It has been a long three week vacation, but Formula 1 is back this week as we visit Shanghai for the Chinese Grand Prix. Nico Rosberg put Mercedes AMG on the top step last season, but the team doubts they can follow up the performance (I agree). Here are how the teams look after the Malaysian Grand Prix. 1) Red Bull – Say what you want about the events that happened a few weeks ago in Malaysia, but the fact is Red Bull’s form is on par with their high…
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Formula 1 – Post Australia Team Power Rankings
Not a lot changed amongst the top three teams after the Australian Grand Prix. While Lotus struck first blood, Ferrari had a strong team showing with Alonso and a resurgent Felipe Massa. Red Bull also performed well during the course of the weekend with tire struggles hampering their ability to take advantage of their 1-2 start. Williams had a primarily disappointing weekend. While Valtteri Bottas finished his first ever Formula 1 race, Pastor Maldonado looked like a rookie and complained all weekend about how the car was junk. Marussia surprised…
Read MoreFormula 1 – FP2 Notes; Vettel Sweeps Practice
Sebastian Vettel stormed to P1 in both practice sessions from Albert Park as the 2013 Formula 1 season kicks off. Vettel’s Red Bull was the class of the field as he and the team picked up where they left off at the end of last season. There was a lot of interesting data collected as the super soft tire compound took center stage. The new Pirelli rubber was due to be faster by approximately a second, but suffered an extremely short life with times dropping almost immediately. The real surprise…
Read MoreFormula 1 – Preseason Team Power Rankings
Welcome to the 2013 Formula 1 season! Well…sorta I suppose. Cars are not on the grid in Australia, but we are through launches and only a few weeks from the opening round of the 2013 campaign. We have had two testing sessions occur with one left in Barcelona. Testing is never a really good way to tell anything, so we will launch the first power rankings of the season anyway. I will break them up into team and driver’s rankings separately as a driver performance does not always match the…
Read MoreF1 – Wild One in Malaysia
The Formula 1 World Championship was at it again this week from the awesome Sepang Circuit in Malaysia. One thing about this race is the weather often times is a factor like it was this weekend. What we also saw this weekend was something nobody could have really predicted with Fernando Alonso taking the win for Scuderia Ferrari. The F2012 is truly a pig in every department. It looks hideous and has just as many problems with handling and other on track performances. However, with Alonso at the helm it…
Read More2011 Formula 1 Review – OpenPaddock.net Podcast
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Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadJoin Shaun and Andy (@TheSpeedGeek) as they go back over the 2011 Formula 1 season. We talk about KERS and DRS as well as the Pirelli tires. We then go team by team and talk about the season that was Sebastian Vettel’s masterpiece. We talk up the winners and call out the losers and even have a little friendly debate! Thank you for the download and we hope you enjoy our look back at 2011.
Read MoreF1 – Raikkonen and Buemi Rumor Mill
While we thought that the extension of Massa and Webber would put a stop to big movers and shakers this silly season, that has not stopped some other names from picking up the slack. While Kimi Raikkonen has been the subject of a number of F1 seats since his departure, Sebastian Buemi has only been linked with his seat and its defense but now finds himself the subject of perhaps a Red Bull Racing seat. Raikkonen has been linked to Renault once before after being released by Ferrari. Rumor has…
Read MoreF1 – Grand Prix of Monaco
This weekend Formula 1 was on its grandest stage of all with the Monaco Grand Prix. Red Bull Racing was able to take yet another pole position with Mark Webber carrying momentum from the Spanish Grand Prix. However, we all know that Monaco can yield some surprising results and nothing would be a guarantee. Those surprises would not creep up this weekend as Mark Webber dominated his second event in a row. The Australian led flag to flag in what would be a Red Bull Racing 1-2. The result would…
Read MoreF1 – Thoughts on Malaysia GP
It has been told to me a number of times that the third race is usually the first “actual” race of the season. A time where we start to see clearly where the teams stack up against each other. Sepang would be this third race and I was able to pull away some interesting ideas while also gathering a clear understanding of who the real contenders would be. Red Bull Racing used this weekend to put on yet another clinic. This time they were able to get the job done.…
Read MoreF1 – Senna to STR?
Bernie may have been right about one team not making the grid. Campos F1 is apparently on the brink of a total collapse and may be willing to release Bruno Senna from his previously signed contract. Senna, nephew of F1 legend Ayrton Senna, has been signed with Campos every since this summer. However, financial issues are beginning to catch up with the team and there is talk of releasing the Brazilian in favor of two pay-to-drive pilots. With that being said, the rumor further has Bruno going to STR in…
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