Formula One 2009 – The Beginning of European Races

After four races, Jenson Button leading the result sheet scoring 31 point (10, 5, 8, 10). Three wins out of four races, pretty impressive.

From the past performance on various races, I noticed that the rest of the field are improving significantly. The upcoming races will definitely be more exciting and you can expect more wheel to wheel actions.

Team running without the legalized double diffuser will upgrade their car, most of them will have their new parts fitted onto the machine on the Spanish grand prix. Renault made a quick upgrade on their car and shows quite a promising improvement. This definitely will be worthwhile investing R & D effort into this area.

Brawn was designed to run without KERS, their machine carried a much larger fuel tank compared the others. Will they invest their time in KERS? Never know, of course the more power a car can produce, a better chance of overtaking and winning. On the other hand, the more gadget you put in, the chances of causing problem will be higher as well. Personally I don’t think that is necessary for Brawn at the moment.

When Ferrari will pick up the pace? They did score their first point on the last race. Good upgrades have to come quick before it is too late.

Testing are restricted this year, as for Brawn they did not have the time to perform enough testing. Don’t forget the team got the approval almost last minute to be allowed to race in the 2009 season.

Toyota will be a strong contender, they have not win a single race. Despite that, the chances of stepping on the top step of podium is high. Trulli able to score on the Saturday qualifying session, lets hope he is able to hold on the position during the race.

Despite the advantage is fading, Brawn and Button still my favourite. Oh ya, I would like to see the oldest driver win the race as well. Barrichello is driver a race winning machine, he might be able to pocket one or two win this year!? :D

Jenson Button and Sir Richard Branson in Fight over Jessica Michibata

It does not matter how much you pay to stuck your logo on my car, just don’t touch my girlfriend!!

Melbourne Grand Prix celebrations turned sour last month when winning driver Jenson Button had a bust-up with billionaire sponsor Sir Richard Branson over his lingerie model girlfriend.

 

The pair clashed when Button thought the Virgin boss was coming on to his 24-year-old partner Jessica Michibata, during a boozy dinner at upmarket Melbourne restaurant Nobu.

"Richard was clearly very, very drunk and took a shine to Jessica during the evening," a source said.

 

"But there was a misunderstanding and Jenson became angry. The whole thing got very, very heated.

"Richard thought Jenson was over-reacting, and gave as good back. Both of them were livid."

Brawn team officials and Virgin executives watched the confrontation in "stunned silence".

The blow-up reportedly happened only hours after Sir Richard, 58, announced a sponsorship deal to put Virgin's logo on the side of Button's car.

Button, 29, won in Melbourne and in Malaysia a week later to help improve relations with his new sponsor.

"This was before Jenson and the Brawn GP team won in Melbourne and Malaysia, and they were an untested team looking for sponsorship," the source said.

"So for Jenson to lose his rag at Richard, it was serious. But things were fine by the next day."

Sir Richard, worth more than $6 billion, is married but frequently surrounds himself with glamorous women to promote the Virgin brand.

Answer behind the BRAWN logo

This is definitely an coincident, but I am not sure if anyone have discover this.

Why the BRAWN logo looks like this? The BR is separated with AWN, and the AWN is italic for some reason.

 

BRAWN GP, taken from the team principle’s name Ross Brawn (British) based in Brackley, UK. Currently (should I say sole sponsor) sponsored by Richard Branson (British) the founder of Virgin Group.

The team powered by Mercedes, pilot by the two talented driver Ruben Barichello and Jenson Button, from Brazil and British respectively.   No doubt about it, the team is running on Bridgestone tyres as well the sole tyres supplier for the year 2009 season.

 

If you pay more attention on the above paragraphs, you will notice there are some link between these words.  Lets make it clearer.

 

BRwan – the team principle

BRitish – the nationality of Ross Brawn

BRackley – the base of the team

BRanson – the sole sponsor

BRitish – the nationality of Richard Branson

BRazil – the nationality of Ruben Barichello

BRitish – the nationality of Jenson Button

BRidgestone – the name of the tyres on Brawn’s machine, last but not least,

BRilliant – the brilliant engineers behind this fantastic machine.

These words above are making sense, the BRAWN logo probably design it with these “terms” in mind?!

What do you think?

BRAWN ONE TWO – Australian GP

Jenson Button is the driver of the day no doubt about it.  Thanks to the the Sebastian Vettel And Robert Kubica, Ruben Barichello took the second step of the podium.  Another driver benefit from the stunt was Lewis Hamilton Jarno Trulli, the final driver to complete the podium.

What a dramatic event in Albert’s Park.  The race was sort of completed under the safety car (the safety car put off its light on the final corner), but do not forget the first appearance of Brawn GP!

Big smile on Ross Brawn and Richard Branson face!

Do not forget Sebastian Vettel, he did a fantastic job as well until the last 3 laps of the race.  Clumsy, the only word can be used to describe his move to defends his second position from Robert Kubica.

I was still watching the television while I blogging this post.  Trulli was talking to Ross Brawn, Jenson Button and Ruben Barichello.  I am very happy with you guys, and Barichello was delighted screaming “ONE TWO?!” to Ross Brawn.  Brawn just cool, smiling to both of the driver.

First Debut One two after year 1954! Same engine manufacturer! Amazing!

2 British, 1 Brazilian, Bridgestone tyres, a group of Brilliant team member and a Brawn team… That’s how you spell BRAWN!

Go-ahead – Taller diffuser

 

Albert Park stewards have rejected the protest against the diffusers on the Brawn GP, Toyota and Williams machine.  These three teams race car design will remain unchanged and will be free to compete in this weekend.

 

Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull have confirmed that they will now take the matter to the FIA Court of Appeal, which cannot convene until next weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix has been run. Thus the outcome of the opening two races could be in doubt.

 

This is how F1 works, if you can’t beat them on track try off-track…

Protest on taller diffuser

Brawn, Toyota and Williams managed to exploit the rule of Formula One having to run a taller diffuser.   Clearly it must have certain extend of advantages.

 

The rest of the teams have objected, questioning legality on their designs.

The stewards must now decide whether to allow the cars in question to race in their current form.

Brawn back on top

2009 Season has not started, but the team are start racing already.  Brawn BGP001 was beaten in Jerez day two testing, but Jenson Button managed to climb back to the top of the timesheet. 

The only driver clocked under 1 min 18sec.

 

Renault will be very strong as well, the second driver set a quite competitive time as well

 

Unofficial Tuesday times from Jerez: (Day 3)
1. Jenson Button, Brawn BGP 001, 1:17.844
2. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:18.071
3. Nelson Piquet, Renault R29, 1:18.382
4. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:19.121

Brawn threat is genuine

There will be many surprises this year (2009) Formula One season. Change of rules, new technologies implementation, the return of slick tyres, new driver and “new” team.

The best of all changes – the new team. Brawn GP F1 Team.

 

Less than 2 weeks in test, Brawn already posts a threat to all the teams by clocking fastest time 3 days in a role.  As the team formerly owned by Honda, the 2 experience drivers remain unchanged.  With their experience, can they (one of them) be the championship contender this year?

 

My favourite this year: Jenson Button

 

In various interview sessions, we can clearly see that others are paying attention on this dark-horse and tag Brawn as a team to beat in the 2009 season.

Extracted from Formula1.com

Q: The Brawn clocked a fantastic time. Would you be able to do something similar when going for a qualifying lap?
Felipe Massa: No. And I think nobody can do.

Q: Do you think this time was genuine, or were they running on low fuel?
FM: Many people were running on a low fuel load, not just them. I think their lap time is just much quicker than everybody else can do.

Q: Having now seen all your rivals on the track, who do you think will be your biggest challenger?
Robert Kubica: On one hand I feel surprised, and on the other I feel happy to see it is Brawn Grand Prix. They are performing really well. There is speculation that they are running very light, but I don’t think that it is a fuel issue. They simply look very competitive…

 

Everything looks perfect for Brawn, until Fernando Alonso snatched the top of the list chalked the fastest time in Jerez Day 2. But still, Brawn duo managed to booked second and third place in the time sheet, it looks really promising…

 

Unofficial Sunday times from Jerez: (DAY 1)
1. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn BGP 001, 1:19.236
2. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:19.819
3. Nico Hulkenberg, Williams FW31, 1:20.015

 

Unofficial Monday times from Jerez: (DAY 2)
1. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:18.343
2. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn BGP 001, 1:18.398
3. Jenson Button, Brawn BGP 001, 1:18.892
4. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:19.513
5. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:19.783

F1 Team to watch - Brawn GP F1 Team

“I am happy, really happy!”

“I felt very good”

“This one was born really nicely”

“It is a good combination with the engine, in terms of power and drivability”

“This year is going to be a happy one.”

“Now we are a very well prepared group”

“We have a good chance to have a car to surprise”

“I think we will be the surprise of the year.”

 

These are the reactions by Ruben Barrichello after clocking the fastest time in Barcelona Day 4 testing.

 

 

2 days in a row, 2 different driver, 1 team.  Brawn BGP 001 and the team proved that they have the package to be on top of the list.  It will be too soon to say, but Brawn GP F1 team definitely is the team to watch in 2009 season.

The car still empty without any sponsorship (other than the tyres supplier Bridgestone), but I believe that despite the current economy situation, they will still attract big money from the sponsors.  (Do we have the word “recession” in Formula One dictionary?)

 

Unofficial Thursday times from Barcelona:
1. Rubens Barrichello, Brawn BGP 001, 1:18.926
2. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:19.774
3. Timo Glock, Toyota TF109, 1:20.091
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB5, 1:20.576
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:20.664
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari F60, 1:20.677
7. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber F1.09, 1:20.740
8. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:20.869
9. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.013
10. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India VJM02, 1:21.045
11. Sebastien Bourdais, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.629

Team to watch in 2009 – Brawn GP Formula One Team

After securing the future of former Honda team, with ownership passing to team principal Brawn with immediate effect. Subject to FIA approval, the team will become known as the Brawn GP Formula One Team.

 

In such a short turn-over period, Button manage to clock the fastest time with Brawn GP 001 in Day 3 practice in Barcelona, more than a second faster than the nearest competitor Felipe Massa.

 

Plain white racing suit, car with no sponsorship logo on it….

Still looks cool…

Unofficial Wednesday times from Barcelona:
1. Jenson Button, Brawn BGP 001, 1:19.127
2. Felipe Massa, Ferrari F60, 1:20.168
3. Robert Kubica, BMW Sauber F1.09, 1:20.217
4. Timo Glock, Toyota TF109, 1:20.410
5. Fernando Alonso, Renault R29, 1:20.863
6. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull RB5, 1:21.165
7. Nico Rosberg, Williams FW31, 1:21.324
8. Giancarlo Fisichella, Force India VJM02, 1:21.545
9. Sebastien Buemi, Toro Rosso STR4, 1:21.569
10. Lewis Hamilton, McLaren MP4-24, 1:21.657