Fitting finale

Justin:

Brazil provided a fitting finale to a fantastic season. The I Was Having a Blog team met up for an exclusive live event and one could say I was a bit excited as the race ebbed and flowed to and from Alonso. As Vettel was punted at the start I was on my knees screaming at the TV then leaping up and down in hysterics.

When on the BBC Forum afterwards, Bruno Senna was replayed his nerfing of Vettel and he remarked with a smirk on his face "yeah, I knew it was a Red Bull, but when I found out it was Vettel I was like ohhh thats a bad one".

The race started in drizzling rain with all the cars on slicks. The Mclaren's dissapeared for a while and had a great fight out on their own for a few laps - as JB said later it was a great fight to end Lewis' time at the team.

Alonso and Massa both made blinding starts, and at the start of lap 2 Webber was trying to take Massa down the straight only for Alonso to slipstream them both and dart down the inside into turn one. Boom! Thats an overtake and a half right there at 1m 40 seconds of the below bbc highlights video:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20489820

It would have been a move worthy of winning the title as I pointed out to my co-blogger.

The Hulk had an awesome race frankly, passing Webber and Alonso in quick succession to go third. Under slippery conditions later he did nerf Lewis out which was a bit naughty, but he just lost control under braking.

I had around 7 heart attacks during the race, the first of which occurred on Alonso sliding off the track on lap 5 allowing Hulkenberg through.

Even looking back over the highlights reel I'm bamboozled with overtakes, cars sliding off, Ben Edwards screaming ala Murray and lots of rain.

Vettel is a deserving champion, coming back from last to get 6th (all be it with a gimme pass from Schumi).

Massa had a great race and surely his upturn in form points to a great 2013.

JB was sublime. How many times in changing conditions have we seen him glide serenely to a win when chaos is all around him?

Alonso was mighty yet again...7th to 2nd...he did everything he possibly could, but it was not to be. He has said himself that this year was his best ever.

Pure emotion everywhere after the race - the Ferrari team think highly of their number 1.

Oh and special mention to Kimi for causing my co-blogger and I to explode in laughter as he went down an escape road only to find a closed gate :-).

The I Was Having a Blog 2012 Review and Awards will be happening soon, so watch this space.

So our thoughts now turn to 2013 and the stupidly long 3 month gap until the Australian GP in March. Sod an F1 book this year, season review DVD will be just fine.



 

Still all to play for

Phil: This most incredible of seasons still has its finale to give us, as for the fourth time in six seasons the title will be decided at the final race of the year. And what better way to mark the occasion than with a 'comeback' (hopefully more succesful than Schumi's) blog.

Let's crunch some numbers. Vettel is 13 points ahead of Alonso, with a maximum of 25 points still up for grabs. All Vettel need do is finish in the top four and he will be world champion. Alonso must be on the podium to have any hope of his third title this season. If Alonso wins, Vettel need only finish fourth to retain his title. If Alonso is second, seventh place will do, and if he is third, ninth. On the other hand, were Vettel's alternator to fail, as it has twice this year and as Webber's did last time out in Austin, a podium would guarantee Alonso the title. There are permutations in which both of them would score the same number of points, after 20 races, in which case Vettel would win the championship by five wins to Alonso's three (or four) - perhaps a fitting way to end one of the closest seasons ever, with the closest title margin ever.

One way or another, one or other of them will join an elite band of triple world champions. Vettel, if he can defend his lead, will join Schumacher (2000-2004) and Fangio (1954-57), the only men ever to have won the world championship three times in a row.

In some ways, the pressure is on Vettel - it is his to lose. Alonso simply needs to go balls out for the win, and hope for rain, a safety car incident, mechanical failure at Red Bull, or all three.

My co-blogger and I will be there, sort of, at the final I Was Having a Blog Live! event of the year. One of us may even blog afterwards.

Leave him alone he know's what he's doing!!

Justin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2RxLbiTIoY&feature=related


Clearly, Kimi knows what he is doing. The 8th different winner of the year, breaking Vettel's 4 wins on the bounce in the process, Kimi is arguably the most popular winner of the year.

The last race in Abu Dhabi was pretty exciting it has to be said. First lap - Alonso and Webber side by side at 200mph set the tone for what was a race full of action, overtakes and people being nerfed off.

Alonso did all he could do starting from 6th and finishing 2nd. Vettel drove well, but had two safety cars to cut the time to those in front and a much faster car than most anyway as a result of the team changing the gear ratio's when they took it out of parc ferme.

Webber had another scrappy race it has to be said, getting involved in a couple of tangles of note, particularly with Massa.

Grosjean and Perez drove like idiots frankly, taking off Di Resta and Webber in the process of a silly tangle.

JB had a steady race and only failed to hold up Vettel with around 2 laps to go.

Poor Lewis. He would have walked this GP it has to be said. Mclaren may be fast, but their car is so unreliable.

There was an interview with him when he was asked if he regrets his move next year to Merc. You could clearly see in his eyes he has thought about it and pondered "this Mclaren is super fast, what am I doing?"

To the USA we go. For BBC fans, highlights are on at 10:30pm next Sunday - apparently the circuit should favour the Red Bull. Oh dear.

Go Fernando - take it to Brazil and win the title there - thats what he usually does!

KIMI!!!!

Justin:

Kimi and Lotus have announced he will be continuing into 2013, as was mush suspected.

Great news I say as its fantastic having Kimi back racing with us, providing his short but rather amusing interviews too.

You'd have to class his comeback as a massive success. Whilst he hasnt won a race just yet, he is a clear third in the title race..the best of the rest behind Vettel and Alonso.

Here's a picture to remind us all of what The Iceman will have in store for us next year...Black, Gold, Ice...going super fast!

(pic not taken by me!)

The Indian GP saw lots of overtaking action. The first lap shennanigans involving Alonso, Button and Hamilton reminded us all of why we love F1, and certainly showed the guys further down the field that you can race wheel to wheel at 200mph without taking each other off.

The Mclarens were fighting amongst themselves and Alonso nabbed a double tow with an astonishing closing speed. He took them both only to see them both go around each side of him out of the next corner.

Fantastic racing.

Elsewhere, Vettel flew into the distance. Webber had Kers problems which helped Alonso nab second. Still, the guy has no right being second in a world where the Bulls are clearly the fastest car by a mile now.

The title fight goes to Abu Dhabi this coming weekend where Alonso really does need a win quickly. Either that, or he needs Lewis and JB to get amongst the top couple of positions to get Seb off the top spot.

Plenty of great racing elsewhere in the field this weekend. Bruno Senna, Maldonado and the Saubers were all over each other. Senna had a great race - very much needed considering he has no contract for next year as yet.

Thats 7 in a row for me now since June..Title winning form!!!....co-blogger, are you out there??

Driver market silly season

Justin:

Race Reviews:

With my esteemed co-blogger seemingly lost in action, I return for my sixth straight blog.

Japan and Korea have now passed, with Vettel winning both. With Alonso being nerfed out in Japan and Belgium, his 40 odd point lead has now been wiped out in a handful of races - Vettel now leads by 6.

With Hamilton coming 10th in Japan, it's rather safe to say the title race is on - Alonso vs Vettel over 4 races now.

Though one does have to ask, will it be much of a competition?

For me, and many others, Alonso has been the best driver this year. General consensus is Hamilton has been there or there abouts too.

The Ferrari has been fast, but never the absolute fastest - Alonso has got 2 of his 3 wins in the wet, and both his poles.

The Red Bull's and Mclarens have been the fastest cars this year, but both have been unreliable at times whereas Ferrari have not had one mechanical failure or retirement (with Alonso).

Since Singapore Red Bull have seemingly come on leaps and bounds in development and overtaken Mclaren.

Vettel now has 3 wins on the spin as we head to India in two weeks. Ferrari backs are truly against the wall here and they must come out fighting with big upgrades. Race pace wasnt too far off the Red Bull's in Korea, but they need to nab a pole here or there to make races a bit easier.

Driver market

Lewis is going to Mercedes next year for a three year project. It seems he has had enough of Mclaren, and they dont seem too unhappy at him leaving.

On one hand, ok he might be fed up with his car having reliability issues in the last 3 races...

But....a big but....he claims he wants to win titles and races...Mclaren always provide a car that can do one and at least challenge for the other. So why move at all? (coughs...money and sponsorship freedom).

Mclaren keep all the driver winners trophies....that is a moo point at Merc for a year or two for sure!

One could speculate that JB's arrival and equal footing with Lewis has almost pushed him into moving. Mclaren no longer being the cosy, Lewis-centric home it used to be.

Over the three years they have been team-mates, they have pretty much the same amount of wins and points. JB had the upper hand early on in 2010, winning 2 of his first 4 races. Lewis then rolled him over from halfway onwards. 2011...JB's best driving ever? Hamilton had a mare year, JB drove his best ever season. This year has seen Lewis generally nudging ahead again.

But, JB has essentially made the team his own and kicked Lewis out. Take that critics who said he was "going into the lions den!"

Oh, and Lewis tweeting that JB didnt respect him for "unfollowing" him...what a cock! (JB had never followed him and had told the press this same thing a few days before!).

• Hulkenberg confirmed at Sauber for 2013
• Perez confirmed at Mclaren
• A number of drivers in running for second Force India seat alongside Di Resta, including Sutil.
• Sauber seat vacated by Perez likely to go to their young Mexican test driver.
• Massa set to be confirmed at Ferrari for 2013
• Lotus and Red Bull unchanged
• oh...did I mention the rumours swirling about Vettel to Ferrari for 2014??

 For those interested to know, my good friend Gavin took a pic of Kimi in the Belgium pits...this pic is now framed above my shitter.....he was having a shit didnt you know?

 http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19939863

Belgian Grand Prix + Beer + Best mates = Awesome!

Justin:

There is plenty to cover since we last blogged before the Belgian Grand Prix. As I thought it would be a while until my esteemed co-blogger blogged, I decided to sort it myself. No bother, I have plenty to say and plenty to cover.

Belgian Grand Prix

Spa is majestic, mysterious, beautiful...as poetic as an F1 track can get. The 3 of us knew it was one of the oldest F1 tracks in the world, along with Silverstone, Monza and Monaco. The drivers regularly name Spa as their out and out fave track, with the ridiculous Eau Rouge/ Radillon as their fave corner.

We knew we were off to a special, historic place. Nothing prepares you for the beatufy and majesty of the place.

When it's raining, a mist descends, throwing us back to the days of danger as the drivers hurtle round in the spray. The track weaves through the Ardennes forest and as you approach you cannot see the cars, but only hear them as the deep, dark, lush trees come alive with the noise of the beasts.

The race itself was a great one with lots of crazy battles and overtakes. I was a bit gutted about Alonso going off in the first corner, but hey. JB claimed a fantastic win to ignite his title hopes once again.

Words will never do the place and my feelings for it justice.

Monza

Great win for Lewis, gutting for JB. Vettel also retired - another alternator failure. Webber had another fairly lacklustre race and Alonso returned to the podium.

Singapore

After a gearbox failure saw Hamilton fail to finish, at 52 points behind Alonso now, you'd have to say his title chances are fading. We all know though, that it can turn around in an instant at the next race. Alonso retires and Lewis wins, then he is back in the game.

The problem is of course is that, Belgium aside when he was punted, Alonso has finished every race in the points, with 3 wins and 8 podiums this year. The Ferrari isnt the fastest car, but it is the most reliable car.

I'm almost getting annoyed by people who speculate that IF Lewis had finished here or hadnt broken down there then he'd be in the title race lead.

Well....in F1, to finish first..first you have to finish.

It now looks like Vettel vs Alonso for the title race me thinks.

I have to say that JB is the classiest guy on the grid by a mile, if what Whitmarsh said was true about JB coming to him regarding the possibility of helping Lewis if needs be.

There could be a similar situation at Red Bull soon as Webber is 61 points off the top spot after yet another average race in Singapore.

My driver of the day in Singapore was probably Di Resta, with Massa a close second.

Overtake of the race...Massa and his do or die on Senna - fantastic!

To Japan we go. Ferrari need to bring upgrades that actually work. Mclaren need to finish the race (if they do there is a high chance they will win). Red Bull need to get Vettel a haircut.

Hungary? Nah....SPA...BABY...SPA!

Justin:

Neither I nor my esteemed colleague blogged about Hungary. It was a fairly dull race lets be honest, with a few fun moments.

I'm still reeling from the BBC announcing Alonso at number ten in their all time greats list. Really? Below Vettel? Ok fools!

As my co-blogger pointed out, the most exciting bit of Hungary was the "next race....SPA" bit at the end of the show.

Heres a pic of what we hope we might see, or similar.

Outstanding Fernando!

Justin:

His second pole in the wet in the space of two weeks. Talk about on the ragged edge. Nobody improved their times, then Fernando went even faster (helped by the masterstroke of driver/team strategy by coming in for fresh wets)!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18940100

What a fantastic race we were treated to in Germany!

Off the line, we had Schumi really challenging Vettel, which was fantastic to see. I think this year has proved beyond any doubt that the old bastard still has it. I for one hope he signs again for next season. Schumi and Vettel into and out of the hairpin on lap one....now that's racing!!!!

We had three world champions battling for the lead throughout the whole race, never more than a few seconds apart...and another two world champions running in 4th and 5th for a fair while.

Kimi....Kimi! Some absolutely stonking overtakes from "The Iceman"....proving beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has lost none of his racecraft. Lap 5...Kimi and DiResta side by side....spine tingling balls out racing by both men. Beautiful to watch!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18947728
I think Kimi definately had his regulation shit before this race.

Carnage on lap one, causing a puncture for Lewis...in turn causing him to un-lap himself from Vettel later on to get out of Button's way! Brilliant.

Proving that form is temporary, but class is permenant....a great drive by JB from 6th to 2nd (naughty Sebastian...clearly passing off the track!). It's great to see Jenson back on the podium where he truly belongs.

There were absolutely shed loads of on track overtakes...usually involving Force India's, Saubers and either Kimi or JB or Schumi....brilliant stuff!

Off the back of his win at Silverstone, Mark Webber had an oddly flat race, but still got some valuable points.

Lap 42....JB taking Vettel....its why we all love F1...

So, Alonso has finished every race this year in the points. The Ferrari started off the year a second and a half off pole in Melbourne and was around the 5th/6th best car until a few races in, when they moved up to perhaps the 4th best car...

It's those early points collections along with the win in Malaysia, when Alonso clearly outdrove the bucket of shit he was driving. Now Ferrari still dont have the (outright) fastest car, but they are right up there with Red Bull and Mclaren now and in Alonso they have THE form man on the grid. Then again, you could say when is he off form?

Even last year in the totally rubbish Ferrari, he managed a win and consistently scored good points underneath the reign of Vettel and the much faster JB.

22 career poles, 30 race wins...only Mansell, Senna, Prost and Schumi are ahead on wins. The way he is going, I'd imagine he'll pass Nige this year no probs.

The guy just does not stop...relentless and absolute skill and determination.

Alonso is now 34 points ahead of nearest rival Webber. As I said in my last blog, it's looking increasingly likely that the two chaps in the fastest car are the only challengers to the fastest driver in probably the third fastest car.

22 consecutive races in the points is a stat in itself.

My co-blogger and I pondered where Alonso may come in the BBC all time greats list....it was compiled at the start of this year...but I'd imagine Alonso would be higher than Vettel (Vettel may have dominated last year but Alonso shone in what was a rather poor car - as he did for the first few races this year).

So...Senna, Fangio, Schumi, Prost, Clarke, Stewart....Alonso? I dunno...would Lauda be before him? Probably not for me.

Anyone else finding the podium interviews a tad odd?

Niki Lauda was firmly rebuked by Alonso with a "I don't do politics" hehehe.

On the Mark

Justin:

Mark Webber drove beautifully at Silverstone at the weekend. It looked like an Alonso victory for a while, until the last stint where Webber had kept in touch for most of the race and really floored it on the harder tyres as Alonso's softs fell away slightly.

It was a bit of a dull race, with moments of genius including Alonso and Hamilton racing wheel to wheel swapping overtakes for a lap early on, and indeed featuring Alonso and Webber late on in the race when Webber made his decisive move.

Webber has confirmed for 2013 with Red Bull - sensible choice by both parties...logical choice. With that, the driver market silly season has almost ceased before it has begun. Had Webber gone to Ferrari, the seats would have started spinning non-stop. Now though, Lewis has few options other than to stay where he is. Massa is improving in form and I think Ferrari would find it difficult to get rid of a man who has been in the team for years. Schumi at Mercedes is the only question mark....would Lewis be any better off there if Schumi retires? No, is my answer.

The title race is increasingly looking like Alonso vs Red Bull, with Lewis falling away 37 points off the lead.

JB is something like 79 points off top spot now....what a difference a year makes in F1 fortunes.

Valencia??....boring race??

Justin:

Lets start with this f1 funny! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81QPQE0qJQc 
My esteemed colleague and I just had an hour long chat on the phone about Valencia, the F1 season to date, our live event coming up, countdown to Belgium and many other things in between.

The European GP served up a dramatic, overtaking ladden race from start to finish. It just goes to show that F1 really is IF spelt backwards!

IF Seb hadnt have broken down, nobody would have caught him as I'd imagine he would have scampered off into the distance again after the safety car, such was the speed he was showing in quali and throughout the race. Let's not forget he was four tenths quicker than second placed Lewis on the grid. Amazing when you think that at one point at the end of Q2 the red car of Alonso was 11th and just two tenths off pole!

Poor Roman Grosjean suffered a similar fate to Seb a few laps after being taken with force by Fernando Alonso. Lets face it, it wont take me long to get onto just what a stonking drive his was.

After qualifying he said he'd be aiming for fifth or sixth and would probably lose out heavily to Hamilton and Vettel in the title race. A few balls out overtakes later coupled with yet another Mclaren pit fuck up (compare this to Ferrari doing the quickest stops constantly throughout the year) and Vettel retiring, then you have an emotional home win for the guy that never ever gives up. He is always there, lurking in the podium spots ready to pounce. Consistently fast and one of the all time greats. End of.

What a fantasic scene it was when he parked up in front of the grandstands and soaked up the atmosphere with the marshalls and his adoring public.

He was on the podium with two former Ferrari champions in Kimi and Michael. Well done Schumi!

Fair play to Mark, from 19th to 4th - beautiful drive there mate!

Maldonado took out Lewis with a lap to go - oooppps. I still don't think Lewis was totally blameless really as, ok, you say Pastor was coming off the track back into Lewis, but did Lewis not ease him off the track in the first place?

Still, the title race is, to me anyway, looking like the top four of Alonso, Webber, Hamilton and Vettel to duke it out for the rest of the year now. Next in fifth is Rosberg and I don't see him picking up big points anytime soon.

Poor old JB - just what is going on with him? Perhaps the Mclaren is rather difficult to drive all of a sudden and Lewis can just drive around these issues?

Elsewhere, "I Was Having a Blog" has yet another of our popular live events coming up in Stonehouse for the British GP weekend - which I personally cannot wait for!

Just three GP's...Britain, Germany and Hungary...then....we're off to Spa baby....SPA!!!!!!!!!!

Our Nige was voted number 13 in the BBC all time greatest driver list....just who is next? More importantly, who is next in our F1 Hero series?

To sign off I have to leave you all with this - amongst all the bloody hillarious stuff here, Mark Webber at 1 minute 22 seconds...he loves those arms on the chair!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuIiQ8wfyMQ

7/7

Phil: Lewis Hamsandwich's win at Montreal a fortnight ago gives a seventh winner in seven races in this topsy-turvy season. Can any of the seven take their second race win of the season tomorrow at Valencia, or will this record-breaking run continue? Ross Brawn has said he thinks Schumi is capable of adding to his tally, and he has had a most unlucky season so far with two tenth places and five DNFs. Raikkonen would be my tip to make it an eighth driver, although Perez has come close once or twice.

This may be a record breaking season, as the first seven races have never been won by seven different drivers before, but in 1982 nine consecutive races were won by nine different drivers. The comparisons with 1982 would be even more apt if Nico Rosberg were to emulate his father by winning one race, and then the title.

In other news, last weekend saw Audi's 11th win at Le Mans in 14 years, this time in a hybrid car. Former F1 driver and commentator Anthony Davidson cracked two vertebrae in a colossal crash at the end of the Mulsanne straight. His Toyota was lapping a slower GT car which didn't see him, cut in on him at the last minute and launched him into the air. Another F1 refugee, Giancarlo Fisichella, won the GT class in a Ferrari 458 Italia.

Finally, my co-blogger will be off to Silverstone tomorrow in a single seater. Have a great time and give it 110%!

Monaco Magic

Justin:

On a track which offers the ultimate test of a driver, Mark Webber has re-written the history books with his Monaco GP win. He becomes the only Aussie to win the flagship event twice in the history of the sport. He has also won the race in two of the last three years.

He also becomes the sixth winner in six races this year, which has never before happened in F1. Though he didn't seem to care for this particular stat afterwards, saying that the Monaco win would be special regardless of this record.

(image above is from BBC website - we ain't breaching no copyrights here)


And did he do it in some style or what!

His first win of the year catapaults him to joint second in the title race - he is firmly in it ala 2010. Welcome back mate.

At the end of the race he finished just half a second ahead of Rosberg, followed in a train of cars by Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton and Massa. For most of the last twenty laps these guys were seperated by no more than 6 seconds. Fantastic stuff! At one point when the rain started falling, each was all over the back of the guy in front. At one point, they were all well under a second from each other.

Webber got a flyer (for once) at the start whilst Grosjean got in all sorts of bother, punting into Schumi and spinning himself off.

Maldonado had a horror weekend frankly. He used his car as an angry weapon on Perez in quali then crashed out in the race.

Webber, Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso (all on the softer compound) all stopped for harder styres around laps 29 and 30. By way of a mega in lap Alonso managed to jump Hamilton in the stops, and of course whilst all these guys pitted Vettel cruised by on his harder tyres that he had started on.

Good strategy by Red Bull saw Vettel eventually move from 9th on the grid to 4th at the end which represents a good day for Vettel really.

When Vettel pitted around lap 46 for the softer compound tyres when he was around 17 seconds ahead of Webber, but crucially 20-21 ahead of Hamilton. So, he re-emerged from the pits in 4th.

From lap 47 to the finish on lap 78 we were given Formula 1 racing of the highest order by guys who did not put a foot wrong all day.

It made my neck hairs stand on end watching the train of cars...Webber, Rosberg, Alonso, Vettel, Hamilton...Massa (sort of hanging on just about at the back), covered by so little time for so many laps.

Beautiful!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/18228584

Just watch from 5 minutes onwards on this BBC highlights clip!

To race this hard, fast and close is absolutely magnificent. At Monaco you do not get away with mistakes as you would on other tracks - you hit a wall and thats that.

It was a pleasure watching these guys fight.

We truly are in a golden era for F1 - I don't care what negative remarks people have about tyres. F1 drivers adapt - thats a specific skill all the best guys have.

Time for a quick sub-heading feature!

Webber - Driver of the day, on a day when there were a fair few contenders. Faultless race and from pole too.

Schumi - Life in the old dog yet as proved by his blistering quali lap, only to be scuppered by yet again more mechanical issues in the race.

Vettel - Keeps picking up points - great drive from 9th to 4th.

Rosberg - Beautiful drive too - kept Webber honest throughout.

Hamilton - Picked up points again, but are Mclaren going backwards? He seemed to point the finger firmly at their door again, seemingly annoying Whitmarsh a little in the process.

Button - One to forget - now 31 points of the championship lead after 3 rubbish races.

Di Resta - Fantastic drive through to 7th. I doubt he will be at Force India next year.

Alonso - This is where my objectivity may take a battering from my co-blogger, but I have seen various reports from differing sources all saying that Alonso is essentially driving as well as he ever has, doing extraordinary things in an ordinary car (it was a dog at the start of the year, but Ferrari do seem to be turning it into something better. In the meantime Alono's driving ability alone is keeping him in the hunt. He is utterly relentless and never gives up and is always lurking in the points. DC himself called Alonso unbelievable and the BBC's Gary Anderson stated in his blog:

 "In Alonso's case, his position is simply down to the quality of the driver. He has done astounding things with that car. He's always good off the start, always gets stuck in, and then fights the battle from then on." 

 The more I read about people complaining about tyres (fans?) saying they want to know who the fastest guys in the fastest cars are, not have this apparent lottery we are having with six different winners in six races......I say to you, look at the title standings....and shut the fuck up!!!!!

The cream always rises to the top, no matter the conditions, rules etc.....

Alonso leads Webber and Vettel followed by Hamilton, Rosberg, Kimi and Button....

Five of those seven have been contesting the title for the past two years and keeping race wins amongst themselves exclusively (Webber, Vettel, Alonso, Button and Hamilton) and one of the others is a former world champion.

What we have is near enough to a level playing field for the golden generation of Formula One drivers.

Let them get on with it!

The number seven

Phil: Mark Webber's win at Monaco means we've had six winners out of six races this season, with six world champions on the grid. But today's blog will be brought to you by the number seven (not 666), which I think is the number of serious contenders for the world championship.

That number alone shows what an astonishing season it's been so far, and shows every sign of continuing to be. Let's take a closer look at them, in reverse order for dramatic effect....

7th (45pts) - Jenson Button
Jenson won the first race of the season but since then a string of poor results culminating in an uncharacteristically lacklustre performance and DNF at Monaco have put him well behind his teammate. Never bet against McLaren though, and Jenson remains in my view one of the more underrated drivers on the grid, crowded out by the breadth of talent elsewhere.

6th (51pts) - Kimi Raikkonen
Kimi took his world title by a single point in 2007, and ever since then, or perhaps even earlier, he's been known more for his toiletary habits than for his driving ability. I for one have taken the piss out of him at every opportunity since, and I have to admit that he has surprised and impressed me perhaps more than anyone else this season. I'll say something else - I would be genuinely pleased to see him win a race this season, and there's every reason to think he will. Probably more than one.

5th (59pts) - Nico Rosberg
Nico took a masterful and very popular maiden win in China. In 1982, a similarly chaotic and unpredictable season, his father Keke took his maiden win and the world championship, winning only one race that year. Might his son be able to emulate this feat?

4th (63pts) - Lewis Hamilton
If Jenson is having the season Lewis had last year (well, maybe not that bad), then Lewis is having the season Jenson had last year. He hasn't won a race yet, but has been more consistent than anyone except perhaps Webber, having stood on the podium three times, and has scored more points than three of the six race winners.

3rd (73pts) - Mark Webber
Even more delicious than taking his second Monaco GP win was probably, for Mark Webber, drawing level on points with his teammate Vettel. After a season in which he couldn't hope to compete with Vettel despite having the same machinery, Mark will be a serious challenge this year.

2nd  (73pts) - Sebastian Vettel
Never bet against the reigning world champion Vettel. No one team has come close to dominating this season, and all the top teams and drivers have had one or more races where they have been hopelessly off the pace, but the numbers show that Red Bull are still at the front if anyone is - they have the lead of the constructors' championship and two out of the top three drivers.

1st (76pts) - Fernando Alonso
My co-blogger is very pleased that Fernando is still at the head of the title race, even though he's having to absolutely wring the Ferrari's neck to keep his lead. The consensus in the paddock is that Alonso is the best of a very talented bunch, and his performances this season have done his reputation no harm at all. Having said that, a fragile lead in the title race at this early stage in the season shouldn't give anyone the illusion that he has a command over the championship - in a season like this, unlike last year, the world champion will be the man who gets to the end of the last race with the most points in the bag, and every single point will count.

Just ask Nico Rosberg's dad.

BBC greatest driver list..

Justin:

Lewis is 15. We knew there were 4 of today's drivers on this list. So, one can imagine that Vettel will be next, then Alonso followed by Schumi...

As with most of these lists, I'd imagine either Senna or Fangio is number 1.

This is going to be beautiful

Justin:
I haven't been this excited since...well, the start of the Spanish GP yesterday! What a season this is, what a season it will be.....5 different drivers winning for 5 different constructors over the first 5 races. Amazing.

And, as mentioned by my co-blogger and the BBC chaps, you wouldn't bet against Kimi being the 6th to that list in Monaco.

I Was Having A Blog....Live...had yet another, erm, live event, with a special guest commentator in the form of Mrs Smith. She did well, supplying valuable insights until she left halfway through to go shopping. Did we interview her for the role?

Anyway.......what a race.....My co-blogger can surely testify that I got just a smidgen excited when Fernando powered past Maldonado at the start. I was crouched in the middle of the floor, screaming with anticipation and sheer, utter delight..."Go on Fernando....YEEEESSSSSSSSSS". Fernando is the king of starts.

You could hear the Spanish crowd roar over the engines when Alonso came around at the end of the first lap in the lead.

Alonso led the first stint over Maldonado but didn't pull out much of a margin, whilst the Lotus boys lurked behind. Maldonado then undercut Fernando after the second (was it second...think it was) stops and didn't look back at all really.

The last person you ever want in your mirrors is Alonso with the scent of a win in his nostrils, but Maldonado did not put a foot wrong all day frankly.

You know, I am sure that just because I support Alonso that my co-blogger probably less appreciates just how good Alonso really is. We both agreed on Sunday that on out and out pace at the moment, the Ferrari is the 5th best, possibly 6th best car out there.

So....how the hell is Alonso leading the title race? He is that...damn...good. That's how.

He is consistently the best driver in the world.

Pace wise, the Lotus and Mclaren are out front, followed by Red Bull and Mercedes....Sauber....Ferrari and the rest. Now we have Williams too!

Anyway...I get emotional when it's Alonso's home GP.

Hamilton did well, it has to be said. Back of the grid to 8th means good points for him in a season where I think a guy that wins just 3 or 4 races, along with good points positions, will win the title. His pole lap was outstanding, but whilst I think the punishment was harsh, rules are rules and they did short fuel the car.

Button, Webber and Vettel had rubbish to fairly average days at the office. They all struggled for ultimate pace.

Schumi blatantly rammed poor Bruno off the track. If I were Bruno I'd be quite gutted knowing I have a race winning car and that before Spain I had outscored my team-mate!

And to Maldonado. Pay driver or not..whatever. He has proved himself to be a driver of the highest order. Given a race winning car....he can drive to victory.

He is now saying he should aim for more points, wins and why not challenge for the title. Erm, I think Pastor needs to calm down a bit...but then again, I think this year is proving more than any other year that F1 is IF spelt backwards.

Pick a championship winner........I cannot at the moment....

Alonso hasnt done a bad job of getting the maxiumum out of a shite car though.

The upgrades seem to have worked a bit, so onto Monaco we go.

Williams celebrated with a pit bonfire. Bit excessive and might be frowned upon.

30 Years...

Justin: Apparently Fernando goes around collecting other drivers F1 helmets.....that's the last Jacques has seen of his then!

Some other amazing pics here..

All photo's are from the link below, nowt to do with this blog...does that cover copyrights??

http://www.auto123.com/en/racing-news/jacques-villeneuve-drives-his-father-gilles-ferrari-312-t4-at-fiorano-photos?artid=143323

Outrageous! Legend!

Justin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzzK0Rn5wtU

"Salut Gilles"

Phil: ....as it says at the start/finish line of the circuit which bears his name, in his native Montreal.

I regret being ever so slightly too young to have watched the elder Villeneuve race. Jeremy Clarkson (who whatever you may think of him does genuinely know his stuff when it comes to F1) rates him as the greatest driver ever. I haven't yet watched any of my co-blogger's clips (the roar of a Ferrari V12 isn't really appropriate for work) but if they don't include the titanic scrap between Villeneuve and Rene Arnoux over second place at the 1979 French grand prix then I would urge him to seek it out. Suffice to say today they would both have been hauled in front of the stewards.

When Alain Prost began racing in 1980 his two best mates were his fellow French-speakers Villeneuve and Pironi. Prost's approach to racing was definitely the complete opposite to Villeneuve's - cool, measured, happy to play the percentage game and collect a single point if a single point was all that was needed or could be achieved (an attitude more than likely informed by Villeneuve's death and Pironi's career-ending injuries, both within months of each other in 1982). Prost tells a story that while testing at Paul Ricard, the three of them entertained themselves by taking their hire cars out onto the track, and then deliberately crashing them into a vineyard next to the track.

There's another story that when the Grand Prix Drivers' Association went on strike at some point in the early 1980s and the drivers locked themselves into a hotel near the track until the FIA relented, due to the shortage of rooms Prost and Villeneuve, who everyone knew were the best drivers of the day, shared a double bed. Paddock comedians speculated what sort of super-talented infant driver would emerge from such an unnatural union.

F1 Hero Series: Gilles Villeneuve

Justin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3tXJm9tYGM

5 minutes and 10 seconds - this pass tells you everything about Gilles Villeneuve.

The guy just raced. He was a pure F1 racer. He went as hard and fast as he could - end of. If he had to finish 5th to win a world title, he would rather go hell for leather and try and win the race and fail. You could say this was a massive achillees heel - would he ever have won a world title driving like this? Who knows?

He despised politics in F1 and nothing made him more happy than getting in the car and thrashing the hell out of it, at the expense of many fine F1 drivers. He'd usually be driving a bucket of shit Ferrari - the only time he wasn't was 1979 when Scheckter won the title. He was more a tactical driver who went as fast as was needed - team orders helped him win the 79 title too, but thats another story. It's a bit like Hamilton and Button now - Hamilton goes for it (until this year at least) and burns his tyres out, whereas Button has a much more smooth, considered approach.

Gilles Villeneuve was purely a balls out racing legend. He overtook where people didn't think it possible. He won and got good points in a Ferrari that was by no means the best car on the grid (as touched upon in a previous blog...remind you of anyone?).

To put it bluntly - I see Gilles racing and the F1 fan in me just stands on in utter amazement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiVyLEM-0wE
This win in Spain in 1981 has to be his greatest. From 2 minutes onwards in the footage....he had a train of cars behind him and didn't put a foot wrong. Lets be clear - it was a train of faster cars.

I delved more into/ got into the legend of Gilles through his son Jacques coming into F1 in 1996 (even though during his career Jacques never spoke about his Father - it's only recently he has opened up about him). Jacques racing style was very much like his Dad's it has to be said - and I'll visit Jacques in this hero list another time.

It seems that whilst many of those who raced alongside him thought he was the most ridiculous talent of the era, there were some who called him reckless and blatantly dangerous. He was always pushing himself beyond what the car was capable of - as Jacques would always do...."exploring the limits of the car".

Those that knew him, and indeed those same colleagues who appreciated his blatant talent, speak of his extraordinary car control - but whilst he'd push the limit, he'd never put anyone else in danger.

I openly admit, as touched on earlier, that Gilles may have struggled to win a title had he carried on at Ferrari - he seemed far too loyal to them. Had he gotten himself into the best cars, as all the greatest generally do, then he'd have been able to drive as fast as he liked, as hard as he liked, as the car would finally have matched his outstanding talents. 1982 was the year that had 11 different race winners, so he may have done it, who really knows?

James Hunt spotted him driving in Formula Atlantic in....76/77 I think, if memory serves, and Mclaren did try to sign him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbRnPwS178g

Another legendary bit of footage - some of his colleagues thought this was dangerous, and you can't disagree with that. However, it's his inbuilt never say die attitude...."Oh I have 3 wheels, lets get to the pits, get another and go racing!"

You can see Jacques was a chip off the old block - trying to go through Eau Rouge flatout (in the days when it was still a big risk) just because he wanted the challenge and excitement.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dPJMxJlcr0&feature=related

Of course, one cannot speak of Gilles without touching upon his tragic death.

This absolutely titanic battle (always nice to hear James Hunt go "ooooohhhhhh") completely and totally soured Villeneuve's relationship with his team-mate. Villeneuve believed Pironi had disobeyed a direct team order/ agreement. If you search for the podium footage you can see the hurt in Gilles eyes. They never spoke again.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua70zL52pt0
Many people have stated their belief that at Zolder Villeneuve was going absolutely over flat out to beat Pironi, which lead to him crashing.

He was just 32 when he died, 30 years ago.

I'll leave it to Niki Lauda ( 3 times world champion...knows what he is talking about) on ending what has been an emotional blog for me.

"He was the craziest devil I ever came across in Formula 1... The fact that, for all this, he was a sensitive and lovable character rather than an out-and-out hell-raiser made him such a unique human being"

And Scheckter....

"I will miss Gilles for two reasons. First, he was the fastest driver in the history of motor racing. Second, he was the most genuine man I have ever known. But he has not gone. The memory of what he has done, what he achieved, will always be there."

Good news - this blog is officially international with readers from the USA, Brazil, Germany, Latvia...fantastic.

The Stat Man

Justin:

Well, I have to say, my ability to quote stats in the world of F1 is bettered only by my co-blogger. The first Lotus podium since 1988 hey? Whilst he has quoted far more in-depth and number related stats previously, and I'm pretty sure he heard this particular one on BBC coverage over the weekend.... (?), it sure is a good one. Technically, they aren't even really Lotus at all now either - after all the wrangling that went on last year, Lotus Group/ Proton has pulled all money out of the team, aside from sponsoring them in name only now until 2017 - so, surely now they are almost "Team Enstone"? 

Combine his above stat with the second one about podiums/races/drivers - my mind boggles!

It was a good race in Bahrain. I go with the view that with all the media attention at least the spotlight was on the country and the issues it is currently having - raising awareness of the problems etc. Then again, on the flip side you could easily say that the Silver cars from Woking are half funded by Bahrain money and Bernie was receiving a truckload of cash to hold the race. Then again, he'd probably have got his grubby little hands on the cash race or no race.

I'm going with a few sub-headings yet again!

Vettel

A great win that reminded me of....all of last year. And, as my colleague remarked, of Nico last week in China.

Webber

Anyone else notice Webber quietly creeping up the title standings to third, just a handful of points off the lead? In a year where there is a different winner every race, consistency might very well be key here - wasn't it 11 different race winners in 82, where Keke won the title with just one win?

Button and Hamilton

Oh dear boys. Not the best race there!

Naughty Nico

Whilst the stewards found him not guilty of anything - his defending against Alonso and Hamilton was marginal and a tad rude at best.

Kimi

Great to see Kimi up there fighting for a win - though anyone would have thought the world had ended in his interview afterwards - still, surely thats a sign that he is a born winner and anything less just isnt good enough. The Kimi of old is back it seems!

Forum

Some great forum banter - Jake and DC collaring Brundle! Apparently Sky had cleared away and were going home! Martin told DC not to be late for dinner and Jake pondered where his invite was. Good to see they still have some banter.

DC then lost his man bag. The horror! Though his shirt was significantly better than EJ's range.

3 weeks til Spain now. Bah!

Look out for my next F1 hero soon.

Four races, four race winners, four championship leaders

Phil: Yesterday in Bahrain, the race that shouldn't have happened but everyone's secretly glad that it did reminded us yet again how close this season is - and there's every reason to think it will stay that way. As if the stat above wasn't enough, here's another - in 2011, seven men stood on the podium all season, and five of them monopolised it for all but the first two races. So far this season, eight men have stood on the podium, after only four races.

The balance of power in F1 seems to shift on an almost weekly basis. Last weekend in Shanghai, Mercedes were the class of the field. This weekend, Red Bull and Lotus had the advantage, Mercedes were lacklustre and erstwhile championship leaders McLaren really had a race to forget. David Coulthard made a very interesting point pre-race in that this is what you get when you have stability in the rules - each team has time to figure out what makes the fastest teams fastest, and copy it. The result is a very close field, which in turn makes for exciting races.

There's only time to note really that Raikkonen's second and Grosjean's third were the first podium positions for Lotus cars since Nelson Piquet in 1988. There's a great pic on the BBC website of race winner Vettel (oh yeah, forgot to mention, the reigning world champion took his first win of the season) marking the occasion by giving Raikkonen the bunny ears during the podium photo session.

Not the new Nick Heidfeld any more

Phil: I agree entirely with my co-blogger that we both knew Nico Rosberg could do it, the only doubt was whether, given the extent to which success in F1 depends on having the right machinery at the right time, he ever would. As my co-blogger has pointed out, Nico took his first win at his 111th race - only Button, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello have had to wait longer for their maiden victory.

Let's be under no illusions that Nico was simply in the right place at the right time, and took a lucky first win, as plenty of other drivers have done. He was genuinely the class of the field in Shanghai - pole by a margin of half a second, and then the win with a margin of 20s.

Lovers of statistics will note that this was the first race won by anyone other than the Big 5 (Vettel, Webber, Hamilton, Button and Alonso) since Barrichello won at Monza in 2009. 1982 champion Keke Rosberg becomes the first driver to have won a race himself and then seen his son win one (Graham Hill and Gilles Villeneuve were dead when their sons won the world championship). Nico becomes the first man to win in a Mercedes since Fangio in 1955, and the first German driver to win at the wheel of a Mercedes since Hermann Lang, in the 1939 Swiss Grand Prix - held less than a fortnight before the outbreak of war.

This win should improve Nico's confidence no end, and I wouldn't be surprised to see him take another win before the end of the season - assuming Mercedes continue to have the pace they showed at Shanghai.

One thing is for certain - we are in for a cracker of a season. Three races in, and still no real pattern and no clear favourite. The last six races have been won by six different drivers, and the world championship is currently led by a man who hasn't won so far this season but who has managed three third places. As his boss Martin Whitmarsh said yesterday, 'who would try to predict who's going to win the next race?'

I wouldn't.

China

Justin: Hmmm, I really should come up with better subject titles!

Anyway....

I think this year will be the closest ever.

We've always known Nico Rosberg was good, but just how good was ultimately unknown. He's a bit like Button in a way, in that he'd always been in non race winning cars. Button took 113 races to get his first victory, Rosberg 110. I've always thought Rosberg was good, capable, but not great. Perhaps now with his first win under his belt he'll mature and improve in the same sort of way Button did.

Give him a race winning car, as Mercedes have done this year, and today shows just how good he is. In fact, qualifying was a blur.....Nico was half a second quicker than anyone else, which is almost unheard of in 2012! You only need to look at Q2 to see how close the grid is this year. Vettel didn't make it into Q3 and the gap between 1st and 10th in Q2 was just 3 tenths of a second. Amazing!

The race in China was frankly frantic, beautiful, amazing and intense. There were so many things going on that it's hard to recall exactly what happened where and between who! Do we need the legendary subheadings system again? I'm going to read over the race report on the BBC website first before proceeding.

Incidentally, I emerged at 6am for yesterdays qualifying show and 7am for todays race. I received a text from my esteemed colleague yesterday afternoon asking if I wanted to watch the race with him as he was back in town. I replied, asking if he meant the live show or the repeat at lunchtime. I suspect he may have watched the lunch version :-).

Race Overview
As already mentioned, it was an utterly frantic race behind Rosberg. There were so many scraps and overtakes along with wheelbanging and sparks flying ( Maldonado and Grosjean...boy those guys went at it tooth and nail!) it was just insane. So much fun to watch and as Button said, so much fun to drive in too! Rosberg dissapeared, Button may have had fun trying to catch him but for a slow pit-stop which fed him into the chasing queue of cars. Near the end Kimi was 2nd, but in one lap he plummetted down to 10th. That will be the tyres then!

Nico Rosberg
Son of 1982 Champion Keke, Nico couldn't have done anything any better for the weekend. The Mercedes has looked fast in quali since the start of the year, more in the hands of Schumi. They have usually struggled for race pace as their car has a small window of ultimate use with the tyres.

Let's not piss around here. Rosberg was half a second quicker than anyone else in Q3! That's a gap and a half.

In essence, he did what Vettel did a lot of last year - get pole then dissapear. Though, it has to be said, Vettel never really dissapeared like Rosberg did today - he was a full 20 seconds ahead at the end!

A beautiful weekend for Rosberg which catapaults him up the driver standings.

JB & Lewis
They now have a championship winning car. They sit first and second in the title race seperated by just two points.

Lewis has clearly taken a leaf out of JB's book by being more consistent this year.

JB is driving absolutely at the top of his game and I suspect he will only get better.

I would put a lot of money on their "relationship" fracturing big time as the season evolves - only one of them can win the title. End of.

Webber and Vettel
Vettel seems generally unhappy with this years car, opting to use a slightly older spec version of the RB8 this weekend whilst Webber had the upgrades.

Webber has gone on record saying this years car feels like a more conventional F1 car as opposed to last years blown diffuser layout which changed the handling somewhat.

So, if we look at last year as a blip for Webber, we can clearly see this year that these two are back to a level playing field ala 2010 when they literally raced each other off the road.

Webber drove a great race today, as did Vettel - but with one lap to go they found themselves 5th and 4th repsectively and line-a-stern. I was half thinking Red Bull would tell Webber to stay behind....They didn't, and he didn't.

To be fair, Vettel's tyres were shot and when interviewed about it neither of them played it up - it was what it was. Doesnt appear to be any bad blood on either side just yet.

We wait until Vettel starts getting rather upset about being beaten by his team-mate. You always need to beat your team-mate first.

DC
Needs to rest his voice after nearly losing it through getting so excited in the race. Are you Murray in disguise??!!

BBC
If you watched the forum, you will know that a lot of people despise Sky Sports. The team's interview with a fan known as Lao was amusing, but at the same time cringeworthy hehe.

Grosjean and Maldonado
What a fucking battle that was! Sparks flew, literally!

Alonso
Back to reality with a P9 start and a P9 finish. Those upgrades cannot come soon enough!

Bruno Senna
Anyone else actually notice him sliding up the field from 14th to 7th? I thought not. Beautiful stuff yet again from this guy.

Actually, listening to the repeat now, Ben Edwards gets just a tad excited and high pitched too. Nice.

Co-blogger, I suspect I have missed plenty. Over to you!

Gilles Villeneuve

Justin: It's 30 years since the death of one of, if not the most, naturally gifted drivers of all time.

Motorsport magazine has this month written a few fantastic pieces on the man and I recommend that my co-blogger pick up a copy - or just read mine next time we meet.

Interestingly, Jacques has started opening up about his Dad since he left F1 - he rightly didn't want to speak of him when he was starting his career as he wanted to carve his own way.

I couldn't help but notice one piece of writing by the editor - He was talking about Villeneuve looking at today's F1 and being unfussed about it, he'd just get on with racing the wheels of whatever he was driving...usually a pig of a Ferrari.

Holding on against the odds in fifth place, a supremely gifted racing driver, grappling with a pig of a Ferrari and scoring points them team didn't deserve. The spirit of Gilles lives on in the pure racer form of Fernando Alonso.

Until this, I'd never thought of those being similar, but when you look at how many times Villeneuve dragged a performance out of his cars on pure driver brilliance, you can start to see the comparisons.

Sub headings galore!!!

Justin: Tip of the cap to my co-blogger on his last blog. That was a fair few sub-headings!

Cucumber
This is what Vettel apparently called Karthikeyan in a German interview after the race.
Karthikeyan has come back with a stinging remark calling Vettel a cry baby. The gloves are off now! There has been quite a backlash to Vettel's reaction to losing in his homeland.

Auction
The Toleman raced by Aryton Senna in 1984 is expected to receive up to £750,000 for a charity auction at Silverstone. Blimey!

I'm just thinking about who will be next on the BBC all time top twenty drivers list they are doing...scrap that...who is next on our list? Co-blogger, over to you on this one as I kicked it off with Mika.

Bring on the sub-headings

Phil: I completely agree (as always) with my learned co-blogger that so much was going on at Sepang on Sunday that we need an A to Z to find our way through it.

A. Alonso
General consensus in the paddock is that Alonso is the best driver of his generation, but that he rarely has a car to flatter his talents. General consensus also says that this year's Ferrari is the worst car they've built in years. At Sepang, as in any wet race, the performance differential between a good car, a mediocre car and a really awful car is to a certain extent levelled off, and raw driver talent plays a much bigger role. Alonso's win tends to prove both theories correct. Together with his fifth place in Melbourne, it also gives him the lead in the world championship. But - and it's a big but - even he acknowledged after the race that at dry races it's going to be damage limitation.

B. Bruno Senna
Nice one.

C. Coverage
I'm afraid I don't subscribe to any of conspiracy theories doing the rounds about Sky sabotaging the BBC's access to the juicy bits. All broadcasters' pictures are the same as they come direct from FOM (Formula One Management), so this should really be under B for Bernie. Or even B for bollocks. After all, it would hardly be the first time the producer has shown us a shot of someone pitting from eighth place when someone else is challenging from the lead.

G. Grosjean
Qualifies well, goes off in first lap incidents. We're only two races in though and the first one was a simple racing incident (at the time I'd have put the blame more at Maldonado's feet, actually) so I'd give him the benefit of the doubt.

K. Kimi
Before the season started I confidently predicted Kimi would be a laughing stock by the beginning of the European season. However, his pre-race poo strategy is really paying off and it's not beyond the realm of possibility that he might actually win a race this year.

L. Lewis
I fear my co-blogger may have misinterpreted my earlier blog as tending to be supportive of Lewis when I was actually taking the piss out of him. He seems not to have taken the hint either (anyone would think he doesn't actually read this blog), so I think things now need to be spelt out to him.

Lewis. When you first came into F1, I was a huge fan. I was impressed by your maturity as well as your talent. I was impressed that you weren't overawed by having a double world champion for a team-mate. I was genuinely over the moon the next year when you became the first British world champion in over a decade having given us the Official Best Race Ever (see last year). But now I have tell you you irritate me more than any of the other drivers. More than Kimi. More than Alonso. More than Vettel. More even than Michael Schumacher. And the reason is this. When things don't go your way, you sulk. You're second in the world championship, and you're sulking now. And I think the reason you sulk is that you can't deal with failure. Your life except for the last 2-3 years has been one success after the other. You've been a champion in every form of motorsport you've entered, including the very highest. So you've never learned that sometimes, in racing, and in life, things don't go your way. Sometimes you can give it every ounce of breath and every drop of sweat you have, and still watch it all fall to pieces on the very last lap. Just look at Maldonado last weekend. Some drivers spend their whole careers doing that. You're lucky, you're a world champion. But you're not special. You don't have a god-given right to have everything your own way. When they don't, that doesn't mean there is some kind of conspiracy against you, that's just racing. The thing that worries me the most, Lewis, is that you're slowly but surely turning into Ayrton Senna. By the end of the season you might very well be shunting Jenson off into the kitty litter at the first corner at Suzuka, then telling everyone he had it coming to him. And you know what happens then. Gerhard Berger throws your briefcase out of a helicopter and fills your hotel room with frogs. Oh yes. Don't say we didn't warn you.

P. Perez
It's pissing down with rain and a promising young Latin American driver scores an amazing second place which was very nearly a win. As James Hunt might have said, this marks the arrival of Sergio Perez as a major new talent within Formula 1.

S. Schumi
He's 43 years old, he was world champion 7 times and won 91 races along the way. He has nothing to prove to anyone, but he is still beating his team-mate, has started both races this year from the second row of the grid and seems to be having the time of his life (well, apart from winning everything in sight for about 10 years). I'm actually almost warming to the old sod.

V. Vettel
Slightly uncharitable about Karthikeyan I thought. It's difficult to go any faster when you've only got an HRT to drive. However we won't put him in the naughty corner, because Lewis is already there.

On thing is 'for sure' (as racing drivers don't say any more). We're in for a cracking season.

Magic

Justin: I don't think I'll be the only one who thinks that the Malaysian GP was a chaotic, frantic and ultimately fantastic race!

There are so many things to talk about that I don't know where to begin.

Ok, here we go...

BBC Highlights coverage
I found myself very annoyed at two points during the race. When Button came out of the pits near Hamilton after the first stops, we didn't actually see anything of this at all!! DC was urging the race director to switch to footage of those two, but frankly when they did cut to it whatever had happened was already over. Secondly, when Alonso made his move on Perez around turn 1 and into turn 2 we were watching footage of cars in the pits!!! One wonders if Sky have control over this? I'm not sure they do as such, it's probably more the BBC being shit. I found through reading The Guardian over the weekend that the new BBC show The Voice cost £25 million to make. One can't help but think that that is where the money saved on live F1 went. What a load of bollocks! Oh...and is Eddie only doing live races now??

Anyone who bothered watching the F1 forum after the race will know that Jake and DC now appear to be homeless on there now, roaming the paddock for stories, as opposed to having set up shop in a team home and letting people come to them. I still love the BBC coverage obviously, but I really wish they had them all live still.

Perez
Beautiful drive by a fantastic young driver. To put his drive into context, it was Sauber's best ever result. It's easy to say he would have won too, given how quick he was compared to Fernando's bucket of crap dry weather running Ferrari. Still, Fernando wouldn't have made it that easy for him. Perez has been rumoured to be in the running to replace Massa if not this season then in 2013. One can easily see why.

Senna
Erm, did anyone else notice that he drove from last at the restart to finish a fine 6th?? Proof, finally, that the boy can drive!

Kimi
His comeback continues to go well with a fine 5th position. I must state though, that he didn't seem that impressed with anything in his interview after the race!

Schumi
Is anyone else almost excited by Schumi's pace this year? He out-qualified Nico by getting third on the grid to Nico's eighth. He looked rather quick too until he got nerfed by Roman.

Roman Grosjean
Qualifies well then punts people off. His racecraft is severely lacking, which given he won GP2 last year, shouldn't really be the case. Has he been found out? Well, dare I say it, my co-blogger and I pointed out that the only thing he was famous for was replacing Piquet Junior and being shite that year.

Vettel Vs Webber
We all pondered what Vettel would be like if things didn't go his way. I refer you to his post race interview when his usually grinning face didn't appear at all, perhaps just a glimmer as he exited the interview. He reminded me a bit of Hamilton, stroppy schoolboy, toys out of the pram etc etc. Calling people idiots etc. Ok, we accept that the HRT was being lapped and should have got out the way....but Seb, you pulled an identical move to the one you made on Mark in Turkey 2010 and that was all your fault...."I'll just move over and pretend you aren't there"...

Speaking of Mark, a pretty good performance from Aussie Grit again. He seems to be more on top of things than Seb at the moment (ie not having the best car for once), as the title standings show us. More than anything, I bet that is eating Seb up inside.

JB vs Lewis
Apologies to my co-blogger, but regarding his last blog about the Aussie GP where he said in brackets it was pretty unlucky/unfair what happened to Lewis being jumped by Seb with the safety car. So what? Bad luck happens in F1. Need I remind you of the whole incident in Valencia 2010 where luck dictated that Lewis stayed second where Fernando dropped to ninth because of Lewis overtaking the safety car? Good luck, bad luck.

I'm getting pretty tired of people saying Lewis seems calm, more focussed, it's a new him after last year etc. So what? I still think Button will emerge from this inter-team battle in front this year. When he is on it, Lewis is clearly faster. But, he isn't on it as much as he should be really, and Button is a far more complete F1 driver. I was reading a blog on the BBC earlier and someone wrote about how if Button punts someone it's a one off, but if Lewis does it everyone says "not again"...well, just look at 2011 for Lewis!

JB can scrap the Malaysia weekend...nerfing into the HRT....ooppss. Still, after all that he is only 5 points behind Lewis in the title chase.

Two poles and two thirds for Lewis. To his credit, he does look like he has his eyes on the long term prize....ie, two thirds isnt the end of the world, it's not that bad at all really.

Fernando Alonso
You knew I'd save the best for last. The Ferrari has no right at all winning a GP. In dry conditions it's probably the 5th best car, perhaps even 6th??! It seemed to suddenly come alive in the wet in the hands of Alonso. He was doing fastest lap after fastest lap to push out a margin between himself and Perez - DC couldn't believe what he was seeing. Compare all this to Massa's race and you would have to say that Massa's days are surely numbered - even though everyone at the team backed him before the race.

Utterly relentless.

That's 28 wins now and moves him ahead of Sir Jackie Stewart in the all time winners list. As Andrew Benson stated in his BBC blog, that race and that win was certainly befitting of the occasion.

If Alonso can pick up points like this whilst the Ferrari is...difficult...one can only imagine what he will do once they start to hopefully improve the car.

Reasons to be cheerful

Phil: Anyone would think Lewis Hamilton had been sucking on a lemon for most of Sunday's Australian grand prix, to judge by his post-race demeanour. Having cocked up the start, allowing his teammate Jenson Button into a lead he never looked likely to lose, he (perhaps slightly unfairly, it has to be said) lost second place to reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel when the safety car came out. And the big picture is that he must know he once again has a car capable of winning the world championship, but that the only other man with the same car, his teammate, is already 10 points ahead.

So, just for Lewis, and with a nod to Ian Dury who went to the same school as us (yes, really!) here are some things we learned on Sunday which if he were to reflect on them for a moment might incline him not to be such a miserable sod.

1. Red Bull's domination is broken. By mid-season we may be cursing McLaren's domination, but a change in F1's prevailing wind is always refreshing to begin with. Particularly if you happen to be driving the new fastest car on the grid.
2. The midfield is closer than usual. Perez made it to 8th from 22nd on the grid. Raikkonen must have had a damn good shit before the race because he made it to 7th from 18th. A healthy number of retirements (9 out of 22 starters) kept it interesting and even without the last corner shenanigans I was struggling to keep up with who was running where.
3. Williams seem genuinely competitive. Probably both Maldonado and Senna ought to have scored points, and would have done had they avoided midfield shunts.
4. We don't need Sky after all. Apart from cutting a few laps behind the safety car, I genuinely forgot this was an extended highlights show, rather than every lap in full. This will admittedly be of limited interest to Lewis. But best of all...
5. There's another one this weekend.

Grand prix legends

Phil: I feel I ought to alert to my co-blogger to a few feature the BBC are adding to this year's F1 coverage. They may not have all the races live, they may not have Martin Brundle, but they do have a rundown of the top 20 greatest F1 drivers ever, according to their team of pundits.

They'll be announcing one each race (assuming there are 20 races this year), in reverse order. No 20 is Jochen Rindt. They've revealed that, intriguingly, four of the current crop are on the list, which begs the question - which four? Schumacher, Vettel, Alonso and Hamilton would be my guess. Others may of course disagree.....

It's this weekend. Can you believe it?

The 1973 German Grand Prix

Fourteen laps of the old Nurburgring, each of them fourteen miles long. Each lap led, from pole, by Jackie Stewart, who also won the race.

The last time a grand prix started without a single Italian driver on the grid - until this season, with both Trulli and Liuzzi having lost their race seats.

In the late 80s it seemed like half the grid was Italian - Alboreto, Capelli, de Cesaris, Larini, Martini, Modena.

The back half, of course.

So close you can almost smell it...

"In two weeks we know. There is no point to guess here. I don't know who's going to be fastest. Nobody knows."

The wise words of Kimi Raikkonen, taking time out from having a shit, to give the world's media an insight, and also to manage expectations of his own performance after two years out.

What we do know, at last, is who's driving for who.

Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes and Sauber have the same blokes as last time.

Lotus, who were Renault last year, have a new line up in Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean. Raikkonen returns after two years under-achieving in the WRC for more of the same in F1. Grosjean is another F1 returnee but differs from his teammate in actually having won something while he was away, the 2011 GP2 championship.

Force India retain di Resta and promote test driver Nico Hulkenberg, who let's remember started his last race, Abu Dhabi 2010, on pole, to a race seat. Former no 1 driver Adrian Sutil is, as we've said, the new Bertrand Gachot, and finds himself without a race seat.

Toro Rosso have an entirely new line up, with Sebastien Buemi testing for Red Bull and Jaime Alguersuari commentating for Radio 5 Live (!). They've been replaced by Daniel Ricciardo who impressed last year with half a season at Hispania (to the extent that it's possible to impress in a Hispania, ie by not finishing last) and Jean-Eric Vergne. Toro Rosso seems to have been set up to find the new Sebastian Vettel, and they must have decided that neither Buemi nor Alguersuari was going to be it.

Williams, lurking down near the bottom like something Kimi might have left in the gents, have retained Maldonado. Rubens Barrichello, however, starts a new career in Indy after 18 years and more races than any other driver in history - a clear candidate for our new slot on great drivers of the past, I think. His replacement is almost more noteworthy - for the first time since that fateful day at Imola, we have a Senna in a blue and white Williams.

Amongst the new teams, who really must stop being 'new' and start scoring some points, Vitaly Petrov has been a last minute replacement for Jarno Trulli, alongside Heikki Kovalainen at Caterham (formerly Lotus). Marussia, who aren't Virgin any more, keep Timo Glock alongside new guy Charles Pic.

Hispania have got Narain Karthikeyan back after Ricciardo got a better offer from Toro Rosso, and the long list of returning F1 drivers is completed by Pedro de la Rosa, making what must be his fourth or fifth comeback after having replaced Sergio Perez at Sauber for the race after his shunt at Monaco.

As has been said elsewhere, all six world champions of the 21st century will be on the grid. Kimi and Schumi will be sharing a grid for the first time since that legendary incident at Brazil 2006.

Excited is not the word.

Testing report

Justin: I expect my co-blogger (and indeed our readers, if we have any) to cast his eye over my previous detailed, fun blogs.

Anyway...testing.....Lotus have topped 3 of the 4 testing timesheets from Barcelona..I think. Kimi looks fast and committed. Andrew Benson..or was it Gary Anderson sat watching the cars through a particular turn at Circuit de Catalunya (a circuit which requires pure aero as a must) and said the Red Bull and Mclaren behaved well and looked fast, but the Ferarri looked good for a few laps then started behaving erratically with understeer, oversteer etc etc...

As far as I can see from testing it's as you were last year...Red Bull and Mclaren, Mercedes pushing to be nearer them....Lotus looking good....nobody knows about Ferarri at all...it looks fast but very unpredictable. The rest of the field has bunched up somewhat...Williams, Force India etc...the field is closing together by the looks of it.

As Webber said, lets go racing!

F1 funnies on youtube!

Justin: Fantastic! Fernando pisses himself all the way through the handbags!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfRVctse_KQ&feature=related

Heehehehehehehehehehehe - ok he probably isnt flirting, but it's fucking amusing with the subtitles or without! Go Schumi!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je4O1fXMiFw

Montoya cracking a joke....oh dear!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiNlGAHaJn4

I don't like him as a driver, but Seb has a fun sense of humour at least:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_bs1CMh_uI

DC baby.....DC!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LSGOoCXjIw&feature=related

F1 Hero Series: Mika Hakkinen

Justin: Thought I'd fill in some time until the first race of the season by starting an F1 Hero/ legend list, in no particular order. These are the drivers I have supported, watched, admired etc over the years.

First up - Double world champion Mika Hakkinen - The Flying Finn!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0h9JPH7hbFc

If you are going to be remembered for one bit of driving, it may as well be the best overtake in history! This move on Schumi came at the height of their 3 year battle(s) for the title in 2000.

My co-blogger and I were talking about Spa the other day, so I thought it was a good place to start with the F1 Hero Series.

Back in the mid-nineties I supported anyone who rose up against Schumi frankly. Mika was faster than the most successful F1 driver in history for two years in 98 and 99 and nearly beat him to a third title in 2000, narrowly missing out in a classic showdown in Japan.

A lot of people say that Mika, along with Alonso, deserves the most credit for their double world championships as they were both well in the Schumi dominated era.

Let us not forget that Mika is the guy who out qualified Senna on his Mclaren debut, and Senna didnt like it or forget it.

Of course there was the near life ending crash in Australia in 1995, that brought him and Ron Dennis a lot closer, which in turn contributed to Coulthard feeling second best during his stint alongside Mika. Takes balls to come back from a fractured skull.

20 GP wins, 2 world titles and a reputation as a very fast driver, especially over a single lap - Mika is truly one of the greats. Later in his career he sort of developed his on screen persona a bit, from the mildly dull early Mika - I think he just started relaxing, starting to call Michael "The Michael" hehe.

Mika also gave us a classic, emotional F1 moment when he crashed out whilst leading in Monza and had a few moments crying on his knees in the trees. To come back and win the title after that takes guts.

Its safe to say that in 2001 he started losing motivation. His car stalled on the grid and for the first time he found himself afraid - after that he was never really consistently the same driver, showing only flashes of the utter speed and brilliance by winning 2 GP's that year.

He went on a break in 2002, never to return. He wanted to come back in 2007, but when he tested the desire may have been there but he was 3 seconds off the pace of others, so it was definately a no go.

I'm quite glad he didnt return really, as he left the sport on top and with grace and class.

So, Mika Hakkinen - I salute you as a true F1 hero!

Some classic Mika moments!

Water fight with Irvine - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtlNxwu43g8

Ah Mika, we love you mate! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aK3Eaoda9v8&feature=related

Classic! - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7Ylp-wDpWE&feature=related

Erm...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSMQM4ASGRg

That makes this the second blog of 2012 then..

Justin: Just 39 days until Free Practice 1 in Australia! I can barely wait...for the race highlights... on BBC 1 on the Sunday afternoon.

Some of the new cars have been launched - The McLaren looks rather nice, tidy, tight - it certainly looks like it should be fast. The Ferarri looks like a damn beast, almost like some sort of designers monster frankly....looks, more chunky....we will of course know nothing until the first tests next week. Ferarri are said to have taken a very aggressive approach, even re-introducing a front pull rod suspension, which was last used in f1 ten years ago!

Not too much other news to report really. Bruno Senna got the Williams drive, which I personally think is excellent. Lets see what he can do given a whole season in a car that isn't (as) shit (as an HRT).

Looking at the latest reports, I don't think poor Kubica will be back at all. Though, it's amusing to see Kimi say he'd perhaps like to juggle a rallying career alongside F1 in future - does he realise who his employers are?!

Naughty Adrian Sutil was found guilty of...assault...was it (?) and handed an 18 month suspended sentence. Oooppsss!

I bought another F1 book to get me through the wait til the first race - one which my co-blogger will be interested in. It's called "The Limit" and is the story of Von Trips and Phil Hill and their infamous race at Monza in 1961.

First blog of 2012

Phil: My co-blogger has left me the honour of naming our driver of the year. As he suggested a dramatic podium-style top three countdown, I'd have to say my top three drivers of the year would be Vettel, Vettel and Vettel, with Jenson narrowly missing out on a podium position.

The cynics would probably say this has more to do with Adrian Newey's design genius, and that Vettel is merely a good driver in an outstanding car. The way I look at it is this. The first man you need to beat in F1 is your teammate - the only man against whom you're really competing on a level playing field. By any measure, Vettel thrashed Mark Webber, taking 15 poles and 11 wins to Mark's 3 poles and 1 win. We both agree that Mark is a world class driver, but Vettel had that edge - the pace to find another couple of tenths when it mattered in qualifying, the maturity to pull out a lead in the first few laps and then command the rest of the race from a position of strength, and perhaps most of all the confidence that comes with being world champion.

Even if he retired tomorrow, Vettel's already done enough in my view to put among the all time greats. Maybe not a Senna or a Schumacher, not yet, but certainly a Hakkinen or an Alonso.

Andrew Benson's blog at the BBC F1 site weighs up Vettel's talent in more depth, and includes this photo which in some ways sums up the 2011 season for me. Actually, I'd have moved Hamilton further back, probably colliding with Massa, and Heidfeld out of the frame completely, but otherwise fairly accurate.

Where was it taken? The first corner, of the first lap, of the first race.