A mid season review of sorts.

Well there you go then, if you ever need confirmation that Alonso is the best driver on the grid, or that Ferrari need a strong driver to give them direction, this race does it in spades.  Ferrari sets down a marker that’s says “If you want to win the championship this year, you going to have to beat us.” And right now, I don’t think anyone has the where with all to stop them.

 Alonso has now won three races, been on the podium six times and never been out of the top ten finishers. Consistency and big fat Lady Luck are what is going to take the boy all the way.

Germany marks the tenth race and the midpoint of the season, so I'm going to skip the race report and just run through the entire field and look at how their season is shaping up. For the record, Alonso got pole easily on a wet Saturday and then never looked like being challenged by Vettel or Button for the win. It was a text book world championship winning drive.

So then so far this year, we’ve had six different winners from five different constructors of which two were new F1 championship winners in Rosberg and Maldonado. The racing has been close and exciting with plenty of overtaking and actual racing for positions and wins. Each race has been about the tyres and who will be able to get them to work in the race or qualifying.  A change of two degrees in track temperature can see the Lotus cars suddenly go faster and the Mercedes start to go backwards. We’ve had one driver on old hard tyres go faster than a team mate on new soft rubber, controlling the temperature and degradation of the tyre has been the key to success so far in 2012.

Alonso wins in German because he had pole, and having pole means the car isn’t sliding around behind another car. He’s only picked up two poles this year here and at Silverstone, but he makes them count, although he didn’t win in England he was still second to behind Webber and kept the score board ticking over. Here the car looked planted and it responded when Alonso needed to push, unlike the first race of the season in Australia where it looked like the car was trying to kill him. Ferrari has developed the car to be stable and predictable on its tyres and now look like they’re going to be the team to beat.

Button second in Germany and didn’t he need it. His last podium was all the way back in China eight races ago. In fact he’s only been in the top ten twice since China and he’s looked lost at times tooling around with a car that just isn’t there for him. The updates this weekend looked to have brought McLaren back into the fight but I think it’s too little too late.  Whilst Ferrari have moved the development curve on, McLaren who had a winning car at the start of the year, have struggled to stay ahead of the game. Poor pit work looks to have been turned around with a team now firing on all cylinders, they managed to turn Button around in 2.8 seconds in Germany. This, if you have ever been to Quickfit on a Saturday afternoon will know, is phenomenal.  With half a season left and 250 points on the table, it’s not beyond the bounds of reason to see McLaren back at the front, but as I say Ferrari are going to be hard to beat.

Kimi third in Germany (after Vettel is given a retrospective penalty for blatant cheating) this is his fourth podium of the year, but he should have had a win by now, and lots of people are saying that Lotus is its own worst enemy.  They’ve been conservative when fire was required and daring when caution was the way to the top step. Kimi had a bit of a moan about the steering Monaco and looked like the old Kimi of ice creams and not appearing to care what happened in Canada. He’s always been a driver that give the impression he couldn’t care less what anyone thinks about him, he is only ever there for the racing and driving flat out, if the car isn’t going flat out then he isn’t going to tool around for the points. Where Alonso can motivate the team to give him a winning car, Kimi doesn’t seem to be able to drive the development to give him what he needs. The car might be fast when the track temperature is high, but if he wants a win he’s going to need them to give a car that isn’t so sensitive to temperature changes, for the rest of the season I think they’ll still be there or there about, but the chance of a win might well have gone now.

Kobayashi is fourth for Sauber and this is something of a return to form for the likable Japanese driver.  He’s still one of the more exciting drivers to watch as you just never know if he’s going to make some desperate late breaking move up the inside or not. But too often the car or he have let the side down with drives that either see him retire or finish in the top ten. I think if the cards fell right and Lady Luck was very drunk in hospitality that Kamui could win a race but Sauber seems to stick to a conservative strategy of using the cars ability to look after its tyres, and this doesn’t seem to be the style or a driver like Kobayashi. Maybe if he was let off the leach to go and hunt down a win then maybe things could happen for him, but right now i think he’s looking for mid top ten finishes at best.

Vettel fifth and in reality lucky to get the points,  the FIA have a history of throwing the book at Drivers that overtake by cutting corners and going off the track to make the pass, just ask Hamilton.  If there had been a solid wall on the exit of the corner he would have backed out of the  pass and made the move on the next lap. But because there is just acre’s of tarmac and no gravel he headed for that and passed Button off the circuit. No it isn’t Harsh to penalise him for that, it’s called cheating. Anyway Redbull have far bigger problems with the FIA taking an interest in the software on this year’s RB8 and an engine irregularity related to off throttle blowing of the diffuser. Something that is supposedly banned this year, but Redbull have argued that the rules don’t specifically ban it or that the engine map breaches the letter of the law. (Article 5.5.3 if your interested)  there have been lots of murmurings about the Renault engine and the noise it makes going through and coming out of corners. One explanation has been that it’s the sound of the engine cutting cylinders to save fuel in the slower corners, which sounds pretty damn impressive to me. Some have pointed out that if you hold that for a fraction too long you in effect get traction control out of corners ... something else that’s banned by the way.  So the FIA have been forced into checking this and now seem have found something that if not actually blatant cheating is certainly a bit of a grey area.

 After a slow start to the season where McLaren had a diffuser solution that seemed to work out of the box, Vettel has struggled to drive the car on the limit the same way he did last year with an off throttle blown diffuser.  Second in Australia, then a win in Bahrain he’s been around the podium and the top 5 but never really looked like taking the fight to the leaders, then suddenly in Valencia he seems to have a different car and the only thing that stopped him winning was an overheating alternator.  If Redbull have found a way to get off throttle engine mapping to work than Vettel might have a way back into the championship. But if the FIA are determined to stamp it out, they may well be back to square one.

Perez sixth and it’s sort of where you’d expect him to be I'm afraid. So far his second in Malaysia and third in Canada have been the highlights of the season. Again I think its Sauber’s innate     conservatism and a reliance on a car that looks after it’s tyres. When given the chance he took the fight to Alonso in Malaysia until the team told him to stop being silly and just pick up the points. He seems to have a bit of a thing about Maldonado too with the two of them seemly continuing to have some sort of vendetta against each other. Swapping carbon fibre bits in Monaco and Silverstone and both blaming the other for the incidents. Some people think Perez is the second coming, I personally think he’s okay, maybe a good solid number two in one of the big teams, but he’s not going to win any championships unless the team Sauber cut him loose and let him just go for it.

Schumacher was seventh in Germany and he should have done better, but isn’t that the story of the year for the old man. The car is overly sensitive to changes in track temperature and Lady Luck, once his companion of choice seems to have deserted him these days. Five retirements and five top ten finishes, the best of which a third at Valancia was due more to the roll of the dice and a late tire stop than actual speed and racing speed. He tried that again in Germany but the front runners had done enough to make their tyres last this time out.  He still claims to be enjoying the whole gig, but tooling around at the bottom of the top ten or walking back to the pits from another smoky retirement can’t be fun.

Webber can only manage eighth this time after his win at Silverstone two weeks ago. He is another driver that seems to be overly sensitive to the whims of the tyres. If they’re not there for him out of the pits than he doesn’t seem to be able to get them switched on over the next few laps and either cooks then or slides around like he’s on ice. Saying that he is second in the championship with two wins and only one finish outside the top 10, the start of the season saw him pretty much nail his name to forth spot with four on the bounce. He’s picking up points when he can, but is that going to be enough against Alonso ? If the FIA do ban the off throttle mapping, then he looks better than Vettel at driving the car, with off throttle working Vettel will be team leader again, I suspect.

Hulkenberg  ninth and again about where you’d expect him to be, around the bottom of the top ten a fifth place in Valencia being his best result to date. He’s certainly doing a better Job than Sutil, who he replaced at the start of the year. But only because he hasn’t glassed anyone in a night club! When he was a Williams, lots of people hailed him as the next big thing, and he’s sort of shown the potential to be up there, but Like Rosberg he’s never really lived up to the hype. It may well be the team who, like Lotus, seem to make random decisions depending on what the tea leaves say at the bottom of Vijay Mallya’s morning cuppa. They need a Brawn or a Horner on the wall to calm it all down and direct a race for the win, not just to collect points. They appear to have the money and they have the Mercedes engine, but they’re not getting the result. The Hulk needs to up his game really.

Rosberg tenth and seems to have gone off the boil since his first ever win in China. He’s currently 6^th in the championship with the win and a second in Monaco, but there’s just no consistency in his results outside the top ten then a win then outside the top five then a second then some more podium misses and then back tot eh bottom of the top ten. Is it the car or the driver? Michael has less luck and not looked like taking the fight anywhere, so you’d have to say the just isn’t delivering for Nico any more than it is for Mickey. But the nagging feeling that he just sort of gives up persists with him and he doesn’t lead the team like he should.  Maybe the second half of the year will be better, but only if the others really mess it up.

Di Resta eleventh and again this is the car and the team failing to work for the drivers .... or is it. Last year he lost out on points when the team made bad calls on stratery. Now he’s the team leader he should be the one driving the team on. But they’re still making random dsescions and leaving Di Resta with a mountain to climb sometimes. Like Sauber Force India seem to me just looking at the cars around then and tryigfn to beat them, not taking the fight to the big boys. I think Di Resta has the making of a good solid team leading winner, but until Mercedes tire of either Nico or Micky think he’s going to be stuck here telling everyone it’s the car and not him.

Massa twelfth and how he keeps his seat is anyone’s guess! Right so far this year retired, 15^th, 13^th, 9^th, 15^th so far so normal these last few years, then 6^th, 10^th  16^th suddenly 4^th and then back to 12^th. And he was lucky to make it to turn one in Germany after tagging Grosjean at the start an losing his front wing. I think his engineer Rob Smedley deserves a sainthood for sticking with his man all these races. It has to be tough to motivate a driver that was one point away from the ultimate title and then almost killed by a spring. Whilst Alonso is looking every inch the champion this year Massa is knocking around the back of the top ten and struggling to look like a proper racing driver. I almost feel sorry for the guy, it can’t be easy with everyone pointing and laughing at him and wondering when he’ll get fired. The Italian papers especially seem to be after his blood, But as long as the likes of Vettel, Webber and Hamilton sign contract with the other big teams Ferrari don’t have anyone to replace him with mid or post season.  They kind of stuck with him until someone else steps up to the plate, and that might be some time.

Ricciardo was 13^th and continues a tradition of Torro Rosso drivers from the Redbull development program failing to deliver when given the chance. He’s alright but the results so far have been less than stellar. A passable 9^th in Australian being the highlight and then there are a lot of 12^th, 13^th, and 14^th spots. Last year the Totto Rosso was a top ten car with a bit of luck. Now, well no, not unless there is a lot of carnage up front.

Vergne 14^th and he must be thankful he has Ricciardo as a team mate to make him look just about acceptable. Hailed as the next great French racing driver and I’ll be honest here, there is a lot of French talent out there at the moment in Sports cars and GP2 who could do a proper job of delivering on the potential. Vergne has just not done anything to warrant a report other than “must try harder” an 8^th place in Malaysia when rain took out a lot of players isn’t really much to write home about. But that the story of the Redbull driver development program, money might buy you drivers but it doesn’t buy the talent.

Maldonado was 15^th and where do I start with this one. Firstly he got a win in Spain and you can’t take that away from him, in a Williams, on the day he delivered when Hamilton got bumped to the back of the grid for cheating and he did what a proper racing driver is supposed to do, win. But then there is the Monaco moment when he drove into Perez for no reason what so ever.  The crash in Australia on the final laps from a points paying position. Then the crash in Valencia when he went off the circuit trying to pass an ailing Hamilton and t boned the McLaren coming back on the circuit. Then another crash into Perez at Silverstone which was a bit less cut and dried, but it was still another crash. He doesn’t seem to be able to stop the red mist from descending and turning him into a raving maniac. There is talent there, he won and looked good doing it, but then it all got wrong and he’s the nutter you want to avoid. Giving it all the big i am and looking for trouble. He needs to calm down and stop believing his own hype and just drive like a normal proper racing driver.  Williams don’t have the money to fight with the big boys these days and the result have been what you would expect from them back of the field and not really troubling the top ten. Imagine what the boys from Didcot could do with a bit of money and triple A driver line up. Until then Maldonado is the best they have, maybe someone can calm him down and deliver on the promise. P

Petrov was 16^th, a pretty dull race and continuing a pretty dull year. He’s been over shadowed by Kovalainen all year and is proving what everyone said about him last year that he has more money than talent. Then again Caterham still haven’t really delivered a better car than the one they had last year. So i guess he’s doing the best he can do with what he has.

Senna 17^th and is delivering exactly what I said he would, the sum total of nothing at all. Maldonado is making him look ordinary and the Senna name is not saving him here. Saying that he is a bit more consistent than Maldonado and i suppose without the win he’s be ahead of his team mate. And he hasn’t driven into anyone by accident or otherwise.

Grosjean 18^th, like Kimi he just hasn’t had the luck or the race craft from the team to give him the win I think he’s deserved. He still makes too many mistakes, especially at the start, but at least he’s up there, at least he’s trying to make things happen and driving for a win. He is certainly a better driver second time around and just need to get the hang of starting and not hitting anything to become a pretty handy driver.

I’d forgotten how many drivers there were before i started this !!

Kovalainen was 19^th and is doing what he can with a car that isn’t any better than the one he had last year. He has been consistently the best of the tail end for two years now and that is to his credit. But it can’t be much fun being the best also ran week after week.

Pic 20^th I have no idea how good he is as I normally only hear about him when he’s getting in the way or hitting someone.  Slightly handicapped by being in a Marussia and that’s about all I can say about him.

De La Rosa was 21^st after complaining that it’s not an easy job being in a slow car, the big boys don’t understand and just expect him to get out of the way the moment they get within 1000 yards.  The oldest man on the grid you think he know that being in a slow car means you have to get out of the way whenever the bigger boys get within 1000 yards of his car. The HRT cars are still a bit of a joke and I can’t see that changing anytime soon with no money and to awful drivers, they are the definition of “In it for the love of the sport”.

Glock 22^nd, errrr yes, well he’s not Charles Pic is about all i can say. He’s tried to race the Caterhams when he can but again the team still has no money. Still he’ stuck to the task and has moaned about  being in a very slow car.

Karthikeyan 23^rd and that is where you will always find him, very, very last. Where’s Narain .. he’s last. But surprisingly he’s had a 15^th place, at Monaco of all places and is thusly not last in the championship. No that honour goes to his team mate De La Rosa. That must be satisfying for the Indian. 

Which leaves the only driver to not finish in Germany, Lewis Hamilton who will not be the life and soul of the party tonight.  It should be so much different, if Lotus have lost a win because of poor strategy calls, then McLaren are going to lose Hamilton a championship though poor team work and missed strategy calls. The car was the there to take to the championship at the start of the season with a string of 3rds but then a series of comedy pit stops with sticky wheels, not enough fuel in the car and just plain ineptitude and it’s the bottom of the top ten. The a win and it was all back on track until the Maldonado missile takes him out and then the race pace has gone and finally Lady Luck, never his best friend, deserts him in Germany and he’s the only one to get a puncture on Massa carbon debris. With contract negotiations starting in a few weeks time and the prospect of a substantial pay cut on the table. He has to be having second thoughts about staying. The team think it’s a done deal with just the fine detail to be worked out.  But the thought that a new team and maybe different luck could be the way to get the mojo back, must have crossed his mind. McLaren are looking for a long contract. But maybe a one year extension and the chance to put on some red overalls is the way to go. Alonso and Hamilton seem to getting on like a couple of old school chums these days. Is he opening the door and pointing the way to a new super team ? You know that Lewis will always drive the backside off the car to try and get something, So to hear him say “lets park this one up lads” is a sign, to me at least, that the fight might be going out of him.

 And who wouldn’t want to see Alonso and Hamilton in a Ferrari, how exciting would that be. I'm getting goose bumps just thinking about it.

Right that’s that, there are an awful lot of drivers aren’t there. It’s been an interesting first half of the season, things might have settled down now at the moneyed teams get their juggernaut development departments into overdrive. The midfield is closer than ever but this is going to come down the Ferrari, McLaren and Redbull as normal. Right now Alonso is the driver in the hot seat and unless Redbull get the green light for the trick engine map, I think he’s going to be hard to stop on the way to his next world championship.  

The German GP - Ferrari or Redbull ?

Deutschland, Deutschland uber alles yes it’s time for the German Grand Prix at Hockenheim, hurrah.

This year it’s a double header with the Hungaroring next weekend before the circus shuts down for its August holiday. This is going to be a make or break race for McLaren and to a certain extent Lotus too, as things have all gone a bit wobbly for these two and they need to head into the summer break with a podium at the very least.

Ferrari and Redbull look to have cars that can win with either driver, yes even Massa could get win this year, right time, right day and a bit of luck. Alonso is firing on all cylinders whilst Webber and Vettel look to have a car that can carry the speed into the corners like the good old days last year.

 Apparently there was a crisis meeting at Woking last week with plenty of table banging and a few choice words on the state of development and pit work.  They had held off on upgrades at Silverstone and suffered for it, so this week they have a whole bunch of new bits and bobs to bolt on.  

 I don’t won’t to bandy around word like, “last roll of the dice” and “B spec car”, but that’s what it sounds like to me. With new side pods front to rear and a myriad other detail changes this is going to decide the course of the remaining season for Lewis and distantly Button.

Hamilton is 37 points behind the leader, Webber, while Button is a whopping 79 points behind. Given how well the Redbulls and Ferraris are going i personally don’t see him coming back from there.

The other worry for McLaren is, just what is Lewis going to do next year? Now Webber has signed on for another year and Vettel isn’t going anywhere that only leaves Massa’s seat at Ferrari, which Massa seems determined to hang onto now! Which is fine, but McLaren just don’t seem to be able to deliver the results Lewis is capable of getting. They must fear that another two results like Silverstone and their prodigy is going to up sticks in disgust and head to Lotus just to get away from the chaos.  I doubt he would, but more pit lane clowning around could see the threat. The contract negotiations will start after Hungary, McLaren and Lewis will be prying there’s a shiny new trophy on the shelf as they sit down.

“But what about Lotus?” You cry. Well, on a shoe string budget they have almost delivered a race win to a returning Kimi and handy number two Grosjean. And that’s the problem, ”almost” and not “actually”. All the hoo harr over the name and the lotus brand and who was in charge and Dany Behar playing fast and loose with the expenses account (allegedly) means that their eye just hasn’t been on the ball game. Yes Kimi is in 5^th place with 83 points, but he could have had so much more, they are not collecting points due to poor type choice or the wrong strategy or not giving Kimi enough space for his ice lollies.  

 At the start of the season those in the know where saying it was just going to be a matter of time before Lotus won a race, right now i don’t think they will.

 But they just might, what do you think ?

Update your predictions in before Friday and good luck

The Majesty of Motorsport.

If you like cars, watch this.

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Right then, back to Blighty and the wet windswept airfield in Northamptonshire known as Silverstone for the 2012 British Grand Prix.

I suspect it’s going to be appallingly wet there this year. Not just your average summer wet but a whole mother of all that is holy, check the pocket of that otter to see just how wet it is really  ... wet. If you happen to be going this weekend I heartily suggest you take all the wet weather gear you have ever owned.

So then, who’s good in the wet ?

Well Alonso won in Malaysia when it rained mid race, the Sauber of Perez wasn’t too far behind. When it rained here last year Alonso got Ferraris one and only win of the year. So you’d think there could be another win on the cards for the Spaniard. Well maybe, maybe not. I think the Redbulls and their not illegal at all blown rear diffusers are going to be the ones hunting for the win.

The only reason Vettel didn’t win in Valencia was because of an alternator that got too hot behind a safety car. As there is unlikely to be either a safety car or any likely hood of hot weather, I doubt lightning will strike twice there.

Mercedes and Lotus, might make them work for it though, with cars that are damn quick in a straight line, if not as fast as the Redbull through the corners. Silverstone Is the sort of circuit where you need the grunt rather than the finesse, but when it’s wet the top speed doesn’t really matter, they just have to keep it pointing the right way.  

The muddy punters in the banking will mostly be cheering for the home team boys; Jenson and Lewis, and the big question will be which McLaren team will turn up, the comedy “can’t get the wheel on straight clowns” or the “slick professional lads who can do the job they’re paid to do” ?

Cocking it up once a season is human nature, getting it wrong six races out of eight is unforgivable. Points are being lost here and it’s arguable that Hamilton last more than just points because of sloppy pit work in Valencia.  Jenson needs to get at least a podium here, his season is slipping away as Lewis shows what the car is capable off.  Lewis needs to put the crash with Maldonado behind him keep the points ticking over.

As the Redbulls look to have found the answer they were all looking for regarding the exhaust venting over the diffuser, i think this mid season period is going to be about keeping up with the Vettel and Webber.

Don’t forget to update your predictions before Friday

I'm back off to Le Mans for the Classic 24 hours this weekend, so the results will be late I'm afraid,

I've never met Ron dennis .. but I can report he did drive past me in his McLaren on Saturday night.

Exciting times.

Itally wins, England goes home in a huff.

Stop the clocks, silence the bells, bring out your dead but we just had an exciting race in Valencia. No i don’t actually believe it happened either, but we got a belting 57 laps around the old fish port of Spain for a change. We had drama, almost an eighth winner and heartbreak for the fancied runner.

And you have to thank Pirelli for that, tyres that give up the ghost with no warning at all, one lap they’re all fine and dandy the next Maldonado is cruising all over the back of you and unceremoniously punting you off the track in his hast to get by.  All the while the home town boy drivers a simply superb race, for the most famous team in town and wins with style and panache. You can’t write this sort of stuff.

There were lots of big losers today; Vettel looked to be off into the distance like the days of old with a car that was untouchable for a change. He nailed pole half a second faster than Hamilton with ease, and come the race was off up the road before you could say “tyre wear” to him.  He looked like he had the race in his pocket until a safety car, caused by Vergne getting a touch of sun stroke and trying to punt Kovalainen into the wall. As the Safety car pulled off Vettel managed one more lap before the alternator packed up and stranded man and car half way round the circuit.

I didn’t even now F1 cars still had alternators!!, I though they used dylithium crystals and the tears of new born children to power them, but no, it’s still a good old alternator which packed up on the Renault engine.

Which left Alonso in the lead after a bit of nifty pit stop action and a couple of lightning fast laps.. behind him though was Grosjean who is rapidly turning into the next F1 driver most likely to win his first GP.  He kept Alonso honest for a handful of laps before his alternator on the Renault engine suddenly went pop and he too rolled to a stop on the circuit.

So this left Hamilton to take it to Alonso after yet another,“incredibly awful McLaren Pit stop moment”^TM  during the safety car nonsense had lost him position.  But the McLaren hadn’t really looked all that fast during the race and didn’t make much impression on Alonso’s lead now. All the while Kimi was sitting behind the McLaren waiting to make his move.

With a handful of laps left to run the tyres on Hamilton’s car suddenly started to give up the grip. First Kimi breezed on past for second place then Maldonado who had started third and dropped to the back of the grid before climbing back through the field started to catch Lewis with his much fresher tyres. With two laps to go and canvas on Hamiltons rims it looked like Maldonado was going to breeze past too, and maybe Schumacher and Webber who were also on much newer rubber.  Into the DRS zone Lewis had a big slide onto the straight which allowed Maldonardo to get alongside as they braked for the hairpin at the end. Lewis gave the Williams room to make the first right hand corner but squeezed the Venezuelan off the circuit as they tuned left for the exit.

Maldonado, faced with a weave around the run off “baguettes” designed to stop drivers short cutting the corner, headed back towards the track and the section of track Hamilton was currently on. The white car T-boned the silver car and sent it spinning into the wall along with his front wing.

 Lewis was understandably extremely annoyed to be out of the race whilst Maldonado tooled round minus his wing for the last few laps and an eventual 10th spot. Some called it a 50/50 move, others a racing incident. I think Maldonado is a tool and ought to be banned to the back of the grid for the rest of the year. He only had to wait a few more corners before both he and Hamilton would have got the points they deserved. He was going to pass Hamilton with ease but he decided to t-bone the car off the road instead. Not the first time he’s felt direct action was the correct course either.  Post race and the Stewards felt that Maldonardo’s move was too much as well and gave him a 20 second penalty dropping him to 12^th  

So that left Alonso to take his second win of the year and a very emotional win it was in front of his adoring Spanish fans. It’s not often you hear a crowd roaring above the sound  F1 cars, but at Valencia when Alonso crossed the line first, you heard an almighty cheer from the stands. No bad thing given the previous two days had lacked any sort of spectator crowd.  It wasn’t an easy win for him once Vettel had dropped out he still need to drive the back side off the Ferrari to make it work for him. Qualifying back down in 11^th Ferrari weren’t even looking at the Podium let alone a win, you can’t pass at Valencia remember.

But give Alonso a sniff of the win and he will deliver it for you, its especially nice when the likes of Hamilton and Vettel fail to score points in what is turning into a tight championship.  There are still 12 races to go, but you have to have Alonso top of the list now, the Ferrari and him are on song and will be difficult to stop now.

Kimi Second and back where he belongs, he wasn’t as fast as his team mate all weekend, the steering still not quite to his liking. But he stuck to the task and got the points when Hamilton and the others failed.

Rubb your eyes and take a step back, yes Micheal Schumacher was 3^rd. Mickey looked well out of it at half distance, but the safety car came in at the right moment and he stayed out whilst the front runner all pitted. He stopped later and was able to pick off the cars in front as their tyres dropped off. Then Maldonado took out Hamilton and suddenly he was third.

Webber was fourth and drove the wheels off the car from the back of the grid in 19^th, which is pretty good, good enough in fact to move him to second in the championship. As his team mate suffered from mechanical woes he got on with dragging his car through the field to pick up the points. Like Mickey, he’d made his second stop late and picked off the cars ahead at the end.

Hulkenberg finally beats his team mate to fifth. Not the most stunning of drivers, he was lucky not to be caught by Rosberg at the end, but points are money and Force India could do with the readies.

Rosberg, makes it to sixth making it a good day for Mercedes.

Di Resta finishes seventh but should have got more out of this if his team had been a bit more on the ball. One stops work if you can make the tyres work consistently for the whole stint. Once they go off they need to be changed and Force India missed the change over by a lap or two, You lose far too much time trying to make worn tyres grip whilst the likes of Rosberg steam up behind you.  Still he finished, that’s to be applauded.

Button was eighth, not good, not nearly good enough.  Either Hamilton is driving the backside off a poor car or Button isn’t working a good car enough. He looked lost all weekend with never a sniff of the top of the grid. Given his quality you have to expect him to be back fighting for the wins soon, but Lewis looks the better McLaren driver at the moment, once again team Button was conspicuous by its absence. No red nosed John Button to gurn at the camera this time out.

Perez, who some people think is fantastic, was ninth. I did see him make several over taking moves during the race, But i don’t think the Sauber really worked here,  I think he was on his usual one stopper and lost out at the end as the late changing two stoppers Webber and Schumacher zipped past him.  Neither bad nor good, like Force India is was a day to pick up the points as others dropped the ball.

Finally Senna gets promoted to tenth as Maldonado incurs the wrath of the stewards for being a tool.

Rosberg got the fastest lap and our friend Karthikeyan was the last man standing again.

I’ll leave you with this though, the last time we had this podium was in France 2005, All ex world champions and all Ferrari driver at one time or another.  Will Alonso also join Kimi and Schumacher as a Ferrari world champion this year? I think today puts him firmly in the driving seat.

 Now and then.

Who cares about Valencia ?

Oh yeah .. right okay damn it ... yes .. Valencia.

Who cares, it’ll be boring, in fact it's this boring;

Here’s a picture from Le Mans instead;

Update predictions and stuff before friday .. okay.

Go out there and Spank its arse off Lewis.

I don’t know about you but I thought that was one of the most exciting races I’ve seen in a long time and now it’s seven races and seven winners. I think that’s just about it now.

I love it when drivers have to rag the backside off the car to get the win. Whilst Alonso and Vettel gambled on old rubber, Lewis went with a two stopper and then thrashed the car back to the top of the pile.

Imagine Button or Perez being told they had ten laps to make up 13 seconds? It would be painful to watch.  Okay so Hamilton came out on fresh tires and had DRS to help him. But he still had to make that time up and not stick it into the wall or lose a nose on the back of Vettel or Alonso. There were still back markers to get in the way before the chequered flag waved.

People complain that DRS and KERS makes it too easy, yet I don’t see Button climbing back through the field, or Webber taking it to the front. No, you still have to have the car and the balls to win a race, exactly the same as it’s always been.

1^st. So then Hamilton finally gets his win this year, and he deserved it. With McLaren finally getting the pit stops just about right he was told to keep pushing by the team and push he did, with fastest lap after fastest lap he drove it like he stole it. And Hamilton on the edge is just a thing of beauty, it really is. When the car is there for him he just nails it and doesn’t tool round looking after tyres and being safe and cagey.  It’s now his turn to lead the world championship, by two points and with any luck he can build on this in Valencia and Britain.  I like the happy smiley Lewis, he’s far more fun.

2^nd. Grosjean showed Ferrari and Alonso how a one stopper should work, 20 laps on the soft tyre and then 50 on the prime. And still able to take Alonso with a lap to spare, on tires that wern’t much younger than the red cars. That was a cracking drive for the French man, he had to manage the tyres and not burn them out, and it’s kind of a dull way to win in my book. But you have to give the man the credit.  I believe that Grosjean is now being linked to the Massa seat at Ferrari.

3^rd. Perez, well this is his speciality isn’t it. Drive carefully and get the thing to the line on a one stopper. He is very good at it, but again it’s not the most exciting way of going racing.  He popped it past Rosberg and Massa towards the end in a nice opportunist move, so he can race when he has to. But its all a bit ‘wait for the others to move out of the way racing’. Still as Alonso, Vettel and Kimi showed there is an art to making it work for you. Still it must have been nice to stick it past Alonso this time without being told to hold position behind the engine supplier.

4^th. Vettel got the pole and must have though the hard work was done on Saturday afternoon. But the Redbull still doesn’t have that outright straight line speed that you need here with its massive back straight and he paid the price. A late race stop for new boots bagged him the fastest lap at the end of the race, but that must be scant consolation after getting the pole with ease.

5^th. Alonso must have though he was going to cruise to an easy win as he popped out ahead of the McLaren after the first stop, but Lewis mugged him into the final chicane the next lap then drove away from him. Only to see him peel back into the pits with 15 laps to go! Rather than pit too and make the fight a fair one, the team kept him out and he was a sitting duck form there. First Hamilton then Grosjean and Perez sneaked past him, but to add insult to injury Vettel pitted and still beat him.

It was all looking so good coming into this race leading the championship, and suddenly it all goes wrong. But it’s a long season and there’s plenty of time for the boys from Italy.

6^th. Rosberg ... my tip for the top and he completely failed to live up to any of my expectation. Someone said that China was going to be his only race win, given the way this went i have a horrible feeling he may be right.

7^th. Webber didn’t really trouble the front runners all day, got stuck behind Kimi for a long time and couldn’t make the strategy work for him. Back to earth with a bump after the highs of Monaco.

8^th. Kimi tried to make it work on a one stopper as he team mate did, but never really looked like being at one with the car all weekend. I think we’re starting to see the bad old Kimi that couldn’t care less and didn’t bother trying when the car wasn’t working for him. After the blistering start to the season he’s slipping back and being over shadowed by Grosjean,  a situation that Kimi has never thrived in.  Needs to buck his ideas up and stop whinging about power steering and just thrash the car to the podium.

9^th. Kobayashi I was too busy watching the race at the front to notice him.

10^th.  Massa who looked almost like he cared for a bit at the start, then he spun and that was the end of the fun. Counting down the days now till the P45 lands on the door mat.

Finally Charles Pic is the last man standing, 3 laps back from Lewis and a whole world of talent away.

Right its a break for 2 weeks with Le Mans next week, with proper cars and by the sounds of it rain. Qualifying starts on Wednesday and carries on, on Thursday.  The race kicks off 3pm French time on Eurosport.  I shall be the again this year, so keep an eye on the blog the usual rubbish.  

Canada and Schumacher .. maybe ?

Here is a question for you;

Is Alonso dragging a terrible car to the podium, or is Massa underperforming in a great car ?

Because Alonso is now leading the world championship in what is assumed to be a terrible car, whilst his team mate is looking at getting fired any day now. But if the car is so terrible ? Why should he be facing the dole queue ?

You can’t have two brilliant drivers in a team. It NEVER works out, Senna and Prost didn’t speak for over half a season at McLaren whilst Mansell and Piquet accused each other of favouritism at Williams.

So the reality is if you want team harmony you have one driver who is brilliant and one driver who is safe and steady and picks up the points.  One is there to drive the backside off the car and the other is there to make sure when the star sticks it in the Armco the team gets some points. Hamilton and Button would be the perfect example of this ethos.  You always want to watch Lewis on a hot lap because it’s a thing of beauty, a car being spanked to places it shouldn’t go, where the angles smoke ciggies and flicks the Vs at the journey men.  Whilst Button will drive the same damn line lap after lap and never rag it or throw it around. If it is wet you just know he’s going to be up the sharp end.

This year those that should know are pointing at Alonso and saying; what a cracking job he’s doing with a terrible car that doesn’t deserve to be anywhere near the podium what so ever. So far he’s been 5^th, 1^st, 9^th, 7^th, 2^nd and 3^rd whilst the hapless Massa retired in Australia and was then 15^th, 13^th, 9^th, 15^th, and 6^th. Therefore he must be utterly rubbish and Alonso utterly brilliant.

But that’s not really the story of this year and I think the Ferrari PR machine, or more specifically the Alonso PR Machine is feeding this myth that the car is terrible. Because no one is dominating this year as the tyres are still a total mystery to all of the teams. So this year isn’t about the how good the car is as a whole it’s about how the driver uses the tyres and Alonso would rather people thought the car was rubbish and he was doing a sterling job rather than the car is pretty much on a par with the McLarens, Redbulls and Merc. Which are prone to bad days and good days as the track and the tyres change. And he has just been lucky a couple of times when the tyres and track come to him.

Right so yeah, the point is; I don’t think Massa is going to get fired anytime soon. Yeah he is a bit rubbish but the top ten in Monaco is going to keep his backside in red for a while yet. Alonso is good and he’s got a car that when it all comes together is good enough to win. But so has Webber and Button and even Hamilton, if Lady Luck stopped being in a huff with him.

Six races and six different drivers and I think anyone could win the next one. Even Massa if it all comes together at the right moment for him. Well alright maybe not Massa, but how about Schumacher ... the talk this week has been about the Mercs and how good they are in a straight line, now they seem to have a bit of a handle on the tyres, a dry track could see the once mighty old world champion get his act together an deliver Mercedes the win they’ve paid for.

Why not ? it’s just as likely as Webber winning in Monaco and Maldonado winning in Spain after all.   

Franchitti wins Indy 500

And well done to Dario for his third Indy 500 win.

Wheres the rain when you really need it ?

Monaco then ... well that was a bit dull wasn’t it ?

Someone needs to point out to the teams that just sticking your hand up from behind the banks of data screens will tell you if it is actually raining or not!  

Everyone was waiting for the rain that never came, trying to make their tyres last as long as possible and well, just sort of rumbling along in a train.  Massa, who surprisingly was in the top six for a change, was only 6.2 seconds behind the lights to flag winner Webber. This on paper would suggest a close exciting razzle dazzle finish, with cars jockeying for position right to the line wouldn’t it ?

But in truth it was all over as a race after the first turn, Hamilton got a slow start which bunched up the faster starting Ferraris, who pushed Grosjean out into Schumacher. He tried to avoid the Lotus but couldn’t avoid the rear left of the black and gold car running into his front right, which pitched Grosjean into a half spin and carnage to the back of the grid boys.  

Maldonardo, last week’s hero and next owner of Massa’s seat at Ferrari, failed to heed the mantra “Don’t believe the hype lad” and first took a swipe at Perez in free practice for allegedly blocking the Venezuelan. Then lied his face off to the stewards about it, claiming the car had “slid out” and he was “correcting it” as he drove across the track into the front left wheel of Perez. The stewards told him to shut it and gave him a 10 place penalty, and then he broke his gearbox and got another five place penalty. Which put him 23^rd one place ahead of Perez who had crashed in qualifying after his front left wheel had suddenly and mysteriously stopped working after being damaged somewhere.  

So after last weeks heroic the star of Venezuelan motor racing had a chance to redeem himself with a fine drive from the back, just like Hamilton did last time and prove he has the driving chops to play with the big boys of the upper fifth. Well that was the plan ... except he piled into the back of Pedro De La Rosa, broke the nose off the Williams, limped round after the rest of the field and eventually crashed it into the barrier at the Lowes hairpin. Classic.

That was the highlight really. Is was slow and dull and nothing really happened. But that’s what happens at Monaco there isn’t enough room to overtake if the driver in front has any talent or a healthy car. The DRS zone is too short and a goes through a big long corner and the breaking zones are all single file.

 Hamilton just whinged all day about his team not helping him, didn’t drive fast enough whilst trying to look after his tyres and did his best with what he had.  Alonso looked faster than him all day and jumped him at the pit stop, then Vettel went forever on his set of soft tires before jumping past Hamilton at his stop and pushing the feisty English lad back to 5^th place. Still it was better than Jenson “where has the balance gone guys?” Button who also made a rubbish start and ended up behind Kovalainen in 14^th for most of the race before binning it in a do or die move.  Those are the highlights ..... hmmm

So then Webber becomes the sixth different driver to win this year, a new record and jolly well done to him. He did have to work at it, he controlled the drivers behind him as they all waited for the rain, didn’t hit anyone or anything and did what he had to do.  It wasn’t the most exciting race for him but a win is a win and this year the championship is going to come down to day like this where points are saved and the likes of Button lose them.

Rosberg had a few stabs at trying to make a race of it, but couldn’t get close enough out of the final corner to trouble Webber too much. A fine job in qualifying netted 2^nd place at the start and that’s where he stayed all race.

Alonso shows that Ferrari have turned their killer car round into a beast with pedigree at last. He was faster then Hamilton for most of the race and as the track cooled he took advantage of a slow McLaren pit stop and took third from the Brit. A fine result which now means he leads the drivers championship, and that all that matters really.

Vettel tried to be clever and very nearly pulled it off, started on the prime “hard” tyres and went deep in to the race before changing, at one stage he was 22 seconds ahead of Webber and could have pitted for the super softs and kept the lead. But he would then have needed to run 40 odd laps on the very soft rubber, which would have left him in trouble at the end of the race so he held out for the rain that never came. When he did pit he came out in front of Hamilton and never looked like losing or gaining from there.

Hamilton could see the winner four seconds ahead of him for most of the last 15 laps. That must hurt, to be so close and not be able to do a damn thing about it. When , no really just when is his luck going to change ?  The gap to Alonso is now 10 points in the driver championship and he is slowly slipping further back, as Webber leapfrogs him.  He needs a win soon to reward the effort. Although he could have been a bit faster  when Vettel was leading to save 4^th really.

Massa, surprisingly said this was going to be the restart of his season and it was ... I know, I'm just as surprised. The Media are now saying that Massa should get Massa’s seat at Ferrari and put Massa out of his misery for Massa. But if everything goes to form this new owners of Massa’s seat at Ferrari will have a terrible next race out.

Di Resta was 7^th ahead of his team mate again

Hulkenburg did alright for 8^th.

Kimi was 9^th after holding most of the field up for moist of the race waiting for the first rain shower that didn’t turn up.

And Senna round out the top ten and is being linked with no one’s seat anywhere, not even his own.

Our last places driver as usual is Karthikeyan, who lest be far got out of the way in a really professional way a lot of the time and didn’t hit anyone. So well done to him.

Right it’s late, two weeks till we get back to a proper track in Canada, see you all there.

Winner number six is on the way

So then, five races completed with five different winners in five different teams. Shall we have a look at those five different winning combination?

1. Australia: Button - McLaren
2. Malaysia: Alonso -Ferrari
3. China: Rosberg - Mercedes
4. Bahrain: Vettel - Redbull
5. Spain: Maldonado – Williams

It’s an interesting bunch is it not? With two new faces in the line up that we have not seen before, one was knocking on the door marked “win” for some time whilst the other said “paid drivers only”.   The others have visited the top step numerous times over the years, two of the drivers are double would champions.  Vettel and Alonso are now tied at the top of the heap with 61 points each, Vettel has complained about the handling of his Redbull whilst Alonso has complained about his whole Ferrari. Experience, determination and shear bloody grit is driving these two to get points out of cars that don’t want to play. Button thought he had a car to take him back to the lifestyle marked “World Champion” but the team and the tyres has worked against him.

But to me, the most interesting thing about that list is who is missing from it.

Where are Hamilton and Kimi? Two of the fastest and most determined racing drivers you will ever have the privilege to see on that thin ribbon of tarmac.

Lewis and Alonso have been the best drivers this year, constantly driving out of their skins to deliver points as either the car fights them or the team makes yet more mistakes. But, Alonso has got a win and is leading the championship with Vettel and Lewis has only three 3^rd and two 8^th places to show for all his hard work.

Whilst all the media was clamouring to talk to this week’s “next Ferrari driver” they over looked a drive from the back of the grid to a solid points paying top ten spot and he did it on a two stopper. A driver normally slated for burning his tires up as fast as he can, beating his team mate on the way who could only go from 11^th to 9^th. That was a brilliant points saving drive that keeps him in third behind Vettel and Alonso.

Meanwhile Kimi has, completely against my expectations I will admit, blown back into F1 after tooling around the forests of the world and shown Schumacher how a comeback is done.

He learnt in China that the tyres can go off very, very suddenly. The team was overly cautious in Bahrain with tyres capable of taking the win from Vettel and he almost stole 2^nd from Alonso in the dying laps of Spain.  He is going to get a win this year, as long as Lotus can keep ahead of the McLaren Ferrari and Redbull development curve that is. Meanwhile Schumacher has bitched and moaned about the tyres being rubbish and then drove into the back of Senna for good measure. Oh how the mighty have fallen.

This week’s big seat rumour is that Mickey will be getting the heave ho before the end of the season and a promising young Scot from the Force India side of Mercedes will be parachuted in to pick up the points.

Massa has been told to shape up or ship out by Ferrari ... yet again. But until they can come to terms with another team I suspect Massa is going nowhere (given how well he went in Spain) literally.

Also being told to get his act together is Senna at the new fighting fit Williams. As the dawning realisation hits that they have a car that can win, they’re looking at their drivers and looking at the cheque they bring and the points they’ve got. Most drivers know that Williams is a team with a winning history, so lots of well paid drivers are starting to knock at Franks door with better term and better cheques than poor old Bruno. Even before Pastor won there were questions about Bruno's long term future in F1, I’ve never rated him as a winner so this is not a surprise at all to me. I'm sure he’s a nice bloke and all, but Williams can do better.

So then Monaco where, coincidently Lewis has always gone well (yes, yes apart from last year) and Kimi has demonstrated a win or bust attitude to the place.  It’s always a bit of a lottery, round here, and tyres that have a mind and life of their own will certainly spice things up.

 Pastor is talking his race up, taking every chance he gets to tell the media how much he loves the twisty circuit.  But then all drivers say that when they are fresh faced and new to the glitz of the winners circle. But will he be a first to get a second win this year ... I'm not sure he has it. You need to know when to fight the battles round here to win the war. Last year as Hamilton was tooling around working out his anger management issues on the track and generally behaving like a Chav in a stolen Astra round the local estate, Pastor tried to pick a fight and demonstrate he had some balls. He came off worst in a car that was never in the reckoning to begin with, he should have just let Lewis past and driven for the points, not tried to make a point.

This year he has a better car but Monaco is not the best place start believe all the media has generated around you. You still have to do they driving and avoiding the barrier which is no respecter or ability what so ever, just ask Alonso or Perez about how hard it can be.

And I'm sorry but it all comes back to the tyres, the guy of pole can drive the race he wants. He doesn’t have to follow anyone and the back markers have to get out of his way. He can nurse the tyres look after and protect them. The cars behind are chasing the leader, they will be moving around behind him burning up the rubber and shorting the life of the tyre.

Nowhere else does pole count for so much than Monaco, and who is the best qualifying driver this year? Our boy Lewis, with three (one of which was illegal I grant you) so far this year.  So this has to be it, this time the team isn’t going to screw up, Lady Luck is going to smile on the lad and give him the pole and the win, this time. 

It's back to Europe and racing at a sensible time

Hello race fans, welcome back to the start of the European season and the dull as dish water Grand Prix of Spain at Barcelona. If you have something else to do this weekend … I suggest you do that, rather than watch this. I’m off to the Middlesex rugby sevens at Twickenham this weekend so the results might be delayed a bit.

So what’s been happening these last few weeks then ?

The teams were testing in season last week for the first time in years. It was all very low key with teams testing new bits of kit and giving nothing away. Redbull and Lotus have called it a waste of time, Ferrari crashed a car and Schumacher grumped about the tires. McLaren tried out a new higher nose which might well turn up this weekend in Spain.

Schumacher has continued his unprovoked attack on Pirelli and their tires. He is now claiming that after a handful of laps as the tires go off, it’s like driving on raw eggs! Now I don’t know about you, but I can’t remember the last time I watched a motor racing event where a half ton of raw eggs were spread over the track with hilarious results. So I’m not too sure where Mr Schumacher is coming from on this one.

There are a lot of people pointing out that Kimi made the podium after four races whilst the seven times world champion Mercedes driver is yet to get a sniff of the champagne spray since his return. And whilst Kimi looks like he’s not lost any of that raw speed and ruthless will to win, Mickey is sort of messing around the middle of the pack. Okay he has a wheel fall off in china, when Nico won, but he’s not dominated a weekend like the good old days.

Added to this the rumour mill has the board of directors at Mercedes HQ, getting rather hot and bothered about signing off on another year. Okay Nico won .. but he’s not really German enough to justify the gazillions of Euros it’s costing the car manufacturer to tool around the midfield. Especially as it appears that Lotus has a couple of handy drivers and a good car under them.

Of course they’ve denied they’re about to up sticks and head to DTM just like BMW did. But the pressure for more results is falling firmly on Mickey’s shoulders, and I think the Pirelli attack maybe an attempt to justify the lack of wins.

Another week goes by and another driver is being linked to Massa’s seat at Ferrari. After flavour of the moment Perez forgot to read page two of the script where he won the next race, he has been dismissed by the media who have now decided that Ferrari needs to sign Webber as soon as physically possible, if not before. The report earlier this week was that Webber has a contract in place for 2013, a report strenuously denied by pretty much everyone. Ferrari, Redbull and Webber himself have all said it’s a load of rubbish and I pretty much believe them.

If Alonso is going to see out his career in red, then they need a good solid number two that will understand the phase, “Teflonso is fast than you buddy”. Something Webber singularly failed to understand when Horner told him that “Seb is faster than you mate”. Webber, for all his faults, does go out with the intention of winning races, and will driver through other cars to do that. When told to get out of the way, he’s grumbled about it to the press for weeks afterwards and made the life of the PR department very hard indeed.

Why would Ferrari want that ? No, they’ll pick up Perez or someone like Senna who car get a car home, do as he’s told and not kick up a fuss.

McLaren have fitted a new higher nose to try and claw back the advantage they seemed to have at the start of the season. Thankfully it’s not one of these stepped ones, but it’s not as pretty as the original version. After starting the season looking like it was going to be a cake walk for the Woking lads, it’s all gone a bit tits up. Rubbish pit work and poor strategy calls have lost points and wins for the normally super slick McLaren. Meanwhile down the pit lane as Redbull looked a bit lost they got a win and are now leading the drivers’ championship.

It’s not time to panic just yet. But the rear left wheel gun man has asked to be relieved of the responsibility (apparently McLaren operate a volunteers only selection for the pit stop team, no one does it unless they really want to). The design of the wheel nut has been modified to captured rather than loose. So as long as they have six calm and slick pit stops during the race everyone will be happy.

So then Barcelona, it’s a pretty dull track, old school a mix of pretty much every type of corner. It’s why they test here in the off season, if you go well here you’ll go well everywhere. With this year’s tire management racing, it’s going to be a toss up between a two stopper and driving miss daisy to the line or three stopper and nail it like you stole it.

There is a lot of talk of Lotus and Grosjean getting a win here, I’m not convinced he’s the second coming just yet, but he certainly backed Kimi up and fully deserved the 3^rd he got in Bahrain. Lotus is going well and the team look to have a renewed confidence about them. The money issues might not have gone away, but there is a clearer picture there now. It’s been a lottery for the win so far this year so I wouldn’t bet against it just yet.

But Redbull had their game face back on in Bahrain and showed that they’re not beaten by any stretch of the imagination. Webber is having a good solid season whilst his (admittedly current leader of the drivers’ championship) looks like he hasn’t got a handle on the car yet.

This might just be the same problem as everyone else, no idea what the tire ware is going to be from one lap to the other.  But he doesn’t look as happy as he did last year .... well until he won in Bahrain obviously.

So then New bits for the big boys, McLaren looking to get a win the championship back on track, whilst Ferrari look to get some sort of Championship going. Redbull want to keep the ball rolling and Lotus desperately need some win bonus money. Mercedes ... well you never know.

Pick a winner from that lot.

Its one of them QR code things

might be useful ...

It's Vettels turn to win this week.

Right then, after all the ho har and not a little emotion, we finally get down to what F1 does best. Have a race and a pretty good race it was too.

The expected attack from McLaren never materialised as yet again poor pit stops put paid to Hamilton’s ambitions.  Mercedes ran into tyre problems yet again whilst Lotus delivered a double podium and Vettel finally got his mojo back and dominated a weekend like we’re used to.

Vettel nailed his car to the front on the grid with a great run in Q3. Up to that point the Redbulls had looked there or there abouts but not blindingly fast. Certainly no faster than the McLaren of Hamilton or the Merc of Nico you had to say.  But as the clock counted down Vettel pulled out one of those special laps we used to see last year where he just hooks the car up to the circuit and delivers a stunning pole time.  Hamilton was a hairs length behind him, then Webber and Button suggesting we were going to get a Redbull v McLaren battle of old. Nico had fluffed his lines after last week’s stellar drive as Schumacher had “issues” to be dropped in Q1.

The most interesting thing, though you might have missed it, was Di Resta getting into Q3 and eventually 10^th place after the Force India team had packed up early on Friday to calm some shattered nerves. The team bus had got caught up in the demonstrations outside the circuit on the way back to the hotel Wednesday night and didn’t want the same thing to happen on Friday. So they set the car up in first practice and walked out half way through practice two despite first Bernie then the circuit owner going down to the pits and demanding they stay or else.  

In “alleged” retribution FOM the F1 owned and run Television service saw fit to not show either of the Force India cars all afternoon. Bernie denied there were any hard feeling, but a great bit of qualifying from Di Resta to make it into Q3 was completely missed by the TV camera ... odd that.

So race day dawned as bright and sunny as you would expect any desert too, except it didn’t. As the start of the race drew nearer, the wind picked up and the clouds get darker, the temperature dropped and the odd spot of rain could be seen on the shirts of the commentators.

 What this meant was that those team that had been worried the soft tyres would last about 30 seconds in the bright hot sunlight, felt they would last considerably longer in the cool cloudy shade.  This year is turning into a season of tyre management. Burning a layer off the tyre as the car sprints off the line, just destroys the life and grip available to the driver.

Hamilton and Button soon found that their McLarens that had been so fast in the hot weather just couldn’t get the tyres to work as the race started. The Lotus’s of Kimi and Grosjean had made lightening starts and were soon up at the front of the grid as first Button had to dive in to the pits followed by Rosberg and Hamilton.  As Vettel scampered off to a five second lead for much of the first half of the race the only challenge he had was from Kimi who looked like a man on a mission.

Hamilton who had made it away in second had two stops where the left rear wheel nut refused to help. First jamming then cross threading so that, what had looked like a win at long last turned into a scrap with his old friend Rosberg who drove him off the road then Alonso and Massa in ninth place.

Kimi eventually caught up with Vettel as they came up to their final stops, but catching a car is one thing, passing another. Some narrow minded nitwits have complained that DRS and KERS are terrible ideas and take something away from the racing. But as Kimi popped his DRS along the main straight and  mashed the KERS button, Vettel flicked his “push to pass” maximum reves button and just about kept enough distance between the two cars int he braking zone. The Redbull had enough KERS charge left to punch out of turn one and that was enough to give the German his first win of the year. Kimi’s last set of medium tires weren’t quite as gripping as the previous soft tires and he couldn’t drag the lotus into one more fight for the win.

So there you are, is this the start of another Redbull and Vettel dominated championship? I don’t think so, certainly the blue cars are now back up there. But we can just add them to the list of cars that could win a race. McLaren and Mercedes are joined by Lotus and Redbull as the team with the cars to take the crown this year. Only Ferrari looks like they’ve still not fixed their car and the race for the top four teams is going to be about development. They can work with what they have, Ferrari still need a base to work from.

So its a win for Vettel and the triple crown; Pole, fastest lap and the win. It’s just like 2011 all over again isn’t it. Kimi made him work towards the end, but he’s a sharper boy now and didn’t fluff his lines when he needed to defend the corner. I was almost starting to like him until he got out of the car and started waving that finger of his around.  Horner said they hadn’t expected Bahrain to be a circuit they’d do well on, which should make everyone worried.

Kimi gets second with a great drive from 11^th on the grid. he doesn’t look rusty after his gap years and even managed several sentences’ in the press conference after the race. I might start liking him again at this rate. Will he win this year ? you’d be brave to bet against it.

Grosjean the SI standard of driving gets a very creditable third. He led the race at one stage and eventually got out of the way of Kimi when told to. Two races in a row where he’s picked up good points, the car is working well and the only person unhappy with this tonight must be Kubica.  I think Lotus are starting to deliver that pre season testing promise at last

Webber is once again in his customary fourth spot. Last week he was the best Redbull driver, this week he’s back to being a disappointment. How cruel F1 can be.

Rosberg keeps his fifth spot after a trip to the stewards for unsporting behaviour.  The reality is that he drove a ragged race after losing pole with a greedy qualifying performance.  Last week he could do no wrong, this week he got it all wrong. When Hamilton and Alonso came to over take him he was more than a little aggressive in his defence of the racing line, with bother drivers taking to the run off area to avoid ploughing in to the back of him.

The stewards called this perfectly fine and dandy in the end as the cars weren’t alongside him and “chose” to leave the circuit. Nico had started the move as he came out of the corner and not as a direct result of the drivers behind him. Personally i think he was lucky to get away with it, still I'm not a steward so what do I know.

Di Resta gets a jolly good sixth considering they didn’t touch the cars after first practice and didn’t know how the cars would work in full tanks.  It’s also two fingers up to Bernie and that’s always a good thing.

Alonso seventh in the end, they were looking for sixth and must be very unhappy.

But not as unhappy as the boys from Woking! Button pulled up with a broken something before the end and Lewis only just made it to eighth in the end. Friday they were al over this track and they by Sunday afternoon they’re struggling to get passed the mess that is the Ferrari. 1.5 seconds off the pace the car eat the tyres and the left rear wheel nut again refused to work correctly. Whitmarsh did not look a happy team manager post race. The thing is, Lewis drove his heart out again and still didn’t get his just reward.

Massa wasn’t quite so rubbish this week in ninth, he’ll probably keep his seat for the year now.

Schumacher rounds out the top ten and whinged about the tyres after the race. Who cares ?

Last place this week goes to Karthikeyan in the HRT who is rapidly becoming the only thing you can comfortably predict these days.

Right lets get out of Bahrain and never come back .. sport and politics should never be mixed.

Nico pops his cherry at long last

Well wasn’t that all jolly exciting and unexpected. I mean who would have though the Merc could get a pole and then convert that into an actual win! and not the highly expensive seven times world champion, no Nico finally delivers after 111 attempts and pops his winning cherry.

No one saw that coming and certainly not you lot judging by the scores, with less than a third of you making it to double figures.

I missed qualifying, after a prior engagement with several fine bottles of Cote Du Rhone and I couldn’t face yet another 6am start. So it was a somewhat bleary double take when I heard the news that not only had Nico aced the pole but Vettel was down in 11^th and Kobayashi would start 3^rd after Lewis got a penalty for changing his gearbox. It’s always nice to see a once very smug German get beaten but a different person. Okay so Nico is still technically a German but his father was Swedish so he’s alright in my book.

I managed to drag my sorry carcass out of bed for Sundays race to be greeted by the sight of no rain what so ever. All my lovely plans for watching Alonso and Button fight it out through the spray had disappeared and I was faced with a race with a difference. Still there was going to be lots of overtaking as the Merc’s went backwards and the Redbulls, Ferrari and McLarens came back through the field.

Except no one seemed to have told Nico the plan, when the lights went out off he scampered into the smog filled distance and the rest of the drivers spent 40 laps in a long procession. There were a couple of moves but nothing worthy of a pass as the DRS failed to deliver much in the way of an opportunity for overtaking. Big long straights into hairpins are fine in principle, but stick the DRS zone half way down it and the cars are bouncing off the rev limiter way before they get to the end of the straight.  So it was more a case of cars almost getting into a passing place, but not quite making it.  The Mercedes engine cars seemed to have a better top speed than the Renault and Ferrari engines, but they needed the car in front to make a mistake or get told to get out of the way, for there to be much of a chance.

Mercedes made an uncharacteristic mistake at Schumacher’s first stop and released the car before the front right had been bolted into place.  He made it round four corners before pulling off to be the only retirement of the day.

Meanwhile Nico continued to look after his tires and lead the race. He was so far ahead that the TV stopped watching him and instead began to look at the train of cars forming up behind Kimi. He was on a two stopper and this race was rapidly turning into one where the last man into the pits was going to have the best tires at the end.

Kimi was struggling on in second with the two Redbulls, Alonso, the McLarens and Grosjean all within spitting distance. For lap after lap they sat behind each other popping out now and again to try and spook the driver ahead, but none of them had the grunt to make it past. Then Alonso tried to go past Grosjean and ran out onto the marbles to discover that there was bugger all grip out there. He ran off the track back to 9^th.  Then within the space of a lap Kimi lost all grip on his warn out tires and went from 2^nd to 14^th before he had time to order two cornettos and a Vodka chaser.

Button was past into 2^nd, Hamilton nipped passed a slippery Vettel for third and at the end of the race Webber sneaked past the struggling German for 4^th, my how the mighty have fallen.

Grosjean and the Williams of Senna and Maldonardo scrapped it out for the rest of the points and Alonso only had memories of Malaysia to keep him company in 9^th

Kobayashi who had told all and sundry that he had his name all over the winner’s trophy, got a fastest lap and the last point. His name is not being linked with the Ferrari drive this week.  

So then Nico gets his first win and about time too. On cold days the Merc is going to be the car to beat, when it can look after its tires and make them last more than 15 minutes their now fully legal tricksy rear wing is going to deliver them to the front of the grid and then it’s down to the tires. He didn’t really have much to deal with all race as the big guns struggled to get past each other.  Button might have had a shot at it, but a sticky real wheel on his last of three stops robbed him of the chance. So Nico showed he can do it when it’s all there for him. Well done him

Button in 2^nd once again must do better in qualifying. He’s got a car and the speed to deliver a championship, if he’s at the front on Saturday. Still he made the passes when he needed to and but for the problem on the last stop he could have given Nico a run for his money.

Hamilton in 3^rd must be wondering what he has to do this year. The team found a problem with the gearbox when they unpacked the car on Thursday, so had to change it and got a 5 place grid penalty. So Lewis was always on the back foot. He managed to qualify 2^nd but was dropped to 7^th from where he was always going to struggle to get a win. So yet another 3^rd isn’t so bad and it was a much more philosophical Lewis in the post race press scrum. As he said, with three different winners already, consistency is going to be the key; hence he now leads the championship.

Webber did enough to get to 4^th and must have felt very smug when he mugged Vettel with 2 laps to go. No team orders this time round.

Vettel complained all weekend long about the car not working for him and looked to be short a few horses on the long straight. The handling was better but the straight line speed just isn’t there right now. 5^th place wasn’t bad considering he started in 11^th though.

Grosjean finally makes it to the finish in 6^th, which is about where Lotus should be with the Redbulls and McLarens ahead and either of the Mercs.

Senna has another good weekend for Williams in 7^th.

As Maldonado puts both Williams it he top 10. Finally, a good solid reliable top ten car for the Didcot boys, it’s good to see them back up there as Sir Frank turns 70 this week. Anyone who watched the F1 racing in the 80’s and 90’s will remember the Williams cars showing the likes of Ferrari and Renault how it should be done.  They always gave the impression of a little garage team taking on the faceless greyness of McLaren and highly strung Italians, to give the Brits something to cheer for. Like warm beer and roast beef they were our lads and they were great and it’s good to see the team back where it belongs.  How all they need are two top draw drivers again.

Alonso is a sad and lonely 9^th. Massa is all the way back in 13^th and was told to get on with the race more than once. Alonso tried to drive the wheels off that car and very nearly got a good result. But I suspect Malaysia is going to be the high point of the season for a long time.

Finally Kobayashi 10^th, got the fastest lap but he should have taken home more than one point from a 3^rd place start. The car didn’t seem to work as the tires got older.  Still he was ahead of Perez who didn’t look quite so wonderful on a dry track with the big boys playing for real. Not quite a Ferrari driver just yet lad.

Kovalainen was dead last after a faulty something stopped him for a lap or two. Sparing the blushes of the HRT team who were as rubbish as ever.

So then, here are the scores and it’s a pitifully low scoring round.  Predicting the results this year is going to be harder than ever now there are at least 3 teams that can win races.

Next Bahrain ..... 

Don't shoot the messenger, China and Bahrain.

Put the chocolate down, it’s time for the Desperate Despot F1 tour to begin. An all expenses paid, to the top 5 teams, trip through some of the highest profile abusers of human right in the world today.

First up China, with its envious record of imprisoning political and religious protestors, it’s continued occupation of Tibet and ongoing attempts to suppress calls for more personal and democratic choice in this one party state.

After a tedious and very possibly wet race in China, we shall be flying direct to the Royal Kingdom of Bahrain, which is demonstrating to everyone except the FIA delegates that Syria is not the only country that can violently suppress its angry population.

Come and join us for tear gas parties and mass dissident executions.

Well that’s what the world’s media would have you believe. Just like the media storm against going to the 1982 Moscow Olympics after the Russian invasion of Afghanistan. The South African Rugby and Cricket tours during the Apartied years. And who could possibly forget Jackie “porkie” Browns infamous late refusal to come to my 8^th birthday party just because I said she had fat ankles the day before the party.

Events that will forever, live on as still actually happening despite some people getting into a bit of a huff and there being one less present at an eight year olds party.

Freedom has always come from the point of a gun, not from a well timed pass or a fast wheel change. I fully understand why protestors and governments alike latch onto high profile sporting events to get across their message of “Chaps, it’s all okay, they’re terrorist/downtrodden scum” or “ Them bastards drove a tank through my chip shop and shot my four kids it the face”

But most jolly motor racing fans don’t really care about either argument. They probably care more about how much longer Massa will last at Ferrari, than the number of protestors shot on the street of Bahrain this week. Or if Vettel can get his season back on track than how many Chinese citizens were killed because of antiquated and dangerous working practices for western electrical companies.

So these big events give the good guys a chance to talk about just how bad the bad guys are, whilst the bad guys put on shiny suits and talk about happy workers and impending political reforms just as soon as the down trodden scum learn their place.

Which isn’t to say any of its right, you understand. Shooting flag waving protesters armed with nothing more than a sense of injustice, a spray can and a facebook account is as abhorrent as blowing up a police station or burning down a furniture store. Everybody should have the right to determine their own course through life. Choose who they listen to and who they pray too in my opinion.

So should the F1 circus roll into these countries?

 Not going isn’t going to stop any of the bad things happening, it might bring a bit more international pressure to bear, but whilst the likes of Syria openly try to shoot every last citizen left in the country, China will calmly get on with buying up the world and the Bahrain royal family will cling onto power. On the flip side going to China and Bahrain does bring the international media to these countries and the good guys get a chance to be heard for a few days.

But would that not be seen as F1 condoning the actions of these questionable government ?

Well, until Bernie and the FIA delegates returned to Bahrain, was anyone other than the regional media covering the event on the ground?  After the Saudis went in and stamped out the uprising, it all went very quite on the news front as first Libya and then Syria became the new wars of choice for the international news crews.

Once Bernie said “Saddle up lads, we’re going back in”, the protesters were given a voice to say “Hang on, there is another side to this story”.

There is talk of a track invasion after the race by protesters, would they be getting that chance is there was no race. How will the world react if the security forces start gunning them down, or banners are torn down and people dragged out of their seats mid race.

Sport has always provided not just a platform for governments to show how great their country is, but protesters to gain media attention and point out the ugly bit the governments don’t want you to see.

So it’s china first, it’s wet there at the moment and it’s expected to be wet for the race, so Alonso must be favourite, if their new exhaust system is all they claim it is anyway. Pat Fry is talking about the car still being a second off the pace, but in a wet race that doesn’t matter too much.

After whinging like a little girl that he was attacked by Karthikeyan in Malaysia, Vettel has gone very quiet and refused to apologise. The driver steward at the race, Johnny Herbert, said it was all Narains fault for coming back across the line and clipping Vettel before the German had finish passing the HRT. To me it looked like the HRT was trying to avoid the wet grass and Vettel chopped the poor guy.  The Redbull PR machine is been low key these past two weeks, well they would really, there isn’t too much for them to crow about so far. But they have a whole shed load of cash to fix the problem and I expect they’ll be up the front this weekend.

The endless grumbling about Mercedes trick DRS wing continues to rumble on. Charlie Whiting has been asked to clarify once again if it’s legal. No one has actually protested it you understand ... they just want to know how legal it is. Whilst no doubt the bigger teams are working out how to fit one to their car so they can go backwards in the race.

Mercedes meanwhile have said they are going to concentrate on better tire ware rather than get bogged down with qualifying gizmos.

Team Lotus have told Genii Lotus to pay up their title sponsorship money or get lost, so Genii Lotus have left Team Lotus, but the team is still called Lotus and is still painted black and gold. Obviously only selling four cars a month isn’t paying enough to sponsor an F1 team, several WEC teams, supply a dozen Indy car teams with engines and generally ponce about painting everything black and gold and promising the earth.

This has been rumbling on for month now and no one is really surprised the Lopez the owner of Genii Lotus is doing a runner. He always struck me as the all mouth and no trousers kind of team owner, who was there to swan around glad handing the rich punters and selling snake oil to the idiots. See also BMW and Richard Branson.

Williams have been talking up Maldonardo, i don’t know why; i don’t think he has any more money. They seem to think he has potential and will start to deliver any day now ... I think he will continue to hit things and generally deliver poor results in a promising car.

Finally Peter Sauber, fresh from telling anyone that will listen, that Ferrari did not ask him to stop Perez from racing them. Has announced that he’s going to retire at the end of the season, he will be passing the team job onto Monisha Kaltenborn. "Monisha will become the first female F1 team boss in history. She has been with us for 13 years, always in a leading role. I am confident that she will do a very good job." Good luck to her and the team. I think this might be their break out year and the likes of Mercedes and Lotus should be watching over their shoulder.

Right then, that’s rather a lot of words.  So I’ll end it there.

In conclusion, China and Bahrain are both run by bad people, F1 isn’t going to change the world by not turning up. It’s up to you if you want to watch the race and feel bad about it.

China will be as dull as ever, Bahrain if it happens will be as awful as ever too. I do hope the race in Bahrain gets cancelled so I don’t have to waste 2 hours of my life watching cars drive around a dusty waste land as more young men and women get beaten for asking for a better choice.

I would welcome any thought or comments.

Don’t forget to update your predictions before Thursday for China.