- 06 Apr 09, 18:09#103350
Just a general topic. After just two round we've seen a shake up like no other in the world of F1. But despite all of this the fields remanins incredibly tight. Brawn have an early lead, but as we've seen before. Nothing is for certain in the world of F1. Any team could catch them.
Here's a run down of each team so far, as well what they're using on their cars.
Brawn GP - Trick Diffuser
Clearly the pace setters. Also, from what we seen at Malaysia yesterday from Jenson just before the 2nd pit stop Brawn holding back some. Jenson's fastest lap was a whole second clear of the next best non-brawn time. Two clear wins in a row means that Brawn are set for a season like no other.
Toyota - Trick Diffuser
With two 3rd places already under their belt, Toyota have been the team closest to Brawn. In Oz they started from the pit lane, and still made it to the podium and 4th place. Whilst in Maylaysia they challenged for pole, passed Brawn on the start and later Glock challenged for the Gran Prix lead. Clearly Toyota are seeing their best year in F1 so far. They said they've set out to take their first win, and I wouldn't bet against them right now.
They still have KERS coming, although they haven't mentioned much on the system, it could provide them with that little bit extra to truly challenge Brawn for victories.
Red Bull -
Easily the surpirse team of the year. Adrian Newy has yet again managed to take full advantage of the shake-up and provided an extremely quick car. Not only that, they have one of the strongest, if not the strongest drive line-up with one of the most promising drivers Vettel as well as an experienced driver who some say would be WDC in the right car Webber. Vettel qualified a superb 3rd in Oz, and was looking set for a podium until a crash with Kubica. Webber on the other hand said he could've challenged for the win in Malaysia had the race gone on longer.
Red Bull are seriously dangerous right now. They're running neither a trick diffuser or KERS. So once they start using either it'll be interesting to see just where they sit in the pecking order.
Williams - Trick Diffuser
Williams are currently enjoying a return to form. Rosberg has driven immensely in the last two races. Leading in Malaysia shows the Williams are deffinetly a threat. Unfortunately poor strategy near the end of the races have cost the team points early on. But there's no doubt they're right up there in terms of performance.
Williams have bragged quite a bit about their unique KERS flywheel system. Could this bring Williams even further up the grid. They're working flat-out on the system currently and it'll certainly be interesting to see just how effective the system is.
Ferrari - KERS
Not the best of starts for the Ferrari team. They're clearly behind after developing too long into 2008. But although they've yet to score, the car isn't doing all that bad. Massa was running a strong 3rd in Oz, whilst Kimi was running a good 5th before a poor tyre choice in Sepang. But it has too be said, the car is not reliable. This is a big worry for Ferrari seeing Montezemlo is not a happy man. This could easily be Ferrari's worst season since 1995.
The upside is that once they bring in a trick diffuser we could see Ferrari a lot further up the feild. Then with the addition of KERS, they'll easily be able launch into the lead from as low as 4th.
BMW - KERS
Many believed this to be BMW's year, but so far it's just not happening for the team who've showed such promise in the last two years. Heidfeld managed to reach the podium in sepang, but it was largely based on luck. Heidfeld has been running KERS, but has not been able to reach Q3. Kubica on the other hand isn't even running KERS, and was only able to ride his luck in Oz before the crash. BMW have not shown the promise we expected them to show this year.
The upside is that they're bringing in a lighter chasis so that Kubica can perhaps run KERS. Not to mentioned a trick diffuser. BMW will certainly be looking to push back up the feild
McLaren - KERS
A team that deffinetly developed to heavily into 2008. They car is fine, it simply lacks and downforce and speed of the cars ahead. Lewis has made the most of the situation so far, but theres only so much a driver can do to drag the car up the feild. The harsh reality is that the McLaren is not quick enough.
They only upside is that McLaren are clearly working hard and fast. But the fact is, it'll take an extraordinary push to get the team up to speed and into a fighting posistion.
Really, who do think will be the top 3 constructors will be at the end of the year.
Here's a run down of each team so far, as well what they're using on their cars.
Brawn GP - Trick Diffuser
Clearly the pace setters. Also, from what we seen at Malaysia yesterday from Jenson just before the 2nd pit stop Brawn holding back some. Jenson's fastest lap was a whole second clear of the next best non-brawn time. Two clear wins in a row means that Brawn are set for a season like no other.
Toyota - Trick Diffuser
With two 3rd places already under their belt, Toyota have been the team closest to Brawn. In Oz they started from the pit lane, and still made it to the podium and 4th place. Whilst in Maylaysia they challenged for pole, passed Brawn on the start and later Glock challenged for the Gran Prix lead. Clearly Toyota are seeing their best year in F1 so far. They said they've set out to take their first win, and I wouldn't bet against them right now.
They still have KERS coming, although they haven't mentioned much on the system, it could provide them with that little bit extra to truly challenge Brawn for victories.
Red Bull -
Easily the surpirse team of the year. Adrian Newy has yet again managed to take full advantage of the shake-up and provided an extremely quick car. Not only that, they have one of the strongest, if not the strongest drive line-up with one of the most promising drivers Vettel as well as an experienced driver who some say would be WDC in the right car Webber. Vettel qualified a superb 3rd in Oz, and was looking set for a podium until a crash with Kubica. Webber on the other hand said he could've challenged for the win in Malaysia had the race gone on longer.
Red Bull are seriously dangerous right now. They're running neither a trick diffuser or KERS. So once they start using either it'll be interesting to see just where they sit in the pecking order.
Williams - Trick Diffuser
Williams are currently enjoying a return to form. Rosberg has driven immensely in the last two races. Leading in Malaysia shows the Williams are deffinetly a threat. Unfortunately poor strategy near the end of the races have cost the team points early on. But there's no doubt they're right up there in terms of performance.
Williams have bragged quite a bit about their unique KERS flywheel system. Could this bring Williams even further up the grid. They're working flat-out on the system currently and it'll certainly be interesting to see just how effective the system is.
Ferrari - KERS
Not the best of starts for the Ferrari team. They're clearly behind after developing too long into 2008. But although they've yet to score, the car isn't doing all that bad. Massa was running a strong 3rd in Oz, whilst Kimi was running a good 5th before a poor tyre choice in Sepang. But it has too be said, the car is not reliable. This is a big worry for Ferrari seeing Montezemlo is not a happy man. This could easily be Ferrari's worst season since 1995.
The upside is that once they bring in a trick diffuser we could see Ferrari a lot further up the feild. Then with the addition of KERS, they'll easily be able launch into the lead from as low as 4th.
BMW - KERS
Many believed this to be BMW's year, but so far it's just not happening for the team who've showed such promise in the last two years. Heidfeld managed to reach the podium in sepang, but it was largely based on luck. Heidfeld has been running KERS, but has not been able to reach Q3. Kubica on the other hand isn't even running KERS, and was only able to ride his luck in Oz before the crash. BMW have not shown the promise we expected them to show this year.
The upside is that they're bringing in a lighter chasis so that Kubica can perhaps run KERS. Not to mentioned a trick diffuser. BMW will certainly be looking to push back up the feild
McLaren - KERS
A team that deffinetly developed to heavily into 2008. They car is fine, it simply lacks and downforce and speed of the cars ahead. Lewis has made the most of the situation so far, but theres only so much a driver can do to drag the car up the feild. The harsh reality is that the McLaren is not quick enough.
They only upside is that McLaren are clearly working hard and fast. But the fact is, it'll take an extraordinary push to get the team up to speed and into a fighting posistion.
Really, who do think will be the top 3 constructors will be at the end of the year.
- By darwin dali