Round 7: Canadian Grand Prix live retrospective blog

Justin:

Ok I realise calling this a live retrospective is a slight contradiction, but stay with me.

I've just returned from a week-long trip to Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix.

The race wasn't a corker by any means, but it was an amazing experience for sure. Plus, whilst the race was a bit dull, being there live means you see things you wouldn't see up close on a TV. I was stood at the fence in front of grandstand 12 for a while, and the way the cars fly into the corner, hurl themselves at you before darting immediately right is a sight to behold. They also sound beautiful, sounding like fighter jets as they brake from the start/ finish straight.

I'm not a Ferrari fan, but that car under Seb looked amazing. It looked the most driveable car of the lot in that section. And...the engine. My word. The engine sounded like poetry in motion!!!

Grandstand 12

As you can see from the photo below, I couldn't have picked many better places to see the action from (though, you pay £250 for a 3 day ticket, you possibly might expect more than a metal bench to perch on..). We would have witnessed all the first corner mayhem, if any had happened. Still, we saw Mad Max try and take Bottas on the first lap, plus a couple of other spins through the race.

40th anniversary - Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

It was the 40th anniversary of the first race on this circuit, which was won by the legendary Gilles Villeneuve. So, we were in for a treat. Jacques driving his Dad's Ferrari 312 around the track!!! Now, I have seen video of Jacques absolutely punishing this car around a test track (can't recall what video exactly), but even a parade lap where he was toddling along sent shivers down my spine and made a special weekend even more so. The sound of the engine....I just cannot. :-).

Excited!!!

Now, I'm a chap who gets excited when attending Grand Prix weekends. Part of the build up for me is simply spotting F1 people on the flight over to wherever the race is. My mates and I spotted DC at Brussels airport in 2012. I was reading Damon Hill's book when I spotted him in the waiting area for my Singapore flight in 2016. This year I saw none other than both Tom Clarkson and Andrew Benson on the flight and Jenny Gow in the passport queue. How fantastic is that eh?! Me spotting F1 people I look up to is all part of it for me.

The last time I'll see Fernando Alonso at an F1 race in person?

It could be. I'd rather it wasn't, but it could be. I won't be seeing another race in person until next year now, when he might be in Indycar or the World Endurance Championship full time (and only in that). Who knows?

I'll just leave a photo and video from Canada here.

Vettel - 50 up!!

Whilst I said the race was dull above, it actually wasn't. It was a pleasure witnessing a driver at the peak of his powers utterly dominating the track and his peers. Vettel looked completely on it for every lap of the race. The car danced to his tune. The Ferrari looking amazing and sounding amazing all weekend.

I'll sign off with a couple more pictures :-).

Australia qualifying report

Justin:

Well, ultimately, there were no great surprises. Lewis out ahead flanked by a Ferrari. That was an astonishing lap by Lewis and a huge gap to Kimi.

It caused a bit of a fruity press conference afterwards - Gotta love these two exchanging words.

Bottas has his work cut out after hitting the wall quite heavily. Still, with the speed on the Mercedes you'd expect him to rise through to the top 5 with relative ease.

The Renault team look strong, as do Haas (they have apparently remained within the rules whilst actually building very little of their car compared to other teams) - the latter are surely the most improved/ big surprise of 2018 so far?!

Fernando Alonso said during the build up that this would be the worst weekend for McLaren. He'd better hope so. I'd imagine they didn't have qualifying 11th and 12th in mind before Q3. That said, Alonso seemed ok with it.

There is a big gap between the top 3 teams and the best of the rest. There was one second from Daniel Ricciardo back to Kevin Magnussen. Not sure if I'm more concerned by that gap or the one between Lewis and the rest.

That said, the flip side is the top 3 were all mega close after Q2...but Lewis was holding back until obliterating everyone in Q3.

Unless Ferrari and Red Bull pull something very special out of the bag tomorrow (today now if anyone down under reads this), I don't think anyone other than Lewis will win this race.

It's great that F1 is back, but I hope we have fighting at the front tomorrow and don't just have to rely on midfield for close up racing.

We shall see.

Round 6: Monaco, plus Round 7 Preview

Justin:

Headline. Ricciardo fails to smile after race.

You can't blame him at all. Red Bull fucked up big time and cost him what was looking like his first win at Monaco.


He said he didn't like being the miserable guy in interviews, but he just wanted to get out of there and skip the team de-brief. He just didn't want to hear what they had to say. I read somewhere that he told them on the radio not to say anything, as nothing they had to say would help. Crikey.

Driver of the day

Goes to either one of the first three frankly. Hamilton was on fire, plain and simple.

After being released by Rosberg, Lewis dropped him like a dead weight and began reeling in Ricciardo bit by bit. Hamilton was at one with his machine and the elements. The cream rises to the top in the wet at Monaco. Case in point, Perez storming to third. Fantastic.

What of Rosberg? He clearly had a bad day at the office. He was due one. He struggled with break temperatures, tyre temperatures...you name it. He also said he just didn't have confidence in the car to push hard, otherwise he would have been in the barriers.

It's not like he is shit around here, having won the last three Monaco races. However, in one swoop Hamilton has nearly halved his deficit in the points standings.

Fifty and still going

Well done McLaren. Alonso and Button and both got points finishes. Alonso probably quite enjoyed keeping Rosberg behind him in the closing stages.



News (9 June)

The driver merry-go-round has started for 2017, or as we all call it, silly season.

The facts are this:

1. Nico Rosberg and Kimi are the only guys out of contract for 2017 at one of the top 3 teams (Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari). I'm calling Red Bull the second fastest now, as frankly they are on top of Ferrari right now.

2. Rosberg is highly likely to sign again for Mercedes. He has said as much, and Mercedes have said they wish to keep him. Why would he leave? Nowhere else would give him a car as dominating as the Merc. There was a brief rumour that Ferrari were sniffing around him, to replace Kimi. I really don't see that happening. It does make more sense for Ferrari than Nico though.

3. Kimi holds the key to the top line driver market. He wants to stay, Ferrari feel his relationship with Vettel works well. So, signing him for 2017 should be going ahead right? We'll see. He is still quick that is for sure.

4. There are a whole host of potentially better drivers wanting that Ferrari seat. Perez has done his top team hopes no harm at all recently. The 2013 McLaren was a bag of shit and I feel that perhaps a top drive came at the wrong time for him - He was on the way up, McLaren were well on their way down! Nico Hulkenberg, Romain Grosjean and Valtteri Bottas are all waiting for that top drive.

Though, Kimi is ahead of Vettel in the standings right now.

5. Ferrari need to decide - Do they maintain the status quo for the sake of the team, or do they draft in a hungry, younger racer to come and shake things up? Who knows?

6. Button is out of contract at McLaren. What he does not deserve at all is being treated like shit yet again in a "will they, won't they?" sign him for another year...

He is a champion and deserves only the best treatment frankly.

Rumour is that Williams will let Massa go and draft in Button when Vandoorne takes his seat.

7. Will Kvyat be at Torro Rosso in 2017? He has been slagging Red Bull off here and there non-stop since being sacked by the big team. We shall see.


Round 7: Canada predictions 

Monaco was the place where a powerful engine matters least.

I cannot see Red Bull ruffling the feathers of Mercedes as much in Canada.

Hamilton knows how to win there, that is for sure.

You heard it here first! Top two will be Mercedes (I cannot predict which way around), then Ricciardo in third.

Round 2: Bahrain

Justin:

Alonso Vs Herbert
Didn't really see this battle coming around, but it did, sort of. Johnny Herbert wrote about his thoughts on why Alonso should retire. He went in-depth about it all. It's his opinion. As a pundit, he is paid to do this.

Erm, possibly what he didn't count on was waking the Spanish Fighter into a response. Oh dear. Awkward!

Fair play to Alonso for doing it face to face with a handshake (lulling Herbert into a "oh this is going to be a respectful exchange....oh...it's not" false sense of security). Herbert is paid to give his opinion, Alonso was merely airing his with someone who had clearly pissed him off.

Herbert's column is here, as well as the video of the slightly comical put down live on air (snigger).

A thumbs up for Alonso on this one. Thanks to Zeenews India for me nicking their pic!

Rosberg starting strong
The problem Nico had last year was Hamilton destroyed him over the first half of the year and never looked back. Nico just never got going, mostly because Hamilton got up a head of steam and totally crushed him. Rosberg knew he needed to have a strong start to 2016 to stand a chance of matching Hamilton.

He is doing that. No doubt Hamilton will come back strong, once he gets the starts sorted out. Nico admitted as much that it was at the start where he won the race. Lewis went backwards fast. Nico started like a bullet. Lewis bogged down and this resulted in him being involved in a nerfing incident where Bottas clattered into him.

Vettel out and Lewis down to 9th - I was screaming at the TV in joy!

I don't say this often, but it was a shame that Vettel conked out before the start. It robbed us of a potentially more interesting fight at the front. That will come soon enough though.

Carbon fiber carnage
As DC pointed out - was there a points scoring system for people hitting each other through the opening laps?! Blimey!

There was plenty of action away from the front of the field - from 4th down there was some awesome racing for sure (always add a "for sure" in, when "yeah, no, absolutely" isn't used for once!).

Ricciardo drove a great race, as did Kvyat in fact - an awesome drive from 15th to 7th - fair play!

Vandoorne showed what he is made of, picking up the first points of the year for McLaren. Great drive there.

Williams seem to be going backwards, but I absolutely loved the smile Frank Williams gave late on when one of his cars was overtaken around the outside in a properly racy move. He is a pure, pure out and out racer.

Driver of the day
There are simply too many candidates here once again. Lewis for a great recovery drive. Kimi for showing up to a race for once. Nico, doing what he needed to do and leading out front all race. Vandoorne for an astonishing debut. Either Red Bull driver....

At the risk of sounding like a broken record....Grosjean is my driver of the day yet again.

5th! In just the second race of a brand new team. That is insane. The guy just sailed through the field serenely. He is super fast and a super safe pair of hands these days.

Surely Ferrari cannot afford to not look his way in 2017.

Channel 4
Coverage was good. Steve Jones is hitting his stride well. The exchange with Toto Wolff about body blows was hilarious. As was the interview where he couldn't hear his wife's questions.

Bernie
Calling the drivers windbags and referring to your relief that they can read and write (when he spoke about their open letter) was not a good move in my opinion. I'm sure Jackie Stewart had plenty to say about his remarks. The qualifying debacle is still not sorted. Qualifying at the moment is shit. Change it!

Welcome back old friend - Round 1: Australia

Justin:

So much to cover...

First off, hats off to Channel 4 for their first effort at covering this awesome sport. There was definitely room for improvement....too many advert breaks for a highlights show, Steve Jones interrupting DC and Webber a fair amount (to be fair that is probably just because he can't quite believe his luck) and a few other bits.

All in all (as Vettel would say), not bad at all people. Hell, you have saved me from either missing F1 entirely or having to turn to the dark side and purchase Sky!

Was lovely hearing The Chain and indeed hearing Ben Edwards shouting "Lights out, away we go!".

Where I'm at
 I sometimes lost the will to live with F1 last year. Hamilton dominating and not even his teammate coming close to being near him = Formula Bore! Rosberg sprang into life over the last few races, giving us and him hope for 2016.

I've missed F1 so much over the winter, don't get me wrong. But, I don't think I could take much of the same this year...

Race report
...Which is good, because the Australian GP was a solid season opener. Ferrari and Vettel cocked up big time - so much so that had they fitted the medium tyres when everyone else did, they may very well have won. Though, Rosberg showed pretty awesome pace throughout anyway, keeping up with the red guys.

As a friend pointed out, Channel 4 managed to not show Rosbergs amazing out lap to be on the tailpipe of Vettel. All we saw was Rosberg appearing behind him.

Ok, there wasn't a great deal of fighting at the front, but there was a bit. For the rest of the season, it is imperative that Rosberg and Vettel challenge Hamilton. Throw Kimi in there too - what rotten luck he had yet again. He was keeping pace until his engine blew up! Hell, Ricciardo could be in there too, who knows. Williams not so much on this display. They were nowhere.

Hamilton had a shabby start, which kind of threw his race out of whack from the start. He recovered very well for a strong second place.

Picking up where he left off 
I'd imagine nobody knows more than Rosberg that he has to do it every race this year. He needs to be on it all year. Nothing else will come close to being good enough. He was on it today. He has won the last 4 races and will be gaining belief all the time now.

Grosjean and Haas
My driver of the day has to be this guy. He is a class act. Haas took him on board because he is fast and consistent. He delivers. He is my driver of the day, no question at all. For Haas to get 6th place on their debut is a stunning, amazing result. Well done to all of them! Does Grosjean have an eye on a Ferrari seat for 2017? Ferrari would be silly not to have one eye on him.

Palmer
I can only name one driver of the day. This guy was on TV more, battling with more people, and indeed giving himself a pretty damn good name in F1. He defended well, overtook well and it was an awesome debut frankly.

McLaren pace
Promising improvements here. Both drivers seem much happier. Then again, the only way was up after 2015. That said, they qualified only 1.5 seconds behind the Mercedes pair.

I think I speak for everyone..
Alonso's crash was absolutely horrifying frankly. The car was a total mangled mess of carbon fibre. Very happy to see him get out and walk away. He'll be back fighting hard in Bahrain.

Sainz vs Verstappen
This could be the teammate rivalry to end all others at this rate (Merc boys aside). Sainz doesn't seem to Verstappen spitting his dummy.

To round off with
I actually thought it was quite fun seeing Webber and Vettel joking around on the podium. I don't like Vettel, but it goes to show that once guys leave F1, there is always a thawing of frosty teammate relationships. They were enemies whilst being teammates, but with time, it's nice to see they can have a joke every now and again.

How to be Mark Webber...
Just add "mate" onto the end of every sentence :-)

To Bahrain!!!!


Me, the blog author, in Hungary 2015 decked out in Alonso gear.

2016...just 54 days until "Lights out, away we go!"

With a new season nearly here, it occurred to me that we actually started this blog way back in 2010. The first blog takes us back through nearly 6 years of F1. Blimey.

Wow, that is a fair while ago. That was back when my long time co-blogger actually blogged once in a while ;-). That was when Alonso was fighting for titles and Webber was in his prime also fighting for titles.

A lifetime in F1 terms.

So, the season ahead...
Well, will we be hearing the famous words of Ben Edwards as the cars line up on the grid in Oz? Chances are, yes we will. It's complicated, but David Coulthard's production company have been hired by Channel 4 to take care of the F1 coverage. So, DC has swiped a lot of the BBC team - Ben Edwards included. It provides continuity for us folk who don't want Sky.

There isn't a great deal of news, but here is a quick roundup...

Honda have allegedly found 223BHP over the winter. I'd like to believe it. However, the piece reads like a lovely bit of PR frankly. The Honda engineers cancelled Christmas and worked 24/7? Yeah, ok! (I should note here that Honda have since said they don't know where the figure or report came from).

The Honda engine will be as fast as the 2015 Ferrari. Erm, I guess that is progress, but they will still be behind.

Though, they should at least have Manor, Renault and Haas behind them.

We welcome Jolyon Palmer to the grid with Renault. He has Pastor as a teammate - all you need to do is not crash and you'll be doing better than him!

To be fair, all the news is stuffed full of drivers training and drivers off having a good time.

There isn't a great deal going on right now.

Car launches soon and then testing. That's when we and indeed JB and Alonso find out whether the McLaren is still far off the pace or not.

PS - you may or may not have noticed that I failed in my "write a blog a day for 30 days in November". I got to day 8 which was pretty good. Turns out I gave myself too many challenges!

Day three: Random ramblings...yesteryear...

1. Are Ferrari really going to be challenging Mercedes consistently for race wins next year? I just can't see it personally.

2. Will McLaren actually make any progress next year? Consistent points scorers at least? Hmmm. Unsure.

3. Will Alonso and Button last the year if McLaren show absolutely no signs of progress? Perhaps not.

4. My co-blogger recently went to "An evening with Nigel Mansell". Where he spoke about his life and times in and out of F1. He spoke about his book too, which is fantastic. He talks about "yesteryear" an awful lot mind.

Go Red 5!!!!!!!

Now...where was I?

Justin:

Two rounds gone, two wins for Mercedes. It seems the rumours were bang on the money before the season started. Mercedes have gotten themselves a huge gap and the title race will seemingly be fought between Nico and Lewis.

F1 2014
Is a new beast. It is an engine formula now, with aerodynamics taking a backseat. Mercedes have the best engine by far, hence even if the Red Bull is the fastest car in certain corners and is more aerodynamically efficient etc, the Mercedes engine still has more grunt. With horsepower to spare and the Renault engines having serious reliability issues, I find it difficult to see where another winner will come from at least until we get back to Europe or a wet race before then.

Ferrari
Pains me to say it, but the Ferrari does not look that fast. Alonso pretty much started 4th and finished 4th in both races, making no notable superfast overtakes aside from on Hulkenberg at the end of Malaysia (Hulk's tyres were shot to pieces). It's easier to make a fast car reliable, than to make a reliable car fast. The Ferrari is reliable, but looks to be the third fastest car behind Mercedes and Red Bull...at best.

Domination - Nico vs Lewis
It's early days, but you'd be silly not to put fair cash on either of the Mercedes drivers being champion in 2014. At least there are two people dominating right now, as opposed to just Vettel in the second half of 2013 - though I must say the Malaysian race was pretty boring!!

I am still going with my instinct and sticking with Nico for the title. People are saying Hamilton thrashed him at Sepang and that Nico wouldnt have won had Lewis not retired in Oz. Well, the latter we'll never know. The former - Nico seemed happy enough with second in Sepang. Just like JB accepted when he was at McLaren with Lewis, there will be days when Lewis absolutely knocks you out of the park. It's what you do on the days he doesnt that matters. Over a season, I think it's going to be a very close run thing between these two.

Felipe - Valtteri is faster than you
I sympathise with Massa here. Surely Williams will understand where he was coming from on ignoring team orders.

Hulkenberg
How has this guy not go a top drive? He was awesome in Malaysia.

New sound
I still miss the V8 roar, especially when they are on the grid starting the race. But, you can hear the fans cheering, the tyres screeching and the engine sound is quite different engine to engine and it's nice and deep...rich.

Next round....Bahrain. Let's hope Mark Webber avoids Nigel Mansell impressions in future.

3 minutes 10...hehehe

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/26798524

Schumi and Senna
No news on Schumi unfortunately.

It's 20 years in May since the passing of the great Aryton Senna. Two giants of the sport.

Here is a very cool twenty year anniversary edition of Senna's helmet, designed by the son of the guy who used to design Senna's helmets.

2014 preview

Justin:

Just 71 days, 9 hours and 11 minutes until P1 in Australia.

Of course before this preview gets going, I should mention Michael Shumacher. As many people have pointed out, if anyone was in a position where fighting spirit and steel determination was needed, he'd be top of the list. Get well soon Michael.

Red Bull
With Webber having departed, Daniel Ricciardo steps into the role of Aussie Number Two. Course, Red Bull say there are no clear orders regarding number one drivers, but we all know it's Vettel's house - his 4 world titles give him this as well as protection from the RB powers that be when things go wrong - see Malaysia 2013! Ricciardo is quick. Whilst I don't think he'll beat Vettel over a season, there might be one or two times where Vettel throws his toys out of the pram when Ricciardo might trump him in qualy. Team dynamics are key and it will be interesting to see how each party reacts when this happens. I expect Vettel to be in the title hunt and RB will be up there with Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren and Lotus.

Mercedes
Rosberg and Hamilton were evenly matched in 2013. Lewis will have more of an input on the car this time around so expect to see a faster, more settled Lewis in 2014. Rosberg will undoubtedly raise his game to meet this challenge. If, as people predict, Mercedes build the best power train, then expect both drivers to be real title contenders. The only weaknesses with Mercedes could be tyre wear (they have had this issue since 2010/11) and the reshuffle at the top - with Brawn out they have a technical director and a commercial director. Will be interesting to see who takes blame for stuff when it goes tits up.

Ferrari
Fire and Ice. This is the team where it could all go spectacularly wrong. If they don't produce a winning car (quite likely given the shit they have churned out the last few years), then expect Alonso to wring it's neck and get more out of it than Kimi over the course of a season. Kimi was allegedly brought in to keep Alonso honest in qualy - but as Alonso pointed out, Massa was just as quick as Kimi over their years as teammates. If Ferrari give both guys a winning car - then, well, how it all plays out is anyones guess. The politics at Ferrari are huge. Kimi more or less doesnt get involved in all this so I think it will all be down to how each guy reacts when soundly beaten by the other. Then again, these two may push each other towards the constructors and drivers titles, who knows.

McLaren
This is the year that JB could be made to look a little stupid by a fast rookie. It also has the potential to be the year when JB drives a sublime car to his second world title. If the car is awesome, JB will crush Magnuessen. As a team they must bounce back after 2013 was their worst season for 30 years!

Lotus
Maldonado is still a wild, unpredictable driver. He did win a race when the Williams was good, but I don't expect much from him at Lotus. They should have gotten The Hulk. Grosjean will go onwards and upwards from 2013 and lead this team with style I believe. I wouldnt be surprised, if the car is good, to see Grosjean take his first F1 win in 2014.

Williams
Regulation changes may help them move forwards. Bottas is a very quick guy and with Massa in it for three years I expect much progress from this legendary team in 2014.

Force India
Perez and Hulk is a great combination on paper. Whilst it was the best available seat for Hulk after Lotus declined his services, I am unsure why he has signed a multiyear contract - what if a big team comes calling, which it surely will. With Perez around, I'm half expecting these two to be shunting each other off a fair bit.

Sauber
If they can produce a good car as in 2013, expect Sutil to lead them to many points finishes.

Torro Rosso
Their car was pretty useful in 2013. If they can do the same again I reckon they'll get a fair few points finishes. JEV will be looking to prove the Red Bull people wrong by hiring Ricciardo over him.

Marussia and Caterham
The regulation changes represent the best chance of jumping up the grid a bit for these two eternal backmarker teams.

I have a funny feeling that the two Mercedes drivers will be heavily involved in the drivers title race. There are bound to be others for sure - Vettel and Alonso, but Mercedes seem to be making a lot of good noises thus far and the big rumour is that their power train is pretty awesome and ahead of the game. They need to sort bloody tyre wear and sort off-track issues asap.

In a Rush...

Justin:

My esteemed colleague and I both watched the BBC documentary on James Hunt and Niki Lauda last night. I am yet to hear his views on it, but I'll give you mine now.

As with the Documentary Senna, some of the never seen/ behind the scenes footage is utterly incredible.

And today, the likes of Red Bull and Mercedes are constantly in a game of one-upmanship with each other and involved in political fights with the FIA. Some things in F1 just never change.

Witness Alastair Caldwell (team manager at Mclaren) and Daniele Audetto (team manager at Ferrari) getting quite, quite wound up, even now, when they are interviewed in the documentary about the political posturing and gamesmanship that went on in 1976 when they were both in charge. They clearly havent wasted money on Christmas cards for each other!

The images of Lauda's crash in Germany which nearly took his life are horrifying to view and it casts my mind forward to the safety issues of today's F1. Exploding tyres was something I touched upon last time out, but one of the big risks of open cockpit racing is debris or items hitting the driver in the head. Back then there were all manner of safety issues.

It's just got me thinking too about MotoGP riders. My colleague brought rallying into this blog once, so I can surely touch upon MotoGP. Jorge Lorenzo broke his collarbone on the friday before a race and went home to have a plate inserted, then raced on the Sunday and finished 5th. Insane.

The race just gone this weekend, he fell off his bike in practice and bent the damn plate! He now misses two races! Don't get me wrong, f1 drivers are incredibly brave, it's just with bikes theres only so much you can do safetywise. If you come off at 180mph, its all down to luck.

Just watch the documentary - it's a beautiful film about a beautiful rivalry in a beautiful moment in F1.

Hands up to those of you who cannot wait for Ron Howard's new film to come out??!!

Rush!

News roundup and results analysis

Justin:

Apologies to all....4...(?) readers for the rather dull title of this post.

I haven't blogged since Malaysia, which is a lifetime for me. My co-blogger has unofficially reduced his role from fellow founder of "I Was Having a Blog" and full-time blogger to making only special guest blogs when he really feels he needs to dump one out. Kimi would be proud, not answering to the calls of the fans or his team, listening only to what he wants to do and when. Or something.

I'm just going to pick out bits randomly from China and Bahrain.

China saw a massively dominant Fernando Alonso win which vaulted him right into the title fight. There were plenty of overtakes in an action packed race. Ferrari have a very fast car this year, and what's more is it's pace in qualifying which usually sees both drivers in the top 3/4 on the grid.

Unfortunately then in Bahrain Ferrari had plenty of issues, even though they qualified well and looked to be on for podiums in the race. Alonso had DRS problems which dropped him down the field, for a fight back to 8th. Massa had two punctures! Talk about bad luck.

Someone that cannot buy luck right now is Mark Webber. The wheels literally came off his campaign in China, nearly battering into Vettel in the process.

We saw hard and fast wheel to wheel racing with the Mclarens in Bahrain. People seemed to complain that Button complained too much about Perez's style of going racing.

To be fair to JB, if my teammate rammed me and nearly punctured my tyre whilst sending carbon fibre flying and then banging wheels with me at 200mph in another incident, I'd be annoyed too.

It was awesome to watch though wasn't it? :-).

Nico Rosberg bagged a very impressive pole in Bahrain then proceeded to travel backwards quickly during the race.

Lewis seems to be hanging on in third in the title race, 27 points behind Vettel, at the moment. To me though, in race trim, the Mercedes is just not as quick as Ferrari, red Bull or indeed Lotus.

Kimi has taken three podiums from four races thus far - consistency is key once again this year.

Alonso and Ferrari are quicker this year, but of a potential 4 podiums in the first 4 races, cock ups have seen many lost points - they should have told him not to use DRS again when he pitted at the very least.

He is now 4th, 30 points adrift of Vettel after the first 4 races.

It's a gap that cannot get any bigger and why a podium in Spain in two weeks is very much the order of the day.

Murray Walker has been presenting his fave moments from F1 though history for the BBC this year.

The last one was Villeneuve vs Arnoux in France in 1979. They'd be hauled before the stewards and banned for this type of racing these days, but boy did it look bloody awesome!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22032240

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 :-)

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!

"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.

Calm down, dear

Phil: I think we need to have a chat about the Red Bull team orders thing.

In my view it really ought not to be the headline: the headline should be Ferrari's first win since last autumn. Mark Webber having been told not to attempt to overtake his teammate for second place on the last lap of the race was slightly disappointing, as we missed out on what might have been an exciting last lap, but no more than that. Mark is right to try to overtake, he's right to ignore the team the first time, but I think that Red Bull were also right to try to stop him.

I really don't think anyone can condemn Red Bull yesterday and condone Ferrari at Hockenheim last year, for the following reasons.

1. Team orders were illegal then. They are legal now.
2. Massa was told to give up a position to his teammate. Webber was told not to overtake his teammate.
3. The Ferrari incident decided the win. The Red Bull incident decided second place.

Finally, and I don't think it's relevant to the comparison between the two incidents, but Vettel is dominating Webber every bit as much as, and probably more than, Alonso was dominating Massa. That's not a criticism of Webber, because Vettel is in a class of his own: as Martin Brundle said, he's becoming the benchmark, as Schumacher one was. It's almost inconceivable now that Vettel does not retain his world title. He's 80 points ahead of his teammate, and 92 points ahead of his next nearest rival (Alonso). If the ten remaining races this season finished with exactly the same result (Alonso first, Vettel second), he would still beat Alonso by 12 points.

And he's 0.4s faster than the Stig.

Can we put this one to bed now?

When I was in 'Nam...

Phil: Got back a couple of days ago from a very enjoyable honeymoon in Vietnam. Imagine my excitement on the morning of The Big Day when I turned on the telly to watch the first race of the season. Doesn't Albert Park look a lot like Interlagos, I thought, no lake, lots of hills, and hasn't Kubica done well to get it together in time for the first race? After about a minute I realised I was actually watching last year's Brazilian grand prix. In Vietnamese. Anyway, this blog tells me everything I need to know about the race I missed, and my co-blogger has done an admirable job of reporting it. I have only the following to add. 1. Aren't Ferrari crap these days? As my co-blogger has observed, they're at best the third best car this season, after Red Bull and McLaren. And Alonso can't do better than ninth in Friday practice at Sepang. 2. Didn't Petrov do well? Were I wearing a hat, I would take it off to him. After all, he was fairly lacklustre last season, but to put the Renault on the podium? Well doneski. This really only begs the question whether Reanult might actually be faster than Ferrari this year, and of course what Kubica could have done with the car. Finally, a brief personal message for my co-blogger. Have been having issues with my phone lately, but we are definitely on the annual live event on Monaco weekend.

Plenty to say...?

Phil: It's been a classic year. I think we can all agree on that. I think I'm right in saying also that never before have four drivers started the last race of the season with a mathematical chance of winning the title. Each driver from each of the top three teams led the championship at some point or other during the season, but the man who led after the last race (and at no other point during the season) was Sebastian Vettel.

We've talked a lot about Alonso lately, but I think we need to give Vettel some blogspace. Some have suggested that he somehow not a deserving champion. I'd agree with Stirling Moss when he said Vettel is undoubtedly the fastest driver at the moment, but pointedly didn't say he was the best. When you consider the raw pace of the Red Bull, they in some respects ought to have walked it (in a previous blog, I mentioned that the only teams to score more poles in a season were McLaren in 1988-9 and Williams in 1992-3, and we know the utter dominance of those teams at those times). Vettel sat on pole ten times out of 19 in 2010, but only converted that into a win five times. Alonso by contrast took the same number of wins from only two poles. It's become a bit of a cliche, but Adrian Newey's cars are fast but fragile, and reliability let Vettel down, probably more so than Mark. But there's also a lack of maturity about Vettel, which his predecessor as youngest driver ever to do anything, Lewis Hamilton, never showed, from day one. It was this that led him to commit the racing driver's cardinal sin - knocking off your team mate when he's in the lead - at Istanbul.

But (and it's a big but) maturity seems to be all he lacks. At 23, he's the youngest champion, race winner, driver to score a point or sit on the podium. To say he has a bright future would be a huge understatement. After the race if he's done well, one of the first to congratulate him is often Michael Schumacher. I can't lipread in German but the body language is warm and there's clearly no rivalry there - in fact, at 41, Schumi is old enough to be Vettel's father. My point is, Vettel is now where Schumacher was in 1993 or 1994, and I think he has the talent to dominate Formula 1 in the same way Schumacher did. If Red Bull continue to have the pace, and if becoming world champion gives Vettel a little more maturity, then we could have witnessed the beginning of a new era in F1.

A couple of other points, specifically about Abu Dhabi. I have very little time for the naysayers (and I note that my co-blogger isn't one of them) who think there is a Renault conspiracy which meant that Petrov deliberately kept Alonso behind him to allow a Renault-powered driver to win the title. Petrov kept Alonso behind him because he was protecting his position (both in the race, and at Renault next year), and Alonso was out of position because Ferrari cocked up his pit strategy. It's as simple as that. And I think it's an exaggeration to say that that cost Alonso the title - this season was so close that any of the mistakes that any of the leading drivers made potentially cost them the title. If, as some predicted, the Korean Grand Prix hadn't happened, Webber may well have won the title.

I think we have plenty to talk about between now and 13 March 2011. Watch this space!

Just another day at the Spa

Phil: The title of this blog doesn't really cut it, unfortunately, but it's the best I can think of.

Spa was another of this season's classics, enlivened as ever by rain and the resultant safety car incidents. Hats off to some blokes in Belgium in about 1920 for chancing across such a classic racetrack with such superb temperamental weather. Maybe they could teach Hermann Tilke's state of the art tracks in the middle of deserts a thing or two.

Hats off also to my co-blogger for such a detailed and insightful analysis, which for once I actually agree with. If I had any hats left I'd also take them off to Lewis Hamilton (who, let's not forget, actually won the race) who didn't put a foot wrong all afternoon - even if his race engineer did add a comedy moment by appearing to tell Lewis not to come in for inters too soon, just as he ran off into the kitty litter (the transmission being delayed, of course, to avoid broadcasting confidential team tactics and Sebastian Vettel saying, 'Scheisse!' whenever he crashes).

Mark Webber may have buggered up the start, but he was there ready to take Kubica's second place when the Pole missed his pit box. If you want to be world champion, it's consistently good results that count, and as my co-blogger insightfully pointed out, the smidgeon of points he got from Kubica's error may make him world champion come Abu Dhabi (but probably not before).

Hamilton may have done everything right, but Vettel and Alonso seem to have done everything wrong. I won't go over Alonso's misfortunes again, but Vettel's collision with Button was frankly bizarre - the sort of crash you have to watch several times on the replay before you can really work out what actually happened.

I'm tempted to agree with my co-blogger that with Vettel's inconsistency and unforced errors and the pressure Alonso is under coping with what's still clearly the third best car, it's a two horse race between Webber and Hamilton. However, this season is so close that a bad day at the office for Button, Alonso and Vettel makes it seem like Hamilton and Webber are pulling ahead. The reality is that the boot could well be on the other foot at Monza. It's still to early to call, and, almost unbelievably, any one of five drivers could still take the title. This season is already a classic and could be the closest ever.

Next stop is one of my favourite tracks, Monza. But before that, Ferrari have to face up to the FIA for the team orders charade at Hockenheim.

The wrong order

Phil: Had to blog, to get something out of my system.

I was astonished to find myself actually agreeing with Eddie Jordan after today's race when he described the result - or, rather, the Ferrari team order that engineered the result - as repugnant.

Here's why I found myself booing the telly this afternoon as Alonso passed his teammate. Firstly, since Ferrari's similar exercise ensuring Schumacher scored more points than Barrichello in Austria in 2002, team orders have been illegal. Whether you say, 'your teammate is faster than you, let him through', or, 'your teammate is faster than you, do you understand?' it's still a team order. Nobody is seriously suggesting that Felipe's foot accidentally slipped off the throttle or that he allowed his teammate through on his own initiative.

Secondly, it was completely unnecessary. Apart from Alonso himself very few people give him a realistic chance of being champion this year. Even my co-blogger doesn't think so. Today's 25 points still leave him no higher than fifth in the title race, 34 points behind the championship leader Lewis Hamilton. The whole exercise was pointless.

Thirdly, today is the anniversary of Massa's accident in Hungary last year, which almost killed him. What better way to prove the doubters who thought he would never regain the form he had in 2008 than with a victory today?

Fourthly, Ferrari took their first 1-2 finish since the first race of the season today. How pleased did they look on the podium? Massa was understandably sullen, Alonso embarassed and Stefano Domenicali who collected the team 'honours' tried his best to put a brave face on the whole thing. Contrast that with Red Bull's effort after their 1-2 at Monaco which saw both drivers and most of the team in the swimming pool on the team's boat. The atmosphere today reminded me more of a race where a driver has crashed and been and helicoptered to hospital, and nobody knows how he is, and they don't feel like celebrating.

Hopefully the stewards will investigate this incident after the race. But they had plenty of opportunity to do so during the race, and didn't.