Unexpected End To The German Grand Prix

Free practice 3 saw McLaren catching back up with the leading teams. The english drivers ended up 5th and 6th at the end of the session. Definitely better than they looked on Friday but still not looking like they would be in a position to challenge Red Bull or Ferrari in the race.

Qualifying

Photo courtesy of Force India F1

It was again grey and overcast as the Nurburgring Q1 session started. Mark Webber was the first of the front runners to post a competitive time, but not for long as Lewis Hamilton put in a quick lap. Sebastien Vettel wasn't able to match the Englishman's time either but did beat his team mate. Halfway through the session Alonso eclipsed everyone else to go straight into provisional p1. By now only 0.3 seconds covered the top 5 which stood as Alonso, Hamilton, Webber, Vettel and Button.

The top teams, having set a decent time, sat out the rest of the session and let the bottom half of the grid sort themselves out. Except for Felipe Massa who, for no apparent reason, decided to use up a set of soft tyres at the end of the session despite being quite safe in his position. In the end it was Kobayashi who didn't make it into session 2, surprising everyone in the process.

Felipe Massa was first to leave the pits in Q2, continuing on the same soft tyres that he finished the last session on. Lewis Hamilton proved that his Q1 pace was not just a fluke by putting himself into first place again ahead of Alonso. Vettel was next to cross the line and he also failed to beat Lewis. By the halfway point of the session Hamilton was still in first, followed by Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Button, and Massa.

Paul di Resta put in a quick time to go 9th with around 90 seconds left on the clock. But now the competition was heating up quickly. Schumacher and Sutil both beat the English driver who finally ended up in 12th place. The biggest story of this session though was Lewis Hamilton hanging on to the top spot. His lap included a time through sector one that no-one else had been able to match.

Q3 was next up and again, Hamilton was one of the early pace setters. This time though Webber managed to find an huge extra chunk of time (0.47!) and get into first place. By the halfway point it was Webber, Hamilton, Alonso, Massa and finally Button making up the top 5. The second runs now began to finally decide pole position, despite some small improvements the majority did not change positions. Vettel did suddenly seem to be back in with a chance, but in the end his time was only good enough for third. Hamilton ended up only 0.05 seconds behind Webber in one of the closest qualifying sessions all year.

The final grid stood with Webber on pole followed by Hamilton, Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg and Button only able to get himself up to seventh. Its hard to see what lead to Lewis Hamilton's enormous improvement in pace. In practice they looked like they were being happily beaten by Mercedes. Martin Whitmarsh claimed that confidence in the car while using the blown diffuser could be part of it, but that doesn't seem likely to me. These are drivers who are used to pushing the limits of a brand new car with new parts every time they sit down to drive. Button is just not 1 second a lap slower than Hamilton so there must be some bigger difference. What it is and whether it will last to the end of the race would not be revealed until Sunday.

Race

Photo courtesy of Team Lotus

There was light rain as the mechanics cleared the grid for the race. Not enough to really wet the track but definitely enough to cause some nervous looks at the sky. As the parade lap set off though it was clearly drying up again.

Hamilton got a great start from pole position and took the lead into the first corner. Alonso also got a flyer and was challenging Webber all the way through lap 1. Vettel lost out and found himself in 4th with Rosberg behind him. On lap 2 Alonso ran a bit wide in turn 2 and lost the rear which put him wide and he rejoined in 4th. Button had a poor start and lost 3 places.

Lewis was making a gap by lap 2 and Alonso had recovered from his off and was right behind Vettel. Lap 4 and he was trying the same trick of running wide. Massa was being told by his engineer to get past Rosberg but seemed unable to make any impression. He caught up fast in the DRS zone but Nico went defensive early and Massa was forced to the outside and had to back out on the way into the chicane.

Webber seemed to be finding his rhythm and started to close in on Hamilton. By lap 7 only 3.6 seconds covered the top 4 drivers. Alonso was right behind Vettel and on Lap 8 he got a run out of the final turn and took the German into turn 1. Vettel started trying to keep with Fernando but on lap 10 he put a wheel onto the grass under braking for turn 10 and slid sideways into the run-off. He didn't lose any places but now Rosberg and Massa were right behind him.

Nick Heidfeld was trying to overtake Buemi on lap 11 and went to the outside but Buemi didn't see him, moved across the track and the two collided. Heidfeld's car jumped over Buemi's rear wheel and into retirement. Buemi managed to continue but only after his punctured tyre had been replaced.

Webber had caught up to 0.5 seconds behind Hamilton by lap 12 and was well into the DRS zone. Hamilton made a slow exit from the chicane and Webber was alongside as they passed the pit entrance. Lewis slowed to get a better run off the final turn and used the slipstream to retake Webber into turn 1. This battle allowed Alonso to get even closer and he joined in the battle on lap 14, and his attack on Webber allowed Hamilton a little breathing space. Especially as he drove into the pit the following lap.

Vettel was next into the pit on lap 17 and Hamilton and Alonso the very next lap. Webber was looking for a way past Massa down the pit straight as Hamilton and Alonso emerged from the pit nose to tail. Massa tried to take an inside line but was forced wider by the cars in the pit exit. Webber went even wider and used his speed to keep his place. Massa pitted at the end of the next lap giving the lead back to Webber with Hamilton second and Alonso third. Massa came out of the pit in front of Vettel. It was becoming clear that this would not be a dominant performance from the German driver.

On lap 24 Schumacher put a wheel off the track in the same place as Vettel and span in almost exactly the same way. Button headed into the pits for the first time a lap later, the English driver was clearly trying a different strategy to everyone else. Lap 26 and the top three were still only covered by 2.8 seconds. Sebastien Vettel's bad day continued, he was now 28 seconds behind first place and still losing time. A radio message gave a clue though, he was asked to move his brake balance forward to protect the rear brakes.

Alonso also got a radio message, "we think Webber is starting to have problems with his tyres, you can start to catch him now." He promptly responded by setting fastest lap of the race. Button was catching up with Adrian Sutil for 7th place as Webber pitted again for new soft tyres. Hamilton also went into the pits at the end of lap 31. Webber had to negotiate some traffic during his out lap and was slightly behind Hamilton as they went into turn 1. The Australian tried to switch back and was on the outside of Lewis as they went into turn 2. Hamilton ran Webber nice and wide and he backed out to remain on the track.

Next lap round saw Alonso going into the pit for his new soft tyres. In an almost exact replay of a lap earlier he exited the pit and got into turn 1 just in front of Hamilton. Lewis switched back, just as Webber had, but kept his foot in a bit harder and drove around the Spaniard, leading the trio into turn 3 on lap 33.

Photo courtesy of Force India F1

By lap 35 Button had taken Rosberg and was starting after Massa and Vettel. Hamilton was now enjoying his race and set a fastest lap. Jenson's race was over a lap later though as he had to pull into the pit with hydraulic problems and retire. Lewis however kept on going faster and by lap 37 had a 2.6 second lead and another fastest lap.

Vettel stopped for more tyres on lap 41 and Massa a lap later, emerging in front of the German. Hamilton continued to extend his lead and was now almost 9 seconds ahead of Webber who was also falling back from Alonso. Vettel was still chasing Massa and trying hard to overtake. He missed the chicane on lap 44 and had to rebuild a new attack. He  got a new fastest lap while catching back up and Massa was warned he was coming. By Lap 49 he was right behind him and continued to try and find a way past for the next few laps.

Hamilton made his last pit stop, moving on to hard tyres, on lap 51 but was it too soon? Ferrari bought fresh tyres out into the pits but Alonso continued past and they went back in. Hamilton showed that it was the right choice by setting a 1st sector time that no-one else could match. Alonso went for his hard tyres on lap 53 while Webber stayed out. Hamilton had done enough though and was in front of Alonso into turn 1.

Webber was clearly not going as fast as Hamilton and Alonso after their stops and finally went for his hard tyres on lap 57. That put Lewis back on the lead and on the next lap his engineer came on the radio, telling him, "You are P1, 3 seconds ahead of Alonso. You are the fastest car on the track." That has got to be a good thing to hear.

Vettel was still behind Massa and the race was quickly getting to the end. They would both have to stop soon for hard tyres but neither wanted to be the first to go. Two laps remaining and Vettel was told to do the opposite of Massa on the next trip past the pit entrance. Massa did not go in, and neither did Vettel. It would now be down to straight pit stop race on the penultimate lap. They both dived in, Vettel leaving it late to brake for the speed limit line and almost hitting the rear of the Ferrari. The Red Bull team got the better of their Italian counterparts and it was Vettel who made it out first.

The race finished with Lewis Hamilton taking first place followed by Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber. Vettel came home 4th ahead of Mass and Adrien Sutil claimed 6th place.

It was no surprise to see Ferrari matching and even beating the Red Bull cars for pace, but it was a surprise to see McLaren at the front. Even stranger was the fact that Button still seemed to be showing the same lack of speed that the British team had showed on Friday. Whatever the reason its good to see a race where there were three people in with a chance of winning right up until the end. And it was another (pleasant?) surprise to see that none of them were Sebastien Vettel. This performance will only lend weight to the theory that Vettel can only lead from the front and you have to wonder if he will ever be able to disprove it.

A fantastic win by Hamilton, against the odds. Hopefully this could be the template for the next few races. It would be great to think that we won't know who is going to win until the last lap for the rest of the season. It might also be a bit too much to ask. But for now I'm hanging on to my optimistic view. Bring on the second half of the championship!

Valencia, the Low Point of an Exciting Season

The European Grand Prix at Valencia was definitely more exciting than the last three times it has been run. But sadly in a year of stunning races, this was definitely the most dull. Can anything save this race from being a bit rubbish or is it just a lost case? And how can anyone persuade Bernie to get rid of it? It showed promise early on though...

Qualifying

Photo Courtesy of Team Lotus

It was very hot for the start of qualifying and continued to get hotter throughout the session, combined with the slippery track here there was a chance of some errors creeping in. Predictably, Vettel set the early pace but Jenson found a little more speed shortly after as the track improved. Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull were all very close as the session continued and then Nico Rosberg jumped up to fourth as the last runs began to show that Mercedes are still involved as well. The shuffling started to push Webber and Massa down towards the drop zone but they both saved themselves at the last with Massa taking fastest lap by 0.6 seconds.

In Q2 most of the drivers had their fast laps done nice and early which was lucky for them. Pastor Maldonaldo broke down in the middle of the track and bought out the red flags for a few minutes as a crane had to rescue him. The fast guys didn't bother to go out again after that. Paul di Resta was trying hard at the end but his lap was too scruffy to be quick and he lost out on a place in Q3. His team mate, Adrian Sutil, did make it in though, which made for a good result for Force India.

With 5 minutes of Q3 remaining  the top six was Vettel, Hamilton, Alonso, Webber, Button and Massa. The top 4 all decided to do another run at the end, Webber set off first and Vettel was the last. By the end of his flying lap though, Vettel hadn't improved and jumped into the pits to save his tyres. Webber managed to get a faster time but only good enough for second. Button somehow ended up in 6th place as the cars all came home and another slightly disappointing qualifying session ended.

Race

The cars lined up on the grid on an even hotter day than Saturday which was making the teams nervous about how long the tyres might last.

Photo Courtesy of Force India

As the lights went out both Ferraris got good starts with Massa getting the best of all. Hamilton bogged down a little and both of the red cars were past him by the first corner. Alonso made the best of the second turn though by running around the outside and putting himself into third on the way out of the corner. Massa tried to continue his run off the grid but had to back out of it and settle into 4th. In the confusion Button ended up knocked down to 7th as Rosberg squeezed past into 6th behind Hamilton.

By lap 2 Sebastien Vettel had opened up a 1.3 second gap on Webber and didn't look as though he would have any trouble keeping it. As the DRS became active it was Button who was in the best position to take advantage to it. Sadly it didn't seem to be working to well for him, he was getting closer to Rosberg with the flap activated but not close enough to get past. Rosberg started to get a bit ragged as the pressure built, but it was on the way into turn 2 where Jenson finally just forgot to brake for a few metres and dived through on the inside.

Fernando Alonso was closing on Mark Webber up to lap 6 but didn't seem to be making enough headway to get through. In trying to hard he ran very wide on turn 20, right across the astroturf section and giving Webber a little more breathing space. Vettel was widening the gap as Fernando started again on catching Webber.

Lap 10 saw Massa overshoot turn 17 but Hamilton wasn't close enough to take advantage. The pit stops began on lap 12 with Heidfeld and Kobayashi being the first to blink. Hamilton was in the next lap and it was clear that nobody would be able to make the tyres last much longer as Vettel was starting to get some oversteer moments. Webber was the first of the Red Bulls to stop followed by Vettel on lap 15 with Alonso right behind him and Massa the lap after.

Michael Schumacher came out of the pits and tried to take the inside of turn 2 as Petrov was coming past. Vitaly thought the corner was his and turned in, loosening the front wing of the Mercedes. It proceeded to get more broken and despite managing to get past a Force India it ended up trapped under the side of the car by the tie he made it back to the pit. After an investigation by the stewards no action was taken.

The top three drivers were still less than 4 seconds apart by this stage. Webber found himself stuck behind some traffic at this stage which let Alonso get a little closer and the Spanish crowd were starting to get up on their feet every time he went by. He finally found a space and out-braked the Australian on the way into turn 12 and started to open out a gap.

By lap 22 Button was being told on the radio that the cars in front would start "degging" soon, indicating that their tyres would be degrading fast. A couple of laps later and Hamilton was informed that he was on the same pace as the cars behind. Normally this would get Lewis asking what about the cars in front, but not this time. The McLaren cars didn't seem to be showing the same pace they have had in the last few races, and it seemed as though this might be as far up the field as they could make it.

Later on during lap 27, with a fresh set of tyres, Lewis still found enough to put in fastest lap of the race up to that point. His engineer was on the radio asking him, "please manage your pace," or in other words, "don't wear your tyres out too quickly!" Webber made his second stop on lap 29 with Alonso coming in one lap later but he came back onto the track behind Webber.

By lap 30 Lewis was getting warnings from the pit again, this time his rear tyre temperatures were too high. To which he replied, "I can't go any slower." That's the sort of attitude we like to see! As Button pitted for his second time, Webber was catching Massa fast and dived past him as the Brazillian dealt with some traffic on the way into the pits.

Button was on the radio on lap 33, being told that his KERS was not working. This prompted the McLaren engineers to go and get their rubber gloves out. Hamilton was again not doing the right thing and on lap 40 he got another message from the team to up his pace. The reply this time, "I'm going as fast as I can go!"

Now the track started to make its mark on the race properly as no real progress was made by anyone for a long time. There were some good scraps in the midfield, but compared to the races so far this year it was quiet and almost processional. Despite the top three still being within 12 seconds on lap 50 nothing really seemed to be heating up and the top 6 finished as they had been for more than 10 laps.

Vettel seemed to be particularly pleased with this victory for no reason that anyone could fathom out. It just looked like another of his pole to flag victories, despite his romantic claims that its him against the car and the track. Sadly for us it seems to be the track that is the problem. As Tiff Needell tweeted afterwards, "Even Pirelli's best efforts and the wing flappy thing can't turn a truly boring circuit into a racing track."

The final result ended as Vettel from Alonso with Mark Webber taking the final podium position. Hamilton stayed in fourth with Massa, Button and Heidfeld behind that. Jaime Alguersuari got himself a good eighth place to boost his season, despite this being one of only three Formula 1 races ever where everyone who started also finished. And one of those was the infamous Indianapolis race where only 6 cars started.

Valencia is just a track which doesn't seem to inspire any racing and its hard to say why. It's a great location, not as narrow as a street circuit but still with walls that should make mistakes count. Long straights, tight twisty sections. Everything it should need is there, but just put together in a way that makes it dull.

Still, next time out is the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and that is a track that often produces a good race. It can be helped out by the Great British weather of course, but this year there are also major changes to the circuit. Specially designed to create mistakes and introduce more passing. With the added bonus of the Pirelli tyres and DRS this should help make it the sort of race that has been keeping us interested for the first part of the season. Come on the Brits!

Full Result

Championship Standings

Lewis Hamilton - What Should Be Done?

Lewis Hamilton has been making the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently. He has been in front of the stewards several times in the opening part of the season. Then it started to get worse in Monaco with a weekend to forget in the car, closely followed by his comments, which won't ever be forgotten, afterwards. The controversy continued in last weekend's Canadian Grand Prix with his early exit and yet another call to face the stewards. Then we have the ex-Formula 1 legends jumping in with their opinions that Lewis is dangerous and more severe penalties should be given out to calm him down.

Photo Courtesy of Dwonderwall

Lewis was the only other driver to clinch a win this year against the unstoppable force of Vettel until Button got his win last weekend. He knows he has the ability to win and he also has the determination and ambition that put him in Formula 1 in the first place. It seems that he is the one putting himself under impossible pressure to pull off overtakes that other people wouldn't even try. Then when they fail to come off, he is even more determined to get back to where he thinks he should be. Its this vicious circle that is putting him in more trouble than he should be in this year. The question is, what is he going to do about it?

There is no doubt that if he has many more incidents where the blame can't be shared, he will be on the receiving end of more penalties. But I can't imagine that will help. Hamilton seems to react badly to that sort of discipline, and it seems unlikely that will change. What might help more, is nearly taking out Jenson Button. I do believe that the McLaren drivers really are the good friends that they talk about being in the media, and the collision in Canada could well have taken them both out. Lewis isn't stupid, and I think that he must realise that Jenson would race him fairly, and that might get him to look a little harder at his own driving. The simple fact is, if he doesn't tone it down a bit he won't be finishing any more races this year, and that won't do his championship any favours at all.

Then there is the speculation about Lewis making a move to Red Bull, which seems to be based on the flimsiest evidence ever. Lewis spoke to Christian Horner. That doesn't seem a lot to go on to me! I'm not sure that Red Bull would want him, or that McLaren would let him go either. Stranger things have happened though, so I wouldn't rule it out completely, but I'm guessing not next year. Red Bull already have the best driver they could have in Sebastien Vettel. Add Lewis in there as well and you really would have an explosive combination. My guess is that if Webber decides to pack it all in for next year Red Bull will be looking towards the lower end of the grid for their new driver.

Thankfully there is only one more week until the European Grand Prix in Valencia. I can't wait to get some cars on the track so that we can have some actual racing to talk about!

Monaco, Glitz, Glamour and Red Flags

An eventful Monaco showed all the excitement that it promised. But it ultimately came down to a slightly disappointing end after a red flag interrupted the last laps of the race.

Qualifying

At Monaco grid position is more important than at any other track during the season and this time out proved no different. The sessions started with lots of traffic and a few drivers getting in each others way. Rosberg produced the most impressive story of qualifying after a huge accident in the third free practice session. He lost the rear of his car exiting the tunnel, speared into the barriers and slid down the track towards the infamous wall at the chicane. Amazingly he missed the wall by an incredibly narrow margin and slid to a stop some way down the following straight with three wheels hanging from their tethers. The Mercedes team worked hard and had the car ready less than six minutes into Q1. Rosberg left the pits and put in hos first flying lap of the day to beat Schumacher and end up middle of the pack at that point.

It was qualifying 3 where the real drama started though. Most of the cars went out for an early run, two attempts seemed to be the order of the day and halfway through the session, Vettel put in a stunning lap to beat everyone by a huge margin. Button put in his fastest lap of the weekend and was still 0.4 secs off the german's time. Sergio Perez at this point came out of the tunnel a little off line, hit the brakes and in a very similar manner to Rosberg swerved into the wall and slid down the track. He wasn't as lucky as Nico though and smashed into the barrier side on. With around two and a half minutes remaining the session was instantly red-flagged while the rescue teams moved to assist. It took several minutes to remove the Mexican from his car safely and get him on his way to the medical centre. It was later revealed that he was suffering from concussion and a bruised leg, a lucky escape after a nasty incident.

As the session restarted Lewis Hamilton had been waiting at the pit exit for just over two minutes and was first on track. Despite a huge effort the track was not producing the same times as before and nobody improved. Hamilton had not set a time yet and becasue he cut the chicane on this last lap the time he set did not count and he started from 10th place.

Race

Photo courtesy of Force India

Lewis Hamilton was allowed to choose his starting tyres after his penalty and surprisingly elected to start the race on the harder tyres. An interesting strategy call but would it work? On the Warm-up lap Button radioed in to his team complaining of heavy steering which must have caused a slight panic in the garage.

The lights went out  and Fernando Alonso tried the flying straight up the inside that worked so well at Barcelona. It didn't quite work out as well here here but he got in front of Webber and Button kept his place in second. The biggest loser was Schumacher who bogged down badly off the line and was taken by several cars. By the time he got moving  Hamilton was in front and Michael responded by hitting him in turn 1. No major damage was caused and both cars continued. The German found a gap to slide up the inside of Hamilton at the hairpin. Rosberg also got a great start and found himself in fifth place by the end of the first lap.

Sebastien Vettel went straight into attack mode and by lap 3 was already 3.5 seconds ahead of Button. Hamilton was all over the back of Schumacher by this stage. Micheal was already complaining of graining but, as predicted the DRS zone didn't seem to be long enough at this track, and so he couldn't get alongside by St. Devote. Up the hill into Casino Square Hamilton was looking from side to side but there was clearly not enough space to allow a pass. Eventually he got a front wheel alongside and simply scared Michael off the apex. Michael, this time didn't turn in on Lewis and both carried on through.

Rubens followed Lewis through a short while later, yet another one back for all those years at Ferrari. The German was the first to stop on lap 13 to get rid of his damaged tyres and change his front wing. Neither Mercedes had a lot of speed and Felipe Massa was trying hard to pass Nico Rosberg but only succeeded by losing a few bits of wing against his tyre.

Button  dived into the pits on lap 16 and came back out on the track in a massive clear section of track. Vettel pitted a lap later but there was a problem with the tyre warmers which lead to a delay in the car getting going again. The small delay and a radio problem, meant that no-one was ready when Webber arrived seconds later for his stop, causing an even longer wait for him. Ferrari also got into the pits and once everyone was back on track Button was in the lead. Webber was the big loser, he ended up in 14th place. Vettel and Alonso had switched to the harder tyres whereas Button decided to stick with the softs.

Jenson proceeded to pull out a large gap over second place, it was over 10 seconds by lap 23. Lewis now went into the pits but his tyres weren't ready and when he eventually left the pits he was behind Webber but on the soft tyres. Paul di Resta gave himself a drive through penalty by attempting an almost impossible overtake at the hairpin and lost his front wind into the bargain. 10 out of 10 for pluck, minus several hundred for sensibleness!

Lewis was now behind Felipe Massa and chasing very hard. As they approached the hairpin Lewis tried the same move as Di Resta with similar results. He was way too far back and hit his tyre against Massa's sidepod which locked them together for the rest of the corner. As they entered the tunnel Felipe clearly had no grip and Hamilton got alongside as they reached the bend. Massa ran onto the marbles, lost grip and wiped his wheels off on the barrier. The first safety car of the year was called out.

Sebastien Vettel stayed out as the safety car boards came out, so did Jenson, Schumacher promptly broke down just before the pit entrance and lewis got into the pits followed by almost everyone else. Lewis came on the radio claiming that Massa turned in on him on purpose but the stewards had none of it and gave him a drive through penalty.

The safety car came in on lap 38. After clearing the lapped traffic Button quickly started to close in on Vettel as Hamilton took his penalty. Webber was hounding Kobayashi now but couldn't seem to make any further progress. Button came in for his second stop on lap 48 and went on to the harder tyres. On exiting the pits he put in some seriously fast laps and quickly started to catch back up with Alonso and Vettel.

Photo Courtesy of Team Lotus

By lap 52 it became clear that if Sebastien was to stop for tyres he would exit the pits well behind Button and Alonso. If he was to run to the end of the race his tyres would be well past their best and it didn't seem likely that he could hold button behind him with the English driver on far fresher rubber. Fernando Alonso was also on pretty secondhand tyres at this point but they were definitely newer than Vettel's, and this allowed him and Button to close in on the leader.

Jenson came onto the radio asking his team if Vettel was staying out. The reply, "We're not sure, but we are much faster." However with overtaking so difficult at this track would that be enough? It became obvious that staying out and hoping for the best was the plan. As Alonso got onto the tail of Vettel you could see he was much faster around most of the lap but, at the all important DRS zone he just could not get the power on early enough. By lap 62 Button was in the activation zone as well and the race was set for an intense last section.

Alonso was attacking Vettel as hard as he could, whereas Jenson seemed to be waiting for his perfect moment. They caught up with a large train of back markers on lap 70 and started to pass them. Kobayashi was part of it and tried a move on fifth place Sutil which resulted in a wheel to wheel collision. This obviously damaged Sutil's tyre and he ran wide in the swimming pool complex and hit the wall. He tried to make it around the next corner causing the following cars to take avoiding action. In the concertina Alguesuari rode up onto the back of Hamilton's car and straight off into the barrier taking Petrov with him and bringing out the second safety car.

Petrov was not coming straight out of the car and the yellows were changed to red with all the cars coming to a stop on the grid while he was extracted from the car and the wreckage was cleared away. He turned out to be suffering only from minor leg injuries on further inspection. In a little used rule somewhere it is written that the teams are allowed to work on the cars on the grid in this situation. This allowed McLaren to repair Hamilton's damaged wing but also allowed Ferrari and Red Bull to replace their respective driver's worn out tyres. The final result was pretty much sealed at this point and instead of the dramatic finale which had been building up we were treated to a four lap dash to the end between cars with pretty much the same grip as each other.

Hamilton and Webber were the only ones to provide any excitement on the restart. Hamilton knocking Pastor Maldonaldo sideways on turn 1 and Webber finally dispatching Kobayashi on the penultimate lap. The final result saw Vettel take his first Monaco victory followed closely by Alonso and Button. Webber got himself into fourth, with Kobayashi and Hamliton behind him. It seemed unlikely that Lewis would keep his place after the contact with Maldonaldo though.

This was the best Monaco race for many years and in the end, what should have been a dramatic race to the line, was spoiled by a little known regulation. The DRS was kind of helpful but it never really stood much chance on a track this tight anyway, the tyres provided the real show.

Lewis provided even more drama in the post race interviews when he accused pretty much everyone of being out to get him. This seemed odd as during the race it appeared that he was the one hitting everyone else. After the drivers' he also claimed that it seemed the Stewards were after him as well. When asked why he thought that was he made an attempt at a joke which will definitely come back to haunt him. "I don't know," he said, "maybe its because I'm black. That's what Ali G would say." Ali G popularised the phrase in the UK but somehow I don't think that will go down too well with the international members of the press and FIA officials.

Monaco always provides glitz and glamour but this time it also provided good racing. Although it was unfortunately with a bit of danger thrown in. The cars keep getting faster but run-off can never be added to this track. One day the cars will not be able to race here. Thank goodness it wasn't today. Next up is Canada where the DRS system will be used on two straights in a row. Looking forward to it!

Edit: Hamilton was given a 20 second penalty for causing an avoidable accident. The penalty does not affect the final standings.

Full Result

Championship Standings