The British Grand Prix is fast approaching and this week Damien Smith and I discuss the race and the new pit and paddock complex at Silverstone. We also talk about Williams’ decision to use Renault engines next year and the new partnership between Virgin Racing and McLaren. We also have a brief look at the Imola 6 Hours and the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

As always, let us know what you think about the news.

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Renault is threatening to pull out of Formula 1 if the much-discussed new 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine formula for 2013 is not soon confirmed by the FIA. Many people in F1 believe the new formula will be put off for a year or two, and some hope the FIA will relent and opt instead for a turbo V6. Following more than a year’s discussions with the teams and engine suppliers, the FIA is expected to make a decision on delaying the new formula by the end of the month.

Renault is the only enthusiastic supporter of the tiny turbo concept, which has failed to attract interest from new manufacturers. Both Ferrari and Mercedes-Benz prefer V8s or at least V6s, and everyone is worried about the costs of building and developing new engines. Still, FIA president Jean Todt is a big proponent of the small-capacity turbo and with Renault’s strong support he may insist on that formula. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh has been deeply involved in formal talks about the new formula and discussed the matter in Montréal.

“I think the traditionalist who believes we need large-capacity, normally-aspirated engines has to accept that they may not be attractive to car companies in this day and age,” he said. “So there was some logic in the thought that we need a solution that is attractive to them. Unfortunately, with hindsight we got it wrong, because the intention of the 2013 formula was to see if we could attract more manufacturers.

“Plainly we didn’t, and we failed to do that because we came in at the end of the largest recession the automotive sector has ever had. We also gave them too short a timeframe to develop a new engine. I don’t think it’s worth criticising anyone over it. That’s how it transpired.

“The important issue for F1 is that we find a formula which is attractive to the car industry. We should have a model that averages [involvement from] three to five manufacturers, and inevitably they will rotate.

“We have to accept, respect and not despise the fact that the manufacturers are here to sell cars. If F1 is to be the ideal platform for product exposure and differentiation of their brand we need a formula that is relevant to them and to the needs of society.

“We’ve got to ensure that F1 continues as the technical pinnacle of motor sport. It has to be technically advanced, relevant, entertaining and differentiated. It’s not an easy task, but we have to work hard to achieve that.”

Whitmarsh personally would prefer a turbo V6. “We need great-sounding engines, it’s a core asset of our sport. But there’s no reason why you can’t have forward-looking technology and a great sound. I personally feel we’ve got to seek a compromise. If it were my call I’d probably go for a turbocharged V6. I think more and more cars are going to be turbocharged.

“We’ve got to have high revs. A vee engine suits the structure of an F1 car and we’ve got to have that unique sound. It might be different from today’s cars but I think it can still be fantastic.”

Eric Boullier (above), managing director of the Lotus-Renault team, said that if Renault continues in F1 it wants to put its main effort into supplying multiple teams. “Renault is pushing to supply maybe four teams. We’ve told the FIA that is our goal. Renault has decided to focus on being an engine supplier and as such we are pushing to bring new technology to F1. This is the only way for Renault to communicate their know-how and make sure they can use the opportunity of being in F1 to promote road car sales.

“The tendency of the road car market, especially for Renault, is to go to smaller engines with more hybrid technology to make fuel savings. F1 has to move forward. We need new regulations and new technical challenges for our engineers.

“Formula 1 can’t become just a show,” Boullier added. “We have to be seen as motor sport pioneers and technology is part of that. But we need to please our fans as well.”

Cosworth’s Mark Gallagher said: “There’s a big concern on our side because the new rules have no cost restrictions applied. So the manufacturers can spend a huge amount of money and we would have a space race around the new engine formula, which was never the idea. Everyone agreed that wasn’t the idea, but unfortunately that’s what happened. So we’ve also said to the FIA that a delay might be the right thing to do. I think all the teams, not just our customers, don’t need to be spending more money on engine technology.

“We want clarity. If it’s a 1.6-litre motor, fine, we’ll be there. If not, we’ve got a V8 that we can continue with. We’re agnostic. We don’t have to have a V8 or V12 or an in-line four. If the F1 rules required a single-cylinder two-stroke, we’d be there. The FIA president has said he’s listening and taking in everything we’re saying. We just want a resolution.”

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

We may be one of the oldest motor racing magazines in the world, but we do like trying new things. Our latest idea was to record a very brief round-up of the news each week so that every Monday you can log on to the Motor Sport website and watch a video clip that neatly sums up all that’s happened in the motor racing world over the past seven days.

Well, we’ve given it a go. It may be a little longer than we anticipated and our attempt at a newsroom feel – recording it in front of everyone in the office – may not have been 100 per cent successful, but it’s a work in progress. If any of you heard our first audio podcast you’d be amazed…

So, hopefully the days of reading hundreds of news stories every Monday morning are gone. Maybe…

Let us know what you think as this really is a first attempt. We hope you enjoy it.

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Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

“That was really controlled,” said Sebastian Vettel over the radio at the end of the Australian Grand Prix. “Thank you very much, very cool.”

His race was indeed ‘very cool’ as having blown everyone away in qualifying – his team-mate Mark Webber included – the German took the lead off the line and only gave it up to Lewis Hamilton during his two pitstops. He drove a faultless race and even though the Red Bull wasn’t equipped with KERS, something that Christian Horner only admitted to after the race, it was clearly the fastest car out there. A worrying state of affairs for all the other teams.

Hamilton had a less ‘controlled’ race as although he managed to keep second place after getting too much wheelspin off the line and momentarily letting Webber through, the underfloor of his car came away later on in the race. Despite the lack of downforce he kept his track position and will be hoping that the car passes scrutineering. Something that team principal Martin Whitmarsh was confident of after the race, but not something that is a dead certain.

Big news came in the shape of Russian Vitaly Petrov though as having got a superb start from sixth on the grid he finally finished third. He didn’t put a foot wrong and proved that he’s not just racing because of the financial benefits to his team. A great result and a fitting tribute to the missing Kubica.

Nick Heidfeld’s race in the other Renault was sadly not as successful. After a poor qualifying left him all the way down in 18th on the grid, the replacement for Kubica had his work cut out. However, although he did finally finish 14th, his pace was nowhere near his team-mate’s. The fact that he was drafted in as a ‘safe pair of hands with plenty of experience’ is all very well – and I doubt he will finish where he did in the next race – but when you’re standing in for Kubica results will be expected. Watch this space.

Other big news was Sergio Perez. The Sauber driver had an absolutely fantastic race and – having pitted only once for new tyres – finished seventh behind Button (6th), Webber (5th) and Alonso (4th). Quite how the Sauber could be so gentle on its tyres is amazing and certainly bodes well for the rest of the season, especially when we go to tracks that are harder on the Pirellis. It was a great way to start a Formula 1 career and hopefully the confidence will be flowing after such a strong start.

So what of all the new rules and regulations? As I mentioned, Red Bull didn’t even run their KERS during Saturday and Sunday having evaluated it on Friday and deciding that it was too big a risk to run. The Red Bull of Vettel was comfortably the fastest car out there, which does tend to suggest that the KERS still needs work. I just wish the rules gave teams that used the technology a bigger advantage. 80bhp may seem like a lot of power – it is more power than some small hatchbacks – but surely with a boost of 150bhp the teams would put more effort into the device and the technology would be advanced that much faster? The rules are set though, and it’s 80bhp that the drivers can lay their hands on when they press the button.

The adjustable rear wing didn’t produce as much overtaking as everyone expected. However, it did solve the problem of being stuck in a slower car’s dirty air to some extent. Yes, the pit straight was not a long enough straight on which to operate it and the effect wasn’t as large as it perhaps could have been, but it did help faster cars close the gap and overtake either into turn 1 or later on in the lap.

One of the best examples was when Felipe Massa was following Sebastien Buemi later on in the race and although he was within one second of the Toro Rosso driver – who was sitting in a car with the same engine as his own – for a couple of laps, it took him two attempts to get past, even with the ability to open the flap on the rear wing on the pit straight. Was it too hard? Too easy? Time will tell. A gimmick? That it is, but as someone pointed out, during the turbo era drivers could turn up their boost to overtake someone which would have had a similar effect.

Finally the tyres. Pirelli have made some big improvements since testing and the four or five-stop race was a pessimistic exaggeration. In the end the most number of stops cars really needed were three, while all the front runners opted for two – bar Perez of course who managed to use only two sets all race. “We have to make some compliments to Pirelli,” said Vettel after the race. Of course, having just won the Grand Prix he wasn’t going to be rude about them.

Albert Park is a different circuit to most though so we’ll have to wait and see how things pan out when we get to Malaysia in two weeks and even China in three. In the meantime – congratulations to a dominant Vettel, a McLaren team that has managed to find a second between testing and the first race, and of course to Petrov and Perez who showed that Formula 1 isn’t all about experience. Just ask Barrichello who had the weekend from hell, spending more time off the track than on…

The two Saubers of Kamui Kobayashi and Sergio Perez have since been disqualified for a rear wing infringement. The team has made it clear that they wish to appeal the decision after investigating matters at its factory. Meanwhile, Hamilton’s floor was deemed legal by the scrutineers and his second place remains.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Testing, testing, one-two-three. We are now in the midst of the fourth and final pre-season Formula 1 test at the Catalunya circuit in southern Spain, where it has been unusually grey and chilly. This is the test that should have been in hot and dusty Bahrain…

Pre-season testing can, as we have so often seen over the years, be not only inconclusive but also misleading. This is because there is always a certain amount of smoke and mirrors, some deliberate sandbagging and insufficient accurate information forthcoming on fuel loads and set-ups.

And this year, we should remember, we are dealing with totally new tyre compounds from Pirelli, which has not yet got a race under its belt in any kind of climate. Rubber is likely to be a major factor in early 2011.

Popular opinion – and many engineers agree – is that we are going to see a lot more tyre degradation in the early races than we have previously been used to. Three pitstops are predicted, some saying more, especially if the weather is hot, the surface abrasive. Added to this unknown we have KERS, moveable rear wings and new cars to consider.

Logic says that Red Bull will the early pacesetters, and so it proved on Tuesday in Spain, with Mark Webber (above) top of the timesheets from Jenson Button – by some margin. This does not mean Red Bull is going to disappear into the distance at Melbourne on March 27, but simply that on March 8 the new Red Bull was more sorted than the new McLaren. And that’s no surprise at this stage. In an era when aerodynamics is key, you can expect an Adrian Newey-designed car to be at or near the top of the times.

What will be in many ways more interesting to see is how the two most radical cars shape up against the rest. These are the Williams (below), with its radical rear end and new transmission, and the Lotus-Renault, with its forward-facing exhaust system. If either of these two risky design ideas prove to be the way to go, then the others will have to follow suit, just as we saw two years ago with the Brawn’s double diffuser, when Button’s pre-season testing pace had alarm bells ringing right down the pitlane.

This year we have seen no such clear advantage, although Red Bull is predictably fast. Not far behind is Ferrari, smarting from its title defeat in Abu Dhabi. All Grand Prix teams of any stature play their cards close to their chests, saving their best until the first afternoon of qualifying. And, just to complicate matters, testing is not what it used to be.

In days gone by there was virtually unlimited mileage, the teams under no pressure to get it all sorted in just four short sessions in February and March. And there’s another difference. Test drivers, or reserve drivers as they are now known, have to get some mileage now or never, whereas before they could do their testing while the teams were away racing. And this means – as we have seen in Spain – lots of new, young drivers being given time in the cars when, in a perfect world, they’d be waiting until the race drivers went away to race.

So, we should not be surprised if Red Bull, Ferrari – and possibly McLaren – are at the front of the grid in Melbourne. Button (above) says we should not expect too much, that the car is not the equal of Red Bull or Ferrari, and they don’t have time to catch up before the end of the month. Bad news for McLaren fans.

Oh yes, and we also know that Mercedes-Benz has a great deal of work to do if Schumacher and Rosberg are to be anywhere near the podium. Unless, of course, Mr Brawn has been keeping something up his sleeve…

So end the ifs, buts and maybes. Soon it will be time to race…

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Imagine if James Hunt was still around today, I mused to Martin Brundle at Daytona a few weeks ago. “Well, if he was I’d be out of a job!”, the BBC’s new lead commentator fired back.

The truth would probably be somewhat different. Hunt, who died of a heart attack at the age of just 45, would have struggled to hold on to a high-profile media role in the modern world. Richard Keys and Andy Gray would have had nothing on Master James! Had he lived, he’d have said something outrageous long ago and would probably have been handed his cards after a short and very nasty tabloid campaign against him. After this, I like to think he would have settled down into his new role as an outspoken, politically incorrect star columnist here at Motor Sport… and how refreshingly outspoken and irreverent those columns would have been. Such a shame he was taken from us all so early.

Hunt was a brilliant, instinctive broadcaster during his time sharing a mike with the long-suffering Murray Walker from 1980-93, in much the same way that he was a brilliant, instinctive racing driver. He shot from the hip and carried lasting prejudices (yes, poor Riccardo Patrese), and that attitude would not have sat well in this sensitive age. Can you imagine the froth that would have been generated on the web forums if Hunt was broadcasting today? They’d have loved him and lynched him.

For me, Hunt was all the greater because of his imperfections (He once turned me down for an autograph at a Brands Hatch Grand Prix because he was late for the celebrity race. Somehow, I didn’t mind  – because it was him. Even as a kid I was aware of his reputation for timing, so found the polite but firm ‘no’ and the mad rush he was in very amusing).

He took his racing intensely seriously, to the extreme of vomiting before the starts and so on, because he knew only too well how dangerous was his chosen vocation. But at the same time he refused to take life seriously away from the races – which is exactly why he agreed to pose for Patrick Lichfield’s cheeky photoshoot that adorns the cover of the April issue.

Nubile young ladies on the cover of Motor Sport? Sacrilege! Mr Tee (Motor Sport’s former proprietor) must be spinning… But if there is an image that sums up the man our writer Eoin Young struggled so hard to like, it’s this one. All that’s missing is a bottle of something strong and a fag in his mouth. Like James, we don’t like to take life too seriously here at Motor Sport, and we couldn’t resist. Especially as it highlights once again how different our world is today compared to the 1970s. Can you imagine Jenson Button taking part in such a photo shoot? (I can actually – but I don’t think McLaren, Vodafone etc would like it much! Imagine the airbrushing…)

Eoin was James’s original – and very reluctant – biographer. His personal impressions of a man who he came to know well, and eventually like a great deal, are fascinating. For those of us who only knew him as an image in photographs or as a voice on television, they are truly revealing. Incidentally, Eoin lives back in New Zealand these days and we were alarmed to hear this week of the dreadful earthquake that has devastated Christchurch. We were relieved to hear that Eoin was unhurt, although he has suffered damage to his property. From everyone at the magazine, and I’m sure all of you who read it, we send you our best wishes, Eoin.

James Hunt pops up again elsewhere in the April issue, his serious racing side highlighted within Rob Widdows’ entertaining Dispatches column on an eye-opening trip to Monaco with Hesketh Racing, and also within this month’s riveting Lunch with Murray Walker. Now, you won’t be surprised to read that Murray was typically eloquent when Simon Taylor met up with him recently. But even for Murray, this one is special. Despite suffering from a heavy bout of ’flu, he saved his best form for Motor Sport. I’ve never read a more frank and insightful piece on a man who is always a great interview.

We also look ahead to the forthcoming F1 season, with a bumper preview featuring Nigel Roebuck in discussion with Sir Jackie Stewart, a definitive explanation of the new rules – including those gimmicky moveable rear wings – and a study of the overtaking debate by former Renault technical boss Pat Symonds. Since we went to press, the Bahrain GP has been cancelled, of course, so we’re down to ‘only’ 19 races beginning in Australia on March 27. Within our issue, Jackie Stewart has some strong words on the circuits that F1 visits today and the changes that he believes are needed to inject a greater challenge into the sport. We quite agree.

You can also read our verdict on the new McLaren MP4-12C road car, find out more about Mini’s return to world rallying and catch up with comeback kings Martin Brundle and Mark Blundell during their impressive return to the cockpit at the Rolex Daytona 24 Hours.

Before I close, I should mention that our founder editor Bill Boddy celebrated his birthday this week. On February 22 WB turned 98 years old. His stories continue to file into our inbox for each issue and the magazine simply would not be the same without him. Happy birthday, WB, from all the team at Motor Sport.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Robert Kubica’s accident, in a small Italian rally, came only days after he had set the fastest time in the Valencia test session, and as soon as it became clear that Robert was going to survive, Renault – something of a misnomer these days, given that the company has no financial involvement with the team beyond supplying engines – had to give serious thought to a replacement. Everyone assumes that Kubica will one day return to Formula 1, but no one knows when that will be, and the likelihood is that it will not be in 2011.

Various names came up. Kimi Räikkönen, vaguely mentioned in connection with Renault last autumn, was not seriously considered, and has anyway said that he no longer has any interest in F1 (something already apparent, let’s face it, in the last two of his three years with Ferrari).

Then there was Tonio Liuzzi, highly rated by some, and on the street following Force India’s decision to sign Paul di Resta. Come to that, there was also Force India’s new test driver, Nico Hulkenberg, late of Williams, where he has been replaced by Pastor Maldonado and a good many Venezuelan bank notes. As 2010 – his rookie season – wore on, Hulkenberg impressed more and more, and no one doubts his innate talent and speed.

However, given that Renault’s other driver, Vitaly Petrov, has also but one season behind him, the likelihood was always that Eric Boullier and his colleagues would go for an experienced man to stand in for Kubica, and on that basis the logical choice was Robert’s erstwhile team-mate at BMW, Nick Heidfeld. Renault put him in the car for a day at Jerez – and he set the quickest time. To no one’s great surprise, Boullier swiftly announced that Heidfeld had got the job.

A very easy man to underestimate, Nick. He may not have the blinding speed of a Vettel, but in the BMW days he had a habit of finishing in the top six in the World Championship, and his talents were highly rated not only by Mario Theissen but also – after a single season, 2005, with Williams – by Patrick Head, no less.

At the beginning of ’06 I asked Patrick if he had been sorry to lose Heidfeld to BMW. “Very much so,” he said. “We were very impressed with him, and not just in the car, but also in the way he conducts himself generally. As you know, he doesn’t ‘high profile’ himself, but he’s a very tough character. His interaction with the engineers – with the team in general – was extremely professional at all times.

“All right, most of the time Mark [Webber] was able to out-qualify him, but in racing conditions Nick was outstanding – over the season I think he made up 20 places between the start and end of the first lap, whereas Mark was actually in the negatives. Now you could say that was because Mark over-qualified the car’s rightful position – which undoubtedly he did on occasion – but what you could also see was that Nick always seemed able to work out where to be on the track at the first corner, so that he would get through OK. Equally, he was sometimes quite forceful on the opening lap, going round the outside of people, and so on.

“A good lad, Nick, and a very good driver, I think. We didn’t blame him for accepting the offer from BMW, but we were sad to lose him…”

Quite an endorsement from a man not given to hyperbole when discussing racing drivers. It goes without saying that Renault will desperately miss Kubica – in every sense – this season, but Heidfeld, unequivocally leading an F1 team for the first time, will be far more of a factor than many expect.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

When it comes to trying something new, uncovering the latest trick, getting an edge on the opposition, there are few examples in Formula 1 as visually striking and obviously unusual as the year Tyrrell decided to add two more wheels to its Grand Prix cars. As the February edition of Motor Sport celebrates, innovation is at the heart of F1 – it always has been, it always will be. And Tyrrell was brave enough to stick its neck out and run the risk of ridicule. That the P34 six-wheeler became a GP winner vindicated Derek Gardner’s decision to aggressively chase the ‘unfair advantage’.

The car that appears on our front cover this month is a museum piece from the Donington Collection. It’s Patrick Depailler’s car just as he left it at the end of 1977, and our man Andrew Frankel was lucky enough to get the chance to drive it. Meanwhile, editor-in-chief Nigel Roebuck revisits a period interview with Gardner and looks back at the shockwaves the P34 created when it was unveiled in ’76. As is often the case in Motor Sport, it’s a story of what might have been because, even though Jody Scheckter won the Swedish GP in its first season, the car never fulfilled the potential Gardner saw in it. Both March and Williams experimented with two extra wheels at the back, but six-wheeled F1 cars proved to be a cul de sac rather than the road to the future. Such is the way with innovation. Even when it works it doesn’t always stick. And when it does it’s usually banned.

That is certainly true in today’s F1, as former Renault technical director Pat Symonds discusses in his first feature for Motor Sport. We’re delighted to welcome him to our pages because, as you might have noticed in our recent audio podcast with the man, he is brilliant at explaining the complexities of our sport. A restrictive rule book stymies the modern designer, but forward thinking still allows them to gain an edge – as McLaren’s F-duct proved last season. And like all great innovations, it is now outlawed. Nothing really changes.

The theme of innovation in the February issue focused our minds on the big breakthroughs in history. I asked former editor Paul Fearnley to look back at some of the ‘epoch’ moments from the past, which was a gigantic task. His vast research distilled to a clear conclusion: the 1970s and early ’80s – the ‘analogue’ era – was an intense time for experimentation and high-reaching concepts. It was a time that directly shaped today’s ‘digital’ age, which is why Paul talked to five men – Tony Southgate, Robin Herd, John Barnard, Gordon Murray and Peter Wright – who all pushed the boundaries of what could be achieved.

Our snapshot of 40 years of F1 innovation is completed by Nick Wirth, who argues the case for designing an F1 car purely by computer. Like Gardner back in the mid-70s, he is putting his reputation on the line by bucking the trend with what he is trying to achieve at Marussia Virgin Racing. Grand thinking and ambitious pioneers – whether they fail or succeed – still give F1 its edge in the modern age.

It’s fitting that in an issue that is themed around innovative thinking one of the great racing car designers should join our team. Williams co-founder Patrick Head has signed up as our new columnist for the next 12 months, and is sure to bring us great tales from the past, as well as personal insight into life in F1 today. We’re delighted to welcome him on board.

The February issue also marks the 10th anniversary of Dale Earnhardt’s passing, US editor Gordon Kirby putting into true perspective the giant legacy of NASCAR’s Man in Black. Meanwhile, Simon Taylor travels to Spain to meet John Webb for lunch. For 30 years the man who ran Brands Hatch was perhaps the most influential, forward-thinking figure in British motor sport. In his own way, Webb was as innovative as the great designers who shaped the races he promoted.

A happy new year to you. Enjoy the issue.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

On Monday next week we will be recording our next audio podcast with ex-Renault executive director of engineering Pat Symonds. Pat worked in Formula 1 for nearly 30 years and putting the fact that he was Michael Schumacher’s race engineer at Benetton aside, he has plenty of stories to tell about the past and present.

If you’d like to ask him a question then simply click here and we will try our best to get through them all. The podcast will be on the site latest Tuesday morning.

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Motor Sport Magazine - The original motor racing magazine

Mark Webber and Lewis Hamilton came to Spa 1-2 in the World Championship, and although Hamilton superbly won the race, and regained the points lead, Webber wasn’t too upset, for he finished second – and none of the three other title contenders scored at all.

It was a typically capricious Grand Prix at this greatest of all contemporary circuits, and – as is often the case at Spa – the weather had a hand in it. Fundamentally the afternoon was dry, which was a surprise after the practice and qualifying days, but a couple of brief showers caused many an incident. “On a day like this,” Hamilton said, “the race can be a lottery, so it’s always good to come out of it well.”

He was right. Accidents accounted for Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, while Sebastian Vettel trailed in 15th after yet another chaotic afternoon. Is Vettel quick enough to be World Champion? Absolutely. Is he mature enough? Absolutely not.

Given that straightline speed is not their strongest suit, the Renault-powered Red Bulls were expected – relatively – to struggle to Spa, but if Webber and Vettel were vulnerable on the long climb from Eau Rouge to Les Combes, their cars’ astonishing superiority through fast corners – and Spa, as we know, is essentially all fast corners – guaranteed that over the lap they were right there. Vettel, rather surprisingly, qualified only fourth, but Webber was able to beat Hamilton to pole position.

At the start, though, Mark’s car hesitated. “There was a small problem with the clutch on the formation lap,” he said. “We tried to make an adjustment to it, and hoped that would cure the problem, but it didn’t…”

Before the first corner, La Source, Webber was therefore engulfed, and at the end of the opening lap he was back in sixth place, behind Hamilton, Kubica, Vettel, Massa and Button.

By the end of the lap, a little rain had come down, and at the ‘Bus Stop’ chicane the first few cars all ran wide, but survived; behind them, though, Alonso and Barrichello had a coming-together, and while Fernando headed straight for the pits, to get a new nose, Rubens – on the occasion of his 300th Grand Prix – was out on the spot.

“I was closing the door on Rosberg,” he said, “but although I braked quite early, it wasn’t sufficient to stop the car, and I went straight into Alonso, for which I’m sorry…”

Fernando, already the long shot in the five-man fight for the championship, had a bad weekend in Belgium. After being fastest in both the Friday practice sessions, he qualified a disappointing 10th, made his early pit stop for repairs, spent the afternoon climbing back into the points, then – in a heavy rain shower – spun into the barrier, bringing out the safety car for the second time. It had been out first, for just one lap, after the original incident with Barrichello.

Even though conditions were uncertain – imminent rain was rumoured every five minutes or so – and even though he was the leader, and therefore going to find a suddenly slippery corner before those chasing him – still there was something quite inexorable about Hamilton’s victory at Spa. Before the race started Button remarked that the McLaren seemed to have a surprising amount of grip – on slicks – when the track was a little damp, and his team mate’s final qualifying lap seemed to bear that out. With spots of rain coming down at various points on the circuit, Lewis put in a stupefying lap – streets quicker than anyone else at the time – to join Webber on the front row. That being so, it wasn’t a surprise to see his faultless display the following day.

Almost faultless, anyway. On lap 33 a proper shower of rain (the one that accounted for Alonso) began, but for the first four – Hamilton, Kubica, Webber, Massa – it wasn’t yet coming down as they completed the lap, so off they set on another, while everyone else, some way behind, dashed in to change either to intermediate tyres or, in some cases, ‘full wets’. Still out there on slicks, Hamilton skated off…

“I was,” he said, “extremely lucky. It was incredibly slippery, and I was really tiptoeing, but the thing just didn’t want to stop – I just barely skimmed a barrier, but thankfully didn’t do any damage.”

When the top four made their stops, a lap later than the rest, Webber succeeded finally in getting ahead of Kubica, and into second place. Robert, having driven beautifully in the Renault (which ran with an F-duct for the first time, and gained significant straightline speed), stopped askew in his pit box, which necessarily delayed his mechanics.

“My fault,” he said. “The conditions were changing, and I needed to make various changes on the steering-wheel – I couldn’t do it on the track, because it was so treacherous, so I had to do it in the pit lane, got distracted, locked up, and didn’t stop in the right place…”

Over the last four laps, following the safety car period for Alonso’s accident, Hamilton concentrated on maintaining a safe gap, and this he was able to do without problem, taking the flag a second and a half to the good, with Kubica third, and Massa – Ferrari’s main man this weekend – fourth.

Force India, with their immense straightline speed, always show well at Spa – remember Giancarlo Fisichella’s second place in 2009 – and Adrian Sutil did a fine job to claim fifth place, ahead of the still disappointing Mercedes of Rosberg and Schumacher. Both the Mercs started way back on the grid, mind you, Nico losing five grid places after needing a gearbox change on Saturday, and Michael losing 10 for his lunatic driving (against Barrichello) at the last race, in Hungary.

So what of Vettel and Button, the two other championship contenders? Well, the one accounted for the other. In the early laps of the race, Jenson and Sebastian ran second and third, behind Hamilton, but on lap 16, on the approach to the ‘Bus Stop’, the Red Bull braked too late, and slammed into the McLaren. Button retired immediately, while Vettel headed for the pits to get a new nose.

“Not,” remarked Martin Whitmarsh, “what you’d expect to see in Formula 1 – more like the junior formulae… A ‘drive through’ seemed a pretty light punishment to me.”

And to many others. Vettel’s Belgian Grand Prix was no less chaotic than many of his races have been this year. Later in the afternoon, he had a coming-together with Liuzzi, which shattered the Force India’s nose, and punctured the Red Bull’s left rear tyre. Vettel really does need to sit down and have a talk with himself: he has had bad luck this season, yes, but many a good result he has tossed away.

At the press conference Hamilton and Webber talked about the balance of the season. With six races to go, both are now quite significantly clear of their team mates in the World Championship: were we getting to the point that McLaren and Red Bull – like Ferrari, with Alonso – would begin to put more ‘emphasis’ on one driver? One cannot, of course, use a phrase like ‘team orders’, because they’re banned, as we all know…

Hamilton said that, in the case of McLaren, he didn’t think so. “Jenson was very unfortunate today – he’d done a fantastic job to get from fifth to second. I get the same treatment as Jenson, and that enables us both to score the maximum points we can. I don’t feel there should be any preferential treatment – the team do the best they can possibly do for each of us. There’s no more they can do…”

Webber was more enigmatic. “McLaren,” he said, “have won many championships, and they have a very good trophy cabinet. Red Bull have a good trophy cabinet, too – but not one like McLaren’s, so… it depends on how hungry we are to try and do that. I think it’s too early at the moment, but not far away. Having said that, maybe there’s a different strategy, compared with McLaren, I’m not sure…”

Given the way Vettel is clowning around at the moment, Red Bull people must surely – however, in some cases, reluctantly – accept that their most likely 2010 World Champion is 34, not 23, and from Australia, not Germany. Sebastian may be sublimely talented, but, as Jackie Stewart would say, his ‘mind management’ is all over the place, and that’s not how titles are won.

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When it was announced, in September 2009, that Ferrari had decided to terminate Kimi Räikkönen’s contract a year ahead of time, and to put Fernando Alonso in with Felipe Massa, there was no surprise in Formula 1 circles. His first season with the team (2007, when he won the World Championship) apart, Räikkönen’s time with Ferrari had undeniably fallen short of expectations – more often than not, he was outpaced by Massa, a man on a smallish fraction of his retainer.

This has been a pricey season for Ferrari, which has not only had to pay off Kimi’s contract (while he contests the World Rally Championship for Citroën), but also to stump up for Fernando, who may be earning somewhat less than Kimi did (and certainly less than Mercedes is paying Michael Schumacher), but is still at the high end of the pay scale.

I’ll admit that when Alonso’s signing was confirmed I thought it good reason for other teams to quake a little. In the two years when Fernando won the World Championship, 2005 and ’06, Schumacher was still in his pomp, yet Alonso – with Renault – beat him. Put all that talent and commitment to work at Maranello, and how could anything much go wrong? When Fernando won the opening Grand Prix, in Bahrain, it seemed to suggest a stellar season for Ferrari.

As I write, immediately before Hockenheim, that remains the team’s only victory in 2010. All season long Red Bull has had unquestionably the quickest car, but it has been by no means the most reliable – and that, whatever else, has always been one of Ferrari’s strongest suits. When Sebastian Vettel’s car faltered in Bahrain, it was Alonso and Massa who took over.

Since then, though, it has been McLaren which has benefited most from Red Bull failings – and rightly so, because its car has been consistently developed, in the traditional McLaren manner, and if the MP4-25 is not the equal of the Red Bull (particularly in qualifying), in most of the races it hasn’t been far away. Thus, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button sit first and second in the point standings.

Ferrari, meantime, has had a pretty thin season, and although Alonso has predictably outpaced Massa, one may be sure that he never envisaged, at mid-season, being only fifth in the championship, 47 points adrift of Hamilton.

In part this is because Fernando has made mistakes, which is uncharacteristic of him. There have been tangles at the first corner, an unfathomably jumped start, a shunt at Monte Carlo, which obliged him to miss qualifying and therefore start from the back – after being quickest of all in the first two practice sessions…

Many of the mistakes, I would suggest, have occurred because for a long time Alonso has necessarily been driving right at the edge in a car not truly on the pace. After an encouraging start to the season, Ferrari failed to keep pace with the developments other teams were introducing, and only in the last three races have decent innovations come through – in Montréal Fernando was right there, and only a couple of backmarkers kept him from threatening Hamilton in the late laps. In Valencia he was on Lewis’s tail, in third place, when the controversial safety car incident removed him from the reckoning. At Silverstone a drive-through penalty – also controversial – put him out of the points.

In Italy there is much talk of a crisis at Ferrari, and even speculation – misplaced, one hopes – about the future of Stefano Domenicali. Yes, the team has been through a very bad patch, but Alonso continues to insist that he can still be World Champion this year. He loves the team, and they him, but the time has come for a series of good results, and everyone knows it. I’m betting that Fernando will come on very strong through the balance of this season…

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“Not bad for a number two driver,” was Mark Webber’s cryptic comment over the radio on his victorious slowing-down lap, and thereby hung a tale.

Twenty-four hours earlier, at the post-qualifying press conference, Webber had looked like a man ready to explode, which indeed he was. Alongside him sat the pole position man, his Red Bull team-mate Sebastian Vettel, and clearly Webber felt it had not been a fair fight.

It was all a matter of wings – in particular, front wings. The team had new ones for Silverstone, but there had been time enough to manufacture only two, one for each driver. Or so Webber thought. On Saturday morning, though, Vettel’s collapsed on the Hangar Straight – ‘finger trouble’ (F1-speak for ‘human error’), apparently – and it looked like bad luck for Sebastian, for the wing was damaged beyond repair and no spare was available.

Except, of course, for the one on Webber’s car. And it was decided by the team that because Vettel was ahead of Mark in terms of championship points and position, he should have the one and only new front wing at Silverstone. Accordingly, it was transferred from Webber’s car to Vettel’s, and symbolically – if nothing else – that was highly significant, for it further fuelled the widespread belief (hotly denied by the team, of course) that Sebastian is the favoured one at Red Bull, and Mark ‘the other driver’.

Webber was livid, and none could blame him. Unsmiling, stone-faced, he suggested at the conference that, “The team had got the result it wanted…”

As we know, Webber has come through a hard school en route to the top echelons of Formula 1, and as the cars came up to the grid one almost – but not quite – felt a twinge of sympathy for the boy Vettel, who was about to experience the wrath of a team-mate who felt he had been wronged.

Having qualified second, Mark was of course on the ‘dirty’ side of the track, but at Silverstone this tends to be less of a problem than at most circuits (perhaps because of the unusually large number of support races here), and when the lights went out the second Red Bull was instantly alongside the first, Webber ignoring Vettel’s attempt to block him.

In effect, the destiny of the British Grand Prix depended on a drag race in the opening seconds, and Webber won it. At Copse, the first corner, Vettel’s problems were multiplied when his car was hit from behind by Lewis Hamilton’s McLaren: swiftly he radioed in to say he had a puncture.

Vettel came at the end of the first lap, his soft Bridgestones replaced by the harder ones – which would now, of course, have to last for an entire Grand Prix. Initially Sebastian, dead last, seemed to lose heart, but by half-distance he had come alive again, and in the end finished a good seventh, having dealt in the late laps with fellow Germans Nico Hulkenberg, Adrian Sutil and, ahem, Michael Schumacher…

After the race Webber was all smiles, of course, after one of the most satisfying races of his life, and the victory put him up to third in the World Championship, one place ahead of Vettel. Did this mean, someone asked, that if there were a ‘wing situation’ or something similar at the German Grand Prix (in two weeks’ time), he would get preferential treatment over Vettel? Mark grinned: “Dunno, mate. You’d think so, wouldn’t you…?”

Although, as expected, the Red Bulls were clearly the fastest cars at this, a circuit made for their peerless ability in ultra-quick corners, Webber allowed that he had not had an easy afternoon, Hamilton not having the car quite to challenge him, but certainly one quick enough to keep him alert. “I had no interest in anyone else in the race,” said Mark. “All I wanted was the pitboards giving me the gap to Lewis…”

Hamilton reckoned his qualifying lap, good for fourth on the grid, to have been probably the best of his life, which is saying something. McLaren looked to be in real trouble during practice on Friday, with the team’s new exhaust-blown diffuser (due originally to make its debut at Hockenheim) not producing the results anticipated. That evening it was decided to drop it for this weekend, and put the cars back to original specification. But still they didn’t look like front-runners, and Hamilton’s fourth best time – Jenson Button was back in 14^th – was heroic, as indeed was his drive on race day. Button, for his part, also drove a fine race and came up to fourth, sandwiched between Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes and Rubens Barrichello’s ever-improving Williams-Cosworth.

Before the race it looked unlikely that anyone would offer a serious challenge to Red Bull, and so it proved, but the man apparently closest to Vettel and Webber on pace was Fernando Alonso, as usual comfortably faster than his Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa.

Alonso, though, made a poor start, dropping instantly from third to fifth place, demoted by Rosberg and Robert Kubica’s Renault, and there he stayed until the tyre stops. The revisions to Silverstone went down better with some drivers than others, but all concluded that, sadly, they offered nothing in terms of more overtaking opportunities.

Later, in a scrap with Kubica, Alonso somewhat unavoidably cut a corner, and in so doing got ahead of the Renault driver, after which he should have given the position back. By the time the stewards reached a decision that he should be penalised – with a ‘drive-through’ – Kubica had already retired, and instead of losing just one position Alonso lost a great many. Most considered the stewards’ decision harsh, and afterwards Fernando was so angry that he refused to be interviewed. With precisely four points from the last two races, Ferrari – while pretty good on pace – is having a thin time of it just now.

Webber, so far the only driver to win three races this year, glowed with delight afterwards. Had this been a case of poetic justice? “Well,” he grinned, “maybe there’s a bloke upstairs every now and then… I made a good start, and I was… very keen to make it my corner, let’s put it that way.

“I wasn’t massively in favour of what happened yesterday, with the front wing thing – to be honest, I would never have signed a new contract for next year if I’d believed that was the way things were going to be. Let’s just see how it goes in the future. I’ll just keep doing what I’m doing, and hopefully it’s enough.”

And now comes Germany…

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As the 2010 Grand Prix season beckons, most of my acquaintance are agreed that it’s been a very long time since we anticipated a year with such relish. Schumacher back… Alonso at Ferrari… Button with Hamilton at McLaren… four World Champions in the pack… the prospect of four highly competitive teams… All right, we have lost BMW and Toyota (after Honda), and one or two of the new teams look more than a little flaky, but overall the prospects are indeed enticing.

It’s interesting that, when forecasting the likely World Champion, most seem to be choosing between Schumacher, Hamilton, Alonso and Vettel – to be focusing, in other words, on one driver in each of the four top teams.

There’s no denying that, in the normal course of events, within a team one driver tends to assert his superiority over the group, to become the de facto number one, even if this is not officially acknowledged. And it’s a fact, too, that Michael, Lewis, Fernando and Sebastian have all shown themselves to be very keen on this thing of having the team revolve primarily around them. But I wonder if it’s going to be as clear-cut as some imagine.

Consider the ‘other’ driver in each team: Rosberg (Mercedes), Button (McLaren), Massa (Ferrari) and Webber (Red Bull). Of these only Nico has yet to win a Grand Prix, but then he has never – until now – had the car to enable him to do so. Shout me down if you will, but I have a suspicion that he will show a great deal better against Schuey than most appear to believe. Although Ross Brawn presided over a Ferrari team that for years clearly favoured Michael, he has publicly said that such will not be the situation at Mercedes.

Over at McLaren, Martin Whitmarsh has said the same about Hamilton and Button – and, again, I expect the performance gap between them to be far less than some suggest.

On to Ferrari. While I believe Alonso to be the best driver in the world, don’t forget that Massa – fully recovered – largely dominated Kimi Räikkönen, and came within a Toyota dry tyre of winning the 2008 World Championship. Felipe is cowed by no one these days, and quite right, too.

Finally, there is Red Bull: Bernie Ecclestone has predicted that Vettel will win the championship this year, and that’s not the silliest thing he has ever said, for Sebastian is prodigiously talented, with ambition to match.

I do, however, think it would be a great mistake to underestimate Webber. Because he’s in his thirties, and has been around a while, Mark is sometimes overlooked, but remember that last year he won twice – and that included a sound defeat of Vettel in Germany. Webber is Trulli-quick over one lap, and in a race no one fights harder. Twelve months ago he began the season with virtually no testing behind him, legacy of the badly broken leg sustained the previous autumn, but he never moaned about the discomfort, put up with his team-mate’s occasional tantrums, and simply put his head down and got on with it. I’m sure he will do the same in 2010.

Four top teams, then – but there are more than four drivers in the mix, and that’s what makes the forthcoming season so mouth-watering. And I’d add a final thought: if Renault comes up with competitive package, expect Robert Kubica – as talented as there is – to be in the thick of it.

If pushed, my money would be on Alonso for the title – but I’m not sure I’d bet very much…

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Renault – in more ways than one – has had a poor time of it in Formula 1 over the last couple of years. True, Fernando Alonso returned to the team, after a single season with McLaren, but even the world’s best driver can do little with a fundamentally uncompetitive car, and although Alonso invariably gave 100 per cent (for that is his way), he won only two races in two seasons – and one of those was the controversial affair at Singapore in 2008. His victory in the next race, at Fuji, was from the top drawer, but there were to be no more, and in ’09 Fernando really struggled, his Renault frankly nowhere near the pace.

As he left for Ferrari, so Robert Kubica – on the market following BMW’s withdrawal – took his place, but through the late months of last year rumours abounded that Renault, too, might follow the lead of Honda, Toyota and BMW, and disappear from F1. Theoretically, therefore, Kubica might have been on the street once more – and, frankly, I was surprised that during that period any team signed any driver before being certain of Robert’s situation.

For my money, he is one of the top four drivers in F1, and some go further than that. His close pal Alonso has said he considers him the best, while even Lewis Hamilton has – privately – admitted that Kubica is the driver he most fears.

When Renault announced that, while the team would be continuing under the same name, a considerable chunk of it had been sold, Kubica declared that he now considered himself free to walk, should he choose to do so. After being reassured that it would remain a serious F1 operation, he said he would remain – but his original contract was for one season only, and there has been speculation that he could well join Alonso at Ferrari in 2011.

It could be that Kubica will have a frustrating time of it – again – this year, but still it astonishes me that when pundits consider the prospects for the coming season, frequently they omit to mention him. In all probability, this is because they do not expect very much from Renault, but if the car is even half-decent expect to see Robert in there, pitching. He might not look the part as much as some, but potentially this is a great Grand Prix driver.

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Much has been written about Nelson Piquet Jr’s deliberate accident at the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, which, lest anyone has forgotten, precipitated a safety car period, which in turn created a situation that handed the race on a plate to Piquet’s Renault team-mate Fernando Alonso.

It was, by general consent, an appalling happening, and draconian punishments were forecast and – in some cases, anyway – duly handed down. Flavio Briatore was banned from motor racing for life, and Pat Symonds for five years; Renault, the company, got away with a suspended ban (i.e. nothing) and Piquet himself – said by many to have been the instigator of the idea – got not even that, having been granted immunity for turning in his ex-colleagues when the moment suited him (i.e. when he had been fired, and had a powerful thirst for revenge to slake).

“The worst example of cheating I’ve ever known,” commented Stirling Moss at the time, and few would take issue with him. What Piquet et al did that day was to cause an accident with the intention of gaining from it, right?

Right. And all sorts of things – some of them a touch hysterical, in my opinion – were said about the danger, the risk involved, both to Piquet and to other drivers, marshals and so on. I’m not attempting to play down the gravity of the offence, but the incident occurred at the exit of a slow corner, and the Renault finished up flush with the inside wall, well off the line. It was not nothing, by any means, but nor – to my eyes, anyway – was it quite the potential catastrophe described by some.

Now let’s go back a couple of years before the Singapore incident, to Monaco in 2006, to the dying seconds of the final qualifying session. Michael Schumacher had the all-important pole position, but feared that Alonso, out on the circuit and going for it, was going to beat him. Therefore, in the most cack-handed manner imaginable, Schumacher contrived to ‘have an accident’ at Rascasse, thereby blocking the track, so as to thwart Alonso.

Why cack-handed? Well, for a start because it wasn’t even vaguely believable. Michael came into the corner off the pace, and off his normal line. He then put the brakes on hard, locked up – and stopped, a couple of feet from the barrier. As Keke Rosberg said at the time, “Jesus, he could at least have knocked the nose off…” The Ferrari was completely undamaged.

Outrage in the paddock was extreme, and the stewards announced that they would investigate. Who knows why, but it was late that evening before they concluded that Schumacher should be… not banned for life or for five years or even for one race. No, he would start from the back of the grid. Wow! Was that hard-hitting or what? On race day he duly came through to fifth place, and four points.

Now, was what Michael did greatly different from what happened in Singapore? Was not the intention the same in both cases – namely, deliberately to ‘have an accident’ in the hope of benefiting from it? All right, Schumacher didn’t actually hit anything, but his car was in the middle of the road, engine dead, and a carambolage could have occurred behind it.

Perhaps his sin wasn’t as great as Piquet’s, but still he cheated with thoughts of gain in mind (and not for the first time, either). Of course the argument was that Michael’s action wasn’t planned, wasn’t preconceived. Probably so, but it didn’t keep him from spotting an opportunity, and deciding instantly to act upon it. And the discrepancy in the punishments handed out for the two ‘crimes’ seems to me more than a touch absurd.

None argued Schumacher’s case more trenchantly than Jean Todt, but he was then of course a Ferrari man, doing right by his team and thinking of nothing else. Now he is the president of the FIA, and the hope must be that now the interests of ‘the sport’ are uppermost in his mind. On the face of it, sundry announcements made in the wake of December’s World Motor Sport Council meeting give cause for optimism – not least those proposing fundamental changes in the way FIA stewards conduct themselves at a Grand Prix. A most encouraging start to the new regime in Paris, I thought.

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During the course of an interview with the BBC last Saturday, Mr Ecclestone invited us to consult a dictionary to check the meaning of the word ‘conspiracy’.

For those of you who either missed the interview, or failed to take up the invitation, allow me to clarify the definition of this word. A conspiracy is ‘a secret plan to carry out an illegal or harmful act, especially with political motivation’.

You will have guessed that the word, recently much-used by the media, came up in the context of what has become known, by the media at least, as ‘Crashgate’. You will decide for yourselves whether or not the unusual strategy employed by the Renault team at Singapore in 2008 was, in fact, a conspiracy. Certainly it was a secret, it might well have been harmful, and the motivation could be seen as political in the broadest sense of the word. But whether or not it was illegal is open to debate. The FIA, and the World Motor Sport Council, would undoubtedly see it that way. A civil court of law would probably have difficulty in establishing that an illegal act had been committed.

I mention this for two reasons. Mr Ecclestone, as is his prerogative as the public face of sport’s commercial rights holder, stoutly and oh-so-cleverly defended the FIA’s decision not to ban Renault from taking any further part in Grand Prix racing while at the same time suggesting that Mr Briatore’s lifetime ban was perhaps, and upon reflection, a little harsh. “You don’t get that for murder,” said Bernie. Well no, you don’t. And nobody died. But what is slightly worrying is that neither Mr Ecclestone, nor Mr Mosley, appeared to accept that the sport had suffered any serious damage as a result of the controversy

Some might beg to differ. Among those, presumably, are the senior executives of ING, the Dutch financial conglomerate.

While on the subject of conspiracy, it was surely a mighty relief to many, if not to Romain Grosjean, when the number eight Renault was safely parked in its garage after just three laps. The brake problems encountered in qualifying had not been solved. The prospect of Alonso’s team-mate visiting the wall during the course of the race was surely too awful to contemplate. A relief all round then.

The Singapore Grand Prix may not have been the most exciting motor race you’ve ever seen, but it was without a major controversial incident. Furthermore, it was a spectacular occasion and the grandstands were full. Not only that, but we saw Lewis Hamilton at his majestic best, the renaissance of McLaren gathering speed, and the silver MP24 looking superb under three million watts of street lights. Not to mention Toyota in the top three, just a week before Suzuka, and Jenson Button taking one more small step towards becoming the 2009 World Champion. And, last but not least, the BMW team admitting to a mistake with the ballast weights and taking a penalty on the chin.

All we need now is for Mr Button to triumph in Japan and return home with the biggest prize of them all. Just as, all those years ago, we crawled out of bed at dawn and sat nervously in front of our televisions to see James Hunt come through the mist and rain to win his world title. I do not wish to be overly patriotic, but this would surely be the right result for a team and driver that have achieved extraordinary things this past season.

We have had more than enough conspiracy, however it may be defined. Albert Einstein is credited with saying that the only reason for time is so that everything doesn’t happen at once. I think we’d all agree that more than enough has been said, and the dents will only be beaten out with time. For now, we should sit back and enjoy what looks like being a very intriguing and exciting end to the season.

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Lewis Hamilton (1st)
Even though both Vettel and Rosberg put pressure on him at different points during the Grand Prix, you got the feeling that Hamilton was driving at nine-10ths the whole way through. He had time to have a quick chat with his pitcrew and to reboot his KERS early on by pressing ‘Default X 3 0’, whatever that meant. All this while negotiating a street circuit in 30-degree heat; a quite superb and dominant win. 10/10

Timo Glock (2nd)
“This was a podium in the right moment for us,” said Glock during the post-race press conference. Oh, and how right he is. The Toyota Formula 1 team desperately needed a good result to show the board of directors that the programme is worthwhile. Although he gained a place when Webber let him through the car was good, but Glock produced the drive of the day. I suggest his career prospects have brightened somewhat. 10/10

Fernando Alonso (3rd)
His team-mate might not have helped him this time, but the Spaniard needed little aid in getting to the podium. If Rosberg and Vettel hadn’t had their penalties then he wouldn’t have finished there, but as they say, that’s racing. ‘Mr (self-proclaimed) Consistent’ once again produced a result, which is exactly what Renault need at this moment in time. 8/10

Sebastian Vettel (4th)
Vettel must be pondering what could’ve been after receiving a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pitlane. He was up there with Hamilton before his car started to fall to pieces. Running wide over a kerb stripped some of the diffuser from his Red Bull, while a vibration took one of his mirrors. His championship prospects aren’t dead, but they’re not looking too healthy either. 8/10

Jenson Button (5th)
A disastrous qualifying lap in Q2 meant he didn’t even make it to Q3, so in view of that he did a great job in the race. His laps during the second bout of pitstops were worthy of a World Champion, but once again the Brit was let off the hook somewhat. Finishing one place ahead of team-mate and chief title rival Barrichello and one behind Vettel left him a very happy man. Phew. 7/10

Rubens Barrichello (6th)
He may have crashed in qualifying, but Barrichello looked on the pace. It wasn’t until Button produced his Schumacher-style laps over the second phase of pitstops that he lost his edge. It could have been worse, although championship-wise he now needs to rely on his team-mate having a couple of DNFs, which is never a great situation to be in. Not that Button has looked unshakeable under pressure… (6.5/10)

Heikki Kovalainen (7th)
At Monza the Finn went some way to ensuring that the team won’t sign him for next season. He was stronger in this race, but his team-mate won and never looked like being caught – something that won’t have gone unnoticed by McLaren’s management. It’s sad that Kovalainen probably won’t be with the team in 2010, as he has shown glimpses of blistering speed this season. But that’s not enough to keep you in this sport. 6/10

Robert Kubica (8th)
So BMW is pulling out due to financial reasons, but it’s still spending money on developing the car until the end of the season? Yes, it’s a weird situation, I’m sure you’ll agree, but Kubica won’t be complaining – anything that helps him score a World Championship point will be more than welcome. A solid race from the Pole, and oh how we’d like to see him in a competitive car. 7/10

Kazuki Nakajima (9th)
Another good performance from Nakajima, but again – much like Kovalainen – it has to be viewed in terms of his team-mate being up at the front (initially). One has to wonder where his future lies if Williams decides not to continue with Toyota next year. Still, the Japanese driver is not renowned for keeping it on the black stuff, so he did well to have a clean race at a track as unforgiving as Singapore. 5/10

Kimi Räikkönen (10th)
Ferrari’s lack of development is finally hurting the Finn with 10th place ending his recent run of strong results. He didn’t make a great start despite his KERS advantage and failed to do anything particularly special during the race. He didn’t do anything wrong, however, and stayed clear of the walls unlike last year. I fear the high-grip circuits are going to hurt the Scuderia in the last part of this season. 6/10

Nico Rosberg (11th)
If Vettel is asking himself what could’ve been, then Rosberg must be screaming it. He looked like a real challenger for Hamilton, before running wide over the white line on the exit of the pitlane and ruining his race. The fact that he took his drive-through penalty just after a safety car period meant he dropped to the back of the field. He didn’t stop racing though, which was a delight to see. 8/10

Jarno Trulli (12th)
The fact that he hasn’t got a drive with Toyota for next year could well be sapping the Italian of some motivation. He never looked like matching his team-mate’s pace throughout the race. It was a fairly quiet hour and 56 minutes for Trulli, and fairly disappointing at that. Qualifying 15th and finishing 12th in view of the various retirements will no doubt leave him with a sour taste in his mouth – more of a Singapore flunk than a Singapore Sling. 5/10

Giancarlo Fisichella (13th)
Fisichella may well be having second thoughts about his decision to move to Ferrari, as I doubt he realised just how different a KERS-equipped car would be to drive. This coupled with a circuit surrounded by walls was a harsh ‘welcome to the real world’ after his Monza debut. Still, it could be worse – Badoer could still be in the car. 4/10

Vitantonio Liuzzi (14th)
It was more of the same from Liuzzi, who impressed so much at Monza. He admitted before this race that his Italian form would be hard to carry over to the streets of Singapore. But he kept his nose clean, which is more than can be said for his team-mate… 5/10

Jaime Alguersuari (15th – RET)
He was sliding about so much that it looked like he was running on Historic Dunlops for most of the race, but hats off to him for not sliding off. He blotted his copybook, however, when he exited his pit with the fuel hosestill attached. The lollipop hadn’t even moved, so there was no one to blame but himself. Eventually retired with brake problems. 3/1

Sebastien Buemi (16th – RET)
Buemi looked quick at the start of the weekend and was even bold enough to say “it’s good to be back in the top 10”. But after qualifying in 14th, he had little chance to impress in the race. Running wide to let Räikkönen through preceded several trips to the pits to refuel (due to a faulty second fuel rig – his team-mate having comprehensively damaged the first one) and he finally retired with gearbox problems. A weekend to forget for everyone at Toro Rosso. 4/10

Mark Webber (17th – RET)
Never really on the pace all weekend, and then his brakes decided to pack up and go home early, leaving him in a tyre barrier, which was a fairly good effort considering 99 per cent of the circuit is surrounded by walls. His team might not have such a big repair job on its hands, but both he and Red Bull will be disappointed that his title hopes are gone. 6/10

Adrian Sutil (18th – RET)
Ran well until a spin, in which his car was undamaged. However he then collided with Heidfeld while trying to get going again. Sutil was able to get back to the pits, but retired soon after. 3/10

Nick Heidfeld (19th – RET)
See above… Heidfeld had a solid race but his hopes for a good result were dashed by Sutil. He received a 15-place grid penalty after his car was found to be short of ballast, so he did well to work his way up the field on a track where overtaking is nigh-on impossible. 6/10

Romain Grosjean (20th – RET)
Brake problems ended Grosjean’s race after only three laps. He summed it up better than I ever could with a very French shrug. 2/10

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Another Grand Prix and another win for Button. He may have lost a place to team-mate Barrichello at the start, but the Brit got his head down and gave us another remarkable display of driving and getting the most out of the car and tyres. A large shunt at the beginning finished Trulli’s, Fisichella’s, Sutil’s, Bourdais’ and Buemi’s race but the other talking point of the afternoon was just how wrong it all went for Ferrari. Again.

Here’s how they all stacked up…

Jenson Button (1^st)
On finishing the race, just before going onto the podium Button asks “sorry, where do I go”? A sign of just how many times the Brit has visited the podium in Barcelona. Another great day, even though he lost first place to Barrichello at the start, he proved that when a driver is at the top of their game nothing can stop them. Or indeed go wrong – he crossed the start/finish line 1.6secs before the end of the Q3 session to start his flying lap that got him pole. Changing to a two-stop strategy in the race (rather than three) certainly helped. 9.5/10

Rubens Barrichello (2^nd)
“I don’t know how I lost that race man.” He was quicker than Button throughout the weekend (bar Button’s stunning qualifying lap) and humbled the Brit at the start. However, he couldn’t get his tyres to work in the second and third stints meaning that almost certain victory slipped through his hands. A good sign for Brawn though when one of their drivers is disappointed with second. If he can’t pin Button back in the next few GPs it’ll be like Ferrari all over again where he had to play second fiddle to Schumacher for so long. 7/10

Mark Webber (3^rd)
He’s so far been outclassed by his team-mate Vettel this year and this weekend looked to be going along the same depressing lines for the Australian. As soon as he tussled with Alonso in the opening stint though we knew we were watching a man on a mission. A great drive and one which heralded receiving the ‘Drive of the Day’ award from Coulthard. Anyone else notice how he always backs the Red Bull drivers? Funny old world… 9/10

Sebastian Vettel (4^th)
Tipped by Coulthard to win the race. The German’s afternoon effectively ended when Massa ‘KERSed’ him off the line. If Red Bull need any information on the Ferrari rear-end though, I’m sure Vettel will be able to tell them exactly what it looks like after staring at it for an hour and a half. 6/10

Fernando Alonso (5^th)
All he had to do was overtake a back marker and the crowd would erupt. Which is exactly what they did when he fortuitously took fifth in the dying laps when Massa had to slow because of a lack of fuel. Probably would have won if he was being powered by the support for him during the weekend. As luck would have it, he was in a Renault and was lucky just to get points. Solid drive. But that’s the least we expect from him… 7/10

Felipe Massa (6^th)
Ferrari has certainly improved ­– the car that is rather than their general running of the team – but I suggest Massa flattered them somewhat today. A catastrophic error in the final pitstop meant that he didn’t have enough fuel to finish the race, so had to give up fourth to Vettel and then fifth to Alonso. Only managed to keep Vettel behind him for that long though thanks to KERS. At least his car didn’t come to a grinding halt. Ah, of course it did, it ran out of fuel just before the end. 7/10

Nick Heidfeld (7^th)
A pretty quiet race for Heidfeld although he did well to keep Räikkönen behind him in the opening stages. The BMW is faster, but definitely not fast enough. Had the measure of Kubica though. When you drive reasonably well, only 14 cars finish, you’re in a car that was fighting for the World Championship up until the last few races the season before and you don’t even get a point you’ve got to struggle to see the point of it all. 6/10

Nico Rosberg (8^th)
Continues to excel in Friday practice, but that doesn’t really help a team get points on the board. Could be worse, he could have a team-mate who pushed him more… Good, long first stint though after punting Trulli off on the first lap. 6/10

Lewis Hamilton (9^th)
“What did you feel when Jenson Button lapped you near the end of the Grand Prix?” Hamilton, deadpan face: “nothing”. I very much doubt that Mr Hamilton. It must have felt like one last kick in the tender area after another weekend of having no grip whatsoever. This season is going to feel as long as 2008 was exciting for the current World Champion. 5.5/10

Timo Glock (10^th)
Qualified well but just slipped further and further back in the race. He out-drove Trulli, but only because his team-mate’s race ended on the first lap. An afternoon Glock will want to forget. If Hamilton is as unhappy as he is with ninth then Glock in a Toyota – which, lest we forget, is supposed to be one of the fastest cars in 2009 ­– finishing behind him must be as painful as being stuck with a Toyota Prius as a courtesy road car (I’m sure he has something a lot more interesting). 4.5/10

Robert Kubica (11^th)
He’s never sought out the limelight and even when he was battling for the World Championship last year he was quiet. Now though, he looks positively rock star noisy last year compared to how he is now. We know he’s one of the most naturally quick drivers on the grid, but you might as well put him in a soapbox at the moment judging by how fast the BMW is. An improvement, but an improvement to 11^th can’t put his mind too much at ease. 5/10

Nelson Piquet (12^th)
Crasher Piquet didn’t crash, and drove a solid – if uninspiring race – to finish where he did. However, it does look as though he’s happy to just coast round the track, but with Alonso – one of the most exciting and aggressive F1 drivers around – as team-mate, he isn’t going to look like Senna is he? The last two races haven’t been bad, but his likely replacement, Romain Grosjean, only went and took pole, a race victory and a second place in the GP2 round this weekend. News about as welcome as a kick to the head you feel. 5/10

Kazuki Nakajima (13^th)
‘Copy’ and ‘paste’ first sentence of Piquet’s report here. Pitted early after contact at the start, rejoined at the back, but drove a long, solid second stint to move up the order. End of the day though, he finished in 13^th. With only 14 runners at the end of the race. 4/10

Giancarlo Fisichella (14^th)
Qualified last, and was last in the race (out of the finishers). The Force India is not the fastest car out on the track at the moment – quite the opposite in fact – but you have to ask yourself whether the Italian is the right man to push this team forward. Personally, I think this is his last season. Here’s hoping he can go out with a bang. I.e. points, not an explosion. 3/10

Kimi Räikkönen (15^th – RET)
Some say he lacks motivation, but how can you have any motivation when your team doesn’t persuade you to set another time in Q1, to make sure you make it into Q2? Out he went in Q1, and then started the race complaining that his KERS wasn’t working. He seemed to be all the better for it though after making up six places in the opening racing laps. Oh, and he also couldn’t see the lights at the start because the new rear wings are so big. All this then his car came to a grinding halt on lap 18. You could argue that he should have made the call to go back out in Q1 but when you have this much bad luck on race day it doesn’t really matter at all. A sentiment I am sure Raikkonen shares. 6/10 (for making up places at the start) 1/10 (Ferrari’s management of the Finn) 10/10 (for bad luck)

Heikki Kovalainen (16^th – RET)
It wasn’t a day for the Finns was it? A lacklustre qualifying performance followed by gearbox failure. He seems very relaxed for a man that has been completely outperformed by his team-mate this season, even if he has admittedly only finished two races thanks to a healthy dose of bad luck. 3/10

Jarno Trulli (17^th – RET)
Nudged off by Rosberg at the start and then rejoined the track, facing sideways. Cue a pile up that took out all the drivers below. A racing incident but not what Toyota need. 1/10

Sébastien Buemi (18^th – RET)
Taken out on lap one. 1/10

Sébastien Bourdais (19^th – RET)
Taken out on lap one. 1/10 (Level of anguish at Toro Rosso after both cars need collecting on a truck after not even completing one lap? 10/10)

Adrian Sutil (20^th – RET)
Went wide at turn one, only to rejoin the track at turn two, into Trulli. Not really his fault but when you don’t even make it round one turn successfully… 0/10

On an unrelated note, did anyone notice that the podium looked quite, umm, ‘old’ this weekend? Button, Barrichello, Webber… A combined age of 97 must be some sort of a record in recent years.

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The Chinese Grand Prix was another soaking affair, yet this weekend it wasn’t Brawn GP scoring a one-two but Red Bull. Sebastian Vettel, who proved his prowess in the wet at last year’s Italian Grand Prix, once again drove faultlessly to score a maiden victory for the team.

1st: Sebastian Vettel
Having put his car on pole the German managed to keep the Brawns at bay and, despite atrocious conditions and safety cars, he drove brilliantly to his second career win. Escaped serious damage after Toro Rosso’s Buemi drove into the back of him, which goes to show just how much luck can play a part when it’s that wet. 9/10

2nd: Mark Webber
A career best for Webber who, although he was outdriven by his team-mate, managed to keep his car on the track – most of the time – and battled well with Button’s Brawn. 8/10

3rd: Jenson Button
Complained of severe grip problems after not getting any heat into the tyres, which meant that at some points he was weaving down the straight. Another solid race for Button, whose smooth style is just what’s needed when it’s this wet. A few mistakes, but overall a good weekend. 8/10

4th: Rubens Barrichello
Even though he has yet to outclass his team-mate in a Grand Prix this season Barrichello drove a solid, if a little uneventful, race. 7/10

5th: Heikki Kovalainen
Unlike Hamilton, Kovalainen drove a mature race and kept his car on the black stuff. Even if he didn’t have the speed that his team-mate showed on occasion, he will be satisfied with completing more than one lap of a Grand Prix, something that must have been starting to worry him a little. 7/10

6th: Lewis Hamilton
Got his car into Q3 for the first time this season and started well from ninth, storming through the field to fifth, only to spin off. He stormed through the field again, and then span off again… While he showed blistering pace his driving style means he doesn’t always conserve his tyres well. He complained of losing all grip on his front left after five laps, but he must accept some of the blame for that. Well done for pushing hard though – he had nothing to lose after all… 5/10

7th: Timo Glock
After starting 19th on the grid Glock drove smartly up the field, only for a clash with Heidfeld on lap 13 to delay him. He recovered well and despite meandering off course on a few occasions – something that you have to forgive drivers in weather like this – he clawed his way back up again. Although he is yet to do something spectacular, something tells me that he has a bright future ahead. 7/10

8th: Sebastien Buemi
The only rookie on the grid had a brilliant race, challenging Vettel for the drive of the day. He was lucky to escape after hitting the back of Vettel (who had slowed under yellow to avoid passing the car in front, which he thought was Barrichello but was in fact Trulli) but recovered well to another points-scoring finish. 8/10

9th: Fernando Alonso
Having put his car second on the grid with a light fuel load, the team decided to pull him in early after only seven laps – when the safety car was still out. He rejoined at the very back and with a full tank of fuel and zero visibility he struggled to work his way through the field. The Renault, however, was hardly the car of the day. Eventually made up ground, but a spin late meant he missed out on points when he was starting to show some real pace. 7/10

10th: Kimi Räikkönen
The Finn had real problems finding any grip at all and seemed to be going backwards at times. His team-mate had no such problems, but Räikkönen’s lack of speed was such that Hamilton overtook him on numerous occasions before spinning off again. Although he was classed fourth at one point he never worked his way back up the field after pitting. 5/10

11th: Sébastien Bourdais
His rookie team-mate showed that the Toro Rosso was one of the cars to have in the wet conditions, but Bourdais never looked like setting the world alight and spun so often that he never kept position. 5/10

12th: Nick Heidfeld
After a good start Heidfeld took over Webber’s mantel of the ‘unluckiest man of the day’, aquaplaning off the track, colliding with Glock on lap 13 and then being hit by one of Sutil’s wheels from the wreckage of his crash and losing four places as a result. 6/10

13th: Robert Kubica
Trulli was going so slowly it was inevitable that someone would drive into the back of him, and that someone was Kubica. The replacement wing fitted after that clash eventually worked loose, so he lost even more time pitting again. Kubica is a great driver but has had little to shout about so far this season – I suspect BMW will struggle to hold onto him if it can’t start to find some extra pace somewhere. 6/10

14th: Giancarlo Fisichella
Fisichella spent much of his time finding his way back onto the track and suffered severe graining problems with his tyres. Another sedate race for a man who can’t afford to keep being outdriven by his team-mate. 4/10

15th: Nico Rosberg
A day to forget for Rosberg who complained of severe visibility problems – something I would have thought most of the grid was suffering with… He did drive well, when he could see, but never really looked set to challenge. A late gamble on intermediates was a real long shot, but you’ve got to admire him for a least taking a punt. 5/10

16th: Nelsinho Piquet
Another dreadful day for Piquet. Again hugely outclassed by Alonso in qualifying and the race. He had to stop twice for a new nose after two huge spins and really doesn’t seem to have any positives to take away from the weekend. Another few races like this and his seat may not be safe for the rest of this season, let alone in 2010. 2/10

17th: Adrian Sutil
A good performance from the German, who was looking at a points finish until a spin and a big impact ended his race on lap 51. Another very disappointing outcome following a good strategy by the Force India team and a good drive. 6/10

18th: Kazuki Nakajima
Although he was unlucky to retire with transmission problems, he didn’t exactly make a huge impact when he was ‘on’ the track. Numerous spins and off-track excursions meant this was another weekend to forget. 4/10

19th: Felipe Massa
If Räikkönen’s speed was any measure of how fast the Ferrari was in these conditions, then Massa drove an absolute blinder. The Brazilian – often criticised for only being able to drive a good race from pole, or for not being able to drive in the wet (please see Silverstone 2008) – proved his critics wrong. A real shame that an electrical problem robbed him of his first points in 2009. 8/10

20th: Jarno Trulli
The Italian really struggled in the wet, complaining that he couldn’t get any grip and only lasted 13 laps before Kubica ploughed into the back of him. 5/10

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Like a bird on the back of a buffalo, I am watching my little world move around me.

Life can be like baseball, or perhaps that should be cricket where I come from. You take what is thrown at you. And just when you think you’re on a home run…

It’s been a funny old week, both in real life and in motor racing. There I was, packing my bags for Sebring, when the family chief mechanic tells me he doesn’t like the look of something and packs me off to the workshop, where a very nice man takes it away and tells me to take it easy. I’m not very good at that.

Not a big deal, but no Sebring. So of course I tried to follow the race on the TV teletext service. Nothing, not a word, and ditto in the Sunday newspapers. But – having removed a sleeping cat from atop the laptop – the excellent Audi website brought news of a great victory for the new R15. That made my weekend, even though I missed a terrific race. Roll on Le Mans. Could be a cracker.

On top of all this both our cars failed the MOT test. My little Renault needs a new rear seat belt “receptor” and her bigger sister needs new brakes. New brakes? Have you ever heard of a modern car needing new brakes after 30,000 miles? No, nor have I. From here on in, Team Widdows is taking its Renaults to the local garage up the road. There we will find friendly mechanics and a lot less creative accounting.

On top of all this a Williams driven by Nakajima goes fastest on the last day of testing at Jerez. Can the car really be this good? Or are the others holding back? Tune in on Saturday to find out. And, just in case you can’t keep up with all the shenanigans, the World Champion this year will be the driver with the most points. And I think that’s a good decision. Meanwhile, how many teams will protest the new Brawn GP car once they get to Melbourne? All of them, probably.

Some things never change.

Hanging on the telephone earlier this week, listening interminably to that dreadful phrase “your call is important to us”, I realised that nearly a quarter of this year has gone by. Before we know it, we’ll have results instead of predictions. We will know what’s what and who, if anyone, has got the jump.

Win or lose, I wager that Fernando Alonso won’t need new discs, pads, hubs and heaven knows what else after a few laps. Oh yes, and they charge for washer fluid these days too. The coffee, taken in a deserted showroom, is free.

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So here we are in Istanbul, Turkey. The sun isn’t quite shining, but it certainly looks like we’ll be in for a good race on Sunday – this being one of the Formula 1 tracks where it is actually possible to overtake.

As expected the Ferraris seem to be roughly half a second quicker than the McLarens. Although the times are much closer than that, the long runs suggest that the Scuderia’s cars do hold a clear advantage. As for Hamilton‘s time in P2, well… he went out right at the end and completed just the one flying lap so who knows how much fuel he had in.

The Renaults showed that their pace in Barcelona wasn’t a one-off with two strong sessions from Alonso and it’s good to see Red Bull up in the top 5. Webber clipped the grass early on in the second session which sent his car spinning into the barrier. The Australian was unhurt but the armco certainly did a pretty good job of short-wheel basing the car.

As for the rest, Kovalainen seemed to have left his sense of self-preservation in the hospital, as he was straight back on the pace. A quite remarkable feat considering he suffered a 26G crash less than two weeks ago. The BMWs don’t seem to be as close to McLaren as they have been promising but, as I said before, the practice times can be a little misleading.

So predictions for the Grand Prix on Sunday? Short of a breakdown or moment of madness from Raikkonen or Massa, the Ferraris look as though they could take another 1-2. As for the last place on the podium, I would have thought that both Hamilton and Kovalainen have the pace to take it.

Having bad mouthed the ITV F1 live feed the other week, I am pleased to say that it is vastly improved. Last time I watched something on there I spent an hour and a half staring at a frozen screen with snippets of flying laps sped up a hundred times so that the ‘feed’ could catch up again. However, its gremlins seem to be cured and you can now sit back and soak up the sound of the V8s. Whether this was down to me and my blog, I very much doubt, but it is now a pretty good place to catch the practice sessions.

Practice 1

Practice 2

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So the European season has begun. Almost all 22 cars completed the two Friday practices without incident and the Ferraris look like they are the pace setters at the moment. The Scuderia occupied the top two spots in the opening practice and were just under half a second quicker than Hamilton. Massa managed (after I had said that his ‘moments’ would become less frequent from Bahrain onwards) to spin twice, once at the chicane on his flying lap and then on the exit of turn 8 later on in the first practice.

The most interesting part of the two opening practice sessions? Well in the first, a second covered the first 4 cars and in the second, it covered a quite remarkable 12 cars. Indeed, if you ignore the Super Aguris, all the cars were within two seconds of Räikkönen’s fastest time. It may surprise you even more that in the second Friday practice in the French Grand Prix last year, the top 15 cars set times within 1 second of each other. And they say Formula 1 isn’t interesting…

On the subject of Super Aguris, it is great to see them on track as up until today they were still in talks with Honda over whether or not they could actually compete this weekend. With the rule changes next year, the Japanese manufacturer has made it quite clear that they aren’t prepared to keep shelling out inordinate amounts of money to keep Aguri Suzuki afloat. After one possible backer dropped out at the last minute the team is again looking for a sponsor. Let’s hope that they find one otherwise this may well be one of the last times we see them on the Grand Prix circuit.

I was actually quite surprised to see them leave the garage this morning as competing over a race weekend amounts to what us mere mortals would consider a cash bonfire. Of course, they don’t want to miss out on the money they receive for competing in a Grand Prix.

As for the rest… The Renaults certainly looked quick in the second session but watching the onboard footage it looked as though both drivers were pushing pretty hard. Whether they can keep that sort of pace up over the whole weekend, I doubt. Force India, after saying mid-week that they are ready to get into Q3, have taken another step forward with strong finishes in the second session.

Whether all the teams were actually trying to set quick times, I am not convinced. I suggest that the Ferraris are going to be hard to beat come Sunday and the McLarens seem to have the edge over the BMWs for the time being.

The good news for all of you is that Nigel Roebuck is getting ready to write his first www.motorsportmagazine.co.uk Grand Prix Report and will share his views with us, here, after the race on Sunday. For a far more insightful and interesting read… log back on, Sunday evening and go via the ‘Grand Prix Reports’ link on the homepage to read it.

Practice 1

Practice 2

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For the first time I decided to watch the two practice sessions on the ITV site with their ‘live feed’. This was, without a doubt, my worst Formula 1 viewing session ever. The fact that there isn’t any commentary is brilliant. An hour and a half of unrelenting, unmolested noise is wonderful.

However, as soon as it lulls you into a V8-induced slumber the sound is taken over by what can only be described as ET on speed. The picture then decides to pack up its bags and go home, leaving you in a suspended state, watching… well… nothing. Everyone in the office thought that I had finally lost the plot and was lost in a photo of the F1 ITV logo.

At first I thought it was something our end but with the latest Macs, this is utter rubbish. I understand that a ‘live stream’ is never going to be perfect but this was an utter waste of time. Raikkonen lost it at one point, and someone else did but I can’t for the life of me tell you who. They were using Bridgestones though. That was what the screen decided to freeze on anyway.

There is something quite eerie about the Bahrain circuit. There are no landmarks to speak of on track and the tarmac is so wide it looks like the cars have all been bought by Corgi. A fascinating place as Rob Widdows will tell you in the next issue of the magazine.

As for the racing, the Ferraris look like the ones to beat with Massa finishing the second practice nearly a second quicker than his team-mate Raikkonen. However, the Ferrari garage isn’t all sunshine and smiles as Raikkonen lost it in both practice sessions, needing to return to the pits in the first to get sand removed from his car. The dusty nature of the circuit does seem to be causing problems as many drivers were struggling for grip in the opening laps of the first session. If Massa can keep his pace throughout the weekend and stay on track it will certainly silence a few of his critics.

Hamilton ran well but lost it at turn 7 late in the second practice sending him sideways into the barrier. His car is badly damaged but we have heard that he is fine. As he said on Top Gear, he does occasionally enjoy a “good shunt”.

The Williams are back on form after Malaysia and the McLarens are biting at the heals of the Ferraris. What will happen in qualifying? Well, as long as everything goes according to plan, I suggest Massa will get pole, with Raikkonen making up the front row. Hamilton may well be able to beat Raikkonen to it but looking at the speed of the Scuderia’s cars he will have to carry much less fuel. Time will tell.

The rest? Well, the Toyotas don’t seem to be as fast here as they were in Malaysia. And five teams have finished with times that put their drivers next to each other on the time sheets. You may well ask; how much difference does the driver make? Quite a bit I think and that’s why I am sure that Kimi is going to push Massa all the way, even if his time sheet does look as good as the Brazilian’s so far.

Practice 1

Practice 2

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The Formula 1 World Championship certainly got off to an action-packed start – 9 cars taken out of contention by accidents, 5 breakdowns, a disqualification and only 7 finishers.

Hamilton avoided the carnage that unravelled behind him and romped home to take the top spot on the podium. The British driver could hardly relax as his lead was constantly cut by safety car interventions, however, he kept his cool and never put a foot wrong.

As always he congratulated the team on how well the car was running and dropped a small line about the difference to last year’s McLaren, “the car was phenomenal, a complete dream to drive compared to last year.” Whether this was a loaded comment or not – it certainly made it clear that Hamilton backs himself without the ‘help’ of Alonso’s experience in car setup and development.

The real action though, took place behind the leading McLaren. The Ferraris had a dreadful day with both cars spinning and then eventually retiring with engine failures. Massa was quick to say that Ferraris shouldn’t have such problems but if I am not mistaken it was exactly this that gave Alonso a second title in 2006, when Schumacher’s car drifted to a halt.

The Scuderia will no doubt be quick to sort the problem but it must be playing on their minds having come away from a Grand Prix weekend with only 1 point. Nowadays it is rare for even a single car to break down, unless of course you were driving a Red Bull last year, so for both to come to grinding halt… well it will be about as easy to stomach as their arch rival cruising to an easy victory, especially with their record at Albert Park.

Kovalainen was one of the unlucky, fortunate drivers of the day. Fortunate because he managed to avoid the various impacts happening around him but unlucky because a third safety car period meant that his pit stop left him well down the order. Ron Dennis was clearly pleased when the Finn overtook Alonso near the end but sadly Kovalainen accidentally hit the pit lane speed limiter button while removing a tear-off from his visor, letting Alonso cruise past with 1 lap remaining. The fact that he got the fastest lap of the race will be small consolation. Still, his debut for McLaren was certainly more successful than his opening race for Renault.

Alonso showed just what a class act he is while carving through the field and pulling off great manoeuver after great manoeuver. Although the Renault was clearly off the pace, he managed to bring the car home 4th. Piquet’s debut was similar to Kovalainen’s first few races last season – the Brazilian spent much of the race running at the back and was eventually taken out of contention when his car was involved in an accident.

Honda had a similarly bad day as Button was involved in an accident at turn one on the opening lap and Barrichello, having finished in 6th was later disqualified for leaving the pit lane on a red light, giving Raikkonen the point.

Rosberg got his first podium with a solid third position and rightly so; he drove a good race and proved that this will be the first of many now that the car is competitive enough to occasionally trouble the McLarens, Ferraris, and BMWs. Heidfeld took second place and it was a shame that Kubica, after such a good qualifying, was involved in an accident which ended his race just over ten laps from the end.

I can’t believe that every Formula 1 race this season will be as chaotic as Albert Park – but it just may be that banning traction control was the sport’s best move in recent history. To see the likes of Raikkonen pushing it hard enough to spin while attempting to overtake someone was a reminder of just how difficult these cars are to keep on the straight and narrow when on the limit. The Finn shrugged off his erratic driving in typical fashion by merely saying that he “was a bit too optimistic.”

It was the unlikely face of Nakajima that summed the day up though, after bringing the second Williams home in 6th place, he concluded that “to get to the end today was great.” How right he was, and long may unpredictable Formula 1 continue.

Manufacturer standings

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Well the season has officially started… At 10am Australian time, the first of three practice sessions began.

What was interesting was just how competitive the Force India cars were – Fisichella finished the first practice in 12th and the second in 9th, which is certainly an improvement on last year. Whether he was on a particularly light fuel load and whether the times will remain as low throughout the weekend remains to be seen.

Having topped the first practice, Räikkönen could do no better than 6th in the second. Afterwards he was far from amused at how well the car was going which does seem a little strange after praising the speed of the 2008 Ferrari after every pre-season test. He did explain that they struggled with the set-up in the afternoon session – I expect that, being Ferrari, they will have no such problems come tomorrow.

The Super Aguris were understandably well off the pace, it is no surprise that after a winter of not knowing whether they were actually going to grace the track or not, they have missed out on valuable development time. While finishing second to last and last, over 4 seconds off the pace, Sato was keen to point out that he’s happy to just be racing. What more could he say?

What was disappointing was not to see the true pace of the Williams cars; Rosberg spent much of the first session stuck in the garage with gearbox problems. The second session was slightly more productive and the German finished it in 8th, while his team-mate Nakajima could only manage a 1:29.077 leaving him in 16th.

The Red Bulls were surprisingly quick. I had a suspicion that they would be fast but Webber’s 2nd place finish in the second practice was, although 0.9 seconds off Hamilton, certainly a good time. Lets hope that the cars stay in one piece for long enough to get a result – last year Webber and Coulthard failed to finish 14 races between them.

It’s difficult to draw any firm conclusions from the opening two tests but it is clear that the McLarens and Ferraris are a cut above the rest. The most interesting battle over the weekend? Well… Räikkönen/Hamilton will certainly be worth watching closely but watch out for the Renaults, Red Bulls, BMW Saubers and Williams’ as there is little more than a second separating them all.

Practice 1

Practice 2

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(1971 Le Mans 24 Hours, Pedro Rodriguez & Jackie Oliver (Porsche 917 LH) leads Gerard Larrousse & Vic Elford (Porsche 917 LH), Mark Donohue & David Hobbs (Ferrari 512M), and Jo Siffert & Derek Bell (Porsche 917 LH))

Do you remember the great days of Les Vingt-Quatre Heures du Mans? When an annual pilgrimage to the little town in the Loire was something not to be missed? If you couldn’t be there, you’d tune in to BBC radio for those brief news reports, the late night bulletins always the most atmospheric, romantic even, with the sound of the cars wailing past the pits. If you were lucky, you’d get to see some pictures on BBC television, usually the start on Saturday afternoon and the finish on Sunday with the cameras lingering on that famous clock as the hands ticked round to 4pm. Remember when Ford took on Ferrari, when Porsche came with the long-tail 917, the arrival of the glorious-sounding Matras, the big yellow Renaults and the ceaseless scream of the Mazda? That’s all fairly recent of course. We could go back further, to the triumph of Jaguar and the heroics of Duncan Hamilton, the almost military presence of Mercedes-Benz and the night Phil Hill danced his Ferrari through driving rain to a last-gasp victory.

(Left-to-right in the Jaguar paddock at Le Mans in ’54: Peter Walker, Peter Whitehead and Duncan Hamilton (with a bunch of bananas). Behind include Mrs Lois Rolt (seated), Tim Seccombe and Mary Walker (behind Hamilton))

These were the days when the 24 hours of Le Mans was truly the most famous motor race in the world, when people bought cars because the manufacturer had won at La Sarthe, thinking they must be both rapid and reliable. Us Brits travelled in our tens of thousands to France that weekend in June, pitching our tents, watching in awe at the speed on the Mulsanne and tramping through the woods to see the cars flash through Indianapolis corner. The food was good, and the wine, for this was France and those catering vans at Brands seemed a planet away. OK, you were so tired – and sometimes soaked – by the end of Sunday that you swore you’d never go again. But you did. It was fun, romantic, exciting and knackering.

Things are different now. The race still runs for 24 hours, and the wine still tastes good though the exchange rate has done for the price. But the long blast down Mulsanne has been broken up with chicanes, and wire fences force us to watch the cars at a distance. Health and safety. For us, and them. And then there’s the Audis, the diesel-powered Audis. Much to the chagrin of legendary Le Mans heroes like Henri Pescarolo, the silver cars have come, conquered – and stayed.

I mention all this because next weekend sees the running of another famous endurance race. We’re off across the Atlantic to see the Audis at Sebring, where the mighty German cars have won every time this century. Extraordinary. A mirror of Le Mans in many ways. Sebring has a fine history, it’s one of the classic long-distance events, and the old airfield circuit remains pretty much as bumpy and basic as ever it was according to Allan McNish, who aims to win yet another one for Audi at the weekend. But this year could just be different. Peugeot is entering a single car, in preparation for Le Mans, and in the hope of getting one over the Audis in this duel of the diesels.

We know the beautiful Peugeot is quick. We saw that at La Sarthe last summer. If it was as fast as it looks, it would win by miles. This is surely one of the best-looking racing cars of the modern era. But can Peugeot get on terms with the sensationally reliable Audis over a 12-hour period, let alone double that distance in June? We don’t know, but it will be worth watching, and it will be some kind of guide to what’s in store at Le Mans. Peugeot is desperate to win in France, of course, while Audi is in no mood to give up its hard-earned reputation as the fastest diesel in the world (we’re not counting the JCB Dieselmax world land speed record machine).

(March 16 – 18, 2006, Sebring 12 Hours – Allan McNish in the Audi R10 leads the pack)

To Sebring then, and memories of reading about Stirling Moss’s great feats around the wide-open runways, remembering pictures of headlamps lighting up those warm Florida nights, with drivers in shirtsleeves and sneakers and shades. All very Steve McQueen. Like Le Mans though, it will be different now, if only because of the new world order in long-distance sports car racing. Audi dominates, Peugeot challenges, the fans long for a battle. Which TDi will they want to buy on the Monday morning, believing that racing can only improve the breed? Well, I have owned both marques, and both were damn good in their different ways. I will be there as an impartial observer but I have a gut feeling that Peugeot will have to wait until June before it gets a proper crack at making a dent in Audi’s armour.

(2007 Le Mans 24 Hours, Pedro Lamy/Stephane Sarrazin/Sebastien Bourdais (no 8 Peugeot 908 Hdi FAP) leads Lucas Luhr/Alexandre Premat/Mike Rockenfeller (no 3 Audi R10))

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