2010 Start in Bahrain

The 2010 Formula 1 Season is about to start, and this year it is in Bahrain. A great course with a decent amount of difficulty, speed, and limited passing areas. With a much greater fuel load and pit stops expected to take place in less than 3 seconds, or at least that is the goal set by Renault this year. Entering this grand prix however, who is in the best position to win.

The early front runners are: Ferrari, McClaren, and Red Bull, all of which posting incredible results throughout all of testing. Then at the opposite spectrum, with HRT (formerly Campos Meta) entering the ring last minute and not completing a single practice lap are the destined to finish in last, a spot last year held by both Torro Rosso for most of the season. Then consider the difficulty Virgin had during testing, will their car stay together during the race or will it fall apart like in Jerez and Barcelona. While Lotus managed to complete a successful testing session at both Jerez and Barcelona, they look to be the front-runners for the new entries. In case you are wondering about US F1, they did not make the deadline and will not be competing in this years Formula 1 world championship.

So it is now time for me to make my 2010 season predictions for the top 5 teams and drivers.

Teams:
1: McClaren
2: Ferrari
3: Mercedes GP
4: Red Bull
5:Renault

Drivers:
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Michael Schumacher
3. Felipe Massa
4. Jenson Button
5. Sebastion Vettel

Jerez Testing

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Jerez.svg

Testing in Jerez Spain has marked now marked 8 days of total driving over 2 separate sessions. Unlike in Valencia where Ferrari dominated the whole testing period, in both sessions this time out the winners were spread far and wide between last year's world champion driver (Jenson Button) and one of last year's bottom ranking ranking drivers (Jaime Alguersuari). The track that all this has taken place on is Circuito Permanente de Jerez, a 13 turn circuit.

On the first set of testing in Jerez there has been a wide variety of winners, with one day of testing taking place in the rain. Throughout the course of the weekend the only team or driver to remain consistant in the top three was Jaime Algersuari and Torro Rosso. Here are the top times for session 1:
Day 1: Nico Rosberg, Mercedes GP, 1:20.927, 57 Laps
Day 2: Kamui Kobayashi, BMW Sauber, 1:19.950, 103 Laps
Day 3: Jaime Alguersuari, Toro Rosso, 1:19.919, 76 Laps
Day 4: Lewis Hamilton, McLaren, 1:19.583, 113 Laps


The second session of driving was dominated by last years runner-up in the constructors championship (Red Bull Racing). With the other two top drivers being last years one and two for the World Championship who now race for seperate teams (Rubens Barrichello, Jenson Button). Making this second and final session of testing in Jerez to appear more as a review of last year's top drivers. Here are the top times for session 2:
Day 1:Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.593, 104 Laps
Day 2:Rubens Barrichello, Williams, 1:27.145, 98 Laps
Day 3:Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:19.299, 115 Laps
Day 4:Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:18.871, 108 Laps