Red Bull gives you...?

The last of the big F1 teams launched their motor today. Red Bull's new car was actually designed with the smarty-pants double diffuser this year, so no tricky suspension issues to try and work round for Adrian Newey's enormous brain. It did break down today though, and interestingly Webbo put his skid-lid and HANS doo-dah on the ground at the rear of the car to stop prying eyes. Paranoid? Something to hide? Interesting...

Lest we forget, they won the last 3 races of last year, and were a pretty close second to Brawn. Can they maintain that momentum, or was the dip in performance early last year by McLaren and Ferrari the reason for their success? It's an exciting question - like Brawn/Mercedes, it's hard to say if their form will match that of the tradition front-runners, but it should be interesting to see. The only team on the grid to have retained their two drivers from last season, they have consistency too.

Mark Webber is a top bloke. One of the few drivers in F1 who actually says what he's thinking and is brutally honest, he was unlucky last year to be hampered by the broken leg before the start of the season. He's apparently had some bits of metal out over this winter (eww) so should be a bit lighter and less troubling to airport security systems. A good driver, he lost out a bit to Vettel last year. Can he beat him this year? Is he good enough to beat Alonso, Hamilton AND Vettel if the car is up to it? I hope so.

Sebastian Vettel was sensational last year. A likable guy and a great young driver, just like Schumacher was once(except Seb is likable), he flourished last year with a decent car and is definitely a major star now, no longer just "of the future". Should do well again this year and a possible World Champ if the car gives him a chance. Would be worthy of it too.

(NP: Jesus Jones "International Bright Young Thing", disproving the theory that I hated all of the 90's. Not true. Just most of it.)

Comments

Malaysian Grand Prix - Vettel hot, but not bothered

Malaysia. It's always hot, and it always rains. Except the 2nd part is no longer true (unless you count the drizzly bit around lap 14). Saturday's qualifying session had highlighted the fact that Red Bull and McLaren seemed well matched on pace, but also that Ferrari were struggling. Whilst Vettel bagged another pole, followed by Hamilton, Webber and Button, Alonso was only 5th, and Massa 7th, with Nick Heidfeld an excellent 6th on the grid between the two red cars. At this point, I would like to break momentarily for a small rant: How many times do I have to say Heidfeld is good? Why wasn't he given a top drive years ago? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?! ARE YOU BLIND!!!?? Ahem. The Hispanias somehow managed to a) turn up b) remember to bring cars c) get both of them on the track d) actually get both of them within 107%. Pretty remarkable really. Oh, and it didn't rain. Race day looked a more likely candidate for a drop of the wet stuff. The start was exciting, with

I know I'll regret this...

For @Feisty_Onion @BroughtonLass @LizWestmorland Me... before the grumpiness set in. Have a great weekend.

Senna bags Willy drive?

The great thing about F1 rumours is that they change every 5 minutes. Just last week it was looking like Barrichello might be back in at Williams, as new engines, tech staff and a general reshuffle would mean they needed someone who actually knew what they were doing in an F1 car. Which rules out Maldonado, obviously. Now it looks like Senna might be about to get a seat with the team where his Uncle lost his life. I'm sure Bruno's mum must be delighted. I don't hold with all this superstitious mumbo-jumbo though, and with the extraordinary level of safety in modern F1 cars, Bruno should be pretty safe. There is one significant problem with Williams signing him though - and this is going to be a bit unpopular I suspect - Bruno isn't very good. Yes, he put in a couple of reasonable performances with Renault, but Nick Heidfeld (ah... Nick and his lovely beard...) would have been able to do likewise, has he not been dropped. And then they dropped Senna too. Thi

grumpyf1

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