After all the politics and speculation this week, it was good to sit up late for the first two practice sessions of the Chinese GP. There is nothing like action on the track for reminding one of what the sport is really about.
McLaren MP4-24 plus sexy diffuser
It was also an occasion for a few "I told you so"s. McLaren had an evolutionary diffuser, not quite double but more than single, and both drivers used it to good effect, Hamilton proving quickest in the first session, Kovalainen (remember him?) fourth fastest. Max Mosley really ought to reconsider his tactics in his war with McLaren - all the mud thrown just seems to make the team try harder.
Admittedly that first session was one for tire testing and warming up the circuit and times meant little. It was in the second session that the true pecking order became more evident, the McLarens slipping down to 9th (Kovalainen) and 13th (Hamilton) and Rosberg putting in a bid for fastest time of the day. This time the Williams driver was beaten by Button with Barrichello hot on his heels with third quickest lap. The double diffuser boys are still in front but only just, Red Bull being very close and Toyota dropping away a bit into 6th and 8th.
Perhaps the story of practice, however, was Ferrari and its troubles. Like all the teams, the red cars had problems with graining but theirs were most spectacularly obvious. On board shots of bits of rubber flying off the front tires and past Massa's ear made it clear that KERS and diffusers are the least of Ferrari's worries for the race. At this rate, both Raikkonen and Massa will struggle to make it into Q3.
Everyone had cause to criticize the tire compounds supplied at this race, once again calling into question the FIA's tire rules this season. The harder compound proved difficult to heat up to operating temperature, while the super softs did their usual trick of lasting five or six laps only. How this is supposed to add to the show is anyone's guess, but I would question the policy on safety grounds alone. How long will it be before we have a big accident caused by an exploding super soft tire pushed a little too hard?
It should be remembered that this situation is caused by the FIA wanting a greater differential between the two compounds for each race. Apparently, last year the difference was hardly noticeable, cars being able to give good accounts of themselves on either compound. So the aim must be to have a greater gap between the cars according to which tire they happen to be on.
We asked for more overtaking and this is what we get. Cars on soft tires can overtake others on hards and then be retaken after a few laps when the softs go off. Brilliant, isn't it? I think we should have been more specific in our request and asked for meaningful overtaking, not a lottery.
I had not meant to say too much about tires, seeing that F1 Fanatic has a very good poll and article on the subject, but they were really the main talking point of practice so far. And perhaps the most interesting thing about them was that they had little influence on fastest times - the super softs were marginally quicker for a lap or two, but no more. The real difference was wear rate and it is going to be very difficult for the drivers to make the option tire last long enough for a decent race stint.
So everyone will have a short stint with the softs at one time or another in the race and the real competition will be in the longer stints. Does this amount to a fascinating strategic battle in which the cleverest team wins? I think not; it looks more like an artificial blanket strategy forced on the teams by a governing body obsessed with TV viewing figures. When will they learn that we come to see motor racing, not to admire the tactical skills of the men on the pit wall?
One of the reasons Michael Schumacher was detested by so many F1 fans was because he often won races through strategy rather than sheer speed; we felt cheated that the quickest driver had been beaten by a man sitting in the pits with a computer on his lap. That man was Ross Brawn, of course, and he is now in a position to demonstrate his skills again - give him a decent driver in a competitive car and he will squeeze out the wins wherever possible.
This situation is not helped by tires being so influential in choice of race strategy. Ross has designed a car that uses its tires better than any other to date and he is about to prove that there is much more to the BGP 001's advantage than a fancy diffuser. By the end of this season, there are going to be many fans who have grown to hate the sight of Button on the top step of the podium. And much of that will be thanks to a wily old fox with a lap top sitting on the pit wall.
Ah well, I suppose Lewis Hamilton could use a break from the spotlight...