Stunning Brawn GP lock out the front row!!

The moment Jenson Button drove the first few laps in the Brawn GP he knew he possibly had the quickest car he had ever driven in Formula One, and this was confirmed today when he secured Pole Position for Brawn GP, with his team-mate Rubens Barrichello locking out the front row. However, it looks like Button is two laps lighter than Barrichello, which should be entertaining to see see how it pans out tomorrow. Brawn GP look like they will be in a race of their own, as they seem to be heavier than all the cars behind them. 

Williams' Nico Rosberg has been might impressive the whole weekend, fastest in all 3 practice sessions, but could not match that pace in Q3 and will start from 5th position. Vettel was impressive in 3rd with Kubica 4th. 

The 'Big Guns' failed to impress (apart from Kubica) with Ferrari the highest placed of them all, starting from 6th and 8th. Alonso made a costly error which will force him to start from the sixth row of the grid. But the talking point of the weekend was the continued lack of pace from the McLarens. Even though both cars scraped through to Q2, Hamilton was forced to retire before he could even do a lap, and will start from the back of the grid. This was due to a gearbox failure, which Hamilton caused when he slammed the kerbs on his flying lap. Am sure McLaren and especially Hamilton are not used to starting in this position, but it will be interesting as he will try everything possible to get ahead in the race.

Controversies have been plenty this weekend, and the stewards were thrusted straight into it again when the Toyota cars were found guilty of Article  3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations as the upper parts of their rear wings were deemd to have extreme flexibility. Hence, Glock and Trulli will be joining Hamilton at the back of the grid.

Albert Park is famous for first corner incidents so this race is sure to be a thriller. All in all, this season promises to be one of the most unpredictable ones ever and it starts tomorrow. I for one cannot wait for the lights to go green tomorrow morning, so lets go racingggg!!!

  

Finalllllyyy...F1 fever has come back to..take over our lives

Friday practice sessions completed and the form books have been tossd out of the window. Rosberg, Barrichello, Trulli, Webber, Button comprise the top 5 and now to the biggest surprise of all - Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Renault all outside the top 10. We have learned over the last couple of seasons that Friday form is normally nothing to go by, but these are the same guys who have been heading the winter testing times as well, so it is definitely something for us to look at.

In my view, the first couple of races will be anyone's game, with the European races bringing us normal trend for the rest of the season. Apart from the Ferrari's, who were quite quick in the morning, the other 3 top teams definitely do seem to be struggling with the grip levels. 

However, as mentioned before this is just Friday testing and qualifying looks to be a real cracker of a session tomorrow. Expect a lot of surprises tomorrow. Sunday;s race should be interesting as tyre degaradatio will come into play. Remember this years Australian GP will start at 5pm instead of the normal 2pm, thereby the track temperatures not being as hot as they normally are. 

After qualifying it might be easier to pick a winner fo sunday, but if you ask me right now, I will say it will be between Rosberg, Barrichello and Raikkonen for the victory. Yes that is Barrichello and not Button that I have picked because I honestly believe he is the better driver out of the two, just marginally. 

Till tomorrow..  

Formula One 2009 - Here we go again!!

This is the part we all look forward to kick-start our year - engines revving, burning rubber, wheels banging - yes to all of us F1 enthusiasts the year is just beginning. This is also the time of the year when we are unsure of who is going to be fast, who is going to be midfield and who is not gonna matter at all. The rumour mills are in overdrive even before we reach Melbourne, with tales about which cars are going to be fastest and fighting for the championship, but somehow when we reach the European races, we kinda know the pecking order for the rest of the season.

This year promises to be like no other, with sweeping changes and regulations in place for the year. The cars look totally different (aerodynamically), the technology is new (KERS), and best part of it all, we return to slicks. But the news that I feel that shook the Formula One fraternity up (apart from Brawn GP) was the change in the points system for the year. 

The news rules state that the driver with the most wins will be crowned Champion at the the end of the year. This means that if Massa wins 6 races and fails to finish the rest of the races, and if the next best, say Raikkonen wins 5 races and finishes second in the remaining races, Massa will still be crowned Champion. If two or more drivers are tied at say 4 wins a piece, then the points will come into play. 

Fernando Alonso and Jarno Trulli were the first set of drivers to voice their displeasure with the rules, with Bernie Eccelstone being the strongest advocate for the new system. In my view, I think it is great for racing. This way no driver will ease off at anytime during the season. However, there will always be another side to it so let us see how it works out this year before I become a big fan of it.

With the cars expected to be within one second of each other (testing times suggest this), and a lot more overtaking promised, this season could turn to be even better than last years, so Melbourne here we come!!