The 2009 Formula One season has been a downslide for BMW Sauber after a 2008 season that saw them challenge for the championship before finishing second best to Ferrari and McLaren. Obviously, this German-Swiss team was hoping for a better result in 2009 after a pretty good run at the title last year and were hoping to take another step forward in their battle for the championship. Unfortunately, things haven’t worked out as planned for BMW Sauber this year, with only eight points, and no sign of improvement in their car viewable around the corner. It might be time for BMW Sauber to take a step back for 2009 and maybe start working toward a better 2010.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica thinking about his year, so far

Let’s quickly go over BMW Sauber’s year so far and a few of the less than stellar moments of their 2009 campaign.

2009 was going to be BMW Sauber’s year for major improvements in their car and final standing in the race for the world championship. Considering their steady progress since 2006, expectations were of BMW Sauber challenging for the championship and maybe even winning. This was not to be however, as instead of rising to glory, BMW Sauber has lost ground with both their car and their final standings in the races.

Pre-season testing seemed to indicate too many that BMW Sauber’s F1.09 was fast, quick, and reliable, and drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica were talking excitedly about their cars and chances for the 2009 Formula One season. Unfortunately, as the season has progressed, it has become clear they can’t currently compete with the front running Brawns and Toyotas. They have only managed four top ten finishes this season, far behind what they were expecting considering last year they had 74 points after eight races.

BMW Sauber really got left behind when they concentrated on KERS over aerodynamics at the beginning of the year. They are now coming up with their own editions of Brawn/Toyota/Williams double-diffuser, but they’re still way behind this season, and refuse to admit defeat.

In the Turkish Grand Prix they tried out their first editions of the two-tier diffuser, and there were a few signs of improvement, with Kubica grabbing his first points of the 2009 Formula One season. The Silverstone race saw both BMW Sauber drivers finish a lap down, so if the team is going to compete, they need to get their car running faster.

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The 2009 Formula One season has been a story worthy of a Hollywood movie, as despite beginning the year wondering if they would make the season opening Australian Grand Prix, Brawn GP have proven so far to be the strongest team. Race after race they have beaten 2008’s big three, Ferrari, BMW Sauber, and McLaren to the line, and on a variety of tracks.

Brawn GP has dominated the 2009 Formula One season so far

To date Brawn has won six of the eight races completed and currently have a healthy points lead in the constructors championship. Let’s do a quick run through of the Formula One season so far…

What a turn around for the former Honda team! After a terrible 2008 in which Honda withdrew its support, they spent the off season battling to keep the team afloat, before ending in a 2009 Formula One season in which they have been on top of the podium race after race.

Ross Brawn has done an excellent job driving his team through a rough period and putting two experienced drivers in Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello in a position to race and win. Honda showed great maturity in realizing their RA 109 just wasn’t going to be the car to win for them and re-focused their development on the BGP001. Their courage paid off as their new entry was surprisingly fast in pre-season tests and hasn’t disappointed them so far in 2009. To date the BGP001 has only retired from one race in eight tries and has put at least one Brawn driver on the podium in every race so far.

There has also been plenty of controversy surrounding Brawn’s dominance, which was due to the BGP’s innovative double diffuser, something that the other teams protested. In the end however the FIA’s Court of Appeal found in favor of Brawn and they were clear to put the pedal to the metal.

The last race at Silverstone did see Red Bull make a dent in Brawn’s advantage, but we have yet to see if this was a fluke of a true improvement on the part of Red Bull.

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Sebastian Vettel dominated the qualifying rounds for the British Grand Prix held earlier this week amid the beauty and majesty of the British countryside. Many thought that due the events seen in the qualifying rounds that the race results were already written for the British Grand Prix and as it turns out they were right.

Sebastian Vettel wins the British Grand Prix

What many industry proponents considered to be already written in stone became etched in the annals of Formula One history as Sebastian Vettel launched his Red Bull RB5 off the start line and into the front of the pack of the British Grand Prix and never look back. In a crushing display of driving excellence and technological dominance on fast tracks, Vettel showed just how much of a leap forward the Milton Keynes team has made on high-speed tracks. He was able to quickly pull away from a field that was lead by Rubens Barrichello, gaining a large-second on the field for each lap he completed, and was never really pushed from behind.

Vettel’s team mate Mark Webber had trouble getting through the pack at first, but once he was able to get in front after the first round of stops, he too was able to keep his car in front. He tried to catch up to Vettel after that, but was only able to get to within 15.1s of his team mate by the time the chequered flat fell.

Reubens Barrichello eventually finished third, 26 seconds behind Vettel, and just ahead of the reigning world champion, Jenson Button. Button was starting to make progress in the later part of the race, his tires finally reaching racing temperature, and by the end of the race he had only lost three points off of his 26 point lead in the running for the world championship.

Trulli had a pretty strong race and was able to finish seventh in his Toyota, while Raikkonen was able to stay ahead of his Italian team mate Timo Glock for eighth. Giancarlo Fisichella was able to get some fighting-points for Force India by taking tenth place, but they have along way to go to compete.

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Wii and PlayStation Portable gamers will be able to try the newest and hopefully the most authentic and playable Formula One simulation to date sometime in 2009, the release date is currently scheduled for autumn. The next generation of Formula One video games will include all the current racers, teams, and circuits competing in the 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship (the night race in Singapore is even included in a Formula One video game for the first time). Produced by Codemasters, a top-tier developer and publisher of racing video games, in partnership with Formula One Administration Limited, F1 2009 will deliver the energy, glamour, and entertainment fans deserve, in the way Codemasters has perfected. You can view a live trailer video at www.formula1-game.com, the newest location for information on F1 2009 for the Wii and PSP.

Lewis Hamilton comes to virtual racing for the first time

F1 2009 will also be the first time Lewis Hamilton will appear in a racing simulation and you’ll be able to sit behind the steering wheel of his McLaren MP4-24 and fight to repeat as FIA Formula One World Champion. The 2009 Formula One season has been exciting and the driving tighter than ever before, thanks to the new regulations and aerodynamics. The introduction of the KERS boost system and the use of slick tires has made this F1 season one for the history books and the changes have been included in F1 2009.

Codemasters is planning on setting new standards for immersion and realistic detail for the Wii with F1 2009, by providing a variety of race modes, including a full Formula One season, a few single player arcade-type challenges, and a competitive multiplayer mode that will allow for wheel-to-wheel split screen co-op races.

The PSP edition of F1 2009 will allow players to compete wirelessly against other gamers and in challenging and satisfying single player modes that are optimized for portable game play.

Codemasters Studios also announced they will be bringing F1 2010 to the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Games for Windows, around the middle of 2010. They’ll be using Codemasters’ EGO Engine Technology to create F1 2010, which gave the BAFTA award-winning Race Driver: Grid its power, so expectations are high.

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Formula One history will come back to the fold next year as legendary engine builders Cosworth return to the Formula One paddock after a reluctant three-year break. They return with brand new three year deals to supply 2010 Formula One new comers Compos Grand Prix, Manor Grand Prix, and Team US F1, with the powerplant they need to compete in Formula One.

Cosworth engines will be heard in Formula One again in 2010

The business idea of British engineers Mike Costin and Keith Duckworth, Cosworth started life in a diminutive English workshop, in an out of the way section of London in 1958. This duo was sure the path to success was to design and build race engines, and immediately began development of a Ford 105E powerplant. Two years later their work would be rewarded as Jim Clark raced to victory in a Formula One Junior competition held at Goodwood, in a Lotus 18 race car powered by their creation.

The sun shined on Cosworth over the next few years and culminated in them signing a deal with Ford to design a new three-liter Formula One engine in 1966. This deal spawned the iconic DFV (Double Four Valve) engine and was the beginning of a historic-relationship that would span four decades of Formula One history.

Duckworth’s DFV was a design that provided a technological leap forward in terms of powerplant development and remains to this day the most successful engine in Formula One history. The first engine debuted for Lotus in the 1967 Dutch Grand Prix with Jim Clark driving it to its historic win in its first Formula One appearance.

This same design would go on to win a total of 155 Grand Prix races over the next decade and a half of Formula One history, with iconic names like Emerson Fittipaldi, Jackie Stewart, James Hunt, and Nelson Piquet behind the wheel.

Cosworth would replace the DFV design with a new one, the HB, by the time the end of the 1980s. This new engine design would go on to win 11 races between 1989 and 1993, before being retired for the new Zetec V8 F1, which would power Michael Schumacher to a title for Benetton in 1990s.

In 1996, the Ford-owned Cosworth designed the new V10 engine for the Stewart Grand Prix team, which after a three year relationship, resulted in Johnny Herbert winning the 1999 European Grand Prix. In 2000, Cosworth was still providing engines to the Jaguar team and several other teams.

Ford left Formula One at the end of the 2004 season and Cosworth once again would become the property of a new owner. In 2007, Cosworth’s Formula One run of almost four decades came to an end when deals with Williams-Toyota and Ferrari came to an end and were not renewed. Cosworth was only taking a forced break from Formula One, though, and next year we’ll get to hear and feel the power of this iconic and historic companies engines on a Formula One track, once again.

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The look of a Formula One car as it races toward me often reminds me of a space-age fighter moving in for the kill and the similarities aren’t an accident. The space-age fighter look of a Formula One car is actually due to the simple and logical fact that aerodynamics is a key element in the design and construction of every Formula One car. In fact, the Formula One cars you have watched this year have almost as many aerodynamic elements in common with a space-age fighter as they have elements in common with the car you drive every day. Aerodynamics has become an essential element of design, with the creation of downward force to keep the tires on the surface of the road and allow for greater cornering speeds, and the minimizing of the effects of surface drag on the stability and speed of the car as the two most essential elements. Teams spend millions of dollars and thousands of man-hours on research and development in the wind tunnel and on the track, every year.

Aerodynamics important to success in Formula One

The fundamental principle of race car aerodynamics is to create the greatest amount of downward force for the minimal amount of surface drag. The wings on the front and rear of a Formula One car can be set up to match different race conditions and downward force requirements of a course. On high-speed circuits they will remove as much of the wing as is safe to reduce surface drag and increase speed on the long straight stretches. On slower circuits like Monaco, with tight turns and slower stretches, you’ll see two wings on the rear of the cars to help keep the cars on the track.

Designers take into consideration the possible aerodynamic effects of every part of the car, from the driver’s helmet and body, to the shape of every surface and part included on the car. Take a close look at a Formula One car on your high definition screen next time you watch a race. You’ll notice the vertical end-plates fitted to wings to reduce vortices and the diffuser plate on the back of the cars which helps to prevent low-pressure bubbles that drag on the rear of a car. The narrow waist look of most of the Formula One cars is a more recent development that maximizes air flow to the rear wings and decreases drag.

All the aerodynamic elements added to a Formula One car allow it to achieve the spectacular change of speeds that make a Formula One race the ultimate high-speed affair on the planet.

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The memorable and iconic Monaco Grand Prix is a hard race to match for excitement and entertaining racing, but Istanbul Park, which is the site of this weekends Turkish Grand Prix, can match or beat most Formula One venues in its ability to produce hair-raising racing excitement. A space age racing facility, with one of the most renowned corners in the business, the legendary Turn Eight, this track is a challenge the drivers enjoy. Let’s do a quick run through on this Hermann Tilke arranged track and what we can expect.

The Turkish Grand Prix is the next stop for the 2009 Formula One calendar

Istanbul Park is a physical challenge that the drivers need to prepare for because it’s one of only two anti-clockwise tracks on the Formula One calendar, the other being Interlagos in San Paula. The quick left-handed corners of this track can really tire your neck muscles out — turn eight will put a force of up to 5G for seven seconds on the neck of a driver — because their just not used as much through the season. The complete lap has a nice flow that allows the drivers to get in a rhythm quickly and turn eight, a quick and blind, high speed triple apex corner that’s the adrenalin-filled highlight of the lap. The drivers need to be as smooth as possible through this part of the lap and hopefully find the flat part of the track and not the bumpy tarmac. How each racer handles turn eight on each lap could in large part determine the final standings in the race. Racers successful at finding the right line in this corner will shave a lot of time off their lap times and could have the biggest smile at the end of the Turkish Grand Prix. Turns one and three are definite passing opportunities, but it’s also possible to pass going down hill into turn nine, and even at Turns 12 and 13 if the set up is just right. Istanbul is a track that requires a versatile set up that can handle both slow corners and high speed straight stretches and provides many opportunities for exciting racing. Check out the time table below to find out what time and channel you can view the race or radio channel and time to listen to a lap by lap commentary.

Turkish Grand Prix

Sunday 12:30 PM TNT or MRN at 1:15 PM

Turkish Grand Prix Timetable

All times above are in Pacific Standard Time.

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Last Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix was everything expected, thrilling, edge-of-the-seat excitement that had crowds cheering, and vendors and merchants basking in the sun. Ferrari had a much better showing; they have obviously taken steps forward with the car after Spain, and continue to work on performance and reliability. This was Ferrari’s first podium finish of 2009 and a good sign for future races. The Red Bull team was certainly scratching their heads after dropping to third in the Formula One rankings, despite the implementation of their double diffuser. Toyota and BMW Sauber had a frustrating race that left these former front runners wondering why their trailing behind the performance of the other cars. Let’s take a quick look at some of the teams and their results at Monte Carlo.

Monaco was more of the same for the Formula One 2009 season

Brawn once again finished with a one-two combination that’s their third dual-win of the year and the third win with the same Mercedes-Benz engine powering Button’s ride. Ferrari had its best result of the year and its best finish since the race in Brazil last season. Raikkonen managed to start on the front row and reach the podium for the first time this season and at one point during the race at Monaco they were flying, before they had to change their rubber. Vettel started fast on super-soft tires and with the lightest fuel load but turned into a moving road block after a few laps. Rosberg sure looked fast and hungry all weekend and was probably disappointed with his sixth place ranking. Nakajima also ran hot and fast all weekend, but then took a chance on the last lap that ran his FW31 into the wall. Fernando Alonso appeared to be improving with each lap and managed to stay consistent and took seventh place. Nelson Piquet retired after an accident on lap 11 with Sebastien Buemi. Sebastien Bourdais gained a point in what he considers his home race; he stayed out of trouble with his STR4 and watched his rubber, and then took advantage of the opportunity that presented itself to finish eighth. Giancarlo Fisichella finished ninth by keeping his car out of trouble through out the race and managed to pull up close to Bourdais at the end and was in contention for eighth. Sutil started with a one-stop strategy in mind, but his tires quickly caused him to loose ground and ruined his chances.

The next stop for the Formula One season is Istanbul, Turkey, a fast track that was first run in 2005. Check the list below for the dates and times for the Turkish Grand Prix (all times are in local times)

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Jenson Button once again showed the world on Sunday afternoon that at present in the world of Formula One racing he’s the fastest by stretching his points lead in the Formula One world championship to 16 points over his team mate Rubens Barrichello. Jenson was never threatened as he grabbed the lead at the start and pulled away from the field on his way to another dominant and absolutely convincing victory on the pavement of Monte Carlo.

Jenson Button wins again, make it five out of six for 2009

Rubens Barrichello had a pretty good afternoon and if it wasn’t for his team mate would certainly be leading the point’s standings of the current Formula One season. He did his job admirably on Sunday by almost making it a race, he managed to pull away from the Ferrari of Kimi Raikkonen at the start and stay ahead of him except when he stopped for gas or rubber. Staying close to Button for the majority of the race, he managed to close the gap by 4.4 seconds in the final stages.

Felipe Massa put on a good show on Sunday as well; he had a strong showing for Scuderia, keeping his F60 in front of hard-pushing and unrelenting Mark Webber in the Red Bull car as they jousted for fourth place. Occurring a few seconds behind Kimi Raikkonen, this jostling for position between Felipe Massa and Mark Webber was one of the more intense and entertaining moments of the entire race.

Nico Rosberg kept his car running consistently fast and straight through the race and managed to take sixth for Williams, just ahead of Renault’s Fernando Alonso. The last championship point awarded in the race went to Sebastien Bourdais driving for Toro Rosso, who managed to beat Giancarlo Fisichella to the finish line after battling with him through most of the race.

After winning Jenson Button didn’t mind showing his joy and enthusiasm at the win, jumping for joy after exiting his car and hollering with delight. It was then he realized he had just made his only mistake of the day and laughed at the simple error he had made while enjoying his win. In his exuberance he had parked his car in the wrong area and now had to show how fit he was by sprinting to the podium to receive his due reward.

Formula One pulls into Turkey next, on June 05 - 07, for the Turkish Grand Prix. The first and second practice sessions will take place on June 05 and the final practice and qualifying will take place on June 06. The Turkish Grand Prix will take place on June 07, it should be an interesting race that will probably be dominated by Jenson button, but then you never know.

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The Formula One season pulls into Monte Carlo this week to let the drivers loose on a track famous for providing a challenge for drivers and their cars. Monte Carlo is a unique race track with characteristics that require a certain set up to take best advantage of a street circuit that usually requires a little rubber-seasoning be added during three practice sessions on Thursday from 10:00 - 11:30 and 14:00 - 15:30 and Saturday from 11:00 - 12:00. Usually, by the time they get around to the real qualifying at around 14:00 on Saturday, the track should be nicely-seasoned and provide better grip characteristics for the drivers and their cars.

Track set up for Monte Carlo

Come Sunday, at around 14:00, when the drivers are revving their engines and preparing to race, the track should be in better race-condition and it should only get better the more laps the cars run on this 3.340 km street-course. Let’s go over a few of the things that the race teams have done to prepare their cars for the challenge of Monte Carlo.

The streets Monte Carlo is run on probably feel glass-smooth to the drivers that use these roads every day, but to the stiff suspension set-up of a Formula One car these roads would feel like a mogul run. To compensate for street-conditions the cars ride-heights will be raised a few millimeters to compensate for the increased variation in chassis height in relation to the road. In addition, in order to help the cars deal with the increased variation in road heights the teams will implement softer suspension settings than they would for a non-street race. The height variations also mean the wheels of the car need to move independently to deal with the bumps, so they’ll soften the anti-roll bars to provide more freedom of movement for the wheels. The objective is to give the driver a neutral feeling that gives them better control over the car and increased confidence in their ability to drive the course, especially in the fast Massenet-Casino Square.

The aerodynamic requirements of the Monte Carlo street-course are different than the course the racers have driven on so far this season. Monte Carlo demands the highest down-force pressure constantly on the cars of any race so far this season. This will benefit the drivers and cars when braking and accelerating, keeping the car stable into the corners and allowing for maximum traction when coming out of the corner.

The infamous Grand Hotel hairpin will be the tightest of the season, combine this with the sharp turn at Rascasse, and Monte Carlo requires a steering angle some two times greater than that used at Barcelona.

When you’re watching the race at 14:00 on Sunday, keep these points in mind as you enjoy the race, and you will see the race from a different perspective more in tune with the physics and engineering requirements of Formula One racing.

Enjoy the race!

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