Hungarian Grand Prix Preview- The title race starts now

After a long summer break we head to Budapest for what could be one of the most crucial rounds of the championship so far. Pirelli are bringing their new revised tyres which could arguably shake up the field entirely and we will find out how badly Mercedes suffer after missing the Young Drivers Test.

  This combination means that midfield teams such as Williams and Force India have a real shot of achieving a big result. 

Pirelli's lifeline

But the main question on everyone's lips is how are the revised tyres going to hold up around the Hungaroring. The circuit is quite slow and has plenty of tight corners, partner that with temperatures which are expected to soar on the track it means that the tyres are going to be put under a lot of stress. Ten of the corners at the circuit where McLaren have had such a presence over the past 10 years are taken at under 155/KPH and the cars require the same downforce level as a circuit like Monaco. The perfect platform to become a hero or a villain. Pirelli have the chance to prove a lot of critics wrong this weekend but they have to get this right. They have re added the Kevlar belts seen at the Nurburgring which were also used in 2012 but can they hold on? Everyone makes mistakes but when there are such a spread of them in such a short space of time eventually resulting in the safety of the driver being at risk then drastic measures have to be taken. Pirelli need a race with no complaints and no incidents involving a tyre fault or this could well be the beginning of the end for them.

Mercedes rue missed opportunity

Every formula one team took to Silverstone recently for the Young Drivers Test, well every team except Mercedes that is. Normally it's what it says on the tin. A test...for young drivers. But the 2013 test was a little different as teams were Able to test Pirelli's new tyres ahead of the Grand Prix this weekend. This was absolutely crucial as the teams had the chance to collect enough data and statistics to make Oxford university jealous. Longevity, temperatures, potential strategies, how they run with different downforce levels or fuel loads amongst many more factors that could come into play this weekend. Mercedes missed their chance due to the secret test which took place earlier in the season. Because of this and because of how much data the teams would have collected it means that Friday practice is going to be like getting your homework done at 9AM the morning it's due when your lesson is in 20 minutes. It will be a frantic rush to catch up and make up all of the ground lost. We have no way of knowing how much ground the rest of the field have gained on the team who sit second in the constructors standings until qualifying where the silver arrows always seem to shine. Only time will tell if they are going to struggle around the demanding Hungaroring or if Ross Brawn is going to pull a bunny out of his hat. 

Team to watch

Whilst they have not had the easiest or strongest start to the season, McLaren have always shone at this circuit taking a total of eleven victories with six of those being in the past eight years. Perhaps the Young Drivers Test will have been the catalyst needed to get their season pointing in the right direction. Maybe not a podium place but expect to see a strong presence in qualifying and maybe even a double points finish during the race.

Driver to watch

The circuit has always been one that Finnish drivers seem to excel at. Heikki took his only Formula One Victory there back in 2008 and Hakkinen also took two wins at the Grand Prix. Raikkonen has not won there since 2005 but last year took second place with Romain also on the podium in third. The two races previous to that when he was driving a Ferrari, the Iceman also came second and third. He will be chasing victory number 21 this weekend and the Lotus could be the key to unlock the door that victory sits behind.

Top 5 prediction

Fernando Alonso

Kimi Raikkonen

Sebastian Vettel

Felipe Massa

Paul Di Resta

Read More

Top 5 picks for Webber's replacement in 2014.

Yesterday Red Bull announced that they have extended triple world champion Sebastian Vettel's contract until the end of the 2015 season. Whilst this is great for the German it does surface the question of if Mark Webber leaves then who will be his replacement? It is a widespread rumour  that the Aussie will be moving to the World Endurance Championship driving for Porsche next season and whilst Webber has not 100% confirmed or denied this rumour, the events of the 2013 season thus far are certainly hinting at a departure from the sport.

So what happens to Red Bull if Webber leaves? The answer is simple, they need to find a replacement who will deliver the same if not better performances and someone who could be a long term number 2 driver to support Sebastian. Below I have listed my top 5 picks for the seat if Mark were to leave and the reasons why.



5.) Nico Hulkenberg:

The German Sauber driver has turned a lot of heads over the past couple of seasons. With a career highest of fourth position and a pole in Brazil 2010, Nico has proved that he has potential. His 2013 season however is not as successful thus far. Picking up just 5 points from the opening 7 rounds (however that's all of the points Sauber have scored this year) If Hulkenberg wants to be considered for the Red Bull seat next season and doesn't quite have the car for consistent points finishes, what he needs to do is attack and show the world that despite the car not being as competitive as it has been in previous years, he can still fight for the lower points and have some exciting battles on the circuit. But with his talent and what he have already seen from him, I
wouldn't write him off just yet.

4.) Paul Di Resta

Since his debut in 2011, Paul Di Resta has continued to improve and impress as his career goes on. 34 points this season alone out of the teams total of 51 and a season best of fourth in Bahrain, Di Resta again is looking very strong in a Force India. The ever competitive midfield in Formula One is where you can expect to see the Scotsman at his best, with a driving style that combines aggression with calmness he has a mature mindset and coming from DTM, it's easy to see how the skills needed to run bumper to bumper and be cool calm and collected when in group racing have transpired into F1.

3.) Kimi Raikkonen

Having won the opening round of the season, the Iceman was out to win a championship and he had made that point crystal clear looking at his race results. Three second places in a row saw him move up to second in the championship whilst teammate Grosjean struggled to get the consistency needed to support Kimi and aid Lotus's Constructors bid, much like Alonso and Piquet JR partnership at Renault a few years back. But the key here is that over the past two seasons Kimi has been with Lotus, he has taken 11 podiums and 2 victories. The only issue here is that I don't think the partnership would work. It would mirror the Alonso and Hamilton McLaren partnership in 2007, two drivers who want the spotlight with the team backing their "Golden Boy". This could even be the case at Red Bull now following the Multi 21 incident and the numerous other encounters the two teammates have had in the past. As good as Raikkonen would be in a Red Bull, I just feel that he is too dominant to be a number 2 driver, team orders can make or break a drivers championship and if Raikkonen had to yield to allow Vettel to pick up some crucial points for the championship ending his own, would he?




2.) Daniel Ricciardo & John-Eric Vergne

Yes that's right I've chosen two drivers for number two. Toro Rosso was the proving ground for Sebastian Vettel in 2008. He took his first victory for the Red Bull sister team at Monza that year and now he's a triple world champion. No other driver however has been able to achieve the same feat or indeed anywhere close. Sebastian Bourdais and Jaimie Algesuari are just a couple of names to mention. But Daniel Ricciardo looks like he could be the man to change that. However in doing so, he needs to out qualify and finish better than his team mate Vergne who has been on a great tun lately. Red Bull boss Christian Horner has said  "Daniel is a very, very talented driver. He has come from the Red Bull junior programme and has done a great job. We have an eye on him. "We're also looking at what Jean-Eric Vergne is doing, and it's nice to see the progress they're making." Vergne picked up a fantastic result this weekend at Canada finishing in a career best of 6th position. The Toro Rosso pair are alternating who is quicker almost every race now and it will be very interesting to see if Red Bull choose Daniel or John for the 2014 seat. 


1.) Nico Rosberg

Three pole positions and a victory are the way Nico Rosberg has started the opening half of his season. Alongside his new teammate Lewis Hamilton who is signed at Mercedes until 2016, Rosberg has been on fire as of late. His learning curve over the past five years or so has been great to watch as his totals now add up to two race wins and four pole positions with the potential for many more. Often considered the nice guy of Formula One,  the 28 year old in my eyes would be the perfect replacement for Webber. Still relatively young, quick, consistent and smart. He does not often go for moves unless he knows 100% that they will pay off. He respects team orders (Malaysia this year is a good example however he made his feelings clear to the team) and works very well as a second driver.

Only time will tell who Christian chooses as his new number two driver but there is a lot of speculation circling at the moment, the next few races in particular will perhaps make things a little clearer but we need to wait until the end of the season for a more realistic idea of who the driver could be.
Who would you choose if you were in Horners position? Leave your thoughts in the comments below or tweet them to me @LiamJSimRacing

Read More

The great Pirelli Ponder:- Are the 2013 tires a blessing or a curse?

The opening five races in the 2013 Formula One season have been and gone and instead of the fans talking about the Red Bull Supremacy or how Lotus have been the underdogs and could be dark horses for the championship taking a total of 5 podiums and one victory , they are talking about something a little more serious. The life of the Pirelli tires.

This has been the main talking point of the championship since the very first round with drivers, team bosses and fans alike all up in arms about how limited this years rubber is proving to be. The tires degrade so quickly and most drivers had to perfect a 4 stop strategy this past weekend in Spain.

In my opinion Pirelli have got this completely wrong. In an attempt to make the racing more exciting and add another factor into the championship, they have changed it from “racing” to a tire management game. If Pirelli want to gain a lot of publicity and show how durable their road tires are, this is not the way to go about it. People are complaining after around 5-10 laps that the tires have completely gone and this should not be happening in any form of racing let alone Formula One. If this was Formula 3 and it was making the drivers stop halfway into a race then that would add another level of excitement and unpredictability. But with races on the calendar up to 70 laps long this is not the right home for them.

Paul Hembery said Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya "was very demanding on the tyres because of the unique characteristics of this circuit.” One key phrase to take note of there, “Unique characteristics”. If this was the case then why has it happened at EVERY race on the calendar so far? If anything, the Circuit de Catalunya is normally quite easy on tire wear in comparison to some of the tracks on the calendar.

In Pirelli’s defence the idea did not originate from their own company and they politely agreed to it to make F1 more exciting. If you find cars pitting in after 6 laps of racing exciting then you will love the opening half of the season so far. But if like me you want to see drivers race until there is nothing left on the tires and to leave every bit of energy out on the tarmac, doing the best they can to make a move then this season may not be the best to show your best friend why F1 is your favorite sport.

Hembery also added in an interview to the BBC "Unless you all want us to give Red Bull the tires to win the championship. It's pretty clear. If we did that, there would be one team that would benefit and it would be them. “

Again this is a fair point and everyone knows that the Red Bull is ridiculously quick but it is a much closer playing field this year. You can to an extent push the tires in qualifying more than you can in the race due to the lack of life in them and we have seen Mercedes looking extremely competitive, Ferrari taking two victories and Lotus being the most consistent team on the track. But is this down the tires or just to the mid field teams making up a lot of ground on the front runners during the post and pre season?

The way I see it is Formula One Is a marathon and the drivers are the runners. How boring would a marathon be if they couldn’t run at full speed because every mile or two they need to change their shoes because the sole has come loose? The answer is pretty obvious as it is no longer a race. It’s who can perfect their strategy and tire management and that is not what Formula One is about.

F1 is THE pinnacle of motorsport, a place where the best of the best do battle all over the world in breath taking moments which cannot be rivaled by any other series. But we are seeing less and less of that each race these Pirelli’s fail to last over 10 laps. The drivers aren't racing as the word suggests but nursing the tires and treating it like a different sport entirely.It’s up to Pirelli to make a tire that degrades faster but still leaves the driver able to race in every sense of the word. Until then though, we may not truly know who is the fastest man on the circuit.

Read More