Phil: I'm going to leave Alonso's penultimate lap engine blowout to my co-blogger, as I know it's a subject dear to his heart. Instead I'm going to congratulate Sebastian Vettel, Mark Webber and Red Bull on their 1-2 at Sepang. The title race is tight, very tight, as I'll explain, but if Adrian Newey's car can give Vettel reliability as well as speed, I think he has to be the favourite.
Alonso's early exit means that he has had to concede the lead of the world title chase to his teammate Felipe Massa, who now leads with 39 points. Alonso and Vettel follow on 37 points, then Button and Rosberg on 35 points. Four points separate the top five drivers. What's more, the new points system was designed to ensure drivers have to win races to win the title. Three drivers have won the first three races of this season, but the man at the head of the title race isn't one of them. Consistency is still the most important thing where the world title is concerned.
Something else that's noteworthy. A quarter of the field, or four of the top 10 in the drivers' title chase, are German. When Michael Schumacher drove his first race in 1991 he was the only one. Sebastian Vettel, born in 1987, was only four years old at the time. My point is that he, Rosberg, Sutil and the rest are the Schumacher generation: the young German kids who grew up with him as a motor racing role model (those of us with slightly longer memories realise that he might not be altogether the best role model for an aspiring young driver to have).
All that remains is for me to name my Skiver of the Day, which dubious honour today goes to BBC1, for shunting the coverage to BBC2 mid-race to make way for some God-bothering. Aren't Sundays sacred any more?
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