Bob Barnard Track Engineering

Another early morning start today to watch the Malaysian F1 race. Thankfully the rain stayed away and we were treated to a good race. Yes we saw Hamilton with what seemed a comfortable win from the flag, but behind him there was plenty to keep me awake. It is interesting that Lewis used less fuel than his closest rivals and made his tires last longer. So much for Rosberg being the more thinking driver easier on his equipment. If Lewis did not have to fit the hard compound he could have finished the race as a two stopper. Hulkenburg again showed his class and ran a two stop race, almost stealing fourth.

Ricciardo showed his is not overawed by his champion teammate, muscling his way to third at the start before having a nightmare race, capped off with a ten place grid penalty for Bahrain. Problems with a loose front wheel at a pit stop, and then his front wing mounting broke, not good. Shades of Mark Webber. Rosberg, Vettel and Alonso were all close at times before Rosberg ended up a comfortable second for the first Mercedes One-Two for 60 years. How smart does Lauda look now.

Ricciardo lost his fuel flow meter again, very careless. Apparently 4 other teams experienced failures, but is there something about how Red Bull mounts this that is different? This week they worked with the FIA to monitor fuel flow, so how do they defend what they did in Australia?

Williams and McLaren both seemed off the pace compared to Australia. Massa was one of the few drivers that matched Hamilton on fuel usage. That was a nice graphic to have for this race. I waited for him to speed up at the end to use what he had kept in reserve, but he never did. He was given the move over flag by the team to let Bottas by so he could chase Button down. Apparently the team thought Bottas was faster, but he never got close enough to push Massa, so Massa did not move over. An interesting debriefing session. They finally told Bottas he was racing Massa, but still could not pass him.

Magnussen hit Kimi from behind into Turn 1 and cut Kimi's tire and ruined his race. Interesting that at one point during his drive back the Ferrari had a hard time passing a Caterham, which seems to have found some pace and reliability. Magnussen recovered from the front wing damage and a drive through to finish ninth.

Lotus had a mixed day with Maldanado involved in an early collision with Bianchi and an early retirement, but Grosjean finished the race in eleventh which should give them some hope for the season not being a total loss.

The story of the season so far is the pace and reliability of the Mercedes, and the speed with which Red Bull has recovered from the debacle of testing. If Renault can lift their game we could have good season ahead of us, but who knows how much Mercedes have in hand. As Stirling Moss used to say, win at the slowest speed.

While Lewis Hamilton took the pole on a last gasp run it was Daniel Ricciardo who won the hearts of the Australian crowd, and the plaudits of most viewers with his well deserved 2nd place on the grid. He out performed his world champion team mate, and got between the two Mercedes who seemed unstoppable. Both Nico and Lewis made it through Q1 with ease only using the slower of the two tire choices.

The Rookies also put on a great show with Magnussen and Kvyat both putting in very sure performances, especially in the really difficult wet Q2 & 3 sessions, Magnussen out performing his world champion team mate Jenson Button. Kvyat made an amazing turn around from Friday where all he seemed to do was get in the way, but today we saw why he has the ride. Both Toro Rosso's made it into Q3, while their "parent" Red Bull could not, with Vettel struggling. 

Lotus continued their terrible form, with Maldonado not even getting in a lap, and Grosjean failing to get out of Q1. Both drivers very unhappy and saying so. What contributes to the problems of all the teams is the time it now takes to fix an issue. It is said it takes 6 hours to change an engine, and a lot, lot more to change the whole power system. Lots of teams are breaking the curfew out of shear necessity. We will see who can make it to the grid. With the time between practices and qualifying a problem can cost you a day, and time is something no amount of money or resources can fix.

It appears that all the cars will be able to start having done enough to avoid 107% rule problems. The start should be interesting as there are comments that some cars are better than others in getting off the line, so be sure to watch. Rain tommorrow will make it even more interesting.

Along with most commentators I was pleasantly surprised at how well the cars performed in the wet, some actually looking better. This can often be the case if they are down on power or have a softer set up, but with the torque available I expected a lot more problems. Williams was the only team that really looked uncomfortable in the wet, especially Massa who had some lurid moments even in a straight line. All the drivers were really having to perform, no running on rails with these cars, which is great to see. There were problems with the white lines and painted out lines on the track, which should just not happen in this day and age. The technology exists and is used in places like Singapore to remove the lines before a race, and non-slip paint is readily available and should be standard issue even for everyday use on a street track.

There were a couple of casualties in the wet. Raikkonen hit the wall on the exit of turn 3 and admitted he was fiddling with his steering wheel. Why are there no tires on the inside of the exit of that corner? It is a pretty popular spot to hit. Kvyat lost it on the back of the circuit and collected the wall on a sweeper which is not a spot you'd expect. Lines again. Both cars should be OK.

Even in the dry Martin Brundle made the comment that instead of losing cars from unreliability he is now concerned how many will be lost to accidents. The brake by wire continues to cause drivers to miss their braking points and apexes, and running wide at entry and exit is proving to be a risk all on its own.

So, the most interesting Grand Prix for some time awaits us tomorrow. Mercedes look the goods, but in the dry had issues with tire wear. Whoever wins this is going to need all the skill, experience, intelligence and all the luck he can call on. One not to miss. 

Sebring 12 hours is on today, and we are certainly not going to see much of it. Lots of good drivers, but without the LMP1 cars not what it used to be. Big crash yesterday in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge when Marc Miller was spun into the wall protecting the bridge abutment. This was an accident waiting to happen, and I am surprised it took so long. Why when you started with a wide open airfield did you have to build a bridge to the infield that was narrower than the track and verges leading up to it? Again in this day and age not good enough. A classic case of making the track fit the obstacles instead of the other way around.

You know who I mean, bullshit artists. Sorry for the expletive but BS does not quite convey the strength of feeling. You know who they are, they are all around us, at work and especially in motor sport.

In a not surprising move Dany Bahar has been "suspended" from his role of driving Lotus Car Group into the ground. Despite harrasing Joe Saward for saying what was obvious the inevitable has happened and proved Joe correct, and the rest of us with any common sense. I'm not picking on Dany, he is just the latest to be shown up. But do not fear, he will show up again somewhere, that is the nature of the bullshit artist. It is never their fault, and the fact is they have spent most of their time making sure they have that next job instead of doing the one they have. Just look at the guys who persuaded the regional government around the Nurburgring to let them turn that great track into a circus, for hundreds of millions, and who have now handed the problem of making that money back to the government after alienating most of the original clients of the track like Ron Simons. Of course one of these geniuses has already turned up somewhere else as a manager.

Who would hire them? Why other bullshit artists, that's how most of the people in charge got there in the first place, so why would they want someone who was going to tell them the truth instead of what they want to hear. Yes men are in vogue. Just look at one of our major series. Many years ago I was taken to a city in Oz by the local enthusiasts to meet the Mayor and to try and persuade him to spend the money he was going to spend on a street track on a permanent track so it could be used all year round. Total waste of time, he bought the bill-of-goods a bullshit artist had sold him, and when I pointed that out he said "Oh I know he's a crook, but he has great ideas!" What could I say? That person is still around.

So when Dany told us he was going to build five new models and went about spending money on sponsoring anything on four wheels did we believe it for a minute? No, but the owners did until they sold it to someone else who just maybe do not fall for the bullshit. The Indycar engine debacle has to rate up there with one of the greatest farces in motor sport, and to cap it off both cars using it were black flagged early in the Indy 500 as not being able to reach the minimum speed! Nice one. Oh how Colin Chapman must be turning in his grave over what has been done in his name. Not that he was not above pulling a fast one, but at least his cars won races.

Why is it that the 2012 Ferrari is seen as a dog, especially by the team? While we have had five different winners this year, including Ferrari, Alonso has been there abouts in each race. Now I am a fan of his and feel he can impact the performance of a car more than the average F1 driver, but even he cannot be doing this with a car as bad as everyone makes out. Quickest in first practice in Monaco, and right there in the second without using the super-soft tire that Jenson did. So how bad can this car really be?

On the other side McLaren were seen after the first race to be odds on to win both Chamionships, but look what's happened to them. OK, they have shot themselves in the foot a few times, but that does not tell the story of Button's bad races in China and Spain. So what's real here?

Like Ferrari the Lotus team seem to able to competitive everywhere this year, so perhaps a sixth race winner?

Nice to see the changes to the chicane on the harbor this year, much better.

While the racing goes on the fight to make money from the sport continues unabated. If $1.6bn can be raised by selling shares privately why do CVC, or is it Bernie, feel the need to float it public? A normally very private man when it come to money it is hard to understand why Bernie would want the public scrutiny that comes with a stock exchange listing. Bernie is right though, if Facebook is worth $100 bn then F1 with its returns to investors is a steal at $10 bn. I loved the comment about his replacement, comparing it to trying to find a replacement for Frank Sinatra.

F1 is only worth $10 bn though if the race promoters continue to cough up the exorbitant fees. Let's look at the current calendar. Australia is losing north of $50m on each race and the Government is under pressure. Malaysia has less attendance than Australia and by reports is not happy. China has never had a crowd, but will probably hang in there. Bahrain has plenty of money but no one wants to go. Barcelona cannot fill the seats even with Alonso and is hurting, but still wants the race. Their mates in Valencia keep reducing the number of seats and want to alternate with Barcelona. Monaco is Monaco and does not pay Bernie anyway. Then we have Canada where the students are threatening to stop the race, and Bernie wants a bunch of money spent on the track, i.e pit building, before next year. Silverstone is desperately trying to find someone to lease the facility to pay off their debts. Germany has Nurburgring and Hockenheim, neither of which can afford it. Hungary has always been an enigma, Bernie presumably promotes this race. Belgium is in trouble like Germany and was touted to share with France, except France is not playing ball with them or Bernie. In Italy the financial police have just raided Monza over dodgy accounts. Singapore will presumably continue at a lower price as their reward for floating F1. Japan is a year by year deal and could stop. Korea already wants to stop and apparently Bernie has done them a deal. India has not yet worked out what it is really going to cost them, as with Austin, which is still fighting within themselves. Abu Dhabi has spent so much money on Yas Marina they have to keep going, and then there is Brazil which is faced with building a new pit building. So, not all rosy in the F1 world.

What of the new races I hear you ask. Well we have New Jersey here in the US which no one knows who is paying for it. France is having second thoughts, and all is not smooth in Russia. Argentina is scheduled to join the Bernie supporters club, and there are always countries willing to pay Bernie what he wants it seems, but for how long?

Over at MotoGP things aren't much better with the current World Champion saying he is retiring at the end of the season as he does not like where that sport is heading, and neither do most of us.

On a final note the extensions to the track I built at Eastern Creek in Sydney back in 1989 have come in for some stick, particularly from motorcycle racers. Perhaps now I will receive some recognition for what I built originally on a difficult site. No, it was not Phillip Island, but there again, nothing else is.

Now I know Nico is not Finish like his Father, but he does know how to finish a race off. There have been the doubters, but he has not been one of them, he just needed the right equipment, set up, and strategy. Congratulations Nico, great drive, but it did bring home the importance in today's era of deteriorating tires that being at the front is a huge advantage. We saw that last year with Vettel, although it was masked by a great car, but we also saw it with Button in Australia. Fighting through traffic after pit stops is quickly taking the edge off the tires, so qualifying at the front and getting there early is key.

Was anyone else surprised my the amount of "marbles" at this race, and so early on? Not something we saw at the end of last year, or at the first two races this year. Not great to see as it limits the overtaking options, although we did see a lot of that despite them.

What an excellent race though, and we are sure to see more of them. Mercedes have cured their tire problem it seems, in these temperatures anyway, but there is Lotus, Sauber, and yes Williams all showing signs they can compete. Now McLaren and Red Bull are going to be at the sharp end week after week, but surely Kimi is going to get in the mix soon, and Perez has also shown he can mix it. Who knows what Ferrari are going to do with that dog of a car. Sad to see Michael's race end that way, and I know I do not like him, but there you are. That's racing, ask Lewis after Malaysia and Jenson yesterday. Pit stops do have the ability to produce some different results. 

I loved our SPEED commentators carrying on about amazing it was that Mercedes won after 57 years! Well they did not race for 55 of them so what's the big deal? I suppose when Lotus win we will have the same carry on? Yes I had to suffer through a recorded SPEED coverage as when it was on I was on a plane coming home from a "Racing Goes Safer" conference in Long Beach where I continued my call for better track safety here in the US. If you have not gone on line and watched the Sky coverage and heard Alguersuari's comments then you are missing a lot, and David Hobbs misses most. Love David, but Jaime has current knowledge and what he can tell about what the driver and car is doing is amazing. An eye for detail I have always admired and wondered at in real racers.

I did watch part of the ALMS race live at Long Beach but cannot admit to being very excited by it. The GT's put on the usual show, but we miss the RISI Ferrari and the other overseas cars. Dyson has decided not to go to Le Mans due to the cost and not being able to raise more sponsorship or drivers who can pay. Sad for Rob and Chris, but an expensive experience if you are not competitive.

Watched part of the Indycar race, and let me say they do not look any better in the flesh. Ask Marco Andretti how well the new design of the cars works to prevent flying after riding over the rear wheels of another car. Waste of time and money come to mind? 

Finally Bahrain. Enough is being written about the situation without me adding my two bob's worth. Bernie and Jean Todt are getting rattled by the press pressure as they should. At least one team member had the courage to say they would not go for moral reasons, and got fired for their efforts which I think is outrageous. As I said, I for one will vote with my TV remote and will not be watching.