Bleacher Report - Articles by Jamie Arnold

F1 New Teams: Ginetta Should Lodge an Entry

Jamie Arnold — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 12:44:51 -0400

As some of you may know, Ginetta is a small car manufacturer from Leeds. They have recently produced the quick GT car, the G50. Also, they help produce some very talented racers from the competitive Ginetta Junior championship.

And, even more recently, they joined forces with Zytek and produced a Ginetta-Zytek LMP1 car, which, on its debut race, was the fastest petrol-powered car and led the Petit Le Mans race outright.

The G50 is available as a fully electric road car, showing that they have the capability to develop a KERS system.

What I would really love to see is a Ginetta Formula 1 team, which, with the right funding, could be a possibility.

Just so you all know, this is an idea that just sprang to my head and nothing to do with Ginetta themselves.

Lewis Hamilton Lucky In Good Result.

Jamie Arnold — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 06:24:17 -0400

First of all I would like to congratulate Jenson Button as his dominant weekend in Melbourne and the Brawn GP team as a whole, also I think some praise can go towards Sir Richard Branson for making the BBC's coverage even more entertaining.

Okay, so with the first race of the 2009 championship over and a win for Jenson Button and BGP, impressive displays by Toyota, Williams, Red Bull, BMW and last but not least Sebastien Buemi a one Mr Lewis Hamilton came in third for McLaren, a feat that most are saying was very impressive, I believe that Lewis was the luckiest driver on the grid.

Now before I go any further I am not saying that he didn't drive well as that would be highly incorrect, we saw some brilliant overtaking manoeuvres by him (and a few other drivers too, it seems the new regulations have worked to a certain extent) and relatively good pace throughout.

Lewis deserves praise for his driving this weekend as he at least looked like a more mature and less hot headed driver than past years.

But third place was undeserved of the McLaren as only driver retirements from fist off his own team-mate then Williams (Kazuki Nakajima) Renault (Nelson Piquet) Ferrari (Massa + Raikkonen) BMW (Kubica) Red Bull (Sebastien Vettel) and an ill Williams in the form of Nico Rosberg as the pace Nico showed was very impressive up until this point.

Also the first corner mayhem that lead to Nick Heidfeld and Mark Webber having damaged cars and therefore poor showings also helped towards Hamilton's cause.

Next week in Sepang we will hopefully see less carnage. and a true representation of where all the teams are at, this weekend has given us a good outline and from what I took from it my Team Rankings so far are;

1. Brawn GP

2. BMW Sauber

3. Toyota

4. Williams/Red Bull

6. Ferrari

7. Renault

8. McLaren/Toro Rosso

10. Force India

Maybe other people have other ideas of which teams are in which order and I would like to hear where others think the teams are at.

The main point of this article though is to say that yes Lewis Hamilton drove very well today, but it was luck that brought him 3rd place far more than pace.

Also just as a last point, KERS seems to make the racing more enjoyable to watch although I believe this is only because some have it and some don't, if all teams had it then it would cancel itself out.

Toyota's And Lewis Hamilton Relegated To Back Of Grid.

Jamie Arnold — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 09:05:35 -0400

With the long wait for the 2009 Formula 1 season to start came a fantastic qualifying session at Melbourne, the all new Brawn GP team locked out row one of the grid with Jenson Button heading the pair with P1.

Timo Glock then Nico Rosberg then Robert Kubica taking third spot which was finally stolen by wonder-kid Sebastien Vettel leaving the aforementioned in fourth (Kubica) fifth (Nico) and sixth(Glock) respectively.

With McLaren knowing they were off the pace before they arrived in Melbourne they were not expecting great things and are doing their best with damage limitation, perhaps the slight shock for some is that Hamilton was out-paced by revived Heikki Kovalainen.

With Lewis Hamilton not posting a time for Q2 due to a 'drive train problem' it was looking like a tough weekend ahead, now the weekend has been made that extra bit more difficult as the "drive train problem" has turned out to be a gearbox problem and McLaren have had to do a gearbox change on Hamilton's car.

This results in Hamilton being given a five place grid penalty which now leaves the current World Champion Brit in last place on the grid.

Also, just after qualifying the FIA checked the rear wing of the Toyota's of Timo Glock and Jarno Trulli.

The FIA deemed the rear wings to have "extreme flexibility" which goes against "Article 3.15 of the 2009 Formula One Technical Regulations", as a result of this, the qualifying time's of the two Toyota's have been cancelled.

This means that at the very back of the grid will be the Toyota's with Hamilton just ahead (or at least that is how I have perceived what I have read, and it could quite easily be that Hamilton starts at the back with the Toyota's just ahead).

This also means that now Massa will be P6 and Raikkonen will be P7.

[Source: FIA, Formula One Official News Web site, iTV, BBC, and other outlets]

I'm Back! A Few Months Off And An Interesting Off-Season, What's Been Happening

Jamie Arnold — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 17:00:01 -0500

Well we all know about the rule changes and other than the final seat at Toro Rosso, all the driver line-ups are confirmed, the big news obviously is Honda pulling out of F1.

But with Honda considering 12 of 30 offers, I am fairly certain we will see the Honda developed racing machine going round in somebody else's livery, hopefully with Jens at the wheel and either Rubens (Barrichello) or Bruno (Senna) in the sister car.

Now at this point, I would like to say that being a Felipe Massa fan I want him to win the title this year, although...

I believe the most talented driver on the grid is Mr. Alonso, the most talented Brit (in F1) is Jenson Button, the best upcoming star would have to be Seb Vettel.

Now, predictions for the season ahead, I'm expecting the usual. Ferrari and McLaren to be at the top with Lewis and Felipe heading the title challenge, now the mid-field is where it's all happening, we've got BMW, Toyota, Renault, Red Bull, Honda* and Toro Rosso all of, which I'm expecting to win at least one race and be challenging all the time.

I think that Force India could well get podiums and unfortunately Williams will be the whipping boys, mainly due to the low budget (relative to the other teams). The only consolation being the very talented Nico Rosberg being at the wheel, which could well be the defining factor of their development and their challenge for points.

Amongst all of this, there was a little hint from Mr. Richards of Pro-Drive that he was thinking of again trying to become the next Dietrich Mateschitz of the Formula 1 world, albeit the plan is for 2010 or 2011.

Also, away from the Formula 1 world, Andy Priaulx has a new deal with BMW in WTCC, now am I the only one here that would like to see him in F1?

Comments people,

The Farcial Marshal Decision Of Spa Francorchamps

Jamie Arnold — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 07:15:19 -0400

Now I am a die hard Felipe Massa fan, but even I can admit that the decision by the marshals to hand Lewis Hamilton a 25-second penalty which gives Massa the win at Spa and Heidfield the second place spot, this leaves Massa only two points behind Hamilton in the championship standings and in a very good championship position.

Now, today's Grand Prix was entertaining but I was frustrated with Massa as it seemed he could not cope with the pace of Lewis and Kimi for whatever reason that may be (the commentators saying his engine was down on power as it was its second race while Lewis and Kimi had new engines) and I believe he deserved the second place he finished in due to Kimi falling off the track in the rain, showing that it was him and NOT Massa that cannot drive in the rain, as many people on here have said.

At the time that the incident happened I thought that Lewis had done a fantastic job to take Kimi after letting him back past, truly good racing, but it came to light that with going off on the run off he had the advantage going in to la source due to extra momentum.

I felt that a 10-second penalty would have been enough but absolutely pointless, so I thought maybe a ten place grid drop in the next race would be the penalty given, although I still thought this would have been slightly harsh.

A 25-second penalty was given which is completely ridiculous, and that is coming from a Felipe Massa fan!

Even after I have written this article I am still happy that Felipe has won at Spa and is only two points away from Lewis in the championship, a nice note to leave everybody on so that people can have something to comment on.

Formula 1 Points Scoring System: A Change Is Needed

Jamie Arnold — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 09:54:45 -0400

Ok, so as we know since 2003 the points scoring has been:

First = 10 points

Second = 8 points

Third = 6 points

Fourth = 5 points

Fifth = 4 points

Sixth = 3 points

Seventh = 2 points

Eighth = 1 point

I am tired of drivers being conservative and "settling" for second place.

I want to see the drivers fighting for first, like in the good old days of Ayrton Senna or Gilles Villeneuve.

I think it would be better to give the driver who finishes first four points more than the driver finishes second, not just the two like currently.

Also, I would like to see one point given to the pole sitter, as this is not always seen as an achievement if the driver is at Ferrari/McLaren.

One last point, I would like to see the driver who sets the fastest lap of the race awarded one point for this achievement, again I think this is overlooked too often and the drivers should be awarded.

That would make a maximum points haul of 14 points for a driver who gets pole, sets the fastest lap and wins the race. Also if a driver gets pole and sets the fastest lap but comes in second in the race, it would reduce the difference to the winner back to just two points.

Now this is the reason I feel this is more important: What if the driver takes pole, then sets the fastest lap, and then one corner from the finish of a race in which he has led from the start, his engine gives up?

At least he would still gets two points for his efforts, rather than the big fat zero he would get with the current point scoring system.

I think it will be really interesting to see what everybody thinks; I'm going to guess that the results will be polarized.

Bruno Senna Is Destined For Formula 1

Jamie Arnold — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 23:17:16 -0400

From what I've read Bruno Senna is looking good for a Formula 1 seat, if not in 2009, then definitely 2010.

It all started back in his karting days, where, as you might have guessed, he was super quick, and if nobody else knew, his uncle did.

Ayrton Senna once said "If you think I'm good, just wait until you see my nephew Bruno".

Unfortunately, with the passing of the late, great Ayrton, the Senna family pulled Bruno out of racing.

11 years later, in the 2005 season, Bruno started his first competitive race in British Formula BMW and also ran in British Formula Renault, after just 5 races he moved up to the British Formula 3 International Series.

In the 2006 season, he again raced in British Formula 3 notching up nine podiums of which four were wins, pretty impressive for only his second season of racing and in such a competitive series.

In 2007, Senna competed in GP2, arguably the most difficult competition aside from Formula 1, and again, Senna showed his talent, getting on the podium three times with one race win, finishing eighth in the championship in only his third season of racing ever.

In the 2008 GP2 season, so far, Senna has stood on the podium six times with two of those coming from race wins, he has finished lower than sixth only twice and is currently second in the championship trailing Giorgio Pantano by only three points with four races left.

Surely, with the inevitable loss of Sebastien Bordais from the Torro Rosso Formula 1 Team, and Senna's close ties to Gerhard Berger, a Formula 1 seat is not too distant a reality. That would be an amazing achievement to start your Formula 1 career after just four seasons of competitive racing.

Who Is Currently The Best Driver On The Formula 1 Grid?

Jamie Arnold — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:49:43 -0400

Ok, so what I want from this is people's opinions on who is the best driver on the grid...the title pretty much sums it up eh, ha! ha!

So what we want here is to take into consideration not just how the drivers are currently performing but potential they have shown over the last season or few seasons.

Also, take into consideration, which cars they are in and the performance levels in comparison to their team-mates.

For example, last year, Lewis Hamilton performed very well along side the reigning world champion Fernando Alonso and has dominated a promising Heikki Kovalainen. Same goes for the other 19 teams, if we can identify.

Would like to see people opine on not just the top driver, but the top three.

Mine are:

1=. Massa + Vettel (too difficult to choose for me) 3. Glock

Looking forward to seeing the results

Can Felipe Massa Clinch The Formula 1 World Championship?

Jamie Arnold — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:00:34 -0400

Personally, I think Massa can do it.

The reason being that I have followed him through Formula 1 and he impressed me when he raced alongside Michael Schumacher as he showed that he could keep up with arguably the best racing driver in the history of racing (personally, I think Senna is) and also beat him, and now he is racing with Kimi Raikkonen who is the reigning world champ, and beating him by a substantial margin.

If Felipe didn't have reliability problems, he would be winning by a fair amount of points and I can see him dominating the rest of the races in the season.

While I'd like to talk about David Coulthard... did anybody else cheer at his announcement to finally retire? Good old DC had crashed into other people several times this season with ridiculous overtaking moves mostly coming from way too far back. I despise him and will be extremely happy to read the grid without his name on it!

Just one more thing (I promise), I am also extremely happy at the rule changes for next season and the fact that Formula 1 is going back to the BBC.

What's with ITV's obsession with Lewis Hamilton?!

I mean fair enough the lad is quick, but he is in the fastest car. There are plenty of drivers better than him, even British ones like Jenson Button and Andy Priaulx. And non-British drivers such as, Sebastian Vettel, Timo Glock, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica and (on his day) Adrian Sutil.

Next year, I'm sure is going to be a fantastic season with the change back to slick tyres, 50% less aero grip, KERS, going back to the BBC, and the possible arrival of the late great Ayrton Senna's nephew Bruno, who is just like his uncle in looks and driving ability. I believe Ayrton himself once said "if you think I'm quick, you should see my nephew," and unfortunately after Senna's death the family pulled Bruno out of racing completely, which means if he does get into F1 next year it will be only his fourth season of racing...EVER! Which is a massive achievement in itself.

Either way, we are in a cracking season this year and we are undoubtedly going to be treated to awesome racing next season.

Keep the opinions coming, and the picks/stars.

Aloha!