Formula 1 2009

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Analysis: Reading between the times

Brawn GP's stunning start to testing has left observers and rival teams in no doubt that the outfit will be contenders for victory when the new Formula One season kicks off in Australia next week.

But although its headline-grabbing pace has made it fairly straightforward to judge its potential, behind Brawn GP the picture has not been so clear with teams delivering varying performances at different stages of their pre-season preparations.

Last week's test at Barcelona in Spain, however, offered the best chance so far to judge where the teams stand.

The end of day times released can be very misleading with regards to car pace, as teams run vastly different programmes, vary the parts on the car and, of course, change drivers between days.

However, a more accurate estimation of relative pace can be achieved by taking long-run data and correcting it for various factors such as tyre degradation and how fast the track is due to weather conditions and grip levels.

An analysis by autosport.com of the entire week's data from Barcelona has delivered the first detailed hint of where teams stand.

In terms of demonstrated pace, the field is separated by around 1.8 seconds - with Brawn GP leading the way and McLaren bringing up the rear.

Such an outcome tallied in with the general feeling from the test, but as the graph below shows, it is interesting to see that Toyota and BMW appear to be Brawn GP's closest challengers - enjoying a couple of tenths advantage over Ferrari who is in fourth place.



Of course it is impossible to be 100 percent sure that the results of the test tally with an ultimate car's performance, because there is a chance that some teams could be 'sandbagging' or running super light for added speed.

This particular set of results is also slightly marred by the fact that several teams, most notably McLaren, only brought new developments partway through the week and the testing times with older revisions were slower.

Comparing only the fastest times that each team demonstrated sees Brawn GP still leading the field, with an eight tenths advantage over their nearest challenger Williams, with Toyota in third.



Cortesía: AutoSport



@ndres

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MACTMEISTER dijo:

¿GP de 6 horas?, si acaso en la época de Fangio, Ascari, y demás.

Ese Mosley ya perdió toda credibilidad hace rato (¿se acuerdan lo del video sado xD?).

Haz clic para expandir...

Sip... Ese maldito NAZI!!!! :cansado:



Cup drivers critical of F1 points system

NASCAR's leading drivers have said they wouldn't like the new Formula 1 points system implemented in the Sprint Cup Series, believing that consistency should be rewarded over race victories.

The system in NASCAR awards points to all drivers with the winner taking 185 and second 170. There are also five-point bonuses for leading a lap and most laps led during a race.

Two years ago, NASCAR's sanctioning body increased the gap from first to second place and introduced a 10-point bonus to a driver's Chase seeding, rewarding race winners in the first 26 events leading to the playoff.

Reigning Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson doesn't think the new F1 system would suit NASCAR.

"I think they are different worlds," Johnson said. "[In F1] you have three teams that can really win and a fourth if it rains. I just think it is a different environment and I am not sure it would work in our form of racing.

"I still think we could spread out the points and reward guys for finishing better in the top three or top five, and keep breaking that out further. I think basing it solely on wins is probably a bad idea."

Carl Edwards, who won the most races last year but still finished runner-up to Johnson, agrees that the champion shouldn't be crowned purely on victories.

"I think if you determine your champion just based on wins, you're taking a huge gamble of having the wrong champion," Edwards said. "If one guy wins one race and runs 20th in the rest of them, and another guy finishes second in every single race, you're not going to have the right guy for a champion.

"The more I pay attention to all of these changes with point systems all over the world, the more I like the Nationwide and Trucks, where the guy with the best average finishing position throughout the year wins.

"I think the further we get away from that, the bigger the chance of changing our sport to try to fit in with others, and I don't think that's best for us."

Four-time champion Jeff Gordon, believes the points system in F1 needed tweaking but disagrees with having the title decided by wins.

He supports the FOTA proposal to change the points for the top three to 12, 9 and 7.

"I am not a big fan of them saying just whoever wins the most races," Gordon said. "I do think they need to change the system a little bit though. I think it needs to award a little bit more for first. I like the option of doing like a 12, 9, 7 and have that kind of a bracket in the points.

"I like what we have right now [in NASCAR] where it pays more points to win. You can really make up a lot of points or spread yourself out from your competitors when you win.

"It is a much bigger gap that what it used to be. It rewards winning much more and makes you want to push that much harder for those wins."

Cortesía: AutoSport



@ndres