Blog and Motor Racing CV

A series of very amusing ads in Russia inviting Formula One drivers to become Sushi delivery drivers.

Sebastian Vettel clinched the World F1 Championship with a 3rd place in the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka today. Suzuka turned out to be very hard on tyres and Jensen Button’s McLaren and Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari coped better with the abrasive track. Vettel lead from Pole after a very aggressive move off the start line to push Jensen Button onto the grass, forcing him to ease out of the throttle to avoid an accident. Undoubtedly, if Lewis Hamilton had tried this move, he would have been severely penalized by the Stewards. Double standards at work here. Vettel lead for seven laps until his tyres gave up which presented Jensen with the opportunity to take the lead. Jensen, as usual, drove an immaculate race and was never again headed. Alonso moved past Vettel later in the race to take second place but never really was able to threaten Button for the lead. Vettel only needed one point to clinch the Championship and he cruised home to take third. McLaren seem to have finally caught up with Red Bull in the performance stakes but too late to threaten for the title. However the last four races could prove to be the best four races of the year, even though they will not effect the Championship. Having won the title, I imagine that Red Bull will now be concentrating on their 2012 car. Let us hope that McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes can get their act together a little earlier next year and provide us with an exciting race for the title.

Last weekend saw a very unsavory event at Rockingham during the BTCC Touring Car Event. Jason Plato and Matthew Neal squared up to each other after qualifying when Matt Neal accused Plato of blocking him and preventing him from taking Pole Position. The incident was triggered when the cars returned to the pits and after emerging from his car, Jason gave Matt the finger. There is no doubt that Jason Plato is a very fast accomplished Touring Car driver and he has achieved much, but some of his moves out on the circuit can at best be termed as cynical and unnecesary. It has always been my opinion that you have to give a competitor racing room and not put your car in such a position as to endanger him. Imagine what would have happened to Vettel at Monza on the first lap if Alonso had not given him room to come back on the circuit. They may both have been killed! I am not saying that Jason has endangered peoples lives, but if a guy is good enough to get alongside you in a corner then at least give him the respect he deserves and racing room. Jason should raise himself above all that and set an example to young drivers coming though the ranks. He is now a BRDC Director and giving the finger to a fellow member and competitor is not in keeping with this position.

Two great wins for Vettel on circuits where Red Bull has always struggled in the past and where McLaren were thought to be favourites. Despite tyre problems which emerged during qualifying Red Bull scored a one two in Spa with Button just 9 seconds behind. A misunderstanding with his pit crew cost Button valuable time in Q3 and resulted in him starting the race from well down the grid. As usual Button’s race pace was faultless and a second row start position may have given him a chance of the top spot on the podium. Once again Hamilton made a bad misjudgement when lapping a slow car which resulted in him ending his race in the guardrail. Alonso and the Ferrari never quite had the pace of the Red Bulls and the Mclaren and the most spectacular overtaking move of the race occurred when Weber went around the outside of Alonso into Eau Rouge. A heart-stopping manoeuvre, which earned Weber a hard fought second place.

Red Bull were certainly not favourite for pole position at Monza but once again Vettel pulled out all the stops and won pole with a margin of almost half a second over Hamilton and Button. In fact 2nd to 5th place were separated by 10ths only with Alonso and Webber 4ht and 5th. Alonso made a terrific start from position four to lead into the first chicane with Vettel in hot pursuit. Vettel was looking for a way past and swept around the outside of Alonso in the Curve Grande putting two wheels on the grass at over 200mph. Vettel was anxious to get into the lead as fast as possible as he had opted for a slightly lower gearing which would give him an advantage out of the corners but would leave him vulnerable on the straights if anyone could get close enough to him to use the drag reduction system (DRS) and overtake him. No one did. He cruised to a 9 sec. victory over Button, who once again suffered from a bad start and had to fight his was through. Hamilton became stuck behind Schumacher for a large part of the race and could not threaten Alonso in 3rd. Schumacher was using all his old tactics and was thought to overstep the mark on occasions but was not penalized.

So Vettel posted hid 8th win of the season and only has to finish 3rd in Singapore to win the Championship. Second, third and fourth positions are very close between Alonso, Button, Webber and Hamilton so we should see some good racing in the last six events.

Although I was very critical of the tyre situation during the first half of the season, the Teams and Pirelli seem to have gotten to grips with things and we are seeing some very exciting racing now, even though Vettel can be said to be dominating.

Latest news is that, from 2012, the BBC will only be broadcasting 50% of the F1 races. The other 50% will be shown as a highlights package later in the evening. Who wants to watch a highlights package when they have already probably overheard the results on a radio or tv news report? Sky will be showing all the races live on their pay-to-view Sky Sports Channels. What a blow to those enthusiasts who cannot afford subscription television. BBC is the one thing we can usually rely upon in the UK. We all have to pay for it in the form of a licence fee, even if we never watch it but the Blue Riband sports events are all covered and covered very well. The BBC F1 production has to be one of the finest in the World and rightly so. The UK is the centre of the Formula One Industry. There are more Brits employed in Formula One than any other nationality. Walk down the pit lane (if you can get in there) and listen to what language the majority of the mechanics are speaking in, even in the Ferrari garage – ENGLISH.

We are told that the BBC cannot afford the £60m licence fee any longer. If the BBC are so short of money, then why not eliminate some of the complete rubbish that is served up to us on a nightly basis on its myriad number of channels. We are told that the BBC has the biggest website in the world. Why? Are there not enough ‘for profit’ media companies in the world serving us up with World News on an hourly basis. Why should the UK license fee payers have to foot the bill for this excess.

You will not see any real sensible criticism of this deal from anyone in the media. Anyone who is outspoken about this deal will have a hard time gaining press access to the events. They will suffer in the long run.

All the money in F1 ultimately comes out of the public pocket whether it is from direct admission fees to racetracks, tv license fees, buying products advertised on TV or at events. The sponsors only put millions into the sport because we, the public, watch it.

What is needed is a general boycott of F1. Hitting them where it hurts. Switch off, don’t go to the races, don’t buy the products of the main sponsors. No-one begrudges the Teams taking their share out of the sport ($750m??) but why does Formula One need another layer of burocracy taking the other 50%. What do CVC invest back into the sport? Who is paying for the £30m plus redevelopment at Silverstone? Certainly not Bernie or CVC.

The fault goes back to the FIA and Max Moseley. They are the guardians of the F1 World Championship and have sold out. It is time for the Teams to break away and form their own sanctioning body and their own Championship. When they have been on the brink of doing this before, one or more of the top Teams has been bought off in one way or another.

What have Sky paid? £45m? This is peanuts for them, They only need approx 75,000 new subscribers to pay for this. This is the thin end of the wedge to take over the whole sport.

Whose phones are they hacking in the process?

Back to back Grand Prix and two great wins for McLaren. Although Red Bull still have an edge during qualifying, McLaren have all but closed the gap and through great drives from Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button have gone into the Summer break with two great wins behind them. Once again, Vettel succumbed to the pressure in Germany and left Lewis and Fernando Alonso to fight it out for the win, which was settled when Lewis drove around the outside of the Ferrari in one of the best moves of the year. In Hungary it was Jensen’s turn after a typical immaculate drive in tricky weather conditions. Lewis lost the race through a bad tyre decision on slippery conditions later in the race, but whether it was his or the Team’s decision remains a mystery. I suspect it was his own decision as he was very quiet about it after the race.

In race conditions, McLaren have certainly closed the gap to Red Bull with Ferrari right there too. The DRS and KERS systems don’t appear to be creating any artificial results and are generally adding interest to the races. Although it will be virtually impossible for Vettel to be beaten in the Championship, the season has certainly lit up thanks to the determined efforts of McLaren and Ferrari. Next race is in Spa, Belgium in three weeks time and should provide a titanic battle on this wonderful, fast traditional circuit. With long straights and sweeping fast corners, expect McLaren to be right on the pace there and for me, they will start as favorites.

Finally, a first class Formula One race. Deservedly won by Alonso after a superb demonstration on an at times very slippery damp track. Alonso’s first win of the year, in front of the two Red Bulls, Vettel leading Webber, was thoroughly deserved. Ferrari have been edging closer to Red Bull over the last few months and the rule changes during the week proceeding the race certainly favored them, which they were no doubt meant to do. The Ferrari seems to like the softer compound tyres and was uncatchable after taking the lead during the last round of pit stops. Although Webber was ordered by his Team to stay behind and not challenge Vettel, he was in no position to match the pace of the Ferrari.

McLaren made too many mistakes during the weekend to give their drivers any chance of victory, despite both drivers putting up great performances. Hamilton was as feisty as ever, giving no quarter to Massa on the last corner to defend his fourth place after having to reduce engine power towards the end of the race to save fuel, due to a bad Team calculation. Button made the passing maneuver of the afternoon when he overtook Massa around the outside of the ultra fast Stowe corner, however, at his last pitstop, due to a misunderstanding, his right front wheel was not secured properly and it parted company from the car on exiting the pit lane. Someone may have to fall on his sword after these mistakes at McLaren and don’t be surprised if Ron Dennis takes up his previous position on the pit wall quite soon.

The new pits complex received varying reviews during the weekend. A very impressive edifice, costing some £30M plus, but built in a very strange location at the opposite end of the circuit to the old pits, creating a them and us situation and a distinct lack of atmosphere. Some of the most expensive Grandstand seats opposite the pits had no view of the cars during the pitstops and the winners podium is tacked onto the end of the building, out of sight of most spectators. That is what happens when you employ a Company to design something for a sport that they know very little about. All very strange. It goes to prove that there is very little thought given to the paying spectator these days, and everything is geared towards television. Admittedly there is more to see on the small screen and the race is easier to follow, but there is nothing quite like standing on the side of the track and listening to the Formula One cars scream past with their engines running at 18,000 RPM.

There are further rule changes in the offing before Germany in two weeks time and I suspect that the pre Silverstone order may well be restored. Vettel has an unassailable lead now in the Championship and only the crumbs of the ‘also ran’ places remain to be fought over. Despite this, we will hopefully see some good scraps between the leading protagonists and it is heartening to see some new faces such as Paul Di Resta in the Force India car towards the front of the grid and challenging the likes of Renault and Mercedes for the lesser but still lucrative positions.

Another dominant win for Vettel. Whatever you say about the regulation changes, tyres and gimmics like the DRS and KERS, you cannot take it away from Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel. They are in a class of their own this year and the Championship is already over. Alonso put up a great performance with the Ferrari to beat Mark Webber to second place. Mark was a little unfortunate to suffer gearbox problems towards the end, which dropped him back and took away any chance he had of retaking second from Alonso, which he may have done. It did seem strange that the FIA decided to change the rules regarding the blown diffusers before Valencia. Probably done to curb the Red Bull’s performance with the hope of closing the gap to the Ferraris and McLarens. One has to feel sorry for the likes of Team Lotus who have spent fortunes developing this technology in order to keep up with the pack, only to find their expensive hardware consigned to the rubbish bin. So much for trying to keep the budgets lower for the new Teams.

Everyone else was an also ran including the two McLarens. After a great race in Canada, McLaren seems to have lost its way and may well lose Lewis Hamilton if they cannot improve their performance sooner rather than later.

The Valencia circuit is clearly unsuitable for Formula One cars and with the financial crisis in Spain, may soon disappear from the calendar. I wonder how long the great unwashed are going to tune in to these boring events. You can’t blame the drivers, who put up magnificent performances guiding their 200mph/320kph projectiles between the concrete walls but what chance have 99% of the paying public got of understanding what is actually going on. These Micky Mouse tyres that last for a handful of laps should be consigned to the waste tip and the same tyre should be used by everyone in practice and races throughout the year. At least the Teams would have a chance to set up the cars to suit them.

Hundreds of millions are being spent on new circuits in deserts and the far east and no-one thinks to build them to suit the modern cars. Compared to 30/40 years ago when a lot of the current tracks were built, the F1 cars were probably 25 seconds a lap slower than their modern counterparts. Top speeds are now higher, braking distances are shorter and corner speeds are 50/60% higher. Modern tracks should be double the width that they are now, which would give cars greater opportunities to overtake and allow them to run side by side through the corners. Even existing tracks (not Monaco, Valencia or Singapore) could be modified by widening them on the inside, not on the run off side.

The next race is at Silverstone which has a track wider than most but there will be very few overtaking opportunities. The moveable rear wings will undoubtedly be used on Hanger Straight which may be long enough to help, but don’t count on it. In my mind these artificially created overtaking manoeuvres are a joke. Just another manipulation to try to spice up the show without addressing the real problems of tracks and aerodynamics.

Unfortunately, for dyed in the wool, old F1 fans like myself, the Sport has become a poseurs paradise and a cynical money making exercise for the very few. Even the Teams don’t get their fair share. I don’t expect the F!A will be repaying Tony Fernandez for all the money Team Lotus wasted on the blown diffuser when the rules were suddenly changed.

I have just finished Tom Bower’s book “No Angel” on Bernie Ecclestone. Not much new in there. For me, it was a bit like reading the Daily Mail. If I read anything I happen to know something about, it is always wrong, but I am expected to believe everything else. Pity is that it was written by someone who knows nothing about Motor Sport. Enough said.

An excellent article in Autosport this week by Eddie Irvine, commenting on the recent happenings in Formula 1 with regard to the driving standards of some of the competitors, Schumacher’s decline and the tinkering with the technical regulations by the FIA. Irvine is a past runner up in the World Championship and drove alongside Schuey for four years at Ferrari, so he is well qualified to comment.

Irvine is not afraid to speak out as he is no longer involved in the sport and has nothing to lose unlike many others.

The next round of the Championship takes place in Valencia, Spain, this weekend. The FIA have banned the hot and cold blown diffusers (don’t ask me to explain what they are) from the British GP on, so it will be interesting to see which teams are effected. Probably none of them. These days, as soon as one of the Teams comes out with something new, it is impossible to hide it, and all the others copy. So every now and then, the FIA bring everyone back to square one in the interests of cost saving. The ridiculous thing is that they have already spent the money on the development so there is no saving at all.

What a race! The longest Formula One Race for many years, delayed by heavy rain, provided the best last 10 laps that we have ever seen. Although you may question the over zealous, health and safety inspired periods behind the safety car, once the cars were allowed to race, they did not disappoint. Vettel dominated from the front until half way around the last lap, under massive pressure from Jensen Button, he cracked. Jensen had made six pit stops during the race, five to change tyres and one drive through penalty for excessive speed behind the pace car, but the conditions suited his style. There was a very narrow dry line as the track dried towards the end of the race which required precision, smooth driving and that is exactly how Jensen drives every lap. Mark Webber came through to third from the back of the field after being nudged into a spin on the first corner.

With a handful of laps to go, Vettel must have thought he had another win in the bag and was more or less coasting to victory. By the time he was informed of Button’s meteoric progress through the field it was too late. Button was on his tail and had pressurized him into a mistake. A great victory too for the McLaren Team who have been unlucky recently and have made great progress with their car since a lack lustre start to the season. Hamilton has become frustrated and impatient and it is good to see Button’s calm perseveration paying off. Good news for Ron Dennis too, McLaren Chairman and long time owner of the Team who was present to see the victory. Max Moseley must have been seething if he was watching.

Although Vettel has a commanding lead in the Championship, this victory for Button has moved him up to second place and injected some life into the chase for runner -up spot, although I doubt if any of the top six drivers are interested in that. I was pleased to see Schumacher have the opportunity to show some of his former brilliance in adverse conditions in a car which is clearly still not competitive.

Perhaps Bernie was not so wrong when he jokingly suggested having sprinklers alongside the track to liven up the proceedings. I am sure Jensen would vote for that. Next stop Valencia.

Drivers Championship

Finally a race in 2011 which has not been effected too much by the tyre situation. Vettel, Alonso, Button was a fair result for the race, taking everything into consideration, however, Button could be said to have been a little unfortunate for a safety car period to be necessary after he had made an early stop for new tyres and had put himself into a lead which he was slowly building on. Luck often plays a part in Monaco and it was obviously not Jensen’s lucky day. We were probably deprived of an exciting finish when a multiple crash brought out the red flags and made it possible for Vettel to change his fast deteriorating Pirellis for a nice fresh set which enabled him to keep Alonso and Button at bay for the remaining 7 laps when the race was resumed.

It could be said that the modern day Formula One cars have outgrown the twisty and narrow Monaco track but it is the high point of the year for the sponsorship Directors and posers to mix with the rich and famous and is, therefore, likely to stay on the calendar for the foreseeable future.

The McLarens have picked up their race pace considerably since the start of the season and I would expect Lewis and Jensen to score maximum points on more than one occasion from now on, but I doubt if they will be able to challenge Vettel for the Championship. He now has a lead of 58 points and would have to be exceptionally unlucky not to prevail.

1 Sebastian Vettel      RBR-Renault                  143
2 Lewis Hamilton       McLaren-Mercedes       85
3 Mark Webber           RBR-Renault                   79
4 Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes       76
5 Fernando Alonso   Ferrari                               69
6 Nick Heidfeld           Renault                             29
7 Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                        26
8 Felipe Massa            Ferrari                              24
9 Vitaly Petrov           Renault                               21
10 Kamui Kobayashi   Sauber-Ferrari             19

Another well deserved win for Vettel and Red Bull, although he was pressurized for the second half of the race by Lewis Hamilton who could not get quite close enough at the end of the main straight to make a challenge for the lead. Jenson Button completed the podium trio after working his way through the field after a poor first lap which saw him down in 10th place after lap one.

Although an interesting race, it was difficult to follow with so many pit stops for tyre changes and Alonso’s progress or lack of it was very mystifying. He made a great start from fourth place to lead into the first corner, a lead he held until the second pitstops after which he slid down the order to finish over a lap behind the leaders.

Mark Webber was mighty in practice, taking pole by two tenths from Vettel, as he did last year. However he made a poor start and was stuck behind Alonso for a while and could do no better than fourth, nearly a minute behind Vettel.

Most worrying trend of the weekend was to see very few laps completed in qualifying. The leading cars ran as few laps as possible to conserve their softer tyres for the race. A lot of fans attend on qualifying day only due to high gate prices and in previous years have seen some very good battles for grid positions with most cars striving for low laps times until the very last seconds of the session. Not so these days. Most of the front runners complete the bare minimum. There is a good argument for unlimited use of tyres in qualifying and going back to just one stipulation for the race and that is to make it mandatory to use both soft and hard tyres at some stage, but go back to sensible compounds which will last for more than eight to nine laps.

Sebastian Vettel has increased his lead in the World Championship and it looks very unlikely that he will be caught this year if the Red Bull dominance continues.

01 Sebastian Vettel 118
02 Lewis Hamilton 77
03 Mark Webber 67
04 Jenson Button 61
05 Fernando Alonso 51
06 Nico Rosberg 26
07 Nick Heidfeld 25
08 Felipe Massa 24
09 Vitaly Petrov 21
10 Michael Schumacher 14

Vettel and Red Bull once again dominated and finished one-two in the Turkish Grand Prix. An exciting race to watch with dozens of overtaking manoevers and no less than 73 pitstops. Amazing, but not Grand Prix Racing as we know it. Vettel crashed in the first free practice session and severely damaged his car but the Red Bull mechanics had it up and running for qualifying and he and Webber dominated with only one fast run in Q3, therefore saving an extra set of new tyres for the race. Surprise in Q3 was Nico Rosberg, who finally had a Mercedes underneath him that gave him the opportunity to show just how talented he is and he secured third spot on the grid. The McLarens lined up fourth and sixth on the grid, split by Alonso. Both McLaren and Ferrari had updates since China but not enough to challenge for pole.

Vettel lead quite easily from the start with Rosberg slotting into second place ahead of Webber, who started from the dirtier, slower side of the track. It did not take long for Webber to move up behind Rosberg, deploy his DRS system to flatten out his wing, and just sail past with ease into second place. Tyre degradation was so high that most cars had to make four pitstops but Button stayed with a three stop strategy which probably cost him two places at the finish.

For me, the tyre situation is a joke. Eight laps on a set of tyres, ridiculous. Laptimes as much as ten seconds slower than qualifying just to make the tyres live when they are on full tanks. This is not real motor racing and is just a manipulated event to put on a show for the television cameras. The fans at home have no idea how slowly the cars are going and have no chance of following the race with 73 pit stops to mix things up. Even Martin Brundle and David Coulthard had difficulty in following the action. However, Vettel and Red Bull have such an advantage that they would undoubtably still be winning if these tricked up situations did not exist.

Best drive of the race was probably Alonso, who worked his way up to third place, managed his tyres and kept out of trouble. Worst drive was from Michael Schumacher who struggled with a Mercedes that showed promise in qualifying but handled like a pig when on full tanks in the dry. One by one slower qualifying cars overtook him in the race and he showed a distinct lack of grace during the process. Tragic to see such a great driver clinging on to his past glory.

The lack of testing that the regulations enforce may cut down the costs but results in cars being brought to the line unprepared and the teams have to rely on luck when choosing their set up. All very amateurish and not what we expect from the so called pinnacle of the sport. However, we are stuck with the rules as they are and we have to make the best of it. I expect Vettel to walk away with the Championship with Alonso and Ferrari putting up a great fight for second place.

World Championship Positions

1 Sebastian Vettel       RBR-Renault                    93
2 Lewis Hamilton      McLaren-Mercedes         59
3 Mark Webber           RBR-Renault                    55
4 Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes        46
5 Fernando Alonso    Ferrari                               41
6 Felipe Massa           Ferrari                                24
7 Nick Heidfeld          Renault                              21
8 Vitaly Petrov            Renault                              21
9 Nico Rosberg           Mercedes                           20
10 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari                 8
11 Michael Schumacher Mercedes                     6
12 Sebastien Buemi    STR-Ferrari                      6
13 Adrian Sutil            Force India-Mercedes    2
14 Paul di Resta          Force India-Mercedes    2

to listen to my Grand Prix of China podcast, Click Here:

A well deserved victory for Lewis Hamilton ahead of Vettel and Webber. One of the most interesting races in the last few years, due mainly to the type of tyres that are being supplied in Formula One this year.
With the choice of either soft tyres that last for eight or nine laps and give good grip, or harder tyres which last a little longer but are a little slower, the Teams and drivers have a real dilema as to which strategy to employ. On top of this they have to use both types of tyre during the race and are limited to 6 sets for qualifying and the race. There is no doubt that this is providing better entertainment for the fans but a few anomalies are cropping up, such as Webber this weekend who had problems in the first qualifying session, did not qualify for sessions two and three and therefore started from the back of the grid in 18th position. However, this left him with five sets of new, unused tyres for the race and he fought his way through to third place, lapping three to four seconds a lap faster than the leaders. In fact, two or three laps more and he would have won the race. Interestingly, Vettel’s fastest lap in the race was eight seconds slower than his qualifying time. At the average speed of the track, eight seconds represents approx. six hundred yards on the track. That puts it in perspective just how slowly these cars are going in the race compared to qualifying. Is this what Formula One is all about? Should it not be the fastest cars with the fastest drivers competing on a level playing field? It is about time that the FIA grasped the nettle and reduced the downforce available on the cars, allowing them to race closer and provide more genuine overtaking opportunities rather than the manipulated situation that we have now.

Malaysia provided another resounding victory for Sebastian Vettel in his Red Bull, ahead of Jensen Button in the McLaren with Nick Heidfeld in third place. Not a very interesting race and almost impossible to follow if you were not a really knowledgeable enthusiast. The unknown performance of the Pirelli tyres provided plenty of action in the pits with most cars making three stops and some four. Button’s smooth driving technique kept his tyres in better shape than most but his proximity to Vettel at the finish does not really give a true picture of the performance differential of the two cars. Red Bull do still not have reliability from their Kers power boosting system and Mark Webber had to switch his off on the formation lap and was swamped at the start by slower cars, moving him from third place down to tenth. He fought his way back to fourth to salvage some points but is clearly not happy with his misfortune this year. Hamilton stayed in touch for a while but his more agressive driving style left him without any really usable tyres by the end of the race and he finished well down in eight place after incurring a penalty for weaving on the straight. Ferrari are clearly not quite in touch this year but Alonso drove his usual agressive race and, but for a pit stop to replace his front wing after running into Hamilton, may well have finished in the top six.

This weekend the F1 circus moves to China where an unusually long straight may provide us with more overtaking opportunities but I would not bet against Vettel for the moment.

Malaysian Results:
1 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault
2 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes
3 Nick Heidfeld Renault
4 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 5
5 Felipe Massa Ferrari
6 Fernando Alonso Ferrari
7 Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari
8 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes
9 Michael Schumacher Mercedes
10 Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes

Championship Points:
1 Sebastian Vettel German RBR-Renault 50
2 Jenson Button British McLaren-Mercedes 26
3 Lewis Hamilton British McLaren-Mercedes 22
4 Mark Webber Australian RBR-Renault 22
5 Fernando Alonso Spanish Ferrari 20
6 Felipe Massa Brazilian Ferrari 16
7 Nick Heidfeld German Renault 15
8 Vitaly Petrov Russian Renault 15
9 Kamui Kobayashi Japanese Sauber-Ferrari 6
10 Sebastien Buemi Swiss STR-Ferrari 4

Off to Malaysia this weekend for the second round of the F1 Championship. Can McLaren, Ferrari or Mercedes close the considerable gap that Red Bull pulled out in Australia. The Sepang circuit is very different to Albert Park with longer straights and slower corners leading onto them. This should provide more overtaking opportunities and give the Kers and DRS (adjustable rear wing system) time to work. These new overtaking tweeks provided only 5 overtaking opportunities in Melbourne and the general consensus of opinion was that the fast approach onto the main straight did not enable cars to run close enough to the one in front to be able to use the devices to any effect. The slow corner onto the Sepang main straight may be just what it needs to make the racing more exciting. Time will tell. In the meantime, Ferrari and McLaren will have been scratching their heads and trying to fathom how Vettel could have been quite so fast, particularly as he was not using the KERS system which Lewis Hamilton claims is worth at least half a second per lap. Apparently Red Bull were not completely happy about the reliability of their KERS system and surprised their rivals when it was announced that Vettel had not used it to qualify and had still almost one second advantage over second place qualifier, Lewis Hamilton.

With the extremely high ambient and track temperatures in Malaysia, the Pirelli tyres could play a much more significant part in the outcome of the race and it will be interesting to see what different pit stop strategies the Teams employ. Pirelli are expecting a far higher wear rate and four tyre changes may be necessary.

Mercedes may be more competitive this weekend. Their car was one of the fastest on the straight in Australia and this this will be an even bigger asset in Sepang. McLaren will be trying to close the gap to Red Bull and have shown to be very capable of that in the past. They have already improved immensely over their winter testing showing and will be looking for a little more, even if it means walking to the front of the grid and taking a very close look at the Red Bull which was what they did to improve on their exhaust system.

Mark Webber will be hoping that the obvious problems he had in Australia will have been tracked down by the Team and he will be looking to be on equal terms with Vettel this weekend. Vettel is very good, but the considerable advantage he had in Australia can not only be attributed to his driving skill.

Sepang, with its longer straights and faster corners, may well give us a better indication of what to expect this season and I do not expect Vettel to runaway and hide as he did at the last race. I may be proved wrong.

The 2011 F1 season finally got under way in Melbourne last weekend. Not a great race but an amazing performance by Sebastian Vettel and his Red Bull Team. Sebastian was literally in a class of his own all weekend and was almost a second faster than his closest challenger, Lewis Hamilton, in qualifying. Mark Weber in the second Red Bull car was, unusually, well off the pace of his team mate throughout the whole weekend and I can only imagine that there was some problem with the setup of his car.

Lewis Hamilton put up his usual stirring performance to finish second in qualifying and in the race. The pace of the McLarens surprised a few people as they had been well behind the Red Bulls at the final test session in Jerez.

Man of the race for me was Petrov who put up an amazing performance in the Renault to finish third and one can only speculate at what the unfortunate Kabizca may have achieved in the same car, if he had been present. Disappointment of the race was the speed of the Mercedes which had been looking really good at the end of Winter testing and Ross Braun must have gone away scratching his head. As usual, Rosberg was the quickest Mercedes driver, but lost a points position after being shunted off  by an over enthusiastic Rubens Barricello.
Unluckiest man of the race must be Jenson Button, who was pushed wide at the first corner, letting Massa’s Ferrari sneak ahead. Jenson was considerable quicker than Massa, but could not find a way past until just before the first pit stops by which time his race was ruined.

The new technical changes to the cars, namely the KERS power boost system and the moveable rear wings, failed to provide any improvement in the overtaking stakes and need a big rethink. It is possible that the circuit configuration did not lend itself to the new technology and we will have to wait and see if Sepang in two weeks time is any different.

It will be interesting to see if McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes can close the gap to Red Bull over the next few races. If not we may be in for a very boring season.

RESULTS and POINTS

1 Sebastian Vettel                         RBR-Renault                  25
2 Lewis Hamilton                          McLaren-Mercedes       18
3 Vitaly Petrov                               Renault                             15
4 Fernando Alonso                      Ferrari                                12
5 Mark Webber                             RBR-Renault                    10
6 Jenson Button                             McLaren-Mercedes          8
7 Felipe Massa                              Ferrari                                  6
8 Sebastien Buemi                        STR-Ferrari                        4
9 Adrian Sutil                                  Force India-Mercedes     2
10 Paul di Resta                             Force India-Mercedes     1

Melbourne this weekend will reveal the fruits of all the testing and development that has taken place during the winter. The big unknown this year is the tyre situation. Pirelli have replaced Bridgestone and despite many thousands of testing miles the picture is still unclear. The general consensus is that Pirelli have produced a range of much softer tyres and pit stops will be the order of the day. Some cars will be better suited to the new tyres than others and it will take two or three races for a clear picture to emerge.

Tyres apart, I expect the top teams to be very closely matched this year. The driver activated aero device, called the F duct, has been outlawed this year and to try to encourage overtaking, the FIA have brought back the KERS system, which stores up energy from braking and is usable once a lap. They have also introduced a moveable rear wing to reduce drag on the straight, useable only when one car is very close behind another. These artificial means of manipulating the races will make it very difficult for the spectator/viewer to know what is really happening and have become necesary due to the reluctance of the governing body to address the aerodynamics of the cars and the the poorly designed tracks, which we have seen emerging from the design studios of architect Hermann Tilke over the last few years.

Enough of the whinging, now to the cars. One would have to be naive to think that Red Bull will not dominate this year with Champion Vettel on top form in winter testing and Mark Webber pushing him consistently. I expect both McLaren and Ferrari to be pushing them hard, but my dark horse for the season is Nico Rosberg. Merecedes (a.k.a Braun/BAR) have made a lot of progress during the Winter and the Mercedes engine is recognized as the most powerful. Nico Rosberg is a great talent and was unfazed last year when Schumacher joined him in the Team and put up some great performances. One to watch. Renault may struggle to repeat their showing of last year as I do not think that Petrov or Heidfeld will wring as much from the car as the unfortunate Kubizca was capable of. Last year was a great season and I expect this year to be even better.

link to my interview with Richard Shanley of Spectrum Radio.