Shout it from the roof tops, it’s finally here. The 2010 season is all revved up and ready to go, and it’s not just any season. Oh no.
Gone are the days of a sleep-inducing procession of cars snaking around the track, gone are the days of one man dominating the whole championship from start to finish. This season will see a higher standard of drivers, more competitive cars, non-stop overtaking and a thrilling title race. This could be the mother of all seasons.
Bahrain is the venue to kick things off and “as-salam alaykum” to all you locals. One thing’s for sure, Bahrain is as rock and roll as you can get, it is the safest track in the world and instead of champagne the winners spray rose water to celebrate victory. I bet Lewis Hamilton loves it. Party hard, guys.
Designed in 2004, this track is hot, sandy and is sure to be ultra-competitive. Bahrain features four straights with a whole mess of corners and hairpin bends which appear out of nowhere after turn four. It’s another Herman Tilke-designed track so there is nothing exceptionally exciting about it as the German continues to make new circuits as bland as possible. The cars will now be running on full tanks from the start which should keep things tighter as the weight levels will all be roughly the same.
So ahead of this new campaign what is all the talk about? Is it the Hamilton/Jenson Button dream-team? Fernando Alonso at Ferrari? The new rules? Richard Branson in F1? No, none of the above. There is just one topic and one topic only on everybody’s lips, the return of the king. Michael Schumacher is back and everybody is gripped to see how the German pass-master gets on. There is no reason why he won’t be able to replicate his unstoppable form of old and his presence is going to force the other drivers to raise their games as they try to outdrive a legend.
Let’s take a brief look at the teams ahead of the new season:
McLaren
Button has the No.1 on the front of his car but be under no illusions, this is Hamilton’s team. An interesting “Best of British” sub-plot has developed here at the Woking-based constructors. They are always developing and competing for top honours and are like the Arsenal of Formula One. Hamilton has looked the better in testing but Button is going to be keen to prove he is no one-season wonder. Rest assured they will be battling for both championships after a poor year in 2009.
Mercedes
The music that plays when Darth Vader strolls around the Death Star can also be heard when Schumacher makes his way around the pit lane. All eyes will be on him and it's going to be fantastic to see him back out on the track, like a great white shark on wheels. Mercedes are of course Brawn GP but “Germanised”. They were champions last year, but are more efficient now and with the Schumacher-Ross Brawn partnership they will be highly dangerous. They haven’t pulled up any trees in testing but maybe they are holding something back for race day. Nico Rosberg will also be driving for them for what it’s worth.
Red Bull
Last year’s surprise packages, Red Bull seem to be improving with every season. In Sebastian Vettel they have the best young prospect in Formula One and in Mark Webber a sturdy podium placer. As the fizzy drink manufacturers continue their quest for world domination by sponsoring everything expect Formula One to at some point change its name to “The Red Bull racing show”. Dark horses of the season.
Ferrari
The blood-red Scuderia is the finest sight in racing, except for last season when they were woefully inept and reminiscent of the disastrous early 1990s version of the team. They didn’t have much luck either, what with Filipe Massa taking a 100mph spring to the head. He’s back now and will be desperate to make amends. He is joined by Alonso, the fourth of the four former champions. He is still top rate and has become something of a forgotten man after Renault struggled through controversial turmoil last season. Watch out for the Spaniard because he, Massa and their car have looked very quick in testing.
Williams
Fallen by the wayside in recent years and nowhere near their 1980s and 1990s glory days. As always they have a team capable of being in the top half of the constructors and in Rubens Barichello and Nico Hulkenberg a couple of good drivers. They will get a few podiums and go about their business quietly and efficiently. As mediocre as mediocre could be.
Renault
What to say about Renault? The fallen giants are still going but have now been castigated as the black sheep of the sport. Flavio Briatore is gone following “Crashgate” and the flamboyant Italian will be missed by the team. In Robert Kovac they have the cult hero of racing as he is well liked for his happy-go-lucky attitude and joking demeanour. Vitaly Petrov becomes the first Russian to race in Formula One and the “Vyborg rocket” is going to have his work cut out because Renault will probably struggle this year.
Force India
There’s a lot to like about Force India. They are reminiscent of the old Jordan team and they bring a real sense of fun back into the sport. Indeed their second place finish in Belgium last year was one of the highlights of the season. They have looked good in pre-season as well, Adrian Sutil in particular has been very fast and expect him and teammate Vitantonio Liuzzi to add to last year’s podium success.
Toro Rosso
Red Bull’s feeder team are surely just there to remind everyone that Red Bull have a bottomless pit of cash. It’s hard to see the point of this team, it’s supposed to develop new drivers for the full Red Bull team but the only one of note they have produced is Vettel, and most people already knew he was good. Driver Sebastian Buemi took a Toro Rosso out on ice in the off-season and footage of that is about the most interesting thing the team has ever done. Spaniard Jamie Alguersuari partners Buemi as the two try and do something to impress the top dogs at Red Bull.
Lotus
Is it the swinging Sixties again? You half expect one of their drivers to take off his helmet and revel himself to be Austin Powers. Yeah baby Lotus are back. However this is a new Malaysian-backed Lotus and I’m not sure it embodies the spirit or the soul of the original team - the classic British racing green with a yellow trim will return though, and the team have pulled off a bit of a coup with their drivers. Jarno Trulli is there, legendary for driving so slow he causes “The Trulli Train” which is a queue of cars that form behind him. Heikki Kovalainen partners him and he is a quality driver who was unlucky last year. They could have quite a good set-up at Lotus and it will be interesting to see how they get on. Great to have them back for nostalgia purposes though.
Hispania
Aye Caramba! A Spanish team in Formula One? Surely a recipe for disaster, and it very nearly was. Up until a few weeks ago they were known as Campos Meta and financially they were all over the place, nearly going pop like US-F1. They scraped together some cash in the end and after a quick name change they are all set for the first grid. In Bruno Senna they have a young man with gigantic shoes to fill. The poor guy has a thankless task on his hands, but if he is one twentieth of a driver that his uncle, Ayrton, was, he could be a real prospect. He is joined by Indian rookie Karun Chandhok and these two face an almost impossible task of getting Hispania through the pack. Good luck guys, you’re going to need it.
Sauber
Are they going or are they staying? Sauber are a team who just can’t make up their minds. After BMW pulled out of F1 it looked like the end for the sport perennial also-ran's. However former owner Peter Sauber managed to save them just before they were wiped out of existence, although for some reason they are still known as BMW Sauber, despite not having anything to do with BMW. Pedro de la Rosa and Kamui Kobayashi are the team’s drivers and you know what you get with those two. Which is not a lot really.
Virgin
The beardy-weirdy himself, Sir Richard of Branson makes his way down to the richest sport on the planet. Branson never backs a loser and loves a challenge, everyone knows that and he is already working on new techniques to set his team apart. The Virgin car was made entirely with computers and not wind tunnels, test tracks and other such old-fashioned fandangle's. They have performed admirably in pre-season testing so far, Timo Glock their main driver is most famous for letting Hamilton pass him to take the title in 2008 while Lucas di Grassi joins with a reputation as a potential star.
So there we have it, that’s the teams and we are all ready for the lights. With four champions and some quality cars it is already the most exciting season in years. There are new rules, new scoring systems and new teams - anything could happen.
So sit back and strap yourself in, it’s going to be a real humdinger.
Gareth Williams
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