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| Just don't tell me this will be Ambrose's breakout year. I've been hurt before (image via Speedcafe). |
The goss coming from F1 has been varied and interesting - there's relief from the drivers that the new turbo F1 cars aren't as slow as second-tier GP2 cars after all, which is good. Old fogies were also sent into raptures when Martini-branded merchandise arrived in online stores - surely that meant the iconic racing colours would be seen again in 2014? I was less enthused, it always seems to me that these people are so busy mourning the past they miss the legends being created now. And I maintain the Vodafone McLarens and Telefónica Renaults will go down among he sport's iconic liveries. Wait and see.
For a while, though, the big news was will the Red Bull even leave the garage in Bahrain? Vettel has faced the press and done his best impression of Legolas by admitting: "We still have lots of problems - large and small - that we need to fix." That's kind of worrying, because the Bahrain circuit gives the cars a very different workout to Jerez. The Spanish circuit's many high-G corners mean it's all about downforce, whereas the Middle Eastern autodrome is all long straights and hairpins, making it about minimal drag and brutal braking zones. In theory a car that has trouble at one should be okay at the other, unless something has gone wrong on a very fundamental level. Red Bull, we're all starting to get very worried about you.
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I'm betting F1's dry running was envied by the V8 Supercar crews. Their only pre-season test at Sydney Motorsport Park (I don't know why they changed the name, it'll always be Eastern Creek to me) was rather spoiled by drizzle, meaning kind of the only thing the test proved was that the cars actually run - not a huge concern when they run on the best cutting-edge, state-of-the-art technology of 1993. Actually that's not quite fair - the metalwork has barely changed in 20 years, but the technology for controlling ignition timing and compression has improved out of sight, which is why a 1993 touring car had 335kW where a modern V8 is pushing 490 - without any increase in capacity or revs. That's progress for you.
Anyway, despite the rain we got to see the cars in action and see what liveries they'll be running this year. No real changes for FPR or Red Bull Australia, same Pepsi/Red Bull colours as last year; in contrast, HRT seems keen to prove they're a whole new beast, with the Holden red and white backed up by SP Tools and Mobil 1 colours. That's kind of a weird mash-up: to me SP Tools still means the #9 Mercedes from last year, while Mobil colours are associated with the Group A cars driven by Brocky - both VN Commodores (one of which he shared with Allan Moffat) and - no, really - a BMW M3 he shared with Jim Richards. Yeah, you can see why Brock fans would rather forget those days. But on this year's HRT Commodore, it has a kind of "greatest hits album" effect. We'll have to see if the reborn HRT can become an icon in its own right.
Oh, and Robert Dahlgren has a Swedish flag on the roof. Lol and good on him, I say. At least we'll have no trouble picking he and Scott McLoughlin out of the pack: just shut your eyes and listen.
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It seems I have to eat humble pie regarding my gearbox analysis from January 28. I complained that eight speeds gives the engineers too much room to fine-tune the car to the circuit; I should have read the rulebook properly, because then McLaren posted this in their Facebook feed:
Yep, it's not eight ratios per weekend, it's eight ratios for the entire season. Now that is interesting...
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And if you objected when I referred to NASCAR's biggest race as "the 500" and still insist "the 500" will happen in May, good on you, I'm glad hard times haven't taken the fight out of you IndyCar fans. I for one would love to see Indy come back, because I can really see it working as a rolling laboratory for the Big Three to develop the kinds of engines we need right now. Speedways are usually won on fuel strategy, so a turbocharged, small-capacity, highly-efficient IndyCar motor that could give Ford, GM and Chrysler some sex appeal and street cred would go a long way to bringing Indy back to the forefront where it belongs. It'll be a long war of attrition while NASCAR stands in your way, but I sincerely hope you guys can do it. Just don't make the mistake Tony George made and try and keep it all-American: the 500 can be a great race or it can be an American race, but not both. We don't live in that world anymore.
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