 |
| We are almost set for the start of the 2013 F1 season |
We might have
lost Michael Schumacher to retirement again over the winter, but there are
still five world champions on the grid.
With 19 races, there will be plenty of globetrotting across the world
for the 11 teams, now that HRT have said farewell to the sport.
We welcome
five rookies onto the grid, the most for a Grand Prix season since 2001, and
although the depth of the midfield could be criticised, there are plenty of
reasons to get excited about 2013.
I now preview
the campaign ahead for the midfield runners and the backmarkers, attempting to
get indications from the difficult formbook of winter testing, and see what
might happen over the course of the season.
Force India – Struggling to move
forward
I look at
Force India and think where are they going in Formula One? They seem to be totally stagnated in Grand
Prix’s midfield pecking order.
You know what
to expect from their car and solid driver line-up. There will be regular point’s finishes, and
some sterling qualifying efforts, but not much else.
Based around
the corner from Silverstone, podiums are a must if they want to break out of
the competitive midfield and on a regular basis too.
Paul di Resta: If you created a list of driving in
terms of giving excitement, Paul di Resta would be near the bottom of this
list.
That isn’t a
bad thing, as he regularly brings the car home, and doesn’t get caught up in
too many scrappy incidents. However,
neither does he set the world alight.
Now in his third season in the sport, there is no doubting di Resta is a
good driver, but is he more than that?
The Scot is
hungry and wants to be successful in the sport.
He is aiming at high up the grid in future. To do that, he will need to produce more
high-scoring point’s finishes in 2013. I
can’t make up my mind on what kind of season he will have to be honest.
 |
| Adrian Sutil is back and raring to go after missing out in 2012 |
Like di
Resta, Sutil doesn’t set the pulses racing, but he is a solid driver who
deserves a place on the grid – something the likes of Senna, Kovalainen, and
Kobayashi cannot say in 2013.
An unsavoury
nightclub altercation in Shanghai in 2011 cost him an F1 seat last season, and
while he was eventually found guilty of assault and earnt a suspended jail
sentence, Sutil performed very well when he was last in F1.
Di Resta
starts the season as team leader, considering the miles of testing he has under
his belt, but Sutil deserves a second chance, and I wouldn’t be totally
surprised if he was the one scoring the majority of Force India’s points in
2013.
Williams – Plenty of excitement
Williams
entered 2012 off the back of their worst season in their proud history. 2011 was truly terrible, with just five
points collected all campaign.
They ended
2012 with unfulfilled promise. Victory
was earnt in Barcelona in stunning fashion by Pastor Maldonado, before the
horrific pitlane garage fire that marred the post-race celebrations.
However, they
didn’t make the most of what was a very good racing car. 2013 could be different. They might have lost Tito Wolff, but in Valtteri
Bottas, have one of the most exciting rookies to enter the sport since Lewis
Hamilton arrived on the scene in 2007.
 |
| Can Pastor Maldonado put the package together? |
Maldonado was
cleaning up his act by the end of the campaign though, and the Venezuelan will
be keen to get more consistency into his locker. If he does, then Williams are sure to move up
the constructors’ championship table.
He has
natural speed, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he grabs a pole position or even
a win again in 2013 – because when he can put the package together, he is very
difficult to beat.
Valtteri Bottas: Bruno Senna was consistently in the
points and brought some strong financial backing to Williams, so for him to be
dropped in favour of the less sponsored and unknown quantity that is Valtteri
Bottas suggests the latter has a bright future.
Bottas hasn’t
raced since romping to the GP3 title in 2011, but showed a lot of maturity and
matched Maldonado’s speed regularly in Friday morning practice sessions last
year.
He is
familiar with the team from his testing duties, and will have experience of the
majority of the current race circuits.
Plus, he is Finnish and they have a reputation of driving flat-out.
Bottas should
be a dark horse to watch out for in 2013.
Toro Rosso – The battle for a top seat
 |
| Toro Rosso's youngsters have been given a second chance to impress |
The stakes
are high in the Italian team this season.
With James Key onboard as technical director and a more stable car in
the pipeline – they should improve considerably on last season’s modest effort.
The drivers’
remain unchanged, and it could be the case that the winner of the battle for
supremacy between Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo will be aiming high up
the grid, whilst the loser will join the likes of Buemi and Alguersuari in the
rejects category.
Jean-Eric Vergne: It was difficult to read a great deal
into Jean-Eric Vergne’s debut season.
His qualifying performances were nowhere near good enough, but he was a
better raceday driver and ultimately outscored his team-mate.
Vergne only
got into the points on four occasions, but they were all eighth place results,
on days where the going got tough such as the tricky conditions in Malaysia and
Brazil, and the crash chaos at the start in Belgium.
He deserved
to keep his seat, but must build on an unspectacular rookie year. He probably is behind Daniel Ricciardo on
speed, but perhaps better when it comes to collecting the big points. The pair certainly has a good working
relationship, but there is a big private battle going on in the aim to be a Red
Bull star of the future.
Daniel Ricciardo: They say that nice guys can’t win in
Formula One, so that might count against Daniel Ricciardo. However, he is a very likeable Aussie who
stays out of trouble and quietly gets on with the job in hand.
Ricciardo
struggled to start with at Toro Rosso, but developed into a very capable
performer after the summer break, and scored points in five of the last eight
races. He also thrashed Jean-Eric Vergne
15-5 in qualifying.
The only
thing that seems to be missing from Ricciardo’s talent is he is slightly timid
behind the steering wheel, which possibly explains why he doesn’t get the
excitement levels up for a neutral.
This could be a breakthrough year for Ricciardo, and I reckon he will surprise plenty of people who have him written off already as just another Buemi or Alguersuari.
This could be a breakthrough year for Ricciardo, and I reckon he will surprise plenty of people who have him written off already as just another Buemi or Alguersuari.
Caterham – All direction lost
Three years
into the project and Caterham seem to have lost all direction with the point of
entering Formula One. Legal wrangling
about the naming rights, the harsh sackings of Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno
Trulli along the way, and the departures of Tony Fernandes and Mike Gascoyne
seem to hint the team is in serious financial trouble.
Vitaly Petrov
did provide a crucial cash injection, when he finished 11th in the
season finale last term, but even the Russian was ditched for fresh
talent. New team principal Cyril
Abiteboul has a huge job on his hands.
I can only
wish him the best of luck, but Caterham’s position as perennial backmarkers in
unlikely to change in 2013.
Charles Pic: Making the move of the minnows from
Marussia to Caterham might surprise a few people; there isn’t a great deal of
difference to be honest.
Charles Pic
is a solid driver, and proved his capabilities last season, when he gave Timo
Glock some concerns on a regular basis.
However, I
don’t quite see the logic of the move, and as team leader of Caterham, he has a
big challenge ahead of him.
Giedo van der Garde: I don’t know a great deal about Giedo
van der Garde’s background. He is a
surprising choice for selection in the number two seat at Caterham, and I think
he will be in for a long campaign at the back of the field.
The one main
advantage is he knows a lot of the team, having been the reserve driver last
season, which could give him a slight headstart over his team-mate Pic. Other than that, I hope he likes blue flags –
because this is what he will have to get used to frequently.
Marussia – Hope at the end of a dark
tunnel
Last season
was Marussia’s most challenging campaign.
They didn’t debut the 2012 car until Melbourne, lost test driver Maria
de Vilota to that dreadful testing accident in Oxfordshire, and ultimately had
to terminate Timo Glock’s contract in January to save money.
However, they
will have KERS on their package this season for the first time, and were very
unlucky to have been pipped to the crucial 10th spot in the
constructors’ championship by a distinctly average Caterham squad.
Pat Symonds
will be back this season too. Michael
Schumacher’s former race engineer was banned for his part in the ‘Crashgate’
scandal involving Nelson Piquet Jr in Singapore 2008.
He has been a consultant with the team, but can now return to the pitwall in 2013 and his experience and knowledge of engineering can’t be faulted. His presence could push Marussia ahead of Caterham in 2013.
He has been a consultant with the team, but can now return to the pitwall in 2013 and his experience and knowledge of engineering can’t be faulted. His presence could push Marussia ahead of Caterham in 2013.
 |
| Max Chilton has his chance to impress at Marussia |
He impressed
in GP2, winning three races and finished fourth in the championship. There is no doubt that his seat has come from
some important financial backing, but the team does like to give new talent a
go.
Chilton has
done the majority of the Marussia testing over the winter. If he can match the likes of Charles Pic in
the Caterham, and his highly rated team-mate Jules Bianchi, he will have had an
excellent debut season.
Jules Bianchi: Frenchman Jules Bianchi is so highly
rated; he is part of Ferrari’s Young Driver Academy.
He only
narrowly missed out on a Force India drive to the proven Adrian Sutil, but when
Luis Razia’s money ran out, Bianchi stepped in to fill the breach.
He has the
speed, and will make mistakes but is likely to cause a stir in his debut
season.
Regulation changes
There isn’t a
massive amount of changes in the regulations for 2013, before the big switch to
V6 turbos for 2014.
With just 22
cars on the grid this season, only six cars will be eliminated from the first
two parts of qualifying, rather than seven as it previously was. The pole position shootout will remain the
same, with the top 10 cars competing.
The double
DRS system as pioneered by Mercedes GP has been banned by the FIA. Teams can still run a passive system though,
with Sauber and Lotus believed to be trying this concept out.
 |
| The FIA have made minimal changes to the regulations |
The minimum
weight of the cars, including driver has been increased to 642kg to combat the
new specification of Pirelli tyres.
The FIA has
introduced a new ‘penalty points’ system for drivers, after last year’s
catalogue of incidents which led to penalties for regular offenders such as
Sergio Perez, Michael Schumacher and Pastor Maldonado, plus the one-race ban
for Romain Grosjean. Under the new
system, driving infringements will receive points for different levels, and
when they have committed enough offences to harm a driver’s super license, they
will be banned immediately from racing.
The use of
the DRS system has been modified.
Competitors can only now use the device in the permitted DRS zones for
practice and qualifying, along with the race.
Previously, DRS could have been used everywhere until raceday. To combat this, the FIA has announced that
all circuits will have two DRS zones, with the exception of Monaco, Hungary and
Singapore. DRS will still be banned in
areas such as Eau Rouge at Spa and the tunnel in Monaco on safety grounds.
Calendar
and TV schedule
There will be
19 races this season, after the European Grand Prix was dropped from the
schedule for the first time since 1998.
A proposed
race in New Jersey was postponed due to circuit design issues, whilst a 20th
race in Europe was scrapped after Turkey, Austria and Portugal couldn’t agree
on a deal with their respective race organisations. The German Grand Prix will be staged at the
Nurburgring in 2013.
 |
| The Sky team are ready for season two in the British broadcast battle |
Georgie
Thompson has been dropped from the Sky presenting team, with Natalie Pinkham
taking on the role as Ted Kravitz’s co-host for The F1 Show. On the Beeb, Jake Humphrey’s departure for
pastures new with BT Vision means former Superbikes and MotoGP anchor Suzi
Perry will be the face of terrestrial F1 coverage.
Round 1, Australian Grand Prix – 17 March (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 2, Malaysian Grand Prix – 24 March (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 3, Chinese Grand Prix – 14 April (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 4, Bahrain Grand Prix – 21 April (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 5, Spanish Grand Prix – 12 May (Live on Sky Sports and BBC)
Round 6, Monaco Grand Prix – 26 May (Live on Sky Sports, extended
highlights on BBC)
Round 7, Canadian Grand Prix – 9 June (Live on Sky Sports and BBC)
Round 8, British Grand Prix – 30 June (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 9, German Grand Prix – 7 July (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 10, Hungarian Grand Prix – 28 July (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 11, Belgian Grand Prix – 25 August (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 12, Italian Grand Prix – 8 September (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 13, Singapore Grand Prix – 22 September (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 14, Korean Grand Prix – 6 October (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 15, Japanese Grand Prix – 13 October (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 16, Indian Grand Prix – 27 October (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
Round 17, Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – 3 November (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 18, US Grand Prix – 17 November (Live on Sky Sports,
extended highlights on BBC)
Round 19, Brazilian Grand Prix – 24 November (Live on Sky Sports and
BBC)
So we are almost set and ready to go. The 2013 FIA Formula One World Championship promises to be another special season.
Lights,
camera, action!
.jpg)
0 comments:
Post a Comment