This weekend’s race in Spain is going to be a litmus test for Formula 1 2011’s regulations. The Circuit de Catalunya is F1’s proving ground because it’s been used so much for testing. Historically, grands prix here have been predictable, but this year the racing have been anything but.
It’s all about tyre management and getting in that one-second window for the DRS deployment, just as previous eras were about fuel management and use of turbo overboost. It’s interesting to follow the debate on whether DRS and KERS have their place in F1. The purists might say no, but the people who got turned-off by F1’s predictability would disagree.
Personally, I still defer to the fact that anything that promotes the choice of fast-flowing, exciting sport is a good thing. If we go back to regularly predictable, processional races then we will lose fans. People want to be entertained; they have a lot of channels of sport at their disposal. Hardcore fans will love it irrespectively, but for the health of F1 in general, we need as many people watching it as possible. Overtaking has always been difficult at Barcelona, so the DRS should come into its own.
These tools to aid overtaking are no different to the award of a penalty in a football match, so you’re more likely to score without anyone defending the ‘keeper. The skill is still there: put yourself in the fastest car, stick it on the front row, pull out at least a 1s gap by lap three (to avoid DRS vulnerability from behind) and win the race. Apart from backmarkers, has Sebastian Vettel even touched his DRS yet in a race?
THE TURN 1 HOTSPOT
I’m informed that the DRS deployment zone is going to be one of the biggest of the year on the start/finish straight. It’s a very shallow braking into Turn 1, you generate reasonable load to begin with, but it’s a very early turn-in to carry the speed in, which is why it’s been difficult for people to pass before. If you get out-of-shape and don’t make the move stick, you can easily lose half-a-second there – a huge loss.
The DRS will exaggerate the slipstream effect, and give you the option of going past on the inside to make the move, but if someone defends the inside, it might be tricky to go round the outside. You’ll also have to take into account the level of pick-up on the marbles on the inside.
Barca is hard on tyres because of fast Turn 3 and the slower Turn 4, both very long corners, and both right-handed. That will work those Pirellis hard, but at least they have the knowledge of the winter testing.
VETTEL INTENDS TO STAY ON TOP
I phoned Sebastian on the Monday after Istanbul, because I happened to be very close to where he lives, and thought we might have a coffee together. Turned out he was at the Red Bull factory in Milton Keynes, meeting with his engineers, using the simulator, preparing for this weekend. How impressive is that? No resting on laurels there. Only four races in, but he’s obviously still pushing.
Mark Webber dominated in Spain last year, but has been magnanimous in acknowledging Seb has had the upper hand this season on Saturdays, although he has run him close on Sundays. What he needs to do is deliver what we know he can: a great performance in qualifying to maximise his race strategy chances.
McLaren has a big upgrade planned here, which didn’t happen in Turkey and it did seem to drop back relative to Red Bull’s pace, with Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes jumping ahead in qualifying. It needs to deliver the ‘mega upgrade’, which it’s already managed once this year. An average upgrade will bring them back into line as main challenger, but a mega one will put them back in the fight with Red Bull.
Ferrari had a reasonable winter testing, and looked very strong here, but undoubtedly fell back as the season began. Fernando Alonso usually pulls something special out for his home race, so there’s the potential for some serious fireworks this weekend.
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