You may have already noticed a few new buttons over to the left in the last week or so, under the subheading Statistics. These are the new look season statistics pages for 2010, although you can look back to 2009 to compare them as we have also updated last season’s statistics to reflect the new data. We just thought we’d take a few moments to introduce the new pages, giving an opportunity for feedback before the season starts.

Standings
Both the World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ Championship standings as you may have expected. The one minor change is to show the points gaps but otherwise, simple, straightforward and to the point with the man with the most points at the top.

Results
A quick summary of all the season’s race results on one handy page, including reasons for not finishing and podium positions highlighted for quick reference.

Qualifying
Similar to the Results page, a brief summary of qualifying position and final grid position for every race of the Formula One season.

Performance
Driver by driver, the basics statistics of how they have performed in 2010 in qualifying and the race, including a summary of Q1/Q2/Q3 distribution, handily graphed for comparison or if you just can’t deal with more numbers.

Team Mates
Every driver pairing goes head-to-head: Who’s the better qualifier out of Button and Hamilton? Does Schumacher put in better race performances than Rosberg? Who contributes the most points to the team’s total out of Glock and di Grassi? We don’t know but the numbers might point you in one direction or another.

Engines
Once again, teams are allowed eight engines per car over the entire season and this is the place to keep track of who has used how many. And new for 2010, the engine manufacturers side-by-side with percentage engine failures – BMW had the weakest engine last year, but who’ll take that crown this year?

Reliability
Engines aren’t the only thing that can go wrong, and the Reliability page summarises each team’s weaknesses: Virgin had how many hydraulic failures? Ferrari ran out of fuel how often? USF1 missed how many races?* Plus keep track of the gearbox cycle with each gearbox once again having to last for four events.

Penalty
Watching over the stewards, the Penalty Tracker shows who was punished, where and how throughout the season. Just think of it as F1’s Most Wanted.

Testing
The Pre-Season Testing Statistics page has been around for over a month now, detailing the key statistics from testing. If you haven’t seen it, it’s still here.

2009
Almost all the above statistics pages allow you to swap between them and last year’s statistics, allowing you to contrast with the 2009 season. In addition, you can access all of them together from the 2009 Statistics hub page. Did you know that Toro Rosso only completed three quarters of the maximum possible number of laps?

So that’s all the statistics pages, feedback and comments are more than welcome. The plan is to also graph much of the data as the year progresses – watch out for those here on the blog.

2010 sees Bahrain hosting the Formula One season opener, with last year’s race winner, Jenson Button, returning as World Champion – and with a new team to boot as he joins Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. Title winning constructor Brawn is now Mercedes GP with Michael Schumacher returning to Formula 1, while at Ferrari, the Italians will be putting their faith in Fernando Alonso. Meanwhile, Red Bull will be all about stability as the one major team maintaining its 2009 line-up. Coupled with a number of rule changes and a pack of hungry new teams, there are always plenty of questions before the season starts and Bahrain provides the first opportunity for answers. The first race isn’t always an accurate barometer of the year but here are a few of my questions for the year ahead…

1. Who is at the front?
The end of refuelling has further complicated interpretation of testing as teams carried widely varying fuel loads. The general consensus is that Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes are up front with Williams, Force India and Sauber not far behind.

“The first race of the season is always an exciting weekend as none of the teams really know where their car is in performance terms until we hit the race track for the first time in competitive conditions.” - Jenson Button

That that is such a big group just tells me that nobody has a clue! However, Bahrain isn’t necessarily a good indicator to how the season will turn out anyway. The race may have been won by the eventual World Constructor’s Champion in every season that the race has been held but there are plenty of anomalies in the other positions: Look at Toyota locking out the front row in last year’s qualifying session for example.

2. Which of the new teams can make their mark in the established order?
Realistically, only Hispania. And then only because we have no idea of their performance and I wouldn’t get my hopes up. No, the main aim for the back of the established order will be to remain well clear of the new teams. Instead, it looks like being a private battle between the three new comers, a battle that Bruno Senna has stoked by claiming to be a second a lap faster. Virgin seem a little faster than Lotus in qualifying trim, Lotus seem a lot more reliable. And who knows where Hispania is – is Senna’s assessment spot on or are they simply keen to start hiding that livery under a few sponsor’s logos?

3. What will be the effect of the re-fuelling ban?
The big change from a spectator’s point of view will be the end of in-race refuelling and the effect that many will be hoping for is an increase in overtaking. Tyre management will be crucial but with tyre strategy restricted by the need to run two different compounds, strategy is unlikely to vary by much. It seems more likely that the presence of the slower, new teams will do more to increase overtaking than any other rule change. One issue, that has rarely raised its head while refuelling was allowed, is the sight of cars coming to a stop with insufficient fuel in the car. We may not see it in Bahrain but at circuits with a higher probability of a safety car there will be pressure to run with insufficient race fuel in the hope of making up the difference in fuel saving mode behind the safety car.

4. Can Schumacher challenge for the Championship?
The return of Michael Schumacher is the year’s big talking point but how will the year pan out? The German is undoubtedly fit enough but as ever, he still needs the right car. If he doesn’t, will he see out the year, never mind a three-year contract? World Champions have returned after a break before: Some returned to claim more glory, others only added an embarrassing endnote to their career.

5. Will Hamilton join twitter?
Or, for that matter, Alonso, Schumacher, Massa and others? The social networking site reinvigorated pre-season testing and looks like adding a new dimension to the upcoming season. Last year just a handful of drivers used the service, most notably bringing an insight into happenings at Brawn as both Button and Barrichello took Formula 1 to new levels of accessibility. Every team has at least one driver with an account, although it’s debatable whether Rosberg himself has ever been near his, and fans can only hope that others follow suit.

So the American Dream is over and USF1 has failed to make it to the 2010 championship. Campos barely got there but there is no doubt that USF1 became a laughing stock and may even have harmed the image of the sport – at the very least they have raised very important questions about the selection process, and why they were chosen over other, seemingly stronger and more valid proposals.

Now I fully admit that hindsight is a wonderful thing, but surely the FIA should have known that USF1 were among the weakest of the applications to join F1 in 2010 – after all, many were saying it at the time.

The way I see it, when the 2010 entries were handed out the new teams fell into one of these categories:

1) Already running a racing team in one of the junior categories like GP2, F2, F3, LMP etc
Advantages: Experienced at running a team and operating cars at races. Strong chances of finance through reputation plus existing contacts and sponsorship deals. May have young drivers under contract who are ready to step up.
Disadvantages: Do not have the facilities or experience to design & build their own car.
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: Medium
Examples: Manor, Campos. In the past you could include Jordan, Sauber, Stewart

2) Already building their own racing cars
Advantages: Already have the facilities or experience to design & build their own car. Strong chances of finance through reputation plus existing contacts and sponsorship deals. May be able to attract drivers who have raced their cars in the past.
Disadvantages: Do not have experience at running a team and operating cars at races.
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: Medium
Examples: Dallara, Lola, Wirth

3) 1 and 2 together
Advantages: All of the above.
Disadvantages: None of the above.
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: High
Examples: Epsilon, Prodrive

4) Buying another team
Advantages: Off-the-shelf deal which comes with a car and a team ready to go. May come with drivers already.
Disadvantages: Expensive – do they really have the money? May not be a team for sale, unless they are poor performers. Subject to FIA approval.
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: Medium
Examples: Stefan

5) A major car company
Advantages: Almost certainly have the money and the technology to go it alone.
Disadvantages: None really
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: Medium/High
Examples: Lotus (backed by Proton)

6) None of the above
Advantages: None
Disadvantages: Never run a team before. Never designed a car before. No facilities to manufacture a car. Potentially no finance and no sponsorship links. No chance?
Chances of making it to the grid in 2010: Low
Examples: USF1.

I can see why the FIA thought – at the time – that Manor and Campos could make it. They were already running teams in the junior categories, even though they used customer cars, so they were part of way there (just like Jordan and Stewart, when they made the step up to F1). All they had to do was design and build a car – or get someone to do it for them – and find the money. Manor linked up with Wirth, landed Virgin, and made it to the grid comfortably. Campos linked up with Dallara and had cash troubles – despite the promised popularity of F1 in Spain at the moment – but that was not the fault of the FIA, and they just managed to squeeze in with about a week to spare.

But based on the criteria above I cannot see why they chose USF1. They were not an established team (like Manor or Campos). They were not an established constructor (like Dallara or Lola). They were not both these (like Epsilon or Prodrive). They were not manufacturer-backed (like Lotus). They were not buying an existing operation (like Stefan).

It could have been for political reasons (the Cosworth/FIA/FOTA thing). It could have been for marketing reasons (taking the sport back to America, even though they have no race). It could have been that they were taken in by Windsor’s sales patter, or chose not to believe the evidence.

Now Peter Windsor was boasting that he and Ken Anderson had been planning this for 5 years, and that they had a budget for 3 years which was secured before anybody talked about budget capping, which means it could have been in the region of £100m per year.
So where has this money gone? If it was there, then what happened to make it disappear? And if it was not there, does it mean that Windsor and co flat lied to the FIA, their business partners, staff and drivers? Either way that is serious mis-management.

Could the FIA have foreseen how things were going to turn out, once they had given them the entry? Possibly, possibly not. But based on the criteria above, should they have got that entry? And should they have got it ahead of other, stronger candidates like Epsilon, Lola and Prodrive? In my opinion, definitely not.

No matter the reasons for their selection, there is no doubt it was a mistake, and Max should bear responsibility for it and come clean about his reasons – making the FIA’s ‘due diligence’ public if necessary.

So here we are one week away from qualifying for the Bahrain GP and I’m wondering where all the time has gone. It’s been an exciting week with the demise of USF1 and Campos Meta being sold on, giving us an unfortunate acronym for a team. HRT F1, I hope it doesn’t end up being as slow as a granny on hormone supplements.

But apart from the headline grabbing news there have been some fabulous blog posts covering a pretty wide range of topics; so without further ado, onto the good stuff.

I don’t think I’ve given F1 Badger a plug so far in my weekend round-up but this one is just too good to miss. The article, written as a St David’s Day special is a fitting reminder of Welsh Formula One driver, Tom Pryce who was tragically killed at the South African GP in 1977. I do love a bit of a look back at the history of our sport and this is a timely reminder of just how dangerous it was to compete back then.

Following on from the Ferrari “horse whisperer’s” pop at the new teams, is a post from Professor Mark Jenkins F1 Blog which looks at the similarities and differences in branding between Virgin and Ferrari and how they both fare in the global economy. Mark makes the point that Sir Richard is always one to get the job done in a particularly British, matter of fact way, especially when he’s up against the establishment or the dominant force in the market. “We may not be beating you today or even this year, but we will prove that we can be at least as good as you using a fraction of the budget and a different approach that will bring change to the industry over the next two or three years” stirring stuff from Sir Richard but only time will tell if he can deliver.

It seems I cannot manage a weekend post without having a mention or two of USF1. Oh I know, they have finally left the building, but please indulge me by letting me have a last look at the mismanagement of the American team. I’m a huge fan of journalist Stuart Codling’s posts; he’s a brilliant writer and one who manages that difficult feat of being amusing whilst dealing with serious issues, so if you haven’t been to his site yet I whole-heartedly suggest you go there today. This particular post is all about Ken Anderson and his dreams (or delusions) of making a successful F1 team… very amusing.

Now onto another new source of reading material for you to enjoy; the McLaren Fan Blog ponders the question “Is this the most eagerly anticipated formula one season ever?” It’s a fairly comprehensive review of the season ahead and considers amongst other things, how the new teams, new drivers and this years’ rule changes will affect the racing. Don’t let the blog’s title put you off going for a look as the review it’s not at all McLaren-centric. This was my first visit to the site but it won’t be long before I head back to see what else is new.

On my last weekend post I mentioned F1 Tailpipe’s new weekender magazine, two weeks on and Issue two has just been released. I can’t believe how much work Adie must be putting in to make his magazine look so professional. This weeks’ issue has features on Sebastian Vettel, Rubens Barrichello and why you should be using Twitter, there’s also a great guest post from RG, author of the blog The Northern Waffler to round off the edition. Best of all it’s free to download and distribute …so what are you waiting for.

To end, I want to round off this post by giving you some advance warning of the return of our weekly quiz. Last season, we hosted our infamous F1 quiz every Wednesday evening in the site chat room and very popular it turned out to be too. We had some some great questions from across the full 60 years of F1 history and always had a laugh and some “spot the difference” fun along the way. If you fancy taking part this year please register for the forum… and we’ll see you there, 8.30pm UK time every Wednesday from the 10th March.
 

Good news… the blog has been upgraded to be compatible with smart phones like the Google Android and iPhone. If you would like to view the blog as normal you can choose to switch off smart phone compatibility via the button at the bottom of the post. Other parts of the site remain viewable as before.

If you have any problems with accessing the site with a smart phone please let us know in the comments below.

Here are a few screen shots. Click on the thumbnail to enlarge.
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Well, we finally did it. This time next week Bahrain first free practice will have been and gone and now we finally know who will be driving what during it. Just twelve of the fourteen made it (oh yes, we lost Toyota on the way too) and a fifteenth failed to climb over the catchment fencing and sneak on to the grid by the back door.

After all the big promises, it was USF1 who fell by the wayside while the other three new teams kept their nose to the ground and eventually delivered, all be it in a round about way in the case Hispania Racing, née Campos Meta 1. It’s been a prolonged old drama in order to end up with a grid extended from last year’s by just four cars. With the FIA planning to reopen the entry process in order the fill the thirteenth grid slot next year, I can only hope they have learnt something from the 2009-10 process.

Hispania it is then. Or HRT if you’re the FIA, just to confuse things. Bruno Senna survives the team name change and is joined by Karun Chandhok. It’s an interesting pairing as they will know each other well having already been team mates in 2008 for iSport International in GP2.

“I am excited by our driver line-up and the amazing effort and passion I have witnessed from our entire team to get us to this point. We have all tools in our hands to become the most successful new team in the F1 paddock this year.”
Team principal, Colin Kolles

Senna won that battle convincingly, claiming double the points total of his team mate to finish as the series’ runner-up. Still, with no testing ahead of Bahrain, Chandhok may be the best prepared following a third season in GP2 while Senna was left out in the cold by the demise of Honda, eventually filling in his year in sports car racing.

The car itself is very simple, with little in the way of sponsors, an uninspiring livery and, for now, not even a chassis name. A lack of testing might not impact too much on the car’s speed although their drivers are going to have to work well together to get the car set up in Bahrain with no prior experience of the car. Certainly, the Dallara built chassis could easily be quicker than that of Lotus and Virgin. The big question is going to be one of reliability – early problems, as experienced by their fellow newcomers, could be more than a little problematic.

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