Here we sit on March 27th, 2011, the start of the 2011 Formula One season.  The most anticipated start to a season in a long time.  Cars sit on the grid, each one on equal ground, all with the same chance to take home glory, each with the same chance to go home in failure.  Fans and teams anxious to see how the new Pirelli tires will play into team strategy.  Would KERS and the ‘movable’ rear wing make any difference?  Once the lights go out, all bets are off.  Everyone is ready. Everyone that is except for HRT.  Back in the rule book this year is the 107% rule.  Teams that can not finish qualifying within 107% of the pole sitter’s time, will be deemed too slow to race.  The Hispania duo was just a wee bit outside that margin.  It seems that maybe trying to join the rest for a little preseason practice may not have been such a bad idea after all.  This is Formula One after all and not the participation league Division One NCAA football is becoming.  But I digress.

Race weekend would kick off with McLaren finding the missing time from preseason practice.  Most of the top teams expected to battle it out were looking to be on form, with everyone sharing the top spot at some point during the weekend’s practice sessions.  Then came qualifying and Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel, who seemed to have a rocket attached to his car.  While all other drivers, except the newer teams who were without, were making use of KERS, Vettel would go on to claim pole without using the extra 80 break horse power.  The other teams would start the race on notice. Vettel would start right where he left off, right up front.  Hamilton would share the front row with the Red Bull and teammates Button and Webber would hold down the second row.

Now comes the all important part, the red lights.  Vettel would start the race with the rocket used during qualifying and blast off into the lead, only  letting go of it a few times to Hamilton during pit stops.   Webber and Button would drop back a few places thanks to great starts by Massa and Petrov.  Alonso seemed to have forgot about the start and dropped from fifth to ninth.   Of course there was the usual first turn carnage but most of the main players seemed to make it through without any harm. Unless the driver was Michael Schumacher who would cut down a tire and would eventually retire.   Vettel, Hamilton, and Petrov would start to gap the field as the rest would stay behind Massa, who would give Button all he could handle, including a drive through penalty for cutting the corner on turn 12 during one of many passing attempts.  Lewis would get within 2 seconds of Vettel but would have to fall back due to a damaged under tray that would effect the down force of the car, giving him all he could handle for the last half of the race.

The Australian Grand Prix offered plenty of action on the track compared to races of last season.  The mandate to Pirelli to make inferior tires that wear out would open the door to more pit strategy and drivers needing to better look out for their tires.  The softs would prove to last only ten laps before the strained rears would start to go off.  The harder compounds would go on to last around twenty laps or so but would be significantly slower.  KERS would offer some help to gain ground and would prove worthy when cars would get in the window to use the ‘moveable rear wing’ or DRS (Drag Reduction System).  This new regulation would give the trailing car, if within one second of the leading car, less drag and a better chance to pass on the front stretch.   The only downfall, if the leading car still has all of the KERS available, the pass would prove much harder to make.  All three combined though, made for some very good battles all over the track and passing among the mid pack cars was greatly increased.

Webber and Alonso would give it their all to make a race of it but the leads gained by Vettel, Hamilton, and Petrov would prove to be too much and the race would end with that order on the first podium of the season.  The star of the race would be the Mexican rookie, Sergio Perez, who would complete the race on one stop and finish eighth but eventually would be disqualified along with teammate Kobayashi for rear wings that fell outside of the regulations.  Felipe Massa will get the Iron Man award for the most embattled driver of the race.  From start to finish, the Brazilian pilot was under constant attack from drivers trying to gain position.  Petrov gets the nod for being greatly improved and continuing to show that there is more talent in the boy and not just Russian money.

Next up is Malaysia, a very fast and wide track where KERS and the DRS will have a better chance to make an impression on the season. That is if the weather holds out.  Known for the damp conditions, the new aids and the new tires will be interesting to see in action.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Marchant)

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