Nowhere else to go but up

Ouch. That was quite painful to watch. At least Rubens found some pace late and finished ahead of the Aguri. That's about it though. The rest of the race was just miserable for the team, especially Jenson. Getting a drive-through penalty for an already slow car just adds insult to injury.

I'll try to post results and all kinds of reports and Jenson stuff soon. Just feeling quite glum at the moment.

At least there's no way it can get any worse right? Let's hope Honda get their car sorted out by next race, so Jenson can start driving the wheels off of it come race day. One fast, fast lap is good enough for me at this point. Something to give hope at least.

Honda struggles to find pace in qualifying

This was rather bad. One Aguri made it to the top ten, and the other just missed out. The Hondas meanwhile were further back. Makes one wonder if the teams might have accidentaly switched cars during production.

Why on earth are the Aguris running so fast and the Hondas running so slow? We could blame the Bridgestone switch, which the factory Honda team is still getting used to. Or maybe we could blame it on the livery - perhaps the images of Earth simulate the Earth's weight too and slow the car down. Whatever, the Hondas got their butts kicked by the Aguris. And everyone else.

Jenson could only manage 14th, while Rubens didn't even make the first cut, qualifying a lowly 17th.

Here's what Jense had to say, from Formula1.com:

Jenson Button, Honda (14th, 1m 27.264s):
"It hasn't been a good weekend for us so far. Today it was difficult to judge how hard to push the tyres. At the start of the lap I was getting understeer because the tyres were not up to temperature, then later in the lap I was getting oversteer as the rears were going off, which just shows the issues that we have. I got the best out of the car today and right now we are where we are. We'll obviously do what we can for the race, then we have some work to do to start addressing the issues we have identified."

Honda better get this sorted out soon. It's going to be very painful to see the Aguris of all teams finish much higher than them. I mean, the least they could do is finish ahead of those cars. Sigh.

Race starts in just over an hour. Let's hope it won't be so hard to watch.

Could the Hondas really have been running heavy?

From Honda's official press release:

Jacky Eeckelaert, Engineering Director
"Our plan for today was to run through our usual race preparation programme with set-up work during the morning session, then focusing on long runs in the afternoon. In view of the damp conditions, we adapted the programme slightly. Rubens' afternoon was brought to an early conclusion as he spun entering the last corner causing some damage to the car. Unfortunately we were unable to repair it in time to take part in the rest of the session. Jenson completed his planned programme giving us some valuable data to study this evening as we work to improve the balance of the car before qualifying tomorrow."

Okay... so Honda were doing set-up work in the afternoon when they were reasonably quick, and long runs in the afternoon. Hmm... so they were running heavy?

"The cars will now have fresh engines installed overnight, ahead of tomorrow’s opening qualifying session of the year."

Or maybe they were running on slower engines. :D

Super Aguris outpace Honda

So much for being "Honda B". At the second round of free practice on Friday both Ant Davidson and Taku Sato set faster times in their Aguris than their factory Honda counterparts.

Little surprise that both Ferraris topped the afternoon timesheets. But for Honda to be way down in the timesheets AND outpaced by the Super Aguris, customer car or not... well, that might be cause for some concern.

What exactly is wrong with the Honda? There's been a lot of discussion regarding their dismal form over winter testing, specially after projecting themselves among the top runners in this years' field. Are they struggling? Why can't they seem to find any pace?

Your guess is as good as mine. I'd say Honda could be playing coy and are simply playing things down (way down). They could just be focusing on maintaing race pace and reliability after already having privately tested flat out pace. Or they could really be struggling, which is really going to be very disappointing for us fans.

On its own, Honda's engine should perhaps be among the best in the field. But if they really are stuggling then it's very likely that the team is having difficulty setting up and getting the car to drive like it should with those Bridgestones on. I just hope they get things sorted out. Sooner than later too. In the meantime, we'll just have to hope and wait for race day itself.

Anyhow, here's what Jenson had to say about their dismal afternoon run, from Formula1.com:

“It’s quite realistic in a way,” 14th-fastest Jenson Button admitted glumly. “We didn’t have the best winter, we were improving the car all the time but it’s still not where want to be. We are really struggling under braking as many drivers behind us found, we have a stability issue, but that’s not all of it, just a part of it. It’s going to be a tough weekend!”

Somebody please tell me that they're just planning on taking everyone by surprise?

Wet Friday morning kicks off season!

Wet weather racing is always so much more fun to watch and read about. :D

In an excellent start to this year's Formula One season, a damp but drying track provided some exciting moments at the Melbourne track, with times steadily dropping as practice wore on and all the teams seemingly getting in the mix. Conditions like these make it difficult to assess exactly how far along these cars are - i.e. Taku going 11th fastest while Kimi holds out for 19th - so there's still a big air of suspense, at least on my part, for the later practices and the race itself. I'm still dying to see how these cars stack up against one another on bone dry conditions.

Two things I'm sure of at this point though, Fernando Alonso will always be quick, and Jenson Button is an amazing wet weather driver. Both guys were mixing it up rather well eh? Too bad Kimi sat out the latter stages of practice. Oh well. Great start still. Here's a good progressive commentary/recap from Formula One's official website:

A slippery start in Melbourne

Go Jenson GO GO GO! :) :)

Reminiscing: the 2006 Hungarian GP

It's fun reading other people's commentaries and recollections of events. I think getting different perspectives helps enrich one's own experience - it adds to the "completeness", giving it an added sense of clarity. Especially to those fondly remembered. That said, childofneptune.blogspot.com has a nice, play by play account of the Hungarian GP.

Me, I remember being all giddy and praying so hard that Jenson would just finish safely. I was all nervous watching Jense inching closer and closer to the chequered flag, yet thoroughly excited at the same time. It was such a big relief when he finally did, and made me believe even more in Jenson's talent and ability to win. I was like "YAY YAY YAY!" when he finally climbed that top step on the podium. Hahahaha.

What are your memories of Jenson's first win?

On the 2007 Formula One race calendar

The 2007 F1 race calendar has gotten a bit shorter again, hasn't it? After reaching a peak of 19 races in 2005, the line-up has gone from 18 in 2006 to 17 for 2007 (with the very real prospect of getting trimmed to an even lower 16 with the possibility of alternating Magny-Cours and Silverstone in the years to come).

These changes can't be good for fans, can it? I mean, I know they're trying to cut down on costs and all, even getting the cars trimmed down to make it more competitive for everyone involved in the sport. But can Formula One really afford to continue cutting back on the number of races?

Formula One is supposed to showcase the very best drivers driving the very best, cutting-edge cars. It brands itself as the penultimate event in open-wheel racing. It even makes a solid case for the best in all of motorsport. That's what makes it so fun to watch. Yet here they go limiting development on the cars WHILE giving us less races to watch? Nearly a month in between Bahrain and the launch of the European leg in Catalunya? C'mon. What can they be thinking?

*sigh*

I just really think it would be better for the sport if it was able to showcase the amazing machines that are Formula One cars on a more regular and frequent basis. As a fan, I would definitely love even more races to watch (and cheer Jenson on his impending championship run). Wouldn't you?

Then again, I really don't know all that much yet about what goes on behind the scenes. Maybe the constructors prefer a lighter schedule to give us better performing cars for the race weekends. I don't know. So if anyone can, please, do enlighten me.

121 days to go!

121 days til the opening in Melbourne! Hahaha. I noticed the countdown on the HondaF1 site just now. That's roughly four more months from today. Pft. Still a long way to go.

As big an F1 fan as I am, I've never actually watched a grand prix in person. I really wish I could though. Problem is, I'd need some serious fundage to watch one. I seriously doubt there'd ever be a grand prix held here, so I'd have to plan a trip to the Asian races, or maybe even the Aussie one. Still, it'd probably be well worth it. Then I could meet Jenson. And take his car out for a test drive, too. Hahahaha. Hey, a guy can dream. And who knows? It could happen someday. :P

Anyway, still no news on the the Jenson Button race suit contest winner. Gah. I suppose whoever won it would've been notified by now. And since I haven't been contacted for anything, I think it's pretty safe to assume that I didn't win. Oh well. :(

121 days more and there'll be another race suit being put to use. Maybe they'll raffle that one out by the end of the 2007 season. And hopefully it'll be a championship-winning one then. Hahaha.