BlogF1

Kinetic Energy Recovery Systems were introduced this year as a way of making the sport of Formula One greener, more applicable to every-day motorists and to add to the spectacle of the sport through the re-distribution of the saved energy. However, few teams have adopted the technology and those that have are slowly ceasing its use on their cars. BMW today have announced they want to concentrate on car development rather than KERS development. Was KERS ever a good idea? Continue Reading

As in life, Formula One is often unfair. A talent may be overlooked, or a silly incident not of his creation can lead to a driver retiring from a great position in a race. Occasionally, these moments define a career and a driver fails to make it into a top team, or fails to win if already in a competitive car. While those fans who understand the sport may recognise the efforts and skill, the record books will tell a different tale. Does the current grid of 20 pilots contain any of these so close yet so far drivers? Continue Reading

Nico Rosberg ended Friday’s running at the top of the tables, completing 36 laps on his way to a time 0.2s clear of second fastest driver Fernando Alonso. The Williams pilot has been impressing in Free Practice sessions all season, but this is not an indicator of race pace as Rosberg tends to gradually lose touch with the front runners as the weekend progresses. The Toyotas returned to form in the second session as well, having not done particularly well in the morning. Jarno Trulli finished in P3 while Timo Glock ended his day in P8. Continue Reading

After months of speculation surrounding the legality of the diffusers affixed to the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars, the FIA International Court of Appeal have now found them to be legal and within the rules. The news comes as a blow to the remaining seven teams who have not developed a ‘double-diffuser’ and undoubtedly they will now have to invest a fair amount of their budgets in redesigning the rear of their cars in order to improve their performance. Continue Reading

As always in Formula One, not everything is as black and white as it perhaps should be, and the diffuser issue that has embroiled the sport since even before the first race of the season is a classic example of this. Brawn, Williams and Toyota have all worked to within a loophole of the rules to design a diffuser that is higher in the middle, thus enabling an advantage. Those teams that chose not to design the part to this specification are now putting their arguments forward to the FIA ICA. Continue Reading

BMW have joined Ferrari, Red Bull Racing and Renault in protesting the diffusers of the Brawn, Toyota and Williams cars. The lodging of the protest is just a formality, as the teams expected (and received) the same answer as they did in Melbourne last weekend. The reason for protesting is just to ensure that the FIA take the Malaysian Grand Prix into consideration during the International Court of Appeal hearing meeting on April 14th, where the offending part on the three cars will be judged. Continue Reading

After all the troubles surrounding the result of the Australian Grand Prix, it is nice once again to get stuck into the another race, this time in Malaysia at the Sepang circuit. With drivers voicing concerns about racing in the evening and the possibility of rain, the Malaysian Grand Prix is set to be very exciting. And this morning, Williams once again proved the pace of the FW31, just as they did in Melbourne last Friday. Continue Reading

After a surprising first practice where Nico Rosberg clinched the top spot in style, one could have been forgiven for thinking that it was just a headline-grabbing one-off lap. However, the young Williams pilot proved that the FW31 has some decent pace; Rosberg went to the top of the class yet again. Rosberg’s fastest lap, that bettered his effort in the first practice by over 0.6s, was impressive to say the least. And once again, Nakajima didn’t look too shabby either, improving his FP1 time and only lapping 0.5s shy of his team mate. Continue Reading

This is it, Formula One 2009 has begun. Earlier this morning all twenty drivers left the Albert Park pitlane to start the first practice session of the Australian Grand Prix. Surprisingly, it was Nico Rosberg who led after the 90 minute session was up. What made Rosberg’s lap time even more impressive was the outright pace – the Williams lapped Albert Park a tenth faster than Hamilton’s 2008 pole lap. Continue Reading

It would appear, glancing back through BlogF1’s archives, that each and every year I preview Williams I find myself hoping that this will be the season when it all starts to come good again. By the time the last race of the year is over though, the Grove-based team’s usual result is only a couple of podiums at best, and they remain languishing towards the bottom of the championship standings. So what can we expect from the FW31 and the team’s 2009 campaign? Continue Reading