F1 has changed quite a bit since I last posted about it on here. A new era of regulations have been introduced into the sport after years of research, to help promote overtaking, which became near to impossible in the last couple years because of the amount of little aerodynamic 'flicks' on the side of the cars, which disrupted the air flow for cars that followed them, making it hard for them to overtake. The result of these radical rule changes have not only changed the look of the cars, but the pecking order of the teams. Giants of the last few decades, like Ferrari and McLaren have been demoted to midfield mediocrity, and relative 'minnows' like Red Bull Racing, are the new frontrunners.
However, the real story so far this season has been Brawn GP. Last January, Honda announced that they were going to pull out of the sport, due to the 'Rising costs' of operating a team. This their two drivers, Jensen Button and Reubens Barrichello in the dark about their futures in the sport. Efforts were made to save the team by finding a buyer for the team, and rumours swirled about potencial buyers, including Richard Branson, owener of the Virgin Group and a very rich Mexican. However, the months went on, and no buyer had been found for the team. It even got the the point where the rumours of buyers had dissapered, and everybody was talking about Vijay Mallya, owner of the Force India F1 team, looking to buy up the old Honda factory in Brackley to bolster his team's operations. But just as all seemed lost, Ross Brawn, the legendary engineer and designer who had joined Honda the previous year, along with Nick Fry, the old president of Honda F1, came in with a bid to save the team. They would keep the drivers they already had, and would complete the year with Honda's financial backing, under the name Brawn GP.
The team was only saved weeks before the first race of the season in Australia, so nobody really knew what the team was capable of, but results from the few tests they ran in looked good. All weekend in Australia the Brawns looked quick, and it all culminated with Jensen Button winning the race, follwed by his teammate (a "1-2" is a very desirable result, and often very rare).
We are now 8 races in, and Jensen Button has won 6 of the 8 races this year, dominance like this has not been seen since the Schumacher/Ferrari years.
I was going to write a bit about the political situation in F1, which has caused a large number of the teams threaten to form a breakaway series, but there are reports that FOTA (The Formula One Teams Assossiation) and the FIA (F1's governing body) had talks late last night and into this morning, and that the results of the meeting will be announced later today, so I shall wait until that is official and find out what they say.
I also want to go a bit more indepth into the new regulations, including the KERS (Kenetic Energy Recovery System) and moveable aero parts, but I will save that for another day
Has anybody been watching this season's action? Any thoughts?