Days of Our Drives: Part 2
The change from one F1 Grand Prix season to the next used to flow like silk. Now though, the changes are as subtle as a gun. New teams, returned old teams and teams mating have shaken up events quite a bit. Slowly but surely, we’re fed information that’s all starting to point to what will be an epic 2010.
Dealing with the white elephant in the room, we’re all aware that Kimi Raikkonen won’t be returning next year. The 2007 world champion opted for rally mud over Mumm’s champagne. So now ex-Renault Fernando Alonso will be racing for Scuderia Ferrari, alongside Felipe Massa next year. And those are only the dynamics of one team.
The brand new Lotus F1 team is headed by principal Tony Fernandes. Don’t get excited, it isn’t the same Lotus that fostered talent such as Emerson Fittipaldi back in 1972. It’s a Malaysian owned team, the same Malaysians who own Proton, who own Lotus and thus that awesome naming right, (in its home country, it’s also known as “1Malaysia F1 Team”). The body has evidence of British racing green, but it has more of an Eastern feel to it.
Joining the ranks are three other new teams. Virgin Racing owned by Richard Branson, Campos Meta owned by Adrian Campos, and US F1 Team owned by… the Americans? All four teams will be using Cosworth engines.
Aside from all this, one thing that won’t change is the Silverstone GP as Donington Park failed to come up with the funds needed for the renovations. Richard Phillips, managing director of Silverstone, said that changes to the circuit will all be for the spectators benefit.
“Even this year with the new circuit we are trying to get better access for public, changing grandstands for better viewing and running our own campsites to be better than the current ones.” Awesome, but a big flashing aquatic animal to rival the Abu Dhabi whale would be much cooler for us watching the race from the comfort of our local pubs.
It’s all very exciting, and the changes are still being announced daily. The best thing for us to do though is simply enjoy our holidays and keep our eyes open for gossip on which drivers have joined which team. If you by chance see Lewis driving down the freeway in a Fiat, please phone me.
Desiree Schirlinger
Photo Credit: Brawn GP