Half Term Report
July 12th 2007 11:55
Nine rounds down, eight to go. The cars and drivers have had plenty of time to aquaint themselves with eachother and it's time now to see who has bolted from the blocks, and how has been stuck at the gate.
No longer a driver on the grid after Spyker recently showed the Dutch driver the door, but still ranks on the list for completing at least half the season. They claim his sacking was for financial reasons, but we all know it was because he’s been utterly slow, and hazardous.
The feisty American has been almost invisible on the grid, but has occasionally popped up in scraps with Toyotas, Williams and RBR’s. However, he has been slower than Liuzzi in the other Toro Rosso, and has never really looked anything more than dependable.
It seems that Ralf has lost his edge as a driver this year. At Jordan and Williams, and early on at Toyota, the German was quick, but this year, he’s been numbingly slow and has been the cause of a few too many accidents. He has to improve. Fast.
Better than his Toro Rosso teammate this year, but has made a few too many errors to get people overly excited. The potential is there, but he just doesn’t seem convincing enough to be considered a future star.
After years of testing, Davidson has finally got his break, and has so far been…solid. Ant has been overshadowed by Sato for most of the year, but has still shown the odd turn of pace. But Davidson still has a lot to prove as a racer if he is to live up to the hype that surrounded him during his days as Honda’s third driver.
Wurz has looked rather scrappy this year, whilst his young teammate, Nico Rosberg has been all class in the sister Williams. However, The lanky Austrian’s biggest nemesis so far has been the new qualifying format, which has seen him often struggling to escape Q1, while Nico is already booking his spot in Q3. However race pace is there, and his podium in Canada was not completely fluked. If he can get up to speed over one lap, he’ll definitely be scoring points.
To the naked eye, Sutil has been the least impressive of the rookies this year, but then one is winning races in a McLaren, and the other is scoring points in a Renault. All Adrian can do is to beat his experienced Spyker teammate, which he has done. Convincingly. Onwards and upwards for the young German, the potential is there.
It’s hard to look good in this year’s Honda, but Jenson hasn’t managed to limit the damage on his reputation as effectively as his teammate, Rubens Barrichello. Jens trails Rubens 4-5 in qualifying and has only crossed the finish line ahead of the Brazilian once in the six times both Honda’s finished. Despite a good showing in France, where he bagged Honda’s only point to date, Jenson’s year so far has been disappointing to say the least.
Rubens has improved since last year, his machinery however, unfortunately has not. The Brazilian’s knowledge of Bridgestone rubber has come in handy this year, especially seeing as the 2007 spec tyres are almost identical to the rubber that brought him 114 points in the ‘04 WDC. He has shaded teammate Button all year, especially in races, but is still floundering in rear-midfield obscurity.
Two points finishes (including a brilliant sixth in Montreal) have netted Sato four world championship points for Super Aguri. The Japanese driver has been at times ruthlessly quick in races, dicing with Toyotas and Williams’, whilst leaving his teammate for dead. However, the occasional mistake has crept in, and when the Super Aguir isn’t hooked up, Taku lacks inspiration.
Coulthard has been solid again this year, but has been fractionally slower than teammate Mark Webber. F1’s eldest hand was mighty in Bahrain before an unfortunate retirement, and was even better in Spain two weeks later where he produced a barnstorming drive to fifth. Age shall not weary him.
Trulli has performed well this year, but has been made to look heroic by his struggling teammate. As usual the Italian has been very impressive in qualifying, lining up ahead of Schumacher eight out of nine times, and has always looked to be the Toyota driver most likely to collect the occasional point. In fact he has collected a decent swagger of seven points to Schumacher’s two.
Like Trulli, Mark has been utterly quick in qualifying. He has dominated Couthard 8-1 and has often managed to get his RB3 into the top-ten shootout. But poor reliability from his Newey-penned machine has negated the Australian’s qualifying pace and let slip many a promising finish. Story of his career.
After a horrible debut race in Melbourne, Heikki’s form has been on an upward curve. In Melbourne the Finn spun, spluttered and crawled his way to the finish line, but in recent races, he has been driving with consummate composure, consistency and speed. Heikki now seems to be around about on terms with his experienced teammate, Giancarlo Fisichella, and should his form continue this trend, he could well find himself as top dog at Renault.
People raved about Robert’s arrival in F1 last year, but there were still reservations owing to the Pole’s susceptibility to error. However, this year, his raw, rookie edges seem to have been polished off, and he has been consistently quick so far. However, he has been slightly overshadowed by his teammate, Nick Heidfeld, especially in race trim. Nevertheless, his resilience shone after his horror crash at Indy, and his return to racing at Silverstone was amazing: fourth place after keeping a very hungry Felipe Massa at bay for over 13 laps.
Nico has been awesome in qualifying, often putting his Williams in places where it doesn’t belong. However, poor reliability has robbed him of more than a few points. In race conditions the gap between himself and teammate, Alex Wurz is marginal, but Nico’s one-lap nous propels him into the pointy end of the grid. The potential that blazed so brightly early last year is back, and an unreliable Williams is undeserving of the young German.
Fernando has not been slow this year. In fact, in terms of sheer pace, he is probably on par with Kimi Raikkonen. What has got the defending champion a relatively poor grade, is the uncharacteristically high number of errors notched up so far this year. Frustration was apparent in Canada when he fluffed his final qualifying run and lost the pole to Hamilton. Then during the race, he dove desperately into turn one, leaving him bouncing over the grass. Worse yet, he was later passed by a flying Takuma Sato for sixth, while Hamilton cruised to victory. However, despite trailing the rookie by 12 points in the championship, Alonso can still defend his crown – if he harness his speed and apply some Lewis-like consistency that is.
With Fernando Alonso out of the picture, Giancarlo Fisichella is the key man at Renault. And, despite the car not quite being endowed with enough potential to defend Renault’s title, Fisi is looking good. He has not had an easy season, but he has seen off the threat posed by his highly-rated rookie teammate, Heikki Kovalainen. He seems more comfortable at Renault, and although the team haven’t produced a winning car, Fisi has still been a fixture in the third stage of qualifying, and has always been in the hunt for points. He was outstanding in Monaco, beating home the faster BMW F1.07’s for a mega fourth place, and he was mesmerising at Indy as he fought back through the field after an early spin. Although Heikki continues to improve, Fisi has shown those flashes of pure speed that so often shone when he was behind the wheel of a rubbish car.
This year’s Renault isn’t pure rubbish, but Fisi is definitely making the most out of a bad situation.
Wins at Bahrain and Spain had Massa fans bursting from closets and swearing him in as incumbent world champion. However once McLaren had hijacked his title lead, Massa began to slip into the clutches of his teammate, Kimi Raikkonen, who stole the win from Massa in France. One week later, Felipe stalled on the grid at Silverstone leaving him to fight through the field whilst his under-fire teammate strode off for a commanding victory. Now, Massa sits just behind Kimi in the championship, and the criticism that was levelled at Raikkonen prior to Magny-Cours may well swing over to the Brazilian’s side of the garage should Kimi’s momentum continue. Nevertheless, Felipe’s driving for the first five rounds (excluding mistake-ridden Malaysia) was impeccable. He battled impressively to sixth at Albert Park after a mechanical glitch in qualifying, and then claimed three consecutive poles, winning from two of them. When in front and in control, Felipe has been almost untouchable, but when, for instance, an unexpected attack from behind is launched, or if his teammate utilises a better strategy, flaws in his armour begin to show. The pace, the hunger and the fire are all there - all that is needed is consistency and composure.
Fickle world is Formula One. Enter F1 with almost zero experience, earn a point in your first race, graduate to a winning car one year later and dominate your teammates, and everything is peachy. Join Ferrari and lose ground to Felipe Massa early on and suddenly, you are a waste of a racing space. That is what Kimi Raikkonen faced this season. Immense expectation, pressure and criticism have been levelled at the flying Finn, even from his own bosses at Maranello. But, despite the setbacks, when things went his way, Raikkonen looked devastatingly good. Three races: Australia, France and Britain were all won by the Iceman, and in every one of them he was peerless, even if teammate, Massa was sent to the back of the field for one reason or another. Kimi now has 52 points to Massa’s 51, and has been less ragged with his F2007 during races. Obviously, Massa’s history with the team is a big advantage, and at times it shows, but when Kimi is comfortable behind the wheel, he leaves his Brazilian teammate grasping at excuses as to why he couldn’t match the pace of the Ferrari newcomer. Kimi is now on a charge for the title, and you’d be a brave man to stand in his way.
The quiet German sneakily managed to ‘wace’ (as he would say) his way to three consecutive fourth places at the start of the season, and slotted himself, rather covertly into the top five in the championship rankings. But, ‘Quick Nick’ has refused to give up his reign as ‘best of the rest’, and has been the only non-Ferrari or McLaren driver to look seriously able to win a race. His pass on Fernando Alonso in Malaysia is one of the year’s best, and his second-place at Canada was brilliant. Unfortunate events have seen him lose out to his highly-rated teammate on occasion (i.e., bad strategy in Monaco, pit-stop blunder in Spain, qualifying in Britain), but generally it has been the number nine BMW that has kept the title contenders’ uncomfortably honest. His second place at Canada remains the only podium won (on merit) by a driver not wearing scarlet or silver overalls.
Before certain Ferrari ex-employees started doing some dodgy deals with certain McLaren chief designers, the story of the season has the rise of F1’s newest rookie sensation, Lewis Hamilton. The impact the 22-year old has had on the sport rivals the meteor that hit the earth and wiped the dinosaurs out.In fact, in Canada and Indy, Hamilton’s supreme skill behind the wheel made his double-world champion teammate look set for extinction. In nine races, the Briton’s biggest errors so far have been a pit-stop stutter in Britain, a slight left-front lock up into Stowe and a silly comment about midfield “monkeys.” With such meagre blemishes on his racing record so far, Hamilton’s consistent speed and coolness under pressure have netted him nine straight podiums, including two wins and a 12-point lead in the Championship. Hamilton’s success is unprecedented for a rookie, and should he continue his form into the final half of the year, a world championship title on debut awaits him. But, even if the flying Ferrari’s manage to topple him from the top of the ladder, Hamilton has already staked a very large claim into F1’s future. Bravo!
This year’s Renault isn’t pure rubbish, but Fisi is definitely making the most out of a bad situation.
Before certain Ferrari ex-employees started doing some dodgy deals with certain McLaren chief designers, the story of the season has the rise of F1’s newest rookie sensation, Lewis Hamilton. The impact the 22-year old has had on the sport rivals the meteor that hit the earth and wiped the dinosaurs out.In fact, in Canada and Indy, Hamilton’s supreme skill behind the wheel made his double-world champion teammate look set for extinction. In nine races, the Briton’s biggest errors so far have been a pit-stop stutter in Britain, a slight left-front lock up into Stowe and a silly comment about midfield “monkeys.” With such meagre blemishes on his racing record so far, Hamilton’s consistent speed and coolness under pressure have netted him nine straight podiums, including two wins and a 12-point lead in the Championship. Hamilton’s success is unprecedented for a rookie, and should he continue his form into the final half of the year, a world championship title on debut awaits him. But, even if the flying Ferrari’s manage to topple him from the top of the ladder, Hamilton has already staked a very large claim into F1’s future. Bravo!
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