Rivalries through the field

Battle Lines

Round 1: ding ding!

Welcome to a new initiative for 2008. ‘Battle Lines’ will look at some of the most measurable aspects of F1; firstly, the best measure of a driver’s ability is how they perform against their teammate, and secondly, the best way to determine a manufacturer’s ability is by looking at how their customers are performing with what is notionally the same engine.

Following on from the success of the A vs B forum in recent years, this column will expand on some of these issues, as I, the author see them. Each round I will explore three driver battles and one manufacturer battle. Bare in mind that this is my opinion on the matter, and what I say is final, though battles will be revisited throughout the season and I love to be proven wrong. So let’s get the battles commenced…


Raikkonen vs Massa

Much was spoken about this battle during the off season with many punters seeing Massa as a bit of a dark horse in the contest. Massa is a driver capable of incredible speed… when all the planets align. Unfortunately he is let down by his inconsistency. Now Raikkonen himself is not immune to the odd error, but now as a proven championship winner, has new confidence and desire for continued success.

In the opening 2 rounds we have seen the inconsistency of Massa shine though as what separates the two drivers. Where as Kimi has scored point in both races despite a non finish in Melbourne and a run away victory in Malaysia, Massa has thrown his opportunities away. A good qualifying position went begging in Melbourne for Massa by not even being able to negotiate the first turn cleanly, and from there he was playing catch up so simply have a brain fade, or a severe case of the Couthards, depending on which point of view you subscribe to. In Malaysia he had the best seat in the house, on pole position, a place Massa has never failed to win from, though again he managed to bin a good performance by his own error.

Massa needs to lift his game severely if he is to tackle his reining World Champion team mate. This battle will be interesting to watch, provided Massa can learn to control the Ferrari car, post driver aides.


Hamilton vs Kovalainen

Coming off a challenging season last year with a challenging team mate to work with, returning this season, joined by a new team mate with the same level of F1 experience as himself but little experience at the pointy end of the grid, you could easily be mistaken into thinking Lewis Hamilton would have everything his own way this year, especially if you listen to the way the British press prattle on about him. What has developed in reality, however, is far from the delusions that James Allen or Peter Windsor’s minds hold.

Sure Melbourne seemed one sided as Hamilton walked away to victory, but Kovalainen also performed strongly in his first showing with McLaren bringing the car back in one piece for starters, which is a step up on his debut with Renault, and in the points in fifth no less, taking away the fastest lap of the race in the process. Malaysia though was a different scenario altogether. Kovalainen was clearly the stand out of the pair for the entire weekend. Qualifying ahead of his team mate, only for the pair to be relegated back in the field for loitering on the racing line, and then beating Hamilton into the first turn, and onwards, onto the podium while Hamilton was stuck trying to find a way around a very wide looking Red Bull.

The points tally shows a four points lead Hamilton in this battle, but I score it at level pegging at this stage, one round a piece to each driver. This battle is poised to go either way and I don’t feel for a second that Lewis Hamilton will have everything his own way this season either.


Coulthard vs Webber

Both veterans of the sport these days, the battle still rages strong between these two competitive souls. Couthard a throwback of the Williams and McLaren glory days, always the bridesmaid, never the bride, and Webber, with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders has been plagued in the past by mechanical gremlins (perhaps he should stop feeding them after midnight). Both drivers are outspoken about their thirst for success and a desire to achieve, neither one enjoys being tainted ‘#2 driver’ of the team.

Last season saw Couthard shine though in the points battle, but on the track, it was clearly evident that Webber had the better speed on the circuit. Reliability issues plagued this contest last year, but this year we are assured by the Red Bull team that most of the issues of last year are now long behind them, so we can look forward to a more even contest this year… perhaps.

The first two races have been mouth watering as far as this battle goes. As with last year, both drivers are very closely matched and the car seems to be further up the field more consistently as well. However, the results do not show this. A failure of either driver to finish in Melbourne, arguably at the hands of other drivers, left this contest wide open going into Malaysia. In Malaysia, a circuit that Webber has become renowned for being fast on, if only in qualifying though, clearly shaded his Scottish team mate with a consistent point running race, even though Webber was being hampered with a fuel pump issue that required him to carry more fuel, and as such more weight, then was optimum. Despite this issue, Webber managed to keep challenges from Hamilton and Alonso at bay, something that Coulthard was unable to do, being passed by both Alonso and Heidfeld at the same time no less.

Currently this battle stands in favour of Webber, the plucky Aussie, but we can be assured that Coulthard will not just lay down and accept that. Webber’s result in Malaysia is just a big red target that Coulthard knows the Red Bull machine is now capable of charging towards.


Ferrari vs Toro Rosso vs Force India vs Heat

Here is one of the most intriguing stories of the season to date, the inability of the customer Ferrari power plant to finish one race, let alone two. This is not to say that the factory Ferrari team is not immune as well, having seen Kimi Raikkonen’s own car grind to a halt in Melbourne. Malaysia however showed that the Ferrari engine is strong, in the back of the Ferrari at least, though Bahrain will be more telling, as they are yet to perform two successive races this season with the same engine.

Bent valves was the diagnosis from the Ferrari analysis of the spent engines and they assure their customers that the problem is rectified, but with a long history of Ferrari customer engines in F1, never has a customer power plant finished in front of their factory brethren. Ferrari are assuring their customers that the homologated customer engine is fine and are doing all they can to rectify any issues, but it remains to be seen just how much things will improve, if at all.

The good news on this front was that Fisichella brought a Ferrari customer engine across the finish line in Malaysia for the first time this season despite the 47 degree track heat. Quite obviously Ferrari is leading this battle, followed by a heat haze, which seems to be falling behind them and will hopefully be overtaken by the remarkably closely matched Toro Rosso and Force India teams.


Written by Dylan on Thu, 27 Mar 2008 11:07:10