And in 2010 it's...GO GO GO!!!

One year ago I wrote a blog about constant rule changes in Formula 1 possibly distracting for the fans.

Well coming into the new season and, although there have been some rule changes such as tyres widths, a new points system and no refuelling for the first time since 1993; there has been none of the debacle like the medals system Bernie Ecclestone tried to put through last winter.

The only downside of the pre-season has been the debacle surrounding some of the new entrants for 2010.

USF1 was launched in 2008 with a plan to enter F1 this year with the FIA duly granting them a place last year along with Campos and Manor, now Virgin Racing (with logos that just make me think of Vauxhall). The plan of having the sport's first American based team seemed a good one to help launch F1 into a continent that has never embraced it, certainly not in the way it has with IndyCar.

So they really had enough time to get their act, and indeed a car, together for the first race in Bahrain. As the months have gone on and the progress appeared to slow done to nothing at all, it's hardly surprising to see them without a place on the official entry list for this year.

In fact, I'd be surprised if we ever see USF1 make it.

But anyway, back to those who are on the grid this year.

Last season was memorable for many reasons. Jenson Button taking his first world championship with Brawn (the most successful constructor in F1 history?), Red Bull and Mark Webber finally winning their first races, the rebirth of Rubens Barrichello and mid-season comeback of McLaren.

So I thought I'd give my thoughts team by team going into the new year.

of the 'silver arrows' for the first time since Moss and Fangio in 1955. Although they were a bit off the pace at first they seem to be making progress, and wins will surely be on the cards, especially when the European season starts. Their new driver's not bad either.


Red Bull: The Milton Keynes team's downfall this year could be the same as that of 2009, reliability. Fast but seemingly a bit fragile, if they can sort the reliability issues out they can easily go one better than last year.

McLaren: Two British world champions and unlike last year, a car that's quick straight out of the box. Been at the sharp end of all tests so far and I expect to see them fighting for the title right down to the very end with possibly the most striking car of 2010.


Ferrari: My favourites for 2010 with Alonso my man to win the title. Fast on light and heavy runs the Ferrari is not only pleasing on the eye but pleasing for Massa and the double world champion. It will be interesting to see how Massa does in his first race since Germany but I expect, and hope, him to be back to winning form.

Williams: Often being tipped as possible dark horses to unsettle the front end of the grid, they never seem to quite deliver during the season. With Barrichello though they have a driver who can win races and hopefully move the team forward. Can they win their first race since Montoya in Brazil 2004?

Renault: A very different team to the one Robert Kubica signed for. The 'crashgate' scandal has meant a loss of personnel and sponsors and the car appears to follow the trend of recent Renault F1 cars, not as competitive as hoped. This season could follow a similar trend to last year for the Pole.

Force India: Their best pre-season to date with Adrian Sutil making some poisitive noises about the VJM03's performance. Whether they can kick on from the back end of 2009 remains to be seen but the times are positive for the former Spyker/Midland/Jordan outfit.

Toro Rosso: The first time they've designed a car since Red Bull bought out Minardi in 2005. The car seems reasonably fast and could quite easily finish in the lower points places during the season and both Buemi and Alguersuari will benefit immensly from the valuable commodity that is testing.

Lotus: The return of one of the F1's most famous names. When one thinks of Lotus they tend to think Chapman and Clark, the ground effect Lotus 78 in its distinctive black and gold livery. 2010 won't bring any of those glory days back, but the green and gold is back on the gird and, although currently off the pace, Trulli and Kovalainen will hopefully bring the team on for future years.

Hispania: F1's first Spanish team launched today and will go to Bahrain with no testing and two rookies. It will be interesting in particular to see how Bruno Senna, nephew of the great Ayrton, gets on and whether the wait for the Senna name to return to the sport will be worth it.

BMW Sauber: For some reason the BMW name stays with the Ferrari powered team. A car which was fast at first but possibly slipped back a bit as testing has gone on. A lack of sponsorship on the car could be a hinderence later in the season as other teams upgrade.

Virgin Racing: The first of the new teams to launch. While an attractive car to look at and slowing getting up to speed, they've been dogged by poor reliability which could hamper their season.

That's my thoughts for each team going into the new season. Can Schumacher push on towards 100 wins? How will the new teams fair? Will the all world champion line up in McLaren be their downfall?

The next 9 months will be brilliant.


Picture credits (courtesy of Flickr):
Rodefeld

Rodefeld

ph-stop
ravas51

Video skills test

My video skills test with Chris Mayer giving his opinion on the Rafalution at Liverpool which has never happened.

Lancashire Evening Post Custom Map

Here is a custom map I made on Google showing four stories from today's Lancashire Evening Post newspaer.


View LEP 4/11/09 in a larger map

Football Museum photos

Here are a selection of resized photos for JN2053 Digital Journalism module. The subject of these photos is the National Football Museum, who's Preston future is in doubt at the moment.


This image is 200x500 pixels big and has been cropped to show the entrance to the museum, to keep the photo as recognisable as possible


This version is 400x300 pixels and therefore can show more of the entrance to the museum.


For the 100x100 pixel i focused on the logo, which is located on the outside wall of the shop next to the entrance. I chose this because the logo was the most obvious and recognisable part of the photo compared to the building desgin.

This is the original photo, showing the complete image with all part of the museum and rest of Deepdale football stadium which could fit into view. From the photo it is possible to see where each of the small photos were cropped to.

Digital Journalism

Mark Payton is the Digital Editorial Director of Haymarket Consumer Media, owned by former Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine.

Some of the titles owned by Haymarket include Autosport, What Car? and FourFourTwo.

In this video, taken from the Meld workshop at Sandbox, Mark discusses how online journalism has affected how the world of online has meant his publications have had to adapt to compete against the new competition.

Button - a deserving champion

It's very nearly been 24 hours since the 2009 F1 Championship was settled, and Jenson Button was crowned as Britain's 10th World Champion.

There are some people who say he does not deserve the title but to be honest, who out there did more to deserve it? The answer is nobody.

Winning six out of the first seven races, a record that betters those of Senna, Mansell and Schumacher, formed the foundations of his title challenge. And despite a mid-season blip which saw both Red Bull drivers and his team-mate Rubens Barrichello start winning races and picking up podiums while Button struggled with a string of poor qualifying sessions.

But over the course of the season, he has won the most races and scored the most points. You can't argue against that. Button has scored more wins this year than Hamilton did last year when he won his title.

Barrichello was the better driver over the second half of the season, buoyed by his victories at Valencia and Monza; his first for five years. But his terrible luck at Interlagos continues. His 17th race in his home city, and he has still not managed better than 3rd despite three pole positions.

Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in the Red Bull's had fast cars but were hampered by poor reliability with the Renault engine not being as consistant as Brawn's Mercedes. Vettel will surely be a champion one day, he has time on his side as well as supreme talent. But this was Brawn's year.

A team which in December did not even exist. A team who didn't get to test the car until three weeks before the season. A team which had to lay off 200 staff to survive. A team which had to redesign part of the car to fit the Mercedes-Benz engine.

It is a brilliant story. This is only the third time since 1998 that a team apart from Ferrari or McLaren has won the Drivers and Constructors championships.

Even in the height of the Ferrari dominance in 2004, Button was 'best of the rest' finishing 3rd in the championship with 85 points and plenty of podium finishes.

The last two years he has been hampered by having two of the worst cars in recent F1 history but this season he got a competetive car and made the most of it. While Barrichello struggled with the anti-stall system which ruined many a race for him, Button charged off to victory after victory at the start of the season.

And despite the Brawn not having the advantage it did at the start of the season; as Red Bull, McLaren and Ferrari close the gap, he got the points he needed to ensure his points lead was never seriously eradicated.

To crown his championship, a charge from 14th on the grid to a 5th placed finish at Felipe Massa's chequered flag with some feisty overtaking manouvers which showed the world he is not a conservative driver. When he needs to, he goes for it.

And he's got his reward.

Headline writing

According to Jakob Nielsen there are five rules that journalists should obey when it comes to headline writing, and in particular, headline writing for the web.

They are:
1. Keep it short. Don't use too many words because people read quickly on the internet and want headlines that are short and easy to read. Sky Sports' headline here is a good short story that will make people stop and read. Four words that will attract a reader because of who and why.

2. Summarise. Every word must tell part of the story so ensure that every word in the headline does its job and gives the reader as much information as possible. The Sun here have summarised up Alex Ferguson in an interview discussing the form of Rio Ferdinand after his mistake in the Ukraine on Saturday night.

3. Most important words at the beginning. Tell as much of the story as possible with the most important facts at the beginning. The BBC do a good job of this, as the headline shows. It gives away the most important part of the story at the start - Newsagents warn Labour.

4. Make it understandable out of context. The headline should be able to summarise the story so even without reading the article the reader knows the most important facts and has an idea of what it is about. Once again the BBC come up trumps with a headline that tells the reader the one fact in the article that actually matters.

5. Predictability. So the reader knows from the headline whether they will like the article or not.
This is the only category the Daily Mail succeeds in, giving its tendancy to write a headline that is so long, it's surprising they have any information left for the article.

The BBC headlines are the best. They tick all five boxes that Nielsen suggests the headlines need to follow. Reading various headlines, I do agree with Nielson that headlines should conform to the rules he suggests.