Formula One 2010

[TheSandman]

Button will get found out this season, sorry IanB.

I agree as much as it pains me to say it as I like him a lot more than Hamilton.

The portents in pre-season suggests that Schuey's car is not endowed with race leading pace.

[cdbearsfan]

Apparently a new rule to allow overtaking has been introduced for next season.

I don't think it will catch on.

Ecclestone wanted to introduce short cuts to try to allow the drivers to cut corners so that there'd be more overtaking. Shows how far removed from real sport it has become that ideas like that are suggested.

They should give them Wacky Races cars so you can overtake by driving over the top of other cars.

[TheSandman]

I reckon they should make a championship where the best drivers have to drive standard road cars on tricky public roads.

F1 cars are designed to cut through the air in a way that makes overtaking much more difficult. Ford Mondeos on the other hand are not.

[cdbearsfan]

A few bumps would be good like in Snowboard / Ski Cross. The cars would have to drive at high speeds over the bumps then shout "Yee-haw!" as they flew through the air like in "The Dukes of Hazzard".

[Bad English]

I think they should have to send a 159 character freestyle text to the race officials, plus  an 'MMS' photo of the main stand taken on an earlier lap. 'Steering' with the knees not permitted.

[OldUser]

Button will get found out this season, sorry IanB.

No need to apologise Matt! Looking forward to it all the same. As long as McLaren wins and wins often, I'm happy.

[BrummieInKiwiLand]

formula 1 is terminally boring. Bring back group a rally cars. F1 technology and power in a medium sized hatchback, but this time without the crowds on the track while the races are on - best motorsport ever!

[Smithy]

Button will get found out this season, sorry IanB.

I agree as much as it pains me to say it as I like him a lot more than Hamilton.

I think in terms of raw talent, you might be right.  But the rule changes will suit Button much more than Hamilton.  With no refuelling, tyre wear will be a lot more important to race strategy, and Button is a very smooth driver who looks after his tyres better than anyone else on the grid - an attribute that could come in very handy indeed at a few circuits.

[*shellac*]

This year, for a change, I hope the pit-stop will have scantily-clad beauties instead of the lollipop man.

[Matt C]

Button will get found out this season, sorry IanB.

I agree as much as it pains me to say it as I like him a lot more than Hamilton.

I think in terms of raw talent, you might be right.  But the rule changes will suit Button much more than Hamilton.  With no refuelling, tyre wear will be a lot more important to race strategy, and Button is a very smooth driver who looks after his tyres better than anyone else on the grid - an attribute that could come in very handy indeed at a few circuits.

....but Hamilton is better at adapting to a changing car which will be very important as the fuel level changes throughout the race whereas Jenson likes a predictable car.

Should be interesting.

[TheSandman]

Times Online

Formula One’s top teams fear their best drivers could be driven out of the World Championship by hopelessly slow cars forming dangerous roadblocks.

Three new teams — Lotus, Virgin Racing and Hispania Racing — join the grid for the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain on Sunday, but already there are worries that their cars are so far off the technical pace that they could pose a hazard on straights where the best cars, such as Jenson Button’s McLaren, will reach speeds of at least 188mph.

Hispania have not even tested their car yet and Karun Chandhok, their inexperienced new driver, has never sat on a Formula One grid.

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, whose drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, are expected to challenge for the title, said: “We will just try to stay out of their way. The danger is the time difference is going to be so big — up to five seconds a lap — and the difference in the closing speeds is massive.

“You might start a lap eight seconds behind somebody and think you are OK. But you will catch these guys before the end of the lap — and then, will they be looking in their mirrors? So the potential for them to cause an incident is reasonably high. Teams are going to have to work hard to get track position so their drivers don’t run up to the back of Hispania and Virgin and Lotus at the end of a flying lap.”

Hispania, branded HRT F1, will only turn a wheel for the first time on Friday in the practice sessions — hardly inspiring confidence when Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes GP, Red Bull and the other leading teams have covered hundreds of miles in testing.

Chandhok, a 26-year-old Indian, competed for three years in the GP2 feeder series, winning only two races, before being propelled on to the Formula One grid. At least Virgin and Lotus are employing experienced drivers, such as Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock, even if they are in slow cars.

The three new entrants are arriving alongside a raft of radical rule changes designed to shake up Formula One yet again, forcing teams and drivers to rethink their approach to grand-prix racing — from the moment the car leaves the pits to the vital tenths of a second won or lost when it returns for a tyre change.

The FIA’s decision to abandon refuelling for the first time since 1993 means that there will be a huge emphasis on saving petrol and conserving tyres, particularly a newly designed narrower front tyre for this season. The driver who gets both right will get into the new points system, which covers ten places, with 25 for the winner, instead of the ten of last year, down to one for tenth place.

For those with a shaky grasp of mental arithmetic, the new scoring system might be as much a test as eking out a 240-litre tank of fuel for almost 200 miles, as the 24 Formula One drivers will have to do on Sunday, but the FIA believes that the points system will encourage teams to go for wins and places, instead of settling for second-best. That remains to be seen.

The drivers will probably be happy to get the car home in the early races as they try to deal with a rear-happy vehicle that is filled to the brim with fuel at the start and gets lighter as the race goes on.

Lap times could vary by as much as three seconds from the start to the finish of the race, giving drivers a catalogue of problems to solve with every lap that passes.

But that will only add to the intrigue and test not only the skill of the drivers but their intelligence and race-craft — and now their ability to dodge slow cars that get in their way.

[OldUser]

Q3 and I'm confused.

[OldUser]

Ah, I get it, only 3 (only friggin' 3!) qualifiers this season. Fffffvettel on pole then, hmm...

[cheltenhamlion]

I really don't get motor racing I have to say.

[Rotterdam]

Money on Hamilton and Massa for the title.