Testing clues to new Formula One Season

The new Formula One season opens in Bahrain on March 14th, but already there has been interesting action to follow ahead of the new season. 2010 will, one way or another, be remember for the return of the great Michael Schumacher, as he gets behind the wheel of a F1 for the first time in three years. At the ripe old age of 41, Schumacher is looking to defy the odds of his physical disadvantage, and hold his own against the younger drivers. But Schumacher is renowned for his fastidiousness and will be in the most prime condition that he can possibly be in. As will his car. He is a winner, and legend and technical driving genius. Suiting up for Mercedes, Schumacher didn’t take too long to show that his inherent natural talents are there, keeping up in pace with the top 6.

The testing at Valencia is a little dressed up, and while it may be hard to judge form, as things will be tweaked in car and driver, it may give some indication of what is to come. Mercedes, formerly known as Brawn, with whom Jenson Button won the Drivers Championship last season, looks to be a little behind Ferrari and McLaren. Once again, the rules of F1 have been tweaked, and the main issue over the new season, is the one regarding re-fuelling. Or the lack thereof. There will be no refuelling during the course of a race anymore, and this is where testing times will have differed. Some runners were testing with full tanks, while others were testing speed and handling on shorter runs, with less carry of fuel.

Overall though, the Ferrari’s looked the sharpest and quickest, with Spaniard Fernando Alonso heading the field. This is Alonso’s first season with Ferrari, and he rocked out the fastest lap of the first Formula One practice. Defending Champion Jenson Button did not have anything like an outstanding practice, as the McLaren driver appears to be still ironing out the creases with his new team. There is a lot of melding that needs to go on between driver and team, and while Button tweaks his seating, he must be feeling worried seeing Alonso tearing things up for his new team. Button’s team mate and former Drivers Champion Lewis Hamilton looks as if he will be competitive during the new season. He has got the car to back him this season, and looked comfortable and quick.

With more testing to come, this practice session is the opening test for drivers, mechanics and team bosses to really see the reliability and performance of their cars. There is another testing practice next week, with teams not racing against the others, but more against themselves, seeing how they can get the right balance of performance from full heavy tanks of fuel, and handling speed when the tanks start to empty. The Formula One Commission have also changed the scoring system again, as they have increased the percentage of points between first and second place, and extended points all the way down to a tenth place finish. The range of scale runs from 25 down to 1, with 18 for second and 15 points for third. Increments then fall in two’s from 12 to 2, and then the 10th placed runner will earn themselves 1 point. The greater difference at the head of the points scoring, has been done to try and ensure that drivers get more competitive for those valuable extra points.

Formula One Drivers Championship 2010 Outright
Fernando Alonso – 1/3 at Paddy Power
Michael Schumacher – 9/2 at Stan James
Lewis Hamilton – 5/1 at Bwin
Sebastian Vettel – 13/2 at SkyBet
Felipe Massa – 8/1 at Victor Chandler
Jenson Button – 20/1 at Bwin