Driver: Jari-Matti Latvala (Co-driver: Miikka Anttila) Car: Ford Focus WRC Team: BP Ford World Rally Team Series: World Rally Championship Event:2009 Rally de Portugal
Background: You’ve probably heard of Jari-Matti’s crash last weekend in which he and co-driver Miikka rolled 17 times down a mountain and survived with barely a scratch. What you probably haven’t seen, and neither had I, was the build-up to the crash and the way he was driving through the stage. It seems his team boss had already warned him to calm down his driving after crashing out early in two previous events this year.
Important note: Please don’t think I’m joining the ranks of the ‘crash-happy’ who go trawling YT for smash-ups. This is to celebrate his driving and the fantastic safety work done by the FIA and the Ford World Rally Team.
This is some of the best driving I’ve ever seen, there are times you can barely watch – and this is the calmed down version?!
You can see how the crash was only caused by a knock against a barrier, pushing him to the right over the edge of the cliff.
Here’s the external view and a word from the man himself:
They were both VERY lucky indeed, a testament to the major safety improvements made in WRC over the last decade.
More from Latvala (via Autosport.com): “It was all my fault, I had the corner marked with a double caution, but the night before, I changed it. I have realised you should never change your notes after the recce. I realised we were going to crash, so I tried to use the Armco to slow the car. But it rolled over it and then it rolled and rolled. I can remember the crashing and the roll cage coming in. I thought: ‘We cannot survive this, it’s just not stopping.’ When it did stop, I looked to my co-driver Miikka and his eyes were red and full of blood because we had been upside down so many times. After I checked we were okay, I said: ‘Maybe this was our last rally.'”
Welcome to the slightly delayed preview to the Malaysian GP!
* * * * FIA Formula 1 World Championship – Formula 1 Petronas Malaysian Grand Prix(2/17)
– Sepang International Circuit
– Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
– www.formula1.com
– F1.com track map
– Live timing (Java required, free registration required, worth it)
Circuit
Check the track map link above to see the three official timing sectors.
We move from the stop/start part-street track of Albert Park to the very fast, very open Sepang, sited adjacent to KL International Airport some 20 miles from KL itself.
Sepang joined the calendar for the 1999 season and was the first of the ‘Tilkedromes’, those circuits penned by the track architect Herman Tilke who has become the F1 track designer of choice. It set the tone for his later circuits including Bahrain, Shanghai and Istanbul. Features include an exceptionally wide racing surface, a very long wide pitlane and a large central grandstand with local styling cues.
The signature corner on this circuit is turn one, an ever-tightening right-hander leading into a very tight switchback to the left. Accidents are common here and drivers will need to keep their elongated noses clean. Tilke used a similar corner design twice for Shanghai, at the first corner and at the corner on to the long straight.
The track as a whole is very fast and flowing for the most part, with a couple of harder braking areas producing potential overtaking spots, as well as the two very long straights either side of the central grandstand – these straights ought to be ideal for those running KERS.
This track was very smooth for the first several runnings but in the last couple of years several bumps have appeared – many drivers and F1 analysts have perhaps unkindly stated this brings the circuit some much-needed character!
The overbearing heat is frequently the topic of the weekend with team personnel and media alike hiding away in the air conditioning of the paddock buildings (no such luck for the spectators). This year though, the 5pm start should negate some of this but it will bring another problem: rain. Typically after the race is over, usually 5.30pm local, and the sun begins to set, the track is engulfed in a tropical rain shower – this year the race begins at 5pm and the forecast is for rain. Last time we had heavy rain at Sepang it caused utter chaos with cars off the track at all angles.
Form
BrawnGP are the clear favourites after their performance last weekend however the race pace of the Toyotas and BMWs, and Vettel’s Red Bull, should not be underestimated. Neither should Hamilton’s McLaren. There is also the question of how the various combinations of KERS and diffusers – or lack thereof – will work at a very different circuit to Albert Park. Already in practice Kimi Raikkonen’s KERS battery has come to a smoking halt, will the heat of Sepang prove too much for KERS?
UK TV
Q: BBC One will air Qualifying live at 9am BST Saturday, session begins at 10am.
R: BBC One will air the Race live at 9am BST Sunday, race starts at 10am.
H: BBC Three will air 1hr Highlights at 7pm BST Sunday.
US TV
Q: Speed will air Qualifying semi-live at 5am ET.
R: Speed will air the Race live at 4:30am ET with the race to start at 5am. Rerun at 1:30pm.
– Canada should get coverage on TSN featuring BBC commentary, you may find Speed is blacked out.
Note for US viewers: Speed builds in a delay during qualifying coverage in order to fit in as many advertisements as possible. This completely screws up your chances of following live timing as well as ensuring anyone following F1 updates on Twitter gets spoilers 10 to 15 minutes ahead of seeing it on their TV screen. I don’t yet know if they do this for the race – either way, I urge you to complain! Live Comments
I will be at Sidepodcast.com for qualifying and the race, and probably for the IndyCar race too (if they decide to live comment it). Fire up the Live Commenting Live..Thing at the appointed time, join the appropriate thread at the top of the screen, enter your name and then just type away! You’re welcome to join us as long as you keep the sweary exclamations away.
I’ll also be commenting on Twitter from time to time, but since I’ll be focussing on writing my race notes I may be fairly quiet.
Support events
GP2 Asia Series; Formula BMW Pacific;
* * * * FIA Formula 1 World Championship – ING Australian Grand Prix(1/17)
– Albert Park
– Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
– www.formula1.com
– F1.com track map / F1Fanatic’s track guide
– Live timing (Java required, free registration required, worth it)
* WARNING *
In the UK the clocks will change on Sunday morning. At 2am GMT we will jump to 3am British Summer Time (BST). Thus Qualifying and Race start at the same time locally but one hour apart for us.
Preview
Welcome to the slightly delayed preview to the Australian GP!
Circuit
Albert Park is a semi-street track set around a lake in the city of Melbourne. It isn’t a traditional street track, being as it runs through a park and the barriers aren’t always up tight to the racing surface. The racetrack isn’t as bumpy as your average street track – although this year the drivers seem to have found more bumps than usual.
The deceptively fast first corner is always a concern, more so this year with the extended width of the front wings this year. You know how drivers like to win the race at the first corner? Well this is the first corner of the Championship and some of them think they can win the title in the first corner!
Of course this is followed up by a medium/long straight into the tight heavy braking area of turn 3. Some guys who were careful in turn 1 decide turn 3 is the better opportunity, sometimes they are right, sometimes they are wrong. The guys will need to temper their enthusiasm to avoid crashes!
Here are two onboard laps to refamiliarise yourself with the layout, assuming you haven’t already been watching Free Practice!
The first is Jenson Button’s 2006 pole lap described by Martin Brundle, then of ITV:
Here is Kimi Raikkonen’s 2007 pole lap described by David Hobbs of SPEED:
Rule Changes
There are far too many variables to discuss with regards to the new rules and the time for explaining them in long reams of text is over. What we do know is that both Ferraris, both McLarens, both Renaults and Nick Heidfeld of BMW will all be using KERS this weekend. Force India, BrawnGP and Toyota say they are not running KERS, and the remainder are tight-lipped on the subject with speculation that Williams and others may be running it.
If you’ve been away from all the pre-season hype you may be aware of some major changes this year but perhaps not the specifics. Everyone else could probably use a refresher on the eve of the first race and this video is ideal for the purpose:
(7m40s, Inside Track from SidepodcastTV
you may prefer to try the low-res version)
Form
BrawnGP have been running exceptionally well in testing and have carried that into Free Practice. McLaren and Ferrari are stuck in the midfield among suggestions of sandbagging, running heavy to mask their true pace. I’m not sure this is true. Ferrari seem to have good speed over a long run if not over a lap, but they aren’t at the absolute cutting edge of lap time. McLaren appear to be struggling much more.
Williams are also fast however this has happened with Williams over the last few years, they are quick at Albert Park and then have a dire race in Sepang. Let’s hope the latter trend is put to rest this season. Interestingly Toyota and Force India have shown promising form in practice.
What is clear is the grid is very well shaken up and yet very close together, with only 2 seconds separating front to back in Friday FP2. The combination of all the different factors makes it incredibly difficult to predict what will happen on both Saturday and Sunday, something we haven’t been able to say about F1 for a very long time!! I think we’re going to enjoy this season.
UK TV
Q: BBC One will air Qualifying live at 5am GMT Saturday, session begins at 6am. Rerun at 1pm.
R: BBC One will air the Race live at 6am BST Sunday, race starts at 7am. Rerun at 1pm.
H: BBC Three will air 1hr Highlights at 7pm BST Sunday.
US TV
Q: Speed will air Qualifying live at 2am ET, it seems they are jumping straight in to the green flag unless I have my times wrong.
R: Speed will air the Race live at 1:30am ET with the race to start at 2am. Rerun at 4:30pm.
Canada should get coverage on TSN featuring BBC commentary. EDIT – you used to be able to choose Speed but you may want to see this link and check what you can see at the time, although I’m not sure why you’d voluntarily sit through all their ads.
Race Notes
I will again be writing notes during the race for upload straight after the event. I won’t be doing a live blog, it’s more a journal of noteworthy events which is written live, checked for editing and uploaded shortly after the podium ceremony. If you’re sitting here killing time before Qual or Race because of the timezones, you can click here to see notes on previous races.
Live Comments
This season I will also be in the Sidepodcast.com Live Comments for all races and most qualifying sessions. Fire up the Live Commenting Live..Thing at the appointed time and join the appropriate thread at the top of the screen, then just type away! I’ve been keeping up with the comments during the latter end of the off-season, but not a live F1 GP before – it should be fun. You’re welcome to join us as long as you keep the sweary exclamations away.. I think I’ll struggle with that bit.. I may be quiet during races while I concentrate on the Race Notes, however I should be active during qualifying.
I will of course have TwitterFox to hand for those all-important tweets.
Support events
V8 Supercars*, Australian GT, Australian Formula Ford, Aussie Racing Cars, Historic Formula 5000, Mini Challenge, Minardi F1x2 two-seaters, Ultimate Speed Comparison (road car vs V8 Supercar vs 2008 BMW F1 car)
(these events are spread across the weekend)
The Formula One Teams Association (www.teamsassociation.org), the independent body made up of the 10 teams of F1, conducted a survey in 17 countries of both F1 fans and non-fans as well as those who follow casually. From the results of this survey they have made the following proposals, known as the ‘roadmap’ and classified as ‘sporting’, ‘technical’ and ‘commercial’ to match the working groups established some months ago.
I’ll list these in the order of the press release and include my own comments in each section.
Technical For 2009: – An engine life increase of over 100%. – A reduction in the usage of wind tunnels and computational fluid dynamics (CFD). – Engines to be supplied for €8 million per season per team.
These are expected to provide significant savings over 2008. In addition, these proposals were made for 2010: – Engines to be supplied for €5 million per season per team. – Gearboxes to be supplied for €1.5 million. – Standard KERS system to be put to tender, target price €1 million to €2 million. – 50% reduction on 2009 levels on the spend on aerodynamic development. – Cap the number of chassis, bodywork and aero updates per season via homologation. – Prohibit ‘exotic’ materials. – Standard telemetry and radio systems.
My thoughts: I agree with all of these moves, but one. They retain the uniqueness of F1 development, that the teams design their own cars, without needless aero updates for every race. The one I disagree with is standard KERS – the whole point of KERS being in F1 is that each team is developing their own systems, and some are radically different from others. Green tech should be the areas left open for development, not closed off!
Sporting For 2009: – A reduction in testing of 50%. – Adjust the points system to 12 for a win, 9 for 2nd, 7 for 3rd. The remaining points to 8th remain as present. This is to further reward winners and podium finishers. (10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 would become 12-9-7-5-4-3-2-1) – Starting fuel loads and tyre selections to be made available to the public before the race.
For 2010: – Recommend a new qualifying format. – Radical new points-scoring opportunities (e.g. fastest pit stop). – Further testing restrictions, to 4 x 4 day single car sessions, plus one single car shakedown. – Reduce Grand Prix race distances to 250km max, or 1hr 40 mins. (presently 300km or 2 hours)
My thoughts: I agree completely with the 2009 proposals, of which testing has already been reduced significantly. The points need adjusting and the race data should be available, as it is in MotoGP. I don’t think we need a new qualifying format, the present one works very well indeed! I also disagree with reducing the race distance and the ‘new points opportunities’. F1 should be about going flat out for a couple of hours, not racing for trick points or becoming a sprint race.
Commerical For 2009: – Increase data provision for the media. – Explore means to more dynamically present F1, to improve engagement with the public. – Nominated senior team spokesman available during GP. – Commitment to enhance consumer experience via team and FOTA websites.
For 2010: – Commitment to enhance viewer experience through TV coverage.
My thoughts: You can’t disagree with any of this. I would prefer to bring the TV coverage forward to this year but I understand if it’s now too late, although I’m sure some improvements can be filtered in in the latter half of the year. I’d also prefer F1.com to be the focal point, unfortunately Bernie won’t let that happen. I like the opening up of personnel during race, like they do on American coverage of IRL/NASCAR. I also like telling the drivers to show up at an appointed time to meet the fans.
Other Points To Note FOTA noted several other findings.
1. F1 isn’t broken. The survey results clearly were against the mooted suggestions of splitting GPs into ‘sprint’ and ‘feature’ races, or reverse grids.
2. F1 needs to be consumer-friendly. Only devotees watch a race live outside of their peak viewing times. No shit, Sherlock!
3. Qualifying changes are not urgent. Fans like the meritocracy and don’t want luck to play a part of it. Fans are actually quite smart.
4. Revise the points scoring system. Fans want the winner to be more rewarded than at present. Good idea.
5. Evolution of pitstops and refuelling. It seems fans very much like tyre changes, but don’t really care about refuelling and strategy. This isn’t a surprise as strategies haven’t been explained well in the past, despite the best efforts of James Allen and Ted Kravitz (here at least), and they are quite hard to follow sometimes even for us smart fans. Sometimes they are only hard to follow because they are boring. I like the sound of the 80s, when cars would go full distance but some drivers would choose to stop for tyres and try to catch up the time lost by making full use of their fresh rubber. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn’t.
There are further details on these points in the press release which I urge you to read. We’ll shortly hear of the FIA’s own proposals I believe as soon as this coming week. It’ll be interesting to see if there’s any convergence.
I Watch Too Much Racing 