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.