|
||||||
|
Well, the FIA today released a 24-car entry list for 2010, and it is now official that USF1 will not participate in this year’s Formula 1 season. As an American who was hoping for a team based in this country, I don’t really know who to blame for this, but I can’t help but feel betrayed. Voodoo Bob Ahem…Campos? USF1? Are you ever going to name your second drivers? You’re fanning the flames of Bernie’s speculation that you aren’t going to make the grid, you know. Voodoo Bob So, while we wait for the announcement of the second drivers for Renault, Campos, and USF1, let’s take a look at what has changed in Formula 1 for the 2010 season: • Four new teams: Lotus, Campos, Virgin (formerly Manor GP), and USF1 (let’s hope for a US Grand Prix to follow in 2011) • The loss of two more factory teams – BMW and Toyota • Driver changes: Alonso to Ferrari, Kubica to Renault, Raikkonen out to WRC, Button to McLaren, Rosberg and the return of Michael Schumacher to Mercedes (Brawn), Barichello to Williams, Trulli to Lotus • New drivers (so far): Bruno Senna at Campos, Lucas de Grassi at Virgin (Manor GP), Jose Maria Lopez at USF1, Kamui Kobayashi and Pedro de la Rosa at Sauber (neither is completely new, but both now have full-time rides) • No KERS • No refueling • Narrower front tires (from 270 mm to 245 mm) • New race in Korea • The last year for Bridgestone • BMW bought back by Sauber • A new FIA President – Max is gone, Jean Todt is in • Canada is back on the calendar, but still no US Grand Prix • A revamped Bahrain circuit • Mercedes dumps its 40% share of McLaren and now owns 75% of Brawn, which has become Mercedes GP • A new points system (25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1 top ten is the latest proposal by FOTA) • Former F1 drivers as part of group of 3 permanent stewards selected from a pool of 10, plus 1 national steward, for a total of 4 at each event, hopefully bringing a more professional aura to stewarding • Engine changes: Williams to Cosworth. All of the new teams also Cosworth-powered • Several regulation detail changes in the areas of testing, garage placement, qualifying, and engine use
Given the changes in the driver lineup and all of the above, 2010 should prove to be a very interesting year in F1. I can’t wait for March 14th!
Voodoo Bob
Well, while we await a final drivers lineup, here’s at least one thing we know…the 2010 Formula 1 race schedule. Bahrain: March 14 Australia: March 28 Malaysia: April 4 China: April 18 Spain: May 9 Monaco: May 16 Turkey: May 30 Canada: June 13 Valencia: June 27 Britain: July 11 Germany: July 25 Hungary: August 1 Belgium: August 29 Italy: September 12 Singapore: September 26 Japan: October 10 Korea: October 24 Brazil: November 7 Abu Dhabi: November 14
The USF1 Web site is finally up and running. Now this is news! Michael Schumacher, the most successful driver in the history of Formula 1, confirmed today that he will drive for Mercedes GP in 2010. The Mercedes team, formerly known as Brawn GP, won both the drivers championship with Jenson Button and the constructors championship in 2009, so their status as a 2010 contender, with or without the star driver, is well established. Last month, Ross Brawn and Mercedes-Benz announced that the German manufacturer had relinquished its 40% share in McLaren and had purchased a 75.1% share in Brawn. Nico Rosberg, also a German national, has already been announced as their first driver. Now, with the signing of seven-time World Champion Schumacher, they will be an all-German team, set to face off against the all-British team of McLaren, Hamilton, and Button, who defected to McLaren shortly after the buyout. Some speculate about Schumi’s ability to be competitive after three years away from the sport, especially at the “advanced” age of 41. Oddsmakers have him at 5/1, the third favorite for the championship, but many think he’s unlikely to even win a race next year. But before we count him out we should remember that he has been racing touring cars and motorcycles since his 2006 retirement from F1, and that he is one of the most dedicated of all sportsmen to maintaining his fitness. We should also not forget that the great Juan Manual Fangio was 38 when he made the move to grand prix cars, 40 when he won his first championship, and 46 when he won his fifth and last one. And Mark Martin’s still doing pretty well handling those NASCAR tanks at 50. Being a little on the old side doesn’t kill one’s competitive spirit. The return of Schumacher, along with a new rules package and FIA President, will hopefully add enough spark to the series to fill the grandstands once again. I can’t wait for the season to begin! Hmmm…Ferraris have always been red, McLaren is all British, Mercedes is all German, USF1 is coming…get out the green, silver, and white/blue paint! Voodoo Bob Citroën confirmed today that Kimi Räikkönen has signed a one-year deal to compete in the World Rally Championship with its Junior Team in a C4 backed by Red Bull. The “second-string” Citroën team already runs a car for driver Sébastien Ogier, complementing the factory team cars of Dani Sordo and Sébastien Loeb. Kimi’s co-driver for 2010 will be Kaj Lindstrom, who co-drove with four-time World Rally champion Tommi Mäkinen in the 1990s. Kimi drove in this year’s WRC Finnish rally and ran as high as a respectable 15th before he crashed on day two. This is a great opportunity for both Citroën, which has top-notch equipment, and Räikkönen, who just might have loads of untapped talent for this type of racing. Hyvää onnea, Kimi! You’re a Finn; you can do it! Now if only someone like SPEED TV would sign a contract with the WRC so we could watch the 2010 rallies live in the States…please? Voodoo Bob The team that Peter Sauber bought back from BMW has been given the 13th spot on the 2010 Formula 1 grid. A letter from the FIA to Sauber reportedly stated that their application for an entry in the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship had been successful. Sauber, of course, must now sign the new Concorde Agreement because BMW failed to do that prior to announcing that they would be leaving Formula 1. Apparently, this decision was reached with the support of the other teams and the commercial rights holder (Bernie). I don’t know about you, but this is good news to me. I think that Sauber, based on past participation and performance, deserves to be on the grid. We have yet to find out what the status of Stefan Grand Prix will be if it proceeds with the purchase of Toyota’s F1 team. Unlike BMW, Toyota did sign the Concorde Agreement before abandoning its plans to participate in the 2010 championship, and Stefan, provided it can be prepared to race next year, may feel that the 13th grid spot should have rightfully belonged to it. In other F1 news, rumors are emerging that have Prodrive planning to buy the Renault team. Now that is a surprise, at least to me, but if David Richards does buy Renault F1, they too have signed the Concorde Agreement for the 2010-2012 seasons. If both Prodrive and Stefan want to play, who will get the nod? This is becoming a very interesting off-season. Not only big-name drivers playing the usual musical chairs game, but multiple teams themselves changing hands. F1 is finally getting back to being more entertaining than political, and they haven’t even started racing yet. Stay tuned for more shortly. So many teams; so few grid spots and major manufacturers. If both the Toyota and Renault sales actually happen, only Ferrari and Mercedes will remain as factory teams…and the latter only because it bought out Brawn. Voodoo Bob It appears that the deal with Qadbak has fallen through and BMW has agreed to sell its Formula 1 team back to Peter Sauber. This is, of course, contingent upon the team being allowed back onto the grid by the FIA, since BMW failed to sign the new Concorde Agreement before they announced that the team would not compete in 2010. Since Toyota later announced its intention to quit F1, leaving an open spot in the 2010 lineup, this will hopefully be only a formality and not a problem. Surely Frank and Patrick wouldn’t oppose allowing Sauber back in, would they? Good for Peter and the members of the team who now won’t have to worry about losing their jobs. There will apparently still have to be some cuts, but nothing like if the team had just folded. Yet more confirmation that Max was right about at least one thing – privateers like Peter Sauber are more stable than manufacturers (except Ferrari) when it comes to Formula 1. And one less team in the hands of an investment group that couldn’t care less about the sport doesn’t hurt my feelings at all. Voodoo Bob Jimmie Johnson reserved himself a place in the NASCAR Hall of Fame yesterday when he became the first driver in the 61-year history of NASCAR to win four consecutive Cup championships by finishing fifth at Homestead. Although you never know who might be involved in one of “the big ones,” there was little doubt he could achieve this landmark, since he only had to finish 25th or better at the start of the race to secure the title…27th or better after leading the first lap. Since 2006, Johnson has essentially owned the ten final races known as The Chase. Johnson spent this season tied with Cale Yarborough, the only other NASCAR driver to win three in a row, for the consecutive championships record. He now stands alone in the record book. Having achieved his fourth title in only eight seasons, his winning pace also exceeds that of other four-time-or-more winners Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, and Jeff Gordon. Can he win a fifth, a sixth, a seventh, or even an eighth? Driving for Hendrick Motorsports, the class act of today’s Sprint Cup scene, I don’t see why not. He and crew chief Chad Knaus are definitely on a roll and are showing no signs of fading anytime soon. Also for the first time in NASCAR history, a single team achieved the “trifecta” when Hendrick drivers Johnson, Mark Martin, and Jeff Gordon finished the season in first, second, and third places overall. In other on-track action yesterday, Juan Pablo Montoya showed “Smoke” what payback is all about. It all started on lap 116 when Montoya, probably inadvertently, bump-drafted Stewart. Later the same lap, Stewart retaliated by deliberately coming down on Montoya, cutting his right front tire, which put him into the wall. Montoya, a serious chase contender for the first time this year, had to go to the garage to fix the damage and lost 28 laps and any chance to finish higher than eighth in the championship standings. Juan Pablo emerged from the garage and went immediately on a mission of getting even. It didn’t take him long to chase Smoke down, and on lap 155 he bump-drafted him again, this time hard enough to buckle his own hood, and sent Tony spinning off the track and back to 33rd. Smoke eventually worked his way back up to 22nd, but Montoya’s message had been delivered; you don’t mess with the open-wheel star from Colombia. NASCAR penalized Juan Pablo two laps, but when you’re already down 28 what’s two more? Watch out for Montoya next year. He finally showed this year that a foreign-born open-wheeler with an Indy 500 win, seven Formula 1 wins, two Daytona 24-hour wins, and a CART championship can run with the good ol’ boys in taxicabs too. And he ain’t scared to do whatever bumping and grinding it takes to show he belongs there. With five top-five finishes in the ten races of this year’s chase, he showed a consistency that’s likely to make him a force to be reckoned with next season. Now that the Formula 1, IndyCar, American Le Mans, Grand-Am, NHRA, World Rally, and NASCAR seasons are over, what am I going to write about between today and Daytona? Voodoo Bob |
||||||
|
Copyright © 2010 The Voodoo Images Blog - All Rights Reserved |
||||||
