It seems to be what one may call 'The Year' after so long...The budget cap has begin to bring in effetcs it seems....teams are on much more equal footing then before....(remember the streamlined Mercedes in 50s, or the Chapman's fan; Williams v Mclaren of 80s or the recent domination by Ferrari?) It seems to be all nearing the tunnel's end!! Well The Big Four (Mclaren, Ferrari, RedBull, Mercedes) are clear favorites. But then we have Willaims and Sauber and Force India looking good...and then there are Renault too..
Today is the first qualifying. Just an hour or so and we still do not know who is heading where?
Well the teams that looks strongest is Ferrari (with Fernando). Its bookies' favorite and mine as well. It had the upper hand all through the winter testing ( and lately,half an hour before, Fernando has topped the time charts for Saturday practice). It does'nt show signs of defiance or lack of anything..
Red Bull will be strong, though they didnt have a good weekend at Bahrain so far but many including Bernie and Stewart are tipping Vettle for the title.
Mercedes seems to be in middle. Micheal is off the pace. Even Nico is fast. Micheal accepts that he is still "rusty" and need to raise his game.
Williams, Sauber and Force India have shown pace at different occassions. I will watch Kobayashi and Force India. Rest , STR, HRT, Lotus, Virgin, shows not much promise.
McLaren has done sth innovative..The rear wing , yet again (You listening Ross?). Bob Bell is furious. Christian Horner is on his feets. Brawn says they will create their own version. The impact of it would be interesting to see. Well in Friday practice Mclaren suffered from rear tire wear the most... The thing is that as per the FIA regulations teams can not employ and such part in there car which is movable (apart from the allowed adjustable front wing). Now what McLaren has allegdly done is that its drivers are using their knee to stall a air stream gwhich goes toward the rear wing. This allegdely results in an extra speed advantages of upto 6 mph on straights.
Charlie Whiting has giver it a go green.
Button was initially coy when asked about the device before then adding: "Our wing is our wing, and that's the way it is."There's no problem with it as it's been passed by the authorities. It's an innovative design and it seems to be working well. "We all want more downforce, but aerodynamically and with our straight-line speed we're reasonably happy with where we are."
Renault's managing director Bob Bell has been one of the most outspoken critics of Whiting's decision, pointing an accusing finger at the FIA. "It is fundamentally clear the McLaren wing design is totally illegal," complained Bell. "It is a complete joke," he thundered to the BBC. "It has driven a horse and cart straight through the rule that teams cannot use moveable aerodynamic devices on their cars. It is fundamentally illegally. "At a time when we are trying to cut costs, this will just start a new arms race. The FIA have acted irresponsibly."
Christian Horner has revealed that Red Bull are unlikely to protest McLaren's rear wing, instead they'll look to develop their "own version."
Lotus Lotus technical chief Mike Gascoyne believes the system, which reportedly works by the drivers blocking a pipe in their cockpit with their kneeds, is a "moveable" aerodynamic device.
"I still believe it's a moveable aerodynamic device because the configuration of the (car's) aerodynamics are changing," said Gascoyne.
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