grumpyf1

When Peter Sauber rescued the team that used to bear his name after BMW legged it out of the exit door, he probably knew he was going to wind up pretty much back where he left off a few years before. Midfield. After startling everyone with some super-fast times in testing last year, it looked like the car the Beemer Boys had designed might actually be a cracker. It turned out it was in-fact distinctly average. At this point, please have a ponder about that eh? Someone quick in testing, but crap when the season gets underway? You've been warned... Anyway, the new motor looks tidy enough, but I can't say I'm expecting anything other than the usual though - there doesn't seem to be anything radical going on, does there? Driver-wise, they don't have any experienced old-hands this year, having dumped Heidfeld (grrrrr) in favour of the wallet friendly Pasta Carbonara. Sorry - Pastor Maldonado. Don't expect miracles there then. The team are interested in him for ...

Crikey! I thought the Brawn team had packed it in! Oh, hang on... it's the new Sauber car, rising from the ashes of BMW in a not-very-phoenix-like blaze of.. er.. black and white. And their drivers are dressed in white too. Still, it worked for Button & Co last year... One small (financial) point... there doesn't seem to be any sponsorship. Hang on... (gets magnifying glass out) yes, I can definitely see something on the wing mirror. That's got to be worth at least £50, and they've got 2 mirrors! pre-season preview? Why not... Much like Williams being run by the chap whose name is on the car, I always had a soft spot for the Sauber team. They never quite seemed to be a "big" team (big as in run by a car company) but sometimes managed to punch above their weight. Peter Sauber seems like a top bloke too - wide smile and a cigar. Brilliant. Then he decided he'd had enough and BMW waved some cash at him. Being a car company, they got cold feet when the rec...

Good news everybody! Kamui Kobayashi, who you may remember stood in for Glock at Toyota for the last couple of races of the 09 Season, will be in a Sauber next year. This is great, simply because he was completely un-intimidated by Button... and just about everyone else, in fact. In Abu Dhabi he fended off a whole bunch of experienced drivers, and he did it aggressively, and (just about) fairly. No meek "letting your elders through politely" stuff. And we need a bit more of that, don't we? Reports are that his team mate could be Fisichella, De la Rosa or maybe Heidfeld (but only if Schumi doesn't return. Mercedes will be wanting another German!). (Today's post was, er, posted to the tune of the They Might Be Giants track "Another First Kiss")