iSport | For the Fans, by the Fans

It’s been an interesting start to the F1 season – the 3 B’s [Brawn, Button & Barrichello] have not only set the benchmark but also raised the bar for the rest. The bottommost team on the grid last year has engineered its way to the top and how!

Contrastingly, last years Constructors World Champion, Ferrari have had a miserable start to 09. Even their 08 campaign wasn’t much to talk about. With Kimi being out of form and Massa’s car throwing up reliability issues, Ferrari clearly struggled to be the team they used to be in the early 2000s.

Though Massa was in clear contention for the Driver’s title all of last year – and though many believed that he thoroughly deserved it too. There were instances when he did not show the grit and valour that a World Champion should. The spins in Silverstone and the bumping Lewis incident would make all believe so.

The last two championships were both decided at the last GP of the season – offering us close wheel-to-wheel racing and a nail biting finish. But what the Ferrari team [and even the fans] really missed was the Schumacher-type dominance over the proceedings – thinking back of the 2002 and 2004 seasons where he helped the team clinch the titles with plenty of races to spare.

The post-Schumacher era for Ferrari has been an interesting one – Jean Todt has moved on and so has Ross Brawn. Their drivers are one of the most talented ones, but are only a shadow of Schumacher. Often leading many experts to believe – that still Ferrari misses Schumacher and his services!

But is that really so?

Switch to 2009, the new regulations and new cars have made racing exciting to watch. They have also made the cars a handful to drive. But not all the teams have adapted their cars well to the rules. The team that has clearly made the mark has been Brawn – run by former Ferrari ace Ross Brawn.

What very few know is that Ross Brawn has been the architect of ALL of Michael Schumacher’s driver’s championships. They started their successful relationship way back in 1994 with the Benetton Racing team and then moved to Ferrari in 1996 and went on to create what was known as the Scarlet era in the history of modern day Formula1 – winning multiple drivers and constructors championships!

Post Schumacher’s retirement in 2006, Ferrari lost their ace strategist to Honda Racing Team, which he then bought over to create Brawn GP. And we do know what he’s done with the team already.

Going by Ferrari’s disastrous start in Melbourne where they not only ended up with two DNFs but also a faulty tyre strategy – which ultimately affected their fuel strategy – I believe that 2009 will be the year where the Scarlets will miss Brawn more than Schumacher!

Now who would’ve thunk that!!