I tend not to spend too much time trying to analyse what is happening on the race track at Jerez and listen instead to the whispers that are going on in the background. This gives an indication of what the teams are actually thinking themselves, rather than guessing or analysing fuel loads that may or not be as they seem to be.
The rain in Spain has not made this any easier and it was wet again today. The testing days are now beginning to run out and so most teams are going to be going to Bahrain without that much preparation work done. The fastest time today was from the Williams of Rubens Barrichello. This may or may not be significant, but the word on the street is that the Williams is a pretty good car and more or less on a par with the McLarens in terms of speed.
Down at Red Bull I hear that, off the record, they are a little disappointed with the pace of the new car. That does not mean it is slow, it simply means that there was not as big a leap forward as had been hoped. Mercedes GP will be OK but it is not sensational. The Ferrari is definitely a fast car, but people keep telling me that it is in trouble with fuel consumption over race distances. Force India seem to be happy that the new car is a step closer to the guys at the front while the general consensus (rightly or wrongly) is that Sauber and Toro Rosso are playing to the peanut gallery a little with their lap times, as both would like to find more money. Renault is not saying much but will probably not be anything more than solid.
The new teams – Lotus and Virgin thus far – are having a rough time of it, as one might expect. Virgin had its much-publicized front wing failure last week, which was not a good sign. Today Lotus suffered a setback when Heikki Kovalainen damaged the Lotus after going off. There were no spares to fix the car.
The adventures of USF1, Campos and the curious Stefan GP continue to keep everyone amused. Time is running out.
joeblogsf1 
You, being a self-professed professional journalist, might be well advised against taking on the reputation of the N.Y.Times cause of a SINGLE bad apple.
Can you choose a photo that makes you look more gay?
I will search my collection of photos for a gay one… whatever turns you on!
In reading your article, I wonder whether it is now the engine efficiency will be the key determiner of success this season (Regarding Quality of Car-not driver) The amount of HP or power curve that is allowable coupled with an efficient enough fuel burn that would allow the team to go the race distance certainly seems to be a key point.
This development certainly will have greater impact, in a much more subtle way this year than KERS or many of the other rules changes.
I wonder if the developmental lockdowns that the FIA instituted would prevent research and work by engineers to improve the balance of horsepower or output with Fuel efficiency.
Another question, how would they go about correcting this, and would changes in software and fuel use/engine mapping help to correct such shortcomings?
Great analysis brief and to the point 🙂
Anybody can make a mistake, but it seems like Kovalainen just can’t stop making them.
There was a time when I ranked him highly, then he got the drive at McLaren and I thought we’d see very good things from that partnership. Then it seemed like he just dropped off the map. And last season was just embarrassing at times.
Today’s crash, just disappointing.
Love the response to your heckler!! I thought you were being complimentary about NY Times? Must have missed something 😉
Joe, heard anything from your sources about perspectives on Schumi’s performaces so far?
Top reporting as always Joe!
Just a quick question, do you know anything or have you heard anything on Renault’s bizarre rear wing? It seems to have a sort of wavy effect going across the bottom of the top spoiler, almost like two Mcdonalds arches side by side. I haven’t noticed if other teams have something similar but I was wondering what the benefit is of this design and if there have been any mumbling up & down the pit wall about it. As ever keep up the good work!
Would be great to see Williams back at the sharp end, so I hope those murmurs are accurate.
And as a gay person myself, I found the first comment in bad taste, although I do applaud your response Joe. Very Funny!
NA – Couldnt agree more.
Joe why do you honour him by bothering to repy him? He obviously have his mind on something or somewhere else except the article.
And what is McLaren/Williams speed in comparison with RedBull and Ferrari?
Thanks for your very clear sumation! Considering your experiance and your well honed insight I suspect you are right on regards the real deal. Personalties, sunshine, rain, fuel loads, broken wings, looking good for the potential sponser and eveything else thrown in! I’m sure there will be plenty of other things for us to absorb in the next few weeks. One month in F1 is like years in other ventures. There will be enough truly interesting topics to keep us bloggers from going bonkers before Bahrain..
Im’m not a hater, but this is a VERY unprofessional article
@djinj – what a jerk. Going on someone’s website to post personal attacks is pretty low, particularly when you combine it with immature homophobic comments. Grow up.
Joe, interesting article. What would you guess is roughly the order of the first four teams?
I’ve read various reports which seem to suggest different variations of Red Bull, Mclaren, Ferrari and Mercedez.
Would be very interested to know in what order you would place those teams from what you are hearing.
Cheers!
Lol nice retort Joe.
There is nothing informative or new in this post. Its just a post made out of miscellaneous bits of information taken from here and there.
As you have told us a few times already, we will be hearing a lot about fuel consumption this year.
Interesting whispers.
Having just read Joe’s blog entry entitled “Time for a new communication strategy” I now understand to what “djinj” (above) is referring and yet his or her comments still makes no sense.
Reporting on a known chain of events and offering a contrary opinion is a process that defines journalism. It certainly cannot be regarded as ‘taking on the reputation of the N.Y.Times’ who I am sure are well accustomed to having their stories examined and questioned.
I am also dismayed that someone on this blog feels the need to resort to personal comments. There is no call for that in any circumstance. How very sad indeed.
Hi George – A concise well written report. I agree with your analysis although I was hoping for better things from the Red Bull.
I understood Mark Webber had been making good comments about the car and as we all know he is not frightened of speaking up if he is not happy about something!
I would really like to see Williams mixing it with the top teams again.
I think the Sauber and Renault cars are two of the ugliest I have seen for a long time btw.
@NA – I think you are being a bit harsh on Kovy with respect to the Lotus. I believe it has been running without power steering so far so must be a bit of a handful.
Glen
Lights 2 Flag
So Joe, would you say that McLaren seems to have the edge this year? Other than a footnote comparison to Williams, you do not seem to mention them.
Zeph,
The truth is that McLaren looks pretty strong…
Interesting stuff, I think the Ferrari cars will be fine, I’ve seen very little evidence that they’ll have to carry more fuel than other cars (just lots of hearsay, especially from the British press for obvious reasons *sigh*)
My gut feeling is that McLaren aren’t going to be as quick as people believe them to be. Much as they improved last season a large portion of the success enjoyed by them was thanks to having by far the best KERS package on the grid. Take that away and they’re a good 4 tenths down on Red Bull and a couple down on the season ending Brawn too. Ergo they will have to have made huge strides forward over the winter. Ferrari by contrast stopped development of their car very early and went to work on the new car for months, I think we’ve all seen whats possible when you do that last season with Honda/Brawn.
I’m sure the later tests will reveal more, but as things stand I’d have my money on Massa or Alonso to do the business.
Joe, your articles are amongst the best, but you could go over the top(like Stallone in Over the Top) of all your journalistic rivals if you were just to concentrate on Michael Schumacher and where every team and driver in testing stands compared to Michael.
I think we can all agree that people are only interested in pre-season testing because of Michael, he is the full package.
His Speed on track = the sandwich
His car development skills = the drink
A full package lunch
Interesting analysis Joe.
I think it’d be one of the success stories of ’10 if Williams afre among the most competitive, given they have a clean sheet design for the new car and have intergrated a bit of an unknown engine with their resource and cpabablities in comparison to their other competitors right at the top.
Something that I spotted yesterday which I haven’t managed to find an explanation for in a quick look through the regulations though is one of the Force India’s running a green rear light. I assume this is something the teams have come to agreement to amongst themselves but I might have just missed it.
I assume this was di Resta and it’s to do with inexperienced drivers, but I didn’t spot one on Fauzy’s Lotus on Tuesday.
Do you know anything about this Joe?
@Glen – I forgot about the lack of power steering, that would surely come into play, good point. Having said that, Fairuz Fauzy did 76 laps on Wednesday, and at least 50 of those laps were without power steering according to Tony Fernandez. Plus, consider he’s new to an F1 car.
I don’t mean to be harsh on Kovy – I like him and want him to do better!
Where do you see this?
Great article Joe, and even better comeback line to the first response!
This is just the kind of “insider” talk that fans like us typically never get to hear. Depending on which day’s results you look at, you could think almost any of the teams are on top. Your dissemination of what people are whispering is much appreciated.
Especially interesting about Williams… It seems entirely believable to me that they might make a step forward this year. And with a great veteran and promising newcomer, they are maintaining the Williams tradition of fielding a strong driver team…