What with six car launches since last Saturday’s weekend post and three days of testing in Valencia I’m surprised that anyone has had any time to blog about anything else this week. But blog they have and there’s a wide range of topics to ponder. Co-incidentally, if you have missed any of the car launches you can check out Maverick’s dedicated Launch thread for a round-up of all the cars revealed thus far.

I like finding new sources of reading material so sticking with the livery and launch theme is this blog from Paul at Lair of the Raven. This particular post is a reminder of some of the good and bad liveries from 1999 so if you like looking at pretty pictures of F1 cars, here’s the place to go. Whilst you are at it, check out some of his earlier posts about liveries for each year from 1990 onwards, boy are there some goodies.

Another brand new shiny blog is this one from Adam Cooper An F1 journalist for 25 years, Adam has a number of books to his credit and can also include TV commentary and Pitlane reporting to his list of skills. I’m ashamed to say that I hadn’t come across any of his work before but I aim to rectify that right away! This particular post is about Nelson Piquet Jnr and his decision to take up ARCA stock car racing in the USA. So far he’s made a presentable job of it having managed to qualify in seventh place ahead of Danica Patrick… find out Adam’s thoughts over at the blog.

Now onto something technical and another blog I’m mentioning for the first time. After the FIA’s decision to reduce the number of sets of tyres a driver can use over the race weekend from 14 sets to 11, this article from ManipeF1 questions whether the changes are designed to keep Bridgestone on side and continuining in the sport beyond this season. I’m particularly impressed with the research that Manipe has put into the post; with other tyre manufacturers having ruled out a return it doesn’t take a conspiracy theorist to agree that it’s in the FIA’s interests to keep Bridgestone happy.

Keeping with the technical perspective is this latest post from Prof. Mark Jenkins. “All engines are equal, but some more equal than others” takes a look at Cosworth’s return to engine supply and the potential for disparity between engines that are supposed to be equally powerful. It’s certainly going to be fascinating seeing how they compete both on absolute power and in terms of fuel efficiency and reliability, all topics covered by Mark’s blog.

Duncan Steven recently gave up his dedicated Formula One blog Vee8, through pressure of work, but fear not we can still get our fix of F1 over at his other blog DoctorVee. This particular post is a light-hearted look at the forthcoming season in the form of an F1 predictions thread; I love the chocolate themed diffuser face-off.. that could make a fun forum game, so if you are in need of a giggle, check out the rest of his thoughts.

You know by now that I’m a fan of the historical perspective of the sport so when the press announced that Renault’s newest driver, Vitaly Petrov, was the first Russian to enter Formula One I was inclined to believe them. That was of course until Dank Ross got on the case and discovered that there has been another Russian, Count Igor Troubetzkoy to have raced sixty years earlier in the first, post war Monaco Grand Prix. I thoroughly enjoyed this look back at the origins of the sport and highly recommend you read the full post.

Now onto one of my favourite blogs from across the pond. If ever there was a title that will make you want to read a post it’s this one WTF1? (Part One) from Racing Eagles. This is one of those Philosophical posts that make you think: “What is Formula One?” he asks. There is no easy answer to that question but Dan answers in style and with the promise to revisit the topic as the year progresses… I can’t wait to read what part two will contain!

My final choice is a humorous look at the sport through the eyes of Stuart Codling; Fuel if you think it’s over takes a peep behind the scenes at this week’s Valencia test. It’s never crossed my mind that F1 photographer’s would know who’s fast and who’s driving is a bit leery but it certainly makes sense once it’s pointed out to you… hmm, anyone know any photographers I should be following on Twitter?

That’s it for another week then. As always, please leave a comment over on the author’s blogs if you have enjoyed any of the stories mentioned here.