F1 Preview: HRT, Virgin and Lotus

"The Great Big Preview" INDEX

Here, I'll break down our three newest teams who are about to enter their second year in Formula 1. HRT, Virgin and Lotus all had their ups and downs in 2010, and they will all be looking at making the leap from back-of-the-pack to midfield runner.

Hispania Racing Team: HRT had a forgettable debut season in 2010. Their car was easily slowest of the 3 new teams and they remained that way for a large portion of the year before finally closing the gap in the final third of the year. Early teething problems with the car saw them struggle to finish races, and the drivers often found themselves taking the back row in qualifying. Bruno Senna showed some promise in a terrible car, Karun Chandhok did too. Then the money started talking as driver after driver rolled in with sponsor cash. Sakon Yamamoto was given a drive at the expense of the widely-liked Chandhok, a move that many considered to be cash-related rather than performance-related. Christian Klien also came in, reportedly with a high-value sponsor.

High Point: Double finishes in Malaysia, China and Korea.

Low Point: The way they dealt with their drivers and their cash was.....awful.

2011 Aim: At least become fastest of the newest teams in 2011.

Virgin Racing: After just a little problem (see below), the Virgin team quickly established itself as the second-quickest of the new runners. After failing to finish races, the team made the embarrassing announcement that their fuel tank was not big enough to complete the races. However, the team recovered and began to frequently challenge Lotus for the honor of being best of the newbies. Lucas Di Grassi did not cover himself in glory, but showed that he does deserve to be in Formula 1, albeit with a car not exactly built to showcase his talents. Timo Glock fulfilled his role as the experienced head, out-qualifying his team-mate most races and occasionally beating out the Lotus' in qualifying.

High Point: Double finishes in Spain and four other races.

Low Point: Failing to build the most basic part of the car correctly. Their fuel tank was not big enough to finish each of the first 3 races.

2011 Aim: Virgin will want to become the top new team this year, and look to show that an entirely computer-designed car is effective.

Lotus Racing: Lotus proved to be the fastest of the newcomers of 2010. They earned widespread respect from other teams, experts and fans when both cars finished the opening race of the year, something neither Virgin or HRT managed. Lotus were also the first to make it out of first qualifying at Malaysia (although this was down to rain). Lotus went on from strength to strength and celebrated the 500th race of the historic team at the European Grand Prix in Valencia. Drivers Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli had enough experience to get the maximum from their cars, which got closer and closer to the midfield pack.


High Point: Recorded highest finish (12th) in the Korean GP
Low Point: The team was/is involved in a legal battle over the use of the 'Team Lotus' name, which somewhat turned some fans and media against the team.
2011 Aim: Lotus have the resources and base to go on and join the midfield pack, they will look for a first points-finish in 2011.

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Tomorrow: Toro-Rosso, Sauber and Force India.

"The Great Big Preview" INDEX

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Ban the Old Firm? Not likely.

The Strathclyde Police have called for the Old Firm derby between Glasgow teams Rangers and Celtic to be played behind closed doors or not played at all. Is this something we can expect to see?

In short, no.

Playing these games behind closed doors would actually do more harm than good. If the stadium is closed to fans, where do the police expect the 70,000-plus fans go instead of the stadium? That is 70,000-plus trying to get into already-full pubs and bars or simply wandering the streets instead. Violence will rise and the whole point of playing behind closed doors would be lost. It would take just one game played like this to prove the uselessness of this idea.

But what about banning the game completely? Even more unlikely. The Celtic - Rangers game is Sky's most-watched game of the season. Even more people watched the Old Firm game than watched Manchester United Liverpool or Barcelona - Real Madrid. Banning this game would take away our only internationally-watched game. The Old Firm draws attention from across Europe and the globe, it is the advert for Scottish football. The game last week was not the best advert, but the games over the course of this season have been some of the best of the past decade. The 2-2 draw at Ibrox not only contained the usual controversy that is part and parcel of the fixture, but it had two of the year's best goals from Jamie Ness and Scott Brown.

Kill the derby match and - no disrespect to the other teams - Scottish football dies with it. It is our only nationally-televised game (besides the Cup matches) and features our two greatest teams facing off. Would Sky boast the same viewing figures if it had to screen the Edinburgh derby instead? No taking away from that match which is important to those involved, but any Scottish football fan knows that the Old Firm games are what we all look for when the fixture list is announced, and they are the games that we all mark out in our calenders as not to miss them.

Let's be honest, neither team showed
any sort of professionalism.

In the end, this game was bad-tempered, the players were downright pathetic in their behavior and both Neil Lennon and Ally McCoist need to take a look at their actions at the final whistle. What's more important is that both teams look at the example set by their players on the pitch and learn from this. 

Why Arsenal won't win the league

Arsenal won't win the league with their current crop of starlets.

Here's the why:
Arsenal are capable of playing some spellbinding football. Football that is easily equal to Barcelona's style of mesmeric passing football. On their day, Arsenal's midfield and attack can rip through the heart of almost any defence in Europe. It's when they meet the defensive powerhouses that things start to go a little pear-shaped for the Gunners.

Barcelona used to have the very same problem during the first half of last season. They have corrected that problem and now they sit with a 2 point lead in Spain. In just 15 games they have scored 46 times, conceding only 8. An incredible statistic and if they maintain this form (3 goals per game), they could destroy goalscoring records.

During the summer, the Catalan giants picked up Spain's World Cup winning striker David Villa for a cool €40million. David Villa does not conform to the Messi/Xavi/Iniesta mould. He is capable of the same tiki-taki football, but he relies slightly more on the traditional centre-forward's play style. Using power and strength to muscle through defences to score. When Barcelona's beautiful game fails to penetrate properly, they can always step up to the plate and bang a goal in from nowhere. Thanks to this, Barcelona have avoided a couple of draws or losses, specifically in the Champions League, where Barcelona have struggled with uber-defensive teams like Rubin Kazan.

Nicolas Bendtner: Poor man's David Villa?

Arsenal suffer from not having a player like David Villa. Robin Van Persie used to be a little like this, but has largely become more like Xavi, Iniesta or Messi. Arsenal can score goals (Beating Braga 6-0, Blackpool 6-0). But when they come up against solid defences, namely Manchester United (so far), they have struggled. United did play a more defensive style than usual, but it worked perfectly. Arsenal had to resort to crossing balls from the wing, which they have not had to do for a long time. 


Nicolas Bendtner is NOT in the same mould as David Villa. He has the build and probably the finishing skill, but he is devoid of the physical strength. He seems to fall over very easily compared to other players of his type, the Drogbas and Rooneys of the Premier League. If Arsene Wenger were to splash out (unlikely) on a better player than Bendtner, his team would be so much more deadly and a much bigger character in the title chase. With a true centre-forward, Arsenal should be able to deal with teams like Everton, Newcastle and West Bromwich Albion. These are the teams that tend to 'park the bus' against the 'Big 4' and have caused the Gunners the most issues - Arsenal have dropped points to all 3 of these teams - and this was largely down to the 10-man defences shutting out the gaps that Arsenal thread the ball through every Saturday. With a player such as Villa they could quite possibly have found a way through tough defences using a powerful, bullying player.


Suggestions? Unfortunately, Carlos Tevez doesn't look long for this country. Villa has just signed with Barca. There are very few of these 'traditional' #9s left in modern football. Fernando Torres has reportedly been uncomfortable at Liverpool and if they do not make it into the Champions League again this season he may well walk away from Anfield. 
 Surely Arsenal wouldn't pass up on the chance of a legit, world-class centre-forward?


Until then, Arsenal may find themselves dropping more points to teams that play with ten defenders.

F1 Season Review 2010: Title fight comes to the boil! (PART 4)

Ferrari and McLaren had very different weekends at this year's Italian Grand Prix. Ferrari had very strong practice sessions throughout Friday and McLaren were up there with them, Red Bull were outclassed in a rare weak race for the team.

Chelsea slump becoming a crisis

Chelsea have forgotten how to win. 5 points in their last 6 games: 1 win, 2 draws and 3 defeats against 6 teams that should have been 6 victories.

FIFA: Brilliance or Bribery?

The 2018 Football World Cup will be held in Russia, largest country in the world, one of the biggest economies and military superpowers. Also one full of corrupt police officers, alcoholism is commonplace and bribery.

FIFA head Sepp Blatter and Russia's Depute
Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov after the nation's success

However, nobody can argue that Russia do not deserve a World Cup, they have qualified for a few of them before, they are a huge superpower and they have the money and manpower to create the infrastructure. Russia is a huge market that FIFA have never before tapped in to and would be a very interesting atmosphere to hold a major tournament. They had already proven their abilities by winning the rights to the 2014 Winter Olympics and have shown that they have already got several high-quality stadiums around their large country.

Russia's biggest disadvantage is it's sheer size. It stretches from Moscow, a few hundred miles from Poland, to bordering the South China Sea. The difference in time is vast.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter reveals the 2022 host

The biggest shock of the announcements was that the tiny Arabian principality of Qatar would host the 2022 tournament. Rank outsiders, Qatar pulled off a huge coup to win the rights and has already raised many suspicions of bribery. Qatar made no secret of it's spending power, they have access to some of the largest oil fields in the world.

Their slogan 'Expect Amazing' perfectly captures the reaction to their astonishing success. Qatar will have to build 12 new stadiums in just 12 years. The stadiums will only be built for the length of the tournament, and afterwards they will be dismantled and the pieces used to build new stadiums in other 3rd World countries. This is all very nicey-nice and all, but why has FIFA abandoned the old footballing powers so quickly? Germany was the last 'old power' to host, it will be at least 2026 when an old power (Italy, Spain, England) can host the tournament.

Qatar have many high-profile disadvantages. The country is a muslim country. Meaning alcohol can't be consumed outside the home and only on certain days. A big part of the World Cup atmosphere is being able to sit in a pub and watch the game with a pint. That can't happen unless Qatar organise 'Fan Zones' which throws up even more problems (see what happened in Manchester 2008 when things go wrong). Also, the game will take place in the middle of the Arabian summer, where temperatures can reach highs of 45C, games will need to be played during the daytime to compensate for the time-difference to Europe, FIFA's main audience. Qatar has one advantage for the teams playing: All matches will take place within 60km of the Capital. This does cut down travel time for players and fans, but does it really make any difference when planes can take teams from America to London in just a few hours?

Suggestions of bribery have surfaced, Qatar being a very rich country, and the English media uncovered a number of voting members selling their votes for cash to be used for their own countries. Could Qatar have bought votes for cash? Or has FIFA president Sepp Blatter managed to convince his members that 3rd-World development is a better idea than rewarding traditionally successful footballing nations?

BBC Panorama's investigation drew criticism from the English Bid team

Did the English media again cost their country success? It was well accepted that the English media were partly to blame for their national team's failure at the World Cup after they continuously built up and hyped up England's chances only to savagely criticise them for losing. And then BBC's Panorama program aired it's investigation into FIFA's corrupt members. This program was aired on November 30th, less than 2 days before the bid. Should the program have been held back until after FIFA had finished voting? Did the program make the FIFA members retaliate by refusing to vote for a nation who's state media unveiled their corruption? This would be unacceptable and morally wrong, but with members such as Jack Warner - A man who owes his country's international players hundreds of thousands of pounds in UNPAID bonuses with NO intention of paying  - nothing is beyond possibility. And Mr Warner has 3 bids out of the 22.