F1 Malaysia GP: Law and Disorder

Is Formula One a team sport or an individual sport? This has to be the question on everyone’s mind after this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix. Team orders played into the first four finishing positions. In one team, orders were ignored. For the other, team orders were followed when it was clear the other driver was faster.

In a surprise for many cynical race fans, it was the Red Bull Racing boys who ignored team orders. Sebastian Vettel went by teammate Mark Webber after the race was supposed to be over between them and went on to take the win.

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F1 Power Rankings: Malaysia Grand Prix

We’re only days removed from the excitement of the season opener in Australia but it’s time to gear up for the second round of the 2013 Formula One World Championship. This time, it’s the Malaysia Grand Prix from the Sepang International Circuit. More often than not, the Malaysian round of the championship features heavy rain but will the forecast favour the Mercedes which is quite happy in the rain or the dry Tilke circuit loving Red Bulls?

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F1 Australian GP: Not Wet but Wild

The first race of the season is always an interesting one. Teams are coming to grip with new tyres, figuring out how their cars work best and where they stand in the field this year. Some teams struggle when unloading to start the season, others have it well under control.

This year, it was the Lotus team that had it figured out when the lights went out for the first time this season. While Red Bull had dominated practice and qualifying, their pace didn’t seem to translate to the race. It was Kimi Raikkonen who was the only driver to really make a two-stop race work en route to opening the season with a win.

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F1 2013 Season Preview: Predictions

f1-2012-abu-dhabi-alonso-raikkonen-coulthard-vettel-podiumIt’s time for the final part of our 2013 Formula One World Championship season preview. Having gone through the new rules, new drivers and team previews for the season, it’s time to put it all together in our predicted results for the upcoming season.

As always, what we’ve seen so far isn’t exactly a complete picture of the upcoming season. The drivers, team bosses and pundits all say that we won’t know who has the best car until a couple of races into the season. But based on what we do know so far, we do have a slightly educated idea as to who will be quick this year. Continue reading

F1 2013 Season Preview: Expert Predictions (Infographic)

On Friday, I’ll be posting my predictions for the 2013 World Drivers’ and World Constructors’ Championships. Today, however, we have a look ahead to the season thanks to our friends at MoneySupermarket.

The crew at MoneySupermarket reached out to a number of prominent Formula One bloggers, including yours truly, for their predictions for the upcoming F1 season. The experts give you their picks for the two World Champions, the most improved drivers and teams, the winners of the battles between teammates and what will be the biggest news story of the season. Continue reading

F1 Power Rankings: Australian Grand Prix

It’s time to start another Formula One season which means that it’s time for the return of our Formula One Power Rankings. Before every round, we rank all 22 drivers on the grid based on who we expect to be quick at the upcoming race. Sometimes it’s based on momentum. Sometimes it’s based on past results at the circuit. However, it’s always about who will be fast.

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F1 2013 Season Preview: Drivers and Teams

After updating you on the rules for this season, now it’s time to get you up to speed with the drivers and teams competing in this year’s Formula One World Championship. We’re short one team from the conclusion of last year’s championship after HRT closed up shop. A couple of drivers have left the grid, voluntarily and otherwise, and we have five rookies on the grid this year. Continue reading

F1 2013 Season Preview: The Rules

After yesterday’s news round-up, we get properly into our 2013 Formula One Season Preview with our examination of the rules changes for the upcoming season. This year won’t have as many changes as 2012 but that’s because there’s a massive change coming in 2014. While the technical regulations may not have changed much, there are plenty of changes to the sporting regs to cover. Continue reading

F1 February/March News Roundup: The Morning Warmup

Welcome to our Formula One 2013 preview week on The Lowdown Blog. This week is dedicated to getting you up to speed for this season with our annual F1 preview. We’ll have the usual examination of rules changes, team and driver outlooks and my predictions for the upcoming season. First, is a roundup of some news that we haven’t talked about yet on the blog. Continue reading

Formula One: 2013 2nd Barcelona Test Recap

f1-2013-barcelona-test-2-vettel-rb9This past weekend was the final pre-season test ahead of the 2013 Formula One World Championship. Once again, the teams returned to the Circuit de Catalunya for one final tune-up before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix which was only two weeks after the conclusion of the test.

So who would enter the new season with the momentum from a strong showing in the final test?

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