2011 New Team Championship

The Reason Why I Just Had to Come Back

Because I loved it so much. And the temptation to look back and rejoin this series was too impossible to resist. So, why not for 2011?

Teams and Drivers

There are three new drivers and three returning to the Championship. The two Team Lotus drivers of Kovalainen and Trulli remain, along with Timo Glock. Two of the three new drivers have previous F1 experience, Vitantonio Liuzzi comes from Force India, while Karthikeyan comes after a five year absence from F1. The only rookie is Belgian Jerome D’Ambrosio.

#20		Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	Races 1-
#21		Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	Races 1-9, 11-
#21		Karun Chandhok	Team Lotus	Race 10
#22		Narain Karthikeyan	Hispania	Races 1-8
#22		Daniel Ricciardo	Hispania	Races 9-
#23		Vitantonio Liuzzi	Hispania	Races 1-
#24		Timo Glock	Marussia Virgin	Races 1-
#25		Jerome D’Ambrosio	Marussia Virgin	Races 1-

 

season Report

The second season kicks off with the same team albeit with some rebranding. Marussia has bought a stake in Virgin Racing, while Lotus Racing were renamed to Team Lotus because they can. Or at least, that’s what I thought Tony Fernandes reasoning sounded like.

Three drivers remained and three came in. Team Lotus remained with 2010 Champion Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli, while Marussia Virgin kept German Timo Glock. To partner Glock, Belgian Jerome D’Ambrosio came in as replacement for Lucas di Grassi. It was an entirely new team for Hispania, but two drivers who had been in Formula 1 previously, Vitantonio Liuzzi (last at Force India in 2010) and Narain Karthikeyan (last at Jordan in 2005).

At the half way mark, Jarno Trulli holds a surprise lead in the Championship, this despite not competing in one round. The top four are so far only separated by ten points going into the summer break, with the Marussia Virgin cars, despite not having the same pace as Team Lotus, catching up. Near the back and despite only racing in three rounds, Daniel Ricciardo has caught up to Narain Karthikeyan and is hot on the heels of Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The Standings

Drivers Championship (After Round 11: Hungarian Grand Prix)

 

		Driver	Team	Points
1		Jarno Trulli	Team Lotus	55
2		Heikki Kovalainen	Team Lotus	52
3		Timo Glock	Marussia Virgin	49
4		Jerome D’Ambrosio	Marussia Virgin	45
5		Vitantonio Liuzzi	Hispania	26
6		Narain Karthikeyan	Hispania	12
6		Daniel Ricciardo	Hispania	12
8		Karun Chandhok	Team Lotus	2

Teams Championship

		Team	Points
1		Team Lotus	109
2		Marussia Virgin	94
3		Hispania	50

Related Posts

Whatever Happened to the New Teams? : (Australia to Canada)

Kovalainen Begins to Hunt Down Trulli : (Europe)

Virgin Take Advantage of Team Lotus Woes : (Britain)

Virgin Begin To Catch Up : (Germany and Hungary)