The Spanish Grand Prix

But Ferrari needed as many points as they could get, having achieved a grand total of three points in the first four F1 events of the season. Massa himself had yet to score any championship points.

Massa couldn’t go any faster; another miscalculation by Scuderia Ferrari meant that if he went fast enough to keep the Red Bull at bay, he would run out of gas. For whatever reason, using the electrically driven KERS power booster was no longer an option.

Massa’s plaintive cry spoke volumes about how far Ferrari has fallen since the idyllic days of the Brawn/Todt/Schumacher triumvirate. Of the three, Brawn now conducts the team which dominated the race, Todt has just retired from his position at Ferrari, and Schumacher stood by helplessly in the pits, unable to do much but long for the good old days. Massa would be passed not only by the Red Bull, but hometown boy Alonso would get by before the checker, leaving Massa to finish 6th, but in the points. Raikkonen had already retired, with unsaid problems which may or may not have been related to the KERS system.

For Barrichello, it was a return to the good old bad old days, as he once again has to play second fiddle to the number one driver. After comfortably leading the race for Brawn, he was out-strategized by his partner and, once again, Jenson Button took the victory. And such was the race, with no real surprises; after the Brawns, Mark Webber took the first Red Bull to a podium and Vettel found fourth; McLaren Mercedes faltered even further at the end of the pack, relegating the World Champion to an also-ran.

The results this year have shown that with a few keystrokes to the rules word document, the Formula 1 grid can be turned upside down. In the past five years, Formula 1 has been dominated by Ferrari, Renault and McLaren. But it is difficult to assume that the underdog teams will continue to lead the field. Brawn still lacks multiple sponsors; Red Bull has come a long way but money and talent will out. Once Ferrari, Renault and McLaren figure out how to best take advantage of the new rules and KERS, it is likely that they will again be at the front of the grid. Already, Ferrari has shown improvement. As race winner Jenson Button remarked, “Ferrari are closing very, very quickly. They’ve been competitive and they’re one to watch over the next few races, for sure.”

Getting a kick outa KERS

This year we have KERS, slicks and a diffuser design, perfected by the Brawn team but obviously not yet fully understood by the rest. Cloak and dagger techniques abounded on the starting line where even Ferrari techs were trying to keep stray cameras from looking up skirts. But it’s the KERS that will, as the season progresses, make the biggest difference; diffusers are nice but there is a large margin for improvement in the KERS and that’s where the most gains will be made. This year, and next, will be part of a KERS learning curve and those who have it installed already will have the edge. According to Chris Ellis, “For 2009 and 2010, the FIA is limiting the output of the KERS to 80bhp (strictly speaking, 60kW), to drive the rear wheels only, but the only input permitted is from regenerative braking.

“The FIA also limits the total amount of energy that can be output per lap to 400kJ. This translates practically to less than seven seconds of an additional 80bhp per lap, which doesn’t provide much of an edge. Seven seconds is a lot less than the total braking time per lap for most circuits, which stretches to over 20 seconds in the dry at Monaco, considerably more if wet. This means efficiency won’t matter much in 2009 and 2010, but it certainly will when KERS get serious in 2011.The proposed regulations for 2011 and beyond are much more interesting, and also very relevant to road cars. Peak KERS output is permitted to rise to 268bhp (200kW), and can be applied to the front as well as to the rear wheels.” (Read more about KERS)

So far this season, however, any KERS use has been either ineffective or troublesome. It is also very obvious that both McLaren and Ferrari are not exactly straddling front row grid spots nor are they gaining any advantages once underway.

It may in fact be a long season for the monied teams. They sure don’t like the £40 million season cap on spending proposed by the FIA. On Tuesday, Ferrari threatened to depart from Formula 1 (for the umpteen-millionth time) at the end of this season unless governing body the FIA changes rules surrounding its proposed budget cap for 2010.

No one ever said it wasn’t a circus. See you at Monaco.

Race Results

1	BUTTON	Brawn-Mercedes	1h37m19.202s
2	BARRICHELLO	Brawn-Mercedes	+ 13.0s
3	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	+ 13.9s
4	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	+ 18.9s
5	ALONSO	Renault	+ 43.1s
6	MASSA	Ferrari	+ 50.8s
7	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber	+ 52.3s
8	ROSBERG	Williams-Toyota	+ 65.2s
9	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 1 lap
10	GLOCK	Toyota	+ 1 lap
11	KUBICA	BMW Sauber	+ 1 lap
12	PIQUET	Renault	+ 1 lap
13	NAKAJIMA	Williams- Toyota	+ 1 lap
14	FISICHELLA	Force India-Mercedes	+ 1 lap
15	RÄIKKÖNEN	Ferrari	+ 49 laps, hydraulics
16	KOVALAINEN	McLaren-Mercedes	+ 59 laps, gearbox
17	TRULLI	Toyota	+ 66 laps, accident
18	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	+ 66 laps, accident
19	BOURDAIS	STR-Ferrari	+ 66 laps, accident
20	SUTIL	Force India-Mercedes	+ 66 laps, accident
Fastest Lap	BARRICHELLO	Brawn-Mercedes	1m22.762s

Driver’s Championship Standings

1	BUTTON	Brawn-Mercedes	41 Points
2	BARRICHELLO	Brawn-Mercedes	27 Points
3	VETTEL	RBR-Renault	23 Points
4	WEBBER	RBR-Renault	15.5 Points
5	TRULLI	Toyota	14.5 Points
6	GLOCK	Toyota	12 Points
7	HAMILTON	McLaren-Mercedes	9 Points
8	ALONSO	Renault	9 Points
9	HEIDFELD	BMW Sauber	6 Points
10	ROSBERG	Williams-Toyota	4.5 Points
11	KOVALAINEN	McLaren-Mercedes	4 Points
12	MASSA	Ferrari	3 Points
13	RÄIKKÖNEN	Ferrari	3 Points
14	BUEMI	STR-Ferrari	3 Points
15	BOURDAIS	STR-Ferrari	1 Point

Constructor’s Championship Standings

1	BRAWN-MERCEDES	68 Points
2	RBR-RENAULT	38.5 Points
3	TOYOTA	26.5 Points
4	McLAREN-MERCEDES	13 Points
5	RENAULT	9 Points
6	BMW SAUBER	6 Points
7	FERRARI	6 Points
8	WILLIAMS-TOYOTA	4.5 Points
9	STR-FERRARI	4 Points