Is Anyone Ready To Overtake Red Bull?

So the Red Bull team finish the 2011 Formula One season as they begun, by dominating a race. Will they be able to keep up this superiority next year. One wonders if there are any other teams ready to give them a genuine fight for the title in 2012?

In previous years, sometimes towards the end of a season there will be signs from a teams performance that though they haven't had a good season that year they will potentially be at the sharp end of the grid in the following season.

At the end of 1997 Mclaren started to show some pace after several mediocre years. Mika Hakkinen led in Britain and Austria before being sidelined with mechanical issues and then David Coulthard won in Italy before Mika won the last race of the season at Jerez. That year they were a team clearly on the ascent, and this was followed by titles for Hakkinen in 1998 & 1999.

In both 1985 & 1991, Nigel Mansell had a good second half to his and his teams season, following them up by almost winning the title in '86 and finally triumphing and winning the crown in 1992. Likewise Alan Jones preceded his championship year by being the class of the field also in a Williams towards the end of 1979.

Red Bull themselves showed their intentions by outpacing the Brawn team after the first half of their 2009 campaign. Since then they have been pretty much stuck to the top of the race results. Mclaren have shown moments of promise this year but you wouldn't bet on them, or anybody else, leaving Red Bull in their tracks in 2012.

Seb & Nige

So Sebastian Vettel has set a new record of 15 pole positions in a Formula One season. This surpasses the previous record of 14 set by Nigel Mansell in 1992. Nigel though had just 16 races in which to achieve his record which mean't he was on pole for 87.5% of that seasons races. Seb has had 19 events to achieve his tally of 15 pole positions, a hit rate of 78.5%. So both drivers now hold records for the amount of pole positions in a season, both of them quite remarkable.

Rather Jacarepaguá

This weekend sees the final Grand Prix of the season at the Interlagos circuit in São Paulo, the track that has hosted the Brazilian Grand Prix since the early nineties. Personally I used to prefer the Brazillian Grand Prix when it was held at the Jacarepaguá circuit in Rio De Janeiro.  I thought the Rio circuit had a very good layout, the start/finish and back straight both seemed to offer passing opportunities and though it was flat I found the corners quite interesting. Formula One cars looked good going round the bends there.

I find Interlagos is too short for a Grand Prix circuit. It doesn't have that many turns and it just seems too brief and simple, not challenging enough for Formula One drivers. It also has few overtaking areas. The main start/finish straight is mainly a large bend and though in theory overtaking should be possible, it rarely seems to happen there. The pitlane entry is another area of concern, there is a tragedy waiting to happen there, it almost did in 2003 when Mark Webber and Fernando Alonso had massive accidents at that part of the track.   A few years back some advertising boarding was left hanging perilously over the main straight when it came loose from a gantry during a race.  I just get the feeling that safety concerns are maybe overlooked when it comes to Interlagos so to insure there is a Brazilian Grand Prix on the F1 calender.

I wonder why Rio lost the Formula One race. Probably at the time, the early nineties, Ayrton Senna was the local hero from Sao Paulo and there was commercial as well as popular interest in getting the race moved to Interlagos. I still think that Jacarepaguá was a better venue for modern Grand Prix racing, certainly safer and arguably more exciting.

Mixing Sport & Politics

I was happy to read today that Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed that the Bahrain Grand Prix will go ahead in 2012 despite some public protests in that country. Every country has a large percentage of the population that are unhappy with the government, that is part of life. Because there is a minority who wish to show their resentment by resorting to violence doesn't mean everybody else's lives have to stop. Why punish the motor sport fans in Bahrain by taking away their Grand Prix when they have done nothing wrong?

Unfortunately sport getting involved with politics and vice versa is nothing new, sadly the only people who suffer are the sportsman and the sports fans. Politicians and political activists are only interested in using sport as a means to get their message across. They have no genuine interest in the sports they are using for their own political gains and once they have achieved their goal they will no doubt lose any interest they may have briefly had.

Sportsmen and sportswomen are generally non-political, apart from the occasional loudmouth, most keep quiet about World affairs. That is how it should be. As a fan of sport and motor racing in particular, I want to see exciting races, I don't care about the politics of that country. Maybe if I was concerned I wouldn't want to see a race take place in China. Britain has seen rioting in recent months, why not drop the British GP until we are sure the underlying problems that sparked these unrests have been sorted out? Maybe the animal rights groups might want Spain to stop hosting their two annual races until they abolish Bull fighting? I'm sure I could find a reason not to host a race in every country currently on the F1 calender if I put my mind to it!

Despite not being a particular fan of the Bahrain circuit, I will be cheering when I see Formula One cars race there in 2012.

A Downforce Limit

There is a constant battle between Formula One car designers who are trying to create cars with more downforce and the sports governing body, the FIA who are trying to limit the amount that aerodynamics can help stick a car to the tracks surface. Designers and engineers want to have as much downforce as possible because the more the air pushes a car onto the tarmac the faster it can negotiate corners. The rule makers need to keep cornering speeds within certain limits to ensure the drivers and spectators safety.

The way the FIA have gone about reducing downforce is by limiting the size and design of the cars wings and bodywork as well as banning devices such as sliding skirts in the 1980's and, to be outlawed for next season, the blown diffuser. This constant banning of devices on the car and regulating of the car design has stifled innovation, especially the type of innovation visible to the spectator. All the cars have been regulated to the extent that they look almost identical, with only their liveries differentiating them from one another. It's making Formula One look almost like a spec series where all the competitors run the same cars.

A solution I can see that would allow more innovation and variety of design is not limiting the aerodynamic devices but by limiting the amount of downforce they produce. All you'd need is a wind tunnel at each race with scales in it to weigh the cars. The amount of downforce being produced could then be measured by the weight being exerted on the scales when air is blown over the car in the wind tunnel. A limit could be set of say 500kg of downforce at 300kmh. That would mean that whatever the car design looks like and however many and what size of wings it has, it won't be legal if it creates more than the specified amount of downforce. Teams would not be allowed to make any changes to the cars during practice, qualifying and race sessions. After each practice and qualifying session each car could be tested in the wind tunnel to see how much downforce it is generating. As cars are in parc-ferme between qualifying and the race there would be no need to re-test all the cars after the race, maybe just a random selection of finishers. Obviously a wind tunnel would need to be taken to each race, I'm sure that's no huge logistical problem though.

I think a rule like this would mean the aerodynamic and bodywork regulations could be relaxed and once again we'd see Formula One cars that don't look like they all came out of the same mould. Grand Prix cars shouldn't all look the same, we want to see identifiably different cars racing each other. There are already enough spec series going on, Formula One needs to set itself apart from these and be a place where innovation is possible and visible.  

Underachieving Italians

There are many Italian Grand Prix drivers whose careers have failed to live up to early expectations. No Italian driver has won the drivers championship since Alberto Ascari in 1953 which is a bit surprising considering the passion Italians show for motor sport and fast cars in general.

Many thought it was inevitable Michele Alboreto would become World Champion on the strength of his performances in the under-powered and under-funded Tyrrell in 1982/3. He got a win early in his Ferrari career in the otherwise Mclaren dominated season of 1984 and in the first half of 1985 looked like he was a serious contender for the World Championship. Somewhere along the line though his season and career started to unexpectedly head south and despite several more seasons at Ferrari he never showed the form that had got him there in the first place. His Formula One career petered out making up the numbers in the bottom half of the grid. Tragically Alboreto was to be killed driving an Audi Sports prototype in 2000.

Ricardo Patrese showed stacks of promise early in his career driving for another perennial underachiever, the Arrows team. He almost won the 1978 South African Grand Prix and at Long Beach in 1981 he managed to grab pole position. A move to Brabham in 1982 brought a mixed bag of performances including two victories that some might say he lucked into. They were at Monaco in 1982 where rain late in the race caused complete havoc sending several competitors into the armco. The other was his last race for the Brabham team at the 1983 South African GP, a victory he inherited from Nelson Piquet who was more interested in just securing enough points to take his second world title. He should have won on merit at the San Marino Grand Prix that year but for some reason decided to park his car in the barriers at Acque Minerale, an act that I'm sure pleased Patrick Tambay no end as he took the victory.

Patrese spent the next couple of years in uncompetitive Alfa Romeos before switching back to a Brabham team in slow decline. At the end of the eighties he joined Williams and at Imola in 1990 he finally got the win he threw away at the Italian circuit 7 years earlier. In 1991 he was very competitive, even leading Williams number one driver Nigel Mansell in the early season standings and grabbing two victories. The Williams FW14B was the dominant car of 1992 and Nigel Mansell put it to good effect with nine wins that year while Patrese managed just one. A lacklustre season with Benneton in 1993 wound up his Formula One career. At that time Ricardo had started more races than any other driver.

Jarno Trulli led the 1997 Austrian GP in his first season of Formula One while standing in for an injured Olivier Panis in the Prost team. In the fourteen seasons since then he has amassed a few quite good qualifying results and plenty of underwhelming race performances. The sole exception being the 2004 Monaco Grand Prix which he won, his first and last (unless he somehow produces a miracle in the Lotus) victory.

Andrea de Cesaris was unfortunately more famous for his rate of accidents than he was for his race results. To be fair to him though he spent most of his career in machinery that at best was rated mid-field. There were flashes of brilliance early in his career; pole position and leading at Long Beach in 1982 and leading at Spa in the Belgian Grand Prix the year after, both times in an Alfa Romeo are stand out moments. He could have also have won at the chaotic 1982 Monaco Grand Prix if he had not run out of fuel near the end of the race. Unfortunately de Cesaris wasn't able to live up to his early promise and spent the best part of the next decade in a variety of different teams. During these years good results were few and far between. In 1991 he joined the Jordan team in their inaugural Formula One season and had a brief return to form, most notably at Spa-Francorchamps once again where he ran second to Ayrton Senna before retiring with mechanical trouble. The following few seasons once again saw Andrea sliding again towards the back of the grid before his Formula One career petered out at the end of 1994.

There are probably several more drivers I could add to this list, I think these four drivers though excelled in having underachieving Grand Prix careers.  

My Grand Prix 'Grand Slam'

Both Golf and Tennis have Grand Slam tournaments, in each case four a year. These are events that have a long history and garner more support from competitors and spectators than other tournaments on the calender.

How do we determine a Grand Prix Grand Slam of four races that hold more importance than the other events on the F1 calender? In Formula One, all teams are obliged to race a whole season and unless there are unforeseen circumstances their driver line-up will remain the same for the whole year. We are not able then to distinguish one race from another by the entry it attracts. Also all races are roughly the same distance and they offer the same points. The only way we can really choose a Grand Slam of Formula One Grand Prix is by looking at their history.

Three quarters of the four events I would choose for a F1 Grand Slam are probably pretty obvious. The British Grand Prix at Silverstone has been an almost permanent fixture on the Formula One calender since it hosted the first round of the Formula One World Championship in 1950. The only exceptions have been when Aintree hosted the British GP in the 1950's and when Brands Hatch alternated as host with Silverstone from the 1960's until the mid 80's. Silverstone always attracts a good crowd and it is also the 'Home' circuit for a lot of the Formula One teams, who have their headquarters close to the Northamptonshire track. So in my opinion Silverstone is firmly entrenched as a Grand Slam event.

Another event that unquestionably should be regarded as a Grand Slam event is the Monaco Grand Prix. The playground of the rich and famous has held a Grand Prix around it's streets every year since 1929, except a break for World War II. The Monaco GP is such an integral part of the Formula One calender it is unimaginable not having it.

Monza is another circuit that few would argue against being a Grand Slam event. It has hosted Grand Prix races since the 1920's and since the Formula One World Championship started in 1950 it has hosted the Italian Grand Prix every year except 1980 when Imola hosted the event. Monza also has the most fanatical crowd on the calender, the Tifosi worshipping their beloved Ferraris.

The fourth and final Formula One Grand Slam event should be the French Grand Prix. The very first Grand Prix motor race was held at Le Mans in 1906 and starting even before that and continuing till today France is one of the superpowers of motor sport. The sports governing body, the FIA, are based there and the country has produced many top drivers and manufacturers. There are a number of reasons why it shouldn't be a Grand Slam host though. Firstly the most recently used Grand Prix circuit in France, Magny Cours, only started hosting Formula One races in 1991. The historic circuits that hosted races in the 50's & 60's such as Reims, Rouen & Clermont Ferrand are all consigned to the history books. The closest the French could get to having a race with a bit of history behind it is having it at Paul Ricard, a track that hosted the French Grand Prix intermittently from 1971 until 1990. Secondly, and more critically, there hasn't been a French Grand Prix since 2008. The prospects of there being one in the near future look bleak so this is one event that can't achieve the Grand Slam grade.

The Nurburgring in Germany could also be considered but the current Grand Prix circuit shares only its location with the classic 14 mile Nordschleife, it also only hosts a Grand Prix every other year since it started alternating with Hockenheim. These days it's an average track with lousy weather.

The final Grand Slam event would have to be the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps. Like Monza, Grand Prix races have been held there since the 1920's, though then the race was run on a much longer version of the circuit. The old long track was abandoned by Formula One on safety grounds in the early seventies and it wasn't until 1983 that Grand Prix cars returned to a shorter track that retained many of the classic parts and more importantly the charm of the original circuit. Spa is one of the few last remaining links with pre and post war Grand Prix racing. The track used to be entirely made up of public roads, the present layout retains some of these which gives it a unique character and sets it apart from the modern designer circuits that litter the modern Grand Prix calender.

So there we have it, my Grand Prix Grand Slam would consist of The British Grand Prix at Silverstone, The Monaco Grand Prix, The Italian Grand Prix at Monza and the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa Francorchamps.