Hang The Traitors

Hang The Traitors

  June 26, 2009    MamaeyaYT

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While the world waits for Max Mosley's next move after exhibiting temper tantrums over some otherwise truthful snipes about him, lets consider the two treacherous teams who were expelled from FOTA in the last few weeks.

One of them, Williams, have stated that they wish to be reinstated into FOTA. I am absolutely disgusted by the audacity. I'm certain Vijay Mallya, the loathsome maker of the world's worst drink, incorrectly called a beer, the awful Kingfisher, is probably in a state of wishful thinking that his team would be welcomed back into the fold as well.

I do not see any reason whatsoever for the treachery to be rewarded. Whilst the teams showed uncommon solidarity in facing up to the tyrant Mosley, these two sold their souls to the devil, blissfully agreeing to be led by the nose by Max and Bernie. In the case of Frank Williams, he plainly admitted that money (and of course some lucrative Formula 2 design contracts) was the main motivation. In the case of Mallya, he gave some pitiful excuse about banking convenants that supposedly forced his hand.

Very well, if these apostates were so adept in saving their selfish skins, the let them now stand alone. FOTA had fought hard to gain concessions and whatever benefits should be theirs to share amonst themselves. Williams and Force India walked out by their actions, akin to deserting your comrades in battle. Why should they not face the firing squad now? And why should the be allowed to share in the spoils of (any) victory?

I say allow the new teams USF1, Campos and Manor into FOTA for they are indeed taking a bold step. But disloyalty should be rewarded in kind. Let Williams and Mallya stand alone and negotiate with Bernie and see how far that gets them. More revenue for the teams certainly. But none for these bastards.

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Led By The Nose

Led By The Nose

  June 08, 2009    MamaeyaYT

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An interesting Q & A with Frank Williams is published here on Autosport. Frank Williams have indicated that the Williams team have been expelled (and not even temporarily) from FOTA, despite headlines claiming that the suspension was temporary.

But more interesting is the fact that Williams admits that he'd rather be in a series organised by the FIA and Bernie than anything else anyone else comes up with. And of course, its all about the money admits Williams. Money from Bernie. And also not forgetting money for designing Max Mosley's new Formula 2 championship.

Strange. First this pre-supposes that only Bernie can bring the money. I am certain the FOTA folks could do a pretty damned good job of it as well. Second, he forgets that teams combined gets only 50% of the money. The rest are raped out of the sport by CVC. Assuming that someone else makes a good job at organising a championship, Williams would get more out of it then sticking with the leeches.

And lastly, I hate to say it yet again but here is the man who, along with Ron Dennis and Ken Tyrell, found himself ripped off out of their fair share of the F1 commercial revenues by none other than Bernie Ecclestone. And yet by his own admission would follow Bernie wherever he now went.

The sad fact of the matter is that Williams Grand Prix Engineering are no longer the force on the track that they once were. So pathetic have they become they have to resort to low fuel flash laps in practice to get any attention. They have not won a race since 2004 and judging by things they won't be winning anything unless half the teams don't finish the race. They are a firm mid-fielder and sometime bottom feeder. It is no surprise that the other bottom feeder (but extermely wannabe) team have also followed them into Max and Bernie's arms.

How does Willaims feel about competing in a Formula 1 championship devoid of the best teams? His reply is simply : "That's tough shit. We've made our choice" Well I guess the temptation to go back to the top whilst all the big boys are away was just too much for Williams. Its rather like Ferrari at Indianapolis in 2005. They finished first across the line. But it was a most hollow of victories.

Years ago the word piranha was being thrown about to describe some of the Formula 1 team bosses. Increasingly I feel this label belongs firmly with Frank Williams. I wish him the all the worst.

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The So Called Solution

The So Called Solution

  May 28, 2009    MamaeyaYT

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So it has emerged that Mercedes have floated a compromise proposal to FOTA and the FIA regarding the rules for next year's Formula 1 world championship. In effect, a budget cap of 100 million would be in place and the smaller teams would be technically assisted by the current manufacturers, although this stops short of chassis supply.

What a load of bollocks! Why not simply allow customer cars? Toro Rosso have shown that the concept can work. Heck, even Super Aguri showed that its possible to show the works teams a thing or two. Lola, who apparently will enter the 2010 championship, is in the business of constructing racing cars and selling them off to teams in other formulae. If customer cars were allowed, they could supply the other entrants as well.

Interestingly, there are two different views within FOTA itself. Some folks led by Williams who are adamantly opposed to the idea of customer cars on the grounds that this would somehow jeapordise the constructors world championship. Again, completely bollocks. Then there's Red Bull, who were assured when they entered Formula 1 that customer cars would be allowed.

I still can't understand Williams' argument. We could easily add a team's title in addition to the constructors championship. For instance, points for the constructors championship could be scored by the top two cars of the constructor regardless of the team that won it. If Williams for instance supplied cars to say Campos, and such a team scored a one-two in the race, Williams as a constructor would collect points since they are the constructor of the cars. They would still gain the prestige of winning the constructors title. If Campos regularly beat the works cars, then the team championship would be won by Campos.

In other formulae and especially in sports cars we see different combinations of chassis and engines all the time. In grand prix racing, we see that its possible for the customer team i.e. Toro Rosso to win against the works team using different engines. In sports cars we regularly see the customer teams beat the works cars. It all adds to the interest in the sport.

Teams would be in a far better position to afford grand prix racing if they did not have to spend monies on research and development and maintaining production facilities. But nevertheless, they would still have to pay for their chassis. In fact, this would be a revenue source for constructors. Lola makes a living from this. And so could say the Williams team, who I'm sure with its still vast technical resources could make better racing cars.

Frank Williams is a complete ass. And so is his team. I'd never thought I'd ever say that. And yet now, I wish Williams demise from grand prix racing.

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Williams Give In Again

Williams Give In Again

  May 26, 2009    MamaeyaYT

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So Williams has broken ranks and have signed up for next year's world championship. Or should that be called selling their collective souls? Needless to say I am more than a little troubled and disappointed. The reason given is that Williams does nothing else but grand prix racing and hence cannot afford to be left out.

Williams, Brawn GP and wannabe team Force India are 3 teams currently competing who are in support of Max Mosley's budget cap. With Williams' capitulation how long before the other 2 break ranks and capitulate? Despite Williams' assurances that they are still in support of FOTA, the practical reality is that the FIA and FOA have once again succeeded in bending Williams to their will.

I suppose some people never learn. In the past, the Formula One Constructors Association (FOCA) was intended to care for, among other things, the commercial rights of the teams. This it did. However, with sleight of hand and the incompetence of solicitors representing Williams, McLaren and Tyrrell, Bernie Ecclestone managed to deny those rights and grab it all for himself. Williams and McLaren went so far as to sue their incompetent former solicitors but in the end, Bernie stepped in to ensure that the lawsuit never saw the light of day lest it revealed the dirt that went on to the public.

How much money was paid to shut the teams up? No one knows. It couldn't have been so small a sum but I doubt if it was a very large amount neither. Bernie managed to flog off those commercial rights, first to the now defunct Kirsch, then a string of banks and finally the loathsome CVC. Bernie became a billionaire from that sale whilst Frank Williams is struggling to stay afloat.

And what did Williams and McLaren get? Well obviously not enough since Williams is now thinking like small fries. Instead of standing their ground and possibly gaining what is theirs by right i.e. greater share of the commercial revenues of the sport, they capitulate once more. By signing with the FIA, Williams have lost all leverage against Bernie and CVC. How on Earth can you demand more from those bastards and in the long run eradicate their cancerous activities if you have a contract with the FIA to race?

Perhaps it is just as well that Williams are merely given scraps off the food table and today are merely a midfield runner destined one day to fade away to oblivion. Their cowardice deserves such reward. Sorry Frank, I have lost all respect for you.

Update 27/05/2009 : Williams have been temporarily suspended from FOTA membership. As well they should be. Hopefully Williams will be denied any gains made by FOTA. They don't deserve any of it

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Breaking It Down

Breaking It Down

  May 26, 2008    MamaeyaYT

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Finally a really juicy item that perhaps should have long been revealed appears in this article on Pitpass. If anyone ever doubted the dictatorial style of the FIA geared towards financial and commercial gain, they should get their heads out of their asses and read the article.

The article recounts the events of the 1994 season when Benetton were facing disciplinary action from the World Council over alleged fixing of a fuel rig that lead to a huge fire in the pits during Jos Verstappen's fuel stop.

To simplify and summarise here's what the article alleges:

1. That the night before the World Council, Bernie Ecclestone invites Max Mosley (chairman of the Council which he supposedly undertook "in a completely neutral capacity") to meet a certain Mr George Carmen QC representing the Benetton team.

2. That Max Mosley helpfully advised Mr Carmen that the Benetton team should not point the finger at any member of the FIA in this affair (despite the fact that the FIA had approved of the rig modification and Benetton had proof of this).

3. That Max Mosley further advised the Benetton team to simply admit guilt and he would ensure that the charges would be mysteriously dropped. This way Benetton (and Schmumacher) can keep racing and the FIA don't look like idiots for allowing the rig modification that led to the fire.

4. That more than being a simple peacemaker, Bernie Ecclestone (also a member of the World Council) was there to safeguard his investments by ensuring that a certain German won that year because "it is possible to observe a correlation between the popularity of the Championship in the Federal Republic of Germany in recent years and Michael Schumacher's success in the Championship."

5. That in doing all of this, effectively buggered the championship of one Damon Hill because of course Damon Hill will not get a single cent out of the huge German market.

I am taken back to the words of Nigel Mansell who was brought in to race at Adelaide, the final championship deciding race in the 1994 season, where he, despite being quicker than the two protagonists (or so he claims), was told by "the powers" to stay out of their fight or else....

Manipulation in the name of commercial requirements is something that many have always suspected was very much at play at the FIA particularly where it involves Max and Bernie. I remember that back in 1989 many allege that Jean Marie Balestre stacked the cards in favour of his countryman Prost when brought on the ludicrous charge of dangerous driving on Ayrton Senna. Well, wrong as that was, at least he did it for his country. In the case of Max and Bernie, its all for almighty dollar.

Now, looking down the line and purely speculating, which team in Formula 1 has the biggest fanbase, the likes of which Formula One as a commercial entity can ill afford to lose? And how many times have we suspected that favour will always follow this team? Hmmm....

I am sure teams are not happy with the situation and surely would have known of the hanky panky over the years. But many team bosses (now unfortunately replaced by manufacturers) know of this but not being skilled at political machinations as Max, nor as commercially astute as Bernie, on whom they all relied upon for financial assistance, simply could not do anything about it.

Frank Williams and Patrick Head knows the deal but their existence depends on Formula 1 and they are wont to do anything about this. Ron Dennis and McLaren had other activities to keep them afloat. This makes him bolder in facing Max and Bernie, to the utmost chagrin of Max. Witch hunt? Vendetta? Words too small to describe Max attitude and objectives towards Ron.

Did anyone really believe that McLaren's "confession" was a genuine one? Of course not. It sounded like a cop out by McLaren to ensure that they could keep on racing.

It is reasons such as these that Max Mosley must go and the FIA restructured completely if they are to retain the credibility and relevance and not some stupid sex romp episode. But as I have said before, if the stupid sex romp gets rid of this bastard, then so be it.

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The Indy Awards - Round 15

The Indy Awards - Round 15

  October 06, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the Japanese Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Colin Chapman Award - For Best independent drivers / teams

Drivers
1. David Coulthard (RBR)- 9
2. Adrian Sutil (Spyker) - 6
3. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) - 4
4. Sakon Yamamoto (Spyker) - 3
5. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) - 2
=. Mark Webber(RBR) - 2 (For pole and fastest lap)
6. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 1

Teams
1. Red Bull - 11
2. Spyker - 9
3. Toro Rosso - 4
4. Super Aguri - 3


Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 98 (Champion)
2. Mark Webber - 66
3. Alex Wurz - 62
4. David Coulthard - 52
5. Takuma Sato - 39
6. Anthony Davidson - 31
7. Adrian Sutil - 19
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 18
9. Scott Speed - 9
10. Christian Albers - 8
11. Sakon Yamamoto - 3
12. Marcus Winkelhock - 2
=. Sebastien Vettel - 2

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 160 (Champion)
2. Red Bull - 118
3. Super Aguri - 70
4. Spyker - 32
5. Toro Rosso - 29

Wag The Dog Award - for independent drivers / teams who beat their respective factory teams

Drivers
1. Mark Webber - 4 (2 for qualy, 2 for fastest lap)
=. Nico Rosberg - 4 (2 for qualy, 2 for race)
3. David Coulthard - 2 (1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
=. Sebastien Vettel - 2 (For fastest lap)
5. Anthony Davidson - 1 (for race)
=. Takuma Sato - 1 (for race)

Teams
1. Red Bull - 6
2. Williams - 4
3. Super Aguri - 3
4. Toro Rosso - 2


Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 64
2. Mark Webber - 37
3. Alex Wurz - 35
4. Takuma Sato - 32
5. Anthony Davidson - 24
6. David Coulthard - 18
7. Sebastien Vettel - 3
8. Andrian Sutil - 2
=. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 2
10. Christian Albers - 1
=. Sakon Yamamoto - 1


Overall Teams
1. Williams - 99
2. Super Aguri - 56
3. RBR - 55
4. Toro Rosso - 5
5. Spyker - 4

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The Indy Awards - Round 14

The Indy Awards - Round 14

  September 21, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the Belgian Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Colin Chapman Award - For Best independent drivers / teams

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg (Williams)- 10
2. Mark Webber (RBR) - 7 (1 for pole, 6 for race)
3. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) - 4
4. Adrian Sutil (Spyker) - 3
5. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) - 2
6. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 1

Teams
1. Williams - 10
2. Red Bull - 7
3. Toro Rosso - 4
4. Spyker - 3
=. Super Aguri - 3

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 98
2. Mark Webber - 64
3. Alex Wurz - 62
4. David Coulthard - 43
5. Takuma Sato - 37
6. Anthony Davidson - 30
7. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 14
8. Adrian Sutil - 13
9. Scott Speed - 9
10. Christian Albers - 8
11. Marcus Winkelhock - 2
12. Sebastien Vettel - 2

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 160
2. Red Bull - 107
3. Super Aguri - 67
4. Toro Rosso - 25
5. Spyker - 23


Wag The Dog Award - for independent drivers / teams who beat their respective factory teams

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 5 (2 for qualy, 2 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
=. Mark Webber - 5 (2 for qualy, 2 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
3. Takuma Sato - 2 (1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
4. Anthony Davidson - (1 for race)

Teams
1. Williams - 5
=. Red Bull - 5
3. Super Aguri - 3


Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 60
2. Alex Wurz - 35
3. Mark Webber - 33
4. Takuma Sato - 31
5. Anthony Davidson - 23
6. David Coulthard - 16
7. Andrian Sutil - 2
=. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 2
8. Christian Albers - 1
=. Sakon Yamamoto - 1
=. Sebastien Vettel - 1

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 95
2. Super Aguri - 54
3. RBR - 49
4. Spyker - 4
4. Toro Rosso - 3

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The Indy Awards - Round 7

The Indy Awards - Round 7

  September 09, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the US Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Colin Chapman Award - For Best independent drivers / teams

Drivers
1. Mark Webber (Red Bull)- 11 (1 for pole, 1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
2. Alexander Wurz (Williams) - 6
3. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 4
4. Scott Speed (Toro Rosso) - 3
5. Adrian Sutil (Spyker) - 2
6. Christian Albers (Spyker) - 1

Teams
1. Red Bull - 11
2. Williams - 6
3. Super Aguri - 4
4. Toro Rosso - 3
5. Spyker - 3


Overall Drivers
1. Alex Wurz - 40
2. Nico Rosberg - 38
3. Mark Webber - 28
4. Takuma Sato - 21
5. Anthony Davidson - 18
6. David Coulthard - 16
7. Scott Speed - 9
8. Adrian Sutil - 8
9. Christian Albers - 6
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 5

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 78
2. Red Bull - 44
3. Super Aguri - 39
4. Spyker - 14
5. Toro Rosso - 14

Wag The Dog Award - for independent drivers / teams who beat their respective factory teams

Drivers
1. Anthony Davidson - 4 (2 for race, 2 for fastest lap)
2. Mark Webber - 3 (1 for qualy, 1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
3. Nico Rosberg - 2 (1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
=. Alex Wurz - 2 (1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
5. Takuma Sato - 1 (1 for race, 1 for fastest lap)


Teams
1. Super Aguri - 9
=. Williams - 8
3. Red Bull - 5

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 30
2. Takuma Sato - 19
3. Alex Wurz - 18
4. Mark Webber -14
=. Anthony Davidson - 14
6. David Coulthard - 8
7. Andre Sutil - 1
=. Christian Albers - 1
=. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 1

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 48
2. Super Aguri - 33
3. RBR - 22
4. Spyker - 2
5. Toro Rosso - 1

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The Indy Awards - Round 4

The Indy Awards - Round 4

  May 13, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the Spanish Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Colin Chapman Award - For Best independent drivers / teams

Drivers
1. David Coulthard (RBR)- 11 (9 + 1 for pole + 1 for fastest lap)
2. Nico Rosberg (Williams) - 6
3. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) - 4
4. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 3
5. Andre Sutil (Spyker) - 2
6. Christian Albers (Spyker) - 1

Teams
1. RBR - 11
2. Super Aguri - 7
3. Williams - 6
4. Spyker - 3

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 28
2. Alex Wurz - 15
3. Takuma Sato - 14
4. Mark Webber - 13
5. David Coulthard - 12
6. Anthony Davidson - 10
7. Andre Sutil - 6
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 5
=. Christian Albers - 5

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 43
2. RBR - 25
3. Super Aguri - 24
4. Spyker - 11
5. Toro Rosso - 5

Wag The Dog Award - for independent drivers / teams who beat their respective factory teams

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 5 (1 for qualy, 2 for race, 2 for fastest lap)
=. Takuma Sato - 5 (1 for qualy, 2 for race, 2 for fastest lap)
3. David Coulthard - 4 (1 for qualy, 2 for race, 1 for fastest lap)
4. Anthony Davidson - 1 (for race)
=. Christian Albers - 1 (for race)
=. Andre Sutil - 1 (for race)

Teams
1. Super Aguri - 6
2. Williams - 5
3. RBR - 4
4. Spyker - 2

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 17
2. Takuma Sato - 12
3. Alex Wurz - 7
=. Anthony Davidson - 7
5. Mark Webber - 6
=. David Coulthard - 5
7. Andre Sutil - 1
=. Christian Albers - 1

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 24
2. Super Aguri - 19
3. RBR - 11
4. Spyker - 2

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The Indy Awards - Round 3

The Indy Awards - Round 3

  April 16, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the Bahrain Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Post race comments
Williams scored maximum points in the independents award at the Bahrain Grand Prix. They were however, very fortunate to do so for in the race it seemed that the Red Bull were absolutely in flying form. David Coulthard drove a storming race starting from 21st on the grid to catch his teammate Mark Webber during the race. At the point when the two Red Bulls retired, they were in fact not only ahead of both the Williams drivers but were also ahead of both the Renaults. Adrian Newey's design excellence whilst not yet up there with the front runners, is starting to show its worth relative to the works Renaults. The cars were fast and their drivers were clearly up for it. Mark Webber was also going quickly but his pace was perhaps hampered by a fuel filler that refused to close once the car got underway after the first round of pitstops.

Both the Red Bulls retired as a result of drive train failure, whilst both were leading the works Renaults. Or so the explanation goes. But you can never tell these days of corporate PR cover ups. Coulthard retired with a broken driveshaft and Webber with a broken greabox. All in all, it has to be encouraging for Red Bull at this stage. Pre-season of course, the expectation was that an Adrian Newey chassis coupled with Mateschitz money should have seen them challenging in the top 5. But they are progressing, no doubt about it. And with Mark Webber, they have a driver thats clearly quick and not short of motivation. Do not forget David Coulthard as well who was quicker than Webber this weekend. And in fact, his race fastest lap was quicker than that of Heikki Kovalainen's. Had Mark Webber not had his fuel filler out of shape, chances are he'd have been faster than both Coulthard and Fisichella. Their independents score below does not do justice to their race performance last weekend.

The Super Aguris continue to do well. Anthony Davidson was only beaten out of the top 10 in qualifying after some last minute performances by Williams and Toyota and for quite some time, he looked like he was going to start in the top 10. This weekend Anthony Davidson was much quicker than teammate Sato who up until this point had outperformed the Briton. During the race however, Takuma managed to battle it out with Ralf Schumacher's Toyota and looked well on his way to beating the German. But alas, his engine gave way as well. Davidson though a classified finisher, would suffer the same fate. If I were being cheeky I'd say that the Japanese pushed the self destruct button to ensure that the sole surviving Honda of Barrichello would finish ahead of both the customer cars. As it is, Davidson's fastest lap of the race was quicker than that of Barrichello.

So, with the demise of the Red Bulls, Williams are once again the leading independent. But despite pushing hard they only finished 9th and 10th overall in the race. (Both Williams had fastest laps quicker than both the works Toyotas) But as I said, luck had everything to do with this. I have a feeling though, that as the season progresses, Adrian Newey's Red Bull might just be consistently beating Woking. And do not be surprised if they win more Wag The Dog points for beating the works cars on a regular basis. Now thats a prospect to relish.

Comments On The Customer Car Row
As it is, as you can see from the points scored in Bahrain and the overall standings, the Williams teams are beating all comers including the Toro Ross and Super Aguri, both teams who have been threatened by Williams with litigation of the customer car row. But as you can see, Williams have been consistently outperforming these customer cars. Therefore, I shouldn't think that Frank Williams will be bothered about taking this matter to the courts. The Spyker team are a different story altogether. Whilst the points do show that they are ahead of Toro Rosso in race finishes but they are in actual fact slower than both Toro Rosso and Super Aguri. They have every reason to want to seek legal recourse.

Colin Chapman Award - For Best independent drivers / teams

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg (Williams)- 9
2. Alex Wurz (Williams) - 6
3. Christian Albers (Spyker) - 4
4. Andre Sutil (Spyker) - 3
5 Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 2
= Mark Webber (RBR) - 2 (1 for qualy + 1 for race finish)
7. David Coulthard - 1 (For fastest lap)

Teams
1. Williams - 15
2. Spyker - 7
3. RBR - 3
4. Super Aguri - 2

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 22
2. Alex Wurz - 15
3. Mark Webber - 13
4. Takuma Sato - 10
5. Anthony Davidson - 7
6. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 5
7. Christian Albers - 4
= Andre Sutil - 4
8. David Coulthard - 1

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 37
2. Super Aguri - 17
3. RBR - 14
4. Spyker - 8
5. Toro Rosso - 5

Wag The Dog Award - for independent drivers / teams who beat their respective factory teams

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 4 (1 for qualy, 1 for race, 2 for fastest lap)
=. Alex Wurz - 4 (1 for qualy, 1 for race, 2 for fastest lap)
3. Anthony Davidson - 3 (2 for qualy, 1 for fastest lap)
4. Mark Webber - 1 (for qualy)
=. David Coulthard - 1 (for fastest lap)
=. Takuma Sato - 1 (for fastest lap)

Teams
1. Williams - 8
2. Super Aguri - 4
3. RBR - 2

Overall Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 12
2. Takuma Sato - 7
=. Alex Wurz - 7
4. Mark Webber - 6
=. Anthony Davidson - 6
6. David Coulthard - 1

Overall Teams
1. Williams - 19
2. Super Aguri - 13
3. RBR - 7

Post Script

The Wag The Dog points for Bahrain has been a fair reflection of the season so far. The independents are strong during qualifying and have good race pace but are no match for the factory teams over a race distance.

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The Indy Awards - Round 1

The Indy Awards - Round 1

  April 15, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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Here are the results for the Independent Team awards after the Australian Grand Prix. For more information regarding the scoring system please consult this post.

Colin Chapman Award

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg (Williams) - 9 + 1 (Fastest Lap)
2. Takuma Sato (Super Aguri) - 6
3. Mark Webber (RBR) - 4 + 1 (fastest qualifier)
4. Vitantonio Liuzzi (Toro Rosso) - 3
5. Anthony Davidson (Super Aguri) - 2
6. Andre Sutil (Spyker) - 1

Teams
1. Williams - 10
2. Super Aguri - 8
3. RBR - 5
4. Toro Rosso - 3
5. Spyker - 1

Wag The Dog Award

Drivers
1. Nico Rosberg - 4 (2 for race + 2 for fastest lap)
2. Takuma Sato - 3 (2 for qualifying + 1 for race)
3= Mark Webber - 2 (1 for qualifying + 1 for fastest lap)
Anthony Davidson - 2 (for qualifying)

Teams
1. Super Aguri - 5
2. Williams - 4
3. RBR - 2

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2007 Australian Grand Prix

2007 Australian Grand Prix

  March 17, 2007    MamaeyaYT

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The Steeles of the recently revived F1Talk feared a Ferrari domination this year. They may be right. The way Kimi Raikkonen quite serenely won the Australian Grand Prix is an ominous sign for the other contenders. Serene is perhaps the right word for this race because nothing much really happened. Unless you're English and are absolutely over the moon with Lewis Hamilton's debut.

As in qualifying yesterday, I would have liked to see how Kimi stands against Filipe Massa during a race. Yesterday the Brazilian experienced gearbox and engine troubles. Today, he was following a completely different strategy having to come from right at the back. Yes, Kimi managed to lap him during the course of the race. And that must have been a psychological blow to him. But it would have been interesting to see how Massa would have run under a normal race strategy.

Do I sound like I'm behind Filipe? Well, actually no. For I still think Kimi will beat him over the course of the year. I just hope though that Ferrari will let the both of them duel it out together come what may.

The other team that had any hope of matching the Ferraris were McLaren. But lets face it, Kimi was really toying with them today. Setting that 1m 25.235s fastest lap was just rubbing it into Ron Dennis' face. He didn't need to go anywhere near that lap time and he was still simply pulling away from the two McLarens.

Alonso or Hamilton? For pure speed I think there's very, very little to choose between them. They are both equally as fast. My word, this could be quite a driving partnership for Ron. They've both got long careers ahead of them. One is a double world champion, the other can match the former. One slip, and its easily one or the other. There is very little margin if today's performance is anything to go by. Still, Alonso's strategy was the better one. Yes, Sato got in the way but even if he didn't I estimate Alonso would still have come out ahead of Hamilton at the end.

The ITV commentators were over the moon with Hamilton but lets put things into perspective. The 2005 GP2 champion, Nico Rosberg also had a great debut in the first race last year. Somehow it seems the GP2 championship does prepare a driver quite well for the challenges of Formula 1. And why not? The GP2 cars do have some massive performance all without traction control and other driver aids. But the challenge for Lewis now is to sustain this performance and not fade away like Nico did last year. Although one could say that Williams did not give Nico a great car to show off his talents.

Can McLaren catch up? Well, if you look at their qualy performance particularly on low fuel they do have some pace. Its when the fuel goes in and the races progresses that they seem to lose out to Ferrari. I think McLaren will need to work very hard to get the best out of those Bridgestone tyres if they are to have a chance. On some of the tighter circuits however, I think McLaren have an excellent chance of besting Maranello. The Ferrari you see has a longer wheel base. Great on circuits where aero performance is all important. Not so great in some of the slower bits. Still I think for McLaren, optimizing the aero with the Bridgy tyres is the key. As for driving talent, the do not lack any.

The BMWs much touted long distance pace could eventually was not enough to sustain a challenge to the front runners. But nevertheless, they have vastly improved and I believe they will improve still further as the season progresses and they have a better understanding of the new Japanese rubber.

And I was somewhat disappointed that the Super Aguris could not beat the works Hondas during the race. But Sato beating Jenson was a nice thing to see. Nico Rosberg did well I thought beating both the works Toyotas to seventh ahead of "I'm one of the top three" Ralf Schumacher. The fact that the Toyota engined cars have had a years greater experience on Bridgestone rubber is perhaps one of the reasons why the Hondas simply could not get on terms with their deadly rivals.

Again, if there is to be a Ferrari domination of 2007 I hope the two teammates will put up a good show for the rest of us. Kimi did a supreme job of the race today bar the odd mistake whilst fooling around. It'll boost his confidence and standing with the team and I'm sure he's going to get even better still in the car.

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Latest News From The Frontlines

Latest News From The Frontlines

  November 15, 2006    MamaeyaYT

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In the battle for the future of grand prix racing, peace seems such an overused word. Seen it too many times in the past so naturally, I'll take the latest peace declaration with a large grain of salt. Having come to terms with commercial arrangements, the GPMA have finally (or so it seems) kissed and made up with the FIA and Max Mosley. In a meeting in Munich which up until now had been kept under wraps, some significant details emerged.

Social relevance, green technologies, road car relevance were all hailed as the major objectives for the future. All very nice but significantly, the governance of the sport and decisions over the rules will be made by the FIA and the manufacturers, which indeed bypasses the teams. Of course, many teams now are owned by the manufacturers but this really puts folks like Frank Williams in a spot.

Of course they FIA and the manufacturers say they will make decisions in consultation with the teams. But then Max Mosley has rammed down things people's throats in the past in direct contradiction to clauses in the Concorde, so I doubt if teams like Williams will take it too kindly. And really, for a person who supposedly was championing the cause of the independent teams, this latest development seems like a big discrepancy. From this article in ITV-F1 :

"In future individual teams’ management will relinquish their involvement and instead be represented by the manufacturers themselves, who will discuss prospective rules with the FIA at main board level."

Though the teams may hate this but they brought it upon themselves by not uniting strongly against Bernie, Max and indeed, even the manufacturers. Though indeed many team bosses have already cashed out and made lots of money in the process. And it seems increasingly likely that Ron Dennis will be making even more money than all of them when he and Ojjeh finally sells out to Mercedes.

But there are some good points about this latest development. One of Max Mosley's plans was to see a return to the old fuel consumption formula of the eighties but with a significant twist. Consumption of fuel would be defined in terms of energy content rather than volume of a specific fuel type. Instead of limiting fuel to say 150 litres of pump petrol for the duration of a race, it would be defined as limited to say xxx Kilojoules of energy for the race. This is significant for it means that alternative fuels could be used.

Also, the engine type and configuration would be free. And this means the possibility of vastly different types of engines and of course technical innovation and most of all, variety. There would no longer be just V8s or V10s in the field. There could be a methane powered turbocharged V16 and it wouldn't matter. But of course, in focusing on energy consumption, it is the manufacturers who have the advantage. They have been researching these technologies for decades now. At the beginning, I foresee many technologies introduced will not be new ones but simply redeveloped and redeployed for racing purposes. And in the broader scheme of things, as marketing tools.

There are many factors involved with Cosworth's departure from grand prix racing but I wonder if this new future is not one of them. Though they have built alternative fuel powerplants in the shape of methanol Indy race engines, I wonder how their comparatively meager budget could cope with the full weight of different technologies from manufacturer labs, already in advanced state of development. The effort required by the likes of Cosworth to catch up would I think be too much for them.

Change can create new opportunities. There are literally dozens of small, highly innovative companies out there whose main purpose is to develop alternative powerplants. Perhaps from these companies will emerge the new Cosworths and Ilmors of the future. Personally I feel that they should simply specify a simple hydrogen internal combustion (IC) engine formula. It is far easier to adapt your road car to burn hydrogen than it is to say, methanol. In fact, BMW themselves have made significant research into this and if I'm not mistaken, some buses in Los Angeles already use hydrogen IC. Fuel cell technology is expensive so why not use a cheaper, proven technology instead? Hydrogen combustion is clean and the technology is already in use everyday by you and me. This would have been better for it meant that companies like Cosworth could still be relevant to grand prix racing.

So much for Cosworth but what of Ferrari? I mean, they are a manufacturer of road cars as well to be sure. But theirs are high performance road cars. I mean, I love Ferrari road cars (in stark contrast to the racing team) but try defining the social relevance of a Ferrari 599 GTB. Ferrari are in many ways are in the same boat as Cosworth. Though their business be highly profitable and thus affords them a larger R & D budget but how will they steal an edge over the manufacturers who, as I said, already have alternative technologies long in development. That will be interesting. And as far as governance in the sport is concerned, it will be interesting to see how they plan to get their way what with the GPMA scoring such a significant victory by being at the "board level" in future decision making.

It seems slightly sinister then that the sport will effectively become a manufacturer testing facility. What started as a championship to find the world's best driver and racing team have now been infused with new objectives of road, social and industry relevance. In the past, I have condemned this as an unnecessary corruption of what is racing's pinnacle. But I am in the minority I know. Predicting the future one way or another is often foolish, so I'll just hope that at least the (new) Establishment will form detailed regulations that bring about more spectator excitement, such as measures to improve overtaking.

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