2015...so far, so average..?

Justin:

At the start of the year I tipped Rosberg to come back stronger this year and push Hamilton even closer for the world title.

At this point in time, I cannot see anyone other than Hamilton winning the world title.

He steamrollered Rosberg in Australia and is threatening the same again this weekend in Malaysia. He is on a roll of 7 wins in the last 8 GP's.

Rosberg needed a strong weekend this weekend, but no matter what he does or how strong he is, Hamilton has an answer.

Lewis didn't get as much prep time during the free practice sessions, but still stuck it on pole. Job done.

Nico will have to use everything at his disposal to try and put Lewis off his game. It's a different dynamic to last year, in that Lewis has the confidence of a world champion and with Nico giving soundbites such as "yeah, he is driving like a champion" - fighting talk that is not.

Having said that, there was a brief bit of petty handbags again as Nico disrupted Lewis' final pole run, then Lewis got in Nico's way a bit. Whether either was deliberate, who knows, but they were both piddling around for clear track position to get a clean lap.

McLaren

Interesting looking at the pictures on BBC when Alonso hopped out of his car, Ron Dennis turned around as if to address him and Alonso walked off. Whether he knew he was there is another matter.

There is still loads of speculation about Alonso's testing crash. McLaren say there was nothing wrong with the car at all. He stated this weekend that he felt the steering go heavy. Everyone else has written about this, I'll leave it to you to decide whether you want to let this rest or not.

I'm not exactly looking forward to watching two world champions piddle around fighting to see who finishes next to last (assuming the Marussia's conk out).

Red Bull and Renault

Who knows what the future holds for these two? Rumours abount that Renault want to purchase Toro Rosso and have it as a works team. What definately seems to be the case, is that this is a marriage of convenience right now.

Ferrari

Ok, you would have to say Vettel seems to have made the right move. Red Bull have gone backwards and Ferrari have gone forwards.

I still say he ran away from Red Bull. He admitted in an interview today in fact "there were a couple of things on the other side" - alluding to him not being too happy at being beaten soundly by Ricciardo. But, heyho, Ferrari now seem to be the closest challenger to Mercedes.

With Rosberg seemingly in Hamilton's pocket for the time being, Ferrari entering the fray is the only hope we have of a good season.

Driver of the day in Australia had to be Felipe Nasr. Awesome stuff!

Is F1 in good health?

My co-blogger and I were talking about this the other day. I'm not sure F1 is in great health right now. 15 cars started the race in Oz. Not great. McLaren are floundering at the back, Bernie is having a pop at "disgraceful Marussia", no German GP...

Bernie goes where the money is - ie the money paid by whomever to stage a race. He doesnt go where paying fans are. The stands and viewing areas were pretty empty in Malaysia FP. OK, possibly a naff example as it's one of the more popular newer races and is generally well attended for qualy and the race.

The old one of Monza again being under threat has come round again. Talk about ripping the heart out of F1. Spa, Silverstone, Suzuka, Monza, Monaco...these are the essence of F1 and must stay.

That said, I'm not sure about the special "bargain" price of £99 GA for a weekend at Silverstone. Most European races are cheaper. It cost me £82 for a 3 day grandstand seat in Hungary!

The reverse is that you have a lot of interesting teammate battles this year - Kimi Vs Seb, Alonso Vs JB....Ricciardo seems to have the measure of Kvyat for now. Nico needs to come back and sort Lewis. This season is shaping up like last season without the Mercedes battle - not good!

Predictions for Malaysia? As they line up on the grid - Lewis, Seb, Nico.

F1 2014 - Final blog of the year

Justin:

Well, the "title showdown" turned out to be a damp squib in terms of Rosberg and Hamilton going at it to the death.

The race itself was pretty dull, as most in Abu Dhabi are. The title was decided at the start when Lewis made an amazing start and Rosberg bogged down.

Rosberg was very gracious in defeat and wounds seemed to have healed for now between the two men.

Nico himself said that he didn't want people to talk about his ERS failure, as it wouldn't have made a difference anyway as Lewis was leading and going well at the time.

Spa - The turning point

The drivers championship was won and lost in Spa, rather after Spa. However much Lewis said he came out ready for war after this, one could easily say that Nico lost his mental edge in the fallout.

His team completely blamed him for what in my mind was a mere racing incident. They fined him and told him off rather publicly. Add to that the fans opening and happily booing him. It clearly affected him. His races were littered with errors after Spa.

By the time he'd pulled himself together again with an absolutely sterling race weekend in Brazil, it was all probably to little too late to stop the Hamilton Juggernaut.

Both guys will come back stronger next year, but I expect Nico to run Lewis even closer than 2014. You heard it hear first. Nico Rosberg - 2015 World Champion!

Driver of the year

I've already mentioned Bottas and Ricciardo as clear contenders. Obviously Hamilton is clear choice for the award, but maybe that's too easy given he won the title?

Lewis has shown a certain level of maturity in his driving and attitude outside the car this year.

Motorsport magazine actually had Alonso as their driver of the year, and that is hard to argue with. Ok, there were no headline grabbing wins and just one podium. The Ferrari he is driving this year is the worst car he has had in his 5 years there and yet he still drags performances out of it that his team-mate gets nowhere near to. It was the 4th, possibly even 5th fastest car at times this year. Ok, Kimi struggled with balancing the car all year, but Alonso absolutely destroyed Kimi 16-3 in terms of races done better in (the best out of all the teams). You'd say Massa kept Alonso on his toes more than Kimi.

1. Daniel Ricciardo
2. Bottas/ Hamilton
3. Alonso
4. Rosberg
5. Button

Damp Squib of the year

One word. Vettel.
Possibly one of the naffest title defences in history. Ok, you don't have the best car to win the title, but at least get a race win or two. No? Get trashed by your team-mate and run away? Ok then.

The true greats always adapt. Vettel has to go to Ferrari and blow Kimi away, that should be the first thing on his to do list.

Squabble of the year

Erm, any overtakes involving Ricciardo. That dude can race!!

Also, the Alonso vs Vettel duel at Silverstone. Epic! Even more epic were the verbals over the radio.



To 2015 we go. We hope to see JB still at McLaren alongside Alonso next season - that could be fun. Alonso...doing a deal with the devil that is Dennis again.....hmmmmmm.

I need to purchase some Alonso/ McLaren merchandise, whenever they get around to announcing it.

Enjoy the next 3 months with no F1 :-(. Time for an F1 book and the review of the year dvd.

A picture, as Fernando Alonso leaves Ferrari after 5 years, of one of the many memorable moments he had there.... a win in the wet in Malaysia in 2012 (pic from bbc I think).

If he reads this, I invite my esteemed co-blogger to reply.

Unquestionably....it's time to blog again...

Justin:

Sunday 5 October 2014:

A lot has happened since I last blogged in April.

I have to start with today in Japan. We were given a brutal reminder that, despite people saying F1 is too safe these days, it's still a very dangerous sport.

We await news of how Jules Bianchi is doing.

In a dark day for F1, it was announced that Andrea de Cesaris has sadly passed away aged 55.

I had a huge blog planned, reviewing the championship battle between the Mercedes duo, the driver market musical chairs kicking off with Vettel announcing he is to leave Red Bull, where Alonso could be headed, Nigel Mansell thinking everything is fantastic....

Sunday 12 October 2014: 

At the start of the year I tipped Rosberg for the title, and up until recently I still stood by my tip.

Now I am not as sure.

He could still do it. 17 points behind Lewis is not a huge gap. One DNF for Lewis and it all changes again. That said, the momentum is clearly with Lewis now. 4 wins on the spin and a frankly crushing victory in Russia today means he has 9 wins this season to 4 for Rosberg.

Whenever they go wheel to wheel, Rosberg seems to bottle it. He is super quick, as proved by him having more poles than Hamilton this year. He is a great racer, as proved by his many a drives this season, and indeed his recovery drive today from the back to second.

It just seems Lewis has the clear upper hand when they are both near each other on track. Rosberg lunged for the move today and didn't make it stick via locking his tyres and flat-spotting them. Race over in terms of going for the win. In Japan he soaked up the pressure from Lewis pretty well as Lewis stalked him for 30 laps before that ridiculous move around the outside of turn 1.

These two have given us drama, fighting, politics, ruthlessness, falling out and great racing all year. I hope it goes to the wire, but in many ways I very much hope that the stupid double points doesnt change the destiny of this years world drivers title.

Mercedes wrapped up their first ever constructors title today. When they were winning in the 50's, there was no constructors title to fight for.

Rosberg and Hamilton were united in seeming really pleased and happy for the team. Rosberg said he was extremely disappointed on one hand, for his mistake at the start, but happy for the team etc.

USA is next, a track where Lewis excels. I expect another Hamilton win there, with Rosberg second, taking the points gap to 25 with two to go.

Driver of the year?? 
It is a very close call between Ricciardo and Bottas. Bottas has 6 podiums this year now, 4 in a row now I believe? He looked close to the Mercedes duo in qualifying and had pole within his grasp.

But I think Ricciardo shades it for me. Simply outstanding all year. End of discussion. He has effectively dumped Vettel out of his own team, stripped him of his number one status and sent him running away to Ferrari.

Musical chairs
Vettel has announced he is to leave Red Bull, but not announced where he is off to. Christian Horner has been on record saying it's Ferrari who have offered Vettel a lot of money to go.

Everyone was expecting Alonso to announce something first, this triggering the merry-go-round, but Ferrari have blinked first by signing Vettel...but they have not announced it yet.

Rumour is that Alonso approached Mercedes a few months ago and Ferrari viewed this as him not being committed for the future. Fair enough really. However, Ferrari have said it will be at least 2 years before they get on top of the current shambles they are in. Alonso is 33 now and he is hungry for more world titles.

Has he backed himself into a corner? Perhaps. Mclaren Honda is his rumoured destination, but they themselves may not be winning straight away. It's a roll of the dice, but certainly you could argue he won't be any worse off than he is now a Ferrari really. 

Anything could happen in F1 though. Could Ferrari dump Kimi again and keep Alonso alongside Vettel?

This does not sit well with me....but another rumour is Alonso taking a year off with a view to a top drive in 2016. For someone like Alonso though, surely this is the last option to take, with F1 racing in his blood he is widely acknowledged as the best on the grid (after the 2012 season 9 out of 11 team bosses voted for him as the very best on the grid).

To Austin we go in 3 weeks!


 

Toxic Teammates

Justin:

Best friends, work colleagues etc etc, fall out. Some friendships recover, get over blips, some aren't meant to or simply don't. For one reason or another, lack of effort or caring, some friendships fade.

Add to all this the intense sporting environment of F1 and you would have to say true friendships are hard to find. That's not to say they do not exist, just rarely between two drivers on the same team.


I've picked three examples of when "teammates" were nothing of the sort, where the relationship soured and people fought the enemies within, but each example has some striking similarities with the next. Indeed, Piquet Vs Mansell at Williams in 1986 is similar in nature to that of Alonso Vs Hamilton at Mclaren in 2007. That of established double world champion coming in to a British team either expecting to be number 1, or promised they would be number 1. In the case of Williams fate intervened and in the case of Mclaren Ron Dennis sold Alonso a dream that didn't exist (read, there seemed to have been an almighty misunderstanding and general fuckup at the contract signing!).

The first example, Prost Vs Senna...what hasn't been said about it? This was simply the case of Senna thinking "who is the best driver?" and then setting out to move to the best team, alongside the best driver, to destroy him.

Prost Vs Senna

Prost himself remarked once that Senna wanted to not beat him, but humiliate him. That was Monaco in 1988 when Senna was told to slow down whilst 55 seconds in the lead ahead of Prost. He kept pushing and pushing, then crashed out. No doubt Prost saw Senna wanting to humiliate him as a weakness. Despite the odd barbed remark, things remained cordial enough for 88, with Senna taking the title in Japan.

1989 was the beginning of the end...the end of 89 was the end of the end.

Senna had begun moulding the team around him and even though Prost won the title, Senna had effectively driven Prost out of his home simply because he refused to work with someone like Senna ever again.

They crashed into each other in the 1989 finale in Japan, one blaming the other. Senna got his car moving again, via a steward bump start. Prost went immediately to the FIA office to lodge a formal complaint about Senna. Senna was DQ'd, for re-entering the track a few metres from where he left it.

Prost took the title whilst Dennis protested on Senna's behalf. Theres favouritism if ever you saw it. Dennis always claims to give equal treatment to drivers. OK, Prost was taking the number 1 to Ferrari for 1990, but still, Mclaren won the drivers and constructors titles and here he was defending Senna at the expense of Prost.

Senna's passion and intense drive came from his need to be the best, to prove himself against the best. To destroy the best.

For 1990 they weren't teammates, but they weren't friends at all. The rivalry carried on.

Another example of Prost's alienation from Dennis was Prost throwing his winning trophy at Monza in 89, when he'd just announced his move to Ferrari, to the Ferrari fans. Whoops! Again, Dennis helped aid the disintegration of relations no end.

All the way to another coming together in Japan for the title showdown. Senna later admitted to deliberately getting his own back for what happened in 1989. Senna was very passionate, driven by a sense of injustice, the system being against him. Prost was cool, calm and calculating.

They reconciled when Senna won his last race in Australia 1993 and Prost joined him in the podium. They were no longer rivals as Prost was retiring.

All I remember of their years at Mclaren was a completely poisonous relationship.

Opposites do not attract.

 

Mansell Vs Piquet

Piquet arrived at Williams in 1986 as a double world champion. Mansell was the guy who wasnt supposed to be fast, to be easily put in his place by Piquet. 

Piquet has stated previously that when he signed it was on the understanding he would be number 1. A month or so later the team was in a state of disarray after Frank Williams' accident.

With equal equipment and no team orders Mansell was inspired whilst Piquet was clearly rattled.

Through 1986 and 1987 the two had some titanic clashes on and off the track. Piquet always felt like the fighting outsider whilst Mansell was the fighting Brit, just fighting for everything.

Honda paid Piquet's salary and were non too impressed that through 1986 Williams never ordered Mansell to pull aside and let Piquet through. Piquet stated that had he been backed he would have won the title, rather than allowing in-team fighting. This is similar to Alonso and Hamilton.

The low point of this toxic teammate lineup included some rather nasty remarks from Piquet about Mansell's wife.

Alonso Vs Hamilton

Possibly the most toxic of the lot as everything went to pot within half a year of Alonso and Hamilton first teaming up at Mclaren.

Looking back now, it's easy to see that perhaps the issue wasn't between the drivers themselves, but more Alonso and Ron Dennis...therefore, Alonso Vs everyone at Mclaren. However, both drivers had plenty of anger towards each other at the time.

This year in F1 history was also set against the backdrop of "spygate", where some Mclaren team-members were found to have gotten their hands on Ferrari car data.

Has to be said, Alonso the antagonistic politics player came to the fore in 2007.

First signs of real trouble brewed in Monaco when Hamilton was annoyed about being told to hold station behind Alonso after the final pitstops. 

Unbeknown to Ron Dennis, Alonso had seen some of the Ferrari data, but would later refuse to take part in the spygate trial.

As the season progressed, relations between all parties soured as we all realised there had clearly been some huge misunderstanding between Alonso and Dennis when they signed contracts. Alonso believed he was to be given number one status to lead Mclaren's charge to his third world title. Nobody was really prepared for how quick Hamilton was to be, apart from maybe hamilton himself.

This was an epic clash of ego's. The proud, double world champion who would not regard Hamilton as anything other than a young, brash upstart who he'd firmly put in his place. As the year progressed Hamilton's ego came to the fore and he almost kind of forgot his place in the standings of F1 driver greats. It was a great rookie season for sure, but he was not standing shoulder to shoulder through history with the very best just yet - his strut and actions suggested he thought otherwise.

By Hungary came around things were strained. Hamilton ignored a team order to let Alonso past him in qualifying for a clear run. This had been agreed before the race. Yes, we don't usually hear this bit, the bit where Hamilton started off a chain of events, not Alonso.

As revenge, Alonso came into refuel in the final moments of qualy, was cleared to go, and just waited patiently in his pitbox. Hamilton was queuing behind and as a result of Alonso delaying him, he missed a final run. 

Dennis hauled Alonso's trainer off into the garage for a few harsh words.

Essentially, Mclaren was now tearing itself apart at the seams. For a man who always claims to be able to manage driver lineups and who is a huge control freak, Ron Dennis was getting a lot of things wrong as his house became a rampant mine of utter chaos.

Alonso got penalised for his actions and started with a grid penalty - not good for the team.

Allegedly Alonso also approached Dennis with regard to his knowledge of the Ferrari data. Alonso is then alleged to have told Dennis "give me number one status or I go to the FIA with this data". Dennis told him to go to the FIA as he hadnt  a clue such data existed.

Things continued to sour between all three, with both drivers antagonising on and off the track.

As DC put it a while ago, Alonso had been sold a dream by Dennis...what it was, what it was supposed to be, they cannot agree on.

Dennis also claims not to favour drivers.....lets ask Mika and DC shall we?! Alonso took it as they arent backing him so they must be backing Hamilton then.

Alonso drove bloody well given all the chaos around him, the team being against him etc etc.

In the end, the chaos at Mclaren gifted the title to Kimi as the two Mclaren guys paid too much attention to each other.

Alonso was right about one thing - if Mclaren would have backed him, he'd have won the title.

Alonso and Vettel at RB will never happen...too toxic a mix. I dont think Kimi being at RB will be any less toxic either frankly. Vettel will spit his dummy when he loses.

A link to a video of before it all went wrong - funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKU90BSHqHk

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 :-)

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

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!

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?!

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.

Looking towards the next race in China

Justin: Better late than never I guess. My Co-blogger left it to me to talk about Alonso's engine blowing at the end of the race in Sepang. What can I say? I was so traumatised I just could not face blogging about it. Talk about some fun racing though! Twice he overtook only for Button to re-pass him straight away. Nail biting stuff there!

It's too late in the day for me to go over what happened in Malaysia, particularly as my co-blogger did such a splendid job.

Looking towards China, forget the title race for a moment. I'd say the person with perhaps the most riding on this one is none other than Shumi himself.

Interestingly he came on record recently saying he was happy with his comeback thus far.

This article from The Observer comments about his comeback thus far - http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/apr/11/michael-schumacher-mercedes-formula-one

Personally, I don't think the Mercedes is a winning car so he won't win races just yet. But surely the arguement that it isn't a winning car doesnt mean Michael should be coming in lower than 6th in each race, usually miles behind his team mate.

I'm sure Shumi will be stung by being pigeon holed with Petrov as being the only two people on the grid to be out qualified at every race thus far by their respective team mates!

Ok, its only one more race, the 4th on his comeback trail, but I'd have thought he'd like to start going forwards as opposed to backwards sooner rather than later.

Race starts at 8am on the 18th, so coverage starts at 7am I think. Quali is on an hour or so earlier on the Saturday so it's two early ones. Bah! The things we do for F1 eh.

Welcome to the blog

Phil: Welcome to our new blog. We're one race into one of the most eagerly anticipated Formula 1 seasons in years, with Alonso at Ferrari, the return of Michael Schumacher, three new teams and a ban on refuelling. The first race, at Bahrain two weeks ago, however, was criticised for being a bit boring. Well, you haven't seen boring yet. Wait until a few more blog entries, you'll be begging for Bahrain 2010 then.

This weekend's race in Melbourne is billed as a sunset spectacular. That's sunset in Australia, so still redeye in the UK. We'll post again over the weekend, if we can be bothered to get up early at watch it.