My Week in F1: 22/03/2013

How about that rookie eh? Only in his second season and he's winning races and topping the time sheets in practice. Big, big future for Kimi Raikkonen in this sport. He might even win the WDC with someone like Ferrari one day.

Webber tyre-d with rubber dominance - Mark Webber has today hit out at the round rubber things that help his car around the track, saying that F1 is ruled by tyres. Despite being fastest man on the track in FP1, he said tyres were such a dominating factor in performance that little else mattered. Counterpart Sebastian Vettel agreed with Webber, saying that tyre wear was a step worse than it was in Australia.

Massa x 10 = Better driver. Solve for X. - Maths is an important factor in Formula 1, and Felipe Massa believes that he's 10 times better than last year's Felipe Massa, after outqualifying Fernando Alonso and finishing fourth in Australia. There's no doubt that his form has picked up, but can it continue throughout 2013?

McLaren refuse to turn back time - Despite a godawful Australian Grand Prix, McLaren have ruled out returning to the pace-setting MP4-27. McLaren's poor performance largely came from the utterly ridiculous poor decision to send their men out on to a greasy, damp track on supersofts during qualifying, but were poor throughout the race too.

Sutil eyes maiden podium - Look at him. Back for five minutes and he already wants to climb up onto the podium. Sutil was strong all weekend and that reflected in his 6th place finish, driving like a man with conviction. Force India came a long way in his year out, and he just might be the man to give them their first podium finish.

Bianchi bossing basement battle - Marussia have been buoyed by the gap between them and the midfield after a highly impressive weekend in Australia, with rookie Jules Bianchi just one lap behind the lead car, and more impressively, just two tenths of a second off of Sebastian Vettel's fastest lap.

My Week in F1:15/03/2013

Massive apologies for not doing a blog last week, I experienced severe mental trauma in the form of being dumped and decided to lay face down on the floor groaning rather than doing any form of credible work. Did you notice? Probably not, but never mind, Formula 1's back!

And to say sorry for lying on the floor groaning, this week's is a bumper special!

Button's Blessed Because Bull Barely Budged - New-old news this week as Red Bull team boss Christian Horner recalled how Jenson Button asked to move to Toro Rosso for the 2009 season after Honda decided to pull out of the sport at the end of 2008. The then largely-unsuccesful Honda driver was shunned for Sebastian Bourdais, who only managed to score six points over the 2009 season.

Honda was bought out by Ross Brawn, and Button won a long-overdue Drivers' Title over a dominant season.

A blessing in disguise that Toro Rosso shut the door? You know it.

McLaren-Honda: Blast from the past - More new-old news as Martin Whitmarsh has left the door open for Honda to supply engines for McLaren from 2015 onwards. This isn't the first time news of a reboot of the McLaren-Honda partnership has broken over the last few months, but an actual deal looks to be agreed, and the famous name from the 80's may be reappearing on the grid at the beginning of 2015.

"Simply the best, dum dum dum, better than all the rest": Mercedes - Ross Brawn, a man whom is seldom wrong, reckons Mercedes' lineup of Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton is the best on the grid. Despite playing down their chances of winning in the pre-season, fast times at testing may have changed many minds at Mercedes. It's a very big season for both Hamilton, Rosberg and Mercedes, as all three have a point to prove this season.

We are never ever ever, going to partner together - Vodafone will end its long-standing partnership with McLaren at the end of the season. The telecoms giant has decided not to renew its contract which expires at the end of 2013, with many sources indicating that bad press from the 2012 Bahrain GP influenced this decision..

Using driver trainers as pit staff?! Physi-oh dear - Race director Charlie Whiting has cautioned teams using physios as members of the pit crew, i.e. Holding out pit boards, changing tyres or even substituting for lazy drivers would see the physios being classed as 'operational staff', and would violate staff number rules. This applies to all other 'non-operational' staff such as caterers or marketing staff who go rouge and try to stick supersofts on a Sauber.

Boullier fears 'money war' - Lotus team principle Eric Boullier has warned of an 'insane money war' regarding technical staff, after Paddy Lowe's departure from McLaren. He feels that teams will keep upping the financial stakes to get their man, and could spiral out of control.

Ricciardo threatens to explode Vergne - Toro Rosso driver Daniel Ricciardo says he wants to 'blow apart' team-mate Jean-Eric Vernge this season, as it would be vital to developing his career as a Formula 1 driver. However, using explosives to 'blow apart' teammates is strictly banned by the FIA, and could lead to him being jailed.

Back to the drawing board, Danny.

Also, click this link.

By Oliver Butler

My Week in F1: 26/02/2013

Three more weeks until I can forget that Wolverhampton Wanderers FC are a football team. Oh, and Formula 1 makes its long-awaited return. Are you excited for the early morning start? I will be, once I've had forty coffees.

How Lowe can you go? - After much speculation in the paddock over the last few weeks, Paddy Lowe will be leaving McLaren at the end of the year, jumping ship to Mercedes. Lowe has been put on 'gardening leave' by his current employers, with Tim Goss taking the role of technical director. Lowe's appointment is apparently part of the long-term strategy to replace Ross Brawn, as sadly, Mr Brawn won't be around forever.

Button gets to grips with new Pirellis - Jenson Button has said how he now understands those round things on his car. After a wildly unpredictable start to 2012 with tyres degrading all over the place, the 2009 World Champion feels that this year's crop of rubber will offer a fairer playing field, and that teams understand their working range better.

On the other hemisphere however, Mark Webber says that this year's tyres will offer 'random' results and teams may find themselves struggling to find grip. But after last year's wacky season, I welcome unpredictable tyres with open arms.

Hamilton hots up - Lewis Hamilton set timing screens alight in Barcelona last week, with the new Mercedes driver topping the timing sheets two days in a row. Hamilton has set some thronking laps on hard tyres throughout testing, and whilst testing times and positioning mean slim to nil, Hamilton has looked good in Barcelona.

Williams in best shape yet: Maldonado - Pastor Maldonado feels that Williams have been in the best shape since he started working with them. After a stunning victory in Spain last season, Williams had a slippy slide back down the table with points-scoring opportunities limited, but a colossal improvement on 2011, their worst ever season. He's showered the new FW35 in praise and feels very optimistic about this season.

However, he'll never be a match for Nigel Mansell in an FW14B.

Jenson Button doesn't understand car - Days before revealing he understands tyres, Jenson Button admitted that he doesn't understand his car. He's unsure as to what it does and the loud noise scares him. The pacy MP4-28 is causing Jenson confusion as he is unsure how he's going to get a consistent performance out of the car. McLarens of recent years are pacy yet inconsistent, and Button's comments on this year's car don't exactly sound promising.

I'm also planning to write a book this season, either a 'My Year in F1' or something which is still under wraps, so give us a follow on Twitter (@OliiiB)!

By Oliver Butler

My Week in F1: 18/02/13

Another week, and unsurprisingly, another week of Formula 1-related news. So sit back and watch me pick those meaty morsels of news to pieces.

Revenge of the Sutil - Former Force India driver and convicted criminal Adrian Sutil is rumoured to be testing for Force India in Barcelona at the end of the month. After being convicted for glassing Genii Capital CEO Eric Lux in a Shanghai nightclub, Sutil has thrown his hat into the ring for the second seat at Force India.

Sutil appears to be the favourite for the second seat however, as he'd launch an assault on the field.

Hakkinen: Hamilton will struggle - Double World Champion Mika Hakkinen has warned new Mercedes driver and private jet aficionado Lewis Hamilton that he will struggle in his first season with his new team. Hakkinen famously won back-to-back titles with McLaren back in 98-99, and is doubtful that Lewis will be able to challenge former team-mate Jenson Button.

Caterham come back to reality - New team principal Cyril Abiteboul has promised that there will be a sense of 'realism' at Caterham this season, as the team has performed below expectations for the last three seasons. After three seasons of promising to challenge the midfield but lulling at the back, they are instead going to promise to lull at the back and actually lull at the back.

Next week: Christian Horner admits that Red Bull might not win everything next season.
Alguersuari upset his tweets didn't come true - After months of tweeting about driving for a team this season, former Toro Rosso driver Jaime Alguersuari is frustrated about losing out on a seat for 2013. Poor old Jaime now fears that because he's missed out on a seat, his career might end at the age of 22, despite the fact he's a talented young man and the Pirelli test driver.

Also this week: Everyone (at Sauber) loves Nico Hulkenberg, Narain Karthikeyan to Force India(?), and Williams passes a crash test.

My Week in F1 12/02/13

Christmas Eve came early (or late) for F1 fans as winter testing got under way in Jerez. With just over a month until lights out in Australia, everyone is surely ready to go and get their name on a trophy this year.

Horner - Nobody will dominate in 2013 - This season will be a tighter affair according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, and will see a repeat of last season's hotly contested title fight. He added that the third, fourth and fifth places are vitally important on the days you can't win.

Has he forgotten that he's mates with Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey over the winter?

Teams want early V6 test - Teams want to test the industry standard V6 turbos long before they're introduced next year. Three tests for brand new engines just wouldn't be enough according to Ross Brawn, and cars haven't exactly had the most reliable start to the winter tests. It'd make a great deal of sense to allow teams to start testing as soon as possible to get the new engines ready for the 2014 season.

Though a mid-race engine explosion always spices things up...

The terrain in Spain is our bane, according to Pirelli - Jerez may have seen its last test this year, as Pirelli's motorsport director Paul Hembrey says the track surface is too rough to allow the teams and Pirelli to properly evaluate this year's tyres. Tyres shredded far too quickly for Hembrey's liking, and the track would need to be resurfaced before F1 should consider a return.

He said the weather was nice, mind you.

We're impressed by Lew - Mercedes - Private jet aficionado Lewis Hamilton impressed his new employers at the Jerez test with his on-track skill and off-track attitude. Bar the fact he lumped his car into the wall after a brake problem, Hamilton's enjoyed a good start to his Mercedes career, but testing means nothing and the proof will be in the Australian pudding.

By Oli Butler