Zero Downforce

It’s been a while, but I thought it was time to get back on track with the Super Season Grid. Things have changed in the F1 world since the last grid update after Spain. For one, the balance of power seems to have shifted to Red Bull with Vettel and Webber taking wins at Silverstone and Nurburgring respectively as Brawn have fallen behind a bit in the development race, Adrian Newey introducing a raft of chassis changes for the British GP. Meanwhile, the likes of Toyota and BMW have slipped back even further while Williams, McLaren and Ferrari have made a few jumps up the order.

But in terms of the drivers, who is still class of the field on average? Well, I’ve filled in the gaps from Monaco to today’s race and here is how it stands as of now:

1. Jenson Button – 1’28.319  +0.000  Non-mover
2. Nico Rosberg – 1’28.378  +0.059  Non-mover
3. Rubens Barrichello – 1’28.407  +0.088  Non-mover
4. Mark Webber – 1’28.489  +0.170  Non-mover
5. Sebastien Vettel – 1’28.568  +0.250  Non-mover
6. Felipe Massa – 1’28.647  +0.328  +1 place
7. Kazuki Nakajima – 1’28.764  +0.446 +4 places
8. Kimi Raikkonen – 1’28.775  +0.457  Non-mover
9. Fernando Alonso – 1’28.798  +0.479  +4 places
10. Lewis Hamilton – 1’28.821  +0.502  Non-mover
11. Jarno Trulli – 1’28.855  +0.536  +1 place
12. Timo Glock – 1’28.906 +0.587  -6 places
13. Robert Kubica – 1’29.115  +0.796  -4 places
14. Nick Heidfeld – 1’29.123  +0.804  +1 place
15. Heikki Kovalainen – 1’29.185 +0.866  -1 place
16. Nelson Piquet – 1’29.298  +0.980  Non-mover
17. Adrian Sutil – 1’29.451  +1.132  +3 places
18. Sebastien Buemi – 1’29.573  +1.254  -1 place
19. Sebastien Bourdais – 1’29.622  +1.303  Non-mover
20. Giancarlo Fisichella – 1’29.709  +1.391  -2 places

So, despite the surge of pace from Milton Keynes, Button is still at the head of the Grid after wins in Monaco and Turkey helped his championship charge with a couple of dominant weekends. Contrast that with the less than successful he’s had in Britain and Germany. Brawn now seem to be putting more focus on development on the BGP001, which should hopefully mean a big update is just around the corner.

Rosberg stays second ahead of Barrichello and the Red Bulls. The first 5 have stayed in exactly the same order since Spain, but the gap has closed by just under a quarter of a second which shows just how tight it is at the top. Behind them, Massa has taken over from Glock as best of the rest with Ferrari seemingly starting to find a bit of pace. Timo, meanwhile, has suffered the most. He is the biggest faller with a drop of 6 places. Such has been the fall from grace for Toyota that they are now no longer one of the top teams, a far cry from the front row lockout back in Bahrain. Trulli does jump one place thanks to good free practice pace.

Other big movers are Nakajima, Alonso and Sutil. Kaz and Fernando have jumped 4 places as well, with definite improvements being shown in the Williams allowing the Japanese driver to show his worth. Some of this will have been down to the excellent 5th place he scored in qualifying at Silverstone, where the team brought a new specification of the rear diffuser. Alonso, meanwhile, seems to have found some pace from the Renault at last, although it needs a bit of running before it’s properly wound up and ready to challenge. A decent run this weekend at the Nurburgring will have helped him no end with decent free practice pace, good speed in Q1 and being able to come on strong in the race with the fastest lap.

Non-movers, apart from the top 5, are Raikkonen, Hamilton, Piquet and Bourdais. You could say that in terms of their careers, the latter two seem to be heading that way. Le Seb seems to be on his way out (there’ll be a blog post on that soon), while people are still amazed that Nelson is STILL in that Renault. I thought Silverstone would be the last straw, but then when have we ever believed or taken anything that Flavio’s said seriously? Lewis now looks like he has a car which is on the pace once again as his performance at the weekend showed. Topping 2 practice sessions, making Q3 and getting a rocket start thanks to his KERS system meant he could have been in contention for the win had he not cut his tyre on Webber’s front wing, effectively ending all chances of a good race. Still, the new diffuser seems to have done the trick, but it’s rather ironic that it’s Kovalainen who came away with the points and his car wasn’t fitted with said diffuser.

Finally, let’s look at Sutil. The Force India has suddenly received a injection of pace and it was clearly evident at the weekend as Adrian got as high as P2 in Q2 and to the same point in the race. But fate, and Raikkonen, interfered once again and for the 3rd time in his career the chance of a points finish was snatched from him. Contact with the Ferrari damaged his front wing and ruined his race. But it hasn’t disheartened him and I’m sure that in the races to come this season he’ll have more chances to shine. Still, a jump of 3 places has gotten him off the back row, which means progress is being made.

With Hungary next on the calendar, it will be intriguing to see if Button and co can stop the current Red Bull steamroller. With Webber now seemingly hitting peak form in the best car he’s ever driven and Vettel taking over 2nd place in the championship, the boys from Brackley need to do something quick. Otherwise, it’ll only be a matter of time before Jenson’s chance for the championship is gone. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out that way.

Just a very quick courtesy post to let all you guys know my fan report is up on the Puma Motorsport website and has been for a bit now. There’s 2 seperate pages – one which contains my written report, which has had one or two little sections chopped and changed (Don’t worry, I said they could if need be), and the other with my two interviews with Kubica and Heidfeld. You can find them both here:

The report:
http://www.pumamotorsport.com/2009/07/puma-uk-fan-reports-from-silverstone/

My interviews with Rob and Nick:
http://www.pumamotorsport.com/2009/07/our-fan-reporter-interviews-robert-kubica-and-nick-heidfeld/

Please do leave a comment on the site with your opinion on it. Of course, you can also do that here if you wish as well ;)

While I was at Silverstone, I remember overhearing on the circuit radio that all weekend the Brawns of Button and Barrichello had been struggling in the colder conditions, while it seemed the Red Bulls were relishing it. Not to mention those new parts having something to do with it. During the race, Button could only manage 6th while Rubens scored a podium behind the RBRs.

Afterwards, it got me thinking - maybe both drivers suit different conditions. We know Jenson to be the smoothest driver on the grid. He never turns the wheel more than he has to and is very precise in his cornering technique, whereas Rubens is just that little bit more aggressive. Looking at the season so far, all of Button's victories (not counting Malaysia) have come when it's been dry and more importantly, sunny and hot. His more dominant ones have been in Bahrain, Spain and Monaco when the skies were blue and the temperatures fairly warm.

So here's my theory: Jenson prefers it when it's warmer because the heat helps him get his tyres up to temperature as quickly as everyone else while still maintaining his smoothness and precision, therefore being able to manage them better, make them last longer and run at the front at a stronger pace. Meanwhile, Rubens's aggression means the higher temperatures don't do his rubber any good which means they go off quicker and he drops off the pace of his seemingly more dominant teammate.

But look at Silverstone as a prime example of how the tables turned. Button's inability to perform as well as he could have done was probably due to the fact that it was overcast and colder than it had been earlier in the season. Without being aggressive, his tyres wouldn't have been able to come to him as quickly as he would have liked. Rubens, on the other hand, probably relished the lower temperatures as it meant he could still drive as hard as he normally would, but get help from the colder track to keep his tyres at a good temperature meaning he could stay on the pace of Vettel and Webber that little bit better.

It was also evident back in China that the Brawns didn't like it when the sun was hidden by clouds and it got cold and wet, as Der Seb and Mark ran away with a 1-2. Malaysia's really a 50/50 since even though it did get to monsoon levels of rain, the race is known for it's unbearable humidity, which might have been the reason why Jenson was able to drive back to the front as he did as the heavens opened. Mind you, Webber was really on a charge in the rain and had the race continued for a few more laps, it's very likely that considering the pace he was on, it could have been him on the top step instead.

Going into the German GP at the Nurburgring, the early weather forecasts predict it to be partly cloudy but with around 70% humidity, which should suit Button more than Barrichello. Personally, I feel Rubens should win at least one race this season, but as long as it stays warm, it looks like it might just be Jenson's championship to win or lose. Well, unless the Red Bulls have anything to say about that, which undoubtedly I'm sure they will.

First things first – yes, that is me outside the Brawn GP motorhome. I look an idiot, especially with my glasses, don’t I?

So, how was my weekend at Silverstone? Freaking. Awesome.

…What? You want me to actually tell you about it? Oh, go on then!

It was probably one of, if not THE best, experience of my life. This is something I could only have dreamed about. Meeting up with Tim Stedman, the Puma correspondent I’d be with for the weekend, it was a 2 hour drive down to Silverstone. Thankfully the traffic wasn’t as hectic as it would be on Sunday morning. The first big thing on Saturday was the Renault garage tour. But before that, I managed to get professional pics taken with Romain Grosjean, team test driver and then Fernando Alonso! Tim spotted him coming out of the garage straight after practice had finished and I shook his hand and everything. Now that to me was freakin’ awesome :D Back with the garage tour, I got to see mechanics working up close and personal on 2 R29s which was something else, as well as the engineers monitoring the telemetry on the super-computers they bring to every race. Also seeing the mechanics take the double diffuser off the car was pretty special to witness. Plus, I got to hold the steering wheel! OK, it was empty of its electronics, but it was cool to hold an current F1 steering wheel in my hands and play with the buttons and paddles. Also venturing out to the front of the pits to look at the main bodywork, the front nose and wing section and engine and sidepod covers. Still can’t believe how thin the shark fin is – it’s literally the thinnest piece of carbon fibre I’ve ever seen up close!

Qualifying was viewed at the beginning of Hangar Straight, which was probably a mistake picture-wise. Everyone knows how fast an F1 car is, but trying to take a snapshot of one going by at high speed is something of a fine art. I eventually had to wait for the car to come into my field of vision and then take the pic. Most of the shots I took were blank track but I did manage to get some cars on camera. Afterwards, it was time for the BMW driver interviews, but before that I found out after the event that straight after qualifying, the “Brawn Boys” (Jenson, Rubens and Ross) had been signing autographs at one of their merchandise stands. I’ll speak more on this in a bit.

It was so surreal when I walked into the BMW motorhome because as I was moving through, I turn to my right and who do I see standing right there looking up at a TV screen? Robert goddamn Kubica, that’s who! I thought “Jesus christ! It’s Kub!” Getting to interview both Kub and Nick was brilliant. I only got 3 questions with Rob but I got in 9 with Heidfeld, including the crucial one about his beard! He says he got fed up with shaving one day and when there was no PR or events to cope with, he just stuck with it. Mind you, both did look a little fed up with how things were going with the team and the car right now. Can’t blame them to be honest. But they’ve now become a favourite team of mine.

The Formula BMW hospitality was great too, but it began with a bit of a glitch with the TV feed for the FBMW race. A quad bike ran over the cable and snapped it. The announcer brought it in the said cable to show us he wasn’t lying! After a press conference with the top 3 from that race and some food, Kubica, Christian Klien and Mario Theissen were interviewed on stage. What was really funny was watching Rob get his phone out and play with it, and Klien all the while trying to concentrate on Mario while he was talking but getting ever so distracted by what Kub was up to. Shows F1 drivers are still human after all!

Saturday out of the way, Sunday was less eventful but still enjoyable nonetheless. The Santander stand was the main hub of activity for myself, taking part in the pitstop challenge and the simulator. I didn’t do all that well with the wheel gun on the pitstop, as most of the time the wheel nut was flying off the end and it was up to me to test my reactions just to keep hold of it. Also managed to get grease on my face somehow! The simulator was interesting and more my kinda thing, what with my passion with sim racing. The front half of a McLaren with a proper replica F1 steering wheel too was what I had to work with. I got 2 laps and messed up the end of my practice lap which meant I wasn’t at full speed going over the line. Still, a 1’15 put me 3rd on the board of times for the day. The fastest time over the whole weekend was a 1’06 by someone called “heikki”. Hmm… (Sorry Amy)

Afterwards, I received a call from the lovely lot over at Sidepodcast, who were in the middle of their pre-race live show The Parade Lap. I chatted with them for a good 10 minutes and really had a laugh. Also, my purpose on the day was to interview fans about their British GP experience. I ended up chatting to two Ferrari guys, two BMW ladies, a pair of guys who supported Renault and Red Bull and two girls who were Hamilton fans and had Union Jacks draped around them. But I guess a highlight of the day was spotting and getting a picture with two Page 3 girls – Amy Green and Nikkala Stott. You probably have no idea who they are, but let’s just say… I know of them, OK? Ahem, where were we?…

Our spot for the race was the Luffield B grandstand, which was a much better spot for pictures. I did have a brief scare when I thought all the pictures I’d taked on Saturday were missing from the camera but thankfully that was just a misunderstanding thanks to the camera itself. I personally found the race rather uneventful but still a great experience to see a GP for real again (my first GP being Silverstone ‘05). With Vettel a worthy and rather dominant victor, while Hamilton decided to treat the home crowd to some post-race donuts, I had one other event which also made my day. I met up with F1Wolf after the race and had a nice brief chat with him. Someone who I knew through SPC, I got the chance to meet and talk to. Now how’s that for connectivity!

If I may, I’d like to go back to the subject of those driver signings I mentioned earlier. These were something I’d been looking out for over the entire weekend but there was no information posted up about them at all. If they are something that is only done on a Thursday or Friday on the GP weekend, I find that rather disappointing. This means fans don’t get to meet and greet their favourites and get autographs or pictures with them. If there are going to be such signings, there needs to be clear info on who, when and where right when fans have just gotten through the gates. I was rather disappointed not to come away with something like a signed picture or poster, but I did get Kubica and Theissen to sign my autograph book and got pics with all 3 of the BMW guys after their appearance in the FBMW tent.

So, that’s it really. My Fan Report should be up sometime next week now. It was going to be the end of this week but there were complications sending my written report. But I’m confident that it’s all gonna be good and that the finished and edited video that goes with it will be awesome, if a little cringe worthy having to watch myself on camera. But I have to say a massive, massive thanks to Puma Motorsport for everything last weekend. Without it, I wouldn’t be sat here telling all of you about my experience. If I ever get to do something like this ever again, I will be truly thankful as so far, nothing in my life has ever come close to my weekend at Silverstone. To them, and all of you guys for continuing to follow my work, I say – thank you very, very much.