F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race. Image Credit: Oliver Multhaup /AP

F1 - Strong Drives, Crashes, And A Historic Win By Button In OZ

The following quote reflects the happenings down in the land of OZ. Basically, F1 has been turned on its head from last season and rule changes, the spec' changes, Kers, and all have shuffled the deck and not everyone is happy.

This excerpted and edited from BBC -

Tremendous scenes as Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello embrace and start celebrating in front of the adoring Melbourne crowd. Button is so excited, he looks like the Tazmanian Devil caught in a blender, and who can blame him? What a start to the season and what a race.

Well, we couldn't really have asked for a more explosive season-opener, could we?

A storybook finish for Brawn GP, a remarkable back-to-front run from Jarno Trulli and Lewis Hamilton, collisions aplenty involving the likes of Sebastian Vettel, Robert Kubica, Rubens Barrichello and Heikki Kovalainen, and still plenty of controversy over rear diffusers, safety car deployment and safety car overtaking to come.
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Lap 55 [of 57]: Unbelievable! Robert Kubica, attempting to pass Sebastian Vettel, collides with the Red Bull on Turn Three and both are wiped out. Vettel is too slow in Turns One and Two and Kubica eyes his chance, only for Vettel to tag his rear right wheel and both spin on to the grass. This race is Jenson Button's folks, with Rubens Barrichello second.
Reference Here>>

Eight of the 20 cars were either lapped (1), retired (4), or crashed out (3) at the end leaving only 12 cars running on the same lap.

The stand out performances have to be noted as coming from Lewis Hamilton driving the McLaren-Mercedes to P3 (elevated from P4 due to a penalty assessment) and the Toyota teammates who all started from the back of the grid with Jarno Trulli driving his pants off to P3 ... later penalized back to P12, and Timo Glock just missing (by 2 seconds behind the elevated Lewis Hamilton) the podium finishing at P4.

In the first post-race interview, Lewis Hamilton praises the "incredible job" done by his McLaren team after ending a difficult weekend by finishing fourth in the Australian Grand Prix. Hamilton was later promoted to third after a penalty for Toyota's Jarno Trulli. Image Credit: BBC

This excerpted and edited from The State -

Button wins F1's season-opening Australian GP
By CHRIS LINES - The State - Sunday, Mar. 29, 2009

Jenson Button won the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, giving Brawn GP a victory in its first Formula One race.

The Englishman led from start to finish, beating teammate Rubens Barrichello and Toyota's Jarno Trulli, with the race finishing under caution following a late crash.

Barrichello, a Brazilian, recovered after being slow off the line at the start, while Italy's Trulli was strong after starting from pit lane.

It was the first time since 1977 that a F1 team had won in its debut, and the third time that a team had finished first and second in its first attempt. Alfa Romeo did it in the first ever grand prix in Britain in 1950, and Mercedes did it at the French GP in 1954.

It was only the second GP win for Button, who is in his 10th year of F1. He averaged 121.649 mph (195.775 kph) at the 3.3-mile (5.3-kilometer) Albert Park circuit and finished in 1:34:15.784.

The win capped a remarkable turnaround for the former Honda team which was at risk of disbanding in the offseason when the Japanese automaker pulled out of F1. Team principal Ross Brawn took over the team, which has benefited from development spending for 2009 by its former owner last year.
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Further boosting Brawn GP spirits was the knowledge that the past three winners of the Australian GP went on to win the championship.
Reference Here>>

How the machines and their pilots fared (BBC):

Melbourne results
Full race timings
Sunday, 29 March 2009

Position Country Driver Car number Team Grid position Race time Points
1 great britain Jenson Button 22 Brawn-Mercedes 1 1:34:15.784 10
2 brazil Rubens Barrichello 23 Brawn-Mercedes 2 1:34:16.591 8
3 great britain Lewis Hamilton 1 McLaren-Mercedes 18 1:34:18.698 6
4 germany Timo Glock 10 Toyota 20 1:34:20.219 5
5 spain Fernando Alonso 7 Renault 10 1:34:20.663 4
6 germany Nico Rosberg 16 Williams-Toyota 5 1:34:21.506 3
7 switzerland Sebastien Buemi 12 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 13 1:34:21.788 2
8 france Sebastien Bourdais 11 Toro Rosso-Ferrari 17 1:34:22.082 1
9 germany Adrian Sutil 20 Force India-Mercedes 16 1:34:22.119 0
10 germany Nick Heidfeld 6 BMW Sauber 9 1:34:22.869 0
11 italy Giancarlo Fisichella 21 Force India-Mercedes 15 1:34:23.158 0
12 italy Jarno Trulli 9 Toyota 19 1:34:42.388 0
13 australia Mark Webber 14 Red Bull-Renault 8 lapped 0
RET germany Sebastian Vettel 15 Red Bull-Renault 3 retired, 56 laps 0
RET poland Robert Kubica 5 BMW Sauber 4 crash, 55 laps 0
RET finland Kimi Raikkonen 4 Ferrari 7 retired, 55 laps 0
RET brazil Felipe Massa 3 Ferrari 6 retired, 45 laps 0
RET brazil Nelson Piquet Jr 8 Renault 14 crash, 24 laps 0
RET japan Kazuki Nakajima 17 Williams-Toyota 11 crash, 17 laps 0
RET finland Heikki Kovalainen 2 McLaren-Mercedes 12 retired, 0 laps 0

... notes from The EDJE

NIGHT MOVES: F1 Racing After Dark in Singapore

Image Credit: From Video - Toyota Motorsports [Ctrl/Click to launch video]

NIGHT MOVES: F1 Racing After Dark in Singapore
Friday 19 September 2008
(from digitial and video assets supplied by Toyota Motorsports)

Panasonic Toyota Racing takes a step into the unknown this weekend with the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix. Not only is this the first time the city state has hosted the Formula 1 World Championship, it is also the first time a Grand Prix has been held at night.

Singapore off of the tip of Malaysia - Image Credit: thecommonwealth.org

The island of Singapore lies on the southern tip of the Malayan peninsula and, with an area of just over 700 square kilometres, it is the third smallest state to host a Grand Prix, after Monaco and Bahrain, but with over 4million inhabitants, it is a bustling metropolis.

The new circuit, which is 5.067km long and features 23 corners, is located in the Marina Bay area of Singapore City and includes iconic landmarks such as the Singapore Flyer big wheel, the Esplanade and Raffles Boulevard.

Anderson Bridge as seen in the daytime - Formula One cars will be crossing a portion of the inner bay in Singapore. Image Credit: lousynickseven.spaces.live.com

The lay-out is not just spectacular, it also features several unusual characteristics - the drivers will travel over Anderson Bridge, under a grandstand and through the 300km/h turn six; claimed to be the fastest corner on a Formula 1 street circuit.

That cocktail of glamour, novelty and challenge brings an obvious comparison to another street circuit. "It can definitely be the Monaco of the east because of the character of this street circuit," says Pascal Vasselon, Senior General Manager Chassis at Panasonic Toyota Racing. "But it could be also the Nürburgring of the east because we are talking about 23 corners, which starts to sound like the old Nürburgring!"

The Formula One (F1) Singapore Grand Prix street circuit - The 5.067km long street circuit, consisting of 14 left hand turns and 10 right hand turns offers a number of overtaking opportunities, challenging corners and gruelling sections that will test the true capabilities of the F1 drivers. The F1 Singapore Grand Prix is the first Formula One street race in Asia and is one of three races in the 2008 F1 calendar to run anticlockwise. Top Image Credit: funandfreewheeling.wordpress.com - Caption and Bottom Image Credit: Singapore Tourism Board

Jarno Trulli concurs, although as a driver his priority is to understand the finer points of the lay-out in order to get maximum performance out of his TF108. "I've seen the plans and the Grand Prix looks amazing so far, although you always need to drive the track first before having a proper idea of it," he says.

"You need to understand the corners and the speeds so you know more about the set-up and the kind of downforce we are going to run. It is a new challenge because we don't know the track or the conditions so it will be interesting."

The race consists of an estimated 61 laps with 24 turns consisting of 14 left turns and 10 right turns. Top speeds in excess of 300kph are easily reached at the pit straights and the slowest corners allow the drivers to only reach speeds of 80-100kph. Overtaking opportunities are available at turn 1 at the Pit Straight, turn 7 at the Raffles Boulevard and turn 15 at Esplanade Drive. Total race distance is 308.95 km which is subjected to FIA confirmation. It should also be noted that the start and finish lines are not in the same place so the race distance is shorten than a 61 x 5.067km calculation. The start line is at the beginning of the straight, while the finish line is somewhere close to the middle of the straight. Caption Credit: lousynickseven.spaces.live.com Image Credit: Singtel Singapore GP Simulator Onboard Lap [Ctrl/Click to launch video simulator]

Despite the incredible location, it is the novelty of racing at night which has created a wave of anticipation in Formula 1 circles.

Many team members at Panasonic Toyota Racing have experience of competing at night from the team's adventures in the Le Mans 24 Hours, while others, such as Timo Glock, have experienced it elsewhere in their careers.

Unlike at Le Mans, the TF108s will not be equipped with headlights; instead around 1,500 lights have been installed around the entire track to ensure near-daylight conditions for the drivers. Timo raced under lights during his Champ Car season in 2005, when he finished eighth in a 400km race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, so he is more prepared than most of his rivals for the challenge ahead.

"The main issue is that you are driving at a different time of day," explains Timo. "Normally you would be resting in an evening but in Singapore the race will start at 8pm. They will give us as much light as possible but as it is a night race I don't expect it will be like daylight in every corner. That is fine though.

"Driving at night is a fun experience and it is definitely a really good show for the fans; that is the most important thing."

For the drivers, adapting to the different timetable is the key issue but for other team members that is just part of the conundrum of racing at night. An observation team of engineers and logistics experts visited Singapore in July to witness a lighting test and study the impact artificial lights will have on team operations.

Singapore skyline at night - trackside Image Credit: lousynickseven.spaces.live.com

"We have looked at different things," says Chief Engineer Race and Test Dieter Gass. "We have looked at a pit board for example which is visible at night and we have to make sure everything is visible in the garage and on the pit wall. Also the display on the steering wheel might need to be different because normally it has to be quite bright in order to be visible on a sunny day."

Panasonic Toyota Racing has devoted a lot of energy to minimising the effect on team members of the unique timetable, which is the single biggest logistical challenge of the new circuit. "That has been the biggest concern," reveals Team Manager Richard Cregan. "All the other logistical matters are pretty much the same as with any other flyaway race.

"We have worked closely with the FIA and FOM in deciding the timetable and we have worked internally to come up with an appropriate daily schedule because you can't have guys starting work at 8am and leaving at 3am; that would not be fair. So we have come up with solutions to shift the whole working day later."

It is not simply the absence of daylight and the unusual timetable which could create a challenge in Singapore. On September evenings in Singapore the humidity of the day often breaks with heavy rain while teams will experience the unusual situation of air and track temperatures falling during the course of the race and practice sessions.

"I think for us the biggest challenge will be the temperature," says President John Howett. "The surface temperature of the track will be very low and normally Formula 1 tyres work best in higher temperatures. Then of course at that time of year there's a high probability of rain. So we will face difficulty with temperature, made worse possibly by heavy rain. Night racing is a challenge but we're a team that has come from Le Mans so we should be able to handle that quite easily."

So, the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix presents more challenges than any other race on the calendar, but Panasonic Toyota Racing has left no stone unturned in its preparations, giving Jarno and Timo the platform to fight once again for the podium. And that would be the perfect preparation for the Japanese Grand Prix at Fuji Speedway next month.

... notes from The EDJE

Panasonic F1 T108 Mid-Season Assessment Review

Panasonic Toyota Racing Team at the French Grand Prix – celebrating a podium finish of their T108 driven by Jarno Trulli. Image Credit: Toyota Motorsport

Panasonic F1 T108 Mid-Season Assessment Review

Toyota Motorsport releases a video review of the effort and success of the Panasonic T108 in competition in this 2008 season.

With ten of eighteen races contested, some of the projected pre-season goals have been met, but more has to be done in order to remain the leader team of the "mid-pack" teams.

This explaination of the video package from Toyota Motorsport -

Panasonic Toyota Racing - 2008 Hungarian Grand Prix Feature: MID-SEASON
[Source: Toyota Motorsport - 28-Jul-2008]

With ten Grands Prix of the 2008 FIA Formula 1 World Championship already completed, Panasonic Toyota Racing takes a look at a successful season so far.

Jarno Trulli has been in impressive form, with a best result of third in the French Grand Prix, while new team-mate Timo Glock has adjusted quickly to the TF108 and took fourth place in Canada.

With eight Grands Prix remaining, the team is fourth in the Constructors' Championship.

Available video includes soundbites of the Panasonic Toyota Racing team on the progress of the 2008 season and general views of the first half of the 2008 Formula 1 season.

... notes from The EDJE