Jake | Sunday 7th February 2010 | General Nonsense
  • Petrov announced at Renault, their car is yellow; Sauber revealed, it has no sponsors; also unveiled: Toro Rosso & Mercedes. Busy few days. #
  • And now – pretty much literally – #F1 testing gets underway at Valencia. No official live timing or BBC live text. This is RUBBISH. #
  • Well @Jamesallenonf1 has launched a live at Valencia Twitter feed. It's not bad, but it's no Caroline Cheese. http://is.gd/7sPgA #
  • Summary from Valencia #F1 test so far, as far as I can work out: some cars have been out, and come back in again. #
  • If Friday #F1 practice sessions mean little, then pre-season testing means even less. So: Massa, de la Rosa and Schumacher fastest today. #
  • Not surprised to see that Fisichella is off to the F1 retirement home – or sportscar racing as it's also known. http://is.gd/7×9Wr #
  • http://is.gd/7xVCx – Implausibly, even more #BTCC on ITV channels this year. Will it convince any sponsors to sign up to any teams though? #
  • All eyes are on Valencia for #F1 testing, but Jean Todt is making noises about getting #WRC where it should be. http://is.gd/7yn0e #
  • Big thanks to @ClaireVWilliams for brilliant coverage of the Valencia #F1 test. Essential stuff. Looking forward to more tomorrow! #
  • It's a big test day: last of #F1 in Valencia; first of #MotoGP in Sepang. Of note: Alonso & Button in new cars; Yamaha launch & Spies. #
  • Max Mosley on Radio 4's Today talking about privacy. John Humphrys reluctantly used the word "orgy"; Mosley called it a "party". Brilliant. #
  • Didn't realise that the first day of the Sepang #MotoGP test is for test riders only. What a good idea… http://is.gd/7CbM3 #
  • http://is.gd/7Ci7D – British Superbikes goes NASCAR, copying Chase for the Sprint Cup. This isn't going to go down well. Not well at all. #
  • http://is.gd/7CXAq – Ferrari emphatically fastest at first #F1 test in Valencia, then. But is it representative? We'll find out in Bahrain. #
  • http://is.gd/7GBLV – Rossi & Stoner 1 & 2 on #MotoGP Sepang test day 1. Who'd have guessed? Me. 3-5: Edwards, Capirossi, Lorenzo. Spies: 12. #
  • #BTCC has lost one of the few 'confirmed' teams: Bamboo move to WTCC with Vaulkhard, and want Turkington too. http://is.gd/7GET0 #
  • http://is.gd/7GGLq – Heidfeld as Mercedes reserve driver, then. Should he be pleased to be with a top team, or gutted not to be driving? #
  • http://is.gd/7GBLV – #MotoGP Sepang test day 3, top 5: Rossi, Stoner, Lorenzo, Pedrosa, Spies. Good job by Spies, otherwise as expected. #
  • BBC #F1 2010 pretty much the same as 2009. Details here, including Ted Kravitz in brown trousers & pink shirt: http://is.gd/7KSuL #
Jake | Tuesday 2nd February 2010 | Formula 1

Formula 1 testing is well under way, two days having been completed in Valencia. There’s massive interest, which has led to a battle to produce the best live text coverage – because there’s no footage or live timing available – between the BBC, autosport.com, and James Allen’s new Twitter aggregation website.

Usually the BBC live text is unbeatable, but it was Andrew Benson on duty today, and he’s just not as good as last season’s regular Caroline Cheese; autosport.com’s effort was probably better. Twitter is definitely the place to follow the action, but I’d rather use it as it is, so James Allen’s service is a little redundant, if neat.

His assessments of the two days of testing thus far are very helpful, however. The summary, of course, is that we don’t really know who’s genuinely fast at this point. If Friday practice sessions tell us little, then pre-season testing tells us even less.

So, before we get bogged down by too many reliable facts, I thought I’d put my money where my fingers are on the drivers’ championship.

First, and most vaguely, my gut feeling is that Lewis Hamilton will take it. It just feels like it should be his. There’s nothing more to it than that.

I really want it to be Felipe Massa though. My money was on him in 2008, and I maintain that he’s good enough to do it. To beat Fernando Alonso, even. He’s been top on the first two days of testing, but I take nothing from that. It would be a fantastic story if it happens though, after the horrendous accident last year. It would be great.

Logic however, at this stage, points me towards Sebastian Vettel. There’s the driver: he was absolutely on form at the end of last season, winning two of the final three races. There’s the car: the 2010 cars we’ve seen so far have all owed something to the 2009 Red Bull Racing, so Red Bull Racing should be most advanced along those lines. And there’s the engine: people are saying that the Renault unit is rather fuel efficient, which will be important with the refuelling ban.

Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher are the favourites at the moment though. I have no interest in either one of them taking the title. Please don’t let it be.

Jake | Sunday 31st January 2010 | General Nonsense
  • With confirmation of Alguersuari at Toro Rosso and now Lopez at USF1, three seats left in #F1 2010 and counting… #
  • …Petrov looks likely for Renault or Campos, but who the other two will be is anyone's guess. Heidfeld to Mercedes or McLaren as reserve? #
  • The 2010 #F1 Ferrari has broken cover, and the Ferrari website. But it's on autosport.com (http://is.gd/7cU0K). Still has an ugly barcode. #
  • BBC Monaco F1 won Best Sports Programme at Broadcast Awards, but really pleased to see ITV4's Isle of Man TT nominated. http://is.gd/7h6iQ #
  • The big event today: McLaren's 2010 car launch. The question everyone's asking: will it look like the 2009 Red Bull? Seems to be the trend. #
  • While we're on McLaren, what a good idea for A Hamilton to independently run #F1 cars for young drivers to experience. http://is.gd/7h9uM #
  • Despite myself, I'm intrigued to see the new McLaren. Unlike the week's other launches, not seen a mock-up. New livery? 11am is the time. #
  • Well done to @jakehumphreyf1 for the first photo I've seen of the new McLaren. I can't watch the stream. Big old fin on it, eh? #
  • I wonder how many people at the McLaren launch are paying attention, and how many are tweeting their way through it. #
  • Two words: slick and sleek. RT @jakehumphreyf1 http://twitpic.com/10aoa1 – Thoughts…? #
  • Apparently Button & Hamilton had dinner in Newbury yesterday (http://is.gd/7izK0). With the Madagascan Gin Palace closed, where did they go? #
Jake | Friday 29th January 2010 | General Nonsense

Are Britain’s racing circuits perhaps looking for a bit of free publicity at this time of year, hoping to sell a few more advance tickets for the season ahead? The reason I ask is that there’s been a curious glut of track works news stories recently.

It started a week ago with extra run-off at Cadwell Park’s Barn Corner, which MCN picked up on. The same day, MotorSport Vision itself brought news of resurfacing at Brands Hatch, which Crash.net and MCN dutifully relayed this week.

Not to be outdone, Thruxton communicated its efforts in extending spectator banking via BTCC.net on Wednesday.

But Silverstone did the best job, getting details and photos of what they’re up to on the likes of Joe Saward’s blog and autosport.com. MCN, meanwhile, approached it from a different angle, getting the views of Bradley Smith, Scott Redding and Danny Webb.

So: fancy going to a few race meetings now?

Jake | Thursday 28th January 2010 | Formula 1, Other Motorsport

It’s a funny old time for A1GP. The series sort of horribly fell apart, just before the first race of what should have been the current season. Now more rounds have been cancelled, it would be surprising if any of this season takes place, and the website is down.

But A1GP boss Tony Teixeira seems to think that things are just dandy, and is one of the parties talking to new Formula 1 team Campos Meta about potentially stepping in as an investor. He told Reuters:

“It’s all for A1. My ambition is to bring A1 into F1.”

Which is what he’s been saying for at least a year or so. But as it stands, there is no A1 to bring into F1. Would it not perhaps be wise to fix that first? One thing at a time, surely.

The BBC’s Andrew Benson points out that Formula 1 teams are becoming increasingly nation-specific: from the obvious Force India and USF1 (though now with Argentinian backing), and the the Malaysian-owned Lotus team, to the less intentionally British McLaren and German Mercedes teams.

So we could have the curious situation of an A1GP team in the minority as a non-national team in Formula 1, when A1GP itself is all about national teams. If things keep going in the direction they seem to be, anyway. How galling would that be for Teixeira?

Rumours are that Adam Carroll – who won the last A1GP championship for Ireland – could be lined up in the second Campos Meta seat if Teixeira buys into the team. That would be excellent. Formula Two champion Andy Soucek is reportedly another option, and fittingly he would be a Spaniard in a Spanish team. That would also be excellent. So it’s A1GP vs Formula Two, and also A1GP up against its own principles of favouring nationality.

Confusing, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, Superleague Formula has been quietly getting on with it. I was hugely sceptical about the whole concept, but now it seems like Sebastien Bourdais has been proven right: it probably is the best option for drivers outside Formula 1 in Europe.

It could of course suffer a huge A1GP-style collapse, but from the outside things look pretty great: the season is extending to 12 rounds, and the prize fund is over €5 million. Perhaps most importantly, it’s had a title sponsor – Sonangol – since last season.

Which all just proves, once again, that I know absolutely nothing.

Jake | Tuesday 26th January 2010 | Formula 1

Mercedes GP launched their 2010 car in Germany yesterday, by unveiling last year’s Brawn GP painted silver. Brilliant. The big news to come out of the event, as far as I’m concerned, is that there’s a bit less minty green than the mock up released when Petronas was signed up as the team’s title sponsor.

Inevitably, Formula 1’s proper news sites have made the most of the opportunity to hear what the team has told their drivers to say to the media. It’s too closely controlled to get anyone to say anything interesting. So what purpose does it serve? I’ve no idea.

Ferrari and McLaren are both launching their 2010 cars this week, and I fully expect them to be similarly underwhelming affairs.

What we need is for Bernie Ecclestone to get involved. He never misses an opportunity to create headlines, as proved by his trip to Ferrari and Ducati’s Wrooom ski shindig, where he proposed having short cuts on all Formula 1 tracks to generate more overtaking. It’s ludicrous, and clearly never going to happen. But does he let that get in the way of a good story? Of course not!

If he was involved in launching Red Bull Racing’s 2010 contender, for example, he’d have an actual bull’s head, painted red, mounted on the front wing. He’d claim it’s there to intimidate other drivers, and that it’s well within the regulations. That would, of course, be a massive lie, and it would be gone when the car hits the track. But it wouldn’t matter by then; it would be a surprise, it would be plastered over the news, it would get people talking, and it would be a whole lot of fun.

Jake | Sunday 24th January 2010 | General Nonsense
  • #F1 Pedro de la Rosa – in recent years a reserve driver who's not been rubbish when he's been called on – will race for Sauber in 2010. #
  • It's getting tight for old Nick Heidfeld. Renault, Campos or USF1 look like his only #F1 options now. Someone must take him, surely! #
  • Hirvonen leads Monte Carlo Rally after SS2, from Ogier, Sarrazin, Hanninen & Meeke. Live timing here: http://is.gd/6FcIc #
  • Hirvonen was leading from Meeke overnight on the Monte Carlo Rally, but Meeke has crashed out on SS5 this morning. Hanninen up to 2nd. #
  • Ferrari's 2010 #F1 livery is rather pleasant. I like the new splashes of white to accommodate the Santander branding. http://is.gd/6JlxA #
  • http://is.gd/6JBxv – Rossi's helmet looks excellent in an #F1 car, doesn't it? Shame it won't be there more often. #
  • #F1 How brilliant is this: Barrichello has been camping in the Williams factory to learn everyone's names. Top man. http://is.gd/6NLjh #
Jake | Wednesday 20th January 2010 | Formula 1

Pedro de la Rosa being signed up by Sauber to drive for the team in Formula 1 this year is a good thing. When he got the chance to race during his long stint as McLaren reserve driver, he performed rather well, unlike certain reserve drivers last season. So it’s an opportunity well deserved.

McLaren’s Martin Whitmarsh agrees, though goes rather overboard in talking about de la Rosa on autosport.com:

“He’s been a fantastic team player for the past seven years, has contributed a huge amount to our successes in that time, and will remembered by all at Vodafone McLaren Mercedes as not only an esteemed colleague but also as a good friend.”

Someone should tell Whitmarsh that de la Rosa has only moved along the pit lane, not died.

Jake | Tuesday 19th January 2010 | Rally

Is it just me, or has there been a flood of optimism in rallying over the winter? No, it’s not just me, and yes there has.

The new season kicks off this week with the mighty Monte Carlo Rally. It’s the first round of this year’s IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge), which is perhaps the only disappointment – because it’s run by Eurosport Events series, thus broadcast only on Eurosport. They’re broadcasting the hell out of it though, so you can’t knock them.

And there are plenty of stories to compensate for that. One of the headlines is that Formula 1 regular Robert Kubica will be competing, in a Renault Clio R3. He’s done two rallies recently, the first of which he crashed in. It’ll certainly be interesting to see how he gets on.

Another one to keep a close eye on will be a certain Mikko Hirvonen, who will be driving the new Ford Fiesta. That follows M-Sport – which run Ford’s WRC team, and developed the Fiesta – signing up as a manufacturer for the IRC.

Obviously Hirvonen will be back to his Ford Focus after this weekend’s outing, but it’s representative of the health of rallying that the IRC now has eight manufacturers on board to varying degrees.

Then there are the regular IRC drivers, including Brits Guy Wilks and Kris Meeke, the current IRC champion, and other familiar names such as Toni Gardemeister.

All in all, there’s a lot to watch. So it’s a shame that it won’t get much mainstream attention, being (a) a rally and (b) not even part of the WRC. Just ask Maurice Hamilton.

There’s loads to look forward to in the WRC too, which gets going in Sweden next month. But let’s leave that until closer to the time.

Jake | Sunday 17th January 2010 | General Nonsense
  • Coma penalised 6 hours for illegal assistance changing a tyre on stage 7 of the #Dakar. It's for Despres to lose, then. #
  • Another car for the #BTCC grid: the VW Golf, coming to Britain via Estonia. Obviously. http://is.gd/64xpS #
  • Doesn't Alonso look like a happy cheeky chappy in his new Ferrari outfit (http://is.gd/67S0U)? Ah, this is more like it: http://is.gd/67SbH #
  • Nelson Piquet's off to NASCAR for 2010 then (http://is.gd/68aHd). And apparently he misses Renault – now that a certain someone isn't there. #
  • Good to see Solberg has his #WRC car for 2010; budget nearly in place too (http://is.gd/6bh2o). Let's have him bothering Loeb & Hirvonen. #
  • The news this morning is that SEAT has withdrawn from the WTCC. Just Chevrolet, Lada and a bit of BMW, then. http://is.gd/6eVLR #
  • Chose Kingfisher over Cobra at my local Indian yesterday, lining Vijay Mallya's pockets, thereby indirectly financing Force India in #F1. #
  • Ecclestone wants short cuts on #F1 tracks to encourage overtaking (http://is.gd/6fzhD). Let's just bring in red shells, shall we? Nonsense! #
  • Al-Attiyah wins the final stage, but Sainz wins the #Dakar by just over 2 minutes. Well done! Despres wins on the bikes by just over 1 hour. #

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