On the Road

In all the years running up to this one, if you wanted to bet on who’d win the Formula One Championship you’d have a choice of either Ferrari, McLaren or Renault. The last major changes before 2009 were back in 2005 where they switched engine formula from V10s to V8s and until 2008, it’s just been cost-cutting (engine freezes and so on) and aero restrictions all the way.

It’s too long to describe all the new changes here but suffice to say, it’s been a sea change, and some might say not even that as even the cars look different: they now look more like Formula 3000 or GP2 cars.

The season’s not yet begun and there have already been some surprises thrown up by winter testing: there’s been nary a red or silver car in sight at the top of the time sheets but some small outfit called Brawn GP in an unmarked white and fluoro yellow car posting the quickest times.

If you’ve not been in the loop then Brawn GP is the ex-Honda F1 effort bought over by technical director and now team principal, Ross Brawn, the man widely regarded as responsible for that Schumacher guy’s seven world titles.

Personally I’d be very happy if Rubens Barrichello, the most experienced driver in Formula One and Schumi’s eternal number two, would be able to capture a few race victories, and maybe even a championship at the twilight of his career.

It’d prove that eventually, dreams do come true, and you don’t need to be a multi-million dollar powerhouse or a kid raised by a racing company to win.

And it would also put to rest the ten-year saga of a Formula One team, once known as Tyrrell (which won championships with Jackie Stewart) but which has endured mostly heartbreak and setbacks since its takeover and morphing into first the BAR Honda and then Honda F1 team.

Tags: Barrichello, Brawn GP, Formula One, Honda

I’ll be test driving the new Mercedes-Benz E-class a week from now, so in the meantime I’ve been studying photos of it in detail. Is it just me, or is the car not particularly well proportioned? It’s modern enough, sharply chiselled and all, but that rear end just seems too flat and 2-dimensional to be elegant:

Even the interior looks like it’s been styled by someone whose only design tools were rulers and set-squares:

No wonder that couple is keeping their distance from the car.

I suspect the straight lines and uncompromisingly hard edges were incorporated mainly to impart a sense of solidity. If you recall, Mercedes lost the quality plot at around the same time it introduced rounded shapes into its products, like the first ‘four eyes’ E-class from 1995. It thought it could cut corners where it wouldn’t be obvious, but plummeting reliability scores and a serious loss of customer confidence over the next decade or so proved otherwise.

The company says this new E-class marks a return to the level of quality that made the old cars so treasured, even today. I’ll find out for sure next week, but if that’s true, I suppose I can force myself to get used to the styling.

Tags: E-class, Mercedes-Benz, quality, styling