Motorsport News

Germany's Michael Schumacher has said he is as hungry as ever on his return to Formula 1

Four world champions lined up for the pre-race photocall in the grand prix paddock this afternoon, but only one of them had the dust of the revised Sakhir circuit – with an extra kilometre and nine new corners added to its layout – on his shoes. Michael Schumacher is back, and with him comes the infinite capacity for taking pains that is sometimes said to define genius.

The 41-year-old Schumacher walked the track while the other three – Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso – were presumably content with the hours of familiarisation they had undergone in their teams' sophisticated race simulators. The German champion, returning to Formula One after a three-year retirement, is now officially old-school. And despite 68 pole positions, 91 race wins and seven world championships, he was leaving nothing to chance as he prepared for his debut with the new Mercedes-Benz team.

"It's great to have him back," a lighthearted Button said as they sat together at today's press conference. "He makes me feel young again." But Alonso, the only one of the other three to have captured his championships during Schumacher's first spell in grand prix racing, made the point that a win against a field including the German was worth more than one achieved in his absence.

"When you see the world championships that Michael has, it's something that may be impossible to repeat," Alonso said. "But looking at those titles, those pole positions, those grand prix wins, we all agree that he is the best ever. So I'm happy that he's here. A grand prix with Michael on the track has more value."

Once upon a time, entering a world ruled by Ayrton Senna, Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Nelson Piquet, a 22-year-old Schumacher felt much the same. "It's a good comparison," he said today, "because when I arrived in Formula One my biggest expectation was far below what I finally achieved. I wasn't full of confidence about being on the same playing field. But pretty soon I realised that they cook with the same water we all use. They are all humans. I feel pretty much the same way now."

Schumacher claims to be as fit and as hungry for success as ever, although yesterday he was exposed to the side of the sport that no driver really enjoys. In the morning a press conference at Bahrain's main Mercedes-Benz dealership started more than an hour late, a curious lapse for a team which, returning to Formula One under its own name for the first time since 1955, is hoping to emulate the dominance achieved by its predecessors, who were notorious for operating with a precision that brought professional standards of organisation to a sport previously dominated by the amateur ethos. At the circuit in the afternoon he lined up with his rivals to face the media again, seated on a rostrum in a sort of pole position with the two Ferrari drivers, Alonso and Felipe Massa, on either flank and the McLaren pair of Button and Hamilton hovering over his shoulders.

He is, inevitably, the centre of attention, even in a season with the two most recent champions teaming up at McLaren, and with Alonso joining Schumacher's old team to race alongside Massa, who is making his return from the serious head injury that kept him out of the second half of last season. In any normal year, too, the return of the name Senna to grand prix racing, with the great Ayrton's nephew Bruno joining the new Hispania team, would be making headlines, but Schumacher's comeback has turned it into a footnote.

Perhaps the most daunting thought for his rivals, however, is that they will not be facing just the greatest driver of their era but a revival of the old partnership of Schumacher and Ross Brawn, his technical director with both Benetton and Ferrari and now the Mercedes team principal. Yesterday he was asked to describe the nature of their relationship and to explain the reasons for its consistent success.

"I feel it's Ross's capability to analyse things and then give directions to all the people at the factory, in order for them to have a clear line to follow," he said. "Then at the track it's the way he reads a race and reacts to events. It's very straightforward. He also knows my strengths and how he can use them. And hopefully this will lead to some other good moments."

About the difference between Ferrari and Mercedes, he said: "One is red, the other is silver." The off-the-cuff joke hid a deeper truth: although the reunion with Brawn is taking place in Oxfordshire rather than Emilia-Romagna, it locates Schumacher in a familiar and comfortable environment. It also evokes memories of past scandals, on and off the track, suggesting that however warm the welcome he is receiving from the other drivers at the outset of the new season, it may not be sweetness and light all the way.

Asked what his wife, Corinna, and two children thought about his decision to get back into the cockpit of a 200mph racing car, he replied: "Corinna is here this weekend. She's fairly happy about what I'm doing because she's happy if I'm happy – and I'm very happy right now." His smile faded, however, when he spoke of their daughter, 12-year-old Gina Maria, and son, 10-year-old Mick. "In the past you have never heard anything about my children and you won't be hearing about them now. They have the allowance of their privacy."

Whatever motivated his return, it was certainly not a need to provide for his family. Rich enough to have donated US$10m (£6.65m) to the 2004 tsunami disaster fund, he was estimated to have earned £50m a year from all sources before his retirement. Now his retainer from Mercedes is around £6m, around a quarter of what he was getting from Ferrari, which basically means he is doing it for fun.

"I guess what I'm enjoying is sitting in the car and turning the wheel and fighting against all the other guys on the track," he said. "That's what I've been missing. I said at the presentation of the new car that I felt like a 12-year-old boy. I've grown a little bit since then, but not by much."

Le 11/03 à 16:21
 

Team owner Jack Roush said Wednesday he's satisfied with the penalty NASCAR levied against driver Carl Edwards for his intentional accident with Brad Keselowski.

• Former world champion without two mentors this season
• 'I race for the same team and I've still the same determination'

Lewis Hamilton has no intention of going off the rails now he no longer has by his side two dominant characters who have ruled his life.

Less than a year ago Hamilton lost his mentor Ron Dennis who stepped down as McLaren's team principal, many believe to ensure his team avoided severe punishment over the 'lie-gate' scandal. Dennis had been an instrumental figure in Hamilton's career since the age of 13 when he was taken on by McLaren and Mercedes as part of their driver development programme.

Then just last week, the 25-year-old announced a parting of the ways from his father Anthony as his manager, insisting he wanted to build a more normal father-son relationship away from Formula One.

Ahead of the season-opening grand prix in Bahrain this weekend, it leaves Hamilton without a guiding figure at a race for the first time in his life, a situation he is convinced he can handle.

"When Ron stepped back, nothing really changed. We've still a good relationship, and if anything it has actually grown," said Hamilton. "Rather than a stressed, thoughtful boss thinking about the job and always giving you advice, now he just gives an opinion. He is so relaxed now, and I think it will probably be the same with my dad.

"Inevitably, with my dad taking a step back, I will have to make some more decisions for myself. But then I've always been able to do that anyway. For example, I chose where I wanted to live, although I still hope to be guided in the same way."

Hamilton maintains there is no wild side about to emerge. "I am who I am," he said. "I don't think anybody has stopped me from being who I wanted to be. When I arrived in the sport, I didn't go out and buy a million different cars, I took my time.

"Maybe I might buy one car this year, and I might go to one more Amber Lounge [post-race] party this year than I did last year. Who knows? But that's not being wild.

"I've still the same girl, I race for the same team and I've still the same dedication and determination. I don't think you should try and change something that works. My style, my approach, has always worked for me, and I tend to keep it that way."

For now, until Hamilton acquires a new manager, the team principal Martin Whitmarsh will have to take up the mantle of guiding light.

Although Hamilton and team-mate Jenson Button are all smiles at the moment as they attempt to build their friendship, Whitmarsh has recognised inevitable issues may arise.

As Whitmarsh recently said: "At some point, one of them is going to feel uncomfortable because he is getting beaten by the other."

That could lead to friction and be a time when Hamilton will need to turn to someone for advice, although he feels it will not come to that.

"Formula One is the pinnacle of the sport, it's so intense, so much is going on, so you can't guess whether we will have a tough time at some stage, or something like that," said Hamilton. "But we're professionals, and we have a mutual respect for one another that we will deal with it professionally. That's my feeling."

Le 11/03 à 09:59
 

• World champion predicts a season to remember
• 'With the new regulations we don't know who is the quickest'

Jenson Button believes this season in Formula One will be "a belter" and that Michael Schumacher will prove he can still compete at the age of 41.

Button lifted the drivers' crown last year with Brawn GP, but has since joined his predecessor as world champion and fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.

The 30-year-old hopes that new regulations, with no refuelling during the race, and the return of the seven-times champion Schumacher – never one to shy away from controversy – will bring many fans back to the sport.

"I think it will be a belter of a year this year," Button said after receiving the Laureus Breakthrough of the Year Award in Abu Dhabi. "Not for me, I think for Formula One as a whole and for all of us who love Formula One and racing in Formula One.

"You've got four top teams, maybe even five or six that are going to be quick and competitive. With the new regulations we don't really know who is the quickest team. It's a great position to be in. I think it's great for the sport and hopefully will attract more viewers and fans.

"Michael Schumacher coming back I think is great for the sport. He's 41 – people are saying he's too old, but he's not. I'm 30, and at 41 I can't imagine myself racing, I'll go and do something else, but Michael's realised I think it's difficult to find something else to do that gives you that buzz like Formula One does.

"He's back and with four world champions on the grid all in competitive cars [Button, Hamilton, Schumacher and Fernando Alonso], and new regulations, it should be a very exciting season.

"Last year was great having a couple of new teams fighting at the front but there were some negatives as well, mostly off circuit."

Le 11/03 à 09:41
 

The fallout from Ayrton Senna's tragic death forced his nephew to put his F1 career on hold but now he is ready to make his own mark in the sport he loves

Bruno Senna may wonder at the wisdom of beginning his grand prix career this weekend and with a team who are struggling to start, never mind finish, a race, but the Brazilian should take heart from the Formula One debut made by his uncle in 1984.

Ayrton Senna's first of 161 races, many of which would contribute to three World Championships, was made with Toleman in the Brazilian grand prix at Rio de Janeiro rather than the top-line teams that were already interested in his potential. Toleman were hardly state of the art. The car was never likely to win an award for elegance but Senna used it to gain experience away from the limelight and move centre stage when atrocious conditions at Monaco allowed him to finish a remarkable second.

The next year he drove for Lotus followed, in 1988, by McLaren. The rest is history. His clutch of world titles would have doubled had arguably one of the sport's greatest drivers– certainly, the most charismatic – not been killed during the San Marino grand prix on 1 May, 1994.

Bruno Senna will be lucky if hefinishes in the top 10 and scores a Championship point in any of this year's 19 races. Hispania Racing F1's line-up was finalised last week. The rescue package for the former Campos Meta 1 team had kept his hopes alive even though the learning curve for driver and team will be vertical from the moment practice starts tomorrow and they have a first chance to work together. It is like trying to qualify for the Olympic 100m final having trained on a ploughed field in ill-fitting shoes.

All Senna can hope to do is keep out of everyone's way and grab opportunities, such as his uncle's at Monaco 1984, when a wet track switches the balance heavily in favour of a driver's skill rather than the capabilities of his car. Certainly, it will remove Senna from the expectation. "I hope, in a short time, that everybody remembers me for being Bruno, myself, and not for my uncle's surname," says Senna. "I've learned to live with it and although it helped me at the beginning to find sponsors and find contacts, to be a driver you need to have a natural talent."

Senna, runner-up in the 2008 GP2 Championship, came close to racing in F1 with Brawn in 2009, but the British team retained Rubens Barrichello. Senna spent the year racing in the Le Mans Series for sports cars before an endless wait while the Campos team morphed into HRT F1.

Senna will be 27 in October, this comparatively senior age for a debutant being accounted for by the backlash from the death of his uncle. Bruno was 10 when the family was devastated by the news from Italy in 1994. Senna had spoken with genuine enthusiasm about his nephew's latent talent after they had regularly raced karts together on the family's private track near São Paulo. But Bruno knew he could no longer mention entering a sport capable of producing such distress. There was no option but to concentrate on his studies and turn his back on karting, an area where he should have been cutting his teeth.

"There was never a point, after the accident, when I didn't want to go racing," says Senna. "But, obviously, my family were not happy with it so I didn't race out of respect for them. For the first two years I was OK and didn't have much trouble coping with not racing because I just put it to the back of my mind. I had plenty of life ahead of me and I thought that I could find other things, other sports that I enjoyed.

"But when I became 15 or 16, I began to think about what I wanted to do with my life. I had tried a few things but realised that nothing touched me like motor racing. Then it really started to bother me. I saw some of my friends and my opponents from when I was 10 years old and they were doing well. I couldn't help but think that I used to beat those guys and I thought I could be there, doing well. It was beginning to hurt."

Diplomacy was required when approaching his mother. Viviane Senna da Silva had not only been extremely close to Ayrton but she had devoted herself to the Ayrton Senna Foundation, the charity started without fanfare by her brother and which has raised US$100m (£67m) for projects aiding underprivileged children. It was during a private moment at home that the subject of racing was raised.

"When I was 18 I was working with my grandfather in one of our car dealerships," Senna says . "My mum realised that I wasn't very happy. I didn't want to go out, I didn't want to do much.[She] came to me and said, 'You are getting a bit older now. What do you want to do with your life?' And I was, like, 'Y'know mum, I would actually like to go back to racing'. She wasn't angry or anything but she was surprised because, for eight years, I hadn't spoken about it. After a while she realised that I was serious. Then she started to give me a lot of support.

"We realised from the very beginning thatthere was no point using another name to avoid attention," he adds. "As soon as the first person discovered who I was, they'd be asking, 'Why are you not using your name? Are you afraid about it?' So I thought it was best to just go for it and take the pressure head on."

That pressure is about to increase hugely from the moment a new phase in Senna's life begins in Bahrain this weekend.

Le 11/03 à 00:05
 

Identify who's driving which car ahead of the season's 19 races

Le 10/03 à 15:51
 

• Brazilian confident following successful winter testing
• Planning to score points at Bahrain opener on Sunday

Felipe Massa believes Ferrari is in position to have their best Formula One season for many years. Speaking ahead of the first race of the 2010 campaign, which takes place in Bahrain on Sunday, Massa said the team were in confident mood following successful winter testing when their new F10 car proved to be competitive as well as reliable.

"I am very happy and very motivated that we can start the championship in a better way not just than last year, which was not a very good year, but also than the other championships," Massa told the Ferrari website. "It looks like we are in good condition to start the championship. What we did in the winter tests was very positive. Our car and our team were very competitive.

"I think it shows that we have a car ready to start the season. But we have to work every day to improve the situation and improve the car race by race to be at the top. But I'm very motivated."

The 2009 season was an extremely poor one for Ferrari. The team won just one race with their sluggish F60 car and saw Massa suffer a life-threatening injury during qualifying for the Hungary grand prix in July.

But having invested much time and money into the F10, as well as recruiting Fernando Alonso to drive alongside a now fully-fit Massa, there is a renewed sense of optimism within the Italian team. The aim, it appears, is to score regularly and score quickly.

"It's good to think about the points straight away," said Massa. "My expectation is definitely to score many points. Even if maybe we don't know if it will be possible to win, it will be important to start the championship in the right direction. That's our expectation and that's what we're looking for.

"The feeling is good, but for sure our feet are on the ground because we know we are going to have a very difficult championship. There are a lot of good cars, good teams and good drivers."

Le 10/03 à 13:49
 

Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth and other drivers talk about what they're planning on doing in their break after the season's first four weeks. (NBC Sports)

Sticking with its “boys, have at it” attitude, NASCAR placed Carl Edwards on three-race probation Tuesday for his deliberate wreck with Brad Keselowski in last weekend’s race at Atlanta.

FanHouse: Carl Edwards rammed his car into another vehicle Sunday. In the real world, that's called road rage. In the NASCAR world, that's called "a good time." Edwards should be sent to jail for what he did to Brad Keselowski. And NASCAR should be charged with aiding and abetting.

• German aims to 'play a role' in race to title
• Warns not to expect Mercedes to start season in style

Michael Schumacher is ready to scrap his way to this year's Formula One world title, insisting that his Mercedes team is good enough to "play a role" in the chase for the championship.

The most successful driver in the history of the sport is poised to make his comeback this weekend after nearly three-and-a-half years away. He has so far delivered mixed messages on whether he feels the Mercedes he will be driving this year is good enough for race wins, starting in Bahrain on Sunday.

But the 41-year-old German says he is adamant he is prepared to battle his way to glory again and add to his seven world championships. Asked if he was ready to fight for the title, Schumacher replied: "Absolutely, yes. This is what I am here for.

"I am confident we can play a role in this fight. Our entire team is extremely motivated, as am I. The guys won both titles last year [as Brawn GP], and now with Mercedes on board they want to repeat this success.

"The season will be long and hard, no doubt about that, but I love this fight. It is because of this fight that I came back to Formula One."

Schumacher also dismissed suggestions that people have put unfair pressure on him by expecting him to compete for the title. "I said it quite clear from the beginning, we do not have to - and probably will not – be in a position to win right from the start," he said on his personal website. "It is important to be close and then use the long season to be at the top at the end. It is not the start which is important – it is the finish."

Le 09/03 à 15:46
 

Red Bull's superstar in the making tells how he is gearing up for more rivalry with his team-mate – and a certain fellow German

Sebastian Vettel whips off his grimy beanie and ruffles his tousled hair in amused relief. He is the most thrilling young driver in Formula One and, following his second place for Red Bull in last year's championship, the most intriguing competitor in this season's potentially riveting battle for the world title. But Vettel is also, by far, the most relaxed and engaging racer in the notoriously guarded paddock.

"You might think I'd get more attention this year," the 22-year-old German says in his immaculate English, "but there has actually been less focus on me. This is all because some old German guy decided to come back. He is keeping all the German writers very busy and that's good for me. I take my hat off to the old guy."

Vettel waves his beanie in the direction of the Mercedes motorhome where a returning Michael Schumacher offers just one compelling strand in a revitalised racing narrative which resumes this Sunday with the opening race in Bahrain. "This season we might get lucky and talk about the racing rather than politics or business," Vettel says. "We've got Ferrari, McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull. That's four teams and eight drivers. At the moment it's difficult to know who is at the top. One of us will finish first and one of us will finish eighth – with six others between.

"And we have this interesting competition between team-mates. You've got two British drivers in a British team – with [Lewis] Hamilton and [Jenson] Button at McLaren. I don't think it's going to be easy for Jenson. Lewis is very quick and he has known this team for many years. You can see what he did back in 2007 when Fernando Alonso was at McLaren. So I'm very interested to see McLaren and Ferrari [where Alonso and Felipe Massa have had their moments of strife].

"Obviously in Germany people are more interested in Michael and Nico [Rosberg] and a rivalry between two German drivers. A lot of things could happen in all these teams. So I think the most spectacular combination is me and Mark [Webber] because everyone knows we don't have a problem. Of course I want to beat him every time, and he wants to beat me, but we get along well."

Vettel nods in acknowledgement when reminded that he and Webber have had their problems. Their relationship started badly when, in 2007, Vettel shunted Webber off the track during the Japanese grand prix. Vettel drove then for Toro Rosso and he was chasing Webber who, in turn, was pushing Hamilton hard for the lead in sheeting rain. After the race Webber seethed: "It's kids – they fuck it all up."

Last year there were also some combative battles between Webber and Vettel as the Australian veteran and the German tyro came close to hunting down Button after the British driver looked to have wrapped up the title after winning six out of the first seven races. "You know Mark," Vettel says of his similarly likeable team‑mate, "he is not afraid of saying what he thinks. So after that crash in Japan he was direct. He was angry and I was angry but, afterwards, I was sorry. We've never had a problem since."

Webber ranted against Vettel's inexperience in 2007 but the German's rise as a prodigy can be measured in the number of records he holds. He is the youngest-ever driver to score points in a Formula One race [when aged 19 at the US grand prix in 2007] as well as the youngest-ever to take pole position and reach the podium. He also became the youngest-ever race winner when, just a few months after he turned 21, he was victorious at the Italian grand prix in September 2008.

It has long been an open secret in the pit-lane that Vettel is on course to become the next great star of the sport. Even more impressively, he appears as entertained as he is gratified by such bold claims. "All these nice people saying I'm going to be world champion won't make me any faster," he says. "You have to believe it yourself."

Attention might initially gravitate towards Schumacher but Vettel should overshadow the racing great with whom he has been compared since his teenage years. "They used to call me 'Baby Schumi'. I didn't like it but I understood. In Britain, when you had Nigel Mansell, a national icon, the question after him was always the same, 'Who is the next Nigel Mansell?' The only one you didn't get it with was Eddie The Eagle because he was not much good."

Schumacher has rarely been loved outside of Germany, or the fevered enclave at Ferrari, but Vettel has a wry humour and warm personality. His affection for British culture is already well-known with his passion for listening to the Beatles on vinyl and for reciting whole chunks of Monty Python and Little Britain already making him different to Schumacher.

"I like British culture – and maybe it's because I have a sense of humour that is not always politically correct. That helps! I really like England even if it's always raining and there are lots of roundabouts in Milton Keynes [where Red Bull are based]. But let's not forget I'm a German driver in an English team so I don't expect to be the most popular person. I hear this phrase quite a lot in England – 'Oh, he's a typical German'. It's normal. In Germany we have the same thing about 'a typical Englishman'. I think it's quite funny. National stereotypes come about but not every person fits into the scheme.

"I saw how the British can be when I won at Silverstone last year. I don't think it was the nicest race for them but afterwards they were so happy, so cheerful, even though I wasn't Lewis or Jenson. I went on stage and thousands of British guys seemed to go crazy. It was incredible – and I was quite surprised."

It seems even more surprising that someone as young as Vettel should be the only driver in Formula One to manage himself. "Well, I try to do it," he laughs. "I come from an ordinary family – my dad is a carpenter, a roof-maker – and we've always loved racing together. We never went on holidays. We went karting and even my big sister enjoyed this. She would take my lap times and so we were in racing together. It seemed natural to go this way when I went into Formula One and managed myself – while taking advice from my family and close friends.

"You can have managers who will tell you how great you are. But your family is more honest and we are doing OK. People say, 'Oh, you need a manager to get you into adverts or to make you more money'. But I'm fine. I want to make my own decisions. Sometimes it's funny because, in a negotiation, you can sit at a table with some very experienced people in their sixties. But you soon forget about your age and you do your best."

Has he made any errors as a self-managed driver? "No, I don't regret any step I've taken so far. The problem with Formula One and football is that so much money is involved. Formula One is big business and, unfortunately, everyone is too caught up in his own interests and what ends up in his own pocket. For some people it is just business. And that's a big problem. You can't always say what you'd like to say. But the important thing for me is the racing – and to stay the same person I've always been."

As just one example of Vettel's determined ordinariness he insists that, whenever he watches Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga, he stands anonymously among the fans. "I've never been to a corporate box or a lounge to watch football. I couldn't do that. You want to be with the fans who are singing and shouting. And at half-time I enjoy going down and standing in the queue to get a sausage with everyone else."

Does he get recognised much because of his burgeoning status in Formula One, having won four races last season? "The last time I went it was a derby match against Mainz. A bit like Arsenal and Chelsea – except much smaller. I had my hat pulled down low and only a couple of people recognised me. But I wasn't hiding. I was just like everyone else, huddling against the cold. But we won that day and I went away very happy. That's what sport is about for me."

In the unforgiving paddock Formula One boils down to winning – and making as much money as possible from a corporate enterprise. But, this season, the very human and remarkably gifted Vettel might just transform the cynical perception of an often cold business. "Last year it was different. No one expected Red Bull to challenge for the title. But now people expect us to be at the top. I like that but I also think it's important for me to say hi to all the mechanics from those other smaller teams who helped me when I was starting out. Sometimes that gets lost along the way."

Then, just in case he sounds too noble for his own good, Vettel leans forward intently. "I want to win a lot of races this year – and it would be nice to start in Bahrain. It's not my favourite track but I finished second there last year. There's no champagne but the trophies they give out are great. I got a small, silver one last year and now I'd like the really big one."

Best of all, as Vettel admits, would be a glittering trophy at the end of season which seals his apparent destiny as he becomes only the second German to win the world championship. "I'd love that, but seven other drivers are each planning something different. But I like to think that, this year, I could be good enough."

Le 09/03 à 09:13
 

With Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton in tow, British eyes will be firmly on this highly fancied F1 team this year

In the silver corner

With Mercedes gone, you'd expect McLaren to pimp new colours - all black, perhaps. But they've kept the famous Silver Arrow paint job with which the German car maker made its racing name. Silver is "a colouration that works for our partners and us". McLaren might once again be a privateer team, but they're as corporate as ever. This team is so serious the MP4-25 has frown lines.

Highs and lows of 2009

Having channelled all their resources into Lewis Hamilton's 2008 world title, someone forgot to work on the following year's car. But they staged a dramatic mid-season turnaround, claiming two wins.

Just don't mention

McLaren seem to have more gates than Heathrow Airport. No sooner had we forgotten 2007's Spygate, than last season delivered their latest reputation-buster: caught fibbing to the stewards at the Australian grand prix, Hamilton was tarnished by Liegate.

Change is good

Imagining you'll get away with telling porkies in the headmaster's office suggests muddled thinking but the Aussie faux pas was a one-off. If these strategists can't master the new rules, no team can.

Stands out in a crowd

If you've ever seen the inside of a mechanic's toolbox, you'll wonder how a Formula One team made cleanliness their USP. The lifts at the McLaren Technology Centre were designed specifically so they require no oily cables and the last thing you'll find in the engine bay is a saucy Pirelli calendar. If only their reputation were so spotless.

Most likely to crash into

McLaren's and Ferrari's long-standing rivalry is compounded by the Scuderia's special relationship with the FIA – which takes every opportunity it can to punish the British squad. If McLaren aim their racers at anyone it will be the scattering officials in parc fermé.

Pitboard message

It would be pertinent to optimise the velocity of our auto-vehicular components at this time.

Who pulls the strings

McLaren often draw staff from outside motor sport, which is how they ended up with ex-BAE man Martin Whitmarsh at the helm. He took over when Ron Dennis (an old-school boss who started as a grease monkey) stepped aside, completing the transformation from garagiste outfit to corporate monolith.

Cockpit compatibility

The consensus is that Hamilton, embedded in the team since before puberty, will humble Jenson Button. But the reformed playboy has had more tough seasons than Hamilton has million-pound sponsorship deals. Button can knuckle down and pray his results do the talking; his team-mate has it all to prove.

What's in the boot

Mercedes is still supplying the engine and Whitmarsh loves to talk about the team's technical "strength in depth" (four mentions in the MP4-25 press pack alone) and with two world champions at the steering wheels, collecting the big gong is the target.

Tiger in the tank

Hamilton set the fastest time at the second test, his long-run pace also impressing. But McLaren were the only ones to master KERS last season and may regret the teams' decision to abandon this inconvenient nod towards the environment.

Tweet this

With two world champs in the top British team, Blighty is guaranteed another title.

Not this

Do you not remember when Prost took out his McLaren team-mate Senna at Suzuka in 89?

Title odds

2-1

If they were an iPhone app

Tetris

All about fitting odd and ill-matched shapes into a pattern. It can boggle the eyes at close quarters but all looks calm from a distance. A trifle old-fashioned and it lacks bells or whistles – at times it looks a wee bit clunky but in the hands of someone with the right skills manages to get the job done. Sometimes it does a 180° turn and ends up facing the direction it came from but is usually only defeated by sheer speed

The drivers

1. Jenson Button, 30, Britain

He's the one who

Resembles a sockless, trendy architect in the Boden catalogue. Formerly presumed to be as laid back as Jeff Lebowski but after his car turned from a torpedo into a tank last summer he revealed his stamina to take the drivers' title and earned a unique accolade – a footbridge in Frome named in his honour.

On track for

Thrillingly proved last year that, given the right tools, he can do the job. The spectre of what happened to Fernando Alonso at McLaren in 2007 stalks any team-mate of Lewis Hamilton's but Button is more mentally robust and mature.

In another life he'd be

Living Michael Caine's part in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels as the bronzed, debonair and occasionally slippery Englishman on the Midi beat.

2. Lewis Hamilton, 25, Britain

He's the one who

Masks his indomitability and ruthless streak behind the considerable charm and countenance of a doe-eyed boy-band balladeer always ready with a dazzling smile to make the grannies swoon.

On track for

Demonstrating 2009 was a blip that furthered the education of the prodigiously talented non dom and that the salad days of 2007 and the title a year later will return now McLaren's boffins have got their swagger back. Tougher than ever, he will also be keen to rebound triumphantly by pulling someone to make his former Pussycat Doll lover Nicole Scherzinger go 'miaow'.

In another life he'd be

Starting a fight between Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue over the honour of mentoring him on The X Factor.

Facts and figures

Debut Monaco 1966

Grands prix 665

Wins 164 Poles 145

Constructors' titles 8

Drivers' titles 12

Based Woking

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh Technical director Paddy Lowe

The car

Engine Mercedes-Benz FO 108Z

Tyres Bridgestone

Le 08/03 à 22:00
 

The Italian team will not want to repeat last season's ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the Formula One standings

In the red and blue corner

Used to be the gallant little Minardi squad from Faenza, one of the sport's most charismatic also-rans. But one day Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz blew into town and decided that he would like to own a second Formula One team. Hence Minardi became Toro Rosso, much to the disappointment of their fans who organised an online petition in protest. Still Toro Rosso came good with their 2008 win at the Italian grand prix with young German thruster Sebastian Vettel at the wheel. In so doing they became the only Italian team other than Ferrari to win a grand prix since Juan Manuel Fangio grabbed a victory for Maserati in 1957. Toro Rosso is Italian for Red Bull, as if you haven't worked that out already.

Highs and lows of 2009

Having won the 2008 rain-soaked Italian grand prix at Monza with their prodigy Vettel, the main Red Bull squad nicked him for their own line-up. That left Toro Rosso with Sébastien Buemi and Sébastien Bourdais. The latter was kicked out midway through the season to be replaced, not with another Seb but by the unproven teenage Jaime Alguersuari, who crashed immediately on his first outing. Will not want to repeat last season's ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the standings.

Just don't mention

Alguersuari mistook the Red Bull pit for his own during the season-ending Abu Dhabi grand prix and stopped there seconds before the eventual race winner, Vettel, was due to come in and refuel. The Spaniard was hurriedly waved back into the race and stopped with a broken gearbox seconds later.

Change is good

They always have the potential to surprise, even though they have modest resources by the standards of the frontrunners. With their young and promising drivers, they just might spring a surprise this season.

Stands out in a crowd

They can tap into Red Bull's technical knowhow, even though the rules say they have to build their own car from scratch. Useful to look through Red Bull's window at Milton Keynes, though.

Most likely to crash into

Just about anybody on the grid apart from Red Bull duo Vettel and Mark Webber. Or one of the factory Ferraris, of course. Pushing the car might just become a little tiresome.

Pitboard message

Pit next lap. And our pit, please, if you don't mind.

Who pulls the strings

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli. He used to work with Ayrton Senna at McLaren and Gerhard Berger at Ferrari. So when he speaks the kids had better listen. And listen good.

Cockpit compatibility

Both not quite nutters but wild and woolly racers as they learned the Formula One ropes together last season. Could get quite sparky once they settle down and each harnesses his undoubted potential more positively. They are both basically pretty good drivers with a combined age of 40. That's a year fewer than Michael Schumacher.

What's in the boot

A Ferrari V8 which should be both reliable and reasonably competitive. They should be aiming for mid-grid placings by the middle of the year.

Tiger in the tank

Always good at conserving budgets. They never had much money back in the Minardi days, so they have not really had to adapt too radically to the FIA's cost-cutting initiatives.

Tweet this

Alguersuari's improving, yes?

Not this

I mean, one pit looks like any other.

Title odds

100-1

If they were an iPhone app

The Moron Test

Your boss has a tendency to think you are a complete idiot and sets fiendishly difficult tests for you to prove otherwise. Difficult to master but good fun, it has the capacity to boggle the mind. It frequently poses the question 'where are you right now?', the answer to which everyone is waiting to hear. Puzzling and at times not what it seems – when you think you have got its measure you realise it is impossible to succeed in this game

The drivers

1. Sebastien Buemi, 21, Switzerland

He's the one who

Looks like the sensitive jock in a high school flick whose bombast masks a secret passion for opera. While others in the paddock flock to Switzerland on their accountants' advice, this Swiss lives in Bahrain with his Uncle Humbert's family and the kingdom's 1% income tax rates.

On track for

Bookended a difficult debut season in an unreliable car with a commendable start and finish – seventh place in Australia and Brazil and eighths in China and Abu Dhabi. Maturing and impressed everyone with his spirit but points may remain scarce and age has not made team principal, the Tartarish Franz Tost, any more cuddly or patient.

In another life he'd be

Life modelling for the Easter Island statues.

2. Jaime Alguersuari, 19, Spain

He's the one who

Showed that the regulation banning in-season testing was ridiculous when he became the youngest ever driver by replacing Bourdais and floundered in the last eight grands prix of 2009. Comes with a sizeable personal sponsorship package and a great record in F3.

On track for

He was two when Michael Schumacher won his first grand prix and his lack of experience and rashness were considered a danger last year. Proper testing will benefit him but it's hard to see him breaking the top 16.

In another life he'd be

The blue-eyed short-lived love interest for whichever Coronation Street teen temptress is getting 'readers' of Nuts hot in the trouser department this week.

Facts and figures

Debut Bahrain 2006

Grands prix 70

Wins 1 Poles 1

Constructors' titles 0

Drivers' titles 0

Based Faenza, Italy

Team principal Franz Tost

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli

The car

Engine Ferrari

Tyres Bridgestone

Le 08/03 à 22:00
 

After an anti-climatic championship capped a season of turmoil in 2009, Michael Schumacher's return to Formula One has set the stage for a highly anticipated title fight.

Opinion: Those fans who compare Carl Edwards to Dale Earnhardt must be new fans or those who weren't paying attention. Because Earnhardt never would have pulled the move Edwards did on the Atlanta track.

Opinion: Picking the winners and losers from Sunday's Kobalt Tools 500 at Atlanta is easy – there were plenty of both. The bizarre race featured several surprise finishers in the top 10 and many contenders falling by the wayside due to tire problems and wild wrecks.