F1 2013

Well the start of the 2013 Formula 1 season is nearly upon us. Several new team combinations, the loss of one team, and as usual a change in some of the rules for both drivers and teams. A lot of the information needed for the season can be found on the brilliant site belonging to F1. A great source of news and information: F1 website

We also have the bonus of having Suzi Perry on our screens more often, a lot more pleasing on the eye than Jake Humphreys. My thoughts on the upcoming seasons drivers are:

Vettel is looking to for a fourth championship, but as mentioned in previous dispatches i have concerns that the Red Bull will be handicapped by the authorities and caught up by the others. Webber will do OK as he has talent, but he is not consistent and will have to listen to team orders, he is the No2.  Button is going to have to rely on his bosses building him a fast car and improve on last seasons pit stop fiascos, with the new softer tyres the new boy in the team Perez should benefit. He is been nicknamed the tyre whisperer due to him being able to squeeze every last drop out of his rubber boots, but i can't see him winning many races.  Raikkonen has the ability and a bit of history but along with his partner Grosjean, they will both suffer from the lack of development in the Lotus.

Hamilton's move I believe was not motivated by winning trophies in 2013, but with it may be worth watching in 2014. This year he is going to have to put up with uncertainty and unrest in the back room staff, along with his team mate Rosberg they will also have to overcome last seasons poor tyre wear, although going by the practises times at Barcelona they may have some good top speeds, but how will that pan out over the course  of a race distance?  Other drivers who may be picking up some scraps are Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado.

My money will be riding on Fernado Alonso this season. He is the No1 driver at Ferrari and had a great end to last season.  He didn't get much help last year from his partner Massa, or from some dated and poor support infra structures and mechanisms, this year they have a new wind tunnel to use for development and have one of the most experienced test drivers. so combined with his knowledge, ability and skill he gets my backing.

I have listed below some of the major rule changes, and have listed this seasons teams and calendar.  This season also sees the introduction of the voluntary agreement on a restriction of costs.

Rule changes:

1) Weight - due to changes in their structure, Pirelli's 2013 tyres are around 2kg heavier per set than in 2012, hence the car's minimum weight limit has been increased by the same amount, from 640 to 642kg. As a consequence, the weight-distribution requirement has also been revised to minimum figures of 292kg:343kg front to rear, leaving teams 7kg to play with.

2) Stepped noses - to mask the step in the car's nose (thought unattractive by many), teams are now allowed to place a non-structural 'vanity panel' over this area, the shape of which is strictly controlled by the regulations.

3) Front wing tests - to prevent them flexing, front wings now face a tougher deflection test, with a 1,000N (100kg) load applied at two different points on both the longitudinal and transverse axes. The amount the wing may deflect has been reduced from 20mm to 10mm.

4) Load and crash tests - more severe load tests for the roll structure have been introduced and the crash test requirements modified.

5) Survival cell - the side load test for the survival cell is more severe too, and it must be applied to all chassis produced by a team, rather than to a single example.

6) & 7) DRS - active 'double DRS' systems - where the DRS activation mechanism is utilised for other purposes  are no longer allowed (only passive solutions are now considered legal). Also, DRS usage is now limited to the DRS zones in all sessions (previously it could be used anywhere during free practice and qualifying).

8) The concept of force majeure- circumstances beyond the team's control - has been removed from the regulations. This was an issue in two similar instances last year, when 2 of the drivers ran out of fuel at the end of qualifying. Both teams tried - and failed - to argue it was force majeure that had led to the problem. Now, if teams stop on the in-lap of their qualifying run and the fuel quantity in the tank is not what is required to finish that lap they will be automatically disqualified.

9) Curfews - The team personnel curfew - which prevents team members from being in the paddock during specified periods - has been extended from six to eight hours on Thursday nights for 2013. The number of exceptions allowed during a season has also been reduced from four to two.

10) Qualifying - Not an actual regulation change, but as the official 2013 entry list comprises 22 cars - two fewer than in 2012 - six cars rather than seven will now be eliminated at the end of both Q1 and Q2.

Calendar

Round	Race title	Grand Prix	Date
1	Rolex Australian Grand Prix	Australian GP	17-Mar
2	Petronas Malaysia Grand Prix	Malaysian GP	24-Mar
3	UBS Chinese Grand Prix	Chinese GP	14-Apr
4	Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain GP	21-Apr
5	Gran Premio de España	Spanish GP	12-May
6	Grand Prix de Monaco	Monaco GP	26-May
7	Grand Prix du Canada	Canadian GP	09-Jun
8	British Grand Prix	British GP	30-Jun
9	Großer Preis von Deutschland	German GP	07-Jul
10	Magyar Nagydíj	Hungarian GP	28-Jul
11	Shell Belgian Grand Prix	Belgian GP	25-Aug
12	Gran Premio d'Italia	Italian GP	08-Sep
13	Singapore Grand Prix	Singapore GP	22-Sep
14	Korean Grand Prix	Korean GP	06-Oct
15	Japanese Grand Prix	Japanese GP	13-Oct
16	Airtel Indian Grand Prix	Indian GP	27-Oct
17	Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix	Abu Dhabi GP	03-Nov
18	United States Grand Prix	United States GP	17-Nov
19	Grande Prêmio do Brasil	Brazilian GP	24-Nov

Teams

Team	Constructor	No.	Race drivers
Infiniti Red Bull Racing	Red Bull-Renault	1	Sebastian Vettel
		2	Mark Webber
Scuderia Ferrari	Ferrari	3	Fernando Alonso
		4	Felipe Massa
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes	McLaren-Mercedes	5	Jenson Button
		6	Sergio Pérez
Lotus F1 Team	Lotus-Renault	7	Kimi Räikkönen
		8	Romain Grosjean
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes	9	Nico Rosberg
		10	Lewis Hamilton
Sauber F1 Team	Sauber-Ferrari	11	Nico Hülkenberg
		12	Esteban Gutiérrez
Sahara Force India F1 Team	Force India-Mercedes	14	Paul di Resta
		15	Adrian Sutil
Williams F1 Team	Williams-Renault	16	Pastor Maldonado
		17	Valtteri Bottas
Scuderia Toro Rosso	Toro Rosso-Ferrari	18	Jean-Éric Vergne
		19	Daniel Ricciardo
Caterham F1 Team	Caterham-Renault	20	Charles Pic
		21	Giedo van der Garde
Marussia F1 Team	Marussia-Cosworth	22	Jules Bianchi
		23	Max Chilton