Senna, Schumacher and Vettel

Phil: As usual an excellent summary of the last race from my co-blogger, although a detailed account would take more space than we can spare. So much was happening each lap at Istanbul that even a seasoned commentator like Martin Brundle could barely keep up, and commented at one point I believe how the leader pitting doesn't even merit air time, there's so much else happening on the track.

One thing is beyond doubt, though, as my co-blogger admirably explained: Vettel is in a class of his own. I half expected he might be: he certainly had the pace last season but lacked the maturity, as his collision with Webber at Istanbul a year ago showed. A year on, however, and the confidence that being reigning world champion gives, he is in a different class. I confidently expect him to be the first driver in five years to successfully defend his world title.

The funny thing is, last year we had an enthralling, season-long battle for the title that we couldn't really call until about half way through the last race, but of the races themselves, none of them really stick in the mind. This year, although the championship will probably have been wrapped up by Hungary, you can't look away from the races for a minute.

I've said before that I don't really know why Schumi came out of retirement, and still think he'll regret it in the long run. There are two reasons why he probably un-retired: firstly, because he thought he could be genuinely competitive again, and secondly, because he simply enjoys driving a F1 car. I don't think anyone seriously expects him to win a race again, let along a championship, and as he said after Turkey: the joy isn't there. It's hardly surprising. This is a driver who broke all the records, who barring a few years in the late 1990s when he was building Ferrari into the force it is today was accustomed to being virtually unchallenged and unchallengeable. Why would he now enjoy not winning, and being outraced by men half his age? Johnny Herbert, his team mate at Benetton in 1995, thinks he'll retire permanently at the end of this season, and I think he may be right.

Speaking of great F1 drivers of the past, there's a great interview with the man some call the Gavin Winston of F1 in the Guardian (which may even be linked to this blog, or maybe not). Newey, who designed the car in which Ayrton Senna was killed, talks about how his death affected him and how he won't be watching the new film about Senna.

Finally, I think my co-blogger will agree that the only date that needs to be in anyone's diary in the next few weeks is the I Was Having a Blog live event of the year at Monaco. Well, actually in High Wycombe, which is like Monaco. Well, they're both hilly...anyway I digress.

Not much to say

Phil: I didn't watch quali as we can't get digital TV at home, and neither have we yet been connected to the internet (for technical reasons - let's just say Virgin are even slower than their cars would lead you to believe) so I'm currently blogging in a private corner in the library, behind the Mills and Boon naff romantic novels. So I have only just learned that it's an all Red Bull front row with Vettel on pole, but I can't say I'm surprised. In my view Vettel is showing far and away the most potential of any driver in the field, thus far this season. The question on everyone's lips is whether Adrian Newey's car can prove as consistently reliable as it is consistently fast. Speaking of the car, not only does Vettel use the word 'baby' too much, he also gives his cars retro soft porn names: this year's apparently is 'Luscious Liz'.

Further down the grid, Rosberg in fourth has once again outqualified his illustrious teammate. When Schumacher says that his comeback is going according to plan, it really rather depends what the plan is. If it's to drive some more grands prix and have a nice time, then he's probably right. Kimi Raikkonen would probably say his debut WRC season is also going to plan, although I've no idea how he is actually getting on (there are, however, certainly more opportunities for unscheduled comfort breaks in rallying). But back to Schumi. If, as he also contends, he is still in the running for the title, being tenth in the world championship standings and ninth on the grid in China, then I for one would dispute that. His comeback is still going better than Nigel Mansell's, who had a tenth and a DNF after the third race in 1995 (Schumi has a sixth, a tenth and a DNF), but that's hardly a benchmark. I would also agree with my co-blogger that the Mercedes isn't a championship-winning car - it's certainly no better than the fourth best car on the grid.

If anyone's bothered, a visit to Wikipedia reveals that Raikkonen was eighth in the Jordan Rally two weeks ago, which gives him four points in the drivers' championship. The WRC looks every bit as predictable as F1 was in Schumi's heyday, with Sébastien Loeb still thrashing the pants off everyone.

It could be a year for champions called Sebastian. And for Luscious Liz.