The last of the first batch of flyaway races was China, two weeks ago.  Now the season really starts in earnest, because now the F1 Circus gets to begin the European races.  As is usually the case, the first of these all-important stops is the Grand Prix of Spain in Barcalounger!  Here's the track map:

Its when the teams get home to Europe that the various upgraded implements of destruction downforce get bolted to the cars and sent off for their first real runs.  For some teams, this means a return to dominance.  For others, total failure.  And nobody truly knows which is which until the cars begin running.  It's all so exciting.

Okay, I exaggerate slightly.  The thing about Barcalounger is that for many, many years, it was the home of F1 testing.  Once upon a time, teams knew where every crack in the pavement was, how many layers of paint were on the curbs, where the asphalt changed composition, anything you could think of.  As a result, the Grand Prix of Spain was almost always a processional: since everybody knew everything about the circuit, there would never be a surprise.  And there would also never be passing.

DRS changed that, of course.  And now the new tech regs promise to do it again.  As I've said all season, I have no idea what the race will be like: it could be a parade, it could be another one-sided runaway, it could be a close-fought struggle.  Fortunately, we'll have the Legendary Announce Team to describe it all for us on the following schedule:

FRIDAY
P2: 7a - 830a live
SATURDAY
Quals: 7a - 830a live
SUNDAY
Grand Prix of Spain: 630a - 9a live

F1Update! will be all over the race; it's the preliminaries that we're not sure of quite yet: we've got a big registration day on Saturday morning, and Finals begin in a week.  Gonna be a long one for us here.

In any case... see ya here!

Posted by: Wonderduck at 09:24 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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