Formula One 2010

[Guest Mr. Grinch]

Maybe my understanding is way off here, but doesn't Schumi's (or any driver's) performance depend an awful lot on his car? I always thought the reason Ferrari (and for a while McLaren, and in the mid-to-late-90s Williams) dominated was because they had the best cars...drivers are just the icing on the cake to separate the men from the boys.

To use a late 90s comparison, Jos Verstappen in a Ferrari would beat Michael Schumacher in a Minardi any day, but Schumacher in a Ferrari would handily take Verstappen in a Ferrari as well.

[EddieG]

WHY!? Why did you have to put down the Dutch?

But anyway.. last year's Champ winner was Button.. in a Brawn .. with a Mercedes engine.. and Schumi just happens to be driving a Mercedes, so who knows.

EDIT: Oops, some wiki'ing turns out.. that Brawn became Mercedes Grand Prix.. so basically Schumi is driving in the same (upgraded) car as Button? :/

Edited December 23, 2009 by Eddie 'AW' G

[Guest Mr. Grinch]

...then I guess he'd have a pretty good shot, yeah.

[Lineker]

Schumacher's return confirmed by himself and Mercedes; and he's aiming to win the title.

March. Come now. Plz.

[Rich]

WHY!? Why did you have to put down the Dutch?

But anyway.. last year's Champ winner was Button.. in a Brawn .. with a Mercedes engine.. and Schumi just happens to be driving a Mercedes, so who knows.

EDIT: Oops, some wiki'ing turns out.. that Brawn became Mercedes Grand Prix.. so basically Schumi is driving in the same (upgraded) car as Button? :/

Just remember that Button and Brawn were not dominating at the end of the season and Red Bull and Mclaren were regularly outperforming them with Button not winning a race in the second half of the season... It doesn't mean it will be plain sialing at all. I reckon a good shout will be that Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren will be at the front, alongside hopefully Ferrari and maybe wone or two others. Like I said before, should hopefully be wide open and generally amazing.

[hackerjack]

Yeah it's been confirmed.

I can't see him really competing for the title though, first he wil have some severer physical problems to overcome himself, he will have to learn a lot of new things on the car and I dont believe Merc will put out a showstopper of a car either, there is just too much change in that team for me to challenge properly in 2010. McLaren and red bull will be the teams to beat with Merc and Ferrari just behind them I think.

[Thomas]

reading the wiki page, concerning the US team...

3.^ - José María López will race for US F1 Team on the condition that he is able to put together an eight million-dollar sponsorship package within one week.[52] Sources close to López claim he has eighty percent of the funds he needs to secure the race seat.[53]

[Lineker]

Bah. Flavio has been unbanned from FIA events. What a joke.

On another Renault-related note, Eric Boullier has been named as the new team principle, taking over from iterim Bob Bell.

[Rich]

According to BBCSport, Mclaren test driver (and former stand in race driver) and former Arrows driver Pedro De La Rosa has been signed up by Sauber for the season

[YI]

Haha epic. My friends and I have some sort of weird ongoing gag of calling anyone vaguely hispanic looking we meet Pedro De La Rosa...no idea how it started, or why it's funny, but yeah.

[Lineker]

Toro Rosso have finally confirmed Alguesuari. This gives Spain three drivers on the grid for the very first time.

[Adam]

Only 3 seats left to fill now if Lopez to USF1 is indeed confirmed. Looks like Heidfeld is joining Mercedes as 3rd Driver too, which is a shame for me as I always liked him and think he could easily still do well in a driver's sear. Guess it adds to the unlikeliness that he'll ever win a race as well of course. Would be good if Schumacher had to step down or miss a race or something at some point, allowing Heidfeld a shot in a top car.

I'm hoping Grosjean gets the last Renault seat but I don't find it likely, and I guess we'll see rookies joining Campos and USF1, which will be interesting as a rookie team with two rookie drivers will be interesting-we already have the combo of new team/experience drivers and new team w/experienced driver and rookie.

Cars begin to be unveiled this week too. Not tremendously exciting but I dunno, it signals the true start to the build-up of the season along with the testing for me.

[Lineker]

MGP W01

[Rich]

http://carlaunch.mclaren.com/

MP4-25 has been launched, there's a picture on the BBC f1 website, but that link is a side view from the official Mclaren website, looks gorgeous

[Lineker]

Loving Jenson's new helmet, we've all missed it and it fits surprisingly well into McLaren sponsors.

Autosport's gallery of Mercedes GP's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Ferrari's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of McLaren's new car launch

[Katsuya]

Petrov is the second Renault driver, therefore leaving only the Campos and USF1 seats being the only two left open. That if, of course, dependant on either of them being ready for the first race, which would probably mean that Stefan Grand Prix would get their slot if one of them dropped out (looking more and more likely to be Campos ATM). Renault also revealed there new look car, which looks more or less like the old Jordan >_>

Also, the first test is set for tomorrow in Valencia, with Renault, Sauber, Mercedes, Toro Rosso and Williams all going to be there for sure, and one would presume McLaren and Ferrari'll be there too.

[Lineker]

Loving the Bumblebee livery. Completely fresh slate there at Renault now.

Autosport's gallery of Sauber's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Renault's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Toro Rosso's new car

[Lineker]

Have a "major say" in the future of F1

Big FOTA survey. They're asking fans to give their feedback on pretty much everything, what they like and dislike, so that they can draw up blueprints to improve F1 in the future.

[Lineker]

So.... bye-bye USF1? The FIA are apparently planning a visit to USF1's HQ to judge on how ready the team will be for the start of the season. I don't see it, to be honest, so enter Stefan? Also, José María López is in talks with Campos to race with them in 2010 should USF1 not work out.

Autosport's gallery of Virgin's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Force India's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Red Bull's new car launch

Autosport's gallery of Lotus' new car launch

[Katsuya]

Soooo...yeah. Pre-season testing is over, and it looks pretty obvious that Ferrari have got the best car, followed very, very closely by Red Bull. McLaren and Mercedes are up there too, with Mercedes set to have their new "super diffuser" on the car for Bahrain, which would mean that they could indeed be much more competitive. Then the "midfield" is being led by Sauber and Force India, which is nice to see, with Renault, STR, Williams somewhere behind them.

Lotus and Virgin are abysmally off the pace, by like 3-4 seconds, which isn't much of a surprise; Hispania F1 are the former Campos team, haven't done any testing, but apparently they will make Bahrain, but with who as their drivers it's not clear. USF1 have asked to defer their entry for 2011, but with Stefan GP quite clearly ready to race, and with two all-but-confirmed drivers in Nakajima and Villeneuve, I can't see the FIA allowing USF1 to survive.

In other words...this still looks set to be the awesomeness. The crazyness over Brawn last year is probably gonna be eclipsed this year by Schumi's return (and having Villeneuve back too would be a nice little thing to see, TBF).

Edited March 3, 2010 by Katsuya