The three "new teams" were given certain privileges in 2010 when it came to expectation, and some of us were willing not to write them off. But I doubt they can continue to enjoy such indulgences in their dealings in the future. They must now compete with the midfield.
The team who got closest in dry qualification to toppling a midfield runner were 1Malaysia Lotus, who had Heikki Kovalainen only 0.2 seconds shy of the underperforming Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi. Mike Gascoyne certainly has said that this year's car is a midfield runner in the wings, but you would expect him to say little less. They must hope that the Lotus vs Lotus court case has not diverted their attention.
All is quiet in Yorkshire, where Virgin are readying themselves for a tilt at midfield. Last year they made elementary mistakes, like not ensuring a big enough fuel tank, and thus finished last in the Constructors Championship despite never being the slowest car. However, the car was always a challenge to 1Malaysia, can they push on this year?
As for HRT, they haven't even decided on their second driver at date of writing, although the issue is largely irrelevant since they'll doubtless play the hokey-cokey with at least one seat anyway. Narain Karthikeyan has stumped up the cash (presumably) to take the first seat, but he hardly looked a world (or Thiago Monteiro) beater back at Jordan in 2005. Their H111 has yet to be seen, but their livery is better! That is surely the only positive.
The team who got closest in dry qualification to toppling a midfield runner were 1Malaysia Lotus, who had Heikki Kovalainen only 0.2 seconds shy of the underperforming Sauber of Kamui Kobayashi. Mike Gascoyne certainly has said that this year's car is a midfield runner in the wings, but you would expect him to say little less. They must hope that the Lotus vs Lotus court case has not diverted their attention.
All is quiet in Yorkshire, where Virgin are readying themselves for a tilt at midfield. Last year they made elementary mistakes, like not ensuring a big enough fuel tank, and thus finished last in the Constructors Championship despite never being the slowest car. However, the car was always a challenge to 1Malaysia, can they push on this year?
As for HRT, they haven't even decided on their second driver at date of writing, although the issue is largely irrelevant since they'll doubtless play the hokey-cokey with at least one seat anyway. Narain Karthikeyan has stumped up the cash (presumably) to take the first seat, but he hardly looked a world (or Thiago Monteiro) beater back at Jordan in 2005. Their H111 has yet to be seen, but their livery is better! That is surely the only positive.
