Downforce32

Diffuser, Diffusing, Diffused...

Leo Turrini wrote in the italian newspapers that the real story, about Melbourne, was that Ferrari complained about Brawn's diffuser, but Ferrari was (I hate to say it) slower than BMW and Red Bull and these teams used the same diffuser as Ferrari… What the hell... OMG - how much crap about these stupid diffuser/regulations can we listen to?

Do we have skilled drivers in these F1 cars (diffusers or not)? Is it about the drivers’ skill, or all about which team bends the rules in a more ingenious way and has deeper pockets to bending the rules?

What ever happened to the drivers' skills? All that is ever reported about and talked about are the cars - the engines, chassis, KERS, rules and downforce, and... you get the idea. I think this first race showed that some drivers were up to snuff on driving these cars and others without all the downforce help, etc. looked a bit "new" or noob-isch. Not sure, but more needs to be said about the drivers ability to handle a racing car regardless of all the technology that keeps these cars on the track - Am I just missing the mark?

Penalty - Vettel to sit at 10-place grid

Sebastian Vettel has been demoted 10 grid places for next weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix after his late crash with Robert Kubica in Melbourne.

Vettel and the BMW Sauber driver had to retire from the Australian Grand Prix following the collision with three laps left as they battled for second place.

Stewards also fined his Red Bull team for telling him to continue.

Remorseful Vettel looked set for a podium finish, but the grid penalty will handicap the German in Malaysia.

The 21-year-old German, who came to prominence after winning the Italian Grand Prix at Monza last year, had tracked Button right from the start on Sunday.

But, with only three laps remaining, the Red Bull driver was slow through the first two corners, allowing Kubica to get alongside on the outside on Turn Three.

In the key part of the incident, which race stewards deemed to be the German's fault, the Red Bull's front wheel tagged the rear wheel of the BMW after the Pole had given Vettel room.

The result was that both cars tipped into a spin, damaging their front wings before they each crashed further around the lap.

And Vettel - a former BMW driver - continued on the track with one front wheel hanging off his car in a doomed attempt to stay in the race, earning Red Bull a fine in the process.

Trulli penalty pushes Hamilton into 3rd at Australian GP

The world champion secured a surprise third behind Brawn GP pair Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

After finishing second in the constructors' championship last year, the Mercedes-powered outfit are off the pace so far this season.

A determined drive from Hamilton, combined with a collision between Sebastian Vettel and Robert Kubica and a time penalty for Jarno Trulli secured third place for the British driver from 18th on the grid.

Brawn Button ! Australian Grand Prix 2009

Jenson Button secured a dream debut victory for the Brawn GP team after dominating the Australian Grand Prix.

The Englishman led throughout and team-mate Rubens Barrichello completed a Brawn one-two after a dramatic finish. We were glued to the flat screen - Wynn, Keith, Brandon and company, and I.

The Brazilian was promoted after Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel and BMW's Robert Kubica collided while disputing second place with three laps to go.What a crazy deal that turned into - We were sure that BMW would have the third spot sealed.

Toyota's Jarno Trulli was hit with a 25-second penalty after the race giving Lewis Hamilton an unexpected third.

Clinching an eventual podium finish from 18th on the grid was a superb achievement for the British world champion, given the woeful performance of his McLaren coming into the race.

But all eyes were on Brawn after the chequered flag, with the success of the former Honda team - whose survival was only secured by team boss Ross Brawn in early March - firmly capturing the imagination of the sport as it enters a fresh era under new rules.

Awesome race! - F1 is back!

Victorious Button secured the second win of his 154-race Formula 1 career after driving coolly throughout, showcasing Brawn's speed to keep Red Bull's Vettel at bay for the vast majority of the race to eventually cruise to a finish behind the safety car.

Vettel looked set for a brilliant second place but he and Kubica tangled on Turn Three with just three laps remaining. Both crashed just around the lap, and although Vettel tried to continue on three wheels he was eventually forced to retire.

Brawn's one-two looked unlikely at the start of the race as Barrichello, sat next to Button on the front row, was easily passed by the chasing pack as his anti-stall system kicked in.

The Brazilian also tangled with Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen to cause significant damage to his front wing, which had to be replaced during his stop on lap 18.

Trulli's team-mate Timo Glock eventually finished fourth in Melbourne ahead of Renault's Fernando Alonso and Williams's Nico Rosberg, who suffered a sticking front wheel at a pit stop on lap 15 which scuppered his chance of a podium finish.

Red Bull's Sebastien Buemi made an impressive debut to secure his first F1 points.

And Ferrari finished without scoring in the season opener for the second year running, as Felipe Massa - running in third place - sustained a reliability failure on lap 45, three laps after team-mate Raikkonen had spun out.

Australian Grand Prix Results 2009

Position	Country	Driver	Time
1	great britain	J Button	1:34:15.784
2	brazil	R Barrichello	1:34:16.591
3	great britain	L Hamilton	1:34:18.698
4	germany	T Glock	1:34:20.219
5	spain	F Alonso	1:34:20.663
6	germany	N Rosberg	1:34:21.506
7	switzerland	S Buemi	1:34:21.788
8	france	S Bourdais	1:34:22.082

Ecclestone makes USF1 change name to US Grand Prix Engineering

I have known about the USF1 or now known as the USGPE project for some months, but until the last few days I continued to be sceptical that the project would have lift off. But recently I've been encouraged with the many things that have come true. The team is fronted by Haas CNC Racing technical director Ken Anderson and journalist Peter Windsor.

Autoblog has reported that the team will promote American technology under the banner "Made in America" and that the cars will be designed and built in Charlotte, North Carolina. A secondary European base will be in Azkoitia, Basque Country, Spain, sharing facilities with the Epsilon Euskadi racing team. Anderson would like the team's cars to be driven by two American drivers and are considering any American driver with the right credentials. The team was officially launched on February 24 on the Speed television channel.

As reported on AutoBlog, there will be no USF1 in Formula 1 racing. A full year before the new American team was set to take to the track in 2010, they have been shot down by the very series they planned to compete in. But it's just the name that the sanctioning body was objecting to.

As if Bernie Ecclestone couldn’t find other ways to create enemies, he has outdone himself this time. Apparently Bernie Ecclestone and Formula One Management (FOM) weren't overly fond of the use of "F1" in the team's initially stated name. So it's out with USF1 and in with USGPE, which stands for US Grand Prix Engineering. We wouldn't be surprised to hear that Pontiac is now threatening a lawsuit, or perhaps sponsorship.

The strange move comes after much speculation as to what the American team was going to be called. Ecclestone was quoted saying that the only way he would allow the US team to use “F1” in its title would be if they added “Team” to the whole headline. Complications like these really emphasize why the 78 year old man has passed his prime in the sport!

Just for clarification, Formula 1 has allowed "F1" in a team's name, but only if the word "Team" is also used. The lone exception is Williams, which officially goes by WilliamsF1. In related news, Force India was asked to revise their logo because "FI" looks too much like "F1". The team will now use a lowercase "i" in the logo to avoid confusion with the series. Got all that? So USF1 is now USGPE and Force India is now using "Fi" instead of "FI".

So NASCAR and USGPE? Will it ever work - a competitive Formula One team based in the epicenter of the NASCAR industry?

Results so far... from Melbourne

First Practice

Friday, 27 March 2009

Position	Country	Driver	Team	Fastest Lap
1	germany	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:26.687
2	japan	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:26.736
3	finland	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:26.750
4	brazil	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	1:27.226
5	finland	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.453
6	great britain	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	1:27.467
7	brazil	Felip e Massa	Ferrari	1:27.642
8	germany	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:27.710
9	germany	Adrian Sutil	Force India-Mercedes	1:27.993
10	spain	Fernando Alonso	Renault	1:28.123
11	germany	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:28.137
12	italy	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:28.142
13	poland	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:28.511
14	italy	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes	1:28.603
15	switzerland	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:28.785
16	great britain	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:29.042
17	australia	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:29.081
18	brazil	Nelson Piquet Jr	Renault	1:29.461
19	france	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:29.499
20	germany	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1:32.784

Second Practice

Friday, 27 March 2009

Position	Country	Driver	Team	Fastest Lap
1	germany	Nico Rosberg	Williams-Toyota	1:26.053
2	brazil	Rubens Barrichello	Brawn-Mercedes	1:26.157
3	italy	Jarno Trulli	Toyota	1:26.350
4	australia	Mark Webber	Red Bull-Renault	1:26.370
5	great britain	Jenson Button	Brawn-Mercedes	1:26.374
6	germany	Timo Glock	Toyota	1:26.443
7	japan	Kazuki Nakajima	Williams-Toyota	1:26.560
8	germany	Sebastian Vettel	Red Bull-Renault	1:26.740
9	germany	Adrian Sutil	Force I ndia-Mercedes	1:27.040
10	brazil	Felipe Massa	Ferrari	1:27.064
11	finland	Kimi Raikkonen	Ferrari	1:27.204
12	spain	Fernando Alonso	Renaul t	1:27.232
13	italy	Giancarlo Fisichella	Force India-Mercedes	1:27.282
14	germany	Nick Heidfeld	BMW Sauber	1:27.317
15	poland	Robert Kubica	BMW Sauber	1:27.398
16	france	Sebastien Bourdais	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:27.479
17	finland	Heikki Kovalainen	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.802
18	great britain	Lewis Hamilton	McLaren-Mercedes	1:27.813
19	brazil	Nelson Piquet Jr	Renault	1:27.828
20	switzerland	Sebastien Buemi	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	1:28.076

Rosberg fastest as F1 blasts off

Williams driver Nico Rosberg clocked the fastest laps of both practice sessions as the new Formula 1 season burst into life in Melbourne.

Toyota, Brawn GP and Williams - who all fought off a Thursday protest about the legality of their cars - shone the brightest on an intriguing afternoon.

Britain's Lewis Hamilton, the world champion, struggled in his McLaren to finish 16th then 18th.

Red Bull put in a strong second session while Ferrari had a mixed day.

Ahead of the richly-anticipated opening action of the 2009 season, motorsport's governing body, the FIA, had rejected a protest made by Ferrari, Red Bull and Renault about the legality of a key part at the back of the cars used by Williams, Brawn GP and Toyota.

It had been claimed their rear diffusers do not conform to new F1 regulations, but stewards ruled against the complaint.

And it was those cars that were fastest around Melbourne's Albert Park street circuit, with the traditionally more successful teams suffering.

In the first session, Rosberg came through to take the fastest time - one minute 26.687 seconds - from Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on his last lap of 19, while team-mate Kazuki Nakajima finished second.

The German ran even quicker in the second session, clocking 1:26.053, while Japan's Nakajima finished up seventh.

New team Brawn GP also backed up their impressive performance in testing with a strong showing.

The former Honda team led by owner Ross Brawn were tipped as pre-race favorites and, on this early showing, there is every indication that may be justified.

Veteran Rubens Barrichello, at 37 the oldest driver on the grid, finished fourth and second in the respective sessions with a fastest time of 1:26.157.

England's Jenson Button - widely identified as the pre-race favourite by bookies - finished sixth and fifth with a fastest time of 1:26.374.

Though little can be read into practice times - teams merely use these sessions to determine their qualifying and race tactics - Toyota will also be heartened by their performance.

Drivers Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock, both running on the softer of the two tire types available, led for much of the second session and eventually finished third and sixth respectively.

Also on the seemingly more responsive softer tires, Raikkonen led for most of the first session but eventually finished third for the constructor's champions.

In the second session, he finished 11th with Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa one place ahead.

McLaren were slow throughout, which was largely expected given the problems they had experienced in pre-season testing.

Heikki Kovalainen finished fifth in the first session but team-mate Hamilton was well off the pace and both were in the last four places in the second session.

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso failed to shine in his Renault, finishing 10th in the first session and 12th in the second, while BMW Sauber had troubles with their car and were not as quick as anticipated after strong test showings leading up to Melbourne.

Red Bull suffered in the first session, with drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel managing just 11 laps between them.

But Webber hit back to finish fourth in the second session with a time of 1:26.370, though Vettel again span out.

Ferrari, McLaren and Renault, along with BMW Sauber's Nick Heidfeld, ran with the new kinetic energy recovery (Kers), which gives drivers a power boost.

F1 rivals fear new kids on the block

Rivals of Brawn GP say the team could dominate the first race of the season in Australia on Sunday after their sensational form in pre-season testing.

They will disappear on the basis of what I've read about their testing, I just hope our BMW boys and Ferrari can be up there, too!

However, a row is looming over the design of a part on Brawn's cars, as well as those of Williams and Toyota.

Red Bull intend to lodge a protest against those teams if their cars are not declared illegal when governing body the FIA checks whether they conform with the regulations on Thursday.

The other six teams are also unhappy with the design of the rear diffuser on the Brawn, Williams and Toyota.

The diffuser is the rear part of the floor of the car between the rear wheels and under the rear wing.

It is crucial to the aerodynamics of the car, and small changes can have a big impact on the amount of downforce - and therefore grip and speed - the car can produce.

Boo Hoo - let's all cry about the inventive skill and imagination - the sheer cleverness of some teams to make best use of the new rules - ss

Brawn GP carries the name of former Honda team principal Ross Brawn, who put together a last-minute management buy-out in March.

Honda, whose team was based in Brackley, Northamptonshire, pulled out of Formula 1 in December because of falling road-car sales and the global economic crisis.

After Brawn's participation was confirmed, Englishman Jenson Button and team-mate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil shocked their opponents by setting the pace in pre-season testing in Barcelona and also shining a week later in Jerez.

Such has been the reaction to Brawn GP's impressive testing times, bookmakers have widely proclaimed Button - who has won just one race 153 grands prix - as the favorite for Sunday's Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park.

Barrichello, a nine-time winner in 268 race starts, seems ready for the challenge and I'm sure is delighted delighted with the Mercedes V8-engine powered Brawn car.

With respect to the diffuser used by Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams, Red Bull believe that not only does it contravene the letter and spirit of the rules, it also undermines the thinking behind the sweeping regulation changes that were introduced into F1 this year.

A number of changes were made to the cars in an attempt to make it easier to overtake.

One of the main aims was to reduce the amount of air turbulence generated by the cars so drivers find it easier to follow closely behind.

Speculation has it that Toyota, expecting a fight in Melbourne, have brought an alternative diffuser to Melbourne and they could, if necessary, race with that.

But because of time and budget restraints Williams and Brawn GP have no alternative as they do not have a plan B.

Rivals believe the controversial diffusers create more downforce and give a lap-time benefit of as much as 0.5 seconds.

If rivals protest, Williams and Brawn - and possibly Toyota - will race under appeal and any points they win would be provisional until the case is heard in the FIA Court of Appeal in three or four weeks' time.

If the cars do not pass scrutineering, the teams may have to bolt on bits of carbon-fibre to their diffusers to bring them into line with the FIA rules ahead of first free practice.

Red Bull are the only team who have come out and say that they will make a protest.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali hoped a protest would not be needed.

Beautiful Monaco