2011 season preview: part two

Part two of my season preview outlines the prospects of the midfield teams and whether or not they can upset the applecart in 2011.


Toro Rosso: 2011 is a critical year for Toro Rosso. After using Red Bull’s customer chassis for three seasons, Toro Rosso created their own car for the first time last season. It was a difficult task for the team as they hadn’t designed their own car since the Minardi days back in 2005. They were ranked last out of the established teams, so the STR6 must come with a sufficient performance upgrade to banish last season’s disappointing campaign. It has been acknowledged that Toro Rosso nurtures the talents of Red Bull’s junior drivers yet it appears neither driver would be good enough to drive for the parent team.

Success is essential in Dr. Helmut Marko’s young driver programme and history tells us that Toro Rosso have never gone two consecutive seasons without altering their driver line up. With third driver Daniel Ricciardo, the seriously quick Australian who was fastest in the young drivers’ test at the end of 2010, waiting in the wings, both Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari must up their game. Alguersuari has been bullish ahead of the new season by suggesting the STR6 can challenge points at every event. We shall see.


Sauber: Although Red Bull boast an impressive junior driver programme, it is the Sauber team which contains the most impressive young talent. Sergio Perez, the GP2 runner up last season, will partner the feisty Kamui Kobayashi for 2011 in what is possibly the most exciting driver line up this season. Kobayashi will be the more ‘experienced’ of the two drivers despite only competing in 21 Grand Prix, and the burden of fine tuning the car’s set up will fall on his shoulders. The Japanese driver is already a fans favourite for his fearless attitude on track, and with a quicker car at his disposal courtesy of Technical Director James Key, could well make his first visit to the podium in 2011.

The arrival of Perez in the cockpit, however, wasn’t simply due to raw talent: the Mexican brings substantial investment with him courtesy of Mexican telecom company Telmex. Further backing from the world’s richest man, Carlos Slim, means Peter Sauber’s team can now focus solely on activities on-track. The team will be equipped with Ferrari’s race-winning Kinetic Energy Recovery System and with plenty of testing mileage under their belts, should improve on Kobayashi’s sixth place at Silverstone, their best finish to date since BMW’s departure. The last time they had such an inexperienced pairing, with just one full season of F1 between them, was 2001. Debutant Kimi Raikkonen partnered Nick Heidfeld at Sauber ten years ago and they finished a best-ever fourth in the Constructor’s Championship. Could Kobayashi and Perez achieve a similar result?


Force India: The inaugural Indian Grand Prix will take place in October and is critical that Adrian Sutil and rookie Paul di Resta have a competitive car at their disposal. Force India finished a highest-ever seventh in the world championship last year, just a point behind sixth-placed Williams yet results from winter testing have indicated that the team is in decline. Their technical department was severely depleted last season following the departures of James Key to Sauber and then Mark Smith to Lotus. Therefore, the development of the VJM04 is in the hands of Andrew Green, who steps up from his role as director of engineering. The team will one again be using the ultra-quick Mercedes engine while obtaining the Mercedes Kinetic Energy Recovery System could be critical.

Sutil will once again look to dispel the myth that he is a crash kid. I rate Sutil highly, but with Nico Hulkenberg as the team’s reserve driver for 2011, he will really need consistent performances to keep his seat for next season. As for di resta, his arrival in F1 has been a long time coming. Despite winning the F3 Euroseries in 2006, ahead of Sebastian Vettel, di Resta was unable to find the support to continue his single-seater career and instead switched to DTM. Although a competitive touring car series, it is inferior to both GP2 and Formula Renault 3.5. di Resta took part in a number of Friday practice sessions in 2010, and that relatively small experience could be crucial if Force India are to remain in the hunt during the current campaign.


Williams: I adore the livery of the new Williams car, the FW33. It is very reminiscent of the 1990’s when the team were sponsored by Rothmans, a spell which coincided with one of the most successful periods in Williams’ history. Can an old livery help recapture past glories? It can’t; despite my nostalgia, it is the design of the car that will be the defining aspect of Williams’ 2011 season. However, it is a sign of the times at Didcot that the team have had to sign a pay driver, in the form of Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado, replacing the highly rated Nico Hulkenberg.

Hulkenberg took pole in Brazil last season and, having already signed up Rubens Barrichello for a second season, the team were left with the disastrous scenario of a driver of Hulkenberg’s calibre. It is no coincidence that the logo of Venezuela’s state-owned petrol company PDVSA features heavily on the car’s livery. Despite undeniably not having the talents of his former GP2 teammate, as last season’s GP2 title winner, Maldonado deserves his chance in F1. His team mate Barrichello, who is entering an unprecedented 19th season in F1, has called the design of this year’s car ‘aggressive’ and understandably so; its compact rear-end and low differential is designed to increase the effectiveness of the rear wing and boost downforce, which could be critical if Williams are ever to return to their former glories.


Renault: After Renault made significant strides last season, hopes were high following the introduction of the R31. The car not only came with a new John Player Special black and gold livery which replaces the yellow and black from last seaaon, but innovative front exhausts, which blow hot air out around the front of the sidepods in an attempt to increase downforce and the performance of the diffuser. Renault seemed to be reaping the benefits of such a radical arrangement when Robert Kubica topped the timesheets on the final day of the first test in Jerez to set quickest time of the week. Yet three days later, the team’s plans were thrown into turmoil following Robert Kubica’s horrifying accident whilst competing in a rally in Italy. Kubica suffered serious injuries to his right arm, leg and shoulder, and more worringly, to his hand. There were initial fears it would have to be amputated but it was saved by surgeons after a seven-hour operation. It remains uncertain whether the pole will ever return to racing.

Nevertheless, the show must go on, and Renault were faced with the reality of being without their star driver for 2011. Team principal Eric Boullier moved swiftly to install the experienced Nick Heidfeld as his replacement, after he shone driving the Renault R31 at the second test in Jerez. Heidfeld is a quick and wily racer and is more than capable of leading the team in terms of setup and development, something which will be beneficial to team mate Vitaly Petrov’s progress. The 2009 GP2 runner up is undoubtedly quick but far too inconsistent. His stock rose considerably after halting Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber’s championship charge at the season final in Abu Dhabi last November, and more of the same will be required if he is to remain in F1. Nonetheless, Renault’s development of the R31 has been overshadowed by the tragedy which has befallen Kubica.

Josh.