About Michele Rahal

Michele Rahal began his career as a professional racing driver in the United States driving for top road racing teams and owners such as Tom Gloy Motorsports, Lever Brothers and the Championship Group. His professional racing career continued from 1980 to 1987. In 1988, Mr. Rahal retired from active driving and moved on to create motorsports insurance packages for teams, events, facilities and drivers developing and instituting programs through such world renowned institutions as Lloyds of London.

Formula One: Vettel Makes Ass of Himself and Ferrari Sees Red

March 24, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Ferrari’s President, Luca Di Montezemolo, isn’t a happy man after malaysian GP.

This very moment a new color is being developed at Ferrari and it’s the color of Luca Di Montezemolo’s face. Beyond blood red and Ferrari red combined. Stefano Domenicali is most probably on the receiving end of every torture device that Leonardo Da Vinci had ever conceived in the dark recesses of his mind.

In Sepang Malaysia today, in a move that you might, and I do mean might see in a Formula Renault 3.5 race, Domenicali left Fernando Alonso out on the track after a first lap incident where Ferrari’s number one driver touched the rear of a Red Bull being piloted by NASCAR’s next star, Sebastian Vettel, more on that later.

The incident occurred in turn two on a wet track that had everyone coming close to disaster. Such is the nature of a Formula One race in Sepang, they, along with the weather, are always unpredictable. That wasn’t the real problem. The problem was that it was obvious to anyone with eyes to see, and the teams see everything as we do, that the damaged front wing of Alonso was not going to make it into the window of pit stops that would have everyone switching to slicks.

Granted it would be two to three laps before that change would be called for under ‘normal’ circumstances for a drying track. This was anything but a normal circumstance. On the start, Alonso’s teammate, Felipe Massa pulled a ‘scare’ tactic on Alonso by moving over on him. However, Alonso doesn’t scare easily, if ever, and the Spaniard simply went left, jarring Massa’s sensibilities, and up the middle to place him right behind Vettel. Alonso had no intention of letting Vettel get away, but the bold move put the Ferrari driver right on the gearbox of Vettel and ever so slightly into it.

Stefano Domenicali has seen better days.

Any Formula One team want’s to get as much ‘point’ insurance in the bank as early in the season as possible, but the gamble that Domenicali took cost the team any chance at driver points for Alonso and valuable Constructors points for the team.

Had Alonso been called in immediately he would have taken on slicks and at least had a fighting chance to get a points paying finish early in the season. Adding insult to injury, for Massa’s bravado at the start all it got him was a 5th place finish and, quite possibly, a bare bottom caning by the emotional President of Ferrari. Ferrari had a shot and Domenicali blew it bigger than the Hindenburg refueling.

Despite putting on the corporate face for the world, rest assured Dante’s Inferno is being reenacted in Maranello, Sepang and the dark confines of the Scuderia’s dungeons as we write.

As for Vettel and NASCAR, Brian France can only be imagined saying, ‘that’s how we do it here in the U.S. drive dirty and lie like hell about it afterwards”! After the race began to settle in with Webber comfortably in the lead over Vettel with just over ten laps to go after pit stops, Christian Horner, Red Bull’s Team Principle, delivered orders to both Vettel and Webber to ‘hold their positions’. I’m not one for team orders but it only made sense when you know that these tyres degrade more rapidly when the cars are too close to one another.

Webber was told to turn his engine power down, which he did, Vettel did not, despite being told to do so. What ensued was Vettel tracking down Webber and, in a dogfight between the two that put the entire team in jeopardy, Vettel passed Webber in a potentially dangerous move to take the win. Horner was not amused.

Mark Burnett decides to recast Sebastian Vettel as Satan in “The Bible” miniseries.

According to Horner: “He (Vettel) put his interests beyond what the team’s position was. He was focused on those seven points difference between second and first place-which was wrong. He has accepted it was wrong”.

Sure he has, and the new Pope smokes grass.

According to Horner Vettel also apologized to Mark Webber and they will all focus on the next race. Then they’ll all go to Disneyland together.

Webber has but the 2013 season under contract with Red Bull. Vettel has until 2014. The move that Vettel made may end up costing him dearly over the course of this season as Webber seems to be resigned to the fact that this will be his last with Adrian Newey designed car. He hasn’t said as much, but all signs seem to point to it. Just imagine if Webber is in between Vettel and Alonso, will he do anything to help protect Vettel? No chance. Vettel has made an enemy in his teammate in a season that hasn’t flushed out who really has the advantage and that’s a dangerous place to be.

Mark Webber thinks Vettel is ‘Number One’.

As competitive as this season appears to be shaping up you can almost bank on a DNF from Vettel at some point and no one is going to pity him, help him or move over for him. To make matters worse, Webber is now openly accusing Red Bull of favoring Vettel. It’s not a mystery that Webber is a number two driver to Sebastian Vettel, the drivers accept their place willingly to drive the best equipment.

But don’t be surprised if the next bit of news from the F1 world is that Mark Webber enrolls in the Kevin and Delana Harvick School of Payback.

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Why Kimi Raikkonnen Scares Ferrari and McLaren

September 17, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Kimi Raikkonen never seems bothered by what’s going on around him in Formula One

When Kimi Raikkonnen left Formula One for World Rally in 2009 the team principles in the paddock didn’t give him a chance in hell of returning.

Why would they? After all, once you’ve reached the top everything else is downhill. At least that’s the prevailing wisdom. And there’s a great deal of truth to that thinking.

But then there’s Kimi. He’s different. He should have been the poster boy for the famous Apple ads.

This driver had only 23 racing starts, other than karting, to his name when he was grabbed by Sauber…not a brilliant start for a seasoned driver, but finishing sixth in the points for someone with so little experience was astonishing. McLaren noticed.

Raikkonen is what is known as a natural driver, which shouldn’t be confused with a technical driver.

Both are the extreme, but also the norm in Formula One. It is very rare to find a natural driver who has technical abilities that allow them to deliver appropriate feedback that computers simply don’t yet have.

Fernando Alonso comes to mind.

With the Lotus team delivering a car that requires less input from the driver, Raikkonen’s multiple returns to the podium this season have placed all of the top teams in a bit of a rear view mirror mode.

Raikkonen came back to Formula One as if he had never left

No one even thought it mildly possible that the Finn could return after two years absence and perform at the level he has.

The fact that he has six podiums in 2012, sits just 38 points behind Alonso and a meaningless one point behind Lewis Hamilton proves that he has developed a baseline to strike for a win at any given time.

It also gives pause to those who thought he would languish in mid-pack as has Michael Schumacher after his sabbatical.

All of the top teams have cause to be worried about Raikkonnen and the Lotus, but with one caveat.

He hasn’t won a race this season, however, they know he can and that would change everything.

The one weakness that stands out this season for Lotus, the Iceman and potentially the next race in Singapore, is qualifying.

The Lotus has the race pace to collect a win, but in order to do so he has to start from the front row, preferably the pole.

In Formula One that’s normal, but it’s also his weakness. Collecting passing spots at the start is always the easiest, given the passing difficulty of Formula One, but it isn’t the preferred method.

If Lotus can take a win, Hamilton implodes, as he often does and Alonso somehow gets out of rhythm, Raikkonen could very easily find himself in a position to challenge for the championship and he’s made no secret that this is exactly what he wants.

If he’s to win at Singapore, he’ll have to up his qualifying position as it’s a street course under the lights. Passing is going to be difficult, but doing things the hard way has never bothered Kimi, that’s what really scares the big teams.

Well, that and the fact that he’s now using his wheel bumping NASCAR tactics to his advantage.

 

 

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No Betting on Wet Silverstone Formula One Race

July 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Ferrari President, Luca di Montezemolo, not happy despite win at Valencia.

Let there be no doubt that the only constant in this years Formula One season is its unpredictability. Consistency is there, if only posing as a small token of homage paid to the brilliance of the drivers themselves. Alonso, Vettel and Hamilton come to mind.

Silverstone should, by all rights, be the one track where McLaren and Red Bull will shine-perhaps.

McLaren threw down the gauntlet today proclaiming that their new upgrades for Silverstone should put them on par with Red Bull.

That statement is a bit misleading as Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren team principle, admitted or at the very least hopes that Vettel’s Valencia pace was track specific. One second per lap is an eternity in Formula One.

Immediately following the Valencia race, Ferrari’s President, Luca di Montezemolo, said in no uncertain terms that Red Bull worried him. Translated that meant a screaming, arm waving Italian style meltdown meeting was about to happen in Maranello. My bet is that it did.

He said, “I don’t want outsiders to think that one win is enough for us to put on a fireworks display,” he added, “It would be a big mistake to think the win in Valencia means we have done enough. We have a competitive car, but to win, we must do even more.”

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who is tantamount to a pit bull on acid, was the saving grace of Valencia by not easing off and using his considerable skills to stay near the front. The fact that Vettel’s Red Bull and Romain Grosjean’s Lotus mechanically failed is irrelevant to the driver’s points at the moment. The fact that they were both ahead of McLaren and Ferrari is very relevant to the livelihoods of the engineers from Renault, the engine supplier for Red Bull and Lotus, and the team technicians.

Like an old re-run from Star Trek, Alonso proclaimed that the Ferrari’s need “more speed.” They all need more speed but in Ferrari’s case, they need it on the medium-speed corners as well as grabbing traction sooner on slow corner exit.

Silverstone, were it to stay dry, would give a good indication as to whether or not Red Bull has actually found something. However McLaren, Ferrari and Lotus haven’t remained static with Silverstone updates. With rain, we may never see those upgrades reach their potential until Hockenheim several weeks hence.

Unfortunately for Red Bull, it is not likely to be a dry race or qualifying. Rain is, after all, the great equalizer. Mercedes is seeding clouds as we write. Lotus may as well employ the Navaho Indians to gain wet weather favor.

Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull have something to prove at Silverstone but may not get the chance

The rain may very well see Force India near the front joined by Lotus. Perhaps Raikkonen can satisfy his urge to win this go around giving him good reason to party, but don’t rule out his team mate, Romain Grosjean, who looks for all the world ready to take a win.

The greatest challenge to racing in the rain at Silverstone is that the corners are breathtakingly fast. Dry it’s a beautiful thing, wet is a challenge but manageable, too much rain and you can’t see the car in front of you.

Ferrari’s Felipe Massa may have said it best, “It’s okay if you are right at the front, but if you’re not in the top three on track, you actually have to look to the side rather than straight ahead to see where you are and this is the only type of condition we all hate, as you are driving blind.”  Massa needs a strong result and soon as it’s no secret he’s in a musical chairs position, the difference is young wolves are circling for his seat, not cute girls.

As defiant as “Uncle Hugo” himself, Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado has vowed not to change his aggressive driving. He may not have to change as in the wet he has the ability to take out several cars around him, which is not to say he isn’t incredibly good, but impatience in a wet race is an E-ticket into the gravel traps. If it’s dry he could be a factor.

Expect the unexpected again this weekend at Silverstone as this has been the only constant in 2012.

It’s been a fantastic season so far.

 

Maria di Villota lost an eye and suffered massive skull and facial injuries in a Marussia F1 testing accident

All of the staff at Motorsports Unplugged beg to offer our heartfelt wishes for a speedy recovery for Maria di Villota, the Marussia F1 test driver who was critically injured in a testing crash this past week. It is a stark reminder of just how dangerous auto racing can be. Her driving career may be over, but she has a life to live and we wish her the best.

 

 

 

 

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Formula One 2012: The Best Racing In The World

June 26, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Fernando Alonso scored an emotional victory in his home country of Spain to the delight of the crowd.

One can argue that Formula One has been predictable in the last 15 years, but that has most certainly not been the case in the 2012 season. The reasons are myriad but include a limited amount of track time due to rain during the allotted winter testing, the exclusion of blown diffusers and perhaps the most influential of all, the Pirelli tires.

In a season that has run eight races with only one repeat winner, that being Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, the team principles have conceded that they have no idea how to predict a winner at any given race. Good. The manufacturers want to sell cars and showcase their technology, but the fans around the world are what give Formula One such nationalistic popularity.

If such a scale existed, barring Fantasy Racing, predictability could arguably be placed on a scale and measured in degrees. The 2012 season is no different. The very same players are at the top of the heap and the new kids on the block, Lotus, Force India and Sauber have simply added to the mix of potential winners.

Alonso said prior to the European Grand Prix that Formula One seemed like a ‘lottery’-depending on the track anyone could emerge from nowhere to take a win. So far, that really hasn’t been the case. Red Bull sits squarely atop the constructers points followed by McLaren, Lotus, Ferrari and Mercedes. So consistency is beginning to emerge and become the one thing the drivers can cling to in hopes of winning a drivers championship.

Pirelli’s tires have proven to be the one major factor in how these cars react to any given track and that has become the big unknown. Each car has a different appetite at each track to the assigned tires from Pirelli. What’s wrong with that? In a world that’s reeling from economic uncertainty, the entertainment provided by this unknown is worth millions of dollars in viewership across the globe.

Grosjean tried valiantly but mechanical problems left him wondering what might have been.

In America predictability equates to boring. When Schumacher was dominating the headlines and the track, the U.S. audience tuned out in droves. When Sebastian Vettel had his season of total dominance, the U.S. audiences didn’t bother to watch after the first few races, it was far too predictable. Vettel to P1, Vettel disappears at the start like the Road Runner from Wile. E. Coyote. That was it. The 2012 season has caught them all by surprise.

Adrian Newey, designer of the RB8 Red Bull, has conceded that even as fast as Vettel was at Valencia, before succumbing to a bad Renault alternator, it’s a race-by-race season so far. Martin Whitmarsh of McLaren said, “It is very, very difficult,” he explained. “Everyone has given up predicting this season, so we have to accept that you have to turn up at each event and do the best job you can. That is what we will seek to do at Silverstone.”

That is where the excitement has come from this year. Every team would love to come straight out of the transporter and be a contender but the data they have hasn’t translated well to the Pirelli tires. They degrade at different rates depending on the driver, the set-up and the track conditions. It’s almost like rain, the great equalizer, where a driver’s skill, along with the engineers, have to make quick decisions on set-up.

All of the Cray computers, the wind tunnel information and simulations haven’t been able to transfer accurately to the actual track. Lotus was tipped to take Valencia and but for an alternator, might have taken the win, but even if Romain Grosjean’s car hadn’t shut down, he would have still have to have gotten by Fernando Alonso-easier said than done. The human element has been harder for the engineers to weave into their equations than they may have once thought.

Is this a bit of chicanery for the show’s sake? If it is, it’s working. If not, it is nonetheless taxing to the manufacturers, engineers and the drivers. They simply aren’t used to not knowing what to expect in anything less than predictable conditions. And, predictable conditions are never realistic. Temperatures change, track surfaces are different, humidity affects the engine performance as well as some of the colder climate drivers.

Whatever the outcome of the season, the racing has everyone looking towards the next race, Silverstone, rather than who’ll take the championship.

It’s exactly as it should be.

 

 

 

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Opinion: IndyCar’s CEO Randy Bernard Battling Mutiny

May 31, 2012 By Leave a Comment

The new DW12 was a brilliant competitor in this years Indy 500

Alcoholics have a sentiment about life and the bottle: ‘Taking another drink happens more often when you succeed than when you fail’. If you think about that statement in the context of CART vs. the IRL, it begins to makes sense. Awash with IPO money, the CART owners couldn’t resist taking another drink while running the series into the ground. What makes precious little sense is that when IndyCar is beginning to see daylight, a team owner, who is lobbying recruits in the mutiny, want to wrap their hands around that bottle, get rid of CEO Randy Bernard, and with shaking hands, slowly take another drink. It’s always someone else’s fault, right?

IndyCar had nearly experienced a mass extinction event when Tony George and the CART team owners of the day decided that hating each other wasn’t enough, they all ran to the cliffs of mutual destruction like Lemmings on acid. Funny thing about the ultra rich, they can prop up a dying horse for quite some time whether it’s the right thing to do or not.

Seeing Bernard tweet that ‘certain’ team owners were trying to oust him was a brilliant strategic move on his part. A new car that races well, the best television ratings in years for this past Indy 500, participation from different auto manufacturers and a competent, well run management team in place have everyone looking at IndyCar as a Phoenix while the fans are crossing every appendage available hoping it continues. It isn’t luck. Bernard has had a positive impact on the series and that cannot be denied. Bringing a posse of fans in with the fight thru Social Media is military strategy at it’s finest. Hearts and minds won without a single shot fired.

Now watching this little drama play out are the core fans, the casual fans and those on Twitter who love a good drama. Bernard’s tweet set off a firestorm of denials, most notably Andretti himself proclaiming on Twitter that he denies any role in the potential coup. Bernard knew that he could access the hundreds of thousands of fans and potential fans through Twitter and it’s a move that his detractors didn’t expect. He knows who the opposing team owners are and he knows that the best defense is a good offense. There will be a point where the insurgents will have no choice but to out themselves, if Robin Miller doesn’t get to them first, and be forced to defend their point of view. Bernard knows this as well. Niccolo Machiavelli would be proud.

In the case of Randy Bernard I watched carefully when they brought this soft-spoken man out of the bull-riding arena and into the modern day equivalent of the Roman Senate, auto racing. I didn’t have high hopes seeing someone outside the racing business trying to resuscitate a dying segment of the sport.

However, my concerns were ill conceived. He stabilized the sport in a time where the competitors were financially forced to race old Dallara’s to the point where people couldn’t stand the sight of them. The fans demanded that mule change and the DW12 was born. That’s one of the big gripes from what I’m hearing, the cost of the cars and spares packages. Yes, they’re higher than first thought. OK. Invoke the 3/2 rule here, which every single one of the team owners should know: “Everything costs twice as much as you think, is twice as hard as you think and takes twice as long as you think”.The team owners didn’t think. They and they alone have the burden of due diligence if they’re going to play in this sandbox.

The old Dallara chassis, in the end, did nothing for the fans imagination

Bernard inherited a television deal that was one step above infomercial status. Fortunately the media companies are in turmoil as well which has given IndyCar the potential for a better television package to negotiate. Time will tell if the mix of road courses and ovals will work to attract fans as planned. Filling the stands isn’t as important as filling the television sets, evidence this by looking at Formula One.

In Formula One this type of behind the scenes back stabbing is common and is life as usual. Treachery, Faustian pacts with the Devil, AKA Bernie Ecclestone, is all in a days work. One major difference exists in operating Formula One and IndyCar. The team owners, including giant manufacturers haven’t been able to oust Eccelstone. He knew early on that grabbing the television rights to the sport were key in retaining power. Bernard, however, knows that his stock is high with the fans and that is who ultimately counts in racing, whether on television or in the stands. The fans.

It was only after he took over as CEO did the talent pool begin to grow deeper. Competition does that. Brazil is now as much an IndyCar nation as the United States and all the while more American potentials have arrived on the scene to join the British, French and Samurai Sato. How can this be anything except a positive direction?

The owners, post USAC, have always thrown their weight around to get what they want. That strategy is natural unless you have a firewall in place to keep them from having too much power. Power grabs haven’t worked in NASCAR, just ask Roger Penske or Chip Ganassi. If anything, Bernard gave them too much say, too much power and the added burden of dealing with the auto manufacturers.

What’s next for Bernard? No one can accurately predict a battlefield situation, should it become one, but one things for sure, in his tenure at IndyCar he has improved a racing series that had one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel.

Everyone needs to take a long hard look at the global political/economic situation as it stands. It’s going to be a long hard slog getting back to, or anywhere near, what we as Americans would consider normal. In fact, we’re looking at the new normal for the foreseeable future. Would you rather have a puppet in place that cannot make their own decisions or someone who recognizes where it all stands and can operate in that environment?

NASCAR took every advantage of the spilt, what could they be devising in Charlotte to grab more at IndyCar’s expense. Bernard should stay right where he is.

Maybe that team owner should think about another series, Chump Car comes to mind.

 

 

 

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The 2012 Grand Prix of Monaco: The Most Unpredictable of All

May 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Has Ferrari gotten close enough technically to give Fernando Alonso the season's first repeat winner

In years past it hasn’t taken some obscure algorithm by Stephen Hawking to predict the winner at Monaco. You qualify on the pole and you’re expected to win the race. Not this year. The 2012 season has been the most unpredictable of the modern era. The reasons are a grab bag: The Pirelli tire degradation rate, which is a moving target depending on which tire Pirelli hands out at each race, the weather in testing and at each track, and finally the nature of the cars performance having become more track specific than at any other time in recent memory. You can’t get more track-specific than Monaco.

No one, drivers and engineers included, really know just how deeply their car is going to fall in love with the Monaco layout. Pat Fry, Ferrari’s Technical Director, seems to have a probable answer, but probable still places any explanation in the “Who Knows” category. According to Fry, “It is certainly unpredictable, it varies, and small changes in track temperature have a large effect on tire performance. I think it was China where that showed up the most.”

China or no, the swings in car set-up married with driver style along with weather conditions (you can add your own specific opinion here) has created a guessing game that has even the most powerful Cray computer rolling dice. If you add all these variables together then you have Monaco.

Monaco is the only track left on the Formula One calendar that is a true street course. It’s narrow, it has precious little run-off area, it’s bumpy and it’s mercilessly unforgiving. Not a good scenario when trying to plan a strategy. Constructing and executing a race strategy has been tantamount to a best guess so far this year.

Now there’s a new star in the show: The Super Soft Pirelli tire. This is the first time that tire will be employed at Monaco. Tire degradation management is of paramount importance to winning or losing this race and make no mistake, if the tires aren’t managed at Jenson Button levels, then all the race strategies that the team principles have concocted are useless. It’s one thing to have a plan, it’s entirely another matter to execute that plan. In this weekend’s race, truly the mission will not survive the first shot.

Pirelli's Super Soft Tire may be the key to winning or losing the GP of Monaco

The nature of driving Monaco is that it’s tight with huge acceleration coming out of the many slow corners. Wheel spin will be a challenge to say the least. Jenson Button is generally considered the smoothest driver in F1, but the McLaren isn’t optimal for this track. Mechanical grip will be more important than aero and getting the power down without burning up the rear tires will be difficult. This is one track where having good traction on turn exit is imperative. Has Ferrari successfully cured that glaring problem? It seems they have, but Barcelona is only one race and doesn’t represent Monaco.

Monaco in a ‘normal’ season, which is to say whoever is on the pole will run away, is not necessarily what we’re going to see. No matter, we will see Herculean efforts to start from the pole, this track is notoriously difficult to execute full-on racing passes and being up at the front gives the driver clean air and the ability to dictate their lines. But this one may be different. It appears that no one is going to run away at the front, despite their best efforts-and, their best efforts may be too much.

Should you choose to use statistics from the last five races, which is foolish at best, then you would have to look at the drivers who’ve been the most consistent: Sebastian Vettel, Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton. But wait…Hamilton doesn’t have a win and Pastor Maldonado does, and, Maldonado will get another win, Monaco, just ask him.

This writer isn’t betting for or against Williams repeating. Right now Pastor, the “Macho Man”, Maldonado is reveling in Latin American glory. He has shown flashes of brilliance beyond the maiden win and has a great deal of past experience at this track in the lower formulas, but if you really unpack what Ferrari has done with their exit speeds, stability and the fact that Fernando Alonso is at the wheel they could pull off a victory. Sauber? Sergio Perez can still taste that “almost” victory at Malaysia. What if Raikkonen and Boullier actually pull off a strategy that doesn’t look like a game of twister with old people?

Do you really want the bottom line?

Trying to pick a winner here is like men trying to pick out women’s clothes.

No one wins, everybody’s mad and you wont get laid.

 

 

 

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Formula One Testing Over, Australian GP Showtime

March 7, 2012 By Leave a Comment

Webber waits for the next set of instructions at Barcelona testing

Whenever the term testing comes up in Formula One circles the main sound heard is the moaning of the team principles that not enough time is allotted. That’s a fair assessment, as the difficulty in going from a computer simulation of the car to acceptable real track performance in such a short window must be unbearably intense. Consider that these multi-million dollar cars are like fighter aircraft that roll on the ground. How long does it take to get a new plane into service? It’s hard to imagine.

What’s even more of a challenge is to somehow read the tea leaves of performance from team to team as they watch, spy, shadow and God knows what else in order to discover where they stand with the competition. This is serious business.

Testing in groups has never really been a very accurate barometer of who has what going into a new season, however the 2012 testing has shown us, and the teams, a few things.

No matter what face Ferrari is trying to put out before the public on their performance, it’s obvious they have a complex car and it may not be a contender in the first few races. Alonso has been able to tear off a fast lap at both Jerez and at Barcelona, but even those in attendance have said this car is unstable on corner exit, mirroring some of the team’s comments. Could it be that the pull-rod suspension was a mistake? The advantage gained by using such a system is lost if you can’t balance the car’s weight. It’s a little late for a redesign.

Red Bull is still considered the favorite among the teams and pundits alike. This isn’t really based on their testing performance, but rather the last two seasons. Vettel is a very special driver, but reliability issues cropped up several times during the testing. Red Bull’s response is they’re not worried, but it’s something for everyone to think about.

McLaren has shown in full race runs that they may very well be the team that takes the Down Under Trophy. Hamilton has been able to string together a series of long runs that has put them on top where it counts- making it to the flag the quickest. It isn’t a sure thing but both Button and Hamilton have shown they’re capable of wringing the most out of the McLaren machine.

Alonso has managed to tear off quick laps with a complex 2012 car, are they behind?

Mercedes hasn’t looked blindingly fast, but they have been steady. They apparently have a car that isn’t as finicky as last years offering. Being consistent is always a good thing in testing as it gives the engineer’s a baseline to work from and the driver’s a confident feeling. It remains to be seen if they can get the most out of their package given that updates will most certainly be added on in Australia.

Finally comes Lotus. This team has been through more evolutions than the Cambrian Explosion. Finally they may have regained the form of Renault, where this Lotus was born. The car showed speed straight out of the transporter which is a feeling every driver want’s. The new E20 doesn’t change driving characteristics in corners or on different tire compounds. It’s a good thing as Martha Stewart might say.

The one major problem was a design flaw in the mounting of the front suspension. This cost the team a week of testing but yet a driver who has limited F1 experience, Romain Grosjean, and Kimi Raikkonen, whose been out for several years, both set fastest times and were consistent. Lotus may be the sleeper.

The truth is, no one has a crystal ball, but the teams have some idea as to what to expect as a baseline heading into Australia. The one thing that everyone up and down pit lane and in every technical assessment written so far agrees on is that the cars that count are much more evenly matched than ever. With cars that close in performance, it could be processional or a slugfest at every single corner.

Who gives a damn, bring it on.

 

 

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Daytona NASCAR Shootout and IndyCar Standing Starts?

February 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment


This week NASCAR kicks into high gear with the Shootout on Saturday. With a deep talent field, it could get nasty. IndyCar has opened the door to having standing starts. Standing Starts are the most exciting starts in auto racing which, is one core item that sets Formula One apart.

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Kurt Busch Most Disliked Driver in NASCAR, Courtney Force Debuts in Pomona

February 10, 2012 By Leave a Comment


Kurt Busch came in #10 on Forbes.com’s “Most Disliked Atletes in America”, since he’s the only NASCAR driver in the group..that makes him NASCAR’s Most Dislike Driver. Courtney Force debuted in her NHRA Funny car yesterday,
qualified 6th and will face off against her Father, John Force. Lotus remains fastest of 2012 F1 cars testing in Valencia.

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Patrick Says She Can Win Daytona 500, Raikkonen Fastest in Jerez Formula One Testing

February 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment


Danica Patrick can see where she might pull off a win at the Daytona 500. She cites Trevor Bayne as evidence. Her team owner, Tony Stewart only want’s her to learn in the 10 Cup races. Formula One tested at Jerez Spain and Kimi Raikkonen and his Lotus were the fastest on day one. Even in testing, a driver that hasn’t driven an F1 car in two years shows that the Lotus may be a contender for more than mid pack.

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