F1 Insight
Formula 1 analysis and race pondering
596 posts
- Races
Thoughts on the Italian GP
Everyone seems to rate the soggy race at Monza as one of the best of the year - it has even been described as better than the Belgian GP. I beg to differ. It was a good race with the result that everyone hoped for, but…
- Races
Monza Shuffles the Pack
After one of the wettest qualifying sessions in years, the grid has been well and truly shuffled and the race becomes extremely hard to predict. Much will depend on the weather (light rain is predicted for tomorrow) but…
- Races
Friday Practice at Monza
After the first practice session was washed out by a downpour, the second was run on a drying track, with the cars getting faster with almost every lap. The Ferraris battled for a while over who was going to be fastest…
- Regulations
The Importance of Customer Cars
In all the fuss over the events at Spa last weekend, Grand Prix dot com ran a little story that went largely unnoticed but is crucial to the future of F1. The Formula One Group has submitted a proposal for the continued…
- Races
More Thoughts on the Events at Spa
The stewards' penalty dished out to Hamilton at the Belgian GP is still occupying my thoughts. I have read all the comments (currently at 415) on Keith Collantine's post on the subject , plus countless others on other…
- Teams
The Fortunes of Force India
Vijay Mallya has been talking about his feelings regarding the progress of Force India this year. He is both happy and dissatisfied, believing that the team has progressed remarkably since last year and yet is still to…
- Drivers
The Iceman Slips
Nick Heidfeld is not the only driver to have been the subject of considerable pressure in the last couple of months or so. Felipe Massa's apparent ascendancy over Kimi Raikkonen has raised questions over Kimi's position…
- Drivers
A Good Story From Spa
As Verasaki pointed out in the comments to my last post, the controversy over the stewards' decision to penalize Hamilton at Spa overshadowed the best race we have seen in ages. There were innumerable overtaking…
- Races
Miscarriage of Justice in Spa
I do not want to hear any Ferrari "fans" protesting in future that the FIA are not massively biased towards the Italian team. After Massa's illegal fine for an undeniably dangerous release from the pits in Valencia, the…
- Races
Hamilton Quickest in Spa Qualifying
It was cool but dry in Spa today and the qualfying session ran accordingly, with the McLarens having a slight edge over the Ferraris. That fits with the suggestion in my last post that races this year are being decided…
- Regulations
A Different Kind of Tire War
Back in the days of tire wars, we became accustomed to the influence of tires on F1 races, with Michelin dominating for a while and then Bridgestone having an edge. Personally, I never liked that situation, preferring…
- The Future
F1 Finances and the Future
Pitpass has an interesting article on F1 finance and sponsorship today. After pointing out how costs have increased for the teams, it then looks at the value sponsors and advertisers are getting for their money. And the…
- Teams
Reflections on Testing at Monza
Being fastest on the second day of testing at Monza must help a little in Nick Heidfeld's quest to retain his BMW seat next year. It is only a brief respite, however, and Dr Theissen has made it clear that he expects…
- Races
In Defense of Valencia
The general opinion on the Valencia GP is that it was monumentally boring. Not even the pit stops managed to produce any significant changes in the race order and the race amounted to a procession with…
- Regulations
More Fire in Valencia
During the course of the pit stops in the Valencia GP, there were at least two more incidents of spilled fuel igniting to cause brief fires. Little comment has been caused by these, perhaps because the issue of…
- Races
Controversy in Valencia
It is always a bad sign when the main talking point after a GP is a stewards' decision, rather than the race itself. In Valencia the race was so processional that a glaring inconsistency in application of the rules was…
- Races
European GP Qualifying
I love the Valencia circuit. The setting is not as magnificent as Monaco but interesting enough and the track is fast and challenging. In practice and qualifying it produced some unexpected results, everything pointing…
- Regulations
J-Dampers Surface Again
I see that McLaren's J-damper has become a talking point again, with Grand Prix dot com running an article about its invention at Cambridge University. It now appears that McLaren had a deal with the university for its…
- Circuits
Anticipating Valencia
The dreaded three-week break is nearly over and thoughts turn to the next GP on the calendar - Valencia. This is one we have looked forward to for a long time, not only because it is new but also because it promises to…
- Misc
No Concorde Agreement
It was when I came across this article in Planet-F1 that I realized that my quest for interesting F1 news today had failed. That made me turn to the past and previous posts from long ago and I came across a joke that,…