Jenson Button is gearing up for a tough time retaining his World Championship lead at this weekend’s Spanish GP.
With a two-week break since Bahrain, every team is preparing performance upgrades for their cars at Barcelona, which should put the pack yapping at Button’s heels.
Ross Brawn has admitted that his team has updated their cars, in a bid to keep them ahead.
“We look forward to seeing the results of our development work on track this weekend,” he told Autosport ominously. Well, slightly ominously.
BMW, who have been struggling in the opening rounds, have admitted that they will not be bringing a double-deck rear-diffuser to Spain, but that they do have a large aero upgrade package. However, in order to better asses the impact of the new parts they will not be running KERS this weekend.
Force India haven’t run KERS at all this season, but are now putting its planned Spanish debut on hold: “We have decided to put the emphasis on aero development where we feel the greater gains can be found,” FI chief Vijay Mallya has said.
Renault are hoping to make further improvements now after running a double-deck diffuser on Fernando Alonso’s car in Bahrain.
Ferrari news, however, has been limited to their big boss Luca di Montezemolo ranting about the FIA’s proposed budget cap.
Luca has hinted that Ferrari could leave F1 if it happens. FIA president Max Mosely has responded by stating that the sport will survive without them. Fight on.
Bernie Ecclestone has said he’d help Ferrari stay in the game – the last thing he wants is for F1 to lose arguably its biggest player.
On a less gloomy note, F1.com has put up its video from Bahrain, which makes the race look about 21 times more exciting than it actually was.
What about Williams?! When are they actually going to turn their pace into solid points? Quick car, but in my opinion, Nakajima (and even Rosberg to an extent) just doesn’t cut it. Like Piquet, I think he’s only in F1 thanks to his name.
So all the teams are improving (well they would with a two-week break and a rule exploitation to make with diffusers), except possibly Ferrari, who, it would seem, are just moaning about the OPTION to have a budget cap. Because Ferrari don’t like it and might leave, Bernie may abolish it, calling it “un-sustainable” or some garbage.
Actually, I have no evidence for that. But I like what S&M-ax Mosely said about F1 being fine without them. Stand up to ‘em, Max!! The F1 team has made me dislike their road cars!
The reason Ferrari is p*ssed (along with BMW) is that it creates a two tier competition, which is stupid. Ferrari have stated that they would support a budget cap, but it would have to be brought in gradually so that current development could be finished off and future development spending tapered down. Thats what Ecclestone proposed, a staggered reduction in budget caps over the next few years down to 40 million euro a year.
As Frank Williams has said, if Ferrari etc are moaning about a 2-tier championship, then why don’t they all sign up to the budget cap? Then there would only be one set of rules followed. I’m wondering if Fezza are moaning as one major advantage they’ve had over the last decade or so is the ability to out develop the competition by out spending them. Something the budget cap restricts. I suspect Macca would moan as well if they hadn’t turned all fluffy and lovely with Max!
BMW’s new aero package supposedly includes new smaller sidepods that are too small to fit the existing KERS battery pack into. So they’re rethinking the KERS concept. They are sticking with it, as Mario believes the fastest car in the 2nd half of the season will have KERS.
Ferrari are also running aero updates at Barca, and are sticking with KERS.
And that’s about all I know!
Having written that, it’s not actually what Sir Frank said. He said he wanted everyone to sign up to the budget cap so there wasn’t a 2-tier championship. He didn’t moan at Ferrari!
The involvement of the FIA in F1 is far to big. All we are writing and complaining about over the last few years has to do with the FIA and their stupid rule changes and penalties. Image the same in football with the UEFA. About time the teams start their own race series wzout the FIA. Challenge for Flavio?
sure Ferrari isn’t doing well at the moment but if it was this time last year there is no way that Max would make those comments F1 would fail with out Ferrari, lets face it the majority of supporters go for either McLaren or Ferrari. If Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and any one else formed coalition and all threatened to leave F1 it would have very creditable weight. I personally think the budget caps are not a good idea because f1 is the forefront on technology in going forward and around corners as fast as possible if u can’t afford to race in arguably the most prestigious championship in the world, ship out.
I love the contrast between Max Mosely & Bernie Ecclestone’s attitudes to Ferrai threatening to leave.
Bernie says “We can’t lose them, they’re the biggest player!” Trying to keep Fearrari in the game to draw more viewrs you reckon?
Mosely states what damn near everyone is thinking: “Let them leave, no-one will care.”
Rock on Max!
Let Ferrari throw the rattle out of the pram!!!
there just ragin’ because it means if they build a duff car they cant throw money at the problem to make it go away.Even if they do leave (highly unlikely as its the cornerstone of their bisiness)we’ll have companys like Aston Martin and people like Dave Richards kickin’ Bernie’s door down with the budget cut comin’ in to effect!!!!
Ferrari haven’t just been moaning about next year regulations. Test driver Marc Gene did a straight line test a few days ago with a what’s been dubbed by some fans as the F60B. It has different sidepods, front wing and a new diffuser.
Don Luca is the current image of Ferrari. Confused and lost, he’s always looking for someone else to blaim, while his team is back to 1982.
Let’s be serious, Ferrari will not leave F1. They will get to a compromise, as they did every time for 60 years.
Anyway, I don’t support tier 2 F1 either, but he’s just diverting atention to his real problems.
Do you really think Ferrari will leave F1? It’s like a second religion to Italians, I think it’s just hot air… well, I hope.
On Spain, I really hope someone apart from Button wins, I know he’s British, but it’s boring. Let’s see Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso and Jenson battling it out!
RIP
Max Mosley’s son has just been found dead in his house. The police are not treating his death as suspicious.
I maintain what I said earlier in the season. Bernie isnt the man he used to be in the eighties. too much money and perhaps too many years in a high pressure environment has changed him, and not for the better. Gone are the days when Bernie could have a word in someones ear and fix everything
The F1sa website claims it was a drug OD
i think jenson will just manage get the tital back but it will be hard it going to be a good race on saturday i know i will be watching
sunday!
Off topic, but hilarious http://www.youtube.com/wa tch?v=GaLMFNFlrA8
Why do they always play such s$?t music on those videos over at the F1 website?
KERS really isn’t suitable for Barcelona, because only 61% of the lap is spent on full throttle. I’m not expecting any of the teams to run it.
On a different note, what’s up with Ferrari? Does anyone remember last year, when they threatened to leave F1 over the medal system? The day after they said that, the FIA ditched the idea. So why the sudden aggression towards Ferrari then over the budget cap?
i have a feeling ferrari will do a lot better in spain. I mean, kimi got in 6th without a double diffuser, so maybe WITH one he can get onto the podium. and those new aero tweaks will help.
Shame there is this testing ban this season, went there for the last 5yrs to enjoy the cars go round and round wzout the crowd and the jams.
So happy that so far Ferrari and especially Hamilton have not won a race lets hope this new order continues with Jenson, Rubens, Jarno, Timo,Sebastien Vettel and Mark all racing for the win on their day. What a start to the championship the best for years come on Jenson get one up on Hamilton again and Jenson for the title great if another Briton wins it. Brawn supremecy is not to bad not when we consider where they were as Honda and the fact the Italian team and the Whitmarsh team have fallen back.
For those interested in what Ferrari are bringing to the Spanish race, I’ve plucked this bit from the ferrariworld website:
At the Catalunya circuit this weekend, the Ferrari F60 will be fitted with a new aero package that was always scheduled to debut at the Spanish Grand Prix: it features new bodywork, with modifications to front and rear wings among other elements. In addition to the scheduled updates, the Barcelona package also includes some extra changes, originally scheduled for the Turkish and British events, but now brought forward. Of course, the most obvious aspect of the new package and the one that was not part of the original plans is the new diffuser. It is only a first attempt at designing a part that was not part of the initial design, but is now a required element following the new clarification of the rules governing this component, which emerged as a result of the pre-China GP Court of Appeal hearing and judgement. The new diffuser has only been on the car since last week, when it was tested on Saturday in Vairano, as part of the allowed aero test days, with Marc Gene at the wheel. Initial results inevitably show that the car now produces more downforce and will be quicker than in the early part of the season. How much quicker this will make the F60 when compared to the opposition that has been using this component for a while and those who, like Ferrari, are introducing it in Spain, is hard to say. The first indications will only come during Friday’s free practice sessions when all teams run on the same track at the same time. Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that, thanks to the new rules, this is the first major development on the car that has been carried out without the benefit of track testing.
Accommodating the new rear diffuser has been a complex task. The engineers have had to redesign much of the electronics and hydraulics systems at the rear end of the car, in order to relocate components to make way for the new diffuser. This redesign has been a more complicated procedure than designing, producing and fitting the diffuser itself.
In addition to these performance related modifications, a new chassis (number 279) will be used in Barcelona by Kimi Raikkonen. It is lighter than the existing chassis and the reason only Raikkonen will use it is that clearly, his natural physique and height means he weighs more than Felipe Massa and therefore it is more of a challenge to accommodate the additional weight of the KERS system on his car. This was part of a planned programme which began at the end of 2008. Making the chassis lighter has in no way compromised the safety aspect and indeed, the new chassis was put through a crash test, which it passed. And on the subject of KERS, this will be used again in Spain, after much work has been carried out on the reliability of the system since the last race. With temperatures expected to be much cooler than the extreme conditions experienced in Bahrain, it is hoped that reliability will not be a concern.
Still don’t get this anti Hamilton or Ferrari saga.
Who cares who wins as long as the race is exciting.
Until now the race for the win has been boring.
Nice for Button and Vettel but last yr we saw more racing and competition between McLaren and Ferrari!
Last year we had 6 different winners! (in great looking cars!)
Cars actually I think look better than last year due to the removal of all that junk on the body work just leaving the wings and the body itself.
Who knows who can win a race this year but consider this out of the six who did win races Vettel is the only person to win a race this year and also there were eighteen races so average of three wins each and Jenson has won three out of seventeen a similar comparison. F1 is much more funnier this year with Jenson playing with Vettel about his sore bum you never got that with Lewis and Massa, F1 like all sports is there for entertainment and lets just wait and see who can have the car to win and the smooth skills.
Sorry but totally disagree. Cars look like crap and the races are boring.
have to agree with unkown, having real people with real sense’s of humour is far more preferable to robots like hamilton and massa. I dont mind if kimi wins anymore because this season my opinion has totally changed about him – he’s the james hunt of the modern paddock and should be given a pat on the back for being so.
and the cars have had a chance to grow on the eye, they look fine now theyve bedded down with the red bull and the mclaren looking particularly good
but i agree the renault looks like a 200mph turd with its stupid wide nose
Don’t know what humour has to do with racing.
Kimi btw looks stupid with this yrs’ to big cap on his head, seems Ferrari even last eye for fashion and presentation.
Compared to last yrs cars the 09 cars are even uglier than a wheelchair.
Honda was pretty good as long they went on with their housebrand MUGEN.As soon as BAR came in, they went down the drain.If that Budget cap would have come last year, Honda would still be in F1.Also, i don t like the looks of this seasons cars, because it reminds me of snow shovels attached to tiny cars.
And Ferrari makes a fuzz about everything. They were good as long as they had “the chin” driving.The fuzz of Fezza is just another PR- Stunt, because they start to feel that F1 is not as ecxiting as it once was, and they want to stay in the Headlines.
Almost every manufacturer already has two teams. (if you look at their engines)And next year, i am pretty certain,everybody will have a capped and an uncapped one. And them share and exchange technology.They ll all play the same game. And we ll see what Bernie and McMosley will do, to ruin the fun further.The Top Gear Bus race,(and Caravan race)were more interesting to watch than anything this seasons F-1 had to throw at me so far.Hideous cars with terrible engine noise, what s next? Fuel tanks reduced to coke bottle size?Shark-skin-imitating surface of the heavy-wets? Wooden frames?Monkeys as pilots? or just make the light signal at the starting grid three shades of Green =D
“Green” F-1? stop racing =P
What i actually wanted to say:” The F-1 has lost its crown”. They once were the peak of what is technically possible. The strongest, fastest cars in the world.(which made Myths out of Pilots)and only beaten by jet engines in a straight line. Today some production cars exceed the F-1 in power and speed. therefore it should be called the”not ready for production yet”-formula. Thanks to Ecclesley.
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/ en/headlines/news/detail/ 090507162628.shtml
Please have quick look. It is wery interesting and could, just could shut up people saying it is getting boring.
And just to illustrate how credit crunch had hit ferrari:
http://en.f1-live.com/f1/ en/headlines/news/detail/ 090507163733.shtml
“However, in order to better asses the impact of the new parts they will not be running KERS this weekend.”
I think that should be assess, though it sure is a lot sillier as written.
Comment to #23
I agree with new winners this season,it makes for better entertainment,but I disagree with this Hamilton bashing.As good as Jenson is,he is in a car that is miles better than anything else on track for all round pace,Lewis is a better driver,he is world champion for Gods sake,and hes in 7th in the current Championship with a car that shouldnt,after being disqualified from 1st race.
So, is it just me, or are the F1.com videos are lot worse this year compared to last year..? And why do they take a week to release them?! I could put a better video up on on youtube within a couple of days, so why does it take these jokers so long? F1 needs a better media department, the fact that we only get to watch one 4 minute clip of each race is ridiculous. There should be clips of incidents, driver interviews and press-conferences, analysis of the start, comparisons of racing lines… am I wrong?
About Honda, don´t forget they were the runner up in 2004 and Button collected the most points in the 2nd half of the 2006 season. After Lucky Strike had to quit due to the tobacco ban they lost momentum.
Won´t forget the noise though, damn those Honda´s did sound like proper screaming race cars. Good thing they stopped, this yrs F1 ain´t cool and sexy at all, snow shovels indeed!
About Honda, don´t forget they were the runner up in 2004 and Button collected the most points in the 2nd half of the 2006 season. After Lucky Strike had to quit due to the tobacco ban they lost momentum.
Won´t forget the noise tough, damn those Honda´s did sound like proper screaming race cars. Good thing they stopped, this yrs F1 ain´t cool and sexy at all, snow shovels indeed!
lighter chassis for Raikkonen to accommodate the weight of KERS as well as revised aero… hopefully that is good for a podium.
maybe with this (chassis and aero) they can shift a bit of weight too and Raikkonen can win. ok maybe i shouldn’t get ahead of my self…
Hamilton was in the best car when we won the championship in my opinion if all the drivers were put in equal cars then they will be really close to each other and anybody could win a race. Lets hope that the Hamilton fan club don’t do any Jeson bashing as most of the anti Hamiltons may support Ferrari or Alonso.
We can argue til the cows come home about who is the best driver. The reality is we will never find out unless they all migrate to a one make championship. Of course having the best car helps, the trick is to make sure you take every advantage when you find yourself in one. That’s exactly what Jensen’s doing and all credit to him. Lewis is doing a good job and this experience will be invaluable to his career. Let’s not devaluate Jensen’s achievements, it’s not that long ago he was scoring podium finishes but people tend to forget.
does anyone know if button uses kers
Yes Topgear Fan, Button does use the KERS system.