Free practice in Australia looking good for McLaren

I couldn’t sleep this morning so I gave up trying and turned on the TV to watch FP2. I was surprised but delighted to see Lewis and Jenson doing so well and when they ended up first and second fastest at the end of the session I wondered if my season was about to get a lot better.

I know you can’t read too much into the practice sessions but the MP4-26 is looking pretty good and capable of competing for podiums, something I didn’t think possible just a few hours ago. Of course we will know more this tomorrow when my world could come crashing down and we have a Red Bull front row, which let’s face it, would be utterly boring. That’s no slight on Vettel and Webber, it would just be nice to mix it up a bit, and yes, have McLaren at the front, particularly Lewis Hamilton!

Lewis Hamilton in his MP4-26

(Photo credit: McLaren.com)

McLaren Predictions for 2011

It’s probably far too early to make a prediction for 2011without seeing the cars on a race weekend but that’s half the fun. I want you to predictthe following:

1. Where Lewis will finish in the Drivers Championship
2. Where Jenson will finish in the Drivers Championship
3. Where Mclaren will finish in the Constructors Championship
4. Who will win the Drivers Championship
5. Who will win the Constructors Championship

At the end of the season there will be a prize for whoever gets closest to getting all 5 questions correct, and in the event of a tie, names will be pulled from a hat. Just leave a comment with your predictions and feel free to add any more predictions for the season – I’ll feature another blog with the best ones!

Here are my predictions:

1. Lewis – 4th
2. Jenson – 6th
3. McLaren – 3rd
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Red Bull

Over to you!

What I want from the 2011 Formula 1 Season

Been a while, but I’m back – how have you all been?

1. First off I’d like to wish Robert Kubica a quick recovery – that’s my number one wish for 2011, that we see Robert back in a his Renault and thrilling us all with his spectacular driving talent once again.
2. I want Lewis Hamilton to win the Driver’s Championship – did you really expect anything else? If his car is competitive from the start I believe the only thing stopping Hamilton form achieving title number 2 is himself. But then those mistakes that come from being over-zealous is also the mentality that makes him such an exciting driver to watch, and I love his all or nothing attitude. However, he just needs to reign it in once in a while to avoid giving away points needlessly.
3. If Hamilton can’t win the Driver’s Championship he at least needs to beat Jenson Button, and convincingly from start to finish. I don’t want any of this Button getting race victories before Hamilton like last year – I want total team mate domination from the 2008 Champion, from the very first race and continuing throughout the season.
4. McLaren to win the Constructor’s Championship. I may be more loyal to Hamilton than the team but I still like McLaren more than any other team and I don’t want them coming in behind the likes of Red Bull and Ferrari. Not sure this point and the previous sit well together, but I can dream!
5. I don’t want a dominant car like the Red Bulls last year. Qualifying was on the whole very predicable and boring and this year I want more people on pole, and more people vying for a pole position during qualifying.
6. With Hamilton ultimately winning, I want a close race for the Championship like last year. 2009 was a fairytale story for Brawn but it was boring, going down to the last race with 4 people statistically in with a chance made for a great season in 2010 – more of the same please.
7. Weber to beat Vettel. I actually like Vettel a lot more than I did as I think he’s matured a lot, but I still want to see Weber beat his younger team mate. In fact if Hamilton doesn’t win the Championship, in the absence of Kubica, I want Weber to become 2011 Champion.
8. Lotus (not the Renault team) to score points, and specifically Kovalainen. Drove brilliantly for a team that couldn’t really compete, but so very nearly did, at the back end of the established teams anyway. Any man that becomes his own fireman deserves at least 1 Championship point

That’s me done for now, there maybe nmore to come later. So, agree, disagree or have your own wishes for the season? To borrow a catchphrase from Sidepodcast; see you in the comments.

Lewis Hamilton in Italy in Pictures (2010)

So, this is the first dedicated Lewis Hamilton post after yesterday’s epiphany – enjoy the photos!

During Free Practice on Friday 10th September
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During Free Practice on Friday 10th September
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During Free Practice on Friday 10th September – inside a cloud?
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During Qualifying on Saturday 11th September
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After Qualifying on Saturday 11th September
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Just moments before he retired from the race on Sunday 12th September
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Hamilton clashes with Massa – race over

I think I’m a Hamilton fan, not a McLaren fan!

That’s probably not the post subject you’d expect to see on a blog called McLaren Fan Blog, but I think watching the race in Monza earlier has made me come to that realisation. The epiphany came when Lewis went out on the first lap and my heart sunk seeing Jenson Button in 1st, knowing full well that if it stayed like that then he’d only be a handful of points behind Lewis. There was then a chance that Jenson could end the season with more points than Lewis and possibly as champion, though not that likely. I didn’t like that – I wanted Lewis to be the highest placed McLaren driver, and when Alonso took the lead I was actually relieved that Jenson wouldn’t be as close to Lewis in the Driver’s Championship than I’d previously thought.

As I McLaren fan I should want either driver to win, I don’t.

To the people reading this post, I can imagine this will be a very unpopular opinion but all I can be is honest. It was Lewis Hamilton that first got me really interested in Formula 1 back at Fuji 2007, and it has now become clear that it’s him that I’m still firmly behind, and not the team he’s driving for. I want Lewis to be the number one driver in the team and I want Lewis to be a 2 time champion and not Jenson Button.

I guess this never became an issue before because in 2007 Hamilton was beating team mate Alonso and in 2008 and 2009 he was a long way ahead of Kovalainen. Earlier this season I had similar feelings but it was so early on that it didn’t seem like it could be a reality, not through the eyes of a staunch Lewis supporter. Now however, with just 5 races left, Jenson is a lot closer to Lewis and all it takes is a bit of bad luck and Lewis could be only the 2nd best McLaren driver – that’s something I’m not happy to accept..

I guess the ultimate question is if Lewis Hamilton drove for another team next year would I still support McLaren, and the answer is no. In fact if Lewis left Formula 1 I think my support would probably shift to Robert Kubica – he’s a great talent and my grandparents on my Mother’s side were Polish. Maybe it’s time I started thinking about renaming this Blog Hamilton fan Blog instead?

Guest Post: The F1 2010 Game

A bit about me – Hi my name is Matthew Bacon, some of you may remember me from the McLaren Hoody Competition where I was a runner up, well done Melissa. This is my second year in the world of F1 and it’s been a whirlwind of knowledge and excitement. I have always been a avid gamer so what I’m about to blog about is a combination of the two, which I have been looking forward to since I heard it was coming in March this year. Hope you enjoy.

Have you ever thought I would love to have a drive about in a F1 car, well now is your chance to have a drive about in your very own living room. Yep that’s right F1 2010 is coming to console (PC, PS3 and Xbox 360) on September 24th.

McLaren v Ferrari in F1 2010

The team over at Codemasters have pulled out all the stops for the new game, taking thousands of pictures of each track to give the fans the most realistic racing experience. Codemasters have introduced the tagline “be the driver, live the life“. They have cut out the Commentary and all you hear during the race is your engineer. The game features all the licensed drivers, teams and tracks from the 2010 Season, and all the paddocks which will be the hub of the driver with media presence outside your motor home and the hype around you increases then so does the media presence. After races you will attend a after race press conference and what you say to the press will affect the game. There are rumours the non other than David Croft of 5 Live F1 will be asking the questions, but its not confirmed.

During the development process of the game Codemasters have received help and feedback from Anthony Davidson (Former F1 driver and Current Mercedes GP simulation driver) telling them how a car would handle on each track and on different weather conditions. This brings me on to the dynamic weather system which affects the game massively. Be sure to check out some videos on the official website and Youtube.

The game will be playable online with your friends, and the maximum players allowed is 12 in one race, 1 from each team, so I’m sure there will be some fights between who gets the top 3 teams (McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari). In the career mode you will have a choice of 3, 5 or 7 years – the longer you pick the lower the team will be. If you pick 7 years the teams available to you will be HRT, Lotus and Virgin, and you will be fighting your team mate for the championship. If you become the number one drive in the team then you will be able to choose the development of the car for seasons to come. I think that about wraps it up for my first ever blog on here, hopefully I will get invited to write some more.

The new McLaren Hoody is available to buy – the one voted for by YOU!

Some time ago I teamed up with the team at McLaren eShop to run a hoody design competition and you can read all about the various stages of that here. Well, the day has come, and that hoody is now for sale over at the McLaren eShop. It looks fantastic, and a certain blog is even mentioned on the product page!

McLaren Hoody

Congratulations to Melissa Nathoo whose winning design was the one chosen and has been made into this great looking hoody. What perfect timing too, now that summer seems to have disappeared for another year. Just look out the window and you’ll see it’s perfect weather for a hoody, especially one that looks as awesome as that.

Now all we need is a victorious weekend in Spa – come on McLaren, let’s get back to winning ways and show those Red Bulls and Ferraris what you’re made of!

30 Of The Greatest F1 Battles – do you agree?

The folks over at Breakdowncover.org have written an interesting blog post about 30 Of The Greatest F1 Battles. What’s particularly interesting to me, as someone who has only been really into Formula 1 since Japan 2007, is how few of the 30 are recent. In fact it’s actually a battle between Massa and Kubica from that very Grand Prix in Japan from 2007 that is the only representative from the last 4 years that I’ve been watching.

It had me trying to think of any I might add from the last few years and I have to admit that I am struggling to think of any. Does that mean that the F1 that I enjoy now is only a shadow of the excitement that the sport used to offer? There’s certainly been nothing from this season that would even get a sniff at a list like this.

Was Hungary the turning point for McLaren, again?

Last year Lewis Hamilton achieved McLaren’s first race win of the season at the Hungaroring. This year Hamilton retired on lap 23 with a gearbox failure while Jenson Button came in 8th, behind Pedro de la Rosa, Nico Hulkenberg and Vitaly Petrov, as well as the 2 Ferraris and the 2 Red Bulls. In 2009 the Hungarian Grand Prix marked the return to form of the McLaren as Lewis Hamilton went in to gain more points in the 2nd hlaf of the season than any any other driver. This year I fear it could be a turning point of a different kind.

At the rick of being labelled pessimistic, I do fear that Hungary showcased just how far McLaren are falling behind the Red Bulls and Ferraris. Before Hamilton’s retirement he’d performed far better than the car by getting past Felipe Massa in the pits and moving from 5th place to 4th place, while Jenson Button had been languishing in 10th place, at least a slight improvement on his 14th place starting position. In qualifying Hamilton drove out of his skin just to get 5th place on the grid while Button failed to make Q3 and started in 11th. Bad qualifying had been a constant during Button’s season and it’s a testament to his race performance, and some luck, that he currently sits in 4th place in the Driver’s Championship.

While a 5th place start for Hamilton might not sound catastrophic, he was nowhere near the pace of the Ferraris and Red Bulls and the gap seems to be increasing with each race. Like McLaren last year, Ferrari have made a remarkable comeback and with some questionable tactics have catapulted Fernando Alonso right up into Championship contention. Hamilton meanwhile has relinquished the Championship lead to Mark Weber, who leads by 10 points, and is being chased down by Vettel who is just 6 points behind him, and 4 points ahead of Button, who himself is 6 points ahead of Alonso.

After the Hungarian Grand Prix McLaren also lost the lead in the Constructor’s Championship with Red Bull now ahead of them by 8 points. In fear that’s a lead that McLaren won’t be reclaiming, as performance issues aside Jenson Button seems to be falling more out of love with his car with every race. It’s a little similar to last year where Button suffered a drop in performance, such that he was almost caught by both Vettel and Barichello. of course last year he had a cushion of 6 wins, not something he can rely on this year.

Lewis Hamilton on the other hand, while not driving the best car, can always be relied on to get at least 100% out of the car and often more, retirements aside. But is that enough to make an impact in the last 7 races and give Hamilton a chance at becoming a 2-time World Champion? If I had to bet on a McLaren driver winning the 2010 Driver’s Championship I have to confess that’s not a bet I’d be putting much money on, though the combination of McLaren development and Hamilton driving is one that always has the potential to surprise and perform.

Am I being too negative? Maybe, but the speed of the 2 teams in front of McLaren is frightening, at least to a McLaren fan. Am I also being a bit harsh on Jenson Button? Again, maybe, but he does seem to under perform unless he’s 100% happy with his car and frankly in this race for the title we need more. With Red Bull’s apparent driver friction and Ferrari’s alleged team orders, I sometimes wonder if the harmonious atmosphere in the McLaren garage couldn’t benefit from a bit more fight between the two drivers. It’s great for PR to have 2 drivers getting along so well but is it really conducive to the best results on track?

McLaren Excel as I Wilt!

I can’t give you answer to the question ‘why have you not been updating this blog?’, I can only apologise. I’ve been watching the races every week and I’ve been thrilled at the success of both Lewis and Jenson for McLaren – you’d think it would be the perfect time for someone running a McLaren blog to post lots of updates. I’ve been taking lots of photos and have just launched a photo gallery website: Fable Photos and have been regularly updating my other blog: Fabled Thoughts Expanded, but why I’ve not been posting here is a mystery as I constantly think about doing so, but then life gets in the way.

Anyway, moving forward and going into the British Grand Prix at Silverstone this weekend, we see Lewis leading the Driver’s Championship ahead of Jenson, with McLaren sitting atop the Constructor’s Championship. Will it continue like this? I can only hope it will, but one has to be wary that if the Red Bulls don’t have any reliability problems and don’t crash into each other, then they could take both Championships back at any time.

In my completely unbiased opinion (!), I’d say that Lewis has been the best driver so far this season, by quite some margin. He’s been the one to watch in almost every race and has achieved success through sheer racing aggression and ability. If the McLaren has the out and out speed of the Red Bull then I truly believe that Lewis would have a sizeable lead in the Championship, far more than he currently has. It was watching Lewis Hamilton racing in Japan 2007 that got me into Formula 1 and he’s showed more than ever this season why I was right to place my faith with him.

Not taking anything away from Jenson Button, who has had almost as much success as Lewis so far, but his success has not been as exciting to watch and some may say that a sizeable amount of luck and fortune has helped him to get to where he is. Still, I’m glad for that fortune as his points are almost half of those obtained my McLaren this season, the current leader of the Constructor’s Championship.

Maybe someone more knowledgeable than myself can confirm or deny this, but I’m sure McLaren are an upgrade behind the likes of Red Bull at the moment and we could be seeing those upgrades this weekend at some point. I’m hoping these upgrades will see McLaren close the gap on the Red Bulls even more, and maybe even surpass them – though that could be unrealistic wishful thinking.

On a different topic altogether and if I can be very childish for a moment – ha ha ha ha ha, to Fernando Alonso and Ferrari for their failure to spoil things for Lewis and McLaren in the last race. Get a grip guys – concentrate on getting your race up to speed rather than throwing your toys out of the pram and attempting, and failing, to rely on penalties for success.

This time tomorrow qualifying will have happened and we’ll have some idea of how the teams are relative to one another and whether a McLaren is sitting on pole position. Who knows, with in-laws up tomorrow I may have more time to myself and you may be treated to another blog post. I will try very hard, but don’t hold your breath!