engineering department as confirmed by a competitive 2008 package. I wouldn’t be surprised if the 2010 car started off well but it will probably suffer in the development race.

Renault

Renault R30 pictures

One thing you can say about Renault is that it is good to see the car’s classic yellow and black livery back. Aerodynamically the 2010 car is as conservative as the 2009 machine was unwieldy. The nose is the most striking part of the car and not for its sleek aerodynamic look but rather for its heavy-set appearance. The R30 looks slightly more elegant than the R29 and the intent is to try to create a venturi effect below the nose that should provide downforce.

The launch front wing is interesting. Outside the FIA mandated central section the main plane is raised before tapering towards the endplates. This reduces overall downforce (the ground effect is reduced) but creates a more consistent device particularly when cornering and in turbulence.

Initial reactions post-launch were that the Renault was one of the shorter cars. As a result the bodywork doesn’t look as tight as some of the other teams – particularly Ferrari and McLaren. Although the Enstone outfit hasn’t released wheelbase dimensions if true it would account for the more bulky packaging.

The one advantage of a shorter wheelbase is that it allows better optimisation of weight distribution, which could be important as the car must operate over a wide range of fuel loads. In particular the sidepods look bulky with significant curvature at the leading edge which may induce lift.

The most innovative thing about the R30 is its rear wing. Renault has adopted an M-shaped wing. The M shape optimises for the angle of the oncoming air but could result in transverse airflow which hampers performance. No doubt other teams are running simulations at base to work out whether it is a direction worth investigating.

Williams

Williams FW32 pictures

Strangely, Williams has decided to radically overhaul its car despite having a reasonably good offering in 2009 – particularly in the early part of the season. The question at Didcot isn’t initial pace but rather development speed of the car.

Williams has raised the chassis and now has the ubiquitous Red Bull-style v-nose to both reduce lift on the top of the car and increase airflow clearance between the tyres. In addition between the front tyres there is a snow plough device albeit different to the McLaren interpretation. The Williams version rises from the base of the car and is designed to channel air to the floor and feed the diffuser. It is hard to see and is less overt than McLaren’s.

The FW32 is a good example of how the 2009 regulation changes failed to curb the use of bargeboards and pod wings. The boards are considerably larger than they were last year and also feature a sawtooth shape to create vortices which smooth airflow around the sidepods and effectively seal the floor. The 2009 rules defined areas where bargeboards weren’t permitted. Car designers simply changed the length and configuration of the sidepods which resulted in flow conditions sprouting up in regions not covered by these black out zones.

The other big change for Williams is the switch to Cosworth engines. We won’t know until the first few races how competitive the Cosworth power unit is but given that the Toyota engine was one of the more underpowered units on the grid the Cosworth shouldn’t be a downgrade. The more pressing issue is likely to be fuel consumption given the unit has had little development for the last four years.

Red Bull

Red Bull RB6 pictures

In 2009 Red Bull vaulted from mid-table to top of the pack based on some inspired Newey design work. The pull-rod suspension and high, slender, innovative v-nose gave the RB5 a genuine performance edge which, once integrated with the double diffuser, turned into an invincible package.

The RB6 is based on the same strong foundation which means it would is likely to be a contender at least in the early stages of the season. To the surprise of many Newey has kept faith with the pull-rod suspension systems. The advantage of the pull-rod is that it connects to the lower part of the chassis and thus allows a slimmer coke-bottle zone, which is good for rear downforce – both wing and diffuser. The disadvantage is that there is less space for the double diffuser. A closer look at the RB6 diffuser shows it to be far less intricate than the McLaren’s.

The new car has retained the v-nose – in fact the 2010 incarnation is a far more aggressive version. This allows the underside of the nose to be v-shaped which improves front wing performance and better feeds the bargeboards and floor with air that has been less disrupted by the tyres. The bargeboards are quite large helping to seal the floor beyond the sidepods as well as feed the diffuser.

At the rear of the car there is a odd shaped central exhaust structure. This will blow fumes over the rear wing and will impact the aerodynamics, often for the worse. Typically the acceleration variance means that it is hard to get consistent airflow from the exhausts over the wing so teams have shunned this solution.

The key challenge for Red Bull this year is whether it can out-develop McLaren and Ferrari. The Milton Keynes-based outfit did a great job against (an impoverished) Brawn team so going up against the big guns could be different.

Virgin Racing

Virgin VR-01 pictures

The VR-01 is the first car designed entirely with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Nick Wirth’s track record with the technology has been nothing short of amazing but going CFD-only in F1 is a risk.

The correlation between computer, track and wind tunnel are all critical to designing and developing the car, and by relying on one technology and not having much track time the odds of success are small.

Still the car doesn’t look that bad and has a nice livery. Most noticeable is the very long v-nose, which is more U than V shaped. The purpose is the same – (1) to contain air on the top of the chassis which reduces lift and (2) to create more space between the tyres to increase front wing efficiency.

The other noticeable feature is the relative simplicity of the front wing – it’s almost BMW F1.09-basic. It has a very long chord section capped with simple endplates. There are none of the raised winglets that adorn the RB6 for instance. Given the criticality of the front wing to overall aero performance it would be a surprise not see an upgrade early in the season.

The sidepods start off with a reasonably heavy undercut but soon fill out aft. Usually the undercut continues to the coke bottle zone which helps floor efficiency. It’s one thing designing the car with CFD but optimising the ancillary components to hone the aerodynamics will take time to get right.

The first few rounds of testing suggest the VR01 has serious reliability issues – hydraulics has been a problem since day one and despite ongoing assurances from the team engineers have yet to be solved. Aero performance could be the least of Virgin’s worries – Branson’s 2010 F1 experience will be different to his 2009 experience!

Force India

Force India VJM03 pictures

The VJM02 was a good car with low drag characteristics that suited perfectly the low downforce configurations of Monza and Spa. The task for the Force India designers was add a shade more downforce so it could challenge across a broader range of circuits.

Naturally the VJM03 is an evolution of the VJM02. The look of the car is similar – nose style, pod wings with integrated mirror, front wing, shark fin, vortex generators. Like McLaren the team has shunned the v-nose preferring a lower drag flat-nose.

The integrated pod-wing-mirror, modelled on the F60, first appeared last year and has been retained. The pod wings help shape airflow around the sidepods to the floor by calming the air coming off the front wheel. Look at a raised front view of the car to see the alignment of tyre to podwing. The integrated mirror is a neat solution that reduces drag albeit at the extent of driver visibility, but who cares what is behind you when overtaking is so hard.

It’s an interesting coincidence that all the Mercedes powered cars have odd-shaped airboxes. Force India’s is mounted on four pylons, which in theory should allow air to flow out more cleanly over the engine cover. Given the dawn of a few new teams in F1 and the extension of the point system this expect the VJM03 to score a few points this year.

Lotus

Lotus T127 pictures

It’s good to see the Lotus name and the yellow and green livery return to Formula 1 even if it is a very different team to Colin Chapman’s outfit. Still the team is well-funded and has Mike Gascoyne on board who has close to 15 years of F1 experience. Many pundits predict Lotus to be the best of new teams.

From the front the car looks a little like the launch version of the RB5 albeit without the v-nose. The high slender nose results in a wide gap between the standard section of the front wing and the lowest point of the chassis which helps funnel air under the nose to the bargeboards and floor.

The front wing also appears highly developed (far more so that the VR01) with a number of tiered winglets and some flicks on the outside of the end plates. The flicks on the endplates control the downforce consistency of the wing. Whether they add much downforce is debatable especially given the complex feedback loops between the wheel and the wing.

Going aft all similarities with the Red Bull end. The car seems extremely boxy. The pod wings are angular rather sculpted, the engine cover is flat and the sidepod undercut is shallow. The lack of undercut means that it is harder for the bargeboard to work properly – the pressure differential between the leeward and windward side is less resulting in smaller vortices rolling off the top and bottom. The flat engine cover is also more likely to induce airflow separation which means the diffuser and rear wing will work less well.

Unlike Virgin Racing at least the car seems reliable having notched up plenty of laps during testing. Scoring points any time soon looks a long shot given the level of development of the car.

Final thoughts

As you read this the final testing in Barcelona is coming to an end. The faster corners of the Spanish Grand Prix circuit mean we’ll get a better read on true aero performance.

The reality, though, is we won’t know which team is on top until Bahrain. Even then it will take a few races to properly judge performance.

Remember the dog that was the MP4-24? That car did well in Bahrain last year, struggled massively at Barcelona and Silverstone, and was winning races by the end of the championship. This is a snapshot of a development race that never stops.

Read more: 2010 F1 cars technical analysis (Part 1)

Kamui Kobayashi impressed with a pass on Jenson Button at Yas Island

The pass that made a star of Kamui Kobayashi has been voted the best overtaking move of 2009 by F1 Fanatic readers.

The vote to find the best pass of 2009 was closely fought and attracted over 2,000 votes – along with some heated debate.

Here’s the voting results in full:

Best pass of 2009: votes (click to enlarge)

Kobayashi’s pass on lap 19 of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (@6’50 on the video below) attracted just over a quarter of the vote. It proved a divisive poll with several people arguing that it did not deserve the top spot because it was not that impressive a pass from a technical point of view.

Kobayashi passed Button while the Brawn driver was on his out-lap. He ran wide on cold tyres, allowing the Toyota driver through. Kobayashi’s car was faster at the time and he pulled out 7.4s on Button in the next ten laps.

On the other hand it’s not hard to see why Kobayashi’s pass was such a hit – here was a driver in only his second race putting one over the newly-crowned world champion.

There may have been a degree of inevitability about the move but it’s clear from the build-up to the pass that Button was willing to defend the position. It’s not as if he pulled over and let his rival by – Kobayashi pressured him into a mistake.

It was an important pass for Kobayashi. He finished the race sixth, one place ahead of team mate Jarno Trulli, who had come out of the pits 6.7s behind Kobayashi at the final round of stops. Had he not made that pass on Button when he did, Kobayashi would have ended the race behind his team mate.

And that could have left him out of F1 in 2010. Instead he’s been snapped up by Peter Sauber for next year, who said this about his drive after announcing the deal:

In the Abu Dhabi race he demonstrated not only that he can drive fast and aggressively, but also his ability to successfully implement a strategy.
Peter Sauber

That said, I cast my vote for Mark Webber’s pass on Fernando Alonso at Catalunya, which came in fourth.

Kimi Räikkönen’s pass on Giancarlo Fisichella at Spa – which effectively won the race for the Ferrari driver – was ranked second. Button’s round-the-outside pass on Romain Grosjean at Interlagos came third.

A pass by Felipe Massa was voted the best overtaking move of 2008.

Read the earlier discussion on the best pass of 2009

Image (C) Toyota F1 World

The late start meant the Malaysian Grand Prix couldn't be resumed

The organisers of the Malaysian Grand Prix paid the highest fee going to hold an F1 race in 2009 – but they only got half a race for it.

The Sepang circuit’s race cost them $45.7m (£28.56m / €31.75m) to host this year. But the Grand Prix was abandoned after 31 of the scheduled 56 laps and half-points were awarded.

This was because the late start time imposed on the race organisers meant they were unable to complete the Grand Prix after it was interrupted by heavy rain.

The latest addition to the calendar – Abu Dhabi – was the next dearest, paying $45m for its Grand Prix. Singapore’s was the third most expensive, paying $44m.

At the other end of the scale Monaco paid nothing for its race and the Italian Grand Prix organisers paid $4.7m. The average fee for hosting a race was $28m.

The costs of the individual races are laid out in the latest edition of F1 business data analysis Formula Money. The report costs £175 and is available from formulamoney.com.

To put the figures into perspective, a two-day seat at Sepang for the Grand Prix weekend costs between 500 and 2,600 Ringgit ($145 – $758).

As Bernie Ecclestone typically increases his prices by 7-10% per year, and the Malaysian Grand Prix is contracted until at least 2015, FOA stand to earn a lot more money from the race over the next six seasons. Hopefully they’ll get a full race for their money in 2010.

2009 Malaysian Grand Prix

• Button wins again but rain stops play at Sepang (Malaysian Grand Prix review)
• F1 victim of own greed as Malaysian GP fails to go the distance after late start

Lewis Hamilton at Goodwood: One of my favourite pictures of the year

I’ve trawled through the F1 Fanatic archive for 2009 and picked out a selection of my favourite articles of the year.

Here’s my choice of over 60 exclusive interviews, great guest pieces, memorable arguments and other highlights from the site this year.

January

Exclusive interview: Pedro de la Rosa on F1 2009 and Motorland Aragon – I had a rare chance to speak to an active F1 driver – well, test driver – at the start of the season.

Donington Park boss Simon Gillett on building the new British Grand Prix circuit – One of the long-running stories of the year was the future of the British Grand Prix. I spoke to Donington Park boss Simon Gillett shortly after the track had successfully obtained planning permission for the development work to hold the 2010 race. But the work was never completed and although Silverstone has secured the future of the British Grand Prix the future looks bleak for Donington.

Is this Force India’s 2009 livery? – Sharp-eyed Anirudh alerted me to images of Force India’s livery which appeared well ahead of the car’s launch.

Ferrari F60 launched at Mugello – pictures & video (2009 F1 car launches) – The first car launch of the year and the affect of the new rules rules on car design was nicely summed up by the first comment from Rob: “It’s not a pretty one is it?”

Quiz: Can you name that race? – Definitely the hardest quiz I’ve ever run on the site! If you’ve not tried it yet give it a go now and you can check the answers here: 2008 Formula 1 race statistics – and those quiz answers in full.

February

The rise and fall of F1 driver numbers, 1980-2009 (F1 in numbers) – The steady fall in the number of drivers in recent years looked set to get worst as Honda were yet to find a buyer. Fortunately Brawn took over Honda – and then we learned there should be a long-awaited increase in drivers in 2010.

Why F1 should race on ovals – Never let it be said I don’t like to voice unpopular opinions…

Brawn Racing? Surely not – Surely indeed.

March

The five things that made me an F1 fan – This turned out to be a really good starting point for discussion.

Digger: NASCAR’s F1-hating cartoon gopher (Video) – File under “so bad it’s funny”.

F1 to use ‘medals’ system in 2009 – The (eventually abandoned) plans for the 2009 championship to be decided by which driver won the most races provoked hundreds of comments, mostly negative…

BBC F1 coverage: your verdict – On the other hand one of the outstanding successes of 2009 was BBC’s exceptional Formula 1 coverage.

April

Two sides to the Hamilton-Trulli controversy – The Australian Grand Prix brought the controversy over Lewis Hamilton lying to the stewards. I felt a lot of the coverage elsewhere in the media was rather one-sided, focussing on Hamilton’s role in what happened to the exclusion of everything else.

Though that was certainly a compelling story it seemed wrong to ignore the equally important point that it could all have been avoided if F1′s rules enforcement was a bit more professional. I thought the best response was to write two articles:

• Two sides to the Hamilton-Trulli controversy: Hamilton apologises
• Two sides to the Hamilton-Trulli controversy: Another avoidable crisis

Moveable wings making any difference? – Not really. I think this was the last time I wrote about them…

F1 victim of own greed as Malaysian GP fails to go the distance after late start – F1 has nothing to be proud about in how it handled the abandonment of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Afterwards Bernie Ecclestone refused to admit that starting the race later had put it at risk of being disrupted by a rain storm. Since then the start time for next year’s race has been quietly brought forward.

F1 fan beats FOM over right to upload video from Grand Prix weekends – F1′s commercial rights holders, for reasons best known to themselves, believe that preventing F1 fans from sharing videos they’ve filmed at Grands Prix is in the best interests of the sport. This is, of course, utter nonsense. Happily at least one fan has shown you can take them on and win.

Official: Real qualifying returns in 2010 – One of the things I am most looking forward to in 2010 is the return of qualifying the way it was meant to be.

May

Being Kimi Raikkonen – I wrote last year how disappointed I was to see the lengths Kimi Räikkönen went to avoid meeting fans at Silverstone. Seeing him being mobbed at the Ferrari Store in London this year gave me pause for thought and made me more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Did Brawn deliberately give Barrichello a poor strategy to let Button win? – I think the post-race analysis articles here have come on a lot this year – and I hope you agree. At Spain Rubens Barrichello began the race ahead of Jenson Button and ended up behind him and it was seemingly all down to strategy. This post looked at why and in the end I think the numbers don’t lie.

Six decades of great F1 drivers in Igor’s collection of pictures and autographs – Being proven wrong can be fantastic. I didn’t really understand the appeal of autograph collection to begin with. I changed my mind after seeing Igor’s cracking collection of historic photographs and signatures.

“What’s the point of Formula One?” – Radio 4 programme featuring me today – Joining in Radio 4′s “What’s the point of…” series for a programme about Formula 1 was great fun. I I hope you think I did a decent job of defending/explaining our passion to those who don’t share it.

Fuji Speedway to disappear from 2010 F1 calendar, things are looking up – Maybe it’s a great place to visit – the mountain certainly looks great. But I never liked the circuit and was glad to see the back of it.

June

F1 drivers who won at Le Mans – Some articles I write because I want the opportunity to do a bit of research and learn new things for myself – this was one of them.

FOTA claims to support the fans – but do the fans support FOTA? (Poll) – Indeed they did, to the tune of 83%. The poll results later featured on Ferrari’s website.

Minibus takes on Coulthard’s F1 car in Peru, loses (Pictures and video) – This one’s all about the photo.

F1 to split in two as FOTA teams announce their own world championship – One of the most-commented articles of all time, though in the end it’s probably for the best the split didn’t happen.

Life L190 – the worst F1 car ever – to run at Goodwood Festival of Speed – Hopeless F1 cars of the early 1990s is always a popular subject. The Life plumbed depths even Andrea Moda failed to reach.

July

Goodwood Festival of
Speed 2009 pictures

My top 40 pictures from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2009 – Goodwood was excellent this year and I was very proud of some of my pictures from it. I also put up a gallery of non-F1 cars at the Goodwood Festival by popular demand.

Mark Webber finally wins an F1 race – It took him 130 attempts – more than anyone else – but when he finally got there he did it in style.

Ari Vatanen: Exclusive interview on Mosley, budget caps and the F1 calendar – One of my funniest memories of the year was of arriving on holiday in Cornwall and my phone going off as I dragged my suitcase up a hill. It was FIA president hopeful Ari Vatanen. I’d left several messages with trying to get an interview, so I decided not to pass up the opportunity and held a conversation with him while sat at the side of the road. One exchange that didn’t make it into the final write-up was Ari asking what was making the noise in the background, and me explaining they were seagulls…

Closed cockpits aren’t a perfect solution – but they may be an improvement – The shocking death of Henry Surtees in a Formula Two crash in July prompted questions over what could be done to improve cockpit protection. By sheer chance I used a picture of Felipe Massa to illustrate the article.

Felipe Massa crashes after being struck by debris during qualifying (Video) – We all remember what happened to poor Massa next, which led to further discussions about safety: No easy answers to safety questions posed by Massa and Surtees crashes.

How hard was Massa hit? – I’ll be putting together a round-up of the many great guest contributions to the website later. But this stands out as one of the most popular, with Kareem Shaya explaining how the force of impact suffered by Massa was approximate to a gunshot.

Schumacher and F1’s oldest ever drivers – This was originally written about Michael Schumacher’s thwarted return in Massa’s place. But it’s become relevant again with news of his 2010 comeback. See also The new rules, cars and rivals Michael Schumacher will have to get to grips with.

August

Nelson Piquet Jnr dropped by Renault – Several major websites ran this story quite a bit later than F1 Fanatic, which is not a regular occurrence but one I took satisfaction from.

Exclusive: Zoran Stefanovic explains his complaint to the EU about the FIA – Stories about Stefan GP getting something together for 2010 refuse to go away.

Inside the McLaren Technology Centre – I had a chance to learn some extraordinary things about McLaren’s amazing factory.

Lewis Hamilton in Ayrton Senna’s McLaren-Honda MP4/4 (pictures) – Hamilton’s hopes of driving Ayrton Senna’s McLaren at Goodwood were thwarted by gearbox problems – but he did at least get to sit in it before the event.

Barrichello’s win and Badoer’s struggle examined (European Grand Prix analysis) – Perhaps it’s unfortunate to pick this as a highlight but it’s rare these days for someone to come into F1 and struggle so much. The statistics revealed a massive gap in performance between Luca Badoer and the rest of the field.

Giancarlo Fisichella stuns with Spa pole position (Belgian Grand Prix qualifying) – One of the biggest shocks on the track all year, particularly when we discovered Fisichella had a realistic fuel load.

September

How Barrichello won and what happened to Grosjean (Italian Grand Prix analysis) – What made this article was the picture contributed by Adam which showed Romain Grosjean having a spin the cameras missed.

Briatore and Symonds step down as Renault accepts Singapore crash charge – The evidence leaks looked damning. But the moment the awful truth of the Singapore scandal became impossible to refute was when Briatore and Symonds left the picture.

Do F1 drivers help decide strategies? Alonso doesn’t, Hamilton does – Much of the ensuing debate focused on whether Fernando Alonso knew in advance how his team would try to help him win the race. This article, based on an interview with Lewis Hamilton, shed some light on the important question of how drivers’ strategies are decided.

October

Ferrari stick to equality. Good for them – Team orders and driver roles have always been a touchy subject – especially at Ferrari – so it was good to see them making their plans transparent and fair.

If Jenson Button doesn’t deserve the 2009 championship no-one else does – I’m glad I wrote this before Button’s battling drive at Interlagos which for me put the question of whether he ‘deserved’ the world championship beyond doubt.

The bitterly-fought FIA presidential election is too important to ignore – The election was ultimately won by Jean Todt which was no great surprise, but not an excuse for complacency either.

Jenson Button is F1 world champion – The culmination of an extraordinary story.

November

SaloolaS is the 2009 F1 Fanatic Predictions Champion – One of my favourite new features on the site this year was turning the predictions game into a full-on championship. This will definitely be back in 2010.

Brazil voted best race of 2009, Turkey named worst of a bad bunch – The Interlagos race deservedly got the nod for the second year in a row.

Alonso gets stuck in gravel trap in first Ferrari appearance (Pictures & video) – Luca di Montezemolo intentionally driving a Ferrari California – bearing both his 2010 F1 drivers – into a gravel trap was one of my favourite comedy moments of 2009.

McLaren confirm Jenson Button will join Lewis Hamilton for 2010 – Massive off-season driver shock number one.

Michael Schumacher: the Mercedes years – One of my favourite retrospective articles of the year – any excuse to get a Group C sports car on the home page.

December

Send an F1 picture – win a book – This has had a phenomenal response and I hope to share some of the best contributions with you in the new year.

Race winners could get 25 points in 2010 – F1 Fanatic readers sussed the ‘radical’ 2010 points system pretty quickly – in that it doesn’t really make much of a difference at all.

14 reasons to love the refuelling ban – I needn’t labour the point that I’m a big fan of the refuelling ban.

Lewis Hamilton’s last-lap championship win voted best F1 race of the 2000s – It attracted thousands of votes and I think the runner-up – Raikkonen’s 2005 win at Suzuka – is equally worthy.

The future of F1 Fanatic – My biggest news of the year…

Official: Schumacher to make F1 return – Massive off-season driver shock number two.

Elsewhere on F1 Fanatic

Twitter

The single innovation which had the biggest impact on how I ran F1 Fanatic in 2009 was undoubtedly Twitter. The F1 Fanatic accounts now boast thousands of followers:

f1fanatic_co_uk – This is my main account where I post during race weekends, share links and chat with people.

f1fanticupdate – Follow this to get a Tweet with a link to new articles on F1 Fanatic when they’re added.

We’ve also begun to see more F1 people using the service – including a smattering of drivers. This page is where we separate the real ones from the fakers: F1 Twitter directory

Going to a race

The section of the site given over to fans’ discussions of visiting F1 tracks saw a lot of activity – especially the area given over to discussing the Spa-Francorchamps circuit which had hundreds of comments from people who went to this year’s race.

It’s been so successful that for the 2010 F1 season I’ve set up separate areas for fans to discuss their arrangements for visiting all the different races. Find them here: 2010 F1 race discussion.

Do you have any favourite F1 Fanatic articles from the 2009 season not mentioned here? What would you like to see more of in 2010? Leave a comment below.

Read more: Best of F1 Fanatic

Which driver did the best job of passing his rivals in 2009?

Who pulled off the best overtaking move of 2009? These top ten choices have been whittled down from dozens of suggestions made by F1 Fanatic readers.

If you’re mind’s already made up cast your vote now, or see below for the best arguments in favour of each of them and videos of the passes.

Malaysia: Mark Webber on Fernando Alonso

If Fernando Alonso learned anything this season it’s that Mark Webber does not go down without a fight. Twice the Red Bull driver reversed Alonso’s passing attempts in fine style – and both of them were nominated in this top ten.

Very good pass on a car with KERS and Alonso is very tough racer.
AP

China: Lewis Hamilton on Kimi Raikkonen

As the rain hammered down at Shanghai Lewis Hamilton tentatively emerged from the cloud of spray behind Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari and navigated around the outside of him at turn seven. Impressive driving in foul conditions.

Hamilton on Raikkonnen on the outside in the wet at Shanghai was the one that immediately came to mind when I saw the topic of this article. So, that’s the one the gets my vote for sure.
Jason

Bahrain: Jenson Button on Lewis Hamilton

With Hamilton’s McLaren out of its KERS boost as he returned to the start/finish line for the first time at Bahrain, Button had a precious chance to get past him. Diving off-line onto the dusty part of the track Button nailed his braking point and scrambled ahead.

For me, the best move was Button on Hamilton at Bahrain. Against a car with a theoretical advantage due to KERS, it was clean, precise, fair and masterful. It’s moves like that that won him the world champion.
DanThorn

Spain: Mark Webber on Fernando Alonso

A re-take of Webber’s gutsy ‘reversal’ on Alonso from Sepang, but this time Webber had less space to work with.

As he swung back to the inside I thought “this’ll end in tears”. But credit to both of them, they stayed on the circuit and Webber kept his position.

The Spaniard using KERS to make his way past Webber, only for the Aussie coming back through under braking into Turn 1 was inspired.
Dank

Monaco: Nico Rosberg on Felipe Massa

Opportunities to pass a rival at Monaco are few and far between. So when Felipe Massa cut the chicane trying to pass Sebastian Vettel, the chasing Nico Rosberg knew he had a chance.

While Massa pulled over to let Vettel by, Rosberg glued himself to the back of the Red Bull and, with mere millimetres separating him from Massa, squeezed by into Tabac. A pity Williams then screwed up his pit stop strategy.

Rosberg on Massa at Monaco was scary. Didn’t realise it was that close during the race.
Adaptalis

Belgium: Kimi Raikkonen on Giancarlo Fisichella

Kimi Räikkönen in second place with a KERS button, a safety car restart… Giancarlo Fisichella was a sitting duck.

It was a great move, and given the fact that Fisichella was on his back for the rest of the race… one hell of an overtake.
Bert

Japan: Heikki Kovalainen on Giancarlo Fisichella

Inspired stuff from Heikki Kovalainen who mugged Fisichella as the pair left the pits. A pity he’d ruined his race by blundering into Adrian Sutil a few laps earlier. This pass was for 13th place.

If only Heikki had shown this level of hunger/determination all season.
three4three

Brazil: Kamui Kobayashi on Kazuki Nakajima

Kamui Kobayashi won an instant fan following for his refusal to back down in wheel-to-wheel racing. This round-the-outside pass on countryman Kazuki Nakajima probably shouldn’t have worked – but it did.

Showed skill and control without being too dangerous in his first ever F1 race (must have wounded Nakajima’s pride badly).
three4three

Brazil: Jenson Button on Romain Grosjean

I have nothing to add to Tim’s brilliant argument in favour of this pass:

Put yourself in Jenson’s shoes. The title is within your grasp in Brazil, but you need to finish the race and score points to clinch it. There’s a Renault ahead but is it Alonso or Grosjean? Alonso would probably be hard but fair, the last time you tangled with Grosjean you both crashed at Spa.

Grosjean has absolutely nothing to lose if you both crash, he needs to impress to secure a drive for next year. You’re alongside him on the outside of a long, fast, tightening bend, barely ahead. Even if he gives you room he might accidentally drift wide and then you’ll both crash…

Button had an awful lot at stake, Grosjean had nothing to lose. There may have been a few technically better or more innovative passes in 2009, but no one put as much on the line as Jenson did here. My stand out memory from the season just gone.
Tim

Abu Dhabi: Kamui Kobayashi on Jenson Button

Yes, Kobayashi was only able to get a run on Button because the Brawn driver had pitted recently.

But give him credit – he took the opportunity presented to him and if he hadn’t seized it he wouldn’t have ended the race ahead of team mate Jarno Trulli. And he might not have earned a place at Sauber for 2010.

Watch out newly crowned world drivers’ champion – here is the rookie. And considering all the other drivers that came into the series mid/late season… Class.
AP

Honourable mentions

A few of the fine passes to narrowly miss out on the short list were Alonso’s move on Trulli at Bahrain (a favourite of mine), Webber’s on Button at Shanghai and the Hamilton-Alonso battle at Silverstone.

Read more: What was the best pass of 2009? (Video)

Image (C) Ferrari spa

Overtaking in F1 is a hotly-debated subject – particularly the view that we haven’t seen much of it this year.

That isn’t necessarily the case. The video above compiles a selection of the best passes of 2009 – and there were more besides that don’t feature on there.

But which driver made the best overtaking move of 2009? Was it one of Jenson Button’s many passes? Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso’s great battle at Sepang? Or an unsung hero from further down the grid?

As we did with the best race of the decade last week, list your nominations for the best pass of 2009 below and we’ll vote on the cream of the crop later.

Here are a few of my favourites:

Hamilton on Raikkonen at Shanghai (1’37) – Around the outside in the wet. Webber did a similar pass but Hamilton did it in a worse car…

Alonso on Trulli at Bahrain (2’15) – Yes, he had KERS – but he needed aggression to make this pass work too.

Barrichello on Hamilton at Istanbul (3’03) – How far back did he come from?

Kovalainen on Fisichella at Suzuka (5’57) – Very unusual and opportunistic.

Kobayashi on Nakajima at Interlagos (6’30) – A well-worked round-the-outside pass.

Button on Grosjean at Interlagos (7.27) – Risky stuff with the title on the line.

Webber on Alonso at Sepang (8’44) – Needed two tries but got there in the end. The last-second re-pass was a gem – and he did the same thing at Catalunya too!

Last year Felipe Massa’s double-pass on Heikki Kovalainen and Rubens Barrichello at Montreal was voted best pass of the year.

What do you think was the best overtaking move of 2009? Name your favourites below – please try to stick to no more than three each to make it easier to count them up…

Read more: Overtaking: Back to the drawing board

Felipe Massa did 60 laps in an F2007 today and 30 yesterday

Felipe Massa had a final fling in a Ferrari today in what must surely be the last F1 action of 2009.

He polished off another 60 laps in an F2007, concluding his two days in action at Mugello. The pictures below show how much his eye injury has healed – afterwards he talked about having a “perfect feeling” during the test.

Massa did 30 laps yesterday but was only able to run in the afternoon because of bad weather at the track.

Afterwards he said:

Although I was behind the wheel of a completely different car compared to the one for next year, I had a perfect feeling, which gives me hope for the upcoming season. I was very quick immediately and nothing seems to have changed in my driving style compared to before the accident. I want to thank Ferrari for this present, which, together with my son, makes this Christmas even more special.

More F1 pictures

Images (C) Ferrari spa

Win the championship? Hardly - Ferrari only won one race...

At the beginning of the year I summoned up the full extent of my F1 geekery and used it to peer into the mists of time and calculate what would happen in the season ahead.

Maybe I would have been better off with a crystal ball and a Ouija board. Here’s the 15 predictions I made for 2009 and how they turned out – plus find out how accurate your predictions were…

1. Will Brawn GP get a car on the podium in their first race?

I said: Yes
Result: Yes

In fact they did much better, starting the season with a one-two win at Melbourne.

2. How many cars will be classified at Melbourne?

I said: 12
Result: 15

I got this one wrong, although there were three classified finishers who had retired when the chequered flag fell.

3. Which driver will be the first to leave his team?

I said: Nelson Piquet Jnr
Result: Sebastien Bourdais

I was close though – Bourdais was replaced at Hungary, which was Piquet’s last race for Renault.

4. How many races will McLaren win?

I said: Two
Result: Two

I’m quite happy with that given they didn’t look like winning anything in the first half of the season.

5. Who will Fernando Alonso announce he is driving for in 2010?

I said: Ferrari
Result: Ferrari

A lot of people got this one right, though quite a few picked Renault instead.

6. Which teams will go all season without using KERS?

I said: Brawn GP, Red Bull and Toro Rosso
Result: Brawn GP, Red Bull, Toro Rosso, Toyota, Williams and Force India

Six teams went all season without touching KERS, including the three I named. Only McLaren, Ferrari, Renault and BMW used it, and the latter pair eschewed it for most of the season.

7. How many drivers will have to get their front wings replaced after the first lap at Melbourne?

I said: Two
Result: Three

Mark Webber, Nick Heidfeld and Adrian Sutil were the first three drivers to have their extra-wide 2009 front wings replaced. Rubens Barrichello also damaged his when he triggered the first-lap melee, but didn’t come in to get it changed.

8. Will Renault score more points than Red Bull-Renault?

I said: No
Result: No

Red Bull were championship runners-up with 153.5 points – while Renault ended the year third from bottom with just 26.

9. Which drivers will win their home race/s?

I said: Felipe Massa
Result: No-one

There were no home winners this year, and Massa didn’t even get to compete in his home race.

10. Will Max Mosley win the FIA President election?

I said: Yes
Result: No

Mosley offered not to stand for election again as part of the deal to keep the FOTA teams from leaving the sport.

11. How many teams will announce before the final race they are leaving F1?

I said: Two
Result: One

Only BMW announced before the end of the season they would leave F1. But Toyota announced their decision to leave F1 just three days after the final race of the year at Abu Dhabi.

12. Which of BMW’s drivers will have the best season?

I said: Robert Kubica
Result: Nick Heidfeld

This proved a bone of contention when it came to the end-of-year season rankings. Heidfeld out-scored his team mate but many people – myself included – thought Kubica was more impressive over the course of the year.

13. Will Ferrari win the constructors’ title for the 17th time?

I said: Yes
Result: No

I gave up on this one after they went the first three races without scoring a point.

14. Which driver will announce his retirement?

I said: Giancarlo Fisichella
Result: TBC

It’s probably too early to call this one as no drivers have officially announced their retirement from F1. With Fisichella a Ferrari test driver next year it looks like the end of his racing career. Raikkonen is on a ‘sabbatical’ but it remains to be seen whether he will actually return in the future.

15. Who will win the drivers’ championship?

I said: Robert Kubica
Result: Jenson Button

My hunch at the start of the year that BMW were there-or-thereabouts on pace and would out-develop Brawn over the course of the season proved massively wrong.

How did you do?

So I got a measly four predictions correct. How did you do? Check back on your predictions in the original article and post your score here in the comments:

F1 2009: Your predictions

It will feature all the teams and tracks from the 2009 F1 season, and 20 drivers.

Players will be able to race in ‘time trial’ and ‘endurance’ modes. In ‘time trial’ the challenge is to set the best individual lap, while in ‘endurance’ mode drivers have to complete a series of laps in the best average time. Players can then upload their times to a global scoreboard.

However there is no ‘race’ mode available to take on other cars, presumably because it would require too much processing power. Still you have to say the graphics look pretty good for a phone.

Got an iPhone? Would you like to review “F1 2009″ for F1 Fanatic? Leave a comment below and we’ll send you a copy to review. But it’s first come, first served… Update: Katy got there first – look out for her review soon!

“F1 2009″ will go on sale in the iPhone App Store next week. It is already available for the Nintendo Wii and Sony PSP – see below for reviews:

“F1 2009″ by Codemasters reviews

• “F1 2009″ by Codemasters (Sony PSP)
• “F1 2009″ by Codemasters (Nintendo Wii)

F1 2009 for iPhone – pictures

The tightly-regulated broadcasting of Formula 1 means this is the only way you can buy video footage of Jenson Button’s championship victory and all the other highlights from the 2009 F1 season.

Happily they’ve done a decent, if unspectacular, job of the discs.

The first thing many fans will notice about the reviews is a new option allowing the narration to be turned off entirely. This means you can re-watch the highlights with just the engine noise and team radio.

This is an interesting addition but as I enjoyed Ben Edwards’ narration I didn’t use it much. Since the 2008 F1 DVD the producers stopped having Edwards deliver his commentary as if it were live. They also dropped the annoying practice of mixing cheesy music into the race footage, both of which are to the benefit of the production.

Buy the 2009 F1 DVD review

The picture quality is as good as you’re going to get from a DVD but here I come to my first grumble – where is the HD version? It’s high time we were able to buy these reviews on Blu-Ray or as an HD download.

FOA have total access to footage from F1 races so the breadth of material here is second to none. Indeed you have to say it’s a pity more of it doesn’t make it into the original live broadcasts.

Major incidents – like the Robert Kubica-Jarno Trulli crash at Shanghai, or the first-lap mayhem at Spa and Interlagos – are covered from multiple angles around the track and onboard the cars.

Continuing the practice from recent reviews there’s a separate onboard footage feature where F1 driver narrate different highlights from the season shot from their cars.

There’s a wealth of pit-to-driver radio as well including some entertaining and revealing moments. Such as an impatient Button hurrying his team mate along at Catalunya (“Come one Rubens, you can go quicker than this”), Massa being urged to save fuel in the same race, and an angry Lewis Hamilton bemoaning the state of his McLaren at Istanbul (“I’m heavier than a fricking boat!”). And best of all, Rob Smedley’s celebrated “Felipe baby” remark at Malaysia is there to enjoy again.

Of course the same two are also the subject of the most chilling moment in the review – Massa’s horrifying crash at the Hungaroring. The entire incident is analysed in detail with the on-board traces showing how Massa kept accelerating – while also braking – after he was hit by the spring dropped by Barrichello’s car.

Generally the review does a good job of analysing the major events of the year. The Hamilton/Trulli controversy at Melbourne benefits from a reconstruction of the moment Hamilton let Trulli past complete with audio from both teams, as well as substantial footage from Hamilton’s press conference at Malaysia.

But whereas past season reviews would cover everything going on in the sport – including the political developments around the racing – they seem to be deliberately overlooked by newer reviews. The entire FOTA/FIA row and the breakaway threat is ignored, as is Jean Todt’s election as FIA president.

The bonus extras vary in quality, particularly the hastily-assembled “sorry to lose you” features on Toyota and BMW, which are just short video montages set to music. A better example is the ‘Forza Felipe’ feature which covers his recovery from injury and includes a lengthy interview.

There’s plenty of new material here to keep fans happy and the lengthy review does a thorough job of reviewing an often exciting season. If you’ve got the review, please post your thoughts on it in the comments.

F1 Fanatic rating

Buy the 2009 F1 DVD review

More F1 DVD reviews

• F1 2009 DVD review available to order
• 2008 F1 official DVD season review: “Luck does not come into it”
• Kimi made it at last! (2007 F1 DVD)
• Once Again! (2006 F1 DVD)
• Fantastic Fernando! (2005 F1 DVD)
• Michael does it again! (2004 F1 DVD)
• Michael & co. the dream team (2003 F1 DVD)

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