Five Races and five different winners. On the face of it that sounds really good for the sport. Good for the viewers perhaps, but hardly Formula One as we know it, or used to know it.

Only two or three cars bothering to put in a competitive time in Q3, so that they have more new sets of tyres available for the race. Pity the poor spectators who had paid to come and watch a good battle for pole position which they had seen in the past. Why not just draw straws for grid positions on Sunday morning? A race with so many pit stops and changing positions that it was almost impossible to keep up with what was happening until the cars crossed the finishing line. And why? All because Pirelli are providing tyres that don’t allow the drivers to do what they are paid millions to do – race.

Admittedly it was good to see a Williams cross the line first after a break of so many years, driven by Pastor who? Oh, Maldanado. I remember. He is the guy that Chavez pays Williams millions to put in the car and so keep the Company alive. Together with all those Brazilian sponsors of Senna, Williams must be awash with cash. Obviously they have invested some of it wisely and have upped the performance of their car, but a McLaren, Red Bull or Mercedes beater. I don’t think so. As usual, Alonso put in a masterly performance in the Ferrari but was thwarted by his tyres and almost lost his second place to Kimi, who had managed to save some rubber for the last few laps.

What about McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes? You may well ask. All three teams have shown signs of top level performance during the year but suddenly they are nowhere, well almost nowhere. I can’t believe that World Class engineers like Adrian Newey and Ross Braun can get it so wrong from one week to the next. Four weeks ago Nico Rosberg was in a class of his own when winning in China in the Mercedes. Where was he in Barcelona? Nowhere to be seen. Something is very fishy. Is it a level playing field? Is someone playing silly buggers with the tyres? The only person in the paddock who dares to question what is happening is Michael Schumacher. He may not be winning, but he is a real racer and says he is not being allowed to race. The drivers are now being paid to manage their tyres and tip toe around.

I wonder who will be given the good tyres for Monaco. Perhaps Pedro de la Rosa in the HRT will bring the laurels home to Spain.

Putting all that nonsense aside, I am mightily impressed by Romain Grossjean. He has put in some impressive performances in the Lotus/Renault and it may not be long before we see him on the top step of the podium. Especially if he has a decent set of tyres under him.

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