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 Weekend Starts Grey and Dull

The weather in Valencia for the European Grand Prix started grey and dull. Much like the last few races here really. This year though there are hopes it may brighten up on the racing side of things at least. The Pirelli tyres, DRS, KERS and now the engine mapping changes are all working together to give us a good chance of the best race ever at this track.

Photo Courtesy of Force India

Paul di Resta swapped his drivers seat with Nico Hulkenberg for Free Practice 1 and probably wished he hadn't shortly after. Nico almost immediately flat spotted his tyres and followed that with losing the back end under braking and putting the car into the wall early on in the session. There was some confusion for Hamilton as he told his engineer that his rear wing flap wasn't working and was informed it had been disabled for testing.

Red Bull were seemed to be running two very different sessions. Vettel was not going quickly, there was speculation that this could be because they were testing engine map settings for Silverstone, where the hot blown diffuser ban is to be introduced. Webber meanwhile was at the top of the time sheets and stayed there as the session ended a little early. That was thanks to Glock, who half spun his car and stalled it on the exit of turn 4. Petrov was next on the list followed by Alonso, Hamilton, Heidfeld, Massa and Button with Vettel only able to get up to 16th place.

He made up for it Free Practice 2 though by posting quick times straight away. Button complained about low rear grip as he tried to improve. It didn't seem to be affecting Hamilton's car too much as he was challenging for the fastest time with Vettel, Webber, and Alonso. Di Resta finally managed to get his freshly fixed car out of the pits with only 10 minutes of the session remaining and proceeded to do his best to make up for lost time.

At the end of the session Alonso had the fastest time just 0.2 seconds ahead of Hamilton with Vettel less than 0.1 behind that. Schumacher, Massa, Button and Webber were also close with Webber ending up just 0.563 behind his team mate. Paul di Resta only pulled himself up to 16th place but considering his very limited time in the car, that's a pretty good result. Hopefully he'll get a better run on Saturday.

Photo Courtesy of Team Lotus

After the dust settled it appeared that the soft tyre was around a second a lap faster than the new medium tyre. It also appeared to be lasting fairly well with some drivers continuing to improve their times after 2 or even 3 laps. The final times show that this could be a closer qualifying session than we have seen so far this year. But Red Bull are becoming infamous for pulling something special out of the bag at the last minute. Will the new parc fermé rules stop that? We'll find out tomorrow afternoon!

That throws a few more unknowns into the equation for predictions so I'm going on pure gut feelings! Lets see if Alonso can make the most of a home advantage and bring in a pole to give Ferrari's season a boost. For the race, I think that if he does get pole he will get mugged in the double DRS zones and not be able to bring it home in first. So the top three could be Vettel, a newly calm and focussed Hamilton and then Alonso. Sorry Button fans, I don't think this is his track, but he might hang on to fourth. What do you think?

Bring on the racing!

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

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?

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.

Turkey Pre-Race

The Turkish Grand Prix weekend started very wet and soggy. No doubt this didn't impress the teams who have nearly all bought upgrades for their cars. The first free practice session wasn't going to show anyone how well they were working. But it was definitely going to give the drivers some much needed practice on the Pirelli wet tyres, which haven't had a proper outing at all this year.

Photo courtesy of Team Lotus

McLaren seemed quite happy to sit out most of the session. There are a limited number of tyres available and saving them for the important bits of the weekend might well be a good strategy. Everyone else seemed to think it was worth having a go though. Experience of the Turkish track in the wet is not something anyone has, so there was a fair bit of learning going on.

Turn 11 was the main danger point, catching a lot of drivers out, most of them avoiding any damage to the cars. Sebastien Vettel however, managed to run onto the kerb at the exit of turn 8 and spin his car to end up backwards in the barrier at a pretty high speed. The car was damaged on all sides and spread its remains over a wide area of the track, which bought the red flags out.

The session resumed to several more spins, most notably Pastor Maldonado, who was the only other damaged car of the day. Fernando Alonso showed off his wet weather skills to finish the session fastest. McLaren finally decided to warm up the engines a bit and sent both drivers out for a last minute run. Jenson set off without problem, although he did manage to set the slowest time of all. But Lewis didn't even make it out of the pit lane due to a sticky clutch.

Free Practice 2 was a much drier affair and everyone (McLaren included,) seemed to be taking it a little more seriously. Vettel could only watch as his car was being repaired which must have been annoying to say the least. Ferrari were the late starters this time around, apparently Alonso's car was suffering some sort of hydraulic problems which delayed him getting on track.

McLaren and Mercedes traded fastest spots for most of the session, with occasional good showings from the Lotus Renault boys. Mark Webber didn't worry the top of the time sheets much, but then Red Bull rarely do until the very end of the session. Alonso finally made an appearance after 50 mins or so and then promptly spun in turn 6. Maybe the gremlins were not fully out of the system after all.

The final Friday practice finished up with Jenson Button at the top of the time sheet, closely followed by Nico Rosberg. Hamilton took third with Schumacher and Webber finishing off the top five. Paul Di Resta made another good effort by taking eighth place.

Early indications are that Mercedes have made a bit of an improvement on their pace, but it remains to be seen how well it holds up when the competition gets tougher in qualifying and the race. Red Bull have missed a fair bit of running thanks to Vettel's slip-up, but I doubt they really need it anyway. The chances of them being overtaken by the other teams is very slim indeed. Ferrari don't look like they have made much headway against their aerodynamic problems. The red team have some upgrades, but seem to think their biggest step forward will come in Barcelona later in the month.

The weather (so far,) looks like it might stay dry for the rest of the weekend. I imagine the teams will be happy with that, but a little rain shower would certainly spice up the race. Not that I think it will need it. The DRS zone being set roughly where predicted should see to that. The track looks quite bumpy at the braking zone for turn 12 so there should be some, entertaining to us and scary to the drivers, moments on the way into there.

Predictions are tricky to call here, especially with so little real running. But I'm going to suggest that Jenson might get pole this time out, he definitely seems the most comfortable on the track so far. The race is going to be even harder to predict, so lets go with Hamilton first, Button second and Vettel third. I get a feeling (and I have no idea why,) that this weekend won't be all smooth sailing for the German.

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.

A New Era Dawns

In a move that is sure to surprise almost no-one, Fernando Alonso and McLaren announce that they will not be together next year. The only real surprise was that it took this long for the press release to arrive.

So the guessing game begins, where exactly is Alonso going to end up next year? The guesses seem to include all the major teams, but the ones that strike me as funniest are Toyota and Honda.

Can you imagine the ex-world champions delight at being offered a drive at Toyota? "I can't drive there, they wouldn't win if they were actually running a Ferrari, but look at the size of the cheque!" A tricky decision indeed. Then again Honda isn't that much better. For some reason though I just can't imagine that Barrichello will just get dumped in the off season. At least I hope not, it seems poor reward for an entire career as a number 2 driver.

The FIA seem to be doing their usual job of trying to screw it up for everybody by removing small parts of the competition every few months. An engine freeze for 10 years seems at odds with the whole point of F1 to me. I always believed that F1 is a car building competition. The FIA seem to be forcing it towards being a one make race series. The annoying thing is that its the fans, desperate to see some overtaking, that have pushed it that way. Thats not to say that one make series are bad, some of them have fantastic races. They just aren't F1.

With all this intrigue I feel we are heading towards a new chapter in F1. Some of us, (yes I'm old enough) remember the days of Senna, Prost, Mansell et. al. with fondness. People speak as if there hasn't been any real racing since, which I believe is just plain wrong. I remember seeing some race long processions in those days, not to mention people winning by over 30 seconds. Boring grand prixs are not a modern invention. But in those days you still had some serious drama! There was a great feeling that despite the undoubted class of Senna he would have to go and fight to take the championships he so obviously deserved. And the fight wasn't going to be easy with the people he was up against. There was cheating, there was politics, there was fighting in the teams, there was danger. And now we get the whole same recipe being stirred up for us again.

There is the ex-world champ, kicked out of his team. The new kid on the block who could sweep all before him. The current world champion who will just be waiting to collect the win if others fumble it. Not to mention the new guys, that haven't really had a chance to prove themselves yet.

Things are looking up for the coming year, and I can't wait.

They Think Its All Over!

It is now (appeals notwithstanding). Well I think disappointing is the correct word for that. After 4 secs of excitement at the start of the first lap it all went dismally down to nothing for Lewis Hamilton. As the saying goes, not with a bang, but a whimper.

I suppose we should be celebrating Kimi Raikonnen winning the championship and I'm sure some are, but from here it seems as though Lewis lost it instead. After all the drama this season, to have it decided by a mechanical (nearly) failure is just about as typical as it gets. You have to say though, it couldn't have gone to a more dull person. I always try to hold firmly in mind the moment when Martin Brundle found Kimi for a grid walk interview in 2006 at Interlagos. On live ITV with (as Martin likes to remind us once per race) 5 million people watching, the conversation began...

"Did you catch the presentation?" says Martin referring to the Schumacher retirement special which had just finished.
"No," says Kimi, deadpan as ever, "I was taking a shit."

Its moments like that that make sporting heroes, but with Kimi he does his best to send you to sleep the rest of the time.

I still don't get where McLaren's strategist in charge of Hamilton's race comes from. Wherever it is, is not somewhere they value being able to think on your feet or adapt quickly to changing situations. Three pit stops? Hello!! I'm pretty sure that was a bad idea well before the race, but to not be able to see that it was a bad idea during the race is unbelievable.

At least Fernando didn't win though. I think the smugness would have been unbearable. As it is his comments after the race do kind of beggar belief. I think its fairly safe to assume he won't be working with McLaren next year after that little lot. But then again stranger things have happened.

It kind of pains me to be nasty about him because previously I've enjoyed watching his driving. Who can forget the all-time classic "giving the finger to another driver whilst travelling backwards around Monaco with only two wheels on your car". I still laugh about it now, then I remember it was Fernando and I calm down again. That was a moment of genius though. Most people would have been far to busy crashing to even think about it. But again, he has shown extreme dedication to slagging others off when he could just concentrate on beating them instead.

Oh well, I'm sure we'll have just as much fun next year watching the same old circus roll around again. But for now we get a holiday. Lets make the most of it!

Lewis Hamilton the Bad Guy?

I've been reading a lot of stuff the past few days about how maybe we have it all wrong here in the UK. Lewis Hamilton is maybe not the young gifted driver we all believed him to be and Fernando Alonso has been wronged by his team and relegated to second position by the new British upstart.

There are opinion pieces stating this point of view in reputable publications as well as the old favourite, an online petition.

Maybe they have a point, after all as Brits we are likely to be biased in favour of Hamilton, just like we are in Jenson Button's case. Errr... it kind of falls down just a little there. Lets be honest, the British love bashing their heroes. As a nation its one of the things we excel at. You can't be successful in this country and expect to have everyone love you, it just isn't going to happen. Lewis is, in this respect at least, very much the exception to the rule. Of course that doesn't really count as evidence against the conspiracy theories, so lets try looking at a fairly basic fact.

Ron Dennis hired Fernando Alonso. There it is, a fact. Ron is paying Fernando Alonso a (probably) staggering amount of money to be part of his team and help him win the Drivers and Constructors World Championships. Now I am not an F1 team boss but, it seems to me that if you want a stooge to not contend with your new boy wonder, you could get one a lot cheaper than Alonso. How about Trulli, Ralph Shcumacher, Takuma Sato, lets face it, there are plenty of choices if you want someone to play second fiddle. But Ron went and hired the reigning World Champion.

Of course its not that unusual for Ron to want two top drivers in his team. Remember when Ayrton Senna was team mates with Alain Prost? I wouldn't have been sure before their partnership began, but after it they were arch-rivals. Jaun Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikonnen? Remember when Jaun was meant to be the next big thing and Kimi had already started being it? Ron has put himself in this position before and dealt with it impeccably. It seems odd that after all these years he should make such an enormous mess of it.

Of course some of the suggestions in the petition do make me laugh and for that I am grateful. My personal favourite...

G.P. of Canada (10-06-07) Strange behavior of F. Alonso’s car. Once more, the number one car was not in the same mechanical conditions than L. Hamilton’s car.

If I remember correctly, the strange behaviour involved the car unexpectedly driving on the grass and being quite slow compared to the one Lewis Hamilton was driving.

I like watching a lot of racing series and last year I managed to catch highlights of almost all the GP2 races. After the Turkish race I was in no doubt whatever that I was watching a future British World Champion. Lewis spun on the first lap and regained the track in 21st or 22nd position. He then proceeded to make everyone look as though they had something stuck under the throttle and brake pedals of their cars. He was overtaking people in places where it shouldn't have been possible an ended up in second at the final lap. One more lap would have seen him challenging the leader. It was a drive the like of which has not been seen since Ayrton Senna went from fifth to first in one lap at Donington Park in 1993.

Again good luck to Lewis for the next race, and lets hope that the politics don't get in the way of the wheel to wheel action we all want to see.

Next stop Interlagos.

The last race of the year, the end of one of the most controversial F1 seasons in years, is almost upon us. Interlagos, Brazil, will be the scene of the title decider.

Lewis Hamilton must finish no more than two places behind Fernando Alonso in order to secure the title. And here's hoping that nobody at McLaren does anything stupid in order to screw it up for him. Lets face it they had a pretty good try last time and there have been a few other occasions this year where its not been entirely clear whether the team want him to win or not.

Fernando of course, is worried. Here he is, double world champion, being beaten by the new boy. He's done his level best to get ahead of Lewis all year, even resorting to sitting in front of him in the pits for a while at one stage, but to no avail. Now I'm not saying its at Fernando's suggestion, (who would say such a thing! ;-) ) but it seems odd that the FIA has decided that now is a good time to appoint a special scrutineer to ensure fair play at McLaren.

So when they were investigating McLaren for potential cheating by holding Lewis Hamilton up in the pits wasn't a good time, but now that Fernando has the chance to win the championship it is a good time to investigate fair play? I don't understand it at all! The whole thing seems a bit odd to me. Lets just hope that it all gets decided on the track, where it matters, and not in some race officials office.

HI

This is my first real attempt at a blog. Its going to be about my favourite subject, motor racing, motorsports, racing cars and generally driving too fast. I love a bit of racing cars and its easy to get frustrated and annoyed whilst watching and so I have made myself a place to vent my anger and frustration. ;-)

For instance whilst watching what I assumed (along with everyone else in the UK) was going to be Lewis Hamilton wrapping up the World Championship last week. When he spun I was already on the edge of the sofa shouting "Get in the pit! Get in the pit now!!" Except he didn't. Not for another two laps. By which time the tyres are so shot away he can't actually get down the pit lane. I almost turned off the TV right then. But of course I am such a glutton for punishment that I managed to wallow in annoyance for the next hour. All the while muttering incoherently under my breath.

I have never seen a team go to such enormous lengths to shoot themselves in the foot. Mclaren I salute you. No-one has done more for the art of making yourself look like a tit in spite of being the best at what you do.

The most entertaining bit for me is watching the adverts with Lewis and Alonso racing around the hotel. It takes on a whole new significance now that Alonso is almost definitely sticking pins into his voodoo doll of Lewis every night.