At last, its all over ...

And so it all comes to an end, it’s been a long year this one, we’re traversed the world a dozen times to some far flung places to watch cars go round and round past half empty grandstands.

We’ve listened to Redbull bleat on endlessly about its engine woes, how the Renault was so bad, how no one would give them an engine. Then we had the frankly ridiculous sight of the team owner of one of the richest teams in the sports history, who owns a company that makes more money per minute than most third world countries spend on healthcare, whining that Mercedes and Ferrari wanted upwards of 30 million Euros for a year’s supply of engine.  An engine with a  winning pedigree you will note and ultimately this complaining about having to spend too much money by the richest team on the grid lead the FIA to propose plans for a Tescos value engine in 2017. Other value brands will be available, check local stores for details.

Thankfully the budget plan was binned and the engine manufactures agreed to lower the cost of their engines and share the supply round a bit more. Redbull went back to  Renault and pretty much begged to buy unbadged French engines with no yellow logos or Infiniti sponsorship. If they think they had a bad year in 2015, next year is going to be all kinds of pain.

This year was yet another where the racing was over shadowed by talk of money. Who had it, who wanted it, and who was taking it out of the sport?  But then, it didn’t take too much to overshadow the racing this year. One poor punter even attempted to find something interesting to watch by walking on the track during the race at Singapore.

Far too often our eyes drooped lower and lower as the processional races dragged on. Cars simply can't follow and over take one another unless there is a massive difference in top speed. The fact that a McLaren 20 mph in a straight line less than a Williams can't be passed at a place like Abu Dhabi, tells you everything you need to know.

 Formula one continued to keep all the goodies to itself unless you were prepared to pay a hefty wedge for it. The £20 for the app was the tip of the iceberg, Germany bailed when it couldn’t afford to pay the sanctioning fee and later the circuit of the Americas in Texan said they were going to struggle when state funding was cut next year. F1 is moving further and further away from its European heartland. Next year we’re going to Azerbaijan and a new street circuit round Baku, because of the rich and vibrant heritage of motorsport in the former Soviet satellite state.

But given how close it is to the hot spots of the Middle East and with the horror in Paris still fresh in our minds, let’s see if we actually go next year shall we.  

The BBC are making noises about not showing any live F1 next year. With the need to cut cost as licence fee negotiations drag on with the government, an expensive program carting a ton of equipment and personal around the world looks like an unnecessary expense to the suits in Whitehall. With Bernie’s absolute reluctance to countenance any live internet feed that can’t be monetised  soon the only way you’ll be able to see a race live will be through satellite pay walls. F1 is getting expensive and someone has to pay to keep the whole mess rolling along.

What has struck me the most this year has been the startling lack of fans in the stands. Hugh swaths of seating were empty on Friday and Saturday and only marginally livelier on Sunday for the race.  If you watched any of the GP2 action this year, there were times when a driver would be lucky to see a handful of spectators as he raced around. Now I don’t have any figures to hand because it’s a big faff to go hunting for them but I’ll put good money on this year being seen by the fewest people since the 80’s, well maybe the Vettel and Schumacher years had lower numbers. But my point is F1 is dying as a spectator sport, it costs too much to go and watch the show live because Bernie is screwing every dime out of the circuits and promoters. Then you can’t watch it live on TV unless you’re paying Sky or whatever local service you have, who are also paying through the nose to Bernie.

F1 was always a pretty exclusive, but these days the only people that can afford to follow it are the sort that turn up to the hospitality box after the port and cheese course around lap 40.

We, the muddy scum, are pushed back further and further behind more and more advertising hoarding and asked to pay higher and higher entrance fees. It’s almost like they don’t actually want us there! Go to a WEC race and you can wonder the pits during the race. Talk to drivers and sit where you like. Sure. I know there are far fewer people at an endurance race that isn’t Le Mans. But you feel like the ACO who organise the race want you there, actively encourage you to follow drivers, teams and the championship.  This year Porsche beat Audi to win the drivers and constructors title, it came down to the last hour of the last race. It was fantastic and it was everything F1 wasn’t.

F1 racing in 2015 was mostly dull, prescribed and artificial.  The rich teams were out the front and the poor teams (and McLaren) were at the back. Customer teams never challenged the works squads, it was difficult to see a team other than Mercedes winning and generally that was Hamilton. Nico rallied at the end with a career best three in a row, but it was far too late to make a difference to the entertainment. Ferrari did win races, but only when the Merc had problems, the German winning machine was never raced for the lead or beaten for pace. Well maybe in Singapore.

Reading that back it all seems a bit depressing doesn't it? Let's have a look at the drivers and see if we can find something a bit more upbeat.

So in reverse championship order, this is how they did.

Will Stevens - Marussia - Zero points.

Not as much fun as Super Max was last year, Will was sort of there and couldn't beat his regular team mate Merhi. He apparently has enough money for a seat next year when the team gets the Merc engine.

Alexander Rossi/Roberto Merhi - Marussia - Zero.

Merhi seemed to be last an awful lot but actually got a 12th at Silverstone and Rossi also got a 12th in America. Again both where sort of there, mostly getting out of the way of the big boys of the upper sixth form. I can't remember them doing anything much of note, well maybe we should give Rossi some props for turning up and not being yet another awful American driver. I thought he did alright to get in the car and be as competitive as Stevens was. We might see either of them again, but as usual it will depend on who has the money.

Marcus Ericsson - Sauber - 9.

Marcus showed some moments of class, but more often than not was out shone by his team mate. his best result of 8th was in Australia and it wasn't until Italy before he got close to that, usually he'd finish somewhere between 12th and 14th, nothing exciting, just a solid driver in an average car.

Fernando Alonso - McLaren - 11

Hey look it's the end of the season and here we are wondering if Fernando will be on the grid next year yet again! But can you blame him? Abu Dhabi saw him passed by two Ferraris racing for third place whilst he plodded on to a lowly 17th. He was in that car last year and now here he is tooling around in an ill handling car at the back of the grid, he only just beat Ericsson in the Sauber. He only troubled the top ten twice all year 5th in Hungary and 10th in England. This was not the plan when he told Ferrari what it could do with its 2015 racing plan. He kept a lid on things until Japan when the frustration burst forth to tell the team just what he thought of the Honda power unit. Poor old Alonso, he is a great talent, but he's getting old and another season like this will be his last.

Jenson Button - McLaren - 16

Where Alonso got grumpier and grumpier as the season wore on Jenson's grin just seemed to get wider and wider. Sure he was scrapping with the Saubers and Marussias, but he always managed to find something positive and still be honest with the media and fans. Sure the car was a dog, but he had fun and made it to the top ten four times.  He just got on with things and accepted this wasn't going to be a glorious season. You had to admire him, and if you watched each interview carefully you could see him hitching the Bonhomie up just before checking the stiff upper lip was in place.

Yes a year to forget for McLaren, but it's in the past now and things can only get better.

Carlos Sainz - Torro Rosso - 18

Carlos was in grave danger of being lost in the hubbub of Verstappen praise at time this year in any other year and he would have been Rookie of the year, but a four race mid season dip just as Max hit his stride saw Sainz fade into the background. Which was a shame because where Max was balls out gungho glory is forever, Sainz was measured and tried to guarantee the points rather than go out in a blaze of glory.  He is a talent and I can see him and max fighting for titles in years to come, he just needs a bit more of Lady Lucks attention.

Pastor Maldonado - Lotus - 27

I still don't know why Pasto has a super licence! Than man proved yet again this year that he is a liability in any car you put him in. He doesn't appear to be able to learn to be sensible and the just accept the car in front is in the way of him. Too often we saw bit of carbon fibre hanging off Maldonado's car and another driver left behind facing the wrong direction or scrapping bits of carbon fibre off the road. The word is Lotus has now been bought by Renault for a bag of chips and a boiled sweet, so this nutcase and his massive pay check are free to race again next year ... no, i have no idea why either.

Filipe Nasr - Sauber - 27

I think Nasr get the place above Maldonado because he isn't an idiot.  He's entirely forgettable, but he's not a danger to other drivers. Filipe did alright, again another rookie that showed promise, nothing too exciting but good solid mid table skills. He'll be in a Williams or Force India in three or four years.

Max Verstappen - Torro Rosso - 49

It took just one move at one race to nail him tot eh title "best rookie since Hamilton, maybe even Senna". Round the outside of Nasr at Spa as they raced through Blanchemont! That one move, that moment of sublime skill made the big boys sit up and take notice. That was a move that required more than blind luck and steady nerve. You need the skills to make a move like that out there. Get it wrong and you're lucky to walk away to pick the bits up. He'll be a F1 champion one day. He's the real deal.

Romain Grosjean - Lotus - 51

Grosjean had a difficult year with a team on the edge of going under at any second. Lotus had bailiffs ready to kick the door in numerous times all year. There were times when they didn't know if the car would make it through the front gate without someone demanding payment for work undertaken of parts delivered. Yet Romain raced his little heart out and scored a memorable podium at Spa. And then as the only French driver on the grid he had to speak for the people of Paris after the terrorist attack in November. Next year he's off to the Ferrari satellite team of Hass, an America team build its cars in America far, far away from the carbon triangle in the UK where everyone else (Except Ferrari) builds or runs their cars from. I hope it's a success for him because the lad deserves a break.

Nico Hulkenberg  - Force India - 58

Went to Le Mans on his weekend off and won the race with Nick Tandy and Earl Bamber. So as far as I'm concerned he's brilliant. A mixed season in F1, always hamstrung with Force India's weird race strategies, he showed he can run at the front when he has a works car it was just a shame it had Porsche written on it.

Sergio Perez - Force India - 78

Yeah okay Perez did a good job this year, he reminded everyone why McLaren though he as the next big thing. He isn't, but he can keep a car on old tyres racing longer than anyone else out there. The third in Russia was well deserved and even a bit feisty. There were actually moments where I started to warm to the guy, I might even start to like him eventually.

Daniel Ricciardo - Redbull - 92

Last year if the Mercs dropped the ball, Riccky would be there to take the win. This year he just didn't seem to have the car under him to give him a chance. He picked up a third in Hungary when everyone else was messing around, but Redbull seemed far more interested in complaining about how unfair it was they weren't winning rather than getting on with trying to race. Ricciardo did alright, but he was racing with a car that didn't have much grunt and was apparently made from chocolate. I think they had almost as many grid penalties as McLaren for engine changes this year, not what you need to mount a challenge.

Daniil Kvyat - Redbull - 95

Daniil sort of grew into a roll he wasn't expecting to be in last year. When Vettel flounced off to Ferrari with barely a backwards glance, Kvyat was push in front of the media to learn he was going to be the replacement. The year started a bit shakily, but as it went on he grew in confidence and started to put some good weekends together, the highlight was a second place in Hungary (a race I still haven't seen so I have no idea how much he did to earn it). He was solid all year and managed to get more than Ricciardo out of the car. Luck, or skill ? I'm not sure.

Filipe Massa - Williams -121

Massa again, did alright with a team that failed to capitalise on last year's form, but it was a solid year with few fireworks and plenty of social media pictures of his lad. You know I've said it before that there is nothing wrong with being a solid midfield driver, but Filipe isn't getting any younger and a driver like Verstappen in a Williams on song would be perfect. Massa is a nice guy and all but it's time to pack the kit bag away now lad. Go out on a high of two third places, nothing embarrassing about that.

Valtteri Bottas - Williams - 136

Bottas is my most disappointing driver of the year, two thirds and a handful of fourth places were just sort of insipid and lack any real guts. He is a better driver than this and he sould have been up there fighting for wins. Williams seemed surprised that Ferrari had leapfrogged then and just didn't have an answer, they didn't try anything spectacular, it was just a case of "the computer says no" and Bottas drove for the points finishes. Then there was Kimi who seemed to get on Valtteris wick, they spent too many races bumping into each other. Mostly it was Kimi doing the bumping, because he was going for it and trying to get some extra points. Bottas was just boring for large parts of the year.

Kimi Raikkonen - Ferrari - 150

Kimi on the other hand was his usual "Not giving a toss what you think buddy" self. He had probably his best year in a while, but once again rocked up had a laugh, did some racing, stared blankly at interviewers asking stupid questions and collected the Ferrari pay check. He got the usual Italian press "You're not trying hard enough" headlines but continued to not care. We used to think he was invincible, the best driver with more fastest laps to his name than anyone in history .. EVER. Probably. But he has become the consummate Solid number two driver. He gets out of the way, doesn't complain and picks up his pay packed. Where Alonso did nothing but complain about every little thing wrong, Kimi smiled, grunted and now he's got 150 points and Alonso has 11. Who do you think had the better game plan in the end ?

Sebastian Vettel - Ferrari - 278

Sebastian was the only creditable challenger to Mercedes all year, but only when they dropped the ball. He was there; aided by the team telling Kimi to get out of the way, to take three wins and generally do a good job of repairing the credibility he lost last year. And you know what, I warmed to the guy, sure he waved that finger around, but he didn't ponce around the paddock reminding everyone he was a four time world champion, he didn't make a big deal out of doing so well, he answered questions and remained a pretty grounded individual. He had some pretty witty one line put downs for Rosberg in the post race interviews and didn't seem to be taking things too seriously; he looked like he was having fun watching the Merc boys fronting up to each other. I'm sure behind closed doors it was all a bit more shouty and demanding, but the team seem to have warmed to him and they appreciated it when he gave them the credit for good results.

The truth is, Vettel is a damn good driver and this year proved he doesn't need to have Redbull logo on his chest to win.

Nico Rosberg - Mercedes - 322

The Merc boys were just miles ahead of everyone else all year and the only thing they raced was each other. Nico lost the title this year because, I personally suspect, his wife was pregnant. The car suited Lewis more at the start of the year, but Nico just didn't seem to be there some weekend, which is a complaint I've had throughout his F1 career. I said at the start of the year this season was going to come down to who had the most off circuit distraction, and it was Nico and his concerns for his wife; which is all perfectly understandable. Its still a shame really, if he had got his act together just a couple of races earlier we might have had a different to the season, but alas no. How much the end of season was down to Lewis not caring or pushing for that final 100th of a second we'll never know. But the last three race weekend were totally dominated by Nico, he looked like a champion for those weekend, he just needs to do it for a whole year.

Lewis Hamilton - Mercedes - 381

After last years, “Have at it lads!” which got rather out of hand towards the end for which the drivers required a stiff talking to, this year was far more sanitised. Mercedes had a 968 page book of “Do’s and definitely don’ts chaps” each race. Written in large bold type on page one was the legend, “Don’t drive into your teammate you numpties!”. Underneath that it said in slightly smaller type, “Yes, that included you Lewis. No, don’t say anything buddy, just don’t do it!”.

For much of the season Lewis and Nico kept a very respectful distance between their cars. But as the season wore on and it became more obvious that Lewis was going to win it eventually, the gap got narrower and narrower. Now, depending on weather you are #TeamLH or #teamNicoWasRobbed, Lewis was making sure of the pass or Nico was lucky to avoid being driven into the wall, The move in Japan was a touch close, but the nudge in America Lewis menat. It was intended to say, "Enough now little boy, this is my title".  Lewis didn't have any self doubt this year, it was a lesson in winning a championship, he just know it was his for the taking and nico wasn't going to get in the way.

 At times it all looked so easy. He wasn't off the podium until race 10 in Hungary, only retired once in Singapore when a thrupeny bit failed. If he didn't win he was still picking up points he was fast, consistent and lucky. That all you need to win a championship. He has a team of people around him that support him and make him feel special; he does a lot of charity work, keeps sponsorships happy and knows how to have a good time. He won with ease this year and it always looked like a "when" not "if" championship run.

 But the hat thing irks me still and the chains and the pious attitude.  I'm sure when he hangs out with his mates he's great company and a generous chap. But I just can't put my finger on what it is that is starting to irritate me about Lewis.  He was far and away the best driver of the year; you don't win titles back to back by winging it. Maybe it's just my English reserve that's getting in the way, his need to demonstrate the trappings of success, that cherry red jet, rather than talk of taking the mechanics out for a curry and beer in Brackley.  He never failed to thank the team for all its hard work and made the point that he wins because of their hard work, but you sort of get the feeling he'd rather be in Miami have a good time than shaking hands in a cold Northamptonshire factory of a Monday morning.

 I still love his driving, his never give up attitude and the way he just keeps going without compromise. I want drivers to race, and I want them to be annoyed that all they can do is follow the car behind. Lewis does all that, he want to be the winner; he argues with the team to give him the best strategy and makes damn sure that if given a sniff he'll take the points. Right now, he is the best driver in F1.  

Okay. Maybe not a classic year then but, well the right man won the title and Mercedes completely dominated. Next year might be different, who knows.

And now the personal bit. 

This has been a difficult year for me and my family. As you know we lost our baby for the second time and it was the last chance we had for another child. It's not a particularly nice thing to happen to anyone and to have it happen twice in quick succession is extremely hard to deal with.

But there is a charity that supports families and helps them come to terms with the loss.
They are called SANDS - the Stillborn and neonatal death charity. They are very kind people and don't get nearly as much recognition as they deserve.

The SANDS website.

Thankfully most families never need to call on them for support.

If you have enjoyed this years prediction game and my rambling words then please help us support the local SANDS group by donating to help them raise money for a memorial garden at Aldershot Crematorium:

A special Garden project.

In memory of Clara and Jamie Bowdidge.

Thank you.

End of season larks.

Okay so not the most exciting race for the win really but there was some cracking action for the minor places.

If only Nico could do this sort of thing for a whole year and not just when is doesn't matter anymore. Yes I know he's not had the rub of the green this year with more mechanical issue than Lewis. But like a lot of his career in F1 he just spent some races sleep walking though the weekend. And yes I know his wife had some issues with the pregnancy and that would obviously take his mind off the gig. But after last year and having the thing go down to the last race. This year has been something of an anticlimaxs. Only Vettel has made it interesting at times.

But all that's for the end of year final rant.

Well done Nico on a top of the draw race result. Pole was pretty easy after Lewis had sort of dominated the practice sessions; and it was much like last year in that respect Nico taking the spoils after Lewis won the battles, a Lewis who had turned up under something of a cloud too. A bit of late night partying left three cars with damage and the recently crowned world champion advised to rest up for a day or two with his "fever". Not very media friendly and Mercedes were at pains to limit any adverse publicity; Lewis waved it all off as just a bit of thing and it didn't appear to affect his performance on track. But being beaten yet again to pole, the fifth time in a row, Hamilton didn't bother to stand out front with Nico and Vettel for the obligatory photo call. You could call it petulance, I couldn't possible comment.

Maybe he was off enjoying the latest Alonso meme to go viral

Now you may not have noticed, but McLaren are having a bit of a bad year. Yes, that's why the boys haven't been seen around the podium much this year. And to give them their dues, neither Jenson nor Alonso have really thrown a tantrum about. Alonso made few disparaging remarks about the Honda engine in Japan for which Big Ron had to confirm Jenson was going to get a drive next year in an attempt to deflect some of the flac.  But generally the lads have been honest in front of the media and just said "Yeah sure, the car is a bit of a mess and the engine needs some work. But the whole team is working on this and it is a problem we'll fix together". They've tried to put a bit of positive spin on an otherwise hopeless situation.

Until now that is, it seems Alonso has had enough of jumping out of a smoking car and when the car expired yet again at the start of qualifying he cried "enough". Without even a look back at the failed McLaren Honda, he trudged up the hill and sat down on one of the marshal's chairs to calmly watch the rest of Q1.  But then the chair was moved and Alonso had an impromptu photo shoot in the sun with qualifying for a backdrop. Rather than throw a strop and flounce off to shout at someone, he sat and he waited.

A lazy afternoon in Brazil

Looks relaxing doesn't it. He looks peaceful, at rest in a turbulent world, the cares of a career falling apart and three world titles forgotten in the mire of racing against year old Marussias.

This image was too good to resist and before Nico had taken pole the #wherewouldalonsoratherbe meme was going viral across the internet.

Relaxing with friends earlier

Then to cap it all the boys staged a podium invasion, just to remind themselves what it used to be like standing on the top step.

What a jolly good wheeze.

And so to the race; Well Nico won, Lewis tried to catch him but couldn't pass him and Vettel had the team tell Kimi to get out of the way.

The only highlight was Verstappen over taking anyone who got in his way and is looking more and more like future world champion with every lap.

It wasn't the most exciting race I've ever watched, but it was interesting to See Nico give Lewis a bit of a lesson on how to control a race. But there wasn't much Lewis could do really, after last year and the accusations of unfair team tactics, this year booth cars run exactly the same strategy so neither can accuse the team of favouritism. The only way Hamilton could pass Rosberg is if he changed his strategy and tried a short of long middle stint. The team told him that wasn't going to happen so he had a half hearted attack and settled for second. Not as I say terrible exciting, but Merc want to make sure of the PR result. Not "drivers take each other out" headlines.

So then Nico won and made it look easy. The result secured second place in the championship. Which is nice.

Lewis made it look hard work in second.

Vettel had a lonely race to third after Kimi got out of his way. He has now secured third place in the championship, which is a damn sight more than he would have got with Redbull this year.

Kimi was the perfect team mate in fourth.

Bottas was William only saving grace as it turned out in fifth

It was Hulkenberg's turn to be the best Force India driver this week in sixth.

Kvyat was hamstrung with a Renault engine in seventh.

Now.... on the road Massa was eighth. But according to the result from the FIA he has been excluded for a technical infringement. What happened was; the FIA take the temperature and pressure of random cars just before the race starts. This week it was Massa's turn and to quote technical document 40 from the FIA

"On the grid the tread temperature and minimum tyre starting pressure of the right hand side rear tyre was checked on car number 19 after the “5-minutes” signal was given.

The temperature measured on the tread of the right hand side rear tyre of car number 19 was 137°C, 27 °C above the maximum tread temperature of 110 °C allowed by the official tyre supplier. The corresponding tyre pressure at 137 °C was 20.6 psi, 0.1 psi above the minimum starting pressure"

Which basically means the tyre was too hot and the pressure too low. When the race started and the tyre cooled down the pressure would drop below the minimum required by Pirelli to stop teams' whinging when they explode. Now you might ask why only one tyre was that hot and clearly that must mean there was a problem with the tyre blanket. Tyres should just not be that hot.

But rules is rules and the FIA do like to throw their weight around to remind everyone that actually they're the ones in charge .. Not Bernie or the teams.

So now Grosjean is eighth and jolly well done to him on what must have been a difficult weekend for him.

Verstappen makes it to ninth and was the most exciting driver out there.

And Crazy Maldonado was tenth despite getting a five second penalty for being an arse yet again.

Stevens beat Rossi for a change so the America is our last placed driver four laps behind the Mercs. That's got to hurt hasn't? All that money and effort to still be a country mile away from the action!

 

I'm not even going to bother qualifying. 

Not as dull as expected shocker.

Well I'll be, that wasn't too bad in the end. Well okay I did fall asleep for a lap or two in the middle. But I've been up since midnight watching the WEC race from Japan which was, by the way an absolute belter.

Okay, well this is going to be a bit short I'm afraid as the France v Ireland game kicks off in a bit so I have to be ready for that.

Firstly congratulation to Mercedes for securing the Constructors world title today, they needed Kimi to t bone Bottas and get a time penalty to achieve it, but let's be honest it was pretty much a forgone conclusion from about Australia wasn't it. Ferrari had a go at making a fight of it, but the only thing that was going to beat them was reliability, certainly not a Renault or Ferrari engine.

Almost but not quite there, Lewis has one hand on the big silver trophy tonight. He needs to beat Nico by 10 points and Sebastian by 2 in the next race in America and he's home free, given how well he's driving at the moment,  I can't see there being much problem for him .. Once again the only thing that could stop him is reliability.  

And that's the tricky one it's the little things inside the cars that's causing problems for Mercedes at the moment, Lewis failed to finish in Singapore for want a 3 penny spring in the engine.  Now Nico fails to finish because of a washer in the throttle control.  Small stuff that ruins the race and can rob a driver of the title, so it's not all cut and dried just yet!

So Lewis inherited his win, but would probably have passed Nico at some point, or not, who knows. He failed to get pole as like everyone else he couldn't dial the car into the circuit. The limited running they all had meant they had to make a few guesses along the way and Lewis operates best when the car is right underneath him. Nico is the one that can take a loose car and adapt his driving style, it's probably the only thing he's better than Lewis at.   But it was all mote when the throttle stopped working on Hamilton's only real opposition, the Williams didn't have the Legs and Vettel was too far back to push the Merc. So it was a relatively easy win in the end, although there was a slight question about the rear win in the closing laps as Lewis reported it might be loose.  See Lady Luck is a cheeky Minx.

Vettel was second and had to remind Kimi just who was in charge. He got the fastest lap at the end chasing Hamilton.

Perez was third and looked like he'd just won the world championship. Okay he had to rely on Kimi taking out Bottas (lots of people will be buying Kimi a beer on the plan home tonight I suspect) but he put himself there with a trade mark "looking after the tyres on a long run" race. Something he's had a lot of practice at over the years and no, it's not pretty but it gets the results and Force India deserves a break.

Massa was largely anonymous driving from the back of the field to fourth, a poor  qualifying  making life difficult for the Williams driver.

Home boy Kvyat was fifth on a bad day for Renault engine drivers.

Nasr has a good run to sixth to remind everyone that Sauber are still there.

Maldonado wasn't the one to smear a Lotus down the wall this week. Hurrah, he was seventh at the end and the team felt he could have tried just a little bit harder.  

Kimi is eventually classified eighth, the stewards gave him a stiff talking too about driving standards and handed him a 30 second "stop, hold and go" penalty. I think he also gets a grid penalty for a third stiff talking too and points on his licence or something. But I'll check that before we get to America.

Button was ninth with a rubbish underpowered dog of a car and engine. The McLaren headquarters has this big atrium area with all the cars they are most proud of, Le Mans winners and the cars Bruce McLaren designed, stuff like that. The 2015 F1 McLaren Honda should be front and centre, the very first car all the employees should see first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Just to remind them how badly they all got it wrong and how it feels to fail so abjectly. No one ever improved looking at the things that went right, you learn from the things that humiliate you in front of the world.

And finally tenth goes to Verstappen because even though Alonso finished tenth on the road, he didn't feel the need to respect the track limits repeatedly even after the stewards told him to stop being so naughty.   So he got a post race five second penalty and Verstappen beat him to the points by 2.786 seconds.  Tough, tough but fair.

Okay last man standing was Will Stevens who is rapidly becoming Max like in his ability to be rubbish.

Right the rugby is about to start so I'll end it there. See you in two weeks for the crowning of a new champion in Texas.  

Back in the USSR, Crimea a river.

Hello you lovely people.

So the days are getting shorter as the warm summer breeze starts to turn damp and just a bit chilly. It’s the time of year for long walks in the woods, kicking up the leaves, collecting conkers and big roast dinners with the family, then falling asleep in front of the TV and thankfully the F1 circus rocks up to the interminably dull Sochi circuit.  

Russia has many fantastic cities; Moscow with its Red Square, St Petersburg  with the Hermitage and Sochi with its errrr .. with that thing the .. errrum. Oh yeah the industrial truck park round the back. No wait .. there’s that big round international flag thing, yeah that was interesting. A big long corner with no overtaking on it .. yeah. That corner was … well it looked nice, the one between that Aldi super store and Ikea outlet depot. Its supposed to be a the track winding its way through what is apparently the 2014 winter Olympic village, but it just looks like a brutalist theme park to me.

Yet another track shoehorned around an out of town shopping centre to promote a country by showing a really dull 2.4 miles of its car parks.  I mean Russia is a pretty big place, there is an awful lot of it and not an awful lot of people living on vast chunks of it. So why slap a street circuit around one of the least visually appealing ones?

[insert pictures of Dollars here]

Monaco  works because it has the weight of history behind it. Its slap bang in the middle of the city and it uses the landmarks to promote the city. It looks exciting, it looks dangerous and you can see the drivers having to work for their money.

Singapore works because it’s in the middle of the night, its brash bright neon lit, loud, fast, dangerous and exciting. You can’t really see the actual city but you can imagine it behind the floodlights and grandstands as an exciting place to visit. It has mystery and the lure of the orient about it.

Sochi meanwhile, looks like you can get a good two for one offer on cabbages soup, if the highly visible, highly armed and very mean looking troops don’t turn you away first. Oh it looks bright and sparkly new … but would you actually want to go there?

No this weekend has far more interesting things happening than a stodgy old race in Russia, trust me. But I’m afraid you’re going to need satellite TV to catch it, starting at midnight on Saturday we have the Australian V8 from Bathurst. One of the truly great race tracks in the world. An absolutely amazing ribbon of tarmac carved up the side of Mount Panorama in New South Wales. This is a real circuit for real proper drivers with grit and determination. Go and look for it on YouTube, type in Bathurst 1000 and marvel at what a car can do when its driven on the edge of reason round a mountain.

I have a bucket list of races I’m going to attend before the red wine catches up with my liver. Bathurst is front and centre top 3, behind a Le mans hospitality suite and grandstand seats over the start finish line at the Indy 500. As events go, the V8’s round Bathurst has to be seen to be believed. The fans drink enough booze to sink the titanic, they even had to limit the amount of beer being brought onto the circuit to 24 cans per person.

Next up and following right behind the Ozzy V8’s,  round 6 of the WEC from the Fuji international circuit in Japan. Yes I know it’s turning into a bit of a Porsche benefit year, but trust me, it’ll be worth getting up for, Fuji is a beautiful circuit.

Okay, watch those two if you can, then when the F1 start you won’t mind if it’s as dull as an English Rugby second half performance.

Other news … Bernie reckons the whole shebang will be sold off to the highest bidder before the end of the year ! Yes, odd news this, it might just be Bernie dangling a line during a slow news week to the more naïve elements of the press pack. But who knows with Bernie! Maybe CVC have had enough of teams asking for more money, they’re currently loading the cars with all the loot they can carry, Kevin has been sent back to check under the sofas in the staff canteen to look for any loose change they may have missed. The Big boss is sitting in the driver’s seat nervously checking his watch, the EU could be round any minute asking difficult questions  and he’s not the one who’s going down for this blag.

If CVC were to sell the right to F1 to some other shadowy group of faceless money men, Bernie would get a whole new shed full of dirty cash and no doubt be left in charge, despite being one hundred and eleventy stupid.  oooh sure Its’s all probably just more Bernie smoke and mirrors .. time as ever, will tell.

Good news for the Lotus peeps. Renault have said they’ll buy the gig and have signed something that keeps her Majesties customs and excise from the door until the end of the season. There is still no actual official announcement on what’s actually been bought and whose paying for what.  There are apparently several creditors with noses out of shape, you’d think they’d be used to that, having bank rolled Maldonado these past two years. One theory is, Renault will withdraw the team for 2016 so there are no Renault engines on the grid, which means they can redesign the whole thing and restart the team in 2017 with a brand new engine thus avoiding the whole tokens/points/money FIA mess thing.

Because they have told Redbull and by extension Torro Rosso what it can do with its engine contract. Tired of being blamed for the teams problems and passed over when  the glory is being handed out, Renault will not be supplying engines to either team in 2016. Now as I’m sure you’re all aware a car without an engine isn’t much of a race car. It’s not really a car at all is it? it’s a sled, and that’s about it. So Redbull have been flouncing around and waving their hands in the air and threatening to hold their breath and generally acting like spoilt children. See they treated Renault appallingly badly for years, and when they went knocking on the doors of other engine manufactures “demanding” no less, that they “give them an engine and it better be damn good mind you”  No company appears to be ready to deal with this petulant team.

They told Audi it had better give them an engine and stop with all the WEC nonsense right away, Audi mumbled something about being busy and winning and not needing the grief. Then VW who sort of own Audi got caught cheating on their road car emission tests and suddenly F1 with a team not known for hushing up engine problems, was not the place for a toxic brand.

So they went to Ferrari who said they had a couple of old units knocking around they could have at cost. Redbull said no Ferrari were to give them the best newest engines for free or they’d tell Bernie Ferrari was being mean. Ferrari laughed and told them to get lost.  

So Redbull knocked on Mercedes door demanding the same engines as the works team and this time they brought Bernie along. But Mercedes are winning and they don’t need the grief either. Bernie wasn’t happy about this and so in Japan, quite unrelated of course you understand, Mercedes who won the race at a canter were strangely absent from our television screens. Mercedes just shrugged and said “No, Redbull are not getting our engines in 2016”.

There’s always Honda I suppose ……. Hahahahahahahahaahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah

Ok, Sochi then, Merc and Ferrari, chased by Redbull and Williams .. Lotus now it’s got some money and Force India with something to prove. Verstappen will be the only thing worth watching if Mercedes don’t get any air time again.

Good luck

This is a plea for my liver .. has anyone got a spare ??

Okay, not the most exciting race I've ever got up at some ungodly hour for, especially one I spent the previous night watching England being beaten by Wales, for. I was particularly bleary of eye and in fact I missed the only interesting bit, the first 200 yards of the race, as I managed to sleep through the alarm.

Musshed get up ... the race will be amazing.. mush get....up ....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

So yeah, I missed Hamilton motor past Nico when the lights went out. Much the same as I slept through the first 40 minutes of qualifying. Don't get me wrong I really love Suzuka it's one of the world's great tracks and the fans are up there with their Italian and British brethren. But it starts at six in the morning and there was a lot of Rugby on Saturday night and a bottle of Port might have been opened.

Well done Wales by the way, you beat the English fair and square, I can't really complain. But don't expect me to wake up early the next morning and have a ready supply of bon mots for you. I'm getting too old for all of this I'm afraid.

Errrre yeah good point, motor racing.

From what I remember .. I missed the start, Hamilton over took Nico and some people banged into each other. Okay .. And I joined the race as Nico went into the pits in third or possibly fourth.  Then I think some other people went into the pits and Nico was second and Vettel was third.

I might have drifted off for a bit, then Alonso was making everyone in the entire world aware that he thought the Honda engine was a pile of dung and just about good enough for a GP2 car, which seems about right, if a little tactless at Hondas home circuit, maybe.

Then the race was over and Hamilton had got the same number of wins as Senna (41, one less than Vettel stat fans) which seemed to make him quite happy.

Then I watched Big Ron turn up on Sky to play down Alonso getting all angry about the rubbish Honda engine and the media's ongoing attempts to crucify McLaren for getting things very wrong.

I got up to go and walk the dog at that point. Watching red faced loon's texting in to "Crofty" to stick the knife into McLaren was too much, a company makes a mistake and some of the more unhinged members of society seem to feel like it was some sort of personal insult to the fans or something. The only thing more baffling is the FIA website. I really urge you to go and see just how appalling it is, just try and find the current drivers championship standings  .. I defy you to do it in less than 20 minutes.

Ho and indeed hum. Yay, Lewis won, anyone think Hamilton isn't going to win the title now? Thought not! Sure there are five races to go, but barring some sort of season ending injury he's pretty much home and dry now, Nico hasn't got his game face on at all.  He didn't get pole though, Nico managed that before Kvyat smeared his car down the road in the dying minutes of qualifying.  Hamilton was going faster (I think as I say I was kind of bleary eyed for that too). But it meant nothing as Lewis just steamed past when the lights went out and then he drove round really quickly and won. Easy peasy.

Nico was second, again, because he's a number two driver.

Vettel was third because he has the next best thing to a factory Merc engine.

Kimi was forth because even he can get the next best thing to a Merc engine past the best customer Merc engine.

Bottas was fifth with the best customer Merc engine.

Hulkenberg managed to avoid hitting Massa this time and made a much better start than his team mate, he was sixth.

Grosjean was seventh and has announced he's off to new boys Hass F1 (Ferrari number 2 factory squad) next year. Because he knows that if Lotus are quite prepared to give Maldonado a new contract then winning isn't what they're racing for anymore.

Maldonado eighth blahdy blah blah. Imagine what a good driver could do with that lotus!

Ninth for Verstappen who could be amazing in a well funded  Merc engined car, I imagine when Redbull do finally throw their toys out of the pram and flounce off because no one want to give spoilt attention seeking children an engine next year. There is going to be more than an unseemly fight by the big boys for Verstappen's signature. There's going to be a blood bath. Maybe that's why Big Ron was all smiles despite Alonso, maybe he's already got the kid signed and Honda are ready to unveil an almighty engine any minute now.

Yeah Sainz was tenth and he isn't Verstappen, he's the guy Verstappen doesn't get out of the way for.

Oh Hamilton got the fastest lap and Stevens got beaten by Rossi again, so he was last. Imagine (once again) you are Will Stevens and you have been beating your rubbish team mate for 6 month, then an upstart Yank gets parachuted in with a massive pay-check and whip yer ass two races running. That's got to hurt, hasn't it?

Two weeks to Sotchi, a race I am really looking forward too ... (no, no I'm not)

Love and hugs.

Julian.

Lewis Hamilton, then and now.

Do you remember this chubby faced little driver, the boy from Stevenage who done good and won a world title?

I used to think he was the second coming, I really did. He would get into the car week after week and absolutely spank it to the limit where even the angels get nervous.

That first year Hamilton rocked up there was a big hoopla about it all. This virtually unknown kid that had won a few lower formula races and stuff, the regular media had never heard of him, the F1 press pack kind of knew who he was. The only thing they had for Lewis was the fabled “I done told Ron Dennis I was going to drive for him one day" heart warming story. The day Lewis the karting prodigy walked up to Ron at the Autosport awards and buttonholed Mr McLaren for a job, it was precocious and heart warming all at once. How cute, how just like Lewis. Ron was instantly smitten with this boy with a gleam in his eye so he immediately wrote the boy a cheque and told him to come down the factory for a seat fitting on Monday morning. “You and me lad, we’ll go all the way. Natch".

When you think about it though, just how many people walk up to Ron and ask him for sponsorship of their fledging journey to F1 on a daily basis? Right now how many dads are calling the McLaren factory looking to impress the boss do you think, hundred? thousands? If you’ve ever called the McLaren PR department looking for a few caps to give away as prizes for instants, you’ll know they could teach the North Koreans a thing or two about stonewalling interested parties.

But the reality was Lewis was picked up by McLaren and fast tracked into F1 with much fanfare by a team riding high. He joined Alonso who was no fool and together they got on like a house on fire, a house full of fireworks and other highly explosive handbags. McLaren got caught cheating, Alonso spectacularly threw his toys out of the pram, Lewis almost won the title at his first go, there were accusation of favouritism, Hamilton and Alonso stopped talking to each other and Kimi sneaked the title from under the McLaren drivers noses. The narrative in 2007 was Lewis the rookie turning up and blowing the world champion out of the water, he was no respecter of titles, he was there to win and show the world what a plucky lad could do given half a chance.

I always used to think that it was Alonso that threw a hissy fit that year and Hamilton was an innocent victim of a spiteful hate campaign by the Spanish media. After Coughlin gate and Alonso’s big huff off to Renault, that became the accepted history, as time has gone on however, I’m starting to question that view.

The “Plucky young lad” image was cemented with the title winning run in 2008. He was almost robbed of the title by The FIA sticking their oar in, Massa player the villain to Hamilton’s young British hero role and we all lapped it up. The Evil FIA rooting for Ferrari and the swarthy Brazilian foreign type, against by the rules McLaren and our clean living  boy next door Brit, it was a great year with a title that went down to the last corner of the last race. It was an amazing year and you had to take sides, you were either old school dirty cheating Ferrari or stiff upper lip straight bat playing McLaren.  

The final image that year was a beaming Hamilton wet from champagne wrapped in the union jack, eyes gleaming and waving to the press pack as the Brazilian fans had gone home hours ago after witnessing Massa win the race, but lose the title in such a cruel way.

The years following that title winning season, were not good. Jenson rocked up in a car still being bolted together in Australia 2009 after Honda quite at the 11^th hour and Mercedes lent the new Brawn team some second hand engines. It turned out the Brawn chassis had a few clever tricks under its skirts and blow the opposition away. Only Redbull in a portent of the seasons to come came close to stopping the Brawn fairy tale that year. Lewis tried really, really hard but McLaren had thrown everything at 2008 and failed to carry the momentum into 2009. Brawn had a good car while McLaren only had the best driver.  Lewis still went out and drove the nuts of the car each week, but he made mistakes and too often over drove the car.

And Lewis started to change; being champion gets you invited to swanky parties, people who have no idea the engine is in the back of on F1 car want to be seen with the cute kid from Englandhamshire who won that car race thing.  Suddenly what he wore was just as important as how far up the championship table he was. He got himself a celeb girlfriend and told his dad he was going to get himself a new manager. A manager who could get him invited to better parties and suddenly he was standing next to the likes of Sean Combs and Samuel L Jackson. Most notably Lewis started sporting earring studs, nothing to obvious or ostentatious just small black studs.

There just isn’t the same level of adulation in the UK for athletes and celebrities as there is in America. Especially for the black stars, the whole stiff upper lip, know your place, embarrassment thing. The biggest sporting celebration in the UK is the BBC sports personality award at the end of the year. An event where the 84 year old retired post mistress from Little Puddlington who teaches wheelchair bound kids to play tiddlywinks is given a longer standing ovation than the eventual Sports personality. In the UK being a billionaire, super fit, highly talented and driven world champion just isn't as good as the inspirational old lady smelling slightly of moth balls.

Lewis found he rather liked America and the adulation he gets there. He didn’t have to be the humble plucky lad from Blighty who lived in a quite village in the sticks any more. He could be the Formula one world champion Lewis Hamilton and hang out with Kanye west at the MTV video awards, he could meet black America and be accepted as an equal.

Back in the world of F1 the 2010 season was another to forget. Jenson joined him as Brawn turned into Mercedes. McLaren built a better car, but it wasn’t as good as the Redbull or the Ferraris this time.  Vettel sneaked it from Webber and Alonso, Lewis was distant and grumpy. Diamond studs appeared and the tattoos got bigger and more obvious.

2011 and the wheels really started to come off the car for Lewis, the on/off celeb girlfriend was all the media wanted to talk about when they weren’t asking why he kept hitting Massa. He spent more time in the steward's office than the podium that year.  He replied to the press pack questioning after yet another telling off with “maybe it is because I is black”. The red faced loons and F1 media failed to get the reference or the joke.  Vettel was unstoppable all year long taking back to back titles.

2012 and McLaren are in full on comedy team mode, the car was pretty good but McLaren contrived to lose the drivers title to Vettel yet again, with poor strategy calls and a pit crew straight out of the keystone cop. As Vettel breezed to his third straight title helped by the FIA failing to show any backbone and Pirellis capitulation to Redbulls “safety” concerns. Lewis feeling straight jacked by the McLaren hive mind PR machine, quit for Mercedes and a new start. He told the press the reason was he wasn't allowed to keep the trophies he won; he only got copies from McLaren weeks later.

2013 and every team apart from Redbull were building their new rules for 2014 cars back at the factory so weren’t really trying that year. Redbull and Vettel romped home virtually unchallenged. Ferrari desperate as ever to appear competitive put up a bit of a fight, but they failed as usual.  Lewis spent half the season designing a baseball cap that met his exacting standards. A hat … ! and that hat became part of a “look” Lewis adopted, A hat that never left his head and was used, with the big celeb dark glasses, to hide away from the press and fans alike. The year was not a total success, but nor was it a disaster with a win in Hungary and a handful of thirds, a respectable start with the new team. Freed from McLarens strict PR rules, Lewis could pick and choose the events he attended and who could interview him.  The narrative changed from humble plucky young lad to grizzled ex world champ, a loner, the intense young man with nothing but thoughts of victory and looking cool when he wins.

Of course there’s nothing wrong with win at all costs, just as long as you remember shake the beaten guys hand and don’t screw over your friends. The sort of friends you came up through the ranks with, good mates whose fathers are themselves ex world champions. Long days spent travelling all over Europe and beyond, sleeping in dingy hotels and more often than not the back of dad's car.  The sort of mate you measure yourself against in the beginning then realise you can beat with ease and keep him around to make you look good.  

Yeah, don’t screw those friends over or it makes you look like a brat.

In 2014 Lewis cut the ties with the old image, the old life and his friends. Nico suddenly was the enemy and just another person to beat, all those long hot summers learning their trade round the European tracks meant nothing when it came to the rub. Lewis now moved in the exalted circles of the triple A entertainment circuit. The earrings got bigger and brighter, much, much brighter. Big fat flash gold chains became the signature symbol of success. The humble English lad from the sticks became the humble God fearing Lewis Hamilton Brand #teamLH.

It took a bit of effort, but he won the title in 2014, Nico made him work for it, but it wasn’t really in any doubt. Everything he learnt as Alonso’s understudy that first year came into play. And it was Nico that was seen to be throwing his toys out of the pram this time. Nico that had to cheat to beat Lewis and Nico that made all the mistakes.

But it was Nico that, I think, came out of the season with the most respect. It was Nico that went to Lewis before the crowning of the world champion after the race and shock his hand. He was the first to congratulate the new champion and it was Nico that paid tribute to Lewis.

Now in 2015 Lewis is on course to cruise to the title this year. Vettel in the Ferrari is the only driver looking to take the fight to Mercedes as Nico is completely out qualified and raced. Lewis has already got the pole position trophy secures. The only race he has failed to make the podium so far was Hungary. The third in Monaco was only third because the team screwed up in the closing stages.

Yes, I know, to win the world championship takes a certain .... ruthlessness. You have to be prepared to sacrifice friends and loved ones to achieve the ultimate goal in single seat motor sports. It's not an easy thing to do and doing multiple times takes a single minded determination.

But let us turn to Vettel for a moment and the point of this little piece.

I'm prepared now, to admit that Vettel won the title in 2010 by being better than Alonso and Webber. Those two were looking at each other and missed the German Lad who won the race that mattered.

 I will always question how legitimate Redbulls cars were in 2011 and 2012. They were doing something clever with suspension and ride heights. The engines were clearly using off throttle over run far more effectively over Newey's exquisite bodywork.  

In 2013 no one else turned up to the party.

But Vettel, and this is painful to say .. wasn't that smug about it all really. No , no he wasn't. That's what we wanted, we wanted to dislike him because he was winning and it all looked too easy whilst Alonso and Hamilton couldn't get a look in. Okay he was a bit mean to Webber a couple of times. But he did it on the track. You never heard reports of him bad mouthing Webber, and he did sort of apologies afterwards.

Yes he waved that finger around, but he only does it when he's on the podium and he's won, when he actually has the right to do it.

But Vettel never paraded a flash private yet around or took to wearing more and more jewellery around the paddock. Check out the instagram accounts for both Vettel and Lewis, see who likes to display the trappings of success. For the Singapore GP Lewis is finally releasing some of his music he's been recording at home, the fabled rap album.

I think the tipping point for me was Monza and the drivers' tribute to Justin Wilson, and yes I know this moment has been done ad infinitum.

The camera cuts to the driver in the garage waiting to go out and pay the tribute. All gathered together talking and smiling, apart from the world champion who has his ear buds in, hat on and big old glasses coving that impassive race face. Lewis was off to the side not talking to anyone as Vettel strides in and tells Jenson that the drivers are going now. I didn't ask, he didn't check his watch and defer to the world champion. He confidently strode in and told the driver to start moving.

Out they troop onto the trailer to stand, heads bowed and uncovered as a mark or respect to a fallen comrade, killed so cruelly by a bit of flying debris a week earlier. Well almost all the heads were uncovered.

Lewis didn't uncover his because he had just dyed his hair blonde and wasn't showing anyone his new hair colour until he'd won the race! A little bit of me died there. It really did. His image was more important than showing some respect. Yeah, it's just a hat, I know, I know. But he walked passed everyone else because he was the last up there, talking on his phone, he saw them take their hats off. If he hadn't just dyed his hair would he have been so precious about the hat?

Its just bad form really. 

I still think he's one of the best drivers I've ever seen. And I'll always root for him, the same as I rooted for Nigel and his endless brummy whinging. But I'm not sure in the extremely unlikely event I'm ever offered the chance to have lunch with Lewis I would take it now, I think Vettel or Jenson or even Alonso would be more interesting and less self obsessed company. 

Right enough slaying of idols, Singapore this weekend. Lewis will probably win, but watch out for the Redbulls who are pinning their hopes on a slew of updates.  As Hungary showed when top speed isn't so important they've got a sweat handling car can take the fight to Ferrari and Williams.

Ferrari's engine update gave Mercedes something to think about at Monza, Vettel will be buzzing after that result so I think another podium is within easy reach.  Nico will be the one to lose out again.   

Williams need something to happen here. Ferrari has the beating of them now and Redbull are up for the fight. But the boys from Didcot are bringing their A game apparently, lots of sponsors to impress and third place in the championship to secure.

The on going "Whose going to buy Lotus this week" story will drag on. As an engineer working in an industry facing plenty of redundancies at the moment myself, I really feel for the workers back at the Lotus factory. Not knowing if you'll have a job next month is a terrible thing to have to live with. Whilst the money men argue over "historical payment" real people have mortgages to pay and school uniforms to buy. The sooner things get sorted out the better. 

Force India, Indian summer will continue as Perez continues to do a good job of reminding everyone he used to be thought off as something special.

The rest who cares, Mehri will we last as usual.

Holiday over, on with the show.

Hello.

I’m back, sort of.

Let’s see, I'm a bit out of the loop now. I’ve still not seen the British or Hungarian races yet, which is probably a mistake as they sound like the two best races of the year so far. The results certainly suggest interesting stuff happen in Hungary; Lewis had a bit of a meltdown, Vettel continued to build his “SAVIOUR OF FERRARI” re brand and Redbull got their act together on a track where good handling always pays dividends.  I imagine I'll watch them one day but probably not this year.

So, after a four week break the circus returns to Europe for the Belgium Grand Prix.

Not a lot happened during those four weeks to trouble the serious F1 view, even Bernie managed to keep his PR machine under wraps and avoid bad mouthing the sport during the summer holiday.

The teams agreed to limit pit wall involvement in the start of the race, so no ideal clutch settings and no telling the driver where the puddles are.  Mercedes are expected to be the big losers here, and at the British GP Williams showed they weren't worried in the slightest.

Honda said they'd found a who bunch of speed and were almost as good as Ferrari now, McLaren then said they'd not been planning on using a B spec engine any time. Which suggests the engine now has the horse power is was missing at the start of the year, let's hope they find the reliability to go with it

The expectation was we would hear about Kimi's replacement by the Italian GP if not sooner. The Media have been writing him off since Vettel started winning and the grumpy Fin didn't. Failing to win in Hungary was seen as the last nail in Kimi's career coffin, so any day now he was going to be farmed off to some third rate team to try and offset the money Ferrari would pay Williams for Bottas.

Except, they didn't. ...I know, what a surprise ... or not. It was announced today (Wednesday) that Kimi has been retained for next year at least and I suspect until Bottas or Hulkenberg are out of contract.

Okay then, things to watch this weekend.

Lewis: More madness or level headed points gathering.

Rosberg: What excuse will he use to explain being beaten this time?

Ferrari: Flash in the pan or second coming?

Kimi: Will he be less grumpy now he has a 2016 contract?

 McLaren: will they get both cars home and in the points, will the new engine hand together.

Renault: trimmed out for the straight bits, hanging it out on the twisty boys. New shiny engine bits.

Williams: will be looking for a podium at the least here, expect Bottas to be gungho for pole.

Update your predictions before Friday :)

Ramble on ...

Ok then, time for a bit of perspective.

Is Formula one in trouble …. ?

Yes, yes of course it is. Half the teams are spending more time fighting creditors off with a finely tooled carbon prop shaft than chasing championship points. The racing is restricted by tyres that go off way too fast, fuel flow meters mean drivers have to lift and coast rather and nail it where the angels fear to tread. The muddy scum on the banking are kept well away from any contact with those paid to entertain them. Social media is a dirty word as other racing series fall over themselves to throw information at the punters, overload them with data and behind the scenes footage. F1 inc is taking down fans Youtube clips taken from six miles away on the banking, banning online F1 games that haven’t paid for the rights to use the drivers names or results of the races. There’s no attempt to engage with the audience, it’s only available to those prepared to pay through the nose for access and information. And that access and information is tightly controlled by just one man, a man dismissive of anyone that doesn’t have the money to buy a seat at his expensive race day tables. And a man who isn’t too concerned just where that money will have come from either. Dodgy third world dictator, not a problem, questionable attitude to human rights, come on in.

The only people telling you there isn’t a problem are those with a vested interest in things staying exactly as they are; Anyone connected with Mercedes, Bernie and his various tame media outlets, the FIA, Pirelli tyres, Ferrari. But not Redbull, especially not Redbull who are lying on the ground kicking their heels, throwing their toys at any passing media and screaming red faced at absolutely anyone that will listen about how unfair it is that they aren’t winning anymore.  It’s all particularly unseemly.

So yes, on and off track, it’s not looking too clever really. Talking of clever, where are the F-ducts and mass dampers? Those clever bits of thinking that can turn a midfield garagista into a front runner …. Banned.  The only difference now is buried deep under the carbon fibre skin, electrical systems tick and fizzle with innovation. KERS and ERHS powering man and machine faster for less fuel, more bang for your bucks. But all kept oh so secret, until it explodes then the fingers start pointing and shoulders are shrugged.

All this would be fine of course if there was a BUT next wouldn’t it ….. Nope I can’t think of one. The absolute highlight of the season so far, the biggest talking point, was Mercedes calling Hamilton in when he was leading the Monaco GP, oh and Maldonado crashing a lot.

Did you catch any of the other motor sport events I mentioned at the start of June ?

It all kicked off with the Canadian GP; Hamilton was the fastest, some cars almost hit some local wildlife. I fell asleep.

The following weekend was Le Mans and possibly one of the best races of the past decade, Porsche and Audi scrapping it out for the win, Toyota completely outgunned, Nissan getting a rude awakening and a social media kicking, the plucky KCMG squad from Hong Kong taking the LMP2 win with a faultless run ahead of much more experience teams. Then Corvette taking the honour in GT pro after a race long battle with Ferrari and a fleet of Aston Martins. Heartbreak for Aston in GT am with a crash for the leading car with less than an hour to go, Dempsey making in onto the podium in second behind the SMP Ferraris.  It had everything this year, racing all race long, beer,  Audi beaten at last, baguettes, Corvette winning, roast chicken. I hardly slept for 24 hours.

The Austrian GP: Roseberg was the fastest, I was in London having a good time with my son. So I didn’t fall asleep during the race this time, I fell asleep watching the highlights instead.

And finally I couldn’t find any live streams of Pikes peak. But I did watch the Formula E race from London, the final round of this new championship and it was an absolute belter. Buemi looked like he’d cruse to the title, but Piquet Jr drove a spectacular second race to hold onto the championship lead by two points.

Formula E is an odd thing, because the cars will only do half the race they have to swap cars at about half distance. So the driver has a choice weather to lift and coast to save power so they can get an extra lap to have more power with the second car at the end. Or go hell for leather at the start, build a big lead and then eak out the power of the second car to defend the lead. Where F1 is dull because the drivers are having to lift and coast from pretty much lap 4, Formula E manages to make this racing exciting. 

Putting up temporary circuits in cities around the world has brought the racing to people who wouldn’t normally see any live racing, okay the design of the circuits needs a little more thought. They were often too narrow for the bumpy city roads and parks and didn’t always promote much overtaking. But the cars looked fast on the narrow tracks, overtaking had to be about picking the right moment and often muscling past defensive minded drivers.  They might not have sounded very interesting, but the cars look different and the racing was exciting.

With both Le Mans and the Formula E races, social media was all over them like a rash!

I watched Le Mans from the comfort of my sofa, I had my nice big tv with its HD picture showing the two days of practice, and the entire 24 hour race. I had my PC set up showing a full timing service, Tweetdeck following all the major players who tweeted constantly, Facebook with various motorsport sites running race long threads. I watched live feeds from the 3 Nissan in car cameras with Nismo TV’s youtube feed. They had live reports from the pits, the cars, a studio at the back of the garage. Nissan had a great social media race if not an actual race.

Formula E actively encourages fans to get involved with their “Fan boost” via the FIA website.  Fans vote for their favourite driver and the top three get a five second power boast. It’s a bit simple, relies on the driver or teams PR department ability to reach out and do the FIA’s promotion for them. But as a direct result of this I’m now following Instagram feeds for Buemi and Bruno Senna and added dragon racing to my facebook time line. I’ve not watched the whole season, but I’ve watched races that I stumbled on whilst flicking though the tv channels.

So, formula one didn’t really shine in July, when the highlight of the month is Jean Todt telling Bernie to stop bad mouthing F1 to the Media and who is going to buy the rights to the series … you have a problem. There is no positive news from any of the teams or drivers or even the people charged with promoting the whole damn mass !

I have no idea what answer to all this is, but what F1 needs right now is someone to lead the thing whose primary concern isn’t his own ego, legacy or bank balance.

Okay, enough grumpy complaining .. We have the British GP this weekend to look forward to.

Well we do, and if you like watching Kimi being evasive in front of a frenzied media witch hunt you’re in for a proper treat.

The last few weeks have seen Kimi struggle to qualify well and then keep up with either of the Merc or his team mate Vettel. Normally this wouldn’t be too much of a problem, a number two driver is supposed to be there or there about’s and not put the highly paid number one under too much pressure. But this is Ferrari and any sign of weakness is jumped upon by the Italian media and eventually the rest join in. It’s a quite month, not a lot of on track action to write about, let’s pick on a driver make him feel bad about his perceived lack of performance.

So the media have been rumbling for a week or two now about how badly Kimi was doing, the usual “Ferrari number two poison chalice” stuff. If Ferrari isn’t coming first and second than clearly it’s the number two drivers fault. Then Arrivabene held a press conference to say no they weren’t looking to sign Bottas any time soon despite not being asked that question, and the interest in Kimi ramped up.

Vettel is doing a good job of looking renewed and exciting, he got a win and Kimi has failed to win anything and is thus now over the hill and ready for a job at Marussia apparently.

And this week, apparently Ricciardo thinks it’s “nice” that Ferrari are interested in signing him at some unspecified time despite a rock solid contract with Redbull. So the media circus is chasing Kimi around asking him when he’s going to be fired and why is he so rubbish now. Kimi, not the most charismatic media presence, is hiding behind his big glasses and muttering “no comment” whenever he’s asked about his future. Expect this weekend TV coverage to be dominated by this total non-story.

Right, yes, Silverstone .. total power circuit, so Merc win, and Ferrari close behind, the same as Austria and Canada really. I should imagine that Hamilton would like to get a win on home soil, it’s a circuit he likes and knows well. Nico will probably be right in his wheel tracks.

Errr Ferrari (Vettel) the Williams boys looking to put on a good show, Lotus with renewed vigour and I thinks its Perez’s turn to do well this weekend. Throw in a Torro Rosso for the laughs.

Things to look out for, how many engine changes Renault have across all their teams. How many laps the McLarens complete all weekend long and how many grid penalties they get starting from Friday practice one. Will Kimi make it to Q2. And how many minutes Redbull last before they start complaining about their Renault engine.

Once again, I have father/son duties to perform with a party for him and his mates. So the results might be a touch late.

Good luck.