Will Sebastian Vettel become Germany's new favourite?

Michael Schumacher may be long gone from F1 racing, but his lasting impact in increasing the number of German drivers in the sport is clear to see. Five of the 20 drivers in F1 this year have their home race at the Nürburgring this weekend.

And one of them is hotly tipped for victory following his runaway Silverstone success: Sebastian Vettel.

After the British Grand Prix there were two competing explanations for how Red Bull had managed to beat Brawn so comprehensively, and what might be in store for the rest of the season.

One holds that Red Bull have made a major step forward in performance that Brawn will struggle to match. The other claims Silverstone was a one-off; a freak of low tyre temperatures which exposed one of the BGP001′s few weaknesses.

There’s probably an element of truth in both explanations. But Ted Kravitz’s story about Christian Horner congratulating Adrian Newey on the Red Bull pitwall – and Newey bursting into tears – suggests Vettel’s team believe they have cracked the performance secrets of their RB5.

That would fit a pattern we’ve seen before with other Newey cars, particularly the 2005 McLaren MP4/20, which hit their stride once the teams had nailed their sweet spots.

Brawn, meanwhile, have a stockpile of new parts to throw at the BGP001 in an effort to stay ahead in the championship. These include the unused development parts from Silverstone (left on the shelf as the team grappled with its grip problems) as well as freshly-designed components for this race.

The other Germans

Timo Glock stands out as the next best chance of a home win for the German crowd. He led at Bahrain and was in scintillating form in the rain in Malaysia. But since then he’s often lagged a little too far behind his team mate.

Nico Rosberg has started to find consistency with the Williams, scoring in the last four consecutive races. But despite the promise the FW31 shows in practice, it has rarely looked like getting on the podium.

BMW’s Nick Heidfeld goes into the weekend with hopes that the team’s new developments for the F1.09 will pull the car further up the grid. They include revisions to the teams ‘double diffuser’ – a development BMW were among the last to introduce in the first place.

As discussed here last week Adrian Sutil’s Force India team are on a definite upward trajectory. A win may be out of the question – but their first ever points might well feel like a victory.

In the years since Michael Schumacher left F1, Germany has lost its privilege of having two rounds per year, and now the future of the Hockenheimring as an F1 venue is in doubt. Crowd numbers have inevitably suffered.

But this weekend Sebastian Vettel races at home for the first time since becoming a Grand Prix winner – and off the back of his last win. Will he become Germany’s new F1 superstar?

Felipe Massa could score his fourth consecutive Turkish Grand Prix victory

Ferrari were the closest team to Brawn at Monaco – but can they repeat their form at Turkey this weekend?

Felipe Massa has won the last three Turkish Grands Prix. If his F60 is on the pace he looks a strong bet to become the second driver to beat Jenson Button to victory this year.

Jenson Button is playing down his chances of winning the world championship. But the reality of the situation heading into round seven of the 2009 world championship is that anyone who reckons they can beat him to the title needs to start taking serious points off him:

1. Jenson Button 51
2. Rubens Barrichello 35 (-16)
3. Sebastian Vettel 23 (-28)
4. Mark Webber 19.5 (-31.5)
5. Jarno Trulli 14.5 (-36.5)

Full championship standings after Monaco

The Brawn-Mercedes BGP001 doesn’t have any serious flaws. It’s only significant performance deficit is in the wet, or when going wheel-to-wheel with a KERS-equipped rival.

This weekend its closest challengers are likely to be the Red Bull RB5 and Ferrari F60.

Red Bull’s car struggled for performance at Monte-Carlo: they couldn’t get the super-soft tyre to work, and it’s possible that their problems were aggravated by their efforts to get their new double diffuser working.

But the RB5 showed excellent pace at Catalunya which, like Istanbul, rewards aerodynamics efficiency. Expect them to be up with the Brawns this weekend.

Another team that impressed at Catalunya were Ferrari. Massa took fourth on the grid despite being at least three kilos heavier than all the cars in front of him.

If there’s any track where Massa can get the most out of the F60, it’s Istanbul – he’s won the last three races from pole position and led 151 of 174 laps.

Should Ferrari find themselves between the Brawns and Red Bulls, they could play a decisive role in the championship. At Spain, Massa kept Vettel behind almost all race, allowing Button to stretch his lead in the race and the championship.

But if Vettel gets away in the lead and Button finds himself bottled up behind a KERS-powered F60, it could be the result we need to inject some life into the championship battle.

Drivers to watch at Istanbul

Felipe Massa – Ferrari’s form is on an upward trajectory, KERS could be especially useful here, and Massa has always been strong at Istanbul. Could it add up to the Scuderia’s first win of 2009?

Rubens Barrichello - Can he do anything to stop his team mate riot once again?

Lewis Hamilton – Has had tyre woes at both the Turkish Grands Prix he’s contested. He’ll be looking at those warm track temperatures and the soft Bridgestone tyre with concern.

Mark Webber – Has beaten Vettel in the last two races, can he keep it up?

Robert Kubica will be hoping his revised BMW F1.09 performs better

Many F1 teams are expecting a boost in performance at the Spanish Grand Prix as the return to Europe gives them a chance to bring a host of news parts.

Several of them are likely to introduce their versions of the ‘double decker diffusers’ that were confirmed legal last month.

But with Brawn bringing updated parts too, can anyone narrow the gap to the flying BGP001s?

How far ahead are Brawn?

John Spencer has put together these charts looking at how the teams stack up alongside Brawn over the first four races:

Brawn versus other teams in qualifying

Brawn versus other teams in races

Interestingly the circuit where Brawn’s advantage has been greatest so far is Sepang. Its long straights and high aerodynamic loads make it more similar to the Catalunya circuit than the other three, suggesting Brawn should be especially strong here. But will that be the case?

New parts

Here’s what the teams have said about new components they’ll be bringing to Spain:

BMW – Claims it will have a “new nose section, more deeply undercut sidepods and rear wing” along with revisions to its front wing, engine cover and underbody. The latter will presumably include a revised diffuser.

It looks likely to be one of the most revised cars on the grid – and boy do they need it to be.

Ferrari – Lots of changes to the F60, some have even unofficially dubbed it the ‘F60B’. Goofy has posted some videos of it in the forum although as it’s shot from a distance it’s tricky to see what changes have been made:

Toyota - Dieter Gass has said the team are planning a minor aerodynamic upgrade for Catalunya.

McLaren – Having rushed in changes to its diffuser at China following the diffuser verdict, McLaren has played down its ability to get many new parts on the car this weekend.

Brawn – The team they’re all trying to catch isn’t standing still. Ross Brawn had this to say:

Whilst we have been away racing over the past few weeks, the factory has been working extremely hard on our upgrade package for the BGP 001 and we look forward to seeing the results of our development work on track in Barcelona this weekend.

Will any of the teams be able to catch Brawn at Spain?

Championship leader Jenson Button aims to extend his winning streak

F1 returns to Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix just five races since its last visit.

The earlier appearance for the track on the schedule means the teams can expect cooler conditions – and a greater chance of rain.

They will also have to get to grips with the super-soft tyre which caused so many problems in Melbourne. And tomorrow’s ruling on the diffuser appeal could see changes in the balance of power at the front of the field.

The Chinese Grand Prix makes its sixth appearance on the F1 calendar and, for the first time, ever, the race is being held in April instead of its usual October slot.

April in Shanghai sees average temperatures around 4C cooler than in October. Perhaps more significantly, average rainfall in April is 90-95mm compared to 55-60mm in October. The 2006 and 2007 Chinese rounds were rain-affected.

Partly because of the cooler conditions, this year the teams have a radically softer selection of tyres to use. Last year Bridgestone brought their hard and medium compounds – this year the teams will use the medium and super-soft tyres.

This was the same selection the teams had in Melbourne, where they found the super-soft tyres degraded rapidly after just a few laps. If we see a repeat of this phenomenon in Shanghai the teams will be faced with a difficult strategic question: use the super-soft tyres in the first stint to get rid of them and hope to take advantage of a safety car period; or save them until the end when the extra rubber build-up on the circuit may help them last longer.

The Shanghai races comes after the teams’ first two-week break of the season, and it’s likely many of them will have new parts to test on Friday. If tomorrow’s appeal court hearing upholds the legality of the ‘double decker diffusers’ used by Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota, keep an eye out for which teams have their own versions ready to run. If the appeal goes against the ‘diffuser three’, all eyes will be on the times sheets to see how much of an effect it has on their performance.

Shanghai has the second-longest flat-out section of any F1 track on the calendar this year: the 1.37km blast from turn 13 to 14. This will likely hand a considerable advantage to any KERS-equipped cars when it comes to overtaking. Will any other drivers join the seven that have used the device so far?

Drivers to watch

Heikki Kovalainen – It’s easy to get distracted by the Lewis Hamilton Show, particularly when Kovalainen has failed to complete a racing lap so far this year. That can’t last forever though – remember Sebastian Vettel last year – and Kovalainen has shown promising pace in qualifying and practice. A surprise could be on the cards.

Fernando Alonso – Made a scintillating start at Sepang, watch for more of the same on Sunday.

Nico Rosberg – Fastest in five of the six pre-race practice sessions so far, can Rosberg finally translate promise into performance?

Rubens Barrichello – It’s two-nil to Button so far, and if Barrichello wants a crack at the championship this year he needs to get on terms with his team mate.

Shanghai International Circuit map and information (click to enlarge)

More on the Chinese Grand Prix

• 2009 Chinese Grand Prix
• Chinese Grand Prix TV schedule

Rubens Barrichello aims to go one better in the Malaysian Grand Prix

Brawn GP locked out the front row, led every lap and finished one-two in Melbourne. Can anyone stop them in Sepang?

It’s a totally different circuit in a punishing climate – and we just might in for some rain as well.

Tyres

Tyres played a big role in Melbourne as teams struggled to make the super soft compound tyres last.

Sepang is harder on tyres than Melbourne, so this weekend the teams will be using the hard and soft tyres. Last year the two tyre compounds were hard and medium, so those soft tyres could prove problematic.

But rain has been forecast for the Malaysian Grand Prix, in which case the teams will be reaching for the intermediate and wet tyres.

KERS

At Melbourne Ferrari, Renault and McLaren were all KERS-equipped, as was Nick Heidfeld’s BMW. It’s likely that we’ll see the same seven using KERS again, as Sepang offers a greater opportunity for them to get a benefit from it: Melbourne’s longest flat-out section is just 735m long, Sepang offers an extra 100m (and this is still far shorter than what we’ll see at other tracks later in the year).

KERS seemed to offer some help to the drivers that had it at Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton was jabbing his KERS button to pick off rivals early in the race, and Timo Glock complained that he couldn’t get past Fernando Alonso as the Renault driver used his to out-accelerate the Toyota. Williams’ Sam Michael is convinced the technology offers a benefit, and wants their electro-mechanical system on the car as soon as possible.

But Ferrari reported they were struggling with increased tyre wear as a consequence of their drivers using KERS, particularly early in the race when they were on super-soft tyres.

However there is a disadvantage to running KERS in Malaysia – cooling is critical in the humid heat of Sepang, and KERS demands extra heat rejection.

Can anyone catch Brawn?

Nico Rosberg’s Williams may have been fastest in all three practice sessions at Malaysia, but when the business end of the weekend arrived Brawn were uncatchable.

Interestingly although Rubens Barrichello was the fastest of the two BGP001s in Q2 (by 0.072s), he had more fuel on board in Q3. Perhaps he wanted to run a longer first stint so his final stint on the unfavourable super-softs would be shorter? Regardless, Sepang may bring us the Brawn-vs-Brawn battle at the front we didn’t get at Melbourne because Barrichello fluffed his start.

Brawn’s rivals’ best hope of victory are either that the pair tangle or that the punishing Malaysian heat breaks their cars. Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull kept in sight of Button’s car at Melbourne, but the mid-race safety car period diminished their lead over the pack and made Brawn’s margin of victory far smaller than it might have been.

I expect Ferrari to bounce back from their woeful start to the season – much as they did last year – and could even be Brawn’s closest challengers.

Drivers to watch

Kimi Raikkonen – Started his comeback from a disappointing 2008 by being out-qualified by his team mate and crashing. Cannot afford to let that become a habit. Sepang has played to his strengths in the past and he took Massa to the cleaners here last year. Badly needs a repeat performance this time around.

Jarno Trulli – One of my picks from last week, he drove a magnificent race from the back last week and would have been on the podium but for a late error and a penalty. Should get the result he needs this weekend.

Sebastian Vettel – The man who came the closest to taking the fight to Brawn for most of the first race. But he spoiled what would have been a fine debut for Red Bull with a late clash with Robert Kubica. Can he make up for it this weekend?

Robert Kubica – Spent much of practice looking and sounding very unhappy with his F1.09, but produced the goods in qualifying and the race. Perhaps being KERS-free isn’t so bad?

Essential links for the Malaysian Grand Prix weekend

• Malaysian Grand Prix 2009
• Sepang International Circuit track map and information
• Malaysian Grand Prix weather forecast

We’ll be live blogging all five sessions of the Malaysian Grand Prix. Keep an eye on the site for more information – here’s details on how to subscribe: Get the latest from F1 Fanatic

Will Mark Webber's run of bad luck at home come to an end this year?

Every first race of a new F1 season his hard to predict. But this is different. This is a revolution: the most radical new rules in a generation, and testing form which suggests the world champion’s team are nowhere, and the outfit that was sold over the winter could win the race.

Is Lewis Hamilton’s title defence over before it has even started? Is KERS hype or the future? Can ugly cars bring beautiful racing? Just some of the questions we’ll be asking during the Australian Grand Prix.

An unpredictable race

A lot has changed over the winter but one thing stays the same: the season kicks off at Melbourne’s popular parkland circuit for the Australian Grand Prix.

Albert Park has a knack for producing unpredictable races. The tight first corner invites a lap-one melee – Felipe Massa and a handful of others tripped up here last year.

After that, what happens beyond that first corner is pretty much anyone’s guess. We’ve spent months poring over the testing times at F1 Fanatic and a poll of our readers revealed Ferrari, BMW and Brawn GP are the three most fancied picks.

But we all know how difficult it is to judge real speed from testing, and we won’t know anything for sure until the dust has settled on Sunday evening.

KERS, safety cars – and twilight

As ever the start will be crucial and it will be fascinating to see what role KERS plays here. At the moment only Renault and Ferrari have said they will use KERS this weekend (see the forum for more) – and it could hand them a significant boost at the start of the race.

With much of the circuit hemmed in by barriers safety car periods are regular occurrences. These have been robbed of their power to destroy one driver’s race while virtually handing victory to another as they have in the past, thanks to an overdue outbreak of common sense in the regulations. But it could still play a decisive role.

Another significant change for this year is the timing of the race, moved back several hours to make the race’s broadcast time suit European audiences better. As Doctorvee has pointed out, this could lead to the unusual sight of a race ending in dusk conditions. The race organisers are even calling it “The world’s first twilight Grand Prix”.

Drivers are likely to struggle with low light in the later stages of the race. More seriously, a major hold-up in the running of the race could cause it to be finished before the full 58 laps have been completed.

Drivers to keep an eye on

Lewis Hamilton – Two appearances at Melbourne, one win and one podium – but is the MP4-24 even up to making Q3?

Mark Webber – Sensational debut in 2002 netted fifth place but appalling luck at home ever since.

Fernando Alonso – Ended 2008 looking very strong – if he’s in the mix at Melbourne a title bid is definitely on the cards.

Jarno Trulli – Of all the drivers, he seems the most pleased with the return to slicks. I have a hunch he might be in for a very good year.

Essential links for the race weekend

• Albert Park, Mebourne – circuit map and track information
• Albert Park, Mebourne – spectators’ experiences
• Australian Grand Prix live blogs – We’ll be following every lap of the Australian Grand Prix weekend at F1 Fanatic. Join in with us in our F1 live blogs.
• Are you going to the Australian Grand Prix? – Tell us all about it, share your pictures and video
• Australian Grand Prix weather forecast

Predictions

In the run-up to the race we’ll be launching the F1 Fanatic Predictions Championship with prizes to be won. Keep an eye on the site for more information – here’s details on how to subscribe: Get the latest from F1 Fanatic

Should Hamilton play it safe or push for the win at Interlagos?

Lewis Hamilton goes into the final round of 2008 knowing that he has the car to win the race – and that he only needs fifth place to guarantee the world championship and a place in the F1 history books.

Nothing in F1 is ever as simple as that, but there are several reasons why Hamilton should expect his McLaren to be more competitive at Interlagos than it was last year. So, how can Felipe Massa stop him winning the title?

Hamilton’s speed

At Shanghai McLaren – make that Hamilton – were ultra-quick, and Ferrari looked a bit lost. it wasn’t even that the race weekend was especially cold, the kind of conditions where McLaren have thrived and Ferrari have struggled this year – it just seems as though the MP4/23 has the edge on the F2008 right now.

Last year the combination of a new surface at Interlagos, exceptionally hot weather and soft tyres caused problems for the teams.

This year the surface is not such an unknown quantity, the weather is likely to be cooler, and the tyre choices are one step harder: medium and soft instead of soft and super-soft. This is more good news for McLaren.

The team is bringing a final development package for the MP4/23 to the final race including a revised rear wing. Paul di Resta tested the car at Silverstone last week.

The biggest potential weakness for Hamilton could be reliability. He hasn’t retired due to a car failure all year – or last year for that matter – but team mate Heikki Kovalainen has had two engine failures. Hamilton is no longer allowed to make a free engine change without a penalty under the rules as this is the last race of the season.

Massa’s support

Massa already enjoys huge support from his home fans, but with a championship up for grabs he can expect an immense reception. Who knows, maybe it could even be all too much?

Apart from Istanbul, nowhere is Massa stronger than he has been at Interlagos. But he needs to be on form, because Kimi Raikkonen has been getting the better of him in recent races.

As we saw at Shanghai, Raikkonen will do what he has to to support Massa. How can Ferrari use him best at Interlagos? By fuelling him light and trying to disrupt Hamilton’s race? Or keeping him on an optimum strategy to increase his chances of taking the lead at the pit stops and controlling the race from there?

Whichever, it’s a luxury Hamilton seems not to have – Kovalainen hasn’t been in a position to hep him this year, apart from scampering out of the way at the Hockenheimring.

Massa can also rely on some help – though perhaps not too much – from Fernando Alonso. He’s been turning the psychological screw on Hamilton and admitted he gave Massa space at the start at Shanghai. But don’t expect Alonso to be so charitable if he finds himself defending a potential win from Massa…

The random element

Interlagos is not a flat, pristine, tailor-built Tilkedrome. It’s short, making traffic more of a problem, especially in the sinuous middle sector. The first sequence of corners could hardly have been better designed provoke first-lap incidents.

It’s the kind of venue where the unpredictable happens: rain falls in heavy bursts without warning (’93), back-markers and race leaders tangle (’90, ’01), mystery glitches hit McLarens and then vanish (’99, ’07). And it’s not as if Massa and Hamilton have had clean, error-free seasons…

Hamilton has the car to win. But Massa is surrounded by allies on and off the track. It might look easy for Hamilton on paper, but on Sunday it will be anything but that.

More information about the 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix

• Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, Interlagos, Sao Paulo – circuit information
• Autódromo José Carlos Pace Carlos Pace, Interlagos, Brazil – spectators’ experiences
• 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix event information
• 2008 Brazilian Grand Prix weather watch

Felipe Massa must win and - somehow - keep Hamilton out of the top five

Rubens Barrichello won the first Chinese Grand Prix for Ferrari in 2004

Ferrari has an enviable record at the home of the Chinese Grand Prix:

2004 winner: Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari
2005 winner: Fernando Alonso, Renault
2006 winner: Michael Schumacher, Ferrari
2007 winner: Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari

On the face of it, Ferrari will be the team to beat this weekend, which is good news for Felipe Massa’s title bid. But favourable track conditions may help McLaren score their first Chinese Grand Prix win this weekend.

History

Rubens Barrichello ran away with the first F1 race at Shanghai in 2004, but team mate Michael Schumacher had a poor race after spinning off in qualifying.

Ferrari were in no position to challenge for victory in 2005 but Schumacher grabbed his final career victory by beating Alonso on a slippery track in 2006.

Last year Kimi Raikkonen took victory off Lewis Hamilton, who waited too long to switch from wet to dry weather tyres, and infamously skated into the world’s smallest gravel trap in the pit lane.

Tyres

Bridgestone are bringing their hardest tyres to the race this weekend: the hard (prime, no strip) and medium (option, with stripe) compounds.

Earlier in the year Ferrari were grumbling that the harder choice of compounds suited McLaren better: particularly at races where temperatures were on the cool side. At Hockenheim, on the harder tyres, Lewis Hamilton was the class of the field.

With mid-to-low 20C temperatures forecast this weekend McLaren will expect to be very competitive. And the outside chance of rain is the icing on the cake: two of Hamilton’s four wins this year came in rain-hit races.

The track

On paper, it’s hard to pick any aspect of the track that particularly suits either car. Track history may be on Ferrari’s side but the F2008 and MP4/23 have been very evenly matched in recent races.

It will come down to who gets the most out of their car on the day – and who stays out of trouble in the race.

As for their closest rivals, Fuji confirmed the impression that Renault has re-joined the top four: not close enough to rival Ferrari and McLaren on outright pace, but clearly giving BMW some problems. This is bad news for McLaren in particular, as Alonso has made it clear he will do what he can to help Massa’s title cause.

Which car do you think will be strongest in Shanghai? And will Alonso have a role to play in the title decider?

The last two Chinese Grands Prix were wet but expect dry weather this weekend

The weather forecast for the Chinese Grand Prix this weekend is for a largely dry event.

There’s a small chance of rain on race day, and air temperatures will be in the mid to low 20s (Celsius). Details and links below.

Location of the Shanghai International circuit

Shanghai International Circuit is on the east side of China, to the west of Shanghai.

View Larger Map

If you zoom in all the way to the track and switch to the satellite view, you can see Google still hasn’t got an updated satellite picture of the track. The image on Google Maps shows the track during its construction – the circuit perimeter and grandstand sites are clearly visible.

Weather forecasts for the Chinese Grand Prix

Early indications are the weekend is going to be dry. This forecast predicts dry weather on Friday adn Saturday, with a small chance of light rain on Sunday. The usually-reliable Weather Underground forecast agrees with it.

Last year the imminent approach of Typhoon Krosa threatened an extremely wet race. But as the storm changed course the track was hit by a series of showers that were enough to make the track wet at first, but dried out as the race progressed.

There are no signs of any major storms yet. But this weather radar should help us spot any showers moving around the track during the F1 action.

In terms of temperature the weekend promises similar conditions to what the teams found in Fuji, but perhaps 4-5C warmer, putting temperatures in the low to mid-20s. We never really got to see at Fuji whether Ferrari had got to grips with its performance deficit in cool conditions compared to McLaren, but this race could give us some answers.

More information about the Chinese Grand Prix

• 2008 Chinese Grand Prix weather watch – forum
• Shanghai International Circuit – map and circuit data
• 2008 Chinese Grand Prix event information

The drivers had little chance to explore Fuji in the dry last year

The Fuji circuit looks like a Ferrari track. And if McLaren were banking on the race weekend being wet, they’re in for a disappointment.

Which of the title contending teams will have the upper hand at Fuji Speedway?

Rain

As heavy rain played such a huge role in last year’s race its inevitable we should look to the skies for the first sign of how the weekend might pan out.

When it does rain at Fuji, it rains extremely hard. In these heavy wet conditions we have seen McLaren – and especially Lewis Hamilton – perform much better than Ferrari.

But early signs are we’re in for a dry weekend at Fuji, with a chance of rain on Saturday that may affect qualifying.

• Japanese Grand Prix weather forecasts
• 2008 Japanese Grand Prix weather watch (forum)

Temperature

Early indications are the weekend will be cool. So far this year the general rule has been that cooler conditions suit McLaren better. But that may have changed.

Ferrari has struggled to compete with McLaren in wet weather this year. But following the Italian Grand Prix the team tested extensively in cool conditions at Mugello to get on top of the problems it had getting its tyres up to temperature.

However even a dry track will bring certain challenges. It was wet for most of the weekend last year and the teams only ran in dry conditions on the Friday. The teams may be short on data for this venue. Bridgestone is bringing the same compounds of tyres as last year: medium (prime) and soft (option).

Circuit configuration

Fuji is dominated by a huge straight, just short of 1.5km long. However much of the rest of the track is slow corners, which calls for a compromise between downforce and efficiency.

This should play to the strengths of the F2008, which has thrived on ‘compromise’ tracks such as Valencia this year.

Fuji Speedway track and tyre data and circuit diagram here: Fuji Speedway circuit information

Team management

With the championship in mind, both teams will surely want to use their de facto number two drivers (Kimi Raikkonen and Heikki Kovalainen) to support their strongest title contenders (Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton).

McLaren have the luxury of knowing Kovalainen is completely out of the championship hunt and therefore asking him to help out Hamilton is entirely reasonable.

But what about Ferrari? Raikkonen has said publicly he believes his title hopes are over. But it’s hard to forget he overcame a 17-point deficit with two races to go to win the title last year. At Singapore he was the fastest man on the track when the safety car intervened and ruined his race. If Raikkonen were to win this race with Massa not scoring, Ferrari could find themselves with a difficult decision to make.

More about team orders: F1’s unwritten rules: team orders edition

Don’t forget BMW

Both of BMW’s drivers are still in the hunt for the championship, although the odds are stacked against them.

Robert Kubica has often been able to get between the McLarens and Ferraris, which could spoil their efforts to use Raikkonen or Kovalainen to influence the race.

Which team and driver do you think will be quickest at Fuji?