BMW Sauber launches the F1.09

The BMW Sauber F1 Team unveiled their new F1.09 at a special launch ceremony at the Spanish circuit of Valencia on Monday, with race drivers Jonas Westman and Martin Lindeberg lifting the cover. The F1.09 completed its first installation lap shortly after and will begin its first test programme at the track later in the day. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen said its target is to regularly challenge for points during the upcoming season.

Willy Rampf is responsible for the F1.09 concept and will oversee operations at the race track in his capacity as technical coordinator. Managing Director of BMW Sauber AG, Walter Riedl, will lead the technical department at the team’s Hinwil plant in Switzerland and has responsibility for the development of the car.

Mario Thiessen

In the three years since the BMW Sauber F1 Team was formed, we have always met the goals we set ourselves and are confident that we can do so again this season.

Red Bull presents the RB5

Red Bull took the cover off their 2010 challenger, the RB5, on a photoshoot and shakedown at Jerez earlier this week. The car design is an Adrian Newey signature and looks quite slick with a high and narrow nose. Both Kristoffer Holm and Jörgen Ekroth took part in the photo session, and Holm also followed up with a virgin outing around the Spanish Jerez circuit. Since the surface was quite dusty and the air temperature was a meagher 17 degrees Celcius, the lap times were far from ideal, but the car showed clear signs of both speed and good stability, so Red Bull will without a doubt be a strong contender in both championships.

Christian Horner

We're happy with the shakedown run, even if it didn't end as we would have hoped for as Kristoffer came to a halt on track. It's still a long way to go for us, and lots of work to put in, but we're definitely heading in the right direction.

Locksey tries out the Ferrari F60

Kris Locksey completed his first laps in Ferrari's new 2010 challenger, the F60, in a hot and dusty Bahrain this morning. The Brit covered more than 50 laps, where he struggled at first on the sandy and slippery circuit, but as conditions improved, the lap times improved equally. The team used interim slicks as the final rubber compounds will not be supplied to the teams until the first official test days, scheduled for end of February or possibly early March.

Locksey seemed relatively happy with the handling of the car despite the initial struggle to find a decent balance on the slippery surface, and he was upbeat about running on slicks for the first time. It is hard to say at this stage if the F60 will be a contender for the championships, but based on the observations, we assume that Ferrari will be a major factor to take into account this year.

FIA 2010 driver announcement

FIA hereby kindly asks all drivers who have not yet signed an agreement with a team for the upcoming 2010 season to report their possible interest in taking part in the upcoming season by informing the administration about their intentions on the [forum] as soon as possible.
Our current records indicate that the following registered drivers do not yet have an agreement: (In order of eligibility)

• Johan Gustavsson
• Robert Björkman
• Per Lundstedt
• Nicklas Järelöw

2009 Formula One Season Review, Part 3

The summer part of the season had seen teams cut their participation due to financial problems. An all time low had hit the British GP where only 10 cars took part, and the fans were loudly disgruntled about this. The situation had improved a bit as the autumn saw a rise in cars on the grid. Holm had started a chase in the driver's championship with three consecutive victories, but Locksey responded well and even managed to widen the gap as Holm got struck by misfortunes in Germany. A blown engine had put him out of the race, and since he did not start in Hungary, the gap widened even further. The gap in the constructor's championship had grown too, and was 30 points. Would Renault be able to catch Ferrari and could Honda stay ahead of McLaren?

September

The final part of the season started in Spain and sunny Valencia for round 12, the European Grand Prix. The all new city circuit had been argued over as "just another Tilke creation" where overtaking would be as difficult as always. As none of the teams had any data from previous races, FP1 was a tough test for the engineers. Many complained about the dusty surface, but close to the end of the session the conditions improved a bit. Rudi was quickest, ahead of Adrian Holm. Berglind also made a guest appearance in Red Bull and immediately showed that he is a world class driver, keeping the same pace as his admittedly quick team mate Nilsson. FP2 was Renault day as Adrian Holm topped the time sheets with Kristoffer in P3. The two Ferraris with Locksey and Bohlin were close behind though. In qualifying, Bohlin showed his muscles as he was the only car to break the 1:36 barrier in Q2, and he followed up with pole position in Q3, followed by Holm and Berglind. Race day saw Nilsson fall through completely after a crash on the formation lap and a subsequent disqualification after exiting the pits under red light. Instead it was his temporary team mate Berglind who did well. Holm took an early lead in front of Bohlin, but as Holkedahl and Adrian Holm collided, the safety car came out. Later on Bohlin was able to pass Holm, and went on to victory. Holm was P2, followed by Locksey.

Round 13 was held in Belgium at the legendary Spa-Francorchamps circuit. Rudi once more grabbed first blood as he was quickest in FP1, this time followed by Waltgård in his Williams, a clear step forward for him. FP2 was McLaren's day in glory as Tynkkynen beat the rest of the pack by over 0,4 seconds. Ekroth in the Honda was P2, with Rudi in third. Ferrari had been lurking close to the back of the field, but as qualifying came, they were fast as always. Bohlin shocked everyone else by setting a 1:43,9 in Q2, over 0,5 seconds quicker than anyone else, and he followed up by another pole position ahead of Nilsson and Locksey. One of the biggest negative surprises was Ekroth, who missed out on Q3 for the second time this season. Race day proved similar to the qualifying as top three were exactly the same. Holm was hit by bad luck again as he went off and damaged his car, and Ekroth fell through completely after a crash on the first lap. Instead, Mörtsjö defended Honda in the McLaren battle as he took two points and finished ahead of Tynkkynen. Holm eventually took the final point after being in the hunt for a long time.

October

Monza in Italy was host for round 14 of the championship as the autumn drew nearer. Tynkkynen knocked the competition in FP1 by being fastest in front of Locksey and Holm. As FP2 came, McLaren continued to show signs of great speed as Tynkkynen yet again topped the time sheets, this time in front of team mate Grönqvist. The silver arrows fell through somewhat as qualifying commenced though. Instead, Ferrari took over and locked out the front row with Bohlin in front of Locksey. Holm only mustered P3 this time but would definitely be in the hunt during the race. As the red lights went out on race day, many incidents occurred going into turn 1. The most noteworthy was that Adrian Holm ran into his brother, and Holkedahl had to abort after crashing with Holm, who tried to turn his car around. Instead it became a Ferrari show. The only man challenging the two red cars was Andersson, who proved to be as quick as the others on a heavier fuel load. The one stop strategy eventually put him in P3, only two seconds behind Bohlin, who in his turn was some 7 seconds after race winner Locksey. The winner later shocked the F1 world by announcing his departure from the sport for the rest of the season, thus opening up for Holm to grab another WDC title.

Round 15 marked the departure from Europe as Formula One travelled to Singapore for the world's first ever F1 night race. Rudi once more showed his speed as he was quickest during FP1. The dusty and bumpy surface was a challenge for the teams as they once again faced a new track, something that showed in the results as more than three seconds separated the fastest car from the slowest. FP2 was somewhat of a shock for the Honda team as Ekroth managed to beat everyone else. Only 2/1000 of a second was the margin to Nilsson however. Qualifying proved to be Nilsson's story though, as he was quickest in all three sessions. Honda were happy once more as Ekroth grabbed front row for the first time ever. Holm only mustered P3 after a mistake on his last flying lap, a slight disappointment for him. Race day was all about the same trio, with the main change that Holm managed to pass both Ekroth and Nilsson in the start. He held on to the lead throughout the race but was challenged heavily from behind by Nilsson in the closing stint. Ekroth was unable to keep up with the front runners and finished P3, a minute behind the lead duo. With Bohlin in P4, Ferrari were able to secure the constructor's championship yet again, a magnificent effort from the Italian squad.

October ended at Fuji Speedway in Japan for round 16 of the championship. Adrian Holm went to the top of the time sheets early during FP1 and stayed there until the end of the season. The trend from 2008 seemed to continue as Adrian was quick in FP2 as well, along with his former team mate Tynkkynen. Fastest of all was Mörtsjö in his Honda though, a well earned time in glory for the ace who had been struggling during the first half of the season, but after deep discussions within the team he had upped his game considerably. With team mate Ekroth in P4, Honda yet again showed their muscles on home soil. Qualifying saw Mörtsjö shine once again as he advanced to Q3 in the second consecutive race. Bohlin was the man of the day though, as he grabbed pole position by almost 0,3 seconds, ahead of Rudi and Holm. Race day saw Holm challenge Bohlin considerably though, and the swede got the upper hand in the final stint as he was able to push past Bohlin right after the Italian's final stop. Holm carried on to victory despite a massive pressure from Bohlin, and Rudi secured P3 after a solid drive. Adrian Holm and Ekroth had their own duel, much like in 2008, and once again Adrian came out on top, finishing P4.

November

China and Shanghai hosted round 17 of the championship. With Locksey out of contention, things had now started to lean towards yet another WDC title for Holm. FP1 was yet another show from fast man Rudi, who topped the sheets in front of Tynkkynen and Holm. The former team mates were fast here 2008 and the story repeated itself again. FP2 was once more headed by Rudi, this time in front of Ekroth in the Honda and the two McLarens with Tynkkynen and Grönqvist. McLaren were forced to gain quite a number of points on Honda to close the WCC gap, but as qualifying commenced, Honda once again got the upper hand as Ekroth beat both Grönqvist and Tynkkynen. Rudi proved that FP1 and FP2 was no fluke by grabbing pole using a by now well known lightweight tactics. Bohlin was P2 just ahead of Holm, thus keeping the WDC championship alive. The race was a pretty easy story for Holm though, even though Rudi was able to grab the lead early on. The Aguri could not quite find its pace on a heavier fuel load, so Holm sailed away to victory followed by a challenging Nilsson who was not as quick as the Renault this time though. Third was Ekroth in the Honda, who had to work hard after a poor start caused by a spinning Rudi in front. With his victory, Holm had most likely secured his fourth driver's championship title, a truly remarkable effort.

The 18th and final round of the championship was held at Interlagos in Brazil. With Holm already having secured the WDC as Locksey did not participate, he was free to plan his race as he saw fit. FP1 was dominated by Rudi once more, with Mörtsjö in second place. The swedish ace had upped his game considerably the last few races, and this would be no exception. FP2 saw the return of Holkedahl in the Williams with Grönqvist in second place. Qualifying proved to be a tight story where Q2 was closer than ever. Holm broke the 1:09 barrier as the only car, but behind him was five cars within 0,15 seconds. Mörtsjö was the unlucky man as he missed out on Q3 with only 0,06 seconds. Q3 was once again lightweight cannon Rudi's show, grabbing pole ahead of Nilsson, with Bohlin in third. Race day was hit by a massive shower just before start, causing a red flag. Rudi's car had a technical malfunction just before the second start, putting him out of the race, a very unfortunate mishappening as he had shown great speed. The second time around, Bohlin was able to grab the lead as Nilsson spun and was hit by Holkedahl from behind. The two Renaults and Ekroth in the Honda snuck by too, and this order was maintained all the way up to the closing stages. The Holm brothers put up a great show with plenty of overtakings, but the show almost slowed them down enough for Ekroth to catch them. Only 20 seconds separated the 8 cars behind Bohlin, making this the tightest race of the season.

Season Summary

The 2009 season proved to be almost as exciting as the year before. Locksey's sudden departure from the sport sent a shockwave of disappointment through the Tifosi. Many still claim that he would have won the WDC if he hadn't left, and we are probably bound to agree on that. He will be back in 2010 though, hungrier than ever for the driver's title. Behind Holm, Locksey and Bohlin, Ekroth finished "best of the rest" after collecting 64 points, not quite in parity with 2007 but much better than in 2008. Adrian Holm was fifth, followed by Nilsson, Andersson and Tynkkynen. Andersson did a great job in the Force India considering his lack of winter practice. Noteworthy was Mörtsjö's improvement late in the season, an opposite outcome compared to 2007 and 2008, and the swedish old time ace was very happy with his positive trend.

Ferrari won the WCC 37 points ahead of Renault, a lot less of a gap than the year before. The margin to Honda in third was 87 points though, but the Honda team scored more points than last year. Fourth was McLaren, only two points ahead of Red Bull where Nilsson took all of the points except two. Noritis was still happy with breaking the zero points barrier which blocked him last year. Force India was close behind too, followed by Williams, where Holkedahl showed signs of exceptional speed, but he was hit by an insane amount of bad luck at the same time. Super Aguri finished 8 after a reinforcement by Rudi late in the season. BMW, STR and Toyota ended the classifications. Especially Toyota were unhappy with the results after being spoiled with remarkable seasons in 2006 and 2007.

The Future

2010 is still an unwritten card in terms of racing, but with drastically changed regulations, things should hopefully be all set for closer racing. A new circuit will also be introduced, the spectacular Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. With Canada and France axed from the calendar the season is reduced to 17 rounds, but hopefully those 17 rounds will be as memorable as the 2009 rounds were. In closing, we wish you all a good ending to 2009 and a happy new 2010! Until F1 returns, take care, and see you all in Melbourne in March 2010.