Dramatic Finish at Silverstone

Good old British weather and confusion over blown diffusers helped to make an exciting race for the Silverstone Grand Prix. The regulation change on fuel flow while off the throttle was being discussed right up until the start of the qualifying session. Concessions due to reliability issues were the main discussion point and nobody really seemed sure what the final result would be or indeed what the final effect on car set-up would be. The final meeting was over literally 5 minutes before the session began.

Qualifying

Photo Courtesy of Force India

As Q1 began there were reports of rain starting at Copse which pushed everyone out of the pit nice and early. Alonso set the early pace but was quickly overshadowed by Vettel. The Spaniard then ran wide and was forced to drive around the outside of the gravel trap to get back on the track. The track was clearly drying rather than getting wetter and so the times quickly started to fall. Lots of drivers took a go at the top, including Pastor Maldonaldo, but it was Mark Webber who was in P1 as the rain started again with 6 minutes remaining.

The shower was over by the start of Q2 so again everyone was keen to make the most of the time available. It seemed to be only Copse that was wet while the rest of the track was very dry, so many of the cars decided to go back into the pits and wait for some improvement. There weresome runs after 5 minutes or so which saw Adrian Sutil at the top of the time sheet then another patch of quiet while everyone prepared for the last attempt. With 4 minutes left those attempts began again. After the dust cleared it was Felipe Massa on top with Webber and Alonso behind. Paul di Resta made it into P9 and through to the final session.

Another early start to Q3 again. The uncertain weather pushed the drivers out early which is always good for the excitement. Unfortunately it seemed that McLaren didn't have any performance in this session. Was it a consequence of the last minute discussions on blown diffusers? Paul di Resta made a great effort to put himself into 6th with 5 minutes to go. The rest of the drivers kept trying, but ran out of steam before the end. The final grid ended with Webber on pole, Vettel second and Alonso in third. Di Resta held on to his 6th place just behind Button, but Lewis couldn't manage anything better than 10th. A dissapointing end to the session for McLaren but a great result for di Resta.

Race

Photo Courtesy of Team Lotus

As the drivers prepared for the race, the track was half wet and half dry. So much so that there were spins on the way to the grid. This meant that everybody decided to start on the intermediate tyres. As the lights went out it was Vettel who got the best start and took Webber on the way into turn 1. Button and Hamilton also got good starts with Button taking Massa and Hamilton firing himself into seventh by the time the first lap was settling down. He carried on and by lap 2 was overtaking Button.

Vettel and Webber were (as usual) making themselves a gap over the rest of the field at this point. Lewis meanwhile was out braking himself and running wide at Brooklands. Thanks to Jenson not actually having any pace at all, Hamilton managed to maintain his position and set off once again. The DRS was left off by race control until lap 6 due to the wet conditions.

Lap 9 and Alonso was gaining back some lost ground on Mark Webber. Schumacher tried to take advantage of DRS to get past Kobayashi but misjudged it badly and took his front wing off and spun the Japanese driver. He was given a penalty for that, at this track it was a 10 second stop due to the pit lane configuration making a drive through faster than completing a lap. Lewis was now gaining time Massa who was sliding about through Becketts, but not enough for Hamilton to make the pass.

Lewis continued hounding Massa as, on lap 12, Button pitted to change to dry tyres. It was clear that the intermediate tyres were running out of grip and the track was drying out fast. That was proved as Schumacher, who had changed to dry tyres with his front wing change, set the fastest lap of the race. This triggered pit stops for everyone else and Hamilton won out against Massa in the changes.

It was Jenson's turn to be fast now, and he set a new fastest lap and caught up to Felipe Massa. He couldn't do anything about it in the wet part of the track though. Lewis was now right behind Alonso. Jenson finally got into Massa's slipstream but was forced to the outside of the turn. He kept his foot in though and braved it out to get him on the way through Club. Lewis used his DRS to get close to Alonso and then got a good run onto the old pit straight where he put his car in the wet part of the track and out braked the spaniard into turn 9.

Kobayashi came into the pits a short while later and after a hesitation on release had to take avoiding action from another car. He ran into the Force India wheel gun hoses and pulled a couple of them down earning himself a penalty for an unsafe release. Meanwhile Alonso had caught back up to the back of Hamilton as his tyres were wearing, forcing the British driver to go on the defensive. Alonso got past using his DRS and Hamilton pitted on lap 25 as Alonso set another fastest lap.

Paul di Resta's luck ran out as he pitted to find the wrong set of tyres waiting for him and causing him a massive delay. Webber, Button and Massa all pitted on lap 27 while Alonso kept on increasing the pace. Vettel and Alonso headed for the pits on the next lap but the Red Bull team got a stuck wheel and Alonso got out in front. Hamilton made it through before Vettel could get out of the pit and Webber was right behind him.

The top 6 were only 11 seconds apart on lap 29 but it was clear that Alonso was going faster than the chasing Hamilton. By lap 33 Vettel was right behind Lewis. Webber was chasing him hard as well but he made an error and ran wide, bouncing across the kerbs and losing some time. Vettel mounted an attack on Hamilton but his defensive driving kept the German behind. He had to wait for his next pit stop on lap 37 before he got the chance to get past Hamilton. Button pulled into the pit for his final stop but in the rush an engineer reaching for a new gun was mistaken for the all clear signal. Jenson made it halfway back to the track with the wheel wobbling furiously before he pulled over to the side of the track.

Hamilton was being told on the radio that he needed to save fuel. This probably wasn't good news as Webber was catching him fast. It took a few laps to get there, but by lap 46, Webber managed to use his DRS to get past and into third. Alonso was now 17 seconds ahead of Vettel and safe, Webber was faster than his team mate though and set off to catch him. Massa suddenly seemed to come alive as well and despite being quite a way behind Hamilton, was closing down the gap by well over a second a lap.

Even Patrick Stewart Couldn't 'Make it so' for Di Resta.

Mark Webber caught up to Vettel on lap 51 and despite a good try he couldn't make it past his team mate. A radio message was sent telling Webber to hold the gap but it didn't look like he was taking much notice. On the last lap Massa had caught Hamilton and tried to outbrake him on the outside, Lewis held on and hit the Ferrari in the side. Massa was in front on the way into the last turn but couldn't get the power down and ran wide trying to save a slide. Hamilton kept his head and just managed to get in front on the way over the line. It finished up with Alonso first, Vettel second and Webber in third. Hamilton took fourth from Massa with Perez taking sixth.

It later came out the Webber had been told several times over the closing laps not to overtake Vettel but had decided to ignore the orders and carry on. Fair play to the Aussie but he can't be making himself popular in the team with moves like that. It can't be forgotten that team orders are allowed this year, Red Bull were perfectly justified in asking him not to overtake. Of course its Webber who has the wheel in his hand and thank goodness he's not the kind of guy to settle for just any old position.

Lewis Hamilton's last ditch attempt to keep his place was a great demonstration of why he is always in the news. It was surprising hearing the talk before the race how many people talked up his chances despite there being two other Brits on the grid in front of him. (Scotland still counts as long as they're doing well right?) Hamilton's sheer passion and drive to do well really puts some people off. But for others, its the whole reason he's popular. I'm can see why he turns people off, but he has to have that kind of self belief and passion to get himself into his position, never mind get the results he does. He doesn't take any prisoners and when it pays off, like today, its a heroic move. But when it doesn't, well we all saw what happened after Monaco.

The blown diffuser confusion was the oddest news of the weekend though. It had seemed as though everything was decided well before the event began, but F1 is a complicated business and things are never quite that straightforward. Most of the complaints seemed to be arguing that reliability would be hurt by the regulations, followed by a fair bit of, 'well if they can do that, we should be able to do this.' Some of it may well even be true, but it certainly doesn't look well organised from here. There were assurances from various people that its all sorted out now, but is it? I guess we'll find out very soon. It does seem that McLaren lost out, Ferrari gained and Red Bull probably stayed where they were. Again we'll find out if there is a way to even the score very soon.

Bring on the next race!

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

Canadian Grand Prix is a Four Hour Epic

This year's Canadian Grand Prix was in every way an epic race. Stopped, restarted, rain, sun, safety cars and accidents, this race had it all. And even a fairy tale ending.

Photo Courtesy of Force India

Free Practice 3

Early on Saturday third practice saw Vettel fastest again while Pedro de la Rosa took the back wheel off his borrowed Force India. McLaren again couldn't get close to the Ferrari's and Vettel. Mark Webber however didn't get any running at all as his car was pulled apart to try and repair the KERS. Once again the KERS system costs Red Bull. Apparently their System only puts out 66% of the maximum allowed power. They claim that the lower weight and smaller size allow them to gain back performance in other ways. So far the balance seems to be right but if the KERS doesn't work at all, as seems to be happening so far, they are definitely losing out.

Qualifying

As qualifying started Martin Whitmarsh claimed that McLaren are setting the car up for wet weather due to the weather forecast showing a 60% chance of rain during the race. A lot of cars got out nice and early for qualifying 1. It looked as though there could be a chance of rain at any minute and there was also the chance of an accident stopping the session that forced them out for a banker. The drivers were opting for up to 3 flying laps as well, the soft tyres seemed to get faster as the temperature built up.

The top 6 was established pretty early on in the session with Fernando Alonso setting the fastest time. Paul Di Resta put in a fantastic lap to put himself in 8th place by the end of the session. Pedro De La Rosa provided some entertainment by running a little wide and skimming the wall with both wheels causing a shower of sparks. Somehow he avoided any damage and complete his lap but his speed was nothing to write home about.

Q2 saw some pretty close times, with seven minutes remaining the seven drivers were all within 3 tenths of a second. Kobayashi once again proved himself an absolute hero as he tried to get the best out of his car. The rear end got a little loose in the last chicane. He kept his toe down and drifted it round while looking like he was steering straight at champions wall. He survived it but it was clearly not the fastest way to do it. Paul Di Resta was also trying hard but couldn't do any better than 11th this time out. Massa was on top by the end of the session but only by a very small margin.

Q3 was almost settled by halfway through. Most of the cars went out for a second run but failed to improve except for Alonso who jumped just past Massa to put himself second on the grid. The final grid order was Vettel on pole, Alonso second and Massa third. Hamilton ended up in fourth followed by Webber while Button could only climb up to 7th. It turned out that Mark Webber wasn't able to use the Red Bull KERS at any time during qualifying which shows exactly how much damage it can do to the performance.

Photo Courtesy of Force India

Race

The track was wet as the start of the race approached, but it wasn't actually raining which raised hopes that the race would be able to start normally. Those hopes were to be dashed though, the safety car was at the front of the grid as the cars pulled away. Jaimie Alguesuari seemed to have made a great decision at this point. He had elected to start from the pit lane to allow the team to make some changes to the car and now he didn't  even have to catch up with the end of the field.

The safety car came in on lap 5 and the teams were put into a race situation on full wet Pirelli tyres for the first time. Vettel tried to start early to get a jump on Alonso but the Spaniard was right with him and trying hard to challenge on the start finish straight. As the rest of the cars followed through Hamilton found himself outbraking Mark Webber. It seemed as though he bounced of the kerb a little and knocked the Australian into a 180. The stewards almost immediately sent out a message that they were investigating the incident, no surprises there!

It appeared that Vettel was pulling out a four second lead, but replays showed that he had a short cut across the grass to help him with at least some of that. As Hamilton tried to regain the positions he had lost after his contact with Webber he came up behind Button. On the way out of the last chicane he got a much better run and dived towards the pit wall to try and overtake. Either Jenson hadn't seen or just wasn't expecting Lewis to be that fast as he moved over and the cars hit each other and Lewis hit the pit wall. Hamilton's car looked as though it was losing a wheel but he tried to make it back to the pits. He had to give that up by turn 5 though and parked it on the track, which bought the safety car back out again.

Jenson dived straight into the pits for a check up and a set of intermediate tyres. The car seemed to be ok and he rejoined the race a long way back and the only one on those tyres. A new message arrived from the stewards at this point. The investigation against Lewis for contact with Webber was dropped (yay!) and a new one was started. This time it was for being too fast under the safety car, Jenson got in on this one as well so that Lewis didn't feel left out.

On lap 12 the safety car came back in one more time and Jenson was handed a drive through penalty. Mark Webber was now in 9th place and trying very hard to improve. Once Jenson had completed his drive through he started to show some real pace on the intermediate tyres. Perhaps this had been a strategic master-stroke? Rubens obviously thought it was a good choice as he dived into the pits to try it out himself. Mark Webber didn't seem to be hanging about and pulled himself up to seventh. Fernando Alonso also liked the look of Button's pace, he dove into the pits for a new set of tyres as well.

By lap 19 the rain was starting to fall again as proved by Button aquaplaning towards the hairpin. It suddenly turned into an enormous downpour which bought the safety car out again to avoid any incidents. Alonso and Button both dived into the pit straight away to get back onto full wets. Sebastien Vettel followed them in next time around and thanks to the safety car not picking up the leader straight away managed to get away with only losing a place to Massa. Even that didn't last long as he also pulled in for a tyre change, Vettel gets all the breaks!

The rain was now increasing even more and  the red flag was shown on lap 25. The cars lined up on the grid Vettel in the lead followed by Kobayashi, Massa, Heidfeld, Petrov, Di Resta, Webber, Alonso, De La Rosa, Button and Rosberg. Kamui had not pitted at any point in the race and could now reap the rewards, a free tyre change and second place on the restart. The rain eventually stopped and the street sweepers were out in force to try and clear the track. The race was finally set to restart after a two hour four minute red flag delay.

The safety car led the cars off and after a few laps Kovavleinen was seen going slowly with what appeared to be a slipping clutch. He made his way back to the pits to retire and as it was announced that the safety car would come in on lap 35 D'Ambrosio jumped into the pits to go to inters. That was one  lap too early as it turned out and he got himself a drive through.

On the restart Vettel made his usual break for it and Kobayashi was too busy defending from Massa to worry him at that point. A fair few cars dived straight into the pit for intermediates and even more did the same on the following lap, including Jenson Button. Next time the Ferraris both went into the pit and had to queue for tyres with Alonso losing out. As he left the pit he ended up in front of Button who immediately tried to get up inside coming into turn 4. Alonso wouldn't give it up though and touched Button, spinning himself up onto the kerb and ending his race. Button got a puncture to show for it and made his way slowly back to the pit once again.

The stranded Ferrari meant that the safety car came out for another run, so Vettel stuck it back into the pit for a fresh set of tyres with no positions lost, while Button found himself in 21st and last place. Another investigation announced for the Button/Alonso incident.

By lap 44 Button had worked his way up to 15th place. Kobayashi was starting to struggle and Massa was trying very hard to take his place. By lap 46 DRS was being enabled and it looked like it was becoming time to change to slicks. Webber was well within the DRS activation zone was not able to take enough advantage to make a pass on Schumacher. Lap 49 and Button was up to 12th place. Buemi was sliding all over the place and that allowed Button to take his place, by lap 50 he was up to 10th.

Mark Webber was the first man to dare to go for slicks on lap 51. Kobayashi made a mistake on the way to the hairpin and Massa got alongside him. Neither of them could get any power down on the way out of the corner and Schumacher took full advantage of the situation and passed the pair of them to put himself into 2nd place. Lap 53 and Button pitted again, this time for slicks, with Schumacher and Massa doing the same on the following lap. Massa moved onto the wet part of the track to pass a back marker, lost all traction and knocked the front wing off his Ferrari but survived to continue to the pits.

Hiedfeld hit the back of a slow Kobayashi and broke his front wing supports. On the following straight the wing fell under the car and sent him flying down the escape road. The debris on the track caused the safety car to come out once more on lap 57. The order was now Vettel, Schumacher, Webber and Button with only 19 cars left in the race.

The race restarted on lap 61 with Vettel immediately opening out a lead on the other three. They stayed in order until the DRS was re-enabled. Then the fight began in earnest, Webber was trying incredibly hard but although he got alongside Schumacher, he ran wide on the final chicane. He had to give the place back and managed to do it without losing out to Button. He tried again next time round but this time couldn't keep the car straight on the way out of the chicane and lost his place to Jenson.

Button's DRS was obviously working better than Webber's as he passed Schumacher well before the chicane and started chasing Vettel. The German had a three second lead with only four laps remaining but Button gained back well over a second on the next lap. Webber finally got past Michael on lap 67 and Button was now only 1.3 seconds behind Vettel. Button went on to set the fastest lap of the race and finally get into the DRS zone on the last lap of the race. The pressure was obviously getting to Vettel and he put a wheel into the wet part of the track and half spun allowing Jenson to sweep past into the lead. He recovered to take second place followed by Webber and Schumacher. Massa used his DRS to catch up to Kobayashi and just managed to get a wheel in front on the line.

Aftermath

An incredible win by Button who had pretty much everything thrown at him during the race. It must have been incredibly dissapointing for Vettel who only made one small error in the whole event, but it was the most costly one it could have been. After everything else working out so well it was surprising to see such a slip-up from the man who, so far this year, could do no wrong.

Hamilton seemed to be trying too hard again. He was attempting moves that few others would try but that is how he got himself a championship. When they work he is the hero of the day, when they don't, he looks a bit foolish. That seems to be the result too often in the last few races, but if they gave out points for effort he would already have the championship sewn up. I'd rather see that than too much caution any day. Button said after the race that he just didn't realise Hamilton was trying to overtake when they touched. According to the team, no hard feelings. But you do have to wonder a little!

Schumacher finally managed to produce a performance worthy of his previous career. Some are saying that DRS cost him second place, but I'm not so sure. Once he was overtaken DRS didn't seem to give him back second place or even third after all.

Button and Alonso were not given Penalties for their contact, thankfully. In an incident packed race it seemed that far too many were being given out. One that changed the result of the race would have been a step too far for what was essentially a racing incident.

Surely there is no way Valencia can top a race like this, even with DRS and Pirelli tyres? I guess we'll find out in two weeks time!

Latest Result

Championship Standings

Dramatic Start to Monaco Grand Prix

The Grand Prix weekend in Monte Carlo got the excitement underway nice and early by providing some news before any of the cars had even turned a wheel. A maintenance truck caught fire in the middle of St. Devote and blazed away nicely before being bought under control. This lead to some damage to the tarmac which required emergency repairs less than 24 hours before the cars were due to take to the track. The pre-Grand Prix excitement didn't stop there however. Jenson Button had to take avoiding action from a fork lift truck whilst on foot in the pits, but avoided getting hit. The FIA settled another mystery as they announced that the DRS would not be used in the tunnel at any point during the weekend. The activation zone for the race will be on the start/finish straight with the detection point immediately after the swimming pool complex.

Photo Courtesy of Team Lotus

The first free practice sessions, as usual, start a day early in Monaco so the drivers took to the track today. Free practice 1 started slowly as the top teams waited for the backmarkers to clean up the track and start putting down some rubber for them to run on. Seemingly from nowhere water started to appear on the start line, running across the track towards the pits. This bought out the red flags for a while as water supply was turned off to allow the cars to complete the session safely.

Mark Webber had a start to forget as he suffered gearbox problems early on and had to sit out most of the session while it was repaired. Towards the end of the session the drivers started going out for faster runs. Except Schumacher who lost grip on the way into turn 1. He tried to save it by heading down the escape road but slid sideways into the tyre wall damaging his car. The session ended with Vettel quickest followed by Alonso and Rosberg. The McLaren's should have been closer but traffic stopped Hamilton at least from showing his full pace.

Free practice 2 later on in the day allowed the drivers to really start attacking the track. There were a few front wings lost, and a few hairy moments for several drivers. Massa was one showing his car control skills as he fought a very loose Ferrari inches away from the barriers. An exciting display, but not fast enough to worry the top spot on the scoreboard. Alonso was the driver who took that place with Hamilton chasing hard just one tenth behind. Rosberg and Button both got faster times than Vettel, with Massa and Schumacher squeezing in front of Webber.

The super-soft tyres seem to be lasting longer than the teams had feared which means there could be as little as two stops per driver in the race. But so far predictions have been a bit unreliable on that front, so we will have to wait and see. Red Bull, for once, don't seem to have the advantage as they have at all the other races this year. Were they running high fuel? Or is it possible that the lower speed here really isn't suiting their car? Whichever way it turns out, this must be giving Ferrari, McLaren and even Mercedes hope that they may not be invincible come sunday. Not to mention the hope that we won't see the wonky finger that gets on Jenson's nerves so much again this weekend.

The Drag Reduction System is the other unknown here. On a track that is famous for being a procession, anything that can be done to shake things up is a good thing. But is the straight long enough? The cars are coming from a very low speed as they open the flap, and the deciding factor for getting a pass done is going to be rear grip rather than top speed. There isn't a lot of space to play with either, so the chances of seeing a safety car are probably at their highest for the whole season. This could be the most exciting Monaco Grand Prix for years or it could be a damp squib in the middle of an awesome season. I can't wait to find out which!

Predictions are much more tricky than usual. I'd love to think that Jenson could do well here as he seems to have a safe smooth style that suits this track. I just don't think he has the raw speed though, so lets go for Alonso on pole, with a mistake in strategy spoiling his Sunday. Hamilton first, Button second and Vettel third. What do you think?

McLaren Nearly Catch Red Bull in Spain

Red Bull's qualifying pace deserted them in the main event in Barcelona as McLaren took the fight almost all the way to the front. The race was the best part of the weekend despite a DRS miscalculation by the FIA, which only proves that the Pirelli P Zero's are the biggest factor in Formula one's rediscovered excitement.

Qualifying

Saturday started badly for Nick Heidfeld after his car caught fire in the third practice session. Heidfeld pulled to the side of the track and got out safely but his car was severely damaged. The team worked as hard as they could but the limited time meant that it couldn't be repaired in time for Q1. Renault claimed that a cracked exhaust was the culprit but there seemed to be a huge amount of fire for that. It may well have been the start, but something a lot more flammable was involved to get the car burning that well.

This meant that there was one less car to beat in Q1 for the remaining drivers which should have taken the pressure off a little. But with a two second difference in performance between soft and hard tyres some of the teams were nervous enough to run the option tyre in the first session. Mercedes and Ferrari both used a set to get into Q2 which cut down on their supply for the race.

In Q2 the usual suspects quickly rose to the top of the time sheets, all of them using the softer tyres. As the end of the session closed in it became clear that Massa's time might not be enough to get to Q3 as he was pushed further and further down the order. The biggest news came from Heikki Kovalainen who put in a last minute lap to beat both Force India cars and take the last place in Q3. It was probably not the best move for the Lotus team from a race strategy point of view, but its great to see them moving up the field regardless.

Q3 was a relatively quiet session. The new tyres are forcing the teams to be very careful about using any when they don't have to. This meant that everyone would only try a maximum of one run, with Scumacher not even managing that. He went out on the hard tyre and came back in before setting a time, which gave him the choice of tyres to start the race on. Red Bull waited just long enough for McLaren to set some times before sending their drivers out. Vettel went first and embarrassed the silver cars by posting a time 0.8 seconds faster than Hamilton could achieve. Webber then went and did the unthinkable by beating his team mate by 0.2 seconds and proving once again that Red Bull are the toppest of the top teams this year. The only other real surprise came from Alonso who, this time out, got rid of his fifth place curse and beat Button to fourth on the gird.

Race

Photo courtesy of Team Lotus

Nick Heidfeld was expected to start on soft tyres due to his lack of running in qualifying, so it was a surprise to seem him line up on the grid on hard tyres. There was speculation that Scumacher would start on hard tyres having saved his softs in qualifying but he stuck with the more standard softs for the first stint.

Off the line Fernando Alonso got a blinder as he brilliantly managed to find a gap and slide past both Red Bulls into the lead of the race in turn 1. In the confusion behind, Mark Webber dropped back behind Sebastien Vettel and Jenson Button lost out even more badly, finding himself in tenth as the smoke cleared. The end of the lap saw Kobayashi in the pit for a new front wing and the race was underway.

The top five cars were very close as the Drag Reduction System activated on lap 3. This showed that the zone was set wrongly as the cars closed in, but didn't get alongside with the rear wing flap open. Button started his fight back regardless, pushing Felipe Massa into a few mistakes early on.

The pit stops started early with some cars coming in on lap 9 and the majority following them in on the next laps. Vettel came in on lap 10 for the first of four stops and ended up behind Button. But not for long, even without the benefit of DRS. Lap 11 saw Alonso and Webber pit in order to stop Vettel gaining too much advantage. As they came out of the pit lane the German dispatched the last of his traffic and ended up directly behind Alonso once more.

By lap 12 almost everyone had completed their first stops, except for Jenson Button and Paul Di Resta who was now up to sixth. It seemed that Button would be trying a three stop strategy despite the lack of success last time it was tried. Lewis Hamilton seemed to have the fastest car at this stage of the race, consistently posting fastesr laps than the people ahead of him.

Jenson finally stopped for new tyres on lap 14 behind some traffic, which stood a good chance of spoiling his race already. Di Resta went longest of anyone though, stopping on Lap 16. Fernando Alonso was still holding his own at the front, with Vettel and Hamilton chasing him hard but not able to make any further progress.

Vettel stopped again on lap 19 putting the hard tyres on this time and cementing the fact that he was on a four stop strategy. As Webber caught the leaders the rest of them started to pit. Alonso failed to stay in front of Vettel after his stop this time around and it seemed that Red Bull would carry on in their usual manner and dominate the rest of the race. But Lewis Hamilton was still putting in fast laps, and even though he stayed out two laps longer than Alonso, he beat him out of the pits and took second place.

By this time Nick Heidfeld had moved onto a set of the brand new soft tyres he had available and started to charge up through the standings. Mark Webber was stuck behind Alonso after a very tight pit lane race and despite having the Drag Reduction System available, couldn't make it past the Spaniard. Despite having massive high speed cornering pace the Red Bull couldn't make enough difference to get past in the slower sections.

Hamilton was gradually closing the gap towards Vettel now. Jenson dropped into the pits again, the three stop strategy still seemed to be working so far. The new tyres also allowed him to start catching up with Alonso and Webber's fight. Webber eventually got close enough to throw himself down the inside and past, only for Alonso to switch back and regain the position at the next corner. Meanwhile Vettel dropped into the pits for yet another set of tyres.

Felipe Massa slowly slid down the order and now his afternoon got worse as he lost the back of his car and stopped sideways just off the track. The engine was still running though and so he continued. Hamilton got a fresh set of tyres to continue his hunt of Vettel. Throughout the afternoon the two Mercedes were fighting each other hard, Michael was making sure to stay in front of his younger team mate this time out.

As the race started heading towards the closin stages, Button's tyres were still surviving, and Heidfeld was climbing further up the score sheet. By lap 48 Webber was in the pits again for a second set of hard tyres, followed by the rest of the front runners. No change in position this time around but it became clear that Vettel was not using the Kers system on the Red Bull. As Hamilton slowly caught up, Vettel's team came on the radio telling him to start using it again.

Kovaleinen came off the track up ended up against the barriers bringing out the yellow flags. Vettel, Hamilton, Button and Alguersuari were put under investigation after the race for failing to slow down in the yellow zone. Hamilton's speed kept the gap to Vettel heading down and down, but the laps were also running out. As Hamilton got into the DRS activation zone it seemed that his car was faster, but the German's defensive driving was faultless. The McLaren looked more settled and much more comfortable holding the racing line than the Red Bull. Despite this Vettel had the better drive out of the last corner and could defend into turn 1.

Felipe Massa was suffering badly by now with what turned out to be gearbox troubles, and dropped out of the race. Jenson was still keeping Webber behind at this time and with the end of the race approaching fast, it was clear the Englishman would take the last place on the podium. Hamilton meanwhile, was getting more ragged behind Vettel and couldn't make up the difference to get past. The race ended with Vettel first and Hamilton only 0.6 seconds behind. Jenson finished third with Webber taking fourth. Alonso ended the race in fifth with Schumacher finally getting a decent result in sixth followed by Rosberg in seventh. Nick Heidfeld finished a great race for him in eighth place.

The steward's investigation after the race ended up with all the drivers involved receiving only a reprimand.

The FIA did get the DRS wrong here. Almost no overtakes came solely from the system but still the race was not another overtake-less bore as usually happens in Spain. From Canada onwards there will be two DRS zones to stop this problem despite the shorter straights. But its the tyres that are really creating the change now. Pirelli have almost single-handedly revitalised Formula 1 into an exciting, dramatic race series. And the only thing that can spoil that is Red Bull walking away with every race. McLaren are closing the gap in the races. But Hispania may fix that for us, if they follow through on their threat to lodge a formal complaint against the teams using blown diffusers in Monaco. The next week should be interesting to say the least. Could we possibly have overtaking at Monaco?!

Full Result

Championship Standings

Magic Paddles and Eddie's Shirt

Saturday practice in Turkey went according to plan for Red Bull. Sebastien Vettel posted the fastest time. This time Mercedes (or at least one of them) were following closely behind with McLaren not able to get as close as they have been.

Qualifying

Phot Courtesy of Team Lotus

Qualifying started badly for Kobayashi. He was first person out on track and suffered an engine failure on his out lap. Despite coasting as far as he could he didn't make it back to the pits and was first man out in Q3.

During Q2 an unusual call over the radio to Michael Schumacher was heard. "Magic paddle Michael. Magic paddle latched". Awesome phrases seem to be coming out of every race this year, and this is certainly one of the best. Instant speculation started as to what it might be, but Ross Brawn and the drivers were being a little secretive about it. Ross only mentioned that it allows them to make several set-up changes in one go. My guess would be fuel system, brake bias and differential settings, but it could be as simple as the DRS paddle which would probably make more sense of the "latched" part.

Q3 saw Red Bull taking an incredibly cool approach. Both drivers waited for the middle of the session before going out. Vettel promptly set the pace by going almost half a second faster than Webber, which sent everyone else off for their final run. Vettel and Webber meanwhile, got out of their cars and wandered off. The confidence on show must be bringing the other teams down, but its not misplaced. No-one else could get anywhere near Vettel. Nico Rosberg upset the normal order by putting himself in third, Hamilton having to be satisfied with fourth. Alonso got a faster time than Button, The Spaniard seems to be making fifth place on the grid his own this year. While Schumacher's magic paddle wasn't quite as special as his team-mate's, he could only manage eighth.

Race


You know its nearly time for the race when Martin Brundle's grid walk starts. He tried to interrupt Vettel, with a superb disregard of manners, while the German was already being interviewed. Jenson tried to get in on the act with the quotes. Martin asked, "How's it looking?" and got the reply, "As good as Eddie's shirt." Quality stuff!

The race started well for Lewis Hamilton, which lasted for about 20 seconds until it turned into a disaster. He made it to the outside of turn 1 trying hard to fight for third and suddenly discovered there was no grip on the outside. This saw him falling backwards as everyone else found the apex he missed. Mark Webber lost out to Nico Rosberg who was being chased hard by Button. Lewis didn't want to stay there though and started fighting hard to get back in front.

Vitaly Petrov attacked Michael Schumacher on the way into turn 11 with a great slide up the inside and got repaid by Michael turning in on his rear wheel and taking his own front wing off. It was an odd mistake from the legendary driver, you have to wonder what he was thinking. That put him into the pit for repairs straight away.

Vettel was already making himself a gap in the early stages of the race while Jenson and Lewis were battling hard again on lap 7 and 8. They had a great battle, trading places very cleanly, several times before Lewis managed to get ahead in the end. Fernando Alonso was in third place hanging on to the back of Webber, as Nico Rosberg started going falling down the field. The Mercedes, despite its qualifying form, looked slow at the start of the main event.

Lewis Hamilton seemed to be losing speed and Massa overtook him just before both cars stopped for new tyres. McLaren won the pit stop race and released Lewis just before Ferrari were ready. The lollipop/traffic light man didn't seem to notice and Massa came out directly alongside Lewis. Somehow the red team didn't get a penalty for that, but you have to think it would have been deserved if they had.

Lewis was warned that he was being put onto plan B as was Nick Heidfeld. Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld had a bit of argy-bargy, both trying to push each other off the track and waving at each other to pass the blame. Meanwhile Kamui Kobayashi had made his way up as far as 13th from dead last by not taking a pit stop. Jenson also left his stop late and got himself in front of Vettel, holding him up for a while until his tyres ran out of grip. Vettel passed him and Button got into the pits for his first stop.

Rubens Barrichello put a nice move on Schumacher, who kept fighting a little too long again. Coulthard, in the commentary box, mentioned that Michael doesn't seem to know when to give up. Brundle replied, "What, on his career?" Its nice to know that I'm not the only one who thinks its time to jack it in for the German. As if to prove the point he was taken shortly after by Kobayashi and Sutil.

By this stage it was becoming clear that Button was working on a three stop strategy. Alonso was keeping pace with the Red Bulls and Nico Rosberg was finally getting his performance back in gear.
Felipe Massa managed to get past him eventually though closely followed by Jensen Button who pulled a smashing move around the outside of turn 14.

The second round of pitstops was underway by now and Jenson forced Felipe to get his underway as he breezed past and forced a mistake from the Brazilian. He locked up heavily and dived straight into the pits after nearly missing turn 12.

Hamilton's next stop was a disaster as his right front wheel just wouldn't go back on. As soon as it did he tried to get away but was stopped again as Massa pulled into his pit. It gave him a huge delay but in the end probably didn't do his race too much damage. Apart from Massa missing turn 8 and having losing a big wedge of time, the race then settled down for a bit. That was probably a bit of a relief because it had been pretty hectic up to that point, and I for one needed a little time to figure out what had happened!

Towards the end the race started warming up a bit as the tyres started to run out of grip for some. Paul Di Resta broke down and parked his car, the Scot having a disappointing end to another good race. Lewis was catching Jenson fast as Button struggled to make his tyres last to the end. Webber passed Alonso who fought back as hard as he could. It wasn't enough to retake the place though and he had to settle for third. Massa caught up with Schumacher and struggled to get in front. Michael held his place through the last corners but then Felipe managed to stitch him up nicely into turn 1. Jenson's strategy was definitely proved to be the wrong one as Nico Rosberg went through again.

The race finished with the Red Bulls in first and second (no prizes for guessing the order,) and Alonso in third. Hamilton missed the podium with Rosberg behind him and Button ended in sixth.

Kamui Kobayashi made a great race of it ending up in 10th place after starting in 24th. McLaren cost themselves some points with a bad strategy call for Button and a pit stop error for Hamilton. Ferrari have found some performance from somewhere, although there don't appear to have been major changes on the car. Mercedes have problems with their performance at the start of the race, but nothing seems to be wrong by the end of the race. The DRS zone was perhaps a little too long for this track, some of the overtakes were too easy. But the race was definitely exciting, which is what has been needed after too many years of dullness.

The European season gets underway properly next time out in Barcelona. Upgrades will be coming thick and fast. Will it be enough for anyone to get near to Red Bull? Will the drag reduction system activation zone be set properly this time? Will Schumacher have had enough yet? All these questions might be answered in two weeks time. And maybe we'll get some more quality quotes as well.

Complete results.

Championship Standings.

Off Track News

With a quiet week in terms of racing and car developments in F1 (three weeks is a very long time!) Its time for a round-up of the off track news.

Bahrain Deadline Moved?

Bernie Ecclestone has said that the deadline for making a decision whether the Bahrain Grand Prix should go ahead could move. The season opening race was postponed after civil unrest flared up a few weeks before the race was due and seems to be continuing even now. The FIA originally said that a decision would be made on May 1st, but Ecclestone seems to think that early June "or something like that" will do. Situations may indeed change quickly, but you can't help thinking that Bernie really doesn't want to miss out on the fees either.

Kubica Recovery Going Well

Photo courtesy of Gregory Moine

Robert Kubica has been released from hospital following his massive pre-season rally crash. A section of crash barrier peirced the cabin of his car and left the Polish driver with multiple arm and leg injuries. Following several operations, surgeons are pleased with his recovery. Now rehabilitation is to continue at the driver's home. Kubica's doctor says it is too early to tell how complete his recovery will be. Good luck Robert, here's hoping we see him back in the cockpit as soon as possible.

Indian Grand Prix on Course

Charlie Whiting has been visiting the construction site which (hopefully!) will soon be the Buddh International Circuit. The trip was part of a corner by corner inspection of the track layout in which the safety aspects of the facility were discussed. As yet there is no tarmac on the ground but apparently everything is so far going to plan. Tilke has not failed to deliver a track yet, so the prospects for having the circuit ready are good. Whether the track provides exciting racing remains to be seen, but with the way this season has started you wouldn't bet against it!

Alonso: We Have to Work Hard

Fernando Alonso has been talking up Ferrari’s chances on their blog. He thinks the Italian team’s fortunes could change at any moment and knows that Formula 1 is notoriously unpredictable. Let's face it, Ferrari need to pull some performance out from somewhere and last year was a great example of how the championship can swing during the course of a season. As the Spaniard says, “never give up in Formula 1”.

Formula 1 For Sale?

There have been reports of News Corporation showing an interest in buying F1. Sounds pretty unlikely on the face of it, but almost nothing is certain! Even more unlikely is a claim that Bernie would not survive a takeover of the sport. Bernie Ecclestone has been the one absolutely solid part of F1 for many, many years. Any story that claims he will not be involved (at least while he still remains alive), is highly likely to be wrong. This is not the sort of man to get fed up and retire or anything boring like that!

Turkish Grand Prix

Its just over a week until the cars hit the track in Istanbul. The infamous turn 8 should provide some interesting racing this year. It remains to be seen where the FIA intend to put the DRS activation zone. If this years previous events are anything to go by, my guess is that the timing line will be around turn 9 or 10, with activation happening just after the bend at turn 11. This track always gives some dramatic racing so hopefully the new regulations will make it even better.

So How Come There is Overtaking in F1 Now?

2011 has seen an exciting start to the season with plenty of drama, plenty of pitstops and plenty of overtaking. This is something that has been missing from Formula 1 recently, so how come we get so much passing this year?

The FIA have been trying to get more overtaking in Formula 1 for several years now, grooved tyres, movable front wings and forcing the teams to use different tyre compounds have all been used in the past with little success. But this year everything seems to have come together perfectly to create the right conditions for lots of excitement. Strangely the few rule changes this season show that they have less to do with this increase than the FIA and its "overtaking working group" would have hoped. Lets look at the main areas.

Photo courtesy of Team Lotus

Tyres 

Or possibly tires if you're from the USA! The single biggest change this year is the tyre supplier. Pirelli have taken over from Michelin for 2011 to outfit Formula 1 with its endless need for sticky rubber. Pirelli tells us that they were asked to provide a tyre which would provide racing like that seen in Canada 2010 and they have provided even better. There was a fair bit of concern over the life of the tyres in pre-season testing which has (thankfully) not carried over into the season itself. This is mostly down to the temperature ranges during winter testing compared to the summer racing season. But now the warmer months are starting the rubber is working just as designed.

Pirelli have created their tyres with two layers of different rubber compounds. The outer layer is the serious sticky stuff which provides lots of grip but wears out quickly. The inner layer is much more durable but doesn't provide nearly as much cornering force. This is what the teams are talking about when they say the tyres are going into "Phase 2". The stickiness has gone and its time to get into the pits and get a new set. This change in compound leads to large changes in performance happening very quickly at different times for different drivers.

Teams are also required to used two different compounds during the course of one race. Thanks to the knockout qualifying system, this means that a variety of tyres are used at the start. The lap time change between hard and soft can be as much as one second per lap. But when the softer tyre runs out of grip, the harder version still has some left, which again leads to large corner speed differences.

DRS (Drag Reduction System) and Aerodynamics

Over the last few years the bodywork of Formula 1 cars has changed quite a bit. First the winglets all over the sidepods of the cars have been removed. Then the rear wings were narrowed and the front wings widened. This was part of the Overtaking Working Group's suggestions to improve overtaking, but by itself it didn't do the job. The narrow rear wing was introduced (and the winglets removed) to reduce the turbulent wake behind the car. Air that's swirling around is at lower pressure than nice still air and so any following car would not have as much grip as the lead car. The air is still moving quite a lot even with a smaller rear wing though, so larger front wings are required to help create sort the air out for the chasing car.

To improve the situation even more the Drag Reduction System (full description) was introduced. This means that just when a driver needs less drag he can get it. The wing flattens out and the top speed of the car increases. Again a large performance difference is created, this time on the straights.

KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System)

The Kinetic energy recovery system has not really factored into much talk of overtaking. It would seem that because all cars have it, its not really a difference in performance. Besides which Red Bull seem to be doing quite well even though they can only get it to work half the time! KERS works by capturing braking energy that would otherwise be lost as heat, storing it, and using it to boost engine power at other points in the lap. The big trick is that it only stores enough power for around 6.5 seconds per lap. This means that a defending driver can use all his boost well before the end of the lap. A chasing driver can still have some left before the lap is over and that, once more, leads to a big difference in speed. This time on acceleration.

Overtaking and Strategy

Large performance differences mean overtaking and Formula 1 this year has seen plenty. The DRS and tyre situation has created the differences but, most importantly, created a change in the performance of the cars during the race. This means that you can't qualify on pole and have the fastest car for the entire race. Each of the cars will have some period being faster than someone else. Maybe not everyone, but someone! The big trick is to take advantage of that change.

Mark Webber showed how important that can be in China. He spent the first stint of his race stuck at the back of the grid going nowhere before a change to the softer tyre put his car back on the performance level of the front runners. The Australian took advantage of that jump in speed to quickly climb the leaderboard. Some well timed pitstops and good overtaking were all he needed to take a place on the podium.

Overtaking is not taking place in just one spot either. There were fears that DRS would mean passing at the end of the main straight and nowhere else. Some good (or possibly lucky?) positioning of the activation zone has stopped it being too much of a sure thing. With luck (always a vital ingredient), the changes can come together and provide a passing opportunity pretty much anywhere on the track. 

The excitement looks set to continue for the rest of the season. The track in Turkey provides several passing places, as we have seen in previous years, so this year should be a classic race.

Beware of Webber!

In one of the most dramatic races that has been seen for many years, Lewis Hamilton took the win from Sebastien Vettel and Mark Webber stole the last podium place after starting from eighteenth. DRS certainly doesn't seem to be spoiling the show so far.

Qualifying

McLaren bought some updated parts to China but they didn't seem to think it would be enough to challenge the Red Bulls for the lead. Mark Webber's technical problems continued right up to the start of qualifying but he still managed to make it out, for the first session at least! It seems that he and the team overestimated their pace and lost out to a poor lap in the end. The Australian dropped out in Q1 only setting a time good enough for 18th. The Ferraris appeared to be making a meal of it, both drivers had to use soft tyres to get through to Q2.

Petrov had a great lap towards the end of Q2 but quickly followed it with trouble by breaking down in the middle of the track on his in lap. This bought out the red flags with just over 2 minutes left on the clock. A dramatic end to Q2 was guaranteed! A huge queue built up as the session restarted followed by actual racing to get some space on the out lap. Paul Di Resta did a great job by making it through to Q1 and the Mercedes cars continued recent form by not doing the same.

Q3 started to not much action, only 9 cars to take part anyway, due to Petrov's breakdown, and everyone else seemed to be saving their tyres. Vettel and Button were the only ones to try two runs and after it became clear that Hamilton couldn't get close (even to Jenson) their second runs were aborted to save the rubber for Sunday.

Final grid: Vettel on pole, Button second and Hamilton hanging on to third.

Race

Photo courtesy of Team Lotus

It was McLaren's turn to get the last minute drama before the start of race. Bodywork was being pulled off of Hamilton's car to fix a flooded engine with less than 5 minute before the car had to be on the grid. The mechanics got it together with 30 something seconds to spare and Lewis took his place on the start. Meanwhile a great camera shot showed Vettel apparently asleep as the last countdown began, there is a man who can keep cool under pressure!

As race actually started though it seemed that he might still have been a bit sleepy though. The Red Bull was slow off the line allowing Button to get straight past and forcing Vettel to defend very hard against Hamilton. It seemed that his defence cost him the second spot to me, as it has done in previous seasons. Surely its better to let the car run and keep the speed up than try to force you opponents off the track in the first corner?

Algeursuari had a slight problem as his rear wheel dropped off just after his first pitstop. He bravely/stupidly continued for half a lap though before finally giving up and becoming the first and only retirement of the day.

Button cost himself a position to Vettel as drove into the wrong pit, much to the surprise of the Red Bull mechanics. The front jack man gesturing at him to keep going as he jumped out of the way.

Vettel tried to make a two stop strategy work after that while his teammate kept on with a three stop plan which seemed to be getting him nowhere. Webber was still in 17th after the first round of pitstops and seemed to be losing out the people around him in places. The new tyres however started working after that and it quickly became clear that he wouldn't be staying back there.

There followed an intense race in which cars with varying states of tyre wear, different pit strategies and fuel usage, passed and re-passed each other. It was hectic and confusing in the best way I've seen an F1 race for a long time. The drag reduction system, and the last minute change of activation point, seemed to be helping some of the action without putting cars straight past one another. But the massive difference in tyre performance made overtaking possible in a lot of different places around the track.

As the laps ran down it became clearer that Vettel, despite taking the lead in the middle of the race wasn't going fast enough to be home and dry as normal. Ferrari seemed to be making a better showing than they had hoped, but that proved to be temporary as the strategies played out and the front runners came back past them. Mercedes developed an impressive turn of speed during the race with Rosberg and Schumacher putting in good performances (Rosberg better of course!)

Hamilton pulled off some great moves in his drive to the front, jamming one past Button and then later putting a great move on Vettel to take the lead with 5 laps to go. Jensen's tyres died as the final laps ran down allowing a ferociously charging Webber to catch him up. His engineer came on the radio to warn him about the flying Aussie closing in, with the now immortal words (to me at least!), "Beware of Webber". Button didn't have to beware long though, as Webber went straight by on fresher rubber and finished an incredible afternoon by taking the final podium place.

The Aftermath

Red Bull have proved that reliability is still their biggest problem. The Kers system is a bit of a mess and has now cost them at least one win. This is something that needs to be fixed by the next race if they are to take the championship they so obviously want.

McLaren are doing everything right, the pace of development there probably can't be beaten by anyone else. All they have to do is keep up the pressure on Red Bull to be in the lead by the end of the season. But if Red Bull can sort the Kers system, they will still be the team to beat, so there is work to do.

Mercedes suddenly got some speed in this race and its hard to see where from. Good stuff though, glad they are getting in the mix a bit more. Lotus Renault must be miffed after that, something went wrong for them to end up where they did, but its hard to point at what it was.

Paul Di Resta missed out on points after his best start position so far, and thats a shame. He obviously has a lot of talent and in a better car he could be mixing it with the front runners easily. Maybe next year?

Team Lotus are making great progress at the tail end, we might see them picking up some points later in the year. That would be a fantastic result for them, lets just hope they are still called Lotus by the time it happens.

The tyres are making a huge contribution to the excitement so far and we can assume that will continue. DRS has not (so far) ruined the racing, we can only hope that the FIA keep getting that right! Better to have not enough effect than too much I think. Can't think where the lines will be in Monaco though?! The future of F1, for this year at least, looks bright. Now we get a long wait until Turkey and the next instalment.

See full results and championship standings.

Mclaren Catching Red Bull?

Image courtesy of Team Lotus

So the Malaysian Grand prix is over and the status quo is maintained, just! An interesting and unusually exciting weekend created some twists, but no major surprises at the pointy end of the field. Vettel wins followed fairly closely by a Mclaren, but not the one everyone was expecting. And Renault continue their new-found form by taking the last podium position.

Qualifying

Qualifying started slowly for Mark Webber, he didn't seem to be anywhere in Q1 at all but he still made it through. All the other usual suspects made their expected performances but it was plain to see that Ferrari were not where they hoped to be. They seem to be putting this down to some kind of aerodynamic mystery. Wind tunnel looks great, real life not so much. With no real clue about the problem, the plan seemed to be a case of cross fingers and trust Alonso to get them some sort of result.

Michael Schumacher put in another of his middle-of-the-pack performances. This, the team claimed later, was due to his DRS flap not working, but lets face it. He just doesn't seem to be as fast as he used to be. Time to hang up the gloves forever? Its getting a little depressing now, and that's just for me, never mind Michael!

At the end of Q3 Both Button and Hamilton put in fantastic laps, leaving Vettel and Webber with a big job to do. Vettel squeaked it at the last but it was clear that Mclaren are a heck of a lot closer than anyone (including me) thought they would be. The relief on the Red Bull pit wall said a lot!

Race

Renault made a blinding start to the main event by simply going around everyone else. They were helped a little by Webber having no Kers, but still a great move. Surprisingly no one managed to get hit on the first few corners, which is always nice, and then the race proper got underway.

The DRS system didn't seem to be making the impact expected in the first half of the race. Instead of lots of overtaking there seemed to be more people slithering into the first corner barely under control. Still good fun to watch though. There was some good dicing by a number of people, Webber trying to recover his position without the aid of Kers and Kobayashi just being Kobayashi for a start.

Fernando made the best of a bad situation and provided everyone some entertainment. The radio message to the pits, "I am pushing, don't worry!" made me (almost literally) laugh. Cool under pressure or what. Towards the end, as he tried to get past a very defensive Hamilton, Alonso made a slip-up and hit the back of the Mclaren. Luckily (for Hamilton at least) he only destroyed his own front wing and had to make a pit stop to replace it. The interview after the race where Alonso suggested that they "hit each other" was a classic moment. The man really does seem to have no idea that anyone else in the world has a right to be on the track. Or perhaps its just Lewis? In an extra twist, the stewards have decided that Fernando should have missed and have given him a penalty of 20 secs. They also decided that Lewis moved twice (must have missed that?) and given him a 20 second penalty as well which drops him to 8th!

Mark Webber, dragging himself back towards the front, made an impressive move on Massa. The DRS seemed to just about make up for the lack Kers and got him alongside the Brazilian. Then it was down to sheer bravery to get him around the outside of turn 1, good job!

Petrov made sure of getting his name remembered. After running wide he found an extra bit of tarmac and nailed it to get back on track, without worrying too much about the small strip of grass in the way. It launched him fully in the air and he landed with a lap full of steering gear. Classic manoeuvre and very lucky to be more or less under control as he rolled to a halt. I've had a similar thing happen with my wheel on the PC and that was a bit of a shock at the time. I can only imagine how much worse it is at 150mph! Turned out to be a bit of a shame in the end as he would have been on for a good result. If Vitaly keeps on like this he may well replace Kobayashi as my number one F1 nutcase.

I think the news worked out well for DRS in the end. There was overtaking but it clearly wasn't as easy as some had feared. In terms of the season the news is, interesting. Red Bull did have mechanical problems, but not enough to cost them the race. Mclaren did have speed, but not quite enough to win it. And Ferrari do have problems, but not quite enough to put them out of the points. Lotus Renault (the other Lotus?) are the biggest surprise so far this year, their pace is very good indeed. They must be missing Kubica like crazy right now. Watching Ferrari fight their way back to their rightful place should be good. Lets just hope they get an idea of what the problem is soon.

Bring on China, this should be good!

Full Result

So How the Heck Does DRS Work?

DRS or the Drag Reduction System is a new feature of F1 this year and I think its going to be one of the more important features of the championship. So I thought I would spend a little while explaining how it actually works because as usual, what started out as a simple idea has been made a little more complicated than it should be.

First off the easy bit, what is DRS. From a mechanical point of view all it consists of is a moveable element in the rear wing. The driver pushes a button, one of the rear wing sections moves to be flatter to the air. Drag is reduced and the car goes faster, simple! This is obviously only useful on straights because it also reduces grip. The car apparently loses around 5% drag so we can assume its at least that much  in grip too. On corners this can be regarded as a 'Bad Thing'. Now a higher top speed means that compared to another car without the DRS system activated you stand a far better chance of being able to get in front before the next corner. Now comes the tricky bit!

During the race you don't want everybody to be able to use the Drag Reduction System at the same time. If they did there would be no relative difference in the cars and the standard no-overtaking races would continue. A scheme was hatched! "What," thought some bright spark somewhere in the Formula 1 control centre, "if only a driver who was close enough to have a chance at overtaking anyway could use his DRS?" That is the simplest explanation, so here comes the tricky bit, how to do that fairly.

Two lines are marked on the track before the start/finish straight. The first of these is used to check the gap between any pair of cars. If two cars are within one second of each other (i.e. pretty close!) then the second of them gets a nice light appear on his wheel saying "DRS active". This is good news because it means that after the second line the following driver can hit his DRS button and go faster. The lead driver however, gets nothing and so has to prepare to defend, hard. Once the DRS button is pressed the flap will stay flipped until the driver hits the brake again (i.e. the first time he needs some grip again!).

Slightly confusing the issue again is the fact that the second line (the "press your button" line), seems to be before the last corner. But because they need grip to get round it, the driver doesn't dare push the button until he has made it to the straight. Allegedly if there are more than two cars in a group, all less than a second behind the next car, all the following drivers will be able to push the button. Which should lead to some major entertainment at the end of the following straight!

Now the bad news. This is only a 5% reduction in drag. Its not much and its only drag. In theory that's good for 12 km/h difference in speed by the end of the straight. Which means less than that most of the way down. In Australia that didn't seem to be enough to get properly alongside another driver. With longer straights hopefully it will be.

Of course we don't want any changes and confusion during practice and qualifying, (heaven forbid) so the system is active for everyone all the time. This does allow people (*cough* Sutil) to get it horribly wrong when they move their movable rear wing a little too soon, which is always fun! But it also allows the teams to get the gearing right for the higher speed down the main straight.

There is a chance that it will make overtakes seem a bit cheap, but I'm open to seeing if it makes the race more unpredictable. Fingers crossed it spices the show up rather than dumbing it down. Roll on Malaysia!