Thomas De Bock's F1 career: 2009-20??

[tommykl]

2010 Season Preview

In 2009, the FIA announced that 13 teams would compete in 2010. Manor, Campos and USF1 were chosen as the 3 new teams. However, Toyota dropped out, seeing Lotus make its reappearance in F1. BMW then dropped, and proceeded to sell the team back to Peter Sauber. A few weeks before the start of the season, USF1 announced its withdrawal from F1, leaving 24 cars on the grid:

Red Bull-Renault
1. Sebastian Vettel
2. Mark Webber
After a huge scrap for the drivers' title between Vettel, Button and Rosberg, Vettel came out on top and became the youngest driver to win a World Championship. For more stability within the team, Mark Webber is kept as a 2nd driver.

Mercedes
3. Nico Rosberg
4. Nick Heidfeld
At the end of the season, Brawn announce that they will sell the team to Mercedes, with Ross Brawn staying on as technical boss. After Button leaves to McLaren, Rosberg is signed, as well as Nick Heidfeld, a victim of the BMW buyout, to form a "German Superteam".

McLaren-Mercedes
5. Jenson Button
6. Lewis Hamilton
After narrowly missing out on the title, Button is lured to McLew-I mean McLaren alongside golden boy Hamilton. Martin Whitmarsh declares that he will give both drivers an equal chance at the title. Yeah, right...

Williams-Cosworth
7. Rubens Barrichello
8. Nico Hulkenberg
Rosberg single-handedly got the Williams team to 4th place in the constructors' standings, and Nakajima also did good to score 13 points alongside Rosberg's 47. The surprise of the silly season is Barrichello's move to Williams, alongside rookie Nico Hulkenberg, the GP2 champion. However, an enormous testing shunt will see Hulkenberg out for the first 4 races, and be replaced by test driver Valtteri Bottas, who gets his first big break.

Ferrari
9. Felipe Massa
10. Fernando Alonso
After a winless 2009, Ferrari decide to hit the ground running in 2010, with Alonso replacing Raikkonen a year early.

Force India-Mercedes
11. Adrian Sutil
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi
A good run at the end of the year culminates with a win in the high-attrition Brazilian GP. Fisichella leaves the team after the Brazilian GP, complaining that the team deliberately put him on a weaker strategy in order to let Sutil take the win. He is replaced for Abu Dhabi by Tonio Liuzzi, who is resigned for 2010, after an impressive 6th place. Rumours are talking about a performance clause which may see Liuzzi be replaced by Paul di Resta mid-season.

Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14. Jaime Alguersuari
15. Brendan Hartley
After De Bock's departure from the team, Bourdais was also sacked mid-season, Jaime Alguersuari replacing him from Hungary onwards. Alguersuari impresses, with a couple of good finishes, helping the team up to 8th. However, Buemi largely disappoints, and is sacked to make way for Brendan Hartley. Toro Rosso's 2010 team is therefore the youngest team ever to compete in F1.

Renault
16. Robert Kubica
17. Sammy Jones
An utterly bad 2009 season filled with scandals sees Renault being bought out by the Genii Group. Robert Kubica still signs for the team, with Sammy Jones returning to the cockpit once more to help the fledgling team back up the grid.

Lotus-Cosworth
18. Heikki Kovalainen
19. Takuma Sato
The Lotus name returns to Formula 1, coupled with Honda partnership, leading to a works engine deal from 2011 onwards. This partnership ensures the return of fan favourite Takuma Sato to the cockpit, alongside McLaren refugee Heikki Kovalainen.

HRT-Cosworth
20. Karun Chandhok
21. Frank Zimmer
The team formerly known as Campos originally plan on getting Pastor Maldonado and Bruno Senna, but both decide on one more year in GP2. The plump for 2 pay drivers: the likeable Indian Karun Chandhok, and the young Australian Frank Zimmer, best known for his F1RWRS exploits.

Virgin-Cosworth
22. Timo Glock
23. Dave Simpson
After becoming title sponsor of the Manor team, Virgin go one step further and rebrand the whole team. John booth goes for Timo Glock and the Australian Dave Simpson.

Sauber-Ferrari
24. Daniel Melrose
25. Kamui Kobayashi
After the resounding failure of 2009, BMW sell the team to previous owner Peter Sauber, who eventually goes for the Japanese sensation Kamui Kobayashi, who scored a 5th and a 7th in his 2 races as Glock's replacement, when Timo left the team due to internal tension. The only thing the team keep from BMW is the first driver, Daniel Melrose. The team opted for a Ferrari engine supply.

So now, let's go, go, go for 2010!

[tommykl]

De Bock returns to F1!(Autosport)
Just 1 week from the start of the F1 season, the HRT team have announced the relegation of the Australian Dave Simpson to a test driver role, while last year's Toro Rosso driver, 23-year-old Belgian Thomas De Bock, will be making his return to the cockpit with immediate effect.

De Bock had been maintaining his racing skills during his period out of F1 in the hihgly rated F1RWRS. Jose Ramon Carabante, the team owner has hinted at hiring this season's F1RWRS eventual champion for a race drive next season, although it has not been confirmed who he will replace.

Team boss Colin Kolles was unavailable for comment.

Yes, obviously, I'm very happy to be back in F1. My only worry is that, with such short notice, I won't have any time to drive the car until Bahrain, so the first few races will be difficult for me. I just hope the car is good, and our first objective is to beat the cars around us, namely Lotus and Virgin.

[tommykl]

Disclaimer: I'm doing this with the following driver aids: racing line, Automatic gearbox, automatic speed limiter. AI level: legend.

The F1 Paddock arrived at Bahrain for the opening round of the 2010 F1 season confident that this season would be a classic. And the first race would eventually be a huge upset.

The HRT team arrived at Bahrain full of confidence, thinking they could beat anybody (try to get that reference). However, it was not to be. The practise sessions showed that the HRTs would be at the back of the field, with Lotus and Virgin. However, De Bock showed good promise, to even get up to 13th in Saturday free practise.

Well, it looks like the car is a bit off the pace, but the team is hoping that we'll progress throughout the season, and maybe score some points toward the end of the season.

Qualifying
Qualifying was normal, to say the least, with Sebastian Vettel taking pole in the Red Bull ahead of his team-mate. However, there were some surprises further down the field. With 7 cars eliminated in Q1, you'd think that the new teams would be eliminated every time. Thomas De Bock and nearly Takuma Sato said "bollocks" to that, and proceeded to beat rookies Valtteri Bottas and Brendan Hartley, both in established teams. De Bock made it through with a last-gap stunner to get 17th place. Sato, meanwhile, just missed out in the Lotus.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
3. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
4. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
6. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
7. Robert Kubica - Renault
8. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
9. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
10. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
11. Sammy Jones - Renault
12. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
13. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
14. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-ferrari
16. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
17. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
18. Takuma Sato - Lotus-Cosworth
19. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
20. Brendan Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
21. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
22. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
23. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth
24. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth

Race
At the start, De Bock dropped way down, and ended up 17th, after passing Bottas at Turn 4, before spinning twice, and ending up in last. Pit stops saw De Bock up in 17th again, behind Hartley, and after passing Alonso, who came out of the pits. It was at this point that he noticed that his pitcrew, like most other drivers', had put the prime tyres back on instead of the option tyres! He therefore had to pit again, relegating him to last, becoming 23rd when Hartley spun on the last lap. Meanwhile, the Lotus, Force India and Sauber crews made no mistake, seeing successively Liuzzi, Kobayashi and Kovalainen lead the race, Kovalainen ending up winning the race, and the first for 1Malaysia Lotus!
1. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Renault
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
3. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
4. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
6. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
7. Sammy Jones - Renault
8. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
9. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
10. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
11. Robert Kubica - Renault
12. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
13. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
14. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
15. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
16. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
17. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
18. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
19. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
20. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
21. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth
22. Takuma Sato - Lotus-Renault
23. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
24. Brendan Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari

IIDOTR: Joint between Kovalainen and Kobayashi, for ending up where they shouldn't have been.
ROTR: Pitcrews, for simultaneous brainfades, screwing on the same compound tyres at pitstops.

Drivers' Championship
1. Heikki Kovalainen - 25
2. Mark Webber - 18
3. Kamui Kobayashi - 15
4. Sebastian Vettel - 12
5. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 10
6. Nick Heidfeld - 8
7. Sammy Jones - 6
8. Lewis Hamilton - 4
9. Jenson Button - 2
10. Daniel Melrose - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Red Bull-Renault - 30
2. Lotus-Cosworth - 25
3. Sauber-Ferrari - 16
4. Force India-Mercedes - 10
5. Mercedes - 8
6. Renault - 6
7. McLaren - 6

For sure, it's a very disappointing result, and we only have ourselves to blame for it. Most of the other drivers suffered from the same awkward problem, so it's also my fault for spinning twice on lap 1. We're just hoping for the best in the next races, and we're hoping we won't make the same mistakes.

[Phoenix]

I definately approve of this result

[tommykl]

When my race engineer successively told me Liuzzi and Kovalainen were in the lead, I had the same reaction .

[tommykl]

Round 2, Australian GP
I had problems, as I never managed to find the right setup, and had to skip a session because I wanted to keep my Bahrain engine, meaning I suffered from understeer, oversteer and heavy tyre wear wear at the same time. It got a little better as the track rubbered in, but it still wasn't comfortable.
Meanwhile, in the paddock, Virgin had announced that Dave Simpson and Frank Zimmer would be alternating throughout the season, with Simpson driving the first 5 rounds, then Zimmer the next 5 etc.

Qualifying
Oversteer meant that only my 3rd, 5th and 6th laps would count, with my 5th being good enough for 18th place, in what was an otherwise dull qualifying session, with Vettel taking his second straight pole.

1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
5. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
6. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
7. Robert Kubica - Renault
8. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
9. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
10. Sammy Jones - Renault
11. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
13. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
14. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Brendan Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
17. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
18. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
19. Jarno Trulli - Lotus-Cosworth
20. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
21. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
22. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
23. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
24. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth

Race
At the start, I fell to 19th, and was up to 17th by my pitstop. I was harrying Trulli, but tyre wear meant I had to stop chasing. I found myself in 24th and last after my stop, before chasing down Glock and Chandhok to get 22nd. Towards the end, I was catching Simpson, but to no avail, as he was too far ahead, in what was , like the qualifying session, a routine race. At the end, the home fans were cheering, as Mark Webber won his first Australian GP!

1. Mark Webber
2. Fernando Alonso
3. Lewis Hamilton
4. Sebastian Vettel
5. Jenson Button
6. Nick Heidfeld
7. Nico Rosberg
8. Felipe Massa
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi
10. Jaime Alguersuari
11. Daniel Melrose
12. Sammy Jones
13. Adrian Sutil
14. Brendan Hartley
15. Jarno Trulli
16. Robert Kubica
17. Heikki Kovalainen
18. Kamui Kobayashi
19. Valtteri Bottas
20. Rubens Barrichello
21. Dave Simpson
22. Thomas De Bock
23. Karun Chandhok
24. Timo Glock

IIDOTR: Jaime Alguersuari, for a calm and measured drive to his first points of the year, in a car that really looks slow.
ROTR: Williams, for finishing a lowly 19th and 20th, and being the only established team yet to score points.

Drivers' championship
1. Mark Webber - 43
2. Heikki Kovalainen - 25
3. Sebastian Vettel - 24
4. Lewis Hamilton - 19
5. Fernando Alonso - 18
6. Nick Heidfeld - 16
7. Kamui Kobayashi - 15
8. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 12
=. Jenson Button - 12
10. Nico Rosberg - 6
=. Sammy Jones - 6
12. Felipe Massa - 4
13. Daniel Melrose - 1
=. Jaime Alguersuari - 1

Constructors' championship
1. Red Bull-Renault - 67
2. McLaren-Mercedes - 31
3. Lotus-Cosworth - 25
4. Ferrari - 22
5. Mercedes - 22
6. Sauber-Ferrari - 16
7. Force India-Mercedes - 12
8. Renault - 6
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 1

[tommykl]

Malaysian GP
For the 3rd race of the season, I had more problems with the set-up, as well as tyre wear issues that would stay throughout the weekend. There were no news around the paddock. Practice sessions were fully wet. I managed to beat everyone in the rain by 7 whole seconds, before the Hispania was found to be using illegal traction control systems. The stewards were soft on the back-markers, and let them drive as long as they wouldn't use the system anymore. At the end of said session, my time had been beaten as the track had dried, and that was that. Lotus announced that, after round 8 of the Championship, the best performer out of Trulli and Sato would get the drive for the rest of the year.

Qualifying
The oversteering continued, and my best time was only good for 22nd. Hartley surprised the paddock by getting an impressive 13th place, outqualifying his teammate.

1. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
2. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
3. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
5. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
6. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
7. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
8. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
9. Robert Kubica - Renault
10. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
11. Sammy Jones - Renault
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
13. Brendan Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
17. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
18. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
19. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
20. Takuma Sato - Lotus-Cosworth
21. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
22. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
23. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
24. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth

Race
I made a great start, and was 15th by the end of lap 1. I was one of the rare drivers to start on the hard tyres, and that strategy got me up to 4th at the time of my pitstop. However, a mistake in the pit entry lost me a second or two, and I came out in 19th position, behind Liuzzi, who I felt I could have kept behind me had I come out ahead. With 2 laps to go, it started to rain. I decided to stay on the slicks, but then again, so did everyone else. I eventually scored my best finish of the year, while, up front, Ferrari scored their first win of the year with a 1-2 finish.

1. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
2. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
4. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
5. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
6. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
7. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
8. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
9. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
10. Robert Kubica - Renault
11. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
12. Sammy Jones - Renault
13. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
14. Takuma Sato - Lotus-Cosworth
15. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
16. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
17. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
18. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
19. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
20. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
21. Brendan Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
22. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
23. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
24. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth

IIDOTR: Adrian Sutil, for showing a good pace throughout the race for a deserved 4th place.
ROTR: Brendan Hartley, for ruining a good qualifying opportunity to finish way down the table.

Drivers' Championship
1. Mark Webber - 58
2. Fernando Alonso - 43
3. Lewis Hamilton - 27
4. Sebastian Vettel - 26
5. Heikki Kovalainen - 25
6. Nick Heidfeld - 22
=. Felipe Massa - 22
8. Jenson Button - 16
=. Nico Rosberg - 16
10. Kamui Kobayashi - 15
11. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 12
12. Adrian Sutil - 12
13. Sammy Jones - 6
14. Daniel Melrose - 1
=. Jaime Alguersuari - 1
=. Robert Kubica - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Red Bull-Renault - 84
2. Ferrari - 65
3. McLaren-Mercedes - 43
4. Mercedes - 38
5. Lotus-Cosworth - 25
6. Force India-Mercedes - 24
7. Sauber-Ferrari - 16
8. Renault - 7
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 1

[tommykl]

Chinese GP
Pre-race
For this race, Trulli would drive the second Lotus. So far, Sato was leading the "battle", with a 14th place finish in Malaysia. The pressure was on. This would also be Valtteri Bottas' last F1 race for the foreseeable fuure, as Nico Hulkenberg would return for the Spanish GP. Anyway, the Hispania team went to China with low expectations for me, after disappointing showings so far. During practice, it took me quite some time to find a good setup for the car, and I managed to get a throttle mapping upgrade! However, during practice, I was handed a 5-place grid penalty for illegal blocking.

Qualifying
Qualifying was quite predictable, with the Red Bulls locking the front row. The real surprise was seeing Nick Heidfeld up in 3rd! No wonders, however, at the back of the grid, with the new teams filling up the last 3 rows. I was in 24th thanks to my penalty. I had originally qualified 20th.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
2. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
3. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
4. Felipe Massa - Ferrari
5. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
6. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
7. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
8. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
9. Robert Kubica - Renault
10. Sammy Jones - Renault
11. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
12. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
13. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
14. Brendon Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
15. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
16. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
17. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
18. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
19. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
20. Jarno Trulli - Lotus-Cosworth
21. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
22. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
23. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth
24. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth

Race
The race went quite well for me. After a great first two laps, I was 11th coming to my pitstop, after which I was down to last position. but, thanks to some overtaking, pitstops ahead of me, Massa and Sutil's retirements and a spin on Alguersuari's part, I finished the race a respectable 16th.
1. Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
2. Nico Rosberg - Mercedes
3. Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
4. Nick Heidfeld - Mercedes
5. Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
6. Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
7. Sammy Jones - Renault
8. Robert Kubica - Renault
9. Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
10. Brendon Hartley - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
11. Daniel Melrose - Sauber-Ferrari
12. Kamui Kobayashi - Sauber-Ferrari
13. Valtteri Bottas - Williams-Cosworth
14. Heikki Kovalainen - Lotus-Cosworth
15. Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
16. Thomas De Bock - HRT-Cosworth
17. Jarno Trulli - Lotus-Cosworth
18. Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth
19. Timo Glock - Virgin-Cosworth
20. Karun Chandhok - HRT-Cosworth
21. Jaime Alguersuari - Toro Rosso-Ferrari
22. Dave Simpson - Virgin-Cosworth
Ret. Adrian Sutil - Force India-Mercedes
Ret. Felipe Massa - Ferrari

IIDOTR: Brendan Hartley. Scored points in just his 5th Formula One start, and becomes the first New-Zealander to do so since Chris Amon took 5th in the 1976 Spanish GP.
ROTR: Jaime Alguersuari. An overall dissappointing weekend, and wasting a good qualifying spot with a foolish spin, only finishing ahead of Simpson's Virgin.

Drivers' Championship
1. Mark Webber - 73
2. Sebastian Vettel - 51
3. Fernando Alonso - 43
4. Lewis Hamilton - 37
5. Nick Heidfeld - 34
=. Nico Rosberg - 34
7. Heikki Kovalainen - 25
8. Jenson Button - 24
9. Felipe Massa - 22
10. Kamui Kobayashi - 15
11. Vitantonio Liuzzi - 14
12. Adrian Sutil - 12
=. Sammy Jones - 12
14. Robert Kubica - 5
15. Daniel Melrose - 1
=. Jaime Alguersuari - 1
=. Brendon Hartley - 1

Constructors' Championship
1. Red Bull-Renault - 124
2. Mercedes - 68
3. Ferrari - 65
4. McLaren-Mercedes - 61
5. Force India-Mercedes - 26
6. Lotus-Cosworth - 25
7. Renault - 17
8. Sauber-Ferrari - 16
9. Toro Rosso-Ferrari - 2