So the darkness of the winter is finally starting to lift and the Formula One launch season will soon be upon us. For F1 fans out there who cannot bear the lonely off-season and cannot bring themselves to look at a Formula One headline until the bark of a V8 engine is almost within earshot, here is a brief run-down of the news making the headlines over the last couple of months.
The Teams
One of the more ridiculous elements of 2011 was finally resolved in the winter break. Team Lotus were officially re-branded as Caterham F1 with Renault taking up the Lotus name, ending one of the more childish episodes in recent years. Which is saying something.
Colin Kolles relinquished his position as HRT team principal. Having spent the last couple of years making HRT the second worst team on the grid, which actually is a real achievement considering where they started, I can only imagine he’s decided that a well deserved rest is in order – possibly somewhere between a rock and a hard place. He’s been replaced by Luis Perez-Sala. The former F1 driver has been working with the team as an advisor, which means he must have some idea about what he’s getting himself into.
At the front end of the grid, things have been relatively quiet – the only real news recently being that the new Ferrari apparently failed an FIA crash test. It’s not hard to imagine the look on Alonso’s face when he heard that news…
The Drivers
With no changes amongst the top four teams, the eyebrow raising news had to come from elsewhere. Renault, sorry, Lotus, took up the challenge and duly signed Kimi Raikkonen to partner the returning (not to mention older, wiser, more confident and more successful) Romain Grosjean. The common consensus seemed to be that it was questionable to hire a driver with well-documented motivation issues when you’re trying to find your way back to the front of the pack. Kimi was however, one of the very fastest drivers on the grid in his last stint in the sport and having someone with his natural talent around will make for interesting viewing one way or another.
Talking of natural talent, Kubica suffered another setback recently when he slipped on ice and re-broke his leg. Now out of contract with Renault, he’s starting to make Mark Webber look like the luckiest man around.
Further down the grid, Bruno Senna was confirmed as a Williams driver alongside Pastor Maldonado and in place of Rubens Barrichello who looks to have finally run out of options, unless he fancies hauling an HRT around at the back. Which he might. There is of course a poignant significance to Senna driving for the Williams team – particularly with the addition of Renault to their package for this year. I hope this isn’t focused on too much. There have been flashes of brilliance from Senna, particularly in GP2 and I’m more interested in seeing what Bruno is capable of now he has a regular drive.
Probably the worst kept secret of last year was that Adrian Sutil would be booted out of the Force India team and replaced alongside Di Resta by Nico Hulkenberg. The announcement came shortly before Christmas - a good six months after everyone else found out. This could be a very wise move by Force India, particularly considering Sutil’s requirement to attend a court for allegedly behaving like a professional footballer in a club in China last year.
The Rest
Sky’s F1 coverage is taking shape nicely – Martin Brundle and David Croft have been confirmed as commentators, with Ted Kravitz and Natalie Pinkham joining their former BBC cohorts at Sky. They’ve also signed up Damon Hill for additional insight and have announced there will be a dedicated F1 channel to fill some of those lengthy two week gaps in between races.
There have been further calls for the Bahrain race not to go ahead this year – mainly from human rights groups. There have, so far, been fewer people within the sport voicing an opinion on this than there were last year, but it remains to be seen whether the race happens.
Status quo otherwise – Bernie will still call the shots, Red Bull will still be fast, Alonso will still be the one to watch in a half-decent car and Hamilton will still find Button closer than he had hoped.
It all looks set to be another amazing year. Top drivers in top teams and (hopefully) top racing. Bring it on!
intentsgp