Kimi - A one stop strategy before the race ;-)

Justin:

Starting from where we left off in 2012 seems to be the main theme for Round 1 in Australia.

The three men on the podium were the top three in the title race last year and I would possibly put Kimi alongside Seb and Fernando in terms of real title contenders for 2013.

Of course, it's just one race and it's a quite particular street circuit in Albert Park. Malaysia has a lot of rather different characteristics as a track with fast, sweeping corners which may mean we'll see other cars coming to the front.

By way of a two stop strategy, and a one stop strategy before the race.... Kimi beat Fernando by over ten seconds in the end, with Vettel a further ten seconds down the road in third.

There was some great racing, nail biting stuff in the early stages with Vettel being hustled by the two very quick Ferrari's.

Mclaren are absolutely nowhere and Lewis must be loving his move to Mercedes, where he finished a solid if unspectacular fifth.

Sergio Perez's debut in his new team was frankly not good enough. Ok, its a difficult car, with JB struggling to ninth. But as we all know in F1 you must beat your team-mate first and foremost. I almost forgot Perez was in the race at all to be perfectly honest.

Mark Webber had a rubbish start yet again, from second on the grid. We learned later that he had an electronics fault AND no kers...does this guy get any good luck at all, ever?! Great recovery drive to sixth.

Adrian Sutil should get a mention - he led the race after a year out and didnt look out of place amongst the front runners at all. He faded due to differing strategies, but still finished a well earned seventh.

Good to see Massa is still keeping Alonso very honest, as he did in the last handful of races last year.

Alonso said the pace of the Lotus was a worry. Keeping things in perspective though, Ferrari have turned up with a very fast car. This time last year theirs was an absolute dog.

It seems Mclaren has brought the ugly duckling along this year.

Pecking order looks like Ferrari and Red Bull (RB may have better one lap pace but they seem to ruin their tyres in the race), Lotus then a small gap to Mercedes. Mclaren have fallen back and need to sort themselves out quickly.

To Malaysia in one week!

This isn't the Kimi we know - he usually drinks all the booze :-)

Belgium

Justin: I predicted before the race that, wet or dry, it would be a fantastic race. I theorised that if dry then the Ferrari of Alonso would pile forward as they are amongst the very fastest cars in warmer weather. Also, see Button in a much faster car a long way back! If wet, chaos would reign supreme.

What a race it was eh!!

Highlights for me and all F1 fans had to be the absolutely balls out overtake by Webber on Alonso side by side going into, and through, Eau Rouge. It was just insane. As Brundle pointed out, both are expert racers, but even Alonso had to yield on that one as Webber just said "I'm having this!"

Another highlight had to be Schumi coming through the field from last to claim a fantastic 5th on his 20th anniversary. It had looked like the wheel(s) came off his celebrations in quali yesterday, but he drove a fantastic race and even had a late squabble with Nico. The radio announcement to Nico was rather amusing "Ok Nico you are free to race but just be careful with each other". DC then interpreted that as "Michael's coming to get you!" Alas it wasn't much of a fight as Nico was on the harder rubber so Michael had more speed and grip on the soft tyres.

My co-blogger and I were texting throughout and even until very late on we couldnt predict a winner in this race at all. It was mighty interesting as different strategies played out....would Red Bull need one more stop than the rest, just when would Ferrari pit Alonso to change his first set of softs etc etc? In fact, the last I knew, both my colleague and I predicted either JB or FA for the win. Everyone looked strong at different stages and everyone from Vettel to Webber, Alonso to Button looked ripe for a win at some point. Even Lewis looked pretty handy until he shunted Koboyashi. From how it looked, I'd say he just thought he'd passed him when in fact the Sauber had pulled back alongside him and he just didnt look as he moved across to take the line into the corner. Ooopsss.

It has to be said that JB's drive was another mega highlight for me. How many overtakes did he do? Hasn't he done the most in F1 this year now? And people said he was boring compared to Lewis! At one point Jenson pulled a frankly stupendous move at the outside of La Source on a Force India and...Sabuer wasn't it??

From the start Webber got bogged down yet again and went backwards immediately.

It should be noted at this point that Red Bull tried to get a new set of tyres in use for the race, particularly for Vettel's car, as the quali set had blistered badly. It was found that it was the Red Bull car itself, the way it was setup, that had done a lot of the damage.

It was quite amusing seeing Vettel so...animated, talking to the tyre chief from Pirelli on the grid (snigger).

Anyway...from the start...

Rosberg got a flyer and drobe superbly, having to defend very well from Vettel and co.

As is usually the case there was chaos at La Source as people bumped into one another. Someone nerfed Alonso and he had to compensate by driving very wide at the exit. Button got nerfed from behind and a bit of rear wing broke off.

Hamilton also went quickly backwards as the Ferrari's swarmed all over him. At one point, when Alonso took Massa, Lewis also nabbed back 4th(?) from Massa. The Ferrari's, it has to be said, had a magnificent speed through Eau Rouge and you could visibly see how much faster they were than most others through there.

Vettel and Webber pitted quite early on. This left Webber in midfield, but on the harder rubber, which would benefit him later on.

During the safety car period, Vettel pitted whilst Alonso opted to stay out, hoping Vettel's tyre issues would continue. Webber had radio issues and didnt come in during the safety car period.

As it all settled down towards the end it was Vettel, Alonso, Webber, Button. Webber and Button quickly caught and passed Alonso as the Ferrari just doesnt perform well with harder rubber. For some reason, they struggle to get them up to temperature.

So, win number 7 for Vettel. It was amusing reading reports that because Hamilton crashed they say he is now out of the title race. Isn't everyone?!

Webber is the nearest challenger and he is 93 points behind Seb. As my mathmatically gifted colleague pointed out, he only need finish 4th in each race from now on to retain the title.

Onto Monza we go in 2 weeks!

(check out Martin Brundle's column here where he praises Webber somewhat for his overtake on Fernando, and too right frankly)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/formula_one/14711653.stm

Two week gap - Now its the Canadian GP baby!

Justin: Hello to one and all, well hello to our known two readers anyway! The fallout from Turkey has rumbled on and on over the last two weeks, and it looks set to continue going into the Canadian GP.

There is literally bucket loads to discuss and analyse! Love it!

A nod to my absent co-blogger this weekend -he is moving house and blogging duties are all down to yours truly. He might add something during the week, so be sure to check us out at the end of the week. I myself will struggle to watch the race this weekend as I'm off to a gig in London on Sunday night, but like the true professional that I clearly am I aim to watch the highlights on BBC at 12:15am that same night.

Down to business...where the hell to begin??

Interesting piece in The Guardian today about Ferarri and how they have fallen behind in the development race. I also find it VERY interesting that they have opted to sign Massa for another two years, especially given that people like Kubica are out there on the market. Anyway, Stefano was asked about the car and how they seem to not be able to develop it as quickly and all, he stated that "Fernando is still in the title hunt, he is fighting, wants to fight, always does his best". No mention of Massa at all. Interesting. Course, I may have taken that slightly out of context as it was put to Stefano just before that that Alonso was the pre-season title favourite and yet he lies a fading fourth with Massa seventh. Still, even with that, there was no "and Felipe is doing his best too"......As someone said to me the other day, Ferarri do that sometimes...they sign someone up then buy them out of their contract a year later....Kimi...where are you mate??

I don't know if anyone reads the BBC blogs by people like Andrew Benson, Ted Kravitz etc? Those guys have done excellent jobs investigating and theorising as to what the hell went on at Red Bull during and after the Turkish GP. It's pretty clear from looking at all this that Vettel and Webber have descended into a somewhat frosty co-habitation. Red Bull have signed Webber for 2011 so they will have to find some way to get along. Do they still share information? Once that stops, all bets are off!

I am waiting the quaili coverage today as I saw on the BBC website that Vettel was interviewed and asked if he and Webber would be watching Australia vs Germany together! haha...I am gagging to see his reply there!!

Thing is, I wouldnt bet against them doing exactly the same thing on the track this weekend...as lets face it, both guys have said they wouldnt do anything differently at all. This is starting to remind me a bit of Lewis vs Fernando in 2007 when Maclaren had the best car and in fighting stopped either guy getting the title.

Taking me onto Maclaren....Interesting that Hamilton's engineer was asked by Hamilton "if I am saving fuel, will Jenson overtake me?".....the engineer replied "no lewis, no". Whitmarsh later claimed that Hamilton's engineer had given lewis incorrect information. Perhaps he took fuel saving to mean they were both to stay where they were.

Unlike Red Bull covering things up, blaming everyone, nobody then changing their story again, Maclaren's story seems perfectly reasonable...that it was just misinformation and miscommunication. Button later explained that he had a set lap time to aim for and Lewis was two seconds slower on the lap before which is why he caught up so dramatically.

Still, those guys seem to be able to manage their relationship pretty well at the moment. Button is just incredibly laid back that it's almost untrue. Then again you could say the same for Webber, and look where that got him, a team-mate in his sidepod!

Practice One was dominated by Maclaren, with a certain Schumi third...was he third? I think he was...anyway, the Ferarri's are lurking ready to pounce I hope...well I say Ferarri's...theres only one of them I actually care for!

Practice Two saw Vettel rise to the top of the standings - git! Oh incidentally, Nick Heidfeld was interviewed off the record by one of the BBC guys and he said of everyone he had spoken to in the paddock....EVERYONE was of the opinion that Vettel was 100% at fault for the Red Bull crash. Clearly he doesnt speak to anyone at Red Bull then :-).

I'm just reading the BBC F1 gossip column and apparently Michael Shumacher would love to see Jacques back in F1 next year so they can renew their rivalry. Villeneuve is apparently still pushing ahead trying to get a seat after this years failed Stefan GP venture.

Button and Hamilton are planning to watch the England match during and after their quali debrief - at least they cannot fall out over it. One wonders if Vettel and Webber's relationship will deteriorate further due to the footy today!

One last thing, I'm glad to see the Canadian GP back on the F1 circuit. Having been there and walked around every corner and inch of the track I can safely say its one of my fave's and Montreal is a beautiful city. The track of course is named after one of the most naturally gifted drivers in the history of F1 - next season could see the return of his son. As my co-blogger knows, I will be rather excited at this prospect.

PS - Schumi is now apparently "concentrating on preparing for the 2011 season"....on all evidence thus far should we presume that this primarily involves making his sofa very comfortable and stocking up his beer fridge for race weekends?!

Vettel cocked up big style

Phil: I think that's a fair summary of the afternoon's racing.

A few years ago there was a running joke in my family (at least I think it was a joke) where every birthday my Mum would send me the birthday card with Mauricio Gugelmin airborne at Monaco after a first corner shunt, and the incredibly funny thought bubble, 'Mirror, signal, manoeuvre...oh bugger!', pretending that she'd forgotten she's given me the same card the year before. A roundabout anecdote, I know, and not a terribly interesting one, but Vettel probably had one of those moments. He's rumoured to talk to himself inside his helmet, so the conversation probably went something like this: 'pass Mark up the inside, turn in nice and early for the corner, hold on, wasn't I overtaking someone? Oh cock.....' Maybe that explains the international slightly loopy hand gesture he was doing as he walked off across the gravel trap. The alternative is that he deliberately sabotaged his teammate's race, which is really too sinister to contemplate. Either way, Lewis and Jenson gave us an object lesson in how world class drivers overtake their teammates, and Vettel showed us how things are done in....Formula 3, or something.

What happened to the Ferraris this weekend? I was expecting Alonso to come scything through the field after his disappointing twelfth place on the grid, but he didn't. In fact, he only managed eighth, and even that after Vettel disgraced himself and Alonso managed to shunt Petrov off while passing him.

Skiver of the day normally goes to someone who's showered and changed before the chequered flag falls, and today is no exception (see above).

Turkey Quali

Justin: Well, I know as a professional blogger I am supposed to show little or no bias...but I was devastated when Alonso went out and didnt make the final qualifying round. I barely watched the top ten shootout. The Ferarri clearly isnt as quick this weekend as Massa was barely 8th. What usually happens is though that Massa is around 6th or so and Alonso is top 3 or 4 (when he isnt pranging the barrier of course). This time it was a case of driver error....but the two red cars didnt look too pacey anyway to be honest. In his interview Alonso said he was pushing to the limit, hence his error. Eddie Jordan spoke some sense finally when he said "the key is Alonso was pushing the car over its limit and the car just isnt good enough to compete".

Anyway, onto other matters. Schumi out does Nico yet again. Damn that man and his ability to get a team working for him alone! Lewis and Jenson did well to be up there with Red Bull.

The fantastically telling thing for me was in the top 3 press conference. Webber was reminded of some sort of issue Red Bull had with orders for leaving the pits (or something like that)...maybe it was pit stop order in final quali....anyway he looked vaguely awkward and answered the question saying "yeah, dunno what happened there, as this weekend it was my turn to go second".....thus Vettel would have had some small advantage given to him by pitting first.

Here is the key....those of you who were watching closely should have seen Vettel look rather disgusted and roll his eyes up to the sky at this point. Could be a few shennanigans in the Red Bull team me thinks soon enough. Vettel, whatever his problems with chasis, brakes..whatever...he just isnt happy in the car or out of it at the moment, as lets be honest...Webber is trashing him good and proper. 3 poles in a row and it could be 3 wins in a row tomorrow. Fair Dinkum Sport! :-)

PS - Martin Brundle described Alonso as a miserable little so and so in interviews...ouchie! I guess we will see what he means tomorrow. I am looking forward to Webber meeting EJ at his Bucks home.