by James Smart
The summer break has always left the Formula One circus floating in the doldrums; a time to reflect and look back at the hysteria provided by the flyaway races at the start of the season, the return to Europe and the ensuing development race undertaken by the sport’s leading teams. There is no doubt that we are facing yet another thrilling title run-in, the sport appears to have shaken off the virus that plagued it towards the end of Max Mosley’s controversial final few seasons. But what of the sport’s lesser teams?
A lively start saw the Lotus machines of Heikki Kovaleinen and Jarno Trulli eventually burn past the Virgin Racing motors of the continually impressive Timo Glock and his apprentice Lucas di Grassi. The Hispania Racing Team cars were disappointing then and the factory bought Dallara chassis has never looked like threatening.
Lotus are winning the race so far...
Lacking factory development and hitting the self-destruct button by allowing the consistently average paying driver Sakon Yammamoto to drive seem to have lowered the chances of the team even making it into the 2011 season.
The quite frankly laughable problems experienced for the first few races by Virgin Racing, who apparently couldn’t even calculate how much fuel they would need to run over 300km, have also now been rectified and they look to be closing up to their only real competition.
Last time out at Hungary Lucas di Grassi was able to set his fastest race lap on lap 62 that was over two tenths quicker than that of Trulli in the Lotus.
The comments made by multiple F1 champion Niki Lauda earlier this week that “either you are part of the topflight, then you matter, otherwise I am not interested” seem to me to be somewhat unfair.
This “second division” of Formula One has provided us with some entertainment at the slightly less eventful races this year, and if one of them manages to score a point it will be a real victory for the underdog, which is what any modern sport needs to construct a story – and let’s face it, stories are what Formula One has always been about.
It remains to be seen whether the lively and fan-friendly character of Mike Gascoyne will repeat his actions at Jordan, Force India and Toyota and somehow drive a wedge between the management and the team’s engineers. One hopes that his elevated role in this outfit will allow the Cambridge educated team principal to steer his employees with success and avoid the self-induced implosion experienced in seasons gone by.
Virgin Racing seem to have had some luck in avoiding the repetitive appearances of the perma-tanned grinning machine Richard Branson as experienced at Brawn last year. But if the billionaire doesn’t get the chance to show his face on TV once a fortnight and plug his Virgin Galactic venture as he could with the championship winning team of 2009, then who knows how long he will stay around to fund the external engineering companies that Virgin Racing effectively keeps alive?
Bernie Ecclestone’s comments last week that two of the current three new teams are unlikely to make it into 2011 appear ominous – the man doesn’t keep his control over the sport through contracts alone. He is the sport, and there is a high possibility that he knows more about the funding of these teams next year than the managers themselves, which certainly renders the staunch defence put up by technical director Nick Wirth null and void.
Force India have shown the lower teams how a transformation can be made into a respectable team. Sure, Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya has poured plenty of his money into the outfit but by putting together a strong team and aiming to keep a solid driver line up the team have gained some respect.
If Glock were maintain his form at Virgin and Trulli at Lotus then who knows if they might – just might – be able to haul in the midfield ahead of them and prove that it was the right decision to allow them to take part in this year’s championship. Don’t bet against it before the curtain falls on the season at Abu Dhabi in November.
