Fun F1

Yes, we’re back for 2009! But unlike Brawn GP, we didn’t manage to have our challenger (new web site) ready for the first round of the championship!

Thankfully Brawn GP got their act together and did an absolutely amazing job to not only make it to the grid but to dominate the race weekend.

Key points:

• Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota really have to take advantage of having an advantage in terms of their diffuser while they can because as soon as the other teams come up with a solution their cars will no doubt be quicker than all these 3 teams.
• Ferrari were very strong despite the end result. If they come up with a new diffuser (or the “diffuser 3″ teams get their one banned) they’ll be very strong indeed.
• Lewis Hamilton showed some nice pace during the race but in the end it was just luck that gave him Third. Fernando Alonso meanwhile didn’t show anything special but I expect him to bring Renault up higher in the next few races.
• Where did the pace from BMW Sauber suddenly come from!? They showed nothing all weekend then were quite competitive on Sunday. Good recovery.
• Rubens Barrichello was a bit wild during the Grand Prix. I guess he was just excited having a fast car again – no real reason to penalise him or anything
• Sebastian Vettel – Given the lack of pace the Red Bull Racing machines seemed to have earlier in the weekend, he had some great pace. Shame the car will be hard to put a revised diffuser on even with the genius of Adrian Newey behind it.
• KERS – I think the jury is still out on this one. We really need some on screen telemetry showing us when drivers are using it during the race. They showed when it’s charging up in practice, but if we could see side-by-side indications during race when the button is pressed that would be fantastic
• New aero regulations – Hard to tell whether it was KERS or the new aero that helped some drivers slingshot past others, but the combination of rules seems to be very promising.

There are heaps more points that could be touched on, but all up these first few rounds are going to be a bit “random” in terms of results as the new regulations pan out and everyone gets used to them. But what a great start to the season. A lot of new names up there and you have the feeling that going into the next round anyone could win the race (ok, maybe that would require the Brawn cars to retire but hey… )