The Top 3 Teams Going into the Spanish Grand Prix

What’s up with the weather in Barcelona? I read reports that light rain is forecast for some of the weekend, but looking at the weather widget on my right sidebar, the weather forecast looks good. I’ll wait a little longer to be sure. Anyway, time to have a quick look at the 3 top teams and their drivers coming into the Spanish Grand Prix.

At the top of the leader board Ferrari, BMW-Sauber, and McLaren seem to be a little psyched out by each other and really don’t know what to expect. Who knew McLaren would stumble out of the gate and who knew BMW-Sauber would charge to the front. So far the only sure bet is Ferrari.

Kimi Raikkonen looks good to go now after his shaky drive in Australia finishing 1st in Malaysia and 2nd to his team mate in Bahrain. Maybe he had an ear infection in Bahrain that bothered him and maybe he didn’t. I see no reason Kimi won’t be 1st or 2nd this weekend.

Felipe Massa has narrowly escaped the media after easily winning in Bahrain in what seems like years ago now. It’s not unlike Felipe to bounce back after a shaky start to the season and if he has the form of Bahrain he may get some believers back. I think he’ll be in the fight this weekend.

Is the new Ferrari ‘hole in the nose’ effective? I couldn’t tell in testing because Ferrari is fast anyway.

At McLaren Lewis Hamilton was humbled by his worst outing of his short career in Bahrain to the point of taking all the blame for his 13th place finish. I don’t completely buy that. The car was no good, he had a front wing failure after some contact, and the MP4-23 was no where near where it should be. he didn’t drive well, but the result wasn’t all his fault. He’s had 3 weeks off as has everyone and if his car is much better look for Lewis to regain form. If not, his latest book may go for free.

Heikki Kovalainen beat Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain, but couldn’t get up to BMW-Sauber. Him or the car? Probably a bit of both, but Kovalainen is getting better in the McLaren day by day. Remember he recorded the fastest lap in Bahrain and has beaten Lewis the last 2 races. Makes you think doesn’t it.

McLaren had better have found something in last weeks testing because the car isn’t top 2 and both drivers could even come under pressure from Toyota in the name of Jarno Trulli.

From Poland you say? Indeed. Robert Kubica attributes some of his improved form to his weight loss in the off season. 6 kilos down and a new diet. Blogf1 has a good article on F1 drivers diets. 2 out of 3 races on the podium and pole position in Bahrain are making Kubica sound pretty good these days. 3 weeks ago in Bahrain Kubica was for the most part able to match the pace of Ferrari. Despite his performance he is in 6th place in the Drivers Championship while team mate Nick Heidfeld in 2nd.

Nick Heidfeld who was very outspoken about how bad the F1.08 was early on in pre-season testing is now strangely quiet and has crept up to 2nd overall behind Kimi Raikkonen. No problems with Heidfeld’s form as he has been steady as a rock in race 1, 2, and 3 even with a little difficulty getting comfortable with the car.

Everyone still has questions about BMW-Sauber. Maybe their fast rise has taken everyone a bit by surprise as not very many feel they will keep this up. For me, I don’t know yet, but I can’t see them collapsing now.

Tags: barcelona, bmw, bmw sauber, felipe massa, ferrari, heikki kovalainen, kimi raikkonen, lewis hamilton, mclaren, nick heidfeld, robert kubica, spanish grand prix

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