The Official 2013 Formula One Update F1 Season Preview 3/3

The final installment of the official preview is here and with only a few days to go before the first race of the season, it´s about time too!

I do apologize for the lack of a preview, but work has been mental the last few weeks. I will try to find the time to get you some good updates here and there, throughout the season, so we´ll see what will happen.

In the second preview article, I predicted that Mercedes, Lotus, Sauber and Force India to stay pretty much where they ended 2012, with only minor changes. The reason behind this logic, is that the teams is not bringing anything revolutionary to the table this year, because next year will be a completely new set of rules, with the new V6 turbo engines and what not. Therefor, as we saw in 2012, a discreet evolution of the cars with the usual updates along the season, is what can be expected.

Still, that said, it´s time to see if the last four teams on the grid will move up or down. Remember that places 1-7 have already been occupied, so for now it´s a matter of finding out who will be the best of the rest.

Toro Rosso

I am still struggling to find a solid argument for having the team on the grid. Sure they are a developing team, grooming young drivers, but the drivers isn´t promoted to Red Bull, which was the entire reason to establish Toro Rosso in the first place. Only man to get the nod, was Sebastian Vettel, and though he has done ok, irony might occur, the talent is either lacking or Red Bull is not interested in the team after all. There is this “let´s just see what happens with it” attitude about Toro Rosso from time to time, and then suddenly one of their drivers does something extraordinary and we fall right back in love again.

So how will they do?

Toro Rosso is not really moving anywhere. The results are clear: From the formation in 2006 when Minardi was bought, up until today, their best season was 2008, when Vettel won the Italian GP in soaking wet conditions, a staggering result for the team who was used to fill up the slots from the mid-field and down. Since then, not much have happened in terms of development, or should I say grooming. Not a single driver has been marked for greatness, except Vettel of course, and no driver has been performing so well, that other teams have had good use of his experience. No, Liuzzi doesn´t count, since he couldn´t do much at Force India. And ending his career at HRT, was….well, nuff said.

Toro Rosso might improve a bit. The team has secured the continued services of Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo and these drivers should be able to move the team forward a bit, being second seasoners and all. But other than the pure talent of the drivers, I don´t think Toro Rosso will be anything else but mediocre this season.

Prediction:

I think a move from 9th last year to 8th might be realistic. I will expect fewer non-scoring finishes and fewer retirements, and paired with two drivers who began their duties last season, they could throw up a few, minor surprises.

Williams

The Williams team is the last true private team left on the grid and I have always had a soft spot for them. They have had some pretty serious ups and downs in the last 10 years or so, from finishing 3rd in 2001, then 2nd in 2002 and 2003, to suddenly see their performance curve slide down and down, to 4th, then 5th, 8th, then back to 4th. Then a series of seasons with disappointing results, where they resorted to their old ways, by way of never having a team of drivers, and dropped drivers by a whim. I know, I know, it´s not really that nice to Heidfeld, or Rosberg, or even Barrichello for that matter. Sure, Wurz´s3rd place in Canada was a great boost for the team, but it took a year almost to replicate that, when Rosberg scored 3rd in Melbourne. And then, not a single podium for 76 straight races. Then Maldonado won in Spain last year, and many believed that Williams are back. So are they?

So how will they do?

Yes, how will they do indeed. And are they back? Yes and no. Williams have ditched Bruno Senna in favour of test driver Valtteri Bottas. And yes, he is Finnish. There is an old saying in F1: If you want to win, get the Finn. So the season starts with Maldonado as a team captain, and hopefully with a more relaxed approach to climbing through the ranks, instead of his sometimes accidental/lucky ways he can escape by the hair on his teeth. He is close to becoming a good driver, but still to many mistakes. Bottas is a good driver, in tests that is, but I think we could be in for some good performances.

Prediction:

A new driver, again, for Williams and I honestly don´t think Maldonado can cut the mustard. I just don´t think he has the talent or even the stature to be able to help the team forward. I think he is driving for himself and then the team be damned. Bottas is the new guy, so he will try his hardest. Despite some good performances, I fear Williams will drop to 10th in the standings.

Caterham

The Team Formerly Known As…Oh give me a fecking break here. No one understands why Tony Fernandes went all the way to cling on to the Lotus name, only to then be perfectly happy to drop it, having Renault now driving under the name. His team is now known as Caterham and the results? Not impressive. Ok, so yes a new team will need time to form their identity, their way of dealing with difficult situations. I get that. But They got rid of Heikki Kovalainen, a true talented driver, who actually made a very good impression last year. Especially when he 1) made it into Q2 in Bahrain, 2) achieved 13th in Monaco, best in the season, 3) again making it into Q2 in Valencia and weas absolutely instrumental in helping the team to secure 10th in the standings. For this season, they have hired Charles Pic from Marussia for “multiple seasons” and Giedo van der Garde, who has been promoted from test driver. He has never raced a F1 car. Never. Besides 2012, his last appearance in F1, was when he was test driver for Force India in 2008.

So how will they do?

This is a team we have a hard time figuring out. Every time it seems they are on track, they do something unexplainable. And when it looks like an uphill battle, they pull through. I am hard pressed to find anything positive about them in 2013, but I do think that getting fresh blood in, especially after Vitaly Petrov turned out to be so-so, might be a good idea.

Prediction:

I am going out on a limb here. I think that Caterham could be the surprise of the year, taking some good points from Toro Rosso and Williams. 9th for Caterham.

Marussia

Now that HRT is no longer with us – serious have you ever seen anyone being sorry about that fact, besides the people directly involved in the team? – Marussia now bears the heavy burden of being the last and slowest team on the grid. There is no way they can evolve so much in just one season, this one, to jump several places forward, since development is almost non-existent.

The team has had a large switch in drivers for the 2013 season. Timo Glock was originally under a three-year contract, making 2013 his second season, but he left the team “for financial reasons”. It is unclear what this means, but some say he left because his salary was high, in order to let the team develop. Aww…so sweet. Others of course, believe that the team wasn´t impressed and kicked him.

Luiz Razia was actually meant to race for the team this year, but a conflict with the sponsor package meant he was not able to secure the necessary funds and the contract was terminated. Instead the team will use Jules Bianchi and Max Chilton as their drivers.

So how will they do?

Pretty good, actually. I know, since all the other positions are taken, they will inevitable end 2013 in last place, but they will end the year on a high. Why? Because Jules Bianchi is the 2007 French Formula Renault 2.0 champion, the 2008 Formula 3 Euro Series champion, the 3rd place finisher in the 2010 GP2 series, as well as the runner-up in the GP 2 Asia series. He is the 2012 Formula Renault 3.5 series runner-up and oh…in 2011 he was test driver for Ferrari, on loan to Force India for 2012 and was considered as Felipe Massa´s replacement during the Brazilian´s absense.

Max Chilton is the son of Grahame Chilton, the proprietor of Carlin Motorsport, and comes from a family of racing enthusiasts. Brother Tom Chilton is a seasoned BTCC driver, with 10 seasons under his belt and something has to rub off, right?

Prediction:

As mentioned I think Marussia will finish dead last, but not without giving us some good moments. I do believe that if things work out, Bianchi might be able to prove that he is the next big thing, well Ferrari like to think so, and though Chilton is a rather blank page, he could throw in some surprises.

That´s it. The preview is done and I hope you have enjoyed reading it. And remember that nothing is chiseled in stone until the last race, but what a season we have waiting for us!

Have fun!

Comparing RB9 and STR8

Ricciardo´s first points

Toro Rosso´s Daniel Ricciardo scored his first championship points, in his first race for Toro Rosso and on home turf.

The smile on Ricciardo´s face said it all. Racing for Toro Rosso at his home GP, Ricciardo was eager to show that his half season at HRT, he was ready to go to work. An eventful race, which saw Jenson Button winning the race from start to finish, the young Aussie had a few interesting battles with several drivers, including a skirmish with Bruno Senna, which damaged Ricciardo´s car.

At the final lap of the race, Perez was in eighth ahead of Rosberg and Raikkonen, followed closely by Jean-Eric Vergne, Ricciardo and Paul di Resta. Rosberg and Perez touched at the chicane at turn 11 and 12, allowing Raikkonen to take both of them in one go. Then Vergne made a mistake at the next corner, which opened the door to di Resta and Ricciardo, and they now battled for ninth. Raikkonen stayed in seventh, Perez in eighth and Ricciardo picked up two well-deserved points, as di Resta and Vergne settled for tenth and eleventh respectively.

“At the start, I got caught up in the accident and at the moment I don’t understand how it happened,” Ricciardo explained. “I made a decent start, I moved to the outside but there were too many of us there. I hit the left front quite hard against a Williams and had to come in to change the nose.  I had to race with a bit of damage after that.

“It’s good to finish ninth, but I think I could have done better because the car was very strong, given how fast it was even with the damage I had to carry, with the car pulling to one side,” he added. “It was not easy to come back, but I never gave up, pushing all the time.

“I’m extremely happy and it’s great to score my first F1 points here at home in Australia, where the crowd has been just fantastic all weekend long.”

 

Toro Rosso explains double exit

Following the announcement that both Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastién Buemi are dropped from the  team´s 20102 line-up, team principal Franz Tost explains the decision.

Australia’s Daniel Ricciardo and France’s Jean-Eric Vergne will form the driver line-up at Toro Rosso, and both have been involved with Red Bull for several years. Both are the respective British Formula 3 Champions of 2009 and 2010, and as Autosport informs, “runners-up in the two latest World Series by Renault seasons”. While Ricciardo was placed at HRT by Red Bull, in order to get some experience, Vergne will make his debut next year.

“Our driver line-up had been under discussion for a long time, as it is obviously a vital component of the team’s performance,” explains Team Principal Franz Tost.

Buemi enjoyed three fuls seasons at Toro Rosso, Alguersuari two and a half, but the formation of the team itself, has mainly been to groom future Red Bull drivers. And that philosophy remains, says Tost.

“Sébastien has been with us for three seasons and Jaime for two and a half. Both of them worked hard for the team, doing their very best and achieving some good results. However, Scuderia Toro Rosso’s ethos has always been that of the ‘rookie training school’ and, with over two seasons under your belt, you are no longer a rookie.

“In an ideal world, drivers would move from Scuderia Toro Rosso to Red Bull Racing, but there are no vacancies with our sister team right now. It might be seen as a harsh decision, but Formula 1 is a tough environment and Toro Rosso has always been very clear about the principles behind its driver choice.”

Breaking News: New drivers at Toro Rosso

In a shock announcement Tuesday, The Italian team Toro Rosso announced that both their driver, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastién Buemi, are axed in favour of two new drivers.

The announcement comes just a few days after several media reports speculated, that Alguersuari and Buemi, finishing this season in 14th and 15th respectively, would be presented with a contract extension to keep them on board for 2012. But both drivers have been axed and two new rookie´s will graze the grid next year.

Daniel Ricciardo will be promoted from his seat at HRT to Torro Rosso, and Jean-Eric Vergne is the second new man at the team. Both are deeply involved in the Red Bull Junior Driver programme and the decision has been taken in conjunction with Red Bull.

“Over the past year both Daniel and Jean-Eric have proved their worth and I expect them to make a significant contribution to the team’s performance next year,” said Franz Tost. “Daniel has the benefit of having actually raced in Grands Prix for much of this year, while Jean-Eric proved he could adapt quickly to the demands of driving a Formula 1 car. As they have both worked with the team and its engineers very recently, this should allow us to get up to speed right from the start of winter testing in a couple of months time.”

Ricciardo was said to be the best bet for at leat one of the seats at Toro Rosso, the entire idea of having him race for HRT this season, was to see if he had what it took. He was later rumoured with a seat at Caterham, but this turned out not to be.

“This is a really big deal for me and something I have wanted ever since I was driving for Toro Rosso on Friday mornings at the races in the first part of last season,” Ricciardo said. “To be honest, I am still jumping up and down with excitement at the news. Joining Scuderia Toro Rosso was always my real goal.”

Vergne (21) has already worked with Scuderia Toro Rosso, most recently, driving in Free Practice 1 at three of the last four Grands Prix of the 2011 season.

“I definitely feel ready to make the move, even if I know there is a big difference between testing and actually racing,” he said.

Ricciardo replaces Trulli?

Daniel Ricciardo will not get the promotion he was hoping for this christmas, a seat with Toro Rosso for 2012. But the young Australian, who got his debut at this years British Grand Prix at Silverstone might be the one topush Jarno Trulli out of the Caterham team.

The 2009 British F3 champion was placed in HRT by Red Bull, to get some mileage under his belt and some proper racing experience. That occured at the height of speculation, that Toro Rosso were debating wether to keep their drivers, Jaime Alguersuari and Sebastien Buemi, or to get rid of at least one of them. The idea was, seemingly, to have Ricciardo taking over a seat at Toro Rosso for 2012 and for 2013 step it up further, to become Sebastien Vettel´s team mate at Red Bull. But a third option has now appeared.

By all accounts, the rumours that either one of the Toro Rosso drivers or both of them would leave, have nothing on them, or at least that team principal Franz Tost has decided to give the boys another go. Either way, Ricciardo believes both Alguersuari and Buemi will race at Toro Rosso in 2012.

“At the moment it seems like Toro Rosso are going to stay with who they’ve got,” Ricciardo said. “It wasn’t put down 100 per cent, but it was the wording I was making out.”

The good news for Ricciardo is, that his contract with Red Bull has been extended another year and that he is now in the running to be Heikki Kovalainen´s team mate at Caterham next year, meaning Jarno Trulli will certainly face a tough time finding a race seat soon.

“There’s a good chance if I’m on the grid next year it’s going to be with another non-Red Bull outfit,” he admitted, “but I guess the good news is I’m still contracted by Red Bull.

“They’ve agreed to continue with me.”

Speaking of his chances at Caterham, alongside Kovalainen, Ricciardo says:

“I would like to say there’s a chance, but at least for me that’s probably all it is for now, just a chance. It would be a step up from this year, so it’s not really a bad thing. I doubt they’ll still be able to fight for points next year. They’ll still be towards the further end, but I think they’re progressing well.

“If Kovalainen was to be my teammate, it’s someone very good to measure up to. He’s won a grand prix before and he’s smashed Trulli this year,” he added.

Is Liuzzi about to be kicked from Hispania?

Javier Villa, currently competing in WTCC, has been linked with Tonio Liuzzi´s race seat at Hispania.

With Daniel Ricciardo taking over the reigns from Narain Karthikeyan, as the Indian driver was kicked from the team from the British Grand Prix and onwards. It is believed that Red Bull is picking up the check for Karthikeyan, and they can watch Ricciardo´s progress in Hispania and decide later where he should go.

Same goes for Villa, who despite his 23 years is a harden racer. Since 2004 he has participated in the Spanish F3 championship, GP2, GP2 Asian Series, INternational GT Open and the World Touring Car Championship. Most importantly; he has confirmed that he is talking to Hispania.

“Yes, it’s all true,” Villa told Italiaracing.net when asked about the rumours. “I have a good chance of making my Formula 1 debut with Hispania.”

Hispania was recently sold to Thesan Capital, a Spanish investment company heavily backed by Japanese bank Nomura, and the new owners are very keen to build the team around Villa. The plan at the moment is to have Villa participate in Friday practice for the rest of the races and then take over Liuzzi´s race seat for the season finale in Brazil.

Odd way to say goodbye to Liuzzi, I would think…

Ricciardo replaces Karthikeyan – confirmed

21 year-old Daniel Ricciardo will make his Formula 1 racing debut for Hispania Racing, at the British Grand Prix, replacing Narain Karthikeyan.

Ricciardo have been third driver all season for Red Bull and Toro Rosso and have had his 90 minutes of fame every first practice of every race weekend. And the powers at be at Hispania has decided to promote the driver, lending him from the two outfits mentioned, from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and onwards.

Karthikeyan has been struggling for pace all season long, and have consistently been put-qualified by team mate Tonio Liuzzi in every race, bar the Monaco Grand Prix, where neither of the drivers set a qualifying lap time.

Karthikeyan has brough in some sponsor-money from Tata, but it is believed that Red Bull will be picking up some of the bill. Hispania will no coubt lose their Tata sponsorship after this announcement, but it is likely that if Ricciardo performs as he is expected, then the sponsorship situation could improve drastically for the little team.

Ricciardo will participate in the British Grand Prix. But it would be a safe bet to assume, that Hispania, if they want to get moving up the grid, would like to keep Ricciardo the rest of the season.

“It’s a dream come true for me – for the first time on an F1 starting grid!” Ricciardo commented. “I had to pinch myself a couple of times to be sure that it’s real. I’m excited and can hardly wait to drive at Silverstone. It’s a new challenge, a new experience, a new team, but I’m ready and will give of my best in any event.”

The move is really clever by Red Bull. For now Sebastian Vettel is the main man at Red Bull, Mark Webber is expected to sign an extension for 2012, and over at Toro Rosso,  Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are on par with 8 points each. It would be difficult to see exactly which of the latter two Ricciardo can replace, which is why having a fifth driver Red Bull can watch and grow, though at Hispania, makes sense.

Ricciardo is the 2008 Formula Renault champion, as well as the British Formula Three champion. In the current Formula Renault 3.5 Series, he is fifth with two race victories, 43 points behind Robert Wickens from Canada.