The Rundown...

Vettel: Well, as predicted on this blog - the only factor in his demise - is the car. But, as I thought further on the matter I realized some other factors woven into the entire story.
To Sebastian Vettel, independence is important to him as well as being in control of his own destiny. It's important for Seb to protect this independence by staying away from the corporate (read: controlling) nature of the larger teams because he fears total loss of his personality. Hence his choices to not play among the larger teams, to not have a manager and to stay with a team such as Red Bull which has the appearance of a team which supports independence. Is this just youthful rebellion or is he trying to blaze a trail to being able to maintain himself and win? But, I find that when you are dealing with an entity with something to hide, that entity then allows for independence in a more covert manner. "I'll let you be your way, without question, as long as you do the same for me." This is how the structure of corruption exists for it's participants. He's being controlled through a darker motivation and he's agreeing to give up a deeper sense of integrity.

Bottom line, Red Bull, as a non-manufacturer and its primary focus is to promote a drink product more than winning races. Red Bull cares less about winning and more in upping the sales of this dangerous beverage. I think the genius for Deitrich Mateschitz is his marketing plan, not his passion for racing. Compare this to a company like Ferrari, who clearly has a pure passion for racing and being the best automobile company on the planet. You see the contrast here...It's all about commitment and intention! This is simply why Red Bull cannot dynamically support racing at the level that Vettel wants to play.  For this reason, I don't see Red Bull taking the world championship this year or any year for that matter. I see Vettel faced with either his independence or becoming world champion. Next year, we may see Vettel at Ferrari or McLaren!

Hamilton: Will have to change his racing style to suit tire degradation - which includes less burnouts...LOL.
Lewis is busting out of the control his father has had over him. He's now more on his own and I think we can expect more things like this in the future..

Webber: So worried about losing races that he creates what he fears. As a result, constantly runs into other drivers. "If I can't win, you wont either." is his modus operandi. This is also why he's one of the hardest drivers to pass.  He doesn't know what motivates him on a deeper level.  He'll be out of a top-running car within 2 years... Maybe even next year.

Okay. Who Else Feels Slighted?

- Teams waiting until the very end of the qualifying session to jump out on the track?
- One pit stop? ONE? I felt like I was watching the new Formula 1 parade today.

Granted yes it's oh so exciting that Michael is back and Alonso is in a Ferrari... But c'mon!
It appears as well that Martin Witmarsh of McLaren and I are in agreement: See article

And as per Coulthard: "
"I hope Max Mosley, watching from his ivory tower after relinquishing his post as president of Formula 1's governing body last autumn, enjoyed the Bahrain Grand Prix on Sunday," wrote Coulthard in his column for the Daily Telegraph. "Revs limited to 18,000rpm, the ban on in-race refuelling, standardised gearboxes and engines, a single tyre supplier; all initiatives introduced during his tenure at the FIA, all of which appear to have done little for the show if Bahrain is anything to go on." - Thanks David...
I know this blog is about personalities but RED FLAG here. Note to Bernie & Company: When you manipulate and control too much, you end up creating the very thing you are trying to avoid -  unexciting races.

They undertook multitudes of changes last year which the teams broke the rules on - namely the diffuser. The same with the whole KERS crap-ola. Same thing this year all over again. The thing that gets me is that everyone at the top of F1 want's their cake and eat it too. Either you reduce the rules enough where you get genuine competition  ignited or you allow teams to create their own winning formulas so they can eclipse the field at will... I was hoping that with the coming to a close of the Max Mosley era, this kind of stuff would come to see it's end. Perhaps it's not long enough and we are still healing - seriously. The FIA and FOTA need to get back to basics again. Scrap all this over management. Stick to the rules you have that work. Make everyone comply to the diffuser ban. Stop already.

Rosberg Takes Vitamins- Tops Practice Times

Little Nico Rosberg has jumped up to the top of the time sheet at Bahrain practice session. Well, now that's something, ain't it?

After thinking about it, here's what I came up with:

As the stage is set, there are less spots at the top to be shared among the top drivers. Each of the World Champions have a claim of their piece of the pie. And that list is longer than usual. So then, what does that mean for those drivers who are just below that? It means they could get relegated to permanently ignored and the climb to "just being noticed" would be even farther. Am I making sense?

I think this has possibly fueled Rosberg to demand his place. I think the pressure of his father as well as the fact that Schumacher's presence has made him feel like he's playing junior varsity. So, Nico has said to himself: "I'm tired of my dad chewing me a new one all the time...and who is this old F1 lion? I can take him out." So awakens the youthful hurricane. We'll see if it's actually awakened a champion inside of him or if he's just wanting his father's voice to stop nattering in his ear (aka - running towards his father's approval).

On a side note, after watching some of practice (6:00am - here on the East coast) I can't help but wonder if some teams are sand-bagging until tomorrow or even as far off as Sunday. Some teams/drivers looked all too happy with their slower times. I'm just sayin'. 

I'm So Excited I Can't Contain Myself...

F1 Congregation, 
The overall excitement has gotten to me as I sense the potential for the most exciting season in decades has got most everyone near breathless.

I must toot my own horn as I recently read an article by Nigel Roebuck of AutoWeek and, most of the points  made were characteristically familiar to my earlier post from December 24, 2009 and most of what was said mirrored potentials that I laid out. The only difference is that AW's Roebuck has chosen Alonso as champion outright. I'm not so bold, nor do I need to be as I like to interpret potential rather than be ballsy by making startling predictions. So much changes throughout a season so I will be making adjustments as well; not to just follow trend, but to express how the potentials shift and change.

Be prepared for some startling revelations of personality during this season. I think the circumstances will push the top drivers to their absolute limit in both driving and character. In the sense of the latter, my job will be easier as I will keep you abreast of what I perceive the drivers are experiencing on emotional-motivational-personality-character levels.  As for the first race, get ready for some face-palm schamozzles by front runners pushing too hard; there's a lot of tension out there!

Throughout the season be ready for some of these as possibilities:

- Schumacher dealing dirty and getting penalized for it.
 - Hamilton pushing too hard and taking himself out...
 - Alonso losing his cool about the performance/reliability of the Ferrari as he gets a whiff of     victory.
 - Slower cars knocking out front runners
 - Massa going after Michael but having it work against him. 
 - Button becoming despondent at his seeming lack of pace and blaming car setup
 - Richard Branson putting his foot in his mouth
 - Force India moving forward or falling into the rear. 
 - Vettel possibly taking it away from everyone!
 - Peter Windsor returning to TV Journalism 
 - Photos of Flavio Briatore in the stands at some races - and then photos of him being escorted out...
- Ross Brawn smiling during a race.