Ferrari

Things are cooking behind the scenes as the F1 teams prepare to practice for the Turkey Grand Prix in Istanbul. The face of the great and venerated sport could be headed for its biggest changes ever.

The Formula One political atmosphere is dormant at the moment, and Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali believes it's the proverbial calm before the storm. As he told Auto Bild:

"At the moment it's quiet because something is going to happen soon."

On track alterations that might be sought relate to aerodynamics. Ferrari has voiced the opinion that there is excessive attention put into aerodynamic development. Domenicali went on to say, "If formula one is [to be] interesting in the future for manufacturers we need to ensure that all the elements of motor racing are there in equal measure."

When Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren spoke to Skye News he said, "I think whoever owns the sport in the future, be that the current owners or new owners, it's just important that the teams are more cohesive than they have ever been."

The current Concorde Agreement expires at the end of 2012 (not necessarily because of the scheduled Armageddon), and the most prominent F1 teams are gathering in Stuttgart, Germany next weekend. The future of Formula One is expected to be under discussion.

News of the simmering pot-boiler comes from the Daily Telegraph and Sky News' City editor Mark Kleinman. Kleinman seems to have had the inside track on the rumoured Rupert Murdoch intent to acquire ownership of Formula One along with a group of partners. Bernie Ecclestone has repeatedly denied the potential for that to occur.

News Corporation (Murdoch's company) has confirmed that a Ferrari associated company in the consortium to take over F1. McLaren, Mercedes, and Red Bull might well join the consortium as well. It is "absolutely conceivable" says Italy's Autosprint.

If this possible rebirth was to actually come together, there is the possibility of wonderful improvements, disastrous failures, and an explosion of temperament that might suck the Formula One brand into an imploding black hole. We will observe closely as matters unfold.

Flavio Briatore is not a man renowned for his deep introspection and making carefully considered and moderate statements. Like the company with whom he made fame and fortune—Benetton—he is bold, brash and can occasionally get on people’s nerves, but above all, he's almost impossible not to notice.

It won’t come as a surprise to anyone, therefore, that Briatore has looked at the 2011 Formula 1 season and already—after only three races—declared that Ferrari should give up any hope of winning and concentrate on developing their car for 2012.

He bases this bold assertion on the fact that at 1.5 seconds per lap behind the leading Red Bull car, it is too big a gap to make up. Of course, if the gap was that big he might have a point, but the reality is that in races—when it actually counts—the gap is under half a second.

Then again, everything that Briatore says must be examined in context and what he is really doing is defending the driver that he manages, Fernando Alonso.

He is quoted in The F1 Times as saying “The pilot is important, but the car is even more so, if a driver is competitive, a competitive car makes a difference, but Fernando [Alonso] cannot because the problem is the car.”

Strangely, there is no mention of the fact the Alonso has been comprehensively beaten by his supposed No. 2 teammate, Felipe Massa, in the last two races.

Briatore accused Ferrari engineers of lacking creativity and of building a flawed car, which is a bit harsh—especially when you consider that Ferrari are in the same position as they were last year when Alonso almost stole the title from out of Red Bull’s hands.

That’s not to suggest that Ferrari are happy with their progress either. Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo is also reported to have said that he will not stand for mediocrity and, "I expect our engineers to act with determination and know-how, unleashing the maximum of their capacity to improve the performance of the car in a short time.”

It makes you wonder what he thinks the engineers have been doing up until now.

Ferrari performed brilliantly in pre-season testing, however, F1 is a sport that never stands still. Cars are updated at nearly every race and change happens very rapidly. Ferrari have had a widely reported issue with translating their wind-tunnel data onto the car, however, now that the problem is identified, expect things to start getting better.

It’s difficult to imagine that Alonso will be sending his manager a thank you card for doing this. He is a racer and he wouldn’t be too keen to be writing off his season just yet.

It doesn’t require a long memory to recall that Red Bull themselves were in a similar predicament at the start of the 2010 season—they were fourth after two races—however they turned it around with a one-two finish in Malaysia and never looked back.

Neither they, nor McLaren, would be writing off Ferrari just yet.

If we said that Fernando Alonso hasn’t had a great start to the season, it would probably be an understatement.

While the Ferraris have been relatively consistent, they are well off the qualifying pace of Red Bull and McLaren, and while they’re doing better in race mode, they’re still not threatening the top two. More worryingly for Alonso, his so-called No. 2 teammate, Felipe Massa, has comfortably beaten him home in the last two races

The Maranello boys have also been upstaged by Vitaly Petrov (in Australia) and Nick Heidfeld (in Malaysia) in their Renaults, and then by Nico Rosberg in his Mercedes in China. Despite that, Ferrari are still third in the constructor’s championship and running fifth and sixth in the driver’s championships.

While things could be much worse, you would suspect that Alonso, given that he narrowly missed out on last year’s title, would have been hoping to be much closer.

The team’s woes seem to be related to translating their scaled wind tunnel information into speed on the track, no doubt causing a lot of concern amongst the white coat and pocket protector brigade.

So with all of the mediocrity surrounding the team, it must have been nice for them to get a real, clearly defined problem to deal with. The Chinese Grand Prix gave them just that.

On Lap 23, when battling to pass Michael Schumacher, Alonso’s Drag Reduction System (DRS) activated where it shouldn’t have—between the hairpin and the final corner. The designated zone for this race was on the back straight.

Television footage showed Alonso’s rear wing flap twitch a few times before opening fully on the run to the last corner. It was only for a few seconds, but it shouldn’t have happened.

The FIA were satisfied with Ferrari’s explanation that the issues were a one-off software “glitch” and that Alonso was actually hindered by the fact that the system didn’t actuate on the back straight when it might have helped. Alonso was not penalised.

Common sense reigned supreme at the FIA—make a note of this date, it may never happen again.

But surely this raises some questions.

The Ferrari DRS system, like everyone else’s, is driver operated with electronics preventing it being used in the wrong place on the track. It is supposed to only remain open under positive input from the driver—that is, the driver is supposed to be pressing a button, stepping on a pedal or holding a paddle on the steering wheel to keep it engaged.

When the driver lets go or touches the brakes the system is supposed to deactivate until next time it is “in the zone.”

How then, did Alonso’s wing operate? Even if the system error allowed the system to be activated, it should still have required Alonso to step on the pedal (reportedly Ferrari’s method to make it work). So why did he step on it then?

We only know that it activated on that occasion because an eagle-eyed BBC producer caught it on video. Did it happen at any other time?

In all probability it was a one off and just another symptom of a very ordinary start to the year.

Then again…

After the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the F1 circus takes an eight-hour trip to Sepang for the 13th Malaysian Grand Prix.

While Melbourne was a street circuit, Sepang is a proper race track where the differences between cars will start to become clearer.

The event, however, has been blighted by tumbling ticket sales over the past few years. The neighbouring Singapore Grand Prix has played a major role in this matter with its captivating night race on a street circuit, coupled with live entertainment by world-renowned artists.

Shabby construction and sporadic weather conditions haven’t helped Sepang, with calls for the stadium needing to undergo major rejuvenation. The circuit—which was built in record time to host its first race in 1999—is already witnessing its grandstand canopy exceed its lifespan by displaying its inability to deal with the tropical downpour.

The event has a capacity of 130,000 and recorded just 97,000 over the three days last year, down from 140,000 in 2006.

Dwindling attendances have also seen the Malaysian Grand Prix selling the cheapest ticket on the F1 grid this year, a lowly $19.

Razlan Razali, Chief Excutive of the Sepang International Circuit, suggested a night race to boost numbers before the rights expire in 2015. But there has been no reply from the petition filed to the government to fund a major overhaul to the extent of $59 million.

All we can do is hope for a dramatic, pulsating race that would draw crowds and save the event. What else can we look forward to?

TRACK AND CONDITIONS:

The Sepang International Circuit is built on the site of equatorial rainforests and, thus, boasts of hot, humid and energy-sapping conditions.

The country also has erratic weather, where it can be bright and sunny one minute, and pouring cows and elephants the other. This has wreaked havoc in the past (2009) and could very well do so again.

Adding to the testing conditions and pushing the drivers to the limit is the twisty nature of the track, which has a mixture of long straights and challenging, fast corners with the necessity of heavy braking. Turn 14 is a good example, which requires you to brake your car while you’re still turning into the corner.

Tire wear will be a critical factor in the race strategy of the teams.

The Malaysian Grand Prix is notoriously regarded as the physically toughest race of the year.

LAST YEAR’S STRATEGY:

The 2010 Malaysian Grand Prix was famous for the tactical masterstrokes hatched up by Red Bull for both its drivers—one in qualifying and one during the race.

In pouring conditions during qualifying, Mark Webber gambled by switching to intermediates during Q3 while everyone else continued on the wets. The track dried up as the session progressed and gave Webber pole position by more than a second.

Webber wasn’t so lucky during the race as he watched teammate Sebastian Vettel overtake him in the first lap from P3.  Webber still had a chance to win the race but failed to do so by not modifying his pitstop strategy.

He stuck to the original game plan by staying on his soft tires for as long as possible before making his only stop on Lap 24. Both Red Bull cars were on the same strategy and, by allowing Vettel to pit a lap earlier, Webber missed the chance to get ahead of his teammate.

Vettel went on to win the race while Webber held on to finish second.

THIS YEAR’S STRATEGY:

High speeds and high temperatures are a certainty for this year’s race. Tire degradation comes into the picture, with Pirelli taking its hard primes and soft options to the race.

Preseason tests have revealed that Pirelli’s tyres are much less durable than the Bridgestones used last year.

Drivers observed heavy wear in even the harder variant, which guarantee multiple stops. Melbourne saw a maximum of three stops, Sepang could see more. Sergio Perez is most certainly going to have to make more drives down the pitlane than he did in Melbourne.

The long straights will give an advantage to teams running KERS (hear that Mr Horner?). This also paves way for the use of the adjustable rear wings, or the Drag Reduction System (DRS), which are designed to assist in overtaking.

NOTABLE INCIDENTS:

In the inaugural Malaysian Grand Prix in 1999, Michael Schumacher in P2  slowed down on purpose to allow Ferrari teammate and championship contester, Eddie Irvine, to race ahead and kept the McLarens of David Coulthard and Mika Häkkinen behind.

After the race, the manoeuvre was found to be illegal by an FIA official and the Ferraris were disqualified, which made Häkkinen the world champion. Ferrari appealed to the FIA Court of Appeal in Paris which later overruled the decision and the Ferraris were reinstated.

The 2002 edition saw a fierce battle at the start of the race between Michael Schumacher and Juan Pablo Montoya, which eventually led to a collision between the two aces. Montoya’s manoeuvre was deemed dangerous by the race stewards and the Colombian was sent to the pit for a drive-through penalty.

Montoya finished second behind teammate Ralf Schumacher. Later, Michael Schumacher himself came to the defence of Montoya, saying that the stewards were a little too harsh on the Columbian.

The 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix was a true testament of Malaysia’s torrential rains, which saw the race being reduced to just 31 laps. As the race did not reach the required 75 percent distance (42 laps) to award full points, half the points were allotted for just the fifth time in Formula One history. After this race, the start time of the Malaysian Grand Prix was brought back an hour to 4PM local to combat low light.

PREVIOUS WINNERS:

Ferrari have been the most successful team at Sepang with five wins since the inaugural race in 1999.

YEAR	DRIVER	CONSTRUCTOR
2010	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn GP
2008	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
2007	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2006	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault
2005	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2003	Kimi Räikkönen	McLaren Mercedes
2002	Ralf Schumacher	Williams BMW
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
1999	Eddie Ervine	Ferrari

PREDICTIONS:

Martin Whitmarsh, team boss of McLaren rightly said, “Sepang is a demanding, high-speed circuit that is likely to showcase the performance of those cars with the best levels of grip and downforce, and which can best manage the tyres at what will be their hottest and toughest test so far.”

Efficiency is the key word.

The McLaren MP4-26 surprised everyone in Melbourne and is one of the fastest cars on the circuit, with the Red Bull RB7 slightly edging the McLaren in terms of speed. The two even share a similar exhaust system, which Red Bull claim was copied at the last minute from their own design after some rather mediocre rounds of pre-season testing for the team from Woking.

However, Ferrari believe that they have the better and more reliable car even if they are not as quick as their rivals. And with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel—who has won here twice in the last six years—you never know what Ferrari might fling up in Sepang.

As we see out the last couple of days before the opening race of the 2011 season, the usual conversations are likely to have been thrashed to death.  Who's looking strong?  Who are the possible outsider's? Who has the best car? Who's looked the best in testing? 

But what I want to know the answer to is whether Adrian Newey, with his deep reservoir of F1 design experience, has become unstoppable?

He has an absolutely gleaming CV, one that is unique in that he is the only technical director to have lead three different teams to the title, and it seems that at Red Bull, he is likely to continue his run of form.

Whilst Ferrari have looked strong during their out-season sessions, it is not without keeping a nervous eye on the drinks giant.  It is no secret that the Italian super team had a crack at trying to woo Newey to the Marinello based outfit during 2010. 

Luckily for Red Bull, he could not be swayed and is clearly a man of honour and loyalty and not just about the chasing a place on the Ferrari pay role, sadly a feeling that I don't believe his No. 1 driver shares.

We all know that Newey produced a near perfect car last year, something which I'm sure he has no intention of steering away from (excuse the pun), and with an unlimited source of funding and support, could Red Bull run away with things early doors?

If there was ever a driver that has the desire and ability to push a second title in a row, Sebastian Vettel, in theory, has the minerals.  Coupled with the design expertise and team support, he already looks like the favourite. 

But then Lewis and Jenson failed in the quest for the same goal.  It's all going to come down to his composure and whether he can prevent the number of silly mistakes he made last year.

At this stage Seb's biggest threat will be third title chaser Fernando Alonso who naturally raring to go. You can tell this from his press contact over the last 24 hours, as well as delivering in free practice.  

I have no doubt that once again he has the full support of the team, and it is clear that the villain of F1 has no intention of taking any prisoners this term.  All this can be confirmed by the relatively low key mood around the Massa camp, coupled with the fact that the Brazilian was nearly a second of the pace during practice. 

This is definitely a man in a similar situation to the perceived Red Bull second driver Mark Webber.  Dispite being a Mclaren/Jenson fan, I have no doubt I will find myself rooting for both of them. 

Unsurprisingly Alonso is more than behind the decision to lift the ban on team orders, it will be interested to see how that new rule is exploited throughout the season. 

Before today's practice sessions in Melbourne I had an anxious feeling that last year's four-team battle (Ferrari, Mclaren, Red Bull & Mercedes) at the front of the grid already looked like a two dog fight between Ferrari and Red Bull. 

Mercedes didn't seem to have themselves together, despite Schumacher promising big things, although he did look quick during P2 today. 

Mclaren made no secret of the fact that their car just wasn't ready, but with the announcement of some risky upgrades before they made their way down under, both cars topped the time sheet during this mornings second session.  Red Bull were naturally quick, finishing the free practice sessions in the top five.

Whilst the practice results have historically had little similarity to the overall race results, it is definitely good to see that the all important look competitive.  Coupled with some likely surprises from some good looking Renault and Torro Rosso pace, this season is set up to be another belter.

This piece is about one of the most commonly debated questions in Formula 1: Who is the best driver ever to grace the sport?

Formula 1 is a sport with many years of history and many of the greatest drivers ever. The sport is commonly thought to have been founded in 1950, but that is a myth. The 1950 season was the beginning of the FIA world championship, but there were many years of competition before that.

The sport of grand prix racing began before the first World War and the first race to take the name "grand prix" was a race in Pau in 1901.

The stars of the pre-1950 era include Nuvolari, Rosemeyer and Caracciola to name just a few. Tazio Nuvolari is the most well-known of the pre-war drivers, and his performance at the 1935 German Grand Prix is one of the greatest pieces of driving ever.

For the purposes of the piece I am going to stick to post 1950 drivers only, due to my lack of knowledge of the pre-1950 drivers and the racing of that era. So this is my top three—the podium if you will—of the greatest drivers in Formula 1.

Before anyone starts shouting at me remember, this is just one bloke's opinion.

No. 3—Michael Schumacher

Statistics: 7 World championships, 91 wins, 68 poles, 154 podiums

Michael Schumacher, in terms of pure statistics, obliterates all others. He is one of the fastest and most ruthless drivers in Formula 1. His desire to win caused some of the most memorable moments in Formula 1 history, in both good and bad ways.

He won the drivers championship five times in a row again, another record. Due to this the period between 2000 and 2004 is often referred to as "the Schumacher era." Michael Schumacher is a true great of the sport.

In 1994, he won his first world championship, but as become commonplace throughout his career, it was controversial. There were rumours of illegal driver aids, illegal fuel rigs and the car being run too close to the ground in an attempt to get an aerodynamic advantage.

At the Australian Grand Prix in 1994, there was again controversy when Michael hit Damon Hill, putting both of them out of the race and giving Schumacher the championship. With Michael, this controversy in particular destroyed his reputation in Britain with many people.  

In 1995, though, he was the class of the field and decimated everyone else and won the championship with ease. It was during the 1995 season that he did something that many considered to be madness. He left the Benetton team and went to the struggling Ferrari team.

Now most people would do what they can to stay or to move to a winning team. Michael left a winning team and went to one that was in real trouble. In 1996, Michael dragged round the pretty awful Ferrari F310 to positions it never should of been in. At the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix, there was so much rain a boat would of been more use than a car and yet Schumacher seemed totally at ease.

This is the first part of the Spanish Grand Prix of 1996. I know this is actually part 3 but the first two are just build up

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-otANq6HQw&feature=related 

He was going up to six seconds a lap quicker than the rest of the field and won the race by a mile. This is just one example of his talent.

Other examples of his brilliance can include the 1995 Belgian Grand Prix, the 1997 Monaco Grand Prix, the 1998 Hungarian Grand Prix, the 2000 Japanese Grand Prix and the 2006 Brazilian Grand Prix, just to name a few.

Sadly there are many examples of his bad side as well, the 1997 European Grand Prix, the 2002 Austrian Grand Prix, the 2002 United States Grand Prix, the 2006 Monaco Grand Prix and the 2010 Hungarian Grand Prix.

That's what is such a shame about Schumacher. All the talent he has and all of the amazing things he has done and yet some people all they will remember is his flaws. Many people consider this comeback a stupid idea and are actually enjoying watching Schumacher struggle.

My view of the comeback is that, this is a man who is so in love with the sport he just couldn't take being away from it.

I wish Michael all the best for 2011 and hope it is a more successful year and once again he can show his abilities.

No. 2—Ayrton Senna

Statistics: 3 World championships, 41 wins, 65 poles, 80 podiums

Many people believe Ayrton Senna is actually the greatest driver of all time. There is no doubt, Ayrton Senna is a very common choice for the greatest ever.

He competed in a very competitive era of Formula 1 with drivers such as Prost and Mansell, and his untimely death robbed us of the chance to see him compete fully against Schumacher.  Despite being against all of these talents, something about Ayrton Senna made him that little bit more special.

On a one lap basis in particular, I feel that Senna would be the fastest man in Formula 1. He could just find that extra 10th or two-10ths out of nowhere and sometimes he just re-wrote the rulebook of what is possible.

At Monaco in 1988 he took pole position by 1.4 seconds from the next fastest man who was Alain Prost in a identical Mclaren. He was 2.7 seconds faster than third place man Gerhard Berger in the Ferrari.

This is footage of Senna in Jerez in 1990. Just watch the commitment, speed and the quickness of his reactions.

But it wasn't just his one lap qualifying speed that makes Senna so amazing. Senna could produce the same across a race.

The most famous of these was at the European Grand Prix at Donington Park in 1993. This is the first lap of the 1993 European Grand Prix. If you don't watch any other footage of Formula 1 in the rest of your life watch this.

Remember, Senna is an under powered Mclaren-Ford and he is chasing Schumacher in a Bennetton, Prost and Hill in the all conquering Williams Renault and Wendlinger in a Sauber.

These are two of the best examples of why Senna was such an amazing talent.

His rivalry with Alain Prost is one of the most legendary rivalries in the history of the sport. The battle between them pushed the both of the two levels of intensity and aggression not really seen before or since.

There was a mutual respect between the two, but there contrasting styles of driving and their massive desire to win meant the two often pushed each other both off and on the track. When it came to world championship deciders between the two, the results were often spectacular.

In 1989 Senna and Prost crashed at Suzuka, when Senna tried to pass the Frenchman at the chicane and Prost shut the door very firmly on him. Despite Senna restarting he was later disqualified and Prost took the title. This is footage of that particular incident.

In 1990 it was the other way around when Prost get ahead of the start Senna put his car on the inside heading into Turn One and took both himself and Prost out of the race guaranteeing the world title for the Brazilian. This is footage of the rematch.

Despite this obvious ruthlessness and commitment on the track, off it he was a true gentleman. He was a strict Christian and he gave millions to charities in his native Brazil to help the poor. This made Senna a person who many found hard to understand.

Senna was killed at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola in 1994. He may no longer be with us, but he will always be remembered. 

No. 1—Juan Manuel Fangio

Statistics: 5 World championships, 24 wins, 29 poles, 35 podiums

He produced great drives and such strong performances that he can be put up there with Senna and Schumacher. He avoided all the controversies that followed Schumacher and Senna. This is why Juan Manuel Fangio is my personal choice for the greatest Formula 1 driver of all time.

The 1957 German Grand Prix is one of the most legendary performances in the sports history. At the Nurburgring Nordschleife, possibly the most difficult and dangerous track ever used in Formula 1, he came back from nearly a minute behind the leaders and won the race. In the process of doing this he smashed the lap record 11 times. Here are brief highlights of this monumental performance.

Fangio was able to take himself to that level that only a few can. He dominated the early years of Formula 1, except 1952 when Fangio didn't compete and 1953 when Ascari managed to continue his dominance from the season before.

Fangio won the world title four times between 1954 and 1957 and was the man to beat. In 1957 when he won his final drivers championship, he was 46 years of age. When people were questioning Schumacher's return in 2010, Michael was 41 years of age, a young man in comparison.

Fangio was as good as Schumacher and Senna and avoided all of the politics. He has to be my choice for the best ever.

So after a politically-induced delay, the 2011 Formula One Season finally kick-starts on the 27th of March—albeit on a different continent altogether. The Australian Grand Prix has always been the traditional season-opener, excluding 2006 and 2010, ever since the event moved from Adelaide to Melbourne in 1996. The fact that Melbourne will host the premiere of the 2011 season seems fitting, after the events (or non-events) that transpired in Bahrain.

Melbourne, however, should find itself lucky to even be on the 2011 Formula One calendar after calls to scrap the event following poor response in the last few years.

Last year’s event at Melbourne’s Albert Park cost the Victorian government A$49.3 million compared to the A$3.2 million in 1999. Dwindling attendance has seen the numbers fall from a record 401,000 in the inaugural 1996 edition to just 305,000 last year. However, last year’s race did see the highest attendance in five years.

But due to the shifting of the start time to 5PM local time to suit European TV audiences, the race incurred losses and eventually drew flak from all corners—the frustrated Melbourne tax-payers, an indecisive mayor and even the drivers who criticized the poor visibility at twilight.

Whether the Victorian state government will renew the contract for an Albert Park Grand Prix after the current deal until 2015 expires has to be seen. But one thing is for sure, Melbourne sure doesn’t disappoint when it comes to pure entertainment.

So what can we expect this year?

Track and Conditions

The Albert Park street circuit is widely regarded as one of the fastest circuits in the world, coupled with a consistent placement of 16 corners in a track design that features long straights, sweeping curves and tight chicanes.

The circuit has barriers in close proximity, especially on Turn 1, which has played host to a number of high-profile incidents in the past. Albert Park’s wall-lined confines, an ultra-slippery temporary track surface combined with fickle local climate offers unique challenges and ensures plenty of action and drama for the spectators.

Melbourne is a city where you can experience "four seasons in one day." The conditions last year were overcast with rain. This year, we could see a bright, sunny day for all you know.

Last Year's Strategy

Jenson Button claimed an emphatic victory in the 2010 Australian GP thanks to an inspired tyre strategy call from the then-defending World Champ himself.

In an overcast incident-packed race, starting on intermediate tyres, Button was the first to take the gamble to go out on the slicks and it ultimately paid off.

Pole-sitter Sebastian Vettel exited the race on Lap 26 after a rear brake failure, while Lewis Hamilton's charge through the field was halted by a switch to new option tyres. Robert Kubica held on for P2 on one set of tyres while Felipe Massa and Fernando Alonso also nursed a set of soft tyres for 50+ laps around Albert Park to take P3 and P4.

This Year's Strategy

In the previous seasons, a driver’s lap times would generally improve as the race progressed due to the lessening fuel load. This season we will see the opposite—greater tyre degradation will outweigh the fuel effect and lap times will deteriorate—hence placing more importance on a driver’s ability to manage tyre wear and on his team’s ability to pick the optimum tyre strategy. One-stop races will be passé, with two or more stops becoming the norm. 

Last year Bridgestone brought medium and super-soft tyres, and drivers complained the latter wore out too quickly. This year, Pirelli have revealed that they will take their hard and soft tyre compounds to the opening four races. The hard compound will be the prime tyre, while the soft variant will be the option.

Preseason tests have revealed that Pirelli’s tyres are much less durable than the Bridgestones. Drivers observed heavy wear in even the harder variant. Also, tyre wear was observed to be inconsistent, especially the rear tyres. Excessive wear in the rear tyres makes the car over-steery.

Pirelli were particularly disappointed with the decision to cancel the planned Bahrain test. They felt the higher temperatures would have given a clearer picture of the tyre performance we can expect at the opening rounds of 2011, where durability of their hard and soft compounds is expected to prove greater than that seen in the cooler climates of the Spanish tests. But whatever transpires in Melbourne, it’s clear that tyres will take centre stage this year.

Notable Incidents

The Melbourne track, with its limited run-off and tricky braking zones, tends to invite incidents. Melbourne often produces stop-start races with several safety car interruptions. Weird things happen in Melbourne—it tends to be a race of high attrition and crazy incidents.

The inaugural race at Albert Park in 1996 saw Jordan’s Martin Brundle launch into the air in the first lap and have a spectacular barrel roll into a sand trap at Turn 3, causing his car to break into two. The race was re-started.

In 1998, McLaren’s Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard finished in a one-two. But the result was clouded with controversy when Coulthard pulled over with two laps remaining to allow Häkkinen to pass through, honouring a pre-race agreement between the pair that whoever made it to the first corner in the lead on Lap 1 would be allowed to win.

The 2001 edition was struck by tragedy in when a flying tyre from a crash between Williams' Ralf Schumacher and BAR's Jacques Villeneuve flew through a gap in the barrier fence and killed a 52-year-old volunteer track marshal, Graham Beveridge.

In 2006, Fernando Alonso took his first Australian win in an accident-marred race that featured four safety car periods.

In 2008, Lewis Hamilton won from pole in a chaotic race that featured three safety car periods. None of the six Ferrari-powered cars made the finish in the blistering heat, and there were also the fewest number of finishers in a Formula One race since the 1996 Spanish Grand Prix.

The 2009 edition saw a bizarre occurrence of events when Toyota's Jarno Trulli was given a 25-second penalty for passing Lewis Hamilton for third place under yellow flags during a safety car period, which promoted Hamilton into third.  However, Hamilton was later disqualified and docked his points for "deliberately misleading stewards," with Trulli reinstated in third.

Previous Winners

Albert Park has been a happy hunting ground for Ferrari and McLaren, who have won here six and five times, respectively.

Year	Driver	Constructor
2010	Jenson Button	McLaren Mercedes
2009	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes
2008	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren Mercedes
2007	Kimi Räikkönen	Ferrari
2006	Fernando Alonso	Renault
2005	Giancarlo Fisichella	Renault
2004	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2003	David Coulthard	McLaren Mercedes
2002	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2001	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari
2000	Michael Schumacher	Ferrari

Predictions

After the Jerez, Valencia and Barcelona rounds of testing, it is pretty clear that Ferrari and Red Bull have the edge so far. Just in terms of mileage, they are way ahead of rivals. Ferrari have covered almost 7,000 kilometers, while Red Bull have burned 6,100 kilometers worth of fuel. And aside from an oil leak at the first session in Valencia and a few niggles in Barcelona, the Ferrari 150° Italia has boasted remarkable reliability. Red Bull’s RB7 too has run into very few issues.

The pace of both teams has been strong and consistent, with Red Bull leading the way. There’s no surprise that both appear quiet confident, especially with further upgrades coming before Melbourne.

McLaren, who boast of a good record here, just don’t seem to have the pace of the two front-runners. McLaren are way down the mileage order—ninth of the 12 teams—having racked up around 3,200 kilometres with the new MP4-26—less than half Ferrari’s tally.

Two Red Bulls and one Ferrari on the podium for me.

Ford have decided to sue Ferrari because of Scuderia’s choice of name for its 2011 racing car.

Traditionally Ferrari, and for that matter most F1 teams, have linked their car names to the year in which they race. So, last year's Ferrari was the F10, Jenson Button raced in a Honda RA106 in 2006, and Fernando Alonso was crowned Champion in 2005 thanks to his Renault R25 (etc, etc).

So, I think we all expected Ferrari to roll out the F11 this year. However, to celebrate 150 years of Italian unification, the team instead decided to name this year's car the "Ferrari F150th Italia" (or Ferrari F150 for short). 

Ford have argued that this name negatively effects sales of its own F-150 pickup trucks. Ford also complain that Ferrari’s logo is too similar to Ford's (which I’ve got to say is true).

To be honest, the whole story sounds completely bizarre to me. I mean, who’s going to confuse a pickup truck with a Formula One racing car? Furthermore, wouldn’t it be good for Ford being associated with one of the most successful racing teams in the world…for free!?

Ford reckon that "Ferrari has misappropriated the F-150 trademark in naming its new racing vehicle the F150 in order to capitalize on and profit from the substantial goodwill that Ford has developed in the F-150 trademark."

Personally, as I said, I think this all sounds mad! I think Ferrari do too as they said, “Ferrari believe that their own contender in the forthcoming F1 championship cannot be confused with other types of commercially available vehicle of any sort whatsoever. Therefore it is very difficult to understand Ford’s viewpoint on the matter.

"On the subject of the name of the new Ferrari F1 car, the Maranello company wishes to point out that it has sent a letter of reply to Ford, underlining the fact that the F150 designation [used as the abbreviated version of the complete name, which is Ferrari F150th Italia] never has, nor ever will be used as the name of a commercially available product—indeed there will not be a production run of single-seaters."

It will be interesting to see what the courts decide. I can’t see Ford coming out of this looking anything but petty and rather silly. Ferrari’s cars have been the F-something for years now and I think it was a great idea to celebrate Italy’s history this year. I’ll tell you now if Ferrari want to unwittingly associate themselves with me free of charge…I’m up for it!

Today Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa have become the first drivers to unveil their teams' 2011 Formula 1 car.

It is hoped that the Ferrari F150, (named in homage to 150 years of Italian unification), will be able to make up for the disappointing end to 2010 when Fernando Alonso narrowly missed out on becoming a three-time World Champion.

Now, to relatively untrained eyes like mine, the F150 doesn’t actually look all that different to last year's F10 (F150 images here).

I’m glad to see that the ugly shark fin has disappeared and I think the Italian tricolour on the rear wing looks awesome…but other than that, we’ve just got another beautiful Maranello machine.

The real test for this F150 will come in preseason tests and, of course, in March when the lights go out in Bahrain.  

The team also promises a very different looking car when it comes to Bahrain as they plan to add various parts over the preseason tests.

When the team heads to Valencia on Febuary 1st, Alonso will get the first two days of testing followed by a one-day test for Massa.

I think this proves, what we already knew: The car is most likely built to suit Fernando Alonso, and Massa will have to return to his pre-Raikkonen "support role."

Regular readers of mine will know that Fernando is one of my heroes, and will probably not be surprised when I say that I think this is good news for Ferrari’s championship hopes.

Alonso clearly drives a team very well—he always learns the languages of his mechanics and bosses (he speaks English, French, and Italian), and I think his driver feedback is priceless.

The F10 was probably built with Alonso in mind, but the F150 will have been built with Fernando physically there to drive development forward.

Massa on the other hand is a great driver and a thoroughly nice man, but I just think he’s missing that one little thing needed to be a great Champion.

It is an awful shame, but I think Massa’s greatest chance of being F1 champ was lost in 2008.

I don’t want to dismiss Felipe before 2011 even gets under way, of course not!

In fact Massa may be under immense pressure this year but he seems to feel confidence in his team and is hopeful that he will work well with the new car.  

Up next we have Renault, Sauber and Lotus in late January, with Red Bull, Mercedes and Toro Rosso following on February 1st.

However, the big news up and down the paddock is that McLaren will be late iin joining the party.  

McLaren insists they are taking last year's car to Valencia. The 2011 car is not yet ready and rather than rush it, they want to take their time.

I guess time will tell whether they have made the right decision or not, but to be perfectly frank, we won't really know who has the best car until we’re a couple of races into the season.

As a Ferrari fan, I hope that the F150 delivers, but as a Formula 1 fan, I hope we get a show as great as last year...minus the rubbish finale :)

Ferrari is the only team that has competed in every season of Formula 1 since the drivers championship was brought in 1950 (yes, I am aware they didn't actually take part in the first race despite being entered).

The team has won more championships (drivers and constructors) than any other. More wins, more fastest laps, more points, more pole positions, the records just go on and on. Formula 1 without Ferrari to many seems impossible. They are part of the very fabric of the sport.

Ferrari, however, hasn't always got on with sports governing body (FIA) and has left many people wishing that they would leave the sport. Being an elite team, they don't like having weaker teams such as Hispania and the other new teams in the sport.

They have also disagreed with the FIA on many of the various rule changes that have been implemented over the seasons. Ferrari will put up very strong objections to anything they feel that will damage the sports reputation or their interests.

In other words, Ferrari isn't worried about treading on other people's toes to get what they feel is right for them or the sport.

Over the past few years, the FIA and FOTA (Formula One Teams Association) have led to threats of a breakaway series being put forward on more than one occasion. One of the leading forces behind this threat have been Ferrari.

If you go back 24 years or so, Ferrari, some believe came incredibly close to leaving the sport. Not only did they threaten to leave the sport, but they threaten to join the CART series. In other words, Ferrari could be competing in the IndyCar series now if events had gone very slightly differently.

During the mid 80's, the speeds of Formula 1 cars were getting very high. The cars were getting dangerously fast and some of the turbo charged cars. Some power figures of the time suggested in qualifying trim cars had over 1,000 brake horsepower.

Also, safety was still pretty basic, so the mix of a huge power and limited safety equipment made Formula 1 a very dangerous sport. The FIA wanted to bring speeds down, so they proposed a change on the engine rules.

They put forward the rule that all engines should be V8s. Previously there were V6, L4, and V8 engines used in Formula 1. Ferrari were users of V6 turbo charged engines and a V12 engine was also being worked on around this time.

Ferrari did not want to use V8 engines and were livid at the FIA's idea. To compound this Enzo Ferrari was incredibly tired of the politics and off the track in fighting which did, and still does, sadly on occasions, dominate the sport.

Enzo Ferrari wanted to win the Indy 500 to go with all of the world championships in Formula 1 they had already won. He wanted Ferrari to become as big in America as it was in Europe. Winning the Indy 500 would push the Ferrari name even more in the United States.

So, Ferrari was angry at Formula 1 and wanted more exposure in the United States. Leaving Formula 1 and entering the CART series was not only logical, but something Ferrari was looking to do.  

In 1985, they got hold of a CART machine (believed to be a March) and took it pieces looking for more knowledge and understanding of CART cars.

In 1986, the Ferrari 637 was a car developed by Ferrari for the CART season. The car was tested quite thoroughly at the Fiorano test track with Michele Alboreto at the wheel. It performed well and was considered to be an innovative car with very promising wind tunnel numbers.

The 637 was unveiled to the press to huge fanfare. There had been rumors for a while before hand but for Ferrari to acknowledge them as true and to have a car ready was truly stunning.   

The Ferrari was meant to make it's debut at the Laguna Seca event that year. Then suddenly the FIA under pressure changed its mind. The engine plans were changed heavily. Now the FIA was proposing to allow any type of engine as long as it was a three and a half liter engine.

Ferrari was much happier with the new engine plans and the CART project was done. Ferrari, once again, committed itself to Formula 1. As a direct result of the new engine regulations, we saw the development of the now legendary Ferrari V12.

A great deal of speculation exists about whether Ferrari really did plan to enter CART or whether it was just a ploy to get the FIA to change its plans. Many people believe that Ferrari never truly intended to try and enter CART. Some believe that they did really mean to enter the sport and the FIA had to do everything they could to prevent losing them.

The fact went as far as building a car and hiring several people to run the CART series does suggest that Ferrari really did intend to leave the sport.

Whether it was meant to actually happen, in the end or not, will be debated forever.