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.

We were treated to a very good race today in Melbourne, much better than most of us expected. All the cars started, albeit three from pit lane, and some got only as far as the first corner thanks to Kobayashi. We can only surmise where Massa would have finished if not taken out after the showing of his young team mate Bottas. Indeed where Bottas may have finished if he had not fallen victim to that wide exit I have spoken of and kissed the wall and broken a wheel. Recovering to finish 7th was a great effort and must give Williams cause for hope. Hamilton and Vettel both demonstrated what a fine line there is between winning and not really starting with this complex car, and Ricciardo after a stellar performance has also found out the hard way. I hope the Stewards get out of Australia OK.

I am glad I waited to write this blog as it took 5 hours for them to decide to exclude him from the results due to exceeding the fuel flow rate. This was not hard as the race finished at 4 am my time, so back to sleep. This fuel flow rule is so complex it does not bear thinking about. How do you have a maximum flow rate of 100kg an hour when you only have 100kg for a whole race? Mercedes are reported as exceeding it in practice, but then the rule was "clarified?" Red Bull are adamant that they did not exceed it, so wait for the appeal. Whatever the outcome Daniel showed he is well worthy to succeed Mark and we can only look forward to more of the same. A very cool drive under a lot of pressure.

Magnussen the younger also showed what we can look forward to, with Jan now being referred to as "Kevin's Dad" by the Corvette team. McLaren have to be well pleased, especially if the Red Bull exclusion holds up.

Mercedes confirmed what we all expected and dominated the race. You had the feeling that Rosberg could have won this by a lot more, but did not need to. He was pulling away from Ricciardo at a second a lap at one point, and even after the safety car closed it all back up just drove off into the sunset, even with the clouds. Hamilton must be gutted, but there again looking forward to the future with positive expectations.

So winners and losers. Clearly Mercedes with Red Bull, Mclaren and Williams all there abouts, Force India with good pace, Toro Rosso not so bad. Ferrari finished both cars in the points, but struggled to really challenge. apparently both cars had electrical issues, but managed them, and Kimi clearly not happy with brake by wire. Still, something to be confident about for the future. Lotus did get both cars to start and ran for more than half the race, with Grosjean getting within 12 laps of finishing. They were ecstatic just to be out there. Marrussia had both cars finish 13th and 14th, but Bianchi lost a lot of laps. Sauber did not look good, but Sutil did the race on one stop, so still tire friendly. Caterham had a race to forget with that first corner brain fade of Kobayashi, for which he escaped punishment, and Ericson stopping with a power problem.

What no commentator, either on TV or in print has mentioned is the sheer fact that the race was run succesfully at a very good pace, and no cars ran out of fuel, despite having 33% less! So the real winner will be us. Can you imagine the impact on our fuel usage globally if we can improve efficiency by 33%! That is huge, and I'm sure that if not racing our vehicles can achieve even more. It now points the way for the foreseeable future that vehicles will be powered by multi-system power plants. Not just electric, we barely have enough of that now let alone powering all those cars, but a mix of carbon based fuels with waste energy being recovered in the form of heat and kinetic energy recovery through braking. Congratulations to the powers that be that forced this change. I must admit to being a doubter, but we have better racing and a strong path forward. Wait till Honda come on board. Congratulations too to the engine manufacturers who have unravelled this complex specification and made cars we will still enjoy to watch. And at the same time giving us purists cars that again require drivers to drive, and be seen to be doing it. 

Also not mentioned was that tires were not an issue for anyone, and there was a considerable reduction in the marbles, which allows more overtaking by itself. DRS did not seem a big factor in most overtaking, and perhaps we can do away with this gimmick.

I cannot finish without mentioning the wonderful NBC coverage. I watch Sky on the computer, but have the TV on just in case the streaming stops, which it does now and again. I do not listen to the NBC commentators of course, and if I relied on seeing the race on NBC I would probably not watch. There must be a sense in the US that viewers cannot concentrate for more than a few minutes, so we have to have lots of ad breaks, and in between cameo pieces about Ricciardo racing a jet on take off, or photos of the new noses etc, etc. Absolute nonsense.

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.

We saw plenty of fireworks on and off the track in Spain. Unusually the Barcelona race was a cracker, with Williams, everybody's sentimental favorite, winning at last, and deservedly. Maldonado may bring a bag of cash, but he also obviously brings skill and guts. I admit I for one thought him good, but only there for the money, but he proved us all wrong yesterday. Hanging on under great pressure from Alonso showed nerve and courage. How sad that their celebration was spoiled by the pit fire, and how great to see Pastor rescuing his brother, again the courage.

In my discussions with fire marshals the world over, who always get carried away with the risk of fire in a pit building, I usually ask them when was the last fire in a garage, as opposed to the pit lane. They cannot answer as it was so long ago, but now I can't use that argument. What I also say is still valid though, if you are going to have a fire it is as good a place as any as it has a lot of fire fighting equipment and people who know how to use it. Pity the same cannot be said for the track's fire fighting force it seems. In my expert witness work we always ask about manuals and procedures, and what training staff have had, and this just confirms the importance of not just having procedures, but practicing them. The other thing I have learned running events is that it is not over just because the race or whatever action is going on, has finished. The event ends when everyone has gone home, so don't knock off the staff.

It was impressive to see the pictures of the team members fighting the fire, knowing what to do and doing it calmly. As Pit Pass said, they are a community, even if they fight all the time, but what family doesn't? When the chips are down they pull together, great to see.

So what of the race? McLaren shot Lewis in the foot again, how many ways can they do that, and how long can he put up with it? Amazing to see him still passing and attacking while preserving his tires for a two stop race, and beating Button at his own game. What would we have seen had he started on Pole? And why did he start from the back? He set a time in Q2, so why did he not start based on that time down with Vettel? Very strange goings on with Red Bull and the noses, and how did Vettel still run 6th after his nose problem and drive through? Alonso continues to flatter the Ferrari, what would he do if the car was sorted? Massa is an embarrassment and should have been pinged for blocking, and HRT are an ongoing embarrassment and should just go away.

Alexander Rossi did OK in his Friday session, kept it off the wall and wasn't too far off Petrov's time. Let's hope for some more sessions for him. Sauber continues to impress, as does Lotus, both of whom you would expect to win a race sometime this year. Almost anybody's race this year.

Over at Donnington for the WSBK there were fireworks of a different kind, with BMW repeating their DTM achievement and winning for the first time. 1-2 in the first race, and should have been in the second until Rae knocked them out at the last turn. How do you do that and still win the race? We see Schumacher given a penalty for punting out Senna, and rightly so whatever Michael says, and Rae wins the race. Still, both races were a cracker, which is more than can be said for our two home grown Sports Car series who have to make up for lack of racing by interviewing anybody they can find. I've said it before, but why do we have to listen to Scott Atherton during every ALMS race and hear the same BS about how great everything is? Two LMP1 cars does not make a race. Thank goodness for the GT's, and very good to see the Aston on pole, but what happened to its' pace in the race? Over at Grand-Am it seemed impossible for anyone to pass another car without hitting it in the process, but I guess it is owned by NASCAR. 

On the F1 commercial side the change in Government in France has made the French GP more complicated and certainly more expensive. Red Bull and Ferrari are to get seats on the Board of the floated company, as apparently will McLaren, although having Ron Dennis at the meetings could be exciting. Some doubt though over whether they will get the float done this summer as the markets are not cooperating.   

The Mole, aka Peter Windsor I suspect, has a different take on Adams sudden departure. It still involves Bernie, but his take is that Bernie forced him out as Adam was one of very few who critized Bernie from inside F1. Bernie said recently that the reorganization of Williams should have started at the top, i.e. Adam. The scenario is Bernie needs Ferrari, McLaren and Williams to sign on, and knows Red Bull and Toro Rosso will go along for the money, and Sauber will do what Ferrari wants anyway. So offer Sir Frank a deal, Sir Frank says yes please, Adam says no, so no more Adam.

Another theory, but one of the comments suggested Adam would take "gardening leave" and turn up at CVC, along the lines I suggest. Bernie and Max Mosely had some famous disagreements, it did not stop them working together, and in my scenario Bernie is not there anyway.

Joe Saward has a piece about how our friends at CVC are going to be rewarded further for their investment in F1, with an extension of their loans maturity to 2017, the end of the next Concorde Agreement. In the meantime the return for investors is guaranteed at 5% over bank rate, and they can get ready for a float. Are we never to be rid of these parasites?

Now Thailand wants a GP, home of Red Bull why not? More the merrier. We'll be able to run the whole series in Asia soon.