F1 2011 Preview

The wait is finally over, Formula One is back. As petrol-heads rejoice in the streets and swear their allegiance once again to a team, we thought it would be good to run through what’s changed for 2011 and who’ll be fighting for the silverware come Sunday and beyond.

What’s New?

The single biggest thing that’s new is the tyres. While in most circles of life, a change of tyres doesn’t change anything, F1’s switch from Bridgestone to Pirelli is huge.

For the last few years, Bridgestone made tyres that lasted way too long. Now they’ve gone and Pirelli has now come in with a promise.

To make tyres more interesting. So now, the tyres wear quickly. Very quickly. To a point where Sebatian Vettel has said that he might have to stop four times instead of once in a race. Sounds like fun.

What else? Well, KERS is back. Basically a rechargeable battery based power boost, it’s meant to improve overtaking by giving the drivers more speed at the press of a button. It sometimes worked in 2009, but we’ll just have to see.

Another ‘wait and see’ is the movable rear wing. The drivers can now make part of the car’s rear wing flatter, making them yet again faster in a straight line.

These can be used on a specific straight if you’re less than a second behind another car. The FIA, the sport’s governing body has yet to nail down exactly when they can be used, just to make it a little more confusing.

Also, the two big controversies of the last two years are gone, with both double diffusers and F ducts hitting the dirt.

Give it a few races until it’s all ironed out, but at least they’re trying something to liven up the show a bit more.

The Front Runners

It looks like it’s going to the same story in 2011 as it was at the end of last year. Ferrari versus Red Bull.

So far in testing, it’s looked as if Red Bull, just like last year, has the edge. Confidence is high with the Milton Keynes based lot, and in Barcelona the new RB7 has looked fast, consistent and hasn’t blown up yet. Which is always nice.

We know the drivers, a mix of youth and experience. New World Champion Sebastian Vettel (who still doesn’t look old enough to drink the champagne) is partnered by gritty Aussie Mark Webber. If the two can keep their troubled relationship in check, then there are very few better combinations out there.

If rumours are right that they’ve not run the car on low fuel yet, then the rest of pack should be scared.

Ferrari are easily the closest challenges to the crown. The prancing horse is still reeling after their defeat last year, when they and star man Fernando Alonso we denied an implausible championship at the last race of the season.

Over the winter they’ve picked themselves up, dusted themselves off and delivered a genuinely quick car that, in the hands of Alonso, could bring the silverware back to Italy.

With the Spanish Dolmio-puppet impersonator, Ferrari has the best driver on the grid.

Mix him with a great car, and there could be trouble even for Red Bull.

The Crush Just Behind

The competition this year looks fiercer than ever before. The winter testing has basically shown us that there are about seven teams all vying to be the third best team on the grid.

While the favourites would usually be McLaren, a team who rival only Ferrari in the history books, this year doesn’t look made for them. The new car, despite being very pretty, has not shown the sort of speed that either Jenson or Lewis would want.

But, with two great drivers and a track record with turning around bigger problems, it should be a matter of time until McLaren’s fighting for wins.

They’ve been joined by Mercedes, who disappointed hugely last year but might actually do something this time around.

While a month ago, Mercedes looked all at sea, a new raft of updates has turned a rotten apple into a nice shiny one.

Competition comes from other, less likely areas. Renault and their hot-rod front exhausts (exciting engineers everywhere) look good, but have been hit hard by the injury of star driver Robert Kubica.

They’ve landed on their feet with Nick Heidfeld stepping in, as the captain of racing beards might make the most out of the new fragile tyres.

Then there’s Williams, F1’s sleeping giant. With a secret weapon in their car’s tidy back end and the huge experience of the brilliantly happy Rubens Barrichello, they might just cause the odd surprise and give the big spenders of McLaren and Mercedes a bloody nose now and again.

Add in threats from the more unlikely shape of Toro Rosso and Sauber, both full of youthful exuberance and quick looking cars, and you have a real punch up for the top ten places.

Come this weekend, Australia’s to play host to the most exciting weekend in the whole motorsport year. Who would have thought though that it would be those big, round rubber things that brought all the fuss though?

FemaleFirst Cameron Smith