The championship battle away from the top

Red Bull and McLaren are separated by just 1 point in an epic battle for the championship this season while their drivers and Fernando Alonso are locked in their own title fight. Yet there is one fight away from the spotlight which carries its own intrigue involving Lotus, Virgin and HRT. Yes they all haven't scored this season but there is still something to fight for.

Let me explain, if teams or drivers find themselves equal on points then countback decides who is ahead. This usually means who has won the most races. However countback keeps going down the positions until it separates the positions in the standings. Lotus find themselves best of the new teams in 10th after a best finish of 13th in Australia whilst HRT's 14th in Monaco means Virgin Racing are rooted to the bottom of the championship.

This is important for all the teams as it is the team standings that decide the prize money awarded at the end of each season. There is also plenty of competitive edge between the new teams as well as the rivalry between airline CEO's Tony Fernandes and Richard Branson. So can Lotus maintain hold off their rivals and achieve their main objective of 2010? Lets look at the remaining races which may act as both opportunities and threats.

Monza this weekend is set to be sunny and dry so really it will be hard for either HRT or Virgin to get the minimum of 12th place required to move forward in the championship. The only factor would be the potential of chaos at the chicane on lap 1 but apart from that it will be very unlikely.

Singapore could well present a decent chance. It is a very long race, the 2009 event was over 116 minutes long, and has proved quite an attrition event. The safety car has appeared 3 times in 2 races there so is another factor. Rain has never occurred during 6 days of F1 action at the venue but when it rains in Singapore it can be very heavy so on a street circuit under lights this would be quite a challenge for all the teams. Certainly a chance for a surprise result here.

The Asian races in Japan and Korea should be both normalised though Japan has had some horrible weather in the past and Korea seems to be taking a heavy hit from storms recently. Then we come to Brazil which will probably be the last realistic chance to get points in 2010. Again it will require a Sao Paulo storm but as we seen in 2003 Jordan won with Giancarlo Fisichella anything is possible. Abu Dhabi will be the most unlikely with dry weather almost guaranteed and a nice open circuit making incidents a low possibility.

I think the new teams have done ok in the circumstances, what it has shown is that coming in as a new entry is not easy and yesterdays FIA decision that none of the new applicants for 2011 were accepted shows that even the governing body have realised that it takes a lot of resources and finances to be competitive in the sport. Lotus will be keen to be fighting in midfield come next season and Virgin will hope for more consistency. HRT have a more muddled outlook. With both Epsilon Euskadi and Jaqcues Villeneuve still looking for a way into F1, there may yet be a merger or buyout involving the Spanish team.

So as you follow the twists and turns of the title battle or on the edge of your seat as a crazy race unfolds keep an eye on the new guys because even a 12th position could yet prove significant

The State of Play after Round 4 (Part 3)

The final part of my look back at the first 4 races of the season concentrates on Lotus, Virgin and HRT.

Lotus - Considering the restricted timescale that Lotus had in creating their car, they've done well to have made a solid car that has seen decent reliability. At least 1 driver has seen the chequered flag in each race this season and Heikki Kovalainen has impressed, taking the car to Q2 in Sepang as well as finishing ahead of Nico Hulkenberg in China. It's been a bit more problematic for Jarno Trulli. The Italian is known for his one lap brilliance but Kovalainen has matched him and come race day, hydrualic issues have led to a retirement in Shanghai and not even getting started in Melbourne. Lotus have a massive upgrade for Barcelona and are confident of gaining at least 1.5 seconds. Doing this would put them close to the pace of the likes of Torro Rosso and Sauber. Check out the video courtesy of James Allen which shows footage from within the factory as well as Mike Gascoyne's thoughts on the new package.



Virgin - It's been a tough opening to their debut season for Virgin. In Bahrain Timo Glock acheived the teams aim of outqualifying Lotus but reliabilty problems seen both him and Lucas Di Grassi out early. Before the Australian Grand Prix came the admission that the cars fuel tank wasn't big enough. Glock got in the action at Albert Park, as he battled with Michael Schumacher. Both cars retired from that race though as did Glock in Sepang after spinning into Jarno Trulli. However Di Grassi got Virgins first finish, though only after effectively cruising in the last few laps to ensure he didn't run out of fuel. More problems affected the team in China and they will be hopeful of making upgrades for the next few races. However the fuel tank problem is hampering progress and only Timo Glock will have a new chassis for this race meaning his Brazilian team mate may well have to conservative with fuel use again.

HRT - The team that should have been Campos but a late change in ownership saw the team renamed with Karun Chandok joining another rookie Bruno Senna. The car looked horrible to drive in Bahrain, which was basically a shakedown for the team. Chandok didn't get any running until qualifying and both cars retired early in the race. Melbourne saw the pace gradually improve and Chandok got the car to the finish so at least there were positives to be taken reliabilty wise. Both cars have made the race distance in Sepang and Shanghai so what is needed now is an improvement in pace. Sakon Yamamoto and Christian Klien have been signed as test drivers with Klien running in first practice in Barcelona. Geoff Willis is helping the team in a consultancy role and has commented on how some things could be easily improved on the car. This would suggest that there is time to be found on the car. Hopefully the team can start finding some of it.