Rosberg and Kovalainen top practices on Friday – 2009 Turkish Grand Prix

Rosberg and Kovalainen topped Friday’s practices at the Turkish Grand Prix.

After a first session in which all drivers struggled for grip was briefly red flagged – due to the astro turf being ripped up – Rosberg pipped Hamilton to first place in the dying moments of the session. In the second practice, Kovalainen took first place. Many drivers span during both sessions. Hamilton said that the pace of the McLaren car was “better… than we anticipated”, and a second and a first seem to confirm that view. Meanwhile, championship leader Button was far from happy, complaining about oversteer, twitchiness, rear grip, front grip and hopping. Quite a lot to sort out then? Red Bull will be hoping that their car will do well, possibly in readiness to try to beat Brawn. Although they used the new double-decker diffuser at Monaco, it will be more effective here – meaning that, with Brawn struggling, Red Bull may get a chance to win.

This is the fifth race held in Turkey, and all four previous races have been run from pole position, and by Ferrari. The previous three races have been won by Felipe Massa, but I will be shocked if Ferrari win this race. Although they have made improvements, for roar pace they still seem to be behind both Brawn and Red Bull. We’ll have to see how much they have improved here.

Will it be another Brawn win – or can another team beat them? We’ll find out on Sunday.

Button and Hamilton dominate Friday practices in China

Two practices over in China – and a British driver at the top of both.

In the first session, Lewis Hamilton was first. His McLaren car now has a new front wing, and an interim diffuser, a sort of half-way point to the diffusers that Brawn GP, Williams and Toyota are using. McLaren’s engineers must have been working like crazy to get all these improvements going. Heikki Kovalainen’s car, although there isn’t a new front wing or new diffuser for him, also did well, going fourth. Between the two McLaren drivers were, predictably by now, the two Brawn GP, Jenson Button taking second just ahead of Rubens Barrichello. The rest of the drivers were the usual suspects – Webber, Trulli, Rosberg and Glock finished in the next four places, respectively driving for Red Bull, Toyota, Williams and Toyota.

Both Ferrari cars have now been stripped of their KERS system, after encountering reliability problems with it in Malaysia. It didn’t seem to help, Raikkonen finishing 11th and Felipe Massa all the way down in 15th. Ferrari have not yet even managed to score a point this season, and they don’t look set to do anything in China either.

In the second practice, Jenson Button was first, while team-mate Barrichello was third. Sandwiched in between was Nico Rosberg (it must feel strange for him finishing two practice sessions without finishing first!). Webber, Vettel, Trulli, Nakijima and Glock were fourth to eighth. In ninth was Heikki Kovalainen, outstripping his team-mate Hamilton, even if Hamilton’s car has got a half-diffuser and so on. Ferrari, again, really struggled, with Massa finishing 12th and Raikkonen down in 14th. It looks like Ferrari are out of the running. They have, in recent years been very good in China; the last two season both drivers have finished on the podium. Not this time, it seems.

So, what about my prediction? Well, looking at the stats, I am going to write Ferrari off. Brawn GP look the best (again!), with Red Bull, Toyota, Williams, and maybe McLaren looking for point scoring positions.

But my prediction is obvious. Jenson Button is a man on form, and it looks unlikely that he is going to stop doing that. Short of a crash, I can’t see much getting in his way.

Prediction: Jenson Button to qualify in pole position and win the race.

Preview – 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix

So, here is my preview of the 2009 Malaysian Grand Prix. It has been an exciting week in Formula One. Lots of what F1’s most famous for: arguments! Well, O.K., second most famous In the Australian Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli of Toyota finished third. However, it was decided that he overtook Lewis Hamilton (who finished fourth) while the safety car was out. Not allowed. So Trulli was docked 25 seconds, putting him back down the field, while Hamilton went third. However, the case was reopened, and it was the FIA made the decision that Hamilton and McLaren had given information to the FIA which was wrong. So McLaren were completely disqualified from the Grand Prix. Meaning that now Hamilton was last. Plus Jarno Trulli was undocked (can you say that?) his 25 seconds, and went back into third. Ah.

In the Australian Grand Prix Robert Kubica and Sebastien Vettel, who were running second and third, crashed into each other three laps before the end of the race. Originally it was decided that Vettel was in the wrong, so he was given a penalty. Having had lots of people say that this was unfair, the FIA have now decided to reopen that case as well.

Plus both the Australian Grand Prix’s and the Malaysian Grand Prix’s results are under protest in the row about the cars’ rear diffusers.

So, what does this Grand Prix shape up as? Well, first up, several drivers have said it is a dangerous Grand Prix. Why? Well, apart from the obvious dangers of driving Formula One cars at 200 mph around a track, it is because the Grand Prix’s start time has been pushed back to 5:00 pm, so that it is at a more reasonable time for use European viewers. In turn, this means that the visibility may be a problem, especially as heavy rain is expected. Ah well, it will be exciting for us viewers

On who should win, Brawn GP, after last week’s spectacular performance, will be the team to beat, but if it rains, who knows what will happen. With only one week, it is unlikely that any of the teams’ performances will have improved dramatically. So, Brawn GP the team to beat, with BMW, Red Bull, Williams and Ferrari the chasing pack.

Prediction: Always difficult, but I think that Jenson Button will win (again!).

Will there be double-joy for Barrichello, Button and Brawn GP?

Preview of the 2009 Australian Grand Prix

So, here we go: the first race of the 2009 Formula One season will be under starter’s orders in four days. But who will win? Who will show themselves to be in the fighting for the title this season? And, most of all, who will get the confidence that only a winning start can bring?

Firstly, it is a very, very unpredictable race. This is partly because of the various rule changes that have been introduced into Formula One; slick tyres, Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems, and rules governing the cars’ designs. After the huge cock-up over the change to who would win the world title (in which the FIA decided that the driver with the most wins would win the World Championship, but the teams objected) who knows what will happen!

Right; well, the race being the first of the season, the main thing we have to go on is the pre-season testing. In this, McLaren have really struggled, quite possibly meaning that they are not going to challenge for this race, so I am discounting them. On the other hand, Brawn GP, the new team, have done brilliantly in the testing, sometimes even bettering Ferrari, who also did well. Renault and Williams have also done well, while Red Bull and Toyota also look fairly good.

Overall, Ferrari and Brawn GP should (in theory) be the teams battling it out for this win. I would prefer Brawn GP to win (they’ll probably be my second favourite team after McLaren from now on), and I have a feeling that Brawn may just win the race, and I favour Barrichello to win it.

Are Brawn GP good enough to win their first ever Grand Prix in their first ever Grand Prix?

Whether he will or not mainly depends on how qualifying goes – it is probably the most important bit of the weekend.

Prediction: Brawn GP’s Barrichello wins, with Ferrari second.