Will they score?

[Henrique]

Does anyone here believe that Virgin, Lotus or HRT will manage to score this year? After Sauber scored one point, they're the only scoreless teams in the championship.
And will they do it with skill and development or will someone pull a HWNSNBM?

[dr-baker]

Does anyone here believe that Virgin, Lotus or HRT will manage to score this year? After Sauber scored one point, they're the only scoreless teams in the championship.
And will they do it with skill and development or will someone pull a HWNSNBM?

Lotus? Possibly, if there is a race of extreme attrition in the final flyaways of the year and they manage to get a car to the end.
Virgin? Definately only in a race of really extreme attrition, but they are not reliable enough to still be around at the end themselves to pick up the pieces.
HRT? No, unfortunately.

[IdeFan]

With the points going down to 10th, I can see it happening, Kovalainen has beaten established runners a couple of times this year (when they've had very poor races with lots of drivethroughs and unscheduled stops) so if we get any races with 10 or 11 finishers, one of them might be a newbie.

[Pieman]

Lotus could well do I reckon towards the end of the season, but for Virgin or HRT to get near the points it really would have to be a race of Adelaide 1995 or Monaco 1996 proportions.

I was thinking while watching Le Mans last weekend - there seem to be three "classes" within F1 at the moment, so why not run separate championships for them along the lines of the 24 Heures?

Class A: Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes.
Class B: Force India, Williams, Sauber, Toro Rosso.
Class C: Lotus, Virgin, HRT.

In fact, if I have time I may work out points for them on this basis.

[CarlosFerreira]

I'd love to see it happen, but I have to be slightly pessimistic here. In a race of extreme attrition, the new teams will probably be the first out. Their best chances would be a rainy Monaco or Canada, but it didn't happen. Perhaps if it rains in Singapore?

[Debaser]

If it rains at Spa or Suzuka I can see one of those crazy races with the field staging their own version of a bellet and crashing out almost en masse, leaving points to be had for the new teams. On pace I can see Lotus giving Williams/Sauber/Toro Rosso a run for their money, but the other teams need miracles. HRT may need a miracle just ot be in F1 next year.

[FullMetalJack]

Lotus may score points in a race of high attrition but only then. Virgin and HRT definitely won't.

[watka]

People mention the rain, but from what I've seen this year, the gap between the established teams and the new teams was even bigger in the rain.

[thehemogoblin]

People mention the rain, but from what I've seen this year, the gap between the established teams and the new teams was even bigger in the rain.

It exacerbated their lack of downforce and grip.

[Cynon]

Lotus: Only if there's a race with very high attrition.
Virgin: Only if there's a race with extremely high attrition on a track where downforce means nothing.
HRT: Only if the 2005 United States Grand Prix occurs again.

[TomWazzleshaw]

I'll have to agree with everyone here that Lotus will be the most likely to score a point in extreme attrition but if Formula1.com's summary of Lotus' latest incarnation is anything to go by (Which it probably isn't ) Williams and Sauber and possibly STR may be in a whole world of trouble later in the season because of Lotus.

[coops]

I dont want to lose a team from rejectful-ness but Im rooting for Lotus to score. Not because of sentimentality for the marque but because I like an underdog story.

[Archie2K]

I reckon with Trulli and Kovalainen Lotus stand a good chance of scraping a point or two in an aberration race. It'd take a start line pile-up or a wet-dry race to make it happen though. I can't see them doing so on merit. Bring it on I say. I want to see Branson in a dress.

[dr-baker]

Bring it on I say. I want to see Branson in a dress.

My money is on that happening...

[FullMetalJack]

Bring it on I say. I want to see Branson in a dress.

My money is on that happening...

HRT are ahead of Virgin in the standings at the moment, Branson needs to get his dress ready.

[Bleu]

Bring it on I say. I want to see Branson in a dress.

My money is on that happening...

HRT are ahead of Virgin in the standings at the moment, Branson needs to get his dress ready.

Doesn't AirAsia give him a dress?

[Yannick]

Under the 10-6-4-3-2-1 system, only McLaren, RBR, Ferrari, Mercedes GP, Renault and Force 1ndia have scored so far, the latter standing at 2 pts at the time. A P6 seems highly unlikely for any of the new entrants, but I sincerely hope that Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso will make it into the Top 6 at some point this year.

[AndreaModa]

Under the 10-6-4-3-2-1 system, only McLaren, RBR, Ferrari, Mercedes GP, Renault and Force 1ndia have scored so far, the latter standing at 2 pts at the time. A P6 seems highly unlikely for any of the new entrants, but I sincerely hope that Williams, Sauber and Toro Rosso will make it into the Top 6 at some point this year.

I've noticed that, it shows how much of an advantage the top teams are currently enjoying and if I may make a rather obscure comparison, it's very much like how F1C plays out 2002 championships - Ferrari, McLaren and Williams always fill the top 6 places!

In a way it's a bit of a shame as I like to see a bit of variety, a few surprises and good drives from smaller teams, but on the other hand it has made for an incredibly tight season so far which is very entertaining. I guess you can't have everything...

[f1-gast]

I think lotus will score a point or 2 with a bit of luck, but if you see how fast Lotus is closing the gap with Toro Rosso Williams and sauber, i think they will manage it.

HRT and Virgin not, those teams just look uhm 2 funny to take serious specially HRT with big clown Kolles :')

[mario]

I reckon with Trulli and Kovalainen Lotus stand a good chance of scraping a point or two in an aberration race. It'd take a start line pile-up or a wet-dry race to make it happen though. I can't see them doing so on merit. Bring it on I say. I want to see Branson in a dress.

I'd rather not see him dollied up, as it were - I don't think it'd be an appealing sight.
Lotus does seem to be the best performing team so far by some way - Heikki very nearly outqualified Kobayashi on merit, and was able to run in 12th place for a number of laps, thanks to a bit of oppourtunistic driving off the start. Then again, considering that Lotus have by far the biggest budget of the new teams (nearly £60 million, compared to about £35 million for both Virgin Racing and HRT), and the highest head count of the new teams, they should have the best resources to develop the car.

But even so, getting Gascoyne on board was a smart move - he has brought in a number of experienced personnel, and seems to have given the team quite a bit of direction. Equally, the upgrades that Lotus have in the works mean that they are slowly catching up with the rest of the pack - they have been bringing big upgrades worth several tenths at a time, and it shows; neither HRT or Virgin Racing have been able to keep up, and have dropped back.

As for points, it is unlikely to happen in normal conditions. I agree that it would either take highly changeable conditions to shake the running order up, or a big accident which takes out half the grid (both of which have been relatively rare this season).
Perhaps the one track where we might see one of the new teams spring a surprise on merit is Monza - with the lowest downforce requirements of any track, it'll strip away some of the advantage of the established teams, and both HRT and Virgin racing have been fairly quick in a straight line (probably because of a lack of downforce). However, Monza is always a bit anomalous - for the rest of the season, Lotus will probably come closest, but without a freak occurrence, it'll be a tall order to score.